Has anyone been tinkering with the unique TIE/ad pilots? What x1 Sensors you've been using, EPTs, etc etc. Vader and Juno seem to get the most table-time, and their ATC potency is pretty high, but I'm curious about using the cheaper pilots to supplement or round out a squad.

For shiggles I really want to try Zertik Strom with x1, Accuracy Corrector, and Juke; I feel his ability really messes with your opponent's targeting priority, and the Juke/AccC combo feels pretty strong. I feel like the other three TIE/ad pilots with access to EPTs strongly favour the ATC, so I feel like Strom is the only strong candidate, but I haven't been able to test it out yet.

Any input is appreciated!

ive run with the classic 37pts vader n I also use steele with PTL, ATC, and twin ion and sumtimes AHM. and I also use colzet with FCS and sumtimes prockets on his

Colzet with fcs pairs hilariously with wampa for a flanking duo which gives out face up damage cards pretty often. Technically face down cards that are flipped up so even better than just face up cards actually.

There are five named pilots with EPTs! Everyone forgets about poor Alozen. He's a solid budget ace with ATC and Crack.

the flying chum bucket x1 is...

you need a really good reason to use it.

like having a 2-action PS9 pilot >_>

otherwise can't say it's a good idea to use it outside the cheapest ATC carrier

Stele with ATC and Calculation is always my go-to filler ace. Getting almost two guaranteed crits is just too fun to pass up. The most damage I've ever done in a single attack was Stele getting range 1 of a Hound's Tooth and rolling a blank, eyeball, and hit. Eyeball went to crit from Calculation, added a crit for ATC, and changed the blank to a crit with Sidious. The Hound's Tooth had one shield left, and rolled a blank for its evade. Hit knocked off the shield, used Stele's ability to land three Direct Hits for a total of seven damage! After that, Stele with Calculation has been my favorite TIE Advanced.

Other than Stele and Vader, I haven't flown the rest very much. But I do love Colzet's ability, and as someone mentioned before, Colzet with FCS and Wampa dealing damage cards is just nasty. Juno is, of course, doing just fine. I'm tempted to play around with Advanced Sensors on her, just for additional maneuvering shenanigans, but that'd seriously reduce her damage output. Then again, with that combo, she shouldn't have too much trouble keeping range 1. AC and Juke go beautifully well together, because you should always have that action open for the evade. I think Juke is going to be my favorite EPT on Vader from now on, since he can target lock for ATC and then evade for Juke in the same turn. I still haven't found much of a roll for Strom and Alozen, though.

I play Maarek and Juno all the time with TIE/x1, ATC, PTL and TIEmk2.

Works pretty great.

I play Maarek and Juno all the time with TIE/x1, ATC, PTL and TIEmk2.

Works pretty great.

As much as I like the character of Juno, I cant bring myself to put her on the table when for a few points more I can have Vader in my squadron who is much better.

Dude, that zertik strom build sounds really funny! I'd try that.

Vader VI ATC EU - trust me, VI over Predator. Though I can see some people preferring Predator. I think you'll win against more aces that way.

Juno VI ATC 30pts - cheap PS10 ace. Add hull upgrade to taste.

Maarek VI ATC - NOT Calculation. Maybe PTL. Definitely doesn't mind Hull or Tmk2

Colzet FCS - optional Conc missile GC or Tmk2.

Haven't gotten much mileage out of the rest

The plus to Juno: With her ability she has some degree of change in her dial that compensates for lack of EU.

She can be outfitted to 30 points, which makes her much cheaper than Vader. You have to learn to take the first TL when you aren't getting shot at. Fly around.

As much as I like the character of Juno, I cant bring myself to put her on the table when for a few points more I can have Vader in my squadron who is much better.

Fortunately, since I only fly ties, that pretty much just means I don't use Vader.

Vader VI ATC EU - trust me, VI over Predator. Though I can see some people preferring Predator. I think you'll win against more aces that way.

Juno VI ATC 30pts - cheap PS10 ace. Add hull upgrade to taste.

Maarek VI ATC - NOT Calculation. Maybe PTL. Definitely doesn't mind Hull or Tmk2

My God, talk about your proverbial Pilot Skill arms race...

Marek is good if you keep him cheap - ATC.and crackshot being my favourite pairing.

I've ran strom in a 6 ship swarm where his ability really helps those short range jousts but his dial makes formation flying with normal ties a bit tricky at times. I had him with DTF and ATC. Thise two shields are great for keeping howl alive with DTF and ATC and howlrunner reroll a is no joke!

Poor Stele, can't believe I forgot about him. In my mind I guess he's already a Defender pilot!

Also re: Blail, I mean, dang man. PS 9, 10, 11? Are you talking all at once? I really like VI Vader for messing with initiative bids; between two stressless actions, ATC, and EU, I feel like his damage output is just fine without Predator or Lone Wolf, and you know nobody is slapping VI on Fel.

I might have to try out some of these budget Ace builds, I've been looking for things I already have to round out a list until the Inquisitor arrives. Alozen and Stele merit some tries alongside Strom. Thanks guys!

I like Swarm Tactics on Vader, I'm old school though.

If you've got Vader at PS9, you can take Maarek or Mauler Mithel, with VI they get bumped up to PS9 too, then when you throw it a PS6 pilot with a neat ability like Backstabber, or the cheap Advanced Pilots, Swarm Tactics will let you have 3 ships shooting at PS9.

You can probably squeeze 1 or 2 more ships into that list as well.

Darth with Swarm Tactics, ATC, and Engine Upgrade is 36

Mauler Mithel + VI and Backstabber is 34 points

Nightbeast with TIE Mk. II and Wampa is 30

Other than the sometimes benefit of Swarm Tactics, you don't need to stick in formation. Wampa has no support to get his ability off, but considering he's only a 2 point upgrade over an Academy Pilot, when his ability triggers it is just a nice bonus. Nightbeast gets that free focus action on 6 different maneuvers now for just 1 point.

You could always drop an upgrade off Vader and switch out one of those TIEs for Howlrunner. Maybe drop Swarm tactics and Nightbeast. Then you've got 2 9s and an 8, and rerolls for Wampa.

Or go with a Vader, Colzet, Wampa, Chaser, Howlrunner. Not much room for upgrades.

My opponent accuses me of the same thing. But hey. I really like seeing everything. And I know how to avoid blocks.

The budget aces are really fun. Tanky enough to take a hit or two. And then have good damage potential and good movement at ps9 and 10.

Also, all those points i didnt spend on upgrades lets me get other things.

And no, I was just listing the options for that squad. You don't have to take them together. But.. you might as well! Gods, that might be a good list!

(I would probably take one of them off VI though, cuz you want more power if you ahve 2 aces already. Power tends to be PS 5 to real8.)

I've run VI Juno + accuracy corrector with great success, taking top place in an escalation tournament where she was my man (woman) of the match.

I like it because Juno doesn't have any particular synergy with the ATC, unlike Vader or Stele. She wants to k-turns fairly frequently (she's very hard to block with three k-turns options) and so is often stressed. At other times she's a prime target and so wants defence tokens.

The AC frees her from any worry on the attack, giving her much better defence and the freedom to make the most of her fantastic manoeuvre options.

At 29 points she's also amazing value - you'll be hard pressed to find any other ship with such a good combination of attack, defence, manoeuvre and pilot skill for that price!

So, I played around today with Juno, trying her out with the Advanced Sensors to see if it could work. She isn't the punchiest of TIE/x1s, but she has absolutely no trouble at all keeping in Range 1 and out of arc. Sadly, my dice absolutely hated me today, so I lost the two games I tried her in, but the maneuvering was still pretty spectacular. Now if only I can get my defense dice to be a little more friendly next time. I must've rolled all blanks at least five or six times in a single game today. It was brutal.

TIE Advanced: · Zertik Strom (26)

Juke (2)

TIE/x1 (0)

Accuracy Corrector (0)

Have ran this to great success, take an evade action everyturn and be imune to enemy range one makes him a tough but to crack, the juke helps push through the ac damage.

Edit: op had my idea... Should have re read his post before posting. Well Mr Tsiegtiez, your setup does work well have not lost running it yet.

I was flying Juno and Alozen with title, PTL, ATC, and Mk2 engines, with Vessery(VI, mk2), and had a lot of fun with that. I recently dropped Juno for Strom so I could fit PTL onto Vessery, but haven't tried that yet. Alozen is great for diving in to the fray and feeding target locks to Vessery.

I was flying Juno and Alozen with title, PTL, ATC, and Mk2 engines, with Vessery(VI, mk2), and had a lot of fun with that. I recently dropped Juno for Strom so I could fit PTL onto Vessery, but haven't tried that yet. Alozen is great for diving in to the fray and feeding target locks to Vessery.

Oh, I am VERY excited about Alozen working with TIE/D Vessery. The real question is going to be: what Talent/Cannon combo on the Colonel?

Colonel Vessery (35)

Outmaneuver (3)

Tractor Beam (1)

Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)

TIE/D (0)

Commander Alozen (25)

Juke (2)

Accuracy Corrector (0)

Stealth Device (3)

TIE/x1 (0)

Black Squadron Pilot (14)

Crack Shot (1)

Black Squadron Pilot (14)

Crack Shot (1)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Do. NOT. Let Alozen lock onto you. Becauae then Vessery might be able to Outmanoeuvre you with a TBeam shot and then everyone laughs at how useless all those green dice are that you don't get to use. Alozen gets an Accuracy Corrector so he isn't reliant on even facing the things he TLs, and the Stealth Device just couples with Juke beautifully anyway. He can probably eat TLTs all on his own.

AND THEN

Vessery gets a free TL after Focussing or Barrel Rolling as needed, or perhaps even abusing a 1-Turn for his arc. Outmanoeuvre might make his TBeam shot more likely to land, which can wreck someone's day all on its own, and good luck if you're a Small ship that can get thrown around. Then his ability kicks on again, with a Primary shot, against something with possibly both a TBeam token AND Outmanoeuvred.

Cue Alozen and the Crackshot Black Squadron Pilots now possibly dogpiling because of this TBeam roll or "boost".

Christ this just feels dirty. I love it. And I only need two more cards FFG, god ****.

I was flying Juno and Alozen with title, PTL, ATC, and Mk2 engines, with Vessery(VI, mk2), and had a lot of fun with that. I recently dropped Juno for Strom so I could fit PTL onto Vessery, but haven't tried that yet. Alozen is great for diving in to the fray and feeding target locks to Vessery.

Oh, I am VERY excited about Alozen working with TIE/D Vessery. The real question is going to be: what Talent/Cannon combo on the Colonel?

Colonel Vessery (35)

Outmaneuver (3)

Tractor Beam (1)

Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)

TIE/D (0)

Commander Alozen (25)

Juke (2)

Accuracy Corrector (0)

Stealth Device (3)

TIE/x1 (0)

Black Squadron Pilot (14)

Crack Shot (1)

Black Squadron Pilot (14)

Crack Shot (1)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Do. NOT. Let Alozen lock onto you. Becauae then Vessery might be able to Outmanoeuvre you with a TBeam shot and then everyone laughs at how useless all those green dice are that you don't get to use. Alozen gets an Accuracy Corrector so he isn't reliant on even facing the things he TLs, and the Stealth Device just couples with Juke beautifully anyway. He can probably eat TLTs all on his own.

AND THEN

Vessery gets a free TL after Focussing or Barrel Rolling as needed, or perhaps even abusing a 1-Turn for his arc. Outmanoeuvre might make his TBeam shot more likely to land, which can wreck someone's day all on its own, and good luck if you're a Small ship that can get thrown around. Then his ability kicks on again, with a Primary shot, against something with possibly both a TBeam token AND Outmanoeuvred.

Cue Alozen and the Crackshot Black Squadron Pilots now possibly dogpiling because of this TBeam roll or "boost".

Christ this just feels dirty. I love it. And I only need two more cards FFG, god ****.

Oooo... I like 'dis.

Dude, that zertik strom build sounds really funny! I'd try that.

Vader VI ATC EU - trust me, VI over Predator. Though I can see some people preferring Predator. I think you'll win against more aces that way.

This would be a potential use for Adaptability. PS10. 95% of the time, it works all the time.

Could then pair with VI Juno (or other PS 8) for a more flexible order of activation.

Colzet with a free sensor jammer is rough.

Stele with ATC and Calculation is always my go-to filler ace. Getting almost two guaranteed crits is just too fun to pass up. The most damage I've ever done in a single attack was Stele getting range 1 of a Hound's Tooth and rolling a blank, eyeball, and hit. Eyeball went to crit from Calculation, added a crit for ATC, and changed the blank to a crit with Sidious. The Hound's Tooth had one shield left, and rolled a blank for its evade. Hit knocked off the shield, used Stele's ability to land three Direct Hits for a total of seven damage! After that, Stele with Calculation has been my favorite TIE Advanced.

Other than Stele and Vader, I haven't flown the rest very much. But I do love Colzet's ability, and as someone mentioned before, Colzet with FCS and Wampa dealing damage cards is just nasty. Juno is, of course, doing just fine. I'm tempted to play around with Advanced Sensors on her, just for additional maneuvering shenanigans, but that'd seriously reduce her damage output. Then again, with that combo, she shouldn't have too much trouble keeping range 1. AC and Juke go beautifully well together, because you should always have that action open for the evade. I think Juke is going to be my favorite EPT on Vader from now on, since he can target lock for ATC and then evade for Juke in the same turn. I still haven't found much of a roll for Strom and Alozen, though.

i've done the exact same thing to Bossk lol