I’ve been running Crack Shot on my Brobots a bit, and am trying to get away from a 2 ship list. I think, why not go the other way and the idea of a Crack Shot TIE swarm makes me giggle. I’ve seen mention of the basic 6 ship Crack shot list of BSP and Omegas, and that got me thinking: What is a great way to abuse the crackshot swarm potential?

List 1: 3 BSP, 3 Omega= 99 points

The original, solid, dependable

List 2: 3 BSP, 2 Omega, Howlrunner = 100 points

Lost 1 HP to gain rerolls and a focus for the list. While initially this seems like an upgrade, you now want to fly in formation to abuse Howlrunner, and she’ll likely die very quickly in the joust. Do the pros outweigh the cons?

List 3: Soontir with usual set up, Howlrunner, and 3 BSP= 99 points

Now we’re down to 5 ships, with only 4 crackshots, but Soontir does what Soontir does, and could draw some fire away from Howlrunner… or allow Soontir a bit of early game breaking room if Howlrunner stays priority 1.

List 4: Vessery with /D title, Tractor, with 3 Omegas with Weapon Guidance

Gah, a 4 ship list! However I can still have 4 crackshots, now with reduced opponent agility and autoflipping a blank, the damage is likely still there. Vessery could go for Predator or PTL/Mk II engines with the available points too.

What do you fly for crackshot love, and how has it been for you? Which of my lists do you think has potential? Am I off my rocker for not jumping on the Rebel regen bandwagon?

What about 4x Royal Guard Pilots with Crack Shot and Autothrusters?

What about 4x Royal Guard Pilots with Crack Shot and Autothrusters?

Do you like the list? How has it performed for you? I've never been able to get an "only squints" list to work. They do better for me as a lone flanker, not the focus.

Never tried it, I'm just brainstorming.

The list that did well at Worlds was 5x Crack Squadron, an Obsidian, and an Academy. After Seeing this I determined the Obsidian and Academy were wastes of points, why not fly 6 Crack Squadrons? That's 90 points, so you have 10 points left for conversions to FO's.

You can put Howlrunner with Crackshot or Mauler with CS in instead of an Omega or two, but they end up dying too quickly. Better off with an FO IMO.

3x Crack Omega, 3x Crack Squadron has won me my last half dozen or so games beside for one, maybe two games and it was close. I flew it with Zeta Ace to fill the last point but you're better off without Zeta Ace, as having all PS 4 ships helps you a ton. Having one ship that moves after everything else means that often ships will be forced to bump into it. The 2 distance barrel roll is nice but losing out on 2-3 actions a game sometimes is really not acceptable.

Someone suggested 4 Crack Squadrons, Howlrunner, and a Saber Squadron with Crackshot. Only played it once or twice casually but it did well. I think 3x Omega, 3x Crack Squadron is the best one. I see the argument for the Worlds list having the extra ship, but by going to 3x Omega, 3x Crack Squadron you don't actually lose any total health, you gain the numerous benefits that FO's have over regular TIEs, and you gain an additional Crackshot.

What about this?

It could work CDR, but from what I've seen, the crack shots are burned early to give you a model/point advantage that you can snowball. While the AC/ATC advanced are good, if ships roll 2 evade, you did nothing. I'll still likely give it a try and see how it flows, cuz I do love me some AC advanced!

Well only two of the five ships are the guaranteed two hits, and the crackshot ones attack first so they might burn evade tokens, you can play the list defensiva evading and blocking every turn and those two consistente hits can hurt a lot.

I will probably try it and another crackshot one, i will talk you bajc. If someone try it i'd be glad to read the experience

Agreed. If you're taking crack shot, take it en mass.

The 'baseline' is six Black Squadron Pilots with Crack Shot. That's 90 points, so anything else is variations on the theme - using those 'spare' ten points for upgrades, and/or trading a sixth enhanced shot for five more capable ones.

• 3 Blacks and 3 Omegas are a nice, simple list. As ParaGoomba Slayer said, I can't convince myself that trading out for the seventh ship is worth it - it's not like you're short of warm bodies to block with.
• Howlrunner does pen you into formation if you want to take advantage of her ability. At the same time, six ships is an easier block to fly than eight, and you get a massive increase in firepower if you do. Trading three pilots for Howlrunner, Mauler Mithel and Scourge gives you three shots on the upper end of the firing order, the possibility of a bonus die occasionally, and in theory should mean you're throwing a couple of extra dice from rerolls - the equivalent of a seventh TIE shooting. Yes, Howlrunner's going to get focused down in either the first or second exchange of fire....but if you weren't expecting to lose a TIE in two shooting phases, readjust your expectations. I think the TIE/fos extra durability still helps more in the long run, but this does play to the strengths of the crack shot swarm - putting as much hurt down as possible in that opening volley.
• One that I've tried which sort of combines the two - albeit at the cost of a ship - is five Omega Squadron Pilots with Crack Shot and Weapons Guidance. Weapons Guidance is quite a nice upgrade for a TIE/fo - essentially giving you an accuracy increase vested in the five 'generics' tech slot rather than giving one lynchpin ship to focus down, whilst being only 1 hit point short of the Black Omegas.

I've been using Howlrunner and trying to keep her alive a bit longer with Shield Upgrade. She can also drop back a bit on the engagement round (she stays in range 1 of everyone if her maneuver is 1 shorter than the rest of the formation). If she can last until the PS 4 BSPs attack once, she's paid for herself IMO.

I've also been running a 5-ship version with Vader replacing two TIEs. It's worked quite well, though flying Vader in formation feels a bit odd, and he definitely suffers if things get clogged up and he ends up bumping.

Darth Vader + Crack Shot + TIE/x1 + Adv. Targeting Computer (31)

Howlrunner + Crack Shot + Shield Upgrade (23)

Black Squadron Pilot + Crack Shot (15)

Black Squadron Pilot + Crack Shot (15)

Black Squadron Pilot + Crack Shot (15)

Total: 99

I've been taking howlrunner and see her dying first as a blessing since she's cheaper than my other ties

then again, I'm not exactly running crack spam

anyway, re-rolls are awesome and if you have my dice you'd play howlie every time. Besides, there's no list out there that can out-joust 6 cracksquadrons

Well, I'm giving a (crack)shot to this list, expecting to make the target priority difficult by spending or not crackshot on damaged fellas. Focusing fast an enemy should result in an advantageous fight, but it's a small list and vulnerable to certain enemies, like TLT spam.

Vessery 46

Crackshot, Hull Upgrade, Heavy Laser Canon

Omega Squadron 18

Crackshot

Omega Squadron 18

Crackshot

Omega Squadron 18

Crackshot