I don't own Imperial Aces and was just looking over those guys to refresh myself with them. I thought that maybe there was someone who I haven't seen that might be able to come out of storage.

So, if you are able to sit at a distance (Range 3) and take pot shots at people. Take Evade every time. If someone fires at you, you use it if you need to. If you don't, you get an extra hit. Yes, you don't have Focus or TL and you might roll crappy, but you might not.

What would this be good for? Well, sitting back and shooting at things. Fat Han and Super Dash are great at zipping around and getting out of people's firing arcs. So, what if you can stay at Range 2-3 and blast people? If you take Evade each time and use Autothrusters, you have a great chance of not getting hit against people like Fat Han or others with Gunner. If you really want to spend the points on him, you can go Stealth Device, but that adds more points to the guy.

Is this uber cool and game breaking? No, but it is a nice option. Instead of having an Interceptor as a knife fighter, you can have one as someone who can shoot from a distance, but still zip around pretty well if need be. His PS is not bad, but not great. Still, he can do alright to get himself in a good position to see where you are going to be and get a shot at Range 3.

This guy could work for a list that wants to use Lone Wolf. Let the other guy zip in and get his bonus while Kir sits back and blasts at things.

"Oh, he can't take PTL as an Interceptor, so he sucks!" Does he need it? Not really. Would it be good if he could? Sure, but PTL is best used to boost and barrel roll out of the way completely or to use one and then a Focus and fire at close range. This guy won't be going in close. It would be nice to Evade and to Focus, but he can't. That doesn't mean he sucks, though.

His one weakness would be if someone does try to engage him at close range. Well, he has the best movement dial in the game and can try to get out of there. If he's not focusing on getting the shot for a turn, he can get out of the way. Or, move out of arcs and fire at someone else.

I might have to pick up a copy of Imperial Aces.

His one weakness would be if someone does try to engage him at close range.

Naw, then he'd be sitting on a Focus token with PS6'ed 3 attack dice often.

I wouldn't call that a weakness, per se.

3 Hull vs a cost of 26 however..

Don't forget he's in a high pilot skill TIE Interceptor: if you're intending to lurk at range 3, add in Royal Guard TIE and a Stealth Device - taking you up to agility 4 (or even 5 against primary weapons).

I want to like Kir Kanos. Three dice with a focus do more damage than 4 unmodified dice. The four dice have higher damage potential but over time end up doing slightly less damage. Offensively his ability is a little bit worse than just taking a focus action.

It's not just his lack of an EPT that makes him hard to take, it's also his price. Two points less gets you a Royal Guard. That's essentially free Autothrusters for giving up an ability that isn't as good as the standard focus action.

Kir Kanos really needs to be in a list where he gets actions or modifiers passed to him. His ability would have gotten him some play if he would have been Rebel instead.

If only he had an EPT he'd be up there with Carnor and Turr...

Maybe an OGP pilot with Fleet Officer to pass him focuses.

He doesn't get an extra die. He gets a free hit. So....you roll 3 unmodified dice, but you throw on a free hit. It's not 4 unmodified dice. I think that makes it better.

3 Attacks = average 1.5 hits

3 Attacks w/ Focus = average 2.25 hits

3 Attacks w/ free hit added in = 2.50 hits

It also means your damage potential goes up significantly.

He doesn't get an extra die. He gets a free hit. So....you roll 3 unmodified dice, but you throw on a free hit. It's not 4 unmodified dice. I think that makes it better.

3 Attacks = average 1.5 hits

3 Attacks w/ Focus = average 2.25 hits

3 Attacks w/ free hit added in = 2.50 hits

It also means your damage potential goes up significantly.

Shows how often he makes it on to the table for me. That is much better than the extra die.

I think it makes him a good long range flanker. Give someone in the middle Lone Wolf and you can stay on the outskirts and snipe in.

He does combo with Autothrusters nicely even though he'll never usually have a focus to use with it. Who in the hell wants to shoot an Interceptor at range three with an Evade token that gets to turn a blank into an evade result if there is anything else to shoot at? He might work well in the back row of a TIE swarm. I'm not sure if he's worth giving up 2 TIE fighters though.

That's the point, though. He's pretty survivable. I say he would be more survivable than 2 Tie Fighters and would do more damage, as well. Or at least the same. I think there are a lot of lists that could use him. I mean, he's hard to kill and can dish out 2.5 hits on average, or the potential for 4 hits a turn.

If you went with a number of knife fighting Interceptors like Soontir Fell and Turr Phennir, he can sit in the back and fire. Let the other guys get in the middle and arc dodge all day long. Then have the Kir sniping from the edge.

I also think that ships like Fat Han and Super Dash will not like this guy. Those are zippy ships that like to get out of your firing arc and shoot at you from afar. Well, it's hard to get out of someone who is playing to stay at Range 3 and he's hard to kill, as well. Even with Fat Han and Gunner, this guy is going to be hard to hurt.

That's the point, though. He's pretty survivable. I say he would be more survivable than 2 Tie Fighters and would do more damage, as well. Or at least the same. I think there are a lot of lists that could use him. I mean, he's hard to kill and can dish out 2.5 hits on average, or the potential for 4 hits a turn.

Saying 'more survivable than 2 TIE fighters' is pushing it. I agree that he does more damage though. 3 attack dice + free hit is greater than two attack dice x 2. However, 2 TIEs @ 24 points = 6 hull. Often protected by a focus token which is practically just as good as his evade token (and if he's forced to use it defensively, his offense is no longer really better than 2 academies).

So you get the potential for slightly more damage, but you are actually giving up durability relative to 2 TIE fighters. Or a doom shuttle. Its still a tough sell to get this guy on the table even with autothrusters, but by all means give it a go and see how it works out. I think if you are going to use him to his full potential, you definitely need to build a squad around him...

If he can stay at Range 3, then he gets the extra dice. The Auto Thrusters ensures that he gets at least one dodge each time. That happens no matter how many times he's shot at in the round. Someone with multiple shots, like someone with Gunner or Corran Horn would do more damage to a Tie Fighter than against Kir Kannos. He's also harder to focus fire on as the Auto Thrusters work for each shot. I say he's much more survivable than Tie Fighters. It does matter, though, if he is inside of Range 3. Then it's another story.

As for building a list around him, I don't think so at all. He's pretty independent and just 1/4 of your points. He works with just about anyone. He works with someone who goes into the fight to mix things up while he plugs away. He works with someone like Krassis with HLC on the opposite side of the table to support each other. He works for hunting down maneuverable ships.

Kir Kanos I found is strongest at range 2. His ability at it's essence is Deadeye + Concussion Missiles, but unlike regular Ordnance the Defender keeps their R3 bonus. But also unlike regular Ordnance you get multiple shots from it.

If you can find a way to feed him extra actions his ability can deal a fair amount of damage.

Jendon + FO + EI possibly. Or one of my favorites Turr + Squad Leader + EI.

Other than AT if you feel your skills with non-ptl squInts can last without Stealth, Hull, or Shields you might want to consider TC as the second mod.

It does matter, though, if he is inside of Range 3. Then it's another story.

Exactly. And assuming that you will be able to keep him R3 of your opponent all game long is kinda wishful thinking. Its not so subtle that your opponent won't realize to get close to him ASAP to nullify his advantage (assuming your opponent is trying to destroy him). That's why I feel building a list around him is essential: you need the rest of your list to pose so much of a threat, that your opponent will want to deal with that rather than focus on Kir Kanos. Otherwise he dies quite easily.

Or one of my favorites Turr + Squad Leader + EI.

This I am a bit dubious of. Assuming you try to activate squad leader through EI off of Turr's post-attack action, you will be first completing the boost/barrel-roll before getting to use squad leader. That means its going to be hard to keep Turr within R1 - 2 of Kir Kanos, especially considering Kanos wants to stay out of R1 of the target whereas Turr is likely to get in close...

Kir Kanos wanting to stay outside R1 is a stigma attributed to his ability. He's as effective within R1 as outside. Nobody sees an HLC B-Wing as less effective at R1 than R2-3.

The Turr/Kanos combination does mean you want them close, but having them close also means you can use Turr as Rangefinder.

Again just because Kir's ability requires an Evade does not mean Evade should be his primary action each turn.

Also with Turr SL + EI as long as you have other wingmates at a lower PS within 1-2 of Turr the +5pts of upgrades are still useful if the extra action is not going to Kir.

It does matter, though, if he is inside of Range 3. Then it's another story.

Exactly. And assuming that you will be able to keep him R3 of your opponent all game long is kinda wishful thinking. Its not so subtle that your opponent won't realize to get close to him ASAP to nullify his advantage (assuming your opponent is trying to destroy him). That's why I feel building a list around him is essential: you need the rest of your list to pose so much of a threat, that your opponent will want to deal with that rather than focus on Kir Kanos. Otherwise he dies quite easily.

I would more say that your list has to be effective when using a sniper ship. When I think "build a list around this guy" I think that you start with him and then plan the rest of your list solely on that ship. I see Kir Kanos as a guy you can plug into a list idea that can use a sniper. So, I first start off with an idea of having a non-formation swarm of Tie Fighters, but want some support. Or, I think I'll use a Firespray with some other close range support and want some longer range support. Maybe you have Soontir Fel and Turr Phennir to get in and knife fight, but want something else in your list that's not a knife fighter. It could be you want Krassis with HLC and then someone to help draw fire away from him....or give him support. In other words, I see Kir Kannos as a template that you can use in a list. It can fit in a variety of lists, but you should think about how effective it is in the list overall. You can't just throw it in anything, but you don't have to build your list idea around him.