Spin this another way. Why doesn't the YT-1300 have 5 crew slots?

game reasons, ofc

thing with the SF not having a crew is, I'm guessing, to balance out

1. generics (which the ARC does not have)

2. a very good dial, despite forum opinion (esp relative to the ARC, sloops are incredible)

3. overall cheaper cost by a significant amount, especially when considering they dont need VTs to roll

They also get full offensive mods with a mere two points in fcs

now the actual effect of said balancing is up for discussion, as FFG has proven to not be perfect (Who is?), but those would be the reasons the SF doesn't have a crew

the ARC having a crew is backed up by lore, but I have no earthly clue how having two Tailgunners (one for aux arc, one in the middle seat) would help unless they each man one of the butt guns

The real question should be "why do ARCs get a Tail Gunner (considering the Crew Slot indicates the middle of the three dudes/dudettes)."

Maybe it's not, maybe the third slot would be the back. The middle always being slotted with a nav/coordinator that can use the rear guns remotely, but isn't his/her main concern.

The real question should be "why do ARCs get a Tail Gunner (considering the Crew Slot indicates the middle of the three dudes/dudettes)."

Maybe it's not, maybe the third slot would be the back. The middle always being slotted with a nav/coordinator that can use the rear guns remotely, but isn't his/her main concern.

Therefore, thematically (as the mouse so wants the Star Wars universe and games post his purchase) Poe flew the SF and Finn operated the rear guns in lieu of the pilot only SF mechanisms. I'm not sold at all on the thoughts of why the current setup makes any sense.....

You should listen to your wife.

You should listen to your wife.

Haha! ....she keeps telling me that. Why I cannot is beyond my programming.

Well, remember, while Tailgunner was released with the ARC, it also applies to both Firesprays (and should apply to the Lambda. You want to talk about FFG dropping the ball, the shuttle should have a rear arc - it's had a proper retractable tail gun for years, and has one even in the now canon, forget the anti-pursuit lasers), and in any future "rear aux arc with crew" ships (So when will "Sidegunner" or "Doorgunner" show up?), which indicates using a generic "crew" space to dedicate to actually having somebody completely man the rear gun and focus on that.

Personally I've kind of always assumed in the ARC's case since it has a dedicated tail gunner anyway, you're doing the equivalent of not inserting somebody highly trained and specialized into the normal navigator/WSO slot, your ship puts all that into having a really good tailgunner riding in that seat and the middle guy is generic guy who does normal flight operation things and doesn't do anything cool, like say a "Weapons Engineer" or the included Recon Specialist.

I flew two of these for Worlds and went 3-3 (faced 2 hard matchups to start; Ghost/Phantom with TLT and Autoblaster resp.). I've flown this list about 40 times. I have faced all manner of meta lists during practice.

After all of those games, the SF has but one flaw: 2 agi

They just can't withstand the firepower the same as a defender, lack the mobility of the FO to avoid shots, and just don't withstand much punishment.

The slow dial requires thinking outside the box. You want to maximize the double shot to strip tokens and wither your opponents down. It works really well.

Personally though, it doesn't seem like FFG is properly evaluating new designs against the Empire's best (the Defender) but rather against the previous king (the regular TIE). I think the SF should've had base 3 attack if it were to only have 2 agility. 2 dice out of the back just doesn't damage things anymore.

Yeah 2 agility without evade is no bueno and a two dice attack out the whazoo does not make up for it.

SF (Special Forces): special forces and special operations forces are military units trained to conduct specialized operations beyond the sophistication and abilities of standard combat units. SF crews are specially equipped and trained units that swiftly perform extreme military activities. SF missions are conducted by specially designated, organized, trained, and equipped forces, manned with selected personnel, using unconventional tactics, techniques, and modes of deployment to overmatch and overwhelm enemy positions and personel.

So it might mean "equipped with a TIE fighter that's got a hyperdrive and a bunch of specialised electronics and sensors even though that stuff's really heavy and means that the ship gets a bit less agile than the bog-standard carrier-bourne point-defence fighter. Which is fine because operational endurance, flexibility, information-gathering and big ol' shields to protect our highly-trained special forces personnel are way more important than the ability to win a turning dogfight."

Oh, and FFG (almost) never give a crew slot for The Person Who's Too Busy Working The Guns To Contribute Much Else. You might not like it, but it's a perfectly understandable decision. If you're getting hung up on the naming of "Tail Gunner", just mentally add "Guy Who's So Efficient At Whatever Job The Third Crewmember Normally Does He Frees Up Resources To Assist The" in front of it.

Maybe it's not, maybe the third slot would be the back. The middle always being slotted with a nav/coordinator that can use the rear guns remotely, but isn't his/her main concern.

Then I want two crew slots in my K-Wings...

That assumption is flawed.

SF (Special Forces): special forces and special operations forces are military units trained to conduct specialized operations beyond the sophistication and abilities of standard combat units. SF crews are specially equipped and trained units that swiftly perform extreme military activities. SF missions are conducted by specially designated, organized, trained, and equipped forces, manned with selected personnel, using unconventional tactics, techniques, and modes of deployment to overmatch and overwhelm enemy positions and personel.

"Specially equipped" doesn't mean "equipped with stuff that's better in every way than the regular stuff", it means "equipped with stuff that's better suited to unconventional tactics, techniques and modes of deployment."

So it might mean "equipped with a TIE fighter that's got a hyperdrive and a bunch of specialised electronics and sensors even though that stuff's really heavy and means that the ship gets a bit less agile than the bog-standard carrier-bourne point-defence fighter. Which is fine because operational endurance, flexibility, information-gathering and big ol' shields to protect our highly-trained special forces personnel are way more important than the ability to win a turning dogfight."

Oh, and FFG (almost) never give a crew slot for The Person Who's Too Busy Working The Guns To Contribute Much Else. You might not like it, but it's a perfectly understandable decision.

OK Rodafowa, I love good debate. So, lets imagine that your definition of military equipment issued to SP troops is not "better than regular stuff," but "better suited to unconventional tactics, techniques and modes of deployment." So what was this ship designed for? and what unconventional tactics is it supposed to utilize? Well, the definition as described by starwars.wikia is:

"The TIE/sf space superiority fighter was a starfighter model used by the First Order, a specialized version of the TIE/fo space superiority fighter. A two-seat strike fighter used by the First Order's elite Special Forces pilots, the TIE/sf boasted weapons far more powerful than a standard TIE, combining laser cannons with a heavy turret and warhead launcher. Special Forces TIEs were equipped with hyperdrives, deflector shields and high-yield cells that provided additional power to onboard systems. These versatile attack ships were used for both reconnaissance and combat operations."

1) OK, so they "boast weapons far more powerful than a standard TIE" A standard TIE has 2 attack die. What's "far more powerful" than 2? At least 3 would be "more", but "far more" would be??

2) What about the "heavy turret"? Would you say it should be akin to an already designed FFG "Heavy Laser Cannon" or something like that? Well, what it is is certainly not a "heavy turret."

3) And if it is equipped with "hyperdrives" what does that say about the design intent for its speed and agility? The agility, I think should make it like a TIE, but more versatile, but the speed abilities should be vastly better with the hyperdrives.

4) If it's designed purpose for the navy was to be a "versatile attack ship," "two-seat strike fighter" for "reconnaissance and combat operations" shouldn't it have the crew slot? As anyone knows or could deduce, if a ship is designed to be versatile and has two crew (one the pilot of course), they would both be specialized for each reconnaissance or combat mission and would perform duties required for the mission. If the Phantom has a crew slot (which didn't make nearly as much sense) then this ship is destined for one as it not only meets the design parameters, but the two crew setup exactly matches the movie in which it was derived and pays direct homage to.

"Oh, and FFG (almost) never give a crew slot for The Person Who's Too Busy Working The Guns To Contribute Much Else. You might not like it, but it's a perfectly understandable decision." -Rodafowa.

Um Rod, no, it's NOT a perfectly understandable decision. It may be a game mechanic decision; it may be an attempt to not create an immediate Meta ship, but rather a middle of the road casual ship; but it is in NO way a "perfectly understandable decision."

....love all the thoughtful comments by the way, but the attempts to create rational for this luke-warm attempt at what is supposed to be a very versatile Space Superiority Fighter, well:

"believe them I do not." - Yoda

The _____ is good, you guys are just bad at thinking outside the box. --snip--

I feel this is the case with a number of ships and upgrades in the game.

... Until someone figures out the right use, then it's overpowered.

So, lets imagine that your definition of military equipment issued to SP troops is not "better than regular stuff," but "better suited to unconventional tactics, techniques and modes of deployment." So what was this ship designed for? and what unconventional tactics is it supposed to utilize?

Primarily, long range recon and strike - it's a combination of the TIE bomber and gunboat - unfortunately, having a hyperdrive doesn't specifically equate to any bonus in X-wing (although the sensors does give you the systems slot, which is good).

This is what happens when nerds have too much time unsupervised on the weekend,

So in playing around with my fairly new TIE SF; I found that a slight correction to an obvious designer oversight, makes these SFs a really nice little ship that I see using in a squad. So take this little combo and: have fun as it was originally intended (in the movie, remember?):

Nope its over powered.....