I want to protect against the mirror match at regionals, so I am trying to make subtle tweaks to push me over the edge. First thing I thought of was Ion Projector on the shuttle, to make room for that though I have to down grade Vess to only have Adaptability or put Juke on both him and Ryad, taking off PTL on her and TIE MK 2. However, I won't be maximizing Vess' ability to its full potential, so I came up with this list to put Stele in their instead.

100 Points

soo this might be a silly idea but if you want the advantage can't you just put either flechet or tractor on the lamda and turn its attacks into positional advantage? since no one is ever getting hull damage for the first few rounds of shooting anyways put the shuttle's attack dice to use

rather than randomly trying to get bumped and then roll red dice and sometimes ion people

soo this might be a silly idea but if you want the advantage can't you just put either flechet or tractor on the lamda and turn its attacks into positional advantage? since no one is ever getting hull damage for the first few rounds of shooting anyways put the shuttle's attack dice to use

rather than randomly trying to get bumped and then roll red dice and sometimes ion people

Flechet and tractor doesn't do anything to defenders though, especially tractor on a PS2 ship. Ion Projector on a palp shuttle has 100% success rate and an ioned defender is usually a dead defender. It's also not that hard to force bumps with the lambda.

rather than randomly trying to get bumped and then roll red dice and sometimes ion people

Palp can modify that die also.

Yes, it is situational, but if you can keep bumping you can essentially remove a combatant from the game.

so just to be clear, your going to assume that you can cause the opposing defenders to bump, a shuttle that is clearly going to purposely position to bump.

your then going to waste your palp die pre combat on 1 of 2 of these defenders you've managed to bump

i feel like its just easier to actually have an ion cannon that deals damage

so based on your initial list this is how i would configure it.

so just to be clear, your going to assume that you can cause the opposing defenders to bump, a shuttle that is clearly going to purposely position to bump.

your then going to waste your palp die pre combat on 1 of 2 of these defenders you've managed to bump

i feel like its just easier to actually have an ion cannon that deals damage

so based on your initial list this is how i would configure it.

Omicron Group Pilot — Lambda-Class Shuttle 21

Ion Cannon 3

Emperor Palpatine 8

Ship Total: 32

Countess Ryad — TIE Defender 34

Veteran Instincts 1

TIE/x7 -2

Ship Total: 33

Maarek Stele (TIE Defender) — TIE Defender 35

Juke 2

TIE/x7 -2

Ship Total: 35

*shrug* strategy seems suspect to me just not seeing how you can force a bump on a ship whos moveset is 1/2/3 forward and bank.

but i play defenders with cannons cause i like getting 2 attacks so i dunno maybe people dont understand that x/7 title doesnt mean you lose all your 1/2 speed moves.

The Palpatine/Ion Projector combo is a pretty nasty one, because once something has bumped the shuttle it's never going to escape. The ion move forces it to bump again (as the shuttle dials in a 1-forward or stop), and Palpatine ensures that it gets ioned again, catching it in a loop.

Even if the opponent is able to avoid the initial bump, it's something they are forced to consider and avoiding the bump with the shuttle may cost them a good position or shot.

From experience, I'd say that immobilising a ship and all but removing it from the game while it's there is worth 2 points and a 50/50 shot at having to use Palpatine.

The Palpatine/Ion Projector combo is a pretty nasty one, because once something has bumped the shuttle it's never going to escape. The ion move forces it to bump again (as the shuttle dials in a 1-forward or stop), and Palpatine ensures that it gets ioned again, catching it in a loop.

Even if the opponent is able to avoid the initial bump, it's something they are forced to consider and avoiding the bump with the shuttle may cost them a good position or shot.

From experience, I'd say that immobilising a ship and all but removing it from the game while it's there is worth 2 points and a 50/50 shot at having to use Palpatine.

This is accurate. It is mostly useless against large base-only lists, though, so may not be the most efficient upgrade.

But, against, less-skilled Defender players, this is a solid counter. More than just taking a ship out of the fight (which is pretty huge in any Palp Ace list), you set it up to be permanently removed when your ships come back around.

Against skilled Defender players, you should have a much harder time forcing the block, but you will have a rather large control element for a turn or two of combat -- even if they aren't smashing into you, they're going to have to take a maneuver that probably puts them out of position for a turn, which could really help out your Defenders. After that, though, your shuttle is a goner, and relatively quickly at that, meaning the enemy will likely half a Defender or two & Palp left over, vs your two Defenders, sans Palp.

Up to you if that's favorable or not.