Was brainstorming stuff to bring to a game next week and I came up with this list, it is not too fancy and it doesn't really have much synergy at all. At best it just gives the other guy two dangerous targets to split his fire between.

We got

Rexler Brath

-HLC

-MK2 Engine

Rhymer

-Advanced Homing Missiles

-Extra Munitions

2 Academy pilots

I am not sure how good it will be, I haven't run Rhymer in a long time but he looks good with the new homing missiles. I am hoping the threat of two crits that ignore shields will be enough to have the opponent focus on him as Rexler starts nailing guys with his HLC. I will probably fly the two tie fighters right in front of the bomber... they should make good blockers and maybe even get some range 1 shots in.

Biggest downside I can think of is that Rhymer could go down very fast, maybe before he launches both his missiles, so that would be 31 points up in smoke. I was tempted to put munitions failsafe in there, but I am not sure he would be around long enough to make use of it. I figure he can at least get one shot off then just be annoying for the rest of the time he is around.

Brath really wants to have predator or perhaps lone wolf and Rhymer could make good use out of crack shot (to make sure that homing missile hits). Just not enough room to squeeze in stuff, so it seems to me you'd be better off dropping one of your elites (either Brath or Rhymer). If you wanted to drop Brath, I would suggest a different ship entirely since none of the other defenders would work well with this list. Perhaps Vader or a phantom? If you wanted to drop Rhymer, well, I'm not sure what else you could put in his place that fulfills a similar role...

I am pretty much reworking this all from the ground up here. I think it is looking too impractical to field them both at once. I had half a mind to throw Vessery in there but without a shuttle in the squadron his ability is not super reliable. Rhymer is still super tempting to use, and I do kind of want to use him, but he seems like such a big target once he gets more than say two upgrades.

A basic scimitar squadron pilot can load up a ton more ordinance without breaking the bank though. For 27 points I could get a bomber with ion pulse missiles, flechette torpedoes, a proximity mine, and the failsafe and extra munitions. The problem is those things just look so fragile, so I am just like uuugh about it all. A basic guy like this could cover a lot of bases, but if I toss a defender in there suddenly I am running dry on points. I could send this guy in with a tie swarm and that could work.

I do like Rhymer but I need to pair him with stuff that would not make him a primary target, I need to keep fire off of him long enough for him to fire his rockets, which is not something I feel like could easily be done. Even if I throw a swarm in I feel like he would get focused down.

On the other hand the defender, while expensive is not a terrible ship, Brath especially... but once he is loaded up with guns and an EPT I dunno what else to put with him.

If you like Rhymer, how about something like this:

Rhymer w/ Adv homing missiles, extra munis & deadeye = 32

Maarek w/ x-1 title, ATC, push the limit, adv homing missiles, TIE mk 2 = 35

Cutlass w/ FCS, extra munis, conner net & cluster missiles = 33

100

If you don't have a Punisher, you could run a Delta Defender with ion cannon in there, but the Cutlass offers a bit more versatility...

Nice thing here is that even though Rhymer is scary, he costs the least points, so if your opponent kills him first, you still have plenty of firepower left in your other two ships (although they are all relatively close in cost and offense so you won't feel too bad losing any one of them first, provided you can make your opponent pay for it)

Actually when you mentioned Deadeye I noticed something, advanced homing missiles has wording similar to homing missiles... they need a target lock, but the target lock doesn't need to be spent to actually fire the missiles. So in theory Rhymer could fire the rockets, and then spend the target lock to reroll them right? If that is the case Deadeye might not be the best choice to throw in there... something to think about on my end.

The other guys you suggest throwing in there for Rhymer do sound nice though... not sure I could field it in a tournament here though, the Raider is out of my price range and I do not think there is another way to get the X1 title and the ATC.

Actually when you mentioned Deadeye I noticed something, advanced homing missiles has wording similar to homing missiles... they need a target lock, but the target lock doesn't need to be spent to actually fire the missiles. So in theory Rhymer could fire the rockets, and then spend the target lock to reroll them right? If that is the case Deadeye might not be the best choice to throw in there... something to think about on my end.

The other guys you suggest throwing in there for Rhymer do sound nice though... not sure I could field it in a tournament here though, the Raider is out of my price range and I do not think there is another way to get the X1 title and the ATC.

Yes, that is correct with adv homing missiles. So ideally, you want to get a TL with Rhymer, obviously, because not having to spend it to fire means you have the option re-roll the dice on attack. However, its really hard to grab a TL vs. PS8+ ships on the first turn, and the whole point of Rhymer is he can fire his homing missiles on the first turn...its a catch 22.

Deadeye is to circumvent that problem. Basically it means that if you have a focus token, you treat it as a TL for the purpose of meeting the firing condition on the homing missile card (and you don't have to spend it). So you can always fire your advanced homing missiles at anything in Rhymer's firing arc as long as you have the focus token (and it doesn't get spent, so you can use it to modify the attack too).

Next turn you have Maarek grabbing a TL and thus able to launch a second advanced homing missile....it will scare the beejeebies out of a lot of lists. Success will with this list depends on getting a good approach.

Sorry to hear that x-1 & ATC are not easy for you to get your hands on. You should enquire with people you know who already have the Raider and see if anyone is willing to give/sell you a copy, because some people are bound to not need all of their copies given how many come with each Radier...

As an alternative to Maarek, you could run an Onyx Defender with advanced homing missile, or if you only have 1 copy of that missile, you could put another Cutlass in that spot, or Carnor Jax (title, push, AT + Hull/stealth)...

Aaah I didn't realize that deadeye would work like that. Suddenly that is a lot more appealing. And I will definitely be asking around for those cards at the local gaming club, I know that there are three people there at least who have the raider, so I should be able to get some luck with this. I might tweak a couple things (like the cutlass pilot perhaps) but this is sounding very delightful now. Thank you for all the advice and help here!

Brath really wants to have predator or perhaps lone wolf

With the MK2, shedding stress isn't that much of a problem anymore. Throw PtL on him, for focus and repositioning or TL.

Instead of Deadeye, consider VI on Rhymer. It's almost as good as Deadeye for guaranteeing early shots (better in some ways) and it gets the damage off earlier, giving more of a chance to use Rex's ability.

I'll echo the recommendation of Lone Wolf on Rexler. To pay for both EPTs, you could downgrade the Academies for an AC advanced. Maybe more interestingly, you could trade it for VI Mauler Mithel. This would give you another PS9 guy, and you could use the points for a control warhead like Flechette Torps or Ion Pulse Missiles.