Attached is a picture. If you were the Imperial player, how would you maneuver? Let's assume the two front TIEs are Acadamy Pilots, and behind you are Dark Curse and Howlrunner. How would you move? You have initiative. Reason I ask is because it seems a lot of my games end up like this: a faceoff....nowhere to run. Nowhere to K-Turn....I basically have to survive the onslaught of B-Wings or X-Wings. I need help. How would I survive this situation besides relying on the luck of the die?

Where are the rest of your ships? Because it looks like the rebel player just has way more points on the table. You'd be pretty boned.

I'd try to create a pile up with the B wings. Block with one or both academy ties so the Bs run into each other and deprive themselves of actions and have fewer shots on the TIEs. Hold back with the other 2 so B-wings that can't shoot at the academies are taking long range shots with no dice mods against TIEs with dice mods.

Next turn, K-Turn with the academies and try to get around the outside with the 2 remaining.

In this case you don't have any other option but to go for it.

Like you said, you can't k-turn, and you can't turn or bank without them getting shots at you with no return fire.

I would run my TIEs right up to them with a 5-straight.

The idea is that they wouldn't blow past you with a 4-straight, as that move is red on Bs. They'll have to move between 1 and 3, and since I moved 5 the hope is to get close enough to force the Bs to bump into the TIEs forcing the back row to bump into the front row, so you have 4 rebels with no action.

From there it's a dice battle, so focus fire.

Oh look, some dead TIE Fighters...

2 forward, Evade/Focus.

Then 3 Forward, Focus/Barrel Roll.

Here you have to use range to your advantage. Stay ast range 3 for as many rounds as you could. That way you're at least rolling 4 defense dice to their 3 attack, and you'll be rolling 2 attack (with maybe a howl re-roll) to their 2 defense. Evens the odds a bit - but that situation is bleak. It's more if a HP game the, you have a total of 12 to their 24.

First, its not what do you do but what your opponent will do. In this case, straight 1's look too good to not do. Any more and the risk of over shooting is too high. So plan around that.

You move at PS 1 so your two academies should straight 5 and focus. You are trying to deny actions by having the whole B-wing formation jam up. Here's where Advanced sensors can ruin your day. The best you can realistically hope for is that the front 2 rebel ships can't fire at your front two ships. But then his 4 ships don't fire on your PS 1 ships they all can fire on your PS 6 and PS8 ships

The only other option is to evade. Your squad hard 1's towards the left side of the board and tries to get behind those asteroids. I would try to avoid jousting in an alley with B-wings. They are the worst kind of alley fighter you can imagine. But they have no long game. They go slow and control the center. You have to fight them peripherally.

I'd be tempted to agree. A 1 hard turn should probably get you behind that asteroid, and with range 3 and an obstacle in your way you should survive the B-wing's fire. Going head-to-head, even with howl, is asking to be shot to bits.

You might consider sacrificing the academies by flying them down the B-wing's throats in case they do try to close.

you need to avoid both range 1 and range 3 combat. Avoid range 1 because your TIEs would get OHKOed very easily. Avoid range 3 because your TIEs are at a disadvantage in the damage exchange. 2 atk vs 2 defense is not as likely to deal as much damage as 3 atk vs 4 defense.

So based on what maneuver your opponent did previously, you would have to guess his speed. Forward 3-4 should be a pretty good choice. It would also make sense for 1 of the front TIEs to do a forward 5, just in the event that he somehow manages to create collisions and cause your opponent to lose actions.

3 fwd with everyone but Howlrunner, 2 fwd with Howl. You won't move far enough to block if the 1 fwd, and you'd be giving them free range 1 shots on your low PS Ties. At range 1, you really could lose both before they shoot. Best bet is to make the decision a bit more tough and put Howlrunner a bit behind the other Ties. The enemy MIGHT be baited into shooting Range 2 Howl over range 1 Academy Ties, which with your minimal number of ties for Howl to buff, is probably a more ideal situation. Overall, you are now just in a bad position, UNLESS your flanker is good enough to win with minimal supporting, a Firespray, S oontir Fel, etc, which is more like what you should have with those few pts in Ties.

One saving grace could be, Howl and Dark Curses position on the next round might stop your opponent from K Turning, so your Ties might get to, and the B Wings won't. THAT is the play you should be aiming for in this situation, putting your high PS ships in a position to prevent K turns on the NEXT turn, which just might give you an advantage in the following round with an a free round of firing. I'll have to re think the best move for your ships to do to get here to prevent that 2 k turn next round.

As others have said, you have to first judge what your opponent will do. And there is absolutely no reason for him to do anything but 1 forwards. If you did a 5 forward, the back of your base would be at the 2/3 on the range ruler. If he does a 1 forward, he still doesn't hit you, but instead he has a R1 shot on you. So you shouldn't charge in at 5 forward.

Another reason to not charge in, if the lead B wings have advS, it's possible for them to BR outwards, and then 2 speed bank inwards to setup the flank on you, where they have deadly R1 shots and you've gone too far and don't have shots. Then the rear two can go 1 forward and have R2 shots (or 2 forward to close and go for the double R1 shot in an attempt to kill you before you shoot)... You lose that engagement.

There's no reason to go 5 forward.

Lets look at the other extreme... If you go 2 forward... Once again, you have to start with the enemy doing a 1 forward. Honestly though, it depends on whether they have AdvS or not... I could see them doing 3 forward, planning on crashing into the leads in order to get the R1 shot on HR, and spreading out the return fire. Or the BR + 2 bank (which is likely what I would do... since it would setup the next turn even better). But lets assume they dont' have AdvS, since you said X or B wings earlier. In which case they should do 1 forward. If you go 2 forward, you have closed exactly 2 range. Since he was out of range before (at R4) he would now be in R2 lead ship to lead ship. Which likely means HR is at R3 to his leads, and out of range for his rear row. So since all of his ships are the same range, you can get 2 R2 and 2 R3 shots in on a single B wing... meanwhile, he can do the same on an academy, but he would prefer to shoot at HR. In this instance, my action would be evade with the academies, focus with DC and HR.

It seems to me to be a no brainer to go 2 forward. But one must really ask - why are 4 TIEs deciding to take on 4 B/X wings in a joust?

It sounds like you are having trouble with your initial setup. Try to pull your opponents through the asteroids, force them to turn or use the superior maneuverability of the TIEs to your advantage to game a shot on them. Don't just set up directly across from your enemy and go straight in. TIEs can outjoust exactly no one unless you basically outnumber them two to one. The B-Wing is the most predictably k-turning fighter in the game. Use that to your advantage.

Where are the rest of your ships? Because it looks like the rebel player just has way more points on the table. You'd be pretty boned.

Let's say you have Vader with an Engine upgrade who is running on the outskirts of the map to boost and barrel roll to get into position behind them. It really doesn't matter. What I'm asking is how would you move your TIEs?

I wouldn't move them. I'd wonder where my remaining ships are. Depending on what other ships that I had, would determine what I did with them. How you use TIE's when running them in a swarm is different to how you use them when supporting other ships. And lol at having Vader as your support ship, I'd rather forfeit then be forced to play with that combination.

Move up 5, evade, and hope to block

Hard Right turn to try and get that asteroid between you and the B's. After that, it depends on how they move.

As has been said before, this is not a very winnable situation. If your games are loking like this you've designed a squad that doesn't function.(For instance, if the rest of your list is Darth Vader you've designed a pretty bad list. In this case I'd go two forward and evade. That means they can't one shot you. After that create a pileup or overshoot with a 5 forward. Then scramble so they can't focus fire. Try to reapproach and flank. But with Vader you should have at least 5 Ties running with him.

Its a tough situation but you could do the completely unexpected. Split formation and do hard turn 3 in opposite directions and barrel roll backwards. This should keep him outside of range for at least another turn since he was probably going to pull a straight 1. At this points you at least have the asteroids working in your favor to take the edge of the firepower. Then maybe keep on flying away from him until he starts moving toward 1 particular tie fighter and then maybe try to pounce on 1 B-Wing at a time? Its tough bind but I've always found that once you are in a losing situation one of the worst things you can start doing is to play conventionally. Get creative. You'd be surprised with what works.

edit- Just looked closer at your asteroid placement. Hard 3 might not work but maybe pull hard 2 or 1 turns and eat an asteroid or two just because I think you have to play the long game since you can't win in a stand up fight.

I would base my decision on two objectives: getting out of their firing arc and forcing them into the asteroids. A hard right with perhaps a barrel roll action might buy time to position the ties for a nice flanking attack.

I think you are already a little close. What you want to do is circle around the board, pinwheeling to use your superior speed to your advantage. The problem is that if you turn away from the B-wings at this point they will still close into firing range and they will get shots on you while you don't get any shots back.

Rewind one turn and then take your hard right. TIE's ability to make hard 1 turn should let you turn to face the B-wings no matter when they come at you.

As most of you are aware, this is completely hypothetical. To those asking, "Where is the rest of your fleet?" Well, that's really beside the point of this thought experiment. The consensus is: "Don't get in a situation like this with your TIEs". You are literally between a rock and a hard place, and I do appreciate all the responses.

Sure, but part of the problem with the situation is it doesn't feel honest. It assumes that the imperial player didn't do a good job of considering asteroid placement and then placed horribly in a manner that completely favors the rebel player, meaning he has already given up two key elements of the game. Maneuver is important, but there is only so much it can accomplish in a situation like this.

That's even if you ignore the point differential and that's tough for most people to do, considering your other ships and their placement would be the biggest factor in how you actually move the TIES. Kudos to those that did give some thought to it.

Good thread, alot of input on a difficult situation.

Looks like this is a job for the rule of 11! Here you can watch the video in detail if you desire:

But basically to sum it up is that including your base with your and your opponents move, after "11" forward, you will be at 3 range. For empire, this is where you want to be most of the time due to your reliance on evade over tanking. So you want to maneuver to the magical 11 and no further, then the next turn either blast forward and hope you overshoot them, or get ballsy and try a long K-Turn and hope for luck!

Another idea is to start in a corner and come in at an angle to your opponent. As an imperial player, you can preform a barrel roll, or boost to get in-out of different targeting ranges to fit your needs if your opponent is coming straight on. Just make sure to point your front end towards theirs when you want to shoot

Hard turn 3 outward and barrel roll as far down and out of arcs as possible.