I'm toying with a 3 big ship list for my store championship.

Bountyhunter
+Gunner
38

Bountyhunter
+Gunner

38

Omicron Group Pilot

+Darth Vader

24

The idea is for the Firesprays to take the lead while the shuttle holds back to dish out crits after the enemy shields go down. I'm hoping the Auxiliary arcs and overlapping fields of fire will protect me from arc-dodging phantoms, which is what I'm sure to face on the top table.

I like the list. I don't have enough experience against Phantoms to have a very worthwhile opinion, but with the shuttle hanging back, you can cover the Firespray blind spots with the shuttle's front arc, and that will ruin a Phantom's day. Should work fine against interceptors as well. It's a nice mix because Gunners and Vader are solid against high agility stuff, and it's got enough meat to stand toe to toe with low agility stuff.

In general, I think there's a really good niche for people that can find lists that are solid against Phantoms without making a huge PS bid. That gives more points for offense/defense, which traditionally has trumped high PS in pre-phantom times.

Love the title. It doesn't look like a bad list. Let us know how it goes.

Tested it out last night at the FLGS. I clearly have a lot to learn about flying big ships.

First game was against a fully kitted out Keyan, Ten Numb with Auto-Blaster, and a Dagger with FCS. I lost half of my shots and too much of my shields to clipping asteroids with the corners of those big bases. I managed to take down Ten and bleed the Dagger to a single hull point before time ran out, but Doom shuttles die fast, and he managed to take out one of my Firesprays on the final combat round.

Second game was against another kitted out Keyan, buddied up with Fat Han. I took down Keyan, and promptly flew the Firespray that still had a shield token off the board by a micron. (It was so close we had to call in the other players to judge, and wound up running a straight edge along the edge of the mat to see if the base moved because nobody could call it for sure with their eyes.) The Doom shuttle died in moments with the Falcon on it's tail, and the final Firespray just couldn't push enough damage through Han+Lando+C3P0+PTL+Falcon Title, even with Gunner. I had a single hull point and had only managed to knock off his shields when time ran out.

So, clearly I need more practice. I think it's a good list, and once I can fly it properly it'll be competitive. Fortunately I've got time, and losses don't discourage me.

You learn more from losing!

If you are having trouble keeping the Shuttle alive, maybe someone other than Vader? I wouldn't really want to use Vader unless it's on someone you can kill or cripple with the damage. Otherwise, you are just hurting yourself.

Rebel Captive might be a better idea. Phantoms won't fire at you and everyone else will have a hard time with the stress. It makes the elites (and their killing power) not want to fire at it. If they do, they become that much more predictable.

If you ever find it's hard to turn and are looking for ways to spend points to make it happen (yes....points that have to come from somewhere else...) then I might want to recommend Engine Upgrade and Advanced Sensors. It allows you to boost and then do a 2 sharp turn, which does wonders to get you turned around.

I'm trying to think of what else you could use instead of a Shuttle. Maybe two Academy? You would sure be praying that those dice go your way!

I've also learned that Recon Specialist works great on a Firespray as it works for defense and offense. I have tried it a couple time and it's good. Not the offensive fire, though, but maybe keeps you alive longer?

I've been flying two variations of this list recently and enjoying it.

The first is the list you supplied. The second is pretty much what chadwick recommended:

Firespray w/Recon Specialist X2

Lambda w/Vader, and EU

Not sure which I like better yet. First list is less susceptible to blocking and has more punch, and you have the full range of actions, while the second is a fair bit tankier with the extra focus for defense, plus the EU on the shuttle helps keep stuff in arc

Yeah, Recon Specialist is really the best crew choice for a Firespray. Gunner, while not bad, really doesn't offer the same benefit two focus tokens do. You either get two great rounds of defense, or a great round of defense and offense. With the ~4 extra points you earn by replacing those Gunners with Recon Specialist, you could throw in some bombs (which, believe it or not, really make your opponent second-guess their maneuvers), throw in a Rebel Captive on Vader (though, this changes the way you play as you'll have to be very picky with Vader) or include a FCS on the Shuttle.

I like the list, and large ships do take practice, but Recon Specialist is really the way to go on every Firespray except Kath / Boba. Also, don't be afraid to K-Turn with the Firesprays!

What's the reason recspec isn't as good on kath/Boba? And is there a specific card besides gunner that you would recommend?

Don't mean the be a thread jacker, but that's still kinda on topic yeah?

Great squad name! And I really like the shuttle touch. I hope you can get it working.

Since you want to fly 3 bigs try this

patrol leader

onicom pilot + fleet command (give out two focus one to each ship in range 1-2 take one stress)

bounty hunter

rebel captive

won my last store tourney with it played against HLC dash / fat horn, double falcon, tie swarm. won all my games closest was dash horn because of horn

yeah, I don't find firesprays to be a very efficient gunner target (except Kath with marskmanship, because you are quite likely to inflict stress on high agility pilots and then follow up with either damage or more stress)

If you want a real pray and spray ship, you're looking at gunner + fcs shuttles