Because /x7 is just that good. The second attack becomes progressively lower value the less accuracy/mods you have, and losing /X7 loses some of the best accuracy options, particularly Juke, which is just tasty on Rexler in particular - giving you a potent offensive mod which doesn't take an action or cost focus is huge for him, because it means he can take a focus as his action and not use it so he can save it for his ability. If you could get Juke on /Ds I would say different, because Juke gets better the more attacks you throw. But I can't think of a way to do it.

/x7 also makes the Defender more... well, defensive, whereas /D paints a giant target all over it.

The 2 free points are just gravy.

/Ds with Rage might be interesting. But the real issue with /D for me is the lack of pilots with any real synergy with it except Vessery; it's why I hope Ryad has an ace ability for it.

I see your points in that, but still think even a generic with /D and Ion Cannon can be effective, especially if it draws attention to itself. Sometimes you can have different ships of different threat levels. Do they go for the generic Defender with /D? Or go for the aces? The generic firing last in the turn can maybe get the hits through on ships that have used their tokens. It adds control to the list. It's still pretty brutal, even if it doesn't modify both shots.

I think if you focus purely on mathwing efficiency numbers, you miss out on other aspects. You can have a lean list, but if it doesn't have other leverage than just jousting efficiency, it can fall flat sometimes.

The big argument against the /D title now, is the increasing number of alpha striking cards.

Hearing people talk about the alpha strike (which implies ordnance) just gets me excited. I've been working on it for over a year and it's great to see people actually talking about it now.

Because /x7 is just that good. The second attack becomes progressively lower value the less accuracy/mods you have, and losing /X7 loses some of the best accuracy options, particularly Juke, which is just tasty on Rexler in particular - giving you a potent offensive mod which doesn't take an action or cost focus is huge for him, because it means he can take a focus as his action and not use it so he can save it for his ability. If you could get Juke on /Ds I would say different, because Juke gets better the more attacks you throw. But I can't think of a way to do it.

/x7 also makes the Defender more... well, defensive, whereas /D paints a giant target all over it.

The 2 free points are just gravy.

/Ds with Rage might be interesting. But the real issue with /D for me is the lack of pilots with any real synergy with it except Vessery; it's why I hope Ryad has an ace ability for it.

I see your points in that, but still think even a generic with /D and Ion Cannon can be effective, especially if it draws attention to itself. Sometimes you can have different ships of different threat levels. Do they go for the generic Defender with /D? Or go for the aces? The generic firing last in the turn can maybe get the hits through on ships that have used their tokens. It adds control to the list. It's still pretty brutal, even if it doesn't modify both shots.

I think if you focus purely on mathwing efficiency numbers, you miss out on other aspects. You can have a lean list, but if it doesn't have other leverage than just jousting efficiency, it can fall flat sometimes.

I;m not sure I said anything particularly mathwingy? I certainly didn't intend to. I don't know jousting efficiency calculations from adam.

if you are like me and never play Epic

Just curious, why not play epic? It's a lot of fun...

I barely get time to play as it is... so I'd rather get in a few normal games rather than one game of epic (if even that) when I get to play.

Epic. doesn't really feel epic - to me.

Movement is clunky and time consuming.

The games take too long, and the mode suffers from imbalance, compared to the 100pt standard.

I like my games fast and furious, or protracted and in-depth.

Neither of which are true for X-Wing Epic.

^ to elaborate

It should feel like:

But instead feel like:

Vessery definitely gets /D He's a terror with it; that accuracy is ridiculous and only increased when you use it to force through a tractor beam hit via juke or crack shot and then follow up with another hit, and then the rest of the list follows up with more.

Virtually everyone else gets /x7 (and Juke ideally) unless the list demands otherwise IMO. Unless Countess Ryad has an amazing synergistic ability with /D.

Vessery probably should get the title, but this list does have me excited:

Colonel Vessery (35)

Juke (2)

TIE/x7 (-2)

Sienar Test Pilot (16)

Concussion Missiles (4)

Guidance Chips (0)

TIE/v1 (1)

Sienar Test Pilot (16)

Concussion Missiles (4)

Guidance Chips (0)

TIE/v1 (1)

Lieutenant Colzet (23)

Accuracy Corrector (0)

TIE/x1 (0)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

A really strong Alpha and Vessery has actual staying power by being able to grab evades. Colzet is there just for the lolz. I'm pretty sure STPs are going to take the place of Tempests for me . For the same points they can carry a missile and the excellent title. Not to mention their dial is outrageous. Boost too.

Vessery definitely gets /D He's a terror with it; that accuracy is ridiculous and only increased when you use it to force through a tractor beam hit via juke or crack shot and then follow up with another hit, and then the rest of the list follows up with more.

Virtually everyone else gets /x7 (and Juke ideally) unless the list demands otherwise IMO. Unless Countess Ryad has an amazing synergistic ability with /D.

Vessery probably should get the title, but this list does have me excited:

Colonel Vessery (35)

Juke (2)

TIE/x7 (-2)

Sienar Test Pilot (16)

Concussion Missiles (4)

Guidance Chips (0)

TIE/v1 (1)

Sienar Test Pilot (16)

Concussion Missiles (4)

Guidance Chips (0)

TIE/v1 (1)

Lieutenant Colzet (23)

Accuracy Corrector (0)

TIE/x1 (0)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

A really strong Alpha and Vessery has actual staying power by being able to grab evades. Colzet is there just for the lolz. I'm pretty sure STPs are going to take the place of Tempests for me . For the same points they can carry a missile and the excellent title. Not to mention their dial is outrageous. Boost too.

Put /D, Tractor and Crack Shot on Vessery, and Cluster Missiles on the TAPs. Laugh maniacally as your chosen target takes 6 shots against its reduced agility.

(this will be basically the list I'm running when Vets drops assuming that the Baron Of TAP dancing is 18 points with an EPT, only swapping the clusters for Juke and some initiative. Vessery + 3x Juking Barons)

So what is the consensus on the titles per pilot? Is it Vess wants the /D for the double target Ion or Tractor attack and Rex wants the X7 to reduce his points or what?

I can see Maarek wanting the X7 and Predator, I don't see the point in forcing his ability, just touch your glasses anime style when it happens and force your opponent to nose bleed flip to the back of the room when you pick the most annoying one. I can't see the /D and Marksmenship being a thing on Maarek, MMS is a dead card and needs to stay dead in my opinion. The issue I have with the Defender is being in IG88 territory and not actually being able to "defend" itself. Removing a defensive focus is just a silly idea to me.

Delta/Onyx/Glaive, I think want the X7 as well, that evade token is just too good to pass up.

Undisclosed pilot, I am HOPING has some awesome synergy with the /D title. Not sure what yet but a man can pray.

What are other people thoughts on this. is Vess the only real user of the /D?

Well the way I see it is this:

Vessery will of course be good as you say. He'll be the go-to tractor beam toter, and for once he'll actually work well with other Defenders in the list (who traditionally need to focus every round or be obliterated, rarely being given a chance to TL).

Rexler is going to see such a shift in his play style and utility it will be jarring almost. He usually ends up as an easy-rider HLC platform. Keeping his distance in order to get a range 3, and then range 2 shot if possible, before zipping away or trying to flank and BR for a range 1 before his 4-k to reengage at long range. Now, people will strip him down and strap-em's arse with an ACME Rocket, with whatever EPT they think will work. Predator, PtL (with Mk. II engine) for TL and Focus/BR, VI if they're cowards, zipping in and out of the fight like crazy. So, in other words, just like a Defender should be flown.

Maarek... I don't know what other people see for him, but I actually see him taking Rexler's old spot of tearing into high hull, low agility ships like Y-Wings and YT-1300s. Give him a Mangler Cannon and Calculation, and just wait until spending that focus makes sense, either after their VI pancake has already fired and you still have your token, or against a low PS turret-toter so they have a very real chance of being killed outright before their attack comes. Mangler cannon gives one crit, Calculation gives another, which means you're sorting through a possible 6 damage cards, making your chances of getting something beautiful very real indeed: Direct Hit, Blinded Pilot, Munitions Failure, Weapons Failure and Structural Damage all hurt a turret carrier a little more than most, but against Maarek specifically, Major Hull Breach will be terrifying. Suddenly every hit he lands gets to be cherrypicked. Of course, on a low PS ship that will be easier to deal with because your chances of being blocked are much slimmer, and you can take your action to flip it down (thus being denied a TL or focus for a round). Of course if you want to run a stripped-down version of him, you could just take x7 and Calculation. Cheaper, and it utilizes the new Defender toys more, but less fun in my book. Personally with almost 16 new players our local meta is extremely turret and pancake heavy. Though, now that I think about it, you could also give him /D, tractor beam, and Calculation... that feels very specifically like a Y-hunting build. Do it when you're approaching from the side, hit with the T-Beam, pull them into range 1 with 0 agility... yeeesssssssss that could work yesssss.....

Epic. doesn't really feel epic - to me.

Movement is clunky and time consuming.

The games take too long, and the mode suffers from imbalance, compared to the 100pt standard.

I like my games fast and furious, or protracted and in-depth.

Neither of which are true for X-Wing Epic.

I gotta agree. I feel like they should have just left capital ships to Armada and let X-Wing just be dogfighting.

Epic. doesn't really feel epic - to me.

Movement is clunky and time consuming.

The games take too long, and the mode suffers from imbalance, compared to the 100pt standard.

I like my games fast and furious, or protracted and in-depth.

Neither of which are true for X-Wing Epic.

I gotta agree. I feel like they should have just left capital ships to Armada and let X-Wing just be dogfighting.

To be fair, there are no capital ships in X-wing, even in epic. The larger ships we have are light patrol ships and transports. Perhaps this makes epic the wrong word to describe large scale battles.

2 Deltas and Vessery, all with x7 and Stealth Device, Vessery with Juke. As long as I keep to those Speed 3-5 maneuvers, I'll have 4 green dice with an evade and focus, should be defensive enough.

Epic. doesn't really feel epic - to me.

Movement is clunky and time consuming.

The games take too long, and the mode suffers from imbalance, compared to the 100pt standard.

I like my games fast and furious, or protracted and in-depth.

Neither of which are true for X-Wing Epic.

I gotta agree. I feel like they should have just left capital ships to Armada and let X-Wing just be dogfighting.

I disagree. I think you can tailor your lists with a few tricks to streamline game play. Also, not knowing the rules takes away for a lot of people. Once everyone knows the rules and you use tricks, it doesn't drag that bad.

1) use generic ships as much as possible.

2) pick different PS levels for these ships. Spread them out between players so you don't get one guy moving 12 Academy Pilots at PS 1.

3) combine them into little wings or squads of 3-4 ships so they should all be doing about the same maneuver or at least in the same direction.

It does take longer than a normal game, but experience and organization can make it much smoother. I tend to like it as it's different. 100 pt death matches get really boring to me.

Rexler Brath — TIE Defender 37

Push the Limit 3

Ion Cannon 3

Twin Ion Engine Mk. II 1

TIE/D 0

Ship Total: 44

Colonel Vessery — TIE Defender 35

Veteran Instincts 1

Tractor Beam 1

TIE/D 0

Ship Total: 37

Scimitar Squadron Pilot — TIE Bomber 16

Fleet Officer 3

TIE Shuttle 0

Ship Total: 19

It's pretty horrendous to be on the receiving end of this list, incredibly accurate control and damage.

I'd swap the cannons on the two named. Give Rexler the Tractor and Col. V the Ion. Also, the Tie Bomber won't be too much help due to different dials. I don't see the Bomber being close enough often enough.

No you want vessery shooting first so Rexler can spend the TL in worst case scenario, and whoever shoots first gets the tractor it either drops agility or forces them to spend tokens which is win win.

The bomber is a trap they see it pumping out tokens and go to take it out not realizing it's distracting them from the aces who are still perfectly capable of killing stuff without it.

Shuttle doesn't need to fire even once just stay in range of the aces.

Shuttle doesn't need to fire even once just stay in range of the aces.

Yeah, it's an advantage of the low PS. It's like a relay race, it just needs to run up to them and hand them the baton, and they can be on their merry way. You don't have to coordinate the end positioning going into the combat round. I like that.

Maarek

So what is the consensus on the titles per pilot? Is it Vess wants the /D for the double target Ion or Tractor attack and Rex wants the X7 to reduce his points or what?

I can see Maarek wanting the X7 and Predator, I don't see the point in forcing his ability, just touch your glasses anime style when it happens and force your opponent to nose bleed flip to the back of the room when you pick the most annoying one. I can't see the /D and Marksmenship being a thing on Maarek, MMS is a dead card and needs to stay dead in my opinion. The issue I have with the Defender is being in IG88 territory and not actually being able to "defend" itself. Removing a defensive focus is just a silly idea to me.

Delta/Onyx/Glaive, I think want the X7 as well, that evade token is just too good to pass up.

Undisclosed pilot, I am HOPING has some awesome synergy with the /D title. Not sure what yet but a man can pray.

What are other people thoughts on this. is Vess the only real user of the /D?

Well the way I see it is this:

Vessery will of course be good as you say. He'll be the go-to tractor beam toter, and for once he'll actually work well with other Defenders in the list (who traditionally need to focus every round or be obliterated, rarely being given a chance to TL).

Rexler is going to see such a shift in his play style and utility it will be jarring almost. He usually ends up as an easy-rider HLC platform. Keeping his distance in order to get a range 3, and then range 2 shot if possible, before zipping away or trying to flank and BR for a range 1 before his 4-k to reengage at long range. Now, people will strip him down and strap-em's arse with an ACME Rocket, with whatever EPT they think will work. Predator, PtL (with Mk. II engine) for TL and Focus/BR, VI if they're cowards, zipping in and out of the fight like crazy. So, in other words, just like a Defender should be flown.

Maarek... I don't know what other people see for him, but I actually see him taking Rexler's old spot of tearing into high hull, low agility ships like Y-Wings and YT-1300s. Give him a Mangler Cannon and Calculation, and just wait until spending that focus makes sense, either after their VI pancake has already fired and you still have your token, or against a low PS turret-toter so they have a very real chance of being killed outright before their attack comes. Mangler cannon gives one crit, Calculation gives another, which means you're sorting through a possible 6 damage cards, making your chances of getting something beautiful very real indeed: Direct Hit, Blinded Pilot, Munitions Failure, Weapons Failure and Structural Damage all hurt a turret carrier a little more than most, but against Maarek specifically, Major Hull Breach will be terrifying. Suddenly every hit he lands gets to be cherrypicked. Of course, on a low PS ship that will be easier to deal with because your chances of being blocked are much slimmer, and you can take your action to flip it down (thus being denied a TL or focus for a round). Of course if you want to run a stripped-down version of him, you could just take x7 and Calculation. Cheaper, and it utilizes the new Defender toys more, but less fun in my book. Personally with almost 16 new players our local meta is extremely turret and pancake heavy. Though, now that I think about it, you could also give him /D, tractor beam, and Calculation... that feels very specifically like a Y-hunting build. Do it when you're approaching from the side, hit with the T-Beam, pull them into range 1 with 0 agility... yeeesssssssss that could work yesssss.....

Maarek seems to not benefit from any title when you take Mangle Cannon into the consideration which I think hurts him a little bit. I like the idea of Calculation however but again, I think you should just be happy for when a crit is pushed through other then trying to force it .Totally agree with collecting the tears of Y wing / K wing / Large base ships with him though.

I had a game yesterday versus Han and Ten Numb to which I had two Black Sqd with Crackshot, Howlrunner with Swarm and Brath running Pred/HLC/Mk2 engines.

The opening engagement was brutal but I made a simple mistake which cost me the game. I went four forwards twice towards Han with Brath instead of four than two, this cost me a round of shooting and then a K turn through a debris field.

Still, the defender held its mantle, even when I rolled three natural blanks for evade dice, instead of exploding like a standard Imperial ship, I kept on trucking!

It just seems a waste to me, to bring Maarek and not actually make his ability work. It's entirely possible that you will not roll a single crit for the entire game naturally. At that point, why are you even spending the points to bring him in the first place, instead of a Glaive with x7 and Veteran Instincts? Or literally anything else?

Man, I sure do wish they'd release some more info. I'm dyin' over here. What does Ryad do? How much does a Glaive cost? I gotta knooooooowwwwww!

And I haven't really talked much about it previously but I am really curious to see what Systems Officer does. From what I can make out it reads "After you (execute a) ...maneuver... friendly (ship)... that sh(ip)..."

So maybe part of that is "...maneuver, choose a friendly ship (at some range). That ship (does something cool). They already have Fleet Officer for focus tokens, so who knows? Maybe Systems Officer gives target locks or something.

I'm really not wild about Maarek's ability on a Defender at all; neither of the new titles synergise with him, so he seems likely to be mostly a pilot skill and EPT slot with the off-chance of something cool happening.

It's a shame that they're set on keeping the same abilities on pilots who change ships within the same faction, because a new ability for Maarek that fitted better with the new titles would have been lovely.

I'm really not wild about Maarek's ability on a Defender at all; neither of the new titles synergise with him, so he seems likely to be mostly a pilot skill and EPT slot with the off-chance of something cool happening.

It's a shame that they're set on keeping the same abilities on pilots who change ships within the same faction, because a new ability for Maarek that fitted better with the new titles would have been lovely.

I see what you mean, but personally I'm glad they kept it. I always thought it was a cool, aggressive ability on an unmitigated piece of garbage ship. Now it's actually got the punch it deserves. (A crit-related ability on a 2 attack dice ship... what the hell were they even thinking?)

Just for fun though, do you have an ability in mind that you wish they'd have done instead? I'm curious.

I'm really not wild about Maarek's ability on a Defender at all; neither of the new titles synergise with him, so he seems likely to be mostly a pilot skill and EPT slot with the off-chance of something cool happening.

It's a shame that they're set on keeping the same abilities on pilots who change ships within the same faction, because a new ability for Maarek that fitted better with the new titles would have been lovely.

I see what you mean, but personally I'm glad they kept it. I always thought it was a cool, aggressive ability on an unmitigated piece of garbage ship. Now it's actually got the punch it deserves. (A crit-related ability on a 2 attack dice ship... what the hell were they even thinking?)

Just for fun though, do you have an ability in mind that you wish they'd have done instead? I'm curious.

Maarek's ability fit beautifully on the Advanced once the ATC came out...

I dunno, I really haven't thought much about it, to be honest, nor played enough TIE Fighter to know what he's really like. Except that he's force sensitive, so something around messing with focus preferably in an aggressive way would be cool - maybe turning an eye into a kaboom once per attack, or all eyes into kabooms if you spend a token.

E: though the former part is just Chiraneau's ability stripped of its range penalties so... I dunno.

E: the other Defender ablity I was thinking about was some wording to the effect of when you hit with a cannon secondary weapon that requires you to cancel all dice, do not do so, instead deal damage as normal then apply the hit effect. But that would be hyper-powerful so it would probably have to be mitigated somehow (1 lower primary die?) or go on a lower PS ship in order to make it less effective. It would potentially be a lovely ability for Ryad...

I was also thinking of it as a possibility for the ability of the Quadjumper, by the by - give it a tractor beam primary, but the tractor beam deals damage as normal, simiulating it being a beam designed for shifting capital ships and Eravana-sized freighters rather than fighters.

I'm really not wild about Maarek's ability on a Defender at all; neither of the new titles synergise with him, so he seems likely to be mostly a pilot skill and EPT slot with the off-chance of something cool happening.

It's a shame that they're set on keeping the same abilities on pilots who change ships within the same faction, because a new ability for Maarek that fitted better with the new titles would have been lovely.

I see what you mean, but personally I'm glad they kept it. I always thought it was a cool, aggressive ability on an unmitigated piece of garbage ship. Now it's actually got the punch it deserves. (A crit-related ability on a 2 attack dice ship... what the hell were they even thinking?)

Just for fun though, do you have an ability in mind that you wish they'd have done instead? I'm curious.

Maarek's ability fit beautifully on the Advanced once the ATC came out...

I dunno, I really haven't thought much about it, to be honest, nor played enough TIE Fighter to know what he's really like. Except that he's force sensitive, so something around messing with focus preferably in an aggressive way would be cool - maybe turning an eye into a kaboom once per attack, or all eyes into kabooms if you spend a token.

E: though the former part is just Chiraneau's ability stripped of its range penalties so... I dunno.

I've always hated that "Force sensitive" stuff. I mean in TIE Fighter, he's you. He's not a character in the game, just in the comics they made for the game. Actually, since he's from the game and you can fire all your cannons at once in that game, something neat might have just been "when attacking at range 1-2, you may add one attack die". Or just to really get weird with it, how about his ability is just "you may equip an additional (EPT) that costs 2 or less squad points." Represent the fact that as the player of the game, he's someone with skills above and beyond the other pilots around. That might have been fun. Plus it means you can't break it by adding a bunch of really good ones, and it would still work great with the titles.

A second EPT would be hilariously awesome on a PS7 Defender. Why yes I would like to be PS9 with Juke and /x7.

I think he was canonically force sensitive in the game though it isn't directly mentioned; he joined the Emperor's Hands and they were all force sensitive IIRC.

Something a bit more gamey might be interesting though - maybe represent the fact that the player was able to balance power between shields and weapons (IIRC) by saying that as an action he can add +1 die to attack and -1 die in defence or vice versa to a minimum of 1 of each. The player was also able to balance power into speed I think, so maybe something with changing the difficulty of manoeuvres in exchange for lower/higher attack/defence.

It just seems a waste to me, to bring Maarek and not actually make his ability work. It's entirely possible that you will not roll a single crit for the entire game naturally. At that point, why are you even spending the points to bring him in the first place, instead of a Glaive with x7 and Veteran Instincts? Or literally anything else?

I've said it before, but it bears repeating. The power of a Defender is that it's a Defender, not some great pilot ability its pilot has. Maarek is in a Defender, has the second-highest PS available, and has an EPT. That's pretty good right there. His ability is solid on the Defender platform because it has 3 red dice and can Target Lock. With the x7 title, you have a likely Evade token, which helps defend the ship if you take a Target Lock to increase your chances of rolling the crit. EPT? Whichever you want. Predator, Juke, Lone Wolf, VI, whatever makes the Defender a better fighter is going to make Maarek better. With just Target Lock or Predator re-rolls, he's getting that kaboom about half the time. That's pretty okay for me, considering what else he brings to the table.

I've said it before, but it bears repeating. The power of a Defender is that it's a Defender, not some great pilot ability its pilot has.

I know you have a staunch reputation for being an, ahh, Defender defender, but believe me you don't have to sell me on it. It's one of my absolute favorite ships in the entire game! I raised the point about taking Maarek though because for one point more or less you get the abilities of Vessery or Rexler, two very different and extremely formidable abilities. If you bring Vessery, you're probably taking lots of guys who can TL, or some sort of TL combo like ST-321 and Weapons Engineer to make full use of Vessery's ability. If you're taking Rexler (pre Vets) chances are you're taking HLC and Predator or PtL to get as many hits through without spending your focus.

So why then, if you're taking Maarek over one of them (or the undisclosed Countess Ryad) would you not do everything you can to make his ability work for you? Why leave it utterly to chance? I mean, maybe I'm just not a naturally lucky fellow, but I almost never get crits. And if I do, they're early in the game while my opponent still has their shields.

I mean really though man, I went through the roof with excitement when I saw that Maarek was going in a Defender. It was always three slaps to the face that he was in the Advance, and three more when it turned out that Farlander got to have one of this game's best abilities in one of its best ships. So you better believe I'm gonna try as many builds as I can to do this guy some justice. But getting "that kaboom about half the time"? Your dice must loooooove you!

I've said it before, but it bears repeating. The power of a Defender is that it's a Defender, not some great pilot ability its pilot has.

I know you have a staunch reputation for being an, ahh, Defender defender, but believe me you don't have to sell me on it. It's one of my absolute favorite ships in the entire game! I raised the point about taking Maarek though because for one point more or less you get the abilities of Vessery or Rexler, two very different and extremely formidable abilities. If you bring Vessery, you're probably taking lots of guys who can TL, or some sort of TL combo like ST-321 and Weapons Engineer to make full use of Vessery's ability. If you're taking Rexler (pre Vets) chances are you're taking HLC and Predator or PtL to get as many hits through without spending your focus.

So why then, if you're taking Maarek over one of them (or the undisclosed Countess Ryad) would you not do everything you can to make his ability work for you? Why leave it utterly to chance? I mean, maybe I'm just not a naturally lucky fellow, but I almost never get crits. And if I do, they're early in the game while my opponent still has their shields.

Reasons you might take Maarek

1.) You don't have a lot of other target locking ships in your list

2.) You want PS>6, because of Brobots, or perhaps something upcoming.

3.) You have a pilot ability that will activate a lot more often then Rex's does, and require less work in gear and actions to make it happen.

Basically, i expect Vessery to activate ~75% of the time if I have a squad built to support him. I expect Rex to activate maybe once a game, maybe none, he's there for PS8. I expect Maarek to activate about once every 2-3 turns. So if you don't want to build a squad around Colonel V., and you don't need PS 8, Maarek looks to be a pretty decent choice. He works at lots of different points levels, and does similar things to Rex over time (Rex flips all at once, Maarek slowly doles out high quality crits) at 1 less PS and probably one less point. He can be built and played a little more defensively than Rex, though, because all Maarek needs is for one crit to go through to start tearing a big target down, whereas Rex needs quite a few damage cards through at once.