So I'm just in the process of building my collection, and thus far, it seems like I need to make some imperial purchases. But I just wanted to get the thoughts of those more experienced here than myself. My problem right now is that even playing at home, my Imperial/FO forces seem easily crushed by the rebel scum. Incidentally, the rebel scum are my own kids here

In general with 100 points, the rebels can field 2 fighters and the Falcon (TFA Core, Reb Aces and the Falcon). And on the Imp side, my current collection consists of Imp Aces, TFA Core and Slave 1.

Each side has enough to make a 100 point build, but with the Falcon's 360 firing arc and the fact that the Rebel ships have a crap-ton of shields, I don't feel like I can really build a lot that can combat them on the Imp side with my current ships.

After the purchase, I also feel like the Firespray kinda sucks (at least with the other, limited Imp ships I have available). Just an opinion.

So, do you all have any suggestions as to what I should maybe purchase or build to next on the Imp side to be better equipped? I'm thinking the Decimator is the net obvious addition. Then maybe the Phantom.

Edit: I'm really hoping that there will be TFA Special Forces TIE that might be something that's on par with an X-wing. That'd be a great thing to help balance the sides so that you're not forced into the idea of having to field swarms on the First Order side of things. And I think it'd thematically fit with the new era.

and son turns on the father. the cycle is complete

Yeah, you need some TIEs. Just get a couple standard TIE/Ln, probably about 4. Those are a good start. I'd also go with the Imperial Superiority Fighter, the TIE Defender. A bomber or two... It isn't so much what you need in terms of any one ship, you just need to be able to try some new approaches. You don't really have any options with what you have. You can't try a swarm, you can't try an ordnance list, you... sorta can't to a lot of types of lists.

Well flying against turrets Arc dodgers like the Phantom have their weaknesses. So the Decimator having your own turret may level the playing field. The only thing is that the Decimator tends to die faster than the Falcon (that 0 agility does have its drawbacks).

If you have some scum ships, namely a Star viper, then you might want to work on building Soontir Fell with the TIE Interceptor and Imperial Aces pack. Get PTL soontir with autothrusters and that is a solid star fighter there.

If you have a $100 to spare (which I am assuming you don't as you mention children) then an Imperial Raider would help. Also you could turn it into a boss battle where your scum *cough* I mean children could be challenged to take on a capital ship. Just a suggestion.

Your issue was pretty common in the Fat Han Era, and a decent counter (made slightly less so post-phantom nerf) was a decimator/phantom list. Deci provides fire and a large target (and stress w/ Rebel Captive) while the phantom is fairly well protected with stealth... although beefing up whisper with veteran instincts and the advanced cloaking device is pretty much necessary.

A modern variation might be the deci plus the defender (vessery). They're both pretty spendy so you'll be slim on upgrades but the white k-turn on vessery will give you plenty of options as well as some difficult decisions on who the scum will target.

the rebel scum are my own kids here

and son turns on the father. the cycle is complete

This thread is full of win!

The imp firespray is nowhere near as good as the scum version (which is amazing btw) but its still pretty solid.

Is lack of cards part of the problem? If so I would suggest proxy's until you get a feel for what you need. If you proxy you should be able to put down 2 of the nastier aces in the game (fel, jax) and maybe add omega leader too who is also extremely good for his cost... while you wait for your reinforcements to arrive that is.

Anyway a deci would be a nice inclusion although I think Han still wins mono A mono. Add soontir and things change. Depending on how proficient they are though a fat PWT can get pretty oppressive to new(er) players. Phantoms same. Also get your hands on a tie adv with vader while your at it and again proxy the title + ATC or buy the card seperate if you must (what I did in this case).

Double post..

so while I'm here check this just as something thrown together:

boba fett- vet instincts, navigator, slave 1

RAC decimator- vader, empra

Not 'too' over bearing but its still pretty capable and would make short work of their lil x wingys in short order.

Similar situation to where I was about a year and a half ago.

Your collection gives an edge to the rebels match-up wise based on what you have. Additionally the imperial ships are harder to fly and if you play a game and make 3 or 4 mistakes pilot-wise they tend to be costly. Your imperial ships are also hampered by not having cards from expansions that make them perform at their best (eg autothruster for the interceptors).

Firstly use a squad builder or find some jpegs to print and use any upgrade card ever issued when building your list. This will start to balance things without spending a cent. Unfortunately Interceptors are not especially survivable without autothrusters

This is a pretty broad statement and as always there are exceptions but don't have ships at pilot skill 4 - 8 in your list or lots of upgrades on Ties. It doesn't work to well but I strongly suspect you may be doing this to get to 100 pts with a smallish Imperial collection. An option could be to play smaller battles (63 point).

Expanding your collection I would go down this path:

• Decimator
• Phantom or Tie Advanced
• Another core set (either but probably original for variety).

The above also assumes you are proxying cards as well. Getting the decimator will provide you with a ships that goes OK against a falcon and as it chews up a lot of points the rest of your list will probably be a more optimal one. The Phantom or Tie Advanced will give you the opportunity to fly 3 imperial aces (another high pilot skill added to your two interceptors). The second core set will give you 4 ties which will allow you to spend 48 to 64 points on these and couple this with a beefy ace which usually goes OK.

Also note that ties point wise are a lot less than the rebel ships you have so for balance you probably need to have one or two more imperial ships in your collection.

As you are playing against your kids I would advise against purchasing to buy the blunt instruments that are the Decimator and the Phantom. I would advise this to anyone who plays in a friendly environment and who is starting the game or has no wish to go all out in buying.

You will win, yes, but in a very blunt way. I have seen adults just considering not continue the game if they encountered a Phantom even after the downscaling of the cloaking - decloaking effect.

Mine is currently banished to the lowest corner of the box. Maybe I will dig it up for an Epic fight, but in 100pts I shall rarely field it.

My advice would be to throw in some old school TIEs (not 7, just 3 or something), add the soon-to-arrive Inquisitor in the TIE Advanced Prototype, (do your kids watch the series?). Wait for Imperial Veterans for some cool additions and add a seperate Bomber expansion pack.

Dumping mines will give the lads and/or lasses a challenge

As you are playing against your kids I would advise against purchasing to buy the blunt instruments that are the Decimator and the Phantom. I would advise this to anyone who plays in a friendly environment and who is starting the game or has no wish to go all out in buying.

You will win, yes, but in a very blunt way. I have seen adults just considering not continue the game if they encountered a Phantom even after the downscaling of the cloaking - decloaking effect.

Mine is currently banished to the lowest corner of the box. Maybe I will dig it up for an Epic fight, but in 100pts I shall rarely field it.

My advice would be to throw in some old school TIEs (not 7, just 3 or something), add the soon-to-arrive Inquisitor in the TIE Advanced Prototype, (do your kids watch the series?). Wait for Imperial Veterans for some cool additions and add a seperate Bomber expansion pack.

Dumping mines will give the lads and/or lasses a challenge

Partially agree. High pilot skills Phantoms can be hard to deal wit but not impossible. There is no reason "kids" that are getting towards high school can't be pretty competent. The current world number 2 looks about 15, couldn't figure out is age quickly. OP wasn't totally clear but the "even playing at home" statement indicates they may intend to out into the wider world.

Problem with imperials when you are starting is to get to 100 points you often have to stick useless upgrades on stuff (ie you have a bad list). Also jumping up to 7 ties from 2 ties is pretty pricey compared to one phantom or tie advanced (for a 3 ace list) or a decimator. Even though you shouldn't have to go ultra tournament list hard to beat kids it is quite likely that by default you are living in a variation of the Fat Han meta (falcon loaded up) and trying to win with list that is probably auto-lose if both players play roughly the same level.

In my experience, limited, kids welcome...

A: Big ship that looks awesome. Falcon, Y 666...

B: a group of basic ships, Tie LN, etc, that do not rely on special rules.

Perhaps one Slave plus 4 Tie LN could work. Cheap Tie from the basic old core, no upgrades, cheap on ebay, plus a brand new Slave firing Big Guns and hard to wipe out

So here's a followup question to this. Until I upgrade my Imp fleet (over the next couple of months), with the ships that I have, what might be a good point limit in order actually result in some more balanced games?

Also, as far as competition goes, are there any common tournament/math point totals that are commonly used? Aside from the standard 100 of course.

Thanks!

For a short game and for testing small set-ups I have regularly played 60-point games on a 2 x 2 feet field. In each corner an asteroid (range 1 from the two nearest edges) and in the middle the large asteroid plus a small one snuggled up besides (creating a very big asteroid)

Smaller field and fixed asteroid positioning makes for different meta, shorter set-up times, and faster play.

Hmmmm.......this is an interesting problem. I can see that the large ships are shiny and you want them, but I always felt they aren't the best ships to get when just starting. Sure, you can reach 100 pts quicker, but they just turn the game to Turret Wing, which is what you are experiencing.

I will highly recommend you proxy cards for both sides to make it more interesting. This is especially true for ordnance, if you want to go that route. Ordnance is a good way to blast the Falcon fast.

Firespray isn't the best ship in that environment, but it's not a bad ship. I do agree that Scum versions are better, but Imperial versions aren't terrible....just against the Falcon. If you take an Ion Pulse Missile you can hit the Falcon and stun it for an important turn. That can be used to make it fly off the board, onto an asteroid, or just make it easier to get the rest of your ships in R1 to fire at it. I can also suggest using Recon Specialist crew (proxy it) to give your Firespray 2 Focus tokens. It helps on their defense.

I would agree that getting either more Tie Fighters or Tie Fighter FO's would help you. Having a big ship and then a bunch of smaller is usually called a "mini-swarm" and pretty effective. The many shots help take down targets faster and it's harder for the enemy to concentrate all their fire against so many ships. Also, you should always have at least 1 low PS ship to use as a blocker. Jam in where you think your opponent will go and cause a bump. It's a legitimate tactic and one of the best ways to defeat a Falcon. They get no action and you know where they will be.

If I were you, I'd recommend either a Tie Defender or a Tie Bomber.....but the new expansion (Imperial Veterans) is coming out soon. Still.....you will probably still want the single blisters for each ship, especially the Tie Defender. The Tie Defender is a nicely pointed ship that you can fit into a list and still have enough other toys. It can also help fill out the 100 pts when needed, as well. The Tie Bomber is great for smashing the big ships fast. Plasma Torpedoes are great to down those shields and Homing Missiles are great for finishing it off. Even Proton Torpedoes are good for those critical hits. If you can proxy Extra Munitions, it makes it cheaper. Just don't load up too much on toys, or it's too expensive!

I would avoid the Tie Phantom as it really just encourages turret use and high PS pilots. It becomes a game where basically the Rebels are forced to take Han Solo every game when you take a Tie Phantom. It becomes boring.

Did I mention proxying cards until you get into it more?

Firstly proxy cards. This is critical. I didn't stress it the first time but as above it is more important for your interceptors than any other ship out there.

I play a campaign system at home that has variable point values simply because 100 point mass mash-ups became boring. I put a lot of thought into point values originally but haven't looked closely at it for a long time and actually can't remember all the reasons for them:

- 48 points (down from 50 to slightly weaken the 12 point z-95/academy tie plus an ace list and large ship builds weaker)

- 62 points (I think FFG suggest 31 point battles in the rulebook and I simply doubled this. Going up to 66 points allows 3 b-wing builds which are tough)

- 100 points - standard

- 124 points - more than standard but not outrageously slow.

then Epic ones from 200 up.

Probably recommend 62 points. At 48 points the map is a lot emptier so the balance may shift to far towards imperials as they have the better arc dodgers. Go up to 70 if you want to stack more upgrade on your ships.

So here's a followup question to this. Until I upgrade my Imp fleet (over the next couple of months), with the ships that I have, what might be a good point limit in order actually result in some more balanced games?

Also, as far as competition goes, are there any common tournament/math point totals that are commonly used? Aside from the standard 100 of course.

Thanks!

If your going to go low I'd suggest under 50. That way its much harder to run a fully tooled falcon since they become better at lower points.

Alternately try adjusting what your running. Heres an idea based off the models you have:

Slave 1 (either boba- VI, navigator and long ranged scanner proxies, -OR- Krassis- HLC, long range scanner proxy)

Carnor jax- VI, stealth, royal guard pilot, autothrusters proxy

Tie/FO Omega leader- crackshot and comms relay proxies.

This build has the tools without getting too out of hand and without joining the arms race yourself.

Fo's Arnt that great sadly what you want is defenders with the new titles proxied to give some real punch.

Use the Firespray basic mercenary with recon specialist crew that gives a focus for attack and another for defence, take the slave 1 title and long range scanner.

Two defenders with the tie/D tittle and flechette cannons.

That's a potential eleven damage a turn and because of the rear arc and the defenders k turn you'll have no trouble getting shots in.

Plus it's cheap.