On 8/9/2017 at 5:14 PM, Parakitor said:

Hey, what if you cross the streams? So, when you slow roll, instead of doing "Adaptive straight - 1 straight," as you approach, you do "Adaptive bank away - turn 1 in" towards Nym. Now everybody is aimed at Nym at a roughly 45 degree angle. Next round, you should be able to "Adaptive away (back towards your own edge) - Segnor's Loop away"

Pretty much the two iconic striker tricks in one paragraph, their. Bank one way, turn the other is such an awesome move!

7 hours ago, blade_mercurial said:

But I would say the most difficult build for Strikers in particular is Advanced Sensors + Engine Upgrade (+whatever turret). The problem with this build is that, as I said, you cannot escape getting hit by a bomb simply because your strikers have lower Pilot Skill. There's ZERO player skill involved here (and that is somewhat frustrating) because after you are done moving your ships, your opponent just has to decide which of his options is likely to get the most damage out of his bomb (with Advanced Sensors, he can barrel roll or boost before revealing dial, and with 'genius' he can decide to drop the bomb before or after the move).

That is a problem to deal with, because as noted the bomb can end up just about anywhere. But it could be worse:

1. A striker is tough enough to take a bomblet and live.
2. provided you keep your squad spread out in an arc, rather than a tight block, hitting more than 2 ships at worst (which is bad enough!) is unlikely
3. If it's a rebel Nym, he's not immune to his own bombs, so Genius is a much riskier choice (and if he's carrying Genius he's not carrying Sabine, although she may be elsewhere in the squad)

2 hours ago, Boom Owl said:

My main problem with Nym is they made him PS8.

Mine too, but not for the same reason; he should be PS7 because he's 'the player' in a Star Wars computer game:

• Dash Rendar (Shadows Of The Empire)
• Maarek Stele (TIE Fighter)
• Keyan Farlander (X-Wing)

are all 'the player' in a dogfighting starwars computer game, as is Nym.

This is a list archetype that I really like the look of. What has been working for people in the ace slot? I'm considering Vader, or perhaps a missile Tomax Bren.

I did have some success with Deathfire and the three named strikers. He can add a bit of splash damage with a missile then go into bomb mode. It was fun to fly.

15 hours ago, Boom Owl said:

@Parakitor

Genius/Advanced Slam Nym is a nightmare for low hp ships below PS11. My main problem with Nym is they made him PS8.

I don't mind the PS 8 part. But why did they give him an EPT??? They already set a 'standard' for heavy bombers/slow ships not having EPTs (Lambda, TIE punisher, k-wing). The scurrg should've fallen into the same category imho. Add to the fact that bomblet generator is probably 1 point 'too efficient' (or at least, crit results should have been only hits, like cluster mines) and you get an OP combination.

And the title is also poorly thought out. The designers clearly don't learn from their mistakes! Nym + Advanced Sensors + engine has EVEN MORE movement options than Pre-Nerf decloaking named phantoms. Frankly, its inexcusable and I have completely lost what little faith I had in the design team to keep this game going in a healthy, competitive/fun direction.

Its yet another clear example (in my mind anyway) that these designers don't really understand the game that well. Although to be fair, I have heard that Asmodee forced FFG to cut its playtesting window in half. If true, it would explain a lot why many of the upgrades of recent waves are so poorly balanced...

/rant.

I have been using Colonel Vessery with a tractor beam to great effect. My list looks like this for a total of 98 points...

Colonel Vessery — TIE Defender35

Veteran Instincts1

Tractor Beam1

Twin Ion Engine Mk. II1

TIE/D

8 hours ago, Slater44 said:

I have been using Colonel Vessery with a tractor beam to great effect. My list looks like this for a total of 98 points...

Colonel Vessery — TIE Defender35

Veteran Instincts1

Tractor Beam1

Twin Ion Engine Mk. II1

TIE/D

Countdown" — TIE Striker	20
Lightweight Frame	2
Adaptive Ailerons	0
Ship Total: 22
Imperial Trainee — TIE Striker	17
Lightweight Frame	2
Adaptive Ailerons	0
Ship Total: 19
Imperial Trainee — TIE Striker	17
Lightweight Frame	2
Adaptive Ailerons	0
Ship Total: 19

On this list I find Countdown to be a good secondary that mitigates damage. Vessery with his tractor beam allows the strikers to hit even harder. I've had decent success with it. I've also used QuickDraw with various upgrades including Swarm Leader. Gotta love Imperials!!

I think tractor beam is not a bad idea, but ion cannon is better. Regardless, Vessery is a very poor choice to accompany Strikers. His ability is based on Target Locks. Strikers do not have the Target Lock action...

Agreed. Add a point to make Vessery -> Maarek Steele, and you've got yourself a decent squad. Oh wait, then you couldn't afford Ion Cannon. Hmm...

11 hours ago, blade_mercurial said:

I think tractor beam is not a bad idea, but ion cannon is better.

I am curious, is this a general statement, or do you think it is better because of the Strikers in the list?

That's my bad. Steele is good but I actually play with Ryad and was trying to recreate this list on my *** phone on night shift haha... Half asleep. I guess you could go with a better EPT in my previous list if Ryad was selected. How would you build Steele?

I totally agree Ion Cannon is great and would be able to fit if Ryad was selected but I do like tractor beam, as I stand by what I said last time, it allows for everyone to hit just that much harder. Plus it fits the defender theme :P.

11 hours ago, HungryFFG said:

I am curious, is this a general statement, or do you think it is better because of the Strikers in the list?

The main reason I suggest Ion cannon over tractor beam is because it is more effective at screwing over the 2 top meta builds at the moment (rebel biggs/lowhrick & Nym + whatever). Tractor beam is still a good option if you're tight on points, however.

On 8/12/2017 at 8:49 AM, Slater44 said:

I have been using Colonel Vessery with a tractor beam to great effect. My list looks like this for a total of 98 points...

Colonel Vessery — TIE Defender35

Veteran Instincts1

Tractor Beam1

Twin Ion Engine Mk. II1

TIE/D

Countdown" — TIE Striker	20
Lightweight Frame	2
Adaptive Ailerons	0
Ship Total: 22
Imperial Trainee — TIE Striker	17
Lightweight Frame	2
Adaptive Ailerons	0
Ship Total: 19
Imperial Trainee — TIE Striker	17
Lightweight Frame	2
Adaptive Ailerons	0
Ship Total: 19

On this list I find Countdown to be a good secondary that mitigates damage. Vessery with his tractor beam allows the strikers to hit even harder. I've had decent success with it. I've also used QuickDraw with various upgrades including Swarm Leader. Gotta love Imperials!!

If you are not using Vessery's ability, might as well just take Maarek Stele or save a point and go with Ryad. Countdown doesnt really need Adaptive Ailerons Lightweight Frame, so if you drop that (2pt) and drop mk.ii (1pt) and go Expertise Maarek Stele. Or keep MK.II for Predator Maarek Stele. Could also drop down to Expertise Ryad w/ MK.II.

I've been using the following list for about two months...breaking even at present.

(100)

"Duchess" (26) - TIE Striker
Veteran Instincts (1), Adaptive Ailerons (0), Lightweight Frame (2)

"Countdown" (22) - TIE Striker
Adaptive Ailerons (0), Lightweight Frame (2)

Captain Yorr (33) - Lambda-Class Shuttle
Electronic Baffle (1), Flechette Cannon (2), General Hux (5), Inspiring Recruit (1)

Imperial Trainee (19) - TIE Striker
Adaptive Ailerons (0), Lightweight Frame (2)

The trainee is a great blocker and can be used to allow Yorr to perform a stop move when stressed...which has caught a few opponents out.

If not going for full striker team, you really need a tanky joust. QD or a defender would work, as both will draw attention and can take it as well as REALLY dish it out if ignored.

One can do 4 strikers and fairly decent fifth ship if one is willing to forego LWF (imo it is wasted points on the generics).
This is not unreasonable:

100 points ------

Imperial Trainee [Adaptive Ailerons] (17) x 4

The Inquisitor [Push the Limit, XX-23 S-thread Tracers, TIE/v1, Autothrusters] (32)

On 8/6/2017 at 4:26 PM, Parakitor said:

Somebody won a Store Championship in Bakersfield with Captain Yorr and the three named TIE striker pilots. Very impressive. The only thing I remember about upgrades is that Your had General Hux. I haven't played with the named strikers much, so I really want to give this squad a try.

EDIT: Maybe it wasn't Bakersfield. I'm trying to locate the squad via List Juggler. Stay tuned.

EDIT 2: Yes, it was Otto's Video Games and More. I remember now. But the squads aren't posted on List Juggler. Bummer.

This is a bit of a late reply, but the squad is as follows

OGP: Advanced Sensors, Hux, Systems Officer

Countdown: Adaptive Ailerons

Pure Sabacc: Adaptability, Adaptive Ailerons, LWF

Duchess: Adaptability, Adaptive Ailerons, LWF

The squad is an absolute blast to fly, and having every striker with double tokens or focus+reposition goes a long way towards making them reliable. The two big problem squads that I've run into are Death Rey (can't keep up with the 3-sloops, and the shuttle gets murdered) and anything with bomber Nym - and I haven't played against new Fair Ship Rebel, but against Rebel Junkyard it slightly favored the rebels, albeit mostly due to the high stress output of Braylen.

I don't have pictures available off hand but one of the important parts of setup is a castle for the first two turns or so - shuttle goes at an angle with strikers touching the corners, and whichever striker is touching the back corner (which is normally countdown for me) does a one bank and three bank to get directly in front of the shuttle. This allows you to setup a chain of advanced sensors hux->1 forward bumps with the shuttle, clear stress and possibly hand off a target lock. The other two flank the shuttle, generally wiggling their way up the board while staying inside Hux range.