I just like the fact that Ruthlessness might finally be worth playing.
Great analysis.
Oh wow, that will be hilarious! Finally something to make me want to run Defenders, such a good looking model. Never hit the table for, though.
Biophysical's random thoughts about the new Defender stuff
Oh wow, that will be hilarious! Finally something to make me want to run Defenders, such a good looking model. Never hit the table for, though.I just like the fact that Ruthlessness might finally be worth playing.
Great analysis.
Better late than never. They've always been a blast but now they'll be particularly enjoyable.
Close up, Tractor, then attack with 4 red primary at reduced agility. Sweet, sweet pain.
Has tractor beam token been spoilered somewhere?
The upper half of the reference card is visible in the Imperial Veterans spread.
Each token immediately reduces target's AGI by 1 (minimum 0), and all tractor beam tokens are removed during end phase.
That sounds really good with the new Defender title and really weak anywhere else. Certainly interesting and maybe there is an additional effect that is also going to work. 3 Defenders, one with Tractor and the others with Ion would be pretty cool. Eat that, 3PO!
Oh wow, that will be hilarious! Finally something to make me want to run Defenders, such a good looking model. Never hit the table for, though.I just like the fact that Ruthlessness might finally be worth playing.
Great analysis.
Better late than never. They've always been a blast but now they'll be particularly enjoyable.
I have set up the one I have for a friend once, he certainly enjoyed it, but that was an epic game. The old Defender was just so clumsy to include in 100 point lists, just never felt like it was worth it.
Close up, Tractor, then attack with 4 red primary at reduced agility. Sweet, sweet pain.
Has tractor beam token been spoilered somewhere?
The upper half of the reference card is visible in the Imperial Veterans spread.
Each token immediately reduces target's AGI by 1 (minimum 0), and all tractor beam tokens are removed during end phase.
Oh wow ... Vessery with Outmanouver, D-Title, Tractor Beam ... is able to nullify your evade dice .... while hitting hard .... 
Imperial Aces (not the expansion -- just their pilots) offer an unique sort of synergy with Vessery now. The Evade action being available on nearly every Imperial ship, coupled with a cheap and fantastic EPT in Juke and the TL action for most Imperial Aces creates some really exciting potential. Let's look at a budget Vessery, for example.
Colonel Vessery (34)
- Veteran Instincts (1)
- TIE/x7 (-2)
The Inquisitor (28)
- Juke (2)
- TIE/v1 (1)
Total: 62
This skeleton build offers an enormous amount of variety to be included. Vader, Soontir, Juno, Palp Shuttle, mini-swarms, etc. can all fit inside those remaining 38 points. The only drawback is that VI is a bit better on Vessery. This way, he can shoot before the Inquisitor has a change to spend a Target Lock.
Changing Vessery to a cheap Rexler...
Rexler Brath (37)
- Juke (2)
- TIE/x7 (-2)
The Inquisitor (28)
- Juke (2)
- TIE/v1 (1)
Total: 65
Not quite as much room for variety -- maybe Palp Shuttle and some upgrades on our aces here. Cheaper Vaders and Junos fit, as well as Soontir, or even a budget Vessery if you please. This offers a wild amount of Evade denial while still pumping up the damage tremendously for everyone in the squad. Juke's synergy with other Jukers is unique in that it forces opponents to spend tokens from the first Juked attack. Afterward, if focus fire has been achieved, changing any Evades to a Focus becomes devastating.
The truly cruel could attempt to incorporate Carnor into a list like this. All PS8, Focus AND Evade result denial. God, I am drooling at the possibilities these titles suddenly allow.
So ideal situation...
Other ships paint the enemy with a TL.
Vessery gets behind at R1. Fires the Tractor Beam at the target who has one less agility from outmaneuver and modified it with the the TL he receives after. Hits target reducing it's agility again.
Then uses the primary to roll 4 reds once it's 2 agility down.
That. Is. Mental.
Onyx - TIE/D, Stealth Device x 3
Four defence dice, focus + evade? That's fun, in a focus them down before they focus you down way...
I really love that predator, out maneuver, and opportunist can easily be added to the top tier defender pilots with out fear of sinking too many points into a ship. How about a round of applause for FFG making a great fix for the last few ships such as the A-wing, TIE-Advanced, and the Defender!?! Yes there are more areas to improve on but I think they are addressing the issues as fast as possible while adding new elements to the game. Honestly I don't think you could go wrong by equipping either titles to the defender. Very exciting stuff.
2 Defender List:
Rex, Ion Cannon, Hull Upgrade, Predator TIE/D Title = 46
Maarek Steele, Ion Cannon, Hull Upgrade, VI = 43 (probably, Maarek’s cost isn’t known 100%)
With the remaining points I probably add Homing Missiles to Maarek and Concussion Missiles to Rex, with a 2 point Initiative Bid. Those give an option to do a long-range damage spike, which is useful in a few situations. It has the added benefit of being a straight-from-the-PC-game loadout, which gives it huge style points. Maybe I have a lack of imagination, but I can’t think of any squad that wants to see this list across
the table from it. Big ships will just be wrecked by the ion control and crit turning abilities of the pilots. Aces will have to dodge a couple very dangerous arcs (one of which is PS9 itself). TLTs can be controlled with Ion Cannons while the primary shots pick off other members of the squad for a turn or two. These guys just laugh at Poe. The Ion Cannons keep him predicable and not regenerating, and his 2 AGI will not hold off 4-dice primary shots for long. If this stuff hits before Regionals, this squad, or something close, is what I’m taking.
Well, that’s what I’ve got for now. I’m very interested to hear everyone else’s point of view on this stuff. Thanks for reading.
Both outmanoeuvre and Predator are really strong choices on the TIE/D title since you gain their benefits with each shot. For that reason, I think Steele would be better off with predator rather than VI (as nice as PS9 is, I think he's still sitting pretty good at PS7).
Brath w/ TIE/D, ion cannon, predator, hull & concussion missile = 50
Steele w/ TIE/D, ion cannon, predator, hull & concussion missile = 49
99
That's assuming Steele will cost 36 points (in between Brath & Vessery). I dunno, I think that looks pretty **** good for a double defender list...
On the other hand, I'm not sure how necessary the missiles will be. If we drop those down to the new Glaive Squadron pilots, you can fit in a third ship:
2 Glaives w/ TIE/D, ion cannon & predator = 40 x 2
Zeta squadron w/ comm relay = 19
99
This of course assumes Glaives are 34 points. Adding that third ship as a blocker could be really helpful, and I think it makes up for the slight loss in pilot skill, lack of unique pilot abilities (not the biggest deal frankly) and no missiles. Not to mention, it would look pretty **** fine on the table having 2 of those new red Defenders (and the TIE/fo's paint scheme actually compliments nicely).
Given that Marksmanship affects your attacks for a whole round, does it now have a place on a defender - Vessery lists in particular? Assuming you have a friendly painting your target for you, that's two attacks per round fully modified, the second probably giving a crit too...
Close up, Tractor, then attack with 4 red primary at reduced agility. Sweet, sweet pain.
Has tractor beam token been spoilered somewhere?
The upper half of the reference card is visible in the Imperial Veterans spread.
Each token immediately reduces target's AGI by 1 (minimum 0), and all tractor beam tokens are removed during end phase.
That sounds really good with the new Defender title and really weak anywhere else. Certainly interesting and maybe there is an additional effect that is also going to work. 3 Defenders, one with Tractor and the others with Ion would be pretty cool. Eat that, 3PO!
There's more text on the card, so I'm hoping it includes rules for maintaining the lock.
But otherwise, three Onyx/D Defenders with Tractor Beams also seem like a good combo for a pain train, especially if they're able to hit with the beams early. Less useful against low agility ships, though.
All I know is, you players that played Defender spam lists will now be ahead of the curve! Way to commit! Haha.
My plan is slowly coming to fruition!
Man there are so many combos between the different titles, pilots, and EPTs that you could write a book about Defender builds. I don't know how long it will take to soak it all in.
Vessery probably has the most flexible builds because of the his pilot ability, so I'll throw a couple out there:
The Meteor:
Vessery (35), Juke (2), x7 Title (-2) = 35
Here you blaze in full speed, get someone to set you up with a Target Lock, and start hammering on your targets with full re-rolls, a Focus, and Juke knocking a successful evade down to a eyeball. Hits like a ton of bricks up close, with the survivability to get there. If he's stressed or blocked, he can still potentially have the TL, Evade, and Juke active. Vessery doesn't go around asteroids, he goes through them. Honorable mention EPTs for this build are Wired to supplement his short maneuvers when he doesn't get the Evade token (or to have some extra defense up in case he gets stressed), Crack shot for a cheaper, expendable, but more certain alternative to Juke, or Adrenaline Rush for similar reasons. Anything is pretty good on him here, though. The interesting thing is that 35 points is Soontir Fel's domain, and I could seriously see taking this Vessery build over standard Fel. It's extremely stress resistant, and hits way harder than Soontir does.
The Formation Breaker:
Vessery (35), Ion Cannon (3), Ruthlessness (3), TIE/D Title (0) = 41
You shoot, you do a damage, you splash a damage, you shoot, you do some more damage, you splash some more damage. This is more of a meta choice than a straight up damage option, but it will still do a lot of damage (and control). If formations make a comeback, This build will be waiting. I'm talking to you, Biggs. Flechette Cannon and Tractor Beam work too, and save you some points, but Ion makes the formation more of a burden.
The Assassin:
Vessery (35), Ion Cannon (3), Crack Shot (1), TIE/D Title (0) = 39
Your pal target locks an Ace, then you start piling on the shots. Corran Horn, Miranda, Soontir Fel, Brobots, or Poe got you down? Ion those jerks and punch them in the mouth. Crack shot helps the initial Ion shot go through, stalling the ace, and making them more predictable. For a PTL ace, that's probably game over right there, because they'll never clear the stress. For the others, they at least become very predictable, R2D2 can't regenerate, Bots drift into rocks, and Miranda can't SLAM away very well.
The really great thing about all these builds is that they are quite good at their particular niche, but they're still really strong against the field due to the inherent toughness, damage, and control of these builds.
The Build I post yesterday is probably what makes me the most excited:
Vessery with Tie/D + Ion Cannon + Ruthlessness + Twin Ion engine (42pts)
Royal Guard Pilot + Royal Guard title + Push the Limit + Autothrusters + Targetting Computer (29pts)
Royal Guard Pilot + Royal Guard title + Push the Limit + Autothrusters + Targetting Computer (29pts)
All in a sweet red paint job. Drive in style. Some control with the Ion, some crowd control with Ruthlessness, Autothrusters to deal with turrets, good action economy, all move at the same PS... that should be a lot of fun!
Alternatively, if you don,t feel like flying Interceptors, you can also switch them for Delta's with Tie/X7 and Twin Ion Engine. Still a good action economy if you move at 3+ with the Delta's.
The Build I post yesterday is probably what makes me the most excited:
Vessery with Tie/D + Ion Cannon + Ruthlessness + Twin Ion engine (42pts)
Royal Guard Pilot + Royal Guard title + Push the Limit + Autothrusters + Targetting Computer (29pts)
Royal Guard Pilot + Royal Guard title + Push the Limit + Autothrusters + Targetting Computer (29pts)
All in a sweet red paint job. Drive in style. Some control with the Ion, some crowd control with Ruthlessness, Autothrusters to deal with turrets, good action economy, all move at the same PS... that should be a lot of fun!
Alternatively, if you don,t feel like flying Interceptors, you can also switch them for Delta's with Tie/X7 and Twin Ion Engine. Still a good action economy if you move at 3+ with the Delta's.
I love that list for the Targeting Computers on the RGPs.
And the sweet red paint job. That's a winner.
The Build I post yesterday is probably what makes me the most excited:
Vessery with Tie/D + Ion Cannon + Ruthlessness + Twin Ion engine (42pts)
Royal Guard Pilot + Royal Guard title + Push the Limit + Autothrusters + Targetting Computer (29pts)
Royal Guard Pilot + Royal Guard title + Push the Limit + Autothrusters + Targetting Computer (29pts)
All in a sweet red paint job. Drive in style. Some control with the Ion, some crowd control with Ruthlessness, Autothrusters to deal with turrets, good action economy, all move at the same PS... that should be a lot of fun!
Alternatively, if you don,t feel like flying Interceptors, you can also switch them for Delta's with Tie/X7 and Twin Ion Engine. Still a good action economy if you move at 3+ with the Delta's.
I love that list for the Targeting Computers on the RGPs.
And the sweet red paint job. That's a winner.
Yeah, TC do give the Interceptors the final punch it lacks. And since they're also all shooting at the same time, you can start with Vessery and then if you need the TL with your Interceptor, you can still use it without affecting Vessery's ability.
Vessery with Tie/D + Ion Cannon + Ruthlessness + Twin Ion engine (42pts)
Muhahahahaaaaaaaa! I like Vessery the Ruthless!
I'm loving all the love coming the Defender's way. No longer will I get the fish eye when I put them on the table! Finally everyone can see and appreciate the joy of the Empire's best looking fighter.
Rexler + /D + Ions could trigger his ability twice if he gets a second focus token ... (?)
Vessery with Tie/D + Ion Cannon + Ruthlessness + Twin Ion engine (42pts)
Muhahahahaaaaaaaa! I like Vessery the Ruthless!
With a TL on both attack, Ruthlessness have good odds to trigger twice in the same turn.
Alternatively, let's say you shoot at a target with only 2 Hull left. You shoot with the Ion cannon to deal 1 damage, spread one to a wingmate of his. Then, since the title doesn,t force you to target the same target twice, you shoot with your main weapon a second target, maybe the one you dealt damage first with Ruthlessness, and spread the damage on the first for the kill.... mouhahahahha!!!! I can't wait for this situation to pop and see the face of my opponent!
I'm loving all the love coming the Defender's way. No longer will I get the fish eye when I put them on the table! Finally everyone can see and appreciate the joy of the Empire's best looking fighter.
Quite frankly, I think a part of me will miss that odd look when I will bring a Defender to the table... le sigh...
OMG!!! I didn't even realize that ruthlessness can activate twice! That is amazing!!!
OMG!!! I didn't even realize that ruthlessness can activate twice! That is amazing!!!
Just be wary that it can backfire pretty fast if the only ship at range 1 of your target is one of your wingmate. Not to be used with a mini-swarm but with a low ship count build.... because Vessery is thursty for blood, no matter where it comes from... no wonder I will give it a red Defender....
I'm loving all the love coming the Defender's way. No longer will I get the fish eye when I put them on the table! Finally everyone can see and appreciate the joy of the Empire's best looking fighter.
Quite frankly, I think a part of me will miss that odd look when I will bring a Defender to the table... le sigh...
Yeah. Me too.
I like the idea of a Hull Upgrade on a /X7. It's like a 1 pt upgrade!
I keep thinking about:
Vessery with Tie/D + Ion Cannon + VI + Mk II
4 x Epsilon Pilots
Only PS 8, but with the white K-turn, it can be used to keep arc dodgers in arc. Epsilons can spread the TL around, then bump or gang up on whatever gets Ionized.
The Build I post yesterday is probably what makes me the most excited:
Vessery with Tie/D + Ion Cannon + Ruthlessness + Twin Ion engine (42pts)
Royal Guard Pilot + Royal Guard title + Push the Limit + Autothrusters + Targetting Computer (29pts)
Royal Guard Pilot + Royal Guard title + Push the Limit + Autothrusters + Targetting Computer (29pts)
All in a sweet red paint job. Drive in style. Some control with the Ion, some crowd control with Ruthlessness, Autothrusters to deal with turrets, good action economy, all move at the same PS... that should be a lot of fun!
Alternatively, if you don,t feel like flying Interceptors, you can also switch them for Delta's with Tie/X7 and Twin Ion Engine. Still a good action economy if you move at 3+ with the Delta's.
I'd probably go for the Deltas over the Royal Guards. The idea of flying a list involving Ruthless double-taps with a pair of 3-hull Interceptors is horrifiying. You'll likely have several shots where Vessary can't safely fire without hurting his own wingman. At least the Deltas have shielding to absorb those shots.