So I have been playing around with lists containing two Firesprays recently and wanted some advice on a potentail list. I have been using the following two lists:

Bounty Hunter (33) + Gunner (5) X2 = 76

Academy Pilot X2 = 24

and

Bounty Hunter (33) + Gunner (5) X2 = 76

Omnicron Group Pilot (21) + Vader (3) = 24

I have found both to be good but I think I like the first better, however I have been looking at upgrading the Firespray Pilots. With that in mind I was thinking the following:

Kath Scarlet (38) + Gunner (5) + Swarm Tactics (2) or VI (1)

Krassis Trelix (36) + HLC (7)

Academy Pilot (12)

This would land me at either 99 or 100 points depending on the EPT on Kath. I dont want to get into a two Firespray only list and want to keep the third ship. Has anyone tried something like this? Experiences or comments are welcome. Just trying to decide if this list would be better than the 2 Bounty HUnter and two Academy Pilot list.

Thanks!

Try Krassis out before you decide but, from personal experience, the HLC is a waste on him (esp. without Engine Upgrade) as he moves too fast (even 1 Forward + the Large Ship base length is a lot ) and seldom gets full use of it.

I've had pretty good success with the following.

2x Bounty hunter w/ Recon Spec

Turr Phenir w/ PTL

Its tough, dodgy, and hits hard. You might want to give it a shot.

Kath Scarlet (38) + Gunner (5) + Swarm Tactics (2) or VI (1)

Krassis Trelix (36) + HLC (7)

Academy Pilot (12)

This would land me at either 99 or 100 points depending on the EPT on Kath. I dont want to get into a two Firespray only list and want to keep the third ship. Has anyone tried something like this? Experiences or comments are welcome. Just trying to decide if this list would be better than the 2 Bounty HUnter and two Academy Pilot list.

Thanks!

I'd be careful about spending your points on VI or Swarm Tactics in this list. Here your workhorse pilots are already pretty high PS so you really don't need to make them any higher and boosting an AP is ok but its still only firepower 2. You may also want to try a BH w/ Recon Spec and a HLC in place of Krassis. They cost the same but I think the BH with the recon Spec is a little better all around because, as stated by Keffisch before, your opponent isn't going to let that large base stay at stand off range for long.

-edit - Maybe Expert Handling on Kath instead?

So I was going with Krassis primarily for the HLC but if it's not worth it what about this:

Boba Fett (39) + Gunner (5)

Kath Scarlet (38) + Gunner (5)

Academy Pilot (12)

I could also add VI to Kath and have a PS 9 & 8 for 100 points.

Basically similar to the 2 Bounty and 2 Academy list but I sacrifice one tie for higher PS and some pilot talents which could come in handy.

Thoughts?

I like Rebel Captive on Kath myself.

I think Boba might be better served with Expert Handling. That would severely increase his maneuverability.

That leaves you 18 points to do with as you please...

You could also try putting an HLC on Kath/Boba w/ EH. That way, you move 1 forward (which moves you 3 forward actually) and then BR 1.5 back. So you net moving 1.5 forward, which is half as much as Krassis. Given Kath's ability doesn't synergize well with the HLC, but let's be honest, they're not going to be cancelling the last hit/crit anyways. Given, you also have the problem of no action to modify the dice, but that's why you're rolling more of them!

Yeah, so maybe not the most effective idea, but at least something worth trying. You could put in HR w/ SL to give her an action if you wanted =P.

Bounty Hunter (33) + Gunner (5) X2 = 76

Academy Pilot X2 = 24

and

Bounty Hunter (33) + Gunner (5) X2 = 76

Omnicron Group Pilot (21) + Vader (3) = 24

You can skim through a couple of pages and find my thread on this, where I posed some similar questions. There's a lot of feedback on there for both 2 Bounty Hunters and extras, or literally just 2 Firesprays.

Here's my experience with the Bounty Hunter duo; Recon Specialist will save your butt so many times over getting that extra damage or two with the Gunner.

The last tournament I played in, I ran this;

2x Bounty Hunter, w/ Recon Specialist and Seismic Charge

Omicron Shuttle w/ Vader

First round, I was up against a 2X2B build, and I think I just lost one BH. There's not much of a story there, I just used the first round of Range 2-ish shooting to wipe out the X-Wings with all my shots and Vader. Dropped bombs, got 2 shields off the B's each from the overlap, rear arc shots, etc. It was over in a couple of turns.

Round 2 was Howlrunner w/Swarm, 2 Sabers w/Draw Their Fire and 2 Alphas. I got two crits on Howls w/ Vader, but for 2 turns of everything shooting, I rolled so poorly it was almost maddening. That was the only damage I caused. The shuttle went down quickly at that point, and my 2 BH's managed to fend off the TIE's until it was my BH with 3 crits limping along with 1 point of hull vs an Alpha with 1 point of hull. Time was almost up, so I had to just go all-in so I could take a full win over a modified, my sub-par hit dice were once again no match for my opponent's hot defence rolls, return fire, good game.

Round 3 was Biggs, Luke w/R2D2 and Draw Their Fire, 2x Rookie Pilot. Intense match that we both flew perfectly. Luke sucked up my crits and got the shields with R2 so Biggs lived quite long. Got my bombs off, it was down to my BH and Luke, both with 1 hull again. Luke was chasing, and I knew that rear-arc shots aside, I needed to turn sharp so I could get a salvo without getting shot first. My opponent and I both knew this was a 50-50 shot for both of us. If he guessed wrong, he'd be facing the wrong way while I got the kill unimpeded. He guessed right, Luke did his thing with a Target Lock from a previous turn and a Focus.

So what went wrong? Other than bad dice in Round 2, not much. The thing that kept me going in those matches were the 2 Focus tokens I got each turn from Recon. Remember, your BH goes well after all the named pilots, so you need to be prepared to take some fire. With a base that big and Agility 2, anything that goes at you with 3-4 shots is going to destroy a BH in one round of focused fire, assuming they've got 3-4 ships gunning for you. The 2 Focus tokens allow for your BH to tank those shots, return something, and still have the other BH with a Focus, plus the Shuttle and Vader to answer back.

Round 2 was rough because 4 of his 5 TIEs were shooting before my BH's (Swarm on an Alpha), so I had to weather a lot of damage to get through. Again, the bombs and the extra Focus tokens helped a lot. With more typical die averages, that game would have been over way sooner.

Round 3 was just a grind of both players doing everything right, and a lot of careful movement. We both made a couple of movement blunders we later analyzed, but essentially the list hung in quite well.

To play that list, you need to be aware of a few things;

1)Your Omicron Shuttle is deploying early. You have 100pts, so anything lower from your opponent means they have Initiative, which is what you want here. Let them set up those Pilot Skill 1-2 ships first. Most tournament builds I see rely on the lowbies in groups, so where that initial placement is will tell you a lot about what to do with your stuff. I realize there's elite builds too, so for that, you're on your own.

2)Set up the shuttle to be reasonably capable of meeting the bulk of the enemy ships. If they've got stuff down first, you're all set, just set up across from that.

3)Set up your BH's further away from the shuttle, facing the shuttle (so 90 degrees to the left or right, depending on where the shuttle is)

4)When the match starts, you want to creep the shuttle up as slow as can be, so you're giving your opponent more time to commit to their approach. This should help you read how their ships will come at yours. Move the BH's either 1 forward along the edge, or Bank 1 towards the field. You've basically stalled your own forward movement a turn or two, so now you know what's good with your opponent. Go in with your 2 Focus BH's and Shuttle and start shooting.

At some point, try and set up a collision with 2 or more opponent's ships with the front of your BH's, ideally flying sort of in formation. Next turn, drop the bombs and force them to fly into the killzone.

If that's not practical to do, save them to make your opponent think twice about moving in your backfield.

So that's that. A lot of it is hard to detail, because it depends entirely on what's happening in the game, but you've got a couple of good tricks up your sleeve with opening moves, Vader and the bombs to keep them guessing.

My first two opponents were off-put by my weird deployment strategy, which is always good. Round 3's opponent saw exactly what I was up to and tried to beat me at my own game. By creeping his X-Wings.

Basically, you've got a lot of Hit Points to mess around with, and the Recon Specialist easily saved me about 5-10 damage a game, allowing me to get the occasional Focus attack in as well. Don't get too attached to keeping the Shuttle alive either, it's there to drop those crits on the opponent and die. Bonus points if it's a TIE list, as you can really mess up Howlrunner, Fel, and others because they have no shields to save them.

I wouldn't trade those bombs and Recons for a Gunner in a serious list, ever.

Now, for a 2-Firespray only list, it gets tricky. You don't have the firepower to keep up with the X/B lists, and once you lose the first ship, it's just a matter of time before the second one drops too. You can mess around with Kath, Krassis and Boba in different combos.

Kath should take Rebel Captive to maximize stress potential. Krassis on the HLC for his pilot ability. Boba with a Navigator is pretty handy to correct for your opponent's moves.

I'd honestly stick with 2 BH and "something" over just 2 named Firesprays. You'll live longer.

I agree with Cleardave. If you're going to run all big ships you are better off with two un-named bounty hunters and the doomshuttle. I have done well with three bounty hunters with nothing on them. Three more attack dice and 10 more hit points is a lot to chew through. There isn't anything overly clever about it but it will get the job done. Beware the asteroids.

I agree with Cleardave. If you're going to run all big ships you are better off with two un-named bounty hunters and the doomshuttle. I have done well with three bounty hunters with nothing on them. Three more attack dice and 10 more hit points is a lot to chew through. There isn't anything overly clever about it but it will get the job done. Beware the asteroids.

Exactly. 2BH and a Shuttle or 3BH basically do the same shooting and have the same hit points, they just execute a little differently. There's not too much to set up and keep track of with the shuttle, just make sure the BH's don't get wiped early, because that shuttle will not survive.

3BH list is great because those dual arcs give you a lot of freedom with movement. The drawback is that you don't really have any mind-blowing actions or traits to exploit, but that also makes it useful because the list doesn't rely on any synergies, and isn't vulnerable to things like criticals that kill your Pilot ability, your secondary weapon, etc.

If you want to fill in the last point, toss in the Intelligence Agent on someone just for kicks.

The 'spray is easily my favorite Imperial ship currently, and probably overall.

Krassis + Navigator+ minefield + ion cannon or heavy laser cannon ( depends on what u like and it supports krassis`s ability) for some map control shinanigans

the rest filled with looooos of ties up to u but that krassis with minefield and navigator isnt that bad ;P

maybe fill in night beast as one named tie cause he is preety hard to hit and with krassis`s PS skill rest could be filled with academies for path blocks etc

Krassis + Navigator+ minefield + ion cannon or heavy laser cannon ( depends on what u like and it supports krassis`s ability) for some map control shinanigans

the rest filled with looooos of ties up to u but that krassis with minefield and navigator isnt that bad ;P

maybe fill in night beast as one named tie cause he is preety hard to hit and with krassis`s PS skill rest could be filled with academies for path blocks etc

Krassis + RecSpec + HLC = some seriously statistically likely damage with a dash of survivability. Use the TIE's like you said above, have Krassis pick off whatever gets away while sitting at Range 2-3 of it all, then you can save the points on the bombs too.