So don’t do epic but have a game coming up. Love the TIE/D curious about variants and armament choices. I would think Ion Cannons are **** on epic ships or other ships in getting out of positions. I know the stress on Flechettes are waisted. What about jamming beam?

Defenders are great! However, the trick to them is to keep the cost as low as possible. I prefer the higher PS generics in x7s

Glaive D titles with ruthlessness and tractor beam/ flechette/ ion gets alot done in epic bring 4

Tie/D's have some potential to do lots of damage and Ions especially pose a threat to energy depedent huge ships. For these reasons, they are not likely to last long in Epic where it is very easy for your opponent to spread out his ships to get lots of shots at your biggest guns.

Im not saying D's can't work, but they will be the prime targets your opponent will want to take out so plan on losing some early.

I've only played one game of Epic, but I ran three ion-equipped Onyx TIE/Ds. Shooting twice was great, and the combined Ions were quite effective. The only one I lost was due to it being run over by my own Raider.

1 hour ago, Alpha17 said:

I've only played one game of Epic, but I ran three ion-equipped Onyx TIE/Ds. Shooting twice was great, and the combined Ions were quite effective. The only one I lost was due to it being run over by my own Raider.

D’oh! Lol. I’ve done that too many times.

TIE/D’s can be scary; just bring something else that ‘appears’ scarrier.

10 hours ago, Ccwebb said:

D’oh! Lol. I’ve done that too many times.

TIE/D’s can be scary; just bring something else that ‘appears’ scarrier.

Or something that seems easier to kill. I had TIE Fighters backing up my Defenders. My opponent went after them first, thinking he could wipe them out first, then focus on the Defenders. They proved a bit tougher to kill than he expected.

On 17/03/2018 at 2:39 AM, Ronu said:

Love the TIE/D curious about variants and armament choices. I would think Ion Cannons are **** on epic ships or other ships in getting out of positions.

I’ve ran a pair of Glaive TIE/D with Ion Cannons/Predator/TIE Mk II a few of times. They’re pretty sweet in epic. It’s very important to run them as Glaives though - PS6 is very powerful in epic. Predator/TIE Mk II gives them some stress resistance (I often face the stress bomb GR75). I back them up with Interceptors (docked on Gozanti) and Advanceds.

11 hours ago, Sasajak said:

I’ve ran a pair of Glaive TIE/D with Ion Cannons/Predator/TIE Mk II a few of times. They’re pretty sweet in epic. It’s very important to run them as Glaives though - PS6 is very powerful in epic. Predator/TIE Mk II gives them some stress resistance (I often face the stress bomb GR75). I back them up with Interceptors (docked on Gozanti) and Advanceds.

Yikes. Back up with TIE/IN? That is a good combo

37 minutes ago, Ccwebb said:

Back up with TIE/IN

I’ve tried Snap Shot TIEs and they can be pretty good backed with Operations Specialist but Advanced with Accuracy Corrector are my favourites.

TIE/D defenders love Comms Booster for extra focus tokens. Fleet Officer and Operations Specialist also help. Once they have multiple focus tokens, that are really tough to take down, especially when those tokens are handed out by a huge ship whose actions can't be blocked.

I really like the Delta Sq. Pilot with Ion Cannon and Twin Ion Engine Mk II. Glaives are good, but once you put an Elite Talent on them, they get expensive. The Delta above is 34 points, while a similar Glaive sporting Predator costs 41. I honestly think that both have a place in Epic, but it depends on what mission you give them, and how you support them with your other ships. Low PS generics fit my play style better, and now that Predator is limited to 4 per epic squad, I don't have to worry about that card single handedly ruining my day.

Being inspired by this thread, here is what I’ll try this next weekend:

Gozanti-class Cruiser
•Vader, Dual Laser Turret, Docking Clamps •Vector Automated Protocols

Crack/Black - TIE Fighterx4

•Captain ‘Ram it’ Oicunn
Stay On Target, Seismic Charges, Courier Droid, Moff Jerjerrod, Mara Jade, Extra Munitions, Anti-Pursuit Lasers

•Lieutenant Dormitz, Fire Control System, Hyperwave Comm Scanner

Lambda-Class Shuttle, Collision Detector, Systems Officer, Fleet Officer

Glaive/D x2
Trick Shot, Tractor Beam, TIE/D

Use Dormitz to place Oicunn last, and as far out into the middle as possible. The TIE/D’s on the right with Gozanti deploying Crack/Black deep on the left.

4 hours ago, Ccwebb said:

Use Dormitz to place Oicunn last, and as far out into the middle as possible. The TIE/D’s on the right with Gozanti deploying Crack/Black deep on the left.

“...the Imperial fleet spread out across the galaxy in a vain effort to engage us...” personally I’d run the Gozanti up the middle - the TIEs can can deploy to the side of the board needing support. I hardly ever use large base ships so that could be crummy advice for your list but spreading out across your deployment zone could make you susceptible to your opponent focussing on one side and then moving to another. It takes a long time to move from one side of a 6’ board to another to support your engaged ships.

Sasajak is correct. When I ran 2 Gozantis, having them even the width of an asteroid pair apart (in my first game) lost me the match - one turn of a significant part of my force not being in range made the difference between winning and losing.

8 hours ago, Sasajak said:

the TIEs can can

Now that's a dance I want to see!

7 hours ago, Gilarius said:

Sasajak is correct. When I ran 2 Gozantis, having them even the width of an asteroid pair apart (in my first game) lost me the match - one turn of a significant part of my force not being in range made the difference between winning and losing.

Good point. I wasn’t planning on extremes sides apart, more of a range of 2 apart. Still... something to think of.

Yeah, until you actually fly these ships, you don't realise how slow they are. Despite my pontificating in this forum, the 3 games I played in a tournament in December were the only epic games I've played in over a year.

Side by side, so all my interceptors could be deployed and shoot the same target, worked far better. As it was, I had to deploy all 8 the same turn, so the 4 out of range could get there next turn; their carrier only got into range the following turn.

In the 3rd round of the event, I used one of my Gozantis to run over Boba Fett - but doing so meant it never got to fire again all game as it took 6 turns to get back into position! It was worth it though - Boba was worth the same number of points and would have done a lot more damage, plus I still got a couple of co-ordinate actions off, helping my interceptors re-position or token up.

2 hours ago, Parakitor said:

Now that's a dance I want to see!

One night only!

The absolute fastest you're getting an epic to move is 6 bases. And that'll lose you energy and an action.

Place em close to where they'll be for the fighting so they get there in time.

Expect 2 or 3 turns of shooting to determine the entire game. So any delay in bringing your full firepower to bear can be the killer.

Double attack Defender with Ruthlessness is brutal in epic, heck you can equip tractor or flechette and wreak total havoc on your opponent's main block.

Dont leave them vulnerable though, they gotta be ps 6+ and need to be kep in the back so they dont get alpha'd

Actually, a build I used to use was Glaives with TIE/D, Ion Cannon, and Wired (TIE mk. II optional). A touch cheaper than the Predator variants at the expense of some variance control. However, they're good in a pinch and can prove strangely resistant to any effect that messes with your good tokens, like Wes Janson, any ship that copies, sheds, or steals green tokens, and jamming. Even with the Mk. II they're 39 points, so about 19 points per shot each round. You could do a lot worse.

8 hours ago, That One Guy said:

Actually, a build I used to use was Glaives with TIE/D, Ion Cannon, and Wired (TIE mk. II optional). A touch cheaper than the Predator variants at the expense of some variance control. However, they're good in a pinch and can prove strangely resistant to any effect that messes with your good tokens, like Wes Janson, any ship that copies, sheds, or steals green tokens, and jamming. Even with the Mk. II they're 39 points, so about 19 points per shot each round. You could do a lot worse.

I played against a wired defender build once and it plays very different from other defender builds. (Was standard game not Epic though.) You can really surprise people. They expect high speed banks and straights, so when you pull the hard one turn and still have dice modifiers they are usually caught out of position. The surprise may only last a round or two, but if you can get an early advantage a lot of times that will dictate the outcome of the game.

Oh man can you imagine if Defenders could equip tech upgrades. Red turn, then use primed thrusters to barrel roll... wicked.

1 hour ago, pickirk01 said:

I played against a wired defender build once and it plays very different from other defender builds. (Was standard game not Epic though.) You can really surprise people. They expect high speed banks and straights, so when you pull the hard one turn and still have dice modifiers they are usually caught out of position. The surprise may only last a round or two, but if you can get an early advantage a lot of times that will dictate the outcome of the game.

Oh man can you imagine if Defenders could equip tech upgrades. Red turn, then use primed thrusters to barrel roll... wicked.

Yes, the turns where why I originally did it. Plus I wanted cheap Defenders with some mods. I started doing this right in the middle of the x7 craze, to catch hard counters unaware. Even in games where I lose they were very effective, just ask Brett!

1 hour ago, That One Guy said:

Yes, the turns where why I originally did it. Plus I wanted cheap Defenders with some mods. I started doing this right in the middle of the x7 craze, to catch hard counters unaware. Even in games where I lose they were very effective, just ask Brett!

Up here there is a guy that uses defenders a lot and I do not think I have ever beat him in a league game when he has had at least one defender in his list. I dont know why he doesnt bring them to our tournaments. He always runs scum bombers instead and does not do well.

On Thursday, April 26, 2018 at 7:59 AM, tsuruki said:

Double attack Defender with Ruthlessness is brutal in epic, heck you can equip tractor or flechette and wreak total havoc on your opponent's main block.

Dont leave them vulnerable though, they gotta be ps 6+ and need to be kep in the back so they dont get alpha'd

Agreed. I had two ruthless defenders in an epic match and they were theros of my list. They killed Darth Vader and x7 Ryad just by putting damage into their wingmen.