Upcoming Escalation (60/90/120/150)

By Alekzanter, in X-Wing Squad Lists

I fly TIEs...

@60pts:

"Duchess" (30)- Outmaneuver EPT (3), Adaptive Ailerons Title (0), Engine Upgrade Modification (4). I really think I can get her where she needs to be, and thus trigger her fairly regularly. I vacillated between Outmaneuver and Push The Limit, but made my final choice thinking I shouldn't be tempted to stress her.

"Countdown" (23)- Adaptive Ailerons Title (0) and Stealth Device Modification (3). Looks dead hard (on paper). No EPT slot here, so...yeah.

Question: Which mod is better, Stealth Device or Twin Ion Engine MkII? TIE MkII opens up "Countdown"'s dial, a lot, which would be great if I could equip both it and Stealth Device...so, TIEMkII or Stealth Device (either coupled with Adaptive Ailerons)?

These two come in at 53 (51) points. I'm not really worried about the deficit, I just need to concentrate and fly smart.

@90 pts add:

"Pure Sabacc" swapped out in exchange for Countess Ryad (36)- Swarm Leader* (3), TIE x7 (-2), TIE MkII (1). 89/90pts (87/90 if TIE MkII on "Countdown").

@120pts add:

1x TIE f/o "Zeta" Sqdn. Pilots (19)- Comm Relay (3), and 1x Academy Pilot (12). I plan on using these as blockers and to token up * Swarm Leader. 119/120pts.

@150 pts. add:

1x "Epsilon" Sqdn. PilotPilots (15)- Comm Relay (3), and 1x Academy Pilot (12). These guys will assist with blocking and token support for Swarm Leader. 150/150pts.

I've been banging my head on a table covered with cards for a week. I fly TIEs fairly well, so I'm sticking to what I know, plus they're fun to fly, and the thought of going from two to three, to five, to seven fighters on the table is exciting (to me, anyway).

So, advice? Am I bonkers? I'm not going back to the drawing board for wholesale hack-and-slash, but if there are a few tweaks that could be made and flying/formation advice to share, then I'm open to suggestions. I don't legitimately think I'll win, or even place, but I do want to have fun, and TIEs are fun (for me, anyway).

Thanks.

Edited by Alekzanter

I really like TIEs in escalation. I try to fly my lower pilot skill TIEs in their own separate formation and have my aces in another. The lower ps TIEs give you a fair amount of red dice to throw and they are awesome blockers. If you had a Defender you could throw him in instead of "Countdown" since they can soak more damage. You could then still implement that exact "Pure Sabaac" build. However, in the 120 pt. you would probably need to do an Academy Pilot and an Epsilon Pilot (dropping from a "Zeta") with Comm Relay. You could then add one more of each of these in the 150 pt. round and still have some points to allocate. But if you have more fun flying Strikers then I say go for it! The escalation tournament I went to seemed more relaxed than standard ones anyway and it was a lot of fun.

I appreciated your input, LifeGain! I do have a TIE d, but haven't flown it yet (maybe I can get some table time with it Tuesday). A snag in your suggestions, though: I have to keep everything from previous tiers, can only add, not downgrade, so that suggestion for the 150 tier swap of "Epsilon" for "Zeta" may need tweaking in the 120 tier.

Thanks so much!

On the tier you get the zeta you could consider getting omega leader and an academy pilot instead. Would give you another ace besides duchess and take some heat off sabacc.

You could still trigger swarm leader of course but it gives you more options

15 hours ago, Alekzanter said:

I appreciated your input, LifeGain! I do have a TIE d, but haven't flown it yet (maybe I can get some table time with it Tuesday). A snag in your suggestions, though: I have to keep everything from previous tiers, can only add, not downgrade, so that suggestion for the 150 tier swap of "Epsilon" for "Zeta" may need tweaking in the 120 tier.

Thanks so much!

Whoops! Meant to mention that it was a x/7, not TIE d, but you could make that work also. I like x/7 because your opponent wants to kill it, but they have to really concentrate to break it and that takes heat off of your other ships. Happy to see someone flying Imps in escalation! TIEs look awesome when flown well :)