Hey there folks, i just headed home from a local tournament and i´d like to share my experiences.

Before i get into action i need to say that i playtested so much lists with a friend of mine and none of them really convinced me to be worthy of taking to a tournament.

So i sat at home an read through a couple of squad threads and there i found what to field, or at least give it a try.

The list:

Tie Defender

Rexler Brath 37

Predator 3

HLC 7

Hull Upgrade 3

3x Tie/Fo

Zeta Squadron Pilot 16

98 Points

I was really nervous because my experience with the Defender is not so huge and in the current meta anything can come up.

However Round 1 started against:

Soontir with PTL,AT, SD and 5 Obsidians

I started slowly in the middle of the map keeping the Zetas in a tight triangle and Rexler close behind. the Obsidians coming from the right and soontir from the left. I decided to split up on tie as a blocker for his swarm and the other to get in Soontirs face, slow rolling rex behind them with a 1 bank. The single tie did no manage to block even one of his swarm and i thought it was over but luckily even aber 5 shots he took he had still 2 hull left. It was more of a shenanigan play from both sides but i somehow managed to always keep rexler out of most of his arcs. Finally i managed to block Soontir, Rex was lined up pretty well for his HLC shot and we all know a blocked Soontir is a dead Soontir and thats how it went got him in this round. Shortly after, time was called

1:0 MOV 135

Round 2:

IG88B with HLC, AT, Predator // Kavil with TLT, SD, Predator, Unhinged Astromech // Cartel Spacer

This time i started at the far left side and then banking to the middle after i passed an asteroid. His Kavil turned away but still got a shot on one of my Zetas. His Scyk and IG88 tried to flank from the other far end.

Lucky for me the IG had no AS, or FCS so i concentrated my fire onto the IG but unfortunately ignored Kavil. Some how he ever so often managed to block Rex so i decided to switch the targets and go after Kavil. At this time i already lost 2 Zetas to his **** TLT with 4 dice because he was always keeping nice range. This time however Rex wanted him and after a 1 bank with succeeding k-turn Kavil was gone in just 2 rounds of fire. At the end it was Rex with 2 hull left against IG88 with 1 hull left. This time head to head fight range 2, HLC killed him and i praised Rex for his PS.

2:0 MOV 152

Round 3: against the current German National Champion

Tycho Celchu with Title, PTL, Wired, AT, Prockets // Jake Farrell with Title, PTL, Wired, AT, Concussion Missles // Green Squadron Pilot with Title, PTL, Wired, AT, Concussion Missles

What a heck of a list! A-wings are just so slippery and wired made my tries even harder. Fortunately they do not much damage on their own and i somehow always manged to get the Zeta with the corresponding TL out of the respective A-wing. it was a long back and forth and 15 minutes prior the end i only lost 4 shields and he only lost 2 shields on Jake. However the block will come eventually and so it did. HLC range 2 on Jake without tokens, predator reroll 3 hits, 1 blank. Jake rolled 2 evades so 1 damage got through. And then it happend what i have never seen before. Rex still had his focus and turned up the Double hit. A crazy good feeling in this otherwise very long match without happening much.

3:0 MOV 134

Round 4: the list i feared the most today

Soontir with RGT, PTL, SD, AT // Carnor Jax with RGT, PTL, SD, AT // OPG with Palpatine

Well all i knew was kill the other ace beside Soontir but it beeing Carnor didn´t make it easier. however i went for carnor in a direct approach but had neither luck with the HLC nor the Zetas coming through. Soontir flanked but i pretty much ignored him and he still flew onto a rock but nothing happend. Carnor slipped through and turned around for another approach. and i wasn´t up for my sloops yet but i counted on the shuttle to stay still and it eventually happend. Due to carnor beeing in range 1 to all my ships the last round i had pretty much Target locks in the shuttle for a possible future turn. And it so happens the TL brought their value and i got the shuttle down to 2 hull within 1 round. The next round Soontir was ready for harvesting, at least i thought it. Range 1 the baron punshed Rex down to 2 hull but return fire resulted in a major explosion(roll die, on hit take a crit) into damaged engine (all turns red). Unfortunately Soontir escaped out of the pit which gave me then the chance to take on Carnor again and this time the magic worked again. Carnor killed Rex but simultaneous attack rule applied. HLC and predator managed 3 hits and 1 crit. Carnor still sitting on an evade token... blanked everything and the Emperor was already used this turn to kill Rexler. A turn later the shuttle was killed by a range 1 shot of a Zeta and i even managed to block Soontir again but couldn´t finish him off as time was called.

4:0 MOV 113

YES! It was done. 6 hours of playtime, always nice people even though grinning at me about a defender, but finally admitting that its not that worse of a ship as i scored first in our 10 player tourney.

Finally it is absolutely fun to play and even if the Defender has its obvious weaknesses its still an awesome ship to fly.

Beforehand i talked a little with Biophysical and at this point just want to say thank you for you advises regarding the defender! They were highly appreciated!

HLC Defender already costs like Games Workshop miniature range, and you slapped a Hull upgrade on?

Hull has increasing returns, and is a great choice for Rex. I prefer lone wolf, and stealth myself, but with a /fo team, lone wolf becomes less useful. Therefore SD does too, so hull becomes one of the best mods Rex can take alongside predator. All this I learned from biophysical's posts, he's had a great effect on my defenders' life expectancies over the past year!

I'd exchange Hull Upgrade for tie MKII engine, and Predator for Push the Limit.

And may the force be with you, because you are really gonna need it...

HLC Defender already costs like Games Workshop miniature range, and you slapped a Hull upgrade on?

I dont think additional protection on a big investment is a bad idea. (Unless its stealth device without other defense help). I wouldn't put hull on a 1 or unaided 2 def dice ship obviously.

I'd also go PTL and mk.ii I've been playing it with great success rex having two actions makes him a real threat because you've an excellent chance to get a couple of hits through with HLC then flip them with his ability.

Even without HLC you can put him in a three aces build and he`ll wreck face.

Just accept it's not built with defence in mind and go in aggressive.

I'd also go PTL and mk.ii I've been playing it with great success rex having two actions makes him a real threat because you've an excellent chance to get a couple of hits through with HLC then flip them with his ability.

Even without HLC you can put him in a three aces build and he`ll wreck face.

Just accept it's not built with defence in mind and go in aggressive.

And it's all good news, until you get splattered with stress! Predator hull, or lone wolf stealth, are less dependent on a free action economy. And We're seeing the rise of the stress lords at the moment... Defenders are pretty good at dealing with stress, it's a shame to pay so many points to make them vulnerable to it again...

sorry i hit the post button before i was quite finished writing so its now done.

HLC Defender already costs like Games Workshop miniature range, and you slapped a Hull upgrade on?

Awesome results, Taiowaa. I'm pretty much happy to talk Defenders any time. How much practice did you get with the list before you ran it? In competitive events in the past, I've found my familiarity with Defenders has been a huge advantage, but we didn't talk that long ago.

Just accept it's not built with defence in mind and go in aggressive.

Only way to play them. Should have been called the TIE Offender, really.

Is hull predator really more reliable than PTL and mk2 engine?

You can barrel roll and focus off the PTL to arc dodge.

Is hull predator really more reliable than PTL and mk2 engine?

You can barrel roll and focus off the PTL to arc dodge.

Yes. Stress and blocking and obstacles stop PTL from working. Not clearing the stress with the Defender's very good white moves also cramps the PTL game. I'm not saying it's not good or can't work, but it is less reliable than good old actionless Predator/Hull.

HLC Defender already costs like Games Workshop miniature range, and you slapped a Hull upgrade on?

The results seem to speak for themselves.

Awesome results, Taiowaa. I'm pretty much happy to talk Defenders any time. How much practice did you get with the list before you ran it? In competitive events in the past, I've found my familiarity with Defenders has been a huge advantage, but we didn't talk that long ago.

Maybe call me crazy but i did not even one game in advance with this list. All i did was just measuring a starting position to put Rexler in a good spot behind the Zetas and a few opening engagements just to think about what to do. And it actually worked to surprise my opponent to fly the 1 or 2 bank instead of the just so obvious k-turn he tried to block.

Imo, Hull + Predator + HLC are the right choice for Brath. Hull upgrade + 3 Agility makes it hard for any Ace to consider trading blows with an HLC Defender. Brath will likely survive, even with bad dice, but the Ace could eat a full 4 dice Predator + Focus attack.

Well done, sir

Why did you go Hull Upgrade instead of Shield Upgrade when you have 2 points left over?

Why did you go Hull Upgrade instead of Shield Upgrade when you have 2 points left over?

I think it's an initiative bid against the other scary 8s that are out there.

Why did you go Hull Upgrade instead of Shield Upgrade when you have 2 points left over?

Because i wanted initiative and not rely on a dice roll. initiative was great in the first game against 5 obsidians because the Zetas block frist. In the 2nd it didn´t really matter. In the 3rd game i ensured he cannot use his green sqd pilot as a blocker for my ties and in the last game it was 98 vs 98 points but i won initiative and gave it to the other player because moving rexler after at least Carnor is worth gold over just a shield.

Fortunately Rex did not suffer a single crit the whole day,

Imo, Hull + Predator + HLC are the right choice for Brath. Hull upgrade + 3 Agility makes it hard for any Ace to consider trading blows with an HLC Defender. Brath will likely survive, even with bad dice, but the Ace could eat a full 4 dice Predator + Focus attack.

Well done, sir

This is the truth. I'm always ready to soak some damage to hold my Focus for a high probability 4-hit attack. No matter how many times some token stacking ace makes noise about being The Night Rider, Mad Rex is coolly staying on target, never flinching.

Are the Zeta's worth it? Or would you rather have 4 Obs?

No matter how many times some token stacking ace makes noise about being The Night Rider, Mad Rex is coolly staying on target, never flinching.

I just wanted to say, the imagery in this is both cool and hilarious.

It is time's like this where I wish my signature was a real thing. I love the Defender, but it is just so damned overcosted with anything attached to it. For a ship that in canon comes equipped with an (Ion) cannon, you figure something akin to the TIE Advanced's title would be a great addition to the Defender.

Honestly, with a title like that, we'd just take HLC all day.

Are the Zeta's worth it? Or would you rather have 4 Obs?

You could have 4 Academies for the points, but not Obsidians. The shield, dial, PS, and Target Lock is worth the body for how I use them, but I think it's really a matter of preference and style.

Are the Zeta's worth it? Or would you rather have 4 Obs?

You could have 4 Academies for the points, but not Obsidians. The shield, dial, PS, and Target Lock is worth the body for how I use them, but I think it's really a matter of preference and style.

Awesome tournament. Glad to see you use the Defender. People always slam ships without really trying them. Glad you did.