Hi all,

I've been flying 3 ship lists since I started playing X-wing a couple years ago. I now have the urge to challenge myself to flying swarms, to improve my skill as a player.

Crackswarms seem to have undergone a dip in popularity (Though they were never very big here in The Netherlands). This seems to be a result of both the Jumpmaster nerf, and the rise of Dengaroo and X/7 Defenders.

With this in mind, I wanted to design a swarm that has enough punch to PS kill a Defender or K-wing, and put a serious dent in Manaroo or a Decimator. The frame of the list is this:

Howlrunner: (19)

Crackshot

Zeta Leader (21)

Crackshot

Mauler Mither (18)

Crackshot

Scourge (18)

Crackshot

For the fifth ship, I have 2 options:

Omega Leader: (21)

A score to settle

+ A hull upgrade on Howlrunner

or

'Pure Sabacc' (24)

Adaptability

Adaptive Ailerons

Lightweight Frame

Thanks for taking the time to read this Which of these two do you think will perform better? I appreciate any feedback.

If you are going for a Crack swarm, think about dropping Zeta Leader for a generic Black Squadron Pilot with Crack Shot, and upgrading to standard OL, with Juke and Comm Relay. That way they may want to focus down Howlrunner first, but if they wait too long to focus on OL, he's fearsome in the end game. If they focus on OL, they have a TIE swarm that is throwing pretty good damage with Howlrunner rerolls and one possibly throwing 3 dice and the other throwing 4 at range 1.

If possible though, you may want to look into Rage Youngster instead. Much less range restriction, and the opponent can't remove the benefit that round (if they destroy Howlrunner before your other guys fire, they don't get the reroll). Doing that you could drop Mauler to Backstabber to possibly get another 3 die attack. Lose a Crack Shot, but does have something else for the opponent to consider firing at. I think it would be really fun to see an all TIE Fighter list on the table. You just have to be careful as those 2 die attacks will have trouble causing damage to some of the defensive lists out there.

If you are going for a Crack swarm, think about dropping Zeta Leader for a generic Black Squadron Pilot with Crack Shot, and upgrading to standard OL, with Juke and Comm Relay. That way they may want to focus down Howlrunner first, but if they wait too long to focus on OL, he's fearsome in the end game. If they focus on OL, they have a TIE swarm that is throwing pretty good damage with Howlrunner rerolls and one possibly throwing 3 dice and the other throwing 4 at range 1.

If possible though, you may want to look into Rage Youngster instead. Much less range restriction, and the opponent can't remove the benefit that round (if they destroy Howlrunner before your other guys fire, they don't get the reroll). Doing that you could drop Mauler to Backstabber to possibly get another 3 die attack. Lose a Crack Shot, but does have something else for the opponent to consider firing at. I think it would be really fun to see an all TIE Fighter list on the table. You just have to be careful as those 2 die attacks will have trouble causing damage to some of the defensive lists out there.

Thanks for the response! I've tried that exact list (With the full OL + the BSP) a bit, but having such a range in pilot skills across the swarm limits your movement a little. The Youngster + Rage combo also looks like fun, I will be sure to give it a try.