So I recently went to a regional and was very happy with my performance. I went 4-2 and was 4-1 before the last game and was in 6th. Now, my list was this:

Colonel Vessery: x7, Expertise, Mk II

Quickdraw: Title, Expertise, AO, LWF, FCS

Nu: Harpoons, LRS

But with things like Countermeasures, Black One, or just simply getting out of range or into Range 1, I felt that the Nu wasn't entirely lifting his share of the load. I was very impressed with Vessery and QD in this configuration, and felt they harmonized really well together, but am theorycrafting another friend for them. Now, I don't think the friend needs to be a targetlock helper for Vess (although that would be nice). Here are some ideas I've come up with, but would appreciate any ideas! Just for the record, if I don't change anything, I have 23 points to play with.

Sabaac: VI, Title - This is probably my favorite to try out. Should hit hard and hopefully force the opponent to attack him rather than Vess or QD.

Omega Leader - A Score, AdvOpt - This is a nice, cheap OL build, and would be a help to Vess if he needed it.

Nu - Cannon title, Ion Cannon, LRS: He can help Vess with TL, and could put a very debilitating Ion on someone

Nu - Cannon Title, Flechette, LRS, LB: Same as above, but gets Linked Battery and can stress people who may not want it (especially Rey, who now, if she sloops, will have 1 stress)

Tie Shuttle: Kylo, Vader: Just an annoyance, possibly brutal with Kylo giving a blinded.

Deathfire: Unguided Rockets, Cluster Mines, LRS: I love Deathfire, but this may be too much of a budget version. Can spot for Vess.

Deathfire: EM, Cluster Mines, LRS: Same as above, but more mines

Thoughts?

As strong as expertise is, it's also terribly costly. Running 2 of them eats up a ton of points, and I would probably recommend cutting one of them to make room for your last ship. We had a tourney saturday that was won by a QD/Vess/Inq. QD had VI instead of expertise and possibly no tech, Vess ran VI and x7, Inq ran ATs, PTL and v1. It was a monster to fly against, and vessery often came down to pulling it out in the late game for him. I'll try to find the actual list if you're interested in it.

As for your choices, I do like both Sabacc and OL. Sabacc throws a lot of dice and is a big early game threat, which takes some heat off QD who they want to target early to strip shields and remove those easy locks for Vess. OL is a much stronger late game ship, which is where QD/Vess tends to struggle. Once QD goes down, Vess loses a lot of his punch. Still has a strong chasis, but not having mods on a lot of your shots will hurt. The Nu's don't feel as agile now that everyone knows how they fly and how to fly against them. I feel like you're likely better off with a heavier cannon if you intend to run one, as they won't get as many shots off and you really need them to bring a big impact.

I've been having a bit of success with a cheap bomber, although my list otherwise is just a hair different. Sensor clusters on QD for a mock evade (I feel like it's helped out more defensively than just banking a focus and barrel rolling a lot) and stealth device and Juke or VI on Vess depending on if I feel like I'll need a 1 pt bid or not. Feel free to cut SD and the EPT to fit expertise and tie mk IIs back in if that's what you like. My bomber runs LRS, EM, Plasma torps and Unguided rockets. Keeps the target lock around to double up on ships to reduce the odds of both being stripped away pre-combat, keeping Vess happy with free locks himself, and the bomber can focus each turn and is free to use any weapon he has for a decent-for-his-cost punch. The whole list is happy to spend tokens on defense, so it's not really impacted by HSCP which is making a big re-emergence.

SO! I love QD and Vessery - very strong, PARTICULARLY with Expertise. But, Expertise is way better on TIE/D Vessery, capitalizing on both shots. With that in mind, I would suggest this:

Vessery:

TIE/D

Expertise

Jamming Beam

QD

Title

Expertise

FCS

LWF

and then either Omega Ace with VI or Crackshot/Adv. Optics (a brutal hit/run fighter), a basic TIE Ace, ie Scourge, for example (probably adding tech onto QD then), or a Scimitar Bomber w/ Unguided Rockets and LWF (just a cheap, fun little piece)