Shocker, I know, a thread looking to talk about the game of X-wing. 
Return of the TIE Fighter
With the TIE/FOs and the new TIE/LNs out, there are so many lists available for the go-to ship of the Empire. I personally like a mix between the two for durability and to keep my numbers above 5.
Here is the list I'm playing with now:
Omega Ace+PTL
Zeta Leader
Epsilon Leader
3x Academy
It's a proper swarm with some punch. Comes in at 98 points.
What new lists are you looking to fly (or have flown)?
I really want to try flying against a decent TIE swarm, since this is what I started with when I discovered Vassal. The few times I've flown against it was either beginners who didn't offer much of a fight, or people losing their patience in a clown act of asteroid bowling, self-harming bumps, accusations and rage.
I dont think the tie fighter ever really went away
Its always been a viable cheap ship and in a decently built swarm its lethal.
(say howlrunner and BSPs chaining 'swarm tactics' so that nearly the whole list is PS8!)
Academy Pilots are dead unless you're flying 8 of them. Not enough damage output, and when it comes down to 5 of them vs. a 60 point Han or Dash or whatever you've already lost.
I fly 3x Black Squadron, 3x Omega Squadron, 6x Crackshot. You have some actual firepower and aren't reliant on formation flying. The FO's are pretty durable and maneuverable.
I like a Tie mini swarm. That's usually one heavy hitter with a bunch of Tie Fighters.
I won a lot of Wave 1-2 events with Darth Vader w/ Concussion Missile and 5 other Tie Fighters. I beat a lot of Soontir Fel lists, too. That was before the fix. I did go with the same and traded 2 Tie Fighters for a Tie Bomber. It did OK. I'm wondering if I could revive that list again once the new fixes come out. I think so.
Just Tie Fighters? The problem I had was always not enough fire power against the high agility foes. It was hard to get them in arc and then their agility was too much. Stealth Soontir is the gold standard of something you need to be able to kill and I don't see 2 die ships doing it.
I like a Tie mini swarm. That's usually one heavy hitter with a bunch of Tie Fighters.
That is the way I like to fly them too. For this thread though we're racking our brains for a true all TIE Fighter swarm. There are lots of good options out there.
I am swiftly becoming a fan of the TIE/fo, and I want to run four of them alongside Vessery
Academy Pilots are dead unless you're flying 8 of them. Not enough damage output, and when it comes down to 5 of them vs. a 60 point Han or Dash or whatever you've already lost.
I fly 3x Black Squadron, 3x Omega Squadron, 6x Crackshot. You have some actual firepower and aren't reliant on formation flying. The FO's are pretty durable and maneuverable.
I'm using a mini-swarm of 3 TIE/IN alongside a Defender almost exclusively these days. Once my Gozanti arrives it will be Scourge and 2 Crackshot BSPs.
Though Paragoomba's swarm almost makes me want to buy four more Crackshot cards. Almost. 
The Tie FO and its many great pilots, new Tie Fighter pilots, Juke+Comm, and Crackshot have done wonders to make the Tie Fighter the work-horse it used to be.
I for one am very excited. I missed flying this many imperial ships at one time.
Wouldn't they need to go away first?
Wouldn't they need to go away first?
And I play a LOT of X Wing 
I probably played against 1 Tie Swarm the time from Worlds 2014 to Worlds 2015. Heck, I might only have killed 15 total Tie Fighters in that 1 Year span.Wouldn't they need to go away first?
And I play a LOT of X Wing
Exactly! The TIE Swarm did go away. It takes a lot of skill to fly that many ships well is one of the reasons. The other is the amount of high agility firepower that has made its way into the game.
The FO and all the toys that come with it is helping to make the Imperial fighter competitive again against such then new "do-it-all" threats out there. I believe we will see the return of the swarm in 2016 at Store, Regional, and Worlds.
your typical Juke + Relay FO, even the basic Omega, is a **** beast (and **** good looking to boot!). Omega Leader with the combo is just dead sexy.
Zeta Leader is a bit stiff with stress, but the damage he puts out with just predator is more than worth it
best of all, that dial flies like a dream come true
Tie/FO for life!
Even the generic Tie FO's are good. The ability to S-loop is great for the low PS guys. Normally, they would only have to bump as you might not even have room to K-turn. Either bump or do a turn to get out of the way and spend a turn getting back into it. The S-loop is really nice to have your ships stay in the fight. I was surprised at how well it worked for them once I started using them.
Even the generic Tie FO's are good. The ability to S-loop is great for the low PS guys. Normally, they would only have to bump as you might not even have room to K-turn. Either bump or do a turn to get out of the way and spend a turn getting back into it. The S-loop is really nice to have your ships stay in the fight. I was surprised at how well it worked for them once I started using them.
That 2 S-loop is no joke! Hard to counter/block and often places the TIE just out of arc of its victim. With the 1 shield, and the new Com Relay, they can survive being fired at more so than the LNs and Interceptors.
I love my Epsilon pilot and Dark Curse. After getting acrylic evade tokens it made me want to fly ships with evade...yet I really ended up enjoying basic TIEs a lot: especially the f/o dial. I can definitely say that S-loops seemed interesting at first, but I found them to be amazing in practice.
I like the FO ties for sure, but good old basic ties are sill awesome too. They never went away here, and when I fly them, I don't bother flying them in formation, I like bringing them in from every direction. I don't worry about howlie, just bring lots of tie fighters.
I'm a huge fan of that Target Lock as well. It's a little extra punch against things that are hard to get in arc. You can TL at first, then Focus every turn afterward and use the banked TL when you get a series of good shots lined up. Against more pedestrian low PS stuff, it's a little extra offense you can use. I'm becoming a big fan of the Zeta Squadron Pilot, because at 16 points, it's cheap enough to do TIE Fighter stuff, tough enough to last for a while, but maneuverable enough to make the PS count against PS2 stuff. Against PS4+, you paid a point for Predator resistance (not a great deal, but not awful). Against PS2, you punch way above your weight class.
I agree on the TL for these guys. People dismiss it on the FO and on the Scyk, but I've used mine really well before. It's a good thing to have. It's another option that does pay out sometimes.
I've not tried the named Tie FO's. I've mostly used Epsilon Pilots with Col. Vessery. I'll have to try them sometime.
I did have a list that I liked quite a bit that was 5 Tie Fighters (including Night Beast and Dark Curse) with a Lambda and Fleet Officer. Having the free Focus tokens out made even Academy Pilots more resilient than normal. I was very surprised by this. Wasn't good vs. high agility targets, but the Tie Fighters lasted longer and did well. You can probably use the Tie Bomber shuttle instead and save some points. Those 2 free Focus is actually quite good for Tie Fighters of all strips.
I agree on the TL for these guys.
I did have a list that I liked quite a bit that was 5 Tie Fighters (including Night Beast and Dark Curse) with a Lambda and Fleet Officer. Having the free Focus tokens out made even Academy Pilots more resilient than normal. I was very surprised by this. Wasn't good vs. high agility targets, but the Tie Fighters lasted longer and did well. You can probably use the Tie Bomber shuttle instead and save some points. Those 2 free Focus is actually quite good for Tie Fighters of all strips.
Fleet Officer has become my new favorite crew card! It's amazing in both Epic and Standard play. Tarkin, Fleet officer, and Palpatine together in a list is just total domination of the dice!
the only problem I have with these guys is that its a ***** to set up while managing Comm Relay
worth it with Omega Leader, obviously
the only problem I have with these guys is that its a ***** to set up while managing Comm Relay
worth it with Omega Leader, obviously
How so?
the only problem I have with these guys is that its a ***** to set up while managing Comm Relay
worth it with Omega Leader, obviously
How so?
if you spend the evade, you gotta get it back on the turn that you could've target-locked