I'm surprised nobody's really drawn attention to the implications for that Lt. Blount pilot to come out of the Game Trade Magazine article.

"...making it an extremely efficient counter to Imperial swarms. For example, a Rebel player could spend twenty-two points to recruit Lieutenant Blount and equip his fighter with Assault Missiles. Because his pilot ability always triggers the splash damage from his Assault Missiles, Lieutenant Blount will give Imperial players plenty of reason to think twice about flying their TIE swarms in close formation."

I'm seeing Blount as very good counter to flying howlrunner with blocks of TIE Fighters, at least from the start.

Because no matter if Blount hits or not with that assault missile and causes damage, anyone around Howlrunner is going to be down to 2 HP. This was a tactic before with some lists, but never was it so easy to do. All the rebels need to do is assure Blount can fire early in the combat phase, is in range of a cluster of TIEs, and then he can drop anyone around the target vehicle down to 2HP, or worse if they've been hit already.

My wonder here is how seriously this is going to affect the predominance for TIE swarms.

The only classic swarm counter I can see to this is not bunching up at the beginning, or charging Blount and trying to force a collision. But all that needs to happen is the rebel players to fly cautiously with a pair of bare Z-95s or X-wings at lower PS to block while Blount stays at the back and waits to get in range.

So for 27 points you have a decent counter for TIE swarms. Not sure if it'll spell the end of them entirely but it'll make them less sure to be dominant. Thoughts?

I've been wondering about this but none of the images I've seen have readable text there, or at least the full thing. Anyone have a link? My usual strategy against the single assault missile is to evade up and if it does hit, eat the damage. For more than one, or this Blount fellow, maybe other formations are in order. Usually I advance in the 2 by 2 column 3 deep with Howl at the back, but a wider spacing with rows of 3 two deep would be better for letting the Ties spread out, and potentially converge. Asteroids will be harder, so maybe a fast approach to fly by, angle in,and clump up on or after the k-turn is in order, but that would require a lot of practice, and perhaps some lucky asteroids.

Just paints a large target on the LT... kill him first...

Just paints a large target on the LT... kill him first...

Blount has PS6. A TIE swarm is unlikely to take him out before he shoots.

Whereas Fel, Turr, and Vader think "Aww, that's cute"

Blount has PS6. A TIE swarm is unlikely to take him out before he shoots.

Agreed, there's almost no chance you can take him out first. Even if you got Howl in the mix, she won't be able to 1 shot him at range 3 before he can fire the missiles.

Only way to do it, is if you could manage to keep him outside range 3 then rush in to range 1 to stop the missile and kill him that way.

But the real question is, is that 1 splash damage worth the cost or not. At 27 points for him and an Assault Missile, you're looking at 2 more Z-95's and 3 points of upgrades for that splash.

At 27 points for him and an Assault Missile, you're looking at 2 more Z-95's and 3 points of upgrades for that splash.

27 points? I thought he cost 17? And the missile 5?

TIE swarms are pretty much on the way out given how the new ships are being built. All the fighters have extremely good defences combined with above average attack (the E-Wing and Defender) or have heavy attacks that are aided with something else (the Phantom and the Z-95). These are all pretty effective countermeasures against the very prevalent use of Academy Pilots. So instead as a counter to THIS possibility is to have the Elite TIE swarm with named pilots and also have initiative. AND get lucky with those opening shots.

Blount has PS6. A TIE swarm is unlikely to take him out before he shoots.

Agreed, there's almost no chance you can take him out first. Even if you got Howl in the mix, she won't be able to 1 shot him at range 3 before he can fire the missiles.

Only way to do it, is if you could manage to keep him outside range 3 then rush in to range 1 to stop the missile and kill him that way.

But the real question is, is that 1 splash damage worth the cost or not. At 27 points for him and an Assault Missile, you're looking at 2 more Z-95's and 3 points of upgrades for that splash.

22. The missile is 5, Blount is 17. I only know this given FFG's spoiler text about "the most expensive pilot being only 19 points" when it was announced.

Ah! 22 points, I thought the article was listing that number without the assault missile. So, 22 points it is. One point more expensive than a rookie X-Wing and you have something Swarms seriously have to think about.

27 points? I thought he cost 17? And the missile 5?

22. The missile is 5, Blount is 17. I only know this given FFG's spoiler text about "the most expensive pilot being only 19 points" when it was announced.

ok, the way the blurb was worded it sounded a bit like Blount was 22 points. But it could also mean that Blount + AM = 22 points total.

But you're still looking at nearly 2 Z-95's for the price of getting in 1 splash damage.

Hmm... you could follow it up with 17 points for another Z-95+assault missile to gamble dropping them down to 1 HP after firing. Still, that's 39 points on two ships to drop a cluster down. *shrug*

Still, that's 39 points on two ships to drop a cluster down. *shrug*

That's 39 points with the possibility of the 2nd missile doing nothing...

A Bandit will shoot the assault missile without focus. Not good. Not good at all.

We think Blount has an EPT, correct? Seems tailor-made for Squad Leader.

Well, sounds like I will be giving all my Academy TIEs Engine Upgrades to boost into Range 1 then.

We think Blount has an EPT, correct? Seems tailor-made for Squad Leader.

Hmmm...

I was thinking PTL. Or VI if facing higher-PS targets. But you are right, he does not need to hit.

He needs one action to shoot his missile. Squad Leader does not help his buddy during the same round.

The PS4 generic pilot may or may not have en EPT slot.

Edit:

Well, sounds like I will be giving all my Academy TIEs Engine Upgrades to boost into Range 1 then.

At 16 points each? Alpha costs 18.

We think Blount has an EPT, correct? Seems tailor-made for Squad Leader.

Hmmm...

I was thinking PTL. Or VI if facing less higher-PS targets. But you are right, he does not need to hit.

The PS4 generic pilot may or may not have en EPT slot.

Thus far I think no PS 4 Rebel Pilot has had an EPT . . . so I am going to say no to a PS 4 EPT Pilot.

It's fine to figure that Blount has swarms totally negated. However, who's really going to risk bringing Blount and up to four Z95 all with Assault Missiles as their tournament squad in the *hope* that you get paired up against a swarm for most of your matches *after* both of the Aces packs and Wave 4 are out?

Maybe Blount/AM and one Z95/AM to soften a potential swarm up, along with one or two other ships but that's still a bit of a fragile build without knowing the dial of the Z95

We think Blount has an EPT, correct? Seems tailor-made for Squad Leader.

Hmmm...

I was thinking PTL. Or VI if facing less higher-PS targets. But you are right, he does not need to hit.

The PS4 generic pilot may or may not have en EPT slot.

Thus far I think no PS 4 Rebel Pilot has had an EPT . . . so I am going to say no to a PS 4 EPT Pilot.

Blount is PS 6.

Squad Leader (if he can take it) won't let you get both off in the same turn, but you could lead in with Blount, fire his, zoom a trailing Z-95, lock, then Blount shorts his move and passes the action. You'd definitely need other squad elements to screen them, but it might work.

Of course, it doesn't have to be Blount with the Squad Leader... Or not even Squad Leader. Plenty of other ways to pass that extra action around.

27 points? I thought he cost 17? And the missile 5?

22. The missile is 5, Blount is 17. I only know this given FFG's spoiler text about "the most expensive pilot being only 19 points" when it was announced.

ok, the way the blurb was worded it sounded a bit like Blount was 22 points. But it could also mean that Blount + AM = 22 points total.

But you're still looking at nearly 2 Z-95's for the price of getting in 1 splash damage.

Remember, Blout afterwards is still another Z-95 with high PS. You're not paying 22 points for just one shot.

If it's only one missile that's likely to hit I'd rather soak that damage with my swarm and then go against as many 2 attack ships as you can throw at me. It would be the combination of him and some of these new souped-up A-wings that would make me worried, but like Slugrage says, I'm not sure we'll see a lot of lists like that. But that's why I'm also looking forward to trying out a 5 swarm with an ace and other variations. Heard good things about Ties and a buzz-shuttle too. Hopefully we Imperials will finally be getting really solid options in the mix now too.

...or you could simply spread out until you deal with Lt. Blount. He's a 2 AGI/4 HP ship; the TIEs will eat him up in a single round of focused fire. At best, he's a deterrent to the "easy button" that people thrust upon the Howlrunner swarm. Well, the good ones I see that can run it can adapt rather than stubbornly remaining in tight formation.

Swarms will be okay with it. Splash damage will suck, but at least 22pts are spent on a 2 dice gun for the rest of the game. It has itstradeoffs.

Quite true R2, but unless the opponent flies straight at you it can require a little work to set up. If spreading out I'd say you probably want to fly Howl way out of the way, since you're likely to lose her, and thus a great deal of your damage potential, in the first pass, before getting to use it in this case. Everyone's always trying to kill that poor lady....

It's a considerable risk to build a tournament squad that matches up well against swarms and not much else.