Trying to decide between a couple of squads around Sai and Redline (original idea from @JasonCole ). The general idea is token efficiency/stacking with some stress mechanics. Here is his original squad (might include a missile on Redline):

1)

Total: 195

Optimized Prototype is Sai; if all goes well both Sai and Redline might have a focus and a target lock.

I like this idea, but wonder if placing Vader on Sai might result in him being dead in round 3 or 4.

Here are some variants:

2a)

Total: 199

Here Vader is placed on Whisper, meaning he should survive longer. Seventh sister should help prevent people from doing stress-related stuff while next to Sai (4-Lom, K-turning next to/behind the shuttle, generally doing anything having to to with stress), or might modify a defense focus to an evade even while stressed.

Redline lost the seismic charges (which might be handy against aces), Sai no longer has the OP-related ability, and the squad has almost no bid. Furthermore, if Sai has Vader on board, he might get triggered through the rear arc, while on Whisper there's only the front arc.

Not sure if Seventh Sister is worth all those drawbacks.

2b)

Same as 2a), just replace Seventh sister with Krennic, Sai is again Optimized Prototype. This leaves 8 points which might be used to give Redline Seismic Charges again.

3a)

Total: 194

Whisper gets switched out for Duchess, who might be hard to pin down due to her pilot ability (depending on bid sizes) and hits especially hard against stressed targets. Sai gets an extra shield, but is worth a lot of points now.

3b)

Same as 3a), but Sai looses his Shield Upgrade, and Duchess gets Fifth Brother instead of BT-1 and Juke instead of Outmaneuver, meaning that she can modify 1 die even while stressed. This leaves 5 points bid.

All in all, I'm not sure if any of the variants really offer more (situational) value that the original squad. Any thoughts? Other variants? Soontir Fel with Juke and Shield Upgrade?

2! Definitely 2! It feels very well balanced, whereas the others seem to heavy in one place or another

*2a

If not list 1, then definitely 2a.

I flew this in a tournament recently, went 2-2.

Lieutenant Sai (47)
Collision Detector (5)
Darth Vader (14)
ST-321 (6)

“Whisper” (52)
Juke (4)
Director Krennic (5)

“Redline” (44)
Proton Torpedoes (9)
Proton Rockets (7)
Proton Bombs (5)

Total: 198

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

Won 2 then dropped 2. Got greedy in my first loss in game 3, accidentally fed my opponent Whisper too soon (playing against Scum Salad - Drea, 3 generic Syks and 1 named syck, can't recall the name, all with HLC). Lost game 4 against Asajj and two Skull Fangs. Those I4 fangs with their blue moves and linked re-position/focus managed to jam redline up turn after turn, and their ability to add an evade result at R1 meant they were constantly rolling 3 greens with a focus and a free evade. I had prockets on redline, and a 5 dice full mod shot that rolled and modded hit hit hit crit crit did exactly 1 crit damage to a fang. Those skulls are nasty at 50 points each.

Today I flew list 2a in a small tournament and also went 2-2. I've never before flown a large base ship or a TIE Phantom, so the result is totally ok with me.

Problems i had: forgot to use Vader, forgot to decloak, forgot the bombs, large ship base + asteroids + other ships limited my possible moves, and I sometimes steered Whisper directly into the melee, leading to him being killed. So, lots of possibilities to improve my game.

On the plus side: people sometimes forgot about Seventh Sister and suddenly where tractored away or jammed, and double-modded attacks on Sai and Redline are really nice! People where also surprised when I coordinated a boost with Redline + k-turned him - suddenly he was behind them, with a target lock...

@JasonCole : Collision Detector would really help me with the large base. I also played against two fangs (Fenn Rau and Kad Solus) + Captain Nym in the first game, but managed to defeat them with a little luck and due to two pilot errors by my opponent. Proton Rockets are also interesting - I often was forced to use the primary weapon. The bulls eye requirement worries me a little bit...

2 hours ago, One_Laniakean said:

Today I flew list 2a in a small tournament and also went 2-2. I've never before flown a large base ship or a TIE Phantom, so the result is totally ok with me.

Problems i had: forgot to use Vader, forgot to decloak, forgot the bombs, large ship base + asteroids + other ships limited my possible moves, and I sometimes steered Whisper directly into the melee, leading to him being killed. So, lots of possibilities to improve my game.

On the plus side: people sometimes forgot about Seventh Sister and suddenly where tractored away or jammed, and double-modded attacks on Sai and Redline are really nice! People where also surprised when I coordinated a boost with Redline + k-turned him - suddenly he was behind them, with a target lock...

@JasonCole : Collision Detector would really help me with the large base. I also played against two fangs (Fenn Rau and Kad Solus) + Captain Nym in the first game, but managed to defeat them with a little luck and due to two pilot errors by my opponent. Proton Rockets are also interesting - I often was forced to use the primary weapon. The bulls eye requirement worries me a little bit...

That's exactly why I have CD on Sai. With the shuttles awful dial, its easier to keep it in the fight if I don't have to steer around asteroids exactly, and as a matter of fact, you can set up some dirty blocking on aces that are trying to steer just around an asteroid, and still have the benefit of coordinate.

2e prockets are range 1-2 now, not just 1. I think everyone forgets that (for now), so if I'm at range 2 and have someone bullseyed, I'll shoot a procket in a heartbeat. 5 dice to the FACE! You'll notice that I don't have tragedy stimulator on Redline either. I've decided that a more advantageous strategy to use with him is to engage asap, especially while trying to use the prockets, blow through the initial joust, and leave a proton bomb behind while everyone is turning around. Dropping it is also what gave me room to put CD on Sai.

Once redline blows through the joust, Sai coordinates to whisper, leaving her action free to take the TL that lets Sai use the prototype effect to strip a shield or better yet, flip a damage card.

Ah, blocking with a large base over an asteroid is also nice! I've also considered dropping trajectory simulator, as it limits my possible moves with Redline. Lots to think about!