As many have seen, been tweaking my Echo list for a small tournament coming up, and the only list I'm seriously worried about is one with a Han Solo+Gunner/Luke+C3PO+Engine list (potentially with Marksmanship or PTL).

I've been playing:

Echo+VI+ACD+RC (Rebel is for discouragement as well as anti-phantom)

BH+Recon/Flight Instructor/Gunner

OGP + Vader

98-100 pts

So I've played a few games against myself (doing my best to pick the best moves for each side if I didn't know what they were going to do). Both times I've been successful in killing Han's escorts and I had Han focus on shooting Echo whenever she's in range.

Depending on the length of each tournament round, I could potentially eek out a win by killing the escorts and just leading Han around in a chase, but generally Han can always get Echo in range every 2 rounds or so, even with the BH and Shuttle running interference and shooting at Han.

With Han's ability to roll up to 4 times (with Gunner/Luke), pretty much every time he shoots at Echo, even cloaked, it's average of 1 damage, and no matter how I decloak and go 4 straight or 3 bank away, he can still get in range (I REALLY hate the R3 turret).

That's when I started looking through all of my options of something that can help me reduce a hit if possible, if I do my stress/action denial correctly. And that's when Sensor Jammer came into play.

If Han uses his action to boost, then most likely he won't have a focus/Marksmanship. If he has PTL, then he'll be stressed, and shooting at me means he's double stressed and I'll be safe for a round or 2. So Sensor Jammer seems like the best upgrade for Echo.

The problem is, If I do this, I have to give up Recon Specialist/Flight Instructor on the BH.

The ultimate question is, in a meta with lots of Falcons (not necessarily the Han+EU+Gunner), should I take Sensor Jammer on Echo instead of a Recon Specialist/FI/Gunner on the BH?

Pros:

- Gives Echo a little more leeway to get into the fight and get shot at once or twice if the attacker doesn't have a focus => My full list will be attacking instead of having 40 pts running away all the time.

- Forces Falcons to be less defensive, so slightly easier to kill

- Makes Echo more survivable against Falcon lists

Cons:

- BH is less effective without RS or Gunner

- Everyone could change to taking focus and then it's 4 points wasted

Any advice? (I'm pretty set on the ACD/VI/RC on Echo, so the key decision is between SJ on Echo or RS/FI/Gunner on BH)

Thanks!

You could drop Vader and put FCS on the Shuttle instead - +1 point to play with

Change RecSpec for Tactician on the Firespray, (correct me if I am wrong but doesn't it also work with the Firespray's rear arc?) - +1 point to play with

Then you can afford the Jammer, while having great economy of action on the shuttle (and Falcon players incidentally hate FCS) and extra stress for control. Which should increase the survivability of all your ships by denying actions and increasing predictability in your opponent's maneuvers.

All for the loss of a focus token/Gunner

I want to say switch the BH to Carnor with PTL and SD or SU if you want to rock SJ but he's just so **** flimsy.

You could drop Vader and put FCS on the Shuttle instead - +1 point to play with

Change RecSpec for Tactician on the Firespray, (correct me if I am wrong but doesn't it also work with the Firespray's rear arc?) - +1 point to play with

Then you can afford the Jammer, while having great economy of action on the shuttle (and Falcon players incidentally hate FCS) and extra stress for control. Which should increase the survivability of all your ships by denying actions and increasing predictability in your opponent's maneuvers.

All for the loss of a focus token/Gunner

Interesting suggestions. Tactician does work on the rear arc, but it's just very limited at range 2. The stress is useful though.

FCS instead of Vader on the shuttle, that could work. The one thing I like about Vader is the fact that against Imperials (i.e. anything without shields or are flimsy like interceptors), I pretty much can one shot it if I get a shot. With FCS, that increases my survivability of the shuttle (it's not taking hits to cause crits anymore) but lose the ability to kill things for sure (situational, I know).

Very interesting. I do like the idea. Worst case I could consider dropping Vader altogether and just add FCS on BH for 100 points. Does anyone ever play FCS shuttle (without Gunner/Engine Upgrade)?

I want to say switch the BH to Carnor with PTL and SD or SU if you want to rock SJ but he's just so **** flimsy.

Yeah, trust me, I *really* want to add an interceptor, but that makes the situation even worse against Falcons.

I play the exact same list. Love it, but have major problems from falcons. This is the latest iteration and my favorite thus far.

99pts

Echo

-Recon

-IV

-Advanced Cloaking

BH

-Recon

Shuttle

-Engine Upgrade

Having recon on both BH and Echo give them increased survivability, which we both know how important that is in a 3 ship build.

The exclusion of Vader is for the same reason. 3 ships @ 24 HP can't afford to lose 2-6 HP. Trust me, I love the doomshuttle but with EU the shuttle performs better in this list. Vader doesnt do anything vs Chewy who is another counter to this list.

Its one of my favorite lists to fly. But it is just soooo hard to play against falcons.

Good stuff Nataris! Against a Falcon, your list is definitely superior to mine. The issue is I have to figure out how to deal with other Phantoms and regular lists (swarms, 3-4 ship Rebel builds).

Rebel Captive is almost a "must included" against a Whisper+VI, since it gives you the upper hand if you can survive a round of shooting against her, and it gives the PtL Falcon something to think about, since they don't want to be double stressed.

I like the combination of RC with Sensor Jammer, since a Falcon usually has to consider:

- Do I want to be stressed?

- If I don't PtL, should I focus or evade? Focus will make me less defensive, but evade will allow Echo to be more defensive.

Played 2 games against a Han Falcon and a Chewie Falcon yesterday, and somehow won both relatively easily. And I didn't use either RC or SJ even once. It definitely makes me want to add Recon to the BH and Phantom again, but I gotta be careful and keep the Phantom safe.

Agree on the Engine Upgrade on Shuttle is better, but the list has to take on Imperial and Phantoms too, so having that ability to auto-crit forces the Interceptors and Phantoms to stay out of the shuttle arc, limiting where they can go. I've had times when the PS9+ pilots chase Echo around, and Echo runs across the firing arc of the Shuttle to force them to make

the hard choice of chasing Echo and suffering a crit, or breaking off and giving Echo some room to maneuver.

I wish I had 105 points!

The list is already decent against swarms since it can hit hard and offer focused evades. I use echo and the BH as my phantom counter. It isn't optimal but echo and the BH seem to get enough focused dice on a phantom to at least stand a chance.

The falcon has been the only consistent bane of this list.

Just played 2 games against a very well built and flown Rebel list where I didn't even kill one ship. I'll post a battle report on it shortly. I was trying Echo + 4 BSP (2 with predator), and both times it was underwhelming compared with having a BH and Shuttle.

Worst case I could consider dropping Vader altogether and just add FCS on BH for 100 points.

That isn't possible, as the Firespray does not have a System Upgrade slot.

Oops, I meant FCS on the Shuttle.

After tonight's match where Wes with 1 hull point left after 4 rounds of 3 dice attacking with predator rerolls, that will still come back to haunt me. I'm definitely taking Shuttle with Vader.

Vader could work. Just be patient with his ability and only use him in dire situations.

Good luck. I still enjoy this list myself. Fun to fly for sure.

Suggestion. YMMV.

Though a bit trickier one thing I do with Firesprays is carry a seismic charge. Free action at the start of movement, boom at end of movement but before the firing starts. Usually enough to clear some of the pesky 1 hp left ships. I use this when I don't have the 3 for Vader and want some sort of extra free action damage.

Especially if I am running low-count ship builds and need a counter for swarms.

Suggestion. YMMV.

Though a bit trickier one thing I do with Firesprays is carry a seismic charge. Free action at the start of movement, boom at end of movement but before the firing starts. Usually enough to clear some of the pesky 1 hp left ships. I use this when I don't have the 3 for Vader and want some sort of extra free action damage.

Especially if I am running low-count ship builds and need a counter for swarms.

Yeah, I do like seismic charges, but hard for me to figure out what to drop to put it in.

When I was at 98 pts, the hard decision is whether to guarantee a choice of initiatives or add a FCS or Seismic charge...