So I have been playing a short while with rebels and have mostly taken x and b wings in various fit outs. I have done well against ties and other rebels but the squints keep pumping me. Any tips on tactics to beat them?

Block them. interceptors with no actions can not avoid your arc, and they go down like a tie.

Ultimately,they are the same hull as a TIE Fighter. Fly your ships so that you can focus fire on the squint and blow it to bits in the first volley or two.

The Millennium Falcon is your friend.

Barring that, the key with defeating Interceptors is action denial. If they can't boost or barrel roll, you can actually shoot them, and they'll go down. Try and ram one of your ships into where you think his Interceptor(s) will be, and then your other ships can shoot them down.

As has been said, Turrets and action denial. Can't dodge everything without focus tokens, boost or, barrel roll.

Wedge is another good option. One less evade dice means more damage possibility.

About all I can add to the above is the wonders of the Ion Cannon or turret. An ioned ceptor is a soon to be dead ceptor or at least out of the fight for a round. Love the Y wing.

I didn't even bother reading TC's post, I just came in here to tell him that he has an awesome name. Keep on doing what you're doing, friend.

Just remember that 'action denial' against an Interceptor isn't nearly as easy as many of these posters are making it sound. You have to really know what you're doing. The Interceptor's dial is one of the best in the game, and a wily pilot will know when you have the best chance to try to stop them and go another direction.

Multiple Ion Cannon Turrets can be dangerous for them as well.

The Millennium Falcon is your friend.

Pff. The YT is the answer to pretty much everything.

you need turret defense. Either Falcon, or Ion turret or Blaster turret would do fine

ultimately, rebel ships are not match against the squints in terms of maneuverability, so you have to include some form of turret defense in your team lineup, or otherwise you will have an extremely hard time against these squints and Vader + engine upgrade

Just remember that 'action denial' against an Interceptor isn't nearly as easy as many of these posters are making it sound. You have to really know what you're doing. The Interceptor's dial is one of the best in the game, and a wily pilot will know when you have the best chance to try to stop them and go another direction.

Multiple Ion Cannon Turrets can be dangerous for them as well.

The Millennium Falcon is your friend.

Pff. The YT is the answer to pretty much everything.

you need turret defense. Either Falcon, or Ion turret or Blaster turret would do fine

ultimately, rebel ships are not match against the squints in terms of maneuverability, so you have to include some form of turret defense in your team lineup, or otherwise you will have an extremely hard time against these squints and Vader + engine upgrade

careful though with the blaster turret against Carnor Jax. With him nearby, you won't even have the option of using it. (in fact, Jax seems to be a good anti-turret squint in general…)

Just remember that 'action denial' against an Interceptor isn't nearly as easy as many of these posters are making it sound. You have to really know what you're doing. The Interceptor's dial is one of the best in the game, and a wily pilot will know when you have the best chance to try to stop them and go another direction.

Multiple Ion Cannon Turrets can be dangerous for them as well.

The Millennium Falcon is your friend.

Pff. The YT is the answer to pretty much everything.

Not so hard as you'd think. There are typically only a few logical places for an interceptor to wind up in any given turn. You pick the ones that give the interceptor the most shots, either blocking their action or forcing them into inopportune locations. It's easier with big ships(Hey look, One more reason for the YT.) Most interceptor pilots people use have high PS making them extra vulnerable to action denial.

I see the truth in your words good sir. I guess I just fly differently than others. I'm a huge fan of breaking engagement and also of dogging someone for only a turn or two before jetting to the opposite end of the board to hit someone who isn't expecting it. Many people i've watched seem to keep taking tight turns in order to keep shooting the same opponent, but i prefer to keep my sharks a-circlin'.

Just remember that 'action denial' against an Interceptor isn't nearly as easy as many of these posters are making it sound. You have to really know what you're doing. The Interceptor's dial is one of the best in the game, and a wily pilot will know when you have the best chance to try to stop them and go another direction.

Multiple Ion Cannon Turrets can be dangerous for them as well.

The Millennium Falcon is your friend.

Pff. The YT is the answer to pretty much everything.

Not so hard as you'd think. There are typically only a few logical places for an interceptor to wind up in any given turn. You pick the ones that give the interceptor the most shots, either blocking their action or forcing them into inopportune locations. It's easier with big ships(Hey look, One more reason for the YT.) Most interceptor pilots people use have high PS making them extra vulnerable to action denial.

I see the truth in your words good sir. I guess I just fly differently than others. I'm a huge fan of breaking engagement and also of dogging someone for only a turn or two before jetting to the opposite end of the board to hit someone who isn't expecting it. Many people i've watched seem to keep taking tight turns in order to keep shooting the same opponent, but i prefer to keep my sharks a-circlin'.

Turrets are good, but involve a fundamental change to your squad - and whilst gearing up your squad to crush squints is not a bad plan, it may disadvantage you against other opponents.

X-wings and B-wings can do you proud against TIE interceptors, but as noted, the trick is getting to actually shoot at the buggers; people who go on about getting bonus defense dice, or losing defense dice (such as the 'OMG Teh Sky Is Falling!!1!!1' response to Blount 'making the Stealth Device useless' ) have, in my view, missed the point of the interceptor.

It's primary defense is not those three defense dice, which - as noted - is no better than a TIE fighter at 2/3 the price. I can attest from painful, green-laser-riddled experience that the squint's main defense is never being in !!?*&^&$"$"~# firing arc in the first place. I think Turr Phenir is probably the most annoying of the lot, as he screams into arc, shoots you, makes a road runner "meep meep" noise and then hoons away out of arc again....

If I had to advise for fighting TIE interceptors, it's this: range 3 is the place to be. Yes, they get an extra evade dice (although heavy laser cannons on your B-wings are an excellent option here, changing a 3:4 roll to a 4:3 one in your favour!) but no amount of speed 1 jinking is going to put them out of your arc of fire, and a gentle 45' turn can sweep your cone of fire across a big chunk of the table.

Now obviously, saying "stay at range 3" when you're in...well...frankly any rebel fighter except an A-wing and your opponent is in a TIE Interceptor is stupid. You do not get to set the range of engagement because he's faster and more manouvreable than you are. But you can do this - a bit - with your tactics.

Rebel players have a tendancy to deploy their medium and heavy fighters in a close 'blob'. I don't know if you do, but I see it time and again. It's great if you can deploy, point yourself at the enemy and advance, firing your superior forward weapons into an enemy 'blob' (like a swarm of TIE fighters) but against interceptors wherever you 'point' your squadron, they'll be gone before you get into range, come in on your flanks and start picking you apart. Break formation to catch them and it becomes a series of one-on-one duels and that's where they shine.

Try breaking your four ship squad up into two pairs. Stick them at range 2 from one another and fly them on vaguely converging courses. if a TIE interceptor comes in on the flank or rear of one group, they will be doing so by flying more or less straight into the forward arc of the other group. Yes, they'll be doing it at range 3, but an X-wing and a B-wing can throw a lot of dice (especially with a heavy laser cannon, as mentioned).

This is a trick that actually got developed in WWII in the pacific for a similar situation; American Wildcats were tough but couldn't turn for toffee whilst the Zero-Sen was one of the most agile fighters of the war but was made of wafers.

See here for a better-written explanation of the theory:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thach_Weave

Turrets are good, but involve a fundamental change to your squad - and whilst gearing up your squad to crush squints is not a bad plan, it may disadvantage you against other opponents.

X-wings and B-wings can do you proud against TIE interceptors, but as noted, the trick is getting to actually shoot at the buggers; people who go on about getting bonus defense dice, or losing defense dice (such as the 'OMG Teh Sky Is Falling!!1!!1' response to Blount 'making the Stealth Device useless' ) have, in my view, missed the point of the interceptor.

It's primary defense is not those three defense dice, which - as noted - is no better than a TIE fighter at 2/3 the price. I can attest from painful, green-laser-riddled experience that the squint's main defense is never being in !!?*&^&$"$"~# firing arc in the first place. I think Turr Phenir is probably the most annoying of the lot, as he screams into arc, shoots you, makes a road runner "meep meep" noise and then hoons away out of arc again....

If I had to advise for fighting TIE interceptors, it's this: range 3 is the place to be. Yes, they get an extra evade dice (although heavy laser cannons on your B-wings are an excellent option here, changing a 3:4 roll to a 4:3 one in your favour!) but no amount of speed 1 jinking is going to put them out of your arc of fire, and a gentle 45' turn can sweep your cone of fire across a big chunk of the table.

Now obviously, saying "stay at range 3" when you're in...well...frankly any rebel fighter except an A-wing and your opponent is in a TIE Interceptor is stupid. You do not get to set the range of engagement because he's faster and more manouvreable than you are. But you can do this - a bit - with your tactics.

Rebel players have a tendancy to deploy their medium and heavy fighters in a close 'blob'. I don't know if you do, but I see it time and again. It's great if you can deploy, point yourself at the enemy and advance, firing your superior forward weapons into an enemy 'blob' (like a swarm of TIE fighters) but against interceptors wherever you 'point' your squadron, they'll be gone before you get into range, come in on your flanks and start picking you apart. Break formation to catch them and it becomes a series of one-on-one duels and that's where they shine.

Try breaking your four ship squad up into two pairs. Stick them at range 2 from one another and fly them on vaguely converging courses. if a TIE interceptor comes in on the flank or rear of one group, they will be doing so by flying more or less straight into the forward arc of the other group. Yes, they'll be doing it at range 3, but an X-wing and a B-wing can throw a lot of dice (especially with a heavy laser cannon, as mentioned).

This is a trick that actually got developed in WWII in the pacific for a similar situation; American Wildcats were tough but couldn't turn for toffee whilst the Zero-Sen was one of the most agile fighters of the war but was made of wafers.

See here for a better-written explanation of the theory:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thach_Weave

Holy crap. You made some real sense there. I'm giving that a whirl. Thanks

Interceptors are my favorite ship in the entire game. They can be annoying to play against, and the Aces have made them even worse. The key to playing against them? Slow play them. Move your X-wings and B-wings in a manor that makes it hard for ships to stay out of their firing arcs. You'll end up with a lot of R2-3 shots, but that's OK. Second, The Y-wing is your friend. It's a tank that you can send in the middle of everything, and use to ion those buggers. Once ioned, they become R1 fodder for your X and B-wings.

If you are not running any Y-wings (or other turret ships) and have more of an XXBB kind of build, set up cross shots with your ships. Don't allow the Interceptor to bust up your formation, but set up multiple angles to increase your chances of firing back!

Happy hunting!