Depending on the cost of your flanker, as was said in the OP, he will often be a primary target. The key is giving them a bigger threat to shoot at. The flanker cannot be the biggest threat on the table, IE Soontir or a Phantom flanking for a TIE Swarm. Most often, not engaging the swarm would be folly. I like to fly XXZZ with Etahn flanking, Soontir or Whisper flanking for a Swarmlet, as I said above, and I really like to fly double HLC bounty Hunters with Backstabber flanking. All of these lists include a primary force that can tear through many targets if it is ignored.

Depending on the cost of your flanker, as was said in the OP, he will often be a primary target. The key is giving them a bigger threat to shoot at. The flanker cannot be the biggest threat on the table, IE Soontir or a Phantom flanking for a TIE Swarm. Most often, not engaging the swarm would be folly. I like to fly XXZZ with Etahn flanking, Soontir or Whisper flanking for a Swarmlet, as I said above, and I really like to fly double HLC bounty Hunters with Backstabber flanking. All of these lists include a primary force that can tear through many targets if it is ignored.

I think this is where that flanking idea starts to hamstring you at the building stage.

See I guess I didn't get the memo:

Captain yorr 24

Whisper acd vi fcs gunner 44

Soontir ptl 30

This is the Nationals list. Technically both whisper and Soontir are flankers..... Nope.

I try and think of a term I'll call damage potential. Whisper and Soontir have high damage potential of they aren't shot at my a significant number of ships. That's a normal game.

Versus a falcon I'll try and push the lambda in more and whisper at r2 while Soontir stays at r3. This is the best possible damage potential. Soontir dies too easily with no hull. Whisper will last longer with an evade and buzz saw doing the bulk of the damage.

Depending on the cost of your flanker, as was said in the OP, he will often be a primary target. The key is giving them a bigger threat to shoot at. The flanker cannot be the biggest threat on the table, IE Soontir or a Phantom flanking for a TIE Swarm. Most often, not engaging the swarm would be folly. I like to fly XXZZ with Etahn flanking, Soontir or Whisper flanking for a Swarmlet, as I said above, and I really like to fly double HLC bounty Hunters with Backstabber flanking. All of these lists include a primary force that can tear through many targets if it is ignored.

If the Flanker is an easy kill then it behooves the opponent to go kill it because First Blood is incredibly crucial in this game. But the concept of flanking itself depends on your opponent's deployment too. If he deploys diagonally in the corner, he can already cover all incoming angles. Sometimes it's just not worth flanking out at all which is why I recommend to the OP that he keep any ship that is going to be designated to that roll stay cheap.

If I saw a decked out Etahn flanked. I would Flat Out right after him with all my ships, Devil May Care.

Depending on the cost of your flanker, as was said in the OP, he will often be a primary target. The key is giving them a bigger threat to shoot at. The flanker cannot be the biggest threat on the table, IE Soontir or a Phantom flanking for a TIE Swarm. Most often, not engaging the swarm would be folly. I like to fly XXZZ with Etahn flanking, Soontir or Whisper flanking for a Swarmlet, as I said above, and I really like to fly double HLC bounty Hunters with Backstabber flanking. All of these lists include a primary force that can tear through many targets if it is ignored.

If the Flanker is an easy kill then it behooves the opponent to go kill it because First Blood is incredibly crucial in this game. But the concept of flanking itself depends on your opponent's deployment too. If he deploys diagonally in the corner, he can already cover all incoming angles. Sometimes it's just not worth flanking out at all which is why I recommend to the OP that he keep any ship that is going to be designated to that roll stay cheap.

If I saw a decked out Etahn flanked. I would Flat Out right after him with all my ships, Devil May Care.

Eatin' aBoat is actually a superb flanker, due to the native survivability of the E-Wing.

Looking forward to that. That list is tons of fun though.

Have you watched the Paul Heaver > Muon game? Interested in one of the podcasts discussing how well he shut down Dash.

Yes I have. I remember that game, classic example of Dash getting pinned. I'm sure we will do a summary of the TCO tournament eventually, but for now we are heavy on Worlds preview and soon review. Give us a month or so and I'm sure we will review the Team Covenant Open. I'll take some notes as I review the logs.

As Imperial I have started to use a named phantom with the necessary upgrades (ACD + rec. Spec.)

As Rebel I do not have real dedicated flankers, more like a dedicated free-roller.

But most times that might be Wedge or Ibtisam

What is a flanker in this sense? Okay, I know a flanker is a ship that attacks from the side of an enemy formation, but given the complete information you have at the start of the planning phase, you can't simply surprise the enemy with overwhelming force.

I approach the role of 'flanker' from 2 different perspectives when I build my lists.

First is the more traditional flanker. This guy is cheap and approaches from a different angle to the ready of your force. It's important to engage at the same time as the rest of your force. The purpose is to put the opponent in a situation that he with have to either turn part of his force to deal with the flanker and reduce the strength of his force engaging the main, or ignore the flanker and give it free range in his back line. Like I said, this guy should be cheap so if your opponent does turn part of his force off to deal with it, chances are it's more than you spent on the flanking ship. Backstabber, Dark Curse, BSP with Outmaneuver, all ships I use in this role.

The other 'flanker' is more of a pincer. A number of fast moving ships that can attack from several different angles at once. This is where Soontir and the phantoms go. If your opponent doesn't know where you will go, he will tend to spread his fire allowing you to attack from an angle with little or no return fire.

If your flanker is fast and mobile (which I suppose it probably should be!) and you notice your opponent commits most or all of their force towards it, you could bug out quickly leaving them headed the wrong way. If the asteroids are set up in a way that makes it difficult for them to reorganise quickly, you could really hammer them once they've over committed.

If your flanker is fast and mobile (which I suppose it probably should be!) and you notice your opponent commits most or all of their force towards it, you could bug out quickly leaving them headed the wrong way. If the asteroids are set up in a way that makes it difficult for them to reorganise quickly, you could really hammer them once they've over committed.

It's funny, a few times I have taken an Buzzsaw Lambda and lined up as a flanker. Most of the times he gets ignored and just pours shots in to my opponent's sides. Yes, your traditional flanker is a fast guy but the Lambda is the kind of flanker that can let the enemy come to him by flying slow and stopping once he's in position to fire in enfilade.

I know that I said keep em cheap...but the Lambda is pretty cheap considering the value you get out of him.

I have had good luck flanking with the lamda as well. buzzsaw with EU. When you flank, timing is critical. You cannot leave your flanker or your main body unsupported. Without good planning, half of your force ends up facing all of the enemy. Most of the time when my opponent divides thei fleet, it works to my advantage. flanking can be done sucessfully. It's high risk / high reqard I suppose.

If your flanker is fast and mobile (which I suppose it probably should be!) and you notice your opponent commits most or all of their force towards it, you could bug out quickly leaving them headed the wrong way. If the asteroids are set up in a way that makes it difficult for them to reorganise quickly, you could really hammer them once they've over committed.

It's funny, a few times I have taken an Buzzsaw Lambda and lined up as a flanker. Most of the times he gets ignored and just pours shots in to my opponent's sides. Yes, your traditional flanker is a fast guy but the Lambda is the kind of flanker that can let the enemy come to him by flying slow and stopping once he's in position to fire in enfilade.

I know that I said keep em cheap...but the Lambda is pretty cheap considering the value you get out of him.

I get incredible value out of my lambda. just chunking shots at people all day while they chase soontir or whisper or vessery around the board.

Buzzsaw flanker, when he works, he works well.

Edit: He/She for great inclusivity!

If your flanker is fast and mobile (which I suppose it probably should be!) and you notice your opponent commits most or all of their force towards it, you could bug out quickly leaving them headed the wrong way. If the asteroids are set up in a way that makes it difficult for them to reorganise quickly, you could really hammer them once they've over committed.

It's funny, a few times I have taken an Buzzsaw Lambda and lined up as a flanker. Most of the times he gets ignored and just pours shots in to my opponent's sides. Yes, your traditional flanker is a fast guy but the Lambda is the kind of flanker that can let the enemy come to him by flying slow and stopping once he's in position to fire in enfilade.

I know that I said keep em cheap...but the Lambda is pretty cheap considering the value you get out of him.

I do agree with that. I have used the Lambda as a flanker and it had great potential, I just wasn't very good at keeping it off asteroids... For better pilots than me, it'd be great

If your flanker is fast and mobile (which I suppose it probably should be!) and you notice your opponent commits most or all of their force towards it, you could bug out quickly leaving them headed the wrong way. If the asteroids are set up in a way that makes it difficult for them to reorganise quickly, you could really hammer them once they've over committed.

It's funny, a few times I have taken an Buzzsaw Lambda and lined up as a flanker. Most of the times he gets ignored and just pours shots in to my opponent's sides. Yes, your traditional flanker is a fast guy but the Lambda is the kind of flanker that can let the enemy come to him by flying slow and stopping once he's in position to fire in enfilade.

I know that I said keep em cheap...but the Lambda is pretty cheap considering the value you get out of him.

I do agree with that. I have used the Lambda as a flanker and it had great potential, I just wasn't very good at keeping it off asteroids... For better pilots than me, it'd be great

Which is why they need to make an APL card that zaps Asteroids when you land on them!