This is an ongoing thing of mine, going back a couple months now, using various parts in different combinations and finding new ways to make them tick.

I've just arrived at a choice for it that sits squarely in the 'it'll never work' camp. So I'll present the full evolution, by way of explaining the final, possibly doomed version.

It more or less started here, although the 3rd ship has been something other for longer-

Rex- Juke. Echo- Juke, 5th Bro. Seventh Sister. 197.

This worked great. Rex stays safe and works like a cornerstone or a control piece, directing play and engaging when the time is right. Sister causes mayhem at R1 and maybe dies. Echo supports where needed. Earning points off the list is hard, as is not being in its killbox.

A side arc to the story. Acquired a couple of very nice alt art cards for Whisper and Echo. Wanting a nice big sledgehammer to pair them with, I got this.

Vader- Hate, FCS. Whisper- Juke, Col Det. Echo- Juke, 5th Bro. 200.

Vader was just there to kick teeth in and let the Phantoms do their thing. It proved very good indeed.

However, what immediately became clear is that Vader is not a bit part actor, he's a superstar godsdammit. The choice for him here is imperfect. Hate and FCS give him maximum teethkicking power, but leave him a little immobile, considering I don't bother with a bid. Afterburners make him the top ace he is, but on their own, force management is a big issue. Either/Or is not right.

So, from here, I went for this-

Vader- Afterburners, FCS. Whisper-Trick Shot, Col Det. Echo- Outmanoeuvre, 5th Bro. 200.

Trade some potential from the Phantoms for max pain Vader. The gameplay from Whisper and Echo is actually far more interesting too. Juke is boring. Opponent has obvious choices to make with the talents they're carrying now, which can be played into very nicely.

Loved Outmanoeuvre so much on Echo, we return to the original list, but with a surprise new costar.

Rex- Predator. Echo- Outmanoeuvre, 5th Bro. Inquisitor- SNR, Clusters. 200.

In principal, exactly the same approach. The SuperInq is even more of a pain in the backside than 7th Sis and the missiles give him an extra edge. Echo hits a tiny bit harder, Rex a bit less.

A little bit of competitive context. Took this to a small store tourney on Saturday. All 3 of my opponents went 4-2 at the UK System Open, (biggest event ever etc etc), each of their 3 ship lists contained 2 that moved after all of mine- 5 I6s for petes sake!

Yet, though I lost 2, every game was close and could have gone either way. I felt I had good control the whole time and only a couple of times in the 3rd, did I have to compromise my positioning. I still don't know how I lost the 2nd, where I felt most in command

So, for me, it's a proven list now. Both versions have worked extremely well, but for one thing. Rex is a bit limp. In order to do well, he has to fortress his points and not get caught out. So he plays a cagey game and often contributes relatively little. That's me being a bit of a scrub and not being able to do aggressive very well, maybe. But he is predictable, where the other 2 really are not. That makes him very prone to being focused and blocked, which can be an instant game loss. The burden of execution on Echo is therefore really high. Juke on both evaders and dropping Clusters is possibly better in a lot of ways but only increases the burden on Rex and Echo.

This thinking leads me to a new combo, lining up for casual play this week. And the road less travelled.

Have to say, the theme here is so strong. I'm a sucker for that, which makes me keen to unlock this....

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

(50) "Echo" [TIE/ph Phantom] (6) Outmaneuver (9) Fifth Brother. Points: 65

(46) Seventh Sister [TIE Advanced v1] (16) Supernatural Reflexes. Points: 62

(65) Darth Vader [TIE Advanced x1] (6) Afterburners (2) Fire-Control System. Points: 73

Total points: 200 (again, the perfect number).

Spot the obvious error!

Supernatural on the v1 is so hard to give up, it's a huge 'force' multiplier. And yes, at 16pt instead of 8, we're definitely paying for it. And no, clearly, it synergises not one little bit with 7Sis. And now, instead of a ~50pt sacrificial menace, we have a +60pt proper ace. Points will be lost on the scoresheet.

I'm keen to try and get her timing right. Triple action economy to get her where she wants to be. Then take a breath and fire up her crack shot at the most opportune moment. It seems like it may be the defining factor of the list.

What I'm actually paying for is the extra force point and the potential to strip an extra shield for Echo's crit, with the jump to I4. I'm aiming to try to treat her (fantastic) ability as a bonus, rather than a lever.

Also, Vader is not the tank that Rex is. But, in 20+ games with the various squads above, I'm struggling to remember if I've ever lost either, so that may not matter.

What it does do, is lessen the burden of execution on each piece. The damage output from an aggressive Vader, compared to cagey Rex. The genuine terror that 7Sis will bring. The always effective Echo threatening that Outmanoeuvre, 5th Bro crit as the last to fire. Hopefully, it will all come together to give me a list that combines the best elements of everything I've tried here. Keeping the intense unpredictability and stapling on some real damage output.

But it will require a different perspective on their roles, which for me, is the real key. Not having the cheap pest will change the dynamic a fair bit. We will see.

But possibly most importantly, it might be the Inquisitorius themed list I've been looking for.

Wish me luck! And don't steal my tokens!

So I've flown this list in half a dozen games or so now. All casual, a couple with my son, so not stringent tests at all, but all fairly easily controlled wins. It's definitely my strongest and most flexible performer atm.

This wknd, we'll be taking it to a highly competitive store tourney. The calibre of players on offer means I'll be unlikely to break records with any list, but pairing dependent, it may provide a strong indication of how this particular squad can perform. I have not so far been up against some of the stronger, very meta, lists on our casual night with it, (used Scum there, last time).

SuperSister works very well. Obviously have to sacrifice use of her ability a fair bit, but SNR allows her to get right in amongst things early and cause enormous disruption. A mixture of unpredictable positioning, boost 5 straight, token stack plus force and judicious use of obstacles means she is not the easy target she can be presented to be.

Rolling 5 blanks on defence, as I did last night to give up half points to a Torrent on the last dice roll, is just one of those things

If they take the superbait, Vader simply walks in and nukes things, Echo is free to wander and Outmanoevre those crits into exposed hull. Ignore the superbait, lock gets acquired, SNR gets switched off, rechargeable full arc Crack Shot gets switched on and trouble really brews. As long as I keep the big hitters safe while the Sister forces problems.

Reason I return here ahead of the tourney is a new variant I tried last night. It is the hardest, most headscratch worthy X Wing experience I've had in my short time, by some considerable distance.

SNR is swapped for Sense. Vader gains Hate, Echo gains Collision Detector.

The idea is pretty simple. Sister Senses a dial, (for free when she gets into R1 ofc, where she can start crack shotting). This informs the Echo decloak.

Making best use of this is honestly overwhelming. Most of the time, you're looking at 2 'best' options on the Sensed ship and working out which of your decloaks can combine with the same manoeuvre to cover both options, without leaving yourself open to the other ships. Sister acts as interference on the unSensed ships.

This means Echo needs to be positioned just so on the approach, or the options are not there. Collision Detector is clearly invaluable at every point.

Last night, it made mincemeat of a 3 Jedi list. 7th Sister was such an obvious target and rolled silly good greens for a perfect start. Vader walked up and nuked Mace in 2 turns.

Then, as Vader wandered off, the magic combo went to work and dismantled the other 2 with such ease that it felt like cheating. With only one remaining, Echo was more or less free to dial in k-turns at will, knowing she could be safe shooting and that next turn, the ideal 2 bank would also be easy to dial in.

Previously, higher Init Jedi were very difficult. It just felt like the game broke.

I'd like to try it more, but I actually didn't like it at all. Echo and 7th Sis both felt fairly tied to certain methods and I missed the freedom of having them independent and able to go maximum squirrel. Then it just felt wrong to be able to flip a dial for free and basically, well, cheat!

It was also so monumentally taxing to plot out, I don't think I could cope with more than one game in a session.

Finally, it is very singular in purpose. It's hard work using the I4s when you are almost always outbid and up against other aces. This Sense version is a direct counter to that. However, against more numerous arcs and lower Init, without SNR, Sister will get caught and she will get killed. Or Vader will. Then it's hard to catch up on points. With SNR, she can stack actions so well that lower Init really struggles against it.

It's a meta thing. Either/or. Rather than wanting to try and get a blend of both, I'm actually quite happy I've found a way to tune the squad differently. Even if it is kind of preposterous.

I've been doing something similar, sticking to I4, although I haven't been including any higher aces like Rex, Vader, or Whisper. In general my list has been an amalgamation of Echo, Vermeil, Sabacc, and Vynder--some combination of the 3.

Playing against higher Initiative is difficult, the flipside is that you have a small bid against most other I4's, you can absolutely abuse anything below I4, and when you do trap higher Initiative aces, the list does so much damage it's absurd.

Definitely a challenge, but if you're adept at putting together killboxes, since each ship can operate fairly well on its own, you just obliterate whatever is taking shots from the list--Vermeil & Vader crew strip tokens, Juke on Echo, and Torps on Vynder or Sabacc with 5th Brother.

Interesting. A different variant that uses I5s might work as well- Same Vader (FCS, AB), paired up with Whisper (Juke, Fifth Brother) and the Grand Inquisitor (Heightened Perception). Get rid of Fifth Brother if you want to do some bidding, but the list would work in a similar, but more conventional way. I like you list, got me thinking about the v1s.

Imp Aces

(65) Darth Vader [TIE Advanced x1]
(2) Fire-Control System
Points: 67

(52) Soontir Fel [TIE Interceptor]
(2) Predator
Points: 54

(54) "Whisper" [TIE/ph Phantom]
(5) Juke
(9) Fifth Brother
(6) Stealth Device
Points: 74

Total points: 195

I know Vader doesn’t have Afterburners, but in this list he just jousts.

LOVE LOVE LOVE the two I6.

Thanks for the posts folks.

Went 2-1 with the SuperSister list today, very happy with the games. 'The plan' worked well, even the one we lost, against one of the very best players in the area and the winner on the day.

SuperSister on a fast flank, aiming for R1, in behind or the side, by the 3rd/4th turn at the latest. Vader and Echo draw the enemy focus into bad spots. Echo often moving fairly fast, looking for the open spaces and gaps where they will turn away. Vader slows and waits for the door to open. Leaving a run open.

Lead to some fairly slow games and low point scores today. Up against, 5, 5 and 6 ship lists, we had to spend more time drawing them out than I would've liked. That meant our engagements had to hurt, but our reds into their greens was average to mediocre for the most part, which didn't help speed things up. Don't think Echo rolled a single focus on offence 😕

Went against Mace, Ahsoka and 3 Torrents. Lost half on Vader and Echo but took Ahsoka and half of Mace. Largely able to dodge the Torrents and ignore them, Sis got in early and disrupted their arc coverage before weighing in and finishing Ahsoka- ability primed but blanks for the Jedi

Vader focussed on hitting the Jedi when they were split, while Echo mostly loitered and got Outmanoeuvre on Jedi. She lost her points when I dialled a 2 bank the wrong way and parked her on a rock, R1 of Mace. Doh. Correct 2 bank would have been delightful ofc

Then lost against Imperial 5s. Sister again disrupted them, leaving Maarek in the clutches of Vader and Echo. I'd have preferred to go for the squishier ships but I'd left them too distant for safety and couldn't close comfortably. Maareks greens were all arrows. He split at that point and gave us an opening. Echo had to gamble and it super failed to pay off, I thought he'd cover her safe options and he just really didn't! Instead of just losing Sister there, we lost both, and the game with it. Our opponent was full of admiration for the absolutely enormous disruption the Sister was. Was a good game.

Lastly, Maul and 5 ESC droids. Probably the best performance from us. Had to give so much room to avoid the ESC but, when Sis got in behind at R1, it ended up with them turning all over and prey to both her and Echo. Didn't do a lot of damage but only 1 ESC was fired all game. Vader halved Maul as he attempted to stop Sister menacing his bots. Maul halved Sister, basically because we forgot his double tap and, instead of taking 1 hit from the 1st, took 2 from the second 😕

So 3 good games, difficult in the extreme. Mentally exhausted from the plotting. We hardly engaged at all in the 1st half of each, out of necessity, getting into positions where we could threaten, without being caught in multiple arcs was hard work. But in these 3 ships, we have the tools. They're also tanky enough that you can take risks, which is really important. They have to gamble in order to draw the opponent into places where you can hurt them. Sometimes those gambles don't pay off, but can work anyway when backed up by greens, tokens and some nice variance. Sometimes those gambles are about knowing that you can take a limited amount of arc and giving the opponent some genuine bait. SNR Sister in particular is incredible at doing that. Her resilience is underestimated time and again, people who decide to try and commit to her after taking that early bait, generally fare not well

Would certainly recommend trying the list, it gels really well and as Imp aces go, not many can match both the unpredictability and damage resistance of this trio.

(65) Darth Vader [TIE Advanced x1]
(2) Fire-Control System
(6) Afterburners
Points: 73

(52) Soontir Fel [TIE Interceptor]
(2) Predator
(8) Shield Upgrade
(8) Stealth Device
Points: 70

(50) "Echo" [TIE/ph Phantom]
(5) Juke
Points: 55

Total points: 198