TIE Striker preview is up

By Jarval, in X-Wing

big question now is how to get SL in other factions

lacking x7s or cheapo Tie Fighters to generate evades makes it far less appealing

prototype pilots are great, since they'll be blocking anyway so who gives a ****

and...title-less scyks?

I'm thinking Ghost w/Jan Crew and a few Z-95s. Hit hard.

Attani Scyks are a good way to have a nice pool of Evades while still having mods.

No Ghost pilot has an EPT, unless you are just meaning for it to provide the evade for someone else?

After initial excitement subsides I think the biggest question the Striker has to answer is whether it's really any better than all those lower-PS Interceptors nobody plays with - I don't see many Alpha Squadron Interceptors tearing the place up. There's going to be a lot riding on whether the Ailerons really add something important to your ship, and being a low hull ship without Autothrusters isn't a great place to be if TLTs are back.

I was initially quite excited about the Striker when I read the article but a lot more problems than opportunities have occurred to me since then.

Question: Swarm leader says you may choose up to two other friendly ships who have your target in their firing arch at range 1-3, is the 1-3 a measure from how far away they are from The Swarm Leader or how far away they are from the target ship? Either way there are some crazy implications.

Oops, double post..

Edited by GreeneScale

big question now is how to get SL in other factions

lacking x7s or cheapo Tie Fighters to generate evades makes it far less appealing

prototype pilots are great, since they'll be blocking anyway so who gives a ****

and...title-less scyks?

edit: oh also countdown

countdown is a decent generator for SL evades because he don't give a ****

no mods on offense hurts, though

Rey with Finn and ps1 A wings.

You're only talking about getting two A-Wings even if you got PS1 with refit. You can do this though:

Rey: Swarm Leader, Finn, Kanan, Smuggling Compartment, Burnout SLAM

GSP AWing: Refit, Crackshot, AWTP, Adaptability, Autothursters

GSP AWing: Refit, Crackshot, AWTP, Adaptability, Autothursters

Leaves you with 2 pts left over to switch those Adaptabilities to another 1 pt ept or upgrade Burnout SLAM to something else.

Edited by RStan

Oddly enough, im not seeing the striker as a swarmer. Great, cause i bought 3 of the bastards... ugh...

Pairs maybe due to the prices of the named guys, i could see them replacing my usual Mithil or Scourge "filler" ship. They are going to have some REALLY weird flight patterns, which that alone (not counting the price at all) might make them hard to fly in numbers.

Literally any "if this attack hits" will not work on him

Gunner will trigger (unless you just take 1 damage anyway)

SD wont go away

etcetc

Biggest one being "If this attack hits...." being impossible to work. Dont want him to tractor you onto that rock? Cancel all dice, take 1 damage, get your attack off. Yeah, tractor just did 1 damage, worth it to not lose your 3-4die attack.

Dont want to be ioned? Cancel it, take 1 damage, you arent ioned.

That is just insane.

I don't see any of that as broken or overpowered. It's an ability that can be used once per round (unless you bring Yorr) a maximum of 4 times (without a hull or a shield upgrade).

No Ghost pilot has an EPT, unless you are just meaning for it to provide the evade for someone else?

Doh.

Also, get Kath up to 7 out her rear arc.

I think you've got it backwards, Lightened Frame is almost unplayably mediocre.

Unplayably mediocre? I don't see this. Sure, it's 1 extra Green Die for a Tie Fighter that only has 2. It's not /x7 good, but I would hardly call it "unplayably mediocre".

It's not even Hull Upgrade good.

Question: Swarm leader says you may choose up to two other friendly ships who have your target in their firing arch at range 1-3, is the 1-3 a measure from how far away they are from The Swarm Leader or how far away they are from the target ship? Either way there are some crazy implications.

I'm sure it's R 1-3 of the ship that has the Evade token.

Also, I could see it working well on ATC Vader, as much as you don't see the big guy anymore.

Going toe to toe with Fenn Rau will be a fun experience.

Glad to see a loke minded guy out there. I love me some Fenn Rau and having an imperial that can punch like that would be great. Also Vader is one of my favorite pilots in the game. Let's bring the Big Guy back boys!

A very simple list thrown together, obvious as all get out.

Darth Vader (29)
Swarm Tactics (2)
Advanced Targeting Computer (1)
Engine Upgrade (4)
TIE/x1 (0)
Glaive Squadron Pilot (34)
Adaptability (0)
TIE/x7 (-2)
Glaive Squadron Pilot (34)
Adaptability (0)
TIE/x7 (-2)
Total: 100

Question: Swarm leader says you may choose up to two other friendly ships who have your target in their firing arch at range 1-3, is the 1-3 a measure from how far away they are from The Swarm Leader or how far away they are from the target ship? Either way there are some crazy implications.

How far away they are from the defending ship.

Well **** ffg can still make imperial ships worth taking after all.

Lf means i'll even pick up a sf now.

And swarm leader is the cherry on top.

Swarm leader confirmed x7 buff

Nah, I honestly see it as a bigger buff to a Green Squadron Swarm. The shooter gets to pair this WITH PtL for a focus + TL attack, and he's firing late enough that he can pick and choose which of his wingmen didn't actually NEED their evade tokens during the turn (so he's not grabbing an evade that could result in a ship blowing up)

Lightweight Frame just made it possible for more survivable TIEs... Phantoms, Punishers, Bombers, TIE/sf...

Which Phantom are you putting it on, the ones that have ACD or the ones that have SPA? They have mods basically welded to them already. Same with Punishers and Bombers. This is only really helpful to the Striker and /sf.

Well, if you title your TIE Bomber into a TIE Shuttle, it suddenly didn't have a good choice for its mod slot, before. Now it does.

I dont see LF helping the SFs that much. They really want Mk2 because that 3bank green is a life saver given how many reds they got.

Question: Swarm leader says you may choose up to two other friendly ships who have your target in their firing arch at range 1-3, is the 1-3 a measure from how far away they are from The Swarm Leader or how far away they are from the target ship? Either way there are some crazy implications.

It's the target. The distance from the ship with Swarm Leader irrelevant. Basically, the ship the evade token is coming from needs to have an in arc primary shot on the target to be able to contribute to Swarm Leader.

I am still thinking that Swarm Leader will work better on a bunch of cheap Tie Fighters than it will with /x7 Defenders. You don't want to leave your /x7 open to attack.

I also think Swarm Leader Col. Vessery probably wants to go with a bunch of cheap Tie FO's as they can both TL and get Evade.

I agree that someone like Darth Vader in a Tie Swarm would be great for Swarm Leader. I think cheap Tie Fighters or cheap ones with special abilities are great. Night Beast can get a free Focus and just use an Evade. Dark Curse can help stay alive without his Evade. Otherwise, just go with Academy Pilots.

Lightened Frame really is a game changer for some ships. I'm beginning to think that TIE/SF and Tomax Bren are the major winners beyond the Striker itself. Even the generic TIE/SF will be in the halfway decent category. I'd rate Lightened Frame slightly better than Sensor Cluster. Generic TIE/SF are definitely better than the overcosted Tie Striker generic pilots.

Question: Swarm leader says you may choose up to two other friendly ships who have your target in their firing arch at range 1-3, is the 1-3 a measure from how far away they are from The Swarm Leader or how far away they are from the target ship? Either way there are some crazy implications.

How far away they are from the defending ship.

Yeah, if it meant you had to be 1-3 from the ship with the evade token, the wording would be "... choose up to 2 friendly ships at Range 1-3 that have the defending ship in their firing arcs."

After initial excitement subsides I think the biggest question the Striker has to answer is whether it's really any better than all those lower-PS Interceptors nobody plays with - I don't see many Alpha Squadron Interceptors tearing the place up. There's going to be a lot riding on whether the Ailerons really add something important to your ship, and being a low hull ship without Autothrusters isn't a great place to be if TLTs are back.

I was initially quite excited about the Striker when I read the article but a lot more problems than opportunities have occurred to me since then.

I think Countdown has legs, just because of the popularity of high powered 2-ship lists. Being able to throw a ship with meaningful offense into the teeth of anything with Zuckuss and just not care is hugely useful. Add on the fact that Countdown is fast and punchy and it's almost a perfect (for 20 points) Manaroo hunter.

I am still thinking that Swarm Leader will work better on a bunch of cheap Tie Fighters than it will with /x7 Defenders. You don't want to leave your /x7 open to attack.

I think this is one of the rare EPTs that is actually better when you put it on low PS ships. One of the biggest issues with taking an Evade instead of a Focus action was that if your opponent didn't target the ship then the action was kind of wasted. Swarm Leader doesn't spend the token until the ship with Swarm Leader equipped attacks (this was the obligatory mistake in the article).

In a high PS meta you aren't really losing any defense on your defenders.

Edited by WWHSD

Lightened Frame really is a game changer for some ships. I'm beginning to think that TIE/SF and Tomax Bren are the major winners beyond the Striker itself. Even the generic TIE/SF will be in the halfway decent category. I'd rate Lightened Frame slightly better than Sensor Cluster. Generic TIE/SF are definitely better than the overcosted Tie Striker generic pilots.

i think we're VASTLY overvaluing the contribution of a paltry single additional green die for a crapton of points

Especially if it is eating a bomber's mod slot

I am still thinking that Swarm Leader will work better on a bunch of cheap Tie Fighters than it will with /x7 Defenders. You don't want to leave your /x7 open to attack.

I think this is one of the rare EPTs that is actually better when you put it on low PS ships. One of the biggest issues with taking an Evade instead of a Focus action was that if your opponent didn't target the ship then the action was kind of wasted. Swarm Leader doesn't spend the token until the ship with Swarm Leader equipped attacks (this was the obligatory mistake in the article).

In a high PS meta you aren't really losing any defense on your defenders.

Well...the problem comes in that you have to have someone in your arc. I do agree with you that it's great on low PS if you have a shot, but it can also be used if you have Tie Fighters that took low PS Tie Fighters that have Evade, but no one in their arc. You only need 2. You don't need to fly in formation. Go ahead and actually swarm someone and see how it goes. Even if they bumped you, you can use it (as long as they are in your arc).

Lightened Frame really is a game changer for some ships. I'm beginning to think that TIE/SF and Tomax Bren are the major winners beyond the Striker itself. Even the generic TIE/SF will be in the halfway decent category. I'd rate Lightened Frame slightly better than Sensor Cluster. Generic TIE/SF are definitely better than the overcosted Tie Striker generic pilots.

i think we're VASTLY overvaluing the contribution of a paltry single additional green die for a crapton of points

Especially if it is eating a bomber's mod slot

I agree.

Unless you're talking casual, then yeah, have some fun with LWF.

Otherwise, this card is DOA. The expansion is great. This card is not.

Is it just me or do those wings look like they will fold upward?

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