Had a pleasant exchange last night at the ol' FLGS.

My list:

2x Binayre Pirate, Deadman's Switch

2x Syndicate Thug, Unhinged 'Mech, Ion Cannon Turret

Jakku Gunrunner, Cikatro Vizago, Illicit Cloak (swapped to Scavenger Crane), Prox Mine, Pattern Analyzer, Quad Tractor Array

His list:

2x Glaive Squadron TIE Defender, Stealth Device, x7 Title

Marek Stele, TIE mk.2, Swarm Leader, x7 title

We both used the three largest rocks available, set loosely in the center, and he gave me the initiative. I set my Quad just on the outside left of the asteroid field, then placed the Pirates just on the inside right of the field. He dropped both Glaives opposite my Pirates; I put my Thugs behind the Quad. Stele went on the outside of the Glaives, just outside the asteroids on my right.

I threw my Pirates hard in and focused up, while he banked his Glaives in around the first asteroid. My Quad and Thugs slow-rolled up, to give some time to Cloak/swap and get his ships tucked into the field where ions and tractors could do the most good. He blasted Stele forward hard. Turn 2, I moved the Pirates 1 straight and turned the Quad and Thugs into the field. His Glaives turned around the first asteroid to get shots on the Pirates, and Stele turned hard in likewise. Shots fired, with Stele stealing an Evade from a Glaive for five dice with Target Lock on the first Pirate - Focus/Evade resulted in three damage. The Pirates and the one Thug with range combined for a total of nothing. The Glaives then utterly failed to do the final point of damage to the Pirate.

Things get a little hazy after this. The Pirates bugged out, then k-turned back in; the Quad stuffed himself right into the middle of things and dropped two bombs for a total of one shield, and got off two Tractor Beams, only one of which landed a Glaive on a rock; the Thugs circled an asteroid, Ion Cannoning Stele a total of three times and keeping him generally out of the fight until a Pirate managed to finish the job. The Glaives finished off the damaged Pirate, whose Deadman's Switch plinked both of them and Stele. Cloaked and Focused, the Quad ended the game on one Hull, and one of the Thugs was pretty badly damaged.

Getting my opponent to rush into the asteroid field was the key, here. The Ion Cannon Turrets were absolutely gold in that mess. My opponent thanked me profusely at the beginning of the game for not bringing TLT's, but I think was a little less sanguine about my choice by the end. And the Quadjumper. This was the first time I managed to get that ugly little meatball to pull his weight. Perma-Cloak was awesome, and the only thing I question now is my choice of bomb.

It's not a top tier list by any means, but it's good funsies. And maybe in the hands of a top tier player, maybe it could surprise some folks. What do y'all think? I would consider some dial-reveal bombs on the Thugs, maybe a Cluster Mine instead of the Prox on the Quad, and swap out the Pirates for something ace-y? But I rather like having the full five ships out there. Maybe drop the Quad for a cannoned-up Scyk? What do you think?

On 9/29/2017 at 4:04 PM, Kleeg005 said:

I would consider some dial-reveal bombs on the Thugs

Generally action bombs are better on low PS, but I can see them being nice if you're trying to shake someone off your tail. Given their control job, my brain says either Connor Nets/Ion Bombs to double down on ionizing, or thermal detonators for that magic ion+stress combination that should really mess up a pursuer.

If you want the pirates to do a bit more heavy lifting, consider XX-23 S-Thread tracers & Guidance Chips; that way you can turn one 2-dice attack into a target lock for your entire squad - a trade well worth it with a 5-ship list!

On 9/29/2017 at 4:04 PM, Kleeg005 said:

Maybe drop the Quad for a cannoned-up Scyk?

If it's working, stick with it. Having your entire squad PS1 gives you bonuses in being able to control movement and firing orders - very nice with bombs, reverse moves, and turrets.

As to choice of bomb - the Bomblet is probably the best thing going, but taking it on a quadjumper requires Cad Bane - making it disproportionately expensive and stoping you having the awesome perma-cloak (besides which, scavenger crane with mines is the next best thing anyway). Proximity mines are nice - clusters are cool and all, but lining them up so your opponent hits more than one token is a lot easier with stuff like emon's pilot ability or Advanced SLAM. With no special shennanigans, the bigger token with three dice pinned to it seems better to me.

5 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

If you want the pirates to do a bit more heavy lifting, consider XX-23 S-Thread tracers & Guidance Chips; that way you can turn one 2-dice attack into a target lock for your entire squad - a trade well worth it with a 5-ship list!

Well, but it's really only a four ship list, in terms of actual attacks, right? The Quad is perma-Cloaked. And in this iteration, anyhow, half of the list does not want to fly in formation with the Headhunters - Deadman's Switch is a funny little shenanigan, but unfriendly. Now, if I change things up to run a squad of mixed Cannon-toting Scyks.... Scyks aren't as bulky as Y-Wings, obviously, but the mix of available effects and longer ranges might make up for the squishiness and limited arc. And then Tracers would absolutely be money.

Hmmm. Given the unreliability of the dice, perhaps a Connor Net on the Quad. Like you said, double down on the Ion effects, and (at least in my recent games, ha ha) get generally just as much damage out of the bomb. Or, yeah, that magic Ion/Stress combo with Thermal Detonators.

Another thought I had was to throw Palob and Torkil out there in place of the Thugs. Less tanky, but more shenanigans; bigger laughs, shorter games, ha ha.

On 29/09/2017 at 4:04 PM, Kleeg005 said:

His list:

2x Glaive Squadron TIE Defender, Stealth Device, x7 Title

Marek Stele, TIE mk.2, Swarm Leader, x7 title

What do you think?

107 points? Remove the Stealth Devices and TIE/mk2 (or downgrade to Deltas) and you've got 100 points!

2 hours ago, FTS Gecko said:

107 points? Remove the Stealth Devices and TIE/mk2 (or downgrade to Deltas) and you've got 100 points!

Yeah, I was gonna say that I'm hard pressed to fit two Ion Deltas with Maarek Stele, so I was impressed with how much cool stuff he had there. Didn't think to add up the points. Nice catch.

2 minutes ago, Parakitor said:

Yeah, I was gonna say that I'm hard pressed to fit two Ion Deltas with Maarek Stele, so I was impressed with how much cool stuff he had there. Didn't think to add up the points. Nice catch.

I ran two Ion Deltas and VI Maarek at the Euros, so I was a bit bewildered when I first saw the list lol

Yeah, my mistake; they must have been Deltas. Whatever the PS1 fellows are. I don't much fly Imperials, and almost never Defenders when I do.