Hi! I'm going to a tournament this weekend, and I decided to play imperials after a few years of Scum.

I found this list on this forum, and after testing it I find it really fun to fly:

Countess Ryad (34)
Push the Limit (3)
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)
TIE/x7 (-2)

Colonel Vessery (35)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Tractor Beam (1)
TIE/D (0)

"Omega Leader" (21)
Juke (2)
Comm Relay (3)

Total: 99

I think the bid is necessary. It is mainly helpful against Miranda (whom you listed as potentially common in your meta). Without the bid, Miranda becomes a pain in the butt to kill unless you trap her, and the risk of her slamming out of arcs is always there. Since Miranda players almost always build their lists to 100, you should be fine at 99 and have a MUCH easier time killing her with Vessery moving after her.

Now, if you had Ion Cannon instead of Tractor, then I'd say the bid doesn't matter, because it only takes one ion hit to obliterate miranda next turn (unless you get really bad dice).

And of course, there ARE other PS 8 ships out there. Maybe not a ton, but still. I think the bid will help you more often than mk II ion engine on Vess will.

I've found Twin Ion Engine Mk II to be amazing on TIE defenders, especially if you or your opponent brings debris. Your TIE/D can fly right over it for a surprise attack, and easily clear stress next round. You're also able to leverage the 1-speed turn with more confidence.

That said, I trust blade_mercurial here. Me? I never waste my points on a bid, because I always kick myself for not taking x or y when somebody outbids me. I've also never won a Store Championship, so take my suggestions as you will.

Two good points of view here.

I guess it comes down to how frequent would the green banks actually be valuable. I haven't played enough games with that list to know that yet, but in the last one there was a round where I had to do a red turn and felt I really needed that 1 bank to get my action and shoot on the following round.

I'll have a look at Lists Juggler to see what's popular in my area (although I think that's the first local tourney since the FAQ, so I'll take that data with a pinch of salt) and see how many PS8/100pts are out there...

But yeah, SLAMming Miranda!

This is similar to my go to list. The only reason to bring twin ion in my mind is if you’re in a heavy stress meta area. My defenders rarely take stress and the straights are usually enough to deal with it.

I don't think the bid is worth it for this build. It really only applies with OL vs Miranda, and I think your Defenders should be able to deal with her.

In the end neither the bid nor the Twin-ion (which I took) mattered!

I faced one MiranDash, he took the initiative and I simply murdered him, wiping Miranda off the table in one round of shooting with disgustingly good rolls (the tractor beam was essential in this)!

I faced one Assaj, where the Twin-ion could have been relevant, but Vessery got killed early in that game, didn’t have time to get stressed.

In all other games there was no PS 8 and no stress mechanisms. If I play this list again in a tournament setting I think I’ll keep the Twin-ion, I like the insurance of clearing stress easily and the green 1 banks.

Definitely a solid and fun list to fly, I had a blast!

16 hours ago, darkflop said:

In the end neither the bid nor the Twin-ion (which I took) mattered!

I faced one MiranDash, he took the initiative and I simply murdered him, wiping Miranda off the table in one round of shooting with disgustingly good rolls (the tractor beam was essential in this)!

You got off lucky! That was a colossal mistake by the miranda player (taking initiative at PS8). Had the opponent been smarter about initiative and approach (flying Miranda directly at Defenders is also not bright, especially when one has a tractor beam!), you would have been in for a very, very difficult match-up.

I've played that scenario so many times now (I've been playing Defenders for quite a long time, even before Imperial Vets came out). So I know exactly how it goes!