10 hours ago, RufusDaMan said:

I dont think we will ever get a new model for the ship. If the vaksai didn't get it, the defender won't either.

True. The same could be said for Y-Wings - two-seat Y-Wings with (presumably) mobile turrets in this show, look noticeably different from single-seat Y-wings with fixed turrets -

Steps Into Shadow episode concept art is top image, Secret Cargo art is bottom image.

but for the game, their models are the same (though that may be because Steps Into Shadow came out some time after Y-wings got their "fixed turret" card in Most Wanted.

Still, it's reasonable to say that regular Y-wings are "supposed" to look like Steps Into Shadow ones, and that only "fixed forward turret single-seat Y-Wings" (the BTL/A4 card) are the ones represented by the miniature.

So.. loved Flight of the Defender. Like most, very intrigued by the TIE Defender Elite.

Before I discuss that, lets talk about the TIE Interceptor and its similarities, wing wise, to the TIE Defender Elite. We have an official canon location to the Missiles on the elite, they have a mount very similar to what is modeled on the TIE Interceptor. How would people feel about the interceptor getting a missile slot?

Now many have posted their TIE/E title, but perhaps we should look to the Starviper title that lets you equip another title - perhaps something that adds a system slot and lets it take the advanced targeting computer, while equiping another title would be interesting.

While I think that this Defender Elite should get its own release, that may not happen for a long time. Perhaps a Title that lets you equip TIE Defender and TIE Advanced upgrades (as well as a second title) could be a good way to go.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/TIE/D_Defender_Elite

Yes, GREAT INFO THX EVERYONE!

15 minutes ago, That Blasted Samophlange said:

So.. loved Flight of the Defender. Like most, very intrigued by the TIE Defender Elite.

Before I discuss that, lets talk about the TIE Interceptor and its similarities, wing wise, to the TIE Defender Elite. We have an official canon location to the Missiles on the elite, they have a mount very similar to what is modeled on the TIE Interceptor. How would people feel about the interceptor getting a missile slot?

Once I see an Interceptor that actually fills those wing slots with missiles, I'll second that. Until then, I'll be cautious. Given how much bigger the wings are on the Elite Defender - with reinforced pylons when compared to the "regular Defender" - it may be that the extra bulk is needed to cope with missile-launching.

Do we not already have the prototype defender in the /x7? If so that would make the elite defender the base model out of the box, so we might get a super-elite with Ion canons to match up with the /d.

33 minutes ago, Major Tom said:

Do we not already have the prototype defender in the /x7? If so that would make the elite defender the base model out of the box

That actually makes some sense. That the Defender seen in earlier episodes was the /x7, and this is actually the standard TIE Defender.

If it had actually had the ion cannons, I'd completely agree with this assessment.

1 hour ago, That Blasted Samophlange said:

Before I discuss that, lets talk about the TIE Interceptor and its similarities, wing wise, to the TIE Defender Elite. We have an official canon location to the Missiles on the elite, they have a mount very similar to what is modeled on the TIE Interceptor. How would people feel about the interceptor getting a missile slot?

Could be cool, though I don't picture a lot of competitive players making use of it. You already hardly ever see anyone using the Missile slots on aces now. I don't see many willing to spend the points to do it for an Interceptor.

(Now I need the Thrawn and Vult Skerris pilot cards)

I may be far a field in this but!

Since the X-Wing lore is up for change, what if the TIE Defender Elite data recorder is what they use to make/create/improve the X-Wing. Then if the X-Wing is an improved version based on TIE Defender Elite technology then, again perhaps, the TIE Defender as a whole is over priced compared to the new X-Wings. Swarms of less expensive TIE Fighters is why we have assumed there are no TIE Defender in any movies? But this would be the impetus.

Just a thought.

Works as a concept.

56 minutes ago, Odanan said:

(Now I need the Thrawn and Vult Skerris pilot cards)

Something else that was cool about the Defender Elite was its paint scheme. It looked like a lighter grey, or even white in a couple of scenes, than the standard imperial grey to me. With the red markings it looked pretty damned good and has me hoping to see it in a future X-Wing wave.

On 10/30/2017 at 8:03 AM, Forresto said:

Except we never heard of them from Luke at any point. There being other jedi so recently would be dialogue pertinent to be said onscreen, especially in Empire with Yoda. Therefore most of the Rebellion most likely doesnt know that they have jedi fighting for them which is actually exceptionally strange as a real rebellion would use jedi allies as a claim to legitimacy.

Yeah, I find it very peculiar that Luke wouldn't take the time to bring the other two lightsaber swinging novices with him to train with an actual Jedi Master or at least on the second trip around. The fact that he makes absolutely no effort to do so makes me think that they're not a part of the Alliance anymore for whatever reason.

You also have to take Tarkin's line in A New Hope into consideration. This guy had his flagship blown up by 2 guys with lightsabers after he sat across from one of them and had a conversation. When he tells Vader that 'the Jedi are extinct, their fire has gone out, you're the last practitioner of their religion', that HAS to be a pretty clear indication that the irritants that have afflicted him within the past two years are no longer living in his mind.

We're either looking at an Ahsoka/Dash issue where we're not sure if they're alive or dead/we know they tricked everybody into believing that they're dead, or we're going to get a book or comic outside of Filoni's control to finally bring an end to the two Jedi in order for Tarkin to not look senile when he calls them 'extinct'.

On 10/30/2017 at 0:04 PM, Punning Pundit said:

I had a buddy who was in Desert Storm, and he told me his story of getting shot while wearing body armor. Sort version: he didn't get back up for a while.

So either vests have gotten better (plausible!) Iraqi bullets have gotten worse.

MAJOR difference between Desert Storm and the stuff issued for OIF OEF. In Desert Storm, the best you were likely to get was a Kevlar vest, if not an old Vietnam era flak vest if your unit didn't have the time/funding to get Kevlar.

Modern armor combines Kevlar with heavy ceramic plates that not only can stop multiple 7.62 rounds (up to 3 as long as it isn't in the same area), but means a lot less of the impact is transferred into the protected areas.

Just search YouTube for a video of an Al Quida video showing them sniping at a medic milling around a Humvee (not posting it here for obvious reasons). He gets shot square in the chest and is up and running for cover almost instantly. That is the kind of response you get when rigid armor is not penetrated. If the round were to have gone through, even at a lower velocity, he'd likely have been down for the count like the countless Stormtroopers that we see in Rebels.

I kinda enjoyed Thrawn calmly standing there shooting at the TIE. Reminds me of a quote from a British officer at Gallipoli, who said "Don't bother ducking, the men don't like it and it doesn't do any good..."

Okay, so maybe those were said to be his last words as he died, but it's still a cool quote.

And there's something cool about Thrawn standing there calmly while everything is going to bits around him. I like to think he knows the spread of the Defenrders weapon, and knows his target profile would be too narrow for him to be hit. That's is why he was so calm about it, he was playing a psychological game of chicken with Ezra. I'm fully willing to play the Rule of Cool card on this one, much as a tactically unsound choice it was.

9 hours ago, Animewarsdude said:

Just for anyone hasn't seen it, Rebels Defender vs Defender Elite.

God that thing is beautiful.

4 hours ago, Ken at Sunrise said:

I may be far a field in this but!

Since the X-Wing lore is up for change, what if the TIE Defender Elite data recorder is what they use to make/create/improve the X-Wing. Then if the X-Wing is an improved version based on TIE Defender Elite technology then, again perhaps, the TIE Defender as a whole is over priced compared to the new X-Wings. Swarms of less expensive TIE Fighters is why we have assumed there are no TIE Defender in any movies? But this would be the impetus.

Just a thought.

I do not hate the concept of The X-Wing being the penultimate fightercraft that The Rebellion made itself from all the data they'd gathered over time. I mean, what craft has been more successful in starfighter engagements than the X-Wing, honestly? If the data to create it really was sourced from the TIE Defender, everything they'd learned from Y-Wings, A-Wings, and so on...

Yeah, it'd make perfect sense for it to be THE superiority fighter for The Rebellion. I'm down with that.

Besides. The X-Wing having supposed to've been an Imperial ship never made much sense anyway. Followed no design cues for The Empire, even if I would kill to see an "Imperial" X-Wing someday. Panels and all.

24 minutes ago, Captain Lackwit said:

God that thing is beautiful.

She certainly is a sexy beast of a starfighter.

Regular Defender = FW-190A

Defender Elite = FW-190D

2 hours ago, flyboymb said:

Yeah, I find it very peculiar that Luke wouldn't take the time to bring the other two lightsaber swinging novices with him to train with an actual Jedi Master or at least on the second trip around. The fact that he makes absolutely no effort to do so makes me think that they're not a part of the Alliance anymore for whatever reason.

You also have to take Tarkin's line in A New Hope into consideration. This guy had his flagship blown up by 2 guys with lightsabers after he sat across from one of them and had a conversation. When he tells Vader that 'the Jedi are extinct, their fire has gone out, you're the last practitioner of their religion', that HAS to be a pretty clear indication that the irritants that have afflicted him within the past two years are no longer living in his mind.

We're either looking at an Ahsoka/Dash issue where we're not sure if they're alive or dead/we know they tricked everybody into believing that they're dead, or we're going to get a book or comic outside of Filoni's control to finally bring an end to the two Jedi in order for Tarkin to not look senile when he calls them 'extinct'.

MAJOR difference between Desert Storm and the stuff issued for OIF OEF. In Desert Storm, the best you were likely to get was a Kevlar vest, if not an old Vietnam era flak vest if your unit didn't have the time/funding to get Kevlar.

Modern armor combines Kevlar with heavy ceramic plates that not only can stop multiple 7.62 rounds (up to 3 as long as it isn't in the same area), but means a lot less of the impact is transferred into the protected areas.

Just search YouTube for a video of an Al Quida video showing them sniping at a medic milling around a Humvee (not posting it here for obvious reasons). He gets shot square in the chest and is up and running for cover almost instantly. That is the kind of response you get when rigid armor is not penetrated. If the round were to have gone through, even at a lower velocity, he'd likely have been down for the count like the countless Stormtroopers that we see in Rebels.

Ironically the same medic in that video who was shot treated the wounded sniper who shot him when he was caught.

Slight spoiler, so ignore this post if you don't want to see it, even if it is a small speculation.

There are three more episodes for this year, another 2 parter next week and then a single episode (that I hope is an hour long) the following week. Based off the Rebels Recon the crew will be staying on Lothal for the remainder of this year, and the X-wings in the trailer show up to fight over Lothal. So, we could quite possibly be seeing the X-wings debut in the show in 3 episodes. If that is the case then that means that they probably aren't go into how they made them/stole them unless while the others are dealing with stuff Hera and Chopper get off planet and they raid some Incom base for them.

I'd say the longer points on the wing panels suit it - make it look more Interceptor-ish.

Here is the true Elite.

You got the extra guns and shields represented. The boost and evade actions represent it's improved maneuverability. And a system slot just for how advanced the ship is.

Is anyone else vaguely confused by the rear window on the elite tie defender being on the end of a long cone thing... Which must be mostly hollow for the window which can be seen in the interior shots.

1 minute ago, Arterial Spray said:

Is anyone else vaguely confused by the rear window on the elite tie defender being on the end of a long cone thing... Which must be mostly hollow for the window which can be seen in the interior shots.

I suspect they were just too lazy to make a new model for the inside of the Defender's cockpit and it just uses the standard TIE Fighter's.

2 hours ago, Arterial Spray said:

Is anyone else vaguely confused by the rear window on the elite tie defender being on the end of a long cone thing... Which must be mostly hollow for the window which can be seen in the interior shots.

I thought that that was supposed to be an engine exhaust rather than a window in this case - like with the Twin Ion Engine Mk II card:

4 hours ago, DarthEnderX said:

I suspect they were just too lazy to make a new model for the inside of the Defender's cockpit and it just uses the standard TIE Fighter's.

Haha, lazy. Right. Surely isn't budgetary constraints, no, I imagine that they definitely aren't busy making tons of other setpieces, like making the Loth-Wolf look right and having over four hundred damned controls for its fur to bristle in the wind correctly.

DEFINITELY JUST LAZY.

enderiloveyamanbutcomeondude

1 hour ago, Captain Lackwit said:

Haha, lazy. Right. Surely isn't budgetary constraints, no, I imagine that they definitely aren't busy making tons of other setpieces, like making the Loth-Wolf look right and having over four hundred damned controls for its fur to bristle in the wind correctly.

Probably he didn't mean lazy as in "bah, I go home early today". But more like "economy of effort". When there are so many other things to get done, you have to cut some corners. Cutting corners is a lazy way to solve something, even when it was justified in context.

IHMO the TIE/D defender title would be awesome changed into:

TIE/D 0 pt
TIE DEFENDER ONLY. TITLE.

Once per round, after you perform an attack with a Cannon- or Missile -secondary weapon that costs 3 or fewer squad points, you may perform a primary weapon attack.

The squad point cost of each of your equipped Cannon or Missile upgrades is reduced by 1 (to a minimum of 0).

2 hours ago, Azrapse said:

Probably he didn't mean lazy as in "bah, I go home early today". But more like "economy of effort". When there are so many other things to get done, you have to cut some corners. Cutting corners is a lazy way to solve something, even when it was justified in context.

I know in the past Filoni working on Clone Wars said they really only had the budget to make X assets for the episode, and with Rebels being on a smaller budget than Clone Wars (seeing how Lucas isn't dumping his personal cash into the project) I think this holds even more true.

The first episode here had to probably make a new Valen Rudor model seeing how I think we've only seen him in tie fighter gear before, the tank from Rogue One, possibly new stuff for the bar (if they couldn't reuse assets from Clone Wars and Rebels), updated models for Hera, Chopper, Ezra, Kannan, Zeb, and Sabine, new Jai model, a puffer pig baby (which wasn't used), and updated Lothal. And the defender's episode had the new Imperial base, new defender itself, the hyperdrive for the fighter, the flight recorder, Loth bats, and notably the Loth Wolf which they put lots of time into. Thats all still a lot of stuff to work on, and I'm sure an updated Tie interior was at the very bottom of the list for necessary assets, heck just look at the fact that until this season they didn't have a Lambda shuttle model and kept using the Sentinel shuttle since it worked well enough.