I was given a VT-49 Decimator as a late Christmas gift a few days ago, and last night I had a great battle with it! It wasn't serious, and the other guy wasn't as good as I am, so I decided to have fun with the upgrades and see how they worked. And my gosh... this one was fantastic!

My build was as follows:

Commander Kenkirk

-Ysanne Isard

-Gunner

-Expose

-Experimental Interface

-Ion Torpedoes

Carnor Jax

-Push the Limit

-Targeting Computer

-Royal Guard Interceptor

-Shield Upgrade

Total: 100 points

I have to say, Expose on the Decimator is a LOT of fun at close range, especially if you have EI equipped. You can focus and then roll five dice, getting a good hit ratio. I realize TL+F is a much better combo, but hey, rolling that many dice is still a lot of fun. And Gunner is a lesser version of TL anyway, which came in handy when I rolled all blanks once and missed another time. When he took damage, Isard and his own ability both came into play a lot, and using Kenkirk's ability freed me up to do TL+F. I slaughtered all his ships with Kenkirk alone. Jax was just there for shiggles.

Speaking of, I love that particular combo on him. It saved him from a nice crit. Being able to TL+F is invaluable for strikes. You just have to stay out of their firing arcs as much as you can, which with the Interceptor's dial isn't much of a challenge.

All in all, this was a fun build. I'd probably be a little more conservative if the other guy was my equal or better, but this was still a barrel of monkeys.

Expose on Kenkirk doesn't make all that much sense. Upgrade him to Chiraneau and replace Jax' Shield Upgrade with Autothrusters.

Yeah, the Kenkirk + Ysanne combo is a great turtle Decimator build, and Expose defeats the purpose of it. Since Kenkirk + Iceheart is one of my favorite Decimator builds, I've sort of given up on Expose. But! When looking it over right now, I realized that for a point less, you can take Marksmanship, an offensive superfocus. And with EI, you could could still have a focus token for defense. And Marksmanship should trigger off both your normal attack and any gunner attacks.

And with the extra point, you could use Intel Agent to make sure Carnor boosts in the direction that will most annoy any Phantoms on the opposing list.

Granted, you said this was just for funsises, so you probably don't _want_ to min/max it too much. But we wouldn't be nerds if we didn't start trying to do it anyway.

Yeah, the Kenkirk + Ysanne combo is a great turtle Decimator build, and Expose defeats the purpose of it. Since Kenkirk + Iceheart is one of my favorite Decimator builds, I've sort of given up on Expose. But! When looking it over right now, I realized that for a point less, you can take Marksmanship, an offensive superfocus. And with EI, you could could still have a focus token for defense. And Marksmanship should trigger off both your normal attack and any gunner attacks.

I really liked having Recon Specialist on Kenkirk for a while there. If he needs a focus for both Gunner attacks, he has them, but if he doesn't need one (or both), the token is there for defense. The trouble is I'd have to drop Rebel Captive from my build, and it is the ONLY thing that gives me a fighting chance against "Whisper" and "Echo." Three crew is great, but sometimes it still feels like not enough

Expose on Kenkirk doesn't make all that much sense. Upgrade him to Chiraneau and replace Jax' Shield Upgrade with Autothrusters.

I did say "for funsies" in the thread topic. Plus, I like Expose on the Decimator, especially with close-range shots. I see no requirement on Expose to use it, so when the ship is damaged enough that Kenkirk's ability comes into play then I can choose whether to use Expose or his die. I see it as increasing my flexibility. If I'm going to do anything, it'll be downgrading to Oicunn and including the title card.

Also, don't I have to have Autothrusters to use it?

Expose on Kenkirk doesn't make all that much sense. Upgrade him to Chiraneau and replace Jax' Shield Upgrade with Autothrusters.

Done it myself it works you just have to use it tactically early on expose and do as much damage asap, when things get close to you decide what's more valuable at the time.

Having the option for five dice at range one is nothing to sniff at I've used it to one shot ships before.

I one-shot a fully-shielded A-wing with it.

The important thing to understand is, like Hobojebus said, it's an early attack thing. Let them get close and unleash all that raw firepower along with a focus, or take long-range shots with four dice. It's not a bad combo at all because you'll constantly have superior firepower early in the game, when it's most important to take out as many targets as you can. Then later you can forgo Expose for a more turtle-y strategy while your escort(s) come in to pick off the remaining fighters. There is a lot of flexibility here that I really like.