As a noob, after playing 15-odd games, I find my playstyle is very aggro; I tend to rush right toward enemy ships and attempt to overpower them with sheer firepower. One, can this be a viable strategy at all, Two, if so, what ships should I get to try to make this a viable strategy, and Three, how can I stop Soontir from being such a butt?

Yes, it's a viable strategy. It's commonly referred to as "Jousting", due to the tendency to engage head on, k-turn, and go right back the other direction to make another pass, just like knights jousting each other.

If you like this strategy, consider playing lists with mostly cheap, efficient generic ships, such as Blue Squadron B-Wings, Academy Pilot TIE Fighters, or BTL-A4 Y-Wings, with or without support from an ace.

To take on enemies like Soontir with jousting ships, however, you have to learn how to either predict his movements or spread out your firing arcs so that no matter where he goes, at least some of your ships will have a chance to shoot him. Blocking him with one of your ships so that he gets no actions is also a very powerful strategy. Another option is to play a mixed list that includes both jousters and a turret, control ship, or ace that can take down Soontir.

Khiraxz Combo #5 could well be your friend here, though personally I'd probably mix it up a bit more.

Yes, it can be a viable strategy, as mentioned above, but you don't want to do it with non-durable ships, or ships that aren't build well for it. I somewhat agree that B-Wings and Y-Wings are good candidates, but they're low Agility often means that you'll lose one or two in the process. I actually recommend things like X-Wings and K-Fighters can be used this way, along with one of the best jousting ships (at least in theory), Defenders. The 2-3 Agility means that those ships can handle being shot at, but they're also going to hand back 3 dice attacks as well. They're not as durable in hit points, but they're jousting efficiency is pretty good. The reason I like the Defender best in this regard is the White K-Turn. It's predictable, yes, but turn after turn you can (at least in theory) be trying to end up behind your opponent and still get an action.

Jacob

I love it when people joust with Soontir.

Once Imperial Veterans comes out try 3 Deltas with the TIE/D title. They combine jousting with control. I suggest either tractor beam and two ion cannons, all with TIE engine mark iis, or three ion cannons.

Multiple shots on Fel don't always work, unless you can get him in Range 1 to 2.

Fel hates being stressed. Tricks also help to deal with him; Tactician, R3-A2, Mara Jade, Darth Vader, Rebel Captive, Feedback Array, Connor Nets, etc...

Flown properly, without a hard counter to him, Fel can destroy 100 points all on his own. He's just about top-of-the-heap.

As someone who primarily plays Soontir and K-Wings, I can say with certainty that they hate each other. Of course, both are no jousters either.

The biggest question is what to do when the first volley fails (which happens more often than not).

This is my style, too.

I prefer rebel swarms, I find b wings hopelessly slow despite their amazing stats.

Re soontir: play long enough and you'll soon realize that soontir lives and dies by his green moves. Learn soontirs dial to know where he will.be going to shed stress after he pushes the limit. The green hard two is one of the best high speed maneuvers and one which soontir relies on heavily. Once I made that observation, interceptors went from impossible to catcg to relatively.predictable. Knowing that a hard 2 or bank 2 are the onky stress clearing moves thst can change his heading makes it fairly simple to either block these moves or else eget out of the way so he can't shoot you even if you don't have a shot.

Get soontir to bump abd he's in a lot of trouble. No actions means he can't modify bis defence dice and that makes him much much easier to damage.

Finally, keep throwing dice at him. His Autothrusters and stealth device with a stack of tokens seems impenetrable but eventually you're gonna sneak a hit through. When you do, he's far easier to hit next round with no more stealth device and already a third dead with just two measly hit points to go.

Stress mechanics terrorize soontir, tlts will punch damage through his defensive capabilities. Bombs/mines/nets work very well even if only as a deterent to his coming in close behind your ships for fear of getting caught.

Wampa, feedback array,dead man's switch, anti pursuit lasers and other automatic damage dealers do well.against him, too. It's only 3 hit points, remember.

The biggest question is what to do when the first volley fails (which happens more often than not).

you come to the logical crossroads

does ship have 1-forward or 0 move

if not, you MUST BLOCK

if so, try doing it. even 5-K might not help him and you will get a R2-1 salvo off. THE PAIN

it seems only adv sensor+boost ships will be able to avoid such slow steamroll.

Oh man, I LOVE flying TIE bombers right at the enemy ships, shoot a couple turns then drop effin proxy mines right on them. Scimitar PS2 FTW. Shoot Bomb and Scoot! I've become very efficient with dropping proxy mines right on top of enemy ships.

Thats why I love Deathrain with 3 scimmies, bombs for days all over the place.

On a similar note, what ships perform well up close at Range 1?

One list I would throw in for the OP to joust with is E'tahn (E-wing) with a bunch of z-95's. I saw this list do well at a regional tournament and with TIE swarms making a comeback, I think it could be a pretty powerful list. The strategy is right up your alley, fly at them aggressively and shoot.

IMO, Black Squadron TIEs with Crack Shot are the best jousters currently. There are a bunch of variations including Omega Squadron TIE/fos (also with Crack Shot), flying with Howlrunner or not, etc.

They still have trouble with Soontir, but they generally do quite well flying straight at the enemy and chewing them up. You can also fight fire with fire -- Soontir plus three Black Squadron and Howlrunner is a great list.

On a similar note, what ships perform well up close at Range 1?

Scum Boba, Guri, autoblaster y-wing (try Kavil with that and you'll see what happens...), and other pilots with R1 abilities. I'm primarily Scum so these are my suggestions.

And returning on topic, yes, it's currently my strategy to figth at R1 and it works very well, BUT not exactly jousting, I try to control where the engagement happens: yes, I joust, but with my conditions. Normally it depends on rock placement, deploiment strategy, enemy ships, scaping or K-turning routes... that is the short answer, I'm cooking right now

I find Kath Scarlet Firespray with heavy laser cannon is s favourite jouster. Fact it can shoot backwards helps if the enemy manages to stay on my six. Calculation helps give a bit extra bang, as I try to avoid "Action" upgrades to keep that for Target Locks.

Deadly

When I joust it's all about bringing the maximum amount of pain. Hit hard, hit fast and get out of dodge before hitting again.

Though I do enjoy a good swarm.

On a similar note, what ships perform well up close at Range 1?

Talonbane Cobra. Preferably with Predator EPT and glittering. Everybody hates him, so he dies fast, just as Wedge. But he packs punch!