First let me say that I wasn’t really a huge fan of the ship at first, but I was going to my first tourney shortly after it’s release and I figured I would give it a try. I wound up taking Kestal with Ruthlessness and a TLT for kicks and giggles (to fly alongside Quickdraw and Omega Ace) and found I loved the ship - let me place in 8th and earn some acrylic range rulers.

Now with 2.0 coming I’ve seen love for a lot of other imperial ships, but not for the TIE Aggressor. I love the idea of the gunner slot and I noticed that Juke doesn’t require you to be in Arc. Now while Ruthless doesn’t quite fit the bill anymore, Kestal with Juke and an Ion cannon could lead to a number of fun possibilities - if the timing holds up, take do a barrel roll, then evade and Kestal can change an evade to focus and remove it.

Now Double Edge was a pilot I couldn’t ever get to work ordnance was just too expensive. But with 2.0, I may try them out. The humble Homing missile may have a home with him, as well, adding a hotshot gunner and Ion cannon. Ideally, you want to keep everything locked forward to maximize the multi firing, though, their ability does not specifically say you have to target the same ship as the first. With clever positioning, you could get to spread your fire. Hotshot Gunner only applies to the ion turret but that alone has it’s dangers for the enemy to navigate.

Here are two builds I intend to try out. They are pricey, but can be very fun and I will still have lots of points for something else - I only have 1 TIE Aggressor until the 2.0 release comes out, so I will only fly one at a time.

Double Edge 33 (IN2), Homing missiles 3, Homing Missiles 3, Ion Cannon Turret 6, Munitions Failsafe 2, Hotshot Gunner 7, and Juke 4

58 points total

Lieutenant Kestal 36; Juke 4; Ion cannon Turret 6

46 points total.

Edit: So.. Kestal will need a friend to give a focus somehow - Fully admit to being overzealous with my excitement about 2.0 that I, like a laserbrain, forgot Kestal needs a focus to trigger her ability.

Attack!

Actual comment though...

A sienar or onyx with just the Ion Turret seems ok for 36-38 pts.

Both of the pilots should have gotten new abilities.

Double Edge still has the same problem he did before: in order to use his ability, you have to abandon the reason for taking an aggressor in the first place - the turret. His ability really should have played on the american slang for "double edged" which usually means very deadly, but potentially as deadly for the user. I.e. buff his attack but a condition causes him to hurt himself.

Kestal is still somewhat useful, but with lack of autos not as important. She can still punch through a focus/force/calc/evade enabled ship but its uses will be more rare than it was in 1.e because now theres no autos. Her whole point to existing was countering autos lol.

I feel like they got the least attention in 2.0 out of all the imp ships

Edit: need to read fully before I quote and reply next time...

I've been considering a Predator Soontir with 4x Sienar pilots equipped with Dorsal Turrets. Seems like a good way to control the field and let Soontir get around to the flanks.

7 minutes ago, Vineheart01 said:

Double Edge still has the same problem he did before: in order to use his ability, you have to abandon the reason for taking an aggressor in the first place - the turret. His ability really should have played on the american slang for "double edged" which usually means very deadly, but potentially as deadly for the user. I.e. buff his attack but a condition causes him to hurt himself.

I'm confused by this. The ability works with the turret in both 1st and 2nd edition. Is it because you may not have shots with both the turret and a forward facing weapon at the same time?

19 minutes ago, That Blasted Samophlange said:

Now with 2.0 coming I’ve seen love for a lot of other imperial ships, but not for the TIE Aggressor. I love the idea of the gunner slot and I noticed that Juke doesn’t require you to be in Arc. Now while Ruthless doesn’t quite fit the bill anymore, Kestal with Juke and an Ion cannon could lead to a number of fun possibilities - if the timing holds up, take do a barrel roll, then evade and Kestal can change an evade to focus and remove it.

Doesn't she also need to have a Focus of her own in order to remove their stuff? How are you getting both tokens in 1 turn without a support ship? Or does this build just require a dedicated focus feeder

6 minutes ago, Vineheart01 said:

Both of the pilots should have gotten new abilities.

Double Edge still has the same problem he did before: in order to use his ability, you have to abandon the reason for taking an aggressor in the first place - the turret. His ability really should have played on the american slang for "double edged" which usually means very deadly, but potentially as deadly for the user. I.e. buff his attack but a condition causes him to hurt himself.

Kestal is still somewhat useful, but with lack of autos not as important. She can still punch through a focus/force/calc/evade enabled ship but its uses will be more rare than it was in 1.e because now theres no autos. Her whole point to existing was countering autos lol.

I feel like they got the least attention in 2.0 out of all the imp ships

Reading his ability "After you perform a (Turret) or (Missile) attack that misses, you may perform a bonus attack with a different weapon." I think they were going for a 'catching them on the back swing' style of double edge. It also doesn't specify the bonus attack be against the same target as the missed attack.

3 minutes ago, Ixidor said:

I'm confused by this. The ability works with the turret in both 1st and 2nd edition. Is it because you may not have shots with both the turret and a forward facing weapon at the same time?

The point of taking a turret is to enable a flight pattern that doesnt force you to keep targets in your front arc. Because Double Edge specifically calls for a failed secondary attack = make a different attack, the only real way to abuse it is to have someone in your front arc. Because the ship is so squishy it depends on being able to bolt around rocks at odd angles and still get a shot due to the turret, if it tries to joust its so dead. And good luck firing ordnance w/o jousting.

I tried so hard to get doubleedge's ability to work in 1.e but every time it was the same: either i never had a shot in my front arc due to the need to fly to the side to avoid a joust i REALLY did not want to face, or one of my weapons was out of range anyway since turrets are short (minus TLT, which is gone now).

1 minute ago, Vineheart01 said:

And good luck firing ordnance w/o jousting.

Use him to flank for a bigger threat.

Why take an Aggressor when you could get a Bomber for less? The turret? We have one okay turret and one joke turret. The abilities? Neither aggressor ability can compete with the bomber abilities.

The aggressor should have been given a third agility die so that it could be a cheap and nimble little turreted pest. As is it is a pretty boring and uninspired ship. The lack of good imperial gunners doesn't help either.

4 minutes ago, HolySorcerer said:

We have one okay turret and one joke turret

Dorsal turret is no joke. It doubles the aggressor's field of fire, plain and simple, and that's before you consider that 2-attacks are good again, and turrets get range bonuses now, so range 1 is 3 dice. I'd pay 2 points for that in 1e in a heartbeat. Add gunner to double-tap on the cheap. One strips tokens, the other deals damage.

2 attacks arent "good again" they just arent auto-ignored.

They will still be evaded quite a bit. Just not to the degree they were before where an entire swarm could fail to damage a lot of popular ships.

Theyre still lousy, theyre just not a total waste of time bad anymore.

1 minute ago, ClassicalMoser said:

Dorsal turret is no joke. It doubles the aggressor's field of fire, plain and simple, and that's before you consider that 2-attacks are good again, and turrets get range bonuses now, so range 1 is 3 dice. I'd pay 2 points for that in 1e in a heartbeat. Add gunner to double-tap on the cheap. One strips tokens, the other deals damage.

I'd like it a lot more if it went to range three, but a range 2 2-dice gun isn't that good. Even if you aren't interested in ion control, the ion turret will do more damage because it is so much more likely to hit. The only reason to chose the dorsal turret is budgetary reasons, and budgetary reasons aren't fun or interesting.

Really only reason i can see to take Dorsal is on a rebel ship that has a crew slot.

Block and fire anyway because of Zeb.

29 minutes ago, HammerGibbens said:

Doesn't she also need to have a Focus of her own in order to remove their stuff? How are you getting both tokens in 1 turn without a support ship? Or does this build just require a dedicated focus feeder

Overzealousness? Yeah, I totally forgot that in my excitement. Still with lots of points left, I provably could find a way.

going to be a bit difficult to justify an Aggressor given the incredibly economic TIE bomber, but at least Kestal still has a swanky ability

36 + 6 + 1 = 43 points isn't exactly terrible, imo

Double-edge's reliability is similarly attractive at only 3 points more than a Gamma Squad Vet, although the lesser health is a small issue

otherwise, you're looking at a "basic" set-up of ICT + Barrage Rockets clocking in at 42 points base (i.e X-wing prices, which I believe the Aggressor competes with just fine given its loadout). A lot of its viability is going to depend on how will you use that ICT, obviously, because otherwise I'd go for bombers.

32 minutes ago, HolySorcerer said:

Why take an Aggres  sor   when you could get a Bomber for less?

9 minutes ago, Vineheart01 said:

Really only   reason i can see to take Do  rsal is   on a rebel  ship that has a crew slot. 

Both of those statements are understandable, but if feel like double edge if maybe the best ionising platform.

You may use dorsal + hotshot gunner ( to strip tokens) and second with ion torpedo. Or use barrage rocket first and use ion turret after.

Maybe not the ultimate ship, but very OK

Despite my inneptitude conceening her ability, and as I currently only have one bomber, as I never had the money to buy the imperial veterans - and I only bought one of any particular sku, I make what I do have work for me.

Part of it is the TIE Aggressor has worked well for me past so I have a fondness for it.

The only reason to ever use Double Edge in 1.0 was the EPT slot. His ability has no uses outside of super-gimmicky jank.

Something like built-in Expose (trigger at start of combat) would have been perfect.

Edit: Well, something like -1 agility for one reroll per attack until end of turn, or something.

1 hour ago, Vineheart01 said:

Kestal is still somewhat useful, but with lack of autos not as important. She can still punch through a focus/force/calc/evade enabled ship but its uses will be more rare than it was in 1.e because now theres no autos. Her whole point to existing was countering autos lol.

I've never been a big fan of the aggressor either, but I'm taking a real close look at Kestal. A loaded defender looks like a boogieman in 2.0. Fenn/Soontier/Vader all look like they'll be showing up. Phantoms are a wildcard now that will be seeing plenty of play. Boba will be around taking up near half a scum list...

Kestal with an ion turret straight up murders any of these with the new way that evades work. At the very least he has a huge no-go bubble for any small/medium point tanks. All for a bargain at 42 points. Thats less than a bare-bones generic phantom! I'm willing to bet that Kestal is a sleeping giant.

The generics are pretty cheap too. I'm giving them a chance, time will tell.

3 minutes ago, Test Pilot said:

At the very least he has a huge no-go bubble for any small/medium point tanks.

It's more of a wedge than a bubble. The high I aces shouldn't have much trouble getting out of Kestal's little ion slice.

El Capitan CaJonus (Sat Salvo, Barrage) = 48

Kestal (Ruthless, Barrage) = 43

Sat Salvo, Barrage Gamma Ace = 42

Sat Salvo, Barrage Gamma Ace = 42

Obsidian Tie Fighter = 24

9 minutes ago, HolySorcerer said:

It's more of a wedge than a bubble. The high I aces shouldn't have much trouble getting out of Kestal's little ion slice.

True. There is a skill/prediction factor (finally!). In reality I think it's a 180 arc because you're going to want to spread threat range. In the primary you are almost guaranteed to take damage and in the ion slice you are almost guaranteed to get walked off. You can arc dodge a 180 arc in 1.0, but it's not THAT easy on the first pass. With less repositioning in 2.0 I think it will make for some very interesting engagements.

It's definitely the ship in the imperial roster that got the least attention. Whilst squads of them are no longer useful, the cheapest generic is still a nice cheap way to get an ion weapon on the board. The gunboat is a more versatile and hardy ship, however if all you want is ion control, then a Sienar Specialist with an Ion Turret for 36pts is still quite useful. With agile gunner they jump to 46pts, but with that your much more likely to keep it out of harms way being able to adjust your turret arc at the end of the round (or that's what I've been led to believe agile gunner does).

Double Edge with HotShot seems fun if you know how to fly the pants off an aggressor. Dorsal Turret and Barrage Rockets with Marksmanship means Double Edge can really punch some big damage through if you get that shot lined up. Dorsal serves a purpose on him to reliably miss with no mods. HotShot will drop the token allowing you to hit a naked ship with the Barrage Rockets. If you line it up with the bullseye he gets the potential rerolls of Barrage and a hit to crit with Marksmanship. I think afterburners are almost a necessity for him.

Double Edge 33 - Marksmanship 1 / Barrage Rockets 6 / Dorsal Turret 4 / Afterburners 8 = 59pts

Its expensive and situational, but has potential. A min/max ship at its finest.

Lt. Kestal seems a lot more 'safe', with a higher initiative value, and a more solid ability. I think the schtick for Kestal is reliable Ion. Composure synergises well with her ability. Agile Gunner helps with keeping the turret arc hot, or Veteran Turret Gunner to give you a BTL style double tap.

Lt. Kestal 36 - Composure 2 / Ion Turret 6 / Veteran Turret Gunner 8 = 52pts