Noone will lose to this. It's ridiculous

My dice and poor decision making will get me every time. I don't serenade my dice with music.

Well..I don't think it exactly proves anything other than the list is a ton of fun.

But....it did an undefeated tournament for me today.

So...maybe it kinda works?

I ended up following biiphysicals' advice and changing ryads' shield to an engine upgrade.GREAT call, and yes it makes setting up the perfect jousting lane a lot easier.

Other then that I built the list on the shoulders of Commonwealth defenders. Vessery shooting before a ptl ryad is truly magical.

51 Ryad- push the limit

Engine upgrade

Heavy laser cannon

Proton rockets

49 Vessery- expertise

Tie /D title

Tractor beam

Shield upgrade

Assault missle

The missles are negotiable, I wanted prockets to make R1 as much a threat as the hlc.

Assault missle is in case of anything vaguely swarmy.

Adding all the goodies to the defender and avoiding x7 for a change was ....to me.... refreshing, and actually opened up the possibilities. It's really nice to fly the ship without locking out all the slower moves.

So, didn't lose a ship all day. Three games and each was interesting and we'll played by the fellas.

Not much else to say on it.

Hey, way to go! If I may suggest addition tweaks: Ion Pulse Missiles are great weapons if you're looking for missiles. Expertise is terrific on Ryad if you're looking for an alternative to PTL and go with TIE/D instead of HLC. It keeps more dial open and modifies both attacks.

On 6/5/2017 at 7:33 PM, Marinealver said:

If three TIE Defenders cannot get into the top tables, what makes you think 2 will?

Sounds like you fell into the trap common with TIE Bombers and other ships with loads of upgrade options and that is overloading a single ship. Only you did that twice. In the two ship meta at least on of thsoe ships had more than 6 hit points. Trim them down and get another ship in there.

He did say it was a Casual Night list. Not meant to be competitive.

If you have enough fun with it that you want to take it a slightly less casual route in future:

Countess Ryad (34)
Push the Limit (3)
Flechette Cannon (2)
Engine Upgrade (4)
TIE/D (0)

Colonel Vessery (35)
Expertise (4)
Flechette Cannon (2)
TIE/D (0)

"Wampa" (14)
Targeting Computer (2)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

For your filler, the Empire actually has quite a few options in the 15-16pt range!

• Wampa + TL: Target painter and autodamage threat that makes all kinds of regen & agility tanks sweat. Included above as probably the most amusing.
• a TIE/FO, one of the best blockers in the game; if you leave it at PS1 you have a free point to sprinkle elsewhere to boot: Load it on MkII Engines for Vessery for stress-clearing, or upgrade a Flechette to an Ion cannon and really ruin a B-wing(/K-wing/Punisher/Scurrg/G1A)'s day
• a TIE Bomber with Long Range Scanners and use it as a dedicated, explicit target-painter for Vessery
• Backstabber, who loses target lock capability, but leaves your foe with two high priority targets... and a ship that loves to be left alive and ignored.

Note the first three leave you able to paint targets for Vessery if Ryad dies first; this means that Vessery is target #1. Conversely, if you take Backstabber, Ryad becomes the first TIE/D to die...

Not saying you'll win worlds with it... but I'd still be wary if these showed up opposite me on the table, and there's enough room to tweak the build to find a combination you love.

2 hours ago, 4fox100 said:

He did say it was a Casual Night list. Not meant to be competitive.

He was also just simply wrong from the start, as 3 tie defenders still can make top tables no problem in a decent players hands.

On 6/5/2017 at 4:33 PM, Marinealver said:

If three TIE Defenders cannot get into the top tables, what makes you think 2 will?

Sounds like you fell into the trap common with TIE Bombers and other ships with loads of upgrade options and that is overloading a single ship. Only you did that twice. In the two ship meta at least on of thsoe ships had more than 6 hit points. Trim them down and get another ship in there.

Sssshhhh! Quiet you!

Velvetelvis, congrats on your performance. I ... want to jump in on the discussion because I enjoy this squad a lot, though I feel unqualified because I don't have Defenders to put on the table. All I've been able to do is put them through Squadron Benchmark simulations. That said, this is the core of the build that I settled on:

Colonel Vessery (35)
Expertise (4)
Ion Cannon (3)
TIE/D (0)

Glaive Squadron Pilot (34)
Expertise (4)
Ion Cannon (3)
TIE/D (0)

Total: 83

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

I just chose the most consistent damage-dealing options (though one Tractor Beam versus the second Ion Cannon I only analyzed subjectively). We have full modification on three three-dice shots and half modification on one, with four opportunities to deal damage up to eight total. The paired Ion Cannon also allow ionization of a large ship in one turn and more reliable ionization of small ships. I chose a Glaive for the flexibility of equal pilot skills, but play against human opponents might reveal that Ryad's ability is superior.

I found that, beyond this core, the rest of the build did not effect its performance greatly, though this was probably the result of playing against an AI. Engine Upgrade didn't seem very necessary, though against a more canny blocker it may have been helpful. The TIEs could usually dish out the damage before a Hull or Shield Upgrade became necessary. Missiles were not extremely helpful, though Assault and Homing Missiles may each be effective against certain squad types. A blocker or cheap support shuttle seemed largely to give points away. 'Points fortressing,' I believe it's called, was a serious consideration, though the build I have written down fleshes out the Defenders with missiles and Hull Upgrades.

Obviously this isn't meant to suggest this is actually the optimal form of the squad (and I really like the look of Reiver's build ...), I just enjoy the theory of this particular list. Someday, if I own Defenders, I'll be sure to put it on the table.

Edit: I want to say that, as others, I strongly feel Vessery should be the higher-PS ship so that his partner can spend his or her target lock.

On ‎06‎/‎06‎/‎2017 at 0:37 AM, defkhan1 said:

Might as well go for Engine Upgrade instead of Shield. Nobody expects a boosting Defender.

Which is odd, when you think about it - coming out of a "predictable" K-turn into a boost or barrel roll goes a long way to producing the "where the hell did he come from" reaction you need to win fighter-on-fighter (as opposed to fighter-on-turreted-big ship) games.