I flew a Phat Sun last night, accompanied by three Vultures with Struts and Sear with Kraken. Opponent had Oiccun with Sloan/Intimidation/title/stuff and four TIEs. Game ended at time with two Vultures dead and Sear on one Hull, vs two TIEs dead and Oicunn (barely) on half, for a 75-100 win. Until points were totted up, I though for sure I was losing - without the ability to double-mod shots, Sun Fac hits like a limp noodle. And Kraken still continues to be opponents' target number one priority such that I spent much of the game running with Sear, trying to keep him alive instead of keeping his big gun on targets. I found myself more frequently not using Sun Fac's pilot ability, but rather using Ensnare to toss one TIE onto a rock to take its gun out of the fight, then shooting at a different TIE to try to focus it down. But you know, dropping four red dice without rerolls is...disappointing, especially when the TIE fighters just. won't. die. And Sloan. Jesus wept. That card feels criminally undercosted. Giving rerolls to every ship in your list if your opponent tries to stay on target? While also producing a double-stress potential for doing what you need to do in order to win? For just nine points? Ouch.
I am really enjoying the Pinpoint Tractor mechanic - thinking far enough ahead to keep the mobile arc relevant is an entertaining puzzle. I am also enjoying the truly epic dial that thing has. It's a revelation after flying M3-A's for a while (Interceptor my ***). But is it better than the equivalent points in Vultures? Dunno. I've only had about five games with either Sun or Chertek. If the FLGS has come through, I'll be picking up a second and trying a double Petranaki list. The Sear swarm is a monster, and I'm still struggling to find a comfortable place for the Hyenas, but the Nantex is still sufficiently new as to be a **** of an entertaining puzzle.
