I love the idea of Oicunn but I understand how he's not competitively viable so I wanted to spitball some ideas out to you guys.

Here's my Oicunn:

Oicunn (42)

Expose (4)

Darth Vader (3)

Ysanne Isard (4)

Gunner (5)

It totals 58 points. This is the set match up with him. A ship that can slam into ships to deal a damage, get two shots at you and a chance to vader you twice (for those Phantoms out there). And if he doesn't slam, he gets an additional attack die for his attack.

I want to pair him with:

Howlrunner (18)

Swarm Tactics (2)

Stealth Device (3)

Backstabber (16)

That leaves 3 points free. My idea is to either:

Throw Dauntless and Tactical Jammer on Oicunn to allow him to get in the way of shooting at his escorts and allowing him to Expose even if he rams.

OR

Throw stealth device on Backstabber too and have them two really hard to hit TIEs escorting Oicunn that can deal some good damage.

Thoughts??

Expose should only ever be used on Chirineau and preferably with EI. 4 attack dice unmodified is worse than 3 attack dice with a focus or TL. I'd drop it for Predator or Ruthlessness.

Also drop Howl for two Academies. The Academies can help block things and screen for Ocuinn so he can line up rams. Howlrunner isn't doing much really and will die quicker than you can say "all blanks".

Well the idea would be that with Howlrunner escorting Oicunn, he would improve Oicunn's PS and allow him to re-roll a die, which is essentially Predator without using Predator. This would allow in a lot of cases for Oicunn and Howlrunner to get shots off first. Though Ruthlessness does bear an interest.

I will definitely use Mara Jade with Oicunn since most of the time u will wanna bump into your opponent ships. Just my 2cents

Yeah Mara would probably be better than Vader here. You'll always be getting in close so Mara will be a natural fit.

If you really want to keep Vader, I wouldn't use him every attack like most people seem to feel is necessary. Hold him back until you've got a shot against someone without shields. Save him for a nice calculated shot.

Well the idea would be that with Howlrunner escorting Oicunn, he would improve Oicunn's PS and allow him to re-roll a die, which is essentially Predator without using Predator. This would allow in a lot of cases for Oicunn and Howlrunner to get shots off first. Though Ruthlessness does bear an interest.

Keeping a small base ship & a large base ship within range 1 of each other all game is a tall order. I won't say its impossible, but you'd have to practice it and keep it in mind the entire game. And even if you can do it, its questionable whether a 23 point ship whose sole purpose is to buff one other ship is the best use of those points...

Yeah Mara would probably be better than Vader here. You'll always be getting in close so Mara will be a natural fit.

If you really want to keep Vader, I wouldn't use him every attack like most people seem to feel is necessary. Hold him back until you've got a shot against someone without shields. Save him for a nice calculated shot.

Well the idea would be that with Howlrunner escorting Oicunn, he would improve Oicunn's PS and allow him to re-roll a die, which is essentially Predator without using Predator. This would allow in a lot of cases for Oicunn and Howlrunner to get shots off first. Though Ruthlessness does bear an interest.

Keeping a small base ship & a large base ship within range 1 of each other all game is a tall order. I won't say its impossible, but you'd have to practice it and keep it in mind the entire game. And even if you can do it, its questionable whether a 23 point ship whose sole purpose is to buff one other ship is the best use of those points...

Yeah, I agree about the calculated shot with Vader. There's a temptation there with a Phantom heavy meta to slam into a Phantom, let him fly away, shoot at him potentially two shots with 1 re-roll and guaranteeing to remove his shields and deal a crit.

Though maybe spending 23 points on Howlrunner might not be the best use of those points though I'm not certain that turning him into 2 academies really fixes the issues either. Though personally, I am horrible at flying academies...