So, in my never ending quest to make expose viable, I was brainstorming some ideas around Youngster. After all, the main reason it doesn't work well is that you can't take a second action because no PTL, but if he's carrying expose, then you could have everyone else carry PTL. Which lead me to the following build:

Youngster w/ Expose + Shield Upgrade

Black w/ PTL

Black w/ PTL

Black w/ PTL

Howlrunner w/ PTL + Shield Upgrade

You're still throwing 14 dice, which is the same as the standard 7 die swarm, but now it's over 5 attacks instead of 7, increasing their effectiveness. You've raised your PS to 4, so you shoot before all of the annoying TLTs these days and other swarms. And you have 2 main targets in Youngster and Howl, making it difficult to decide who to attack. The one drawback is that you have stress, which limits your movement, but if done correctly, you can utilize the stress on the first two turns to have a 3 dice attack with focus and a reroll (average of 2.68 booms btw), and then selectively use it in the future to stay alive via F+E, or a barrel roll + Focus and the like. The shield upgrades could also be swapped out for 9 points of upgrades, which could change two of the blacks to Scourge and Mauler (and leaving a HU on Howl), giving you even more dice to roll.

And as a question - When Youngster says "TIE Fighters," I'm assuming that is limited to the TIE/ln, and cannot be used on the TIE/in or TIE/sa or TIE/fo etc. right?

nothing dies easier than a no shield ship with3 hull and 3 Fickle green dice except.... a no shield ship with 3 hull and 2 dice.

...and in the process of doing so you've turned them into 3 HP ships on 2 AGI with no shields which will die a horrible death. you'll probably lose 1 ship a turn, so yeah, the others are getting 3 dice attacks with a focus. again...on 2 AGI.

if you seriously want to throw that many red dice with 5 ships at PS greater than 2 for tlt purposes, just grab 5 avengers and call it a day...

Also not to mention if you are to choose this build to run... YOU MUST EXPOSE FIRST, then ptl and action. as PTL is an ACTION ON YOUR BAR... and everyone knows you cannot Expose yourself at the bar Expose is not an action on the ship's bar.

It includes the Tie/fo. The rules reference about "ship only" upgrades specifically uses Tie fighter only upgrades applying to the Tie/FO as its example.

And ya, Youngster makes Expose usable in a casual game. Before it wasn't even usable there. And I think a list like this is the best way to go, although I've still yet to be convinced it's anything other than a "fun" synergy, even in the best cases. And this is sadly, probably the best case.

It includes the Tie/fo. The rules reference about "ship only" upgrades specifically uses Tie fighter only upgrades applying to the Tie/FO as its example.

The jury is still out on that one as that rule refers to ship upgrades, not abilities. Most likely you are correct, but that's still debatable.

And as a question - When Youngster says "TIE Fighters," I'm assuming that is limited to the TIE/ln, and cannot be used on the TIE/in or TIE/sa or TIE/fo etc. right?

Let's look at the cards, as I'm a visual person:

The TIE/ln is labeled "Tie Fighter" The TIE FO's card looks like this:

TIE Fighter is found in the title, and I think Youngster's ability should work with the FO. No other ships have pilot cards with the words "TIE Fighter" on them.

So, in my never ending quest to make expose viable, I was brainstorming some ideas around Youngster. After all, the main reason it doesn't work well is that you can't take a second action because no PTL, but if he's carrying expose, then you could have everyone else carry PTL. Which lead me to the following build:

Youngster w/ Expose + Shield Upgrade

Black w/ PTL

Black w/ PTL

Black w/ PTL

Howlrunner w/ PTL + Shield Upgrade

Those are some expensive TIEs, and stress takes away their unpredictable dial.

I think what you've actually done here is shown how undervalued the Alpha and Avenger Squints are.

I fear there is no saving the Expose card, other than removing the "Action" heading.

Nope.

If I see a TIE Fighter with only two agility and it's piddly three hull, I'm murdering it. That extra die isn't going to be worth losing a ship or even two a turn before they even fire, which is exactly how this will play out in many games.

I'm also not a fan of BSPs with PTL, regular TIE Fighters just don't have the dial for it (only four greens, leaving you painfully predictable). Could drop all the PTLs and BSPs and get some lower generic TIEs instead, which would work much better. Heck, you could run Youngster with Expose, Howl with a Hull Upgrade, then squeeze in five Academy TIEs.

With that said, still not looking to give it a whirl. You're basically inviting every ship with three attack to one shot your TIEs before they even attack.

Yes, and btw. Expose plus EI on VT-49 is wicked. Imo.

Yes, and btw. Expose plus EI on VT-49 is wicked. Imo.

Except the part where you could take Engine Upgrade instead of EI.

I think Youngster with Expose will make for a decent strategy of forced choices. You don't Expose with all of your TIEs, just one you can stand to lose.

Who do you shoot in a swarm? Howlrunner with stealth device? Youngster? Or the one Academy Pilot who Exposed this turn?

I think Youngster with Expose will make for a decent strategy of forced choices. You don't Expose with all of your TIEs, just one you can stand to lose.

Who do you shoot in a swarm? Howlrunner with stealth device? Youngster? Or the one Academy Pilot who Exposed this turn?

One of the Academies. You just made it easier for your opponent to take a ship out before it even fires.

One of the Academies. You just made it easier for your opponent to take a ship out before it even fires.

And there's your successful gambit. Howlrunner lives for another turn, granting another turn of rerolls to all the other TIEs in your swarm. A smart player would field her with Swarm Tactics so the Exposed TIE can shoot at PS 8, and then it matters less if it dies.

I think Youngster with Expose will make for a decent strategy of forced choices. You don't Expose with all of your TIEs, just one you can stand to lose.

Who do you shoot in a swarm? Howlrunner with stealth device? Youngster? Or the one Academy Pilot who Exposed this turn?

I've actually found that howlrunner by herself is really not great so if you just avoid shooting her unless your opponent leaves her hanging out to dry and instead remove her tie bundle with extreme prejudice it's really good. An academy or bsp using expose just makes that decision even easier since now there's a super good target rather than just 'whatever academy is closest'

I think Youngster with Expose will make for a decent strategy of forced choices. You don't Expose with all of your TIEs, just one you can stand to lose.

Who do you shoot in a swarm? Howlrunner with stealth device? Youngster? Or the one Academy Pilot who Exposed this turn?

One of the Academies. You just made it easier for your opponent to take a ship out before it even fires.

Now, do you finish off the 1 HP Tie that was wounded last round, or the one of the 2 Ties that Exposed THIS round.

I think it's pretty good. There ARE rounds where some Ties will be out of arc, and might even have a Howlrunner Reroll to buff you. THAT will be the time to Expose.

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/194547-youngster-combos-a-poll/

The thread I started about such things.

My consensus is that an Expose Youngster allows for a higher peak of damage, which is occasionally necessary (like vs Soontir Fel's expectation of 2 dodged damage per attack, wherein your otherwise best result is ignored).

Mmmmm, until FFG puts up an errata stating otherwise, the Fan Boy in me will have Youngster's card text applying to any ship with Twin Ion Engines. Thankee very much. (But I'm only ever a casual, for-fun X-Wing player anyway. )

EDIT: but I rather like Youngster with Predator for a Howlie light that works out to rng 3 and works better vs. low ps ships.

Mmmmm, until FFG puts up an errata stating otherwise, the Fan Boy in me will have Youngster's card text applying to any ship with Twin Ion Engines. Thankee very much. (But I'm only ever a casual, for-fun X-Wing player anyway. )

EDIT: but I rather like Youngster with Predator for a Howlie light that works out to rng 3 and works better vs. low ps ships.

Well, you apparently don't mind breaking the rules (which I'm totally fine with), so I'm not sure I should bother here, but...

Predator doesn't do anything extra on youngster and wastes his ability. The only cards that function with youngster's ability are the 5 EPTs with the "action:" header.

The very sacred breath of our lord and savior, RNGesus dice, couldn't breathe new life into that piece of ****

was thinking about this but I don't see how it's better than howl runner and a bunch of lowest cost interceptors.

was thinking about this but I don't see how it's better than howl runner and a bunch of lowest cost interceptors.

Howlphas are a very versatile list, in that they give you a very high skill ceiling (with a fairly high skill floor as well).

I like my Youngster + Expose to be flying next to Academies: using him as a counter to fleets that the TIE Swarm typically struggles against.

was thinking about this but I don't see how it's better than howl runner and a bunch of lowest cost interceptors.

Because you get 5 academy pilots (plus Howlrunner & Youngster) versus 4 Alpha squadron pilots (plus howlrunner).

There are arguments the other way too - Alpha squadron pilots come with sufficient points to buy autothrusters and they are much more capable once Howlrunner inevitably gets shot down....

hmm 5 * 3 red dice vs 8 * 2 red dice. Okay well statistics are not that practically because 2 dice attacks are easier to cancel than 3 dice attacks and with super defensive meta just getting an attack that is not completely canceled makes all the difference. So lets look at a dice chart and compare it against 1 and 3 agility.

So looking at a dice chart with no modifications a 2 dice attack has a 56.3% chance of +1 hits against 1 agility and a 29.3% chance against 3 agility. A 3 dice attack has 73.4% against 1 and 46.6% chance against 3.

Now the thing with traditional TIE swarm is you get 7-8 attacks where as this new Youngster swarm is more of a min swarm only giving you 4-5 attacks.

One of the Academies. You just made it easier for your opponent to take a ship out before it even fires.

And there's your successful gambit. Howlrunner lives for another turn, granting another turn of rerolls to all the other TIEs in your swarm. A smart player would field her with Swarm Tactics so the Exposed TIE can shoot at PS 8, and then it matters less if it dies.

I would interpret this as your failed gambit. Attacking Howlrunner first is usually a strong choice, and now you've given your opponent an even better one.