So after building up my forces, (and many dollars later) I finally have gotten around to building my first list. After carefully scouring the forums I decided NOT to go with a Falcon or Decimator build as this seems to be the "easy" or overdone route. Rather, I came up with this:

X2 Royal Guard Pilot -Tie Interceptor

-Veteran Instincts

-Autothrusters

-Royal Guard Tie

-Targeting Computer

X1 Captain Yorr - Lambda Class Shuttle

-Heavy Laser Cannon

-Sensor Jammer

-Anti Pursuit Laser

-Darth Vader

-Rebel Captive

-ST 321

Total points- 100

Let me know what you think!

Welcoming!

Some lovely ships there, the royal guard interceptors are a great choice, standard PS6, and autothrusters are an excellent choice on them, I would suggest though that instead of Veteran Instincts (VI) you give them Push the Limits, this enables them to boost and barrel roll, you target lock and focus. with a great dial and lots of green it's easy to clear the stress.

so we need to find 4 points.

for the lambda, you can try out the cheap(ish) "doom shuttle" which is an omicron group pilot (OGP) with darth vader. enabling you to casuse a critical result on anyone you are able to get your shots onto.

Unfortunately with vader on board, the ship is even more destined to die, so it's best not to make it worth 46 points.

if you did want to keep the high points cost ship, you could always go with

OGP, Fire control Systems, heavy laser cannon, weapons engineer, intelligence agent, engine upgrade and The ST 321 title.

I'd recommend the doom shuttle build above, which leaves 18 points, so perhaps either howlrunner, or darkcurse <--- whom fits in nicely with the PS6 of the Royal guard.

Happy Flying

Thabks for the feedback. "Push the limits" seems it would work great with Yorr's ability to remove stress. So here is what changes I think need to be made for this adjustment:

Remove:

-Veteran Instincts X2

-Anti Pursuit Laser

-Rebel Captive

Add:

-Push the Limits X2

-Intelligence Agent

This seems to add more synergy between ships.

The next most commonly done thing is putting WAYY too many upgrades on ships and not having enough ships. You've fallen in that trap headfirst.

The shuttles should be as lightly upgraded as possible so that your opponent will opt to ignore them and allow them to get shots.

All Imperial lists require a minimum of 3 ships to be considered competitive unless one of them is a Decimator flown well. There are basically no exceptions. Some people can make dual defenders or dual firesprays work, but thats not everyone.

You want to usually go for 4 ships.

Here's an example of theoretically sound building.

When I say theoretical, you can choose to ignore these precepts, just note you'll learn the slow way why.

And I'll caveat that with that you should have fun and try to make your own builds. That's still a good thing to do.

Thanks for feedback Blail,

Interesting that you say that because my goal WAS for the shuttle to get all the attention and act like a sort of bullet sponge while the ties swooped in for the kill. If the opposite happens then the shuttle can use Darth and HLC to pick off ships while the ties are engaged. Sensor Jammer helps with the defence if caught alone. I would rather go with fewer higher skilled ships than a mass of low skilled ones. Being a new player it seems that controlling more ships would be alot more complicated then if you had less.

So I looked into adding more ships to this list and here is what I came up with based off of what you both have said.

I keep both Royal Guard Ties the way they are (With "Push the Limits"). I then strip the Shuttle down to Omicron and Darth Vader and add Dark Curse with Targeting Computer. At the moment I dont have the Tie Advanced, Tie Fighter or Tie Interceptor expansion which is why DC is my best bet for now. I have to say I do feel a tad uneasy stripping down my shuttle to bare bones; I guess I can always fly both set lists and see which one suits me, that is unless you have any other ideas floating out there.

Strategy and thinking about what you want is good. Just be aware that your opponent has to be facing something in your list. Unless they're terribad and youre terr-orizing them.

Darth Vader crew does not work for everyone. I actually personally don't like them that much. I prefer the FCS for 2 pts, Capt Yorr for 3more points, or Engine Upgrade. But I usually don't add more than 7 points to the shuttle. It still only has 1 green dice and 10 health. It averages to about 4 attacks to kill if you do the math.

That said, I also personally really don't like the concept of Mangler, but that's why we all have different opinions. I think its at least worth a try, but FCS may up the damage effectively at only 2 more points instead of 4.

If more ships bother you, kit out some interceptors with good pilots.

Lambdas tend to like to be cost effective. However a funny funny build is to overload it and watch things go pop:

Super heavy damage dealing cow:

HLC FCS Gunner Engine Upgrade. Gunner is honestly kind of overkill, I'd drop that first if you need points.

Wow, I can't thank you guys more for all this valuable input. So far I have three test builds made, starting from a decked out shuttle with two escorts to a stripped down shuttle with double that amount and one that fits right in between.

Now I just need to play test them and see what works best for me. I'll post these lists for you to take a look asap.Cheers!

So here are my three lists:

X2 Royal Guard Pilot -Tie Interceptor

-Push the Limits

-Autothrusters

-Royal Guard Tie

-Targeting Computer

X1 Omicron Group Pilot - Lambda Class Shuttle

-Heavy Laser Cannon

-Sensor Jammer

-Tactical Jammer

-Darth Vader

-Rebel Captive

-ST 321

Total points- 100

X2 Royal Guard Pilot -Tie Interceptor

-Push the Limits

-Autothrusters

-Royal Guard Tie

-Targeting Computer

X1 Omiron Group Pilot - Lambda Class Shuttle

-Darth Vader

X1 Mauler Mithel - Tie Fighter

-Calculation

Total points- 100

So for the third version I have two variations that I cant make my mind up on:

X2 Saber Squadron Pilot -Tie Interceptor

-Autothrusters

X2 Academy Pilot -Tie Fighter

X1 Omicron Group Pilot - Lambda Class Shuttle

-Sensor Jammer

-Gunner

Total points- 100

OR

X2 Saber Squadron Pilot -Tie Interceptor

-Push the Limits

-Autothrusters

X2 Academy Pilot -Tie Fighter

X1 Omicron Group Pilot - Lambda Class Shuttle

-Rebel Captive

Total points- 100

Thanks!

So here are my three lists:

X2 Royal Guard Pilot -Tie Interceptor

-Push the Limits

-Autothrusters

-Royal Guard Tie

-Targeting Computer

X1 Omicron Group Pilot - Lambda Class Shuttle

-Heavy Laser Cannon

-Sensor Jammer

-Tactical Jammer

-Darth Vader

-Rebel Captive

-ST 321

Total points- 100

X2 Royal Guard Pilot -Tie Interceptor

-Push the Limits

-Autothrusters

-Royal Guard Tie

-Targeting Computer

X1 Omiron Group Pilot - Lambda Class Shuttle

-Darth Vader

X1 Mauler Mithel - Tie Fighter

-Calculation

Total points- 100

So for the third version I have two variations that I cant make my mind up on:

X2 Saber Squadron Pilot -Tie Interceptor

-Autothrusters

X2 Academy Pilot -Tie Fighter

X1 Omicron Group Pilot - Lambda Class Shuttle

-Sensor Jammer

-Gunner

Total points- 100

OR

X2 Saber Squadron Pilot -Tie Interceptor

-Push the Limits

-Autothrusters

X2 Academy Pilot -Tie Fighter

X1 Omicron Group Pilot - Lambda Class Shuttle

-Rebel Captive

Total points- 100

Thanks!

I just wanted to chime in and say that strategy and efficiency are both good things to keep in mind when list building, but at the end of the day, you aren't going to get good at this game unless you play it. A lot! So, don't worry if your lists are good or bad at first. Just get them on the table. Learning the 'hard way' is the best way. How will you know how effective Sensor Jammer or heavy laser cannon are unless you try them? Sure hearing what others have to say is not a bad thing, but everyone's perceptions are moulded by their experiences, and you might have a totally different approach with a particular upgrade and find it works well for you even when others tell you its 'terrible'.

I've played all the factions but I really like the imperials the best, but I like to fly the other factions on occasion so I can better understand their strengths and weaknesses (memorizing all the dials is also not a bad idea, if you can pull it off )

One thing I can say about the imperials is that their greatest strength lies in the lowly TIE fighter. Learning to use this ship effectively is a good place to start. In fact, a TIE swarm is a powerful list and a really great way to learn a lot of the nuances of the game because its not easy to fly effectively but teaches you a lot of important concepts, like blocking higher PS ships, predicting enemy movements and judging target priorities well.

As to your lists, I think all of them can work, although your first one is probably objectively the weakest. You should still try it out though and see how it performs. Sometimes losing is a good way to understand why a list doesn't work or to see what potential weaknesses your ships have so that maybe next time you can shore those up or fly in a way to make it difficult for your opponent to exploit them.

One thing I have found with the Royal Guard Interceptor (and the Saber too) is that they really like a hull or shield upgrade. Their PS is not high enough for them to dodge arcs all the time, so they inevitably take hits. I would suggest dropping the targeting computers (which are better on Soontir or Turr) and try to squeeze in one of those instead to see how it changes their effectiveness.

Good Luck out there!