So yes, I'm new, and I don't know the best way to go about a battle report, but I had to share my first win. I've only played 2 full squadron battles - the first game I was all kinds of unfortunate. Not this time though!

My squad:

TIE Defender - Delta Squadron Pilot

Ion Cannon

TIE Interceptor - Tetran Cowall

Hull Upgrade

Push the Limit

TIE Interceptor - Saber Squadron Pilot

Predator

TIE Fighter

Obsidian Squadron Pilot

Opponent's squad:

A-Wing - Green Squadron Pilot

Push the Limit

Outmaneuver

Chardaan Refit

A-Wing Test Pilot

E-wing - Knave Squadron Pilot

R2-D2

Z-95 - Airen Cracken

B-Wing - Blue Squadron Pilot

Flechette Torpedoes

The battle began with the Defender and TIE Fighter squaring off with the E-Wing and Z-95 on one side, while the two interceptors encountered the A and B on the other. I won the initial skirmish with the A + B, but my defender was getting beat up on the other side. After his A-Wing turned tail, I cut the interceptors across the map to assist.

I focused Cracken first, as he was supporting the E-Wing with his ability. He went down, but my defender also went soon after. I turned attention towards the B-Wing, eventually wiping it out while losing Tetran Cowall around the same time.

It wound up as a 1 on 1 with his E-Wing against my saber pilot interceptor with 1 HP. He had recovered sheilds with R2, but having the better pilot skill, I was able to outflank him and wear him down. We ended up head to head. He had 1 shield 1 hull, and I rolled 3 hits 1 crit. He rolled nothing. If he had gotten a shot off,I was probably toast. Victory by the closest margin!

First off, I can say I was not economical about all of my skills and upgrades - I never used Cowall's skill, and I only used the defender's ion cannon once. Otherwise, I used PtL and Predator like crazy. It'll take a lot to convince me those aren't the 2 best - or at least in the top 3 - EPTs in the game.

So while I wasn't smart with skill use, my opponent (even less experience than me) unwisely flew his B-Wing right into my lines of fire, allowing me to cut through him very quickly.

This was also my first squad battle as imperial, and I had two things proven to me from this battle:

1. Fast and agile ships can absolutely roll over slower more powerful ships if used properly, and;

2. Pilot skill is indeed imperative to success sometimes. Certainly in this case.

I can't wait to craft a new deck and give it a try. I'd like to get on the board as rebels, but I also am dying to use my new Decimator. We'll see!

Awesome stuff! I love flying the nimble imperial ships because they move so fast and hit very hard (interceptors and phantoms). My problem is I end up messing something up landing at r1 of some jerk of a b-wing and getting blown away in one go. Now, I agree you should look at your synergy throughout your list. If you're sold on a defender I'd either go barebones or all in with rex - predator, HLC and maybe VI. The interceptors rock. If you have the imperial aces pack I'd roll 2 royal guard pilots with ptl and call it a day. They scream around the flank and ruin an unsuspecting ships day. Boost/barrel roll (or barrel roll/boost) and focus/evade are a FANTASTIC combination of actions to be able to take. Even if the ship only has 3 hull lol.

Keep playing! Fly against yourself to see how ships fly and learn their pilot abilities and roles. Always remember to fly casual too, takes the pressure off!

Awesome stuff! I love flying the nimble imperial ships because they move so fast and hit very hard (interceptors and phantoms). My problem is I end up messing something up landing at r1 of some jerk of a b-wing and getting blown away in one go. Now, I agree you should look at your synergy throughout your list. If you're sold on a defender I'd either go barebones or all in with rex - predator, HLC and maybe VI. The interceptors rock. If you have the imperial aces pack I'd roll 2 royal guard pilots with ptl and call it a day. They scream around the flank and ruin an unsuspecting ships day. Boost/barrel roll (or barrel roll/boost) and focus/evade are a FANTASTIC combination of actions to be able to take. Even if the ship only has 3 hull lol.

Keep playing! Fly against yourself to see how ships fly and learn their pilot abilities and roles. Always remember to fly casual too, takes the pressure off!

Thanks for responding! Glad someone read my batrep. I'm about to post one from a battle I had tonight in my other thread (http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/133005-algernons-battle-reports/) in which I was absolutely dominating and ended up losing. Guh!

You are right, interceptors are clearly a dominant and very economical force. Right now I only have the 2 Ace ships, a Defender, the 2 core TIEs, and a Decimator. Royal Guard Pilots are a great option no doubt. And I'm not sold on anything yet - I'm still experimenting, but I do love the Defender's all-around versatility. I just got the YT-2400 so I now have a HLC to put on it, which should be a perfect fit. I still haven't gotten an expansion with VI - I need that real soon! Everything's out of stock at the moment though

Barnes & Noble!! They have Falcons and Firesprays! Get it quick before their out!! They really have all the expansions. I wanted to go all in and grab the b&a expansions as well (I got 2 reb aces packs, so I don't have tycho or ten numb) but I figured I'm solid. I need the interceptor, advanced and tie fighter expansions eventually though - good cards and pilots in those packs.

I will say this about interceptors - you need to learn how to fly them really well (something I haven't done yet...) in order to get the most out of them. Being in people's arcs isn't for interceptors. They need to be behind people dodging (hello ptl) and then either sniping with 3 dice and evade tokens behind a rock or up close rocking 4 focused dice. My 2 cents on them -

Fly casual boss ~

Barnes & Noble!! They have Falcons and Firesprays! Get it quick before their out!! They really have all the expansions. I wanted to go all in and grab the b&a expansions as well (I got 2 reb aces packs, so I don't have tycho or ten numb) but I figured I'm solid. I need the interceptor, advanced and tie fighter expansions eventually though - good cards and pilots in those packs.

I will say this about interceptors - you need to learn how to fly them really well (something I haven't done yet...) in order to get the most out of them. Being in people's arcs isn't for interceptors. They need to be behind people dodging (hello ptl) and then either sniping with 3 dice and evade tokens behind a rock or up close rocking 4 focused dice. My 2 cents on them -

Fly casual boss ~

You are correct about the Interceptors. I flew them like an idiot last night in a battle that I should have easily won, but lost because of it.

I saw that B&N has ships in stock, but I think I may hold off until MM restocks and just buy a ton of stuff at once to save on shipping, since their prices are so much better. I have a decent array of ships right now to play with, so I'm going to try to avoid temptation until restocks happen