I'm preparing for a slew of tournaments next week but have gotten tired of flying QD, so I'm going to try and bring back double defenders. Right now I'm planning on Vessery and Ryad, both with TIE/D and ruthlessness. I was thinking a tractor beam on Vessery and an ion cannon on Ryad, which would leave me 21 points for a third ship. What's a good filler, knowing that I want it to be capable of acquiring a target lock to fuel Vessery's ability. I was `````````````````````````````thinking of a bomber with LRS, but could fly either a shuttle or standard loadout. I could also run a budget TIE /fo like Omega Leader with ASTS, if I don't mind her shooting after Vessery. Let me see some of your thoughts!

I run a similar list:

Colonel, Countess, Taxi (100)

Colonel Vessery — TIE Defender 35

Expertise4

Tractor Beam1

Twin Ion Engine Mk. II 1

TIE/D0

Ship Total: 41

Countess Ryad — TIE Defender 34

Expertise 4

Ion Cannon 3

TIE/D0

Ship Total: 41

Scimitar Squadron Pilot — TIE Bomber 16

Systems Officer 2

TIE Shuttle0

Ship Total: 18

With your 21 points, you could take a basic bomber, toss on Systems Officer, TIE Mk II, and maybe LWF.

@AngryAlbatross has had some success with Ruthlessness Vessery. Dunno if he has ran double Ds though.

@hothie has a batrep going in Battle Reports section called Favre-wing where he is going with two TIE D's and was having some good success with a Fleet Officer bomber which I think is probably the best bet to help keep those TIE D's alive.

An fletchette cannon Nu gunboat with LRS + title can fit in for 21pts also. Stress with ion Ds, on top of a slamming blocker if need be.

@Jimbawa There are a lot of good options now for pairing with Ruthless Vessery D. Tractor is most definitely the best cannon for him. Mainly because you can tractor an enemy towards their friends and hit ships that the enemy does not expect (since Ruthlessness triggers after Tractor). I have killed A TON of Soontirs, Fenn's and Kylos with this combo without even shooting them! The real struggle is the wingmen, you need stuff that stays alive long enough to still TL for Vess and can handle the match if Vess dies. Heres a few ideas for you I have after playing Tie/D Vess for about a year lol (now I am tired of him haha but still its such a fun combo).

Vessery Tie D with Ruthlessness Tractor starts at 39
If flying Ryad as a wingman/woman, I suggest going the x/7 route. I find She isn't really able to trigger ruthlessness very effectively with only one action and D title. Also I would suggest PTL or Expertise as an upgrade for her. When you have more than one ruthlessness on the table its a lot harder to not hit yourself! PTL Ryad with Twin Ion is 36 pts, leaving us 25 pts for a third ship. Theres a few good 25 pt builds out there but heres some that I have tried.

• Omega Leader with Juke and Pattern Analyzer since he doesn't benefit much from Vess' trator. I like him as a closer for this list and won a store champ this season with Him Ryad and Vess.
• Deathfire with LRS, Cruise and Proximity mines if you want some real Jank. My problem with him is he dies quickly and half the time I nearly bombed my own ships!
• OGP with Vader Crew (and Twin Ion on Vess). I took this guy Ryad and Vess to top 16 in Austin last year. Ruthlessness plus the Crit from Vader can be seriously punishing against any ace! But its hard to maneuver this fatty. I usually would try to vader as much as possible so if they got behind OGP he was almost dead anyway.
• NuBoat I haven't tired yet with this combo, but I think it could be good with Harpoons/EM or Mangler/Linked and LRS.
• Pure Sabbac, he dies really fast but hits pretty hard when he's lucky. Can be an imperial 'biggs' for you

Instead of Ryad I have tried double Rho Boats with some success. Theres two configs I have done well with.

• Double Rho's with PTL, OS-1, Harpoon, Chips hits hard and jousts fantastically well. The only problem is you usually want to use the TL and then Vessery is left for a turn or two without a free lock while the gunboats turn around.
• Double Rho's, one with HLC, LRS, XG-1, Linked Batts and Lightning Reflexes. The other with Mangler, LRS, XG-1, Linked, Lightning reflex. I like this build the most for Gunboat Wingmen because they don't 'have' to use the TL's and can spot ships for vessery for multiple turns. Also Lightning Reflexes lets them turn around really easily and keep arc on ships in unpredictable ways.

Some other ideas I have tried with less success lol

• Vader with Decoy, Harpoons, Chips and ATC with Mangle Linked LRS Nu. Vessery tractoring at ps9 is powerful, but ultimately not worth the gimmick I think. Vader seemed the best option for Decoy (or swarm leader) since he doesn't really need his EPT (tho now with Rebel Fenn Rau he does). Quickdraw can also work for this build, the harpoon plus mangler to trigger is pretty fun too.
• Deathrain with Clusters, missiles and LRS was fun, don't remember what I flew with him for a wingman. (this might be better with Bomblets and Simulator plus LRS and some Missiles for maximum joust potential)

Ultimately I think you want to pair him with some ships that can finish the game. If the enemy has to choose between shooting Vessery or your Ace then your in a good spot. Ryad was perfect for this because she was hard to kill and could take advantage of the tractor. Maybe theres some other Tie Advanced or TAP pilots that would be good too. I tried Vess with VI for a while and the Inquisitor and it did well. Keep up the ruthless work tho! Those academy pilots need someone keeping them scared!

@wurms thanks for remembering me!

Expertise on TIE/D Ryad and Vessery with Ion Cannon and Tractor Beam, respectively, is BRUTAL. I think just running a cheap little Epsilon Ace with Primed Thrusters would be primo alongside, and leaves room for Mk. II on Vessery

I can get behind the x7 Ryad with PTL alongside Vess. I think I'm going to play around with Omega Leader and maybe a little Sabacc. I like the idea of OL with ASTS and either Comm Relay or Advanced Optics to make sure I've got double mods for defense, a soft focus for offense, and she can zone away an ace who doesn't want to be taking free crits potentially. Feels like it should be tanky enough, even if it's a little worse in the end game. In both cases I can fit TIE mk. IIs on Vess. It's not really a huge priority, but it does help fight those nasty stress lists. Likewise I'll try out ASTS, Crackshot or Trickshot for Sabacc depending on how important that TIE mk. II is or if I feel like I need a bid.