The tankiest Imperial ship

By Biophysical, in X-Wing

...is not the Decimator. Sure it's got a lot of hull points, and you can get Ysanne Isard for an extra HP per turn, but it doesn't come close to the following.

(Boba Fett or Kath Scarlet) + Recon Specialist + Lone Wolf

Assuming you have both an action to use RecSpec and are activating Lone Wolf, you get this:

5% chance of no Evades rolled

26% chance of 1 Evade rolled

69% 2 Evades rolled

Now you get this against 1 or two attacks, depending on how many Focus tokens you're willing to reserve. You have a decent defense without using a Focus token, though, so it's reasonable to spend on to attack and rely on HP and your native rolls to get you by if you have a good shot. If you have a strong need to tank, you can always fall back on your Lone Wolf re-roll to boost your attack. The fewer enemy ships there are, the nastier this tank will be to punch through, but it's also going to be great against swarms, because even 2 natural Evade dice with a re-roll on blanks is going to stop a lot of 2-dice attacks.

I'm really looking forward to loading Scum Boba with Recon Specialist. Should make him pretty tanky with his inherent rerolls.

I'll still take an engine upgrade over recon specialist. Being able to jump out of enemy firing arcs or put them in yours is still my preferred option :)

The tankiest Imp ship is Soontir. By far.

I'll still take an engine upgrade over recon specialist. Being able to jump out of enemy firing arcs or put them in yours is still my preferred option :)

Different ways of doing the same thing, defensively, but RecSpec lets you keep you offense going much better, which is important on an expensive ship. RecSpec/Lone Wolf is also much better against turreted ships. It's the "brawler" option for a Firespray.

Edited by Biophysical

PTL on Kath or Boba with Isard. Once your shields are gone and you have a damage you can take all three of your actions. Even if you bump a ship when doing a green you could wait until combat take an evade and then focus with PTL. That seems pretty tanky to me or you get to maximize your damage potential.

Cloaked whisper with evade action + focus token.

I would have to say Soontir Fel or an EU Darth Vader

PTL on Kath or Boba with Isard. Once your shields are gone and you have a damage you can take all three of your actions. Even if you bump a ship when doing a green you could wait until combat take an evade and then focus with PTL. That seems pretty tanky to me or you get to maximize your damage potential.

I can get behind this, too, but I think you should also grab a Hull Upgrade to hopefully squeeze a little more out of Ysanne.

Whisper with Advanced Cloaking Device, Sensor Jammer and Flight Instructor. Good luck.

PTL on Kath or Boba with Isard. Once your shields are gone and you have a damage you can take all three of your actions. Even if you bump a ship when doing a green you could wait until combat take an evade and then focus with PTL. That seems pretty tanky to me or you get to maximize your damage potential.

I can get behind this, too, but I think you should also grab a Hull Upgrade to hopefully squeeze a little more out of Ysanne.

Agreed, since you're basically having to give up one hp to gain that ability.

Isard/PTL vs Lone Wolf/RecSpec is a really interesting comparison. Before Isard kicks in, LW/RS is clearly better, because you're getting an effective 2 actions + the mini-actions in the form of re-roll from Lone Wolf, and you get to use your full dial and don't worry about stress inducers as much. 2 Greens + a re-roll with a Focus is pretty close to the defense bonus of an Evade token (not quite, but close). In almost all cases, LW/RS is as good or better offensively, the exception being when you get blocked, then shot at, then get a PTL Focus from Isard's Evade action before you yourself fire. That's an extremely rare event.

The possibility of 2 Evades + a Focus (or Boost with an EU) in the late game is pretty nice, for the Isard/PTL combo, though, and there's always the eventuality that you're not triggering Lone Wolf for some reason.

Isard/PTL is 2 points more than LW/RS, for what it's worth.

I think both give the Imperials a really tough ship.

What about Flight Instructor instead of Recon Spec? Coupled with Lone Wolf, you could potentially reroll both your dice.

Before Modification:

2 Blanks = 14%

1 Blank 1 Focus = 19%

1 Blank 1 Evade = 19%

2 Focus = 6%

1 Focus 1 Evade = 28%

2 Evade = 14%

After flight instructor (assuming only the eye reroll):

2 Blanks = 14%

1 Blank 1 Focus -> Blank = 7%

1 Blank 1 Focus -> Focus = 5%

1 Blank 1 Focus -> Evade = 7%

1 Blank 1 Evade = 19%

2 Focus -> Blank = 2%

2 Focus -> Focus = 1%

2 Focus -> Evade = 2%

1 Focus 1 Evade -> Blank = 7%

1 Focus 1 Evade -> Focus = 5%

1 Focus 1 Evade -> Evade = 7%

2 Evade = 14%

After LW Modification:

2 Blanks -> Blank -> 5%

2 Blanks -> Focus -> 4%

2 Blanks -> Evade -> 5%

1 Blank 1 Focus -> Blank -> Blank = 3%

1 Blank 1 Focus -> Blank -> Focus = 2%
1 Blank 1 Focus -> Blank -> Evade = 3%

1 Blank 1 Focus -> Focus -> Blank = 2%%

1 Blank 1 Focus -> Focus -> Evade = 2%

1 Blank 1 Focus -> Evade -> Blank = 3%

1 Blank 1 Focus -> Evade -> Focus = 2%
1 Blank 1 Focus -> Evade -> Evade = 3%

1 Blank 1 Evade -> Blank = 7%

1 Blank 1 Evade -> Focus = 5%
1 Blank 1 Evade -> Evade = 7%

2 Focus -> Blank -> Blank = 1%

2 Focus -> Blank -> Focus = 1%
2 Focus -> Blank -> Evade = 1%

2 Focus -> Focus -> Blank = 1%

2 Focus -> Focus -> Focus = 0%
2 Focus -> Focus -> Evade = 1%

2 Focus -> Evade -> Blank = 1%

2 Focus -> Evade -> Focus = 1%
2 Focus -> Evade -> Evade = 1%
1 Focus 1 Evade -> Blank = 7%

1 Focus 1 Evade -> Focus = 5%

1 Focus 1 Evade -> Evade = 7%

2 Evade = 14%

(lots of rounding going on, thus why it doesn't add to 100%)

So, assuming no focus for defense, you get the following distribution:

0 Evades = 17%

1 Evade = 43%

2 Evades = 32%

Which gives you a (normalized to 100%) 1.16 average evades on evade attack. And if you have a focus, you have the same 1.64 evade as calculated by a previous poster (note, I didn't double check that number). If for a moment, we make the inaccurate assumption that your focus only lasts for 1 attack, then to compare the Flight Instructor vs. Recon Spec would go as follows:

Recon Spec

Current -> Total

1.64 -> 1.64

1.64 -> 3.28

.75 -> 4.03

.75 -> 4.78

.75 -> 5.53

Flight Instructor

1.64 -> 1.64

1.16 -> 2.8

1.16 -> 3.96

1.16 -> 5.12

1.16 -> 6.28

So, as you can see, flight instructor is almost as valuable starting at the third attack, and is more valuable beyond it. However, Flight Instructor has the benefit of not costing an action, and therefore can be used every turn, where as recon spec makes you susceptible to action denial. Given, Flight Instructor does cost 1 point more than Recon Spec... And this isn't even counting the FI ability to reroll blanks at PS2 or lower.

The tankiest Imp ship is Soontir. By far.

Especially if the auto thruster rumour turn out to be accurate.

The tankiest Imp ship is Soontir. By far.

Especially if the auto thruster rumour turn out to be accurate.

What is this rumor? Can you link?

The tankiest Imp ship is Soontir. By far.

Especially if the auto thruster rumour turn out to be accurate.

I'm curious about this rumor, as well.

Boba Fett + PTL + Engine Upgrade + Ysanne Isard

This is the most tanky Imperial ship.

1) Set bank move.

2) On PS8 see if your bank move would work, if it doesnt, or the opposite way is better, switch it.

3) Choose Focus as action.

4) Start of combat phase, after eveyrone has finished moving, including whispers and PS11 Hans, activate Isard for free Evade.

5) Once Isard has activated, use PTL to activate the boost if you can get out of a few arcs. If this is not necessary as you are already out of arcs (you are PS8 with the ability to change your bank), then pick target lock.

6) Profit.

The tankiest Imp ship is Soontir. By far.

Especially if the auto thruster rumour turn out to be accurate.

What is this rumor? Can you link?

Can't remember the thread. It was commented that it gave an extra evade die when attacked from out of arc. Just to be clear, I make no claims about the legitimacy of what they posted. They could have been trying to read the card or complete BSing.

However if it is true I will be running Fel with that card, stealth device, and PTL as I laugh at Phantoms

People seem to be forgetting that Lone Wolf won't always be able to work, and in this game things always seem to turn into a cluster**** at some stage.

The thing with Lone Wolf is that whether it works or not is almost entirely up to good planning on the controlling player's part. PTL doesn't always work either, but your opponent has a much larger say in whether it works or not (blocking, stress, ionization).

The tankiest Imp ship is Soontir. By far.

Especially if the auto thruster rumour turn out to be accurate.

What is this rumor? Can you link?

Can't remember the thread. It was commented that it gave an extra evade die when attacked from out of arc. Just to be clear, I make no claims about the legitimacy of what they posted. They could have been trying to read the card or complete BSing.

However if it is true I will be running Fel with that card, stealth device, and PTL as I laugh at Phantoms

It's all pure speculation. All we know is:

  1. The developers stated at a GenCon interview to Team Covenant that Interceptor anti-turret love is coming in wave 6 (I think they said specifically in the StarViper expansion pack)
  2. The StarViper expansion has a card listed as "Autoth..." and it appears to be a Modification. (The M is visible)

StarViper-product-shot.png

My guess, and this is pure speculation:

Autothrusters

Modification

Cost: 2 points

When defending, you may roll 1 extra defense dice if you are outside of the attacker's arc.

Dat Fat Firespray.

The tankiest Imp ship is Soontir. By far.

Especially if the auto thruster rumour turn out to be accurate.

What is this rumor? Can you link?

Can't remember the thread. It was commented that it gave an extra evade die when attacked from out of arc. Just to be clear, I make no claims about the legitimacy of what they posted. They could have been trying to read the card or complete BSing.

However if it is true I will be running Fel with that card, stealth device, and PTL as I laugh at Phantoms

It's all pure speculation. All we know is:

  • The developers stated at a GenCon interview to Team Covenant that Interceptor anti-turret love is coming in wave 6 (I think they said specifically in the StarViper expansion pack)
  • The StarViper expansion has a card listed as "Autoth..." and it appears to be a Modification. (The M is visible)

StarViper-product-shot.png

My guess, and this is pure speculation:

Autothrusters

Modification

Cost: 2 points

When defending, you may roll 1 extra defense dice if you are outside of the attacker's arc.

Thanks for clearing the matter up. I hope it ends up being true though!

Thanks for clearing the matter up. I hope it ends up being true though!

If true, it could breath some more life back in Stealth Device.

Soontir Fel + PtL + Stealth Device + Autothrusters

5 dice vs turrets that you are out of arc for, with focus + evade, at 35 points.

Thanks for clearing the matter up. I hope it ends up being true though!

If true, it could breath some more life back in Stealth Device.

Soontir Fel + PtL + Stealth Device + Autothrusters

5 dice vs turrets that you are out of arc for, with focus + evade, at 35 points.

There is a lot more speculation in this thread:

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/113834-lets-speculate-on-auto-thrusters/?hl=autothrusters

Edited by GiraffeandZebra