Had a chance to play a casual game with my neighbor Friday evening. I had been wanting to try a new TIE squad and I also built a Lego model of the HWK for testing purposes (see if it's a ship I want to buy, especially with the new Scum version on the horizon).

My squad ("Darth Defender"), stolen from someone on the forums here (99 pts):

Darth Vader (TIE Advanced) + Engine Upgrade + Outmaneuver

Rexlar Brath (TIE Defender) + Ion Cannon + Predator

Backstabber (TIE Fighter) + Engine Upgrade

My opponent's squad, as best as I can remember:

Kyle Katarn (HWK-290) + Shield Upgrade + Moldy Crow + Squad Leader (?)

Etahn A'baht (E-Wing) + R2-D2 + Advanced Proton Torpedoes + Swarm Tactics (?)

Green Squadron Pilot (A-Wing) + Cluster Missiles + Marksmanship

I don't have much detail on the match itself, although Etahn and Backstabber went down the same round (Backstabber took cluster missiles through the cockpit and Etahn was worn down as I concentrated fire). Etahn's torpedoes were still in the tubes. Kyle suffered from a lack of maneuverability, unable to shake the maneuverable Defender and Advanced. The Force-attuned pilot couldn't dodge an asteroid, landing on it after taking the only ion damage of the game, taking damage that led to him burning out near the end of the match. The A-Wing was the last Rebel standing, scampering around my opponent's side of the board just a step ahead of the two undamaged (!) TIE aces. Tired and hoping to finish off the match quickly, I jumped Brath ahead with a 4K through an asteroid to get a shot on the A-Wing and took his only hit of the match (shed one shield on the asteroid damage). Vader took down the A-Wing to finish the game (Brath didn't even need to shoot).

Both of us agreed that the Rebel squad was pretty weak and lacked synergy (and I think the ordnance was over-emphasized). We're hoping to do a rematch, with me playing the same ships but a different Rebel squad. Here's what I'm thinking:

Etahn A'baht + R2-D2 + Elusiveness
Roark Garnet + Blaster Turret + Recon Specialist + Moldy Crow + Shield Upgrade
Tycho Celchu + Push the Limit

Any suggestions? Does a Rebel HWK-A-E squad stand a chance against a Defender-Advanced-TIE (or even Defender-Advanced-Interceptor) build?

Etahn A'baht wants to play with as many friends as possible. My best sucesses with him have been either with the B wing Nein Nub and some head hunters.something like 2 Xwings and 2 Head hunters. You want more dice to make his ability to trigger the most often.

No turret on the Crow? Honestly, it would be hard to have a worst team than that rebel one... Pairing Etahn with a 1 dice and 2 dice attack ship... 3 ship team with a wooping 6 attack dice total... losing to that would have been an achievement on its own.

But, if you had fun, that's all that counts.

If you are limited to only those three ship for the rebels, I would try something like this:

Jan Ors + Predator + Ion Cannon turret

Corran Horn + R2-D2 + Fire-control system + Push the Limit

Green Squadron Pilot + Refit + Test Pilot + Predator + Outmaneuver

EDIT: Or switch Outmaneuver for Wingman on the A-Wing to remove Corran stress and put Nien Nunb with Jan to give more greens to clear stress. But an A-Wing with Outmaneuver start to be a threat that you can't ignore so... do as you like.

Yeah, Etahn's ability is pretty cool but underutilized in this build. However, since I don't have any Zs or Rebel Aces, I have neither Wingman nor Chardaan Refit nor A-Wing Test Pilot. Nien + Jan and A-wing + Outmaneuver sound pretty cool.

I don't know the player against who you play, but surely you can at least proxy Chardaan Refit (-2pts if no missiles) and A-Wing test pilot (title to gain an EPT slot except on the Prototype pilot). Those two upgrades REALLY help the A-Wing shine.

If proxy is out of the question and you must do only with what you have:

Jan Ors + Ion Cannon Turret + Recon Specialist

Corran Horn + R2-D2 + Advanced Sensor + Push the Limit (do your second action, gain a stress, then reveal a green maneuver to clear it)

Green Squadron Pilot + Outmaneuver

Here Is a list I have been playing around.

Rexler Brath 37+8

Predator 3

AutoBlaster 5

Whisper 32+7

Veteran Instincts 1

Fire Control Systems 2

Advance Cloaking Device 4

Backstabber 16

I have had a lot of fun flying it around. While they try to kill Brath and Whisper fly Backstabber behind them.

I haven't tried Brath with Autoblaster- does it seem to work ok?

I love it Predator with Auto Blasters kills every Tie Phantom. White K turn Love IT!!!!!