I realize this won't work in a tournament, but try playing some games at 125, you might find it gets you out of that rut. Support ships like jendon can start to pay off, and you can run a defender or echo and still have some points left. Give it a try.

Isn't this the wrong approach? Looking for advice making your Rebel way of squad building work for the Empire, instead of working out the best way of squad building for the Empire?

It'd be nice if the TIE Advaned did get a boost to fill this role wouldn't it? I'm looking forward to the fix for that, and to seeing what the new goodies for fans of the Intercepter are...

Sorry I didn't have anything helpful to add OP.

The TIE advanced x1's what's meant to sit in this slot. The TIE bomber also lives here.

Your issue with TIE fighters is that they're fodder. However, you could fit two of them into that bracket. A two dice attack might not be impressive but two two dice attacks and some effective blocking can make a difference. Backstabber and Mauler Mithel can upgun the TIE fighter: upgrading Mithel with an engine upgrade and EPT moves him into that point bracket: Backstabber also is open to modifications.

Backstabber and Mauler Mithel can upgun the TIE fighter: upgrading Mithel with an engine upgrade and EPT moves him into that point bracket: Backstabber also is open to modifications.

It might just be the way I fly TIEs but I seem to get more mileage out of Backstabber's ability than I do Mauler's. I think the only time I'd use Mauler is if I needed a TIE with an EPT, needed PS7 for some reason, or already had Backstabber in my list.

Backstabber>Mauler all day. Mauler has the EPT but if you're going Mauler + EU + EPT why aren't you just flying an RGP+PTL? 1pt more for all that green and 1 less PS is pretty great. Naked Backstabber goes in about 85% of my imperial lists and BS + nightbeast is still some of the best 31pts you can spend for the Empire.

Definitely agree about Stabby-stab being better in most cases, however Mithel can take Lone Wolf.

Backstabber is good sometimes but I feel his ability makes you makes you lock him into a specific flight path, with the result that he may or may not ever get his ability used. Night Beast with the ability to always Focus with a green move may be better, as is Dark Curse who is a pain all the time.

OP: Doomshuttle OGP+Vader 24

Crashshuttle OGP+Mara+Enhanced Scopes 25

is the best for this point range, although there's an argument for Alpha + Hull 21

I've mopped the floor with 4 RG w/ stealth. Yeah, there's a chance you can loose one to concentrated fire, but you can split them into two pairs and just fly on the edges and turn in on turn 3-4 and focus on one target. 6-12 attack dice on a falcon in one or two turns will shred it and you MIGHT loose one because of the 4 evade dice. You'll generally go before similar cost Rebel ships and have good odds taking out 1-2 similar cost Ties that will, generally, shoot after you.

Yes. Another problem is that since Wave 6 is all Scum, Imperial players must wait until Wave 7, at the earliest, to get any more ships (unless there's an Imperial Aces II in the works, but nothing has been announced so far). The TIE Phantom and TIE Defender will be the last ships the Imperials get for a while.

Er... Mr Decimator is feeling slightly miffed now.

I think I might have an answer to my own question: TIE Avenger.

Not 100% on the fluff, but TIE Avenger appears to be a prototype of the TIE Advanced (or perhaps it was the other way around?). Pointwise, it should be about the same as an Interceptor, maybe a little bit less.

However, we will likely not see the TIE Avenger until Wave 7 at the earliest.

Also, re some of your posts:

re TIE Fighters: I know that 2 Academies might work, but I am looking for some variety in my games beyond just running TIE Fighters all the time, and unfortunately, Empire does not have much variety in the 20-25 point range.

re Shuttle: Shuttle is good. Takes some time to get used to though. Could easily be one of the strongest ships in the game for its point cost, but takes some skill to use.

re Decimator: Yeah, kinda forgot about that, but still, Decimator does not fit in the 20-25 point range. So, my main point remains valid.

re Interceptors: I like named Interceptors like Fel, but I find it hard to justify using 25 points on a generic Interceptor when (1) it has the same defensive stats as a TIE Fighter and (2) it would have some difficulty arc-dodging and playing defense without Soontir's PtL-->focus combo or Phennir's hit-and-run tactics.

Not 100% on the fluff, but TIE Avenger appears to be a prototype of the TIE Advanced (or perhaps it was the other way around?). Pointwise, it should be about the same as an Interceptor, maybe a little bit less.

Other way around. The Avenger was the final product that came from the prototype TIE Advanced. Point-wise it should end up between the Interceptor and the Defender. The generics might end up in the 20-25 point range, but the elites would be 25-30. Possibly 30-35.

Yeah, dangling options, and just that unless you support the ships correctly to get use out of them. A Tie is a great ship, but you usually need Howlrunner and some numbers to make them effective. Lose Howlrunner and your list starts falling apart. Interceptors are great, but need a solid anchor to provide flanking opportunities. They tend to be more situational and fail to be effective or go down in flames without the proper support. The Rookie X-wing, however, is generally good on its own, in large part because it has just enough hit points to stay in the fight even with a bad roll. So while you aren't guaranteed to make a great squad, the ships can all do their thing more independently and you can mix them up a lot more easily without a catastrophic failure.

I absolutely disagree with this assesment of the Tie Fighter. I've almost never take Howlrunner and have played many games with large numbers of Tie Fighters. I disagree that Tie Fighters require anything to buff them. I also strongly disagree with the mentaility that you need to fly all your Tie Fighters in a giant formation. I think that completely takes away the strength of what the Tie Fighter does. It's a highly manueverable ship.

If you have just two Tie Fighters working together as wingmen, you have a good setup. Yes, 2 red dice is not the best situation, but you know what, the game favors red dice. I have seen plenty of times that I roll double hits or crits with my little Tie Fighter shots and the opponent flubs his green dice. Does it happen all the time? No. Does it happen enough that you don't have to buff them? Yes. The key to Tie Fighters is their ability to manuever, especially with that 1 white sharp turn. If you survive the first pass, you can just swarm people and pester them all day long. If you can get within Range 1, you are getting the extra dice.

Overall, two Tie Fighters cost about the same as an X-wing, but have more hull points than an X-wing has hull and shield. Also, it's easier to perhaps corner one ship and get a good turn on it than it is to get both. Yes, the Rebels do get a lot of 20 or so point ships with shields and all to tank, but that's what they are about. The Imperials get the large numbers of Tie Fighters, but if you think of the pairs of them as one ship, then it's about the same.

As I say, probably too often, I've had so many experiences with unmodified Tie attacks doing nothing that I'm a little gun-shy here, but have been definitely interested in trying the Predator Tie builds! As far as how I fly the Ties, the formation will break apart really quickly, and that's definitely when I think things get fun. Forcing a crazy traffic jam and having 7 ships explode in every direction, blocking and mauling your opponent at close range is the best. I'm perhaps thinking mostly of dealing with huge turrets though, where this doesn't happen so much.

When you use Academies these days, do you have just one or two, or a larger number? How are they doing against Predator? Even if they go down quickly, if they're drawing fire from some more capable offensive ship that might not be so bad.