Hey all,

Been playing pretty casually with friends and family over the last year or so and finally decided to take the plunge and enter a local tournament. I prefer to play Imperial and have been enjoying playing the following:

Darth Vader

TIE/X1

Adv Targeting Comp

Engine Upgrade

Vet Instincts

Proton Rockets

Total 38 points

Countess Ryad

TIE/X7

Twin Ion Engines

Vet Instincts

Total 34 points

Nu Squadron Pilot

XG-1 Assualt

Linked Battery

Heavy Laser Cannon

Total 28 points

What do people think? Should i drop the Proton Rockets from Vader and maybe reconfigure Ryad to fit an Ion cannon? Or should i use the Gunboat as the control ship with an Ion cannon?

Any tips welcome!!

Some of these questions are really answered by the structure of your local meta (if one exists).

I’ve only done 1 tournament for X-Wing, but I did tons of large and small tournies for Warmachine/Hordes several years back. My advice, take the items that you know and fly well.

On ‎12‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 8:40 PM, Bigdan said:

What do people think? Should i drop the Proton Rockets from Vader and maybe reconfigure Ryad to fit an Ion cannon? Or should i use the Gunboat as the control ship with an Ion cannon?

Any tips welcome!!

I think it's not a bad squad!

Comments/thoughts/suggestions:

• Darth Vader
  • Advanced Targeting Computer, Engine Upgrade and Veteran Instincts has been the 'industry standard' for Vader since the Raider Corvette came out. He's PS11, mobile, and has great action economy without messing around with stress.
  • The one thing you might want to look at is Proton Rockets:
    • Range 1 is a range band where Darth Vader has no problem delivering punch - getting 3 dice (hopefully with focus) and an automatic critical for his Advanced Targeting Computer.
    • Where he struggles is hurting people at range 2 and especially at range 3.
    • As a result, I would consider swapping the proton rockets to Cruise Missiles or (if you have the spare point) Harpoons - the latter are especially good for Darth Vader because his automatic critical makes setting them off with subsequent attacks very easy.
• Countess Ryad
  • I would always, always stick with TIE/x7 on Countess Ryad. The only defender pilot I would really consider TIE/D on is Colonel Vessery, because he can easily get target locks on both of his attacks.
  • Veteran Instincts is....so so. Darth Vader jumping from PS9 to PS11 is amazing, because every PS9 and PS10 opponent (and you see a lot of them) can (force) choke on their ambitions. Jumping from PS4 to PS6....doesn't really change the order of shooting or movement a great deal. You still go after most generics (lothal rebels, wookie gunships, cartel marauders, scarif defenders) and still don't go before PS7, 8, 9 or better 'aces' and named large ships.
  • Twin Ion Engines MkII is okay - more green moves are always nice - but Ryad specifically has green straight moves and green koiogran turns and no specific need to stress herself.
  • They could, however, be dropped in favour of giving Darth Vader Harpoons (see above).
• Nu Squadron Pilot
  • It's a generic XG-1 Heavy Laser Cannon boat. It's tough, brutally shooty, and reliable.
  • I might recommend Long Range Scanners if you have access to a copy for no better reason than that it's free!

Note that if you do decide to go for an ion cannon gunboat, I'd strongly consider using the points saved to equip Countess Ryad with Lone Wolf and Stealth Device.

The combination of TIE/x7's free evade, a focus token (from her action), a 4th green die (from stealth device) and a reroll (from lone wolf) make her unbelievably tough in a one-on-one duel.....

Vader is solid. The only change I'd consider is Cruise Missile for Proton Rockets. They're both pretty similar--potentially 5-dice attacks where you can have both Focus and TL--but they've got different ranges and different triggers. But switching to Cruise is more of a thing for practice rather than tournament. Anyhow, I can't say one is necessarily better than the other, just different.

*edit* Harpoon is good, too, per @Magnus Grendel .

The Nu is a solid HLC Nu. I personally would fly Long Range Scanners, figuring I'll just Focus or SLAM once I'm in the scrum.

While I love TIE/D, TIE/x7 is also great. I'd fly whatever you're most comfortable with. The thing about Ryad which I question a little is Veteran Instincts. Going from PS 5 to PS 7 isn't that important a lot of the time. Crack Shot comes in the same set as Ryad and can help push damage through. If you dropped TIE Mk.II you could get Lone Wolf or Intensity without changing anything else in the list. Lone Wolf will make Ryad more of a threat into the late game, or Intensity can be used to add barrel rolls occasionally (always take a focus, and never prioritize flipping it back over using the tokens to deal or save damage... you'll get enough free evades over time that sooner or later someone won't shoot you).

A few other Elite upgrades for Countess worth considering would be Push the Limit (works great with the green K-turns and banks), Predator (easy, always-on dice modification), and Expertise (not quite always on, but stronger than Predator when it is). If going with one of those, I'd change the Nu around a little, and go missiles instead of a cannon. A Deadeye/Harpoon/Guidance Chips Rho is 26 points, and would free up what you'd need to get PTL or Predator on Ryad. A Nu with Harpoon and Long Range Scanners is 22 points, and could easily take XG-1 and a Flechette cannon at 25 points (enough for Expertise).

I suppose it's also worth mentioning that Colonel Vessery is also a solid pilot for a Defender in a list like this. With Vader having a target lock he often won't spend, and the frequently having a TL it won't have spent yet, this means there's a good chance Vessery's ability will trigger easily. Here, I'd go Expertise or Outmaneuver (less common these days, but I think it's a sleeper pick for Vessery). That'd pretty much require a Harpoon/LRS Nu. Maybe also add a Flechette Torpedo and no title, for clutch stress, or just save the points for a bid.

*Don't have Harpoon? Homing Missiles and Concussion Missiles are almost as good, and a Deadeye Rho could even use a Proton Torpedo, which would be kinda spicy.

I like your squad but at least one ship with autothrusters should be imho mandatory. maybe something like this?

The Inquisitor (25)
Push the Limit (3)
Proton Rockets (3)
Autothrusters (2)
TIE/v1 (1)

Rho Squadron Veteran (21)
Crack Shot (1)
Linked Battery (2)
Heavy Laser Cannon (7)
XG-1 Assault Configuration (1)

Countess Ryad (34)
Juke (2)
TIE/x7 (-2)

Total: 100

I would strongly advocate ditching the Prockets to put PTL on Ryad. That also increases Vader's bid. PTL X/7 Ryad is AMAZING - wild, slippery, and has punch

Cheers for all the feedback!

I didn’t consider PTL on Ryad due to the limited actions but after trying it she was amazing. Very difficult to kill and target locks, focus, evade almost every turn.

Vader did lack punch at long ranges, which is someting I need to look at. But he was often the focus of the opposite players attacks and with his manoeuvrability he was safe.

Managed to finish 2-2 with both losses coming to Dash/Poe lists, where the lack of attacks from Vader showed especially as Poe kept ditching my target locks! Got The Inquisitor as a prize so will be trying him out.

Thanks again for the tips!