At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'm going to talk about my pet squad again.

Alpha Fleet Officer

4x Alpha Sq. Pilot

Omicron Group Pilot (Adv. Sensors, Fleet Officer, Intelligence Agent)

100 points

There it is. I've been playing it to death, and so far I have won twice as often as I've lost (12W-6L, to be exact). Not super great, but SUPER FUN! So the bottom line is I am taking this to my first Store Championship of the season, and I'm stoked!!! But squad building doesn't stop with ships and upgrades; I need to decide what obstacles to bring, and I'm rather stuck, and could use your help. Below I've listed my pros and cons for each.

Debris (pros)

• Can still shoot if my ships land on it
• Only 1/8 chance of taking damage
• My TIE interceptors don't care too much about stress because Fleet Officer can grant them focus tokens

(cons)

• The shuttle loses Adv. Sensors if it starts on a debris token (asteroids do not concern him, admiral)
• It makes life even easier for Dash Rendar, one of our toughest match ups
• With stress being such a prominent part of the meta, stress granted from debris may not be so devastating to their tactics

Asteroids (pros)

• higher chance of doing damage to enemy ships
• If enemy ships land on asteroids they don't get to shoot, which is super bonus if they are turrets
• Intelligence Agent could let me block enemies onto asteroids to get the advantage listed above (same with debris, but it's less good)
• Shuttle cares less about hitting asteroids than hitting debris because it can still support

(cons)

• Really messes up my TIE interceptors if I land on them, or fly through them

Is there anything that I've missed? Is there something in the meta that I'm missing? Right now I'm leaning on taking the largest asteroid from the new Core Set, and the biggest debris tokens from the VT-49 Decimator and YT-2400 Freighter Expansion Packs, just to mess with other people that try taking the littlest obstacles. But little obstacles would also be great because it would make flying as a group a lot easier. Decisions, decisions...

Personally, I would go with asteroids, and not the biggest simply because you have 5 ships (one of which is the shuttle). I would take medium sized ones though, because small ones make for a very bad matchup against IG88s.

I don't see the downside being a problem. Your interceptors have excellent dials, so shouldn't have to worry about going over them unless you do it deliberately. With advanced sensors, the shuttle doesn't care unless you misjudge and your base lands on it. A little practice though, and that shouldn't happen

Debris I would only use for very specific squads. Keep in mind that debris carries an additional disadvantage: certain squads love it when you bring debris, giving them a significant advantage (such as Dash, IG88s, ships with wired and anything with action-independent abilities such as predator, gunner, vader, etc)

Thanks for the reply. Those are all good points you've made, and I think you've convinced me to take medium asteroids.

I don't see the downside being a problem. Your interceptors have excellent dials, so shouldn't have to worry about going over them unless you do it deliberately. With advanced sensors, the shuttle doesn't care unless you misjudge and your base lands on it. A little practice though, and that shouldn't happen

Actually, in my last match I intentionally landed on an asteroid with the shuttle to give chase to a ship. I needed the green maneuver to keep the Adv. Sensors + Fleet Officer combo, and I wasn't going to have any ship in arc anyway. I think you're absolutely right about asteroids over debris.

I'd go with Asteroids. If your struggling vs. Dash and Iggy you really want those big asteroids in there. A well flown shuttle can avoid Asteroids while it needs to; practice the self bumps.

Not sure if you want to be making changes right now to your list but here are a few thoughts to consider:

-Trade out one alpha for backstabber (or Zeta Ace or Even a crackshot Omega). Gives you a flanker to use tactically and can save you some points.

-If you did trade 1 out you have enough points for a Tactician on the shuttle instead of intel agent. Both have uses.

-How often do you really NEED advanced sensors? How often does your shuttle die first? If it usually does then your adv. Sensors are expensive for something might only work 1-2 times. Might give you enough for something a little more potent/flanking.

A quick reworking for me would probably look like:

Shuttle+ Fleet Officer

Zeta Leader + Comms Booster

Backstabber

Alpha X2

Same dice, Little more tactical options, less points in the shuttle, More HP. If you left comms off you could go with a Crack Omega instead and an init bid or keep the intel agent on the shuttle. There is a lot to be said for all the same PS but 3-4 dice shots (stabber + Zeta) shooting before a generic can get that PS Kill and you still have your alphas and shuttles for blocking.

Just some thoughts.

Those are good thoughts, and you're right that I don't really want to change it up so close to the tournament. The reason I like the Alpha Sq. Pilots is because I'm a TIE interceptor fanatic; that's all there is to it. Also, people do double-takes when they see 4 TIE interceptors across the table from them, then they let their guard down when they realize they are "just Alpha Squadron Pilots."

Advanced Sensors is critical. The shuttle usually dies close to the end, so I get plenty of use out of it, but more importantly I can block it in place with my interceptors and still get the focus tokens from Fleet Officer. I've also done a lot of practice with the squad, so I know how far the interceptors can extend their reach while still remaining in range of the shuttle to get the Fleet Officer before the shuttle moves.

I really like the "Backstabber" idea because part of my strategy is sending 1 or 2 Alphas up to flanking positions, so that fits perfectly. However, like you said, having all the Alphas at the same PS is very convenient, and it would mess me up to change it right now. If the PS 2's and 3's of the world give me a tough time this Saturday, I may try to switch it up for the next Store Championship at the end of the month.

EDIT: I forgot to add that Intelligence Agent is integral to the build because all my fighters are PS 1, and Intelligence Agent allows me to boost or barrel roll into a blocking position against Poe or Soontir, or to line up shots I would have otherwise missed. It's the only tool I've got against aces, aside from loads of dice.

Sounds good. I love interceptors and shuttles too... wish they could work better more of the time. I would still recommend a backstabber/Zeta/omega swap if you're already using flanking (long term not right before a tourny). Stabber still draws hate or if ignored is just a PS 6 interceptor with no boost and shaves 2pts. The FOs have the extra shield and if you're really big on more durability for at least one of your blockers at the loss of 1 dice, an epsilon with Comms booster will do the job at the same PS.

I've flown fleet officer shuttle a few times and I have to agree that the advanced sensors are integral. I find it sees a lot of use and its much easier to plan your shuttle's moves when its stress free, and at the same time, your opponent has a harder time predicting its moves (opponents sometimes move very differently when they know you've got that bloody stop move! )

For reference, my interceptor + shuttle list is:

Cursed Royals:

Omicron w/ advanced sensors + fleet officer = 27

2 royal guards w/ push & autothrusters = 27 x 2

Dark Curse w/ stealth = 19

100

I've also considered dropping the fleet officer + sensors for Palpatine, but I think that would just increase the amount of aggro the shuttle draws, causing it to die too quick...

Yeah, my set up has a good balance. Sure you could go for the shuttle first, but you're letting four 4-dice attacks come at you unopposed. Ideally they shoot the shuttle a little, but then it closes the distance or even bumps, causing them to switch targets. It doesn't always happen. More often than not people try to destroy one of the interceptors first. I like spreading them just enough that it makes it difficult for my opponent to concentrate fire, which is easy to do when there are only a few enemy ships.

Phew! I just finished putting up my battle report in the appropriate section of the forums. It has lots of pictures, so be sure to check it out! Thanks again for your advice.

Phew! I just finished putting up my battle report in the appropriate section of the forums. It has lots of pictures, so be sure to check it out! Thanks again for your advice.

Well its nice to see a non-meta list do well at a tourney! Nicely done!

When I first saw your list, my immediate thought was, how could you get autothrusters in there? But after reading your battle report, I can see how that is unnecessary. I don't think there's anything you could change to improve the list, honestly.