Hi there,

Been trying to create a list in which 2 squints (perhaps 2 RGPs with PTL or a Fel/Jax combo) act as 'DPS' with a third unit that acts as a 'tank'.

I'm more than fine with handling squints, but have less experience with the potential beefier builds that could make the tank element (i.e being a ship that can't be ignored by the enemy, soaks up damage and allows the squints to do what comes best).

A couple of choices I guess:

- A shuttle;

- A Firespray;

- A Defender (upon release);

- TIE Advanced(s);

- TIE bomber(s) or perhaps

- A mini swarm of TIEs

Current idea is to use an OGP with Vader, anti pursuit lasers, saboteur to basically get in the way of the enemy and cause grief, but as I'm sure you all know the shuttle doesn't fly so well!

So how would you build/fly an imperial tank?

If you want a tank and are suggesting a mini-swarm of TIE's, whynot a mini-swarm of Bombers?

Bombers have the best Survivability/Points ratio in the game.

Tie Advanceds are the hardiest small-ship in the game.

Firespray-31s are the most survivable non-huge ship in the game.

4 TIE fighters have the same cost as 3 TIE Bombers, if you go cheapest to cheapest. The TIEs have better damage and better evasion, while the Bombers have 50% better HP, a crazier dial, and Target Locking.

If you want a tank and are suggesting a mini-swarm of TIE's, whynot a mini-swarm of Bombers?

Yep, sure - hadn't considered that - will update the OP.

The shuttle flies just fine.

I'd look into the Defender as an option for your tankiness.

Something like:

Yes, would definitely consider the Defender for the role when it's out.

I ran Krassis Trelix last night with HLC, Gunner, Concussion Msls, and a Seismic Charge. Blew away an X-Wing, a B-Wing and an A-Wing for the loss of two shields, AND didn't have any joy with the missiles (rolled blanks), and didn't get a chance to drop the Seismic Charge. Just HLC and Gunner on that pilot - awesome. Paired it up with Soontir with PtL, and Dark Curse. Soontir got hammered but survived, and no one could touch Dark Curse.

First game with the Firespray and I'm loving it.

Bounty Hunter + Recon Spec is all the tank you need.

Bounty Hunter + Recon Spec is all the tank you need.

Tactician + APL?

To get the right amount of Tankyness I suggest 2 OGPs, Doom (Vader) and Zoom (EU). Put them with 2RGP PTL Squints and you have yourself an awesome looking squad that will give your opponent headaches.

Maybe a different kind of tank, but how about Vader TIE/A with DTF and shield? Can stay in formation with the Interceptors and stack focus + evade to make himself an undersirable target.

To get the right amount of Tankyness I suggest 2 OGPs, Doom (Vader) and Zoom (EU). Put them with 2RGP PTL Squints and you have yourself an awesome looking squad that will give your opponent headaches.

Nice. That is actually quite strong. You don't care that 'doom' flies like a truck cuz it will be dead before it needs to turn around. As long as you've destroyed 1 or 2 ships before it goes down, its done its job. And the fear of vader forces your opponent to target it so your interceptors are guaranteed early game flanking positions.

The list I've been testing lately, and really like is:

Bounty Hunter w/ recon spec

Turr w/ PtL

Fel w/ PtL, RG title, stealth & target comp.

I fly turr & bounty together like I'm gonna joust (turr works his arc-dodging magic) and Fel flanks. Once he's beside/behind the enemy ( usually turn 2) he does consistent 2+ damage thanks to the TL + focus. Last game I played he destroyed 6 out of the 7 TIEs my opponent had

Maybe a different kind of tank, but how about Vader TIE/A with DTF and shield? Can stay in formation with the Interceptors and stack focus + evade to make himself an undersirable target.

Not really because if everything is in formation, your interceptors have to barrel-roll + boost to not die. DTF is not reliable enough to keep them alive, although at R3 they might be ok with PtL (they focus + evade).....but you're really depending on luck of the dice, and after the first round of fire, interceptors will definitely be using barrel-roll+ boost and won't be able to stay R1 w/ vader...

Well, offhand I'd just suggest Kagi with Sensor Jammers. You can keep him cheap and not bother with any unnecessary upgrades, or you can fit him out with whatever else you might need to make him somewhat combat effective. If you want staying power for cheaper, i actually suggest Omicron Group Pilot. I played one in an epic game or two and was very surprised with what a VIP it turned out to be. Maybe it shines more in a setting that doesn't rely so heavily on dogfight maneuvering (there's almost always something to shoot in an epic match), but it's 10 HP for 21 squad points. Who wouldn't want that?

Second suggestion: anything that you think is survivable, give it Elusiveness. One oft-overlooked benefit of that EPT is the fact that the Defender modifies attack dice before the attacker. That way if you force them to reroll, that same die cannot be rerolled as part of a target lock (since a die can only be rerolled once).

Best Imperial tank?

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/2-M_Saber-class_repulsor_tank
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/TX-130T_fighter_tank

Take ya pick.

I think the Firespray is a better tank than the shuttle because you can't ignore it. The shuttle can be ignored for a few rounds while it turns, but the firespray is far more maneuverable and has that second arc, making it a more consistent threat. It also survives longer because of its higher agility.

36 points gives you 3 Academies, or a single Bounty Hunter with Recon Specialist.

48 gives you 4 Academies, or 3 Bombers.

Bounty Hunter + Recon Spec is all the tank you need.

Tactician + APL?

I'm not a fan of Tactician, but that's a personal choice. BH's PS3 is just high enough to make APL a gamble, what with all the swarms and generic Xs and Bs floating around in the current meta.

Best Imperial tank?

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/2-M_Saber-class_repulsor_tank

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/TX-130T_fighter_tank

Take ya pick.

Nah. http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Century_tank

I've had pretty good luck with Fel (PtL, Stealth) Turr (VI, Stealth) and Bounty Hunter (Gunner)

The Gunner on the bounty hunter gives him enough of an attack boost so that I usually focus instead of target locking when attacking. The gunner often lets me re-roll a poor attack which saves me from using the focus on offense. Or it frees up your action to evade or K-turn without a heavy loss in firepower.

I loves me some doom shuttle, but the last game I played with it was against a B-wing heavy rebel list which tore it apart. The B-wings have just too much shielding to make Vader worthwhile until they are down to hull. That was a fun game. Came down to 2 Dagger squadron pilots (both damaged) vs. my last Royal guard interceptor (with PtL). Managed to pull a win out of a tricky situation with some luck and maneuvering.

What do you mean by "Tank" as far as I can tell tank sometimes means two different things

1- something that is hard to kill

2- something that draws fire away from other targets.

Of course the best tank does both, but IMO tactically the second definition is more useful. A ship that is hard to kill, but does not draw fire can simply be ignored. A ship that is good at drawing fire doesn't have to be super hard to kill. Take for example Biggs, he is the prime example of the 2nd in the game. Biggs is huge in Rebel builds. But when you stop to think about it, Biggs isn't any harder to kill than any other x-wing (un-upgraded). In a pure sense there aren't really many other ships that can tank the way Biggs can. You can put Draw their fire on any ship with EPT ugrade and there is of course Captain Kagi.

There a several ships in the Imperial list that are good at not getting killed. TIE Advanced, Firesprays are probably the first ones to come to mind. A TIE Defender is also going to be very hard to kill, but you have to ask do these ships satisfy the 2 definition for a tank. Your enemy can easily ignore the TIE Advanced, and you don't want him to shoot at your TIE Defender. So that basically leaves the Firespray as a Tank.

The Firespray can tank well, except it costs a lot of points. Usually I don't really want my enemy to shoot at my firespray unless I have things like Howelrunner or Interceptors on the table.

This brings me to what I feel is the real tank of the Empire. The Academy Pilot. I agree it totally fails to satisfy the first definition of a tank they are not particulaly hard to kill. But they are the ship that I use (when I play the Empire) to draw fire away from other ships. You can't for your opponent to shoot at your TIEs instead you must bait them into it. Keeping them a range band closer to the enemy with focus tokens is a great way to do it.

Finally I would say that 48 points of Academy pilots does have 12 hits. They do have the dissadvantage of loosing combat potential as you reduce their numbers, but if you are using them as a tank, you have something else that is supposed to do you killing for you.

In short what is the Imperial Tank, it is the TIE (specifically the Academy Pilot)

You also get the rare benefit of the overkill damage being wasted on TIE. If I end up with a 2 damage attack, then a 3 damage attack (after evasion rolls) vs your tie, two of that damage was wasted. If it was a firespray, that would have taken half it's health.