Howdy!

I know Baa and Vorpal have done something similar recently, where they threw their fate upon the mercy of the forumites. The results were spectacular (Vorpal 'got stomped' 2-4 while Baa obviously couldn't even bring himself to report on his experience ) and so I thought I'd get in on a bit of that 'wisdom of your peers' thang for the upcoming UK Open... It's going to be a crazy weekend, with about 300 people expected I think.

So, I present to you with my three current favourite lists, one from each faction. I'm definitely open to tweaks, do-overs, etc., so let me know if you see something that needs changing on any of them. Bear in mind that these aren't some complex form of masochism (a la Baa!) but three builds that I rate very highly:

"I find you lack of faith baffling", 100pts
Omicron Group Pilot (25)

Lambda-Class Shuttle (21), Electronic Baffle (1), Darth Vader (3)

“Whisper” (41)

TIE Phantom (32), Agent Kallus (2), Fire-Control System (2), Veteran Instincts (1), Advanced Cloaking Device (4)

The Inquisitor (34)

TIE Advanced Prototype (25), Push the Limit (3), Proton Rockets (3), TIE/v1 (1), Autothrusters (2)

Jonathan Reinig's Badboys, 100pts

Bossk (44)
YV-666 (35), Crack Shot (1), Concussion Missiles (4), K4 Security Droid (3), 4-LOM (1)

Dengar (56)
JumpMaster 5000 (33), Deadeye (1), Extra Munitions (2), Plasma Torpedoes (3), Recon Specialist (3), R4 Agromech (2), Punishing One (12)

Chihuahua Storm, 100pts
Green Squadron Pilot (20) x 5 A-Wing (19), A-Wing Test Pilot (0), Chardaan Refit (-2), Adaptability (0), Autothrusters (2), Crack Shot (1)

So, two of the three lists aren't of my making, which makes me swing towards my doomshuttle 2.0 list, a list designed to deal with palp aces and bully generics. The inquisitor's protons and Whisper's standard nastiness should be enough vs triple scouts too, but to be honest I'm a little concerned here, as I haven't had much of a chance to try it out against the big fish in the meta.

But the other two lists are both very competitive and a lot of fun to fly. Reinig's Bossk/Dengar list is a horrible brute of a list, is only two ships, so it suits what will be a long day (hopefully 2). It has the nastiest alpha strike, with a great PS vs most alpha lists. From the little I've played of it, it's a ton of fun.

Whereas the classic 5 greens gives you such a great combination of manuever, damage spikes and insane defence. Plus I just about have all the cards I'd need to play it at tournament, which is a rarity in itself

So tell me, oh forum dweller, what is my fate?

#1 ...cuz Vader

Reinig's list is the most interesting. And it has done very well.

I think your doom shuttle list will give you a frustrating number of games where Vader crew is either plinking crits onto fat targets like a ghost or wasting single crits on a shielded ace. This is doubly true if defenders show up by then. But they probably won't.

I'm also going to Yavin and still don't know what to fly, but my general advice is to take the list that you'll have the most fun flying, so at least you'll have a good time even if you don't make the cut.

That being said, I prefer maneuverable lists myself so I'd go for either 1 or 3. I recently flew an Echo/Inquisitor/Omega Leader list that was both fun and effective, and I also combined 3 "chihuahuas" with Miranda, which also worked well for me.

I'm going to Yavin and I despise that A-Wing Crack Swarm...haven't come close to beating it yet. Don't take that ;-p

I assume the Scum list comes with a side of Chips as well.

I assume the Scum list comes with a side of Chips as well.

Reinig's list is an interesting beast, Taste, it's true. I watched the final of that regional, where he deleted Zuckuss in the initial pass! It also kind of punishes (pun intended) its opponent if they elect to fire at dengar in the opening pass, as he's sitting on 2 focus, and therefore can double tap his plasmas. That's great, as obviously you want Dengar for the end game, and there's a lot of hps to chew through in the list, so your opponent is further incentivised to chase Bossk, instead of spreading the damage around

The scum list will take a really really good knowledge of how to fly a Yv-666, what's your experience flying one? They're a hotel in space if you don't practice.

And that's a problem. My experience is ... less than 10 games I'd say. It could lead to a 'frustrating' kind of day!

In terms of familiarity, doomshuttle, whisper, inquisitor are miles ahead, I've flown those ships almost too much! Then the 5 A-wings, I'm pretty comfortable with that lists' maneuvers and dynamics. The Reinig list would be a bit of an unknown quantity, which, now I've typed it down, doesn't sound too good

If it calls to you, get practicing. I ran Bossk all Store Championship and I surprised people with what it could do, but you need to be extra careful these days with Jumpmasters being a thing. Bossk's achilles heel was always Heavy alpha strike and Ion cannons, and they do the former really well. You need to get the perfect range on turn 2-3.

Reinig's list is the most interesting. And it has done very well.

I think your doom shuttle list will give you a frustrating number of games where Vader crew is either plinking crits onto fat targets like a ghost or wasting single crits on a shielded ace. This is doubly true if defenders show up by then. But they probably won't.

Imperial Veterans is not legal for Yavin anyway, whether it comes out in time or not.

Much to Ashley's disappointment.

I like the look of #1 the most - it's got a lot of solid potential, and Vader can be a massive worry to a lot of Imperial aces.

That said, Dengar is currently my favourite ship to fly and that looks like an incredibly painful first turn for your opponent - particularly if they decide to shoot at Dengar...

Whichever one you know best and fly best and most enjoy.

In particular, don't do Bossk/Dengar without a decent amount of practice, both those ships fly WEIRD compared to what you might be used to from running Imp Aces.

its actually closer to 500 people now

I like your first list, but I'd consider dropping the Prockets for initiative choice against other Imperial Ace lists.

I like your first list, but I'd consider dropping the Prockets for initiative choice against other Imperial Ace lists.

Agreed, I wouldn't want to take Whisper without at least two points of bid.

Jonathan's list is awesome and a complete blast to fly. Be a bit careful with Bossk though. He tends to melt away pretty quick. I wrecked a Tie swarm in 20 minutes with it this past weekend, but it cost Bossk his life in the first turn of combat. Granted he is supposed to be the one that dies first to allow Dengar to ravage in the late game, but it made me a bit uneasy still...

I like your first list, but I'd consider dropping the Prockets for initiative choice against other Imperial Ace lists.

Agreed, I wouldn't want to take Whisper without at least two points of bid.

Thanks guys, but perhaps you could clear this up for me? I'm a little confused by this approach, to be honest. Who is the bid for?

Not Soontir, who wants to hand you the initiative anyway.

Not Han, who's a rare old bird these days.

Not Poe or Vader, who laugh at PS9.

Not Jax, brobots, Kavil, etc.

That seems to leave ... Dengar and mirror matches? I'm loathe to spend 3pts on a bid just for those two ships...

I like your first list, but I'd consider dropping the Prockets for initiative choice against other Imperial Ace lists.

Agreed, I wouldn't want to take Whisper without at least two points of bid.

Thanks guys, but perhaps you could clear this up for me? I'm a little confused by this approach, to be honest. Who is the bid for?

Not Soontir, who wants to hand you the initiative anyway.

Not Han, who's a rare old bird these days.

Not Poe or Vader, who laugh at PS9.

Not Jax, brobots, Kavil, etc.

That seems to leave ... Dengar and mirror matches? I'm loathe to spend 3pts on a bid just for those two ships...

To be honest I wouldn't take initiative against Soontir. I still play Phantoms taking initiative only when my opponent can guarantee a shot on Whisper at PS9. Also allows your Inquisitor to beat other Inquisitors and OL in the standart Palpace list.

List 1 is most interesting and I think the best. But you need to remove the baffle for a 1 pt bid IMO. Baffle isn't even close to necessary on the shuttle. I don't know how familiar you are with the shuttle but I've never seen a top level player use it.

That said 2 hard 2 hard for a turn around sounds nice. But I've never needed to do that either.

Thanks Blail - if I do go for the Doom list, and I do decide to take a bid, I'll probably drop the Inq's prockets for a 3pt bid instead of the baffle.

I get what you're saying about how rare it is, but to be honest, it's been some time since I've seen anyone running a doomshuttle, let alone a baffled one. And I happen to rate it as a really decent upgrade on that ship, one that makes it more flexible, and a much better area-denial ship. I've found that a double full-stop is a much more useful move with the doomshuttle, by the way, than a double 2 hard.

Whichever one you know best and fly best and most enjoy.

In particular, don't do Bossk/Dengar without a decent amount of practice, both those ships fly WEIRD compared to what you might be used to from running Imp Aces.

A lot of you are making this case, and to be honest, I think you might be right. The double scum list is what my heart's telling me, but my head knows that I can fly the other two much more convincingly.

Whichever one you know best and fly best and most enjoy.

In particular, don't do Bossk/Dengar without a decent amount of practice, both those ships fly WEIRD compared to what you might be used to from running Imp Aces.

A lot of you are making this case, and to be honest, I think you might be right. The double scum list is what my heart's telling me, but my head knows that I can fly the other two much more convincingly.

The head is the right call. The heart will hate you when you screw up because you don't know the ships and lose a bunch of games you could have won with the head list.