I am flying imperial and have
Decimator
Tie bomber
Interceptor
Defender
F/o ties
But my son flies Rey in a falcon with two x wings and has killed me 10times in a row.
Feeling a bit sad really about this state of affairs.
Please help...what do I need to buy? What tactics?
gunboats (alpha-class star wing) are big right now for the imperials. they're also fairly price efficient at $10-15. if it's fun and with kids, I might look at adding a tie striker. maneuverability on those are lots of fun. less so with rey, but countdown is effective against rey. If you are proxying upgrade cards tie advanced is good for Vader. those are all small base fun ships that could make some changes.
With what you have right now, I would recommend proxying cards. Soontir Fel is really good if you have Push the limits to kick him up. you can target lock, push the limits to do another action whether barrel roll out of the way, etc.
Col Vessery is pretty much at a really low if you don't have some of his title and upgrade cards that comes in imperial veterans set.
Tie/FO's need the mods and they are spread through a lot of expansions.
I recommend you build your list with something like http://xwing-builder.co.uk/build# , http://x-wing.fabpsb.net/gindex.php (placing one of each ship even though you don't), or https://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Rebel Alliance&d=v4!s!&sn=Unnamed Squadron&obs= , and then you print it and use that list. It allows you to use modification cards and see what sets they come from that way you're not buying up ships left and right when you don't need them. It gives more playability, and would let both you and your son get some more out of the game.
Some things that would help with your individual ships:
I'm going to agree with SkyCooper, and recommend an Alpha-Class Star Wing and/or TIE Striker. Both are efficient, points-wise, and give you some unpredictability for maneuvering. Another ship you might consider is the TIE Silencer. While it's kind of expensive at roughly $30, you get a lot of good stuff, and when built right, Kylo Ren can be incredibly tough to pin down.
Since you're flying Imperial in a fairly closed meta (apparently), I'll give you some specific tips.
Bring Soontir Fel with Push the Limit and Autothrusters. If you can stay out of Rey's arc, Soontir is really hard to shoot down. He's not great against bombs, but since you aren't playing against them right now, you should be fine.
I am kind of assuming that if you're losing consistently with some of the most maneuverable ships in the game that you're not successfully outflanking your opponent. Even though Rey has a Primary Weapon Turret, she still wants to act like a jouster, so don't let her.
Also, proxy cards. Look squad builds up online, get used to all the things the ships you already have can offer before you buy more ships. The TIE Defender and the TIE Interceptor are probably some of the best Imperial ships in the game and have some of the best pilots, even if they are a bit out of favor at the moment.
Here's a couple of lists I'd recommend to counter what I can imagine is a list he could be flying. Also, this would be easier if we new which expansions you actually have, but I'll press on under the impression that you have the TIE Defender, Interceptor, and Bomber blisters with the Deci and the TFA core set, while he has Heroes of the Resistance and the T-70 from the TFA core.
You could also load up a bomber "ace" like Tomax Bren, Deathfire, or Major Rhymer to bring some ordinance to the game.
This list should give you a PS advantage over Rey if she's not VI'd, if she is, welp, not much you can do about it. The TIE x7 title will help Maarek Stele be pretty survivable, and he should be able to out-gun those X-Wings, as should Soontir. The Epsilons won't bring much for offense to bear, but they can really be a nuisance by blocking the Falcon. If Rey can't be where she wants to be, then she can't get a very good shot. You should also be able to outmaneuver those T-70's if that's what they are, otherwise T-65's should hardly ever get arc on your TIE's.
In summary: Don't fly straight at your opponent. It's a trap! Especially against this list.
Oh yeah, and if he's fielding that many ships, they're likely sub-par builds of each, so take advantage of bare-bones builds' lack of flexibility and responsiveness. A well-flown Soontir will chuckle and eat a bare chassis X-Wing for lunch, new or old.
TIE SF and TAP come to mind for their Aces.
Your VT-49 should do the job. Some tips:
Rear Admiral Chirneau "the ballerina":
Give RAC veteran instincts, and he's moving and shooting after Rey. Engine upgrade is a must. Boost to avoid primary arcs, then Rey does not matter. Stay range 1 for 4 dice, range 2 for his crits.
Commander Kenkirk "frank the tank":
His pilot ability plus ysanne crew makes for a tanky decimatior. Fly him like a vulture, circling around at range 3, then you might outlast your opponent.
Capt. Oicunn "scrum master":
Set your dial to ram your higher PS target. While you are doing damage and blocking your son, throw Mara Jade on there and stress anyone coming close. Dauntless title applies here, and probably the only decimator that doesnt need EU.
General:
Since all your points are going into this ship, you want to make sure every shot counts. Target lock, gunner crew, RACs ability, predator are all super handy.
At zero agility and no evade action, every game is a race against time with the decimator. Its wingmates must pull their weight, too. the tie silencer, an x/7 Defender, a tie/sf, and tie phantom are common pairings.
Get the imperial veterans pack. Run a couple tractor beam defenders. Tractor beams will reduce Rey’s agility to 0. Stay out of her arc to avoid her re-rolls.
I'm sure there are ways to optimize your builds as suggested above, but you may also want to just pick one list and run it a few times, even after a loss. It sounds like your son is using the same build in each matchup, which will give him more and more experience with how the build works. I went 1-4 at a tournament with a list once, kept at it, and the next tournament went 3-1 with it. If there's little to no improvement after a few games, then it's time to reevaluate it.
Gunner kylo RAC with Quickdraw should make short work of your sons list. Google it. Have fun.
I flew Han/Poe against 2 defenders and a Silencer and got trounced. Defenders with the title can be hard to kill.
Key to beat Rey is blocking. Those 3 banks makes her fairly easy to predict.
Friend of mine goes with Oicunn, dauntless, rage and 2 inspiring recruits.
Bump, Rage, shoot wingemen.
Green, clear 3 stress.
rince and repeat
If u want to make it really easy to block, put experthandeling and intelagent on a largebase
Anything which catches Rey in a Crossfire tends to take her down pretty fast. Multiple TIE/fos can make a nice mess of her provided they come in spread out. The key is to kill her first, because she's far easier to take down with multiple ships - once the game reduces to one-on-one fights, she can keep her nose pointed at all the threats at once and between her pilot ability and Finn, she's effectively about equivalent to a normal ship with "agility 2 1/2" - a nightmare to kill with the amount of health a YT-1300 has.
You can make a decimator able to duel her, but as noted the best way to do this is a higher PS ship which can dodge her arc:
One other thing potentially worth noting is that whilst Rey is really good at reducing damage to survivable levels, she's not good at avoiding being hit entirely. Three dice weapons with an 'if you hit, cancel all dice and [stuff]' are actually pretty effective against her.
Ion Pulse Missiles are probably the single most useful one I can recommend: you can pack an Ion Pulse Missile into a list very cheaply and even if fired into her arc at range 3 it has pretty good odds of hitting (no range 3 defence bonus, meaning if you can get 3 hits she can't stop it, and even 2 hits requires her to get an evade on both her natural die and the added-as-a-blank die from finn). Yes, it only does 1 damage, but it locks her into a speed 1 straight next turn. For a ship which needs to keep pointed at people to use it's pilot ability, that's potentially crippling.
At the same time, Ion cannons, Flechette Cannons, and Twin Laser Turrets are all pretty effective tools.
Edited by Magnus Grendel-Imperial Veterans will give you the Defender titles, and the lovely Countess Ryad. Defenders are easy to play decently, and they don't die if you sneeze at them like interceptors.
-TIE/sf blister will give you another "beefy" imperial fighter, and the Imperial flavor of the moment: "Quickdraw"
The real trick is controlling the Falcon. I assume he likes to run around the sides of you and fire at you while you cant' shoot back? The trick to beat the Falcon is to have a cheap ship that you can put in front of the Falcon to cause it to bump. If you can get the same direction as the Falcon, it can be hard for him to find a place to move that you aren't already there (lower PS) to cause a bump. Once you control him with bumping and know where he's going to be, then it should be easy to get in R1 and fire with all you can to take down the Falcon.
Ion Pulse Missile is also a great way to start controlling things. Remember you don't spend the Target Lock when you fire, so you can use that for ensuring you hit him. Once you know where he's going to be, you can blast him out of the sky pretty bad. Also, it can help you set up the bump to control him for a while.
If you can find the points, Ion Torpedo is good if the X-wings fly close to the Falcon. That way you know where they all are going to be.
Tie Defender with Ion Cannon and /D title can also be good, especially for controlling the X-wings. You will need to either kill one fast or keep them away while you deal with the Falcon.
I would stay away from the Decimator and rather go for more ships. What you need is to be able to concentrate a lot of firepower on one target to take it out quick. That can be either an X-wing or the Falcon. The Decimator is a lot of points, but only 1 attack per round. I might even suggest staying away from aces. You need to throw as many red dice at the Falcon as you can. Ordnance is also a good way, too.
Tie Bombers are not bad options. You might want to go with Long Range Scanners if you are taking a cheap Scimitar. Or...you can go with Unguided Rockets and the Focus token. That could make a cheap ship that throws 3 dice. You would have to give up Ion Pulse Missile, though. Harpoon Missiles would also be good against the Falcon, especially if you take something like a Tie Defender with a Mangler Cannon to throw out those crits every round. Cruise Missiles are also cheap and if you get the approach right (with LRS), you can do some damage.
Don't shy away from a super cheap Tie Interceptor with Auto Thrusters. 3 Green dice with Focus and Auto Thrusters against the Falcon's 360 turret is a good thing. It also gets 3 attack dice. Just don't let it get in front of the X-wings! Don't fly it as an arc dodger. Fly it as a flanker.
I would either suggest taking out at least one X-wing first, or trying to take out the Falcon fast. Either has to be done fast, though, or the others will rip you apart (as you probably know already). So, either go in and wail on an X-wing fast, and then turn to Falcon, or try to hit the Falcon and avoid the firing arcs of the X-wings. This is where more shots are better than a few quality shots. You need to just pour all you have into one target before you lose to many ships.
I'm pretty interested in this Rey and dual X-Wing lists....
I'm assuming
Rey (45)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Finn (5)
Kanan Jarrus (3)
Millennium Falcon (TFA) (1)
Rookie Pilot (21)
Flight-Assist Astromech (1)
Integrated Astromech (0)
Rookie Pilot (21)
Flight-Assist Astromech (1)
Integrated Astromech (0)
Total: 99
View in Yet Another Squad Builder
which actually sounds pretty nasty...
On 12/19/2017 at 10:55 AM, thebrettski said:Your VT-49 should do the job. Some tips:
Rear Admiral Chirneau "the ballerina":
Give RAC veteran instincts, and he's moving and shooting after Rey. Engine upgrade is a must. Boost to avoid primary arcs, then Rey does not matter. Stay range 1 for 4 dice, range 2 for his crits.
Commander Kenkirk "frank the tank":
His pilot ability plus ysanne crew makes for a tanky decimatior. Fly him like a vulture, circling around at range 3, then you might outlast your opponent.
Capt. Oicunn "scrum master":
Set your dial to ram your higher PS target. While you are doing damage and blocking your son, throw Mara Jade on there and stress anyone coming close. Dauntless title applies here, and probably the only decimator that doesnt need EU.
General:
Since all your points are going into this ship, you want to make sure every shot counts. Target lock, gunner crew, RACs ability, predator are all super handy.
At zero agility and no evade action, every game is a race against time with the decimator. Its wingmates must pull their weight, too. the tie silencer, an x/7 Defender, a tie/sf, and tie phantom are common pairings.
Boshek would be mean on Oicunn. Really mess with Rey's S-loops.
The TIE/SF and TIE Aggressor expansionso will give you some good pilots and upgrades:
Quickdraw and Backdraft. Even the generics are good. You'll want to run it with Lightweight frame (in the Aggressor or Stoker expansions) and optionally Cruise Missiles (aggressor).
Kestal or Double Edge can be fun but you can run a TIE Aggressor generic with Twin Laser Turret (and Lightweight frame) at 25 squad points.
Lightweight Frame and Unguided Rockets (Aggressor) also make great upgrades for the Bomber.