Hello and Happy Friday !!!

After Gencon it has been amazing to sink my teeth into imps and I have settled on Defenders which might honestly be better then 1.0. There is something truly amazing about an advance sensor boost into a 5 K-Turn, though you lose the free Evade not getting shot is much better. In short two defenders are outstanding for having solid options and give a little wiggle room for mistakes and being squirrely.

Ryad and Vess with advance sensors and ion canon.

This week I want to ask is anyone else having success with defenders in 2.0 and what are you flying?

Happy Friday CB!

I'm waiting to get the new core and conversion sets before I start theory crafting.

I don't have 2.0 yet but I am very much looking forward to running Defenders. Looks like I'll be running one with two Sigma Phantoms!

Still in the preliminary/theory phase. Nobody else has 2.0

if i were to run 2defenders i'd probably do ryad/rex not ves

Vessery would hit harder but his only lock buddy is going to be spending her actions being super-dodger not lock-spotter. Not to mention she's I4 so it'd be easy for her to not be able to get a lock before she has to go super-dodger mode.

Doubt i'll ever run 2 defenders though unless they pricecut them slightly or a cannon worth mentioning comes out.

I'm very much looking forward to people playing Defenders seeing as I'll be flying Fel and Whisper
But I'll put Ryad on the board to try her out! Defenders' maneuverability seems like one helluva time for actually *flying*!

I played a double Defender list and they are bananas. I ran Ryad/Adv Sensors/Outmaneuver and Brath/Adv Sensors/Juke/Homing Missiles. If I run it again I'm going with Outmaneuver on both. I was up against Luke, a Rogue E-wing and Arvel. By the end of the game, Ryad had lost her shields and Brath had lost one shield from a 4K just nudging a rock. These ships easily outmaneuver practically anything out there. I'll be trying single Defender lists out soon as well. Note: we were using 2.0 rules (I wrote the new maneuvers on my 1.0 dials and my opponent was simply writing his maneuvers down) and 1.0 damage decks, though it didn't really matter as crits didn't play a part in the game.

My biggest take away was that Defenders are no longer predictable. It used to be you nearly always knew where Defenders were going to be and their tankiness was enough to keep them in the game. Advanced Sensors make them into the space superiority fighters they were always meant to be. Secondly, I understand the argument for Juke, but most opponents will be focused and with only two ships it's difficult to capitalize on Juke. I found Outmaneuver to provide a much better payoff, especially with the constant use of Advanced Sensor boosts and barrel rolls (I didn't imagine using rolls but it turned out they were handy for sneaking out of a corner and then K-turning to put guns back on target).

One interesting note: because of how the boost into K-turn works, you end up with a neat little kill box for your dynamic duo. If the enemy remains in that kill box they end up dead. The box has to be big enough for your Defenders to get around, but it's still a smallish area (maybe two square feet). The way to counter this is to disengage for a turn - get out of the kill box - then double back to put guns back on the Defenders as they chase you down. Fighting them is very different than it used to be. Aslo, and this will pass over time, I told my opponent three times that my Defenders has Advanced Sensors and it still didn't register until I performed my first boost and 5K with Ryad. My opponent spoke an expletive and proceeded to get shot - so players are stuck in the old mindset. Again, this will pass over time, but some initial games may see a lot of this effect - the, "Oh, you can do that?".

Overall, Defenders are amazing.

58 minutes ago, Vineheart01 said:

if i were to run 2defenders i'd probably do ryad/rex not ves

Vessery would hit harder but his only lock buddy is going to be spending her actions being super-dodger not lock-spotter. Not to mention she's I4 so it'd be easy for her to not be able to get a lock before she has to go super-dodger mode.

Doubt i'll ever run 2 defenders though unless they pricecut them slightly or a cannon worth mentioning comes out.

I really like HLC for the points. I haven't set out to try and Bullseye things, but it has happened with some regularity anyway. If nothing else, it makes a ship avoid it, which is worth something in its own right.

4 minutes ago, Biophysical said:

I really like HLC for the points. I haven't set out to try and Bullseye things, but it has happened with some regularity anyway. If nothing else, it makes a ship avoid it, which is worth something in its own right.

If you catch opponents in the K-turn kill box you're rarely out of range 1. Really, they can stick to a target like glue. It's wild.

One area where HLC might truly excel is versus big turret ships (I'm looking at YOU Falcon). But I'm not certain it will pay off.

Just finished Thrawn: Alliances and I think LFL had some input on just how crazy, bonkers strong the Defender is supposed to be.

I'm very curious about 6 Scyks with HLC... Six Sick Scyks Sucka!

1 hour ago, gamblertuba said:

I'm very curious about 6 Scyks with HLC... Six Sick Scyks Sucka!

Dang it. I will not buy more Scyks. I will not buy more Scyks. I will not...

2x Delta, FCS

OGP Lambda, Advanced Sensors (or was it electronic Baffle?)

Edit: Definitely Electronic Baffle. AS doesn’t fit because it was actually Col. Jendon.