Greetings space fans. I'm working on my list for Regionals 2017, and having been out of the game for at least 6 months, I need some pointers!

The plan is to use an Upsilon Shuttle and a Decimator. The Decimator should deal out crits - buffed by the Upsilon into I Will Show You The Dark Side crits - before inevitably becoming Vader's funeral pyre.

I need advice about who to pilot the ships, and what to spend my upgrade points on.

- - -

I WILL FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED, PATROL LEADER

100 points

PILOTS

Kylo Ren (50)
Upsilon-class Shuttle (34), Fire-Control System (2), Gunner (5), Rebel Captive (3), Kylo Ren's Shuttle (2), Engine Upgrade (4)

Patrol Leader (50)
VT-49 Decimator (40), Gunner (5), Darth Vader (3), Tactician (2)

One benefit of the Patrol Leader is her relative indifference to being hit by an opponent's IWSYTD.

It's also easier to keep the Decimator down to 50 points, hopefully making it difficult for some opponents to decide which ship to take down first: I remember this being a consideration a few waves ago, but may no longer be as necessary.

- - -

I WILL FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED, REAR ADMIRAL CHIRANEAU

100 points

PILOTS

Kylo Ren (44)
Upsilon-class Shuttle (34), Veteran Instincts (1), Fire-Control System (2), Rebel Captive (3), Engine Upgrade (4)

Rear Admiral Chiraneau (56)
VT-49 Decimator (46), Predator (3), Darth Vader (3), Engine Upgrade (4)

RAC's pilot ability clearly synergises better with Kylo's. But then I'm reluctant to burden RAC with Vader.

RAC's more difficult to keep down to 50 points: but I'm not sure if this 50-point thing is a distraction on my part.

Pleasingly, with VI on Kylo, both ships are PS 8.

- - -

Both of these lists have a secondary theme of Stress, with 3-5 points spent on Stress-inducing upgrades. Is this going to be useful in the current meta? Listening to a few podcasts, I'm not so sure.

Brutal comments please: show me again, the power of the darkness.

The stress really depends on what you face.

Dengaroo? Useless against Dengar, killer against Manaroo. Derpfenders? It will prevent them from having such a massive token stack. Anything with Expertise? Oh ho ho ho yes please shut down those bad boys.

But against other lists it won't be all that useful, especially if you aren't able to double stress, which your list really can't do all that well (And tactician on the decimator? That's basically a waste of points, as you'll usually be using its turret won't you?)

As for the lists themselves...

I don't think that having them both at 50 is going to be a problem. The bigger issue I can see is that they have no reason to not shoot the Decimator first. Just never trigger Kylo's ability until Vader is dead. Don't trigger rebel captive until Vader and Decimator are dead. While Kylo can be nasty in the endgame, it's far better just mow down the nasty RAC. If you can find some way to make them choose between the two (like, say, move the Rebel Captive to to the Decimator) that at least forces them to choose between evils.

Thanks for the comments Kreen!

Dengaroo, I reckon I'd focus on taking down Manaroo first: so stress sounds good.

Taking your points on board, what do you think of these lists?

2017 REGIONALS: I WILL FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED, PATROL LEADER

100 points

PILOTS

Kylo Ren (50)
Upsilon-class Shuttle (34), Veteran Instincts (1), Fire-Control System (2), Gunner (5), Tactician (2), Kylo Ren's Shuttle (2), Engine Upgrade (4)

Patrol Leader (50)
VT-49 Decimator (40), Darth Vader (3), Rebel Captive (3), Engine Upgrade (4)

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2017 REGIONALS: I WILL FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED, REAR ADMIRAL CHIRANEAU

100 points

PILOTS

Kylo Ren (41)
Upsilon-class Shuttle (34), Veteran Instincts (1), Fire-Control System (2), Engine Upgrade (4)

Rear Admiral Chiraneau (59)
VT-49 Decimator (46), Predator (3), Darth Vader (3), Rebel Captive (3), Engine Upgrade (4)

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By the way, I'm enjoying the experience of just moving cards between ships... these big ships are so versatile with their multiple slots!

I'd wonder if taking predator off and giving the shuttle the title. Get some double stress out. Adaptability on both and swapping Vader for gunner. Personally I just don't like the idea of self destroying and leaving the shuttle to mop up. I feel like no one will shoot the shuttle first anyway so I doubt you'll get much from ISYTDS.

20 minutes ago, Sk3tch said:

I'd wonder if taking predator off and giving the shuttle the title. Get some double stress out. Adaptability on both and swapping Vader for gunner. Personally I just don't like the idea of self destroying and leaving the shuttle to mop up. I feel like no one will shoot the shuttle first anyway so I doubt you'll get much from ISYTDS.

Oh yeah, I didn't notice that I'd lost the Upsilon title!

Unfortunately, I don't have adaptability.

How's this:

2017 REGIONALS: I WILL FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED, REAR ADMIRAL CHIRANEAU

100 points

PILOTS

Kylo Ren (44)
Upsilon-class Shuttle (34), Fire-Control System (2), Tactician (2), Kylo Ren's Shuttle (2), Engine Upgrade (4)

Rear Admiral Chiraneau (56)
VT-49 Decimator (46), Darth Vader (3), Rebel Captive (3), Engine Upgrade (4)

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On the topic of ISYTDS... What do you think about swapping Kylo out for another pilot, and taking him as crew? I could then hand out ISYTDS whenever I like, and to whomever I like: albeit at the cost of an action.

Pilot Kylo is overhyped in my opinion as his ability only activates when shot and your opponent can control who has ISYTDS by shooting Kylo with less valuable things. The only reason I can see to run him would be to throw Palp on him or to effectively use his EPT. On the other hand, crew Kylo on a ship that can reliably hand out crits (why not RAC?) is awesome. Stop wasting ISYTDS on that Bandit Squadron Pilot or Binayre Pirate. Get crew Kylo now for just 39.95! (commercial mode off)

In any case, the only downside of crew Kylo is losing your action, but if that's an issue, you can always throw on Experimental Interface.

8 minutes ago, WarlockFiretopMountain said:

Dengaroo, I reckon I'd focus on taking down Manaroo first: so stress sounds good.

Manaroo isn't even going to fight you, she'll just keep running and boosting. If you chase after her, prepare to be severely punished by her angry husband. One of the reasons why a competent Dengaroo player is so hard to face is that you can't reliably kill Manaroo first. Good news is, if Dengar dies, it's pretty much game over. In any case, stress upgrades are unlikely to help you.

12 minutes ago, despotic said:

Get crew Kylo now

[...]

Manaroo isn't even going to fight you, she'll just keep running and boosting. If you chase after her, prepare to be severely punished by her angry husband. One of the reasons why a competent Dengaroo player is so hard to face is that you can't reliably kill Manaroo first. Good news is, if Dengar dies, it's pretty much game over. In any case, stress upgrades are unlikely to help you.

Hmm, OK, let's clear off all the stress cards, and put Kylo in the passenger seat!

REGIONALS 2017: I WILL FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED, REAR ADMIRAL CHIRANEAU

100 points

PILOTS

Major Stridan (41)
Upsilon-class Shuttle (32), Fire-Control System (2), Kylo Ren (3), Engine Upgrade (4)

Rear Admiral Chiraneau (59)
VT-49 Decimator (46), Veteran Instincts (1), Darth Vader (3), Gunner (5), Engine Upgrade (4)

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Is Vader required? Cause this list is excitebikes:

Ren Guard

VT-49 Decimator: · Rear Admiral Chiraneau (46)
Predator (3)
Engine Upgrade (4)
Gunner (5)
· Rebel Captive (3)
Hotshot Co-pilot (4)
· Dauntless (2)

Lambda-Class Shuttle: · Captain Yorr (24)
Fire Control System (2)
Tactical Jammer (1)
· Kylo Ren (3)
Operations Specialist (3)

Toying with having Rebel Captive on the shuttle instead of the Decimator. Thoughts?

4 hours ago, Kreen said:

The bigger issue I can see is that they have no reason to not shoot the Decimator first. Just never trigger Kylo's ability until Vader is dead. Don't trigger rebel captive until Vader and Decimator are dead. While Kylo can be nasty in the endgame, it's far better just mow down the nasty RAC. If you can find some way to make them choose between the two (like, say, move the Rebel Captive to to the Decimator) that at least forces them to choose between evils.

What's so important about Vader? I mean, he can't trigger I'll Show You the Dark Side because he happens after the attack, and ISYTDS hands out that face-up damage card when critical damage is suffered during an attack. I'd still shoot RAC first because it's easier to get behind the shuttle in the end game and not take shots, and hopefully he uses Vader to kill himself faster.

2 hours ago, Rinzler in a Tie said:

Is Vader required? Cause this list is excitebikes:

Ren Guard

VT-49 Decimator: · Rear Admiral Chiraneau (46)
Predator (3)
Engine Upgrade (4)
Gunner (5)
· Rebel Captive (3)
Hotshot Co-pilot (4)
· Dauntless (2)

Lambda-Class Shuttle: · Captain Yorr (24)
Fire Control System (2)
Tactical Jammer (1)
· Kylo Ren (3)
Operations Specialist (3)

Toying with having Rebel Captive on the shuttle instead of the Decimator. Thoughts?

I don't think Vader is required at all. This RAC load out looks pretty typical and scary, but I'm not seeing Tactical Jammer's usefulness on the Lambda. What about a Tractor Beam instead . (Nope, PS is too low to matter. Bummer.) I think Rebel Captive is in the right spot. I'm not quite sure of Operations Specialist's role, except to help empower the Gunner attack, which I guess is worth 3 points. I can't think of anything else I'd put in that slot. Weapons Engineer so you have more targets locked after FCS?

P.S. Does anybody else keep typing "Hothshot Co-Pilot" by accident? I'm having a heck of a time retraining my fingers to not type the names of icy planets.

The idea of the list is have the shuttle lead the Decimator into battle, using actions to assign ISYTDS and position to trigger Tactical Jammer. Operations Specialist should trigger every turn. And every turn you decide if you need it for the Gunner shot (if at range 3) or give it to the Shuttle to further modify it's attack (or give it a defensive buff). Because the Lambda is leading the charge, Rebel Captive may have a place there, but at the end of the day, RAC is the entire list and should have the most defensive buffs.

RAC -

A Score to Settle, Kylo Ren, Engine Upgrade, Emperor Palpatine

SKBP -

General Hux, Rebel Captive, Hyperwave Comm Scanner

Thoughts? I know why put ASTS on a ship with RAC ( answer a chance for 3 crit hits)

15 hours ago, Cgriffith said:

RAC -

A Score to Settle, Kylo Ren, Engine Upgrade, Emperor Palpatine

SKBP -

General Hux, Rebel Captive, Hyperwave Comm Scanner

Thoughts? I know why put ASTS on a ship with RAC ( answer a chance for 3 crit hits)

Attracting this much heat on the Palpshuttle is a bad idea in my opinion. RAC is the much more desirable target here, with no RC and 0 agility. Conveniently, it's also where all your firepower is. On top of that, you're putting ASTS on him so he suffers extra critical damage with no defense whatsoever.

I would consider swapping Kylo and Rebel Captive for starters, and probably look for a replacement for ASTS, maybe Expertise, LW or Predator. You can always replace Hux and/or drop HCS to get those points back.

3 hours ago, despotic said:

Attracting this much heat on the Palpshuttle is a bad idea in my opinion. RAC is the much more desirable target here, with no RC and 0 agility. Conveniently, it's also where all your firepower is. On top of that, you're putting ASTS on him so he suffers extra critical damage with no defense whatsoever.

I would consider swapping Kylo and Rebel Captive for starters, and probably look for a replacement for ASTS, maybe Expertise, LW or Predator. You can always replace Hux and/or drop HCS to get those points back.

Any ship with Palpatine will demand attention, the Upsilon Class Shuttle will not be just doing 1-2 manevuers in fact it will be in fight immadiately helping destroy the chosen ship attached with ATST.

Chiraneau can't use Lone Wolf because he has no defense dice, Predator is very situational although something to consider. I may swap Kylo Ren and General Hux as the original design was that but there's not much wiggle room in the list unless I scrap it completely.

ASTS goes both ways, Cgriffith. RAC will suffer additional critical damage from it, unless you can shut down your opponent modifying their dice. READ THE CARDS. Emphasis on the plural, cards, because there are two.

Good luck.

35 minutes ago, Rinzler in a Tie said:

ASTS goes both ways, Cgriffith. RAC will suffer additional critical damage from it, unless you can shut down your opponent modifying their dice. READ THE CARDS. Emphasis on the plural, cards, because there are two.

Good luck.

Agreed. Reread the card. Adaptability it will be then

Have you considered Oicunn? Expertise Oicunn is brutal. Something like this, maybe?

Captain Oicunn (42)
Expertise (4)
Darth Vader (3)
Gunner (5)
Rebel Captive (3)

Kylo Ren (34)
Adaptability (0)
Fire-Control System (2)
Weapons Engineer (3)
Engine Upgrade (4)

Total: 100

Rebel Captive on the Decimator makes it at least a bit more painful if your opponent decides to attack it over the shuttle. FCS with Weapons Engineer helps Kylo have at least one target in arc that he has a lock on.

2 hours ago, Cgriffith said:

Agreed. Reread the card. Adaptability it will be then

This is a much better option than ASTS.

2 hours ago, Cgriffith said:

Any ship with Palpatine will demand attention, the Upsilon Class Shuttle will not be just doing 1-2 manevuers in fact it will be in fight immadiately helping destroy the chosen ship attached with ATST.

Of course Palpshuttles will attract fire, but without RC on the same ship, no defensive upgrades and most of your offense coming from that ship, you're essentially letting your opponent target it without any penalties or downsides. If you swap RC and Kylo, you will have one ship handing out Fanatical Devotion and ISYTDS and one with Palp and RC. Whatever the opponent tries to do, it's not going to be an easy decision for him/her.

I would also have loved to put some semi-reliable way to get crits on the Upsilon, like maybe FCS (reroll regular hits if necessary), to keep using ISYTDS effectively even if RAC dies. It's hard to do if you stick to Hux, but if you downgrade to Fleet Officer, you can get a FCS along with him and improve the failsafes in your list. As it is, if RAC dies, it's game over.

On 2/9/2017 at 8:28 PM, Parakitor said:

What's so important about Vader? I mean, he can't trigger I'll Show You the Dark Side because he happens after the attack, and ISYTDS hands out that face-up damage card when critical damage is suffered during an attack.

Oh my born days Parakintor, I didn't think about this. Will have to go and read the cards.

So much for teaming crew Vader with Kylo...

How about this, gang?

REGIONALS 2017: I WILL FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED, REAR ADMIRAL CHIRANEAU

100 points

PILOTS

Rear Admiral Chiraneau (58)
VT-49 Decimator (46), Predator (3), Gunner (5), Engine Upgrade (4)

Starkiller Base Pilot (42)
Upsilon-class Shuttle (30), Kylo Ren (3), Gunner (5), Engine Upgrade (4)

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43 minutes ago, WarlockFiretopMountain said:

Rear Admiral Chiraneau (58)

VT-49 Decimator (46), Predator (3), Gunner (5), Engine Upgrade (4)

Starkiller Base Pilot (42)
Upsilon-class Shuttle (30), Kylo Ren (3), Gunner (5), Engine Upgrade (4)

I like this a lot better. Starkiller Base Pilot can give up his action for ISYTDS, leaving Chiraneau to fully mod his attacks. I might even go VI on Chiraneau to guarantee Blinded Pilot before PS 9 pilots shoot. Chiraneau can still target lock for mods, or boost.

For the Upsilon, I'd drop Gunner to pick up Pattern Analyzer and Fire-Control System. Gunner is alright, but I'd rather have a chance to modify my attack dice the following round, instead of launching two unmodified shots in one round. Gives you 1 point remaining, unless you went VI with Chiraneau, in which case Starkiller Base Pilot can also equip Kylo Ren's Shuttle title. For two points, this thing does work, and allows your shuttle to affect the battlefield even if it doesn't have a shot. It will frustrate your opponent as they know one of their ships will be stressed at the end of every round, and it will allow Chiraneau to set up a good maneuver to dodge arcs and get in range because your opponent's ship will be more predictable.

On 2/9/2017 at 10:46 AM, WarlockFiretopMountain said:

Greetings space fans. I'm working on my list for Regionals 2017, and having been out of the game for at least 6 months, I need some pointers!

The plan is to use an Upsilon Shuttle and a Decimator. The Decimator should deal out crits - buffed by the Upsilon into I Will Show You The Dark Side crits - before inevitably becoming Vader's funeral pyre.

I need advice about who to pilot the ships, and what to spend my upgrade points on.

- - -

I WILL FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED, PATROL LEADER

100 points

PILOTS

Kylo Ren (50)
Upsilon-class Shuttle (34), Fire-Control System (2), Gunner (5), Rebel Captive (3), Kylo Ren's Shuttle (2), Engine Upgrade (4)

Patrol Leader (50)
VT-49 Decimator (40), Gunner (5), Darth Vader (3), Tactician (2)

One benefit of the Patrol Leader is her relative indifference to being hit by an opponent's IWSYTD.

It's also easier to keep the Decimator down to 50 points, hopefully making it difficult for some opponents to decide which ship to take down first: I remember this being a consideration a few waves ago, but may no longer be as necessary.

- - -

I WILL FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED, REAR ADMIRAL CHIRANEAU

100 points

PILOTS

Kylo Ren (44)
Upsilon-class Shuttle (34), Veteran Instincts (1), Fire-Control System (2), Rebel Captive (3), Engine Upgrade (4)

Rear Admiral Chiraneau (56)
VT-49 Decimator (46), Predator (3), Darth Vader (3), Engine Upgrade (4)

RAC's pilot ability clearly synergises better with Kylo's. But then I'm reluctant to burden RAC with Vader.

RAC's more difficult to keep down to 50 points: but I'm not sure if this 50-point thing is a distraction on my part.

Pleasingly, with VI on Kylo, both ships are PS 8.

- - -

Both of these lists have a secondary theme of Stress, with 3-5 points spent on Stress-inducing upgrades. Is this going to be useful in the current meta? Listening to a few podcasts, I'm not so sure.

Brutal comments please: show me again, the power of the darkness.

I love the Crew of Kylo more than the pilot. If you have Palp, that's also a good option. Overall though, looks fun and competitive!

I flew the following for a few games -

Rear Admiral Chiraneau (46)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Rebel Captive (3)
Gunner (5)
Hotshot Co-pilot (4)
Engine Upgrade (4)

Starkiller Base Pilot (30)
Fire-Control System (2)
Agent Kallus (2)
Kylo Ren (3)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Kallus can obviously be a variety of other upgrades. List is okay, but the problem is that the Upsilon is ultimately still a shuttle. If RAC gets taken down, the shuttle can't do anything on its own, as any small ship can out-turn it and get set up behind it - it doesn't have an Autoblaster Turret like a Lothal Rebel to discourage tailgating. If your opponent plays cagey and forces you to come at them, it feels like it's tough to not take too much damage too fast. A partner ship like Jax or Ryad has a much better chance of winning most 1 on 1s than an Upsilon does.

So, I ran this list at our 2017 Regionals the other week (130+ players, 6 rounds, finished 88th!):

Rear Admiral Chiraneau (58)

VT-49 Decimator (46), Predator (3), Gunner (5), Engine Upgrade (4)

Starkiller Base Pilot (42)
Upsilon-class Shuttle (30), Kylo Ren (3), Gunner (5), Kylo Ren's Shuttle (2)

On numerous occasions, I regretted not having Vader crew to finish off those annoying aces. Just one or two Force Chokes per game would have been fantastic. Opponents said the same thing!

I also found that the Kylo Ren's Shuttle title, while reliable, wasn't enough in the current meta: I needed to either double-stress my enemy, or not bother.

Finally, maybe it's poor piloting on my part, but I found my Upsilon was generally caught up in a furball, and causing a lot of ships to bump it. Reminds me of the previous shuttle!

I'm looking to squeeze in Vader, and improve the Upsilon while I'm at it:

REGIONALS 2017: I WILL FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED, REAR ADMIRAL CHIRANEAU

100 points

PILOTS

Rear Admiral Chiraneau (61)
VT-49 Decimator (46), Predator (3), Gunner (5), Darth Vader (3), Engine Upgrade (4)

Starkiller Base Pilot (39)
Upsilon-class Shuttle (30), Fire-Control System (2), Kylo Ren (3), Kylo Ren's Shuttle (2), Anti-Pursuit Lasers (2)

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The Decimator now looks good to me. However, I'm having problems fitting out the Upsilon. FCS seems weak without Gunner. The title seems weak without another source of stress. Anti-Pursuit Lasers seems reactive, and really I'd like to keep my Upsilon out of melee.

What would you do here to fix the Upsilon? Or would you scrap it, and replace it with another ship entirely?

I tried flying a Decimator+shuttle with different builds and i've found there is one big problem with the combo. No matter how you build it, the Upsilon is a bad finisher. 99% of the time, the decimator will be the first target of your opponent. When it's down any remaining enemy ship has almost no problem getting behind the shuttle to finish it off at no risk.

Even a Decimator+Firespray combo works better...

Dengaroo isn't even a viable list anymore with the changes to manaroo and Zuckuss crew so why are people pointing it out?