Since two ship lists become more and more popular, imo a well flewn swarm can be pretty deadly right now. I'm curious though which one probably works best in the current meta and would like to hear your opinions on this issue.

From the top of my head some variations:

• 8 Tie
• 6 Tie + Howlrunner (including some gimmicks)
• BBBBZ
• BXXZZZ
• 5 Scum Z and Prince Xizor
• 7 Scum Z with Feedback Array
• 6 Z with rockets

There may be more, if so just let me know. So far I have only played BBBBZ myself but faced a few of the other lists of these. Speaking for myself though, I find that Z swarm is a bit trickier to fly since they lack barrel roll, but maybe that's just my opinion. BBBBZ is probably the easiest among these, since it has the least ships plus barrel roll, so you won't have many issues with maneuvering compared to the rest.

For me it's pretty hard to judge which one of them is more or less competitive, so I'm really interested in hearing peoples opinions about them.

They can all be competitive. The biggest killer of swarms in the tournament scene currently seems to be the way MOV works----no matter what you always lose some ships so your MOV is not as good as somebody else (with equal wins) who flew say, a 2 ship list and didn't lose ships nearly as often...

Swarms are still good though. Playing at 75 min rounds helps them more too, since they have more time to kill the opposition completely. Ending a match where both sides still have half their ships on the board is also a problem for MOV calculation, imo.

Anyway, as to your question about what is 'better', I don't think one stands above the others. It comes down to preference, really. I do believe that flying some variation of a TIE swarm is an excellent way to learn the game however. So if you are new and want to gain a better understanding of some of the intricacies of the game, its not a bad idea to fly a TIE swarm (at least for a little while). It teaches all sorts of useful skills: formation flying, anticipating your opponent's moves (to get blocks) and visualization of an evolving board state (you want to plan ahead so you don't have your ships bumping into each other too much, but still get enemy ships to bump into you). Also, picking a swarm with barrel roll is better for blocking because you can achieve more 'surprise' blocks (your opponent might not have considered all of your moves factoring in the barrel roll as well when planning their own positions).

Since two ship lists become more and more popular, imo a well flewn swarm can be pretty deadly right now. I'm curious though which one probably works best in the current meta and would like to hear your opinions on this issue.

From the top of my head some variations:

• 8 Tie
• 6 Tie + Howlrunner (including some gimmicks)
• BBBBZ
• BXXZZZ
• 5 Scum Z and Prince Xizor
• 7 Scum Z with Feedback Array
• 6 Z with rockets

There may be more, if so just let me know. So far I have only played BBBBZ myself but faced a few of the other lists of these. Speaking for myself though, I find that Z swarm is a bit trickier to fly since they lack barrel roll, but maybe that's just my opinion. BBBBZ is probably the easiest among these, since it has the least ships plus barrel roll, so you won't have many issues with maneuvering compared to the rest.

For me it's pretty hard to judge which one of them is more or less competitive, so I'm really interested in hearing peoples opinions about them.

If you're including BBBBZ, you ought to also include the 5-ship Empire builds, like 4x AutoInts + Howlrunner.

Right now I think BBBBZ is probably the best swarmy list with Xizor + Swarm coming in a close second.

I believe the Howlrunner + Obsidian TIE swarm has been in the top 8 of several Regionals this year.

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/180657-how-important-is-the-versatility-of-your-list

Right now I think BBBBZ is probably the best swarmy list with Xizor + Swarm coming in a close second.

Would you mind explaining why? Having played BBBBZ myself I know it's awesome at jousting, so you can easily punish your opponent if he lets you doing so. It can focus down ship per ship, though it has some problems with arc dodgers like Soontir imo.

I haven't seen Xizor swarm so far, would someone be so kind explaining where its strenght lies? I undersrand the concwpt of that untouchable Starviper surrounded by Z's, but don't know what it likes to play against (and what not).

You could also get some XXZZZZ or BBZZZZ builds and may include the basic XXXZZZ build although that is pretty much the BXXZZZ.

Right now I think BBBBZ is probably the best swarmy list with Xizor + Swarm coming in a close second.

Would you mind explaining why? Having played BBBBZ myself I know it's awesome at jousting, so you can easily punish your opponent if he lets you doing so. It can focus down ship per ship, though it has some problems with arc dodgers like Soontir imo.

I haven't seen Xizor swarm so far, would someone be so kind explaining where its strenght lies? I undersrand the concwpt of that untouchable Starviper surrounded by Z's, but don't know what it likes to play against (and what not).

Xizor + swarm is better when someone doesn't know how to play against the list and they actually try and kill the Prince first. You can spread around quite a bit of damage and make things pretty tough for your opponent. Xizor is usually equipped with VI, FCS, ATs, Dampeners, and maybe Fletchette torps. He becomes a very good late game ship that can hound turreted ships. That's what makes it a solid list though. Getting Xizor into the end game where you can out dogfight most opponents.

BBBBZ is just a lot of hitpoints and guns. They don't melt like Ties or Zs under HLC fire and they aren't susceptible to crits. They have the numbers to box in a turret too if you fly it right. It also is fairly easy to fly. Its a very forgiving list.

I do still wonder why BBBBZ won out over AXXXX

I do still wonder why BBBBZ won out over AXXXX

In terms of jousting efficiency, the B outclasses the X. Not sure if that's the reason, but it's why I would fly 4BZ over 4XA.

I do still wonder why BBBBZ won out over AXXXX

In terms of jousting efficiency, the B outclasses the X. Not sure if that's the reason, but it's why I would fly 4BZ over 4XA.

Yes, but the A far outclasses the Z95...

Has anyone ever tried 3B2autoA? The best of both worlds if you like B's and A's like I do.

1.) 5 ship lists are not swarms. 6 is the minimum to be considered a swarm.

2.) Don't forget about 8 Z-95's/ZZZZZZZA. First engagement you dump 8 Target Locks on something if you can. Honestly this is probably better than 8 TIE Fighters.

3.) 6 Refit A Wings and 5 Autothrusters? Maybe.

Lists with an Ace and 5 other ships, like Xizor and 5 Z's, Soontir and 5 Z's, etc. Hell, Patrol Leader and 5 Academies lol.

Swarm+. That's a term I coined for 6 swarm ships and a 28 point ship thrown in, like a generic Phantom with stygium and Intel agent, Lambda with 7 points of upgrades, The Tarnation build is a swarm+, an ORS with a one point upgrade, etc. For sacrificing one ship you seem to gain more than that one ship in firepower or durability or whatever. You might want to look into Flying 6 Scum Z's and a named Scum HWK, like Mux to shut down a Phantom or other high PS ship.

There are some other novelty swarms that I need to try out still/fly more. 7x Targeting Computer Academies, 6x Scimitar bombers, 7x M3-A, 7x Black Squadron.

Any swarm can work well, but for a 'true swarm' - 6+ ships - you will be working with lots of fragile ships and 2-dice primary attacks.

Other squads which I've seen work:

Howlrunner + 5 Scimitar Squadron bombers - never used it but I've seen TIE bombers used as good heavy dogfighters. Their ridiculous durability for their cost makes them not bad, and at close range they can put out a lot of firepower with howlrunner's rerolls.

All the named TIE Fighter pilots - my default squad at the moment. Firing at a minimum of PS5 is very good - although in a swarm-on-swarm match you are vulnerable to being blocked.

I can put in a recommendation for a feedback swarm - a friend ran the bug-zappers very successfully recently.