21 points it cost the same amount of points as a TIE Advance and has a sensor slot without a $90 pack. See ya vader.

21 points and has a cannon slot, late TIE Defender.

Yup it will outlast the TIE advance and TIE bomber. I expect to see this with RAC if Whisper is not already there.

One more thing, bombers will still suck.

Woops no cannon slot. My bad.

Okay Defender you can come back. You're still too expensive!!

21pts

still have to pay for system upgrades

less tough than a B-wing

No elite slot.

No cannon slot either. Where do you see a Cannon slot? It has systems and 2 each of torpedoes, missiles, and bombs. Is there some upgrade that lets you trade one of those for a cannon that I don't know about?

1 agility
Bad dial

I mean, yeah, it's a good ship, but it's no-where near the some role as the Advanced or the Defender.

No cannon slot, either.

Its statline is barely better than a naked Y-Wing.

Wait, when did ordinance get good?

Wait, when did ordinance get good?

21pts

still have to pay for system upgrades

less tough than a B-wing

Less tough than a B-wing? It has 9 hit point where a B-wing has only 8. Sure B-wing is mostly shields so that sort of makes it a harder shell but crits haven't been much of a thing. I think this will take more hits than a B-wing. The B-wing does win on firepower though.

An all-2-hits-all-the-time, never-spending-an-action-on-offence Tempest Squadron is one of the most efficient uses of points the Empire has available. Its only weakness is targets with high agility and guess what? A naked Punisher's a liability against that sort of opponent too.

21pts

still have to pay for system upgrades

less tough than a B-wing

Less tough than a B-wing? It has 9 hit point where a B-wing has only 8. Sure B-wing is mostly shields so that sort of makes it a harder shell but crits haven't been much of a thing. I think this will take more hits than a B-wing. The B-wing does win on firepower though.

Crits arnt a thing? Have you not heard of a little cannon named mangler?! He would like to meet you.

looking forward to my 100-0 wins after people read this and try to run naked generic punishers

Punishers also can't Barrel Roll outside of Deathrain.

looking forward to my 100-0 wins after people read this and try to run naked generic punishers

Honestly at that point you might as well run a herd of moo shuttles. If you are running a Punisher unless your Redline your most likely a Bomb-laying machine.

The Advanced named pilots all have abilities that work even if you don't spend additional points on ordnance and all but one of them have EPT slots. The 5 hits of the Advanced are usually going to last longer than the 9 of the Punisher. It would be really hard for 3 green dice with either a focus or evade to betray you enough that they didn't stop 4 or 5 damage from getting through in a game.

Wait, when did ordinance get good?

when Squad Leader was released.

Rimshot

You know what else costs 21 points, has about the same stats as a TIE Punisher, and a very similar dial, yet has been in the game for a few waves but hasn't taken the world by storm?

A Gold Squad with a Hull Upgrade; that's what.

Three more health, but one less agility than a TIE Bomber. From experience, I can tell you that my little Bombers tend to outlive my Y-Wings when the enemy tries to murder them. 1 agility is crap if you don't have another means of mitigating damage.

Not to mention a Scimitar is still five points cheaper than a Cutlass. Throw on Conc Missiles and Extra Munitions, and you're only a point more expensive than the naked Cutlass.

Punishers will be nasty fun while they're up in flying, but if Ys and Bs are any indication, the deadlier you make them by loading them out, the more its gonna hurt when they whither under a round or two of concentrated fire and consistently die before the rest of your ships.

With that said, I still look forward to flying some TIE Punisher, very likely right alongside some Bombers. I wonder if I can make Jonus, Rhymer, and Redline a thing...

I wonder if I can make Jonus, Rhymer, and Redline a thing...

I suspect that the answer will be "No, you can't".

Jonus is a little overpriced unless you build a squad that can really take advantage of his ability. Redline with an FCS has almost a perpetual target lock so doesn't really benefit from Jonus. Rhymer is so overpriced that unless Advanced Homing Missiles turn out to be broken good if fired at a range other than 2 you'll be hard pressed to get any sort of value out of him.

Due to his high cost, Redline is probably going to end up in a list where he's the only real ordnance carrier. I can't see him coming in at much under 40 points and he'll need to be flying with something that is a strong closer because he's probably going to end up dead while he still has ordnance on him in most matches.

If you want to use him in a list with ordnance carriers, Jonus might be fun in a list like this:

Jonus with Squad Leader

3 x Scimitar w/EM, Cluster Missiles, and Proximity Mines

Ehhhh, no

Ignoring the cost of the raider, ac advance costs a much as our piraty PS 2. No contest there.

The defender, meanwhile, is just far too different. For example, the punisher moves like a quadruple amputee turtle compared to the defender.

Personal opinion, the generic punishers seem awful for what they bring. Their stats are poorly priced (to the point where the humble bomber is a better buy) and I don't think system will do enough for them.

Redline and Death rain, though, are just sexy. You gotta shower them in expensive gifts, but they'll do things no other ship has done before

21pts

still have to pay for system upgrades

less tough than a B-wing

Less tough than a B-wing? It has 9 hit point where a B-wing has only 8. Sure B-wing is mostly shields so that sort of makes it a harder shell but crits haven't been much of a thing. I think this will take more hits than a B-wing. The B-wing does win on firepower though.

Crits arnt a thing? Have you not heard of a little cannon named mangler?! He would like to meet you.

He gets beat up by his older brother Heavy Laser Cannon all the time.

Ha ha, no to this thread.

Feel free to try dogfighting with a Punisher, OP. I'm sure that will end well. Punishers get a lot of mileage out of secondary weapons but naked they seem really underwhelming.

I wonder if I can make Jonus, Rhymer, and Redline a thing...

I suspect that the answer will be "No, you can't".

Jonus is a little overpriced unless you build a squad that can really take advantage of his ability. Redline with an FCS has almost a perpetual target lock so doesn't really benefit from Jonus. Rhymer is so overpriced that unless Advanced Homing Missiles turn out to be broken good if fired at a range other than 2 you'll be hard pressed to get any sort of value out of him.

Due to his high cost, Redline is probably going to end up in a list where he's the only real ordnance carrier. I can't see him coming in at much under 40 points and he'll need to be flying with something that is a strong closer because he's probably going to end up dead while he still has ordnance on him in most matches.

If you want to use him in a list with ordnance carriers, Jonus might be fun in a list like this:

Jonus with Squad Leader

3 x Scimitar w/EM, Cluster Missiles, and Proximity Mines

Yeah, it hit me after I posted that Jonus and Redline would be counter synergy. Still might try with Deathrain or a generic Punisher. Won't hurt to try.

And I've absolutely tried similar Bomber lists before. I own four of em and I **** well intend to keep using them all.

I'm not THAT sold at Redlines ability.

It should have been: After you roll attack dice, you get a free target lock at the defender.

Or even: When you accquire a TL, you are asigned a focus token.

Deathrain's ability is excellent.