Hey,

I'm pretty new to the game and was trying to come up with a list all by my self.

Since defenders are so popular (or hated, lol) I had an idea from the Thrawn X- Wing Channel to use them with a cheap cannon (tractor beam in this case) and attack twice, he used it with Ruthlessness but I think in my case it would do more damage to me than my opponent.

The idea is to focus fire on a ship, get its agility low enough to have a easier time with the next shots and maybe get it out of position so it does not fire back (sitting it on a rock) or getting out of its arc.

Then comes in Colzet, he flies at range 1 (or you tractor beam a ship close to him, thats why Ruthlessness may be harmful to me) and pops an automatic crit with ATC and flips a damage card face up at the end of combat by spending his unused target lock.

I still have doubts about the Elite slots for the defenders, since 5 points for 2 of them are not many, Double predator is out of question, maybe i could switch to Accuracy Corrector since I already flip a damage face UP and get a point back, or go with double Trick Shot and spend 3 points for 3 Twin Ion Engines Mk II so i get green banks on all 3 ships (and the defenders need it).

Any suggestions? I could consider running another ship instead of the TIE Advanced, maybe a simple TIE or an FO one could save me a few points.

Cheers!

My main concerns here are that your list lacks much damage output - Tractor Beams of course do none and TIE/D's often struggle with dice modification across two shots while trying not to leave themselves vulnerable to pre-Veterans style sniping. The low PS of your ships means they are all the more susceptible to said sniping, or to being arc dodged altogether, and without x7's evade you will find the Defenders ground down much faster than you'd like.

As a side note, having all named pilots also leaves you very vulnerable to the Dengar crew card.

Here's how I would rework it:

Maarek Stele (TIE Defender)

-'TIE/D'

-Veteran Instincts

-Tractor Beam

37pts

Colonel Vessery (TIE Defender)

-'TIE/D'

-Veteran Instincts

-Ion Cannon

39pts

Scimitar Squadron Pilot (TIE Bomber)

-'TIE Shuttle'

-Fleet Officer

-Operations Specialist

-Twin Ion Engine MkII

23pts

Total: 99pts

Both Defenders are now high enough PS that they can get their shots in, and the support Bomber helps them out with their modification. Swapping one Tractor Beam for an Ion Cannon gives you both some variety (two different factors for your opponent to consider) as well as adding a bit more damage.

OpsSpec is the sleeper ace card here, because with both Defenders taking two shots a round, there's the potential to generate a lot of Focus as and where it is needed - buffing up a shot to come or preparing for the return fire. The range on it (and Fleet Officer) should also let him hang back where he's less likely to get picked off: losing him isn't the end of the game, but it does become much harder at that point.

I tried my version list with VI and the Twin Ion Engines Mk II and can confirm that the Defenders didn't have a lot of success, the attacks against higher PS pilots were Arc Dodged and when they didn't avoid their arc not many hits landed since most rolls were unmodified. Also they took heavy damage even from range 3 and exploded pretty fast.

I will try your suggestion it seems really intriguing, not really sold on Ops Spec but I will give it a try!

Thanks a lot!

Colzet doesn't need to get close as long as he can get a Target Lock, he lets other ships cause the main damage and he just make the pain worse, i'd suggest ether AC or FCS for colzet as AC guarantees that you keep your lock and have reliable range 3 damage while FCS lets you spend your lock on the attack and the end phase, even better, because of the title they're both free! maybe something like this?

Maarek Steele + A score to Settle + TIE/D + Ion Cannon + TIE/2: 39

Colonel Vessery + Adaptability + TIE/D + Tractor Beam + TIE/2: 37

Lt. Colzet + TIE/x1 + TIE/2 + AC: 24

total: 100/100

i'd suggest with this list shooting first with Vessery (preferably someone Colzet has locked) to reduce the target's agility then maarek get's his choice of crits and colzet can flip up a face down card in the end phase