I have been running Vessery and Redline together (with dark curse as the third ship). The amount of firepower that those 2 ships can produce together is staggering. Ywings/Bwings go down in a single round. I've taken out an Aggressor in 2.

Both Redline and Deathrain are very dangerous in the right list.

But yah, I don't see myself running the generics.

Could you write the complete list?

Thank you!!!

I've got a punisher and a bomber and I agree that they just don't have the survivability to justify a full loadout of bombs, torpedoes and missiles. I've yet to have one go to the deader pile without several points of arsenal that might have gone a long way toward another TIE.

I've decided that the game mechanics favor SPAM lists of as many TIEs as I can field at the squad point level with one "special" ship. I've yet to try a Punisher in such a formation. Maybe next battle I will try it with a full bomb load, extra munitions and a pair of cheep missiles. I will take the rest of the points and run a named pilot TIE and several Black/Obsidion pilots. Maybe it will work, hanging out at range 3 and mining all the passes the enemy will need to win.

I have been running Vessery and Redline together (with dark curse as the third ship). The amount of firepower that those 2 ships can produce together is staggering. Ywings/Bwings go down in a single round. I've taken out an Aggressor in 2.

Both Redline and Deathrain are very dangerous in the right list.

But yah, I don't see myself running the generics.

Could you write the complete list?

Thank you!!!

My current version is:

TIE Defender: · Colonel Vessery (35)

Crack Shot (1)

Heavy Laser Cannon (7)

Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)

TIE Punisher: · "Redline" (27)

Extra Munitions (2)

Plasma Torpedoes (3)

Cluster Missiles (4)

Fire Control System (2)

Autothrusters (2)

TIE Fighter: · "Dark Curse" (16)

-- TOTAL ------- 100/100p. --

There are a number of ways to tweak the list. I've tested VI, Proton Torps, Targeting Computer. I haven't tested it but seismic/ion bombs are also an option.

I'm not sure the generics are viable. I have never seen anyone fly a Cutless or... what was the other generic pilot called?

I'm not sure the generics are viable. I have never seen anyone fly a Cutless or... what was the other generic pilot called?

Black Eight Squadron Pilot ...

... and I'm wondering ... isn't this the same as the Black Squadron?

Fair enough. Basically, I like dropping mines on high-ps faces - boost lets me set that up better than BR, and AC lets me actually stand a chance of hitting anything on the round I drop 'em

I'm unable to see why boost is better then BR. When you drop a mine your action is used and you can't use either.

I think the 4 straight of the Tie Bomber is even better to overshoot the enemy and drop a prox mine right on their heads.

Whereas, if you equip AS, the Punisher is the better mine layer. Having the option to drop a mine before moving ... or even having the option to use boost before maybe pulling a k-turn ... is ace.

Seems like they are fine for casual play but will struggle to make it into competitive squadrons.

3 x Trandoshan Slaver, Feedback Array, Anti-Pursuit Lasers.

Your move, arc dodger.

e: ...and punishers totally aren't YV-666s. OOPS

Hi Starkiller, as you say, you want to set up for the next round, so that your high-ps target will be somewhere within range of an overshoot + minedrop. Its the bomber's 4-straight vs the punisher's 3+boost. Punisher wins, hands down. Being able to happily boost about each round makes it much more maneuverable than the bomber, imo! Bomber is crippled by poor action economy and low attack. (I can't wait for ffg to turn its benevolent fix-eye towards the tie bomber, as it's my favourite ship in the game, btw)

I'm currently running Deathrain with Experimental interface and enhanced scopes(+mines), he works pretty well at zooming forward and dropping conner nets on ships i want to focus while also blocking.

For support, i'm currently running Echo and a doomshuttle to do the damage needed.

I've had difficulties making punishers work. My conclusions:

1) Named punishers too fragile - 9 hitpoints over 1 agility seems extremely fragile for a 35-40 point ship. They have the same problem as named B's. Redline can throw some strong punches, but usually lasts 2-3 rounds before being focused down. Deathrain has the same life expectancy and smaller damage output. So only Redline is somewhat good, and you know he was worth the investment if he got to fire all 4 missiles (I typically use plasma, cluster + EM) . In most cases he does not live long enough to do so. I understand that Deathrain can be used to gut (ideally, connor + block) an expensive ship. The problem is that you usually lose Deathrain in the process, having traded a 35+ point ship for... something which is quite often 35 points or less.

2) Generic punishers have only two attack dice - again, you can compare one with accuracy corrector to a b-wing, but it falls short. The two dice are reliable, but lacklustre (note that B-wings 3 attacks + focus = 2,25 hits on average, and at range 1 the comparison gets even worse), plus the PU is more expensive. There seems to be no reason to put ordinance on a generic PU. So generic PU's are pretty awful.

3) Back to the named PU's - you can compare their 35-40 cost range with an imperial firespray, like a generic with some bombs or Krassis with Mangler. 2 agility over 10 hitpoints is just so much more survivable than 1 agility over 9 hitpoints that the PU falls slightly short.

And then you should consider that Firespray is not exactly a top notch ship and you should be comparing a 35-40 point imperial ship to Vader, Soontir or Whisper if you're talking tournament builds.

I've had difficulties making punishers work. My conclusions:

1) Named punishers too fragile - 9 hitpoints over 1 agility seems extremely fragile for a 35-40 point ship. They have the same problem as named B's. Redline can throw some strong punches, but usually lasts 2-3 rounds before being focused down. Deathrain has the same life expectancy and smaller damage output. So only Redline is somewhat good, and you know he was worth the investment if he got to fire all 4 missiles (I typically use plasma, cluster + EM) . In most cases he does not live long enough to do so.

2) Generic punishers have only two attack dice - again, you can compare one with accuracy corrector to a b-wing, but it falls short. The two dice are reliable, but lacklustre (note that B-wings 3 attacks + focus = 2,25 hits on average, and at range 1 the comparison gets even worse), plus the PU is more expensive. There seems to be no reason to put ordinance on a generic PU. So generic PU's are pretty awful.

3) Back to the named PU's - you can compare their 35-40 cost range with an imperial firespray, like a generic with some bombs or Krassis with Mangler. 2 agility over 10 hitpoints is just so much more survivable than 1 agility over 9 hitpoints that the PU falls slightly short.

And then you should consider that Firespray is not exactly a top notch ship and you should be comparing a 35-40 point imperial ship to Vader, Soontir or Whisper if you're talking tournament builds.

You hit the nail on its head. If EM would be for free for Punishers, this would be a different story because you would load at least one ordnance upgrade card, which would be more cost-effective then on any other ship.

And if you just want to go with AC - the Tie Advanced are far better for this job.

I a fan of 'What you see is what you get" so, if I see a gun on a model, I want to be able to use it in the game.

And if I see the Punisher compared to the Tie Bomber, I see 2 bomb droppers (hence Deathrains' artwork) and four times the capacity for ordnance.

And I don't have the feeling that the rules really cached the Punisher's looks. Ppl may argue with that. But that is my personal feeling about it.

It should at least come with EM for free to represent the vast, vast ammo capacities. Or even a title that allows to drop 2 bombs in a turn.

I've been having good success with Sensor Jammer + Autothruster equipped Punishers for use as bullet sponges. The combination of one enemy hit getting downgraded to a focus and a self-correction of blanks to evades means they are annoyingly hard to put down for most ships that have gone up against them.

Perhaps try something like this:

Cutlass Squadron (27 points)

- Sensor Jammer

- Autothrusters

Cutlass Squadron (27 points)

- Sensor Jammer

- Autothrusters

Carnor Jax (34 points)

- Push the Limit

- Royal Guard Tie

- Stealth Device

- Autothrusters

Leaves a nice 12 points for munitions on the Punishers or an extra Academy Tie.

I believe outlined my thoughts on the Punisher in the music post. I they go something like this:

Insert: Sorry for the wall of text, but I'm adequately-coffee'd this morning.

Hi Starkiller, as you say, you want to set up for the next round, so that your high-ps target will be somewhere within range of an overshoot + minedrop. Its the bomber's 4-straight vs the punisher's 3+boost. Punisher wins, hands down. Being able to happily boost about each round makes it much more maneuverable than the bomber, imo! Bomber is crippled by poor action economy and low attack. (I can't wait for ffg to turn its benevolent fix-eye towards the tie bomber, as it's my favourite ship in the game, btw)

My only hesitation about improving the Bomber is that Jonus and Rhymer would be overpowered pretty easily. The generic TIE/sa got a pretty great bump from Extra Munitions, the new Action Bombs, and the Plasma Torpedo (those pesky Rebels and their silly shields and all). Rhymer is a big fan of the Advanced Homing Missile, and can use PtL and the new TIE Mk II mod to be a real force on the field. He was already horrifying with Advanced Torps, and Extra Munitions gives him that TL/F 5-dice attack twice a game now. PtL + EMs + APT + AHM + MkII is a solid 41 points and he knows no fear! Being able to one-shot Corran Horn at all Ranges (1-2 for APTs or 1-3 if you get lucky with your AHM) is nothing to sneeze at, and then you've made your points back with ease.

I've had difficulties making punishers work. My conclusions:

1) Named punishers too fragile - 9 hitpoints over 1 agility seems extremely fragile for a 35-40 point ship. They have the same problem as named B's. Redline can throw some strong punches, but usually lasts 2-3 rounds before being focused down. Deathrain has the same life expectancy and smaller damage output. So only Redline is somewhat good, and you know he was worth the investment if he got to fire all 4 missiles (I typically use plasma, cluster + EM) . In most cases he does not live long enough to do so. I understand that Deathrain can be used to gut (ideally, connor + block) an expensive ship. The problem is that you usually lose Deathrain in the process, having traded a 35+ point ship for... something which is quite often 35 points or less.

2) Generic punishers have only two attack dice - again, you can compare one with accuracy corrector to a b-wing, but it falls short. The two dice are reliable, but lacklustre (note that B-wings 3 attacks + focus = 2,25 hits on average, and at range 1 the comparison gets even worse), plus the PU is more expensive. There seems to be no reason to put ordinance on a generic PU. So generic PU's are pretty awful.

3) Back to the named PU's - you can compare their 35-40 cost range with an imperial firespray, like a generic with some bombs or Krassis with Mangler. 2 agility over 10 hitpoints is just so much more survivable than 1 agility over 9 hitpoints that the PU falls slightly short.

And then you should consider that Firespray is not exactly a top notch ship and you should be comparing a 35-40 point imperial ship to Vader, Soontir or Whisper if you're talking tournament builds.

I'd argue that the Firespray is still a pretty solid ship. It's relatively efficient, and the various equipment options serve it quite well (I'm a particular fan of VI/EU Scum Boba or LW/RecSpec Mando Merc).

But you're not wrong about the Punisher's fragility. It's the classic B-Wing problem; all those shield tokens feel great when you put them out, but then they dissolve pretty quickly when the shooting starts! The main issue I have is when you make the generics cost over 30 points, because you'd never do that with a B-Wing, EMs or no. I haven't seen HLCs on generic B-Wings in an age because they dissolve under comparable fire, and now TLTs make that an even riskier prospect. Take a Cutlass, give it EMs, Cluster Missiles, and FCS for 29 points and call it good. One or two of those and you're going to melt some low-AGI targets. If you're against nothing but high-AGI your last 42 points should be able to cover it with the help of some TIE/pu blocking! Move to block, take your TL, wait for next turn. Try to K-Turn and launch a salvo if the target is still intact. Easier said than done of course, but that's always been the most basic tactic for fighting arc-dodgers.

And re: 2ATK on the TIE/pu, well, that's why you're equipping ordnance. Same as the Bomber. If it was 3ATK, you'd never see ordnance on it; again look to the generic B-Wing. There's no need! Even with access to FCS and EMs, there is little need to throw Torps on a Blue or Dagger because it won't make a huge difference in damage output overall compared to just FCS or even Advanced Sensors.

The named Punishers both have their uses and excel at their areas of expertise but need just as much guarding and evasion as a named Firespray; anyone who's tried using a 45+ point Kath or Boba knows just how fast those 10HP disappear. Especially given the 'Spray's Large base, getting arc on it is usually quite easy. The Small base of the Punisher is a massive point in its favour, since between its native Boost and its moderate dial it can break off engagement relatively easily. 4-Straight would be helpful, sure, but 3-Bank + Boost covers more than enough ground for me in most cases, usually past something with an arc and away from something with a turret.

The Punisher isn't going to be the overpowered Lord of Death that the unique pilots' cards resemble, but then that would be uninteresting for a lot of other reasons.

You hit the nail on its head. If EM would be for free for Punishers, this would be a different story because you would load at least one ordnance upgrade card, which would be more cost-effective then on any other ship.

And if you just want to go with AC - the Tie Advanced are far better for this job.

I a fan of 'What you see is what you get" so, if I see a gun on a model, I want to be able to use it in the game.

And if I see the Punisher compared to the Tie Bomber, I see 2 bomb droppers (hence Deathrains' artwork) and four times the capacity for ordnance.

And I don't have the feeling that the rules really cached the Punisher's looks. Ppl may argue with that. But that is my personal feeling about it.

It should at least come with EM for free to represent the vast, vast ammo capacities. Or even a title that allows to drop 2 bombs in a turn.

I think a free EM would have broken the Punisher immediately. That's four Cutlasses with FCS and doubled Flechette Torps for 100 points. 36 HP and each of them has two given 3-dice attacks, never mind the stress effect. It would've been fun (and pretty darn useful against 4YTLT lists) but that's just an inordinate amount of total health and damage. As-is, I'm tempted to run four with AC and TIE Mk II to fight 4BZ and 4YTLT, but I'm not sure the extra health and Boost are worth it over using two or three TIE/X1s with AC and an Ace or two. I think Accuracy Corrector is going to have renewed interest in the face of the TLT spam of the next month or two, but that's neither here nor there.

My point is that the TIE/pu does a decent enough job at carrying ordnance, and frankly access to the System slot and native Boost are absolutely worth five points over the Scimitar TIE/sa. With the TIE/sa you're spamming ordnance as close to min/max as possible. You have no inherent damage reliability, you have a moderate dial (the 5-K saves that thing) and that's about it. EMs breathe new life into the Bomber as a minelayer, dropping Clusters and Nets with an impressive amount of freedom, but are you using any of the other slots? The Punisher should be your go-to for Missiles and Torpedoes because access to FCS or AC will reinforce that investment. You've got your free Lock from a Range 3 potshot, you gently move in next turn, Focus, and let fly some Cluster Missiles. Focus that first attack, FCS trips and gives you a TL for your second attack, and then you end the engagement with yet another Target Lock. 1-Bank or 4-K. They're still in CM range, so you let fly again. Unmodified first attack, so 1.5 hits average, but FCS trips for the second and that's an average of 2.25 damage. Your four attacks in two turns from one ship have had average damage of 2.25, 2.25, 1.5, and 2.25 for a net total of 8.25. Bring two such Punishers and gang up on Han and that's a dead Falcon in two turns. Threepio only triggers once a round after all. Han may not be the ideal example moving forward but his tyranny is well-known, and to take him down in two turns of shooting with two ships that cost less than him? I'll take that opportunity. Han can only do up to 8 damage himself over two turns if he gets two Range 1 shots, and barring perfect attack rolls plus a Direct Hit or successful Major Explosion you'll have both Punishers on-hand for both rounds of shooting.

And that's where I fall on the Punisher. It has a very specific tool box! I didn't want to go into Bombs because more people are already comfortable with that function. But, the TIE/pu requires some re-education because it functions so differently to anything else in the game. If the TIE/ln is your line of foot soldiers, the TIE/sa is your line of archers behind them, and the TIE/pu is a mounted cavalry unit. They charge in and hit hard, but are easily countered and quickly brought down. Distract your foes with feints and surges, test their strength, and then have your cavalry pierce their ranks from the weakest point.

Fair points, but to be honest a 4 x Cutlass with free EM + FCS + FT is less broken then 4YTLT is.

And if you want to be able to deal with the 4YTLT list, you need to go for a higher PS then 2 with 4 reliable attacks with an attack value of at least 3 to have a chance to take out one Y before they could shoot back.

With the 4 x Cutlass with free EM + FCS + FT - free EM or don't - and this just don't matters at this point - if your opponent has the ini, you may be able to put 4 Flechettes at one Y, dealing maybe 5-6 points of damage, while you just lost 7-8 health of one of your Cutlasses. And Y's are immune to the Flechette stress. In the next round you will lose a Punisher and a half, while you would be in a struggle to aim at the damaged Y. If it happens that you have ini, its even worse for you.

To be honest, I don't see how Punishers could deal with TLT spam lists at all.

I can see the punisher being awesome for narrative games where the group has an ordnance pool, rather than ordnance being an individual upgrade - but this is just for narratives. Tournament wise. Yeah, I agree with the EM - that it probably should be free/included in punishers price for like a point or some such. As it stands, it's virtually mandatory and takes up a torpedo slot.

Out of the two, and I full know they shouldn't be compared (punishers have awesome named, bombers are better platforms) I'd still take the bombers.

The sad truth is as far as I can tell after testing quite extensively that it can't and will have to wait for the TLT hype to cool down to enter the competetive game. Redline killing one Y a turn might even have a shot today, but I doubt it. Deathrain is amazing, but his cost and limited usefullness against spam lists in general hold him back for now. He would have been great in the two ship meta, though. The generics have always been held back by the TIE Bomber existing and if not that then by how inefficient they are.

I've been having good success with Sensor Jammer + Autothruster equipped Punishers for use as bullet sponges. The combination of one enemy hit getting downgraded to a focus and a self-correction of blanks to evades means they are annoyingly hard to put down for most ships that have gone up against them.

Perhaps try something like this:

Cutlass Squadron (27 points)

- Sensor Jammer

- Autothrusters

Cutlass Squadron (27 points)

- Sensor Jammer

- Autothrusters

Carnor Jax (34 points)

- Push the Limit

- Royal Guard Tie

- Stealth Device

- Autothrusters

Leaves a nice 12 points for munitions on the Punishers or an extra Academy Tie.

Nice combo which could work in casual games ...

But I'd swap the Punishers for Phantoms.

I can see the punisher being awesome for narrative games where the group has an ordnance pool, rather than ordnance being an individual upgrade - but this is just for narratives. Tournament wise. Yeah, I agree with the EM - that it probably should be free/included in punishers price for like a point or some such. As it stands, it's virtually mandatory and takes up a torpedo slot.

Out of the two, and I full know they shouldn't be compared (punishers have awesome named, bombers are better platforms) I'd still take the bombers.

If the Punisher could be used to resupply friendly ships with torps and stuff ... just like the germans had milk cow submarines to resupply other submarines on duty with ammo

4 Gamma Bombers with Homers + EM will do the job on the 4yTLTs

@Tsiegtiez

TBH, I just don't see this working so well. A generic punisher with FCS, EM and CM - 29 points. You get an 2dice shot first round followed by two rounds of 2x3dice shots if you manage to keep your original target in arc and at range 1-2. After that your ship is mostly a dud for the cost.

For 36 points you get 2 alpha interceptors which give you 2x3 shots every round, you don't require TL... I'd argue that 3 hitpoints over 3 agility will survive longer than 9/1. I think this is a much better value, yet I don't see swarm interceptor builds winning anything.

I think a generic might work better if you give it at least plasma torps and use squad leader from Darth Vader or Mauler Mithell to give it late-round target locks. That way you *ALMOST* get redline for a bit cheaper - and I agree the FCS makes it better than a bomber in later rounds. Still, comparable ships @33 points just seem better.

I've had difficulties making punishers work. My conclusions:

1) Named punishers too fragile - 9 hitpoints over 1 agility seems extremely fragile for a 35-40 point ship. They have the same problem as named B's. Redline can throw some strong punches, but usually lasts 2-3 rounds before being focused down. Deathrain has the same life expectancy and smaller damage output. So only Redline is somewhat good, and you know he was worth the investment if he got to fire all 4 missiles (I typically use plasma, cluster + EM) . In most cases he does not live long enough to do so. I understand that Deathrain can be used to gut (ideally, connor + block) an expensive ship. The problem is that you usually lose Deathrain in the process, having traded a 35+ point ship for... something which is quite often 35 points or less.

I totally agree, and that's why you need to have a plan for them. Now, I haven't tried Deathrain, but Redline with Plasma Torpedos has the most devastating and most reliable R3 attack in the game. He can reliably remove most if not all the shields on any big ship on the first exchange. If you can capitalize on this, 35-40 points can definitely be worth it. ATC Advanceds PS7 and below (especially Stele and Alozen) are good wingmates for getting in a couple of crits, as are swarms of TIE Fighters, and Bombers can follow up with additional ordnance. If you can get a target lock with a bomber you can hit that Falcon with an Ion Pulse Missile and pretty much guarantee its destruction next turn.

I think the main problem with Redline lists is that if you bring a turret or a high PS arc dodgers to carry opposing high PS arc dodgers, you have less room for Fighters and Bombers and thus less of a chance of utilize Redline's opening salvo. He wants to shoot first, and he wants three more ships to fire at the target, which just doesn't work as well with Vader, Fel or Whisper along.

I can see the punisher being awesome for narrative games where the group has an ordnance pool, rather than ordnance being an individual upgrade - but this is just for narratives. Tournament wise. Yeah, I agree with the EM - that it probably should be free/included in punishers price for like a point or some such. As it stands, it's virtually mandatory and takes up a torpedo slot.

Out of the two, and I full know they shouldn't be compared (punishers have awesome named, bombers are better platforms) I'd still take the bombers.

If the Punisher could be used to resupply friendly ships with torps and stuff ... just like the germans had milk cow submarines to resupply other submarines on duty with ammo

4 Gamma Bombers with Homers + EM will do the job on the 4yTLTs

The fact that the four Y's can't crit... I think the Gammas would win anyway.

I can see the punisher being awesome for narrative games where the group has an ordnance pool, rather than ordnance being an individual upgrade - but this is just for narratives. Tournament wise. Yeah, I agree with the EM - that it probably should be free/included in punishers price for like a point or some such. As it stands, it's virtually mandatory and takes up a torpedo slot.

Out of the two, and I full know they shouldn't be compared (punishers have awesome named, bombers are better platforms) I'd still take the bombers.

If the Punisher could be used to resupply friendly ships with torps and stuff ... just like the germans had milk cow submarines to resupply other submarines on duty with ammo

4 Gamma Bombers with Homers + EM will do the job on the 4yTLTs

The fact that the four Y's can't crit... I think the Gammas would win anyway.

I think the Gammas should be able to take out one of the Y's before they had the chance to shoot - because a Tie Bomber may survive 3 TLTs with a bit luck, but it will die against 4TLT.

If the Gammas manage to kill another Y in the next round, its a game.

How can we archive this with Punishers? I doubt we can. Unless its Redline supported by Interceptors with AT

I think I'd rather take a pair of Punishers over two TLT Y-Wings with the major caveat that they're going to be more expensive. It isn't quite a fair comparison because I'm expecting more expensive ships to defeat cheaper ships, and, well, that sort of follows by default.

The accompaniment is the biggest problem I'm having, I'm not sure how to spend 42 points and complement the Punishers adequately. I really like the 42 point VI/ACD/SJ/RecSpec Echo from earlier, but three Black Squadron TIEs might do the trick. Three Academy Pilots would allow you to put Plasma Torpedoes on each TIE/pu but now they're 32 points apiece and even bigger targets. Krassis with a Mangler and Tactician would be an interesting mid-PS tank since he can Focus or Evade every round and gets his free reroll on every shot out of his front arc. Vessery with VI, Mangler, and TIE Mk II would make great use of the free FCS TLs every round and allow you to focus down targets better than ever, but he can be fragile if unattended; PtL Rexler with the Mk II is a lot of fun too. Rhymer with PtL, EMs, AHMs, APTs, and the Mk II brings the list to 99 and he's a much larger target than either Cutlass, but Rhymer can be easily cut down by quad TLTs in a round if you're unlucky. I have also used a Patrol Leader VT-49 with two Intel Agents to hilarious effect in casual games but I don't see it being very viable in a tournament with the new Large ship scoring.

All other things being equal I'd probably opt for the 3x Black TIEs in case I come up against a TLT-counterbuild list with two PS4 TLTs. At least simultaneous fire would be a help! And even TIEs with 2ATK can score hits on Y-Wings and K-Wings reliably.

@Tsiegtiez

TBH, I just don't see this working so well. A generic punisher with FCS, EM and CM - 29 points. You get an 2dice shot first round followed by two rounds of 2x3dice shots if you manage to keep your original target in arc and at range 1-2. After that your ship is mostly a dud for the cost.

For 36 points you get 2 alpha interceptors which give you 2x3 shots every round, you don't require TL... I'd argue that 3 hitpoints over 3 agility will survive longer than 9/1. I think this is a much better value, yet I don't see swarm interceptor builds winning anything.

I think a generic might work better if you give it at least plasma torps and use squad leader from Darth Vader or Mauler Mithell to give it late-round target locks. That way you *ALMOST* get redline for a bit cheaper - and I agree the FCS makes it better than a bomber in later rounds. Still, comparable ships @33 points just seem better.

My only disagreement is the Cutlasses turning into "duds" after expending their missiles. FCS helps immensely here in much the same way TIE pilots next to Howlrunner are actually relatively potent. Oh and also conventionally 3HP behind 3AGI is about double the health, not triple (1AGI is HPx1, 2AGI is HPx1.5, 3AGI is HPx2; very rough approximations but it helps for quick comparisons). So no, two Alpha Interceptors don't quite compare because they're so easily swatted down and drastically more susceptible to blocking (they're pretty action-dependent). FCS makes a huge difference overall, regardless of attack power, but the Cluster Missiles are the real attraction here. The reason you don't see Alphas isn't due to their ATK/AGI/HP line, but instead that their low PS is counterproductive to maximising the capacities of the Interceptor itself.

And as far as Squad Leader, it isn't awful, but I really dislike forcing my ships to work together to achieve any degree of efficiency (I don't tend to fly Biggs or Jonus as a result, but whatever). It works okay on Vader but I'd rather have his second action free for movement after he takes a TL to power his ATC.

Now, I love my Tie Bombers and have 4 of them. Finances have prevented me from getting the Tie Punisher yet, but I plan on it sometime. I haven't really thought about the Tie Punisher until this thread...and I'm late to reading it.

What about Sensor Jammer on a Punisher? If it's fragile, what about that to help it out? Would it? I've not used the ship and am not sure. Yes, yes....FCS is great. Getting TL for generics can be a challenge, but I'm used to the low PS Bombers and there are strategies you can build to get it. It's not impossible. I mean...come in on the flank or the rear of a jousting group. Maybe not get the TL on the first round of firing, but slow roll and get it for the 2nd. Or get it and go for the K-turn or something. I'm just saying that you can actually take something other than FCS to try out.

What about loading up a generic as a control ship? Go for the cheap ordnance. I'm thinking EM with Flechette Torp. Then go for Seismic Charges and/or Ion Bombs. With each of those being 2 pts. you don't spend too much. 8 pts for all of what I mentioned. Yes, it won't do a ton of damage, but it's a control ship. With primarily Bombs, you might not need FCS as much. I love the Flechette Torp. I've won games by using it at the right time. Hit that bro bot that's baited you right before he does his hard turn and then boost out of there? Oh, now he's stuck facing your jousters. Or...hit Soontir Fel after he does his PTL and you know he can't reposition anywhere. Might be easier to drop a bomb around him.

I'm just thinking here.