My current project....

TIE/ph Phantom - •“Echo” - 67
•“Echo” - Slippery Trickster (50)
Juke (4)
Collision Detector (5)
Afterburners (8)

TIE/sa Bomber - •Major Rhymer - 41
•Major Rhymer - Scimitar Leader (34)
Crack Shot (1)
Adv. Proton Torpedoes (6)

TIE/D Defender - •Rexler Brath - 91
•Rexler Brath - Onyx Leader (84)
Juke (4)
Fire-Control System (3)

Total: 199/200

Not set on the upgrade spread, trying various things. Pilot wise, Echo and Rex are nailed on, both are brilliant. Rhymer is maybe slightly less of a fixture.

Played a few games with them. Initial idea was that Rhymer goes fast and draws attention, the other 2 split, run and flank. Rex and Echo are capable of doing major work if they're allowed room to position.

However, I've actually had decent impact from Rhymer, if he is ignored. He can flank and come in later for a killer blow. The roll into lock is key. So the other 2 draw attention, split and run for position. Rex can handle himself and Echo is impossible to pin down.

Upgrades then. Rhymer lean for the stealth approach. I tried him fatter but he'll mostly either APT and die, or just die, so might as well be cheap.

Rex just needs a little attack buff.

Echo... I was wanting him skinny so he can skulk and not get focussed, but after using him a bit, he doesn't have a lot of trouble escaping attention, so load him up- Catch him if you can! With Col Det and Afterburners, good luck with that

Bid schmid, Rex'll shoot 1st.

Other options.

Echo- Outmanoeuvre. Krennic/FCS.... Vader!

Rex- AdvS, HLC, Homing Missiles.

Rhymer- Curve ball. He was the star player in one game with Elusive and 5th Bro aboard, but I seriously messed up Rex and Echo, so the competition wasn't fierce. But putting 4 crits and a hit into his target, then 5k-ing behind everyone to recharge Elusive was A Good Trick.

One thing. Crack Shot on Rhymes, why? Other than that it looks very solid:)

33 minutes ago, BoskiChe said:

One thing. Crack Shot on Rhymes, why? Other than that it looks very solid:)

Thanks. Crack Shot is mainly because it's super cheap and I'm not bothered about a bid. It's unlikely Rhymer will get to APT with more than just TL, so CS gives a small chance of slipping the crit through, if stars align. If not, it can help when he has to primary fire.

Coincidentally, I managed to find an opponent for my 1st and only online game on the Fly Casual sim last night. Rhymes managed to sink a Scyk in the closing stages by rolling out of its arc, into R1, and Cracking its last hull off with his primary.

2 hours ago, Cuz05 said:

It's unlikely Rhymer will get to APT with more than just TL, so CS gives a small chance of slipping the crit through, if stars align.

Crack Shot is primary only.

7 minutes ago, MalusCalibur said:

Crack Shot is primary only.

Oh ofc it is! I forgot about that. Still, you'd put it on a 2 die TIE, it accomplishes similar here.

At 1pt, it's almost not worth dropping. I may drop or swap it for Marksmanship but it does give Rhymer a little bite, if he survives and can't reload before re-engaging. It's more a case of using that pt for something rather than nothing. A 2pt bid is near worthless.

So, tournament coming up this weekend, with this list. After several very encouraging games with them, I have something of a conundrum on a couple of upgrade choices.

Quick breakdown.

Rex is the primary target, more often than not. He'll go fast and place on one flank, possibly drawing heat and using his speed and repositioning to stay relevent. Then, he'll pile in and crush things, or kite while the other 2 do unanswered damage.

Crack Shot is off Rhymer, he just runs with APTs and makes an excellent little area control, mid game threat/happily sacrificed piece. He'll go slow, either hanging back or flanking, depending on the overall positioning. Aim is to send or draw things into the Rex/Echo crossfire, and/or smash into them before dying. He ends up sort of centrally based.

Echo will snake about and snipe from range 3 mostly. Support fire for the other 2, wherever it's needed most. She has only been lost once in about 7/8 games, a horrific error on my part, which led to a noble sacrifice. She cannot be caught. If she gets a chance to zoom round behind or even through them, she will.

The upgrade conundrum.

At 1st, Afterburners were really just for lols but they're actually incredibly useful. Echo's fancy decloaks are amazing, but when she bails, or switches board zones, the boost is SO helpful at adjusting her final facing. It's the difference between getting guns on target the following turn, or having to take 2 turns and losing the advantage gained.

BUT.

She still doesn't hit well if the dice decide it.

So I'm thinking Krennic. Optimise Rex. Maybe give him Homing Missiles too. Or Elusive on Rhymer.

I give up some positioning options on Echo, but with her generally safe, that's maybe not so bad. I gain the possibility of benefiting from the TL with her, but more importantly, so does Rex. Added bonus in that it could free up his focus for pure defence. It seems a small loss and a net gain.... But I'm unsure if giving up some of her ability to keep pressure on my targets will be an overall detriment.

Does anyone have a nudge one way or the other?

P.S. Col Det on Echo is the closest thing to actually cheating that I've found.

If you give her Krennic, then definitely also give her FCS.

5 hours ago, Greebwahn said:

If you give her Krennic, then definitely also give her FCS.

That's actually the thing holding me back, I'm not quite ready to swap out the training wheels

Just trust yourself lol