A conversation I’ve had with myself over the past few months:

Evil Bio: Newsflash, jerk, Imperial Veterans has been street legal for a while now. Everybody knows Defenders are awesome now, and nobody is going to care about a TIE Defender tournament report anymore. You’re playing a popular ship, and now you have to deal with that.

Not Evil Bio: Hey, I’m playing Imperials with no multi-action aces and no Palpatine, I’m still cool! Besides, everybody loves x7 Defenders, and people don’t play TIE/Ds “if they want to win”. I can still be TIE Defender Hipster! I still have street cred! Please let me be cool!!!

I experimented with a lot of TIE Defender lists from the time that Imperial Veterans were spoiled. I was on the record early as liking the TIE/D better than TIE/x7 title. This is based on the fact that I prefer offense over defense, but I won’t really rehash all that here. Suffice it to say, as Veterans was cracked open by the wider X-wing community, most people seemed to prefer the TIE/x7 title for its defensive efficiency. TIE/x7 Defenders are undeniably tough as nails, but even after extensive playtesting, I liked the offense and control of the TIE/D a lot more. Maybe it was all that time flying HLC Defenders pre-title, I had a need for raw offense to get the enemy ships off the board. So I’m bringing TIE/Ds.

The List:

Rexler Brath 37, TIE/D 0, Predator 3, Tractor Beam 1, Hull Upgrade 3 = 44

Maarek Stele 34, TIE/D 0, Predator 3, Ion Cannon 3, Hull Upgrade 3 = 44

Academy Pilot = 12

List Design: I wanted to bring 2 TIE/Ds. I thought the strength of stuff like Vessery, Brobots, made a PS bid above 6 a useful thing. I also prefer the flexibility of Predator as an EPT over the raw power of Vessery, and I think it’s worth paying points for. I wanted to save 12 points for an Academy Pilot blocker (whose gun is still useful), and I wanted Predator, Hull Upgrade, and an Ion Cannon on my TIE Defenders. With the higher PS pilots, I would have to downgrade one of those upgrades. After a lot of experimentation, I decided that the downgrade from Ion Cannon to Tractor Beam was the best option. The Tractor Beam is the first shot of the turn for the squad, and often doesn’t hit because tokens are spent to avoid it. Consequently, it’s a decent place to save some points. The Tractor Beam itself is solid in its own right.

Preparation: As is my way, I spent a lot of time playing this squad against myself against what I considered to be the major meta threats. I also finally got into Vassal, so I was able to run a few test games against the greater Vassal community, especially blade_mercurial, who knows a thing or two about Defenders. Both blade_mercurial and AlexW helped quite a bit with build and strategy ideas.

I leave my house in the dark of night on Friday morning to drive to Indianapolis to play in Flight B of the North American Championships. I built in a lot of spare time in my trip, because I wasn’t sure about the delays in picking up my GenCon badge, finding parking, etc. I’m there a little early, hang out with some non-X-wing friends, and chat a bit with Richard Hsu (who’s everywhere, but I’ve never played against) and Chris from the Carolina Krayts, who seemed cool.

Game 1 vs Evan

Soontir Fel, normal stuff

Vader, Engine, VI, ATC, Cluster Missiles

Turr Phennir, Autothrusters, maybe something else

Evan was a pretty new player, just trying out the greater tournament scene, and he decided to do it at GenCon. He tried circling around the rocks, and my squad, while loosely spaced, managed to get all guns pointed on him as he turned in. Vader landed on a rock on the merge, and I blew up Fel the first turn of shooting. Turn 2 I blocked and finished off Vader, turn 3 I took out Turr. 100-0 in about 20 minutes.

Game 2 vs Evan (different Evan)

Nera, Deadeye, Proton Torpedoes, Extra Munitions, FCS

Ten Numb, Mangler, something else

Biggs, Droid, Integrated Astromech

I don’t remember the exact upgrades and I might be missing some upgrades. I ended up deploying my Academy to my right, and he set up Biggs and Nera across from it. My Defenders were middle-left to come in on his flank through the asteroids Ten was placed down by his other ships. On the approach, asteroids made it difficult to turn in on me on the merge turn, and I was able to ion Ten, while losing my Academy. Next turn Biggs and Nera turned in. I almost 1-rounded Biggs, but failed, and took some hits from Biggs and Nera. In the subsequent scrum, I was able to finish off Biggs and use my control cannons to avoid the B-wing’s guns pretty well. Maarek went down, but Biggs and Ten were dead, and Nera was out of torps, so it didn’t take long for Rex to finish her off. 100-56 in about 40 minutes.

Game 3 vs Justin

4xT70s with R2 Astromech and Integrated Astromech.

This was an interesting game, because I’m used to having jousting power over aces. 4 T70s can do a ton of damage at close range, though, and the Boost and Talon Rolls are very powerful. I end up coming at them at an angle, meeting them at Range 2. I tractor one into Range 1 of one or both of my Defenders, and kill it. Rex’s green dice got lucky against one T70, and then a Focus-less T70 rolled potatoes on its attack. This frustrated him and he fired the 3 ^rd T70 against the TIE fighter and killed it. In the close range-fight, the white K-turn + Barrel Roll is great for arc dodging and the Cannon + Primary combo is brutal. I eventually lose Rex, but Maarek finishes the last T70 off untouched. 100-56 in about 40 minutes.

Lunch break, I meet a couple friends local to Indiana that I haven’t seen in years, and I grab a hotdog.

Game 4 vs Nick

IG-B, Mangler, PTL, Glitterstim, Autothrusters

IG-C, HLC, Crack Shot, FCS, Glitterstim, Autothrusters

I see PS6 bots and I figure it’s time to find out if my PS bid is worthwhile. He splits the Bots wide (B on my right, C on my left). I put Maarek and the Academy on my left, and Rex a little right. Both his bots swoop toward my left and Maarek slow-rolls while Rex swings around the right to flank B. Here I make a huge mistake and land Rex on rocks when he should start generating offense. I was sure he would be fine, didn’t even think it would be close enough to take a closer look at. I guess my angle was bad, though, and I was kicking myself for it. I dashed in with Maarek, but hung back with the Academy to try and block the IG’s turnaround moves. Consequently, he spent C’s fire (and Crack Shot) dropping the Academy. Maarek did an Ion to B, and suffered a damage in return. The next turn, Rex swung around, and his guns were now in play, I do 3-4 damage to B but take some more in return on Maarek. Maarek gets an Ion on C and takes 2 damage in return. Next turn Maarek K-turns and the Bots both have to make S-loops or K-turns, so I had both Defenders lined up against 2 stressed IGs. He pops Glitterstim on B, so I decide to go after C, and I put a second Ion on C and 3-4 damage. Now B is double stressed and I’m behind him, and C is stuck on a 1-straight, so I get some free shots. Next turn B runs to clear stress, Maarek is stuck bumping C (there’s an asteroid at the 4K spot so I don’t want to turn behind him), but Rex does some more damage to the Ioned C. C now runs, and Rex chases, finishing him off, and B and Maarek turn around. Last turn, Rex turns in on B, and Maarek comes in as well, but Rex rolls hot and finishes off a 4-health B with the dreaded Crit->Major Explosion->Direct Hit. 100-88, although this was a much closer game than the final score suggests. A couple different decisions and a little bit different dice would have been a lot closer. It took about 45 minutes. Long story short, though, TIE/D Defenders at Range 1 really rip stuff apart, and it nullified almost every advantage the Bots had.

Side note, during this game, a friendly fellow said “Hey, are you Biophysical?” It was phild0, who recognized my list from Vassal, and figured it wasn’t too likely that two people would be running it. We chatted a bit after the game, and it was pretty cool meeting him.

Game 5 vs Stephen:

PalpShuttle

Procket Inquisitor

Standard Fel

I set up the Academy in the middle, and he put his Lambda on my left. I set up my Defenders to the center left, ready to go after the Lambda early. His aces were to my right, so he would flank me as I approached the Lambda… which is exactly what happened. My AP got in Fel’s way, but rolled hot greens and was unscathed, then got on the Inquisitor’s tail, actually taking out shields before it died. My Defenders rapidly took down the shuttle, but didn’t have the green luck the AP did and Rex took a lot of damage early. Before he died, though I was able to trap the Inquisitor in both Defender firing arcs and dropped him, although Rex died the same turn. After that it was a 4 hull/1 shield Maarek vs untouched Fel. This was a scenario I had practiced a lot and had some practice against. It is an advantage to Maarek in the timed round, because he costs more and that forces Fel to be aggressive or lose. He can’t take a lot of time to set up perfect firing situations, and the white K-turn lets Maarek keep the pressure on. Fel also has some pretty bad offense, and when both ships have a Focus token, Fel will rarely do damage, and usually only one if he does. There was a lot of maneuvering and jockeying for position, and by the time time was called, Maarek was down to 4 hull, but had broken the Stealth Device and done 1 damage to Fel. The new rules helped me here, as this was a full win despite the final score being 56 to 63.

Game 6 vs Jaime

PalpShuttle

Carnor Jax, Hull Upgade, PTL, Autothrusters

Countess Ryad, Juke, x7

His stuff sets up on my left. My AP is in the middle with Maarek, and Rex is a little further right. I slow roll in with Maarek and more quickly come around with Rex. His stuff moves in down fast. On the merge, I block Ryad with my AP, and have really good shots lined up with Maarek, but he brings Carnor in really fast, and boosts into Range 1 of Maarek, taking an Evade with the second action. I’m figuring Maarek will take some hits, but can put some real damage on Carnor. My Predator powered Ion Cannon and 4-dice Primary shot both bounce off naked green dice, and unmodified red dice from Jax and Ryad (empowered by Juke) did enough damage to kill a 7 health Maarek in 1 turn. Over the next several turns, Rex finishes off the Lambda, soaks some damage from Ryad, and does some damage to her while Jax circles around. The AP dies somewhere in there, as well. I get Ryad to half health, and Jax down to 1 health, but I can’t quite get it to 1v1 and Rex is ground down.

So I end the day at 5-1, but due to some circumstances at home, I’m not able to stay for Day 2. In the final standings, I’m 11 ^th for the day, I think, and my final opponent went on to make top 8. My 4 ^th and 5 ^th opponents were also 5-1 and made the cut to day two. I was pretty happy with this showing, and the last couple of games I got to hang out with Erik, who had the sand to run quad TLTs (and was wrecking face with it) and Dan (who was wrecking face with his Corran/Wes/Biggs list), along with my opponents, who were all good guys. I got my Bossk, Omega Ace, and Biggs card, though, and had a lot of good games, so I was content with the outcome.

Aw man! You were there and I didn't get to meet you?! What a shame...

I took my Alpha Fleet Officer. Won my first two matches, lost the rest, so there was no chance we would have met on the field of battle.

Nice report, Im currently trying x7 Maarek/calculation and x7 Rex/Juke with a fleet officer shuttle. Been contemplating going to D title on Rex, just for the token stripping attack. Awesome to see Tie D do good. All I hear is "x7 to win, tie D for fun"

Aw man! You were there and I didn't get to meet you?! What a shame...

I took my Alpha Fleet Officer. Won my first two matches, lost the rest, so there was no chance we would have met on the field of battle.

Oh, shoot. I saw someone with that list, and it looked familiar. I should have known. Too preoccupied, I guess.

Nice report, Im currently trying x7 Maarek/calculation and x7 Rex/Juke with a fleet officer shuttle. Been contemplating going to D title on Rex, just for the token stripping attack. Awesome to see Tie D do good. All I hear is "x7 to win, tie D for fun"

You know who says that? Cowards and those not committed enough to learn a ship.

For Maarek, though, I'd really look toward Predator on him. You'll have about a 50% chance of generating a crit action-free, and you'll be a lot more punchy overall for those times when you're struggling to just hit your target. 4 chances at a 1/8 chance of a crit is definitely decent. You should have the points.

Thanks for the write-up. Sounds like a great day and good to hear the Tie D title being used. You have inspired me to give it a go =D

Out of interest, have you tried Marksmanship on Maarek instead of Predator?

I don't like Marksmanship on Maarek. The Focus is too important for defense if it's needed, and Predator is action independent. His ability is great, but it's not worth the loss of flexibility that Predator provides.

Thanks for the write up. I have been loving TIE/D with tractor Beam on VI Rexler, alongside a VI Carnor (AT and shield) and an x7 Delta. Shooting the TB at PS10 ive managed to burn down a few PS9 ships before they fire. Predator would be nice, though, because TB is usually feast or famine for me, but PS10 is fantastic vs Aces.

I played a game Monday vs Dash, who threw 4 hits for 3 straight rounds at my x7 Delta with 1 hull left and never did kill it.

Congrats on your success at Gencon!

Thanks!

I tried VI/Ion Cannon on Rex in a previous iteration of the list, and I felt the PS bump was not nearly as useful as the raw offense supplied by Predator. That being said, with Carnor involved, there's a lot less defense to punch through, so I can see VI working there.

Hey, it was good to meet you as well. I would also rate you as "seems cool" on top of stopping people from stealing me and Hsu's stuff!

Been thinking about the double D (har har har) defenders for a bit since seeing you play that. My brain was horribly friend when we were talking there, but had some time to think since then! My D defenders tend to die horrible massive overkill when they actually die so I'm naturally hesitant on hull upgrade, but being a single shield away from being a brobot is a good sell. What do you think of upgrading the blocker and downgrading Brath?

I find this really interesting considering I was intending on running a pair of defenders this weekend at Nationals, and still wasn't fully the Juke/x7 combo was doing as much as I needed. I was very tempted to switch Palp (who also wasn't doing a massive amount beyond being a giant target) for Omega Leader, and run a VI/TB/D Vessery and Maarek, as I was finding the PS pretty **** tempting in games I've played locally with it.

Two days to the event and you've got me considering a list rewrite...

Hey, it was good to meet you as well. I would also rate you as "seems cool" on top of stopping people from stealing me and Hsu's stuff!

Been thinking about the double D (har har har) defenders for a bit since seeing you play that. My brain was horribly friend when we were talking there, but had some time to think since then! My D defenders tend to die horrible massive overkill when they actually die so I'm naturally hesitant on hull upgrade, but being a single shield away from being a brobot is a good sell. What do you think of upgrading the blocker and downgrading Brath?

Maarek Stele (TIE Defender) (35)

Predator (3)

Ion Cannon (3)

TIE/D (0)

Colonel Vessery (35)

Veteran Instincts (1)

Tractor Beam (1)

TIE/D (0)

Sienar Test Pilot (16)

Autothrusters (2)

TIE/v1 (1)

Total: 97

Blocker that can set up for vessery, but if he dies your only enabler for vessery is a dead action one turn on Maarek. 3 points left over for a hull upgrade on Maarek or moving over to ion cannon, but I like your tractor more. Vessery is naturally a much worse last ship than Brath, so you might have to play him moderately suicidally?

Also, Evil Bio: Maarek and Brath aren't anything approaching popular! It's OK, you can still be a hipster!

Bio and Brunas, you have just inspired me to do double D Defenders. Brunas and his three extra points made me think about prockets on that tap. An ion'd opponent is easy enough for a TAP to procket even with its low PS.

VESS AND RYAD CO-STARRING SIENAR TAP

100 points

PILOTS

Colonel Vessery (39)

TIE Defender (35), Ion Cannon (3), Veteran Instincts (1), TIE/D (0)

Countess Ryad (41)

TIE Defender (34), Ion Cannon (3), Push the Limit (3), TIE/D (0), Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)

Sienar Test Pilot (20)

TIE Advanced Prototype (16), Proton Rockets (3), TIE/v1 (1), Guidance Chips (0)

Ryad with PTL can TL for Vess. TAP can also set a TL for Vess. TAP also doubles as a blocker. When an ion cannon hits, the TAP can then fly right up and procket the fool. Vessery is a dangerous opponent, so he will be priority one. Ryad is endgame ship. So, Im gonna give this list a whirl or two or five. Will see what happens.

Hey, it was good to meet you as well. I would also rate you as "seems cool" on top of stopping people from stealing me and Hsu's stuff!

Been thinking about the double D (har har har) defenders for a bit since seeing you play that. My brain was horribly friend when we were talking there, but had some time to think since then! My D defenders tend to die horrible massive overkill when they actually die so I'm naturally hesitant on hull upgrade, but being a single shield away from being a brobot is a good sell. What do you think of upgrading the blocker and downgrading Brath?

Maarek Stele (TIE Defender) (35)

Predator (3)

Ion Cannon (3)

TIE/D (0)

Colonel Vessery (35)

Veteran Instincts (1)

Tractor Beam (1)

TIE/D (0)

Sienar Test Pilot (16)

Autothrusters (2)

TIE/v1 (1)

Total: 97

Blocker that can set up for vessery, but if he dies your only enabler for vessery is a dead action one turn on Maarek. 3 points left over for a hull upgrade on Maarek or moving over to ion cannon, but I like your tractor more. Vessery is naturally a much worse last ship than Brath, so you might have to play him moderately suicidally?

Also, Evil Bio: Maarek and Brath aren't anything approaching popular! It's OK, you can still be a hipster!

Bio and Brunas, you have just inspired me to do double D Defenders. Brunas and his three extra points made me think about prockets on that tap. An ion'd opponent is easy enough for a TAP to procket even with its low PS.

VESS AND RYAD CO-STARRING SIENAR TAP

100 points

PILOTS

Colonel Vessery (39)

TIE Defender (35), Ion Cannon (3), Veteran Instincts (1), TIE/D (0)

Countess Ryad (41)

TIE Defender (34), Ion Cannon (3), Push the Limit (3), TIE/D (0), Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)

Sienar Test Pilot (20)

TIE Advanced Prototype (16), Proton Rockets (3), TIE/v1 (1), Guidance Chips (0)

Ryad with PTL can TL for Vess. TAP can also set a TL for Vess. TAP also doubles as a blocker. When an ion cannon hits, the TAP can then fly right up and procket the fool. Vessery is a dangerous opponent, so he will be priority one. Ryad is endgame ship. So, Im gonna give this list a whirl or two or five. Will see what happens.

Up until now, had a very similar list, but with x/7 Ryad. I'm still on the fence about the whole x/7 vs TIE/D debate, as I kinda like both.

With regards to the list, it's been really fun to fly (although haven't played as much as I'd like to recently). The Sienar Test Pilot is a surprisingly effective blocker and just overall "annoying bugger".

To Biophysical: Thanks for the write up!

Brunas: I think you drop Autothrusters off of that Seinar Test Pilot. Sure, it's less protected, but any shots taken in its direction are preferred to shots going at the Defenders, so points spend defending it are probably not a great investment. That gives you 5 points to work with. Could be initiative bid, could be some defensive tech on the Defenders, could be more gear on the TAP.

NakedDex: I'm not sure I'd take TIE/Ds to Nationals if you haven't played them much before. They're awesome, but they don't fly much like other ships, even x7 Defenders.

Wurms: I like that list, although personally I've not had as much luck getting PTL Ryad to work on the /D platform (great on x7), but give it a shot.

bahourmat: You're very welcome!

Good to finally see the write-up!

Playing against the list, I knew it would serve you well

I'll definitely steal it when I want to fly double TIE/Ds----I feel its the best way to run given the current meta.

X-7's are good too though, but you gotta make sure you don't suffer offensively. That's why I like crack shot over Juke: guaranteed damage always trumps situational

Brunas: I think you drop Autothrusters off of that Seinar Test Pilot. Sure, it's less protected, but any shots taken in its direction are preferred to shots going at the Defenders, so points spend defending it are probably not a great investment. That gives you 5 points to work with. Could be initiative bid, could be some defensive tech on the Defenders, could be more gear on the TAP.

NakedDex: I'm not sure I'd take TIE/Ds to Nationals if you haven't played them much before. They're awesome, but they don't fly much like other ships, even x7 Defenders.

Wurms: I like that list, although personally I've not had as much luck getting PTL Ryad to work on the /D platform (great on x7), but give it a shot.

bahourmat: You're very welcome!

Well, one game in with the Vess, Ryad, Sienar list. Went against a Boba w/ Homing 4-lom, Dengar w/ Recon,R4,LW list. Vess was priority one obviously, but he got good damage in on Boba before he met the reaper. Boba had 1hp left, with stunned pilot crit, and he was double ion'd by the time Vess was taken out. Next turn Ryad kturns in front of boba, he bumps into her and explodes - HAHA! Now it was Dengar vs Ryad and Sienar. I never got my Sienar's prockets off, but **** did they work. Dengar was barrell rolling away from my little guy, killing his actions. Game was really close but I got the W. Ryad and TAP ended with 1 hull left each.

PTL Ryad was alright. Barrell came in handy a couple times to get arc on Dengar, or to get out of his front arc, then have the focus for defense if I need it. Predator would have been handy as well few times, but I dont think I can lose PTL unless I lose Vessery. The list is fun and it's gonna get a few more games this week for sure

**** the TIE Defender master has returned.

Bio - hats off to you sir, fantastic showing mate and you've done us all proud. I'm interested to know however, did either Rex or Maarek's ability kick in much over the course of the games?

Brunas: I think you drop Autothrusters off of that Seinar Test Pilot. Sure, it's less protected, but any shots taken in its direction are preferred to shots going at the Defenders, so points spend defending it are probably not a great investment. That gives you 5 points to work with. Could be initiative bid, could be some defensive tech on the Defenders, could be more gear on the TAP.

NakedDex: I'm not sure I'd take TIE/Ds to Nationals if you haven't played them much before. They're awesome, but they don't fly much like other ships, even x7 Defenders.

Wurms: I like that list, although personally I've not had as much luck getting PTL Ryad to work on the /D platform (great on x7), but give it a shot.

bahourmat: You're very welcome!

Well, one game in with the Vess, Ryad, Sienar list. Went against a Boba w/ Homing 4-lom, Dengar w/ Recon,R4,LW list. Vess was priority one obviously, but he got good damage in on Boba before he met the reaper. Boba had 1hp left, with stunned pilot crit, and he was double ion'd by the time Vess was taken out. Next turn Ryad kturns in front of boba, he bumps into her and explodes - HAHA! Now it was Dengar vs Ryad and Sienar. I never got my Sienar's prockets off, but **** did they work. Dengar was barrell rolling away from my little guy, killing his actions. Game was really close but I got the W. Ryad and TAP ended with 1 hull left each.

PTL Ryad was alright. Barrell came in handy a couple times to get arc on Dengar, or to get out of his front arc, then have the focus for defense if I need it. Predator would have been handy as well few times, but I dont think I can lose PTL unless I lose Vessery. The list is fun and it's gonna get a few more games this week for sure

For me, I like PTL on Ryad more for the raw offense than for the extra maneuverability (when Mk2 is equipped). The Target Lock lets you get nicely modified attacks while still having Focus/Evade for defense, when needed.

**** the TIE Defender master has returned.

Bio - hats off to you sir, fantastic showing mate and you've done us all proud. I'm interested to know however, did either Rex or Maarek's ability kick in much over the course of the games?

I never left! Rex's ability was activated maybe once, but that was often because I knew the target ship was going to be dead soon anyway. Maarek's did activate, although with TIE/D, again, often times it wasn't really an issue because the ship was dead anyway. I think that is more a factor of playing against a lot of small ships, where the overwhelming firepower would take ships off the board too quickly for the ability to really matter. During practice leading up to the event, I definitely did get work out of Maarek's ability. The Ion Cannon pairs well with it, because most ships really don't want to take that token, so they'll defend against if if they can.

Brunas: I think you drop Autothrusters off of that Seinar Test Pilot. Sure, it's less protected, but any shots taken in its direction are preferred to shots going at the Defenders, so points spend defending it are probably not a great investment. That gives you 5 points to work with. Could be initiative bid, could be some defensive tech on the Defenders, could be more gear on the TAP.

NakedDex: I'm not sure I'd take TIE/Ds to Nationals if you haven't played them much before. They're awesome, but they don't fly much like other ships, even x7 Defenders.

Wurms: I like that list, although personally I've not had as much luck getting PTL Ryad to work on the /D platform (great on x7), but give it a shot.

bahourmat: You're very welcome!

Well, one game in with the Vess, Ryad, Sienar list. Went against a Boba w/ Homing 4-lom, Dengar w/ Recon,R4,LW list. Vess was priority one obviously, but he got good damage in on Boba before he met the reaper. Boba had 1hp left, with stunned pilot crit, and he was double ion'd by the time Vess was taken out. Next turn Ryad kturns in front of boba, he bumps into her and explodes - HAHA! Now it was Dengar vs Ryad and Sienar. I never got my Sienar's prockets off, but **** did they work. Dengar was barrell rolling away from my little guy, killing his actions. Game was really close but I got the W. Ryad and TAP ended with 1 hull left each.

PTL Ryad was alright. Barrell came in handy a couple times to get arc on Dengar, or to get out of his front arc, then have the focus for defense if I need it. Predator would have been handy as well few times, but I dont think I can lose PTL unless I lose Vessery. The list is fun and it's gonna get a few more games this week for sure

For me, I like PTL on Ryad more for the raw offense than for the extra maneuverability (when Mk2 is equipped). The Target Lock lets you get nicely modified attacks while still having Focus/Evade for defense, when needed.

So, lost a game vs RAC Whisper, but it was against one of the better players in the area and I did some stupid moves as well. Not really the lists fault, just my own.

Anyways, after some thinking...and drinking, I went a little more towards Bio's list, I swapped Ryad for Maarek (higher PS when facing brobots and other defenders like Ryad and juking Vessery,etc) with Predator and Ion, then added a hull upgrade to Vess and Maarek as well. Drop the TAP for an Epsilon.

Maarek + Predator + Ion Cannon + xD + Hull

Vessery + Adaptability + Ion Cannon + xD + Hull

Epsilon Sqd

Just won a couple games with this list. Vess with adapt comes to PS7 with Maarek letting them move out of one anothers way and lets me choose who gets to attack first, which actually came in handy a couple times. The Epsilon does WAY more than I thought. I added him cause he has the TL action for Vess. However, in the games I played, people actually took shots at him, over vessery cause he is Vessery's TL!! Epsilon had 2HP left and was TLing for Vess, so they tried to kill Epsilon so Vess cant reroll. (Eps survived, btw, was beautiful) I was like "OK, go ahead and shoot my 15pt ps1 ship" i just dropped my FO in the middle between Vess and my opponent, and they have a range 1 attack on a FO who is TLing for Vess and going to block them next round, or a range 2/3 shot at Vess. I also love being able to do 1 banks, and even 1 hards with defenders and not have to worry about the 3 speeds all the time.

These xD ion defenders hit really hard. Love it.

Bio, do you usually flank with one defender? I was running Vess and Epsilon together near edge, then Maarek range 2 away from them (almost center) to adapt to teh enemy and he can join up with Vess or split and flank.

With a few exceptions, I do tend to split the Defenders. It makes it harder for both to be blocked, it and usually means one can go full offense because it will have few or no guns pointed its way.

After playing Rebels for nearly two years I did jump to the Dark Side.....I like cookies.

Brought Vessery and Ryad but tried to shore them up with a Homing Missile TAP to get through that Stealth Device Palp Ace. Tried earlier with Tomax and Gamma Vet and would only get off one missile and they would die quickly. Therefore I went with the Baron and did not play test. Boy did that hurt. The stronger players recognized the threat of the Homing Missile and the weaker Baron gunning for it immediately. If I would have played tested I would kept it in the rear and waited till the middle of the battle to engage.

Result. 3 wins. 3 losses of 0-100. Tabled. Ouch. It did not help that I am on a Target Lock re-roll the same result campaign for about 2 months.

I would say I did like keeping the Twin Ion Engine, the combined damage of Ryad and Vessery and the Initiative Bid. As I didn't go against stealth / Palp I am considering a different support ship than a Homing Missile carrier...it gets so much hate.

Colonol Vessery - VI, Twin Ion Engine, TIE/x7

Countess Ryad - PTL, Twin Ion Engine, TIE/x7

Baron of the Empire - Crack Shot, Homing Missile, TIE/v1, Guidance Chip.

Glad you are still showing the rest of us how to do it and if I was better at remembering people would have loved to met you.

Now I did go with 3 Defenders with TIE/D + Ion for team epic....but I don't want to talk about that as in another post you can see all the lovely Buck Rodgers (Protectorate Starfighter) and Star Trek (Lancer-class Pursuit) destroying us (barely in points). I played the Defenders wrong as I was trying to contain the Star Trek ships as opposed to taking on Buck Rodger.

In practice matches, Maarek,Vess, and Eps went 6-0 for me. Had a little FLGS tourney this past weekend.

First match was VI brobots. I got wrecked. Their higher PS with double tap was too much and my dice were awful. Maarek rolled 10 blanks on his 12 green dice (sitting on a focus for defense) and went down quick. Wasnt great after that.

Second match was Two slavers and a bumpmaster. I slow rolled my Ds and as I saw slavers gunning for Vessery, I 4k'd him and kept him in my bottom right corner while maarek sped behind them on the flank. It worked as Scout flew off the board trying to avoid block from my Eps in order to block Vess, slavers had to turn away. Then maarek and ves had their backs and went to work.

Third match was against trip aces Vader, Inquisitor, Soontir. Tough match, and both of us were flying awesome. I managed to ion both vader and inquisitor in the same turn, but was in a bad spot to capitalize. By the time Maarek went down, Inquisitor had 1 hull, vader 2 hull, Soontir 1hull. I didnt mean to split fire, but with trip aces I just had to take what I was given. Vess with 6hp left, and Eps at 2hp. Lots of good flying, my opponent was keeping inquisitor just barely out of r3, and as time was called, Soontir and Vader were both in Vess R1. So I had a chance to win the game. Ion Soontir and kill him, then R1 primary Vader (who had the lock). Soontir attacks vess, 1boom, two eyeballs. He keeps his focus. Vess attacks, I roll two booms with my ion, Soontir gets three eyeballs. ****, he is safe. So I primary him and wipe him off the board. Maarek was worth 44pts, Soontir 34. Vess still had 6hp left. It was an awesome match. I needed to fly better with Eps. He didnt manage a single block that game.

Brobots are definatley something I need to practice against, though.

Currently 7-2 with this list.