Imperial list: Defender and Advanced...?

By giusepp87, in X-Wing Squad Lists

Posted at

Hi, I'm planning a list for a tournament but i'm in doubt between two solutions :

Squad with 3 ships (100)
Darth Vader — TIE Advanced 29 Expert Handling 2 Accuracy Corrector 0 TIE/x1 0 Ship Total: 31 Tempest Squadron Pilot — TIE Advanced 21 Accuracy Corrector 0 TIE/x1 0 Ship Total: 21 Rexler Brath — TIE Defender 37 Predator 3 Heavy Laser Cannon 7 Twin Ion Engine Mk. II 1 Ship Total: 48

or:

Squad with 4 ships (100)
Tempest Squadron Pilot — TIE Advanced 21 Accuracy Corrector 0 TIE/x1 0 Ship Total: 21 Tempest Squadron Pilot — TIE Advanced 21 Accuracy Corrector 0 TIE/x1 0 Ship Total: 21 Delta Squadron Pilot — TIE Defender 30 Heavy Laser Cannon 7 Ship Total: 37 Omicron Group Pilot — Lambda-Class Shuttle 21 Ship Total: 21

Posted at

Welcome to the forums! If you haven't already, I would recommend checking the "list of useful links" thread. There is a lot of great information to be gleaned from there. Back to your post:

Of the 2 lists, I like the first better. There are a couple concerns I have looking at the second list.

Generic Defenders are expensive before upgrades and are very predictable without the TIE Mk. II mod. At PS 1, it would be easy for your opponent to block/bump your defender and burn it down under concentrated fire.

The basic shuttle is also slow and predictable when it comes to movement and will be helpless if your opponent gets in behind it. The shuttle is usually used with a specific purpose such as carrying Vader on board to throw out crits against your opponent or to ferry the emperor around to modify the results of your dice throughout the game.

The tempests are decent with their AC's, but will be hard pressed to protect the other 2 ships as your list suffers from low pilot skill. I would strongly consider an ace as a necessary component of the list you decide to compete with. That being said, there are some members on here who have had a fair amount of success running a list comprised of 4 TSP's such as this.

If you are like me and have to use the Defender in a list, I would recommend looking at Vessery as a viable option. His ability has great synergy with the TIE Advance models. I typically run either Thing 1 or Thing 2.

Thing 1 has great interaction with the pilots and their abilities. Keep Vessery on the periphery of the dogfight and keep throwing 4 attack die at your opponent while benefiting from free TL's to maximize the damage output. With his HLC stripping shields off of enemy ships, the Advance pilots can start landing crits.

Thing 2 still has synergy as the new TIE/fo's come equipped with TL in their action bar. The idea is to use the Fo's as blockers to keep your opponent from taking actions so that the attacks from your Defender and Advance pilots are more potent.

I hope this serves to give you some ideas. Good luck with the upcoming tournament.