Had a game cut short by time, but one of the end results was:

An Alpha PS1 Interceptor is 1 ship-length away behind Vader with 3 hull.

Starting on a new round/turn/Planning Phase: Is it possible to win with the Alpha?

Sure, I'd think so. You have 3 attack dice, so there is potential to kill him next attack, even if he evades. I think its more of a maneuvering issue than anything

If it was my Vader in that position I'd take a 1 bank, followed by a barrel roll in that direction and an evade.

The only way the Alpha could shoot at me then would be with a K-turn, so no focus.

The Alpha can't go straight 1, just hard turn 1. Also, if you bonk Vader, you don't get an action, though thats probably not too bad in the case that Vader turns around.

I think the best bet for Vader seems to be barrel rolling and TL for one turn, the K-turn and be forced to fight.

not likely, Vader would simply keep taking focus + evade and save the focus on defense, and alpha has some big problems trying to get hits through. Not to mention Vader being able to roll out of the Alpha's arc

Agreeing with Duraham here. Pretty much impossible for the Alpha unless they can pull some pretty lucky maneuvers and even then the cards are very well stacked against the little dude. Especially when you consider the factor of time. Even if you had one more round it's pretty close to impossible to kill Vader at that point. They Vader player only has to dodge you until time is called and he wins so at that point the burden of maneuvering is on you and his job gets a lot easier.

If Alpha is directly behind Vader at one ship length I would move 1 forward and barrel roll back as Vader, He may end up side by side with the Alpha, but next turn is all Vader on Alpha's butt.

I think the Alpha Squadron Pilot is actually in a pretty good position here, he should execute a 2-speed Straight or 5-speed Koiogran. The Straight keeps Darth Vader in arc unless the exact positioning of the ships allows Darth Vader to Barrel Roll away, in which case simply Bank or Turn to follow him on the following turn.

The Koiogran is unexpected and potentially blocks Darth Vader's Koiogran, while keeping most of his other possible maneuvers in arc. There is a danger that Darth Vader will execute a 2-speed Straight, take Focus and Evade, and leave them head-to-head, however that maneuver is riskier for Darth Vader than the Koiogran is for Alpha Squadron Pilot, as it would leave him a sitting duck if Alpha Squadron Pilot did not execute a Koiogran.

As long as Alpha Squadron Pilot maneuvers to align himself with Darth Vader's starting position every turn, Darth Vader will be under pressure to sacrifice his special ability by executing a Koiogran. The best option for Darth Vader is actually to execute a Koiogran immediately, when he knows Alpha Squadron Pilot will not have actions either. The other option is to repeatedly execute 1-speed Banks followed by Barrel Rolls, trying to wriggle out of arc and eventually behind Alpha Squadron Pilot, but this will take several turns and leave him unable to return fire in the meantime.

I think the Alpha Squadron Pilot is actually in a pretty good position here, he should execute a 2-speed Straight or 5-speed Koiogran. The Straight keeps Darth Vader in arc unless the exact positioning of the ships allows Darth Vader to Barrel Roll away, in which case simply Bank or Turn to follow him on the following turn.

The Koiogran is unexpected and potentially blocks Darth Vader's Koiogran, while keeping most of his other possible maneuvers in arc. There is a danger that Darth Vader will execute a 2-speed Straight, take Focus and Evade, and leave them head-to-head, however that maneuver is riskier for Darth Vader than the Koiogran is for Alpha Squadron Pilot, as it would leave him a sitting duck if Alpha Squadron Pilot did not execute a Koiogran.

As long as Alpha Squadron Pilot maneuvers to align himself with Darth Vader's starting position every turn, Darth Vader will be under pressure to sacrifice his special ability by executing a Koiogran. The best option for Darth Vader is actually to execute a Koiogran immediately, when he knows Alpha Squadron Pilot will not have actions either. The other option is to repeatedly execute 1-speed Banks followed by Barrel Rolls, trying to wriggle out of arc and eventually behind Alpha Squadron Pilot, but this will take several turns and leave him unable to return fire in the meantime.

Vader's 1 forward and backpedal barrel roll will definitely put him out of the Alpha's arc if the Alpha is one ship length back. The following turn Vader will be behind Alpha with a good chance at a TL + Focus either on a k-turn stressed Alpha at range 1 or the Alpha does a 5 forward/3 bank/turn in an attempt to escape.

Everything is possible in this game with good maneuvring and the dice rolling for you. I once won a fight with a Green Squadron Pilot+Opportunist vs Vader and Tetran+PtL. It was a casual game with no time though, or I would have lose, and the dice were rollong for me.

I would always take an evade action with the Alpha Pilot. Even though he can take 2 actions, Vader still shoot with only 2 dice, so he needs to get both dice to hit and you only need to roll one evade. But it would be a hard fight, Vader going second, there is good chance he can get a shot at you while being out of your line of sight.

In your situation, if I could bump into Vader by doing a straight 2 and not fly pass him, that's probably what I would try. If not, a 5 K-turn to force the confrontation. There is good chance that Vader would do a banking 1 or hard 2 + barrel roll to get out of sight. The game could drag on for a while with both ship having 3 agility+evade token.

I think the Alpha Squadron Pilot is actually in a pretty good position here, he should execute a 2-speed Straight or 5-speed Koiogran. The Straight keeps Darth Vader in arc unless the exact positioning of the ships allows Darth Vader to Barrel Roll away, in which case simply Bank or Turn to follow him on the following turn.

The Koiogran is unexpected and potentially blocks Darth Vader's Koiogran, while keeping most of his other possible maneuvers in arc. There is a danger that Darth Vader will execute a 2-speed Straight, take Focus and Evade, and leave them head-to-head, however that maneuver is riskier for Darth Vader than the Koiogran is for Alpha Squadron Pilot, as it would leave him a sitting duck if Alpha Squadron Pilot did not execute a Koiogran.

As long as Alpha Squadron Pilot maneuvers to align himself with Darth Vader's starting position every turn, Darth Vader will be under pressure to sacrifice his special ability by executing a Koiogran. The best option for Darth Vader is actually to execute a Koiogran immediately, when he knows Alpha Squadron Pilot will not have actions either. The other option is to repeatedly execute 1-speed Banks followed by Barrel Rolls, trying to wriggle out of arc and eventually behind Alpha Squadron Pilot, but this will take several turns and leave him unable to return fire in the meantime.

Vader's 1 forward and backpedal barrel roll will definitely put him out of the Alpha's arc if the Alpha is one ship length back. The following turn Vader will be behind Alpha with a good chance at a TL + Focus either on a k-turn stressed Alpha at range 1 or the Alpha does a 5 forward/3 bank/turn in an attempt to escape.

Tie Advanced can't do a 1 forward move, unless it's a bank turn.

Vader, even without an engine grade, should have no problems with an alpha. Vader has two actions every round, and 2 shields on top of his 3 hull. He can also Target Lock. Vader could joust with the Alpha every round with a TL and an Evade. Mind you, there is no reason for Vader to joust and there is no contest if he has an EU.

I think the Alpha Squadron Pilot is actually in a pretty good position here, he should execute a 2-speed Straight or 5-speed Koiogran. The Straight keeps Darth Vader in arc unless the exact positioning of the ships allows Darth Vader to Barrel Roll away, in which case simply Bank or Turn to follow him on the following turn.

The Koiogran is unexpected and potentially blocks Darth Vader's Koiogran, while keeping most of his other possible maneuvers in arc. There is a danger that Darth Vader will execute a 2-speed Straight, take Focus and Evade, and leave them head-to-head, however that maneuver is riskier for Darth Vader than the Koiogran is for Alpha Squadron Pilot, as it would leave him a sitting duck if Alpha Squadron Pilot did not execute a Koiogran.

As long as Alpha Squadron Pilot maneuvers to align himself with Darth Vader's starting position every turn, Darth Vader will be under pressure to sacrifice his special ability by executing a Koiogran. The best option for Darth Vader is actually to execute a Koiogran immediately, when he knows Alpha Squadron Pilot will not have actions either. The other option is to repeatedly execute 1-speed Banks followed by Barrel Rolls, trying to wriggle out of arc and eventually behind Alpha Squadron Pilot, but this will take several turns and leave him unable to return fire in the meantime.

Vader's 1 forward and backpedal barrel roll will definitely put him out of the Alpha's arc if the Alpha is one ship length back. The following turn Vader will be behind Alpha with a good chance at a TL + Focus either on a k-turn stressed Alpha at range 1 or the Alpha does a 5 forward/3 bank/turn in an attempt to escape.

Tie Advanced can't do a 1 forward move, unless it's a bank turn.

Ok I dumb. Man, I really thought Advanced had straight 1-4...