So now we know what the ships now look to be in 2.0. Swarms and squads could really become varied. So what will be your following:

Staple Ship: that ship you find ways to build around again.

Not sure about: that ship you’re looking at and still need to see some stuff before it’s your new OMG Play ITZ NAOW fools?

Wild Card: what’s the ship people are not talking about or ignoring that will be a secret weapon for you?

for me:

TIE Phantoms specifically Echo. I miss Echo. I pull Echo out for a fun game recently was like riding a bike and you forgot how fun it was even with a sub optimal build that actually kinda worked.

Not Sure: TIE Punisher. Still not sure it’s going to be more than a cool model. Compared to the TIE Bombers for cost and abilities. It’s still not separated enough to see use till I see more things.

Wild Card: TIE Agressor. I’m really curious about the Aces for them. They start I3. With new mobile arcs do they get the mechanics to use their Turret and primary weapon together? Is there a unique Imperial Turret in “Synced Turret”? It didn’t get to really make a splash because of when it came out. I see this one being the sleeper.

so let’s hear your thoughts Imperials!

Staple: Punisher, Bomber

Not sure: Decimator... I enjoyed the arc dodger part, didn't enjoy the turret part. Now its all turret... Not very hyped about it, especially if it will only have 2 crew slots.

Wild card: TAP, generic inquisitor missile swarm... Believe it.

TIE Adv and Echo!

Staple:

Phantom looks sweet, and hopefully will be priced reasonably enough to be an "X-wing" with a twist! this'll let us include them in varying numbers in tons of squads, wherein it'll quickly become the backbone of many a list.

No way in **** I'm not flying Deathrain! because DEATHRAIN !!!!!

Feroph was made for me . his 2.0 ability changes his green die to an evade if the attacker has no green tokens. So basically, auto-evade dice. How could I say no!?

Not sure:

Decimator has some badass combos (tula + vader cheri, inquisitor oicuun) but need to see how pricey it gets

Wild Card:

everyone's talking about everything, it seems

gotta agree though, generic TAP seems like it has a lot of...unTAPped potential

especially the (not so grand) Inquisitor with sense serving as the new intel agent

Staple ship: TIE striker. They were good before, they'll still be good. I'm excited to see what the named pilots are like this time around.

Not sure: TIE advanced. Looks pretty good, but there appear to be so many better options. Not sure they'll see much play on my table. We'll have to see.

Wild card: TIE phantom. It's shaping up to be a very different beast from 1.0, meaning it could be tons of fun, or a total joy kill.

19 minutes ago, Parakitor said:

Staple ship: TIE striker. They were good before, they'll still be good. I'm excited to see what the named pilots are like this time around.

I should have included in my OP @Parakitor is going to say his staple is Strikers so I’ll save everyone time. He just needs to answer the other two items. Cause that was too obvious to not see coming!

ALPHA CLASS! ALPHA CLASS! and Soontir.

I'm not sold on the defender actually. I'm worried that the cost relative to the E-Wing, combined with the defensive nature of the Defender compared to the E-Wing makes me feel like the rebels got the winner of the superiority fighters.

I think Phantoms are going to be the wild card here, the innate reposition and I assume price reduction that come with the drop in attack dice should make for a great ship.

Staple: TIE/Ln

Put these little guys in every squad.

Not Sure: Phantom

Depends on how they're costed. Seems leaning in the old interceptor direction, if you ask me.

Wild Card: Lambda Shuttle

Back in action.

4 minutes ago, Nyxen said:

I'm not sold on the defender actually. I'm worried that the cost relative to the E-Wing, combined with the defensive nature of the Defender compared to the E-Wing makes me feel like the rebels got the winner of the superiority fighters.

Really? Wow first person I have seen on the forum with this concern. Seeing the improved dial, and it getting a red 2K on top of things still not enough to convince ya? Is the concern for the Defender Generics or the lack of seeing what the other Aces other than Ryad will bring Vs what you saw with say Mr. Horn?

3 minutes ago, Ronu said:

Really? Wow first person I have seen on the forum with this concern. Seeing the improved dial, and it getting a red 2K on top of things still not enough to convince ya? Is the concern for the Defender Generics or the lack of seeing what the other Aces other than Ryad will bring Vs what you saw with say Mr. Horn?

I'm not saying it won't be amazing, I think it will be too expensive to leverage, whereas I think the E-Wing will be cheaper, and with its offensive focus be able to leverage that advantage better.

Looking forward to the tie defender. It’s been one of my favorite ships from Star Wars for pretty much as long as I can remember and looks like it’ll be really good. Not sure after that. I’ve been flying a lot of he first order ships in 1e, so I’m looking forward to that more than the empire in general.

9 minutes ago, VanderLegion said:

Looking forward to the tie defender. It’s been one of my favorite ships from Star Wars for pretty much as long as I can remember and looks like it’ll be really good. Not sure after that. I’ve been flying a lot of he first order ships in 1e, so I’m looking forward to that more than the empire in general.

This does bring up an interesting thought. Since Specifically the TIE S/F is out of the Imperial Camp, does something fill that gap? I could see Aggressors in a similar role, but only if the Pilot Skills somehow go up or they get help. Or will this be the true return of Imperial swarms are better than just a group of Aces or a small swarm led by an Ace?

NOTHING WILL BE ALRIGHT UNTIL MAAREK STELE IS A FORCE USER!

19 minutes ago, Ronu said:

This does bring up an interesting thought. Since Specifically the TIE S/F is out of the Imperial Camp, does something fill that gap? I could see Aggressors in a similar role, but only if the Pilot Skills somehow go up or they get help. Or will this be the true return of Imperial swarms are better than just a group of Aces or a small swarm led by an Ace?

Ooh, this is a juicy topic. I remember from the stream that Alex or Frank said something along the lines of, "Or if you are into more advanced ships in fewer numbers, maybe the First Order is more your style." Paraphrasing, but that's what I remember. I think you may be right - Imperials are about the swarms. Even the TIE phantom seems to have been brought down in price (we can assume). TIE defender is an obvious exception, but I don't think exceptions are necessarily bad.

The Special Forces TIE fighter is just so different from anything in the Imperial faction. I think the reasons it's been so popular are Lightweight Frame and Harpoon Missiles. Without either of those in 2.0, I'm not sure how it will perform now, nor do I have an idea of what could fill the role as a similarly tanky, yet offensive ship. Maybe nothing can replace it. The TIE aggressor does have the missile slot and the arc coverage. I've never flown one, so I can't really speak to that. It's likely that it will be a key difference between the two Dark Side factions.

1 hour ago, Ronu said:

This does bring up an interesting thought. Since Specifically the TIE S/F is out of the Imperial Camp, does something fill that gap? I could see Aggressors in a similar role, but only if the Pilot Skills somehow go up or they get help. Or will this be the true return of Imperial swarms are better than just a group of Aces or a small swarm led by an Ace?

TIE Avenger when!?!

Staple ship: Tie Defender. Live these guys, and while they will be more expensive, getting a boost and a shield is not a bad deal. One of the few ships in game that can focus evade. Really hope Vess is basically the same. Also, Deathfire. My favorite little guy comes back,quite different, but I'm okay with that.

Not sure: The TIE Advanced looks less than stellar

Surprise: TIE Bombers?

Not an Imperial user normally, but I've been giving them a shot lately.

Staple - TIE Interceptor. I just feel like now is their time.

Not sure - TIE Punisher. Not convinced this will be good. Usable? Sure. But good? Eeeeh.... maybe?

Sleeper - TIE Aggressor. Never saw these things used, but I think in 2.0 they will do some amazing things.

Cant wait to fly Iden Versio and HowlRunner with 4 tie fighters Im dying to know what upgrades i can slap on them or what other named ties would go wiith them.

16 minutes ago, Kehl_Aecea said:

Not sure - TIE Punisher. Not convinced this will be good. Usable? Sure. But good? Eeeeh.... maybe?

When in doubt, fire proton torpedoes.

I'm hoping I can play my two and a half punishers list with redline, deathfire and a bomber ace I can fit.

Staple: Strikers. As others have said, they were good before and will be even better in 2.0 with some of their predators gone or nerfed.

Unsure: The TIE/ln. I really hope that some variant of the (mini)swarm comes back. Bit did enough change? ARCs, firesprays and dash look really hot against them.

Wild card: The decimator. We will havd to see just how it performy in its new role.

Staple Ship: Honestly, I'm really eager to get back to just handling a swarm or miniswarm of TIEs. I love the iconic ship, can't wait to scream through space with my boss-*** engine sounds, picking my targets and withering them down with concerted fire before breaking formation in a fast and furious furball.

Not sure about: The TIE Striker. I never got a lot of practice with it, it has bombs now which I like, I know it has potential but I've yet to get a game where it does really what I want it to do.

Wild Card: Not a lot of people talking about the TIE/sa. I can't wait to play with it. I wanna run a game with a full flight of generic Bombers and TIEs. Like, whatever would be the equivalent of a 200 point game in 1.0.

Staple Ships:

-TIE Striker

-TIE Fighter

I can't remember the last time I flew ANY list that had less than 4 ships, I prefer 5 or 6, so these ships are my jam.

Not sure about:

-TIE Bomber. She is looking the same as before, and while it is awesome to be able to reload now, I'm just not sure how the bomber is going to stay cheap enough to be relevant.

-TIE Interceptor. Depends on Carnor Jax... I hope his ability is the same as before...

Wild Cards:

-TAP. I cannot explain how much I love flying Barons with juke. I want to try out a list of inquisitors too, because that seems awesome, but we will see how they do on the table.

Staple ships:

- Lambda-class shuttle. Best looking imperial ship is getting an upgrade and is back in town.

- Tie Fighter. I'm hoping they get the pricing right and we'll get to swarm those again.

Not sure about:

- Tie Interceptor. They might have a shot at arc-dodging now, but for some reason i don't feel that in world where luke gunner is a thing and bombs will still be a thing they're going to be that fun with their little hull.

- Tie phantom. It just lost the best thing going for it and became a vastly different 3 att ship. I have no interest in playing this ship atm.

Wild Card:

Tie Advanced. With ATC glued to it it has system slot open and got a lot better dial. It might be just what empire needs, a great all-around ship.

I don't think my go to's will change that much. I really enjoy flying high agility Imperial Aces in fast arc dodging ship so I think I'll be flying a lot of TIE Advanced, TIE Interceptor, TIE Striker and of course the base TIE Fighter.

The one I will pull out of Mothball will probably be the Lambda and the one I'm looking forward to seeing the new mechanics for in detail is the Aggressor.

Although I'm still miffed that my preferred faction (First Order) is being skipped over in the initial release.