Imperials suck at the moment, no doubt. But they can still be fun:

Tomax Bren (29)
TIE Bomber (24), Crack Shot (1), Unguided Rockets (2), Lightweight Frame (2)

“Scourge” (17)
TIE Fighter (17), Adaptability (0)

Carnor Jax (31)
TIE Interceptor (26), Push the Limit (3), Autothrusters (2)

“Pure Sabacc” (23)
TIE Striker (22), Veteran Instincts (1), Adaptive Ailerons (0)

Carnor is truly amazing, but PS8 has always limited him. My normal strategy is to use him (safely) as a lure, and keep him out of the fight until mid-game when I've killed some of my opponents high PS ships. Tomax is amazing for his points - unguided rockets was the final piece of the puzzle. Sabacc works great against high health ships like Ghosts. Scourge is 17 points of filler, but he gets dangerous with his pilot ability if left alone.

Oh, and they're all PS 8, so that's nice.

I understand some people have a thing for equal pilot skill. I am of the mind that using VI and Adaptability solely to get a group of pilots to the same PS# weakens the potential performance of a list. PS8 is good, but there are plenty of natural PS8's to choose from, and Pure Sabacc and Scourge can both perform well enough at their natural pilot skill levels.

5 hours ago, jmswood said:

I understand some people have a thing for equal pilot skill. I am of the mind that using VI and Adaptability solely to get a group of pilots to the same PS# weakens the potential performance of a list. PS8 is good, but there are plenty of natural PS8's to choose from, and Pure Sabacc and Scourge can both perform well enough at their natural pilot skill levels.

I think that VI is a good choice on Pure Sabacc. Going from 6 to 8 PS won't make a difference in plenty of games, but when it does, Sabacc is a pilot who really benefits from higher PS:

Aileron-equipped strikers really want to move late to get the best use from the movement trick. Also, Sabacc is a bit of a glass cannon so wants to shoot early to reduce the risk of being PS-killed, and he wants to shoot early to get as many rolls of the bonus red die before losing it to damage. Getting equal PS to the rest of the squad is just an extra perk.

I agree that adaptability might not be the best choice on Scourge. I would consider either of the other zero-point EPTs. A Score to Settle would add some more offensive threat to help dish out pain on a wounded ship, and Scourge is probably the least tempting target for enemy ships so the disadvantage isn't so bad. Or, Trick Shot would give Scourge another way to get a bonus red die - theoretically 5 red dice total (2 basic, +1 at range 1, +1 pilot ability to a damaged ship, +1 Trick Shot if obstructed) - you'd probably never get all of that in practice, but it's more firepower than you would expect from a TIE

8 hours ago, jmswood said:

I understand some people have a thing for equal pilot skill. I am of the mind that using VI and Adaptability solely to get a group of pilots to the same PS# weakens the potential performance of a list. PS8 is good, but there are plenty of natural PS8's to choose from, and Pure Sabacc and Scourge can both perform well enough at their natural pilot skill levels.

Surprisingly, once Carnor and Tomax are spoken for,there are very few 35 point Imperial 8s. Maybe Juno or the Dutchess, but that's it, and then you've got a three ship list which Imperials suck with at the moment.

I originally had Howlrunner and Sabacc at PS 7 or something like that, but Howl doesn't pull her weight around arc-dodgers, so I went to Scourge.

3 hours ago, Dasharr said:

I agree that adaptability might not be the best choice on Scourge . I would consider either of the other zero-point EPTs. A Score to Settle would add some more offensive threat to help dish out pain on a wounded ship, and Scourge is probably the least tempting target for enemy ships so the disadvantage isn't so bad. Or, Trick Shot would give Scourge another way to get a bonus red die - theoretically 5 red dice total (2 basic, +1 at range 1, +1 pilot ability to a damaged ship, +1 Trick Shot if obstructed) - you'd probably never get all of that in practice, but it's more firepower than you would expect from a TIE

Trick shot, in my experience, almost never triggers. Especially on ships without a turret, it's just so rare to get an obstructed shot you'd rather take over an unobstructed one. A Score To Settle would be decent, but considering Scourge is going to be focusing every round until he dies it's a bit redundant (although the crit combos well with his ability). That just leaves adaptability, which makes the list easier to fly.

10 hours ago, Astech said:

Surprisingly, once Carnor and Tomax are spoken for,there are very few 35 point Imperial 8s. Maybe Juno or the Dutchess, but that's it, and then you've got a three ship list which Imperials suck with at the moment.

Omega Leader & Howlrunner spring to mind.

Howlrunner isn't great for a relatively small list - she can't help Bren, and Pure Sabbac probably doesn't want to fly wing with a (relative to a striker!) unmanouvrable TIE fighter.

A Score To Settle Omega Leader might be a nice toolbox to consider, though. Not sure who I'd sub out for him, though - losing Pure Sabbac's 4-dice attack would hurt, even if it would let you take something more impressive instead of a basically unequipped Scourge.

I've had fun with this triple 8's list:

TIE Defender: · Rexler Brath (37)
Expertise (4)
Tractor Beam (1)
TIE/D (0)
TIE/sf Fighter: · "Backdraft" (27)
Adaptability (Increase) (0)
Fire Control System (2)
Lightweight Frame (2)
Special Ops Training (0)
Primed Thrusters (1)
TIE/fo Fighter: · "Omega Leader" (21)
Juke (2)
Comm Relay (3)
-- TOTAL ------- 100p. --

Almost every list I make puts emphasis on having a couple or more pilots at the same PS. Having options when both moving (to self bump particular ships) as well as having options on firing order seems to be quite good. Easily worth the VI or adaptability more than a crack shot or trick shot.

I've been tinkering around with this list:

Carnor/PTL/TC/AT/RGT

Omega Leader/Juke/Comm Relay

Vessery/VI/Ion Cannon/TIE-D

I'm sitting at 98 points and Nym/Miranda is just too fast for this list. I like the 4 ship list a lot better though. I could see putting in 21 point Omega Leader and Wampa (who is always good at 14 points). OP: How has Tomax been working for you?

3 hours ago, jonnyd said:

Almost every list I make puts emphasis on having a couple or more pilots at the same PS. Having options when both moving (to self bump particular ships) as well as having options on firing order seems to be quite good. Easily worth the VI or adaptability more than a crack shot or trick shot .

I've been tinkering around with this list:

Carnor / PTL /TC/AT/RGT

Omega Leader / Juke / Comm Relay

Vessery / VI / Ion Cannon /TIE-D

I'm sitting at 98 points and Nym/ Miranda is just too fast for this list. I like the 4 ship list a lot better though. I could see putting in 21 point Omega Leader and Wampa (who is always good at 14 points). OP: How has Tomax been working for you?

It's sad that without a PS 10+ ship Imperials automatically lose to Nym. Maybe VI Quickdraw would work, but it's iffy.

Tomax is the best pilot in the list, easily. His damage output is amazing, especially on AGI 2 ships, but he gets a boost against everything. I've found that most people (correctly) go for Carnor first, especially if they don't have PS8+ ships. This lets me be super aggressive with Tomax, dealing 2-3 damage each turn. The trick with the list is not to avoid taking damage, but to simply stay on the board. So if Carnor escapes on 1 hull, that's fine, because the rest of the list is now in a good position to deal heavy damage.

On 9/12/2017 at 5:11 PM, Astech said:

Surprisingly, once Carnor and Tomax are spoken for,there are very few 35 point Imperial 8s. Maybe Juno or the Dutchess, but that's it, and then you've got a three ship list which Imperials suck with at the moment.

I originally had Howlrunner and Sabacc at PS 7 or something like that, but Howl doesn't pull her weight around arc-dodgers, so I went to Scourge.

Trick shot, in my experience, almost never triggers. Especially on ships without a turret, it's just so rare to get an obstructed shot you'd rather take over an unobstructed one. A Score To Settle would be decent, but considering Scourge is going to be focusing every round until he dies it's a bit redundant (although the crit combos well with his ability). That just leaves adaptability, which makes the list easier to fly.

Duchess is never going to even hit 30 points, practically speaking (at 23 points and only two slots for upgrades, one of which is almost always LWF...). The highest she can ever cost is 31, and that's Expertise+Shield Upgrade. Nobody is EVER going to run that.

Strikers without lightweight frame are a waste. Sabacc with die quickly without LWF.