Gamma Squadron Veteran, Crack Shot, Homing Missile, and Long Range Sensors, with Extra Munitions = 27 points x2 = 54

Rexler Brath, VI, Ion/D, Homing Missile, Guidance Chips = 46 points

All 3 ships get Target Locks against almost anything, and all 3 are more likely to have 4 hits than not. The squad can alpha strike off a Jumpmaster, and any of them can threaten a Palp ace, especially the Gammas, because they can Crack Shot through perfect Evade rolls. Rex's PS10, 2 shots, and control effect is powerful against anything.

I proxied 2 Gamma Vets with Plasma Torps, Concussion Missiles, LRS and Crackshot alongside Vessery with V.I, TIE/D and Tractor Beam.

It nearly killed a Falcon in one turn.

You prefer brath over stele or Vessery here?

You prefer brath over stele or Vessery here?

Yes, pretty much to get the Homing Missile off against aces on the first turn.

At least 'the black one' has games against this. It still has no games against Deadeye.

At least 'the black one' has games against this. It still has no games against Deadeye.

I had considered that, but he can only ditch one Lock, and he's weak to the Ion Cannon, so I think it's okay. Worth testing, though.

You prefer brath over stele or Vessery here?

Yes, pretty much to get the Homing Missile off against aces on the first turn.

It's an interesting idea, for sure. So you're paying the 2 point tax to get from PS9 to PS10, just to be sure you'll win the bid? Hmm. I guess an initiative bid would have achieved less, and risked not pulling off that shot. But I'd worry that a single homing missile isn't enough to properly tag a Soontir or Inquisitor anyway (while the Gammas have better odds on that one, for sure.)

You prefer brath over stele or Vessery here?

Yes, pretty much to get the Homing Missile off against aces on the first turn.

It's an interesting idea, for sure. So you're paying the 2 point tax to get from PS9 to PS10, just to be sure you'll win the bid? Hmm. I guess an initiative bid would have achieved less, and risked not pulling off that shot. But I'd worry that a single homing missile isn't enough to properly tag a Soontir or Inquisitor anyway (while the Gammas have better odds on that one, for sure.)

You're right, it's not. The Gammas can spread out, though, and the ace won't know where Rex will go. With the big Range 3 band, you should be able to catch them in 2 arcs, or one arc after they've burned some actions repositioning.

After the alpha strike, PS10 Rex will be pretty dangerous to the aces on subsequent turns as well.

You could also slot Vader in here instead of Rex. He's a great Missile carrier, better at ace-type stuff, and leaves more points for stuff on the Vets, like bombs or Prockets for close combat.

Crack shot or Deadeye is the big question here. Deadeye makes it easier to take shots opportunistically but Crackshot makes the shots you can pull of more powerful. I would be inclined to say LRS synergises better with Vessery than Brath although even with VI, he will max-out at PS8.

The other option I am currently working on is a DeciVader to accompany the Bombers. He can burn down Aces pretty well and the PWT can help keep stuff off the Bombers backs.

2 GSVs with HM, EM, GC and Deadeye are 54 points. Patrol Leader DeciVader costs 43 points so you have 3 points spare. One option is swap out Homing Missiles for plasma torpedoes on one GSV. The points saved can then be used to buy a Gunner for Decivader allowing him to burn down Aces twice as fast (compensating for the loss of one homing missile) and also giving plasma to strip the shields from larger ships.

If you are worried about Scouts, you could upgrade the Patrol Leader to Oicunn for PS4 and still have a point for a cheap EP (VI, Crackshot or even Determination).

At least 'the black one' has games against this. It still has no games against Deadeye.

I had considered that, but he can only ditch one Lock, and he's weak to the Ion Cannon, so I think it's okay. Worth testing, though.

If you mean the Black One title, he can shed two locks if you give him BB8 or the new Vector Thursters once the ARC comes out. With BB8 PTL he can shed two for no stress, even.

Hopefully this won't turn into a new "oh the new defenders are so op'd...Oh they're just annoying mini-uboats" a few months down the line...?

Biggs gives this list fits. I'm also curious to see how difficult it'll be to nuke a gamma before it can fire six hull two agi isn't nothing but... well, that amusing keyan + wes list will ps kill a bomber every time.

Generally, twelve hp behind two agility and six behind three with no thrusters or action economy is going to fold fast when the shooting starts. Bossk, dengar, zuckuss, n'dru will all be horrors if configured for front-loaded pain.

I'd propose 2 deadeye gammas, x7 Ryad and academy pilot, because:

A blocker is very powerful with the 2 bombers.

After their missiles are gone, bombers are bad. If your ace gets wasted and you go into endgame with 2 empty bombers, most things will just destroy you. Even if your alpha strike killed 60-70% of their squad and you only lost Rex, you still will probably die to whatever's left. Having a more durable ace and 4 ships rather than 3 makes this less likely to happen.

I firmly believe that the only defender worth giving the D title to is Vessery.

Edit: I love the decivader + 2 gammas squad (plasma + homer) and I think that's going to be a serious meta thing.

Deadeye is NOT the way to go with the Gammas. They are using Homing Missiles which get to keep the TL. So, you can re-roll your dice. Going Deadeye is just going to lose the TL ability. If you go Deadeye, you should drop to concussion or Proton Torps and Guidance Chip. If you do that, though, you lose the *can't use an Evade action* power of the Homing Missile. Homing Missiles are where it's at when you are hunting Imperial Aces.

It takes 2 Homing Missiles to take out a Soontir Fel, but with LRS and the three ships spread out, you are surely able to get two of them in arc, if you play smart. Practice helps quite a bit. Even before LRS and Guidance Chip, Every time I'd play my 4 Bomber list vs Soontir Fel, he wouldn't live the game. Oh, I might have lost to other ships, but Soontir always died.

I've got a good one personally, it's going to be Crack/TIE/d/tractor RYad/Glaive plus a mini crackswarm. Vessery gets nothing out of his pilot ability in that instance, but the tractor shot is amazing because it buffs four other shots - possibly 5 if I decide that giving Howl Swarm Tactics to get Ryad shooting first is better than Howl and Ryad both having Crack Shot. Not sure on that yet.

Vessery's amazing, but only if he has the right support. If you run him alongside a list that doesn't have any other TLs he's awful.

Deadeye is NOT the way to go with the Gammas. They are using Homing Missiles which get to keep the TL. So, you can re-roll your dice. Going Deadeye is just going to lose the TL ability.

If you use Deadeye with Homing Missiles, you get to keep the Focus token and can spend it to flip eyeball results instead. Statistically I think that it actually better than a reroll if you have Chips. If you use your TL to reroll with Homing Missiles, any eyeball results will miss unless you have another source of Focus tokens.

With Deadeye, you will get 4 hits unless you roll 2+ blanks.

Deadeye is NOT the way to go with the Gammas. They are using Homing Missiles which get to keep the TL. So, you can re-roll your dice. Going Deadeye is just going to lose the TL ability.

Ummm... but you get to keep your focus with deadeye, which is almost the same thing?

OK...statistically the same, but I guess I'm just used to rolling blanks. Or maybe I just recall all those blanks. I think I prefer the TL.

The main issue with Deadeye is that you don't get Crack Shot, and that is what really gives the Gamma Vets an edge. It helps them power through lucky greens to get the job done, and it means their primary weapon isn't something that can really be ignored either.

I could see running one bomber with Crack Shot and one with Deadeye, though, just for the flexibility.

Biggs gives this list fits. I'm also curious to see how difficult it'll be to nuke a gamma before it can fire six hull two agi isn't nothing but... well, that amusing keyan + wes list will ps kill a bomber every time.

Generally, twelve hp behind two agility and six behind three with no thrusters or action economy is going to fold fast when the shooting starts. Bossk, dengar, zuckuss, n'dru will all be horrors if configured for front-loaded pain.

That's got me wondering...how does Biggs interact with LRS? If he has to receive the target lock, that's bad for this list.

At least 'the black one' has games against this. It still has no games against Deadeye.

I had considered that, but he can only ditch one Lock, and he's weak to the Ion Cannon, so I think it's okay. Worth testing, though.

If you mean the Black One title, he can shed two locks if you give him BB8 or the new Vector Thursters once the ARC comes out. With BB8 PTL he can shed two for no stress, even.

Biggs gives this list fits. I'm also curious to see how difficult it'll be to nuke a gamma before it can fire six hull two agi isn't nothing but... well, that amusing keyan + wes list will ps kill a bomber every time.

Generally, twelve hp behind two agility and six behind three with no thrusters or action economy is going to fold fast when the shooting starts. Bossk, dengar, zuckuss, n'dru will all be horrors if configured for front-loaded pain.

The idea isn't without weaknesses, although I think you can't combine BB8 with with an action bar Barrel Roll, as they are both actions. More power to the player who brings Poe with BB8. It's awesome, but probably not the standard build. PS10 Ion Cannon still causes a lot of problems to 2 AGI Poe, however. It's a counter, but not a hard one. Biggs is the same way, he's a counter, but not a hard one. Crack Shot primary weapons can still threaten him if Wes strips a Target Lock. Maybe if you combined the two for a Poe/Biggs/Wes list as a an anti-target lock variation of Dan Hars' Corran/Biggs/Wes list. Despite his success, that's probably not the biggest fish in the meta to worry about. You do what you can.

That's got me wondering...how does Biggs interact with LRS? If he has to receive the target lock, that's bad for this list.

But if they have locked onto a ship that is within Range 1 of Biggs by the time they come to fire, they will not be able to use that lock. They will have to fire at Biggs, which may well mean they cannot fire their ordnance and will have to use their primary weapons.

How about VI HM Brath with Tie/D and a Tractor Beam? That may not be a bad thing either. Like Bio said, your opponent may not know where Brath is going, what with having to worry about two HM Tie/Bs flying around.

So, question, why the Ion instead of say Tractor if youre trying to alphastrike? Reduce the agility, hit harder. If the ace is rolling 1 less die to begin with, the homing missiles will be even more painful because not only can they not use evade tokens they have less dice to begin with.

The 2pt save could also give you an init bid