I'm playing in a tournament next weekend, am I am sure there will be at least one Paratanni and one Dengaroo list. I have never played against Paratanni, but have played Assaj and Fen a lot myself (cant stand jumpmasters). Dengaroo is my nemesis...never beaten it yet. I was debating with a scum build, but then started thinking about my love of defenders. So I modified my trip defenders and subbed in a striker to possibly help counter Fen.

http://xwing-builder.co.uk/view/664266/strikerdefenders

I have never flown a striker before, so I am interested in thoughts on how to fly it in conjunction with a defender. Also looking for thoughts on how this might stand up against Dengaroo and Paratanni.

EDIT:

So after reading the first page of this thread, the build has been named the 'Imperial SS'and has evolved to:

http://xwing-builder.co.uk/view/664797/imperial-ss

Striker is going to want to take runs at the enemy, would work as a great flanker for the defenders to engage and the striker come from the side to wreak havoc.

There has been a lot written in articles about how to play such lists.

Asteroid placement, group them and make it tough for large bases to fly through.

you will need to outfly them, focus fire, don't give dengar his return fire even if it means a ship doesn't fire for a round, use the other two to flank and inflict the damage.

I've been experimenting with Strikers and have found them to be a really solid ship for pursuing support vessels like Manaroo or Palpshuttles. They are cheap, have a solid gun, and are fast and maneuverable enough to keep up with Manaroo, or to play around a Shuttle's stop maneuver. I'm not sure Swarm Leader and Hull Upgrade are good choices on Vessery in that build though.

They're excellent chasers because you don't have to guess where the target is going - most ships, you pick a direction, and if they've gone in the other direction you're stuffed. Strikers, you pick a straight, and choose your direction at your initiative.

Yes

Hull upgrade is largely a bad idea. Being an X7 defender, he'd be better off with SD if you want to add durability, as 4agi with focus/evade is pretty dang tough to crack. Yeah, bad luck happens and it goes away in 1 attack, but with that kind of defense its unlikely to not last a round of shooting minimum.

I run a lot of strikers. I can contest that Defenders and Strikers love being around each other. Defenders are head-on jousters and Strikers are super-weavy flankers. A properly flown Striker usually gets behind his target really fast and unscathed due to being able to park behind a rock, AA to the side and turn back in to appear on the other side of the rock. Just dont sit too close or the AA will hit the rock lol

I'm thinking expertise and stealth device would be much better on Vessery.

Duchess is a beast of a wingman for cheap, and Defenders want a beast of a wingman for cheap to avoid having to compromise on their own loadout. I'd say it's a match made in heaven.

Personally i'd rather have Sabaac since he largely denies the R1 bonus requirement so he can sit pretty far behind and still hit hard, but turrets are difficult for strikers to 100% dodge so its up for debate to me which is better. Lot of people dont realize how crazy 4 dice is until it hammers their face in. And if he does manage to get range1 somehow? 5 dice. Have fun! lol

I have faced Fengaroo with a Ryad/Vessery/OL list and did pretty well. Using Ryad's variable length K-Turn to control the range to the Fangs after the initial joust seems to be the key to tackling them, even with Manaroo support.

Manaroo is powerful but if you have the tools to handle the ships she is supporting, you can ignore her. If you are facing Parattanni, you could try hunting down Manaroo as Defenders and Strikers are fast enough to hunt a naked JumpMaster. You will struggle to catch her in a Dengaroo list though as she usually has an EU in this configuration.

If facing Dengaroo with Defenders, don't waste your time trying to hunt down Manaroo. Spread your ships out slightly and go for Dengar. If any of your ships end up in his front arc, don't bother shooting with them and just hammer him with the other 2. Dengar is a lot less scary if you can deny him his revenge shot.

1 minute ago, Vineheart01 said:

Personally i'd rather have Sabaac since he largely denies the R1 bonus requirement so he can sit pretty far behind and still hit hard, but turrets are difficult for strikers to 100% dodge so its up for debate to me which is better. Lot of people dont realize how crazy 4 dice is until it hammers their face in. And if he does manage to get range1 somehow? 5 dice. Have fun! lol

I find Sabbacc a bit questionable without a source of rerolls TBH - and giving him Lone Wolf or Predator is an option, but it leaves him uncomfortable at PS6.

1 minute ago, thespaceinvader said:

I find Sabbacc a bit questionable without a source of rerolls TBH - and giving him Lone Wolf or Predator is an option, but it leaves him uncomfortable at PS6.

PS6 isnt really that bad if you arent trying to get range1 (atleast against higher PS targets). Range2-3 is really hard to sidestep. Sabaac doesnt want to try and get range1 due to the fragile nature of strikers. He still benefits from it, but at that point youre just getting greedy because he doesnt need it.

Im not a fan of LW unless youre running a duo ship list, though it would also add to his durability. Some reason every time i run a 3ship LW list i ALWAYS got someone juuuuust in range to deny LW lol.

I chose Duchess with VI to try and counter Fen. I was thinking of calling this The Imperial SS (VeSSery, DucheSS, CounteSS). But I'm thinking that might be a little insensitive, with imagery back to the nazis.

"Sure, X-Wing is a great game and any ship can beat any other ship with good flying!!!!!"

1 hour ago, Droidlover said:

I chose Duchess with VI to try and counter Fen. I was thinking of calling this The Imperial SS (VeSSery, DucheSS, CounteSS). But I'm thinking that might be a little insensitive, with imagery back to the nazis.

Nazi style in something relates to the Empire? Outrageous!

15 minutes ago, AllWingsStandyingBy said:

"Sure, X-Wing is a great game and any ship can beat any other ship with good flying!!!!!"

Ummm, no.

I tried sabacc with outmaneuver today and if not taken care of quickly, hell he gets things done. Combined with a Tie/D vessery and tractor beam or Rexler with X7 and expertise hes quite fun and enough points left for an adequate backdraft or inquisitor.

Between the two in that combo i'd take Backdraft over Inqy any day. Backdraft gets his TL from FCS, so he can get his own rerolls no problem. Inqy will be firing before Vessery so he wont want to use his TL. Also Backdraft is mean if used right, drawing even more attention away from the flanking striker.

While I won both matches against commonwealth at my regional, it certainly took a long time to plink the defenders to death. It is ridiculously frustrating when they lose just a shield to a successful R1 shot from Fenn!

I'm working on a list that includes a defender and a striker (among others) to face the current meta. In my testing with my son, it went rather well. I beat his Paratanni, and had trouble wiping him out when we switched sides (though he mostly kept not getting his focus engine goingm which helped), that's a good start!

I'd need to test it on good paratanni players to be sure.

I don't think Swarm Leader and Hull are a good investment on Vess. I can't imagine flying Duchess without lightened frame and I'm not sure if her evade token would be a good trade most of the time. I like Striker + Ryad and Vess is always fun but I'm not sure what to do with him here.

Ok so now we are talking:

100 Points

'Imperial SS'

Vessery, x7, expertise, stealth device

Countess, x7, PTL, TIE mk2

Duchess, VI, AA, TIE mk2

Expertise on Vessery guarantees full mods for attacks, and allows his focus to be used for defense (which the stealth device improves). Ryad does what she does. Duchess has VI to compete with Fen. I know that LWF would help Duchess' survival, but it's 2 points, and TIE mk2 helps to mitigate the effect of Assaj's stress.

Won't be able to try it out until mid week.

EDIT: This is actually 101 points. I thought expertise was 3points, it's 4. Sigh.

Strikers are another ship that benefit from Mk2 engines alot, giving them +4 greens to mess with.
Side bonus: it also makes the AA green, which largely means nothing unless you happen to get that stupid "Do white move get stress" crit then you will be VERY GLAD you have Mk2 lol.

Well crap. That's 101 points. Thought expertise was 3 points.

Now what? Leave the modification off Duchess?

13 minutes ago, Vineheart01 said:

Strikers are another ship that benefit from Mk2 engines alot, giving them +4 greens to mess with.
Side bonus: it also makes the AA green, which largely means nothing unless you happen to get that stupid "Do white move get stress" crit then you will be VERY GLAD you have Mk2 lol.

I don't believe MK2 makes the AA green, as the AA card specifically says a white manuever. It doesn't say a manuever from your dial. But I've been wrong before (quite often, if you talk to my wife).