2 minutes ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Pack both in an ST-321 Lambda for a squabbling road trip.

If you're prepared to spend the points, it can even work fairly well:

• Co-ordinate a ship at range 2 of you, lock someone at range 3 of them . Use Krennic's ability to peel off the shields.
• Next turn, Tarkin orders "you may fire when ready" and everyone gets free locks in the system phase on that guy.

Saddened to note the lack of Adrenaline Rush amongst the elite upgrades. With both that, Wired and Veteran Instincts gone, Duchess will have to think carefully what, if anything, to equip. I suspect Elusive is a decent generic answer.

Lone Wolf would be good on Duchess. Predator is likely to be a strong option as well, as she'll have a LOT of flexibility about where to point, to get it to work.

I noticed a calculate token on the cardboard in the video. What's up with that? I can't see any card that uses it.....

26 minutes ago, thespaceinvader said:

Lone Wolf would be good on Duchess. Predator is likely to be a strong option as well, as she'll have a LOT of flexibility about where to point, to get it to work. 

I'm not convinced she's a strong enough solo ship to support Lone Wolf. Even ace strikers need to mug people en masse to really pull their weight.

Good observation on predator, though - with (for example) straight 1/bank 1, bank 1/straight 1 and no ailerons/bank 3 all landing facing the same way in slightly different spots within a base width of one another, Duchess probably has as good a chance of lining up a boresight shot as anyone without needing to spend an action doing so, and rerolls on a Striker's attack dice would be a welcome change....

2 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

• Decimator
  • Oicunn - no automatic ramming damage anymore. Still, shooting at range 0 isn't bad, and hopefully he'll be cheap. 

Oicunn gets to shoot a target that cant shoot him back - we haven't seen the detailed version of the rules yet but I'm assuming you still get a range bonus at range 0 and with the Dauntless title, Oicunn could be rolling 4 modified dice against a ship that doesn't get a shot back. That seems terrifying.

2 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

• Crew
  • Seventh sister - gaining Jam instead of stress....largely irrelevant since jam goes away. Tractoring someone after they've done a talon roll could be awkward. To be honest, it's a (hopefully cheap) way to give a ship with a crew slot a force token. Not bad in its own right.

It's worth noting that linked actions/red actions are going to be a major source of stress, so swapping that stress for a jam token (and then immediately removing one of those tokens they just received) would probably be the main use of choosing to assign a jam token. Or rather, the threat of using Seventh Sister that way creates a bubble around her where enemy ships are afraid to perform linked/red actions out of fear of her stripping their tokens/throwing them on rocks.

1 minute ago, Transmogrifier said:

Oicunn gets to shoot a target that cant shoot him back - we haven't seen the detailed version of the rules yet but I'm assuming you still get a range bonus at range 0 and with the Dauntless title, Oicunn could be rolling 4 modified dice against a ship that doesn't get a shot back. That seems terrifying.

Don't get me wrong- I'm not saying it isn't - provided he's got his turret pointed the right way (dauntless for a red rotate might be good insurance).

And yes, it's nice, but it's comparing to his currently much more brutal 'ramming speed' incarnation which lands two automatic damage on you and then follows up by shooting someone else to boot.

3 minutes ago, Transmogrifier said:

It's worth noting that linked actions/red actions are going to be a major source of stress, so swapping that stress for a jam token (and then immediately removing one of those tokens they just received) would probably be the main use of choosing to assign a jam token. Or rather, the threat of using Seventh Sister that way creates a bubble around her where enemy ships are afraid to perform linked/red actions out of fear of her stripping their tokens/throwing them on rocks.

A fair point.

1 hour ago, GuacCousteau said:

The idea that Tarkin is most effective on a ship that also has Krennic is kinda hilarious.

I'm just imagining them bickering over which ship to target lock, and then arguing about who gets credit when that ship is killed.

"I will tell the Emperor that I will be taking credit for the kill I first targeted moments ago."

"We fire here amidst my target lock, not yours!"

Meanwhile Vader's had enough of their pointless bickering and refuses to get in the shuttle with them, so he takes his TIE Advanced and flies alongside.

35 minutes ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Don't get me wrong- I'm not saying it isn't - provided he's got his turret pointed the right way (dauntless for a red rotate might be good insurance).

And yes, it's nice, but it's comparing to his currently much more brutal 'ramming speed' incarnation which lands two automatic damage on you and then follows up by shooting someone else to boot.

Yeah, that's a big downgrade to Oicunn. Before, he could do autodamage and still shoot someone who then moves off him or another ship in general. Now his ability is completely moot unless someone remains rammed WITH him throughout activation. New Oicunn is way worse.

14 minutes ago, thespaceinvader said:

Yeah, that's a big downgrade to Oicunn. Before, he could do autodamage and still shoot someone who then moves off him or another ship in general. Now his ability is completely moot unless someone remains rammed WITH him throughout activation. New Oicunn is way worse.

I don't think its worse and might even be better. You just have to use him as a blocker instead of just ramming something. Move into blocking position and target lock a ship. They hopefully run into you and then you can fire at them without the threat of return fire. Instead of one auto damage you can potentially drive 4 damage into a target.

Potentially. And it only works if you can block - with the deci dial and no repositioning.

And it doesn't do anything to anything else in their list.

It's really, really not as good. It doesn't add anything at all - you do the same amount of damage with the same amount of shots - it only expands your targetting options... if you're lucky.

When 2e was first announced I was going to use to to transition into using Rebels for the first time.

But now I've seen how well Defenders come out of all this and I can't give them up!

Good pilot options, with decent I levels, a cracking list of actions, and more HP, and X7 built in.

They are the powerhouse they're meant to be. I don't care if they're expensive, they should be! My biggest problem will be figuring out what to put alongside one.

7 minutes ago, thespaceinvader said:

It's really, really not as good. It doesn't add anything at all - you do the same amount of damage with the same amount of shots - it only expands your targetting options... if you're lucky.

Agreed.

That said, I would like to note that:

• 'Not as good' isn't 'not good'
• His ability is essentially that of Arvel Crynd - but:
  • with a turret (meaning you can shoot at anyone who's hit you in the side or rear if your arc is positioned appropriately)
  • with dauntless (meaning you can still get an action)
  • with a 3-dice primary
• Pretty much all autodamage has been removed from the game aside from place-before-everyone-moves bombs and spend-a-token-to-avoid-it Vader. Oicunn moving and ramming someone who hasn't moved yet clearly fell under the 'bad autodamage' category they were trying to remove.
• 'Shoot at range 0' is a nice, simple ability that doesn't require 10 points of upgrades (engine upgrade, dauntless, daredevil, inspiring recruit) to take best advantage of.....
• In short, whilst I wouldn't readily pay for it, I'd rather have it than not. As a pilot ability on a relatively cheap ship with (hopefully) an elite upgrade, it's probably worth the upgrade on the patrol leader (whilst Chiraneau is just an out-and-out battleship)

I think it really depends on the meta - he is now much better against low agility, high health ships with high initiative values (preferably in squads with fewer models). His utility will depend on your ability to set up blocks though, which is considerably harder without access to boost or barrel roll and with the new slower Decimator dial. I like that he's now more of a blocker than a rammer since that helps him prey on high initiative pilots.

34 minutes ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Agreed.

That said, I would like to note that:

• 'Not as good' isn't 'not good'
• His ability is essentially that of Arvel Crynd - but:
  • with a turret (meaning you can shoot at anyone who's hit you in the side or rear if your arc is positioned appropriately)
  • with dauntless (meaning you can still get an action)
  • with a 3-dice primary
• Pretty much all autodamage has been removed from the game aside from place-before-everyone-moves bombs and spend-a-token-to-avoid-it Vader. Oicunn moving and ramming someone who hasn't moved yet clearly fell under the 'bad autodamage' category they were trying to remove.
• 'Shoot at range 0' is a nice, simple ability that doesn't require 10 points of upgrades (engine upgrade, dauntless, daredevil, inspiring recruit) to take best advantage of.....
• In short, whilst I wouldn't readily pay for it, I'd rather have it than not. As a pilot ability on a relatively cheap ship with (hopefully) an elite upgrade, it's probably worth the upgrade on the patrol leader (whilst Chiraneau is just an out-and-out battleship)

Oh it's not BAD, but it's definitely not AS GOOD.

Similarly, Chirpy has got a lot less flexible too, and a lot less about to get double mods.

2 hours ago, GuacCousteau said:

The idea that Tarkin is most effective on a ship that also has Krennic is kinda hilarious.

I'm just imagining them bickering over which ship to target lock, and then arguing about who gets credit when that ship is killed.

"I will tell the Emperor that I will be taking credit for the kill I first targeted moments ago."

"We fire here amidst my target lock, not yours!"

Beat me to it!

I love how many TIE Fighter aces have a conditional extra die. It feels so appropriate. They just have so much experience that they can squeeze every last bit of performance out of their trualsty old TIE Fighter.

If you were being flanked by Scourge and Mauler, it would be genuinely scary. Its some dumb little TIE Fighters that in the right circumstances are hitting like trucks. Especially if they get relatively cheap access to Afterburners.

10 minutes ago, thespaceinvader said:

Similarly, Chirpy has got a lot less flexible too, and a lot less about to get double mods.

I think Minister Tua might be a good call - getting that free reinforce not only provides quite a bit of damage mitigation but also 'activates' chiraneau's ability.

Throw in novice technician for (risky) action-free hull repair, hull upgrade and gonk for action-driven shield repair and you can make the decimator quite the lil' dreadnought.

What it can't do, though, is arc dodge at PS10 like it can at the moment. Jerjerrod could give you boost every other turn, but it is red, limiting your movement options.

10 minutes ago, thespaceinvader said:

Oh it's not BAD, but it's definitely not AS GOOD.

Oh . intimidation might be a good pick for him again, now, too, since it doesn't require a second attacker to take advantage of it.

3 hours ago, Odanan said:

She was part of the Inferno Squad in the book (before the game).

I figured. I haven’t read the book, so I didn’t know how loyal she remained.

5 hours ago, Jike said:

so maybe we'll see more than just Yorr now

FTFY.

wonder why they kept the Wampa name yet his ability still exists under someone elses name. So many TIE pilots with lovely abilities....im not even sure if i want to try to run 8 TIEs i think i'd rather do 6 unique TIEs lol.
Also curious why the Interceptors went down to 2 uniques....there were what 7 of them before? Im rather annoyed about that. All the ships that had more than 2 uniques lost a pilot (or switched pilots) but this is the first ive noticed that lost FIVE pilots! wth?

I am seriously baffled that Vessery returns with effectively a better ability, since now its not friendly-lock bound. He's going to be everywhere, full die mods without a support ship is rare in 2.0, and while he technically needs help it can be any ship, not a support specifically.

TIE Aggressor still has garbage abilities. I cant believe they didnt rework Double Edge, you have to work against the nature of that ship to even attempt to use it and on top of it you need to miss so its not even an ability you WANT to use.

Im really hoping the Gunboat has an innate cannon, especially since the HLC got neutered to bullseye only i would really want an alternate cannon on it. The cannon config only gives them 1 cannon....

And i cant wait to finally have imp crew that are actually GOOD. All of the crew we have in 1.e are either garbage, dangerous to ourselves, or flatout cheesy (kylo/krennic)

1 hour ago, Biophysical said:

I love how many TIE Fighter aces have a conditional extra die. It feels so appropriate. They just have so much experience that they can squeeze every last bit of performance out of their trualsty old TIE Fighter.

If you were being flanked by Scourge and Mauler, it would be genuinely scary. Its some dumb little TIE Fighters that in the right circumstances are hitting like trucks. Especially if they get relatively cheap access to Afterburners.

I love that that there are so many TIE/ln's with abilities that can't be ignored, yet you only can shoot one of them at a time. So mean.

16 minutes ago, Vineheart01 said:

wonder why they kept the Wampa name yet his ability still exists under someone elses name.

There's a suggestion elsewhere that it's so Inferno Squad synergise together - put a damage under shields, then trigger all the things that rely on damaged targets.

18 minutes ago, Vineheart01 said:

Also curious why the Interceptors went down to 2 uniques....there were what 7 of them before? Im rather annoyed about that. All the ships that had more than 2 uniques lost a pilot (or switched pilots) but this is the first ive noticed that lost FIVE pilots! wth?

I am seriously baffled that Vessery returns with effectively a better ability, since now its not friendly-lock bound. He's going to be everywhere, full die mods without a support ship is rare in 2.0, and while he technically needs help it can be any ship, not a support specifically.

I expect the conversion pack essentially has the TIE Fighter individual pack rolled in, which is why we have a huge number of TIE Fighter Pilots. Similar to the X-wing with Rebels.

Re: Vessery, I think they're just giving all the Defender pilots backbreaking abilities. Ryad? 4 white K-turn options. Vessery? Full mods. Rexler? Brutal hits. Huge abilities on a huge chassis seems to be the goal.

Just now, Biophysical said:

Re: Vessery, I think they're just giving all the Defender pilots backbreaking abilities. Ryad? 4 white K-turn options. Vessery? Full mods. Rexler? Brutal hits. Huge abilities on a huge chassis seems to be the goal.

Which i am fine with.

Sad to lose Maarek but his ability wasnt that useful on a defender anyway, i only used him because i already had Ryad and i didnt like Vessery with multiple defenders. Defenders had no way of forcing his ability.
The new rexlar ability is dope, i'll be using him a lot. I tried to use him so hard in 1.e and out of dozens of games i got his ability off ONCE (killed a uwing as a result because one was doubledamage), every other time i either only hit shields, lost my focus, or killed the ship anyway.

No Ciena Pilot? Well I guess I know the first pilots they're going to add to the next interceptor expansion

12 minutes ago, Vineheart01 said:

Which i am fine with.

Sad to lose Maarek but his ability wasnt that useful on a defender anyway, i only used him because i already had Ryad and i didnt like Vessery with multiple defenders. Defenders had no way of forcing his ability.
The new rexlar ability is dope, i'll be using him a lot. I tried to use him so hard in 1.e and out of dozens of games i got his ability off ONCE (killed a uwing as a result because one was doubledamage), every other time i either only hit shields, lost my focus, or killed the ship anyway.

I'm holding put hope for the expansion pack.