Hi guys! After 30 games with my Palp Ace variant list, I decided it's time for a change. I had a friend talk about how much fun he was having with Deathrain, so I decided to give it a go. I had never used mines or bombs before, but I've suffered them, and I've how much damage they can deal on mots ships, especially aces. I've only tested the list in the squad benchmark against the computer, so I take no credit from my wins, but It's helped me find out how to drop those pesky bombs.

The list:

Deathrain, AS, EM, Conner net, Proximity mines, EI

Inquisitor, PTL, Tie/v1, AT

OL, Juke, CR

98p

The idea is to get in the "furball" with Deathrain asap, so I can start dropping mines. Depending on what I'm facing, I can choose which mine to drop. What do you guys think? Is it viable in this wave 8 meta? Anything you'd change?

I think the ability to fling a guidance chip missile will really improve your matchups. I have been told you can only drop one mine/bomb per turn. If that's true EI is pretty wasteful IMO.

Inquisitor and Omega is 57 points. I think you can get a pretty savage meta squad with deathrain in there. EM connor on death is 32... That's 11 points to go man... Procket, homing, all kinds of options. I think your Inquisitor is going to have to do a lot of work early to set up a winning game in a lot of matches.

I guess you could use advanced sensors, drop a mine, barrel roll and then use experimental interface to focus/boost and reveal a green maneuvre to clear the stress. However, that is quite situational. So I agree with Jisforjets that experimental interface is a bit overkill.

And yes you cannot drop more than one mine per round, and guidance chips do not affect the dice roll of the proximity mine.

I'd actually drop proximity mines for either thermal detonators or ion bombs. In my opinion Deathrain functions best as a control-ship trying to mess up enemy aces and other pesky targets.

The rest looks fine, however the list may lack a bit of firepower. Sure looks fun though!

I think the ability to fling a guidance chip missile will really improve your matchups. I have been told you can only drop one mine/bomb per turn. If that's true EI is pretty wasteful IMO.

Inquisitor and Omega is 57 points. I think you can get a pretty savage meta squad with deathrain in there. EM connor on death is 32... That's 11 points to go man... Procket, homing, all kinds of options. I think your Inquisitor is going to have to do a lot of work early to set up a winning game in a lot of matches.

The ideal situation would be:

1. Move, ending close to the enemy.

2. Drop the mine as an action in the enemy's face, to make sure it's activated right away.

3. Take the free BR to clear arcs, avoid asteroids, etc.

If my movement fails to leave me in range, then my action would be to boost, in order to get there, and I would use EI to drop it on their nose. That would allow me to BR also, if needed, and then, take the stress.

If I go for the missile approach, I'd be better using Redline. Having 2 TLs on the same ship and FCS would allow me to fire cluster missiles with mods on both rolls, and still end up with another 2 TLs. But I really want to try Deathrain. I think a well placed proximity mine can ruin any shield-less ace (soontir, carnor, etc). Conner net is also useful to know where they're gonna end, and plan accordingly to focus fire on them when they're action less, or even making them fly off the table. But it's all theory crafting, as I've just played a few games on the squad benchmark, so I don't know if it will really work.

Thanx for the comments, I really appreciate it.

I guess you could use advanced sensors, drop a mine, barrel roll and then use experimental interface to focus/boost and reveal a green maneuvre to clear the stress. However, that is quite situational. So I agree with Jisforjets that experimental interface is a bit overkill.

And yes you cannot drop more than one mine per round, and guidance chips do not affect the dice roll of the proximity mine.

I'd actually drop proximity mines for either thermal detonators or ion bombs. In my opinion Deathrain functions best as a control-ship trying to mess up enemy aces and other pesky targets.

The rest looks fine, however the list may lack a bit of firepower. Sure looks fun though!

EI only works on cards equipped with the header "action", so it wouldn't work for a boost, TL, etc

AS lets you do an action, drop a mine with EI, BR, and get the stress. If your movemnt was green, you're unstressed.

Not really sold on EI as a "must", but I think it helps you drop those bombs easily.

I really thought proximity mines were one of the best ones against aces. You think thermal detonators or ion bombs are better?

Normally the detonators or ion bombs would be the bombs of choice in that build - you drop them the turn after you Connor Net something since they'll still probably be in range to get hit. Since you're running AS, Proximity Mines are definitely an option as well, but I might still consider the detonators. The mines do slightly more damage on average, but you need pretty precise positioning - the detonators are a little more flexible, and the stress token hurts. Don't think I can say without playtesting which is better.

And I really like that advanced sensors/experimental interface interaction with Deathrain. I can see it being somewhat situational, but I think the action economy makes it worth it. With that said, I do think the other posters have a point about wanting to get some ordinance on him - particularly with the action economy EI grants. You drop the proximities to ion bombs and you can fit in flechette torpedoes and still have a 1 point initiative bid.

Trying out the list tomorrow morning against a friend who likes using Imperial aces, but he's also played me using rebels. I'll post my results and impressions when I get home. If I see Deathrain dying too fast, I might do what you guys say and get rid of some bombs and get me some ordinance.

Deathrain is absurdly precise using bombs since he can use his front pegs to drop them. Giving him advanced sensors only helps with this, since he'll move before everyone else. Conner Nets and Prox mines can be reliably dropped on aces most of the time.

What I think I don't like about your original build is the EI. If memory serves, that gives you a "free action" that is on an upgrade card, meaning you have to take an action first, then your free one would be dropping a bomb. I'm not sure how the mechanic works out, but wouldn't you be assigned the stress token from EI before getting to perform the free barrel roll action (thus preventing the barrel roll)?

I run Deathrain as such:
(40) Deathrain, Fire Control System, Extra Munitions, Proton Torpedoes, Proximity Mines, Proximity Mines, Giudance Chimps. He's pretty spendy, but I run him with a Decimator:

(60) Kenkirk, Lone Wolf, Rebel Captive, Darth Vader, Ysanne Isard, Engine Upgrade

What I think I don't like about your original build is the EI. If memory serves, that gives you a "free action" that is on an upgrade card, meaning you have to take an action first, then your free one would be dropping a bomb. I'm not sure how the mechanic works out, but wouldn't you be assigned the stress token from EI before getting to perform the free barrel roll action (thus preventing the barrel roll)?

The stress from EI triggers at the same time as the free BR, so in the faq says I can choose the order.

I played 2 games today. My friend brought:

Corran, Adapt, R2-D2, SU, FCS

Ten Numb, Adapt, Title, Tactician, Mangler

Basic A-Wing, Chardaan refit

I got punched very hard. Deathrain did ok, dropping most of his bombs in both games, and surviving (due to time, he'd be dead if not). One conner missed Ten by a hair's width, and another one hit the A-Wing when I really wanted to leave it there for Corran to step on it (100% sure he'd bump it). My buddy's dice were more than hot, you could see the burning marks on his palm at the end hehe. No, seriously. What do you call a 4 CRIT roll on 4 attack dice with NO MODIFIERS? Or rolling 3 and 2 green dice respetcively, getting 100% evades? The only time he rolled below average (1 hit, 2 blanks), was when rolling for his own damage from the proximity mine... He didn't lose a ship all game...

2nd game things turned out a little better, but I had to trade my Inq for his A-Wing, due to Ten Numb's ability getting crits on me all the time that I couldn't evade. Ten Numb bit the dust when OL finished him up, but that same turn his A-Wing got crit, eye, eye having a focus on OL. I blanked all 3 dice (why not?) and the crit was a direct hit. As I had lost the shield last turn, OL went down. Then it was Corran+A-Wing vs Deathrain, so I managed to get it to time.

I don't want to take too many conclusions, as I think the matchup was already bad for me, and my opponent's dice were way too powerful. I'll have to test it some more, and learn from my mistakes.

I have been running Deathrain for a while and I love this ship/pilot. I have got the build down to -

Deathrain + advanced sensors + extra munitions + conner net + thermal detonators = 38pts

It's lean, tanky and massively disruptive. Been running it with buzz saw Whisper and either a Saber squadron pilot or Zeta leader + wired + twin ion engine mk2. At 99pts it give a bid for priority too