I'm dreaming up Squad Leader builds where half your TIEs have Targeting Computer. The front line gets Focus+TL from the back line which is all using Youngster's Squad Leader card.

I could see Expose having a place supporting TIE/fos. They can carry a TL from a previous turn (as well as an Evade with Comm Relay) so the Expose action can potentially get them a lot of damage.

Youngster, Expose 19

Omega Squadron Pilot, PTL 20 x4 = 20

Are we correct in assuming TIE/fos count with Youngster?

It states Omega Leader using it in the article, so you can assume.

Younger with Squad Leader, Omega Ace with Expose (and comm relay), and Howlrunner and Omega Leader to set Omega Ace's deathstar up each turn. Omega Ace gets TL+Focus+Expose, for 3 automatic crits at range 2-3 or 4 autocrits at range 1.

Marksmanship IMO for several reasons:

• BeforeHowlrunner, it has the same if not better damage output when compared to Expose https://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic1537549.jpg - not sure about after Howlrunner
• Expose costs you 1 more point and 1 agility in addition to the defensive Focus that Marksmanship costs you.
• EH at low PS is pretty weak both for maneuvering and the fact that you can't EH immediately after a TL. And if you're not facing an ATC, there's a good chance your 17-point Youngster is 5 points wasted.

Marksmanship vs Focus is the problem, though.

Y'see, the damage of Marksmanship is identical to the focus token, unless your damage gets through the enemy shields.

If you're playing a TIE Swarm, the Focus' defensive use means that, for the few ships that your opponent attacks, you have increased survivability, and for the ships that your opponent does not, you have increased damage.

That is a large part of the reason why Focus is more valuable on low-PS ships than it is on the high-PS ships.

So, even though you're getting Marksmanship for no cost other than the action, it still isn't the best action to take most of the time.

Expose, however, nets you a higher damage ceiling, giving you a chance to punch through Fel or Whisper's defenses.

Having a slightly-better-than 1/4 chance to deal 3 damage is worth its weight in gold when your opponent is expected to ignore 2 damage per attack.

Just because you can Marksmanship, doesn't mean you have to. You could focus with the ones at risk and attack with them first to strip shields, then fire with your marksmanship TIEs to get crits through.

This is kind of like when you bring up that TL is a decent action but everyone immediately tells you how much better focus is. Use it when the situation is right, which comes up fairly often.

It states Omega Leader using it in the article, so you can assume.

Yes, well... SLAM and Bomb, remember.

I could see Expose having a place supporting TIE/fos. They can carry a TL from a previous turn (as well as an Evade with Comm Relay) so the Expose action can potentially get them a lot of damage.

Youngster, Expose 19

Omega Squadron Pilot, PTL 20 x4 = 20

Are we correct in assuming TIE/fos count with Youngster?

not technically

the rules reference outlines how Ship-type works for ship-type restricted upgrades, in which a Tie/Fo Fighter can take Tie Fighter Only upgrades

there's nothing about upgrade cards calling for ship-types to affect, such as Youngster or Docking Clamps

we should, however, assume it works the same or we'll have an intuitive rules fustercluck to deal with

I could see Expose having a place supporting TIE/fos. They can carry a TL from a previous turn (as well as an Evade with Comm Relay) so the Expose action can potentially get them a lot of damage.

Youngster, Expose 19

Omega Squadron Pilot, PTL 20 x4 = 20

Are we correct in assuming TIE/fos count with Youngster?

not technically

the rules reference outlines how Ship-type works for ship-type restricted upgrades, in which a Tie/Fo Fighter can take Tie Fighter Only upgrades

there's nothing about upgrade cards calling for ship-types to affect, such as Youngster or Docking Clamps

we should, however, assume it works the same or we'll have an intuitive rules fustercluck to deal with

Besides, none of the revealed Tie/FOs have any particular synergies with the 5 Action Elite Talents (aside from their natural Target Lock improving Expose when Howlrunner's dead).

This card from the Punishing One expansion has been partially parsed (thus the red-text), and we don't know its cost, but this on BSPs with an Exposed Youngster is quite possibly overpowered, depending on the cost of this upgrade.

I could see Expose having a place supporting TIE/fos. They can carry a TL from a previous turn (as well as an Evade with Comm Relay) so the Expose action can potentially get them a lot of damage.

Youngster, Expose 19

Omega Squadron Pilot, PTL 20 x4 = 20

Are we correct in assuming TIE/fos count with Youngster?

not technically

the rules reference outlines how Ship-type works for ship-type restricted upgrades, in which a Tie/Fo Fighter can take Tie Fighter Only upgrades

there's nothing about upgrade cards calling for ship-types to affect, such as Youngster or Docking Clamps

we should, however, assume it works the same or we'll have an intuitive rules fustercluck to deal with

Besides, none of the revealed Tie/FOs have any particular synergies with the 5 Action Elite Talents (aside from their natural Target Lock improving Expose when Howlrunner's dead).

Omegas with PTL can still focus or evade on top of taking the action from Youngster.

This card from the Punishing One expansion has been partially parsed (thus the red-text), and we don't know its cost, but this on BSPs with an Exposed Youngster is quite possibly overpowered, depending on the cost of this upgrade.

Hey, I remember making that!

So far, the only EPTs that take advantage of her ability are as follows: Expert Handling, Squad Leader, Daredevil, Marksmanship, and Expose

Squad Leader has little utility on a single action ship. I suppose you can give your Action to another ship if you are not in arc and don't have any ships in arc.

Daredevil is likely to damage the ship using it unless it has a Boost. I would never run this on TIEs. Maybe if you had some sort of Interceptor swarm.

Expose makes your ship that is fragile and probably firing last even more fragile. In a low PS swarm, I would be wary to use this.

Expert Handling is what I would probably use. As a swarm player, I fear Assault Missiles and other splash ordnance. With this EPT I can shake off the TL and make them moot.

It states Omega Leader using it in the article, so you can assume.

yeah, if you believe that, I've got a story about a K-Wing bombing run you might be interested in...

Really don't see this improving expose, like, at all. The three problems expose as always had are

The point cost

It uses your action, so no modifications without additional shenanigans

Reduces your agility

Expose on the decimator worked ok because the agility reduction was eliminated and the action cost was bypassed with experimental interface, leaving just a point cost for expose and EI together that was a fraction of the total ship cost.

Now with youngster, the point cost of putting it on every ship is reduced, but the other drawbacks are still left in full force. Ships that use expose don't get their regular action for modification and are more vulnerable.

Before, basically, expose made you pay points to put a crappy card on one of your ships. Now youngster allows you to pay the same point cost to put a crappy card on all your ships.

it creates a question for your opponent, an option for them to misplay. Do I shoot the turtled up Howlrunner or Youngster at range 3, or do I shoot one of the 3-4 exposed Academy Pilots that are at range 2? For 4 points I'll mess with my opponent's head any day.

You still shoot Howlrunner. Take her off the board before the exposed academies shoot and it's worse than if they just would have focused with their actions. Next round if they do it again you can probably take 2 of them off the board and then it's just mop up.

It states Omega Leader using it in the article, so you can assume.

yeah, if you believe that, I've got a story about a K-Wing bombing run you might be interested in...

the "Slam is a movement, drop da bomb" one? xD

It states Omega Leader using it in the article, so you can assume.

The contents of the article don't support either side of the "TIE/fos count as TIE Fighters" argument.

This card from the Punishing One expansion has been partially parsed (thus the red-text), and we don't know its cost, but this on BSPs with an Exposed Youngster is quite possibly overpowered, depending on the cost of this upgrade.

You can do 5 BSPs with it if it costs 2 points, plus Youngster with Expose is 99. I'd say 3 points is more likely, but 2 is possible because you have to buy at least 2 to make it work, meaning a minimum investment of 4 to get any benefit.

However, I'd say this is about in the ballpark of 5 Alpha squadron pilots. You get one more ship and higher PS, but middling Pilot Skill is often no better than minimum. You also get another ship, but you sacrifice a lot of defense dice and they're still only TIE Fighters.

I'll give it a few plays.

This card from the Punishing One expansion has been partially parsed (thus the red-text), and we don't know its cost, but this on BSPs with an Exposed Youngster is quite possibly overpowered, depending on the cost of this upgrade.

Do we know that this is an EPT? If it was a modification, it might be enough to make some of the mid-PS pilots that lack EPTs playable.

Do we know that this is an EPT?

Yes, definitely an EPT.

Really don't see this improving expose, like, at all. The three problems expose as always had are

The point cost

It uses your action, so no modifications without additional shenanigans

Reduces your agility

Expose on the decimator worked ok because the agility reduction was eliminated and the action cost was bypassed with experimental interface, leaving just a point cost for expose and EI together that was a fraction of the total ship cost.

Now with youngster, the point cost of putting it on every ship is reduced, but the other drawbacks are still left in full force. Ships that use expose don't get their regular action for modification and are more vulnerable.

Before, basically, expose made you pay points to put a crappy card on one of your ships. Now youngster allows you to pay the same point cost to put a crappy card on all your ships.

it creates a question for your opponent, an option for them to misplay. Do I shoot the turtled up Howlrunner or Youngster at range 3, or do I shoot one of the 3-4 exposed Academy Pilots that are at range 2? For 4 points I'll mess with my opponent's head any day.

You still shoot Howlrunner. Take her off the board before the exposed academies shoot and it's worse than if they just would have focused with their actions. Next round if they do it again you can probably take 2 of them off the board and then it's just mop up.

This discussion was partly had in another thread, and I'm going to stick with what I said there. The reason Expose still doesn't work is because it gives you no bad options. Either you kill Howlrunner, making Expose awful, or you kill an exposed Tie which will almost certainly fall very, very quickly. Either way you're in a great position.

Really don't see this improving expose, like, at all. The three problems expose as always had are

The point cost

It uses your action, so no modifications without additional shenanigans

Reduces your agility

Expose on the decimator worked ok because the agility reduction was eliminated and the action cost was bypassed with experimental interface, leaving just a point cost for expose and EI together that was a fraction of the total ship cost.

Now with youngster, the point cost of putting it on every ship is reduced, but the other drawbacks are still left in full force. Ships that use expose don't get their regular action for modification and are more vulnerable.

Before, basically, expose made you pay points to put a crappy card on one of your ships. Now youngster allows you to pay the same point cost to put a crappy card on all your ships.

it creates a question for your opponent, an option for them to misplay. Do I shoot the turtled up Howlrunner or Youngster at range 3, or do I shoot one of the 3-4 exposed Academy Pilots that are at range 2? For 4 points I'll mess with my opponent's head any day.

I think Forgotten is exactly right. We are probabky talking about something like this here:

"Youngster" (15)

Expose (4)

"Howlrunner" (18)

Stealth Device (3)

Academy Pilot (12)

Academy Pilot (12)

Academy Pilot (12)

Academy Pilot (12)

Academy Pilot (12)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Thats how you could perhaps get something out of expose. But if you systematically do it, you will perhaps score a tiny bit more damage if at all, but also lose ships at a much faster pace. The enemy still has the option to focus on Howl which is still a much bigger threat than Youngster if you ask me. But you actually also give him another good option. Just to kill Academies whenever they use Expose. Because that's as easy as clubbing baby seals at their statline with minus one agility.

I think a Youngster/Howlrunner swarm is not any better than a standard Howlrunner swarm. I am not yet sure if it's not actually worse since you give up one of the Ties main strengths... Its 3 Agility. And for a very doubtful advantage in firepower.

To answer directly to the OP. i will not use Youngster at all. I will probably give Wampa a shot, and certainly Chaser. Because he is probably the most cost efficient of the 4 and his ability is probably useful 100% of the games. You get a free focus pretty much every round. So he has something like a built in Ptl where he gets a free focus pretty much every turn and can take other actions.

Chaser is the unsung hero here, while Youngster will probably collect dust on the shelf when people realize that unless a really awesome EPT with Action comes out he is not a trlerribly good choice. The ones that exist now are all pretty useless on Tie as it seems.

The youngster expose debate isn't about good or bad options. Howlrunner, even with focus and evade, goes down under a full squads fire 90% of the time and often without even needing the whole squad to fire. You remove her and the academy pilots essentially did- Action: remove 1 agility and gain 2/3 of a focus. If Howlrunner is gone the expose swarm is in pretty much exactly the same spot with more high and low variance than before. Howlrunner still has to die first. Expose is still bad even if you can spread it 1pt across 4 ships. Youngster needs a new action header EPT to make him work.

Chaser and Wampa work great on their own and are certainly a good investment at their respective point costs.

Wampa has some great combos that won't always work but when they do can swing momentum your way. Chaser is as great a swarm ship you can ask for: +2PS and a "free action" for 2pts is a great value. Frees up some points to do an interesting take on one of my old favorite lists: Baron's Focus.

Inquisitor's Focus

Inquisitor+ title+ juke+ thrusters

Kath + Rec Spec

Night beast

Chaser

All this Expose talk is annoying. Unmodified dice are terrible, and if you're banking on 3 unmodified dice getting through a non-bumped Soontir, you're doing it wrong.

Marksmanship synergizes well with Crackshot's ability to push crits through.

Expert Handling is okay, helps ditch FCS locks.

Daredevil is going to turn your Academies into blocking monsters.

Squad Leader for shenanigans and for faraway ships giving ones at range one a second action.

Expose seems to be the strongest option. You do not have to use expose. If you know you will be shot at take the 3 evades. But with a swarm there are times when you have ships in a relatively safe firing position with no fear of reprisals. In this moment expose+howl runner would be very deadly!

Expose seems to be the strongest option. You do not have to use expose. If you know you will be shot at take the 3 evades. But with a swarm there are times when you have ships in a relatively safe firing position with no fear of reprisals. In this moment expose+howl runner would be very deadly!

Yes but honestly how often do you see an enemy ignore Howlrunner, Youngster and X Other ties so that they get into a blind spot plus get the rerolls.

It's a combo that is just not practicable.

The firepower is that of a 3 attack ship with Predator in that case. But if you want extra fragile, just take 4 Sabers with Predator. At least they still have 3 Agility plus an Action usually.