So far I've seen little chatter about Zeta Leader, the pretender to the 'El Presidente' crown. It's perhaps because, when you see what Omega Leader can do in a one-on-one dogfight, Zeta is left a little in its shade. I'm not sure that's fair, as ZL looks to be, point for point, one of the most efficient ships in the game right now.

With PS7 and an ept, we can get ZL up to Soontir levels of pilot skill for one point, but there are two other epts that scream out to be used: Wired and Predator.

Wired gives you a cheap boost on offense and defense for one meagre point, on a ship that's always going to be sitting on a stress when it comes to combat, due to its unique pilot ability.

Predator, while a bit more pricey, lifts Zeta into something approaching 'big gun', with focus, reroll and 3 red dice.

All three options come in at 21-23 points, with a great dial to boot, with the proviso that stress dealers have a greater-than-normal adverse effect upon this ship's effectiveness. It seems this weakness has been factored into this pilot's cost, but wired seems to immunise ZL from the worst of this weakness. Even predator leaves ZL better off than most ties when stressed, and of course, the /fo dial really has little problem shedding stress ... Finally, ZL may well be your cheapest ship on the board, and so if it's sponging stress infliction off of your bigger guns, perhaps that's not the worst result in the world...

ZL also uses the same dial as OL, and it's always a pleasure to fly ships that share dials together. OL & ZL together looks like:

Zeta Leader, Wired (21pts)

Omega Leader, Comm Relay, Juke (26pts)

leaving you with a healthy 53pts - enough for two more bargain aces or a slimfast Chirpy.

So what are folks' opinions on this little tie? bargain big gun or overshadowed younger brother?

I think it's pretty decent with Predator being almost an auto-include, though I suppose Wired is ok if you're on a budget. They're gonna hit above their weight class a lot more often than the other bonus dice TIEs

He fits in really well with ep president

While the enemy is sweating buckets about omega and howlie and wampa, Zeta's killing everyone

You have no idea how much you miss 3 dice when flying tie swarm, until you play zeta

Only had 5 test games with him so far and Wired really doesn't seem worth it.

For 1 pt. I'd rather grab VI/Adrenaline (to open up for a one-time stressed Seug-loop), for 3pts I'd grab Predator and for 5pts I'd grab Comms and Juke.

YMMV

Only had 5 test games with him so far and Wired really doesn't seem worth it.

For 1 pt. I'd rather grab VI/Adrenaline (to open up for a one-time stressed Seug-loop), for 3pts I'd grab Predator and for 5pts I'd grab Comms and Juke.

YMMV

In my experience, more dice is more blanks

Predator forever

In my experience, more dice is more blanks

Predator forever

Rerolling 25% of your naked green dice isn't much of a modifier

Besides, Zeta's a tie fighter. He's going to die fast regardless; do as much damage as possible and to hell with defense

At an incredibly economical 23 points, you can afford not to give a ****

He fits in really well with ep president

While the enemy is sweating buckets about omega and howlie and wampa, Zeta's killing everyone

You have no idea how much you miss 3 dice when flying tie swarm, until you play zeta

With Predator we're talking PS7 with 3 reds and a reroll; 4 health and 3 greens; and the best dial credits can buy, all for 1 point more than an IA Rookie. That's pretty ... competitive, wouldn't you say? Do you think we'll see ZL in many tourney lists?

I've been using Zeta Leader with Wired and Comm Relay. Add a loaded Soontir, Night Beast, and Omega Ace witl PTL and Comm Relay for 100 points.

I like the idea of everybody carrying extra tokens around.

I'm actually taking him to a tournament this Saturday, with the possibility of using the list in a store championship if it performs OK.

The quandary I'm facing though is whether or not to have Predator on Zeta Leader or Juke, I have the points for relay regardless...what is going to be the best fit?

Rerolling 25% of your naked green dice isn't much of a modifier

Besides, Zeta's a tie fighter. He's going to die fast regardless; do as much damage as possible and to hell with defense

At an incredibly economical 23 points, you can afford not to give a ****

For 21pts I can get a PS 2 monster that never misses and is hard to kill.

Oh the choices.

I am actually considering testing out this list. Mostly because of the list title, but I think it could be fun to fly. I am not so sure about how competitive it is though....

A nice list - I've considered something similar. Omega Leader and Epsilon Ace are good ace hunters, and Omega Ace/Zeta Leader tag-teaming someone - even a big ship - can really mess it up.

If you have a weakness, it's to 4 medium fighters or a swarm - you have very good quality firepower but not too much of it; killing a B-wing or Y-wing can take quite a while....