I've been theorycrafting how to put Swarm Leader to use in a Rebel list. The card is a lot of fun and to avoid using it in Imperials is a tough challenge.

First, in order to build around Swarm Leader, I believe there are a few things to note.

1. With the large pool of die that swarm leader pulls, it's important to have fully-modified shots (Target lock effect + Focus)

2. It's arguably better to shoot AFTER the opponent so that the evades can be utilized for defense first if needed. Evades have a lower chance to roll than hit results, and therefore have more value. Plus, using the Evade is an ASSURED result, whereas adding another DIE may result in a blank.

3. Since it's hard to keep 3 arcs on one target (1 for the ship using Swarm Leader, and 2 for the evade pulls), I wanted THREE other ships (4 total) in the list. Also, if one dies, Swarm Leader still gets max output until another one bites the dust.

With that in mind, this is the list: http://xwing-builder.co.uk/view/625165/jess-as-u#

Jess Pava, flying in formation with the 2 Green Squads, satisfies point #1 (Target lock pilot ability + Focus action).

PS3 and lower satisfies point #2.

Jan Ors on the U-Wing satisfies point #3.

The idea is to slow-roll with the U-Wing until the opponent commits to a direction so Heff can charge in to get a block at PS0. Jess and the A-wings are formation flying with boosts to get a good position for a flank. 1 A can break off for blocking if needed, but it would decrease the effectiveness of Jess a bit. Heff takes the Evade action himself before the block if needed, and reiles on a bump to proc Jyn on whomever the enemy is most likely to fire (this can be swapped up as needed - you have 3 evades total to play with!). Anticipating the bump makes Snap Shot easier to get off and Juke synergizes with both Snap Shot AND the Evade action that the A-Wings want to take every turn. Jess shoots last during combat to ensure the Juke proc again from the As.

Originally I had Jess and 3 As with a little more beef - namely Autothrusters - but I found that Jess was too easily focused and the As weren't scary enough to warrant target priority at all. Plus, the Autothrusters really discouraged incoming fire, and I'm always happy when Jess isn't the target. I'm hoping a U-Wing adds another threat since it's throwing out a lot of action economy while stealing actions from the enemy by bumping. Some variations include using the Blue Squad U-Wing instead of Heff and running Cassian, Hera, and Ion Projector for more deadly/assured bumps, but I feel I could just "fly better" and use Heff's actions. FCS is also another option as is squeezing points for Autothrusters on Jess.

Any thoughts? I'm hoping to refine this list to have in my back pocket for a more "fun" experience while still being threatening in its own right.

Thanks!

I thought of the exact same list, though I was debating doing Blue Squadron with FCS over Heff with Enhanced Scopes.

But I think that I like your list better. The great thing about Jyn is that even if one of your pilots bumps, you should still be able to feed them tokens with Heff. Solid list that I have yet to try due to lack of TIE Strikers existing anywhere.

Though it is arguably better for your swarm leader to shoot last to preserve evades, it is also arguably better to shoot first and blow something up before it gets to return fire. Other ships won't need the evades if a high pilot skill ace just smoked something with a 5-6 dice shot before they got to shoot back.

Jess is a good Swarm Leader though, because of her ability. And she's cheap enough for a 4 ship list which is really what you want with these.

I could see this working with a blocker like you have in the U-wing to deny actions and set up your shots. I was thinking about Wes as a 4th to shoot early and remove tokens to set up the Juke shots. I haven't played around with a U-wing yet but if you can get the blocks off it might be a better ship to use for the beefiness it brings. Wes is pretty hard to leave on the table too though. Here's what I had thrown together from thoughts on another thread.

T-70 X-Wing: · Jess Pava (25)

· R2-D6 (1)

Integrated Astromech (0)

· Swarm Leader (3)

A-Wing: Green Squadron Pilot (19)

Crack Shot (1)

Chardaan Refit (-2)

A-Wing Test Pilot (0)

Juke (2)

A-Wing: Green Squadron Pilot (19)

Crack Shot (1)

Chardaan Refit (-2)

A-Wing Test Pilot (0)

Juke (2)

X-Wing: · Wes Janson (29)

Adaptability (Increase) (0)

· R3-A2 (2)

Integrated Astromech (0)

-- TOTAL ------- 100p. --

Any thoughts on dropping 1 of the greens to a prototype pilot?

Any thoughts on dropping 1 of the greens to a prototype pilot?

Quite likely a mistake. At that rate they can no longer fire before your Swarm leader, and cannot use Juke. Which means 2 naked red dice (can you spell failure any more clearly?) and no EPT. While it may be worth the points saved in certain lists, I'm going to say in either list suggested here it would create an overall weaker list.

Prototype can still grab a focus from Jyn, or in the alternative, 3 naked red dice might be worth it to make the U wing a bit beefier.