I am trying to decide which Cannon to run with Vesery + TIE/D - Ion Cannon or Tractor Beam. I am also debating what to do with the remaining points: Stealth Device on OL, Proton Rockets on TAP, or Engine Upgrade on Vesery or initiative bid?

PS 8 Target Locks (94)

Colonel Vessery (37) - TIE Defender

Veteran Instincts (1), TIE/D (0), Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)

The Inquisitor (31) - TIE Adv. Prototype

Push The Limit (3), TIE/v1 (1), Autothrusters (2)

"Omega Leader" (26) - TIE/FO Fighter

Juke (2), Comm Relay (3)

So I would appreciate if you could weigh in on one or both questions:

1) Ion Cannon or Tractor Beam on Vesery and why?

2) What should I do with remaining points and why?

Personally I go with TB. With all the TLs out there both shots are super accurate. And the TL ability allows Vessery to take a focus action making one of those hits that much better. TB = positional advantage with the boost/barrel roll setting up not only his second shot but the other two ships you have at PS8. Plus -1 agility is a big deal, all for 2 pts cheaper than Ion cannon. I think this on,y works on Vessery though due to his ability.

For the remaining points I think dropping the TIE Mk II and adding proton rockets and guidance chips. With the focus, TL, GC combo those prockets will hit like a Mack truck.

Three more points left, for my money it's another procket on Inq, but he shouldn't be dancing at Range 1. Stealth device or Hull on OL can only help. Or put the Mk II on OL and go for initiative.

I prefer the Ion Cannon on Vessery over the Tractor Beam for several reasons:

-It deals damage.

-Ion token, unlike tractor token, affects large ships.

-It really hurts low agility aces like Poe and Miranda.

The TB has a place, but in a list with already low damage and only three follow-up shots I don't think it fits all that well. Also the -1 agility is less useful with Omega leader as she's already stopping mods and removing an evade. IMO tractor beam belongs in a swarm list where you can fire it early then follow up with a heap of smaller shots that benefit more from the -1 agility.

For the last 4 points I'd suggest putting a PRocket on the Inquisitor and taking a 1pt initiative bid.

-Ion token, unlike tractor token, affects large ships.

Tractor tokens affect large ships, you just can't force move them. The ability to penalise their agility is if anything more important than dealing damage, as three shots against a ship with reduced agility will often do well over the 1 damage the ion cannon would have.

The forced movement is just a bonus.

Definitely the TB, and then Stealth Device on OL makes him very tough to kill one on one - or just TIE mk2 on OL and take a 3 point bid. PS8 is quite congested at the moment and both OL and Inq really want to move second.

Ok. Based on what I have seen/heard here this is how I am currently looking to run it:

Target Locks Galore (Tractor) (98)

Colonel Vessery (38) - TIE Defender

Veteran Instincts (1), Tractor Beam (1), TIE/D (0), Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)

The Inquisitor (31) - TIE Adv. Prototype

Push The Limit (3), TIE/v1 (1), Autothrusters (2)

"Omega Leader" (29) - TIE/FO Fighter

Juke (2), Comm Relay (3), Stealth Device (3)

I am still torn between Prockets and Stealth Device though.

Ok. Based on what I have seen/heard here this is how I am currently looking to run it:

Target Locks Galore (Tractor) (98)

Colonel Vessery (38) - TIE Defender

Veteran Instincts (1), Tractor Beam (1), TIE/D (0), Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)

The Inquisitor (31) - TIE Adv. Prototype

Push The Limit (3), TIE/v1 (1), Autothrusters (2)

"Omega Leader" (29) - TIE/FO Fighter

Juke (2), Comm Relay (3), Stealth Device (3)

I am still torn between Prockets and Stealth Device though.

I've been using this exact list (prockets instead of SD) for the last 15 games, and have won 10 of them. I really like it, and it has a lot of potential.

Tractor tokens affect large ships, you just can't force move them. The ability to penalise their agility is if anything more important than dealing damage, as three shots against a ship with reduced agility will often do well over the 1 damage the ion cannon would have.

I suppose it's partially a matter of preference. The original version of the list (back when Inquisitor first came out) looked like this:

31 Inquisitor w/ PtL, AT, V1.

26 Omega Leader w/ Juke, Comms.

43 Vessery w/ VI, HLC.

When veterans came out switching the HLC on vessery for the IonC + TIE/D title was the obvious choice. You keep about the same damage output, and get the extremely powerful ion effect. Also it's 4pts cheaper.

As I said before, the TB is OK, but it has several disadvantages that the Ion Cannon doesn't suffer from. The Ion Cannon is consistent. The 1 damage and Ion token are useful against every ship in the game, which is why I prefer it. The same can't be said for the Tractor Beam's -1 agility (agility 0-1 ships don't really care), and reposition (big ships are unaffected).

Not saying the TB is bad (I love ruthlessness Vessery), or even the wrong choice, it's just got some disadvantages the Ion Cannon doesn't. At the end of the day I value the Ion Cannon's greater consistency over the Tractor Beam.

Ever since the aces box was spoiled I have been running this following list with amazing success. At first I screwed around with inquisitor and others and found that forcing a target lock every turn wasn't that great. Plus I just feel Vader is better then inquisitor. Plus both Vader and omega leader like to have target locks they never use, thus vessery is happy as ever.

Defender (99)

Colonel Vessery (39) - TIE Defender

Veteran Instincts (1), TIE/D (0), Ion Cannon (3)

Darth Vader (34) - TIE Advanced

Adaptability (0), TIE/x1 (0), Engine Upgrade (4), Advanced Targeting Computer (5)

"Omega Leader" (26) - TIE/FO Fighter

Juke (2), Comm Relay (3)

Ion cannon always! If you get a shot off vs any small ship there's a good chance that ship is just dead next turn

Ever since the aces box was spoiled I have been running this following list with amazing success. At first I screwed around with inquisitor and others and found that forcing a target lock every turn wasn't that great. Plus I just feel Vader is better then inquisitor. Plus both Vader and omega leader like to have target locks they never use, thus vessery is happy as ever.

Defender (99)

Colonel Vessery (39) - TIE Defender

Veteran Instincts (1), TIE/D (0), Ion Cannon (3)

Darth Vader (34) - TIE Advanced

Adaptability (0), TIE/x1 (0), Engine Upgrade (4), Advanced Targeting Computer (5)

"Omega Leader" (26) - TIE/FO Fighter

Juke (2), Comm Relay (3)

Ion cannon always! If you get a shot off vs any small ship there's a good chance that ship is just dead next turn

Very nice. I love inquisitor, but Adapt Vader gives you an easier way to deal with PS9 aces, and his ability pairs well with Vessery.

Tractor tokens affect large ships, you just can't force move them. The ability to penalise their agility is if anything more important than dealing damage, as three shots against a ship with reduced agility will often do well over the 1 damage the ion cannon would have.

I suppose it's partially a matter of preference. The original version of the list (back when Inquisitor first came out) looked like this:

31 Inquisitor w/ PtL, AT, V1.

26 Omega Leader w/ Juke, Comms.

43 Vessery w/ VI, HLC.

When veterans came out switching the HLC on vessery for the IonC + TIE/D title was the obvious choice. You keep about the same damage output, and get the extremely powerful ion effect. Also it's 4pts cheaper.

As I said before, the TB is OK, but it has several disadvantages that the Ion Cannon doesn't suffer from. The Ion Cannon is consistent. The 1 damage and Ion token are useful against every ship in the game, which is why I prefer it. The same can't be said for the Tractor Beam's -1 agility (agility 0-1 ships don't really care), and reposition (big ships are unaffected).

Not saying the TB is bad (I love ruthlessness Vessery), or even the wrong choice, it's just got some disadvantages the Ion Cannon doesn't. At the end of the day I value the Ion Cannon's greater consistency over the Tractor Beam.

That's your lookout I guess. I'm precisely the other way. The only things unaffected by TBs are VCXs and Decimators - and yeah, it's irritating to come up against those. But to say that a 1 agility ship isn't affected is missing the point entirely, they're the ones who are *most* affected, the TB wipes out their entire defence for the entire round. It's especially painful on 1-agi ships with C3PO...

By wiping their agility for every shot (which Vessery is **** near certain to do) you essentially take off 1/3 of an extra hit point with every shot. That adds up very quickly (of course, more so the more shots you're firing, which is why I like running a TB/D with a miniswarm...).

Different strokes for different folks, I guess, but personally I would usually only go for Ions if I was running two at once - the ability to herd a big ship every round is just SO useful, but hitting it with one ion gives it the chance of changing course so that it's not possible to run it off the board with the second shot.

If they were the same point cost, I'd probably go with the ion every time, but the TBeam costs less and gives (IMO) broadly similar benefits.

I like tractor it either strips agility or forces the opposition to spend his tokens to avoid it leaving naked green dice its win win.

Then small fighters hate being repositioned you can deny shots or roll that target into range one, sometimes both.

Ion does damage and makes fighters predictable next turn.

Neither is a bad choice just depends on your play style.

I played the other day with this list:

*Target Locked (100)

Colonel Vessery (37) - TIE Defender

Veteran Instincts (1), Tractor Beam (1), TIE/D (0)

The Inquisitor (34) - TIE Adv. Prototype

Push The Limit (3), Proton Rockets (3), TIE/v1 (1), Autothrusters (2)

"Omega Leader" (29) - TIE/FO Fighter

Juke (2), Comm Relay (3), Stealth Device (3)

Ended up losing because I am a terrible pilot, but the tractor beam came in handy multiple times to pull small-bases onto asteroids and avoid return fire. The lack of damage added up though and may well have cost me the game in the end. I need to be able to play quite a bit more to get a better feel for what each cannon brings to the table...or if I should just move to the TIE/x7 title

I would probably run Vader but haven't been able to convince myself to drop the cash for the Raider yet.

With the dawn of Dengaroo about to take the competitive scene by storm, I strongly recommend tractor beam. A lone ion cannon simply does not cut it in this particular matchup.

Tractor beam makes a huge difference, especially when targeting Dengar and his infinite dice mods (can't mod as many dice when reduced from 2 to 1 agility).

Tractor beam is also really nice to have against crackswarms. Either it hits and allows you to kill a TIE before it shoots or possibly your opponent must have spent their token to avoid the tractor (and then usually still gets killed with naked dice fail). Dropping a crack TIE before it can shoot makes that particular matchup definitely easier...

Really don't get the insistence for including OL over a three attack ship.

Really don't get the insistence for including OL over a three attack ship.

His attack is frequently better than a three attack ship because he kills all dice mods in defence and usually mods in attack.

(And he's really annoying, so people who've played against him a lot will spend too much effort killing him and the others get freer rein.)

Hobo, OL in this list does two things. First, provide a persistent target lock for Vessery. Second, act as a mortal threat late game. He's very, very strong in any one on one scenario. Most foes recognize this, and try hard to go after him, which you can use to your advantage.

Incidentally, this is why I prefer hull over stealth on Omega. He's vulnerable in the early game to ships he doesn't have locked, and hull is more useful there than Stealth. Stealth makes you even better in duels, but you already own duels.

For Vessery's cannon I prefer tractor beam. Its ability to set up killshots from your other attacks is superb. This also leaves enough points for Prockets on Inqi. Inqi's ability encourages enemies to close to range one. With Prockets, you punish that strat with five double modded dice. And a tractor beam can help make this happen.