You can do far worse than Rebel Captive.

I think Sabbac with Optimised is nice. His extra, largely unmodified dice work well with Krennic's ability and the bonus shield helps him avoid damage long enough to roll them. Krennic's free locks boost up Vermeil (whatever upgrade you give them it's important to have the prototype fire before krennic's ride).

Duchess....is an excellent dogfighter for her points. Against other arc-restricted ships, she shines. Against turrets, she's pretty weak.

I would strongly, strongly recommend getting her veteran instincts if you field her at all, though. Her ability to take Veteran Instincts without compromising her free reposition is her biggest strength, letting her outfly Fenn Rau, Soontir, Adaptability Poe Dameron, and all the other scary PS9 ships out there.

If you wanted to drop Lightweight Frame off Vermeil, don't forget Multispectral Camo; it's only a point, but it can really mess with opponent's choices because they have to factor in the 1/3 risk of their target lock fizzling as soon as they apply it. Paired with Rebel Captive whomping Expertise, and it can make Vermeil an incredibly unpleasant target choice, even if he's jamming someone else...

6 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

You can do far worse than Rebel Captive.

Can you clarify the context of this statement? Is "worse" in the sense that there are lesser options and that Rebel Captive is a good choice OR is "worse" meaning there are better options to make the matchup worse for your opponent?

9 hours ago, RStan said:

Can you clarify the context of this statement? Is "worse" in the sense that there are lesser options and that Rebel Captive is a good choice OR is "worse" meaning there are better options to make the matchup worse for your opponent?

I believe Magnus was using worse as a measure against other crews. In this context Rebel Captive is an amazingly strong choice and deterrent given its stress mechanism. The last thing an opponent wants to to is be jammed holding a token then shoot and get stressed against a ship that can turn on a dime.

8 hours ago, Ronu said:

I believe Magnus was using worse as a measure against other crews. In this context Rebel Captive is an amazingly strong choice and deterrent given its stress mechanism. The last thing an opponent wants to to is be jammed holding a token then shoot and get stressed against a ship that can turn on a dime.

This. The big edge Strikers and Reapers have over most opponents is their amazingly flexible red dial. Throwing stress consistently on your opponent's best ship makes this even worse since they can't even pull a 'normal' k-turn to try and follow you.

Caught a quick pick-up game tonight, and we did alright. My opponent flew 3 of your standard Crack Shot Zealots, along with Nora carrying R2-D2 and Saw Gerrera. I flew:

Major Vermeil (Crack Shot, Director Krennic, ISB Slicers, Lightweight Frame, Advanced Ailerons)
"Pure Sabacc" (Crack Shot, Adaptive Ailerons, Lightweight Frame)
Scarif Defender (Adaptive Ailerons, Lightweight Frame)
Imperial Trainee (Adaptive Ailerons, Lightweight Frame)

Having that one generic that was higher PS than the Zealots made all the difference. I also won initiative, so on the opening engagement, my Imperial Trainee blocked two of his X-wings, and "Pure Sabacc" managed to dodge all arcs while drawing a bead on Nora. Sadly, he rolled 3 blanks and 1 hit, so he got to use his Optimized Prototype to remove 2 shields total. We vaporized Nora, but Major Vermeil was also destroyed, without using Crackshot or Jam, which was a shame. But "Pure Sabacc" was in excellent chasing position, and he and Scarif Defender tag teamed an X-wing every round until the end.

It wasn't a very serious game because I was pressed for time, so my opponent and I basically decided to joust each other, but it was cool to see these guys do what they do. I'm still on the fence about whether the TIE Reaper brings enough to a TIE striker squad to warrant dropping a ship. If I was playing often enough, I would finally buy my 5th striker. Wondering if maybe "Howlrunner" and 4 Scarif Defenders could work...

Wait the release of the 2.0 to buy another tie striker, that what I will do

The more I see, the more I think Jam action is a really cool feature but Reaper scream to be a heavy fighter who need his Focus or any modified result upgrade to shine on game. With advanced ailerons the ship can be really fast and swift !

Recon Specialist on Vizier is excellent, tactician can be a good combo with Jam. I first I liked Feroph but Vizier and Vermeil his more useful for a squad ! People love to put Lwf but the vectored thrusters can be fun to use with a Push a Limits (of course you shutdown aileron but each two turn doing a free boost and barrel roll could be useful) or may be Intensity ?

Howlrunner is a "bad idea" Will not be easy to follow tie striker with ailerons and the enemy will focus quickly on her to denied reroll for strikers.

On ‎7‎/‎7‎/‎2018 at 8:23 AM, Parakitor said:

I'm still on the fence about whether the TIE Reaper brings enough to a TIE striker squad to warrant dropping a ship.

I think the reaper plus the upgrade to unique strikers probably does. By itself, no. Although 4 lightweight frame trainees and a scarif base pilot with an ISB slicer and no lightweight frame might be worth a look as it doesn't require you to drop a ship.

On ‎7‎/‎7‎/‎2018 at 5:49 PM, Arkanta974 said:

The more I see, the more I think Jam action is a really cool feature but Reaper scream to be a heavy fighter who need his Focus or any modified result upgrade to shine on game. With advanced ailerons the ship can be really fast and swift !

Yes. I'm so glad the thing can actually keep up with strikers on the turns.

I got another game in last night with the Striker All-Stars:

• Duchess
  • Adaptive Ailerons
  • Adrenaline Rush
  • Lightweight Frame
• Pure Sabbac
  • Adaptive Ailerons
  • Adrenaline Rush
  • Lightweight Frame
• Countdown
  • Adaptive Ailerons
  • Lightweight Frame
• Scarif Base Pilot
  • Advanced Ailerons
  • Intelligence Agent
  • ISB Slicer
  • Lightweight Frame

versus what was, admittedly, a 'thrown-together-from-stuff' list:

• PS9 Poe Dameron
  • Black One
  • Snap Shot
  • Proton Torpedoes
  • BB-8
  • Primed Thrusters
  • Integrated Astromech
• Edrio Two-Tubes
  • Crack Shot
  • Renegade Refit
  • Flight Assist Astromech
  • Integrated Astromech
  • Servomotor S-Foils
• Benthic Two-Tubes
  • Pivot Wing
  • Targeting Scrambler
  • Recon Specialist
  • Saw Gerrera
  • Shield Upgrade
  • Engine Upgrade

Yeah.....the reaper was brutal, burning off 4 tokens, avoiding 3 primary attacks entirely, taking only glancing damage from a proton torpedo, giving me intel agent dial-spying for three critical turns on the PS9 Poe and the U-wing and still surviving the game with two hits left.

The Reaper Jammed Edrio and Poe on the initial engagement - Benthic was able to focus and hence burn through his and Poe's Jamming, but that left Poe with 'just' a focus and no target lock. Added to that, the Reaper went a lot faster than he expected (ailerons + bank 3 for the win!) and not only dodged the U-wing's arc of fire but ended up inside minimum torpedo range.

The strikers pretty much dog-piled Edrio - Sabbac and Duchess coming round the end of that wall of debris in those lovely long sweeping turns strikers tend to do, and with 3 strikers sighting up on it and no tokens thanks to the jamming, Edrio went ka-splooie before getting a shot off. Poe got 2 hits and the reaper (somehow) rolled natural double evades just to add insult to (a lack of) injury.

Thanks to the joys of intelligence agent, I was able to see the koiogran turn Poe had planned (rather than either talon roll) and was able to adjust the striker's pursuit moves accordingly.

The reaper went through the gap between Poe and Benthic and jammed them both. The U-wing flipped over to pursue (but missed with no tokens) whilst Poe did a speed 4 Koiogran - finding Duchess and Sabbac lined up neatly on his end position. He tried to primed thrusters boost his way out of trouble but only succeeded in turning two range 2 shots into two range 1 shots.

The following turn, the reaper tried to run behind the rocks. Out of range to jam, it evaded. Benthic burned away his and Poe's Jam tokens and opened up his wings again. Sabbac popped an adrenaline rush koiogran to drop in behind Poe, Duchess stalled her ailerons to do a tight speed 1 turn and broadside him and countdown advanced slowly from the front. Poe, with a dialled-in speed 1 straight and no space to barrel roll, obligingly flew into the kill box and equally obligingly died. He did get his torps away first, though, which combined with Benthic's shot popped the reaper's shields and put an engines damaged critical (hard turns are red) on the ship.

The Reaper then engaged "run away" mode - bank/speed 3 bank, which juuuust cleared the arc of the U-wing (who the intelligence agent indicated was pulling a stop to avoid hitting the rock and hopefully catch me at range 1 in arc. The strikers turned to attack it, with duchess using an adrenaline rush segnor to move from its eight o-clock to its six o-clock.

It took a couple more turns to kill the troop transport, but with three strikers on its tail, it got shot to bits and didn't get another shot off.

I do love my 5 strikers, but I will happily accept that the striker aces + reaper are an exceptionally good squad as well - with Jam being as powerful as it is, arguably more so, and - I know I keep banging on about it, but adrenaline rush is freaking awesome .

I finally use my Reaper and I change my mind about Jam action, do it at range 2 is scary ! I was able to always have a Jam token to activate the ability of Vermeil but now I think with Feroph that would be good (or may be both of them ?) ISB Slicers, never use it but keep it for a "if necessary moment". However lightweight frame is good but I would take MkII because not enough green when you have stress.

On ‎7‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 2:36 PM, Arkanta974 said:

I finally use my Reaper and I change my mind about Jam action, do it at range 2 is scary !

It is. Because you only need to be in arc at the point you perform a Jam action, rather than in the shooting phase, it's a lot easier than it sounds to keep a bead on an enemy ace; a TIE reaper's bank 1/turn 1 lets you get your nose around very quickly.

On ‎7‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 2:36 PM, Arkanta974 said:

I was able to always have a Jam token to activate the ability of Vermeil but now I think with Feroph that would be good (or may be both of them ?)

The problem with Feroph is that even if you jam a higher PS pilot, they begin their activation phase with a jam token, and if they perform a token-generating action, the jam token (and the action-token) go away. Since you can't jam a jammed target (even by slicers) a target can never have more than one jam token*, so, if it activates after you, will always be able to be unjammed by the combat phase, and Feroph's ability won't trigger.

Vermeil, on the other hand, only requires your opponent to have no tokens. So whether their token is gone from burning through jamming, or because they did a boost or barrel roll to reposition, or whatever, his ability will still apply.

On ‎7‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 2:36 PM, Arkanta974 said:

ISB Slicers, never use it but keep it for a "if necessary moment".

Use it whenever you have a chance. It's not 'one use' - doesn't cost tokens, or stress, or anything to trigger, and since you can theoretically even trigger it on the ship you just jammed once if it already had a token (either because the ship activated before you or because it has something like advanced optics and is holding a token from the turn before), it's a priceless upgrade in effectiveness for a reaper focused on jamming tokens.

On ‎7‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 2:36 PM, Arkanta974 said:

lightweight frame is good but I would take MkII because not enough green when you have stress.

It's a fairly significant choice. The reaper does have a lousy green dial - but I suppose the counter-argument is that it's white dial is pretty good, so (in theory) it shouldn't need to be stressed too much. Lightweight Frame is a non-trivial chunk of durability on an 8 hit point ship, too.

Also, don't forget multispectral camo. Missile-heavy alpha strikes are still a thing, and for 1 point you can make them hesitant to throw that alpha strike at the one ship they really need to kill from range 3.

* Before anyone mentions jamming beam or scrambler missiles; you're technically correct but (1) neither of those can be carried by strikers or reapers, (2) they don't apply until your turn to fire in the combat phase - so generally after aces have already fired - and (3) dear gods of old they're a pile of bullock faeces.

Jam is a little weak for the second edition because only range 1 and the Reaper dial change (all hard turn are red...).

Vermeil is da mvp : Veteran Instinct, ISB Slicers, lightweigt frame : 31 pts, a nice support/ace and the ability work well !

Played against a crazy 2-ship list with Nym and Ten Numb, both with Trajectory Simulator and Proton Bombs. I managed to win the first game only losing one of my generics. I made some cryptic comment saying, "Ah, whatever. In going all in," on the turn that we would become engaged. This caused my opponent to change his dials, and that basically won the game the me. I felt a little bag because I didn't mean to influence him - his dials were already set.

He asked for a rematch, and this time he didn't mess up. Vermeil was able to Jam both ships in the first round of combat, so no Harpoon Missiles, which was huge! And Pure Sabacc was ready to unleash on both enemy ships...but Trajectory Simulator happened, and both ships' Proton Bombs dealt a Direct Hit to Sabacc, cleanly taking him it of the game even before combat. Ouch. I managed to bring Ten down to two hull left, and Nym down to four hull. It wasn't all that close of a match, but Jam ensured that I still had a foot in the race.

My other two ships are Imperial Trainee and Scarif Defender. That PS 3 Scarif Defender is a huge boon against the PS 1 X-wings that are running rampant.

23 hours ago, Arkanta974 said:

Jam is a little weak for the second edition because only range 1 and the Reaper dial change (all hard turn are red...).

True. I think it's essentially being lined up as the replacement for the TIE Shuttle (a configuration/title noticeably absent from the conversion kit).

Jam being range 1 only and only lasting one turn makes it an ability of opportunity, whilst co-ordinate as a basic action is nice, but it being red isn't.

Things to look forward to about the reaper in 2.0:

• Medium Base
  • Whilst it can't turn as tightly, it's now slightly faster in a dead run or fast turn than a striker, because it picks up ~ 1/2 a base worth of movement on both the aileron move and its normal manoeuvre.
  • This also means it's range 1 and range 2 'bubbles' are fractionally bigger, making jam and co-ordinate (and ISB slicers and death troopers) a touch easier to use than they look.
• Cheaper?
  • Without Lightweight Frame being an option, you've saved some points. In addition, with the dial taking a kick, and the jam action also taking a kick, that's another reason it's lost some ability
  • This hopefully might manifest itself as a cost saving. Being close to the 16 point TIE Shuttle Scimitar Squadron Pilot is unlikely (you've still got ailerons, 2 shield tokens, jam and co-ordinate, after all) but even a couple of points saved is no small beer.
• Cunning Tactical Options
  • Someone pointed out that a red co-ordinate has a sneaky use in 2.0; perform a white or green move, then co-ordinate, stressing yourself, if you deliberately want to turn off your ailerons for next turn.
  • Electronic Baffle has become a modification, not a systems upgrade. This means - as far as we know - the Reaper can equip it, and with 8 hit points, I'll happily burn a shield token to get a white aileron segnor's loop as a sort of fake adrenaline rush. This also restores the bank/turn option, but (unlike a striker) it's for emergencies only because it comes with damage.
  • Whilst Jam no longer (as far as we know) works at range 2 in arc, in-arc token removal at range 2 is most definitely still a thing:

16 hours ago, Parakitor said:

Played against a crazy 2-ship list with Nym and Ten Numb, both with Trajectory Simulator and Proton Bombs. I managed to win the first game only losing one of my generics.

I believe it's called the firestorm special (feck knows why). I've played it once and it was a scary first engagement .

I pretty much consider it 'Splash Damage: The Musical!' and with the exception of Miranda Doni, it contains pretty much everything loathesome in the game today; launched unlimited ammo bombs, Turrets on barrel rolling aces, multiple PS10 ships, Sabine, unavoidable attacks, Harpoon Missiles, you name it. Well done on beating it, and if your opponent overthought themselves into a mistake, that's their problem, not yours.

16 hours ago, Parakitor said:

He asked for a rematch, and this time he didn't mess up. Vermeil was able to Jam both ships in the first round of combat, so no Harpoon Missiles, which was huge! And Pure Sabacc was ready to unleash on both enemy ships...but Trajectory Simulator happened, and both ships' Proton Bombs dealt a Direct Hit to Sabacc, cleanly taking him it of the game even before combat. Ouch. I managed to bring Ten down to two hull left, and Nym down to four hull. It wasn't all that close of a match, but Jam ensured that I still had a foot in the race  .

Yeah. Jam stopping missile alpha strikes is big - but you do have to play very aggressively to get it in the engagement, because you need to be at range 2 before the enemy ships move. I don't think strikers can realistically engage this squad without taking a casualty before they get to fire - which is why I'm glad I was using my 5 strikers; one scarif defender took everything going and basically ceased to exist, but then Ten exploded in the range 2 crossfire. Spreading out early and coming in in an arc from multiple directions is key - ideally, I guess, needing to troll countdown as the guy coming in from the front, since he can eat a harpoon and reduce it to a single point of damage if needed, or (probably more importantly!) avoid ten's mangler cannon setting off the harpoon charge instead.

16 hours ago, Parakitor said:

That PS 3 Scarif Defender is a huge boon against the PS 1 X-wings that are running rampant.

I'm glad that that does seem to be a thing. I started using them simply because they're 20 points, so I can field 5 identical ships, but since it lets me match PS with PS3 wookies and outmanoeuvre PS2 and PS1 X-wings, it's surprising how often PS3 has actually been relevant recently.

We will see when the second edition will be here !

I play again with my list against a triple ace scum today and did ok result, the reaper is a nice ship and really fast !

I think I will try this :

2 hours ago, Arkanta974 said:

I think I will try this :

This looks like a ton of fun! I personally am not fond of Veteran Instincts (though I understand why it can be so clutch against PS 8 ships, enabling the 'double jam'), so I think I'd put a Crack Shot there instead. Definitely going to give this one a try!

On ‎7‎/‎24‎/‎2018 at 2:20 PM, Arkanta974 said:

We will see when the second edition will be here !

I play again with my list against a triple ace scum today and did ok result, the reaper is a nice ship and really fast !

I think I will try this :

Looks good. As an ex TIE fighter player, I'm never going to argue with Crack Shot - because 3 extra damage can make the difference between a kill and not a kill - and it's definitely another nice 1 point card to consider along with adrenaline rush.

Vermeil at PS8 is very much a game call. Miranda Doni at PS8 is a thing, and beating out Vessery and IG-88 without an intiative bid, but most people I see seem to fixate on PS9, 10 and 11 (Fenn, Thweek, Vader, Poe, Quickdraw, Chiraneau) or else are down in the weeds at 5 or less (Guri, Rookies, Wookies, Zealots). If you're confiden't you'll get your money's worth, go with it.

I got a few games in at a game night kit last night.

The X-wing invasion continues, with two players - one packing a heavy swarm of their own and one with three T-65s accompanying a K-wing, and there were a lot of reapers seeing action, too!

Notable moments:

Guri develops a persecution complex.

In about a minute's time there's going to be a simply enormous crossfire of red and green lasers as everyone explodes.

An adjacent game, with no less than three TIE Reapers involved. The Imperial Aileron Society approves.

1 hour ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Looks good. As an ex TIE fighter player, I'm never going to argue with Crack Shot - because 3 extra damage can make the difference between a kill and not a kill - and it's definitely another nice 1 point card to consider along with adrenaline rush.

Vermeil at PS8 is very much a game call. Miranda Doni at PS8 is a thing, and beating out Vessery and IG-88 without an intiative bid, but most people I see seem to fixate on PS9, 10 and 11 (Fenn, Thweek, Vader, Poe, Quickdraw, Chiraneau) or else are down in the weeds at 5 or less (Guri, Rookies, Wookies, Zealots). If you're confiden't you'll get your money's worth, go with it

I'm a tie fighter pilot too and Crackswarm was my favorite build/squad ! Negate a evade result is always a welcome and my Omega Squadron have prouve this is the best thing for any swarm ship ! Just do it for the right moment !

This is the main reason I try to put at least a PS8 ship because of Miranda and have a personal score to settle when I see here on the table !

And seeing the classic coming back on these pictures.... Can't wait for 2.0 !!!!

1 hour ago, Arkanta974 said:

I try to put at least a PS8 ship because of Miranda and have a personal score to settle when I see here on the table !

If you look through my Battle Record on Boardgamegeek , the number of times I have written KILL MIRANDA DONI FIRST verges on the ridiculous.

I've been up against a squad including her 8 times so far, and only managed to shoot her down twice.

So.....the points are out.

Ships & Upgrades

The costs:

• Strikers
  • Get 1 Bomb Slot, 1 Gunner (!) Slot, 1 Mod Slot, 1 Talent Slot (if not a Planetary Sentinal)
  • 34 Points - Planetary Sentinal (No Change from Imperial Trainee)
  • 38 Points - Black Squadron Scout (2 points below expected)
  • 42 Points - Duchess (Sweet Aileron Jesus. She got 4 points below expected and her ability got improved massively as well)
  • 44 Points - Countdown (Unchanged - but gets an elite talent!)
  • 44 Points - Pure Sabbac (2 points below expected)
• Reapers
  • Get Crew/Crew/Mod, and Talent for Feroph and Vermeil. (unchanged)
  • 41 Points - Scarif Base Pilot (3 points below expected)
  • 45 Points - Vizier (1 point below expected and a very nice ability)
  • 47 Points - Captain Feroph (A less powerful but much easier to trigger ability and 1 point below expected cost)
  • 49 Points - Major Vermeil (Same ability but 3 points less than expected cost)
• Upgrades
  • Talents
    • Crack Shot - 1 point
    • Trick Shot - 1 point
    • Marksmanship - 1 point
    • Ruthlessness - 1 point
    • Predator - 2 points
    • Composure (whatever that is!) - 2 points
    • Elusive - 3 points
    • Intimidation - 3 points
    • Juke - 4 points
    • Lone Wolf - 4 points
    • Outmaneuver - 6 points
  • Bombs
    • Seismic Charges - 3 points
    • Proton Bombs - 5 point
    • Connor Nets - 6 Points
    • Proximity Mines - 6 points
  • Gunners
    • Skilled Bombardier - 2 Points
    • Agile Gunner (maybe, whatever that is) - 10 Points
    • Fifth Brother - 12 points (strikers with the force!)
  • Crew
  • Modifications
    • Electronic Baffle - 2
    • Tactical Scrambler - 2 points (reaper)
    • Hull Upgrade - 3 (reaper)/5 (striker)
    • Stealth Device - 4 (reaper)/6 (striker)
    • Shield Upgrade - 4 (reaper)/6 (striker)
    • Ablative plating - 4 (reaper)
    • Afterburners - 8 points

well - lightweight frame is gone, but 5 x Planetary Sentinal with Stealth Device or Hull Upgrade is a pretty close match.

Stealth is particularly appealing for aces - yes, it goes away when hit, but it works at range 3 and against 2 dice attacks, and countdown is as good as ever.

5 x Black Squadron Scouts with Predator/Crack Shot/ruthlessness is interesting.

• Duchess (42 points)
  • Elusive (3 points)
  • Fifth Brother (12 points)
  • Afterburners (8 points)

That's scary good ability to use the red dial. 65 points is expensive for a striker but worth a thought for a no-expense spared version.

On a more sensible level:

• Duchess (42)
  • Predator (2)
  • Stealth Device (6)
• Countdown (44)
  • Seismic Charge (3)
  • Stealth Device (6)
• Pure Sabbac (44)
  • Predator (2)
  • Stealth Device (6)
• Vizier (45)
  • Electronic Baffle (2)

Not a bad update to the Striker All-Stars!

• 5 x Planetary Sentinal
  • Hull Upgrade

A fair equivalent of 5 strikers. I might try a set of imperial trainees with hull upgrade to get some practice in.

• 5 x Black Squadron Scout
  • Predator or Electronic Baffle

So.... we had a store championship that I made it to (people around collapse in shock).

Not exactly a great showing on my part, but I did okay. More importantly, I was very pleased to see another heavy swarmer (our local quintuple rookie player) make the cut!

One thing I should repeat here as a warning to heavy swarm players: there's a new gimmicky squad of doom (TM) , at least two variations of which were at our event, which - whilst it may have been nominally designed to deal with jamming, or whatever, is a pain in the neck for heavy swarms and did for both of us in our respective games against it.

The essence thereof:

• Captain Nym has been a load of [censored] to me for so many reasons:
  • No half points credit despite his price and able to access small ship only upgrades
  • the scurrg's dial (5 straight? red or not, why is it faster than an X-wing?)
  • his pilot skill (better than Dash Rendar/Maarek Stele/Keyan Farlander when he's also 'you' in a star wars dogfighting game)
  • his huge upgrade bar allowing him to carry whatever the latest stupid combination or overpowered item is (bomblets? harpoons? extra munitions? trajectory simulator? twin laser/autoblaster turret?)
  • his ability to ignore his own bombs in combination with Genius (which even now he can't do the 'bomblet headbutt attack!' is still very effective, and 'forcing him to discard' is a lot less relevant with extra munitions)
  • the never-to-be-sufficiently-accursed-by-lightweight-frame-ships twin laser turret/accuracy corrector combination on a fast, mobile ship
• That said, there's an extra bit to his pilot ability people have more or less always overlooked, since he always tends to use bombs not mines .

• If you load out a ship (or two) with cluster mines and proximity mines, you can create walls and fortresses which every single shot coming through basically hits a reinforce token. It's not even limited to Nym, either - it's any friendly ship, regardless of range. Add in either 360' fire from a scurrg's twin laser turret, or a firespray's auxiliary arc, and you can guess the result; the enemies will bunker up and force you to come to them, shrugging off far more fire than normal.
• Nym can still afford his usual rubbish - twin laser turret, harpoons, that sort of thing.
• The two versions of the wingmen I've seen are a nigh invulnerable sol sixxa (debris gambit/R4-E11/Experimental Interface) and a bomb-enhancing emon azzamen (Slave 1/Cad Bane).

If you encounter this squad, the suggestions I can offer (any advice from people who've beaten it is welcome!):

• Deploy spread out right along your board edge and close from all directions. Sixxa/Azzamen are ninjas at bomb placement but even they can't place mines in front of their final position; someone in a head-on approach must therefore have a clean shot. The narrower your squad's approach angle, the more easily they can place a 'shield' to block it.
• Regardless of who is the more expensive pilot, the key ability (the extra evades) comes from NYM . Kill him first.
• Try to keep the rocks WELL spread out - as far as possible (2/2 corners, if you can) to give space to avoid walls of cluster mines.
• Engage from range 2 if chasing someone with mines to give yourself some reaction time. Going for range 1 shots is asking to eat proximity mine.
• Do not head into a tight cluster of rocks, even if it looks like the fastest way to engage, as it's easy to get blocked in and have to hit something on the way out. Slow down, turn away, and go around without going into twin laser turret range.
• If you have to, just go for it through a cluster mine. Even with Cad Bane, 2 non-critical hits is survivable on an intact striker, if it lets you get out, keep your tokens, get a shot, and create a gap the rest of the squad can follow you through.
• Alternatively, deliberately hitting a rock is only 1 die. Yes, it will cost you your action, but if you're not getting a shot, I'd trade the extra undodgeable/cad bane red die for not having a focus or evade token that can at most only block 1 damage from a TLT shot.

On 7/27/2018 at 12:39 PM, Magnus Grendel said:

So.....the points are out.

Ships & Upgrades

The costs:

• Strikers
  • Get 1 Bomb Slot, 1 Gunner (!) Slot, 1 Mod Slot, 1 Talent Slot (if not a Planetary Sentinal)
  • 34 Points - Planetary Sentinal (No Change from Imperial Trainee) 
  • 38 Points - Black Squadron Scout (2 points below expected)
  • 42 Points - Duchess (Sweet Aileron Jesus. She got 4 points below expected and her ability got improved massively as well)
  • 44 Points - Countdown (Unchanged - but gets an elite talent!)
  • 44 Points - Pure Sabbac (2 points below expected)
• Reapers
  • Get Crew/Crew/Mod, and Talent for Feroph and Vermeil. (unchanged)
  • 41 Points - Scarif Base Pilot (3 points below expected)
  • 45 Points - Vizier (1 point below expected and a very nice ability)
  • 47 Points - Captain Feroph (A less powerful but much easier to trigger ability and 1 point below expected cost)
  • 49 Points - Major Vermeil (Same ability but 3 points less than expected cost)
• Upgrades
  • Talents
    • Crack Shot - 1 point
    • Trick Shot - 1 point
    • Marksmanship - 1 point
    • Ruthlessness - 1 point
    • Predator - 2 points
    • Composure (whatever that is!) - 2 points
    • Elusive - 3 points
    • Intimidation - 3 points
    • Juke - 4 points
    • Lone Wolf - 4 points
    • Outmaneuver - 6 points
  • Bombs
    • Seismic Charges - 3 points
    • Proton Bombs - 5 point
    • Connor Nets - 6 Points
    • Proximity Mines - 6 points
  • Gunners
    • Skilled Bombardier - 2 Points
    • Agile Gunner (maybe, whatever that is) - 10 Points
    • Fifth Brother - 12 points (strikers with the force!)
  • Crew
  • Modifications
    • Electronic Baffle - 2
    • Tactical Scrambler - 2 points (reaper)
    • Hull Upgrade - 3 (reaper)/5 (striker)
    • Stealth Device - 4 (reaper)/6 (striker)
    • Shield Upgrade - 4 (reaper)/6 (striker)
    • Ablative plating - 4 (reaper)
    • Afterburners - 8 points

well - lightweight frame is gone, but 5 x Planetary Sentinal with Stealth Device or Hull Upgrade is a pretty close match.

Stealth is particularly appealing for aces - yes, it goes away when hit, but it works at range 3 and against 2 dice attacks, and countdown is as good as ever.

5 x Black Squadron Scouts with Predator/Crack Shot/ruthlessness is interesting.

• Duchess (42 points)
  • Elusive (3 points)
  • Fifth Brother (12 points)
  • Afterburners (8 points)

That's scary good ability to use the red dial. 65 points is expensive for a striker but worth a thought for a no-expense spared version.

On a more sensible level:

• Duchess (42)
  • Predator (2)
  • Stealth Device (6)
• Countdown (44)
  • Seismic Charge (3)
  • Stealth Device (6)
• Pure Sabbac (44)
  • Predator (2)
  • Stealth Device (6)
• Vizier (45)
  • Electronic Baffle (2)

Not a bad update to the Striker All-Stars!

• 5 x Planetary Sentinal
  • Hull Upgrade

A fair equivalent of 5 strikers. I might try a set of imperial trainees with hull upgrade to get some practice in.

• 5 x Black Squadron Scout
  • Predator or Electronic Baffle

Two questions.

1. Why Hull on the 5x Planetary Sentinel over Shield? At 34 and 6 points respectively, it'll fill perfectly a 200 point list. I guess it isn't too likely that the first and exactly the first damage taken would be a crit, and it does cost a 5-point bid. Having the choice of initiative seems good on Strikers.

2. Which devices would you think would work best, if going that direction? 5x Planetary could easily take each Conner, Proximity, Seismic, or Proton. Seismic don't seem great in terms of swarm bombs, due to the limited number of obstacles. Proximity seems worse than Conner Net since it only rolls 2 dice now, rather than 3, but I guess the shape is better. So in my mind, it comes down to Conner and Proton. Conners can permanently block space. Drop one in a lane you don't want an opponent to travel down, to help herd them into the swarm, perhaps. If they trigger, a fully-ion'd ship is wicked predictable, and Strikers might be able to take advantage of that. Protons seem more like they punish folks who try to fly out the back of your net, and with 10 total drops in the list, tossing one or two down here and there to temporarily block space seems pretty reasonable. For downsides, Conner is an obstacle to you, too, and Proton will hurt badly if you get blocked into your own bombs. Maybe a mix of Conner and Proton would work best...

28 minutes ago, theBitterFig said:

1. Why Hull on the 5x Planetary Sentinel over Shield? At 34 and 6 points respectively, it'll fill perfectly a 200 point list. I guess it isn't too likely that the first and exactly the first damage taken would be a crit, and it does cost a 5-point bid. Having the choice of initiative seems good on Strikers.

Because I wasn't paying attention. Yes, Initiative is nice - especially since Planetary Sentinals are stuck at initiative 1 with the rest of the spobs rather than Scarif Defenders outclassing rookies, nu squadron pilots, and so on. Yes, a shield is probably a better choice.

Whether shield or stealth is best is going to be a matter of taste. To do 'as well', the third green die probably has to be rolled at least twice (with focus) or be with focus/evade. Strikers aren't so hot at dodging stuff entirely; I think the extra hit points might just be easier to cope with.

32 minutes ago, theBitterFig said:

Which devices would you think would work best, if going that direction? 5x Planetary could easily take each Conner, Proximity, Seismic, or Proton. Seismic don't seem great in terms of swarm bombs, due to the limited number of obstacles

I agree that 5 seismics is probably unnecessary, but a couple might be nice. I think they're good 'filler' for elite strikers. I'd agree proton bombs are a nice simple option, especially if jousting an enemy; the ability to pattern-drop three or four bombs then break into segnors loops as your opponent flys forward into the kaboom is a pleasing one.

I'm also wondering if a quintet of ruthless scouts would work. That still leaves you one point per ship to play with.

Massed mines could work. Connor Nets definitely seem the more powerful - ion aside, 1 automatic damage is as good as the average 2 dice result, so you're not really losing anything relative to prox mines except the size of the template.

As an aside - if you wanted simple generics:

• Scarif Base Pilot
  • Tactical Officer
• Planetary Sentinal x 4
  • Hull Upgrade

or

• Scarif Base Pilot x 2
• Planetary Sentinal x 3
  • Hull Upgrade

For a nice heavy swarm - 5 ships, all acceptably durable, and in the latter case two co-ordinate/jam options as required. The fact that everyone is Initiative 1 so you can chop and change movement order and everyone has scarif artwork on their card is a pleasing change.

On 8/1/2018 at 4:32 PM, theBitterFig said:

Proximity seems worse than Conner Net since it only rolls 2 dice now, rather than 3, but I guess the shape is better.

Note that Proximity Mines come with 2 charges, while Conner Net has only 1 charge.

26 minutes ago, Rossetti1828 said:

Note that Proximity Mines come with 2 charges, while Conner Net has only 1 charge.

Missed that. 2 charges makes it a harder choice. Hrm. I can see a mix being OK, with a few more placed bombs to cut off parts of the board. However, as a single bomb, I think I'd go with Conner Net over Prox almost every time, unless I've got Sabine Wren in the squad.

4 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

As an aside - if you wanted simple generics:

• Scarif Base Pilot
  • Tactical Officer
• Planetary Sentinal x 4
  • Hull Upgrade

or

• Scarif Base Pilot x 2
• Planetary Sentinal x 3
  • Hull Upgrade

For a nice heavy swarm - 5 ships, all acceptably durable, and in the latter case two co-ordinate/jam options as required. The fact that everyone is Initiative 1 so you can chop and change movement order and everyone has scarif artwork on their card is a pleasing change.

I wonder how the lack of white hard turns will feel on the table. While aileron into bank approximates something like a 3-hard, or it would if this was a small and not medium base ship, I kinda worry that in a swarm situation, trying to keep one of these with the pack. Hrm. Why is it that I think it'd work better as a support ship in a more-traditional aces build (Palp-Reaper looks like it'll be cheaper by 2 points than Palp-Lambda, with various speed/durability/arc trade-offs), than as a helper for a bunch of Strikers? I know I kinda liked the thought of one in 1e Striker/Reaper Swarms, but the dials are a lot closer, and they're both small-base.

3 hours ago, Rossetti1828 said:

Note that Proximity Mines come with 2 charges, while Conner Net has only 1 charge.

Actually, it goes further than that!

In the Rules Reference, there's an errata'd version of the Proximity Mine explosion effect which makes it 1 hit automatically + 2 dice of hits/crits... OK, I'm kind of coming around to Prox Mine Strikers. I currently have 7 tokens, plus one of the FFG official Acrylics which is technically illegal since FFG themselves made bad Cluster Mine tokens, but the earlier tokens weren't wrong in themselves.

Or maybe now that the defective Cluster Mines are gone, the old Acrylic mine tokens will be legal again...

https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/b4/ab/b4ab49f3-e25a-4611-baea-4d1e4a84c18b/swzrulesreference_compressed.pdf