So I'm using 2.0 to try my hand at flying a mini swarm. I really wanted to give the Inferno Squad a go, so tried it this week. Original list was:

Soontir's Inferno

(52) Soontir Fel
(7) Hull Upgrade
(2) Predator
Points 61

(40) Iden Versio
(1) Crack Shot
Points 41

(30) Del Meeko
(1) Crack Shot
Points 31

(30) Seyn Marana
(1) Marksmanship
Points 31

(30) Gideon Hask
(1) Crack Shot
Points 31

Total points: 195

Have only played with it twice and it's been really fun. The synergies between the Infernos are really cool and Soontir is his usual awesome self.

Have been thinking, though, if this could be somewhat improved with Howlrunner, in place of Hask. Dropping Hask and Hull from Soontir would do it, for 197 pts (Howl w/ crackshot).

Planning to give it a go over the weekend and see if it is markedly better.

Happy to hear from the hive mind, though

The Inferno Squad seems super fun. I've definitely heard other people dropping Hask for Howlrunner as well.

Yo, yes, roll with Howly

Curious to see how this went for you. I used your list as a jumping off point and thought of the following as another similar possibility.

13 hours ago, Scblair said:

Curious to see how this went for you. I used your list as a jumping off point and thought of the following as another similar possibility.

"Howlrunner" — TIE Fighter	40
Crack Shot	1
Stealth Device	8
Ship Total: 49
Iden Versio — TIE Fighter	40
Crack Shot	1
Ship Total: 41
"Scourge" Skutu — TIE Fighter	32
Crack Shot	1
Ship Total: 33
Darth Vader — TIE Advanced	70
Instinctive Aim	2
Cluster Missiles	5
Ship Total: 77

Sadly, only managed to squeeze a single game this past Sunday. Sadly, Inferno blew up against Wedge/Luke/Thane but it was such a cool, nail-biting and really close match! Luke can really take a beating and just refuse to die. It was the wrong ship to leave for the end game, so a rather big mistake on my part.

I think Howlrunner definitelly is a must, much more so than Hask. Does mean it's another Init5 pilot there, which seems like quite a crowded slot at the moment, plus with such a low bid, I' will probably be getting initiative often. In any case, having a chance to shoot first was actually not that bad, although I missed some of the repositioning element, I'm used to when flying aces. Deal with it, I guess

I'm sticking with this semi-Inferno+Soontir for a bit and keep at it. At the moment, I'm only 3 games in, so it'll be good to have a bit more practice with formation flying, breaking formation, reforming, etc.

*Update*
Currently 5-2 with this. Last week managed to put them up against 2 Punishers and Soontir and it was a bit of a mess. There were some unforgiving devices being thrown around. And after that it was up against Boba/Guri, where was able to squeeze out the win by some fancy blocks on Boba. Even so those Boba re-rolls were a pain to overcome.

*Pictured above - My "This is fine" moment of that particular game*

There's a small tournament this week I'm probably going to, but since they're going for the "2nd Edition" format, Soontir will be having a day off and I'm bringing a Reaper to help out a slightly adjusted Inferno mini-Swarm.

I think the 4 TIEs+Ace/Support ship might not have the competitive punch of a full blown Swarm but, at least for me, it's been a really cool squad to try and get the hang of.

I actually ran the Howlrunner version last weekend and went 3-0 with it. Dropped Gideon and Fel's expensive upgrade for Howlie w/ Crackshot and a 2 pt bid.

3 hours ago, Eruletho said:

I actually ran the Howlrunner version last weekend and went 3-0 with it. Dropped Gideon and Fel's expensive upgrade for Howlie w/ Crackshot and a 2 pt bid.

Yeah that's the one I'm going for as well. Howlie is just to good to not bring along

SOOOO, to help out a Rookie.... What would a Howlie list look like??

11 hours ago, badlands122 said:

SOOOO, to help out a Rookie.... What would a Howlie list look like??

Howl + swarm tactics 43pts

Iden + marksmanship 41pts

Academy ties × 5 115pts

Total 199pts

Thank You Sir.

I'm going 3-1 with:

Howlrunner, elusive
Seyn Marana, marksmanship
Iden Versio
Gideon Hask
Del Meeko
Academy Pilot

Pure TIE/ln build. The single Academy Pilot has proven very useful as a blocker and definitely has a role to play. As far as abilities go, most useless so far has been Del Meeko.

Never, ever run Hull or Shield Upgrade on Soontir if you are playing competitively. Unfortunately, for odd hit point ships, the HU or SU does nothing for you with half points. Soontir gets 2 damage its half points regardless. It may keep him alive a bit longer, but its not worth the point investment. Just increase your bid.

I'm really hoping the Interceptor gets some help in the modification department. It can take two mods, but none of them are cheap at all.

1 hour ago, Jo Jo said:

Never, ever run Hull or Shield Upgrade on Soontir if you are playing competitively. Unfortunately, for odd hit point ships, the HU or SU does nothing for you with half points. Soontir gets 2 damage its half points regardless. It may keep him alive a bit longer, but its not worth the point investment. Just increase your bid.

I'm really hoping the Interceptor gets some help in the modification department. It can take two mods, but none of them are cheap at all.

In my current version, I've only got Predator on Soontir, particularly since I tweaked the original list quite a bit (after some discussions with a friend of mine). Although, I'd say a Shield Upgrade can be handy, particularly to dodge that one sneaky Proton Bomb.
This is the current iteration:

Howlrunner w/ Swarm Tactics
Wampa
Iden Version w/ Crackshot
Del Meeko w/ Crackshot
Soontir w/ Predator

So, only two Infernos but Wampa shooting at I5 is fun. Plus people seem to prefer to take him out first and that saves Iden and/or Howlrunner for another turn or so.
Unfortunately, with the amount of Punishers flying around in my local area I'm putting these on ice for a bit. Did a small tournament where I went up against double Punisher + Lambda, Bomber mini Swarm and a Boba/Palob/Teroch. Lost against the first two (although I'd like to think I put up a good fight...) and won against the last. But it's a bit of an uphill struggle.
I'm going back to my beloved Triple Aces for the next comp or two.

A