So im building a list for a tournament this weekend, and Want to fly a Crack-shot swarm. I have 6 Tie's so I have enough, here's what I'm Thinking.
Thee Black-Cracks, Wampa, Howl with Crack, and Dark Curse. I really wanted to fly either the Inquisitor or try out Valen, but I don't want to work with that expensive of a ship. And I think Wampa and Dark Curse are pretty good anyway.
Thoughts? What do you guys like to fly for swarms these days?
gotta be Omega Leader
there is no superior tie Pilot, not with so many modifiers flying around nowadays
Omega L (juke relay; aka the only way to fly) 4 black cracks and a Wampa make a list
I wouldn't bother with Dark Curse. You want to capitalize on your alpha-strike as much as possible.
Zeta Leader or Scourge with Crack Shot is good. If you have some extra points, give Howlrunner a Hull Upgrade.
With an evade token, you can at least force 3 Scouts lists to use at least 2 missiles on her.
Howlrunner with a mix of Black and Omega Squadron. You can alternatively downgrade one of the Omegas to a Black Squadron, and give Howlrunner a hull upgrade. The strength of crack swarms is the combination of pure dice efficiency against low-agility targets, and the pressure that crack shot exerts against high-agility aces who rely on tokens (something that regular TIE swarms struggle against). The named TIEs don't necissarily play into those strengths, and so I think it's best to go generic."Howlrunner" (18)Crack Shot (1)Black Squadron Pilot (14)Crack Shot (1)Black Squadron Pilot (14)Crack Shot (1)Black Squadron Pilot (14)Crack Shot (1)Omega Squadron Pilot (17)Crack Shot (1)Omega Squadron Pilot (17)Crack Shot (1)Total: 100
I believe this is what has been winning multiple store championships down here.
Howlrunner with a mix of Black and Omega Squadron. You can alternatively downgrade one of the Omegas to a Black Squadron, and give Howlrunner a hull upgrade. The strength of crack swarms is the combination of pure dice efficiency against low-agility targets, and the pressure that crack shot exerts against high-agility aces who rely on tokens (something that regular TIE swarms struggle against). The named TIEs don't necessarily play into those strengths. I like Dark Curse, Wampa and Omega Leader, but including them lowers the pressure on the high-agility aces, since they have to face fewer "crack-shot-able" defense rolls, and so can simply spend their defense tokens."Howlrunner" (18)Crack Shot (1)Black Squadron Pilot (14)Crack Shot (1)Black Squadron Pilot (14)Crack Shot (1)Black Squadron Pilot (14)Crack Shot (1)Omega Squadron Pilot (17)Crack Shot (1)Omega Squadron Pilot (17)Crack Shot (1)Total: 100
I would definitely suggest considering dropping one of the Blacks down to Wampa, getting the initiative bid, and adding another cheap threat to mess with your opponent's targeting priority.
Howlrunner with a mix of Black and Omega Squadron. You can alternatively downgrade one of the Omegas to a Black Squadron, and give Howlrunner a hull upgrade. The strength of crack swarms is the combination of pure dice efficiency against low-agility targets, and the pressure that crack shot exerts against high-agility aces who rely on tokens (something that regular TIE swarms struggle against). The named TIEs don't necessarily play into those strengths. I like Dark Curse, Wampa and Omega Leader, but including them lowers the pressure on the high-agility aces, since they have to face fewer "crack-shot-able" defense rolls, and so can simply spend their defense tokens."Howlrunner" (18)Crack Shot (1)Black Squadron Pilot (14)Crack Shot (1)Black Squadron Pilot (14)Crack Shot (1)Black Squadron Pilot (14)Crack Shot (1)Omega Squadron Pilot (17)Crack Shot (1)Omega Squadron Pilot (17)Crack Shot (1)Total: 100
I have used this exact list a number of times. Lost in the finals of the last tournament I was in (14 players)
I run the following quite succesful (will be on a tournament this saturday with it):
Howlrunner with Stealth Device, Crack Shot
Youngster with Expose
Wampa
3x Black Squadron Pilot with Crack Shot
it's "only" 4 Crack Shots, but the Alpha Strike is much better with 3 dice and Howl. So far it worked out really well against different lists. Last game Wampa was MVP, got a total of 3 crits (=3 autohits) thanks to Howl and Expose, one of them was the final blow against Vader :-)
I know that Howl and Focus is a bit better then Expose, but you can never score 3 hits per TIE with only Focus - you may have a better average damage output (but not much) but the extra die is really valuable against Aces and high health ships.
gotta be Omega Leader
there is no superior tie Pilot, not with so many modifiers flying around nowadays
Omega L (juke relay; aka the only way to fly) 4 black cracks and a Wampa make a list
This build works around the obvious issue of Palp Aces wrecking your day. If you can kill one ace with the Cracks, you can neutralize the other with Omega.
The Howl + Dudes one is more like a normal swarm, but suffers just like a normal swarm too. Double Ace lists just don't care that much. You can probably kill one ace, but the second one will likely tear you apart from there.
I agree, OL + 4xCrack + Wampa is my vote.
I run the following quite succesful (will be on a tournament this saturday with it):
Howlrunner with Stealth Device, Crack Shot
Youngster with Expose
Wampa
3x Black Squadron Pilot with Crack Shot
it's "only" 4 Crack Shots, but the Alpha Strike is much better with 3 dice and Howl. So far it worked out really well against different lists. Last game Wampa was MVP, got a total of 3 crits (=3 autohits) thanks to Howl and Expose, one of them was the final blow against Vader :-)
I know that Howl and Focus is a bit better then Expose, but you can never score 3 hits per TIE with only Focus - you may have a better average damage output (but not much) but the extra die is really valuable against Aces and high health ships.
The math does not support your conclusion at all. Consistently dealing 2 + potential Crack >> Doing sometimes 3, every once in a while, but more likely only 1-2 + Crack. Sure, if your opponent's green dice go on a streak you might get lucky the latter way, but more often than not you are leaving damage on the table with Expose.
Howlrunner with a mix of Black and Omega Squadron. You can alternatively downgrade one of the Omegas to a Black Squadron, and give Howlrunner a hull upgrade. The strength of crack swarms is the combination of pure dice efficiency against low-agility targets, and the pressure that crack shot exerts against high-agility aces who rely on tokens (something that regular TIE swarms struggle against). The named TIEs don't necessarily play into those strengths. I like Dark Curse, Wampa and Omega Leader, but including them lowers the pressure on the high-agility aces, since they have to face fewer "crack-shot-able" defense rolls, and so can simply spend their defense tokens."Howlrunner" (18)Crack Shot (1)Black Squadron Pilot (14)Crack Shot (1)Black Squadron Pilot (14)Crack Shot (1)Black Squadron Pilot (14)Crack Shot (1)Omega Squadron Pilot (17)Crack Shot (1)Omega Squadron Pilot (17)Crack Shot (1)Total: 100
I would downgrade an Omega to a Black just to upgrade the other Omega to Zeta Leader.
I run the following quite succesful (will be on a tournament this saturday with it):
Howlrunner with Stealth Device, Crack Shot
Youngster with Expose
Wampa
3x Black Squadron Pilot with Crack Shot
it's "only" 4 Crack Shots, but the Alpha Strike is much better with 3 dice and Howl. So far it worked out really well against different lists. Last game Wampa was MVP, got a total of 3 crits (=3 autohits) thanks to Howl and Expose, one of them was the final blow against Vader :-)
I know that Howl and Focus is a bit better then Expose, but you can never score 3 hits per TIE with only Focus - you may have a better average damage output (but not much) but the extra die is really valuable against Aces and high health ships.
The math does not support your conclusion at all. Consistently dealing 2 + potential Crack >> Doing sometimes 3, every once in a while, but more likely only 1-2 + Crack. Sure, if your opponent's green dice go on a streak you might get lucky the latter way, but more often than not you are leaving damage on the table with Expose.
Against Aces you need that sometimes 3. I have 3 + Howl, and several of them, + crack. Also, Wampa scores crits more often as you can also roll 3 + Howl. Haven't done the math, but I played the "normal" 7 and even 8 TIE swarm a lot, and Exposter (+Howl of course) is an improvement.
Also, I don't have to use Expose, I can do the normal Focus or evade if I want to.
Edited by ShaadeaThe Omegas are also very nice against scouts. It is not impossibly hard to 1-shot a 3 hit point tie fighter, but much harder 1-shot the 4 hit point variant with the scout torp.
Maybe try: OL with Juke & Comm. Howl with Juke. 3x Omegas with Juke 99 points, only 5 ships, but gives you a post game ace.
Personally, I would try to maximize you offensive output with a crack shot swarm. In the age of the Uboat menace, you REALLY want to kill one of those things before it fires. I know Starslinger was very close to making Top8 at Hoth running Howl, 4 Blacks, 2 Omegas, all with Crack shot. I'm interested in the version mentioned above using Zeta lead+Black instead of 2 Omegas. This gives you a very decent chance to 1 round kill a Palp shuttle which is a big boon against Palp ace lists.
Both Wampa and Omega Leader are good, but those two tend to play the long game, whereas a crack swarm plays the alpha strike game. I would personally try to up the potential Alpha strike odds, since leaving a Uboat or Lamdba at 1 hull left and letting it fire back is a BIG downer.
There are a few troubles with Blacks with Crack Shot:
1. PS4 is good against some things, but very bad against many others.
2. Crack shots are great for the alpha strike, but they are a one-time use. Once the crack shots are gone, now you just have a PS4 TIE fighter.
3. All of the lists mentioned so far are Howlrunner dependent. Without Howl, the efficiency drops off significantly.
Instead, here is what I am flying lately, and consider it against your Black Crack Swarm:
Howlrunner with Swarm tactics
Mauler with Crack Shot
Scourge with Crack Shot
Backstabber
Wampa
Academy Pilot
98 points for init bid. (I've been flying Chaser over the AP, but I think I need a PS1 blocker and the init bid more.)
Howlrunner swarms Wampa to a PS8, who will then shoot before Mauler and Scourge, thus becoming more likely to trigger Scourge's ability.
It's got 3 "Extra Dice" attackers in the given situations. It's not Howl dependent. (I mean, she's nice, but if she dies first, I'm still rolling 3-4 dice attacks often.) Plus my attacking PS is 8, 8, 7, 7, 6, 1 (or 4, depending), which means I will be getting my shots off before your Black Crack Swarm, likely taking at least 1 off of the board before they get to shoot. I also have a blocker to foul up your tight formation. Plus it's better vs Brobots and other higher PS builds, I think.
True, it only has 2 Crack Shots, but it has 3 TIEs that are capable of rolling 4 dice, possibly with Howlrunner and focus as well. And man, that second combat round, those 4 dice hurt. I can split Backstabber off from the group and make you pick your poison. It's a better long game squad over CrackBlacks IMO.
Just something to consider.
The best alpha strike you can get is with
Howlrunner + Crack Shot (19)
Zeta Leader + Crack Shot (21)
Black Squadron Pilot + Crack Shot (15)
Black Squadron Pilot + Crack Shot (15)
Black Squadron Pilot + Crack Shot (15)
Black Squadron Pilot + Crack Shot (15)
13 red dice instead of max 12 in any other version of Crack Swarm, and you have the full six Crack Shots. There are other versions that have different advantages (e.g. including OL for late game), but for overwhelmingly disintegrating the first thing you get in your sights this is my favorite version. Howlrunner is also critical for that initial damage. It's true that she'll die quickly, but she's easily worth the four extra points if you get off even one round of shooting with her alive.
I was trying desperately to make an all Tie/LN squad but the points for Scourge et al. felt a bit much and Phild0 convinced me quite rightly that Omega Leader with VI is great to drop in. There were a few games where he managed to stay back for a turn or two and then just dominated the endgame. He also took enough fire that Howlrunner tended to survive a bit longer. So it's not my creation, but Howlrunner + CS, Wampa, 3 Black Squads + CS, and Omega + VI did pretty well for me. An academy for blocking though might be necessary now.
Edited by PenguinBonaparteThere are a few troubles with Blacks with Crack Shot:
1. PS4 is good against some things, but very bad against many others.
2. Crack shots are great for the alpha strike, but they are a one-time use. Once the crack shots are gone, now you just have a PS4 TIE fighter.
3. All of the lists mentioned so far are Howlrunner dependent. Without Howl, the efficiency drops off significantly.
Instead, here is what I am flying lately, and consider it against your Black Crack Swarm:
Howlrunner with Swarm tactics
Mauler with Crack Shot
Scourge with Crack Shot
Backstabber
Wampa
Academy Pilot
98 points for init bid. (I've been flying Chaser over the AP, but I think I need a PS1 blocker and the init bid more.)
Howlrunner swarms Wampa to a PS8, who will then shoot before Mauler and Scourge, thus becoming more likely to trigger Scourge's ability.
It's got 3 "Extra Dice" attackers in the given situations. It's not Howl dependent. (I mean, she's nice, but if she dies first, I'm still rolling 3-4 dice attacks often.) Plus my attacking PS is 8, 8, 7, 7, 6, 1 (or 4, depending), which means I will be getting my shots off before your Black Crack Swarm, likely taking at least 1 off of the board before they get to shoot. I also have a blocker to foul up your tight formation. Plus it's better vs Brobots and other higher PS builds, I think.
True, it only has 2 Crack Shots, but it has 3 TIEs that are capable of rolling 4 dice, possibly with Howlrunner and focus as well. And man, that second combat round, those 4 dice hurt. I can split Backstabber off from the group and make you pick your poison. It's a better long game squad over CrackBlacks IMO.
Just something to consider.
With only 2 crack shots, it's not really a crack swarm any more. 
However, it's an interesting swarm build.
Urgh, the aesthetics of mixing /ln with /fo are just plain wrong. I can't bring myself to do it!
Out of curiosity, what would be the rebel equivalent of this type of list or is there one?
Green Squadron Pilot (19)
Adaptability (0)
Chardaan Refit (-2)
Crack Shot (1)
Autothrusters (2)
A-Wing Test Pilot (0)
Green Squadron Pilot (19)
Adaptability (0)
Chardaan Refit (-2)
Crack Shot (1)
Autothrusters (2)
A-Wing Test Pilot (0)
Green Squadron Pilot (19)
Adaptability (0)
Chardaan Refit (-2)
Crack Shot (1)
Autothrusters (2)
A-Wing Test Pilot (0)
Green Squadron Pilot (19)
Adaptability (0)
Chardaan Refit (-2)
Crack Shot (1)
Autothrusters (2)
A-Wing Test Pilot (0)
Green Squadron Pilot (19)
Adaptability (0)
Chardaan Refit (-2)
Crack Shot (1)
Autothrusters (2)
A-Wing Test Pilot (0)
Total: 100
View in Yet Another Squad Builder
I run the following quite succesful (will be on a tournament this saturday with it):
Howlrunner with Stealth Device, Crack Shot
Youngster with Expose
Wampa
3x Black Squadron Pilot with Crack Shot
it's "only" 4 Crack Shots, but the Alpha Strike is much better with 3 dice and Howl. So far it worked out really well against different lists. Last game Wampa was MVP, got a total of 3 crits (=3 autohits) thanks to Howl and Expose, one of them was the final blow against Vader :-)
I know that Howl and Focus is a bit better then Expose, but you can never score 3 hits per TIE with only Focus - you may have a better average damage output (but not much) but the extra die is really valuable against Aces and high health ships.
The math does not support your conclusion at all. Consistently dealing 2 + potential Crack >> Doing sometimes 3, every once in a while, but more likely only 1-2 + Crack. Sure, if your opponent's green dice go on a streak you might get lucky the latter way, but more often than not you are leaving damage on the table with Expose.
He's right, Expose just mathematically is worse than taking a focus. Do yourself a favor, put Expose back in the binder and forget it ever exists.
Anyone tried this yet?
Youngster + Rage (19)
Epsilon Leader (19)
OSP + Crackshot X4 (60)
Urgh, the aesthetics of mixing /ln with /fo are just plain wrong. I can't bring myself to do it!
I know right!!!!