As a new player, this tactic sounds good on the surface, but when you look at the weakness of it, it relies on one or two better pilots staying alive.

What are the pros and cons?

Thank you in advance!

swarms overwhelm the opponent in a number of ways, targeting priority, action denial, token stripping, and mental strain (double edged sword). But there are several types of swarms too! and this is what you have to realize is the most important! some swarms have higher pilot skill, others have lower for blocking, mostly though it comes down to playstyle, for some examples look below!

HIGH PS HIGH AD SWARM

100 points

PILOTS

“Howlrunner” (18)

“Countdown” (20)
TIE Striker (20), Adaptive Ailerons (0)

“Pure Sabacc” (23)
TIE Striker (22), Veteran Instincts (1), Adaptive Ailerons (0)

“Duchess” (25)
TIE Striker (23), Adaptive Ailerons (0), Lightweight Frame (2)

“Chaser” (14)

this swarm boasts higher than normal pilot skills, good maneuverability, and good damage with the 3 strikers, but lacks typical blockers...chaser is an ok sub at PS 3.

OVERWHELMING CRACK SWARM

100 points

PILOTS

Black Squadron Pilot (15) x 4
TIE Fighter (14), Crack Shot (1)

“Howlrunner” (19)
TIE Fighter (18), Crack Shot (1)

“Zeta Leader” (21)
TIE/fo Fighter (20), Crack Shot (1)

this swarm utilizes rerolls by howlrunner, and crackshots to push damage through on the enemy list, after you use a crackshot or take a couple hits change that ship to a blocker and keep pounding away, just make sure to only use the blacks as blockers, you want to try to keep howlrunner and zeta up as long as you can while still shooting.

RAGE SWARM VARIANT

100 points

PILOTS

“Epsilon Leader” (19)

“Youngster” (16)
TIE Fighter (15), Rage (1)

Black Squadron Pilot (15)
TIE Fighter (14), Crack Shot (1)

Omega Squadron Pilot (18) x 2
TIE/fo Fighter (17), Crack Shot (1)

“Wampa” (14)

this swarm allows the entire group to benefit from RAGE from youngster, however it is a slow moving and predictable swarm... but incredibly deadly with all those rerolls with focus tokens, Wampa is there to try to crit through the shields by using the rerolls! still has crackshots, and the PS 4s make decent blockers on aces.

I would say the main downside to swarms is you need to win the opening exchange. The effectiveness of the swarm drops as you lose ships, so you need to cause crippling damage early. Ships that are good at running away or recovering shields can be a big problem. As you pointed out, relying on key ships, like Howlrunner, can be a problem. This is because not only can she be picked off, but the tight formation required to make use of her ability can become a liability.

There are other swarm options out there that don't suffer from losing key ships as badly. Snap shot black squad Ties can melt ships they catch and really play to the swarms strength of throwing more dice. Tie Bomber shuttles with Operations Specialist crew can really benefit Tie Swarms, allowing looser formations and give Ties tokens even after they bump or K-Turn.

I would say that for a new player, playing Tie swarms will help you improve your flying more than any other list. It's challenging to start, but once you master formation flying, blocking and strategic bumping you will be well on your way to becoming a feared pilot.