Ruthless, barrage Rocket Kestal is a solid counter to basically every token stacking I 5+ ace you'll see basically everywhere...except for the fact that 5 health, 2agi ain't worth ****

Granted, she's cheap enough for this not to be a deal breaker, but we DO wanna kill stuff dead

So, let's try pairing her with kagi to give her a roving wall to hide behind and to protect her from freaking redline who would easily devour her otherwise

Kagi Escorts Kestal

(36) Captain Jonus
(6) Barrage Rockets
(1) Trick Shot
Points 43

(34) Major Rhymer
(6) Barrage Rockets
(6) Adv. Proton Torpedoes
(6) Proximity Mines
Points 52

(36) Lieutenant Kestal
(6) Barrage Rockets
(6) Ion Cannon Turret
(1) Ruthless
Points 49

(48) Captain Kagi
(8) Advanced Sensors
Points 56

Total points: 200

Remember that kagi pulls double duty as a wall against palob. Kestal cuts right through any number of focus/evade tokens and rerolls but not if she can't fire her dang rockets!

(Also note that kagi doesn't have to be in range of enemy to steal locks, he simply has to be in range of friendlies!)

Uncertain about the prox mines; no idea where the points'd go otherwise

Could get Palp on kagi, but that's a 61 point sponge...

My personal favorite Kestal is LW, ICT, 5th Bro. She can spend her focus for her ability and still have a double modded shot. However, she needs some r e a l l y potent wingmates to draw some heat, otherwise she's a tragic point sink

Kestal with ICT, Trick Shot, and Hotshot Gunner for 50 points.

One of the few ships that can push through Ion tokens. Oh, and remember that focus you couldn’t spend? Now you remove it anyway.

Sprinkle this build on top of a couple In4 TIE Phantoms w/ Juke and let the tears flow.

TIE/ag Aggressor - •Lieutenant Kestal - 50
•Lieutenant Kestal - Innate Deadeye (36)
Trick Shot (1)
Ion Cannon Turret (6)
Hotshot Gunner (7)

TIE/ph Phantom - •“Echo” - 54
•“Echo” - Slippery Trickster (50)
Juke (4)

TIE Reaper - Scarif Base Pilot - 46
Scarif Base Pilot - (41)
Tactical Officer (2)
Hull Upgrade (3)

TIE/ph Phantom - Sigma Squadron Ace - 50
Sigma Squadron Ace - (46)
Juke (4)

Total: 200/200

View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

16 hours ago, ficklegreendice said:

Ruthless, barrage Rocket Kestal is a solid counter to basically every token stacking I 5+ ace you'll see basically everywhere...except for the fact that 5 health, 2agi ain't worth ****

Granted, she's cheap enough for this not to be a deal breaker, but we DO wanna kill stuff dead

So, let's try pairing her with kagi to give her a roving wall to hide behind and to protect her from freaking redline who would easily devour her otherwise

Kagi Escorts Kestal

(36) Captain Jonus
(6) Barrage Rockets
(1) Trick Shot
Points 43

(34) Major Rhymer
(6) Barrage Rockets
(6) Adv. Proton Torpedoes
(6) Proximity Mines
Points 52

(36) Lieutenant Kestal
(6) Barrage Rockets
(6) Ion Cannon Turret
(1) Ruthless
Points 49

(48) Captain Kagi
(8) Advanced Sensors
Points 56

Total points: 200

Remember that kagi pulls double duty as a wall against palob. Kestal cuts right through any number of focus/evade tokens and rerolls but not if she can't fire her dang rockets!

(Also note that kagi doesn't have to be in range of enemy to steal locks, he simply has to be in range of friendlies!)

Uncertain about the prox mines; no idea where the points'd go otherwise

Could get Palp on kagi, but that's a 61 point sponge...

I like this.

I feel like Kagi is super expensive for a damage sponge, but I suppose that's FFG recognising how good spreading damage can be.

More people running Rhymer is good too. I don't know whether it's because he's ridiculously effective in Armada, but I really like Rhymer and I'm sad more people don't use him. Cracking ability too, he really turns Adv Pro Torps into something dangerous.

Bombs on Rhymer feel like a good idea too. He has the potential to be a monster even at range 0, so adding an extra close range threat sounds good. Prox mines are brutal too. Only thing I'd maybe caution against is the overlap threat without Skilled Bombardier. The last thing you want is for an expensive (relatively speaking) named Bomber to lose half his health from his own mine. Bombs might do less damage, and you need to be able to guess enemy movements well, but at least you get a chance to clear your own blast radius. Prox mines are great for lane control when you're deploying outside of engagement, but in my head Rhymer wants the bombs as an additional **** you to anyone who gets into his range 1 sphere of pain.

Have you considered Electronic Baffle on Kagi? I know you don't want to spend many more points on a damage sponge, but it's only two points. The thinking there is extra protection if your opponent decides to go after Kagi after he's shifted the lock and you're unable to keep him out of range for a second turn. Might be safer to eat a damage along with the token rather than take, say, a fully modded pro torp shot.

Have yet to try Kestal, but its on my to do list.

I've got a couple ideas:

Captain Jonus (36)
Swarm Tactics (3)
Barrage Rockets (6)

Lieutenant Kestal (36)
Barrage Rockets (6)

Tomax Bren (34)
Swarm Tactics (3)
Barrage Rockets (6)

“Whisper” (52)
Juke (4)
Darth Vader (14)

Total: 200

Boost Kestal and Jonus to I5 to at least get simultaneous fire against Redlines and such. Trading any one bomber for Redline is cool. Add whisper ace for flanker, endgamer.

--------------------------

Going off Fickles Kagi idea, which is cool:

Captain Jonus (36)
Barrage Rockets (6)

Lieutenant Kestal (36)
Dorsal Turret (4)
Barrage Rockets (6)

Captain Kagi (48)

“Echo” (50)
Juke (4)
Admiral Sloane (10)

Total: 200

Lock and kill Kagi, or kill kestal or jonus results in double stress. Or chase Echo - goodluck.

On 11/21/2018 at 7:02 PM, wurms said:

Captain Jonus (36)
Barrage Rockets (6)

Lieutenant Kestal (36)
Dorsal Turret (4)
Barrage Rockets (6)

Captain Kagi (48)

“Echo” (50)
Juke (4)
Admiral Sloane (10)

Total: 200

Lock and kill Kagi, or kill kestal or jonus results in double stress. Or chase Echo - goodluck.

Remarkably similar to something I'm thinking about atm. All sorts of things I'm undecided on and testing out on Fly Casual, the main one being how on Earth I move them around... All at I4 helps a bit.

Unfortunately, no Sloane on there as it'd be a good choice to try on Vermeil.

Going for coord rather than sponge atm. Currently aiming for interest and lightly competitive rather than out and out lethal.

TIE/ag Aggressor - •Lieutenant Kestal - 42
•Lieutenant Kestal - Innate Deadeye (36)
Barrage Rockets (6)

TIE/sa Bomber - •Major Rhymer - 40
•Major Rhymer - Scimitar Leader (34)
Adv. Proton Torpedoes (6)

TIE/ph Phantom - •“Echo” - 65
•“Echo” - Slippery Trickster (50)
Ruthless (1)
•Darth Vader (14)

TIE Reaper - •Major Vermeil - 51
•Major Vermeil - Veteran of Scarif (49)
Tactical Officer (2)

Total: 198/200

Hah, Fickle, I was about to post and tag you in. I've been having a great time with Kagi (Redline and RAC) recently, but thought about using him in the below list. I've yet to fully test it but really like it.

(36) Lieutenant Kestal
(6) Barrage Rockets
(6) Ion Cannon Turret
Points 48

(36) Captain Jonus
(6) Barrage Rockets
(3) Seismic Charges
Points 45

(34) Major Rhymer
(6) Adv. Proton Torpedoes
(6) Barrage Rockets
Points 46

(48) Captain Kagi
(13) Emperor Palpatine
Points 61

Total points: 200

I think your Jonus and Rhymer nigh be better though. Seismics are a bit of a waste of time

I've not perfected the list but after one run out I liked RAC, Kestal (+ Turret) and Sai for 3 ships and 6 firing arcs on the board.

Interesting mix of lots of HP + lots of arcs, meaning I5/I6 ships have difficulty not getting tagged at least once. Plus Sai/RAC is a strong pairing when it works.