Seems like a pretty simple yet effective little list. Either they go for Vessery while the swarm chews them up, or they go for Howlrunner and have to joust with an attack-boosted X7 defender. Only tricky bit I see is getting Vessery a lock on the first pass with the PS 1 Epsilons. Any thoughts/suggestions?
The biggest issue you face is Vessery being focused upon very quickly at PS 6. The Epsilons have the issue of either trying to Target Lock to help Vessery or Evade to feed S. Leader. Why Determination on Howlrunner? Howlrunner is fragile and the Determination doesn't do enough here, VI or maybe Intensity much better options in this case.
Pretty on paper, not sure on your success in actual application.
Vessery is a better feeder for swarm leader in my opinion. As it takes aggro off of him. But if you want to do it, PTL ryad and x7 Delta is probably the way to go. Two tanky feeders that help on offense.
Not sure a miniswarm will work. Maybe try Countdown, Darkcurse, OL. The first two dont need evades to survive. OL is the closer.
Mini-swarm suffers from trying to keep enough arcs on a single enemy. They get in the way of each other and are pretty easy to predict. With perfect flying, I'd say you trigger SL no more than once or twice a match... if that. And that's IF your ships aren't killed before they are able to contribute to Vessery's shot.
I like the idea, but I have to agree, a triple x7 Defender setup fares MUCH better for SL feeding. And has been proven, pre-Defender nerf, to work at the Regional level. Post-nerf, they just need to be flown with a bit more care.