I have always loved the Tie Defenders. They are by far my favorite Imperial ship and probably my favorite X-Wing ship currently in the game. I love the new title cards but the problem is deciding which one to use. Do you want to be more aggressive or more defensive. What I really want to do is run a three defender list but I am not sure it will be competitive enough to run in a competitive tournament. Here is the three Defender list that I want to try out.

Maarek Stele (38)

- Tie/D

- Tractor Beam

- Calculation

- Twin Ion Engine Mk.II

Onyx Squadron Pilot (30)

- Tie/x7

Onyx Squadron Pilot (30)

- Tie/x7

Total 98pts

I like this squad a lot also. Maarek takes a focus action to try and deal a face-up damage card to the defender and try and get that direct hit. He also uses tractor beam to place the enemy ship on an asteroid or at least lower their agility by one. Then the Onyx pilots try and finish it off. The squad has an initiative bid so the Onyx pilots can fire before before any other PS 3 pilots. The big question, is Calculation going to come into play that often or would Veteran Instincts be more useful?

The problem I see is that w/o action economy or a way to clear tokens, unless you roll very well you will need that focus. Maarek IS going to get focused fired, and you can't fire again until PS 3 meaning your ace is going to get shot up early, likely w/o his focus, and might bight it. Worst part is, if the enemy had shields it wont matter. As someone who LOVES running a 3 X-wing (T-65) Rogue Squadron, I know what you are going for, and my key to having even mild success is a massive amount of damage before the enemy can return, and a lot of action economy. If you could get some of those on this list I think there is serious potential, but at this point it looks to me that Maarek will end up like a non-arc dodging Wedge, focused and dead... Sorry if I sound harsh

How would you feel about a pair of Defenders and an interceptor, I think I can work that out. If you want 3, lets see if we can get some double attacks off, using the title and cannon slot, to do some more damage before you lose one.

Not harsh at all. I really want to run three Defender squadron but looking for suggestions on how to make it work well. What about this list?

Countess Ryad (35)

- Tie/D

- Tractor Beam

- Adaptability +1

Glaive Squadron Pilot (32)

- Tie/x7

Glaive Squadron Pilot (32)

- Tie/x7

All three ships fire at the same time. The Countess will usually go first with the Tractor Beam and then the two Glaive pilots. With Countess Ryad's ability you should have no problem keeping my target in arc.

I think we are getting somewhere here, I like that you have some skill so now mid-level aces aren't ripping your leader apart while your generics watch... Let me experiment with this a little, and I will get back to you later, I truly want this to work too ironically because I love aces and ambitious squadrons. Also I should note a lot of this is still going to come down to skill, so if my suggestion is totally not what you like, please ignore it. You are better flying a squad you know inside out then one someone else gave you, my earlier commentary is just what I would do seeing that list. You seem to like that tractor, should I keep it on for any builds I make?

The problem I see is that w/o action economy or a way to clear tokens, unless you roll very well you will need that focus. Maarek IS going to get focused fired, and you can't fire again until PS 3 meaning your ace is going to get shot up early, likely w/o his focus, and might bight it. Worst part is, if the enemy had shields it wont matter.

This is pretty much true. A lot of people see Maarek's ability and right away they think 'calculation!' but its not really the best choice for Maarek unless you take other ships of higher PS or have a way to pass Maarek focus tokens.

I have been running Vessery alongside a pair of Onyx squad pilots to some good success, but the biggest issue is keeping the one Defender with TIE/D alive. Its pretty much a no-brainer for your opponent to go after that ship since it represents the highest firepower ship in your squad AND is the easiest to kill (since it doesn't get the free evade like the other two in your squad).

I think it can work if you are very good with getting an ideal approach and using the onyx as blockers against other higher PS enemies (or focus fire vs lower PS enemies), but if you don't line up everything perfectly, you can run into trouble...

Just for the record, here is the list I've been using (on VASSAL):

Vessery w/ crack shot, TIE/D, tractor beam & hull upgrade = 40

2 onyx w/ X-7 = 30 x 2

100

Its simple: One of the Onyx gets close enough to grab a TL for Vess, and I try to position them either to get good shots or blocks (depending on the opponent). Vessery simply has to avoid being in everyone's firing arc to limit the amount of damage he takes. Crack shot is incredible on him. Bye bye stealth device! He really has no trouble dealing with Soontir (provided you get him in arc of course). The onyx are tanky enough to close out a lot of matchups too (because Vessery rarely makes it through the entire match).

Ultimately though, you will have an easier time coordinating your approach and protecting your ships if all three have the same title:

triple deltas w/ TIE/D + ion cannon = 99

triple onyx w/ X-7 + hull upgrade = 99

triple glaives w/ x-7 + crack shot = 99

Those are three examples of triple trips that will be easier to use (compared to 1 named + 2 generic), and they are all highly effective (provided you practice flying them and getting ideal approaches!)

How about this?

Ryad (34)

- PTL (3)

- TIE Mk. II (1)

- TIE/X7 (-2)

Glaive (34)

- TIE/X7 (-2)

- Adaptability (0)

Glaive (34)

- TIE/X7 (-2)

- Adaptability (0)

All three ships are pretty survivable, and you can bump the Glaives up to PS 7 or down so they move with Ryad depending on the matchup. Plus Ryad with PTL is a monster given the green K-turns.

Ok I just typed this out but wasn't logged in so in brief:

Vesery: Marksmanship, Ion Cannon, Tie/D

Ryad: Outmaneuver, Tie/D, Ion Cannon

Mithel: Juke

This is only 2 defenders, but what you get is a bit of action economy, a lot of control, and a lot of synergy. Vesery and Ryad set shots up for each other, Ryad should lock targets to help Vesery who will marksmanship, ion, and then have a target lock and offensive focus with his main gun. Ryad will stay at 1 and ion then shoot, using her slow k's to compensate, Mauler flies close and flanks. If you did a flechette on Vesery, Mauler could have predator and you would have a fiendish stress ion combo. I know it isn't all three sorry, I just don't see this ship shining in that format, like the E-wing, it's amazing with investment but lackluster otherwise.

I took a defender and 2 fo's to store champs with reasonable success. Of course with everyone's favorite: Vessery. New titles have me looking really hard at:

Vessery 35

-tie/D 0

-tractor beam 1

-adaptabillity 0

Glaive squadron 34 (x2)

-tie/X7 -2

-adaptabillity 0

It's a little light on upgrades, and I figure it may have problems with super ace lists (not terrible though cause defender k turn). If you focus fire though the damage output will be absurd, and all in at ps 7 is not a terrible place to be. Makes fighting most generics trivial. Gives you a leg up on non VI brobots. Also, when they can arc dodge, judicious white k turn. Vessery will be glass even with his stats, but 3 3 dice attacks against anything with -1 agillity feels so deadly.

Bleak Squadron, what was your Defender & FO list? I've been playing with Vessery or Rexler Brath + a couple of TIEs (Vessery & Omega Leader + an Omega decoy and a Black crack for example)

My defender and FO list (credits for the idea to biophysical) was the following:

Colonel Vessery 35

-hlc 7

-veteran instincts 1

-TIE mkII 1

Omega Leader 21

-juke 2

-comm relay 3

-stealth device 3

Zeta Leader 20

-wired 1

-comm relay 3

-hull upgrade 3

I placed 4th and 5th at different events with this. Some feed back I recieved fron the forum is to move the hull upgrade from zeta to Vessery, and I believe that to be a good idea. Zeta is the last target typically and is really survivable even without the hull. Vessery hit like a truck (full mods and 4 dice at all ranges), but felt like he was made of paper. (never underestimate a-wings with prokets, especially jake farrel, 5 damage every time). Oddly the goal is to do as much damage as possible with vessery even if he burns out for it, and trying to keep omega around for the end game. One of my favorite games with this list was taking apart a 7 tie swarm (typically 2 ties a turn, zeta leader was extremely effective there).

@blade_mercurial: good advice as always. But one thing I think we'll see a lot of is folks only being able to buy one copy of Imperial Veterans, so they won't have enough titles for three defenders. I know I'll be in that boat. So here's my take on the Maarek + 2 defenders squad.

2x Delta Squadron Pilot (30)

Ion Cannon (3)

TIE/D (0)

Maarek Stele (35)

Veteran Instincts (1)

TIE/x7 (-2)

100 points

I'm not sure how much VI is doing over, for example, Crackshot, but I like that it kind of mimics how I felt playing the TIE Fighter video game. And I think TIE/D Ion Delta's are awesome.

@blade_mercurial: good advice as always. But one thing I think we'll see a lot of is folks only being able to buy one copy of Imperial Veterans, so they won't have enough titles for three defenders. I know I'll be in that boat. So here's my take on the Maarek + 2 defenders squad.

2x Delta Squadron Pilot (30)

Ion Cannon (3)

TIE/D (0)

Maarek Stele (35)

Veteran Instincts (1)

TIE/x7 (-2)

100 points

I'm not sure how much VI is doing over, for example, Crackshot, but I like that it kind of mimics how I felt playing the TIE Fighter video game. And I think TIE/D Ion Delta's are awesome.

I agree with you that if you want to run 3 defenders and not all same title, then making the named guy the one carrying X-7 makes a lot of sense (since that's usually the more valued target).