So I've been looking for a way to make a Punisher squad as good as possible, and this has turned out to be the best I've been able to come up with. Has anyone had any success with similar lists? All advice or thoughts are welcome!

Captain Jonus w/ Adaptability, Thread Tracers and Guidance Chips

Redline w/ Fire Control System, Extra Munitions, Plasma Torpedoes, Concussion Missiles, and Guidance Chips

Deathrain w/ Advanced Sensors, Extra Munitions, Conner Net, Proximity Mines, and Twin Ion Engine

100 pts,

Jonus and Redline fly together, Jonus can fire his tracers first to give Redline his targetlocks against higher PS ships that may have moved into range after them. Deathrain can either cover them from behind, or forge ahead trying to hurt as much as he can with his advanced sensors and touch hit mines, potentially leaving much more vulnerable targets for Redline to pick apart. Easy to take down I know, but hopefully the amount of damage they can put out quickly will be able to mitigate how fast they can go down. Is this a smart idea, or would 2 cheap punishers be better, and use a 4th cheap filler ship?

Jonus is unnecessary with Redline, Redline will always be rerolling when he's shooting any ordnance anyway.

The generic punishers are not worth the points.

I don't know why I didn't put that together myself, too focused on Jonus not thinking about the double locks. Any ideas on what other ships would do well with the two of them instead? Epsilon Leader possibly?

For your list, I'd probably change the Concussion Missiles on Redline for Cluster Missiles and drop the MrkII engines and Jonus (as mentioned, his ability is redundant with Redline). That frees up 24 points for either a pair of Academy pilots for blocking or one of the cheaper aces.

Alternatively, if you drop the missile from Redline and strip Deathrain down to just Extra Munitions and a Connor Net you have enough points for a pair of TAPs with the V1 title...

That said, I'm looking forward to running the following once Imperial Vets is out:

Cutlass Squadron Pilot (29 points)

- Extra Munitions

- Proximity Mines

- Proximity Mines

- Long Range Scanners

Cutlass Squadron Pilot (29 points)

- Extra Munitions

- Proximity Mines

- Proximity Mines

- Long Range Scanners

Colonel Vessery (36 points)

-Tractor Beam

-TIE/D

Still has 6 points left to add Advanced Sensors on the Punishers or tool up Vessery more, but the basic idea will be to flood the board with mines and let Vessery throw foes into them. The long range scanners allow the Punishers to grab Target Locks early on for Vessery before they switch over to minelaying.

I like the above list. Don't know how competitive it would be, but looks like a lot of fun.

So I've been looking for a way to make a Punisher squad as good as possible, and this has turned out to be the best I've been able to come up with. Has anyone had any success with similar lists? All advice or thoughts are welcome!

Captain Jonus w/ Adaptability, Thread Tracers and Guidance Chips

Redline w/ Fire Control System, Extra Munitions, Plasma Torpedoes, Concussion Missiles, and Guidance Chips

Deathrain w/ Advanced Sensors, Extra Munitions, Conner Net, Proximity Mines, and Twin Ion Engine

100 pts,

Jonus and Redline fly together, Jonus can fire his tracers first to give Redline his targetlocks against higher PS ships that may have moved into range after them. Deathrain can either cover them from behind, or forge ahead trying to hurt as much as he can with his advanced sensors and touch hit mines, potentially leaving much more vulnerable targets for Redline to pick apart. Easy to take down I know, but hopefully the amount of damage they can put out quickly will be able to mitigate how fast they can go down. Is this a smart idea, or would 2 cheap punishers be better, and use a 4th cheap filler ship?

You can drop Jonus either for a pair of academy pilots, Zeta Leader w/ wired + comm relay, or a gamma squadron bomber w/ homing missiles, extra munitions & guidance chips.

For your list, I'd probably change the Concussion Missiles on Redline for Cluster Missiles and drop the MrkII engines and Jonus (as mentioned, his ability is redundant with Redline). That frees up 24 points for either a pair of Academy pilots for blocking or one of the cheaper aces.

Alternatively, if you drop the missile from Redline and strip Deathrain down to just Extra Munitions and a Connor Net you have enough points for a pair of TAPs with the V1 title...

That said, I'm looking forward to running the following once Imperial Vets is out:

Cutlass Squadron Pilot (29 points)

- Extra Munitions

- Proximity Mines

- Proximity Mines

- Long Range Scanners

Cutlass Squadron Pilot (29 points)

- Extra Munitions

- Proximity Mines

- Proximity Mines

- Long Range Scanners

Colonel Vessery (36 points)

-Tractor Beam

-TIE/D

Still has 6 points left to add Advanced Sensors on the Punishers or tool up Vessery more, but the basic idea will be to flood the board with mines and let Vessery throw foes into them. The long range scanners allow the Punishers to grab Target Locks early on for Vessery before they switch over to minelaying.

Interesting idea! I would definitely spend the last 6 points on Vessery. Give him Ruthlessness and hull upgrade. Those bombers don't need advanced sensors to do well, but Vessery needs to live as long as possible, and Ruthlessness will be gold: either your opponent will react to it and spread his ships out (making him more vulnerable to prox mines) or he'll stay in formation and suffer the extra damage...

This has kind of morphed into a Bomber list, but I liked the idea of a Defender with a tractor beam helping to use all these bombs.

Scimitar Squadron Pilot, Extra Munitions, Proximity Mines

Scimitar Squadron Pilot, Extra Munitions, Cluster Mines

Scimitar Squadron Pilot, Extra Munitions, Conner Nets

Onyx Squadron Pilot, xx-23s Tracers, Tractor Beam, TIE Mk II Engine

Same kind of idea as what was being floated, but with no unreleased cards yet, and bombers instead of punishers to give more of a possible hit to finish off what the mines don't, and a variety of bombs to give more versatility, or just mess with your opponent more. Ideas or thoughts?

Might just work! I would move the thread tracers to the proximity bomber though. There will never be a time where you want your TIE defender to 'waste' his shooting just to give everyone target locks. Besides, you don't need those TLs right away, and the bomber can fire last at a target with no defensive tokens to ensure everyone in gets their bonus TL for later (ideally a R1 shot w/ focus!)

I ran this Redline load out last night:

"Redline" (27)
Fire-Control System (2)
Extra Munitions (2)
Plasma Torpedoes (3)
Cluster Missiles (4)
Guidance Chips (0)

Total: 38

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

It's now my favorite build for him. With Clusters and Plasma he covers all range bands with ordnance and he's got versatility against different threats. Lots of shields? Throw a plasma at them. Low agility? Cluster them. He puts out a ton of damage. Fit some bombs in if you can, but that makes him even more expensive.

Another hypothetical minelayer list. No Defender in this one sadly, but the density of bombs might make up for it...

Cutlass Squadron Pilot (29 points)

- Extra Munitions

- Proximity Mines

- Proximity Mines

Cutlass Squadron Pilot (29 points)

- Extra Munitions

- Proximity Mines

- Proximity Mines

Scimitar Squadron Pilot (21 points)

- Extra Munitions

- Proximity Mines

Scimitar Squadron Pilot (21 points)

- Extra Munitions

- Proximity Mines

That's four mines a turn and a max of 12 on the table if they live to deploy them all. Alternatively, the bombers could swap their mines for some Proton Rockets and Guidance Chips to provide some more punch against tougher targets.

Another hypothetical minelayer list. No Defender in this one sadly, but the density of bombs might make up for it...

Cutlass Squadron Pilot (29 points)

- Extra Munitions

- Proximity Mines

- Proximity Mines

Cutlass Squadron Pilot (29 points)

- Extra Munitions

- Proximity Mines

- Proximity Mines

Scimitar Squadron Pilot (21 points)

- Extra Munitions

- Proximity Mines

Scimitar Squadron Pilot (21 points)

- Extra Munitions

- Proximity Mines

That's four mines a turn and a max of 12 on the table if they live to deploy them all. Alternatively, the bombers could swap their mines for some Proton Rockets and Guidance Chips to provide some more punch against tougher targets.

Ion pulse missiles perhaps instead of Proton Rockets? (To make it harder for your opponent to avoid mines). Does lack damage output though, but proton rockets on a bomber don't really fix that....

Well that list came up against a Deathrain, Mauler Mithil, Inquisitor, and Academy Pilot list, it made life frustrating for him, but Deathrain took out a bomber way too fast to come back from, live and learn right!

Ion pulse missiles perhaps instead of Proton Rockets? (To make it harder for your opponent to avoid mines). Does lack damage output though, but proton rockets on a bomber don't really fix that....

Yeah, the Ion missiles would probably be a bit better than the rockets. The main attraction the rockets had was that they are a 4 dice attack on Bombers with some innate modification ability. Still, the version with Vessery is probably a better list for two minelayer Cutlass pilots. Better synergy and more overall damage (particularly with the tractor beam).

Well that list came up against a Deathrain, Mauler Mithil, Inquisitor, and Academy Pilot list, it made life frustrating for him, but Deathrain took out a bomber way too fast to come back from, live and learn right!

Also, I ran the following today and it did fairly well.

Redline (34 points)

- Extra Munitions

- Plasma Torpedoes

- Fire Control System

- Guidance Chips

Gamma Squadron Pilot (22 points)

- Proton Torpedoes

- Guidance Chips

Gamma Squadron Pilot (22 points)

- Proton Torpedoes

- Guidance Chips

Gamma Squadron Pilot (22 points)

- Proton Torpedoes

- Guidance Chips

I played against a Scum Z-95 missile spam list with Mux (the hawk pilot who drops enemy ships to pilot skill 0) and Glitterstim on all the Z-95s. Redline nuked Mux down to 1 hull and destroyed a Z-95 while the bombers cleaned up everything else. Lost one bomber to cluster missiles and the other two were both down to 2 hull at the end. Redline survived with 4 hull remaining.

Question can you really put a Tractor Beam on a Defender?

And what about;

Accuracy Corrector will give u 2 hits each turn after your bombs are gone.

Cutlass Squadron Pilot (29 points)
- Extra Munitions
- Proximity Mines
- Proximity Mines
- Accuracy Corrector

Cutlass Squadron Pilot (29 points)
- Extra Munitions
- Proximity Mines
- Proximity Mines
- Accuracy Corrector

Colonel Vessery (36 points)
-Tractor Beam
-TIE/D

Question can you really put a Tractor Beam on a Defender?

Of course!

Here is what I ran in a few games last week:

http://xwing-builder.co.uk/view/473695/punisher-interceptor-and-two-fighters

While it is only one Punisher I found that the other ships(Fel and two Fighters) covered for the punishers weaknesses. The Fighters cab block opponents really well, in one game a well timed block allowed me to strip 4 shields off the Outrider in one turn of shooting, and Fell is able to hunt aces that could otherwise exploit the Punishers limited maneuverability.