hey guys,

when the Tie/fo first launched in the ep 7 core set, they had me scratching my head. We got a Tie Fighter that competed with the old one, only less efficiently for a swankier dial

Saving played A-wings extensively (even 5 of em ! they're quite fun!), I initially though Ties and FOs would share the same dynamic as Zs and As. Small problems with that, though

1.) the Tie Fighter and Tie/FO Fighter are far closer ito maneuverability than the Z-95 and the A

if the Tie Fighter is a sports car, then the Tie/FO is a future sports car that hovers above the ground and drifts like a god

if the A is said future sports car, then the Z-95 is a clump of misshapen cement

2.) The A-wing is built for speed and can abuse the crap out of it with innate boost, turning it into the world's most infuriating blocker on the cheap

The Tie/FO, while certainly more maneuverable, isn't actually faster than the Tie/ln and doesn't actually block more reliably. It has the same set of core maneuvers and the same b-roll, offering no unique utility in that role.

In fact, what does the Tie/FO dial offer?

• it exchanges the 3k for a set of speed-2 segnors, offering a choice of red maneuvers that make the ship very unpredictable and give it quite an edge when jousting around obstacles
• it offers green 2-turns, which combo like a dream with the aforementioned segnors

Note: it offers no green straights over the standard Tie dial (while the Interceptor has a 4-green)

In short, this thing wasn't built to be a pure blocker (any more than the vanilla Tie was). No sir, this thing is a knife-fighting green beret that can outmanuever even higher PS pilots by utilizing nearly Echo-esque shenanigans.

Small problem: it also didn't hit any harder than your standard Tie

What an oddity that was! All I could see in it was the handful of unique pilots and the promise that the tech slot may someday be useful.

II.) Fast forward to now

Didn't actually take that long for the tech slot to pay up, did it ?

Enter Comms Relay, the gateway to the Segnor's-Loop that was previously locked behind a ship that seemed to worship PTL just as hard as the interceptor. Comms, essentially a miniature Moldy Crow for evades, lets you obtain action efficiency by setting up an evade token ahead of time.

Comms Relay just feels great, especially when you go into a red maneuver ferrying an evade token like an absolute boss. But it alone doesn't solve the FO's greatest issue, the fact that its cheaper predecessor outputs the same amount of damage.

Enter Juke,

in one of the least subtle suggestions from FFG, Juke + Relay come in the FO expansion to give it the edge it needed to distinguish itself from its OT kin.

While the Tie/Ln can use Juke, it cannot carry an evade token into battle with a focus or any modifiers excluding Howlrunner's external buff. The Relay FO, however, comes out swinging with a flexible focus + evade combo, translating to a buffed offense and a surprisingly sturdy defense to boot!

Juke really helps the FO overcome its native (and incredibly unimpressive) 2-die primary weapon. Best fielded in droves to force your opponent's hand, Juke can quickly pile up a lot of extra damage that you would not have earned otherwise.

While not necessarily the way to fly your FO, Juke + Relay opens up an option unique to the ship beyond its named pilots and, more importantly, helps it punch above the vanilla Tie.

III. The Pilots:

With the Tie/FO expac comes essential new upgrades and some incredible new pilots, but first I want to start with the most improved pilot (imo)

It's Omega Squadron, which provides the cheapest base for the Juke + Relay combo

Clocking in at PS 4 and sporting the beautiful FO dial, the Omega squadron already has a decided advantage against popular TLT ships, which normally fire well after the Omega and, without focus, go down to what is essentially 0 agility.

the Juke + Relay Omega weighs in at 22 points, which rebel players will know is the magic # for the Blue Squadron pilot. While decidedly more fragile looking, the FO embodies the imperial way by disregarding safety for swiftness; resulting in a more highly skilled pilot inside a ship that can absolutely dance around the slower rebels

I mainly bring up the comparison to show that OOOOA (4 omegas, 1 academy) has just become a very real possibility , and also to illustrate that Omega is double the PS of comparably priced generics, be they

• TLT Golds @ 24
• naked BSPs @ 22
• Homing + Seismic + munition bombers @ 25
• Tempest Advance @ 21

If you can use that PS in conjunction with its dial, it'll do swimmingly. Otherwise, well it only has one shield.

In conclusion, this is a ship that will test your skills (and, sometimes, the limits of your patience with dice ) and reward you in kind

Epsilon Ace

the most "wtf" pilot I've personally encountered in a while, Epsilon Ace seems a cocky bugger of a pilot that loses his steam the moment he realizes he's in trouble.

Of course, "in trouble" in this case means "halfway dead" and, while the PS drop of 8 is significant, he's still an Omega Squadron at heart.

Lacking the means to provide him/herself with the proper dice mods (i.e, no EPT slot; Weapon's Guidance at most), Epsilon Ace is the ultimate ship for those who believe that their flying can carry them through their dice (sweet summer children that they are )

While lacking boost and action efficiency, Epsilon ace packs two crucial advantages

• He/she is cheap (same price as a naked Omega Squadron)
• He/she will fire before anyone else in the game, provided his/her ability is still up

Epsilon Ace here promises to be some potent filler. Although he/she does not have the capacity to be upgraded into a truly terrifying force ala soontir, he/she costs less than half as much.

Note: As Epsilon Ace fires before every other non-Roark ship in the game, consider him/her for shield-stripping duty alongside pilots that love to crit things (Mareek and Omega Ace come to mind)

Zeta Ace

Much of what was said for Omega Squadron can be said for Zeta Ace, as the two can be outfitted identically and are literally only a point apart.

Whether or not that point is worth it is debatable, for the jump in PS alone isn't terribly useful. Going from 4 to 5 only ensures firing before other Omega Squadrons or Cracksquadrons, while staying well below other potent threats such as aces and even aggressors.

And so, we turn to the ability

Before the Tie/Fo expac, I used Zeta here to fill the role of "annoying bastard", ala Dark Curse from ye ole core set. It worked quite well, but like all FOs was far more dependent on your positioning than on your pilot ability just being a ***** to work through

Zeta's "de-cloak roll" offers a surprising amount of utility, whether positioning to block higher PS or rolling circles around lower PS pilots (which are all but the most elite generics)

the weakness of the PTL variety was, of course, a meager damage output for 21 points and the fact that stress limited his offensive capability further. While the 2-roll kept him in the fight even without red maneuvers, it obviously could not do anything about a misaligned arc.

Personally, I am looking forward to running him in the same Juke + Relay get up as the rest of the FOs. For 1 point, just having his ability available may make him a worthwhile purchase. Plus, he's just a joy to play.

Epsilon Leader

a FO unlike any other, Epsilon Leader seemed the only initial FO that wouldn't suffer from his/her 2-dice primary. Packing essentially a super Wingman ept on five kinds of steroids, Epsilon Leader is 100% about his/her pilot ability.

I havn't spent much time with Epsilon Leader, as I'm not really one for support-orientated pilots, but I will say it is an absolute joy to have your red maneuvers blocked only to perform them the next round anyway

Furthermore, with BTL-a4 r3-a2, god of stress, on the rise, Epsilon's pilot ability could serve as a very strongly worded answer. Be warned, however, that he/she still hits like a wet noodle.

Omega Ace

Mr/Mrs PTL him/herself, Omega Ace was one of the strangest abilities I have seen in a while if only because of the double requirements.

Now, guaranteed results are guaranteed results and therefore always worth a look, but Omega Ace unfortunately does not deal with the bane of 2-dice primaries: opposing green dice

Worse still, the rigid requirements of his ability make it incredibly unlikely that he/she will be viable with the Juke + Relay combo. In fact, I highly doubt he/she is viable with anything that isn't PTL, as it is the only ept that will allow Omega Ace to set up the ability on his/her own in one turn

still, for only 23 points and threatening a mean 3-crits at range 1, you could always do worse than Omega Ace.

Of all the ept-FOs, I except this one to see the least play.

Zeta Leader

aka "FFG knows about your 2-dice problem"

My 2nd favorite pilot of the expansion, Zeta Leader may not be as cheap as your "cheat" ties (Stabber, Mauler; Scourge), but he/she is the easiest to enable. By receiving a stress while you have none, you get a PS 7 3-dice pilot where other factions can only get PS 2s for 21!

But the stress restriction is very real and it will have to be noted. Because of it, Zeta Leader cannot activate his/her ability

• after a red maneuver, and the FO has some beautiful red maneuvers
• after PTL, which is a great ept on FOs, without Epislon Leader's help
• after being targeted by r3-a2, god of stress

though limited, one must always remember that this is a 20 point PS 7

secondly, one must also remember that having 3-dice is a lot better than 2 , and that you can run the Juke + Relay combo but you could also get away with something as simple as Predator

23 points for full mods on a 3-dice PS 7? That sounds pretty good to me!

Omega Leader, aka "El Presidente" aaka "Daddy Dark Curse"

we've made it folks

this is the mountain top, the pyramid's apex; the tip of the glacier...wait

Omega Leader was spoiled at a time when the 2-ship builds ruled the X-wing meta with an iron fist, and he/she had my heart at first sight.

According to the definition of dice modifications in the new core's Rules Reference, "modifying dice" includes literally everything that isn't additional dice (weapons, opprotunist, range bonuses etc) or an additional attack (re: gunner). This means

• no auto-thrusters
• no focus
• no evades
• no re-rolls
• no sensor jammer
• no r7 astromech
• no Juke
• no crackshot (I believe)

This is Daddy Dark Curse, one of the ultimate duelists in the game by virtue of ability alone, and he/she's frikkin 21 points.

Now, it's not all sunshine and rainbows here. While incredibly, somewhat stupidly powerful, Omega's ability has some caveats

• It is a purely 1-on-1 ability; no other ship in your squad is going to benefit from its effects on your enemy and only one enemy ship is going to be affected by it
• It requires a TL, which consumes an action and leaves you potentially open to fire without mods. While the ship you lock cannot modify its attacks, I don't have to tell you how frightfully treasonous naked green dice can be...
• Green Dice cut both ways, and while Omega goes right through infuriating defensive tech he/she will still bounce off run of the mill luck (without Juke; we're getting there!)
• Red Dice likewise cut both ways. I've had far too many opponents rolling consistent max damage outputs on unmodified dice. Meanwhile, Omega is uniquely impaired in that he/she cannot spend the TL without dispelling the ability. This may need to be compensate for.

From what I can tell, Omega has two principle builds that still result in a surprisingly cheap PS 8

1.) PTL + Weapon Guidance

Like Omega Ace, PTL offers Leader the means to TL and set up a mod (or arc-dodge) on the same turn. Weapon Guidance, meanwhile, is one of very few ways for Omega Leader to modify blank dice while maintaining a TL

Weaknesses: While stress makes Omega Leader sad in general (no TL ) it makes PTL Omega Leader extra sad. To make matters worse, stress also shuts off Weapon Guidance

Also, neither upgrade will cut through lucky green dice

2.) Juke + Comms

ah yes, the standard FO build, albeit with a caveat

While your standard Juke can fail, either through spending focus or your opponent using thrusters and/or evades etc, Omega Leader doesn't have the patience for such ****

Juke + Omega Leader is the name in "**** your green dice" technology, punching through everything the opponent has to offer provided it isn't just a crapton of unmodified dice

this build has the additional benefit of opening up the FO's excellent dial by never slapping Omega Leader with additional stress

Weaknesses: Like PTL, though to a lesser extent, Juke + Comms aren't terribly fond of stress. Juke needs evade to work, Comms needs an evade to hold; you're getting neither if it falls off after Omega gets stressed

Furthermore, Juke + Relay combined with Omega's ability can result in a very awkward turn where you're staring down a locked enemy with nothing but an evade (not even a b-roll to dodge arcs)

Given that both Relay and Omega need to be set up, this may cause a lot of frustration as you try to juggle the tokens needed to enable this powerful pilot.

Finally, in a move opposite of PTL + WG, Juke + Relay will do nothing for your crap red dice. There is, however, the fact that you can spend your TL on naked 1 agi targets, as Juke will strip their evade and they won't be able to modify anyway.

Despite the weaknesses of either loadout, Omega Leader will still only clock in at 26 points. He/she may not be perfect, but at that price no one has to be.


Conclusion: The FO and the concept of "Budget Ace"

Budget Ace is the term I use to describe ever FO, as they hit this weird nether-zone between cheap-as-chip-Ties and the performance of far more expensive ships. Basically, you get incredibly maneuverable and potent ships that don't quite reach the level of the hyper-aces we're all used to, ala Soontir and Vader, but you also end up paying far less for them.

Imo, it is important to maintain this sweet spot and not go overboard with the pilots. No matter how cool Omega Leader is, an upgrade such as Hull or Shield is still wildly inefficient and won't bring Omega anywhere closer to the level of premium aces. Likewise, no matter how tempting, devoting several ships to enabling something such as Expose Omega Ace is going to result in a clunky, inefficient mess (might be fun to watch, though)

Remember that, at the end of the day, a Tie Fighter is still a Tie Fighter. These guys may be elite, but they're still elite Fodder

to summarize (TL;DR)

The Good

1. An incredible and unique dial that can run circles around opponents and is an absolute joy to fly
2. Access to a potent Juke + Relay combo that provides offensive and defensive power
3. Seemingly incredible value for cost, especially given how ridiculous several of the named pilots promise to be

The Bad

1. Has A-wing stats on one less shield for the price that could get you chunky, 8 health ships in other factions. Combined with the dial, this results in a ship you have to be very practiced with (and that may still die to bull regardless)
2. 2-dice primaries are still 2-dice. While Juke works wonders for cutting through evades, lucky opponents will still bat them away. For example, when shooting at range 3 w/thrusters, you will only do damage if you roll 2 damage and your opponent rolls a maximum of 1 evade.
3. Outside Omega Leader, Juke does not have the immediate impact of crackshot. An opponent that can focus constantly in a one-on-one scenario will negate your ept (at the cost of not using that focusing offensively, of course). This further stresses the need for practice, as you'll want your FOs in positions where your enemy can't afford to focus.

The Ugly

1. While I'll love them forever, fraternity-esque designations and the economical value of the FOs will mean they'll never be as cool as things like Glaive Squadrons or super aces But give the Jukebros a chance, guys, they're quite lovely

You haven't mentioned the Target Lock. It deserves to be mentioned. Otherwise, good stuff.

I agree with you 100% that your average TIE/Fo is not built to be a blocker, but this guy called Zeta Ace with (or even without) PTL wants a word with you.

The S-loop is fantastic for the lower PS pilots to not bump into things and do something other than a K-turn. It's a way to stay relevant and in the fight longer.

The TL does help their offensive power for when they can get a Focus and TL at R1.

You haven't mentioned the Target Lock. It deserves to be mentioned. Otherwise, good stuff.

whoops

although, tbf, the inclusion of Comms Relay has made it a bit difficult for me to personally set up TLs in the game as I've already had to manage re-filling Relay

might also have been spoiled by runner

regardless, I'll mention it in post

I agree with you 100% that your average TIE/Fo is not built to be a blocker, but this guy called Zeta Ace with (or even without) PTL wants a word with you.

working on it!

Interesting point on the Comm Relay. I hadn't considered that action getting "in the way" of the Target Lock. I've only run them stock so far, and use the Target Lock frequently. It's kind of neat how many critical hits you can generate against PS2 stuff with a few Zeta Squadron Pilots concentrating fire.

Interesting point on the Comm Relay. I hadn't considered that action getting "in the way" of the Target Lock. I've only run them stock so far, and use the Target Lock frequently. It's kind of neat how many critical hits you can generate against PS2 stuff with a few Zeta Squadron Pilots concentrating fire.

I've been flying Omegas with Juke & Relay a bit now. 3 Jukes and a Jerk (the last being Jax) as well as 4 omegas + academy.

I don't find grabbing a target lock a problem. Opponent generally wants to kill Jax or one FO at a time, so when its one of the Omegas, that's the one who is stuck on refilling Comm Relay. The others are free to target lock, and do so frequently, because TL + Focus + essentially negate 1 green die murders lots of things, even normally hard to kill stuff (especially if you get a block in there or Jax is hanging tight). So yeah, not really a problem so far...

Aye, my only problem with Juke+Comms is the price. Sure, just a couple more points than PTL, but as you said yourself the Jukin' FOs will work best in mass... which is slightly harder to pull off with each ship costing a couple more points. Realistically, in a 100 point game you can get three of em' on the field. Go for a fourth, and all you'll have room for is more upgrades or an Academy Pilot.

Still, 66 points leaves you another 34 to play with: exactly enough for a PTL + SD + AT Carnor Jax, who would synergize beautifully with all the Juking Omegas.

But PTL shouldn't be counted out. I've used it both with a pair of flanking Omegas and with four flying alongside Epsilon Leader: it absolutely works with em', and the consistent two dice hitting (or three in the honestly not unlikely event you get them in R1) can and will break through defenses barring truly horrendous luck. If I can squeeze in Juke+Comms instead, sure, it's worth it. But if I need those two points per ship elsewhere? PTL gets the job done with these flying little maniacs.

EDIT: Aye, with Juke+Comms then the TL because mostly forgettable. You still might find yourself in a position sometimes when you already have your Evade up and know there's zero chance of that TIE getting shot at, but that's about it. Nice to have it, but not super critical.

The fella sure is growing on me! Came runner up at a tourney recently, and I'm looking forward to my complementary /fo on Friday as a booby prize!

While I love the Omega/juke/relay combo, when you break the 20pt ceiling with a tie fighter, it's **** hard not to just double down on Omega Leader for 26pts at that point, unless you're running this kind of build...

"Jukebox Jax"

Omega Squadron Pilot (22) x 3 TIE/fo Fighter (17), Comm Relay (3), Juke (2)

Carnor Jax (34) TIE Interceptor (26), Push the Limit (3), Royal Guard TIE (0), Autothrusters (2), Stealth Device (3)

A question about Jax with the Juke FOs:

Why not another FO with Juke? So Jax stops tokens from being used at Range 1. The first Juke used drains a Focus anyway, and it does it from Range 3, for a similar effect. You could do Omega Leader with Juke/Relay for 8 points less than Jax, and use those 8 points to upgrade the Omegas to some of the other named FOs.

I havn't found the 22 point asking price to be too damning for the JukeFObros

as people have already pointed out, you can do a lot with 34 points (including Imp vets, which is a Juke Glaive presumably, or a Bren gun with Crackshot and extra Homing Missiles + seismics)

some other options are:

4 Omega (Juke + Relay) [88]

Academy [12]

= 100

Howlie (crackshot) [19]

Wampa [14]

3 Omega (Juke + Relay) [66]

= 99, or 100 if you take a Zeta Ace

if you can't mass Juke (with FOs or other users such as AC Juke Advance or Juke Glaive Squadrons), Omega Leader and Zeta Leader will offer the most offense out of a single FO

Omega Leader can juke by his/herself (phrasing?) due to that amazing ability shutting off modifiers

Zeta Leader can just roll predator with 3 red dice for a mere 23 points

plus if you just roll a Juke and a bunch of nasties (like vanilla Ties), your opponent using that token is going to hurt even if you only Juke once

and, oh man, the possibilities with Vessery!

Have him with V.I rolling around with both named Omegas and you'll have a party!

39 points of Vess (IC w/ V.I, Tie/D), 26 points of Omega (either build), and 23 points of Smaller Omega (PTL) leaves room for an academy

Nice post fickle! This was good to read, thanks for doing it!

I certainly think the new FO expansion really brings a lot to the table in Zeta Leader and Omega Leader, Juke + Comm Relay, and some other great named pilots that will fit in very nicely in the right list.

Some other things I've ran into:

Omega Ace + PTL + Comm Relay is a lot cooler than I thought, especially alongside 2 Imprerial Aces that shoot first. Comm Relay makes taking TL+F action a no brainer, since you'll have an evade already banked.

Omega Leader + Juke + Comm Relay DOES indeed run into times where action juggling is an issue, but overall, I think it is well worth it, especially nice that you can K Turn or Sloop and keep firing on ships. I consider PTL every time I build him, but the damage potential is just so nice.

Zeta Leader is also really neat and seems strong even with something as simple as Crackshot.

Any of those 3 I'd take as an extra ship in many lists and know that it will almost always carry its weight.

As an update

Just played some games with omega leader and zeta leader

Omega, leading either 3 scimitars or with howlie + zeta crackswarm, is as legit as it gets

I was a bit annoyed about juggling both the evade and the TL, but the better than crackshot is worth it. He's no soontir, but when you work with that amazing dial, 26 points is a steal.

Zeta is clunky, but good value. Think he kinda needs predator though (so many blanks) or else he's tethered to howlie

The two FOs seemed crazy limited as part of a howlie swarm. While they do good juke damage, they feel so much more free when they don't have to worry about her.

Poor Zeta especially had a hard time fighting while keeping tabs on her; seems he'll make a far more potent flanker than jouster (cause ya can't joust while stressed...)

Fun stuff!

A question about Jax with the Juke FOs:

Why not another FO with Juke? So Jax stops tokens from being used at Range 1. The first Juke used drains a Focus anyway, and it does it from Range 3, for a similar effect. You could do Omega Leader with Juke/Relay for 8 points less than Jax, and use those 8 points to upgrade the Omegas to some of the other named FOs.

It appeals to me because a) you no longer have to strip that first token. With only 3 jukers, it's much better if they all count. b) you may not have perfect firing solutions - unles you're running them in formation, chances are good that after initial stages, fo's will be forced to split their arcs, in which case the first point is more important. c) I <3 Jax - if there's a way to make him more durable, that's great. A general panic involving the use of offensive focus, that's great. d) It leans on focus as an action from two angles - first it reduces the amount that can be taken, second it forces those taken to be useed primarily defensively, if in 1 of 3 arcs..

So overall, I think you're totally right, that it's not going to set the world on fire, but it looks like a really fun way of messing with your opponents action economy, involving some decent attacks and great dials. I'll report on it soon, as I'm going to be playing it quite a bit!

A very good article. I have to admit, I love the new TIE/fo. Having 'graduated' from TIE fighters, that extra hit point of durability is worth its weight in gold - after all, it's an extra hit point with agility 3, and a critical-ignoring shield to boot.

One other config I'd put out there to consider is Wired. TIE/fo use S-loops and K-turns with a will, and stressbots are not exactly uncommon, and Wired has been very useful at giving them dice modifiers through hard turns. It's not as good as a focus token per se, but since it works on every attack (and when you attack) it actively counterbalances people's natural tendancy to concentrate fire on the stressed guy.

As a side benefit, it pairs incredibly well with Zeta Leader, who can stress himself on spec fairly high up the pilot tree.

I agree comms relay is fantastic - the only downside with comms relay/juke is that it limits you to a maximum of 4 ships - at which point your eyepatches have to pull their weight against heavier opponents. Still, a TIE/fo aces swarm looks like a dangerous thing to face.

Weapons guidance is also not a bad upgrade. 2 points a ship, but focus+guidance actually does slightly better than focus+howlrunner, and it doesn't give your opponent a fragile lynchpin to....well.....lynch.

Weapons guidance is also not a bad upgrade. 2 points a ship, but focus+guidance actually does slightly better than focus+howlrunner, and it doesn't give your opponent a fragile lynchpin to....well.....lynch.

This is true, except the TIE/fo has target lock, and while its not always easy to grab a TL, its also not that hard once the furball commences, since you can often count on your opponent focus firing, allowing the ships not taking fire to grab target locks at leisure. So I'm not feeling a strong need to put WG on my FO's. But yeah, Howlrunner is a sad panda these days. She went from most popular pilot in the imperial line up to well, pretty low down these days...

Why not pair Echo + Decoy with Epsilon Ace? Use that PS 12 to knock out anyone above PS 6, and by the time Epsilon Ace inevitably takes a damage you'll hopefully still be on top of the PS game.

"Epsilon Ace" (17)

"Echo" (30)
Decoy (2)
Sensor Jammer (4)
Intelligence Agent (1)
Advanced Cloaking Device (4)

Omicron Group Pilot (21)
Emperor Palpatine (8)

Obsidian Squadron Pilot (13)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Why not pair Echo + Decoy with Epsilon Ace? Use that PS 12 to knock out anyone above PS 6, and by the time Epsilon Ace inevitably takes a damage you'll hopefully still be on top of the PS game.

"Epsilon Ace" (17)

"Echo" (30)

Decoy (2)

Sensor Jammer (4)

Intelligence Agent (1)

Advanced Cloaking Device (4)

Omicron Group Pilot (21)

Emperor Palpatine (8)

Obsidian Squadron Pilot (13)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Yep.

Or this:

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/195730-bringing-echo-back-back-back-and-ps12/

Weapons guidance is also not a bad upgrade. 2 points a ship, but focus+guidance actually does slightly better than focus+howlrunner, and it doesn't give your opponent a fragile lynchpin to....well.....lynch.

This is true, except the TIE/fo has target lock, and while its not always easy to grab a TL, its also not that hard once the furball commences, since you can often count on your opponent focus firing, allowing the ships not taking fire to grab target locks at leisure. So I'm not feeling a strong need to put WG on my FO's. But yeah, Howlrunner is a sad panda these days. She went from most popular pilot in the imperial line up to well, pretty low down these days...

Idk about that

Howlie is the premier center of a crackswarm, and that **** be terrifying

While green dice constantly let me down, those re-rolls are money with either BlackCrack squaddies and/or Omega Juke + Relay and/or Wampa

Why not pair Echo + Decoy with Epsilon Ace? Use that PS 12 to knock out anyone above PS 6, and by the time Epsilon Ace inevitably takes a damage you'll hopefully still be on top of the PS game.

not a fan of synergy builds; they limit your positioning and tend to fall apart once one of the essential pillars gets knocked out

decoy + Epsilon is always a possibility, but once he's dead or half dead it becomes a useless ept

Weapons guidance is also not a bad upgrade. 2 points a ship, but focus+guidance actually does slightly better than focus+howlrunner, and it doesn't give your opponent a fragile lynchpin to....well.....lynch.

This is true, except the TIE/fo has target lock, and while its not always easy to grab a TL, its also not that hard once the furball commences, since you can often count on your opponent focus firing, allowing the ships not taking fire to grab target locks at leisure. So I'm not feeling a strong need to put WG on my FO's. But yeah, Howlrunner is a sad panda these days. She went from most popular pilot in the imperial line up to well, pretty low down these days...

Idk about that

Howlie is the premier center of a crackswarm, and that **** be terrifying

While green dice constantly let me down, those re-rolls are money with either BlackCrack squaddies and/or Omega Juke + Relay and/or Wampa

Why not pair Echo + Decoy with Epsilon Ace? Use that PS 12 to knock out anyone above PS 6, and by the time Epsilon Ace inevitably takes a damage you'll hopefully still be on top of the PS game.

not a fan of synergy builds; they limit your positioning and tend to fall apart once one of the essential pillars gets knocked out

decoy + Epsilon is always a possibility, but once he's dead or half dead it becomes a useless ept

I didn't say Howlrunner was crap or anything, just not as popular.

Decoy with Epsilon ace will work fine if you back it up with another high PS ace, like Vader. Still gimmicky, but I think it would be fun. See my link, above if you haven't already

If no one has suggested it yet:

Zeta Leader + Wired

Makes so much sense.

Great article! I'm a fan of the relay+juke combo, especially on Omega Leader.

Speaking of Omega Leader, there seems to be some confusion concerning what his ability does and does not prohibit. On page 13 of the Rules Reference book that came in the Force Awakens core set, there are 3 categories of "modifying dice": ADD, CHANGE, and REROLL.

This means that crackshot can be used against Omega Leader even if he has a lock on you since CANCEL is not a type of dice modifier. More interestingly, ATC and AC* cannot be used against Omega Leader when he has a lock on you because they both use the keyword ADD, which is a type of dice modifier.

*Accuracy Corrector can CANCEL your attack dice against Omega Leader, you just can't then ADD two hit results.