So I was throwing around some ideas with Sabaac, and came up with this. Any thoughts?
Test (98)
"Pure Sabacc" (27) - TIE Striker
Swarm Leader (3), Lightweight Frame (2)
"Howlrunner" (20) - TIE Fighter
Swarm Tactics (2)
Black Squadron Pilot (15) - TIE Fighter
Draw Their Fire (1)
Academy Pilot (12) - TIE Fighter
Academy Pilot (12) - TIE Fighter
Academy Pilot (12) - TIE Fighter
Swarm Leader is a red herring. The extra damage you get from that one shot has to be offset against the damage you're not getting from the ships who wasted their actions to Evade, or the 6pts you spent in this case on putting Swarm Leader in then Swarm Tactics to fire earlier then Draw Their Fire to protect it.
There hasn't really been a properly successful Swarm Leader squad, and with good reason.
6 hours ago, Droidlover said:"Pure Sabacc" (27) - TIE Striker
Swarm Leader (3), Lightweight Frame (2)
No Adaptive Ailerons? I'd ditch Swarm Leader he's good enough without it and you're just giving the points away when he inevitably explodes! Perhaps Determination or Veteran Instincts if you want an EPT. I'd then upgrade an Academy to a Black Squadron Pilot or Wampa. Perhaps...
Swarm for Droidlover (98)
"Pure Sabacc" (24) - TIE Striker
Adaptive Ailerons (0), Lightweight Frame (2)
"Howlrunner" (18) - TIE Fighter
"Wampa" (14) - TIE Fighter
Black Squadron Pilot (15) - TIE Fighter
Crack Shot (1)
Black Squadron Pilot (15) - TIE Fighter
Crack Shot (1)
Academy Pilot (12) - TIE Fighter
Which leaves points for Swarm Tactics for Howl or something for Sabacc or both if you downgrade a BSP to an Academy.
There has been at least one successful Swarm Leader list. The regionals in Sacramento had a mirror match final with Swarm Leader x7's. Granted this was before the x7 nerf, but the list could still work. There are plenty of other Swarm Leader lists that rock the boat in local communities.
Swarm Leader works best with ships that get free evades. That counteracts the drawback of the Swarm Leader robbing other ships. Defender and TIE Adv Prototype are the best candidates. TIE/fo's with Comm Relay can do it.
In every other case I can think of, @SOTL nailed it with the Red Herring comment.
The only time I'd consider Swarm Leader is where the Evades are coming in free, and ideally I'm getting some other value from them (eg. Juke).
Even then, I'd only consider it if I could also fully modify the dice I was rolling.
30 minutes ago, jmswood said:There has been at least one successful Swarm Leader list. The regionals in Sacramento had a mirror match final with Swarm Leader x7's. Granted this was before the x7 nerf, but the list could still work. There are plenty of other Swarm Leader lists that rock the boat in local communities.
Swarm Leader works best with ships that get free evades. That counteracts the drawback of the Swarm Leader robbing other ships. Defender and TIE Adv Prototype are the best candidates. TIE/fo's with Comm Relay can do it.
In every other case I can think of, @SOTL nailed it with the Red Herring comment.
Agreed. Colonel Vessery with TIE/x7 wingmen is probably the best use for Swarm Leader - free evades, fully modified dice, and a platform tough enough to survive the hate it'll inevitably draw.
TIE fighters (and strikers) are probably a bit too fragile to support the ability; personally I think they're best paired with either Crack Shot or Snap Shot.
If you must take a TIE swarm with Swarm Leader, Scourge can do reasonably well with it with Night Beast and Chaser flying wing (as they can get evades and still have focus tokens), but he won't get full modification without Youngster with Rage, by which time 2/3 of your squad is sunk into the one gimmick that's still not really that much better than, say, a 30 point starkiller base pilot.
Swarm Leader on Omega Ace can be scary as if you can support him right, but you tend to find yourself building a squad around a 25 point support ace, rather than the other way around, which isn't the right way to approach things.