I know the term Tie Swarm and Mini-Swarm have been used a lot. I am curious, though, as to what exactly it applies to. I know the classic Tie Swarm is a bunch of Academy Pilots with Howlrunner in the mix that flies all over the board in a giant wedge formation that maximizes the use of Howlrunner. I get that.

I have to admit that I found Howlrunner died way too often to like her. I found the points spent on her were just gone too soon in the game. I tended to avoid her. Call me weird. Is it considered a Tie Swarm without Howlrunner?

Another question I think about is flying the Tie Fighters not as a giant wedge. If I'm not flying Howlrunner, I'm not required to fly in this ridiculous wedge. I tend to mix my guys up with different pilot levels and different uniques. I stuff the Academy Pilots in people's way and then flank them with the Tie Fighters. I always considered this a "swarm", but it seems that some people are so stuck on the Howlrunner formation that I wonder if people consider it a swarm.

Do people usually fly their Howlrunners in formation all game? Or is that just a first pass thing and they they break off? I just have a hard time thinking people have fun flying this big wedge around the board. It just seems.....silly.

When does a Swarm become a Mini-swarm? If I went with the 6 named Tie Fighters, would that be a swarm? Or is that a mini-swarm?

In my mind, TIE swarm is 6 or more TIEs that fly in a tight formation so they can overwhelm enemy squads with massive firepower.

A mini swarm is 5 or fewer TIEs, flown in tight formation, generally in support of a single powerful ship.

I don't think Howlrunner is part of the definition of a swarm, but she obviously shows up a lot.

So, what do you call 6 Ties that don't fly in formation?

A cluster****

In my mind, TIE swarm is 6 or more TIEs that fly in a tight formation so they can overwhelm enemy squads with massive firepower.

A mini swarm is 5 or fewer TIEs, flown in tight formation, generally in support of a single powerful ship.

I don't think Howlrunner is part of the definition of a swarm, but she obviously shows up a lot.

I would concur with this.

Then what do you call a group of 6 or so Tie Fighters not flying in formation?

Tie swarm is an unofficial name, so definitions are going to vary from person to person. Personally I consider a tie swarm to be any combination of 6 or more tie fighters and or interceptors. Formations, and specific pilots don't really come into for me.

I used to do the same, but I've been hearing and reading so many specific things about "Swarms" and having to fly in formation lately that it's got me wondering.

How many people actually fly their Tie Fighters in formation for most of the battle? I can see doing it on the approach, as the approach can be really rough on Tie Fighters. After that, though, I found things to be incredibly more variable to break things up into a giant furball. With Tie Fighters of different PS skills, I found I could control the board pretty well and shoot up who I needed to. I always found this more powerful than flying as one giant formation, but it seems I might be in a minority? I'm just trying to understand how most people fly a "swarm" and/or what fits into that definition?

Then what do you call a group of 6 or so Tie Fighters not flying in formation?

Six or more TIEs is a swarm. The effectiveness as a swarm will depend on how they are flown because in general TIEs will need to support each other to work best otherwise they can be defeated in detail. Even when most of the ships in a swarm are flown in formation you can still see outliers on occasion.

Maybe you've seen some of the six TIE lists that utilize Predator and Outmaneuver instead of Howlrunner. Those may not need to fly in a tight formation around a single ship to maximize damage potential but they still need to fly well to make sure they can bring enough firepower when called for.

I'd generally say a "mini-swarm" is four or five ships although if Howlrunner is with two other's I'd also consider that a mini-swarm. I guess a distinction between a "mini-swarm" and just "filler" is that you'd fly the mini-swarm almost like a single ship that just happens to be comprised of many parts.

At some point here I'm planning on running 8 Ties. 4 Academy and 4 Obsidian, 100 points even. I'm thinking group them into two mini swarms of 4 each.

What do you call a ship that hates accessories for suits?

At some point here I'm planning on running 8 Ties. 4 Academy and 4 Obsidian, 100 points even. I'm thinking group them into two mini swarms of 4 each.

That's how the French National winner did it: the flight of Obsidians at one end and the Academy flight at the other.

In 100pt, if your list is all TIE fighters, it's a full TIE swarm. They're usually eight or seven TIE fighters (using Howlrunner prevents you from taking eight), with the Named Swarm (all the named TIE pilots together) being six. A squad of four TIE fighters is a mini swarm. Once you start getting lower the TIEs cease to be a swarm and become filler instead. Where the line lies depends on the makeup of your squad.

While TIE swarms are usually in a formation as they often use Howlrunner, not flying in formation doesn't make the list no longer a swarm. The list itself is a TIE swarm, not the tactics.

In other formats and in general terms I'd agree with the others, four TIEs to a mini swarm, six to eight in a full swarm. I wonder what we call the full 12 TIE fighters you could take in Epic. A Slow Swarm probably .

I'm just trying to understand how most people fly a "swarm" and/or what fits into that definition?

Wave 3 you had to cluster them around Howlrunner. Now that the game has a lot more anti-formation (TIE phantom and Lieutenant Blount for example) we're seeing more TIE swarms without Howlrunner. In my opinion, Howlrunner's the main reason for formation flying as the formation does hamper one of the TIE fighter's strengths: maneuverability. Those things are crazy nimble, which people forget when they talk about Z-swarms ostensibly being better. Without Howl you might be better off breaking formation completely once the battle starts and completely overload your opponent with information. A swarm's only going one way: eight TIE fighters all doing their own thing is a lot of predicting to do. That is, of course, assuming you can handle the information overload yourself: you've got to maneuver and not crash those things. I've lost count of how many times I've barrel rolled into the path of one of my own higher PS ships even without flying a ton of ships. XD

current meta game calls for 8 ties NOT in formation so you can point your shots in different directions.

One thing i'm sure you know, but i'm going to say just in case any way, is that the real power of the swarm is to zerg with the enemy with so many attack dies that something has to go through. They don't need to fly together, but they should attack the same thing at the same time.

If all of your eights are pointing to different things, then is not a functional swarm, is just a.... flying crowd?