This coming Sunday (15/01) I'm going to en epic tournament. Its 400 pt team play, and one f the golden nuggets is that either team member can take a different faction. While this would be fantastic (I'm thinking of Ultra-Mega Biggs with Serissu, Bodyguard, Manaroo, Kanan, Jyn, Jan and R2-D2 as the buffs...) I've decided to go all-imperial, because I've just repainted them in brilliant "Imperial Ace" colours. Here's the list as it stands right now:

2 x Glaive Squadron Pilots (36) (A)

Tractor Beam

Crack Shot

TIE/D

Colonel Vessery (37) (A)

Tractor Beam

Crack Shot

TIE/D

Captain Jonus (27) (A)

Systems Officer

Intelligence Agent

TIE mkII

Adrenaline Rush

TIE Shuttle

3 x Royal Guard TIEs (27) (B)

Push The Limit

Targeting Computer

Soontir Fel (34) (B)

Push The Limit

Autothrusters

Targeting Computer

Whisper (44) ©

Advanced Cloaking Device

Push The Limit

Recon Specialist

Fire Control System

Captain Kagi (39) ©

Sensor Jammer

Rebel Captive

Ion Cannon

Systems Officer

Tomax Bren (33) (D)

Homing Missiles

Extra Munitions

XX-23 S-Thread Tracers

Crack Shot

Major Rhymer (31) (D)

Snap Shot

Tactician

Intelligence Agent

TIE Shuttle

Total: 398 pts.

Notice the second bracket, denoting sub-squad. 've tried for a bit of theme here, with each squad lead by a named pilot that actually helps out.

Squad A:

The defenders can really punish a target, what with the near-full target lock (and actual target lock) provided by Jonus each round. Coupled with triple-tractor beams and crack shot, and you can reduce just about anything to AGI 0. They are also the meat of the list in terms of offensive power. Yes, X7 is far cheaper, and probably better, but these guys are the spotters for Squad B.

Squad B:

Soontir Fel and his Guard are great flankers, but without Autothrusters I fear they'll be the primary target. even so, these are my huge-ship killers, and they do very well at that, especially once they reach range one. Ideally I'd hold these guys back until the scrum starts, then flank to go for the juicy targets.

Squad C:

Captain Kagi is an absolute troll to any kind of munitions build whatsoever. Sensor Jammer makes target locks cringe in terror (and resignation), while Rebel captive really punishes actually shooting at him. Systems officer and Ion cannon lend support where it is needed.

Whisper is in semi-tank mode (full-tank Whisper also has sensor Jammer). The Idea here is to cloak Whisper turn 1 then evade, focus, focus on the second. This leads to a near-inpenetrable AGI 4 defense. 44 points of distraction right there.

Squad D:

The least expensive of the sub-squads, these guys are my ace-killers. Tomax is there to target those pesky PTL aces, and Rhymer shuts down action economy. Turn 1, Tomax is the spotter for the whole group with his S-Thread Tracers, where he can really light up a Huge ship.

So, what do you think? Is autothrusters an auto-include? Is X7 still worth it in epic? Should I go with a dual-faction list?

What is your objective? These are not all mutually exclusive.

a) to win;

b) to have fun;

c) for your opponents to also have fun;

d) really, to have a good time, the results don't matter;

e) other.

Your list is great. But...will your opponent(s) be bringing something similar? Or do they see an opportunity to play with their huge ships? Are there objectives the same as yours?

I once brought a decently optimised 400pt fleet to play against someone who just wanted to have fun. I lost one Tie fighter and 3 Interceptors. He lost everything, having brought named aces, a Falcon, etc. He only had 6 small ships...

It wasn't fun for either of us.

I would really check in with all epic opponents and check what sort of fleet they want to fly.

I'd second Gilarius. Being that it's a tournament, I may not actually check with others on their lists... but I'd hesitate in taking a purely optimized list of small ships - rolling over an opponent with a huge ship in their epic list is hardly proving anything aside from you're out to win. Then again, I don't know your group... if everybody has been more interested in just winning and not actually dragging out something different... well, your list is pretty good!

So, what do you think? Is autothrusters an auto-include? Is X7 still worth it in epic? Should I go with a dual-faction list?

Authothrusters are not an auto-include in epic simply because of the number of fire arcs. They can come in handy, particularly if turrets appear, but I've played too many epic games where it never gets used just due to the dogfight that develops.

Dual-faction offers interesting options, but 'should?' I'd never purposely build a mixed faction list since the potential for some truly weird broken combos raise pretty quickly.

As this is team epic, I'm rather surprised you're making both lists... Already got a partner planned and they passed on the list building stage to you so that it could be optimized? Or is this actually an 800 point game and everybody has 400 points each... If that's the case... YIKES.

As this is team epic, I'm rather surprised you're making both lists... Already got a partner planned and they passed on the list building stage to you so that it could be optimized? Or is this actually an 800 point game and everybody has 400 points each... If that's the case... YIKES.

This was my first thought. Make sure you know what your opponent wants to fly so you can compliment each other, and if he has left the squad building to you, I guess that's fine.

It does look like a brutal squad. I am trying to envision something that would kill this, and the only things I'm coming up with are munition huge ships: Assault Missiles for splash damage, or Ion Torpedoes for line 'em up and smash 'em. Looks like you've covered your bases. Just beware of Toryn Farr! If she has enough energy, she'll mess up your defenders and TIE interceptors in a hurry, and play havoc with your ordnance carriers. Not to mention her jam actin which can put a full-stop on Whisper. But I don't know what else your opponent would run with her to make a full squad that would stand up to yours. Maybe Rebel pancakes.

From a recent experience teaming up with my son, if winning is the point, x7 Defenders work awesomely in epic too!

Since this was meant to be a casual game, I dumbed down my side of the list, but my 7 year old insisted on 5 crackshot Glaives and a juke Vessery. Vessery was down to 1 hull by the end of the match...

My attempt to balance his craziness was 2 hlc/fcs/engine upgrade shuttles, 2 recon spec bounty hunters and a lightly armed Gozanti without docking clamps.

Efficient, very much so, but they're brutal, so you may not make friends. The interceptor ladden Gozanti hated being chased by them and a shuttle.

As this is team epic, I'm rather surprised you're making both lists... Already got a partner planned and they passed on the list building stage to you so that it could be optimized? Or is this actually an 800 point game and everybody has 400 points each... If that's the case... YIKES.

I should clarify - my teammate fell through earlier this week. I contacted the tournament organiser, and he told me that I could bring a single-faction 400 pt list instead. I would relish the opportunity for an 800 pt per side game, but the tourney would take days.

What is your objective? These are not all mutually exclusive.

a) to win;

b) to have fun;

c) for your opponents to also have fun;

d) really, to have a good time, the results don't matter;

e) other.

I have two objectives:

1. Against another cheesed list, have the edge in the fight.

2. Against a fun list (non-optimised huge ships, named T-65s... Multiple Falcons) have a list that can be flown differently to make it more interesting. Here that would take the form of jousting with the interceptors, for example. I'd probably avoid taking out huge hips until last as well.

.

Regrettably, the tournament is at a FLGS in another (nearby) city, so I don't know whether the majority will be bringing competitive or fun lists..

Dual-faction offers interesting options, but 'should?' I'd never purposely build a mixed faction list since the potential for some truly weird broken combos raise pretty quickly.

Yeah, Captain Jonus-backed TLTs come to mind. As does a Howlrunner + Serissu swarm build.

It does look like a brutal squad. I am trying to envision something that would kill this, and the only things I'm coming up with are munition huge ships: Assault Missiles for splash damage, or Ion Torpedoes for line 'em up and smash 'em. Looks like you've covered your bases. Just beware of Toryn Farr! If she has enough energy, she'll mess up your defenders and TIE interceptors in a hurry, and play havoc with your ordnance carriers. Not to mention her jam actin which can put a full-stop on Whisper. But I don't know what else your opponent would run with her to make a full squad that would stand up to yours. Maybe Rebel pancakes.

Captain Kagi is my answer to munitions builds. By forcing target locks onto himself ( where damage is reduced by one due to sensor jammer) he really draws the alpha strike (and subsequent strikes) away from the more vulnerable ships. Toryn Farr terrifies me though. It's such a potent card. I think 11 X7 glaives with Juke and a palpshuttle would do it, but who buys 11 defenders?

What do you mean by Rebel pancakes?

What do you mean by Rebel pancakes?

Usually, this refers to the YT-1300 and YT-2400, since they're mostly round and flat.

I think 11 X7 glaives with Juke and a palpshuttle would do it, but who buys 11 defenders?

That's true, even we only have 6 of them and only because my son won a 3rd Imperial Veterans at an evening tournament where I'd just bought 2 used grey ones, so our stable doubled overnight. He then used them to get 2nd in a later tournament, his best result, while I got 3rd, also my best result... I'll show him this weekend!