Not really, because focus only works once and therefore the majority of defense rolls you make will be without focus (or will have no eyes to use your focus) either way. So in exchange for having one z-95 not have a defensive focus token I get all eight of my z-95s to have a target lock, and all of them get to shoot before your TIEs.

And of course you don't have to use the TL option if you don't want to, it's just silly to claim that the TIEs have a firepower advantage when the z-95s have the extra offense-boosting action available.

Out of curiosity, how do you assign your Target Lock against a swarm? 4 on one, 4 on a second? All on the same? 3-3-2 on different ships?

Because that's my only problem with TL over Focus against a swarm, you don't know which shot will destroy the target, so you can either lose your target lock if the target drop early so no action for you, or be forced to make an unmodified roll with another ship if the target is more resilient than expected. Focus solve this problem, and have the bonus of being use in defense.

Other than that, the possibility of making a TL+Focus shot next turn help the Z for sure.

I won't put more than 3 TL on a Tie, so 3-3-2 would be the option. On the initial attack, the Z should be able to down one Tie, before they return fire.

The focus attack also has merit, because one won't waste the action, if the ship gets destroy before one attacks,

In my tests:

The AI would use the TL when ever it could. It seemed to be very effective for it often would result in 2 "hit" symbol. The Tie would be force to spend the focus token to block it (making its return attack less effective).

On the crit side : I redid the math in excel and I was actually wrong.

Best case scenario, range 1 focused shot against a focus less Tie.

Odds of rolling at least one crit are 1-(7/8)^3 = 0.330

Odds of hitting at least once knowning that you rolled at least a crit are 0.805

This gives a 0.266 chance of landing a crit (0.058 to land a meaningful crit).

In the same scenario, Ties have a 0.3 chance of landing a crit, so about 0.027 chance to land a meaningful crit.

Looking at a single ship is important to get an idea of the probability as we're looking at a best case scenario.

OW, "if you're in range to shoot I get to block you next turn". Remember that the z-95s move after the TIEs, so they can move just barely into range 3 and get their target locks. And even if you do block them a leftover TL is better than no action at all.

- first you move to barely in range with 8! ships.

- you get an action with an opponent at range 1.5 (with friends all around) with a ship with no hard 1 turn.

@Iperegrine: Just play the match and tell me how often you get TL+focus stacks that you can use.

4 academies+ 4 obsidians against 4 bandits+4 talas.

Hi Guys.

Firstly what a thread!!! I apologise for my English counterpart but not all of us are Imperialist. (Good luck to Scotland if they vote to leave).

As a question: Can you math-hammerers factor in player familiarity? I have found (in my experience) that I get better when I am familiar with a ship (or army in 40K). My win ratio improves and my effectiveness improves.

Also I tend to fly better if I "like" the ship and feel more comfortable with it therefore increasing its effectiveness. I find the HWK an effective ship in my list even though people (fellow wargamers where I play) disagree. If I pick a new ship (or 40k army) I will more often than not loose the first few games as I get used to the particular way of playing.

Where I can agree and see the argument for Maths (USA: mathematics) even though I do not understand most of it (Social Science degree!!!!!), I will disregard this to fly what I like thus improving my win ratio and having a good time. I do not netlist and create my own unique units, that said vvv...

BTW I have run this zwarm with some success:

Blount + Assault missile + Swarm tactics

Cracken + clusters + swarm

3x Bandito's with concussion.

Firstly what a thread!!! I apologise for my English counterpart but not all of us are Imperialist. (Good luck to Scotland if they vote to leave).

...

...

???

Firstly what a thread!!! I apologise for my English counterpart but not all of us are Imperialist. (Good luck to Scotland if they vote to leave).

...

...

???

I think he's talking about a particular poster from the first page. Breakfast, anyone?

I believe your observations are accurate. The Tie Fighter has been out for a long time. People that fly the Tie swarm really know their abilities inside and out. We have mastered the different turns for keeping the squad together, plus many other tricks.

The Z-95 is still relatively new. In time, people will also get better in using them, discovering and optimizing their capabilities. Probably not to the point of the Ties, because there are many Tie pilots that one can choose for a squad. The Z-95 only have 4 options currently.

Hi Guys.

Firstly what a thread!!! I apologise for my English counterpart but not all of us are Imperialist. (Good luck to Scotland if they vote to leave).

As a question: Can you math-hammerers factor in player familiarity? I have found (in my experience) that I get better when I am familiar with a ship (or army in 40K). My win ratio improves and my effectiveness improves.

Also I tend to fly better if I "like" the ship and feel more comfortable with it therefore increasing its effectiveness. I find the HWK an effective ship in my list even though people (fellow wargamers where I play) disagree. If I pick a new ship (or 40k army) I will more often than not loose the first few games as I get used to the particular way of playing.

Where I can agree and see the argument for Maths (USA: mathematics) even though I do not understand most of it (Social Science degree!!!!!), I will disregard this to fly what I like thus improving my win ratio and having a good time. I do not netlist and create my own unique units, that said vvv...

BTW I have run this zwarm with some success:

Blount + Assault missile + Swarm tactics

Cracken + clusters + swarm

3x Bandito's with concussion.