Hi all,

Regionals are coming up and having a selection dilemma.

Currently been running this list to really good effect.

Vessory with Juke, X7

Ryad with PTL, X7, Mk2

Delta with X7

99 points

It hits hard thanks to TL, focus and the juke, is fast and tanky and the PS1 delta can be a great blocker and a front line ship.

However,

TLT and turrets seem to be creeping back into the scene in droves and it's making me a tad nervous and thinking autothrusters may be needed.

Vessory, Adaptability/Trickshot, X7

Ryad, PTL, X7, Mk2

Inquistor, PTL, Autothrusters, Title

100

I drop the initiative bid and Vessery's Juke in order to fit full equiped Inquisitor in.

Damage output is probably similar with Inquisitors abilty and target lock making up for the juke loss.

Don't have a dedicated blocker but gain PS8 to help PS kill something and fancy autothrusters to make up for dropping 2 health points.

Opinions wanted please. Is it an improvement and will having one ship with autos be better than the 2 extra health

Thankyou

I wouldn't be too concerned with TLTs. You have fast ships with lots of HP, high agility, and constant token stacks; it's not that easy for the TLTs to chew Defenders up. Timing the approach requires some amount of practice, but if you do you can punish the bubble of one Y-wing immediately and eat it alive. Your opening goal should be to at least kill one Y-wing and get another into one-shot range before losing a Defender.

Thanks the reply, will need to have more practise before deciding. Im liking the Inquisitor option but that PS1 defender is often handy.

I'd stick with the Inquisitor as it will help you to PS kill things, though there is something to be said for having a strong durable blocker...

The main problem with Vessory is that he wants wing men with the same PS or lower than him. That way they can paint the target so his ability goes off. With the Inquisitor you will find that you won't want to spend your TL half the time so that Vessory can benefit from it. If you want to run the Inquisitor I would suggest running VI on Vessory to bring him up to PS 8.

1 or 2 TLTs shouldn't bother Defenders too much. Lists that spam TLTs are normally going to be lower PS than the Defenders (Ryad and Vessery anyway) which raises the option of the little-used (by Defenders at least) Barrel Roll to either get into R1 or out of R3. Also Y-wings are not noted for their manoeuvrability so trying to gang up on one ship while staying out of range of others will help the Defenders to stay alive long enough to start cutting their opponents down to size.

The main problem with Vessory is that he wants wing men with the same PS or lower than him. That way they can paint the target so his ability goes off. With the Inquisitor you will find that you won't want to spend your TL half the time so that Vessory can benefit from it. If you want to run the Inquisitor I would suggest running VI on Vessory to bring him up to PS 8.

I have found that ryad is enough, I often dont TL with delta and haven't had too much problems.

I might consider dropping the nameless one for Omega Leader with Comm Relay, Juke, and Stealth Device.

I did try omega for a while and he was good in certain situations but often found I was overly protective of him which I found annoying as he didn't contribute early on like a Delta and relied so much on naked 2 dice doing damage. But haven't had much experience using him so would go better with practise

I have taken to running Deathfire as my wingman to Vessery and Ryad.

28 Deathfire (17), Homing Missiles (5), Conner Nets (4), EMs (2), LRS (0)

He works surprisingly well. LRS helps him paint targets for Vessery and means your opening shot is often a fully modified Homing missile, 4 hits that ignore Evade tokens. His ability to drop Conner Nets either before or after he moves as a free action is great for dropping in the face of an ace who has tried to get around to your rear and you can even drop them before you 5K to disengage.

Now that Cluster Mines have been FAQed, I might be tempted to run them instead of Conner Nets for extra damage. Then again, the ability to ionise anything and deny actions can really put the hurt on a lot of aces.

Been playing with the Inquisitor a bit more lately. He is a bit more fragile without palp support but seems to be going well. He is a liability versus other defenders as he can't keep up with the speed and Ks but versus turrets he does do well and can use those 1 speed greens to weave about with constant TL, Evade

I am noticing that ryad still draws all the attention (as she should when playing against her)

which can be annoying. So in that regard Omega Leader is better. Mind you omega without palp does have issues doing damage if those 2 dice arent playing ball but omega does offer the ability to shut down 2 ship lists. While inquistor has the TL to rely on to at least ensure 2 hits everytime he shoots.

Never been so undecided making a list before. Whats everyones thoughts on the actual ability to PS kill a 8 health ship before it can shoot, the real reason why I have ventured down the replace the delta route.

3 ships all with TL, and focus should net at least 8/9 hits, meaning its only possible if you can either get into range one to increase your dice or the opponent fluffs every green dice. So the reality is no I can't stop a ywing shooting. Hmm so maybe the delta isn't so bad.

Ended up going with what I knew and could fly for a full day and took the delta as the third ship. Ended up going 5-1 and bowing out in the top 8.

Now to offload some fancy sparkly dice and prepare for the next regionals.

Wait, so what was your final list? What beat yku/what did you struggle against?

Final list was

Vess, Juke, X7

Ryad, PTL, X7, Mk2

Delta, X7

99 points.

Games were

1. Brath, Stele and Dark Curse. Defenders had Ion cannon, tractor beam and ruthlessness. Opponent took an early solid lead landing plenty of hits via the double taps but unfortunately we both forgot ruthlessness in that opening salvo which meant Vess with 1 health ran away and ryad and the delta took out all his ships for a 100-0 win

2. Brath, Stele, Delta all x7 and jukes. Managed the one critical turn where I got him to bump and my guys laid waste. 100-0 win

3. Brath, Stele, Carnor. X7s, jukes and PTL, auto carnor. Hadn't flown agaisnt carnor before so was a little nervous with all the jukes. I lost vess but killed carnor for a 35-31 loss.

4. Vader with prockets and usual setup and Admiral C with palp. Vader struggles versus defenders big time so was only a matter of time before he went down. 100-0 win

5. Soontir with targeting computer and Admiral C with hot shot, gunner and engine. A booting deci able to strip 2 focus a turn was hard to take on. Lost Vess but killed the deci while ignoring soontir knowing i could win on points. 64-35 win round abouts.

6. Vader with pred and usual, backdraft and PTL ryad

Tough match for my opponent, backdraft dropped early, then vader and ryad took some killing but being outnumbered went down.

100-0 win.

Cut. Super dash and miranda.

Opponent really played well, I was tired/had kinda reached a happy place with my performance up to there and I got destroyed. 100-0 loss.

I found the matchups with ships that could stop my tokens or large base boost the hardest. Dash out PS me and can do enough shenanigans around astroids to make it hard to get guns on him. Hot shot copilot and carnor are also handy for getting damage through.

In hindsight I would take the 3 smallest astroids to help the dash match. Defenders love it open and taking astroids to hopefully mess with large base ships can sometimes back fire on you when lanes are not open for your own ships.

I might consider dropping the nameless one for Omega Leader with Comm Relay, Juke, and Stealth Device.

Agree with this one. The other option is Carnor Jax. Very fragile and needs lots of practice.

Final list was

Vess, Juke, X7

Ryad, PTL, X7, Mk2

Delta, X7

99 points.

Games were

1. Brath, Stele and Dark Curse. Defenders had Ion cannon, tractor beam and ruthlessness. Opponent took an early solid lead landing plenty of hits via the double taps but unfortunately we both forgot ruthlessness in that opening salvo which meant Vess with 1 health ran away and ryad and the delta took out all his ships for a 100-0 win

2. Brath, Stele, Delta all x7 and jukes. Managed the one critical turn where I got him to bump and my guys laid waste. 100-0 win

3. Brath, Stele, Carnor. X7s, jukes and PTL, auto carnor. Hadn't flown agaisnt carnor before so was a little nervous with all the jukes. I lost vess but killed carnor for a 35-31 loss.

4. Vader with prockets and usual setup and Admiral C with palp. Vader struggles versus defenders big time so was only a matter of time before he went down. 100-0 win

5. Soontir with targeting computer and Admiral C with hot shot, gunner and engine. A booting deci able to strip 2 focus a turn was hard to take on. Lost Vess but killed the deci while ignoring soontir knowing i could win on points. 64-35 win round abouts.

6. Vader with pred and usual, backdraft and PTL ryad

Tough match for my opponent, backdraft dropped early, then vader and ryad took some killing but being outnumbered went down.

100-0 win.

Cut. Super dash and miranda.

Opponent really played well, I was tired/had kinda reached a happy place with my performance up to there and I got destroyed. 100-0 loss.

I found the matchups with ships that could stop my tokens or large base boost the hardest. Dash out PS me and can do enough shenanigans around astroids to make it hard to get guns on him. Hot shot copilot and carnor are also handy for getting damage through.

In hindsight I would take the 3 smallest astroids to help the dash match. Defenders love it open and taking astroids to hopefully mess with large base ships can sometimes back fire on you when lanes are not open for your own ships.

Final list was

Vess, Juke, X7

Ryad, PTL, X7, Mk2

Delta, X7

99 points.

Games were

1. Brath, Stele and Dark Curse. Defenders had Ion cannon, tractor beam and ruthlessness. Opponent took an early solid lead landing plenty of hits via the double taps but unfortunately we both forgot ruthlessness in that opening salvo which meant Vess with 1 health ran away and ryad and the delta took out all his ships for a 100-0 win

2. Brath, Stele, Delta all x7 and jukes. Managed the one critical turn where I got him to bump and my guys laid waste. 100-0 win

3. Brath, Stele, Carnor. X7s, jukes and PTL, auto carnor. Hadn't flown agaisnt carnor before so was a little nervous with all the jukes. I lost vess but killed carnor for a 35-31 loss.

4. Vader with prockets and usual setup and Admiral C with palp. Vader struggles versus defenders big time so was only a matter of time before he went down. 100-0 win

5. Soontir with targeting computer and Admiral C with hot shot, gunner and engine. A booting deci able to strip 2 focus a turn was hard to take on. Lost Vess but killed the deci while ignoring soontir knowing i could win on points. 64-35 win round abouts.

6. Vader with pred and usual, backdraft and PTL ryad

Tough match for my opponent, backdraft dropped early, then vader and ryad took some killing but being outnumbered went down.

100-0 win.

Cut. Super dash and miranda.

Opponent really played well, I was tired/had kinda reached a happy place with my performance up to there and I got destroyed. 100-0 loss.

I found the matchups with ships that could stop my tokens or large base boost the hardest. Dash out PS me and can do enough shenanigans around astroids to make it hard to get guns on him. Hot shot copilot and carnor are also handy for getting damage through.

In hindsight I would take the 3 smallest astroids to help the dash match. Defenders love it open and taking astroids to hopefully mess with large base ships can sometimes back fire on you when lanes are not open for your own ships.

The Miranda list: Was it a bomber or Alpha-striker (missiles)?

I did try omega for a while and he was good in certain situations but often found I was overly protective of him which I found annoying as he didn't contribute early on like a Delta and relied so much on naked 2 dice doing damage. But haven't had much experience using him so would go better with practise

The miranda list had a single homing missile, TLT, LRS, Jan Ors so had some alpha and then a late game regener.

Yeah need to spend some more time with Omega