Consider the bounty hunter with tail gunner. Clocks in at 35 points for 10 health, 2 arcs, and an "always on" tractor beam.

The quickest comparisons are the onyx squad pilot, the countess, and the glaive. All equipped lightly (titles and tractor beams)

The onyx is cheaper, at 33 points

The countess is coated the same, get a decent pilot ability

The glaive has the best pilot skill, and equal pricing.

The main issue with the D title is that, without spending more points, you only have one modification for 2 attacks. Tail gunner oversteps this, granting the same benefit as a tractor beam hit*.

*now, obviously you don't get to fling people, but that only affected a single ship class and also requires you to hit. The benefit is negligible.

Being a big base at lower pilot skill, the bounty hunter can also be a reasonable blocker. I envision slow rolling just out of range, flipping a 4K right I'm front of the enemy (if you add the slave 1 title and LRS, you get to go into combat with mods when you please) to take full advantage, and now you can kite the enemy while the other 65 points of stuff does what they do.

So what do you think? The middle ps aren't much for PS war, the lower pilot skill lends itself to blocking, the long range locks can set up friendlies (pair with Vessery) and the firespray, while not the tankiest ship, will survive a few rounds of being chased.

First of all it's only your arse that has extra effects

second thing is that you are a LARGE BASE ship

Your cost-effeciency isn't sky-high even then. ANd Defender gets a free evade token on top of that.

It's not bad. Still don't think it's as good as the Defenders, though.

I could see myself running a Kath/Boba list:

First of all it's only your arse that has extra effects

second thing is that you are a LARGE BASE ship

Your cost-effeciency isn't sky-high even then. ANd Defender gets a free evade token on top of that.

First of all it's only your arse that has extra effects

second thing is that you are a LARGE BASE ship

Your cost-effeciency isn't sky-high even then. ANd Defender gets a free evade token on top of that.

So I compared similarly priced tractor beam defenders.

Am I the only person that thinks a tail gunner firespray might outperform equivalently costed defenders?

Yes

Well you're comparing to tieDs with tbeams which aren't super great

But even then the difference between straight -1 agi and a roll dependent but potentially devastating forced move

When fighting a VCX or Decimator, the Tail Gunner is also a waste of two points instead of a waste of one point for the Tractor Beam.

While I think you are comparing two very different ships with each other I still think that a 36 point (double) tractor beam Bounty Hunter can be a very good ship if paired with the right support. Maybe a couple of scimitars with ordnance that can benefit from the tractor beam out front and back? You can even throw a free LRS on the BH with the Slave1 title. I think there is quite a few new options for the Tail Gunner crew on a Firespray. Happy brewing everyone

All it would do is deter the defender from chasing you.

Which if i jousted a Firespray with this card, i'd fully expect him to think im going to 4k and give chase and just leave to go after another ship. I turn quickly, Firespray does not. Rear arc is only nice when people chase you or you just flew past them.