What would you play? I want something with a bit of power, but I don't want to play a straight up TIE Swarm.

3 potential options in my mind:

Advanced Reaping

TIE Advanced x1 - •Darth Vader - 85
•Darth Vader - Black Leader (70)
Fire-Control System (3)
Supernatural Reflexes (12)

TIE Advanced x1 - •Maarek Stele - 54
•Maarek Stele - Servant of the Empire (50)
Ruthless (1)
Fire-Control System (3)

TIE Reaper - •Major Vermeil - 54
•Major Vermeil - Veteran of Scarif (49)
Intimidation (3)
Tactical Officer (2)

Total: 193/200

View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

Vader Mini Swarm (Could be any 30pt TIE, I would be tossing up between Wampa and Del)

TIE/ln Fighter - •Del Meeko - 30
•Del Meeko - Inferno Three (30)

TIE/ln Fighter - Academy Pilot - 23
Academy Pilot - (23)

TIE/ln Fighter - Academy Pilot - 23
Academy Pilot - (23)

TIE/ln Fighter - Academy Pilot - 23
Academy Pilot - (23)

TIE Advanced x1 - •Darth Vader - 93
•Darth Vader - Black Leader (70)
Fire-Control System (3)
Afterburners (8)
Supernatural Reflexes (12)

Total: 192/200

View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

Vader bigger mini swarm

TIE/ln Fighter - Academy Pilot - 23
Academy Pilot - (23)

TIE/ln Fighter - Academy Pilot - 23
Academy Pilot - (23)

TIE/ln Fighter - Academy Pilot - 23
Academy Pilot - (23)

TIE Advanced x1 - •Darth Vader - 85
•Darth Vader - Black Leader (70)
Fire-Control System (3)
Supernatural Reflexes (12)

TIE/ln Fighter - Academy Pilot - 23
Academy Pilot - (23)

TIE/ln Fighter - Academy Pilot - 23
Academy Pilot - (23)

Total: 200/200

View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

I'm so conflicted with this...I would love to hear anyones experience with Second Edition Imperials

2 x1s and a reaper is your strongest list here. I've found the miniswarms don't have the damage output to pull their weight.

7 hours ago, Intergerm said:

2 x1s and a reaper is your strongest list here. I've found the miniswarms don't have the damage output to pull their weight.

The games I've tried with them I tend to agree. They just bleed MOV without feeling like they managed to do anything worth their points.

I was looking at your first list a bit. Given what upgrades you chose, obviously the Reaper is meant to block or just run into an enemy ship to reduce their agility value using Intimidation and present an opportunity to proc Stele's Ruthless against. I know that coming in from a flank and out-of-arc on the enemy is most ideal with Vader and Stele but for situations where you are coming in from the front, Tactical Scrambler might be a good option for the Reaper as well. It'd add two more points, putting you at 195 total (so losing a few points from your bid) but blocking or ramming with the Reaper would also mean whatever the enemy is shooting at through the Reaper gets an extra die.

How do you play the Vader + Swarm lists? Seems to me like you don’t need much damage from the swarm since Vader with a target lock is a damage factory. If you can use the swarm to block and run interference it might still be worth it.

I haven't tried this yet, but I think it would be decent. Vader has Sense so you know better where to barrel roll the In1 Ties for a good block. Then focus fire with Vader and both In5 Ties.

TIE/ln Fighter - •“Wampa” - 30
•“Wampa” - Black Eleven (30)

TIE/ln Fighter - Academy Pilot - 23
Academy Pilot - (23)

TIE/ln Fighter - •“Scourge” Skutu - 34
•“Scourge” Skutu - Seasoned Veteran (32)
Predator (2)

TIE Advanced x1 - •Darth Vader - 79
•Darth Vader - Black Leader (70)
Fire-Control System (3)
Sense (6)

TIE/ln Fighter - •“Mauler” Mithel - 34
•“Mauler” Mithel - Black Two (32)
Predator (2)

Total: 200/200

View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

My go to for a 2E restricted list is Vader Crack:

Darth Vader (70)
Supernatural Reflexes (12)
Fire-Control System (3)

Black Squadron Ace (26)
Crack Shot (1)

Black Squadron Ace (26)
Crack Shot (1)

Black Squadron Ace (26)
Crack Shot (1)

Black Squadron Ace (26)
Crack Shot (1)

Total: 193

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

I've got a decent record with it and feel that the crack squad is superior against things that are beefy or evade-y.

As far as effective use advice goes, it really comes down to accurately judging where your opponent wants to go with a particular ship and blocking those places with the TIE fighters while lining up the others to shoot your tokenless target. If they don't have good repositioning then just get guns on target and let the full weight of fire crush the target. Either way, use crack at the first opportunity.

Second piece of advice is just a reminder of general strategy: Protect your endgame (Vader) while taking out theirs as quickly as possible!

Taking out their endgame quickly is where crack shot really comes in to play as it allows you to potentially knock out something like Luke, Boba, or Fenn in spite of their inherent defensive strengths which could prove difficult for Vader to break through in a 1 on 1 end game

4 hours ago, Jonathan Gabel said:

I haven't tried this yet, but I think it would be decent. Vader has Sense so you know better where to barrel roll the In1 Ties for a good block. Then focus fire with Vader and both In5 Ties.

TIE/ln Fighter - •“Wampa” - 30
•“Wampa” - Black Eleven (30)

TIE/ln Fighter - Academy Pilot - 23
Academy Pilot - (23)

TIE/ln Fighter - •“Scourge” Skutu - 34
•“Scourge” Skutu - Seasoned Veteran (32)
Predator (2)

TIE Advanced x1 - •Darth Vader - 79
•Darth Vader - Black Leader (70)
Fire-Control System (3)
Sense (6)

TIE/ln Fighter - •“Mauler” Mithel - 34
•“Mauler” Mithel - Black Two (32)
Predator (2)

Total: 200/200

View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

I love Vader and his predator wingmen. Backed up by two academies for blocking to set up their shots without repositioning lets the aces token up to really put the hurt on. Dropping from Wampa to a second academy let's me pick up Afterburners (& 5pt bid) or Super Reflexes (& 1pt bid) so that Vader can make a faster getaway if things look hairy for him.

Me personally, I would rather have a bid than force Sense with this squad because you have 3 high Init pilots with repositioning and passive attack mods. I know that sense can be useful for ensuring the block, but you still have to get close enough for a barrel roll to make the difference. With practice and experience you should be able to consistently anticipate the right maneuver without Sense and then you can spend those points elsewhere (or keep them for the bid).

Wampa is purely a personal taste and Meta choice. I don't like him because he's easy to turn off (if he's even in the right place!) And it presents an uncomfortable dilemma if I need to set a block with him or he's out of position to take advantage of the extra die. For the same 30pt I'd rather have Del Meeko, that might lose me a blocker, but I gain a defensive bonus for those fragile aces. That or drop to academy for keeping the blocker and either bid or upgrades.

On 10/3/2018 at 1:53 PM, Roundy1161 said:

The games I've tried with them I tend to agree. They just bleed MOV without feeling like they managed to do anything worth their points.

Have you tried Crack Squadron? It works well for me anyways.

15 hours ago, BigBadAndy said:

How do you play the Vader + Swarm lists? Seems to me like you don’t need much damage from the swarm since Vader with a target lock is a damage factory. If you can use the swarm to block and run interference it might still be worth it.

This is mostly true, Vader is a damage monster. I don't fly the swarm in a block, rather spread them out a bit and try to pinch my opponent with 2 groups of ties.

Blocking with the ties is good, but I've not been thrilled with it, as that was all that they seemed to achieve in my games. I was lucky to do 2-3 damage with them. Which means Vader has to do a lot of work.

I've not tried a crack squad. You could stack your formation to have a 'wide' bullseye arc.

I have had success with this.

TIE Advanced x1 - •Darth Vader - 92
•Darth Vader - Black Leader (70)
Fire-Control System (3)
Proton Rockets (7)
Supernatural Reflexes (12)

TIE/ln Fighter - Black Squadron Ace - 27
Black Squadron Ace - (26)
Crack Shot (1)

TIE/ln Fighter - Black Squadron Ace - 27
Black Squadron Ace - (26)
Crack Shot (1)

TIE/ln Fighter - Black Squadron Ace - 27
Black Squadron Ace - (26)
Crack Shot (1)

TIE/ln Fighter - Black Squadron Ace - 27
Black Squadron Ace - (26)
Crack Shot (1)

Total: 200/200

View in the X-Wing Squad Builder