30 minutes ago, nigeltastic said:

I have actually sometimes found it useful to aileron onto a rock/debris if I need/want to go through it. You don't lose actions from it and you can clear your stress from a follow-up green maneuver if you're hitting debris.

I saw FFG say that you didn't lose actions from bumping with the AA maneuver but I haven't seen anything that indicates that you treat obstacles any differently.

2 minutes ago, heychadwick said:

It basically for when you are driving and can't be on the FFG forums too much, but still want to think about X-wing.

that'd explain why then since i live 8mins from both work and the gamestore i frequent at lol. I dont listen to radio since its ALWAYS the "between songs" moments where they talk about bs i dont wanna listen to.

1 hour ago, Vineheart01 said:

On the bomber topic: my first game attempted a Tomax Shuttle strat (Fleet Officer, System Officer, Mk2, and Cool Hand). Your bombers will rarely be near the striker even if you try lol. I havnt tried normal bombers since Black One came out.

For the approach they need to flank. They turn like crazy, abuse it. If you try to joust with them they will evaporate quickly. They pair wonderfully with Defenders though, since Defenders are the polar opposite in strat and tend to draw initial attention anyway.

Try it with a lower PS TIE Shuttle instead, you might find that it makes a difference. At least in the early rounds, I found that I could usually put my Scimitar in range of at least one of my Strikers if it was moving first.

Personally I have never flown a tie Striker, yet I do have a casual list brewed up that will change that.

Pure sabacc w/ title and VI

Quickdraw with Rage and Rlectronic baffle.

Whisper w/ the whole nine yards.

the aim of the game is to force the enemy to prioritize, firing at any one of the high PS ships will expose the enemy to devastating attacks from any of the other two, whisper obviously being the end game player. Sabacc is essentially the flanker but can draw fire as a couple damage on two agility can negate his ability, however as the enemy tries to chase down the striker, the others will get shots.

You know, I'm going to be trying out Mission 4 this week and I think a Tie Striker might be pretty good in the list. I will need to bast at Rebels as they steal cargo. It could be just what I need.

I've used:

Soontir Ptl Title Autothrusters Targeting Comp (which I nearly always use in place of the typical stealth device, tho that would be good too)

Omega Leader Juke Comm Relay

Wampa nekkid

Countdown Adaptive Ailerons Shield Upgrade

That's 98 points, so you could take the bid or toss the Twin Ion Engines on Wampa/OL. It worked well and was a lot of fun to fly. Countdown is very tanky, just don't fly straight into the face of the opposition. And try to avoid multiple enemy ships firing at you and the ship should last you a while.

1 hour ago, WWHSD said:

I saw FFG say that you didn't lose actions from bumping with the AA maneuver but I haven't seen anything that indicates that you treat obstacles any differently.

That's fair, I inferred from the bump ruling that the AA move doesn't cost you your action when you hit asteroids either but that may easily be an incorrect inference.

Rereading the asteroid rules it appears you actually will execute both AA and your standard maneuver prior to rolling for damage since you don't roll until after skipping the perform action step.

I just want to make a comment about wingmen. When I flew the TIE Striker, I took the PS 1 Imperial Trainee with title and lightweight frame. For wingmen, I took Mauler Mithel, Backstabber, Night Beast, and Darth Vader. The nice thing is that except for Vader, all the ships were in the same range for point value, and the TIEs hit hard. That meant my opponent was either focused on taking out Vader or one of the named TIEs, and allowed the TIE striker to roam free. While I'm not saying this is a winning strategy for squad building, I am saying that your TIE striker will last a lot longer, and you will gain more experience flying it. In both games, my Imperial Trainee lasted to the end of the match (surviving in game one, and being destroyed in the pre-penultimate round in game two).

Also, having recently seen Rogue One, I NEEDED Vader in my squad, so I gave him Swarm Leader. That was a fun squad. We almost defeated a Dengaroo squad, destroying Manaroo and bringing Dengar down to 3 hull. Not bad.

Duchess is a good "training wheels" pilot, because you don't have to use AA every round. It makes him very forgiving to fly.

I'll be trying Pure Sabacc at my next league night.

Countess Ryad (34)
Adaptability (0)
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)
TIE/x7 (-2)

Scimitar Squadron Pilot (16)
Fleet Officer (3)
Intelligence Agent (1)
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)
TIE Shuttle (0)

Black Squadron Scout (20)
Wired (1)
Lightweight Frame (2)
Adaptive Ailerons (0)

Black Squadron Scout (20)
Wired (1)
Lightweight Frame (2)
Adaptive Ailerons (0)

Total: 100

I gave this a try when Strikers were first released. It was fun to play and the combination of the Adaptive Aileron maneuver with K-Turns and S-Loops with Ryad's collection of K-Turns made it tricky for higher PS arc dodgers to find a spot that wasn't in one of my ship's arcs. There's too much stuff that can just eat it up to try an play it competitively. While Wired and LWF seemed to add something to the Strikers, I don't think it would be too much of a sacrifice to drop them down to PS1 to free up some points. If you do that, the TIE Shuttle can become a second Defender, Backdraft, or any of the other Imperial aces that are just over 30 points. If a Striker gets picked off, it was only 17 points. If it get's ignored its able to bounce all over the place cutting off escape routes and throwing out a respectable amount of red dice.

The Striker is one of my favorite ships to play in X-Wing. I just need to find a way to include it in a more competitive squad.

3 minutes ago, WWHSD said:

Countess Ryad (34)
Adaptability (0)
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)
TIE/x7 (-2)

Scimitar Squadron Pilot (16)
Fleet Officer (3)
Intelligence Agent (1)
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)
TIE Shuttle (0)

Black Squadron Scout (20)
Wired (1)
Lightweight Frame (2)
Adaptive Ailerons (0)

Black Squadron Scout (20)
Wired (1)
Lightweight Frame (2)
Adaptive Ailerons (0)

Total: 100

I gave this a try when Strikers were first released. It was fun to play and the combination of the Adaptive Aileron maneuver with K-Turns and S-Loops with Ryad's collection of K-Turns made it tricky for higher PS arc dodgers to find a spot that wasn't in one of my ship's arcs. There's too much stuff that can just eat it up to try an play it competitively. While Wired and LWF seemed to add something to the Strikers, I don't think it would be too much of a sacrifice to drop them down to PS1 to free up some points. If you do that, the TIE Shuttle can become a second Defender, Backdraft, or any of the other Imperial aces that are just over 30 points. If a Striker gets picked off, it was only 17 points. If it get's ignored its able to bounce all over the place cutting off escape routes and throwing out a respectable amount of red dice.

The Striker is one of my favorite ships to play in X-Wing. I just need to find a way to include it in a more competitive squad.

Try this:

Countess - ptl, x7, tie mk 2 (36)

Vessery - x7, expertise (37)

Duchess - lone wolf, AA, lightweight frame (27)

It's nothing groundbreaking in terms of creativity but it plays pretty well and with lone wolf Duchess isn't always immediately dead.

Hey i´ve a couple of games done now with the striker and i must admit i hated it because it always vaporized, but i gave in some thought to make this happen. So i went to a tournament with 2 striker games on my side with the following crazy list.

Vessery, Swarm tactics, Tie/D, tractor beam

Sabacc, Swarm leader, AA, LWF

2x Sienar test pilots Tie/v1, one of them had GC and XX23 tracers.

My idea was to bump on of the sinars to ps 6, get the tracers out, then vess with TB and primary followed by a fully modded 6-7 dice attack from sabacc.

I must admit its quite a combo to pull of, but i managed it in 3 out of 4 games that day and my opponents just stared at me like wtf.

I flew them all in formation with sabacc on the outer edge and its not that hard to keep them together. as long as the opponent has not all of his ship above ps6 its managable. In the first game i erased Cassian in his Uwing in the first round of shooting and in the 3rd it was ryad who evaporized instantly.

Today however i tried Duchess first and even at ps 8 with Predator you give your opponent a hard choice whom to kill first.

played Inquisitor(standard), Rexlar(x7 expertise woho do i love this combination!), Duchess(Predator, AA, LWF) all spread out and played the bait and switch game. Duchess is extremely flexible with shutting the title down. even in knifefighting i pulled a left bank followed by a 1 right turn. and dodged arc of 3 ships that were supposed to catch me. Need to say the AA move bumped on purpose to get into the perfect spot. Acutally i think the most important thing is to have squadmates who have at least a similar sized target painted on their heads or even higher to allow you to play the striker to its full strenght. I´m in love with this shipp and didn´t even test Countdown at all so far.

3 hours ago, heychadwick said:

It basically for when you are driving and can't be on the FFG forums too much, but still want to think about X-wing.

I know exactly what a podcast is, but somehow phrasing it this way made me think about all the time I spend driving back and forth to work, and now I'm sold.

32 minutes ago, Taiowaa said:

Acutally i think the most important thing is to have squadmates who have at least a similar sized target painted on their heads or even higher to allow you to play the striker to its full strenght. I´m in love with this shipp and didn´t even test Countdown at all so far.

This is key. I flew a PS9 Duchess with Wampa, Omega Leader and Defender Maarek. Most players don't want to allow Wampa to get many shots, allow Maarek to attack unshielded ships, or deal with Omega Leader in the endgame.

Next time I fly, I'll probably switch Duchess for a PS8 Sabacc and see if the loss of PS9 maneuverability is made up for by the extra attack die at PS8.

In the words of sonic the hedgehog... GOTTA GO FAST. Hit them hard, disperse, and wheel back around. Pair them with a miniswarm of normal ties. to cause chaos on the board with all the generic ties and strikers. The aces are a blast to fly as well. Use them as cheaper flankers than the interceptor or phantom.

I have had good luck flying around obstacles with them

I really like this ship. A lot. Only flown Duchess but every time he activates I am amazed by the sheer mobility. AA inside a hard 2, BR back and you just did a hard 1 but without the lateral movement. Then throw 4 lousy unmodded dice...

I think the way to go is to rock hop with AA into positions that are unexpected and attack from the flanks at range. Also leave the mod slot open for cheapness or go Targeting Comp. Three green dice + focus is okay but I think given the flanker role of the striker you may want the reliability of the rerolled misses on the attack. Since you'll be rock hopping it is entirely likely you won't be getting shot at unless its a turret. But we know to eliminate those asap now as striker pilots. TC will help with that too!

I think what we have here is a highly mobile glass cannon with a ton of neat options for pilots, wingmen and upgrades. It is a paper ship but it can shoot well and maneuver in an entirely new way. Let's play the hell out of it and make it comp!

Countdown can be annoyingly good to take on a large ship, won't matter how large an attack the ship can toss countdown will just take 1 and a stress then clear it next turn

4 hours ago, Oberron said:

Countdown can be annoyingly good to take on a large ship, won't matter how large an attack the ship can toss countdown will just take 1 and a stress then clear it next turn

And getting stress on him means he can slow roll so that they can't just block him with 1 speed moves.

12 hours ago, thespaceinvader said:

And getting stress on him means he can slow roll so that they can't just block him with 1 speed moves.

yup, I also put TIE mk2 on him to help his range of motion

I had a try in a furball with Duchess with Engine Upgrade, Lone Wolf and Adaptive Ailerons. Not exactly a serious evening but man was it fun to fly. Being able to string together ailerons, dial and boost means she handles like a hyperactive fruitbat on nitrous - it's not just the speed (in a straight line she's a match for but no better than a TIE/in) but the ability to weave back and forth or do long, sweeping turns.

I know, deep down, that lightweight frame is a better buy, because no matter how fast and manouvrable you are, you have to assume that every other game will include ships with auxiliary arcs or turrets, and the TIE phantom proves that 25-30 point z-95s won't work.

Nevertheless, I kind of want to give a "display team" squad a try. Four black squadron scouts with adaptive ailerons, engine upgrades and lightning reflexes, should be able to pull some truly stupid moves (aileron straight, reverse direction, straight speed 3, boost for a speed 3 "backflip").

On 2/2/2017 at 11:23 AM, Magnus Grendel said:

Four black squadron scouts with adaptive ailerons, engine upgrades and lightning reflexes, should be able to pull some truly stupid moves (aileron straight, reverse direction, straight speed 3, boost for a speed 3 "backflip").

I was thinking of trying something like this, but I have a question. Lightning Reflexes says you can discard the card to flip 180 after you execute a green or white maneuver on your dial. I think, based on what I read from your post, you were going to start with Adaptive Ailerons, trigger Lightning Reflexes off of that to turn around, get a stress, then execute a green maneuver to clear stress. Well, the AA moves, strictly speaking, aren't on the dial. AA requires you to do a white 1 bank or straight. The actual 1 bank and straight on the dial are green. So does it still work?

I really liked the idea of your "back flip" but I'm not sure that's how the card combination would work. You could do the Lightning Reflexes after you do your actual maneuver, but not the AA-forced one. Am I reading that correctly?

Thanks

On 1/31/2017 at 6:42 AM, heychadwick said:

I've gotten one game with my Tie Striker in it. I threw it in for the heck of it. I bumped and got blasted and spent the rest of the game running with it. I admit that I don't really have a clue on how to fly it. How does one fly the Tie Striker? Do you try to approach from the sides and boost in for a flank shot? Should you ever attempt to joust with it?

I'll admit that I care less about tournament level lists and really more about fun games. So, I don't care to hear comments like, "well, you are just better off taking x, y, or even z in a list". I want to fly my new ship and I don't care about beating the netlists. My opponents won't be flying them, so I'm not worried.

With that in mind, what else goes well with the Tie Striker? I've got one, so no double or triple lists. Please no Palpatine or Tie Defender /x7's please.

Actually the Tie Striker really needs dice modification and high PS to get the best of its positioning ability.... Thus VI and... Palpatine. She works great as a cheap ace next to expensive things like Whisper.

She's really good when not getting shot at, which means you can also take Duchess and something else and use two low PS ships are efficient distractions. I did find 2, with Duchess and Pure Sabaac or Countdown to work well.

You can also take her with QD or Juno, + 2 tie bombers, or Lambda Upsilon, or a cheap Decimator. She can be sacrifice fodder to keep another squishy ace alive.

You can also take the 17 point PS1 as a glass cannon. They're good in that build too. Note here that the 0pt ailerons are OPTIONAL. some will find it easier to keep the PS1 alive without the title.

Some form of crazy Op Spec bomber would also work well. And kylo ren.

It seems like you off the wall, The tie striker does that very well. Just remember you likely want VI or Predator, and you need defensive dice mods, if not Palp, then Op Spec, General Hux and more bodies to be distractions.

I flew Duchess, QD, 2 Tie bombers with thermals or seismic and had a boat load of fun.

Coordinate from the Upsilon is very helpful too. You can likely get naked Upsilon, naked Lambda as damage dealers with Duchess and some other small ace, Pure Sabaac or Backstabber or something.

--

Btw Lightweight Frame is nearly a must for Duchess and Pure Sabaac. Countdown can go naked. But dies fast anyway. Especially to TLT.

2 hours ago, drathbun said:

I was thinking of trying something like this, but I have a question. Lightning Reflexes says you can discard the card to flip 180 after you execute a green or white maneuver on your dial. I think, based on what I read from your post, you were going to start with Adaptive Ailerons, trigger Lightning Reflexes off of that to turn around, get a stress, then execute a green maneuver to clear stress. Well, the AA moves, strictly speaking, aren't on the dial. AA requires you to do a white 1 bank or straight. The actual 1 bank and straight on the dial are green. So does it still work?

I really liked the idea of your "back flip" but I'm not sure that's how the card combination would work. You could do the Lightning Reflexes after you do your actual maneuver, but not the AA-forced one. Am I reading that correctly?

Thanks

Apparently the question came up on Reddit and basically since it's green the answer is "nope sorry," which is too bad because I think it would be so cool. Linked below (I think, still not very good at posting on forums.)

My favorite striker is:

Duchess (28)

-Predator, Title, LW Frame

Duchess is super maneuverable, and with predator is able to make use of barrel roll or evade without too much offensive loss. When in a good position focus plus predator makes for a decently accurate attack. So far I have 2 strikers and I will say a pair plays well. Just one can still do excellent work though. Wide flanking maneuvers are what this ship lives for. A fun list I played featured a Tractor Beam tie/D Rexler Brath with an engine upgrade and 2 strikers (duchess and sabacc). They flew a formation sweeping around the edge of the board till a good moment came up for rexler to sweep in on the opponent. The strikers continued the wide flank till they came in behind my opponent after he tried to get his formation facing rexler (who blew past my opponents squad with a 5 straight + boost which netted me a second turn of no return fire). It was a good game. Turrets absolutely ruin this ship though.