Yeah. Keyan is a better defender lol.

defenders are good. just really costly.

also, you might ahve good green dice luck this game, but next game you might not.

I had Vessery live though tons of shots, but other times, my friend's defenders just bit the dust after two attack. blank and blank. 6 damage to the face. and promptly died.

I think this is indeed a major problem with Tie Defenders too, they just don't... well defend. Lone Wolf gives one ship a re-roll of a blank on the defence and that helps tremendously. Most ships with 3 green dies are good at arc dodging but against experienced players the T/D dial is somewhat predictable (having only 1 hard turn and no boost hurts) so it tends to eat a lot of shots. I am hoping that the upcoming autothruster card is compatible with T/Ds.

I just love the Defender's 4 K-Turn. It's awesome being almost always able to take a shot at the enemy ships, especially since the Imperials currently do not have a turreted ship. (Decimator has not really been released yet.)

For my friend i lost three hit points total but inflicted 23 damage in return.

I took:

Rexler with SU,HLC and Predator

Vessery with SU,HLC and VI

i faced:

2 B-wings with FCS and ion cannons, both had HU.

Jake farrel with a-wing test pilot predator and lone wolf and prokets, he had SU.

I went in a bit uncertain how two expensive defenders would do but they worked pretty well, rexler sacrificed his ability to use TL for vess, the first round of shooting vess hit four times at range three against the first B-wing stripping most of its shields, rex fired after getting another four hits he got one evade so i put one hit and two crits on him preventing red turns and blinding him for that turn.

2nd round of shooting i finished off the first b-wing and engaged the A-wing with vessery, having VI proved invaluable as i used barrel roll to keep out of arc never letting him use the prokets, the a-wing died to rexler who shot through an asteroid at range three and got two hits and two crits.

At no point after the first b-wing was taken out did i ever really feel in danger.

I doubt it would do that well in a tournament setting but in a casual game it worked well this time and i'm happy how i flew.

The undefeated list at our club atm is 2 Deltas, Rexler and Predator. Granted we're all pretty new, as until this weekly club started in Sep we really weren't getting many games, and our collections are limited, but it is a terrifying list in casual. I'm gooing to try and out ace it on Saturday with Luke, Tycho and Gemmer, and if that doesn't work I've got a swarm of 5 academy's and two bombers ready to trial run.

I played a similar list, with the only difference on having PtL on Rex > Predator (as you want to take TL as your action for Vessery, and Focus as the second one for Rex's capacity).

And, as said before, I did pretty bad, because I face a list with Han and Wedge... Their PS 9 made me totally sick, the turn I could have killed Wedge, he kills Vessery first, and the turn I can "perhaps" kill Han, he kills Rexler...

So I think it could be fun, but not a lot if your opponent is playing PS 9.

defenders are good. just really costly.

also, you might ahve good green dice luck this game, but next game you might not.

I had Vessery live though tons of shots, but other times, my friend's defenders just bit the dust after two attack. blank and blank. 6 damage to the face. and promptly died.

I think this is indeed a major problem with Tie Defenders too, they just don't... well defend. Lone Wolf gives one ship a re-roll of a blank on the defence and that helps tremendously. Most ships with 3 green dies are good at arc dodging but against experienced players the T/D dial is somewhat predictable (having only 1 hard turn and no boost hurts) so it tends to eat a lot of shots. I am hoping that the upcoming autothruster card is compatible with T/Ds.

Really, the darn thing should have evade on its action bar. I understand no boost for balance but defenders really should do the bulky role. and that means evade. especially when they take up so many points. each one is 2.5 tie fighters. you will almost always be outnumbered.

I love my Defenders! They are so fun! I flew one with a Shuttle and two Academies last night and was a blast, pun intended. They're just so vicious with the HLC. I used to not like the way they looked, but now I see them and think they look super intimidating. They almost have this arachnid look to them.

I like putting a plain delta in a 5-6 ship list. Works really well with low Pilot Skill.

Last week, I flew 3x Academy Pilots, a Delta, and Echo w/ Advanced Cloaking. (Well, the first game I had 3x Academy Pilots, Shadow w/ stygium particle accelerator, and a bounty hunter with Tactician, but switched because i wanted to try out echo.)

Did extremely well, and I don't think the defender ever got killed, while being really helpful for the extra firepower.

I cringe at the thought of spending 7 points to add 1 crit-free die at only 2 of 3 ranges. I'd rather try to make opportunist work. (or perhaps Jan if I wasn't a loyal citizen of the empire.)

I think it's important to be willing to do a red turn to avoid the obvious 3 white turn at times. It's sometimes better to get no action than to bump and be predictable. Watch out for people who have experience playing against Defenders.

I like putting a plain delta in a 5-6 ship list. Works really well with low Pilot Skill.

Last week, I flew 3x Academy Pilots, a Delta, and Echo w/ Advanced Cloaking. (Well, the first game I had 3x Academy Pilots, Shadow w/ stygium particle accelerator, and a bounty hunter with Tactician, but switched because i wanted to try out echo.)

Did extremely well, and I don't think the defender ever got killed, while being really helpful for the extra firepower.

I cringe at the thought of spending 7 points to add 1 crit-free die at only 2 of 3 ranges. I'd rather try to make opportunist work. (or perhaps Jan if I wasn't a loyal citizen of the empire.)

Remember that extra die isn't the only benefit, secondary weapons don't allow an extra green for being range three for example, also if you use it with a TL after the re-roll crits stay crits.

LOVE my Defenders! I picked up two of them because I thought they were cool looking and they've quickly become the backbone of my Imperial fleet. That 4 K-Turn can be devastating but you have to get creative in how you use it (as well as the rest of the dial).

Rexler Brath - Push the Limit

Colonel Vessery - Veteran Instincts

Captain Yorr

....worth it?

Defenders are possibly the most survivable ship in the game (assuming your dice don't hate you).
Moreover, they're fairly rarely ran these days, so their odd maneuver wheel and unfathomable ability to disengage can really net you a control-based win.

Tonight at X-Wing night at my semi-L FGS I'm looking at running 2 Deltas + HLC along with Turr + VI for at least one game.

EDIT: Or at least I WAS. Life gets in the way again.

Defenders are possibly the most survivable ship in the game (assuming your dice don't hate you).

Moreover, they're fairly rarely ran these days, so their odd maneuver wheel and unfathomable ability to disengage can really net you a control-based win.

There are still more durable ships in the absolute sense, and especially for the cost. 1 Defender takes slightly less hits to kill, on average, than 2 TIE Fighters.

Firespray, YT-2400, YT-1300 are all more durable in absolute terms, off the top of my head.

Firespray, YT-2400, YT-1300 are all more durable in absolute terms

You just say that because you have math to back it up...

Firespray, YT-2400, YT-1300 are all more durable in absolute terms

You just say that because you have math to back it up...

Yeah that's not fair we defender aficionados go on more tangible things like personal experience and blind faith

Firespray, YT-2400, YT-1300 are all more durable in absolute terms

You just say that because you have math to back it up...

Ha ha, yeah. I'll do an article / blog on the ship durability for all the stat lines someday. Someday after I'm done school and have more time. Right now I just have the math scripts.

Firespray, YT-2400, YT-1300 are all more durable in absolute terms

You just say that because you have math to back it up...

For my friend i lost three hit points total but inflicted 23 damage in return.

I took:

Rexler with SU,HLC and Predator

Vessery with SU,HLC and VI

i faced:

2 B-wings with FCS and ion cannons, both had HU.

Jake farrel with a-wing test pilot predator and lone wolf and prokets, he had SU.

I went in a bit uncertain how two expensive defenders would do but they worked pretty well, rexler sacrificed his ability to use TL for vess, the first round of shooting vess hit four times at range three against the first B-wing stripping most of its shields, rex fired after getting another four hits he got one evade so i put one hit and two crits on him preventing red turns and blinding him for that turn.

2nd round of shooting i finished off the first b-wing and engaged the A-wing with vessery, having VI proved invaluable as i used barrel roll to keep out of arc never letting him use the prokets, the a-wing died to rexler who shot through an asteroid at range three and got two hits and two crits.

At no point after the first b-wing was taken out did i ever really feel in danger.

I doubt it would do that well in a tournament setting but in a casual game it worked well this time and i'm happy how i flew.

I love me some Defender action. They're a lot more survivable than people give them credit for. Just a quick question though.. you mentioned Rex getting 2 hits and 2 crits through at range 3. I'm assuming you used the HLC. If that's the case, how did you have 2 and 2? HLC's make you flip your crits to hits. So, if you didn't use Rexlar's ability you'd have 4 normal hits. If you did use Rexlar's ability, you'd flip those 4 hits to 4 crits if you used a focus..

for all the defender freaks =D

HEY GUYS I DID IT:

Take a look, 3 versions. We did one play test today VI and Prockets on Rexler , soontir hull (dont use that build).

Version 1:

No fancy flying needed. If you are good with Turr and Soontir, this is great! No synergy problems. Very economical. 1 pt init bid.

Soontir and Turr both have 2 actions at least and PS9, and they both have a hull incase you eff up royally.

The Delta with HLC will help against heavier targets like Falcons.

Rebel Captive is pretty hurtful here though.

Version 3:

I count only one Defender in your lists.

This is off topic.

=( sometimes you gotta break some eggs.

There are still more durable ships in the absolute sense, and especially for the cost. 1 Defender takes slightly less hits to kill, on average, than 2 TIE Fighters.

I'd love to see how you come to this conclusion, MJ, because it's not been my experience at all, what with the Defender being less susceptible to critical hits. Are we looking at the TIE's being able to evade where the Defender can only focus?

I'm not doubting you, just interested in the reasoning.

For my friend i lost three hit points total but inflicted 23 damage in return.

I took:

Rexler with SU,HLC and Predator

Vessery with SU,HLC and VI

i faced:

2 B-wings with FCS and ion cannons, both had HU.

Jake farrel with a-wing test pilot predator and lone wolf and prokets, he had SU.

I went in a bit uncertain how two expensive defenders would do but they worked pretty well, rexler sacrificed his ability to use TL for vess, the first round of shooting vess hit four times at range three against the first B-wing stripping most of its shields, rex fired after getting another four hits he got one evade so i put one hit and two crits on him preventing red turns and blinding him for that turn.

2nd round of shooting i finished off the first b-wing and engaged the A-wing with vessery, having VI proved invaluable as i used barrel roll to keep out of arc never letting him use the prokets, the a-wing died to rexler who shot through an asteroid at range three and got two hits and two crits.

At no point after the first b-wing was taken out did i ever really feel in danger.

I doubt it would do that well in a tournament setting but in a casual game it worked well this time and i'm happy how i flew.

I love me some Defender action. They're a lot more survivable than people give them credit for. Just a quick question though.. you mentioned Rex getting 2 hits and 2 crits through at range 3. I'm assuming you used the HLC. If that's the case, how did you have 2 and 2? HLC's make you flip your crits to hits. So, if you didn't use Rexlar's ability you'd have 4 normal hits. If you did use Rexlar's ability, you'd flip those 4 hits to 4 crits if you used a focus..

Rexler was using TL for vessery as they were both PS8, when he rerolled two came up as crits, the HLC only flips crits to hits on the initial roll it does not effect re-rolls.