We're at wave 7 and going strong in list diversity and choices for how to upgrade your squads. Ships like the Ywing and the Hwk gained a great boost from the TLT, giving two reliable damage at range 2-3. It's a hefty 6 points on your squad, but well worth it.

However, since being implemented the TLT has taken priority in lists as a mounted turret. I have not once seen the blaster turret in a list since the TLT was an option. Why is this?

Well, I ran a list that maximized on the blaster turret last wave and so I feel I am close town expert on why:

It costs a focus. This is hard for many ships to fire off modified, luckily the Argomech helps for this problem with the scum Ywing but not the rebel one. Most damaging of this set back however is a niche, Carnor Jax. I lost painfully to a list with Carnor, because I couldn't even shoot. I understand that this is "a bad match up" but it's in my belief that certain lists should have weak points but not one ship that's it's ability makes the list completely useless.

My proposal? errata the card to require a focus but not to spend it. It's a simple change that allows the card to not be crippled by Carnor, get possible play from rebel Ywings and not broken in terms of the card. For 4 points, it's 3 attack dice and locked at range 1-2, the Blaster Turret isn't better than the Mangler for the same point cost. It also keeps the turret difficult to use again Carnor (not being able to re-focus if spent) and if you tend to bump (which we all do from time to time)

I love HWKs and Ywings, and I feel they could do with another viable option for list diversity.

If the card was designed today yes I think your proposed change would be the best, but now all turrets ships can use the very effective TLT. But I would like to run blaster turret on my hwk's (not that I bring em to tournaments) but Ion cannon turret is just always better IMO. 1 point and you don't have to have a focus and you almost never get 3 dmg with a blaster turret so 1-2 dmg vs 1 dmg and ion is just better.

An errata to just require a foucs would make it worth using so that would be fun, but there are so many pilots, ships and uppgrades that just get's tossed aside these days cause they need smal tweaks to compete. Actually this is why I started going more and more towards casual play since I'm tired of just facing the same ships and builds over and over.

Oh, Hortong would be crazy good with blaster turret

I think the Blaster Turret only works well with Moldy Crow HWKs that come to the fight with a load of focus tokens and can withstand some rounds of not getting actions due to red maneuvers or induced stress.

Other than that, it is quite simple to block a Blaster Turret HWK or Y-Wing with the cheapest ships in the game, removing their ability to contribute anything in combat. If they need to do a red maneuver to get out of arcs, or they touch debris or asteroids, they also lose their attacks.

Also, HWK aren't quite sturdy enough to survive long in close combat, so they really need to stay at range 3 if they want to have a chance. With it's limited range, the Blaster Turret puts them in danger.

Also, because it consumes the token when shooting, all your attacks are unmodified unless you decide to shoot every other turn, gathering target lock and focus.

Palob works okay with it because even when he is blocked, stressed or lost his actions, he can still steal a focus token from someone else and shoot his turret. Also, he can equip a K7 Droid or a Outlaw Tech that gives him ways to modify his attacks. I have seen Kavil also having some success while equipping the Agromech that gives him a target lock to spend, along with Kavil's extra attacking die.

But you need particular combos of pilot and upgrades to make it work.

For 1 point more, you get the Ion Turret that deals some damage and control ability but with same range restriction. And for 2 points more you get the TLT that achieves good damage average and the wished range 3 attacks to stay safe.

It's just that the blaster turret is so limiting, perhaps because the devs were scared of adding another 3 Attack turret after realizing their mistake with the YT-1300, they put so many restrictions on it that made the other turrets just simpler to add to a squadron.

I completely agree with the posts above. So taking into account the errata, here are possible new viable builds:

Scum BTL, Ywing with Argo and blaster. Shoot unmodified primary, follow up with blaster turret, gain TL. Much like a FCS bwing but slightly less ability to turn about face.

Killer HWK. At 20 points, the Hwk can have a blaster turret and that's it. Making it close to the Special K but without extra dice at range 1 and less maneuverability.

Or a finally damage heavy Kavil.

I think the Errata would not break the game, auto thrusters already beat out turrets more often than not. It would just give blaster turret a possibility of more use, not instantly adding it to every list.

Yes buff all cannons my defenders demand it!

The Moldy Crow title makes the required focus a formality. But even on Kyle Katarn, with the title and Recon Specialist, the TLT is worth considering beause Kyle is probably going to stay in range 3. So I actually think the Blaster Turret's problem is its range.

The Moldy Crow title makes the required focus a formality. But even on Kyle Katarn, with the title and Recon Specialist, the TLT is worth considering beause Kyle is probably going to stay in range 3. So I actually think the Blaster Turret's problem is its range.

Staking focus also means he's modifying every shot instead of just one which makes it very strong.

The big problem I've had with Blaster Turret is that it becomes useless if you lose your action, whether through doing a red maneuver or bumping something. Before TLTs were a thing, I've run four Y-Wings with Agromech and Blaster Turret a few times, and it's done quite well when you can maneuver them together without colliding, creating a bubble in which anything can usually be hit by all four of them (like the TLT version we have now, but smaller and without the blindspot). It's a lot of fun the maneuver them around, and if you can maneuver to block anything with a higher pilot skill it will absolutely murder it.

The big downside though is that if you do bump, you lose big chunk of of your damage output because you can't use the turret at all. Ion Cannon Turret can at least be used without actions, and if you don't end up dealing more than one damage with BT you may as well have just taken ICT instead and gotten the ion effect. TLT basically doesn't worry about modifications so much as throwing a lot of red dice and relying on red dice being statistically better than green dice long term.

I still have fun running Kavil with BT, PtL, EU, and Unhinged because it raises the damage and ability to hit with BT, and he can both retain mobility to dodge arcs (important with 1 agility) while still at least firing every turn, or do a TL/F to charge up BT which has more even effect with that extra die, all while still having many options to clear his stress next turn. I've also had good luck using it on Palob because he can often just steal a focus token, as well as being able to take Recon Spec and/or Moldy Crow to have more focus available when he wants it... and of course Palob is himself a source of problems for Blaster Turrets facing him because stealing a focus token can completely shut down the turret too.

Take Outlaw Tech on the HWK. If you're afraid you might get blocked this round, choose a red maneuver to ensure you get a focus token.

EDIT: This is neat, but not better than Recon Specialist + Moldy Crow. Well, it's cheaper, but not better.

god I wish it was just FOCUS and not spend focus to attack

I have to agree that Moldy Crow is really the only time I can justify it, and then only on Mux and Palob who work at range 1-2 (especially Palob because that bugger steals focus ) because TLTs and junk

^

Add Inertial Dampners if you're feeling flush. It's not exactly efficient, but pulling a full stop, watching enemies whizz past and still getting to shoot is fun.

Moldy Crow & Recon Specialist to stockpile tokens

Outlaw Tech & Inertial Dampners to mitigate red moves & free up the dial a bit

...It costs a focus. This is hard for many ships to fire off modified, luckily the Argomech helps for this problem with the scum Ywing but not the rebel one. Most damaging of this set back however is a niche, Carnor Jax. I lost painfully to a list with Carnor, because I couldn't even shoot. I understand that this is "a bad match up" but it's in my belief that certain lists should have weak points but not one ship that's it's ability makes the list completely useless.

My proposal? errata the card to require a focus but not to spend it.

I run the Blaster Turret a lot as well and I agree! I don't think FFG will be doing an errata for BT any time soon though. Luckily, no on runs Carnor Jax in my area so I haven't had that misfortune. Twin Laser Turrets have definitely stolen some BT thunder in my list building since they came out, but not completely! I like running Scum HWKs, Mux's and Palob's abilities are range 1-2 so being able to shoot at range 3 isn't a priority for me and what's to stop my opponent from getting into range 1 after I get into range to use their abilities? I'd rather have BT or Ion Cannon Turret with those two and I always try to pair Recon Spec or Moldy Crow with the Blaster Turret so I have some extra Focus tokens.

I know plenty of people of tried Palob: Blaster Turret, Opportunist, K-4 Security Droid, Moldy Crow for the hot, four diced modified attack, but my new favorite build with Palob is: Palob, Blaster Turret, Expert Handling, K-4 , Moldy Crow. I'm doing green moves all day for the free Target Lock so the stress from EH isn't a big deal. The look on people's faces when I barrel roll a HWK from range 3 into range 2 to trigger Palob's ability and hit them with the TL'd BT is priceless. It also has let me arc dodge mini swarms a little bit which helps keep Palob alive longer as he normally has a big target painted on his back.

I also like Kavil w/ BT, Predator, Unhinged. I tend to target the PS1-2 fodder first to get the maximum use out of Pred and Unhinged is great for the Y's dial.

I'm fairly sure the blaster turret got the focus requirement because FFG was afraid of 5 hwks with blaster turrets being a thing for some reason.

I don't know that FFG will ever be as worried about making specific upgrade cards competative as they are about the ship classes. At the moment, the list of upgrades that don't see much play include:

Flight Instructor

Dash Rendar (Crew)

Leia Organa

Countermeasures

Flechette Cannon

Decoy

Elusiveness

Salvaged Astromech

R4-B11

R5 Astromech

I don't know that FFG will ever be as worried about making specific upgrade cards competative as they are about the ship classes. At the moment, the list of upgrades that don't see much play include:

Flight Instructor

Dash Rendar (Crew)

Leia Organa

Countermeasures

Flechette Cannon

Decoy

Elusiveness

Salvaged Astromech

R4-B11

R5 Astromech

R2-F2 is my pick for the worst upgrade card in the game.

I run kavil with blaster turret pretty regularly with the agromech and the extra die, it's brutal and tough as long as you don't get blocked. also like him with predator and unhinged. much less predictable. Stay on target is a good EPT as well because it tends to defeat and attempted block

I run kavil with blaster turret pretty regularly with the agromech and the extra die, it's brutal and tough as long as you don't get blocked. also like him with predator and unhinged. much less predictable. Stay on target is a good EPT as well because it tends to defeat and attempted block

Yeah kavil works very well set up like that.

I run kavil with blaster turret pretty regularly with the agromech and the extra die, it's brutal and tough as long as you don't get blocked. also like him with predator and unhinged. much less predictable. Stay on target is a good EPT as well because it tends to defeat and attempted block

I'm probably missing something, but with Stay on Target you get stressed. So you might not get blocked this turn, but you still can't use your turret and now are left doing a green maneuver next turn. That seems a little bit too situationnal for my taste.