Hi all!

I went to my first two tournaments in February and March running a Vessery/Vader/Omega Leader list. (Bonus fact: my first ever tournament match ended in a draw.) The concept was pretty simple: Omega Leader and Vader both love target locks, Vessery loves target locks even more, what could go wrong? It turns out two things could go wrong: Vessery explodes in two shots, or Vader doesn't quite manage to put through enough damage. Thinking ahead to Imperial Veterans, problem number one is easily solved. Problem number two? Well:

Whisper (32)

+ Advanced Cloaking Device (4)

+ Fire Control System (2)

+ Adaptability (0)

+ Agent Kallus (2)

Omega Leader (21)

+ Comm Relay (3)

+ Juke (2)

Colonel Vessery (35)

+ Veteran Instincts (1)

+ TIE/x7 (-2)

Total: 100

Yeah, I know, Whisper isn't at PS9. I'm also finding it very hard to accept that. But hear me out: everyone at PS8 is obviously great for movement purposes, but it also has a good synergy when attacking. With the Vader version, I had to choose - focus fire, meaning Vessery had fewer possible targets for his ability should the primary target be out of arc, or spread fire to try and get Vessery's ability off as much as possible. Here, I can kind of have it both ways: so long as Whisper and Vessery both have arc on the same ship, I can always get Vessery's TL (because of FCS). (This would also be possible with Whisper at PS9. Shhhh. This way I can also shoot with Vessery first, potentially get a kill, and then Whisper shoots someone else and grabs a new TL. More efficient that way.) I can even run Whisper at PS6 for those situations when--okay, no, I got nothin'.

Obviously I'd be worried against PS9+ (and PS8 if I lose the initiative roll), but Kallus mitigates that a bit - designate the high PS ace, take an evade action if necessary, and you're going to be stopping two damage in most cases. Also, Omega Leader and Vessery are (or will be, in Vessery's case) both strong endgame ships, so if my opponent is going after Whisper I'm pretty happy.

The other option, of course, is swap VI and Adaptability around.

So! Thoughts? Does this seem viable? Or should I just stick with Vader? I'm a bit worried about giving up Hull Upgrade on Omega Leader (way better than Stealth Device, imo).

I would try looking at the Tie/D title instead and giving Vess an Ion Cannon. This boosts the power of his TLs even more and rather helps with the issue of damage. How about something like this:

35 Vader, EU, Title, ATC, VI

26 Omega Leader, Juke, Comms Relay

39 Vessery, Tie/D Ion Cannon, Crack Shot

I like it. Omega Leader to a degree hammers a high PS ace if you meet up with one. I'm a big fan of beating aces with blocking, and that Whisper will still be very dangerous even against ships with higher PS.

I came up with something similiar.

TIE/fo Fighter: · "Omega Leader" (21)

Juke (2)

Stealth Device (3)

Comm Relay (3)

TIE Avanced Prototype: · The Inquisitor (25)

Push The Limit (3)

Autothrusters (2)

TIE/v1 (1)

TIE Defender: · Colonel Vessery (35)

Veteran Instincts (1)

Ion Cannon (3)

TIE/D (0)

my version is

Vessery+VI+D title+Shield+Tractor beam

Inquisitor +PTL+V1+ Ion MK2

Omega Leader+Juke+Comm Relay+Stealth device

I was inspired by your list and came up with my own Triple 8 list, which is outlined below:

Whisper (32), ACD (4), FCS (2), Adaptability (0), Agent Kallus (2) = 40

The Inquisitor (25), PTL (3), TIE/v1 (1), Autothrusters (2) = 31

Omega Leader (21), Comm Relay (3), Juke (2), Stealth Device (3) = 29

Total Points = 100

As someone who runs Echo PS9 is overrated

just fly Whisper more carefully and you should be ok

I would try looking at the Tie/D title instead and giving Vess an Ion Cannon. This boosts the power of his TLs even more and rather helps with the issue of damage. How about something like this:

35 Vader, EU, Title, ATC, VI

26 Omega Leader, Juke, Comms Relay

39 Vessery, Tie/D Ion Cannon, Crack Shot

I'm definitely going to look into the TIE/D title as well, but my hunch is that I'd rather have the extra survivability. The Ion Cannon would make Vess (nice to see someone else call him that) even more of a target, and in my experience he goes down fast enough as-is. I do like the synergy with his ability going off on both attacks, though, so I'll give it some thought.

I like it. Omega Leader to a degree hammers a high PS ace if you meet up with one. I'm a big fan of beating aces with blocking, and that Whisper will still be very dangerous even against ships with higher PS.

Yeah! Phantoms are really good at blocking now, which I think really isn't taken advantage of enough. It's like people are still trying to fly them like they used to, that doesn't work, and then they give up, thinking Phantoms are no good now.

my version is

Vessery+VI+D title+Shield+Tractor beam

Inquisitor +PTL+V1+ Ion MK2

Omega Leader+Juke+Comm Relay+Stealth device

This thread is really making me realise how many possibilities there are for this kind of list. I think Vessery is going to see a /lot/ of play once Veterans is out. (I wonder how many generic TAPs + title you can get to accompany Vessery? That could make for an interesting list.)

I'm still going to have to go with Hull Upgrade over Stealth Device, though. I've played Omega Leader a lot, and there have been plenty of situations where I took the one damage rather than spend the evade - it's worth it to (nearly) guarantee a kill, or to try and get damage through on an ace.

As someone who runs Echo PS9 is overrated

just fly Whisper more carefully and you should be ok

That's what I'm hoping for. Good to hear it works! (I love Echo. Nothing throws people off quite like Echo. On the balance I think Whisper is still better, but I might try this list with both and see what I like more.)

i actually think Echo's ability is more useful because you get a lot more maneuverability from it and is a lot harder to guess where they are going

i actually think Echo's ability is more useful because you get a lot more maneuverability from it and is a lot harder to guess where they are going

Thinking about it, this is especially valuable under new decloak rules - you become much harder to block, and conversely it becomes much easier to block your opponent. Maybe this is worth exploring...