I am enjoying these "what upgrades do I put on 'X'" articles, so let's talk about one of the least used ships.

What would you add to a 48 point Raider 2 to include it in your list? What role does it serve?

Title

Officer

Weapons Team

Offensive Retrofit

Ion Cannon

First thing I would do is upgrade it to a Raider I.

I do like Kallus on the Raider for anti-squadron fire. Our local meta is lousy with aces.

The title Impetuous also compliments Kallus if you can double-arc an ace.

Agent Kallus, Impetuous.

I will start.

Raider 2

Impetuous

Agent Kallus

Leading Shots

Total:59

Ace hunter - shoot least a blue and another color at the ace squadron, then get another attack after with the same dice. Leading shot ensures a reroll if both dice miss. Add Quad Laser Turrets to add counter attacks if you want to go crazy.

Edit: beaten like Agent Kallus by Pheonix Squadron

I havent ran a raider since Gozantis arrived.

But if I was running a raider 2, I don't think I'd add huge to it. Main ideas

- Impetuous (better with the blue dice range)

- Ruthless (again, better with blue dice)

- Otherwise, probably just a vet captain so I can go from speed 3 down to 2 once in combat to get the best manouverbility without wasting the command.

Role wise, use it as a flanker and try to threaten enemy skirmishers, especially at the points where my main force is engaging so activation order becomes a real problem.

I have tried them with OL-Pulse in a list with ISD Avenger close by but I have yet to get it to work.

The raider just can't stand up to the punishment it needs to take for me to use this combo against a decent sized target.

I then tried using a VSD II to do the job in place of the raider and it works occasionally.

The one time I used a Raider II well it was a Screed list, in which I kitted out the Raider with Overload pulse and ran it alongside Avenger. I managed to manoeuvre it spot on to buzz a pair of ships and dash away.

But I have to say, I'm having to retire Raiders from my fleet. Their dice want them to get close, but I just find them too flimsy to do so, and that's really not helped by having two evades. I think if an officer upgrade were to come in that was similar to Needa, but replaced one of your defence tokens with a Brace or redirect, it'd be enough to make them attractive again.

Instigator, flight commander, expanded hangar bay, ruthless strategists

Helps to have some beefy hulls sitting around that your opponents squads have to attack, also providing fodder for ruthless strategist... flight commander it's on there so you can reposition squads you might run over to ensure the enemy squads are engaged

The most success I've had with a Raider-2 is one armed with SW-7 skirting the edge of battle with a Raider-1 in tow. The Raider-1 was kitted for utility work (OE and APT) and together they savaged a Nebulon that exposed its side. As anti-squadron units, they do better against broadly spread enemy units than a Raider-1, but are less consistent in the damage output. At some point I plan to repeat the experiment with other Ion Cannon options, primarily NK-7 and Ion Cannon Batteries, but in typical fleets I use Raider-1s for cost, consistency, and hurling Ordnance crits.

two of them with overload pulse and an ISD-II with Avenger and gunnery team

I have tried them with OL-Pulse in a list with ISD Avenger close by but I have yet to get it to work.

The raider just can't stand up to the punishment it needs to take for me to use this combo against a decent sized target.

I then tried using a VSD II to do the job in place of the raider and it works occasionally.

Best way to make this work IMO is have them run right up next to your ISD, one on each side is how I do it. Yes they can still get blasted, but it means your ISD is not betting shot at, and most players I have faced get so focued on the ISD that the raiders can do their thing. They also are in position to screen fighters away from your ISD. Obviously Screed is requied for this list. I run it with some bombers(4) and intercaptor(5) to herd enemy where I want them.

two of them with overload pulse and an ISD-II with Avenger and gunnery team

I just re-visited this on Sunday. It destroyed an MC80 with 1 forward arc from the ISD. Tough to setup the shot, because they see it coming, but if you can, it is basically a win.

Fighter killer.

Impetuous, Ruthless, Kallus.

Pair with IG88 and Mauler/Bossk and you can assassinate Jan or Dengar quickly. Also if they don't have a big fighter force it is very effective at flanking or protecting your flank from enemy flankers. Speed 2 Raiders are perfect for watching your sides. That being said you really need initiative with Raiders.

Best way to make this work IMO is have them run right up next to your ISD, one on each side is how I do it. Yes they can still get blasted, but it means your ISD is not betting shot at, and most players I have faced get so focued on the ISD that the raiders can do their thing. They also are in position to screen fighters away from your ISD. Obviously Screed is requied for this list. I run it with some bombers(4) and intercaptor(5) to herd enemy where I want them.

IF i decide to use them instead of 1's... I generally keep 2 of them 1 move back of the ISD front to cover it against flank/rear attacks if they happen. Go with MS-1 upgrades & they can exhaust the enemy ECM if they activate before the ISD.

And/or once the ISD rams the main enemy ship & locks the ship in place, they increase speed and shoot forward to crush the enemy flank with double arc fire & a ram.

Then they die horribly over the next turn or 2...

If Vader is my Admiral, they have Ion Cannon Batteries and that's it.

Anti Fighter - Impetuous, Ruthless Strategists. Agent Kallus and QLT to taste.

Ion Control - Veteran Gunners, NK7/Overload pulse

Flotilla hunter - Nothing. Maybe Ion Turbines.

Is a raider worth buying? I deplore the design.

When I run a raider swarm, I use them to remove defense tokens and run NK-7 with intel officer. Weaken larger ships before the other raiders hit it.

The other way I kit them out is with Intel officer and SW-7, then I use it to hunt flotillas, basically use the scatter or die. If the enemy does not have any flotillas, it does decent damage to other ships.

I have been running this as my fighter screen carrier for a bit now with good success

Raider 2 Impetuous, Ruthless Strategists, Expanded hanger bay. backed up with 2 advanced and soontir

Add Kallus if your meta has a lot of aces or your Dengar/Jan O hunting.

I love instigator with this ship + expanded hangers used as a tie tender and anti Intel ship. Aim strait at the Intel ship to lock it down, drive the ties at the bombers to keep instigator in one piece.

Fighter killer.

Impetuous, Ruthless, Kallus.

Pair with IG88 and Mauler/Bossk and you can assassinate Jan or Dengar quickly. Also if they don't have a big fighter force it is very effective at flanking or protecting your flank from enemy flankers. Speed 2 Raiders are perfect for watching your sides. That being said you really need initiative with Raiders.

If I was going to run a Raider-II, this is more or less how I'd do it.

The problem is the Raider-II still has black dice in its battery armament and therefore is always operating under non-ideal conditions unless it's at close range in which case the Raider-I is superior and for less points (and makes better use of the weapon team slot for Ordnance Experts). Currently the ordnance slot upgrades are just better than the ion upgrades too. If we ever get an Expanded Launchers for ion cannons, then I may very well change my tune, however (5 blue dice front arc? yes, I'm interested).

Anyways, the one big benefit the Raider-II has over the Raider-I is its flak goes out to medium range. With Kallus, Impetuous, and Ruthless Strategists you leverage this benefit as hard as you can.

I really like the Raider. I didn't think much of it when I got it originally, but that changed pretty quickly after playing it. Yes, they're somewhat squishy, but damnit they're good fun to have screaming around the flanks.

As an anti-squadron support, I run the Impetuous/Kallus/QLT loadout. It combo's nicely with Screed as it guarantees at least at least one damage on each squadron you're firing at, plus an extra for Impetuous.

For utility, I really like the Raider II with Admiral Montferrat/QLT/Overload Pulse. Monty gives it a bit more survivability on the approach for the Overload Pulse shot. I pretty much exclusively run this beside an Avenger ISD II, and it's done well for me. If it's ignored, it's punching down defences for the Avenger to take advantage of. If it's chased... well that's arguably even better. I sometimes drop the QLT on it, as I don't see many squadron heavy lists here.

As an anti-squadron support, I run the Impetuous/Kallus/QLT loadout. It combo's nicely with Screed as it guarantees at least at least one damage on each squadron you're firing at, plus an extra for Impetuous.

Screed's use is once per activation, so it guarantees damage only on one squadron. However, the combo of Screed, Kallus and QLT is interesting, as QLT counter attacks are going to happen once per fighter activation and therefore all of them can be Screeded.

Sorry, I meant it guarantees at least one damage on one squadron. Comboing that with Impetuous and Kallus, it's a bad time for an ace.

The problem with QLT and Screed is that it's Counter 1, and Screed needs you to spend a die to change a face. Now if you can somehow get to counter 2...

Sorry, I meant it guarantees at least one damage on one squadron. Comboing that with Impetuous and Kallus, it's a bad time for an ace.

The problem with QLT and Screed is that it's Counter 1, and Screed needs you to spend a die to change a face. Now if you can somehow get to counter 2...

.. Kallus.