I'm really excited for the arrival of the First Order into second edition and I've spent the morning poking through some of the options available, but I feel like I've gotten as far as I can without some outside opinions. So please feel free to take a look at my little 4-ship list and tear it to pieces! The idea is pretty straight forward. Hux can reach out a lot further with Stridan's help, which will allow him to coordinate the ties and provide support from further back. I fully expect the ties to get dinged pretty quickly, so Fanatical seemed like a nice way to boost the damage.

Major Stridan (63)
General Hux (10)

"Midnight" (44)
Fanatical (2)

Commander Malarus (41)
Fanatical (2)

"Scorch" (35)
Fanatical (2)

Total: 199

Hux doesn't mesh well with this list due to stress. It will turn off Scorch's ability, and Maulrus will be double stressed if he's spending energy.

I agree that Scorch isn't the best member, but you shouldn't be using Malarus' ability except for a kill shot, a really messy turn, or once the shuttle is gone, so you can easily plan around that.

I would suggest Longshot instead, easily my fav TIE/FO

Thoughts:

• If you've got a spare-action-generator, you can do worse than reach for "Static".
  • "Static" with Crack Shot is nice and cheap - 36 points - but at range 1 (which you'll want for the bonus die) it's reasonably easy to get a bullseye on a medium or large based ship, and dropping 3 criticals on a target can be terminal even to someone three times her price, especially if "Midnight" and a second wingman have cleared the shields off first.
• "Muse" is potentially useful to allow you to counteract the stress Hux generates, but only at the expense of nailing 2 of your 3 TIE/fo to a range 1 tether. She does complement "Scorch" well, though.
• I'm not sure I'd reach for Stridan. If you've got an upsilon backed up by the mighty swarm of.....three TIE fighters....you need every element of your squad pulling its weight. You cannot afford to leave a fifty-odd point, 4-dice-primary 'big gun' out of the engagement, even if it has got Space Ron Weasley on board. 7 points is a fair jump in cost.

I still think 3 TIE/fo isnt' enough 'meat' to support the shuttle, but if you want that proportion, I suggest:

• Major Stridan - Stentorian Commander
  • General Hux
  • Kylo Ren
• "Midnight" - Omega Leader
  • Fanatical
• "Static" - Omega Ace
  • Crack Shot
• "Muse" - Epsilon Leader
  • Marksmanship

Omega Leader is and always will be terrifying once that target lock is fixed on you, and if you do manage to shoot the shield token off but not kill him, Fanatical/Evade Token is pretty good action economy in any one-on-one duel.

Omega Ace & Epsilon Leader are tolerably dangerous, but become much more impressive with bonus actions. Plus, their ability to reliably generate criticals takes I'll Show You The Dark Side from annoying to bloody painful, whilst if you don't use that ability, Kylo's force token gives the permanently action-starved and stressed Stridan something to modify dice with.

11 hours ago, Greebwahn said:

I would suggest Longshot instead, easily my fav TIE/FO

Longshot seems like such a great all-purpose addition, but I worried that he wouldn't give quite the needed power when I was only running three FO Ties. I want to try him out in a big ol' swarm at some point, though.

3 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

I still think 3 TIE/fo isnt' enough 'meat' to support the shuttle, but if you want that proportion, I suggest:

• Major Stridan - Stentorian Commander
  • General Hux
  • Kylo Ren
• "Midnight" - Omega Leader
  • Fanatical
• "Static" - Omega Ace
  • Crack Shot
• "Muse" - Epsilon Leader
  • Marksmanship

I'm loving the update this brings. I hadn't considered how having that Force token would keep Stridan as a threat, since youre right: he is likely to be stressed and action-less each turn. I tried to find a way to fit more Ties into the list, but it seems like the best you can do is go with Thannison's shuttle and five Epsilon Squadron Cadets. I also thought about three Omega Squadron Aces and Null, all with Fanatical, which leaves more points for the shuttle, but I was worried about the lack of abilities.