Just wondered what peoples thoughts on this were:

Tie Bomber, Scimitar Squadron Pilot, Fleet Officer, Lightweight frame, tie shuttle

21 points

Tie Defender, Countess Ryad, Tie/x7, Twin Ion Engine, VI

34 points

Tie Defender, Rexler Brath, Expertise, Ion Cannon, Tie D, Twin Ion Engine

45 Points

He wants to try his 17 year old hands at some local competitions and is flying this list.

He's played against me (easy wins for him each time LOL) against local club members (won most of those) and we've both gone to a local store on two occasions.

His first game was against another Imperial player (tournie go-er) and while he lost it was a very close run thing.

His second (this week) he won against another tournie go-er, who was flying scumm (Contracted Scout, Expertise, Dengar, Rigged Cargo Chute, Countermeasures, Punishing One - 48 points and Asajj Ventress, Predator, Latts Razzi, Glitterstim, Glitterstim, Countermeasures, Shadow caster - 52 points).

He lost the bomber and had damage to the other two ships but got rid of the Jumpmaster first (with a bit of luck to keep Countess Ryad alive on one hull) and then harried the Lancer Pursuit Craft to death with the two defenders.

Thoughts / comments appreciated (Including how to beat the **** thing using Rebels LOL)

It's not super optimal, but it's not a bad list either. You could make a few minor changes to your son's list and he'd see only slightly better performance and if he's comfortable with it, he might as well stick by it. Probably the only big change I'd suggest is to change out VI on Ryad. Going from PS 5 to PS 7 doesn't change her order a whole lot of when she gets to move and shoot and there's not many big threats in that range. Ideally, he'd probably want either Juke or Push the Limit on her, but he'd have to make changes to make room. He could trade out Twin Ion Engine and VI, both from Ryad, for Juke and it doesn't really change anything about how you should fly the list. If he wanted Push the Limit for better action economy and damage throughput, he would need to do the next most common change you'll hear on this forum. That would be to swap out Rexlar for Col. Vessery. He's not only cheap enough that your son will have room for the upgrades, he's also a much better pilot for the purposes of pushing damage through. His ability works for both attacks with the TIE/D title, meaning he'll get a free target lock for both shots as long as any other ship already has a target lock on the one you're shooting. The downside to that is you lose your PS 8 ship for a PS 6. That's actually a pretty meaningful breakpoint as a lot of powerful ships sit at PS 8 and it makes those match ups a lot harder. After those changes, there's only very minor changes he could make that really just adapt to playstyle. Long range scanners on his bomber instead of Lightweight Frame are a boon to Vessery and allow an easy source of target locks. He could also feasibly drop Twin Ion Engine from Rexler (or Vessery if you replace him) to make room for another crew on the bomber. There's a lot of good options there, so it might be worth looking at if he wants to tweak the list any.

Now, for beating this list.

The bomber is a big weak point and could be taken out early but it's not a huge threat. One round of focused fire takes it out at your earliest convenience. I'd recommend doing that if he's ever exposed in a bad position, otherwise you'll want to shut down his TIE/D defender. Even with TIE mk. II's, it's very vulnerable to stress. Bringing any ship that can carry R3-A2 that fires at a high PS will negate a lot of damage he can do. Likewise, bringing any ship that can deny the token stack on Ryad cuts down her survivability by a lot. Fenn Rau in the sheathipede with Hotshot Copilot can force her to spend her focus on a shot that likely wouldn't do damage to her anyway, and he can prevent any ship in arc from spending tokens to modify attack dice. You could also use any high PS ace like Poe who can reposition and arc dodge the defenders. Defenders are terribly predictable and planning around the inevitable k-turn is something you'll just have to practice and you'll start to anticipate it.

@Jimbawa thanks for the input. He likes flying it, so think he'll keep it as it is but I'll pass on the comments.

I need to play more often. Most games I feel like I have a magnetic attraction to asteroids!

But I think I'm getting the hang of arc dodgers like Tycho and Jake in A wings, but I've struggled with Poe for some reason. More practice required.

I only play casually (and mainly B wings - hence the casual play!) but would be nice to challenge him once in a while.

Hrm. With Rexler Brath, I kinda like it when he's not the first one in the list to shoot. If you can strip shields from a target first, Vessery's pilot ability is a lot stronger. I'd consider dropping Countess for Vessery, and switching Ion Cannon for Tractor Beam, and making Vessery not Rexler the TIE/D. That'd be two PS 8 ships. Use Fleet Officer to give Rexler the TL, and Vess picks his up and shoots first, lowering agility and stripping shields. Rexler then follows up with the crit fiesta. If you really want to keep the Ion Cannon, I'd drop the TIE Shuttle's Lightweight Frame for Twin Ion Engine Mk.II. This would add a bunch of greens, making it easier to get Fleet Officer to trigger.

Scimitar Squadron Pilot (Fleet Officer, Lightweight frame, TIE shuttle) 21

Colonel Vessery (VI, TIE/D, Tractor Beam, Twin Ion Engine) 38

Rexler Brath (Expertise, TIE/x7, TIE Mk.II) 40

I would actually keep Countess Ryad (but get her either Juke or PTL), and downgrade Rexler entirely to the powerhouse Vessery, otherwise keeping the same build.

As for the bomber, it is not going to do much offensively, and the other 2 really don't need action support, so I'd build him to punish people for shooting the others - LWF and Deathtroopers makes target priority a challenge.

The bomber is actually solid in a list like this. A local here flies the fleet bomber with Quickdraw and Backdraft (both with sensor clusters) and made top 8 at regionals. Having that focus, or two, for defense really helps. The bomber becomes a sort of Biggs against two ship builds because you end up just plinking away at these dangerous offensive ships or go after the bomber.

Rex is nice just for his PS. I would actually just drop VI from Ryad for adapt (or score to settle cause who is going after ryad first when ion Rex is there) and have a 1pt bid, so Rex can possibly move last against mirandas and inquisitors, and adapt gives ryad a PS above Low and Ezra, to b-roll if needed. PS 7 is lonely territory right now, and isnt really needed.

I think the list can do good with practice. Defenders in the right hands are scary.

I've run a similer list:

Scimitar: fleet officer, system officer, twin ion engines.

This means switching out rex for ves but everything else stays the same. ...or it gives you space to switch out vi for juke on ryad.

Or flechette cannon or ion cannon on Ryad. Ion Cannon on Vess. Both will have a TL and an extra focus token for shots.

@wurms You have it right. They scare the **** out of me when he uses them!

Thanks for everyones comments.

I've shown these to my son and while he sees the points raised, he's happy with his build as it suits his play style. He may try some of the builds after his first tournament.

I guess that's what the community is all about - Getting helpful advice and comments and then deciding what to go for.

His first tournie is Monday and he already knows that at least 2 people from English (UK?) team for Euros will be there.

He is a mix of excited about it and worried about facing players of this calibre.

There are five games. He's hoping (praying?) that he gets one win.

I've told him to just enjoy himself, concentrate and learn. If he gets beaten, speak to the other player about what each did, what went wrong etc. Perhaps more so if he wins a game. Above all fly casual!

@RedDogReb Its a good list. Again, the only thing I would change is VI on ryad. I think adaptability and a 1pt bid does the same thing, but gives you the option/chance (depending on their bid) of having Rex move after Mirandas and inquisitors which is probably the entire matchup, having Rex ion miranda and double tap inquisitor.

Important thing is he likes the list and will have fun. Nothing worse than flying a list that bores you and playing it for 12 hours straight

10 hours ago, RedDogReb said:

Thanks for everyones comments.

I've shown these to my son and while he sees the points raised, he's happy with his build as it suits his play style. He may try some of the builds after his first tournament.

I guess that's what the community is all about - Getting helpful advice and comments and then deciding what to go for.

His first tournie is Monday and he already knows that at least 2 people from English (UK?) team for Euros will be there.

He is a mix of excited about it and worried about facing players of this calibre.

There are five games. He's hoping (praying?) that he gets one win.

I've told him to just enjoy himself, concentrate and learn. If he gets beaten, speak to the other player about what each did, what went wrong etc. Perhaps more so if he wins a game. Above all fly casual!

Don't suppose it'll be the comp in Woking, this coming bank holiday, here in the UK?

Seems to fit that description

Looking at the attendees, seems like he'll be meeting a friendly bunch of people that will be more than happy to bring him into the community and give plenty of tips and advice (myself included).

@bahourmat yes that’s the one! I’m sure he’ll enjoy himself. If you do play him (Daniel) treat him gently LOL!

Thanks for the comment. The guys at the shop have made us welcome too.