So for a few weeks people have been ragging on Tycho, complaining about his ability and whatnot. The other day I got a chance to try him out, and I gotta say, he was well worth every single one of his 16 points and then some. Enemy squadrons couldn't pin him down long enough to get a shot off, and the one or two times they did Tycho did more damage to them with his Counter2 than they did to him, thanks to Scatter and Brace.

He is probably THE best squadron in the game for hit and run tactics: activate him with a squad command, fly in and hit a ship. Next round, after enemy fighters have moved in to engage him, activate him with another squad command to hit the ship again and move distance 5 away from the fighters- far enough that most squadrons won't be able to catch him again. Rinse and repeat.

In my game, Tycho single-handedly did 4 or 5 damage to enemy ships throughout the game, and the only time he actually took damage was the last round, and that was only because I was so far in the lead at that point I didn't mind throwing him into the middle of a pack of TIEs to see if he could take any of them out with his counter attacks.

Seriously, what is there not to love?

16 point A-wing probs, lack of a clearly defined role

squadrons in this game don't make an impact like aces do in X-wing minis, so it's hard to see his worth over just devoting his points to ship upgrades or more squadrons

best I can see, Tycho is the master of tangling rhymer bombers. Even if he's stuck in a hairball, he can just trolo out of there and right into rhymer's face (and all his distance 1 buddies). just gotta hope you don't run into chiraneau

Not sure if you couldn't acomplish the same with another A-wing

Played against him twice. Killed him twice with no loss to myself. FC interceptors with Howlrunner can kill anything, if you throw enough at something.

I've seen Tycho severely disrupt enemy squadrons and I've seen him get blown out of the black like he was nothing. Mileage may vary.

def abilities are best against ships, not squadrons.

Only used him once, and I felt he needed more support (was playing against other Rebels, X-Wings specifically). I should have thrown Squadron commands at him, but he certainly annoyed for a while. I like him just fine!

Tycho is a giant douchenozzle. In Gallant Haven + Aces he flies around the board doing whatever he wants, whether it being tying up Rhymer and making him cry, or taking pot shots at ships. Also, he can snipe characters really well do to not caring about engagement when he moves (Fel, Rhymer, Howlrunner, Farlander)

I like his scatter token.

Hes ok, but too many blue dice makes him go away. Esp painful since he has only 3 hits

Depending on how much intel is on those Rogue and Villain squadrons in Wave 2 and their squadron costs, we might not be seeing much of Tycho in the future.

Intel's so far on the HWKs

Going by the forum post with additional wave 2 spoilers (boba and jan), HWKs are speed 3 A-wings

Jan's getting 2 brace tokens

is +2 speed and scatter worth it?

idk.

Jan has a very specific application and you know exactly why you take her, though. Still not sure how to apply tycho outside of engaging rhymer. Kinda wish he had Rogue (or psycho tycho, which is just the same thing but cooler)

I've flown Tycho quite a bit and he's one of the better Rebel aces in terms of flexibility and reach.

With Adar Talon you can double activate in the first turn and pin enemy starfighters in their deployment zone (useful against slow fighters like B-Wings.)

He's excellent for controlling the starfighter engagments and pinning down stragglers and screened bombers.

I'm quite profligate with his scatter use. I often use it to dodge one damage, even from anti-Squadron fire. His health is precious.

His ability also means he can disengage and land a reliable shot on a crippled Ship when you absolutely have to.

The main problem I see is the general unwieldlyness of building Rebel squadrons; they don't have a standard effective build like the Imperials.

Tycho

Keyan

3 A-wings

2 B-Wings

Gallant Haven

Yavaris

is probably the only configuration he would be effective in.

Tycho will be an auto include in all my rebel builds. does he die every game....yes. does he earn his points back every game......yes and more. hes solid for just flying into a swarm, shooting, countering and then doing it again. he is a nasty speed bump for your opponent that helps protect the more valuable aces. if he can drop an interceptor or 2, or howlrunner, they will never kill your squadrons if you are using gallant haven.

Hes ok, but too many blue dice makes him go away. Esp painful since he has only 3 hits

I thought a-wings had 4 health

Tycho also benefits from the Space Station Obstacle, being free to move and heal each turn.

When used with Adar Tallon, you can activate him. race in to attack a ship, then flip him back to inactive. squadron phase he activates again and can attack the ship a second time that turn, or race away/back to command range...or as mentioned: to the station to heal.

Tycho's amazing. He can tie up anybody for a turn, between fights. Scatter + Brace means he lasts longer to counter more, all for only 5 additional points. He's honestly probably the best rebel ace due to his extremely cheap price point (Though Dutch comes darned close)

Hes ok, but too many blue dice makes him go away. Esp painful since he has only 3 hits

I thought a-wings had 4 health

<facepalm>