Alright peeps. Been playing x-wing for about 2 months now, but picking it up fast. My FLGS alternates tournaments between 100 point and escalation. I love playing 100 points. Its standard, easy, and consistent. Also what seems to be run at nationals and worlds. Escalation...is another monster altogether. Figured this week I would try a swarm with a twist. Most of the tie swarms ive seen will have a mix of named pilots and academies, maybe an obsidian or black thwrown in. I want to try a swarm thats full of higher PS pilots. Only downside I can see is the lack of low PS academies to use as blockers.

Round 1 at 58 points (60 max)

Howlrunner w/ stealth device

Dark Curse w/ stealth device

Night Beast w/ stealth device

Round 2 at 89 points (90 max)

^above and...

Backstabber

Black Squadron w/ veteran instincts

Round 3 at 119 point (120 max)

Black Squadron w/ veteran instincts

Black Squadron w/ veteran instincts

Round 4 at 149 point (150 max)

Black Squadron w/ veteran instincts

Black Squadron w/ veteran instincts

So total list at the end of the day-149 points

Howlrunner w/ stealth device

Dark Curse w/ stealth device

Night Beast w/ stealth device

Backstabber

5x Black Squadron w/ veteran instincts

I think round one is going to be an uphilll battle against with only 9 hitpoints which is why im trying to make Howlrunner and Nightbeast more defensive, but after round 1, Howlrunners effect will increase drastically, as will the amount of hitpoints on my side of the table.

Alright....any opinions, thoughts, or spears?

In escalation, you are still limited to the rule of 8 ships of any 1 type, so this list of 9 tie fighters would be illegal.

Good to know. I missed that apparently through the rules. I thought the restrictions were 4 large and 12 small base. I'll revamp this to bring it down to 8 and somethings else

Read through the rules again. Its 4 big and 8 small for escalation. 6 big and 12 small for epic. Got it straight now

So I tried just dropping one Black Squadron gave and only had 17 points to spend which cant get much. Decided to drop 2 of them from the round 4 slot and go with Turr Phennir w/ stealth device and PTL

Round 1 at 58 points (60 max)

Howlrunner w/ stealth device

Dark Curse w/ stealth device

Night Beast w/ stealth device

Round 2 at 89 points (90 max)

^above and...

Backstabber

Black Squadron w/ veteran instincts

Round 3 at 119 point (120 max)

Black Squadron w/ veteran instincts

Black Squadron w/ veteran instincts

Round 4 at 148 point (150 max)

Turr Phennir w/ stealth device, Push the Limit

Updated Total List

Howlrunner w/ stealth device

Dark Curse w/ stealth device

Night Beast w/ stealth device

Backstabber

4x Black Squadron w/ veteran instincts

Turr Phennir w/ stealth device and Push the Limit

It might work. I would recomend not waiting until round 4 to include Turd Ferguson. Get him in the mix in round 1 and add the upgrades later to save a few points early on.

3 Fighters in Round 1 does not seem very competitive to me, and having such a slow start might hurt you overall.

Consider using Turr Phennir, Backstabber, and another Fighter in Round 1 for the improved damage, and adding Howlrunner in Round 2.

I'd be tempted to try and add more ships earier and sort out upgrades later. For example:

R1: HR + 3x BSP (60)

R2: + BS + BSP (90)

R3: + DC + BSP (120)

R4: another ship + upgrades

or you could drop a couple of the BSPs to APs and get some upgrades earlier if you also want a couple of blockers.

Anyone fielding a fat falcon, or a bounty hunter will be fielding jt in round 1, 3-4 ties will struggle if nothing packs a punch.

Well, I also thought about running 5x academies for round one, then adding Howlrunner and an academy round 2, and whatever else for later rounds. While 5 academies is kind of spammy, i think they lose their effectiveness without howlrunner joining them in round 1. I would be looking at 15 hitpoints and 10 red dice (assuming one didnt get focused on and blown out of the sky before PS1s could shoot).

Essentially my goal here is to build an escalation Tie swarm list. I think regardless of build, round 1 will be the most challenging. With only 60 points to play around with, options are kind of limited to 3 named and/or upgraded, 5x academies, or some weird mix in between

Anyone fielding a fat falcon, or a bounty hunter will be fielding jt in round 1, 3-4 ties will struggle if nothing packs a punch.

Falcon or BH fielding jt? What is jt? just that?