The Phantom seems like the most out of balance squadron so far. Since when was a non-bomber capable of doing 4 damage in 1 run on a ship? It's slightly less than a 2% chance, but still ridiculous. And their cloak is going to be ridiculous, but I think it's interesting and will be fun to deal with.

The Phantom seems like the most out of balance squadron so far. Since when was a non-bomber capable of doing 4 damage in 1 run on a ship? It's slightly less than a 2% chance, but still ridiculous. And their cloak is going to be ridiculous, but I think it's interesting and will be fun to deal with.

I think that's the point: with their cloak and 2 red non-bomber they represent at potentially huge threat to your ships - or not. Deal with them - or not - as you please.

Im slightly disappointed. Might be because my expectations were too High. This flechette Will be only viable with raiders with OE backed up by Vader. Someone teach me how to keep those flies alive...

Why backed up with Vader?

Fighter ambush just got playable and a nightmare with relay squadrons.

Im slightly disappointed. Might be because my expectations were too High. This flechette Will be only viable with raiders with OE backed up by Vader. Someone teach me how to keep those flies alive...

Why backed up with Vader?

I just Double checked him, and youre right, cant reroll Anti squad dices

Ordynance experts and screed. My Raider fleet is more than happy for those cheep upgreade

Interesting side note - Corran Horn seems to be the only ace with no special ability. Just Rogue and an extra dice on snipe.

I say "just" - that's still a decent boost. But interesting nonetheless.

Out of interest, how did we get hold of these images? Does this suggest they'll be available to buy soon?

Interesting side note - Corran Horn seems to be the only ace with no special ability. Just Rogue and an extra dice on snipe.

I say "just" - that's still a decent boost. But interesting nonetheless.

That we already knew, since he was visible in the teaser article

Out of interest, how did we get hold of these images? Does this suggest they'll be available to buy soon?

Well, if launch date = 22nd Dec, it's not impossible that someone has gotten their grubby hands on w5 items.

There was also some preview cards floating around. Not sure where they came from. But they were in French IIRC.

Defenders.... :Homer Simpson drooling:

I'm thinking

Raider II

Kallus

Flechette Torpedoes

Ordnance Experts

Activate first and turn off many named squadrons in Short-Medium range out of 2 arcs.

Screed will guarantee one of those and Impetuous can give you another shot.

Take that Rieekan Aces.

Fighter ambush just got playable and a nightmare with relay squadrons.

I'm thinking

Raider II

Kallus

Flechette Torpedoes

Ordnance Experts

Activate first and turn off many named squadrons in Short-Medium range out of 2 arcs.

Screed will guarantee one of those and Impetuous can give you another shot.

Take that Rieekan Aces.

Raider II doesn't have an Ordnance slot. Works really well on Raider I though, especially with Kallus for those aces: add in a blue for the accuracy.

In fact, it's kinda interesting: the Arquitens pack has been seen as a fix for Victories, but with the flechettes I think it's also a big fix for Raiders. Up until now, I've struggled to justify kitting out the Raider solely as an anti-squadron ship - yeh it's great for shooting at squads, but I couldn't get it to do enough damage to make it a justifiable investment. With flechettes, however, it's an absolute killer, and I can definitely see this being included in a squadron-less fleet.

Colonel Jendon just broke the game.

Yup. The Empire just got that Adar Tallon ability...all flexible-like.

Would the Defender have been better with 4 blue anti squadrons?

Colonel Jendon just broke the game.

Yup. The Empire just got that Adar Tallon ability...all flexible-like.

Get Steele (near Rhymer) to double tap against a ship, 4 red bomber dice with 2 auto crits. Or Vader's squadron in a dogfight or just an interceptor with Howlrunner nearby for 5 blue with swarm reroll twice.

My initial reaction.

Strategic is going to be fun with Sensor Net, Jamming Barrier, Targeting Beacons and Planetary Ion Cannon, as well as the other token objectives, but these really stand out since they are new. Being able to chase a slow moving ship with Ion Cannon or Targeting Beacons makes these objectives scary, and Moving Jamming Barrier tokens means you can always keep your carriers out of "1 shot" range.

I don't know how I feel about Relay. I don't want to be the doom n gloom naysayer yet again, but I feel it removes some of the challenge with the squadron game. Cool, my 3 Gozantis sit in the corner and activate 6 squads a turn... A bit extreme, and you lose BCC and you can always kill Relay, but still. On the other hand, I am very excited to use it. Yavaris can be activate B-Wings after Independence has slingshot them across the board. Definitely a weird ability and I'm not sure why FFG gave a huge buff to squads.

Decimator is hands down my favorite squad to be released. They are beefy and throw a lot of dice. Obvious combo stated already is with Valen. Best of all is they have a fatal flaw; can't kill scatter aces. I've always liked things that have an Achilles's Heel.

Phantom is really cool. I think they will be a run 1 of type of squad, and likely only to be Whisper since he is hard to kill. The 2 red anti ship is also a really great idea since it is unreliable damage, and FFG kind of forces you to fight squads to get the best value.

Ketsu, IMO, is the clear winner here just for her ability. Imp Intel is very weak if Ketsu can get inside the Rhymerball. And the generic is also good. Bomber, Grit, Rogue is going to very annoying to deal with. Luckily there is only 4 hull so popping them is easy.

Colonel Jendon with Maarek Stele guarantees 2 damage on a ship, or 2 damage on a squad every round.

I like the decision for Tie/D to have a blue anti-ship instead of black. Now they aren't entirely broken the way people wanted them to be. And 2 blue, 2 black anti-squad makes them the first generic squad to have a dual color armament vs anti-squad. Edit: I forgot Y-666 have 2 blue/2 black anti-squad, but I've also never seen them on the table.

Z-95 is underwhelming for me. 7 points for a 3 hull ship. And 3 reds for anti-squad means it can't reliably put on the damage. And only 3 faces to deal damage

E-Wings are way stronger than I thought they were going to be. The first reveal got me thinking they were going to be snipers, not brawlers who can also shoot at range 2. E-Wings and X-Wings can form a stable anti-squadron/bomber force.

Looks like I'll need 3 packs of each.

Would the Defender have been better with 4 blue anti squadrons?

Personally, I think this makes them more balanced. 2 blacks means they can deal damage reliably to non-aces, but the blues give them the chance to get the Acc for a scatter. I like it.

Colonel Jendon with Maarek Stele guarantees 2 damage on a ship, or 2 damage on a squad every round.

Not quite. Jendon, Steele, Dengar, and sufficient escorts guarentees 2 damage every round on a ship or a non ace squad.

Anyone else laughing at how badly a single strategic squad can screw with so many objectives? My favorite will either watching a squad tow minefields in front of a ship or pulling the Hyperspace Assault tokens to somewhere useless.

I am also glad that someone else saw the potential for fighter ambush and Relay. Though Imperials getting Relay 2 with Rhymer makes it favor them a bit.

So Imperials pick up VT49, that are significant, Defenders that are significant, Phantoms, that are significant, and Shuttles, that are significant, and 4 useful Aces, 2 of these being pretty big deals. (Morna Kee, and Jendon)

Rebels picked up z95 Swarms and a few corner case aces, and Hera.

Well this changes things.

Colonel Jendon with Maarek Stele guarantees 2 damage on a ship, or 2 damage on a squad every round.

Not quite. Jendon, Steele, Dengar, and sufficient escorts guarentees 2 damage every round on a ship or a non ace squad.

Well yea. If you kill something you clearly can't deal damage. Fact of the matter is these 2 squads will guarantee damage to something every round they are alive.

The whole point of theory craft is what something can potentially do on the table, and does not need to cover every scenario. All of that is for naught if it dies.

Colonel Jendon just broke the game.

Yup. The Empire just got that Adar Tallon ability...all flexible-like.

Get Steele (near Rhymer) to double tap against a ship, 4 red bomber dice with 2 auto crits. Or Vader's squadron in a dogfight or just an interceptor with Howlrunner nearby for 5 blue with swarm reroll twice.

Red bomber dice?

So Imperials pick up VT49, that are significant, Defenders that are significant, Phantoms, that are significant, and Shuttles, that are significant, and 4 useful Aces, 2 of these being pretty big deals. (Morna Kee, and Jendon)

Rebels picked up z95 Swarms and a few corner case aces, and Hera.

Well this changes things.

I'm not so sure imperials got a better deal here. The lamda is neat but eats into your squad points without really contributing to anti squad or anti ship. The defender is not as good as an Intercepter at anti squad or a bomber at bombing, same deal with the phantom, and they are very expensive. Not sure what to make of these new squadrons, the only one I'd really like to get on the table is Morna Kee.

While they did give a buff to the squadrons, the Z95 is a gift to a lot of people, like myself, that like to fly squadron light where the number of bodies mean more than anything. I wish it was at least speed 4 or health 4 but for 7 points I can't really complain.