Excessive Force

By allistorpreist, in X-Wing Squad Lists

So gimmicky lists are my thing, and today I wanted to play with Force users. For the Empire my first draft looks like this:

Lambda-class T-4a Shuttle - Omicron Group Pilot - 59
Omicron Group Pilot - (43)
•Darth Vader (14)
Tactical Scrambler (2)

TIE Advanced v1 - •Grand Inquisitor - 61
•Grand Inquisitor - Master of the Inquisitorious (58)
Fire-Control System (3)

TIE Advanced v1 - Inquisitor - 40
Inquisitor - (40)

TIE Advanced v1 - Inquisitor - 40
Inquisitor - (40)

Total: 200/200

View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

But I am wondering if the this is the way to go. At 75 points Vader weighs in hefty and I am not sure un-upgraded inquisitors are worth 40. Anyone flying the V1? Is Vader worth the shuttle or should I try something else?

  • I find it hard to think that Tactical Scrambler would ever trigger. I'd probably just cut it. Some versions won't be able to do anything with the points, but that's not too important.
  • Second, I'd drop Fire Control System from The Grand Inquisitor, and switch to a better shuttle. Any of the three pilots would be good.
    • Normally, I'd say Lieutenant Sai. If she coordinates a focus to an inquisitor, she'll get a focus action, too. But it doesn't work off a Boost or Barrel Roll into a linked Focus. Sai might be best in a different list with different pilots.
    • Kagi is a meta-call and tech choice. He'll help if you're facing a lot of Kavils and Redlines, to keep your Inquisitors free from Locks. But a lot of the time, Kagi's ability probably doesn't matter too much.
    • Colonel Jendon is probably the big winner here, though. As two-dice ships, your v1s likely won't hit too hard. But Jendon makes sure they'll all approach with Locks.
      • Jendon opens up another possibility. Instead of running The Grand Inquisitor, drop him down to a regular Inquisitor, and equip missiles on everyone. You could afford Concussion, Cluster, or Homing on all of them.
        • If you went with Homing, you could also fly with either Fire Control System or Heightened Perception. I think I like HP. Going up to Init 7 for a kill shot, particularly with Homing Missiles, is scary.
        • If you went Cluster on each, you could put Collision Detector on the shuttle.
        • Concussion are just vanilla 3-dice attacks, but that's not too bad, since you'll have taken the Locks ahead of time, and will probably have a Focus or Evade token going in, plus the Force.
  • Haven't flown too much v1. It's kinda cool, but they are only 2-dice ships.
  • My understanding of the Grand Inquisitor is that he really wants to live at Range 1, rather than being a long-range sniper.
  • Vader on a Shuttle is solid. Lambdas have two firing arcs for his ability, which is great.

Thanks, I will tune up the list and see what I can do.

TIE Advanced v1 - Inquisitor - 46
Inquisitor - (40)
Concussion Missiles (6)

TIE Advanced v1 - Inquisitor - 46
Inquisitor - (40)
Homing Missiles (3)
Heightened Perception (3)

Lambda-class T-4a Shuttle - •Colonel Jendon - 60
•Colonel Jendon - Darth Vader’s Shuttle Pilot (46)
•Darth Vader (14)

TIE Advanced v1 - Inquisitor - 46
Inquisitor - (40)
Concussion Missiles (6)

Total: 198/200

View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

Hopefully I will get a chance to try this soon.

Edited by allistorpreist