When reading posts on how to make an effective list of Imperial squadrons, I have seen an overwhelming number of how-to's for Major Rhymer and his pals. However, I haven't seen much in the way of Imperial squadron lists that exist solely with the purpose of stopping enemy bombers from harrowing your capital ships.

In a game I played yesterday, I attempted to do exactly that. I brought a unit with the sole purpose of protecting my ISD-II Relentless and GSD-I Demolisher from the threat of enemy bombers, but it didn't work out as well as I had liked. My fighters managed to keep enemy bombers away from my ships for several rounds, but all save Soontir Fel had perished by the start of Round 5, and Soontir himself wasn't able to keep all the remaining enemy X-Wings (and a lucky shot from a corvette that I was barely in range of) from destroying the Relentless, costing me the game (due to the Objective being Most Wanted).

I also brought a hybrid Raider-I that was supposed to be able to deal some hurt but also stop squadrons.

Here is what I brought to stop enemy squadrons:

Raider-I Class Corvette (44 points)
- Instigator ( 4 points)
- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)
- Quad Laser Turrets ( 5 points)
- Expanded Launchers ( 13 points)

2 TIE Interceptor Squadrons ( 22 points)
1 TIE Advanced Squadron ( 12 points)
1 Soontir Fel ( 18 points)

Admittedly, I was a bit light on the actual squadrons, and the Soontir + TIE Advanced was a bit too cute to be effective.

My question is, how does one make an effective fighter screen to keep enemy bombers from destroying your capital ships, while retaining enough points to have your capital ships be as effective as possible?

Full list, for reference:

I was testing out some cards so if things look a bit random, that's because they are a bit random for testing how they work in-game.

Vader's Fist
Author: Saryn

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 399/400

Commander: Darth Vader

Assault Objective: Advanced Gunnery
Defense Objective: Fleet Ambush
Navigation Objective: Superior Positions

[ flagship ] Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (120 points)
- Darth Vader ( 36 points)
- Relentless ( 3 points)
- Director Isard ( 3 points)
- Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- XI7 Turbolasers ( 6 points)
- SW 7 Ion Batteries ( 5 points)

Gladiator I-Class Star Destroyer (56 points)
- Demolisher ( 10 points)
- Admiral Montferrat ( 5 points)
- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)
- Engine Techs ( 8 points)
- Assault Concussion Missiles ( 7 points)

Raider-I Class Corvette (44 points)
- Instigator ( 4 points)
- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)
- Quad Laser Turrets ( 5 points)
- Expanded Launchers ( 13 points)

2 TIE Interceptor Squadrons ( 22 points)
1 TIE Advanced Squadron ( 12 points)

1 Soontir Fel ( 18 points)

I would drop Director Isard, Montferrat and Expanded Launchers (21 points) and invest them in more squadrons. Perhaps even throw out the Ordnance Experts for an additonal 4 points, allowing two more Interceptors.Reduce the Raider to pure squadron defense.

Actually, I would move Montferrat to the Raider, and drop the QLT and Expanded Launchers. But I would agree with Stefan, you definately need more squadrons, because if your opponent has a dedicated anti-squadron force, what you have right now is little more than a speed bump.

I've used Howlrunner and 5 interceptors. that counter 3 (with a re-roll) you get with the interceptors is nasty. not to mention the 5 blue attack dice. if you can get an alpha strike, I try to keep howlrunner out of range of most of their fighters, and engage as many as I can with the interceptors.

it's 71 points, which is maybe a bit on the pricey side, but it's pretty effective

For a simple fighter screen (with the goal solely of engaging, tying up and ideally eating through enemy fighters and bombers), I find the combination of Howlrunner and Dengar, plus either ordinary TIE Fighters or (even better) Interceptors effective and affordable. There's a nice synergy between them - Howlrunner giving squadrons with swarm an extra blue dice (for both normal attacks and counter), and Dengar giving or adding to counter, as well as having intel to give you flexibility. Plus both have defence tokens, meaning they can stick around for longer.

So, for a squadron-light fleet, I will often take three TIE Fighters, Howlrunner and Dengar at 60 points. They essentially turn the TIEs into cheap interceptors (with 4 blue anti-squadron dice and effectively counter 2), whilst also benefiting themselves from being named squadrons. Take interceptors and they are brutal (5 blue anti-squadron dice and a whopping counter 4), but I'm usually trying to keep points down. Either way, I find they're usually enough to keep enemy fighters away from my capital ships, which is primarily what a fighter screen should do.

costing me the game (due to the Objective being Most Wanted).

I sincerely don't mean to insult your intelligence here, but you do know that Most Wanted does not grant additional dice to squadrons, right? I realize you didn't explicitly say that you thought it did, but it kind of sounds like you might have played it that way.

It is, I believe, still the only actual errata in the FAQ.

If you already knew this, carry on, nothing to see here.

costing me the game (due to the Objective being Most Wanted).

I sincerely don't mean to insult your intelligence here, but you do know that Most Wanted does not grant additional dice to squadrons, right? I realize you didn't explicitly say that you thought it did, but it kind of sounds like you might have played it that way.

It is, I believe, still the only actual errata in the FAQ.

If you already knew this, carry on, nothing to see here.

It cost me the game because of the extra points he got from felling the ship.

EDIT: A second question regarding the Instigator.

My opponent and I were a bit unclear on the full rulings of this title, and were too excited to play to spend more than a few minutes looking it up. Our cursory search didn't turn up anything conclusive. I don't believe this question came up in the game we had yesterday, but I still would like to be aware of the proper rule.

The Instigator title causes squadrons near to the Raider to be engaged. But, does it force opposing squadrons to attack the Instigator (as the name of the card and intuition seems to imply) or does it not? i.e. If the Instigator and another ship , say, a Gladiator, are both in attack range of squadrons, and no friendly squadrons are present, must those enemy squadrons attack the Instigator or are they free to attack either ship as they wish?

trollarious imperial fighter screen

Vader

Dengar

Mauler

Fel

Interceptors

Laugh as you basically create a wall that will break just about anything...Mauler and Fel alone are FANTASTIC about curb stomping ole Jan because if they aren't attacked/killed by her...she takes damage regardless.

Do you think that this is an appropriate change? I've sacrificed some power on the front arc of the Instigator for a few more squadrons, and I have switched Soontir Fel out for the "Counter 4" combination. Ideally, I would want those extra points to upgrade an Interceptor to Soontir, but I couldn't find room to trim anything from anywhere else in the list. Maybe the SW 7s? Never mind, those are a point short of squeezing in Soontir.

Vader's Fist v2
Author: Saryn

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 399/400

Commander: Darth Vader

Assault Objective: Advanced Gunnery
Defense Objective: Hyperspace Assault
Navigation Objective: Superior Positions

[ flagship ] Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (120 points)
- Darth Vader ( 36 points)
- Relentless ( 3 points)
- Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- XI7 Turbolasers ( 6 points)
- SW 7 Ion Batteries ( 5 points)

Gladiator I-Class Star Destroyer (56 points)
- Demolisher ( 10 points)
- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)
- Engine Techs ( 8 points)
- Assault Proton Torpedoes ( 5 points)

Raider-I Class Corvette (44 points)
- Instigator ( 4 points)

3 TIE Interceptor Squadrons ( 33 points)
1 "Howlrunner" ( 16 points)
1 Dengar ( 20 points)
1 "Mauler" Mithel ( 15 points)

EDIT: A second question regarding the Instigator.

My opponent and I were a bit unclear on the full rulings of this title, and were too excited to play to spend more than a few minutes looking it up. Our cursory search didn't turn up anything conclusive. I don't believe this question came up in the game we had yesterday, but I still would like to be aware of the proper rule.

The Instigator title causes squadrons near to the Raider to be engaged. But, does it force opposing squadrons to attack the Instigator (as the name of the card and intuition seems to imply) or does it not? i.e. If the Instigator and another ship , say, a Gladiator, are both in attack range of squadrons, and no friendly squadrons are present, must those enemy squadrons attack the Instigator or are they free to attack either ship as they wish?

They can attack either ship, as long as they are not engaged by any non-Heavy squadrons (the Heavy thing was debated at length and got an official email response a month or so back). The reason is the definition of that particular effect of engagement:

RRG 6 - Engagement

• When a squadron attacks, it must attack an engaged

squadron if possible rather than an enemy ship.

Because that rule specifies "an engaged squadron ," and there is no engaged squadron for it to attack, it is relieved of the restraint against attacking ships.

Because that rule specifies "an engaged squadron ," and there is no engaged squadron for it to attack, it is relieved of the restraint against attacking ships.

So is the Instigator title worth taking? It is obviously good when you can catch a fighter ball with the Raider as another ship moves off, but that's a bit of a niche use. I wonder if it's worth switching to Impetuous or dropping the title entirely and flying a naked Raider.

Because that rule specifies "an engaged squadron ," and there is no engaged squadron for it to attack, it is relieved of the restraint against attacking ships.

So is the Instigator title worth taking? It is obviously good when you can catch a fighter ball with the Raider as another ship moves off, but that's a bit of a niche use. I wonder if it's worth switching to Impetuous or dropping the title entirely and flying a naked Raider.

It's still pretty good. You don't really use it in place of a squadron screen, exactly, but rather as a supplement to a squadron screen. It makes a fantastic force multiplier for token squadron screens, because it negates the impact of intel on unlocking bombers. In practice, it becomes a very hefty speed bump. It is particularly powerful if you can use it to grab your enemy's intel squadron(s), because it locks them in place, allowing your own fighters to engage your enemy's bombers without fear of being intel'd.

For an example of Instigator being used to fantastic effect, you can check out this replay of Clontroper spanking my carriers while Instigator stiffarms my B-wings.

It all depends on cost.

* 32 points gives you 4 Ties which will be able to pin some squads and not much else.

* 56 points gives you Howlrunner and 5 Ties. This is a pretty nasty combination. To get max advantage use Flight Controllers and Squadron Commands. This is a personal favortie cheap, anti fighter ball.

* Interceptors/Howlrunner is more expensive but also more damaging

* 3-4 Aggressors is expensive but resilient/damaging and requires no squadron commands.

* Vader, Sontir, Punishing One, IG88, Mauler, expensive hero balls run into 70-100+ points. At this point you're playing squadrons.

It all depends on cost.

* 32 points gives you 4 Ties which will be able to pin some squads and not much else.

* 56 points gives you Howlrunner and 5 Ties. This is a pretty nasty combination. To get max advantage use Flight Controllers and Squadron Commands. This is a personal favortie cheap, anti fighter ball.

* Interceptors/Howlrunner is more expensive but also more damaging

* 3-4 Aggressors is expensive but resilient/damaging and requires no squadron commands.

* Vader, Sontir, Punishing One, IG88, Mauler, expensive hero balls run into 70-100+ points. At this point you're playing squadrons.

At this point, with the Vader's Fist v2 list, I'm sitting at ~85 points in squadrons. This is about the amount I was willing to spend (~22%) on preventative measures that protect my main plan - which is to smash through the enemy fleet with the two hardest-hitting guns the Imperials have at their disposal. If I were to spend more points than that, I would be skimping on the Relentless or the Demolisher . (And I'm already skimping by not bringing Intel Officers, which is probably a mistake, but that's another topic entirely.) I really wanted to play a Vader-led hard-hitting ship list, but I realized quickly that it's difficult to strike a balance between pimping out your ships and protecting them from bombing runs.

Because that rule specifies "an engaged squadron ," and there is no engaged squadron for it to attack, it is relieved of the restraint against attacking ships.

So is the Instigator title worth taking? It is obviously good when you can catch a fighter ball with the Raider as another ship moves off, but that's a bit of a niche use. I wonder if it's worth switching to Impetuous or dropping the title entirely and flying a naked Raider.

It's still pretty good. You don't really use it in place of a squadron screen, exactly, but rather as a supplement to a squadron screen. It makes a fantastic force multiplier for token squadron screens, because it negates the impact of intel on unlocking bombers. In practice, it becomes a very hefty speed bump. It is particularly powerful if you can use it to grab your enemy's intel squadron(s), because it locks them in place, allowing your own fighters to engage your enemy's bombers without fear of being intel'd.

For an example of Instigator being used to fantastic effect, you can check out this replay of Clontroper spanking my carriers while Instigator stiffarms my B-wings.

Basically if you don't have a Air superiority Wing(elite fighters, lots of interceptors etc.) You should probably Bring Instigator

Basically if you don't have a Air superiority Wing(elite fighters, lots of interceptors etc.) You should probably Bring Instigator

Is it overkill to have both? Does an Instigator Raider-I with no other upgrades have the appropriate firepower to contribute if the opponent brings a fighter-light or no-fighter list? If not, then about a third of my list, the Instigator and the spattering of Interceptors, would be nearly dead-weight in that game. I'm not confident that the Relentless and Demolisher could tackle, say, a list with like 3 Assault Frigate Mark IIs with Ackbar. (We call them "Space Potatoes".)

If you're going for maximum anti-squadron work, it seems like Mauler Mithel could get worked in there somewhere, points allowing. He still benefits from Swarm and other Howlrunner (and Dengar, potentially) goodness, but seems like his value increases the more enemy squadrons folks are bringing.

You could even use Chiraneau with him for some cheesy combo goodness; move him a little every round, even if he's already engaged, just to get the auto damage.

I haven't given it a shot yet (I tend to focus my squadron points on a Rhymer ball instead), but I might this weekend, just to experiment.

If you're going for maximum anti-squadron work, it seems like Mauler Mithel could get worked in there somewhere, points allowing. He still benefits from Swarm and other Howlrunner (and Dengar, potentially) goodness, but seems like his value increases the more enemy squadrons folks are bringing.

You could even use Chiraneau with him for some cheesy combo goodness; move him a little every round, even if he's already engaged, just to get the auto damage.

I considered putting Chiraneau on Relentless for some shenanigans, but after doing that there was an increasing temptation to just switch Relentless for the Corrupter carrier build and slap in Rhymer and his pals. And that is an entirely different list that I wasn't going for here. I could shave a TIE Interceptor from the current list, put in Chiraneau, but that begs the question: does the damage dealt by the Chiraneau/Mauler combination outweigh the damage that said TIE Interceptor could just dish out naturally and the added benefit of having one more squadron to engage enemies with?

I think Mauler's utility comes down entirely to how many mofos he can engage at once. How many are likely to be on the table at the first place, how many are likely to get clustered into a big furball for you to exploit, and how likely is your opponent to see what you've got cooking up (and try to target Mauler heavily, before you can pull it off)?

Me, I just feel like auto-damage, and auto-damage to more than one target, at least makes him worth bringing up. When you're specifically talking about just wanting your squadrons to wipe out enemy squadrons, I figure it doesn't hurt to make him part of the conversation.

I think Mauler's utility comes down entirely to how many mofos he can engage at once. How many are likely to be on the table at the first place, how many are likely to get clustered into a big furball for you to exploit, and how likely is your opponent to see what you've got cooking up (and try to target Mauler heavily, before you can pull it off)?

Me, I just feel like auto-damage, and auto-damage to more than one target, at least makes him worth bringing up. When you're specifically talking about just wanting your squadrons to wipe out enemy squadrons, I figure it doesn't hurt to make him part of the conversation.

I completely agree. I have included Mithel in the current iteration of the list, but I don't know how I could possibly squeeze in Chiraneau as well, or if he's worth in in this particular list. Especially since after Mithel gets focused down, you've got 10 points of Chiraneau sitting there not contributing nearly as much as it did while Mithel was still kickin'.

First off, how much "screen" is a question. Most of the time with a brutal ship killer list, I take only enough to avoid dying for 2, 2.5 or 3 turns. Depending on my needed investment. If my ships are really tanky, i only need 2 turns of relief.

First 2 turns likely no combat if you hold back. turns 3 and 4 will see start of ship combat but heavy fighter combat. turn 5 you make kills, turn 6 you're floating away.

so you only need a critical 2 or 3 turns.

Against heavy heavy squadrons and if you have ships that are helpless vs squadrons, I'd go for 3 turns.

For imps, they ahve the best tools:

option 1.

Howl

Dengar

2-4 Ints - 2turns of relief. All the ints have counter 4. Howl and Dengar combine on Counter.

(2 Adv) - easily 3 turns of relief. A lot to chew through and will block enemies from focusing Dengar and Howl.

option 2.

Dengar for intel

Mauler moves everyturn and does 1 AOE damage.

2 Tie adv

Add anything to taste. Vader, Howl, 2 ints, soontir. Boba Fett.

Also, consider using flight controllers on a VSD or a GSD. Or throwing in a Raider with Ordnance experts for extra activation will also be really good vs squadrons.

You ahve far too many upgrades. Take off some ordnance, ion cannons and turbolasers and isard. Put in Howl and Dengar and Mauler. There. Much better.

costing me the game (due to the Objective being Most Wanted).

I sincerely don't mean to insult your intelligence here, but you do know that Most Wanted does not grant additional dice to squadrons, right? I realize you didn't explicitly say that you thought it did, but it kind of sounds like you might have played it that way.

It is, I believe, still the only actual errata in the FAQ.

If you already knew this, carry on, nothing to see here.

It cost me the game because of the extra points he got from felling the ship.

EDIT: A second question regarding the Instigator.

My opponent and I were a bit unclear on the full rulings of this title, and were too excited to play to spend more than a few minutes looking it up. Our cursory search didn't turn up anything conclusive. I don't believe this question came up in the game we had yesterday, but I still would like to be aware of the proper rule.

The Instigator title causes squadrons near to the Raider to be engaged. But, does it force opposing squadrons to attack the Instigator (as the name of the card and intuition seems to imply) or does it not? i.e. If the Instigator and another ship , say, a Gladiator, are both in attack range of squadrons, and no friendly squadrons are present, must those enemy squadrons attack the Instigator or are they free to attack either ship as they wish?

The relevant part of the rule is that squadrons must attack engaged enemy squadrons (Heavy allows you to ignore this) "if possible." The Instigator does not actually place squadrons models on the board, is it is impossible to attack them. Thus, any squadron engaged only by Instigator can attack any ships in range.

You ahve far too many upgrades. Take off some ordnance, ion cannons and turbolasers and isard. Put in Howl and Dengar and Mauler. There. Much better.

Yeah, I'm still relatively new to this game, and am still getting over my tendency to over-upgrade.

Sometimes 2 TIEs and Instigator is enough...or just 4 TIEs.

This is a fairly effective setup thats cheap and effective and can be run from an ISD or VSD with a minimum of squad commands.

TIE Advanced - 12

Howl - 16

TIE - 8

TIE Int - 11

Flight Controllers - 6

53 pts

Adv strikes first, then Howl (taking care to maximize Escort coverage), the the TIE/INT in whatever order you want.

Not a magic wand by any means, but cheap and effective. Plus it looks good on the table