Z-95 swarm ordnance lists -- "chimps and Zees"

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Rabid Chihuahuas

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100 points

Tala Squadron Pilot (18) x 4

Z-95 Headhunter (13), Homing Missiles (5), Guidance Chips (0)

Tala Squadron Pilot (14) x 2

Z-95 Headhunter (13), XX-23 S-thread Tracers (1), Guidance Chips (0)

Or would this be better ...

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Concussed Chihuahuas

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100 points

Tala Squadron Pilot (14)

Z-95 Headhunter (13), XX-23 S-thread Tracers (1), Guidance Chips (0)

Tala Squadron Pilot (18)

Z-95 Headhunter (13), Homing Missiles (5), Guidance Chips (0)

Tala Squadron Pilot (17) x 4

Z-95 Headhunter (13), Concussion Missiles (4), Guidance Chips (0)

On the one hand, more missile damage in the latter. In the former, better two-target Alpha strike. Both will have a hard time against Soontir, so maybe insert Lt Blount ...

Even with Blount, Soontir will be tough for 6 z-95s (but not impossible---once you have TL + focus, you have a chance....)

Still, I think Blount is a must because with tracers, he guarantees pretty much 4 hits from each missile fired...

Blount w/ tracers = 18

tala w/ tracers + chips = 14

4 talas w/ concussions + chips = 17 x 4

100

First turn, everyone takes focus. Blount fires his tracers and hits automatically, giving everyone a TL on same target (and if it had stealth, its gone now!). Launch as many missiles it takes to nuke it. Next turn, its likely all of your ships will be in range 1 and if the 2nd tracer hits, they all have TL + Focus again! That's some pretty serious 2 turn firepower...

Thoughts on taking an ace out early along these lines:

Lt Blount with Tracers + VI (get the Tracers out early) 19 pts

3 x Bandits with Homers + Guidance Chips (change missiles as you like) 51 pts

Dagger Sqd with AS + B/E2 + Hera + TB (reduce Agility before the missile strike) 30 pts

Untried as yet.

(or 4 Chihuahuas and Mastiff?)

So I ran the Rabid Chihuahuas list (4x Homing, 2x S-thread) at our local Friday night tournament tonight. It did surprisingly well.

I went 3-0, beating a Whisper-Oicunn list (lost 2 x Zs), a Poe-Miranda-Gold list (losing 3 Zs), and a Redline-Inquisitor-2x Crack Sqd list (losing 1x Z).

I typically got off two Homing Missiles at the merge (boosted by a single S-thread), with normally two additional missiles later; in none of the games did every Z expend its missiles. Homing + TL/Focus + Chips is quite reliable damage.

You know, I missed a great opportunity to call this list "Chimps and Zees."

That is a much better title.

PS4 would be nice to take out U boats, you could do Blount and 1 Tala with tracers and with concussion. Should drop one scout before it can fire, the return fire kills 2Zs, worst case scenario, then you have a 4v2... not a bad matchup.

Looks like a good counter to u-boats at ps4. Beating them at their own game. The only thing is that there's a chance for them to one-shot a Z95. But the 2nd round of firing like blade said, at range 1 will totally be in your favor for some more damage likely bringing down the 2nd one where you probably haven't lost much. At that point you should be able to mop up with whatever's left.

So I ran the Rabid Chihuahuas list (4x Homing, 2x S-thread) at our local Friday night tournament tonight. It did surprisingly well.I went 3-0, beating a Whisper-Oicunn list (lost 2 x Zs), a Poe-Miranda-Gold list (losing 3 Zs), and a Redline-Inquisitor-2x Crack Sqd list (losing 1x Z).I typically got off two Homing Missiles at the merge (boosted by a single S-thread), with normally two additional missiles later; in none of the games did every Z expend its missiles. Homing + TL/Focus + Chips is quite reliable damage.

Originally I was in favor of just having more missiles instead of tracers, but Trqcers fix the low pilot skill TL acquisition problem. Do you find yourself target locking anyways just to be safe if tracers fail?

Originally I was in favor of just having more missiles instead of tracers, but Trqcers fix the low pilot skill TL acquisition problem. Do you find yourself target locking anyways just to be safe if tracers fail?

Not on the first pass when I was sure I could get tracers off, but usually after I would use individual TLs as the formation broke up. I only think I fired both tracers in one game, but it's useful to have a backup.

Plus keeping the TL from the Homing missiles is pretty handy, so I'm not sure if I'd trade down from Homing Missiles to up a tracer to something else (one Tracer in the list begs for Lt Blount). There may be a better missile mix than four Homing, though.

With 6 Talas, that's 22 points for ordnance. Blount + 5 Talas is 18 points for ordnance. So for example ...

22 points gives options of:

2x S-thread, 4x Homing [good thus far]

1x S-thread, 1x Homing, 4x Concussion [Good, but less guaranteed or flexible]

1x S-thread, 3x Homing, 2x IPM [More control]

(substitute Assault for Homing, or AHM for IPM, or Cluster for Concussion)

18 points gives options of:

2x S-thread, 4x Concussion

1x S-thread, 1x Homing, 4x IPM

1x S-thread, 3x IPM, 2x Concussion

1x S-thread, 1x AHM, 2x IPM, 2x Concussion

... etc.