Originally posted in the thread for the Scurrg discussion, which talked about how The Rebel/Scum have bomb toting crew and it may be on the rise for the Empire. I proposed the following modification.

Gunner Station

TIE only.

your ship gains a crew slot. You may not equip uniqie crew upgrades.

Cost: ??

Reasoning: Ties are big enough to hold more than one person in canon, and we have multiple ships that by the new canon are not matching in game. For instance, as per Rebels we see a gunner station in the secondary pod on a TIE bomber. Also, the TIE Striker had bombs and a bomber crew. In the Force Awakens, the TIE/sf housed two main characters.

Now, adding a crew slot allows an imperial bomb centric crew. This allows the striker to have its bombs. The bomber can benefit from this as well, or other non unique crew. The TIE/sf can take it as well, leading it to be a true multi role fighter. The downside to this gunner station is it takes your modification slot, So while you gain a crew on several ships, those same ships cannot take things such as lightweight frame, or in the case of the TIE phantom, the cloak upgrades. Truly, the TIE interceptor becomes a beast with a crew, Add the (Proposed above) Gunner Station sportinng a Gunner and a Targeting Computer modificationon a Push the Limit Fel and it would be a beast, but pricy.

The proposed upgrade fits, in my opinion, thematically AND in many regards, is a boost to many ships that are lagging behind and not seeing play. It has a high cost in that it takes up your precious modification slot, which limits many other often preferable upgrades. The bonus, is it instantlty brings up many ships to the proper canon status in terms of what we see.

Edit: While I'm not sure about the costing, I don't think I would put the cost at anything higher than 1, likely being zero. The below breakdown of ship and possible crew upgrades showa that adding more to many imperial ship just increases their already high cost or is a trade off for a likely superior upgrade that costs about the same. Many of those upgrades are designed to keep imperial ships alive (lightweight frame and autothrusters), so trading those for crew gimmicks seems fair.

I like the idea. Then I could use tail Gunner on my Tie/SF.

Or I could put Bombadier on a Tie Bomber.

Indeed, here is my breakdown for all (I think) non unique crew:

Weapons Engineer - bomber, punishers, Royal Guard interceptors, SF, and Omega Leader could benefit greatly.

Gunner - any imperial ship could benefit from this, even a humble TIE, though the cost there seems too high for a two dice attack ship.

Mercenary Copilot - works well with a few named TIE pilots like Wampa Increase their cost for using their ability more often.

Intelligence Agent - benefits every imperial TIE for minimal cost.

Recon Specialist, Bomber, and Named interceptors could like this.

Saboteur - Wampa wants this one.

Navigator and Flight instructor both have uses on any TIE, but, the cost increase makes it prohibitive except on named Aces maybe.

Tactician - obvious synergy, even on lowly TIEs.

Fleet Officer - a lowly TIE becomes a support ship, which in a swarm can be brutal.

Bombardier - TIE bombers and Punishers would love and benefit from this greatly.

Systems Officer - Bomber swarms, and newer TIE variants benefit greatly.

Tail Gunner - TIE/SF and Backdraft specifically would love this - the cost of course is No Lightweight Frame, so seems fair trade.

Hotshot Copilot - only imperial aces would benefit, and due to cost, there are likely better options, but could be very effective on some.

Operations Specialist - Again, benefit to all TIE craft, but likely not seen on lower skill/cost TIEs

Inspiring Recruit - This one is quite effective, making your imperial fleet very stress resistant. Likely, better options above, but cost wise, very useful.

Now, would I put this on every TIE I fly? No. Light Weight Frame, AutoThrusters, all have preference, but on some builds, this could be very effective. It seems the lack of other modifications and cost of crew balance it out.

Breakdown on how each TIE can benefit.

TIE fighter the generic swarm can benefit greatly. As noted above, for a minimal cost, you can make imperial swarms immune to stress, and have a few other options for named pilots. But the humble TIE is about cheap cost for a swarm, many options are costly and not worth it on a two attack die ship.

TIE Bomber - at the very least, bombadier makes this idea viable, but at the cost of munitions failsafe. As above, many other options are not optimal on a two attack die ship, but with correct choices, the versatility of a bomber swarm would be beastly

TIE interceptor - completely useless, doesnt aid Fel's Wrath..

But, some aces could benefit from some options, but the mentioned before autothrusters and whatever else seem to be superior

TIE advanced - coupled the advanced Targeting computer, Maarek might like some mercenary copilot. Darth Vader becomes extremely ghastly, but I still think other better options than increasing his cost are put there. But, a Juking Vader with advanced Targeting and a gunner will ruin your day.

TIE Punisher like the bomber, the increase in versatility, price of decreased maneuvers and defence (ion ml II and light weight frame) seem a fair balance. With the Scurrg upgrades it has availiable, the one I propose only aids it.

TIE Phantom - this is an interesting case. It would get another crew slot. There is a lot you could do with that, the cost of course, are losing any cloak upgrades. It changes the role of the ship, but not drastically as the ship already has a crew slot. Make it a gunship rather than cloaking or wacky support vessel could be fun.

TIE Defender - offers a number of benefits, vessery likes extra target locks. But, are increases stress mitigation (ion mk II) not superior choices? Again, Maarek may like his mercenary. Point cost is the big issue, but in all decked put ace builds/two defender lists, why not? Lots of tricks.

TIE advanced Prototype - as with the interceptor, the loss of autothrusters seems to outweigh any other option. But, with creativity, we might see something other than the Grand Inquisitor.

TIE Striker - Truly, a crew that adds a bomb slot brings it up to canon specs, all at the cost of light weight frame. Truly a bomb on this ship makes it interesting, but with said hypothetical imperial bomb crew and the cost of bombs, any shenanigans this ship could do with bombs is gimmicky at best, and point cost sink at worst. It balances out, and I would suspect not many would give up the other modifocations. But, a Striker flying around removing stress from other ships, or giving focus could be interesting.

TIE/FO - Lets be honest, like the humble TIE, most will not equip this. But, A Juke/comm relay Omega Leader with weapons Engineer? I'd fly that. The drawback is still her two attack dice. Seems a fair trade for cost.

TIE/sf - really, this would just help it shine as a multi-role fighter with heaps of versatility. Before the release of the craft I argued that a crew slot would allow for the special forces tie to be flown as support to a fleet as a crew offers many tactical or special uses. Didn't have it on release, but for the cost of the Lightweight Frame, I could have my versatility. A fair trade, Would we see much of that? Likely not, but it would end up being a toss up between Tail Gunner or the Light Weight frame for most. Truly, seeing something other than only Lightweight frame would make it worthwhile as I feel that any option that becomes the only way to fly it, is a failure of design.

I like it!

cost: 0 points

If a Rebel terrorist can do it, why not the people's army?

2 hours ago, clanofwolves said:

If a Rebel terrorist can do it, why not the people's army?

I agree! I know Sabine is amazing and all, but other Imperial techs should be able to bolt a second seat into a tie fighter. It's like 4 bolts! We didn't pay for your education at the Academy for nothing! Earn your awesome retirement benefits!

10 hours ago, clanofwolves said:

If a Rebel terrorist can do it, why not the people's army?

The Imperial Navy does *not* violate the approved Tech Data Package!

2 hours ago, Hawkstrike said:

The Imperial Navy does *not* violate the approved Tech Data Package!

When the Galaxy is nearly controlled by hordes of criminals, and the terrorist are controlling most of what's left, and using our stolen tech against us very effectively; something has to change....the Emperor has foreseen it.

Honestly, that the TIE/SF lacks a crew slot is a real hit to its capabilities. I love it, but it needs that crew slot to become all it could possibly be.

3 hours ago, clanofwolves said:

When the Galaxy is nearly controlled by hordes of criminals, and the terrorist are controlling most of what's left, and using our stolen tech against us very effectively; something has to change....the Emperor has foreseen it.

The faction break down for worlds 16 was:

Rebels 3

Imperial 1

Scum 1

Attani 11

I fully approve! Then we need this:

Gunnery Officer

TIE only, crew, cost two

You may perform primary weapon attacks against ships outside your firing arc. If you do, you may not roll more than two dice.

3 hours ago, Captain Lackwit said:

Honestly, that the TIE/SF lacks a crew slot is a real hit to its capabilities. I love it, but it needs that crew slot to become all it could possibly be.

I think Backdraft with a crew slot is a ship even I could win with, and if I can win with it, it's probably OP.

Forgot a couple of ships:

The as yet unreleased TIE Agressor - Like many TIE variants, a loss of Lightweight Frame, or depending on the dial, Ion Mk II, outweighs most crew. Still, a Twin Laser Turret/Tactician combo could be useful.

Bonus: Rebel TIE - as written, the rebel TIE certainly could take the proposed upgrade. The loss however is the ability to take the stolen TIE modification and more importantly, you wouldn't be able to take any unique crew, so it really does not benefit the Stolen TIE and her pilots all that much. Truly, putting costly crew on a TIE, as noted above, doesn't aid you all that much.