After seeing a Zed swarm get top 4 at a recent System Open, I realized how potent swarms can be and decided to try out my own. This is my idea for a swarm list. Not a fan of the conventional 8 Zeds or Tie Fighters, so I tweaked it a bit to pack more of a punch.

Three Academy Pilots

Delta Squadron Pilot: Tie/D title, Ion Cannon

Kir Kanos: Royal Guard tie, Shield Upgrade, Stealth Devices

Just looking for feedback for someone with little swarm experience.

Thanks!

6 hours ago, BCvalor said:

After seeing a Zed swarm get top 4 at a recent System Open, I realized how potent swarms can be and decided to try out my own. This is my idea for a swarm list. Not a fan of the conventional 8 Zeds or Tie Fighters, so I tweaked it a bit to pack more of a punch.

Three Academy Pilots

Delta Squadron Pilot: Tie/D title, Ion Cannon

Kir Kanos: Royal Guard tie, Shield Upgrade, Stealth Devices

Just looking for feedback for someone with little swarm experience.

Thanks!

1. Kir Kanos is kind of awful. His ability lets you whack an extra hit on an attack (good) but without Push The Limit, you're throwing unmodified dice, so the actual improvement is pretty low unless you can find a way to hand him rerolls or a focus token.
2. Shield Upgrade and Stealth Device is pretty expensive - probably the single best thing you can equip a TIE interceptor with is Autothrusters - at 2 points it's amazing how much mileage you can get out of it because it triggers against every range 3 or out-of-arc attack; it's a godsend against twin laser turrets, for example.
3. 3 Academy pilots are...okay? 2 PS1 blockers is generally enough, but a third doesn't hurt, I guess.
4. A TIE/D is pretty fragile for its cost but it does come with impressive firepower. Ion cannons are a great answer to Nym, Miranda Doni and the other small-base-really-tough-low-agility crowd.

The Z-Swarm worked because it paired a swarm of 7 2-dice ships with a limited missile barrage of harpoons and multiple XX-23s allowing any of 4 ships to do a howlrunner impression at a moment's notice (and range 1-2 means the swarm can fly loose and not be as easy to splash-damage).

If you only want 5 ships, I recommend one of the following for your consideration:

• Alpha Squadron Pilot (Autothrusters) x 5
• Cartel Spacer (Heavy Scyk, Mangler Cannon) x 2, Cartel Marauder (Vaksai, XX-23 S-Thread Tracers, Contraband Cybernetics, Munitions Failsafe, Guidance Chips) x 3 - or reverse numbers to taste
• Scarif Defender (Adaptive Ailerons, Lightweight Frame) x 5
• Omega Squadron Pilot (Crack Shot, Advanced Optics) x 5