Howlrunner + FOs

By whiskeytango, in X-Wing Squad Lists

Howlrunner (18)

Hull Upgrade (3)

Omega Ace (23)

Push the Limit (3)

Epsilon Leader (19)

3 x Academy Pilots (36)

Granted, this list would probably be better with just Howlrunner, Epsilon leader, and 5 Academy pilots, but I think it might be fun to try out Omega Ace. If you can get him close, and keep epsilon close to keep shedding the stress, he could be guaranteeing 3 crits a turn, which could be awesome against big ships, or the TLT Y-Wings that are taking over.

Hull upgrade isnt going to keep Howl alive long enough.

You really need something to stop her being hit like draw their fire or a stealth device, even AT

I've one shotted naked howlrunners at R3 enough times to know that she's just too fragile.

At the very least shield upgrade so that first crit doesnt cripple her.

But with SD you make her the hardest target in the swarm and push people to consider a *chance* at HR or a safer shot against another pilot.

I know if you flew this against me i'd just ignore everything else until she was dead which would probably be the first or second turn.

Having played 4 TLT gold squadron this week they seemed to be doing on average 2 points each each turn regardless of range (well obviosuly not at range 1 but they cover each other when used abreast) and they shredded bombers when all firing at the same one so i cant see ties lasting too long unless you're able to thin them out quickly.

Edited by Gadge

I'd swap put Hull on Howlrunner in exchange for PTL on her. Evade + Focus should give you better returns. An Evade action preventing a poor roll from dealing damage more than once in a match is equivalent to 1 Hull for every evaded shot that would have normally crushed her.

So Omega Ace works really well paired up with a ship that has Tracer Missiles and Decoy. That way you make the Omega Ace shoot late after shields are down from the rest of your squad. Omega just focuses and picks up the TL from the Tracer, this also boosts the rest of your squad's damage output with free TLs. Cheapest way to get tracers is a Scimitar bomber (17 points for 1 tracer, 18 for 2, 20 for 4).

Easy to fit into a list, I'd recommend taking 1 tracer and 1 ion pulse missile, that's 20 points base or 22 with extra munitions. The TLs let you drop Howlrunner (pays for the bomber and ordnance) and really boosts the ties. The only downside is that for this combo to really work you need the Omega Ace to shoot last and the Scimitar to shoot first, which means you will need Decoy on the Omega Ace and then a bunch of of Obsidians.

Here is an example list

Omega Ace (22)

Decoy

Scimitar Squadron Pilot (22)

Tracer missiles

Ion pulse missiles

Extra munitions

Black Squadron Pilot (15)

Draw their fire

Black Squadron Pilot (15)

Draw their fire

Obsidian Squadron Pilot (13)

Obsidian Squadron Pilot (13)

Plan: Move up and focus with everyone. Use decoy on the bomber and shoot a tracer at a juicy target. Then blaze away with the rest of the squad at it, last shots should be 2 crits from the Ace. Next round use the ion pulse missile from the bomber to stall out the target ship if it's still alive, it's it's dead repeat the process on a new target.

Decent staying power (22 hit points) and damage output, Blacks with Draw their Fire are great for keeping the Ace and the Bomber alive longer. You'll need to proxy tracers for a bit by give it a shot.

I ran this last night for fun since I now have 5 tie fighters to finally run a swarm!

Howl + PTL + Shield

Alpha + AT

Epsilon X 2

Academy X 2

Total: 99

Was pretty fun and I won my game with it. The epsilon's being able to take target locks for the future when they didn't have a shot was really nice.

I think I might run it again today at my LGS, but might tweak it a bit.

Omega and howlie are a tad redundant with one another (and I don't really believe omega A's that good to begin with :()

2 academies would serve you more efficiently, or some upgraded ties

To OP

How are you getting 3 crits a round?

To OP

How are you getting 3 crits a round?

He's talking about Omega ace spending a TL and Focus at range 1 to turn all results into crits.

To OP

How are you getting 3 crits a round?

He's talking about Omega ace spending a TL and Focus at range 1 to turn all results into crits.

You can theoretically use expose or opportunist to make it 4 crits instead!

To OP

How are you getting 3 crits a round?

He's talking about Omega ace spending a TL and Focus at range 1 to turn all results into crits.

You can theoretically use expose or opportunist to make it 4 crits instead!

Yes, but you won't

Expose is off the table since you're running the omega under the backbreaking weight of 27 points (expose, ei)

Opportunist will need a to set up prior and a tokenless target. Very situational

Also, without PTL, it would be a lot more difficult to make use of Omega Aces ability every turn

Omega and howlie are a tad redundant with one another (and I don't really believe omega A's that good to begin with :()

2 academies would serve you more efficiently, or some upgraded ties

Also, I don't find Howl and Omega Ace to be redunant for the list, they're just redundant to each other. The other ships will still be able to make good use of Howls ability.

Edited by whiskeytango