My "fix" to the Punisher is to give it a Turret slot. if it has TLT, then it would feel similar to the K-Wing and Scurgg -- the Imperial version of those two ships. Sadly it would also disintegrate any illusion we have about thematic faction differences, but honestly its too late for that now.
System slot idea to help the tie punisher
Special TIE
Tie punisher only
Title = 1pt
"At the beginning of combat phase, if you are not stressed, you may be assigned 1 evade token. The first time you declare an attack, discard this card."
Similar to captured tie, Gives them a bit of life to actually bomb. And when they decide to missile attack, they still have an evade token before discarding, so its always worth at least 1 evade token.
Personally, I think any potential fix should try to keep the theme and feel of the ship it's fixing. I mean, the Defender titles played off its being a TIE with a cannon and being incredibly maneuverable. Perhaps the Punisher could get something like the following:
Offensive Volley
TIE Punisher Only
Modification 1 pt
Once per round, after you perform an attack with a <missile> or <torpedo> secondary weapon, you may perform an attack with a <missile> or <torpedo>.
Munitions Platform
TIE Punisher Only
Modification 1 pt
When you perform an attack with a <missile> or <torpedo> secondary weapon, you may remove a stress token as if you performed a green maneuver.
The first modification would help you get the most of the Punisher's carrying capacity by getting more shots off before it goes down. The second may help its dial a little bit by letting you get rid of stress as long as you can get a shot lined up and have sufficient warheads!
Edited by JJ48
In order to make the punisher viable, we need several fixes. First:
Quote
Expanded Ordnance Pods
TIE Punisher only.
Missile
The squad point cost of each of your equipped ordnance upgrades is reduced by 1 (to a minimum of 0).0 pts
Prevents unguided rockets, and makes the punisher cheaper at what it does.
Quote
TIE/IT
TIE Punisher only
Title
Once per round, when performing a secondary weapon attack you may roll an additional attack dice.
If your pilot skill is 3 or higher, your upgrade bar gains the Elite slot.
0 pts
Adds an EPT, pretty much a must, and allows the punisher to hit harder.
None of the options allow the punisher to equip more than 1 mod, so a choice is still there. LWF for survivability, GC for damage, LRS for alpha strike.
One could make a hypermobile ace with Adv. Sens, PTL and Twin Ion MkII, as well as some serious bombing shenaningans with bomblets and possibly trajectory simulator.
These cards would open up the Punisher to be a viable choice with multiple roles to fill.
These cards would give the Punisher a unique edge, super heavy ordnance, relatively easily, without infringing on other faction mechanics (regen, reinforce, turrets, systematic brokenness)
These cards wouldn't make the ship cheaper, but they would make the ship have exponentially more value if its fully packed, which I think is an important distinction. The Punisher doesn't look like a ship you would want to take empty. The ship can do 1 thing, and that is to equip ALL the ordnance. Now you can do it, and its worth the points.
These cards would make the Punisher viable, without being broken.
Although the Punisher would hit heavy, and would have increased survivability because of the EPT, it would still have 1.5 (IF) agility, and is kinda slow (slowest of the heavy bombers). It would be easier to get off missiles, and missiles would hit harder, but its still the same ship. It's good, with a decent wingman (Kylo maybe?) the Empire could easily have a high level 2 ship list.