Any thoughts on this compared to something more conventional like Predator?

Any thoughts on this compared to something more conventional like Predator?

To make the best of his card ability on 3 dice, he also needs a way to reroll dice. That's why options like Predator are so popular. If you want to use Engine Upgrade, take push and chain it off of Ysanne. IE Target Lock as your action, Evade with Ysanne, Push to Boost.

Any thoughts on this compared to something more conventional like Predator?

You're trading the ability to do extra damage with no action for extra maneuverability with.

Now, Predator + EU, there's a synergy.

Im guessing VI to shoot first at Whisper. Ive run VI + EU on Chirpy in one of my less serious lists. I only ever used EU when it was absolutely necessary as i wanted the TL given the need to reroll so badly. It wasnt too bad.

But as a mainstay I use Pred + EU.

Maybe the OP doesnt have 7pts for that though in the list he's considering.....

I don't have list in mind, just a general "what's your idea of". I had a game where Chirpy (?) had VI and EU. It played quite well for the guy. He boosted past arcs on a couple of plays and managed to harass Dash quite nicely. The PS10 vs Whisper is just a bonus.

I know a lot of people like Predator or Expose with him and just wondered if there were any positive or negative thoughts regarding VI +EU

I think the VI is probably overkill on him. It lets you shoot before Whisper/Echo, but that's about it. It's not usually a big deal if you're shooting after Falcons.

I wish I could recall the build I saw a few weeks ago that paired Chirpy with Vader, a Gunner and EU. I wouldn't have considered those two on a high-PS Decimator, let alone one that you're also loading with points from an Engine Upgrade, but it actually won at a competative 20-person tourney.

I guess in addition to the above its also vs other Chirpy's as well. VI lets you place him after PS8s and PS9s, could come in handy.

Predator is conventional?

In my local meta, Whisper (V.I, ACD, FCS, rebel captive) and Chiraneu (V.I, EU, Gunner) [98] has spread like metastasized cancer

Chiraneau has V.I almost exclusively to kill all the rebel captive whispers, or take rebel captive on the chin for whisper so that whisper can kill whisper. It's such a wide circle jerk of the same boring **** that I thought it was just standard.

I have used Chira with VI, Gunner and EU with great success.

Phantoms don't stand a chance, shoting before none-VI Han can be really nice (getting that great crit, last round shooting when both are low on HP...)

Hunting down HLC Dash getting in R1 is really easy with VI and EU.

Gunner helps those rounds when you really roll bad as well.

Rather than try to out PS whisper, just add rebel captive. Whisper will target you, immediately receive stress, and now whisper can't decloak.

I'm using VI Chirpy together with Whisper. Shooting before Whisper with Chirpy to take the stress from reb captive is awesome (a stressed Whispe is a dead Whisper).

Chirpy normallly target locks and only uses engine when he can get out of arc (it is also good for getting back in the fight after a turn).

VI on the Rear Admiral to combat a Phantom is the same tactic as VI on Han. It is good at that. But, Predator allows for more consistent damage, which is nice. If you aren't running Gunner at least, I probably wouldn't run VI. I think the downside is, Gunner adds very little value when it is Deci vs Deci.

VI on the Rear Admiral to combat a Phantom is the same tactic as VI on Han. It is good at that. But, Predator allows for more consistent damage, which is nice. If you aren't running Gunner at least, I probably wouldn't run VI. I think the downside is, Gunner adds very little value when it is Deci vs Deci.

You get more out of VI on rear admiral than han for several reasons. First off, against whisper, han will at least get to either shoot first (unlikely) or at least have to opportunity to arc dodge. RAC gets neither at ps 8. RAC also doesn't already automatically have his way with echo like han. RAC in range 1-2 is also more accurate than han (just han's ability no predator) assuming han doesn't focus, which he often doesn't. Yes han gets to reroll, and that gives him a safety net of sorts against poor outliers, but with no other modfiers it still averages less than mini focus. Another thing to consider is playing against VI Dash. Dash shouldn't probably be doing that, but people will. Yet ANOTHER thing is by the time you get alot of the staples on the rear admiral, like eu, isard, etc. points get tight. Han's got room to spare and often spends it on ps for z-95s or w/e. Those 2 extra points can be the difference between playing the decimator with a phantom or not. Or having to sacrifice another key piece that's probably a net loss. It all depends of course, but in many ways the decimator is not just a falcon clone like many seem to think.

I would rather have PTL over VI, so I can TL and Boost ever turn basically.

I would rather have PTL over VI, so I can TL and Boost ever turn basically.

Then you can't use Isard. Granted boosting out of arcs when you can is better than one evade, but of course sometimes you can't or its another turret or what not.

I'm using VI Chirpy together with Whisper. Shooting before Whisper with Chirpy to take the stress from reb captive is awesome (a stressed Whispe is a dead Whisper).

Chirpy normallly target locks and only uses engine when he can get out of arc (it is also good for getting back in the fight after a turn).

Ya forgot to point this one out in my wall of text lol. This one needs to not be overlooked. It's extremely helpful in those matchups. Rebel captive does see ALOT of play these days.

I won a store championship with VI and it really saved my bacon a couple times, although part of that is because there were a lot of other decimator/phantom combinations. I had Chiraneau with VI, EU, Jerjerrod, and Isard, and Whisper with VI, ACD, FCS, and Rebel Captive. Aside from the arc-dodging, which was fun, what it let me do was shoot the Rebel Captive on my opponent's Chiraneau, allowing me to use my Whisper to hit him as well without getting locked out of the cloak. It also let me hunt down the phantoms quickly and reliably, which was quite important. I wanted predator, but if you walk in and see people pulling out their decimators or phantoms, definitely go for VI. I also found that I was able to get in range 2 enough that I needed less dice modification than normal.

I would rather have PTL over VI, so I can TL and Boost ever turn basically.

Then you can't use Isard. Granted boosting out of arcs when you can is better than one evade, but of course sometimes you can't or its another turret or what not.

Why not? Use PTL off of isards evade action to either boost or TL at the beginning of combat.

I run the Admiral with Isard, Engine Upgrade, and Vet Instincts all the time, to make sure that I'll always have a shot. If I end my maneuver in range 1-2, I always target lock. If I think I'm in range 3, then it depends on the agility of the enemy ship and the positioning for next turn whether I target lock or boost. If I can tell I'm out of range, I boost into range for the shot. His ability is made better by the ability to re-roll, but on it's own it's still a weak focus, which is good in it's own right.

Then you can't use Isard. Granted boosting out of arcs when you can is better than one evade, but of course sometimes you can't or its another turret or what not.

Ah, but you can. Take a TL in your activation phase, use Isard at the beginning of combat, PTL off of her for your boost.

I would rather have PTL over VI, so I can TL and Boost ever turn basically.

Then you can't use Isard. Granted boosting out of arcs when you can is better than one evade, but of course sometimes you can't or its another turret or what not.

Why not? Use PTL off of isards evade action to either boost or TL at the beginning of combat.

Ya that's true, i've actually done that before to make Eu actually more useful with the lower PS ones. Just wasn't thinking about it I guess. I've found that I'm not a big fan of stress on the decimator though. It's not atrocious like a shuttle or something, but it has a way of taking you away from the fight too quickly, and hampering your hard turns to get back into (if you're using it every round). Works well if they're chasing the decimator though I guess. And a bit harder to block than the slower greens on falcon etc.

It also has the same thing as predator compared to VI though in the sense that it makes the points a little tighter on your options if you want to also have Whisper.

The one time I did PtL I didn't like it because I had to clear the stress, and I was really relying on the ship's surprising maneuverability. Having to do a 2 straight or bank, or a 3 straight, makes you too predictable for my taste, but I'm all about using this guy to outmaneuver.

Rather than try to out PS whisper, just add rebel captive. Whisper will target you, immediately receive stress, and now whisper can't decloak.

You CAN decloak while stressed. Decloaking is not an action. What the stress does is limit the maneuver to green otherwise they cannot CLOAK. its in the FAQ

I mean, I like running VI on my Engine RAC, but ONLY with Gunner. Without Gunner, you really need Predator to not lose out on offense by taking the boost action. The Rear Admiral does it better than the other Turrets thanks to his ability, but gotta have some reroll from some where to have a consistent damage output from your squad.

That being said, if you are building a squad with only VI + Engine on Rear Admiral, then your remaining 49 pts of ships could be enough to give you firepower. Something like...

Rear Admiral + VI + Engine

Academy Pilot x 4

Might be fun.