I've been thinking a bit about the weakness of TiE-Swarms against High Agility ships lately, and wanted to try out a build with both Youngster and Howlrunner. The general idea goes something like this as of now:

Howlrunner (+EPT?)

Youngster (Juke)

Academy Pilot x5

=92 +Howl's EPT pts

My first thoughts would go towards giving Howlrunner Swarm Leader in order to maintain offensive power towards the late game, should Youngster bite it early. The idea behind this is obviously quite similar to a traditional Crack Swarm, with a slightly different (and, to be frank, potentially quite a bit more brittle) quantity/quiality ratio.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Any and all are appreciated.

2 minutes ago, DampfGecko said:

I've been thinking a bit about the weakness of TiE-Swarms against High Agility ships lately, and wanted to try out a build with both Youngster and Howlrunner. The general idea goes something like this as of now:

Howlrunner (+EPT?)

Youngster (Juke)

Academy Pilot x5

=92 +Howl's EPT pts

My first thoughts would go towards giving Howlrunner Swarm Leader in order to maintain offensive power towards the late game, should Youngster bite it early. The idea behind this is obviously quite similar to a traditional Crack Swarm, with a slightly different (and, to be frank, potentially quite a bit more brittle) quantity/quiality ratio.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Any and all are appreciated.

Your mind is in the right place but Juke on Youngster does nothing for the other ships. I ran an Ace Mini swam with QD and Howl at a my store Championship it did well as the 2-2 record doesn't reflect how well it performed.

3 minutes ago, Ronu said:

Your mind is in the right place but Juke on Youngster does nothing for the other ships. I ran an Ace Mini swam with QD and Howl at a my store Championship it did well as the 2-2 record doesn't reflect how well it performed.

Can't you pass around Juke's effect? Or is it simply that Youngster dies too quickly?

1 minute ago, DampfGecko said:

Can't you pass around Juke's effect? Or is it simply that Youngster dies too quickly?

Can't pass it off. It has to have the ACTION: line on the EPT.

Aah. Thanks for the clarification. Silly oversight on my behalf then.

3 minutes ago, DampfGecko said:

Aah. Thanks for the clarification. Silly oversight on my behalf then.

Happens all the time with Youngster. People want so bad for him to be valid.

9 minutes ago, Rolotamasi said:

Happens all the time with Youngster. People want so bad for him to be valid.

Yeah... sigh. Sparks imagination is all. To be frank, I'm not quite yet willing to let him go, though

All I can think of in that regard then is something like expert handling against Torp'ing JM5Ks right now.

Edit: Do we know if Youngster will work with intensity?

No, it's not an action card.

2 hours ago, DampfGecko said:

Yeah... sigh. Sparks imagination is all. To be frank, I'm not quite yet willing to let him go, though

All I can think of in that regard then is something like expert handling against Torp'ing JM5Ks right now.

Edit: Do we know if Youngster will work with intensity?

Nope, won't work with Intensity, doesn't work with PTL either. The Expert handling does work, as does Marksmanship and Rage.

Also Squad Leader (which is not a bad use in an 'aces' TIE swarm where everyone has different pilot skill scores).

You might actually want to try Youngster with Rage instead of Howlrunner in the list above.

Howlrunner is by far the better of the two when supporting other TIE fighter Aces and Black Squadron pilots, but Youngster with Rage is better when taken with Academy Pilots for five reasons:

1. He can use his own ability, which Howlrunner can't. It's a pretty minor bonus, but that's why this is reason #1.
2. He's cheaper at 16 points all-up, allowing you to field him plus seven wingmen, the biggest squad in the game. The aim is not to Rage everyone, all the time, but to use it on the one or two fighters who have the best shots, or on the ship on one hit point who's probably dead this turn anyway and won't have to deal with the stress.
3. Rage lets you reroll all dice, not just one. Whilst normal shots from a TIE fighter only normally need a single reroll, if you can block someone and get range 1 shots (and that's pretty much the aim of the game with academy pilot swarms), with a 3-dice attack you will notice the extra rerolls you get from rage.
4. Youngster can allow you to Rage at range 1-3, whereas Howlrunner is limited to range 1. That means you're trying to fly 7 ships in a tight range 1 block, which is unwieldy as hell as soon as obstacles, enemy ships which haven't moved yet, and all the other things you normally have to fly around get in on the act. Youngster allows you to break up into two groups of four, or even four pairs. For that matter, you can fly a block of seven and then put Youngster safely out on the flank away from the fight (I used to do this against Contracted Scouts so Youngster didn't eat torpedoes in the opening joust).
5. Most importantly of all, Rage is an action. This means the bonus from Rage is "locked in" at the activation phase, and having Youngster himself wasted between PS12 and PS2 doesn't leave you without rerolls. Howlrunner accompanying academy pilots has a nasty tendency to get wasted before the PS1 pilots ever get to shoot.

If you decide to put Rage on youngster, add epsilon leader who can remove one stress for all friendly ship at range 1.

6 minutes ago, Arkanta974 said:

If you decide to put Rage on youngster, add epsilon leader who can remove one stress for all friendly ship at range 1.

Nice in theory, and often suggested, but then you're

• limiting yourself to a maximum of a 7-ship squad, undermining (2)
• putting yourself on a range 1 'choke chain' around epsilon leader, undermining (4)
• still limited to green moves next turn (because Epsilon Leader only removes 1 of the 2 stress)

It's not a bad idea, but by the time you've taken both ships, you might as well, I feel, just have taken a smaller swarm of better TIE fighters and swap up to howlrunner.

2 minutes ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Nice in theory, and often suggested, but then you're

• limiting yourself to a maximum of a 7-ship squad, undermining (2)
• putting yourself on a range 1 'choke chain' around epsilon leader, undermining (4)
• still limited to green moves next turn (because Epsilon Leader only removes 1 of the 2 stress)

It's not a bad idea, but by the time you've taken both ships, you might as well, I feel, just have taken howlrunner.

Wingman can help too.

My favorite way is this :

Put Rage on Youngster, take Epsilon Leader, let him rage, remove one stress at the start of combat, do a green maneuvre next turn and repeat.

Not the best way, but a fun way !