Hello all. I've been racking my brains on fine-tuning a favored list of mine, and I'm hoping I can get some input from the rest of the community. Usually I'm running this at 99 points:

"Quickdraw" with Veteran's Instincts, Fire Control System, Primed Thrusters, Harpoon Missiles, Lightweight Frame, and Title

Colonel Vessery with TIE/D title, Tractor Beam, TIE Engine Mark II, and Trick Shot

Scimitar Squadron Bomber as a TIE shuttle with Fleet Officer, Operations Specialist, and TIE Engine Mark II

Between the crew handing out a lot of Focus, and the ships able to shoot multiple times a round, it's a lot of fun to fly. But it feels a bit lacking, and with the new toys in the Reaper I'm mulling over choices. I've been thinking about swapping QD's Harpoons for Expertise (though I hate to lower PS in this meta), switching the Fleet Officer for a Tactical Officer and giving the Bomber a LWF, fitting in VI for Vessery and/or swapping for an Ion Cannon, or if I'm feeling saucy, switching the Ops Specialist for a System Officer, and changing Vessery for an X7 Rexler Brath with Juke.

I'm going back and forth on a lot of ideas, without much time to playtest them. Any input you folks are willing to give, would be greatly appreciated!

I'm not gonna lie, I don't think that a shuttle is worth it here as action support. Between Vessery and QD, probably the hardest hitting pilots in the empire, a tiny little support isn't that big of a deal.

I would instead fly it as an interference piece: Deathtroopers and LWF punish the opponent for targeting the actual dangers, who you can make MORE dangerous by giving them both Expertise, and upgrading Vessery to an Ion Cannon.

Both would then have SIGNIFICANTLY more damage output and actions free to B-roll for a better shot or focus for defense. Plus, Vess' cannon matters more, because tractoring wouldn't improve QD's shot, and Ion can lock down the stress from the Deathtroopers. Yes, QD wouldn't have the same PS, but with 2 arcs, 9 is fine.

So like this:

Scimitar

Shuttle Title

LWF

Deathtroopers

QD

Expertise

Title

FCS

LWF

Vessery

Expertise

TIE/D

Ion Cannon

TIE Mk. II

That's an intriguing thought, Greebwahn, and one I'll consider. I might brainstorm another 20 point ship in lieu of the Bomber, but I'm curious how the stress/Ion workings could interact on the mat. Thank you for that!

I've been playing a similar list for some time now and I really like it. The shuttle is there for pure support and if the opponent goes for it first, just to get rid of the focussplashing, you will win everytime. This is a bit different than yours with Backdraft instead of Vessery, but it gives me two harpoons that can wipe a ship of the board in the first engagement.

"Quickdraw" (29)
Expertise (4)
Fire-Control System (2)
Harpoon Missiles (4)
Sensor Cluster (2)
Lightweight Frame (2)
Special Ops Training (0)

"Backdraft" (27)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Fire-Control System (2)
Harpoon Missiles (4)
Pattern Analyzer (2)
Lightweight Frame (2)
Special Ops Training (0)

Scimitar Squadron Pilot (16)
Fleet Officer (3)
Courier Droid (0)
TIE Shuttle (0)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

"Quickdraw" (29)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Fire-Control System (2)
Advanced Optics (2)
Lightweight Frame (2)
Special Ops Training (0)

Colonel Vessery (35)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Ion Cannon (3)
Multi-spectral Camouflage (1)
TIE/D (0)

Scarif Base Pilot (22)
ISB Slicer (2)
Courier Droid (0)
Advanced Ailerons (0)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Dont bother with green dice and a bunch of focus tokens, when you can mess with your opponents red dice with Jam action. Reaper is cheap enough to not care if opponent goes for it instead of Ion Cannon Vessery, and jam is dangerous enough to **** your opponent up every round if they ignore it.

I'd sub VI for ASTS on Vessery there, and ditch the Optics to upgrade QD to Expertise