7 minutes ago, N'Kata said:

As this seems to be the tread for striker/reaper-builds

Indeed. Welcome to the Ailerons Clubhouse....

1 minute ago, N'Kata said:

Furthermore, what do you think of Major Vermail vs. Captain Feroph? Feroph will save me a few points, and provide a lot better defense. For a ship wanting to be of range 1 or 2 of the opponent (Jam, O-O-O, Darth Vader) a better defense could be worthwhile. However Vermail hit like a truck, and I think this build frees up his dial a lot. He could do red maneuvers and still have modifications both on offence and defense. So, what do you say?

I guess both can work. In this build, Feroph loses a lot of punch compared to Vermeil, which is fine for a Palpatine truck, but when you've only got 4 ships I kind of feel like killing power shouldn't be underestimated. Elusive should do a fair amount of work, though - if you've only got 1 green dice, then a reroll and a calculate or force token is as near to an automatic pass as you can get without ferophs ability, so you're not losing that much durability unless multiple ships are combining fire on you.

Fifth Brother on Duchess.....I don't see why not. Yes, BT-1 would be cheaper if you catch someone stressed, but the force token is the key thing; fifth brother's actual ability is pretty irrelevant most of the time.

A couple of generics with seismics is a good call. I wouldn't want to go to town on them - after all there's only so many rocks to blow up - but as noted it's a refreshing antidote to Dash Bloody Rendar, Millenium Falcon, Han Solo and soon Scum TIE Fighter swarms. The first rule of jungle warfare; eliminate the jungle .

On ‎7‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 8:52 AM, Magnus Grendel said:

A-HA!

I remember watching this game.

A fellow Harlequin is recognised!

50 minutes ago, N'Kata said:

As this seems to be the tread for striker/reaper-builds, what do you think about this list for 2.0:

"There's a new scarif in town" (199 points)

"Duchess" (56)

• Predator
• Fifth Brother

Major Vermail (69)

• Elusive
• Darth Vader
• O-O-O

Planetary Sentinel (37)

• Seismic Charge

Planetary Sentinel (37)

• Seismic Charge

Not sold on Fifth Brother on Duchess. TIE strikers are incredibly fragile with only 2 agility, and that force charge will only go so far. That said, if she can cleverly use her ability + barrel roll to dodge arcs, having the ability to mod her attack could be really good. Hmm...might be worth trying. Last time I saw a striker Pure Sabacc) with Fifth Brother, it didn't amount to a whole lot.

Vermeil vs. Feroph: I agree with Vermeil in this squad. You definitely want to punch hard early in the game.

Here's what I would do instead of Fifth Brother:

Major Vermeil (49)
Elusive (3)
Darth Vader (14)
0-0-0 (3)

"Duchess" (42)
Predator (2)

Black Squadron Scout (38)
Predator (2)
Seismic Charges (3)

Black Squadron Scout (38)
Predator (2)
Seismic Charges (3)

Total: 199

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

The Planetary Defenders have now been bumped to Initiative 3, picking up Predator as well. This isn't all that great of an upgrade, but considering the list of adversaries Magnus Grendel listed above (Dash, Han, swarms) it shouldn't be too hard to line up the bullseye arc against such foes. And it's not like the Black Squadron Scouts are going to be targets as long as Vader and Vermeil are alive, so fly them aggressively and destroy some stuff!

1 hour ago, Parakitor said:

Not sold on Fifth Brother on Duchess. TIE strikers are incredibly fragile with only 2 agility, and that force charge will only go so far. That said, if she can cleverly use her ability + barrel roll to dodge arcs, having the ability to mod her attack could be really good. Hmm...might be worth trying. Last time I saw a striker Pure Sabacc) with Fifth Brother, it didn't amount to a whole lot.

Well argued. Fifth Brother is expensive, and - when's all said and done - you're a Z-95 with a greater vulnerability to criticals. If you can't avoid arcs of fire, I'm not convinced Her Grace will pull her weight.

More significantly, with the way X-wing works and continues to work, defensive boosts are worth more than the sum of their parts. Fifth Brother is the most expensive single upgrade there's a practical value to giving a TIE striker. Stealth Device and Elusive or Lone Wolf are both cheaper (in fact you can have both for the price of Darth Helicopter).

I think Fifth Brother is probably best as a capstone option - if you're going for a no expense spared striker ace - rather than as the first thing you pick.

When you've already got agility 3, a reroll on one green dice, and an evade token, a force token pushes you into 'then hit me, if you can' territory, but by itself it's not all that amazing.

1 hour ago, Parakitor said:

considering the list of adversaries Magnus Grendel listed above (Dash, Han, swarms) it shouldn't be too hard to line up the bullseye arc against such foes  .

Indeed. One thing I've found is that large base ships really don't like bullseye-linked abilities.

I'm not really getting ST-321 though. I guess it lets the shuttle lock and since it has a back arc it should actually be able to use the locks, but I'm not sold on it. I guess the other thing is you can check range from other friendlies without needing to say that you were going to acquire a lock, so I dunno. I never thought that the shuttle would need action economy either ha ha ha. Anyways, the Empire needs more gunners because the strikers really only like 5th brother sitting in the backseat, messing with the enemy lasers every once in a while. Or i guess making your guns shoot better? Also, Ciena Ree looks like another option for strikers, sure you can get stressed, but pre-planning a gr- *ahem* blue move makes the strikers even MORE maneuverable. What other crew pairs well with strikers? Maybe swarming with Sloane. or putting ree and inky on vizier since he can do a white coordinate after AA.

3 hours ago, SoontirFelTGE said:

I'm not really getting ST-321 though. I guess it lets the shuttle lock and since it has a back arc it should actually be able to use the locks, but I'm not sold on it. I guess the other thing is you can check range from other friendlies without needing to say that you were going to acquire a lock, so I dunno. I never thought that the shuttle would need action economy either ha ha ha.

I always engage with my shuttle. If I don't plan on it shooting, I bring something else. That's why I'm excited for ST-321. But I can totally see how you might not feel comfortable relying on the shuttle for attacking.

4 hours ago, SoontirFelTGE said:

Anyways, the Empire needs more gunners because the strikers really only like 5th brother sitting in the backseat, messing with the enemy lasers every once in a while. Or i guess making your guns shoot better?

I suppose. I feel like strikers got a gunner slot specifically for the Skilled Bombardier. Not really much else a gunner could do on that ship.

Got some more 2.0 games with my Sloane Strikers. Managed to beat 2 Deltas + Soontir Fel, and then my opponent switched it up to double defender. We got a block on Rexler, and burned him before losing a ship, so he called the match there. Maneuvering has to be so tight in Second Edition without passive mods to help you out. Makes you wary of spending too many points on a single ship.

Also, that 1-speed Koiogran Turn the strikers picked up is a challenge. Usually if my sloops are blocked I reach for the K-turn, but there were quite a few instances where the 1-k wouldn't move my ship quite far enough, so I had to settle for a suboptimal Segnor's Loop. I definitely need some more table time. But so far they are doing their job. I need to go up against lists with higher ship counts, because this squad pretty much seems to waltz through 3-ship squads.

21 minutes ago, Parakitor said:

Got some more 2.0 games with my Sloane Strikers. Managed to beat 2 Deltas + Soontir Fel, and then my opponent switched it up to double defender. We got a block on Rexler, and burned him before losing a ship, so he called the match there. Maneuvering has to be so tight in Second Edition without passive mods to help you out. Makes you want of spending too many points on a single ship.

Also, that 1-speed Koiogran Turn the strikers picked up is a challenge. Usually if my sloops are blocked I reach for the K-turn, but there were quite a few instances where the 1-k wouldn't move my ship quite far enough, so I had to settle for a suboptimal Segnor's Loop. I definitely need some more table time. But so far they are doing their job. I need to go up against lists with higher ship counts, because this squad pretty much seems to waltz through 3-ship squads.

Seems like a lot of fun. Can`t wait to get my 2.0 stuff and bringing the strikers out for a fight!

On ‎9‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 4:42 PM, SoontirFelTGE said:

Also, Ciena Ree looks like another option for strikers, sure you can get stressed, but pre-planning a gr- *ahem* blue move makes the strikers even MORE maneuverable.

For generic strikers, probably not. With Duchess, though - since you can still make Aileron moves when stressed - she's great.

On ‎9‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 4:42 PM, SoontirFelTGE said:

I'm not really getting ST-321 though. I guess it lets the shuttle lock and since it has a back arc it should actually be able to use the locks, but I'm not sold on it.

It's 6 points (3 in old money) for a free target lock when co-ordinating, which gives you a decent whack of firepower. It's better than 1.0 fire control system, because it's a target lock every time you shoot and you don't need to keep your guns aimed at the same target several turns in a row to benefit , which is an issue on the White Space Gnu.

Fielding Lieutenant Sai instead of the Omicron Group Pilot instead lets you do a free action when co-ordinating an action, and is cheaper (4 point increase over an Omicron) but that pretty much limits you to a focus because that's the only thing a lambda and most fighters share.

Essentially, would you (in 1.0) have shelled out for a FCS for your shuttle? If so, consider Sai or ST-321. If not, don't .

But yes, whilst an omicron isn't that expensive, you really do need to actually shoot stuff with it to get your money's worth. Even with Palaptine, the really successful ace players usually brought the shuttle into the fight (albeit not ususally leading the charge).

34 minutes ago, Parakitor said:

Got some more 2.0 games with my Sloane Strikers. Managed to beat 2 Deltas + Soontir Fel, and then my opponent switched it up to double defender. We got a block on Rexler, and burned him before losing a ship, so he called the match there. Maneuvering has to be so tight in Second Edition without passive mods to help you out. Makes you want of spending too many points on a single ship.

Indeed. Failed actions (or skipped action steps) are huge, and can really mess up an action dependent expensive ship. Well played, by the way.

@Magnus Grendel Did you see this discussion? Looks like the FAQ for Adaptive Ailerons didn't make the transition to Second Edition, so general consensus is that using Adaptive Ailerons to overlap a ship or asteroid causes you to skip your perform action step, even if the maneuver on your dial doesn't overlap anything. What are your thoughts?

I've contacted FFG because I need clarification ASAP! If this is indeed how they choose to proceed, TIE strikers are dead to me. . . .Okay that may have been hyperbole, but I will have to learn all over again how to fly them unless they change the ruling.

Pretty much the same thread from earlier in the month:

Short Version: Yes, the 'bumping on an aileron move' ability is dependent on rules text that does not exist (yet) in 2.0, so colliding on a pre-manoeuvre-manoeuvre is still colliding and will cost you your action.

I don’t really like the Reaper over a Lambda (wow what a world), but Fernoth with Vader, Tua, Juke and Stealth Device seems quite hardy. Reduce damage by 1, one guaranteed evade against targets without greens, and a second defensive die with an evade token.

Finally able to test the Reaper on a second edition game ! Did ok result thank to the list FFG give (Phantom is scary !)

And another game with Duchess, she definitely my favorite Striker Pilot ! The more I play the more I want to do a list with Reaper/Tie Interceptor/Striker (And phantom... Really good surprise)

Now that some of the Extended meta has started to emerge, it looks like Strikers are showing up in Sloane swarms, with Sabacc and Duchess doing the best, but they're struggling to fit into the very best Imperial lists with ordinance so dominant. I'm more interested with Hyperspace right around the corner and Strikers legal, in looking back at 5 Striker builds. (Sloane does not exist in Hyperspace, unfortunately, although the Reaper may still be a viable option in the fifth spot.) I dropped a few bucks today on eBay to get another set of conversions for the Strikers (x3). Just playing around, you can fit the following into 200pts:

5trikers (200):

• Countess + Crack Shot
• Pure Sabacc + Crack Shot
• Countdown
• Planetary Sentinel
• Planetary Sentinel

5strikers+Bombs (200):

• Planetary Sentinel + Proximity Mines + Skilled Bombardier
• Planetary Sentinel + Seismic Charges + Skilled Bombardier
• Planetary Sentinel + Proton Bombs + Skilled Bombardier
• Planetary Sentinel + Proton Bombs
• Planetary Sentinel + Proton Bombs

I went for a little variety with the bombs, but you could do straight just Protons on all five. I figured with the mines and seismics, it might mean more options, especially with the 2 pt Bombardier.

I like being able to put the named pilots with a couple of generics. When wave 3 drops, I'll pick up my 5th TIE striker. For now, I'm going to use 3-4 strikers and a TIE reaper.

I definitely want to put Deathtroopers in my Hyperspace squad, just for theme. This is what I'm leaning on at the moment. It's quite different from my usual 5 ships, but it's got some neat tricks.

TIE Reaper - •“Vizier” - 51
•“Vizier” - Ruthless Tactician (45)
•Death Troopers (6)

TIE/sk Striker - •“Duchess” - 44
•“Duchess” - Urbane Ace (42)
Predator (2)

TIE/sk Striker - •“Countdown” - 53
•“Countdown” - Death Defier (44)
Juke (4)
Hull Upgrade (5)

TIE/sk Striker - •“Pure Sabacc” - 52
•“Pure Sabacc” - Confident Gambler (44)
Predator (2)
Shield Upgrade (6)

Total: 200/200

View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

Oooh, I found the Striker thread. I've flown them almost exclusively since 2.0 dropped, but I don't play much. What do you all think about this?

TIE/sk Striker - •“Pure Sabacc” - 45
•“Pure Sabacc” - Confident Gambler (44)
Trick Shot (1)

TIE/sk Striker - •“Duchess” - 42
•“Duchess” - Urbane Ace (42)

TIE/ph Phantom - •“Whisper” - 66
•“Whisper” - Soft-Spoken Slayer (52)
Juke (4)
•Admiral Sloane (10)

TIE/sk Striker - •“Countdown” - 47
•“Countdown” - Death Defier (44)
Seismic Charges (3)

Total: 200/200

View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

I feel like Reapers don't really work, but I loose out on theme with Whisper :(.

@McGarnacle Shame, shame about your theme. 😜

Looks pretty good. I have no experience running the TIE phantom in Second Edition. I'm used to running 5 ships, so when I drop down to 4, my reflex is to add hull/shield upgrades. Pure Sabacc really likes Shield Upgrade. Trick Shot on "Pure Sabacc" is always fun, so that's a nice choice, but I do like Predator to get the reroll to make the extra die count.

I don't know why, but I just can't seem to bring myself to put bombs on my TIE strikers. I really should just give it a try, just to see what can be done, but I'm so afraid of hitting my own ships, especially with Seismic Charges.

I did get to try the Hyperspace list I wrote above, and it was quite refreshing to have higher initiative ships than my typical Planetary Sentinels. I think even with no upgrades the named TIE strikers can put in serious work, so your list should do quite well. However, I must share that "Vizier" was really fun to play with. He's not that big of a target, but when "Countdown" gets an evade coordinated to him for Juke, or when "Pure Sabacc" gets a barrel roll to set him up to arc dodge, it's just so beautiful! I'm a huge fan of the TIE reaper. Not sold on Deathtroopers yet, but I'm not ready to put them away after only two games. Needs more table time.

On ‎1‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 6:05 AM, Parakitor said:

However, I must share that "Vizier" was really fun to play with. He's not that big of a target, but when "Countdown" gets an evade coordinated to him for Juke, or when "Pure Sabacc" gets a barrel roll to set him up to arc dodge, it's just so beautiful!

Agreed. His sort-of-built-in tactical officer plus the ability to co-ordinate before segnoring opens up so many options.

Having had a try with the ability on TIE fighters and realising how freakishly awesome it is, I'm wanting to have a try with some Ruthless Strikers. Ruthless being 1 point is nice but the irritating 4 point jump between the Planetary Sentinel and Black Squadron Scout* means that a 1 point talent leaves you with spare points. But Ruthless also wants a nice, big punching bag that's going to be trying for range 1 of it's targets...

• Black Squadron Ace x 4
  • Ruthless
• Scarif Base Pilot
  • Hull Upgrade

The Scarif Base Pilot can fly in and block and jam a target (one really, really nice thing is that I can use jamming to destroy reinforce tokens, which is a huge deal for a heavy swarm), or use co-ordinate to provide a focus if one of the scouts is definitely not going to have one, and it's got 9 hit points, so if I choose to 'accidentally' catch it in the crossfire every so often it's not as much of a deal as it would be on a striker.

* Anyone have a clue why? That's more than it costs to upgrade Tempest Squadron to Storm Squadron on a TIE/x1 Scimitars to Gammas on a TIE/sa, or blue squadron to red in an X-wing - heck it's more than it costs to upgrade Knave Squadron to Rogue Squadron on an E-wing. I get that Interceptors and Fangs jump from I1 to I4, but strikers only increase to a fairly mediocre I3.

1 hour ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Black Squadron Ace x 4

• Ruthless

• Scarif Base Pilot
  • Hull Upgrade

Sold! I want to try this so bad now! I've always had a soft spot for Ruthless. Only three come in the conversion kit, right? I'll just proxy the 4th and see how it goes.

1 hour ago, Magnus Grendel said:

* Anyone have a clue why? That's more than it costs to upgrade Tempest Squadron to Storm Squadron on a TIE/x1 Scimitars to Gammas on a TIE/sa, or blue squadron to red in an X-wing - heck it's more than it costs to upgrade Knave Squadron to Rogue Squadron on an E-wing. I get that Interceptors and Fangs jump from I1 to I4, but strikers only increase to a fairly mediocre I3.

The only reason I can think of is that Adaptive Ailerons become really good at higher I. You don't give up your action, but you still have added maneuverability. Looking at the difference in points between the low-I and high-I generics, we see

TIE defender: 6 points
TIE interceptor: 6 points
TIE Advanced v1: 6 points (gains force point)
TIE striker: 4 points
TIE fighter: 3 points
TIE bomber: 2 points
Alpha-class starwing: 2 points
TIE phantom: 2 points (only one Initiative point higher)

It looks like the trend may also have to do with attack power, with a higher initiative being worth more on a ship that can deal more damage. Of course, the counter to that argument is that TIE bombers do much better with higher initiative so they can grab locks on enemy targets, although the generic does max out at I3, so it won't help out against most named pilots. Of course, there may be some squad they are trying to limit by leaving you with only 10 points for goodies on 5 Black Sq. Scouts, instead of 20. I don't know what that might be, though. Shrug.

I don't know. I haven't really looked at the Black Squadron Scout very much, so haven't given it a whole lot of thought. Just looking at the spread, though, it seems fair to me.

On 1/17/2019 at 11:00 AM, Magnus Grendel said:

* Anyone have a clue why? That's more than it costs to upgrade Tempest Squadron to Storm Squadron on a TIE/x1 Scimitars to Gammas on a TIE/sa, or blue squadron to red in an X-wing - heck it's more than it costs to upgrade Knave Squadron to Rogue Squadron on an E-wing. I get that Interceptors and Fangs jump from I1 to I4, but strikers only increase to a fairly mediocre I3.

I think it's the two steps of initiative.

Most ships out there seem like they have a pretty standard formula for the price differences of talent and non-talent generics.

• 2 points for 1 step (usually 2->3) like T-65 X-Wings, TIE Advanced x1, TIE Phantoms, Khiraxzes, etc.
  • Mining TIEs get their 1->2 Talent for only 1 point, which is lower than anything else I can think of.
• 4 points for 2 steps (1->3), like Strikers, RZ-1 A-Wings, Scyks
  • E-Wings, RZ-2 A-Wings, and T-70 X-Wings kind of seem like exceptions. It used to be just the E-Wing in the initial points release, though...
    • E-Wings are also so badly priced they can't really work too well as a guide for anything else.
  • TIE Fighters, TIE FO, and Scum Z-95s have a 3-point difference between the Init 1 and Init 3 Talent, but a 2-point difference between the Init 2 (hypothetical with the Scum Z-95) and Init 3 Talent versions, so it kinda checks out to me.
• 6 points for 3 steps (1->4). Fang, Defender, Interceptor, Silencer.
  • Blue Rookie to Black Ace on T-70 stands out as the exception. Feels more like Resistance got their non-talent ships penalized an Initiative for balance reasons more than anything, IMHO.

16 hours ago, theBitterFig said:

Blue Rookie to Black Ace on T-70 stands out as the exception. Feels more like Resistance got their non-talent ships penalized an Initiative for balance reasons more than anything, IMHO. 

Honestly I just hate the concept of the 'generic' Resistance Black squadron pilot even more than the generic Rogue Squadron pilot. There are only five of them for the entire duration of it's existence and they're all in the game already as unique pilots .

On ‎1‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 5:25 PM, Parakitor said:

Sold! I want to try this so bad now! I've always had a soft spot for Ruthless  .

So....I'm an enormous cretin.

Having spent an evening last week unpacking upgrade cards into a binder, I then didn't bring the binder to the shop for last night's Game Night kit .

Fortunately, the dials, base inserts and pilot cards for the strikers are all in my 'go box', so I could still play, but ended up substituting out the Ruthless Black Squadron Scouts for Planetary Sentinels with Hull Upgrades.

I somehow won, going 2-1. I'll add some better descriptions of the games later if I can lay my hands on pictures, but my main observations on my first 2.0 games with the Aileron Boys:

• Having everyone at the same initiative seemed like a really good thing. If I'd had the squad I'd planned on, several times the Strikers wouldn't have been able to move before the Reaper, which would have been a problem.
• Having 4 Initiative 3 Ruthless targets and 1 Initiative 1 'punching bag' means I don't have the option (which I do with a Ruthless TIE/ln swarm) of emptying my entire squad's fire into it, because it'll die before it gets to engage itself.
• Hull Upgrade TIE strikers are really, really tough! Yes, not having lightweight frame is annoying, but when I look at the games played, the number of shots which were either (1) Obscured, (2) at range 3 or (3) from a 2-dice attacker at range 2+, I don't think I actually lost the bonus die that many times. By comparison, having 5 hits means even a target whomped on by Fenn Rau at range 1 still limped to safety afterwards, and the classic nemesis of the swarm - bombs - weren't actually that big a deal.
• The upgrades to the striker's dial are awesome, too. The Speed 1 koiogran allowed me to do an end-around flip in a much tighter space (and you still have your speed 2 segnors if you want), and since it matters most on turns where your ailerons are locked solid, having speed 2 banks become blue is huge .
• The TIE Reaper feels like it's become a bit of a 'muscle car'. By which I mean:
  • It's imposingly large
  • It's aesthetically stunning
  • It's very fast
  • It has twitchy acceleration and an annoyingly high minimum speed
  • It handles like a cow
  • It's a lot less powerful in practice than it feels like it should be
• Don't get me wrong, I accept it's a lot more manoeuvrable than a lambda shuttle. But " more manoeuvrable than a lambda shuttle " is not exactly a glowing recommendation. The list of things more manoeuvrable than Lambda shuttles is quite extensive.
• Furthermore, (for hyperspace events) we don't currently have the option of packing any VIP crew worth the effort of protecting (Sloane, for example, or Ciena Ree). I might have felt different had I had Ruthless available to boost everyone else's firepower (it's certainly tough), but every time it felt heavy and awkward to keep on target, and not really delivering any more than an extra generic striker would have. The Speed 1 segnors are
• I think it's worth it with the three named striker aces, where "Vizier" comes into his own to provide them the action economy they need, or a smaller striker force of three generics where you can afford to bring Feroph/Krennic or Vermeil/Juke, who look more capable ships in their own right, but not really with a pack of generic TIE/sk

8 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

• Hull Upgrade TIE strikers are really, really tough! Yes, not having lightweight frame is annoying, but when I look at the games played, the number of shots which were either (1) Obscured, (2) at range 3 or (3) from a 2-dice attacker at range 2+, I don't think I actually lost the bonus die that many times. By comparison, having 5 hits means even a target whomped on by Fenn Rau at range 1 still limped to safety afterwards, and the classic nemesis of the swarm - bombs - weren't actually that big a deal.
• The upgrades to the striker's dial are awesome, too. The Speed 1 koiogran allowed me to do an end-around flip in a much tighter space (and you still have your speed 2 segnors if you want), and since it matters most on turns where your ailerons are locked solid, having speed 2 banks become blue is huge .
  
  
• The TIE Reaper feels...don't get me wrong, I accept it's a lot more manoeuvrable than a lambda shuttle. But " more manoeuvrable than a lambda shuttle " is not exactly a glowing recommendation. The list of things more manoeuvrable than Lambda shuttles is quite extensive.
• Furthermore, (for hyperspace events) we don't currently have the option of packing any VIP crew worth the effort of protecting (Sloane, for example, or Ciena Ree). I might have felt different had I had Ruthless available to boost everyone else's firepower (it's certainly tough), but every time it felt heavy and awkward to keep on target, and not really delivering any more than an extra generic striker would have. The Speed 1 segnors are
• I think it's worth it with the three named striker aces, where "Vizier" comes into his own to provide them the action economy they need, or a smaller striker force of three generics where you can afford to bring Feroph/Krennic or Vermeil/Juke, who look more capable ships in their own right, but not really with a pack of generic TIE/sk

Lots of good points. People seem to like the idea of Seismic Charges on 5 Planetary Sentinels, but I've suspected the Hull Upgrade would be better. Sounds like it's solid, so now I have to try the Charges.

I largely agree with your thoughts on the TIE reaper, but I think Death Troopers may be valuable in certain matchups. They can definitely cause your opponent to fly differently. However, I'm learning that Feroph is a LOT more survivable than the standard TIE reaper, so I may need to give her a try with the named strikers. "Vizier" has been falling way too fast in my recent games.

---

Here's the other big thing I'm trying to figure out: setup. I have been setting up spread out to allow me to converge on my enemy, and react to the biggest threat. However, I have noticed that many of my opponents spread their ships out, too. I'm beginning to wonder if it wouldn't be better in some instances to deploy in a tight formation to jump on an enemy ship and eliminate it early. When should I deploy together, and when should I spread out? Interestingly, initiative doesn't seem to matter because most of my opponents bring I5-I6 ships with a bid, deploying their whole squad even after the striker aces deploy, so it's about reading how the match will go before even putting a ship down. I know it's an area I haven't explored in detail, but I think that's the next focus where I can begin to see improvement in my game.

14 hours ago, Parakitor said:

I have been setting up spread out to allow me to converge on my enemy, and react to the biggest threat. However, I have noticed that many of my opponents spread their ships out, too. I'm beginning to wonder if it wouldn't be better in some instances to deploy in a tight formation to jump on an enemy ship and eliminate it early. When should I deploy together, and when should I spread out? Interestingly, initiative doesn't seem to matter because most of my opponents bring I5-I6 ships with a bid, deploying their whole squad even after the striker aces deploy, so it's about reading how the match will go before even putting a ship down. I know it's an area I haven't explored in detail, but I think that's the next focus where I can begin to see improvement in my game

It depends on squad composition, I think.

Converging thrusts from multiple directions sound good in theory but often don't work in practice because your opponent will turn and hit one bit of your squad first.

Being able to come in in a 5-ship "get out of my way or get ventilated" mass is one of the squad's strengths, and if you deploy 5 ships in a corner at a 45' angle, by banking some one way, some the other and going straight with others, you can shake out a 'block' into an enveloping arc pretty quickly anyway if you're trying to catch someone more elusive.

Deploying in a 'dragnet' across the board is more for....in my experience at least....Dash Rendar, Rear Admiral Chiraneau, Wookies.

Basically, anyone who is sufficiently elusive that you need people coming from all over to have a fighting chance of pinning them down (SLAM-capable aces and supernatural reflexes/autothrusters Kylo, for example), or people with reinforce who really, really suffer when put in a crossfire.