Interceptors aren't a great start - they're no tougher than fighters and much more expensive. An interceptor's main defence is not being in arc of fire in the first place, which doesn't work against YT-1300 and their range 3 turrets.

I can't agree with this, I fought two squads of 2 Falcons and both were victories (see my regional report from ohio). You have to have carnor jax to minimize their actions to just Tl (or marksman if you are unlucky). Soontir fel needs a TC and PTL to ensure you are doing damage, other than that all ships need PTL to get focus/evade tokens to ride the storm of shots.

Interceptors aren't a great start - they're no tougher than fighters and much more expensive. An interceptor's main defence is not being in arc of fire in the first place, which doesn't work against YT-1300 and their range 3 turrets.

I can't agree with this, I fought two squads of 2 Falcons and both were victories (see my regional report from ohio). You have to have carnor jax to minimize their actions to just Tl (or marksman if you are unlucky). Soontir fel needs a TC and PTL to ensure you are doing damage, other than that all ships need PTL to get focus/evade tokens to ride the storm of shots.

I think you indirectly confirmed his point: Interceptors as a base ship are not good jousters, so you need unique pilot abilities and / or maneuverability advantage to make up the difference. Since maneuverability is negated by Turrets, that leaves just the pilot abilities that you mentioned.

A 7 TIE Howlrunner Swarm should certainly do the trick. Consider mixing in some Bombers for some extra durability and as a counter to YT-1300's Gunner.

99 points

Howlrunner + Determination

2x Scimitar Squadron Pilot

4x Academy Pilot

Interceptors aren't a great start - they're no tougher than fighters and much more expensive. An interceptor's main defence is not being in arc of fire in the first place, which doesn't work against YT-1300 and their range 3 turrets.

I can't agree with this, I fought two squads of 2 Falcons and both were victories (see my regional report from ohio). You have to have carnor jax to minimize their actions to just Tl (or marksman if you are unlucky). Soontir fel needs a TC and PTL to ensure you are doing damage, other than that all ships need PTL to get focus/evade tokens to ride the storm of shots.

I just did a math simulation with a 3 Interceptor + 1 Shuttle list vs a duo PTL Falcon list, and the Interceptor list came out ahead with 1 RGP and the Vader shuttle still alive. This assumed a few rounds of no shots from the Imp list when the Falcon started using that 360 arc advantageously.

It is my experience that if a duo falcon list doesn't use that 360 arc very well, it almost always loses in the math department.

I'll do an analysis with a pair of EH + Gunner Falcons next. That one will be tough, but maybe ill be able to work out some sort of average number of arcs needed to avoid with a falcon in order to make have an above average shot at winning.

I just did a math simulation with a 3 Interceptor + 1 Shuttle list vs a duo PTL Falcon list, and the Interceptor list came out ahead with 1 RGP and the Vader shuttle still alive. This assumed a few rounds of no shots from the Imp list when the Falcon started using that 360 arc advantageously.

It is my experience that if a duo falcon list doesn't use that 360 arc very well, it almost always loses in the math department.

I'll do an analysis with a pair of EH + Gunner Falcons next. That one will be tough, but maybe ill be able to work out some sort of average number of arcs needed to avoid with a falcon in order to make have an above average shot at winning.

Hey Phil I don't suppose you could do the same math for my build could ya? Dual falcons has given me the most grief out of all the squad types I've faced. I've gone 1-2, and the win was by 1 hit point so could have easily have been 0-3.

Well, I ended up going with..

Krassis Trelix - HLC + Shield Upgrade + Concussion Missiles

BH - HLC + SU + C/Missiles

99 Points

The list seems very survivable and has actually defeated the dual falcons. I have some more playtesting to do with it tomorrow, but right now it seems it may well be my IA list.

Cheers for everyones input and ideas.

Seems you are headed in the right direction. My only qualms is putting Missiles and HLC on the ship, seems a bit overkill to me as HLC already provides a 4 dice gun that will produce about the same hit results as the missiles. I would instead add something like Rebel Captive crew card, Recon Specialist, or basically any crew card. Engine Upgrade might not be bad either, or shield upgrade on both Firesprays.

Seems you are headed in the right direction. My only qualms is putting Missiles and HLC on the ship, seems a bit overkill to me as HLC already provides a 4 dice gun that will produce about the same hit results as the missiles. I would instead add something like Rebel Captive crew card, Recon Specialist, or basically any crew card. Engine Upgrade might not be bad either, or shield upgrade on both Firesprays.

Never put missiles on a ship that can take a Cannon, particularly if you decide to use one.

Shield/Hull upgrades are also not very effective on Firesprays. You already have 10 health, how valuable is the 11th going to be?

Instead, look to getting Crew members, Bombs, Engine Upgrades, or my personal favorite, a third ship.

For the people saying don't TIEswarm it, if you're up against Dual Falcons with a TIE swarm you're fighting on the same level. Netdeck on netdeck.

Wondering how good the new TIE defender will be against the YT. If you've got Rexler and they're not using Chewbacca you'll crit them to death. That much HP means lots of crits. If they are using Chewbacca they'll still be critted to death once he goes down.

Just wondering, shouldn't buzzsaw shuttles be a pretty good value against a YT-1300? They are a heck of a lot cheaper, have the dial to stay at range 3 if they can get behind them, and that HLC is going to be really harsh at range three. It's not a silver bullet, but it sure seems like a it's going to be useful in taking down a YT-1300.

Just wondering, shouldn't buzzsaw shuttles be a pretty good value against a YT-1300? They are a heck of a lot cheaper, have the dial to stay at range 3 if they can get behind them, and that HLC is going to be really harsh at range three. It's not a silver bullet, but it sure seems like a it's going to be useful in taking down a YT-1300.

Buzzsaw Shuttles don't come with an HLC. They get a Fire-Control System and a Gunner, making the Gunner's attack always target-locked.

However, when you're up against ships with 1 agility, the Gunner is gonna be wasted points.

A trio of HLCs will melt the Falcon, though, particularly when you remember that A) Mercenary Co-Pilot's addition of a Crit happens after the HLC's de-crittening, and therefore stays around, and B) The shuttle can equip two of them. (assuming you're not shooting at Chewbacca first. because he doesn't care for Rodians).

The fastest I've seen Falcons fall to Imperials were vs a herd of Lamda's and a swarm of bombers.

I actually agree on the Missiles statement.

Tomorrow I'll try out...

Krassis + HLC + Proximity Mine + Rebel Captive + Shield Upgrade

BH + HLC + Mercenary Copilot + Shield Upgrade

99 Points

Cheers

Sticking with imperial, you could give the 4 bomber list a go. Its approx: Jonus with 3 other bombers with PT/Clusters. Falcons HATE Jonus backed cluster missiles. Assuming one of the falcons is chewy, you can use squad leader on jonus to help one of the bombers TL after chewy moves. Have to get your approach right, but if you can get off 3 cluster missiles on one falcon, you have a good chance of dropping him in one round (including Jonus' pot shot).

Interceptors work very well against YTs, 4 rgps (or 3 with hull and a named tie) with PtL work wonders. Most likely one will be chewie meaning he should be killed first, since he will fire after yours. I know it was said to do this but...NEVER ENGAGE A FALCON WITH A INTERCEPTOR AT RANGE 1. That is the only area the falcon has a chance against interceptors due to the ability to one shot them or just do more damage then you can cancel without an evade token, you will be able to win a war of attrition against dual falcons if you stay out of range 1. I usually only lose 1 interceptor to dual falcons now. Also putting some sort of defensive mod on them works well too, SU, HU (my favorite), or stealth.

4x Royal Guard Pilot + PtL

1-Focus + Evade each turn and keep your token for defense if there is still a chance of being targetted

2-Try to stay at range 3 to get the bonus dice in defense

3-Concentrate fire on one falcon at a time

Unless you roll badly and your opponent is in fire, you should be okay.

Interceptors work very well against YTs, 4 rgps (or 3 with hull and a named tie) with PtL work wonders. Most likely one will be chewie meaning he should be killed first, since he will fire after yours. I know it was said to do this but...NEVER ENGAGE A FALCON WITH A INTERCEPTOR AT RANGE 1. That is the only area the falcon has a chance against interceptors due to the ability to one shot them or just do more damage then you can cancel without an evade token, you will be able to win a war of attrition against dual falcons if you stay out of range 1. I usually only lose 1 interceptor to dual falcons now. Also putting some sort of defensive mod on them works well too, SU, HU (my favorite), or stealth.

I think R1 for the kill isn't bad strategy, for example, using those RG against Chewie to finish him off. But I'd agree that staying outside of R1 is going to be generally preferable.