The 181st fighter wing, under Evir Derricote, was a squadron of rejects and those who had fallen out of favor with their superiors. This "One Eighty Worst" idled away, waiting for Command to find a mission both embarrasing and lethal enough to finish them off once and for all.

This changed after Soontier Fel was assigned to Evir's command. While he was training them into a fighting force to be reckoned with, Derricote covered up the evidence of their improvement, to avoid drawing attention from their political enemies. The 181st officially became the elite squadron we know today when Soontier led a victory against a rebel fleet on the same day the DeathStar was destroyed at Yavin, and the Imperial propaganda machine latched onto his achievements to avoid talking about Tarkin's misadventures.

The 181st survived Endor, and even invited Maarak Steele into their ranks- The Tie Interceptor may be a step down for the noted pilot, but surely flying with the likes of Soontier Fel and Turr Phennir was worth it.

In addition, those trained by Soontier Fel resist falling prey to stress. Lt Lorir and Tetran Cowall (who studied for the role) both benefit from the removal of stress from their abilities, and all interceptors have at least the gamble for a white Kturn- and if you're not a gambling person, the Tie Interceptor is hardly the right fighter for you.

On the other hand, the Red stripe of the 181st has no place on a Royal Guard interceptor, competing for the Title slot, and Soontier Fel's ability just makes up for failing the stress canceling roll. Having to choose between Autothrusters or the 4th defence die makes him vulnerable to the 4 and 5 die attacks that are showing up, that can simply overpower his 3 green dice, making Soontier less durable than his normal build.

The 181st's ability to manage stress also plays into another option for all Ties...

With the imperial starfleet being so dependent on fickle greens, this card uses the standard solar panels equipped to ties to block damage to critical systems. It's not all that strong, but there's no cost to having it other than not equipping a better modification. However, while it can be used any number of times per round, you cannot use it to get off scott-free- if your wings stop the last point of damage you would receive, you still get a stress for your trouble.

Of course, this only works if your shields don't stop the attack first- this ability does not work if your ship has shields left when you roll agility, limiting it's use on Defenders and Advances. And of course, you are still limited to your native defense dice- many powerful attacks can simply overwhelm your defenses.

Evir Derricote is more of an administrator than a fighter- His ability is all about "cover your ***" at the cost of helping his squadron. He led the "one eighty worst" in their darkest days, then rode up the ranks on Baron Fel's accomplishments.

After Endor, Emperor's hand Mara Jade sunk into her secret identities and smuggling contacts. Emperor's Reach Maarak Steele joined a famous fighter squadron. Though he no doubt lost much of his force skill with the loss of his mentor, he still matches many of the best pilots in the galaxy.

The Tie Punisher is less well known, being a long ranged "heavy bomber"from a single game. Coming up with an interesting and unique niche was... interesting.

The bomb laying aspect for my old punisher fix was well liked, so I kept it. Instead of a special missile fix, though, I open the punisher up to taking ALL the fixes. Guidance chips is an easy choice, Long range sensors is an option, Quadranium solar panels (above) are a defensive bonus with little to no drawback, and there's still a slot for Autothrusters or Lightened frame.

Usable by any Tie with either a TL action or the ability to run Deadeye, this upgrade add a missile slot and Guidance chips in the same slot. (this should stack with the Punisher's extra modifictions, but this card denies Autothrusters, Lighened Frame, or Vectored Thrusters)

4 points for a proton rocket tie fighter, 5 points for a pair of Advanced Homing missiles on Marrak Steele (Advance or defender version), 9 points for a pair of homing missiles on any of TAP, Advance, Defender, or /SF. Tie Bombers and Tie Punishers get 6 Cluster missiles (including EM) for 11 points, or 6 homing missiles for 14 points, practically doubling their point cost for a really heavy ordinance load.

"What might a Tie Advance take over ATC, with the proper build, that a Tie punisher would also want?"

Since this same pack offers the Advance the chance to field a pair of chipped Concussion Missiles or Cluster missiles, offering something to missiles that's worth a whopping 4 points Nerfed to 2 point value for something intrinsically limited use seemed a decent option. Double crackshot on missiles only, twice, seems reasonable on all missile-armed ships with a system slot. The Torpedo effect is a bone thrown to the rebels, while giving the Tie Punisher even more options in exchange for that 2 point surcharge. While the missile effect doesnt do anything to boost the missile's damage, only it's accuracy, the Torpedo effect doesnt improve accuracy, but does improve damage in a way that promotes firing torpedos without doubled actions. The only ship with both Torpedos, Missiles, and System Slot is the Tie Punisher- only it gains the full benifit from this card.

(All pilots should have boost instead of barrel roll, because Strange Eons is Strange)

A Low PS pilot with superdeadeye. I wrote this one well before Long Range Targeting, so he may require review.

An arcdodging ordinance boat. PS is high, but without the ability to take VI, it's the only PS he will ever have.

And a few extra upgrades:

Make Blocking Great Again. In a meta with Rey, Dengar, Palpatine or even my own Quadranium Solar Panels, even blocking a ship does not really limit their firepower. For 1 point, however, this "not really an EPT because you dont need the EPT slot to take it" canceles all those special abilities, but leaves regular token stacking intact, bringing the game back towards older meta assumptions.

And this thing. Highly situational, and priced accordingly, it's an option for all those unused single-torpedo slots. In this case, you dont mind wasting points on just in case you run across a perfect low/no agility target. It's not like losing the slot costs you anything.

Your feedback is well appreciated. The 181st title card has already been under several revisions, as have several of the punisher cards. Let me know what else feels "off."

I really like your ideas! The Interceptor ideas are probably better, but I'm more interested in the Punisher ideas as they might help me use the two Punishers I've had for months and never, ever played.

Keep up the thoughts; you're on to something that could really be implemented.

The interceptor does not need fixing past autothrusters. We don't need it to be that overly broken. The punisher actually is about as good as it can be without breaking the game. Its not great as it is, but it is definitely still playable.

First thought: your Punishers have Barrel Roll instead of Boost in their action bars, which might make "Overdrive" difficult to use.

5 hours ago, ObiWonka said:

First thought: your Punishers have Barrel Roll instead of Boost in their action bars, which might make "Overdrive" difficult to use.

15 hours ago, Rakaydos said:

(All pilots should have boost instead of barrel roll, because Strange Eons is Strange)

:/

Giving my own cards a fresh reading, the first thing to come to mind is that "Heavy Bomber" and "Launcher modification" need to make Guidance Chips limited. I'm considering making Heavy Bomber allow Munition Failsafe and Tie Mk 1, too- that is, modifications that cost 0 or 1 points, instead of just 0.

That TIE int title is broken as hell. Token tanking is enough of a problem already.

9 minutes ago, algnc said:

That TIE int title is broken as hell. Token tanking is enough of a problem already.

I'm not sure I follow you about the Tie Interceptor only title being broken due to token stacking. The main token stackers right now are Defenders, not interceptors. Also I could see an issue with Soontir, but he is almost always stressed at the start of combat, so he wouldn't get the free focus anyway unless he happens to roll a hit or CRIT. A 50-50 chance doesn't really seem broken.

1 minute ago, JJFDVORAK said:

I'm not sure I follow you about the Tie Interceptor only title being broken due to token stacking. The main token stackers right now are Defenders, not interceptors. Also I could see an issue with Soontir, but he is almost always stressed at the start of combat, so he wouldn't get the free focus anyway unless he happens to roll a hit or CRIT. A 50-50 chance doesn't really seem broken.

Also factor in the cost (1 point) plus opportunity cost (no RG title).

3 minutes ago, JJFDVORAK said:

I'm not sure I follow you about the Tie Interceptor only title being broken due to token stacking. The main token stackers right now are Defenders, not interceptors. Also I could see an issue with Soontir, but he is almost always stressed at the start of combat, so he wouldn't get the free focus anyway unless he happens to roll a hit or CRIT. A 50-50 chance doesn't really seem broken.

Also, it's worded that if the 50/50 chance DOES happen, Soontier's ability never happens, as you never got the stress token to trigger it.

The fact that Soontir will never take that title yet hes part of the fluff is amusing to me lol.

I mean, he could, but his ability would literally just be a failsafe. You'd be better off using a different EPT than PTL with that title, enables your Kturns and opens up other possibilities.

13 minutes ago, JJFDVORAK said:

I'm not sure I follow you about the Tie Interceptor only title being broken due to token stacking. The main token stackers right now are Defenders, not interceptors. Also I could see an issue with Soontir, but he is almost always stressed at the start of combat, so he wouldn't get the free focus anyway unless he happens to roll a hit or CRIT. A 50-50 chance doesn't really seem broken.

Yes. Between Soontir and Defenders, token tanking has done enough damage to the game. Giving such a powerful ability to generics (plus the ability to ignore stress, further neutering rebels) for only one point is silly.

23 minutes ago, Vineheart01 said:

The fact that Soontir will never take that title yet hes part of the fluff is amusing to me lol.

I mean, he could, but his ability would literally just be a failsafe. You'd be better off using a different EPT than PTL with that title, enables your Kturns and opens up other possibilities.

He taught the rest of them everything he knows.

An earlier version didnt have the token shuttin down on stress- The thought was that losing Royal Guard was enough of a drawback in a meta that includes Bombs, BMST, modified 5 die attacks, and autohit shenanigans.

1 hour ago, Rakaydos said:

:/

My bad. I was definitely planning on going back and giving more feedback, that was just the first thing that caught my eye after reading the cards.

1 hour ago, Vineheart01 said:

The fact that Soontir will never take that title yet hes part of the fluff is amusing to me lol.

I mean, he could, but his ability would literally just be a failsafe. You'd be better off using a different EPT than PTL with that title, enables your Kturns and opens up other possibilities.

Exactly!

1 hour ago, Vineheart01 said:

The fact that Soontir will never take that title yet hes part of the fluff is amusing to me lol.

I mean, he could, but his ability would literally just be a failsafe. You'd be better off using a different EPT than PTL with that title, enables your Kturns and opens up other possibilities

1 hour ago, algnc said:

Yes. Between Soontir and Defenders, token tanking has done enough damage to the game. Giving such a powerful ability to generics (plus the ability to ignore stress, further neutering rebels) for only one point is silly.

I don't think that making a title that helps a unit that is never used(generic interceptors) playable is in any way silly. I think it is the opposite of that.

I considered making the Interceptor title 0 points and require PS3+

That would mean 5 Avengers would be a thing, if they skip autothrusters, or 4 Saber squadrons, each with something like Expertise, or Elusiveness+autothrusters, or PTL/Mk2. It leaves the poor Alpha out in the cold, but the Alpha actually sees some tiny amount of play in a Alphaswarm+Intel Agent Shuttle list.

IS the Torpedo effect of Guidance computer worth it's points on something like a Ewing? Or should the torpedo half be stronger?

13 hours ago, Rakaydos said:

Giving my own cards a fresh reading, the first thing to come to mind is that "Heavy Bomber" and "Launcher modification" need to make Guidance Chips limited. I'm considering making Heavy Bomber allow Munition Failsafe and Tie Mk 1, too- that is, modifications that cost 0 or 1 points, instead of just 0.

Here's a revised version.

On 1/29/2017 at 11:13 PM, rafcpl6868 said:

The interceptor does not need fixing past autothrusters. We don't need it to be that overly broken. The punisher actually is about as good as it can be without breaking the game. Its not great as it is, but it is definitely still playable.

The idea of the punisher being "as good as it can get without breaking the game," seems like a completely outrageous claim.

18 hours ago, Rakaydos said:

IS the Torpedo effect of Guidance computer worth it's points on something like a Ewing? Or should the torpedo half be stronger?

Is this too much for 4 points, on the torpedo side, for something that can only be used twice?

10 hours ago, benskywalker said:

The idea of the punisher being "as good as it can get without breaking the game," seems like a completely outrageous claim.

So, the punisher only suffers in two areas; a very slight overcost and a lack of agility die. The slots are there, the munitions cost a lot less, and redline and deathrain have fantastic abilities. The problem lies in shooting off the munitions before dying and circling back around into the fight. Long range scanners fixes the issue of not getting shots in on the first run, and good flying should fix the turnaround problem. Munitions can be absolutely busted if they are under costed or if they cancel evade results. The problem with the "guidance computer" is that it would absolutely kill the interceptor class of ship. On a good day, you roll 2 evade results on 3 die and have an evade token. Canceling two of those with some of these 4 die missiles could easily mean an instant death and 30 points off the table in 1 shot.

1 hour ago, rafcpl6868 said:

So, the punisher only suffers in two areas; a very slight overcost and a lack of agility die. The slots are there, the munitions cost a lot less, and redline and deathrain have fantastic abilities. The problem lies in shooting off the munitions before dying and circling back around into the fight. Long range scanners fixes the issue of not getting shots in on the first run, and good flying should fix the turnaround problem. Munitions can be absolutely busted if they are under costed or if they cancel evade results. The problem with the "guidance computer" is that it would absolutely kill the interceptor class of ship. On a good day, you roll 2 evade results on 3 die and have an evade token. Canceling two of those with some of these 4 die missiles could easily mean an instant death and 30 points off the table in 1 shot.

Keep in mind, the only ships with both a System and a Missile are the Tie SF, the Tie Punisher, and the Tie Advance. None of which are exactly tearing up the meta.

Perhaps if the missile side only canceled 1 evade result and the system cost 2?

19 hours ago, Rakaydos said:

Keep in mind, the only ships with both a System and a Missile are the Tie SF, the Tie Punisher, and the Tie Advance. None of which are exactly tearing up the meta.

Perhaps if the missile side only canceled 1 evade result and the system cost 2?

thats still really strong for 2 points.

1 hour ago, rafcpl6868 said:

thats still really strong for 2 points.

Two non-reactive crackshots are stronger than an entire game's use of Fire Control System? I dont really agree. The System slot has a particularly strong opportunity cost associated with it.