My favorite ships have always been the fast, mobile A-Wing and TIE Interceptor. Given the ability to break one of the fundamental rules of the game by moving after shooting, Turr Phennir is currently my favorite pilot in all of X-Wing. As that is such a rare ability, it can be used to easily surprise opponents, and to very, very powerful effect. Here are some tips on flying Turr.

Like the other TIE Interceptors, Turr is flying a relatively fragile ship. 3 Agility is nice, but 3 Hull gets shot up quick. This means head-to-head engagement is far from ideal. In fact, avoidance is the name of the game. If you have to forgo your own shot in order to keep return fire away from Turr, do it. Giving up a shot is better than getting shot down, after all. And anyway, this is where Turr really shines. With one of the fastest and most mobile ships in the game - only reds are K-Turns, and both Boost and Barrel Roll - you get to choose when and where shots are going to happen.

Not only can speed and maneuverability be used to avoid engagement until you're ready to strike, Turr's pilot ability means not getting shot even when you do! There are a couple other things that you need to complete the trolling package, but that is your goal: stay out of the fight and hit when they can't hit back.

The first thing to add is Veteran Instincts. I've seen Push the Limit suggested as an alternative, and normally that's a strong Talent for any pilot, but there are a couple reasons VI is so much better for Turr. Getting fired upon, whether you have Evade, Focus, or both, is not ideal for Turr. Sure, both of those things increase your chances of survival, but much like abstinence being the only 100% certain way not to make a baby, not getting shot at all is the only 100% sure way to stay alive. 7 Pilot skill is nice, but you absolutely want to be moving last and firing first every single round. That means moving out of the way and avoiding return fire altogether. What could be better than free shots at your enemies?!

The other downside to PtL is Stress. Unlike his fellow Interceptor pilot Soontir Fel, Turr hates Stress. Stress turns off Turr's pilot ability, which is the whole point of recruiting Turr in the first place. This is also a reason to avoid K-Turns whenever possible, though there are still some situations where they are useful. At least shedding Stress is easy in an Interceptor.

Once you've chosen VI, you're going to want initiative to go with it. Build a 99-point squad (or less) to further ensure Turr flying last and shooting first. Shooting first is most important, but hopefully you'll be moving last as well. The more information about where to line up your shot the better, of course. This opens up the tactical use of Boost and Barrel Roll to position yourself to not only have a target in your firing arc, but also to get out of enemy arcs. Remember that you can only use Boost or Barrel Roll once per round, so if you Boost into position, you'll have to Barrel Roll out (and vice versa) so plan accordingly.

Now that you've got VI and initiative, how do you fly?

• Use the Interceptor's great speed to get behind enemy lines as quickly as possible. Time your attack run when your enemy is preoccupied with your main force.
  
• If you can Boost/Roll into a shot and get back out, do it! If you don't have to, don't forget to Focus.
  
• And if you can't get a shot, make sure you're not getting shot using Boost/Roll. You should almost never be using an Evade action.
  
• Avoidance, avoidance, avoidance! Be the ultimate thorn in your opponent's side by only taking shots that can't be returned.
  

A few other things to consider:

Stealth Device is an optional Modification for when your opponent does get lucky enough to shoot at Turr. It will only frustrate him all the more when your opponent finally gets to shoot at Turr only to have little to no chance of actually landing damage.

The rest of your squad should be able to hit hard and take hits. With none of their guns pointed at Turr, you're going to want some survivability or else Turr will quickly become the only thing your opponent has to worry about. You also want good firepower, since, as important as shots from Turr are, shooting with your Interceptor might actually be fairly rare.

Turrets are bad news for Interceptors. They should be avoided and tagged from long range, because if you're lucky Turr can Boost/Roll out of return fire range (especially Ion/Blaster Turret Upgrades).

Turr Phennir is a nasty pilot, and relatively inexpensive. Fly a smart, defensive game and he will quickly become your opponents' most hated ship.

Float like an Interceptor, sting like a Turr!

Happy trolling!

Much as Baron Fel is my favorite squint jockey ever, Turr's ability makes him very, very attractive.

The trick to PTL on Turr is to wait until he shoots to use it.

He can't use his native ability while stressed, but he CAN use PTL off of his native ability, potentially allowing him to Boost and Barrel-Roll after his shot (or either and an Evade, if desired).

I agree that he's probably the best pilot in the game for VI, though, so which is superior really depends on what your opponent is flying, and how you react to it.

A tip for fighting turrets: move yourself to range 2 before you attack, but in such a way that you can immediately move into range 3 afterwords with your boost or barrel roll. This is most important for the ion turret and blaster turret as they won't be able to attack you at all, but also gives you the critical evade dice if you are unfortunate enough to be facing a YT-1300.

I love using Turr with VI and Fel with PtL. Sometimes a clever opponent can corner then and ruin my day, but sometimes they can be so much fun.

A tip for fighting turrets: move yourself to range 2 before you attack, but in such a way that you can immediately move into range 3 afterwords with your boost or barrel roll. This is most important for the ion turret and blaster turret as they won't be able to attack you at all, but also gives you the critical evade dice if you are unfortunate enough to be facing a YT-1300.

Heck, positioning yourself so that you're dancing into a farther range is always a good idea with him if getting out of arc isn't an option.

Against the YT-1300, going from Range 1-2, you have an Attack Die Bonus that your opponent won't get. This is irrelevant against Ion/Blaster turrets, however.

Against the YT-1300, going from Range 2-3, you gain an Agility Die Bonus, that your opponent won't get. Against Ion/Blaster turrets, you're dancing out of range, and so this becomes superior.

Against the YT-1300, going from Range 3-4, you get out of range. This is irrelevant against Ion/Blaster turrets, however.

I disagree with your use of Turr. Especially VI vs. PTL.

VI gains you 2 PS at the loss of a second action. What does that 2 PS get you? It jumps you ahead of a handful of pilots and ties you with 4. Unless any of them also took VI or, even if they didn't, built a 98pt list.

PTL gives you the maneuverability AND the defenses to get behind your opponent. Turr's ability triggering PTL's extra actions makes getting in and out easier. There are very few non-green moves that a PTL interceptor can't replicate. There are very many moves an interceptor without PTL can't do, add in a free extra action when needed and you're even farther behind.

Don't trigger PTL off your action phase, trigger PTL off of Turr's ability.

I actually believe Daredevil is a good choice for Phennir, as it gives him even more movement options. But then, I'm sort of getting tired of PTL, since it goes against the 'action resource' principle of the game and I'd like to break myself out of the habit of using it all the time.

I actually believe Daredevil is a good choice for Phennir, as it gives him even more movement options. But then, I'm sort of getting tired of PTL, since it goes against the 'action resource' principle of the game and I'd like to break myself out of the habit of using it all the time.

Daredevil is a terrible idea on turr as it gives stress in action phase therefore completely eliminating use of his cool special ability.

I think daredevil was designed specifically for fel since he likes stress, but PtL is just so much better for Fel.

I really need to pick up an Int. I can see Turr being insane with VI in the hands of the right troll

I disagree with your use of Turr. Especially VI vs. PTL.

VI gains you 2 PS at the loss of a second action. What does that 2 PS get you? It jumps you ahead of a handful of pilots and ties you with 4. Unless any of them also took VI or, even if they didn't, built a 98pt list.

PTL gives you the maneuverability AND the defenses to get behind your opponent. Turr's ability triggering PTL's extra actions makes getting in and out easier. There are very few non-green moves that a PTL interceptor can't replicate. There are very many moves an interceptor without PTL can't do, add in a free extra action when needed and you're even farther behind.

Don't trigger PTL off your action phase, trigger PTL off of Turr's ability.

I agree. Besides, if you have turr and your opponent has a PS 8 or 9 ship, don't go near it with turr. Use turr to take out lower PS targets first. When there's none left, or PS 8/9 is all your opponent has, turr's special ability become useless. In that case, its better to trigger PtL in action phase. Fortunately that is rare...

The trick to PTL on Turr is to wait until he shoots to use it.

He can't use his native ability while stressed, but he CAN use PTL off of his native ability, potentially allowing him to Boost and Barrel-Roll after his shot (or either and an Evade, if desired).

I agree that he's probably the best pilot in the game for VI, though, so which is superior really depends on what your opponent is flying, and how you react to it.

This is absolutely true, and definitely both a good use of Turr's action-after-shooting and an equally valid way to equip Turr, but VI is about complete avoidance. PtL is almost always a better choice for just about any pilot, but VI is a couple points cheaper. In double-blind matches, 9 PS and 99 points should do the trick most of the time. And if you're not facing any high PS enemies, you've only "wasted" one point (granted, not getting any benefit, either, like PtL). Anyway, they're two slightly different ways to achieve the same result: Turr shooting and not getting shot back.