So the current list I am running in Extended has been doing well in my local league meta (I'm 5-1 with it), but I am running at 197 points and running into issues with the last 3. I'm not interested in a 3pts bid, and have plenty of slots available. Here's the list currently:

Imperial Presence (197)

Rear Admiral Chiraneau (80)
Minister Tua (7)

Lieutenant Sai (47)
Collision Detector (6)
Jamming Beam (0)
Emperor Palpatine (11)

Seventh Sister (46)
Total: 197

Turn 0 is: I bring 3 large debris, which I am about to convert to 3 gas clouds. I am typically assigned First Player, so I use one large debris off center to open up the middle of the board (since you can still fire when on debris and I have passive mods) then place whatever is scary near my corners so that after round 1 I will typically never see it again with my large bases.

I usually end up with an off-center lane in the middle, which I line up Sai off a bit, place Sister near one of the sides, and RAC lined up with the clear lane. RAC and Sai will typically be lined up to joust, basically rolling forward while Sai coordinates Reinforce actions and can use the Collision Detector to ignore the obstacles. Sister 5 forward + boosts to flank. Typically my opponent throws the kitchen sink at RAC, who I can trade for whatever is his highest threat/ Init pilots and then Sister knife-fights while Sai contributes with her rear arc + coordinate + Palp while getting turned around.

Now, for the spare points:

I have used Fire Control System on Sister and haven't been very impressed with it, I rarely Lock with her since her linked actions are Boost/BR -> Focus, and I will typically Evade once its ouch time so that she has Evade + 3 Force tokens to survive shots. It is only 2 pts, so not a big waste when I don't Lock if I do bring it.

I've taken Heightened Perception which is useful to PS Kill someone and help keep damage off RAC, but I don't like taking Force Abilities which require spending her Force since it removes her pilot skill. That leaves Hate, which has potential.

Otherwise, I could put Swarm Tactics on RAC to have Sai shooting at 5 during the initial joust for usually 2 turns before they get outside of range 1 of each other. If I can't make a decision, it would probably be Trick Shot or a Hull Upgrade, but I think I could probably find a better use for those points.

Edit: Oh, and Seismics are also in the running, as I bring large obstacles, and after the initial pass, RAC usually survives long enough to drop, then 3 bank /4 forward over anyone and get at least one more round of shooting out the rear arc. I won't get a second use, but the first drop, easy.

What do you think?

RAC with Tua is perfect, but if you're running Sai without ST-321, you're MAJORLY missing out. The action economy there is wild. While Sai is around, she can coordinate a reinforce to RAC, get one back, and get a TL from the title, while RAC TLs for himself. That is bare bones for those two for me.

As for the 3rd ship - I don't like Seventh Sister. If she's your piece of cake, then roll with it - but she's too force hungry imo.

My fav to go with RAC and Sai is Kestal with Brockets and 5th Bro. Unconventional choice, yes, but she's innocuous enough that she might last to the end - because you DO NOT want Sai in the end - and she's a decent closer. Even better with LW, but that kinda gives away the game plan

My son ran Oicunn, Sai, and Kestal for quite a while.

No-one who's played against Kestal will let him live to the end, which takes a lot of heat off the decimator. RAC is a better finisher than Oicunn, so that's not a bad thing to happen.

Sai really wants the title. But once Tua is triggering, Sai can't co-ordinate RAC, whereas Oicunn being the same Init allows him to clear his stress, even if he bumps.

Sounds like you’ve got your obstacle plan sorted out, so I would remove Collision Detector and give Sister Prockets, which makes her scarier on the initial engagement.

Another option is scale Sister down to a generic Inq with SNR for maximum squirrelly. Depends on your play style and the role of the ship.

Thanks for the feedback and recommendations, all.

As far as the ST-321 title, I used to run that when I had Sloane(10) on the shuttle instead of Emp Palp(11). I had to drop the 4 point title to fit him and that's where I ended up with these 3 spare points I'm trying to spend. I found that I typically used the title 1, rarely 2 times, and in several games, not at all, since RAC and Sister have killed what the shuttle had locked before it fires, RAC gets traded and the shuttle ended up being too far from Sister to coordinate her and trigger the title. It even prompted me dropping Sloane for Palp because there were times that Sister was brawling outside of range 3 from Sai and Sloane wasn't working at all for re-rolls. Emp Palp has unlimited range, so I made the switch. I think the title is very good, but really, I just need to find a way to make 3 points worth on average 1 free target lock and I'm probably getting equal value. If I were to change Palp out for something cheaper, I would probably take the title back.

Kestal with Brother and Brockets instead of Sister is an interesting change. I am a fan of Kestal. I'd have to shave something else to make that work, either the CD or Tua and I'm not sure about that. I really do think people are sleeping on Sister, as an Agility 3 ship with Evade + 2(3) Force tokens is surprisingly tanky (although the one game I did lose was when she rolled 4 blanks when I wasn't evading against an obstructed Proton Torp *poof*) and she can be extremely maneuverable. Typically though, people ignore her to start with allowing her to push damage through with 2 Die + Pilot Ability. If they do go after her first, they made the wrong choice as RAC becomes a beast if he's allowed to be the closer against a reduced offensive output.

I'll probably give Kestal a try sometime.

The Collision Detector is a requirement for the engagement. It allows me to roll up with Sai next to RAC while ignoring all the obstacles. Two large bases take up a lot of space and typically there's not a lane that big. The Lambda-class is horrible at maneuvering and can be easily blocked, but by just purposely landing on the obstacles, I can avoid that typically since the enemy isn't parking himself on the rocks. The charges are necessary to be able to continue to coordinate and, depending on the obstacle, still attack.

So, I think for right now I have the major pieces I want, but still have those 3 points floating around that I am best trying spend.

Since all the recent hub-bub about Return of the Fat Han, I think I'll opt for Seismics and see how that shakes out. I've found them useful for scoring a few hits against less careful opponents after the first pass in other lists and being able to control the obstacle board state is nice to limit Han's ability and other Trick Shotters.

I tried RAC (Trick Shot, Tua, Hot-Shot Gunner, Hull) with Sai (Title, Jamming Beam, Electronic Baffle) and Maarek Steele (Marksmanship, FCS).

RAC was a lot more dangerous than Oicunn and I didn't need the Baffle.

I suspect that someone better than me would have made more use of Maarek - I kept wanting a Boost and didn't get to shoot often enough. On the other hand, this meant he wasn't in the fray and was available to help clean up at the end!

Sai was a problem: Maarek really needed to be co-ordinated a focus early on for him to be effective; whilst RAC also wanted the co-ordinate to have both a Reinforce and a Target Lock! Sai also preferred having the Reinforce. This is one reason why I found Maarek rather ineffective.

I still won 3 games out of 4 at a 10 player event, losing the final match to terrible dice - both Maarek and Sai died before I rolled anything other than a blank green die. RAC then killed 2 Sigmas on his own before time was up, living on 5 hull vs unhurt Soontir and one Sigma. I didn't lose RAC in any game, because it takes so long for opponents to chew through him and Sai, although that needed careful use of deliberate bumping to mitigate incoming shots.

Also flew against and beat: double Firesprays (Emon & Koshka); 4 T70s; and Oicunn plus Deathrain.

I need to try out Seventh Sister next time! She's self-sufficient and still a threat - and cheaper.

I also want Darth Vader crew, especially against Phantoms!

Have you thought about Duchess as the 3rd Ship?

15 hours ago, C3gorach said:

Have you thought about Duchess as the 3rd Ship?

This was my instinct. Duchess obviously can't soak the hits 7th Sis can, but her maneuverability is higher, ini is higher, offense is at least comparable, AND four points cheaper. Up to you, though.

I did try Duchess too. She was was better (in my hands) than Soontir, plus more points available for the decimator.

However, I wasn't happy with her so I'm still hunting for a better/more appealing 3rd ship.