After picking up a striker I've been having an absolute blast flying Pure Sabacc with two ties, a doom shuttle (Omicron+Vader) and a tie shuttle. Its also given me an incentive to add two A-wings to many rebel squads. Unfortunately, the 2 attack die i can sometimes get doesn't seem to be enough to do a whole lot except if I have a target lock and I can keep the "Swarm Leader" out of harms way. I want to know opinions on whether to fly full swarms or only have a couple of ships with this card and if you prefer it in the squad or on flankers.
How Good is Swarm Leader?
I've seen Swarm Leader do some serious damage using a Kylo shuttle & some FO Ties, 6 dice, 7 at range 1
I ve tried it with Fat han and 2 A-wings and it rocks.
This was the list
Edited by tsondaboyHere's a rebel list I've flown, Jess with 3 Snap/Juke A-Wings. They hopefully use their Jukes twice each round before Jess takes the evade for her own attack (rerolling three dice mmm tasty)
For Imperial, I've really liked this hotcop kylo RAC + 2 Tie Adv. Prototypes.
Swarm leader is good when you have an innate or easy way to get rerolls. If you roll 6 naked dice you'll be sad mostly. The feeders should also either be cheap, get use from their evade before it's eaten, or get their evade for free.
It's powerful but within restricted enough parameters to not be too busted.
39 minutes ago, nigeltastic said:Swarm leader is good when you have an innate or easy way to get rerolls. If you roll 6 naked dice you'll be sad mostly. The feeders should also either be cheap, get use from their evade before it's eaten, or get their evade for free.
It's powerful but within restricted enough parameters to not be too busted.
Had it played against me twice today. Naked dice, no mods. The first attack was a natural double: two hits, two crits. Fortunately it was against a B-Wing so shields took the damage. The second attack was all blanks and eyeballs. No damage. It was my first exposure to the card and I didn't know that there was no range limit to use Swarm Leader. Only a limit on the two ships you're stealing focus from.
It was an unpleasant surprise but not op.
I've had some success at my local game store running it on Rey with 2 x Greens:
Rey (45) w/ Swarm Leader (3); Kanan Jarrus (3); Finn (5); Millennium Falcon TFA (1); Smuggling Compartment (0); Inertial Dampeners (1)
Green Squadron Pilot (19) w/ A-Wing Test Pilot (0); Push the Limit (3); Wired (1); Chardaan Refit (-2)
Green Squadron Pilot (19) w/ A-Wing Test Pilot (0); Push the Limit (3); Wired (1); Chardaan Refit (-2)
100pts
Boost and evade mostly with the A-Wings to set up Rey's in arc shot. The rounds the Falcon doesn't need to sloop or clear its own stress, Kanan can help open up one of the A-Wing's dials making them a little less predictable. However because they are often stressed, the As are susceptible to BMST.
I've been pretty tempted to use a 4 GSP min swarm with it:
In short can pretty much focus/evade every turn (swarm leader may want to TL depending on situation). The 3 Juke GSP's can use their evade to Juke before swarm leader sweeps them up for the final attack. Odds are that at least one and probably 2 GSP's will still have evade tokens and the focus/evade/AT combo makes them pretty hard to take down.
The alternative is:
Which is a similar idea as Jess Pava is PS3 as well but she has the inbuilt re-rolls and an extra attack die. However, main concern with this one is that she may get burnt down fairly quickly as is the obvious target and the 2 green dice only go so far.
Both lists are only in theory so far but have had great fun against ships like Soontir with 4 PTL, Juke, AT GSP's - even he only has so many focus tokens
Used this list against a parattani list the other day, swarm leader really helped tycho push damage through even on asaji, lost to time but only just, I did get some good evasion rolls but because swarm leader only cares about the range Of the attackers on the defender, after the 1st engagement I could spilt up and use one a wing as a blocker and the rest could break off to come back in again, changing out which a wing blocks as one gets damaged, even using the blockers evade token if a bump in arc and he can't be shot back
All a wings (100)
Tycho Celchu (31) - A-Wing
Rage (1), Chardaan Refit (-2), A-Wing Test Pilot (0), Experimental Interface (3), Swarm Leader (3)
Green Squadron Pilot (23) - A-Wing
Crack Shot (1), Chardaan Refit (-2), A-Wing Test Pilot (0), Autothrusters (2), Push The Limit (3)
Green Squadron Pilot (23) - A-Wing
Crack Shot (1), Chardaan Refit (-2), A-Wing Test Pilot (0), Autothrusters (2), Push The Limit (3)
Green Squadron Pilot (23) - A-Wing
Crack Shot (1), Chardaan Refit (-2), A-Wing Test Pilot (0), Autothrusters (2), Push The Limit (3)
need to have a few more games with it but those little a wings may not push out a lot of damage but will pick away at ships and tycho suddenly gets scary with 4 dice at range 2-3 and 5 at range one with 3 re roll and a turn least 1 focus
Too soon to tell. I have a Maarek/Omega Leader/Swarm Leader Vessery list that seems promising, but is only 1-0.
Pure jank to me but i've been wrong before.
Worth noting that swarm leader vessery with defender backup has won at least 1 regional.
Another good candidate for swarm leader imo is Zuckuss with k4 and some feeder sycks. He gets target locks 'freely' and throws 6-7 dice when swarm leader is active.
On paper, decent if paired with action efficient feeder units that can do without the evade token themselves, or take it on top of another token. X7 Defenders is the obvious option here, but also PTL GSPs and Mindlink Scyks fit the bill nicely.
Anecdotally, I've played against it a half dozen times and can say it's a big old threat to consider all the time - and it does make you consider token stripping shenanigans - but it's not massively hard to play around. I'd be looking at it more as a way of reliably adding one extra die per turn, rather than something that can bring you up to six every time.
I love Swarm Leader Jess with Snap/Juke A's! I've tried the build that @varthanna mentioned and it's a ton of fun. Once Jess goes down it's a bit too dependent on dice variance though. I've been toying around with switching out one A for Sabine's TIE. Tried it once with Ashoka with VI, Capt. TIE and Operations specialist, but Ashoka was out of range for OS when the snap shots went off and I didn't get too much use out of her ability. Thinking about replacing her with Zeb and adding prockets to one of the A's to take the heat off Jess. Or maybe using Sabine w/ Snap Shot and giving up one reroll to use her as a flanker. Open to suggestions.
16 hours ago, rafcpl6868 said:I want to know opinions on whether to fly full swarms or only have a couple of ships with this card and if you prefer it in the squad or on flankers.
It's Unique. Only one ship in a list can use it.
With that said, I had a lot of fun flying Vader with Swarm Leader, ATC, and some Tie Fighters.
Edited by heychadwickSomeone at my FLGS used it on Pure Sabacc last week with a pair of x7 Deltas. He wiped out an Upsilon shuttle in a single round of shooting.
It's a gimmick, but a hilarious one.
I'm 3-0 with Kylo + 2 X7s
Baffles on a SL Upsilon is a must imo. As others have mentioned, rolling 6 dice with no mods is terrible idea. And pulling off a hard 1 or full stop while still getting an action can be a game changer
Weapons engineer is also a decent choice to bank a TL for a fully modded 6 dicer.
What is your full list? I love the shuttle, but when stuff gets behind it :/
I'm 4-0 vs various scum lists with my swarm leader list. My list is Major Stridan with Gen. Hux and Systems Officer and Kylo Ren Shuttle, Omega Ace with Swarm Leader, and 2 Omega Squad FOs with crack shot. After doing a green maneuver, I use Stridan's ability to give anyone at range 1-3 a TL and up to 3 ships a focus token. Usually I give Omega Ace a focus and TL and one For a focus and keep one for the shuttle, along with Fanatical Devotion. Then both FOs evade for their actions. Hopefully I can block my target so they get no action. Then I use Swarm leader Omega Ace to give 4(5 at range 1) crits to my TLed enemy, and my remaining ships shoot it with crack shot and Fanatical Devotion. It can ruin a ships day. My only complaint with the list is that my highest pilot skill is Omega Ace at 7. He gives out his 4-5 crits but usually to shields. If I had another higher PS ship to strip shields first, it would be incredible! It is still crazy fun against non shielded ships(I'm looking at you, Protectorates)
4 hours ago, Goseki1 said:What is your full list? I love the shuttle, but when stuff gets behind it :/
Upsilon-class Shuttle: · Kylo Ren (34)
· Swarm Leader (3)
Electronic Baffle (1)
· Rebel Captive (3)
TIE Defender: Delta Squadron Pilot (30)
TIE/x7 (-2)
TIE Defender: Delta Squadron Pilot (30)
TIE/x7 (-2)
-- TOTAL ------- 97p. --
The last 3 points are to taste really, weapons engineer, hull upgrade, title, all valid options. In fact, the only thing I consider a "must have" is the baffles. The thing hates stress, and being able to dead stop/hard 1 and still perform an action is crucial to a swarm leader build imo
Edited by jokerkdI took a Jess + Snap/juke A-wing list to regionals - full report here:
19 hours ago, JJFDVORAK said:I'm 4-0 vs various scum lists with my swarm leader list. My list is Major Stridan with Gen. Hux and Systems Officer and Kylo Ren Shuttle, Omega Ace with Swarm Leader, and 2 Omega Squad FOs with crack shot. After doing a green maneuver, I use Stridan's ability to give anyone at range 1-3 a TL and up to 3 ships a focus token. Usually I give Omega Ace a focus and TL and one For a focus and keep one for the shuttle, along with Fanatical Devotion. Then both FOs evade for their actions. Hopefully I can block my target so they get no action. Then I use Swarm leader Omega Ace to give 4(5 at range 1) crits to my TLed enemy, and my remaining ships shoot it with crack shot and Fanatical Devotion. It can ruin a ships day. My only complaint with the list is that my highest pilot skill is Omega Ace at 7. He gives out his 4-5 crits but usually to shields. If I had another higher PS ship to strip shields first, it would be incredible! It is still crazy fun against non shielded ships(I'm looking at you, Protectorates)
I ran a similar list this weekend at a store tournament with (2) Tie/FO Epsilons, Swarm Leader Omega Ace and the same Major Stridan Upsilon build you had, except I also added Fire Control System, Tactical Jammers, and Targeting Synchronizer. Unfortunately I only went 2-2. However, in the two wins the synergy between the shuttle, Epsilons, and Omega Ace with Squad Leader was brutal. One game was finished in less than 20 minutes as Omega was throwing out four and five critical hit rounds coupled with the shuttle dishing out four and/or five attack dice if at Range 1. The problem in my losses was I came upon heavy ordinance builds such as a Z-95 swarm with concussion missiles and guidance chips and in the other, a PS 9 pilots Skum build with ordinance that destroyed Omega before I could even get a shot off. In both of my losses Omega Ace was killed in the first round of combat. I definitely loved flying this list that was based around Swarm Leader and I'm going to fly it again, but I need a way to keep Omega alive longer.
31 minutes ago, Darth Onyx said:I ran a similar list this weekend at a store tournament with (2) Tie/FO Epsilons, Swarm Leader Omega Ace and the same Major Stridan Upsilon build you had, except I also added Fire Control System, Tactical Jammers, and Targeting Synchronizer. Unfortunately I only went 2-2. However, in the two wins the synergy between the shuttle, Epsilons, and Omega Ace with Squad Leader was brutal. One game was finished in less than 20 minutes as Omega was throwing out four and five critical hit rounds coupled with the shuttle dishing out four and/or five attack dice if at Range 1. The problem in my losses was I came upon heavy ordinance builds such as a Z-95 swarm with concussion missiles and guidance chips and in the other, a PS 9 pilots Skum build with ordinance that destroyed Omega before I could even get a shot off. In both of my losses Omega Ace was killed in the first round of combat. I definitely loved flying this list that was based around Swarm Leader and I'm going to fly it again, but I need a way to keep Omega alive longer.
I think the trick is to not attemp the range one shot with OA. I know that gives one more CRIT, but it also makes OA a prime target. I usually try to hang back with OA and stay at Range 2-3, while my shuttle goes in for range 1 shots. The shuttle gets 5 shots with Fanatical Devotion (you almost always roll at least 1 eyeball that then can't be dodged) and it can soak up more damage that OA. I usually try to kill my opponents big gun early on with the combination of the shuttle and OA. If I can kill their ace and only loose the shuttle, it usually is a piece of cake. The only game I almost lost with this list, I didn't manage to kill Fenn Rua(had him down to one hit point though) before he killed my shuttle. If my opponent hadn't happened to hit a rock a few turns later and kill himself, I would have been toast. I was down to one FO left with one hit point. Talk about a nail biter.
21 hours ago, jokerkd said:Upsilon-class Shuttle: · Kylo Ren (34)
· Swarm Leader (3)
Electronic Baffle (1)
· Rebel Captive (3)
TIE Defender: Delta Squadron Pilot (30)
TIE/x7 (-2)
TIE Defender: Delta Squadron Pilot (30)
TIE/x7 (-2)
-- TOTAL ------- 97p. --
The last 3 points are to taste really, weapons engineer, hull upgrade, title, all valid options. In fact, the only thing I consider a "must have" is the baffles. The thing hates stress, and being able to dead stop/hard 1 and still perform an action is crucial to a swarm leader build imo
Nice! Why not take pattern alanyzer instead /as well as baffles as you can still do a stop and get your action. Though I suppose you can't do it multiple times.
I tried pattern analyzer first, but quickly learned that the Upsi cannot handle stress. It's not the most mobile ship to start with, a bit better than the lambda, but the green 1 bank is arguably better than the 2 bank. With Baffles, everything on the dial can basically be treated as white.
People tend to not want to shoot at the shuttle for multiple reasons, so losing a shield a turn to keep arc on something is well worth it