Just plan on buying them all. You want the lambda shuttle, too. Yes you do.

Welcome to the club; Imperials are fun and if you have the spacial-relation skills to fly them, congrats, they're awesome!

All the advice is sound; since the best upgrades always seem to hide in different ships, flying casual at first is a must and will assist your sanity level. I'd recommend (as a start after the old-school core set):

Yeah, as you get into the addiction, you'll get the mod cards that make these guys really fly and hit like monsters on the table; but we have to ease you into the problem....we don't want you penny-less just yet do we?

Whatever you decide: Have fun!!!

If you want to get a good start-up set to fill 100pts that can compete, and you have TFA Core Set, buy the original core set, a Tie Fighter model (for Howlrunner, since you'll have a pile of Tie's) and the Tie FO (for Omega Leader).

Having a Howlrunner mini-swarm + Omega Leader for opposing aces gives you game against pretty much anything, and the training you'll get from flying a Tie Swarm will be invaluable. You'll get better practice than if you were flying a fat turret or a PS10 ace that need never worry about blocking.

It's also a list that requires no upgrades from external sources, since Omega Leader comes pretty self contained (with Juke and Comm Relay) and Howlrunner and your other Ties can go naked.

Just plan on buying them all. You want the lambda shuttle, too. Yes you do.

FO and Veterans. Omega Leader (Juke Comms), Zeta Leader (Guidance, Wired), Epsilon Ace and Countess Ryad (x7, Crack Shot) should make for a perfectly decent squad, and you still have another ship and plenty of pilots to experiment with.

After that it's up to you, but the Punisher and Defender expansions work best with what you already have.

You will buy all of them. Maybe not right away, but you will. ... Oh you will. Ha Ha Ha Ha Haaa!

For what it's worth, I've owned this game since its release and I still don't have a Decimator, a TIE Defender, or Imperial Aces.

...But I still do intend to buy them all eventually.

You need a Khiraxixoixsx too

Maneuverability?

1 Interceptor

1 Imperial Aces

1 Star Viper

Done

Phantoms are very good and can basically be played with their own cards. The only elite card you put on there (the card with the medal icon) is Veteran Instincts anyway and i'd be shocked if you dont have one of those somewhere so you dont really need anything else to fly it. It takes a lot to get used to it but its great once you do.

Interceptors are really lousy unless you get the Aces pack. Soontir Fel and Carnor Jax are the meta's favorite right now.

Dont bother with the punisher. Worst imperial ship we got. I cant even fly it for fun anymore because it feels like dead weight to me.

Decimator is a treat to play with even if its not very competitive. I have a blast with that thing.

Phantoms are very good and can basically be played with their own cards. The only elite card you put on there (the card with the medal icon) is Veteran Instincts anyway and i'd be shocked if you dont have one of those somewhere so you dont really need anything else to fly it. It takes a lot to get used to it but its great once you do.

Interceptors are really lousy unless you get the Aces pack. Soontir Fel and Carnor Jax are the meta's favorite right now.

Dont bother with the punisher. Worst imperial ship we got. I cant even fly it for fun anymore because it feels like dead weight to me.

Decimator is a treat to play with even if its not very competitive. I have a blast with that thing.

Lies. Punisher is awesome. Hella deadly, plenty of fun.

Welcome to the crack-add. Considering a TFA start, I'd go:

2x TIE/fo expac

1x TIE Defender expac

This immediately nets you the awesome wombo-combo of Omega Leader and Cel. Vessery, with Zeta Leader as cheap backup (and still room for an Epsilon Sq.).

The reason for a second TIE/fo expac is because of the upcoming Imperial Veterans, which should be your next aquisition. You'll want at least 2 copies of Juke (and Comm Relay for the future TIE/sf) to go with it.

This'll get you by for a good time, even if you decide to join the competitive side of the Force.

Yes, a Whisper, Echo list with a couple Tie/fo would make a good starter list, as well. Only $30.

Don't buy the Tie-Advanced unless you're ready to throw down an extra $140 for the Raider and Hound's Tooth for the needed upgrade cards.

Thanks everyone for the welcome and Suggestions.

So far my plan this weekend is going to be :

Imperail Aces

Imperial Veterns

a TIE/fo

That is pretty much all i can afford at the moment, but i think from the suggestions here That might be the best for me for the moment.

Then when i get a chance I'll grab a regular Inteceptor to get my hands on Soontir.

For those suggesting the Starviper, I think that i'll only need my own Autothrusters card when i move to tournaments. The group i'm going to play with will happily let me borrow or proxy for now.

I cant wait to fly my own ships!

Edit : I actually will not need extra dice, for those saying to grab some.

I recently played against an opponent at the club, and he very very kindly gave me some of his dice because he had a lot of surplus.

That's a good shopping list and will get you enough stuff to be going on with.

At this point I would suggest NOT doing what I did and go mad and keep buying things faster than I was using them! Try and get what you have on the table in all sorts of different configurations and just have fun. Whilst there are 'meta' lists and tier-1 builds at the top of the tournament food chain this game still has a great deal of room for everything else. You will play better and have more fun if find your own style and fly what suits you personally. That will lead to you knowing exactly what you want to get next.

Mind you, like I said before, you'll end up with it all anyway.

If you can borrow some 'thrusters anyway I'd definitely pick up a TIE Adv. Prototype. The Inquisitor is highly competitive (although he likes Push the Limit from Aces), Valen Rudor is great fun (I like him with Crack Shot, which you get from Veterans), and Sienar Test Pilot is a pretty decent jouster with the title, at only 17 points. Baron of the Empire is the weakest link, but you can't win them all.

I love the TIE Adv. Prototype.

I've only flown against it but its been such a cool ship to fly against that i really want to own one.

I faced a list with The Inquisitor and then one with two Siener Test Pilots. They were a lot of fun to fly against.

I love the TIE Adv. Prototype.

I've only flown against it but its been such a cool ship to fly against that i really want to own one.

I faced a list with The Inquisitor and then one with two Siener Test Pilots. They were a lot of fun to fly against.

Yeah I had a blast flying this last night:

THE INQUISITION

100 points

PILOTS

The Inquisitor (32)

TIE Advanced Prototype (25), Push the Limit (3), XX-23 S-thread Tracers (1), TIE/v1 (1), Autothrusters (2)

Royal Guard Pilot (26)

TIE Interceptor (22), Squad Leader (2), Autothrusters (2)

Saber Squadron Pilot (21) x 2

View | Tweak | Export as XWS

TIE Adv Prototype is pretty much exclusively the inquisitor. Its actually a pretty good ship otherwise but people are hell-bent on the sniper that is the Inquisitor.

Ive ran a regular Baron before to great success. The free evade upon TL is a title, not a pilot ability, so he also gets that which lets him dive in with some degree of security. Since he has 3agi, great guy for Prockets too. 3agi + evade + focus is pretty hard to get rid of even at range1, and hes still pretty cheap so even if he is focused down meh your important ships are unscathed.

The other named pilot has uses too (Valen Rudor) but not in the way you'd think. He gets a free action if hes attacked and survives: instantly you think he can boost/barrelroll to dodge the next shot right? Normally yes, since he can do an action every time he defends long as he still has actions to do, but thats not the strength of his ability. NOBODY will target this guy unless they have no choice because they dont want to hand him actions, so he rarely ever gets attacked. Leave him literally bare except for Prockets to give him a noticeable threat, he will either never get attacked and gets his prockets off perfectly or gets hit and dodges all over the place.

The problem I have with the TAPS isn't the Inquisitor (love him) but the baron

Where the **** is the 3 point jump in price coming from? Would it have broken the game to get 5 + title + crack (no thrusters)!?

Utterly baffled by the choice in pricing there. Even at 23 with juke title thrusters it's not that good

Imperial Aces box set - gets you Carnor and great title card.

Would second this if you're playing Imperials - it will give you multiple copies of Push the Limit, which are ideal for use with most Interceptor pilots, the Inquisitor and probably a number of Defender pilots following Imperial Veterans.

Buy imp veterans and at least one defender expansion.

TAP's are a solid choice inquisitor is really good and the generics work well if theres turrets about.

Imp aces with an interceptor expansion is another good buy.

Utterly baffled by the choice in pricing there. Even at 23 with juke title thrusters it's not that good

FFG seem slightly confused with the pricing and abilities of generics and elite generics. On the one hand the Baron looks distinctly overpriced, on the other the Scout is bafflingly cheap.

I think the T70 Red Squadron Veterans seem to be about right. 1 point for +2PS and another for the EPT slot.

Buy imp veterans and at least one defender expansion.

Tie Advanced Prototypes and Interceptors really need the Autothrusters cards from the Star Viper which is annoying if you do not want to play Scum.

Buy imp veterans and at least one defender expansion.

Defenders from Imp Veterans have the advantage over some ships that they come with the most needed upgrades in the pack. There are a few "nice to haves" like Mk2 engines elsewhere but you can manage without those.

Tie Advanced Prototypes and Interceptors really need the Autothrusters cards from the Star Viper which is annoying if you do not want to play Scum.

Yeah, Imperial Veterans will be great....have you guys seen it yet? I think the latest propaganda from FFG is today (the 23rd) correct? It's not around here yet as far as I can see; and I can see pretty well.

I got an email telling me that the pre-order I placed months ago was complete. When it arrives is anyone's guess at this point.