....honestly, does it even HAVE a use?!? Ok, before I go on my rant about this little ball of sadness, let me explain a few things. I'm an imperial player, and as such I was looking forward this new fighter. At first I thought it was just a repaint (looks awsome!), so imagine my surprise when I see it's a new ship! Yay! ...but then heart break set in. Let's compare the tie/fo to it's older brother and try to establish the new ships purpose.

Academy pilot vs epsilon squadron pilot

The academy pilot is the cheapest ship in the game. It has low offence, but decent defence as well as access to the evade and focus actions adding to its survivability. It is usually flown in two formation. The first being a classic, the tie swarm. Sometimes flown with howlrunner to make those weak attacks hit a little harder. The second formation is the mini swarm, usually flown with either an arc dodger or a large base ship. In this formation the only purpose of the academy pilot is to block the higher pilot skilled ships of the opponent.

How does the epsilon pilot compare? Well, you are paying for that extra shield, an upgrade slot, and the target lock action. This raises it's total cost by 3, that coulda been a predator on some other ship. The shield is an ok addition, but I just cant justify the target lock or upgrade slot. It has 2 attack dice, mathematically you'll get at least one hit per roll, and paired with howlrunner you should have 2 hits per attack. No need for a lock (unless the force hates you) As a low pilot skilled ship, it's meant to swarm or block. A swarm wants a bunch of cheep, nonupgraded ships to maximize the amount of ships in the swarm. A blocker wants to spend it's actions on survival, not offence. I see nothing appealing about the epsilon pilot. Moving on

Obsidian pilot vs zeta pilot

OK honestly, both of these pilots are worthless save for one occasion. If you want a cheep blocker AND your opponent is running predators. At pilot skill 3, these ships won't be so weak against that upgrade. Now reread my first comparison as to why you don't want the tie/fo. (Hint, it's not a cheep blocker)

Black pilot vs omega pilot

Ok, the first pilots to have an EPT upgrade for both ships! I run a black pilot if I'm in need of an EPT on the field (usually wingman). Now I can see the appeal of the omega over the black for this case. If you're going to bother putting an upgrade on a ship, you want to make sure it survives for a while to get the most use out of that upgrade right? So the only thing the tie/fo offers us in this regard is one shield for 3 points more. I'd rather use a stealth device and focus as my action for survival. (Even then, I don't bother putting any upgrades on my black pilot other then the wingman) Tie/fo still falls short for me.

Night beast & winged gundrak vs zeta ace

Ok, skilled pilots all pilot skill 5. Not a high number but high enough when encountering swarms and low enough to double as a blocker against higher pilot skills. Nightbeasts ability is pretty much a free PTL that's limited to focuses. I don't run with PTL anymore after I realized how predictable it made me. Still, an occasional use out of it as opposed to using it every turn makes it viable. Winged gundarks ability grants him crits at range 1, allowing him to cripple the enemy. Assuming he can get a hit at all, what with his weak attack and all. Still, 3 dice at range 1, the odds aren't too shabby. So these guys appear to be mini flankers. (Not quite up to par to be an arc dodger). The zeta ace? Makes him into a mini phantom! Couple this with the fact he has an EPT (whereas the ties did not) makes him look worthwhile! But then I realize a few things. 1st, he still only throws 2 red dice. Half a Phantom really isn't all that threatening. And ok, cool pilot ability and all, but that eats up your action. Ships like the tie Fighter and a wing want to focus for their green dice. Without that focus they fall pretty fast. But he has an ept, so why not ptl? Because it makes you predictable, which voids the point of being a mini phantom. Plus nightbeast can do the same thing for so much cheaper. Ok so fly him just for the ept? Why should I when I can fly obsidian pilot for cheaper? Using up my action on a fancy barrel role is not so appealing. So to conclude with the pilot skill 5 comparison, all ships seem a bit lack luster. The tie/fo more so. (I'll just pilot a phantom, thanks)

Backstabber & dark curse vs epsilon leader

Pilot skill 6. Backstabber is used quite often as a cheap flanker, due to his ability of rolling additional attack die when out of firing arcs. Dark curse takes the defensive approach. Attackers can't use locks or focus to modify their attacks. I like dark curse, a lot of ppl tend to underestimate this little tie Fighter and he can do a lot of dmg if ignored. Well worth the points. Dark curse doesn't appeal to my play style, but I admit he's durable nonetheless. Epsilon leader, remove 1 STRESS FROM ALL FRIENDLY SHIPS AT RANGE 1!!! Omg ok I'm actually excited about this ship! ...Oh wait a minute lol. Ok so he acts just like my obsidian+wingman loadout, except stronger! And more expensive. So I can't trade him out in my current squads. Ok so a new squad? He wants to be by at least two ships (otherwise just use obsidian+wingman lol) that stress often. Well, I don't fly squads that stress multiple ships in formation. I run with a ptl howlrunner in a 7 Tie swarm. Howlrunner is the only one stressing, and wingman takes care of her. I could see the appeal of adding epsilon leader for the purpose of my swarm being able to kturn, but I just couldn't free up the points to fit him in. Ptl on other ships then? But,...why would I ptl on tie or tie/fo? Sure they could all focus/evade to make them tankier, but I prefer to fly my ships as arc dodgers. No need for defensive actions when you don't get shot at all. And it's hard to fly an entire swarm like that lol. I could focus/target lock if I used the tie/fos, but I already went into why I feel like a lock with 2 attack dice is a wasted action. Ok so focus/barrel roll! Appealing, but to have all the ships doing this would be kinda hard when maneuvering obstacles and enemy ships. Plus, epsilon leader doesn't have an ept so he couldn't ptl to focus/barrel with the rest of the swarm. Verdict, obsidian+wingman is much more logical, and the pilot skill 6 ties are better at flanking.

Mauler mithel vs omega ace

Both pilot skill 7 with an ept. Mailer likes to get in close and personal, throwing 4 attack dice at range 1! He's pretty much a specialized version of backstabber. Give him predator and you have an awsome flanker for 20 points! Omega ace, coming in at 20 points nonupgraded, has the worst pilot ability of any 2 red dice ship ever! Spend a lock, AND a focus, to turn all hits, into crits. So he has to use two actions, a lock and a focus, to even make this work. Better give him the dreaded ptl so he can pull this off more often. And ok, you now have 1 maybe 2 crits on your opponent. How many does he evade? Did you hit hull or did he still have shields up? At pilot skill 7, omega ace will be one of the first pilots to shoot. Chances are your opponent will have his shields up for the first few rounds, specially since you are only throwing 2 attack die. And now he's stressing for ptl. Do you let him be predictable, or do you given him a wingman? May as well add epsilon leader to remove his stress. Then add howlrunner and give her ptl too for tankyness. Why howlrunner? Because you are spending both of your actions for crits! That leaves nothing for attack dice modifications. And nothing for defence either since you spent that focus. I'd rather have access to maulers range 1, 4 attack dice then omega aces potential "stress for a crit or two"

Seriously, is there any use for this ship? Any at all? Please tell me how you use it or have seen it used, that my faith may be restored! (Seriously, this ship has let me down in every way imaginable!) ;(

Probably better than Winged Gundark...

Probably better than Winged Gundark...

I never liked Gundark anyway

Probably better than Winged Gundark...

The effect? Sure! But to spend 5 points and 2 actions on it? Hell no lol

I never liked Gundark anyway

I mean, 15 point ship for 15 point ship.

With the added green turns, the S-loop and the TL option, The TIE/fo is a different ship. It doesn't compare across the board directly. I've already had someone use the added greens and the sloop against me to good effect. It needs a different mind-set to play.

Omega ace, coming in at 20 points nonupgraded, has the worst pilot ability of any 2 red dice ship ever! Spend a lock, AND a focus, to turn all hits, into crits. So he has to use two actions, a lock and a focus, to even make this work. Better give him the dreaded ptl so he can pull this off more often. And ok, you now have 1 maybe 2 crits on your opponent.

Omega Ace's ability is not "turn all hits into crits", it's "turn all results into crits". As in all of your dice. Whatever they originally rolled. So you can get into range one and then turn blank-blank-blank into crit-crit-crit.

Still think it's terrible?

I actually think Ace + PtL is one of the better ways to spend 23 points as an Imperial player. He's entirely self-sufficient, is not overly expensive, and has the perfect PS for his ability. High enough that he shoots early, but low enough that you can get someone else to strip the shields off his target first, which he can then wreck with multiple criticals. You can certainly do a lot worse.

The /fo is by far and away a worse jouster than the /ln -- but so are the A-Wing and Interceptor, among others, and they see plenty of use. I'm not sure about the generics, but the named pilots have some really solid abilities.

I particularly like the idea of Omega Ace + Opportunist alongside Jendon. Fly him alongside a Black Squadron Pilot with Decoy so that everyone else gets to strip tokens and shields from the target, and then pump four crits (or five at Range 1) into it.

Omega ace, coming in at 20 points nonupgraded, has the worst pilot ability of any 2 red dice ship ever! Spend a lock, AND a focus, to turn all hits, into crits. So he has to use two actions, a lock and a focus, to even make this work. Better give him the dreaded ptl so he can pull this off more often. And ok, you now have 1 maybe 2 crits on your opponent.

Omega Ace's ability is not "turn all hits into crits", it's "turn all results into crits". As in all of your dice. Whatever they originally rolled. So you can get into range one and then turn blank-blank-blank into crit-crit-crit.

Still think it's terrible?

I actually think Ace + PtL is actually one of the better ways to spend 23 points as an Imperial player. He's entirely self-sufficient, is not overly expensive, and has the perfect PS for his ability. High enough that he shoots early, but low enough that you can get someone else to strip the shields off his target first, which he can then wreck with multiple criticals. You can certainly do a lot worse.

HOLY ****!!! Ok then, wasn't aware of the wording there. I might have to look into making a squad for him now lol. Thanks for info!

first off, with all the TLT fear going on on the forums, you'd think Obsidians and Zetas would merit a bit more notice than for just dodging predator

anyway, the FOs--they're elite filler

it's very easy

step 1.) take a named pilot for his/her/its ability

step 2.) add PTL

that's all you need

Zeta Ace is a goddamn blast to play. He/she/it is a blocker extraordinaire with a choice of some very fun rolls, plus a surprisingly convincing late game piece if facing lower PS (aka generics) due to the displacements on the roll.

Incredibly flexible and reasonably priced filler.

Epsilon Leader is wingman on steroids. Take for ability.

Omega Ace is a relatively inexpensive land-mine that your opponent can't really ignore even though he probably wants to (@ 23 points, you probably have other things he wants to shoot at)

Omega Leader is ******* ridiculous. here's what he/she/it ignores,

"Omega Leader

Enemy ships that you have locked cannot modify any dice when attacking you or defending against your attacks."

"X-wing Rules reference, page 14

MODIFYING DICE

cannot be rerolled more than once"

1. focus (both red and green)

2. abilities that double as focus (keyan, poe)

3. added evade results, including c3po and the evade token

4. added hit results

5. sensor jammer

6. Juke

7. Autothrusters

8. R7 astromech

9. re-rolls of any **** kind (TL, predator, Han, seri...)

basically everything except adding additional dice

clocking in at the same price as a doom shuttle (two academies), Omega Leader is just absolutely nuts

I'm genuinely confused as to the negative response to the TIE/FO in general - it is an amazing little ship. It's an elite TIE Fighter rather than a replacement for it, so its role is different, and it gains a lot for those three points. Having four HP overall, one of them a shield, provides a great deal of protection against getting 'instakilled', and while the S-Loop is nice in of itself, it's really the green 2 hard turn that makes it useable - it's quite easy to transition from formation flying into a killbox, and then out of it again. This synergises well with the native Target Lock, too - the FO can happily set up a lock on a target early in the game, when it is relatively safe, and then wait until the perfect moment (i.e. range 1 shot, aforementioned killbox, etc) to use it.

I always had trouble flying TIE's before, as they always seemed to end up without shots or just outright dying before doing anything. Taking the level of mobility of the TIE, and making it a little sturdier and punchier, results in a great ship to use in a firefight, rather than 'just' a blocker, as the Academy TIE tended to be.

I can't comment much on the named pilots, as I've only used Zeta Ace a couple of times, but I can see them all having uses.

Omega Leader is ******* ridiculous. here's what he/she/it ignores,

"Omega Leader

Enemy ships that you have locked cannot modify any dice when attacking you or defending against your attacks."

"X-wing Rules reference, page 14

MODIFYING DICE

Players can modify dice by spending focus, evade,

and target lock tokens and by resolving card abilities.

Dice can be modified in the following ways:

Add:

To add a die result, place an unused die

displaying the result next to the rolled dice. A die

added in this way is treated as a normal die for

all purposes and can be modified and canceled.

To change a die result, rotate the die

so that its faceup side displays the new result.

Reroll:

To reroll a die result, pick up the die and

roll it again.

Dice can be modified by multiple effects, but a die

cannot be rerolled more than once"

1. focus (both red and green)

2. abilities that double as focus (keyan, poe)

3. added evade results, including c3po and the evade token

4. added hit results

5. sensor jammer

6. Juke

7. Autothrusters

8. R7 astromech

9. re-rolls of any **** kind (TL, predator, Han, seri...)

basically everything except adding additional dice

clocking in at the same price as a doom shuttle (two academies), Omega Leader is just absolutely nuts

I just want to throw it out there. That if OL is facing off against a ship 1v1 End game.. its almost assuredly a win for OL...

I Ran OL with

Juke and Comm Relay in a friendly game... Aboslutely the most annoying ship to kill.. I think OL will be the PINNACLE of low point escalation tournaments. if it starts at 30 take that loadout above (bolded) and throw in a stealth device... whats that? 4 health 4 Green dice and unmodified attacks (positively)? Hmm Good luck Opponent.

if it starts at 60.. Whats that? THATS JUST ENOUGH POINTS FOR A PALPMOBILE with FCS! For real... good luck. I cannot wait to get OL on the board with the likes of OA and Brath with HLC. Terrors in the Sky Space.

Indeed. I reckon 1 on 1 that Omega Leader is one of the most lethal fighters in the game.

Zeta Squadron is indeed good for killing Twin Laser Turrets, as are obsidians. The more you see generic pilots (and you will, with Twin Laser Turrets, Integrated Astromech X-wings, Z-95 swarms and classic TIE swarms) the more it's worth considering paying a single point to shoot first.

The TIE/fo is nice. The shield upgrade is good - firstly because it's cheap, but also because it's on a high-agility ship. Firstly this makes it worth more, not less, than normal (since said hit is harder to score and represents more incoming firepower) but also because it gives the ship protection from criticals. Since criticals get cancelled last, if a focused or evading TIE gets hit, especially at range 3, the hit is a critical an annoying proportion of the time. That shield makes a hell of a lot of difference.

Also, Juke and Comms relay are a nasty combination.

Zeta Ace can push the limit - note that it doesn't make him as predictable as you might think. Notice that a TIE/fo has green hard turns, so even when stressed he can turn and then barrel roll and still have a focus token.

Alternatively (admittedly once) try pairing Adrenaline Rush with his ability. Segnor's looping and then barrel rolling is a really, really nasty maneuver.

I guess I should've shared my builds too, but my post was long enough as it is

so far, here's what the lovely FOs have been contributing to my squads

Redline (fcs, clusters, plasmas, munitions, thrusters) OR Whisper (fcs, V.I, advanced cloaking, intelligence agent) [40]

Zeta Ace (ptl) [21]

-I can't even begin to describe how stupid he/she/it is with intelligence agent

3 Obsidians or Academies (39-36)

with Redline and Whisper both, Zeta joins the mini-swarm crew to protect the aces and keep targets lock via well timed blocks.

I started using him over five academies for four huge reasons

1.) Zeta is far more self-sufficient than an academy; he/she/it is an actual late game threat if left alone

2.) higher PS from Zeta + Obsidians with Redline mean all but certain death to TLTs

3.) less bodies to manage, which is incredibly important when you're flying an ace and don't want to block yourself

4.) more power based on manuevering, rather than green dice

as for Omega Leader (proxied), here's me old Tie Swarm

Howlrunner

Mauler (V.i)

Stabster

Academy

Academy

Academy -->

Omega (PTL)

Academy -->

you could also run

Omega (ptl) [24]

Howlie (ptl) [21]

Epsilon Leader [19]

3 Academies [36]

or drop Howlie's ptl to upgrade to Obsdians

Omega ace, coming in at 20 points nonupgraded, has the worst pilot ability of any 2 red dice ship ever! Spend a lock, AND a focus, to turn all hits, into crits. So he has to use two actions, a lock and a focus, to even make this work. Better give him the dreaded ptl so he can pull this off more often. And ok, you now have 1 maybe 2 crits on your opponent.

Omega Ace's ability is not "turn all hits into crits", it's "turn all results into crits". As in all of your dice. Whatever they originally rolled. So you can get into range one and then turn blank-blank-blank into crit-crit-crit.

Still think it's terrible?

I actually think Ace + PtL is one of the better ways to spend 23 points as an Imperial player. He's entirely self-sufficient, is not overly expensive, and has the perfect PS for his ability. High enough that he shoots early, but low enough that you can get someone else to strip the shields off his target first, which he can then wreck with multiple criticals. You can certainly do a lot worse.

Omega Ace is a jerk, and based on what that ship did to my otherwise awesome arc-dodging A-Wing, I maintain my position of jerkitude.

My opponent ran OA with PtL and it was annoying when he'd close to Range 1 and open fire.

Every.

Single.

Turn.

[Kaboom!][Kaboom!][Kaboom!]

Epsilon leader: possible favourite wingman for a two defender list?

Think of it. Have him TL an opponent, allowing Vessery to use said TL. Get Rexler out there with PTL, which you don't need to worry about anymore thanks to old EL taking the stress away. You can ever hard turn the pair and have EL wipe that stress away. With this you have 6 pts left for possible upgrades on Vessery. Suggestions?

No room for hlc sucks

Mangler + crackshot?

Small problem is Omega Ace is REALLY good with weapons guidance (can't spend hisherits to for mods or you lose the ability) so that's an option too

Crackshot and hull on Vess, WG

There is a lot I disagree with that the OP posted. There is so much, that it's hard to figure out where to start.

Target Lock:

If you think TL is useless...then I'm not sure what to tell you. I've often found I wished I had TL on a Tie Fighter. I don't fly in formation with mine and there are times when you know the Tie won't have a shot and won't be shot. It's a great time to pick up a TL and save it for when you get in R1.

Also, use a Tie FO with Col. Vessery. You can do him with 4 Epsilon Pilots. Col V with TL is fantastic!

Shield:

One point of shield is pretty darn good. With all the Manglers and other forms of crits going around, it's good to stop. Critical hits are worse with the new deck and anything that can stop them is good. Also, TIE FO's are able to survive TLT's better. You know you will face them.

Dial:

You don't like the S-loop on the TIE FO? If that's the case, I don't know what to tell you. You only flying your Ties in formation? If so, then you are not using one of the strengths of the Tie Fighter: maneuverability.

PS 1 Tie Fighters:

They are useful for more than just "cram as many as you can into a cheap horde". I like to go with just a couple of cheap PS 1 ships in a list for blockers. You don't have to go with all of them. You just need one or two. They still block.

Weapons Guidance tech works great with PS 1 Epsilon pilots. You take a Focus and shoot last. Use the Focus if you need it for defense, but if you don't need it by the time you get to shoot, then you can use it for offense. It will increase the viability of the Tie Fighter offense by quite a bit. You won't need Howlrunner if you take it.

PS 3 Tie Fighters:

Even before Predator and before TLT's, I have usually used a mix of Academy and Obsidian for their mixed PS. I love to throw out a couple of cheap blockers and then have the PS 3 move after their cheap chaffe. I've won games that way and used my Academy as bait. I can think of a lot of times when you want to move after their low PS and shoot before them.

The TIE FO is a different ship. It's a little bit better Tie Fighter. There are a lot of uses for Tie Fighters. I almost feel like those that started the game after Tie Interceptors came out just don't know how to fly Tie Fighters. It's usually only Academy and only with Howlrunner. There are so many ways you can fly Tie Fighters.

Another thing to consider: HLC can (and often) one-shot kills TIE fighters, even if they take an evade. TIE/fo with an evade cannot be one-shotted by an HLC. Might not seem like much, but considering how often I go up against HLCs, it makes a world of difference.

I also want to second the Omega Leader w/ Juke + Comm Relay. Disgusting. Makes Dark Curse's ability look lame in comparison. I venture to guess that at 26 points, Omega Leader will start replacing Soontir in a lot of lists...

Another thing to consider: HLC can (and often) one-shot kills TIE fighters, even if they take an evade. TIE/fo with an evade cannot be one-shotted by an HLC. Might not seem like much, but considering how often I go up against HLCs, it makes a world of difference.

I also want to second the Omega Leader w/ Juke + Comm Relay. Disgusting. Makes Dark Curse's ability look lame in comparison. I venture to guess that at 26 points, Omega Leader will start replacing Soontir in a lot of lists...

The hit takes the shield, the crit that is pulled is Major Explosion, a hit is rolled, the next crit that is dealt is Direct Hit!

Thanks all for your thoughts, definitely gave me some info to chew on! I don't get to play with many ppl out here so I don't get a chance to see how ships are being flown by those who know what they are doing lol. I couldn't see any reasonable situation where I'd want a tie/fo on the field but now I'm looking forward to making a few squads with it

I wish I had 4 TIE FO's as I'd run them with Col. Vessery straight up. Without that, I'm going with 2 and Maarek Stele.

I found a really good list to play with basic Tie Fighters that uses all their strengths. It's a straight forward list and I have beaten at least 2 tournament level lists with it. Since the Lambda is called the Great White Space Cow, I call the list:

Space Cowboys

Omnicron Shuttle w/ Fleet Officer, Adv Sensors, and Anti Pursuit Lasers

Dark Curse

Backstabber

Night Beast

2 x Academy

Use the shuttle to give the 2 Focus out first with Adv Sensors. Then, do a green maneuver to clear the stress. Give it to whomever you think is going to get shot at. Tie Fighters with a Focus and Evace are really hard to kill. Or even double Focus. Night Beast gets his own Focus. Dark Curse usually doesn't need it, so it's just 2 out of 3 get it. The shuttle can also fire with 3 dice and can sometimes be effective. It's a simple list that lets you fly the Tie Fighters like they should be and without having to fly in a formation.

I got some more time with experience with the Tie FO's last night.

Col Vessery w/ VI

Maarek Stele w/ Mk II Ion Eng, VI, and Adv Targeting Computer

2 x Epsilon Pilots w/ Weapons Guidance

It worked out pretty well. Everything gives TL for Vessery. The Epsilon did Focus most rounds after getting a TL. Used it for defense if needed, or used it to boost their offensive power. It worked out pretty well for that as I always knew if I needed it for defense. Shooting last also meant that I could pick whoever used their tokens for offense. I also was able to block with them, which was pretty useful. They were able to do consistent damage at R2-3, especially with the new tech.

I did find the dial to be really nice on the TIE FO. The 2 hard turn is green, which is fantastic! More green moves than a normal Tie. I also found it easier to get into a good position with the S-loop. When going at low PS, I found I couldn't always K-turn. The S-loop was really useful to turn around, but not bump.

I did find the dial to be really nice on the TIE FO. The 2 hard turn is green, which is fantastic! More green moves than a normal Tie. I also found it easier to get into a good position with the S-loop. When going at low PS, I found I couldn't always K-turn. The S-loop was really useful to turn around, but not bump.

Cool. The dial is really good. Significantly better than the TIE/ln and people who discount the FO seem to be neglecting the advantages of the dial. I watched Paul Heaver vs Morgan Reid's team covenant aces game yesterday. Heaver had 4 Epsilons (naked) + standard Fel vs Reid's decifel list (kenkirk + palpatine and standard Fel). I was surprised how well the Epsilons did. Obsidians would not have been able to carry the day like those Epsilons. Being able to grab opportunistic target locks, s-loop and take evade when heavily damaged really allowed the Epsilons to last longer than they had any right to and they were able to put out more damage thanks to TL + focus. Granted, Reid's decimator did not have gunner, which probably would've helped kill the TIEs faster (or if it had been Chiraneau) but still, I'm convinced the TIE/FO is totally worth its points.

Another thing to consider is how it compares to the a-wing: FO's dial loses some green (4/5 straight) and only has 1 k-turn, but gains the 2 s-loop in its place. The s-loop is very powerful, so losing out on some green seems a fair trade. It also gets barrel roll instead of boost which I think is ultimately a wash but otherwise has the same action bar. 3 hull + 1 shield is slightly worse than the a's 2 hull + 2 shield, but overall the FO has a better spread/choice of named pilots who are ultimately cheaper and easier to field than the a-wing's counterparts...

Oh! Oh!

I want to try this list out, I feel like it would lay the hurt on an enemy even with only 2 attack dice:
https://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Galactic%20Empire&d=v3!s!182:152,153:-1:-1:;182:152,153:-1:-1:;182:152,153:-1:-1:;62:18:5:15:M.1

Epsilon leader: possible favourite wingman for a two defender list?

Think of it. Have him TL an opponent, allowing Vessery to use said TL. Get Rexler out there with PTL, which you don't need to worry about anymore thanks to old EL taking the stress away. You can ever hard turn the pair and have EL wipe that stress away. With this you have 6 pts left for possible upgrades on Vessery. Suggestions?

What about the Twin Ion Engine mk II? Gives the defender 6 new green manoeuvres for 1 point