Just curious if this build holds up at all currently. I haven't played in nearly a year but have been lurking. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Countess Ryad — TIE Defender

Predator 3

Tractor Beam 1

Twin Ion Engine Mk. II 1

TIE/D 0

Ship Total: 39

Black Squadron Pilot — TIE Fighter x4

Crack Shot 1

Ship Total: 15

Ryad likes tie/x7, it makes her waaay more survivable. Then, get rid of the engine and you saved 4 points and you can upgrade one of your blacks to howlrunner. This is pretty competitive list after those easy changes.

Take a normal X7 defender and your good to go. On guy at our local group plays Def+MiniCrackSwarm and it works like charm for him.

This is the kind of imperial lists I like: 1 Hero/officer + a swarm of "I'm-here-to-die" scrubs in TIE Fighter XD

And it's a little sad, but defenders with x7 unless you want to fly tropical.

I think that the OP wants to get the combo of Tractor Beam hit followed by the swarm piling hits onto the enemy, hence opting for the /D title.

Maybe an alternative would be to opt for Vessery instead but include some ships that can apply Target locks for him. Tie/FOs are great for this as for just 3 points, you a shield, Target Lock action and Sloops. I would rework the mini-swarm slightly so that you have 2 Epsilons to paint locks for Vessery and 2 Black Cracks. The Epsilons cannot take Crack shot but they can still spend their TLs once Vessery has fired to get rerolls. Vessery doesn't need Predator as his pilot ability gives him rerolls so instead you could take Expertise. This provides a permanent Focus for his shooting allowing him to keep his Focus token for Defense,

40 Vessery (35), /D (0), Tractor Beam (1), Expertise (4)
15 Epsilon Squadron Pilot (15)
15 Epsilon Squadron Pilot (15)
15 Black Squadron Pilot (14), Crackshot (1)
15 Black Squadron Pilot (14), Crackshot (1)
100 Total

I think that the OP wants to get the combo of Tractor Beam hit followed by the swarm piling hits onto the enemy, hence opting for the /D title.

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40 Vessery (35), /D (0), Tractor Beam (1), Expertise (4)15 Epsilon Squadron Pilot (15)15 Epsilon Squadron Pilot (15)15 Black Squadron Pilot (14), Crackshot (1)15 Black Squadron Pilot (14), Crackshot (1)100 Total

Yes, this was my idea originally. I figured since there are so many high HP builds that having a defender strip a green die for 3-4 TIE attacks would be highly effective against the 2-dice large ships.

I considered Vessery, but he's less of a closer IMHO.

Great suggestions. Any others?

Vessery, Lone Wolf, Tractor Beam, TIE/D = 38

Epsilon Ace = 17

3x Epsilon Squadron Pilots = 45

100 points

Ave establishes the initial lock and harasses ace-types. Epsilons can also target lock and take advantage of Vessery's Tractor Beam. Vessery flanks and uses Lone Wolf to increase his defense, also making him a much stronger closer than he would be otherwise. The big weakness is that he's an obvious first target, but that will be the case with any TIE/D-TIE fighter combo.