Just played 4 games with 3 viable-ish lists against it and Got stomped.

Don't mean to hijack, but what is the build for a crack swarm?

Dash Corran

Its 5blacks and some sort of tie fo semi- ace.

Don't mean to hijack, but what is the build for a crack swarm?

It's fairly flexible but usually i think its 3 tie/fo and 3 ties all with crackshot.

I did see one /fo changed for howlrunner. No idea if it was more successful

Yeah dash corran could do work i guess. Almost beat it with Lone leebo and two tlt golds.

It's not about build. You have to get in fast and kill howlrunner.

Just played 4 games with 3 viable-ish lists against it and Got stomped.

Don't mean to hijack, but what is the build for a crack swarm?

Some variant of 5-6 TIE Fighters and/or FOs with Crack Shot.

Like any swarmy build, such as older TIE swarms or 4BZ, it's strengths are in the joust. Ships with strong arc dodgers are it's biggest weakness. However, if your fail to dodge completely, Crack Shot can be quite punishing to a large ship or a high agility ship like an interceptor or phantom.

Avoiding fire is more important than dealing damage on most situations against such a list, especially with a fragile ship like an interceptor, unless you're certain you can finish the ship that can see you.

Disengage and come around frequently and often. Patience is key.

if runnin TLTs, seismics on Miranda

Thank you for all the replies.

Assault missiles

Proton bombs

Ion bombs

Seismic charges

Ruthlessness

Admiral chirneau

It's less the build and more how to fly: crackshot swarms are simply an evolution of the classic swarm, only now with even more formidable power on that first pass. They can theoretically ignore up to six evade results while throwing a dozen done, which all but evaporates a B-wing or Y-wing in a single pass - and can wreak havoc if a higher-agility ship gets caught in multiple arcs.

But then, melting low-agility ships was always the swarms biggest strength, right?

This hasn't changed; it's just got a decent crack at the aces of the game too.

Dash and corran were mentioned up the thread - they do so well because their tactics were always hit-and-fade; everyone else just needs to follow suit. ;-)

I know what beats it because I've flown it a ton recently, but I'm not saying what does.

3x Black Squadron, 3x Omega Squadron, 6x Crackshot at 99 points.

Or substitute Howl for an Omega for 100 points.

for fun try

Black Sun Soldier (13)
Assault Missiles (5)
Glitterstim (2)

Black Sun Soldier (13)
Assault Missiles (5)
Glitterstim (2)

Black Sun Soldier (13)
Assault Missiles (5)
Glitterstim (2)

Black Sun Soldier (13)
Assault Missiles (5)
Glitterstim (2)

Black Sun Soldier (13)
Assault Missiles (5)
Glitterstim (2)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

set up for a joust and see who blinks first

if runnin TLTs, seismics on Miranda

Dear god Fickle, almost 10K posts.

I'm impressed, appalled, and jealous.

Yeah dash corran could do work i guess. Almost beat it with Lone leebo and two tlt golds.

It's not about build. You have to get in fast and kill howlrunner.

That might be true but the Dach Corran does have the advantage against crackswarm. However that rule applies no matter what list you fly so if you are flying the infamous Dash Corran or something else like Papmobile taking out the linchpin howlrunner would be the major determining factor in who wins.

Just played 4 games with 3 viable-ish lists against it and Got stomped.

IG crab-bros don't care as much

Super-2400 doesn't give a ****

Imp Ace lists in the right hands don't give a ****

I played multiple games with the crackswarm, I lost one game against a triple T70 list. Red Ace with Comm Relay, R2D2 and thrusters is very difficult to kill

Crackshot only matters if you evade, so just take dual decimators and smash them in the face at range 1, right? Oicunn with Mara Jade and predator, patrol leader with vader and gunner. Add in other upgrades as you see fit.

On a more serious note, crack swarms are a decent list, but by no means unbeatable. In the TC Aces playoffs BlairBunke beat Paul Heaver's crackswarm with IGB, a TLT Y, and 2 Z 95s.

that sounds incredible.

As noted, you have the downside that you've got 6 TIE fighters.

DO NOT joust head-on. It's like feeding your hand into a woodchipper.

The big weakness of the list, like all ordnance lists (and crack shot is essentially ordnance) is going down with missiles unfired. It's not hard to beat PS4, and provided you can kill one or more ships at PS>4, you can drastically de-fang them.

Crack Shot means you can afford to shoot 2-Die attacks at evading interceptors, or at long range, and still get a reasonable rate of return. Where it doesn't help is tough, low agility ships.....but low agility ships get eaten by TIE fighters anyway.

Dash or Chiraneau are good with Boost. Flown conservatively, they have difficulty boxing him in, especially once they take one or two casualties.

Area effect weapons like bombs and assault missiles are awesome. Area Effect Stress (like a TIE shuttle with Mara Jade) is even nastier, but liable to be a high priority target.

Tactically, I've had some luck sending part of my list in first, and reserving the remainder to try and finish the swarm off. This can work if you've got an element that is particularly good against non-CS TIEs. The other player has to decide on spending CA on a suboptimal target or holding it back and potentially getting into a bad position. You have to be careful, though, because staggering engagement times is always dangerous. It can work in this case, CS-expended TIEs are basically 15 point Academy Pilots to certain ships.

A-Wings with assault missiles.

You need one shot kills before they fire. Alpha strikes should work, anything like wedge that's over the top and gets through defense dice is also strong.