I'm not saying the standard TIE needs a fix - it is what it is ... a low attack swarmy fighter.

BUT

I for one would like to see more TIEs on the field in a non-swarm capacity... more specialised units perhaps.

In my ideal world we'd see a TIE Aces pack that contained a whole bunch of COMPELLING named pilots worth feilding on their own or in a very small swarm.

The miniatures? A blue-grey TIE a la the bomber/Interceptor/new advanced and a TIE with the Imperial logo on its wings.

...A number of the named TIEs are reasonably good if you need cheap flankers. Backstabber, Mithel, Gundark and arguably Dark Curse can do an excellent job of swooping-in from the side and inflicting R1 damage at a discount price.

most of the tie characters are fine for their price, gundark being the only sore point for me

Howlrunner is howlrunner, her ability is crazy

Mauler I don't really enjoy because backstabber is far easier to utilize (mauler in range 1 of something is a scary prospect, for both sides). V.I makes him much easier to use.

Backstabber is an amazing 16 points

Curse is one of the most annoying things in the game. He's the "imperial A-wing" the guy you put in when you only have enough room to jam in a cheap fighter but don't want it to be a waste of points like a single Z-95.

Beast is deceptively hard to kill

Backstabber by far sees more play than any other, both personally and in my local group. Howlie likes at least a mini-swarm of 3-4 ties and she's been vying with Stabber for who gets to escort the baron fell into battle. Mauler is someone I used with a seven tie swarm (Howlie, VI mauler, das stabber, 4 academies) because 2 dice offense really suck to have sometimes, and there are only two tie fighters that can hit above that.

Haven't put curse or beast on the table in a while, sadly. Last I used them, they were part of a four tie mini-swarm chaperoning boba fett around. Their stickiness and how irritating they were when they stand in front of ships trying to get a bead on the big guy made them quite effective, only problem was boba didn't quite pull his weight.

Pretty much all the named pilots who aren't Howlrunner are competent in non-swarm roles.

As for a TIE aces, would be nice but is it that high priority?

X-wing: 8 unique pilots, two generics.
TIE interceptor: 7 unique pilots, four generics.
TIE fighter: 6 unique pilots, three generics.
TIE advanced (post raider): 6 unique pilots, two generics.
A-wing, B-wing: 4 unique pilots, two generics.

Everything else has their base four pilots, treating Scum's mirrors as ships in their own right.

Yeah it would be nice to have some nice new blue ties but there are plenty of other craft that need some love first.

I could go for some blue ties. For the real ESB and ROTJ feel.

TIE Bombers ace pack prefer would I.

The Ties already have aces. They are called Interceptors and Defenders.

^ That is what I was going to say. I know Ties had their aces, but I see them as the stock. Pilots, when they showed promise, moved to more advanced Ties and more difficult missions.

I'm not saying the standard TIE needs a fix - it is what it is ... a low attack swarmy fighter.

BUT

I for one would like to see more TIEs on the field in a non-swarm capacity... more specialised units perhaps.

In my ideal world we'd see a TIE Aces pack that contained a whole bunch of COMPELLING named pilots worth feilding on their own or in a very small swarm.

The miniatures? A blue-grey TIE a la the bomber/Interceptor/new advanced and a TIE with the Imperial logo on its wings.

though i agree and i'd like to see more tie fighter pilots. tie aces wouldn't really make sense, would it? doesn't the lore refer to the good tie fighter pilots getting upgraded into the tie interceptor once they've proven their skills and luck as a pilot to come back after so many missions?

A TIE pilot or two with abilities benefiting other TIE Fighters would be nice, emphasizing and rewarding the swarm.

I don't believe that we will see that happen, and if, i think it will be disappointing.

And here's why:

They changed their costing system since the beginning of X-Wing, and nearly all of the Tie Fighters we have are extremely cost-efficient.

Look at the Z-95 and the Scyk. With the exception of maybe Suhlak (who is great, but extremely conditional), there is just no ship that has such amazing abilities as Curse, Stabber, Howl or Mithel for such a low price.

So if new Ties came out, we would probably perceive them as overcosted compared to the old ones.

What might be interesting for basic TIEs is a series of low PS unique pilots with interesting abilities. So far, all of the named pilots in the game have had generally high PS, but a bunch of named TIE pilots in the 1-4 PS range would keep the flavor of the ship while still giving basic TIEs some love. It might also open up some design space for abilities that work better on low PS ships.

A TIE pilot or two with abilities benefiting other TIE Fighters would be nice, emphasizing and rewarding the swarm.

Assuming you mean abilities that effect a single friendly TIE nearby, yeah, sure. We are obviously not going to see another Howlrunner like ability, but I could possibly see an ability that gives a single ally a buff. The problem with that idea though is that sort of thing is more the rebel's thing. They have several pilots that grant bonuses to nearby friends, so FFG might not want to blur the faction identities.

I don't believe that we will see that happen, and if, i think it will be disappointing.

And here's why:

They changed their costing system since the beginning of X-Wing, and nearly all of the Tie Fighters we have are extremely cost-efficient.

Look at the Z-95 and the Scyk. With the exception of maybe Suhlak (who is great, but extremely conditional), there is just no ship that has such amazing abilities as Curse, Stabber, Howl or Mithel for such a low price.

So if new Ties came out, we would probably perceive them as overcosted compared to the old ones.

Yeah I think your right there.

I'm not so sure. It's not like Night Beast and Dark Curse are really dominating the meta, and I think the designers would be able to give us pilots at a similar power level.

Assuming you mean abilities that effect a single friendly TIE nearby, yeah, sure. We are obviously not going to see another Howlrunner like ability, but I could possibly see an ability that gives a single ally a buff. The problem with that idea though is that sort of thing is more the rebel's thing. They have several pilots that grant bonuses to nearby friends, so FFG might not want to blur the faction identities.

Well, not necessarily a single TIE, but very ship specific buffs.

Something like, off the top of my head:

When you perform a barrel roll action, up to two friendly TIE Fighters at range 1 may immediately perform a free barrel roll action using the same direction.

Or (really brainfrating here):

Scattershot

PS 5

Action: any number of friendly TIE Fighters at range 1 must immediately perform a free boost or barrel roll action. You receive 1 ion token.

Something that buffs the TIE Fighter, but not (like Howlrunner does) the Firespray, stuff like that.

I'd much rather see Aces for the TIE Bomber and TIE Defender. Those ships need new pilots a LOT more than the TIE Fighter does.

Because the TIE Fighter is so simple and effective it is the single one ship that needs no adjustment, I mean I can't see how it ever would.

It's a 12 point 2 attack 3 dodge ship that is great for filler, sorta good for arc dodging, fantastic at blocking. The ace level pilots for it are almost all good, even the Black squadron is used a bit.

The only downer pilot is the Obsidian, they tend to sit on the sidelines with Avenger squadron, Gamma Squadron, Shadow and Onyx squadron pilots.

Winged gundark is weaker than the rest of the TIE Aces, but he's still better than a lot of pilots out there. I mean who here would take AAAAARRRvel crynd or Fels wrath over Gundark?

I'd argue that the only ships that are more points efficient than the TIE/LN are the Z-95 and B-wing.

There are other TIE aces with additional abilities; they're just called TIE Interceptor, TIE Advanced, TIE Bomber, TIE Defender ...

Our TIEs are fine as is!

I'm not saying the standard TIE needs a fix - it is what it is ... a low attack swarmy fighter.

Actually, I like to think of the Tie Fighter as the original Arc Dodger. I played back in Wave 1...when there weren't Interceptors. Tie Fighters were great for arc dodging! The named guys all had decent PS and I used their abilities to full effect. I never flew them in formation much as I felt it really limited how they were played. Sure, Interceptors with PTL have boost and barrel roll. They are better Arc Dodgers. Does that make Tie Fighters bad ones, though? I don't think so.

Academy Pilots are great blockers, as well. I always take at least one for that reason alone. Nothing like sticking some cheap ship out in the middle for your main target to bump. Makes all the other Tie Fighters shooting easier.

As others have stated, I find good use for the above mentioned Tie Fighters.

I'm not so sure. It's not like Night Beast and Dark Curse are really dominating the meta, and I think the designers would be able to give us pilots at a similar power level.

Do you really expect a single standard Tie Fighter to dominate the meta? Something would be wrong if it were the case. Still, you need to fill some points with a ship that has a lot of uses? Those two are good. Dark Curse is especially hard to kill. Night Beast can surprise you at times with that free Focus. Neither of these will be OP and make you win the game, but they are great pilots to use. Personally, I like to have Dark Curse lead my formation. I try to get it so that he's the only guy at range to fire on the approach. People always forget and TL him. Usually, R3 shots with no re-rolls does him well. I can then jump in to a good range next turn and do some damage.

If no one has ever flown a list with 6 named Tie Fighters, I recommend it. Actually, fly it without Howlrunner. She's best used for formation flying and as many ties as you can get. This list doesn't really fly in formation. It literally swarms your opponent. You have to be good about not bumping, but playing with it can make you a better player.

I did run a list that was Omnicron w/ Fleet Officer and Adv. Sensors, Dark Curse, Back Stabber, Nightbeast, and 2 x Academy Pilots. It did surprisingly well. I took out a guy's tournament list with just 2 Ties left, but it was fun.

Part of the reason you don't see Tie Fighters in the tournament lists is that you will lose some in your games. This means your standing will be hurt.

I really don't see a need for anything to be done with TIEs. They are simply stellar the way they are. Almost every one of them has an EXCELLENT pilot ability, and you even get Black Squadron TIEs with EPT slots. This is all on top of their amazing cost effective base price.

What the game could really use is an "aces" pack for Rebel Y-wings and Imp TIE Bombers. They both desperately could use some new pilots or generics with EPTs.

Y-wings got a bit of love with A4, new turrets... Rebels just need EPT Y-wings... same goes for X.
a cheap EPT slot that doesn't use an astromech would do it for each.

TIE Bombers and Defenders should be next on the love list for Imperials. I suspect that the rumoured ordnance fix will make bombers and y-wings even more viable.

I happen to think Calculation w/ a Black Squadron Pilot is almost like an Aces pack.

If no one has ever flown a list with 6 named Tie Fighters, I recommend it. Actually, fly it without Howlrunner. She's best used for formation flying and as many ties as you can get. This list doesn't really fly in formation. It literally swarms your opponent. You have to be good about not bumping, but playing with it can make you a better player.

Not quite this, but one of my favorite lists is "Fel's Flying Circus:" Soontir Fel (PtL, RGT, AT, SD) + Mauler, Backstabber, Night Beast, and Dark Curse. Everyone focuses on Fel, but the TIE's can do some real damage while unmolested.