I'm guessing the title card the the shuttle is to help create synergy with Vessery's ability?

Lose the title on the shuttle and put crackshot on vessery

It's killed a ship and ion another in the two games I've used it in

I'm guessing the title card the the shuttle is to help create synergy with Vessery's ability?

Yup. Can get a target lock off turn one, which gives more flexibility since Vessery and Vader don't have to go after the same targets, and provides a backup if I slip up and Vader bites it.

Lose the title on the shuttle and put crackshot on vessery

It's killed a ship and ion another in the two games I've used it in

Honestly not a big fan of Crack Shot, especially for Vessery. With two three or four dice attacks per turn, and a free target lock, Vessery shouldn't be having problems getting hits on most ships. If I were to take out the title, I'd rather look at grabbing some Proton Rockets on Vessery, since he still gets the free target lock, and 5 dice + rerolls can melt some targets.

Worked great for me.

Vessery took out youngster one night with crackshot and last nightht he ion vessery with it

Crackshot is really good on him

Especially if you want to ion or tracker beam something

Only roll two hits?

Opponent rolls two evades, not today

And here's a ion token

One thing I been seeing with vessery is even with target lock your not always rolling three hits, so crackshot is great when you really need that hit to get through

I have to agree with Krynn----crack shot is an excellent choice for Vess. He becomes a credible threat to Fel's stealth device. If Vess shoots the tracter beam, Fel has to 'over-evade' or risk having his agility go from 4/5 down to 2/3. That means he has less tokens for Vess' follow-up primary shot (which he has to over-evade again or risk losing stealth) and then is down to naked greens against any further shots.

Having said that, I don't think Palp shuttle is ideal for Vessery. Since the colonel almost always has fully modified attacks, he doesn't usually need the palp modification. Also, there is one big drawback for the palp-shuttle that I don't think very many people consider---time on target. The shuttle with only the emperor on board rarely gets very many shots. So while it might boost the shots of your other ships, it doesn't actually deal much damage on its own. I think a couple of cheap generics, or another ship around 30 pts with a solid attack profile will end up dealing more damage than the shuttle + palp over the course of a game. YMMV of course, but I really see palp as offering more benefit to fragile aces that don't have as much mods for offence (such as stealth soontir and VI vader) than anything else really...

I like your double tap concept for Vessery, I plan on using it myself when it hits the tables later this year. I don't think that Vessery is a good companion for Palp because if you are taking advantage of Vessery's pilot ability he doesn't need any further modification. If you have to use the Emperor to score a hit after you have used a focus and a target lock... things have gone very bad. Sure, everyone can benefit from the big cheese on defense but the Defender is very rebel-like in terms of durability. I think you would be better served with a completely different ship in this squad. The Emperor helps mitigate high risk ships like the Interceptor or the Phantom.

Well, if you want to get rid of Palp, how about this?

PILOTS

Colonel Vessery (41)
TIE Defender (35), Crack Shot (1), Proton Rockets (3), Tractor beam (1), Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1), TIE/D (0)

Darth Vader (35)
TIE Advanced (29), Proton Rockets (3), TIE/x1 (0), Decoy (2), Advanced Targeting Computer (5)

Scimitar Squadron Pilot (23)

Tie Bomber (16), Tie Shuttle (0), Fleet Officer (3), Rebel Captive (3), Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)

I'd completely forgotten this was a thing, this would give the list much more room to play around. It loses some health going from the Shuttle to the Bomber, but gets a lot more maneuverability, and should be reliably able to get more shots out, while taking advantage of Tractor Beam. The crew are up for grabs, but I like Fleet Officer giving even more action economy, while Rebel Captive should help keep it alive a bit longer, and it can reliably pass out target locks and stick with Vessery, so Vessery isn't completely reliant on Vader.

It also adds room for Proton Rockets on Vader and Vessery, giving a huge damage boost. Vessery gets a target lock to reroll the blanks, and since Proton Rockets don't require you to spend the focus, should be able to use that to get most dice to hit. Vader can still use his title, since he doesn't have to spend the target lock. Scimitar Squadron can use Fleet Officer to provide the focus needed for both of them as needed.

I like this list a lot more, and there is a lot of room for modification in it. I could even take off Decoy and the Mk. II from Vessery(which is strictly because of extra points) to give Vader an Engine Upgrade, giving him much more arc dodging potential.

I don't think proton rockets are worth it on a TIE/D Defender. You can't use them and your cannon in the same turn, and you are pretty much always going to want to fire the tracter beam because of the benefits it has for the rest of your squad's shooting. Besides, a tracter beam that hits makes your range 1 primary shot basically equal to a proton rocket. I would drop the proton rockets and TIE/mk2 for engine on Vader. Also, if there's a point to spare, crack shot on Vessery is quite good.

You might also want to consider mara jade on the shuttle instead of fleet officer, but try it both ways and see what you prefer.

I don't think proton rockets are worth it on a TIE/D Defender. You can't use them and your cannon in the same turn, and you are pretty much always going to want to fire the tracter beam because of the benefits it has for the rest of your squad's shooting. Besides, a tracter beam that hits makes your range 1 primary shot basically equal to a proton rocket. I would drop the proton rockets and TIE/mk2 for engine on Vader. Also, if there's a point to spare, crack shot on Vessery is quite good.

You might also want to consider mara jade on the shuttle instead of fleet officer, but try it both ways and see what you prefer.

Edited Crack Shot in, I had meant to add that, and also fixed point totals. This leaves the list at 99 points, I think I'd rather drop Decoy and Mk II for Vader's Engine, since 5 attack + TL + Focus should be better against low agility ships, while Tractor + Attack is better against high agility, but worth considering.

I thought about Mara Jade, and it's worth giving it a shot, but since the Scimitar is only PS2, I don't see being reliably able to get it into range 1 except against swarms, so I'm not convinced how useful she would be.