It's such an enigma to me. It's an arc-dodger platform, but at I1 it definitely won't be doing any dodging. They would make excellent blockers, except that means you're sticking one out to get shot at by the blocked ship's squadmates, and possibly not getting a shot yourself.

Obviously you don't want to joust with these things, but flanking usually leaves one group way too vulnerable and then the other group has its work really cut out. Playing Ring-around-the-obstacles has worked for me a bit (mods + boost is really good with that dial) but that depends on getting your opponent to split up or come through the rocks in the first place, which Alphas aren't that well equipped to do (unless I'm just really bad at flanking?).

These things never want to be within range 1 or even 2 because they can't guarantee it will be outside of arc and their chances of blanking out against 3-4 hits means a 1-shot death is a very real possibility, even with an evade. At I1 they're not initiative-killing anything either. You could fly them in a block, and though it basically guarantees that one of them dies before shooting, it might let you take off a juicier target in return. If you lose two though, it gets way worse, so it's probably better not to roll the dice on that one.

I've had decent luck sitting back at R3 with a focus. I1 means that if I haven't used it when it's my turn to attack, I'm free to spend it like there's no tomorrow, and 4-5 defense dice with focus is decent insurance in spite of being RNG. The trick is that you can't sit pretty at R3 for very long – as soon as you try to peace out, someone else catches you in that miserable R1 and you go pop.

To everyone who's having luck with Alpha Interceptors or who might have better ideas: How on earth do you make them work? I love interceptors and swarming them has been a dream of mine since 1st edition, but it was never remotely viable then.

Disclaimer: I've been running them against 5 cartel marauders in FlyCasual. Naturally that's a fairly poor matchup in the first place and the computer's deployment system makes it even more of a struggle. Maybe playing against an IRL opponent would actually be easier?

1) Bring along a ship with at least one crew slot.

2) Put Admiral Sloane in said crew slot.

3) Fill out list with Alphas and try not to think about how you could get named TIE Fighters for cheaper.

1: Put them back in the box.

2: Fly generic Strikers instead for a broadly similar experience that works better.

Don’t.

For real tho. Do but seriously logically it’s a particularly poor choice that requires “magic hands”. A high magic value. Meaning you need to actually learn and be good.

This is good thread

Four Alphas + Lambda + Sloane is the only time I've had success with them.

If you insist on flying those you need to be on top of your blocking game. You can bring Vader with Sense and use their great mobility to setup good blocks, sort of like four Fangs list.

I played once three of them with four academy pilot. A swarm list who good on teamplay game !

I've been flying generic interceptors at tournaments since 2nd ed started, but 5 Sabre Squadron Aces work for me a lot better than 5 Alphas plus Wampa because being I4 makes a big difference.

16 minutes ago, Gilarius said:

I've been flying generic interceptors at tournaments since 2nd ed started, but 5 Sabre Squadron Aces work for me a lot better than 5 Alphas plus Wampa because being I4 makes a big difference.

Yeah, being able to fly 5 X Sabres means that there's no real reason to go for the full Alpha Squadron swarm, unless you're running it with support.

A couple of Alphas in an Imperial salad/swarm might do some work, but no better than Strikers really

48 minutes ago, FTS Gecko said:

Yeah, being able to fly 5 X Sabres means that there's no real reason to go for the full Alpha Squadron swarm, unless you're running it with support

This. 5 x Planetary Sentinel Strikers have the edge over 5 x Alpha Squadron Pilot Interceptors because (1) agility 2/hull 4 versus agility 3/hull 3 is a lot less susceptible to being one-shotted, and (2) because strikers pay agility 2 prices for modifications and have a slot, they have a lot more choices about how to spend those 6-points-per-head on upgrades; with a pure Alpha swarm it's afterburners or nothing.

Sabres on the other hand offer Initiative 4 generics which not many ship types have access to, and can field them in a 5-ship block, which is enough to kick out 15-20 attack dice and realistically gun down an I3 ship - even a pretty tough one - before it can fire.

1 hour ago, Arkanta974 said:

I played once three of them with four academy pilot. A swarm list who good on teamplay game !

I can see that one working well. 4 TIE fighters gives you a nice blocking force and massed fire against low agility targets, and TIE/ln and TIE interceptors will have a much easier time flying in formation (or at least in mutual support) than the minimum-speed-3-maximum-speed-not-enough-to-flank-effectively TIE/sk

I love a good challenge and think you can make almost anything work, if you work hard enough.

First off, what type of list are you flying? I can see 5 Alphas with a lot of points left. What are you doing with those points?

5 Kihraxz are tough as they have a great dial and can pivot on your flanks pretty easy with the 1 hard turn. So, I don't think a serious flanking move is the way to go, as they can just turn to face one or the other.

How are you flying them? I don't think you should fly them in formation. I think that will make you too predictable and allow him to put most of his ships facing the majority of his firepower towards whatever he deems the best shot. It will probably shred you. The alternative is to have a loose grouping of ships that can shift as you need it. The problem with that is if you aren't good with it, he can turn and blast something to bits.

You will have to use Blocking to good effect. It should be pretty easy with I1 Interceptors. They have a great dial, are fast, and can Boost and BR to wherever you need them to be. The block with cause him to mess up his formation. This will prevent him from getting the turns he needs to face you. It will also prevent him from getting tokens, which means you (hopefully) won't take as much damage when he shoots. It also means your shots will be more effective against his. If you are able to joust some of your ships with a Focus vs. his ships with no tokens, it will be a better fight.

I think you have 3 in the middle and 2 on the edges. Have the 2 on the edges move a little farther up than the rest. Time the engagement right. You might have to practice a lot of games to make it work. When I was figuring out my Tie Bombers, I found a friend and just re-played the first 5 turns over and over and over again....just to get a better understanding of what I needed to do with them early in the game. So.....prep the approach. Have the ones on the side come in at angles and then BR and Focus so that they are out of firing arc, but pretty close to where they will be. Maybe even R1. Then, you have one Interceptor jam it's way right in his craw so that his little formation bumps itself. The other 2 hang back at range...hopefully 3. This will allow you to have a bunch of shots on him with no tokens while he is only firing R3 at you.

There are other options. You can try to split your forces up a bit more, but when it looks like he is going to turn in on one bit of your forces, you bug out. You can do all sorts of things to just get out of his range, but probably zooming past him is the best bet. If you can get him to commit to a flanking force that bugs out you will prevent him from getting shots on a group while you take pot shots. From this point, the flankers can probably 1 hard turn and some sort of maneuver to get shots next turn and try it again. The goal is to break up his formation so that he can't put all his guns on one group. Maybe it looks like you are going to do the maneuver I mentioned above, but you have the front facing forces 1 hard turn and the flankers just do their best to flank. This might not give you much shots that round, but it might cause him to mess up what his plan was going to be. Overall, the goal is to bait and just take the pot shots with a few ships while he gets none. It can be hard, but if you mess him up enough and get your ships in crazy places around him, you can nibble him down. He won't have a great way to turn to face a majority of your ships at one time.

If you play for a while with a swarm type of list, you will learn to dislike flying formation. There is a certain feel you can get for creating a net to catch the enemy in. You will know the best places to create choke points...or decision points. Will you bug out before the asteroid choke point if he turns at you? Or will you Boost in because he turned the other way? You can get a feel for how to fly a loose grouping of ships at an enemy and it's more powerful than a formation.

Good luck!

42 minutes ago, heychadwick said:

I love a good challenge and think you can make almost anything work, if you work hard enough.

First off, what type of list are you flying? I can see 5 Alphas with a lot of points left. What are you doing with those points?

5 Kihraxz are tough as they have a great dial and can pivot on your flanks pretty easy with the 1 hard turn. So, I don't think a serious flanking move is the way to go, as they can just turn to face one or the other.

How are you flying them? I don't think you should fly them in formation. I think that will make you too predictable and allow him to put most of his ships facing the majority of his firepower towards whatever he deems the best shot. It will probably shred you. The alternative is to have a loose grouping of ships that can shift as you need it. The problem with that is if you aren't good with it, he can turn and blast something to bits.

You will have to use Blocking to good effect. It should be pretty easy with I1 Interceptors. They have a great dial, are fast, and can Boost and BR to wherever you need them to be. The block with cause him to mess up his formation. This will prevent him from getting the turns he needs to face you. It will also prevent him from getting tokens, which means you (hopefully) won't take as much damage when he shoots. It also means your shots will be more effective against his. If you are able to joust some of your ships with a Focus vs. his ships with no tokens, it will be a better fight.

I think you have 3 in the middle and 2 on the edges. Have the 2 on the edges move a little farther up than the rest. Time the engagement right. You might have to practice a lot of games to make it work. When I was figuring out my Tie Bombers, I found a friend and just re-played the first 5 turns over and over and over again....just to get a better understanding of what I needed to do with them early in the game. So.....prep the approach. Have the ones on the side come in at angles and then BR and Focus so that they are out of firing arc, but pretty close to where they will be. Maybe even R1. Then, you have one Interceptor jam it's way right in his craw so that his little formation bumps itself. The other 2 hang back at range...hopefully 3. This will allow you to have a bunch of shots on him with no tokens while he is only firing R3 at you.

There are other options. You can try to split your forces up a bit more, but when it looks like he is going to turn in on one bit of your forces, you bug out. You can do all sorts of things to just get out of his range, but probably zooming past him is the best bet. If you can get him to commit to a flanking force that bugs out you will prevent him from getting shots on a group while you take pot shots. From this point, the flankers can probably 1 hard turn and some sort of maneuver to get shots next turn and try it again. The goal is to break up his formation so that he can't put all his guns on one group. Maybe it looks like you are going to do the maneuver I mentioned above, but you have the front facing forces 1 hard turn and the flankers just do their best to flank. This might not give you much shots that round, but it might cause him to mess up what his plan was going to be. Overall, the goal is to bait and just take the pot shots with a few ships while he gets none. It can be hard, but if you mess him up enough and get your ships in crazy places around him, you can nibble him down. He won't have a great way to turn to face a majority of your ships at one time.

If you play for a while with a swarm type of list, you will learn to dislike flying formation. There is a certain feel you can get for creating a net to catch the enemy in. You will know the best places to create choke points...or decision points. Will you bug out before the asteroid choke point if he turns at you? Or will you Boost in because he turned the other way? You can get a feel for how to fly a loose grouping of ships at an enemy and it's more powerful than a formation.

Good luck!

This is the most helpful response so far. Thank you.

I’ve tried formation flying but haven’t been satisfied. These guys really want to engage at R3 anyway which implies keeping them loose, though focusing fire becomes difficult at that point.

The trick with splitting them up, which I’ve also tried, is that the 5Ks basically just slow-roll straight at you so even if you dodge one arc, you’re going to be in 3-4 more with one of your ships. Your focus/evade goes away after the first attack and you’re left relying on fickle green dice, which is always a bad bet.

The same always happens when I go in for the block: sure I’ve denied one ship an action, but I’ve also stuck my Interceptor out where 3 other ships can pounce on it at R1-2. Splitting up the opponent’s fire seems like the best bet to me so that you can get the most mileage out of your tokens.

Let’s change the subject just a tad: Given the earlier responses, do you think 6 Alphas would be too good, or would they even be good enough? What are the chances that will be allowed here in the coming points update? If it were, how would you fly them?

1 hour ago, ClassicalMoser said:

This is the most helpful response so far. Thank you.

Thank you. I've been playing since Wave 1 and I've played a lot of different types of lists. I've done very well at tournaments and I've abandoned the tournament scene primarily due to a lack of variety to make the game interesting in that field.

I will say that it's a shame, but many people in the tournament scene and in these forums fall into the trap of certain ships/builds/upgrades/etc. are just bad and can't work. There are only certain ways to fly and certain types of builds that work. All the others are bad and shouldn't be attempted. The thought is that everything has been tried by all the "greats" and if something is really good, it would've been discovered already. Unfortunately, I find people just all too eager to jump on bandwagons and try out ideas that others have done very well with. Oh, they put their own spin on it or modify an idea a bit, but few people that have the skill to pull it off actually try out possible ideas. (I am saying few and not many. I'm not saying everyone).

I look at the Tie Defender and how everyone said they were horrible. Bio practiced on his own for months and finally made it to a big tournament. He came in Top 4 with just 2 Defenders. This is all before their fixes. I flew Xizor and 5 Z-95's and won most games, but one game of horrible dice kept me out of Top 16 at a Regional. There were people in the UK that came in Top 4 with the same build. No one rated it, though. Starviper was "dead on arrival". I honestly think that too few tournament players have the imagination to fly beyond conventional thinking. Oh, some do, but they are few.

So, with that said, your standard response is going to be, "D00d, they sux0r. Don't use 'em."

Quote

I’ve tried formation flying but haven’t been satisfied. These guys really want to engage at R3 anyway which implies keeping them loose, though focusing fire becomes difficult at that point.

Firing at R3 is one way to fight with these guys, but I think they are also terrific to fight at R1. With their dial and if you split them up, you can get one or two behind them and on their flanks out of arc to fire at R1. They have the 1 hard turn and can then BR and/or Boost! That's crazy good. You can end up in unusual spots. Or even 1 Hard, Focus, and a BR. If you are able to get behind a formation, you can blast it to ****. They will have to break up if you get that done.

Quote

The trick with splitting them up, which I’ve also tried, is that the 5Ks basically just slow-roll straight at you so even if you dodge one arc, you’re going to be in 3-4 more with one of your ships. Your focus/evade goes away after the first attack and you’re left relying on fickle green dice, which is always a bad bet.  

The same always happens when I go in for the block: sure I’ve denied one ship an action, but I’ve also stuck my Interceptor out where 3 other ships can pounce on it at R1-2. Splitting up the opponent’s fire seems like the best bet to me so that you can get the most mileage out of your tokens.

Things depend on their approach. How do they fly? In a line? 3 x 2? These things matter. If it's a line, you can be on the edges to avoid some arcs. If it's rows, you can be just inside R3 of the first row and not the 2nd. It's not always easy. It takes practice. Also, you can bug out with those ships that are coming straight at the enemy. Let's say you have 3 ships going straight at the enemy and one on each flank. You can 1 hard turn and Boost and BR away from them to peel away from any shots. Probably the enemy was going to joust your main formation (or "anvil" if you think of hammer and anvil strategy). Yeah, you have 3 ships not shooting for maybe 2 rounds, but you should have 2 ships that are shooting at them without getting shot at in return. If you are good, you can zip in behind the enemy K's while your 3 anvil guys do a 2 hard turn back towards them and can either Boost and/or BR to clear arcs or Focus / Boost to have a shot at R3. It's all hit and run strategy.

When it comes to bumping, you have to be smart about it. How they are set up also matters. If it's rows, you can bump one and force the ones behind it to bump the guy in front that bumped you. It forces a chain reaction. Yes, they will be firing at R1 with no tokens and that can still be brutal. You can just hope that you can have a Focus (because you didn't bump) and they roll bad. That, and your flankers can fire at someone with no tokens. If the enemy does a row....or even the 3x2, you can try to bump the edge guy and hopefully get out of arc. The K's can't do a 1 Straight, so if you get right in their grill, you can avoid some arcs for that round. Maybe a guy in the 2nd rank or the guy right next to him can fire, but that's it. You need to pick the round you bump to be the round you can fire in on them. You also need to pick the guy that will mess them up and not get you vaporized in the process. So....selective bumping to hose the other player up. You shouldn't aim for some super effective round that will win you the game (though, they do happen), but do it just to mess with him for THAT round and whittle him away.

"Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee" should be your motto. You want to whittle them down while you take the least amount of fire possible. As I stated, it's not easy to just do, but practice can get you pretty good at it. If you want to know if you are getting there, just wait until your opponent starts changing their opening setup. That's when you know you are getting good!

Quote

Let’s change the subject just a tad: Given the earlier responses, do you think 6 Alphas would be too good, or would they even be good enough? What are the chances that will be allowed here in the coming points update? If it were, how would you fly them?

Well....think of it this way. 5 standard Alphas are only 170 pts with 30 not being used. So, I think 6 would work even better! I think it would give you more ships to toy with. If one gets caught and blows up, it's not as bad as with 5. You also get more pot shots at the enemy.

How would I fly it? Depends on what I'm facing, but probably in a loose line. I would probably take up half of my edge with deployment. Or maybe in groups of 2. Basically, I would slowly try to encircle the enemy. These suckers are FAST and with a Boost, you can get someone on their side of the board pretty easily. If done right, with 6 of them, you can encircle 5 K's pretty well, especially if they just 2 forward each round. The ones right in front do 1 hard turns one way, and then reverse to stay pointed in the same direction. Zip in and take out the edges. Think like a Mongol.

So my answer is a bit complicated. First let me preface this by saying that, like @Blail Blerg I think if you are running a pure swarm list, the I1 Striker is a much better call. Less likely to be one shot, much less likely to lose two before they shoot.

However I have had some success in a mixed swarm. Two alphas, three sentinels, and a TIE/ln. I used Del Meeko, but any <30 point will do.

What I did was set up in a 3x2 formation, In-sk-in/sk-ln-sk. Roll forward until a turn or two before engage then split the Interceptors out wide with a 2/3 bank. The goal is to joust at R3/ be just out of R3 with your main striker force, and flank with the Interceptors. Then your opponent has to chose to either turn towards the single interceptor, or allow it an uncontested flank. Next turn 3 bank in towards enemy formation, while running in hard with the strikers. Beware K turns, and don’t overshoot them. But send in your ships hard, take focus, and make a mess for your opponent. If done right you’ll be at R1, with focus, while blocking most of your opponents ships. Use the boost/ roll of the Interceptors to block escape routes.

Done well this can be very effective, your strikers would absorb most of the unmodified shots. Typically leaving most alive to return fire. But beware variance is real, sometimes you will get it right, have 5 range one shots with focus, and do two damage to a blocked Punisher. They simply don’t have the tools to deal with when variance goes against them.

I still have a problem with ships flying in formation being called a "swarm". I think formations remove the maneuverability of many Imperial ships and should be avoided.

Also, I hate it when someone says, "just use this other ship, it's better" when you are specifically trying to fly with one type of ship. I mean, he wants to try a bunch of Interceptors specifically.

I do like the mixed approach, though. Still, interesting thought exercise to try with just one type.

1.) Fly like a god

2.) Wow people with your imaginative manueverability

3.) Roll green dice

4.) Be reminded of life's ultimate futility

3 minutes ago, heychadwick said:

Also   , I hate it when someone says, "just use this other ship, it's better" when you are specifically trying to fly with one type of sh  ip.  I  mean, he wants to try a bunch of Interceptors specifically.   

I understand. But as someone who has spent the time to make that ship work, it has one fatal flaw. At I1 it can’t make use of its greatest asset, the maneuverability, to do what it needs to to succeed, avoid being shot much. But it also is pointed so you only get 5, which leaves you at the mercy of variance.

When Rebels can get 4 ships with 6+ health at initiatives 4-6 with lots of upgrades, and you get 5 naked ships with 3 health, it is very likely, indeed almost certain, that the number advantage is equalized, or even inverted, before you even shoot.

Can 5 Alphas be effective? Yeah. Are 5 Sabre’s better? Also yes. Are 5 Sentinels better? Unfortunately also yes. And it all has to do with variance. In an individual game, the Alphas may be fine. But on a game per game basis the mixed squad I had listed will perform more consistently. And it is still hugely variance prone, which makes it not something you would really want to use competitively. The dice swings can very easily mean that, even if you do everything right, you will lose if the first engage variance goes against you.

TIE/ln get away with it by being cheap enough that losing one or two won’t cost you the game since you have 8. Or you have abilities to mitigate that, and higher initiative, with 6. Interceptors can’t do that. And once numbers are equalized there are few lists you can beat.

3 hours ago, heychadwick said:

If you play for a while with a swarm type of list, you will learn to dislike flying formation. There is a certain feel you can get for creating a net to catch the enemy in. You will know the best places to create choke points...or decision points. Will you bug out before the asteroid choke point if he turns at you? Or will you Boost in because he turned the other way? You can get a feel for how to fly a loose grouping of ships at an enemy and it's more powerful than a formation.

This is probably the most important difference in play between swarms (6+ ships with mostly 2-dice attacks and - usually - range 1 mutual support abilities) and heavy swarms (5 ships with 3-dice attacks that basically just trust their unmodified chassis stats and ship abilities to carry the day) - the goal is to concentrate arcs of fire, not ships, and flying as a loose 'kill box' makes that happen far more easily, especially with high-minimum-speed strikers or perma-stressed autothrusting interceptors.

2 hours ago, ClassicalMoser said:

The same always happens when I go in for the block: sure I’ve denied one ship an action, but I’ve also stuck my Interceptor out where 3 other ships can pounce on it at R1-2. Splitting up the opponent’s fire seems like the best bet to me so that you can get the most mileage out of your tokens.

If you're playing against FIVE. CARTEL. MARAUDERS. (paging @FTS Gecko ....) with five interceptors, then blocking goes out the window. Blocking is a vital tool to master with Initiative 1 interceptors and fangs because they're so darn good at it.

Since the ship you bumped won't get to shoot at the token-less target, you're basically trading one action of your enemy's for one shot of yours.

Blocking 'works' when you use an interceptor to deny a valuable piece (a limited 'ace' or a large ship) their action(s) - a near-100-point Rear Admiral Chiraneau losing his action in front of 160 points of focused interceptors is a huge deal. 40-point ships trading actions for shots on a one-for-one basis is a net loss for you because he still gets unmodified shots with the guy who got bumped.

1 hour ago, heychadwick said:

Well....think of it this way. 5 standard Alphas are only 170 pts with 30 not being used. So, I think 6 would work even better! I think it would give you more ships to toy with. If one gets caught and blows up, it's not as bad as with 5. You also get more pot shots at the enemy.

Put it another way; to be able to field 6, they'd have a points cap of 33 points a piece. That is a points drop, but only of 3 points a piece on a ship most people rate as underpowered. 6 ships with all-up 3-dice primary attacks would (currently) be almost unprecedented but not completely so; 6 Cartel Spacers with Ion Cannons are that price and have 3-dice, range 1-3 attacks, agility 3, and a pretty neat dial with a shield token on top. Granted they can only do a maximum of 1 damage per cannon attack, but then don't underestimate massed ion fire for screwing up tough targets.

Equally (as I believe someone said) 5 interceptors plus Wampa is currently already legal; upgrading Wampa in that list to a 6th interceptor doesn't feel like an enormous jump in capability.

FFG have demonstrated they are prepared to move ships to price points which increase the maximum number of them you can field (the TIE/x1 moved from a 'maximum of 4' to a 'maximum of 5' ship), and with the Interceptor being one of the reduced selection of ships which are Hyperspace legal, you'd like to think it would be more likely to get attention given to underperforming pilots.

Do I expect 33 point Alphas? No. Would I be shocked or upset if we got them? Not in the least.

28 minutes ago, ficklegreendice said:

3.) Roll green dice

4.) Be reminded of life's ultimate futility

Regrettably true. I find red dice can be equally treacherous, to be fair.

21 minutes ago, millertime059 said:

Can 5 Alphas be effective? Yeah. Are 5 Sabre’s better? Also yes. Are 5 Sentinels better? Unfortunately also yes. And it all has to do with variance.

Also with the basic functionality you can give them. With 6 point per head, the only upgrade you can give them is afterburners (because unlike strikers you pay 8 points a pop for shield and stealth modifications and 7 for hull).

Don't get me wrong. Afterburners bloody rock and are one of the best modifications currently available not ship- or faction-locked.

But much of the value of those free boosts goes away because you already have autothrusters baked into the basic chassis, and you can't boost twice*.

Yes, you can boost/focus/roll, which is nice, but compared to the saber you're essentially trading a situational free boost for the initiative to know (most of the time) whether that boost is a good idea in the first place. Even disregarding the other benefits of a high initiative, that makes the saber start to look like a better deal.

* By comparison, one of the best things about TIE/sk is that they 'can' - aileron + dial + afterburners gives them some ridiculous options during movement-to-contact.

4 minutes ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Also with the basic functionality you can give them. With  6  point per head, the only upgrade you can give them is afterburners (because unlike strikers you pay 8 points a pop for shield and stealth modifications and 7 for hull).

Don't get me wrong. After  burners bloody rock and are one of the best modifica  t  ions currently available not ship- or faction-locked. 

I’ve also found their overlooked bomb slot to be something worth considering. Throw a seismic or two, maybe a prox mine and proton bomb.

Having 2-3 bombs in the list is incredible at times. You can get two seismics or one prox mine and still fit a TIE/ln

It really can catch people off guard.

But all that pales, IMO, to the reduced probability of getting one shotted. That is their biggest upgrade.

15 minutes ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Put it another way; to be able to field 6, they'd have a points cap of 33 points a piece. That is a points drop, but only of 3 points a piece on a ship most people rate as underpowered. 6 ships with all-up 3-dice primary attacks would (currently) be almost unprecedented but not completely so; 6 Cartel Spacers with Ion Cannons are that price and have 3-dice, range 1-3 attacks, agility 3, and a pretty neat dial with a shield token on top. Granted they can only do a maximum of 1 damage per cannon attack, but then don't underestimate massed ion fire for screwing up tough targets.

Equally (as I believe someone said) 5 interceptors plus Wampa is currently already legal; upgrading Wampa in that list to a 6th interceptor doesn't feel like an enormous jump in capability.

It would only be a drop of one point, not 3. They're currently at 34 points each, same as the Striker I1 generics. Alphas should be at least a point cheaper than planetary sentinels.

Scyks have the additional benefit of 4 health on top of their 3-agility, which gives them the benefit of both strikers and interceptors, at the cost of a little maneuverability and damage capped at 1 (plus control effects). Still, being less likely to be one-shotted than an interceptor and less likely to be two-shotted than a striker is pretty big.

I can't really think of any way 33 point Alphas would hurt the game. This will definitely be the first thing I look for in the points update.

Not to mention we already have an 8 ship 3 dice alpha, that denies range bonus. And it’s hardly seeing much play.

Right now, you don't- Not if you expect to win. 3 agi 3 health generic i1 pilots are too fragile for them to cost their current 34 points.

As to the init 1 Striker (sentinel) comparisons, yeah, i1 Strikers are probably worth around a point more than an Interceptor.

But I1 Strikers are ******* awful and should cost 29-30 points if they were to be viable on their own. The only remotely good Strikers are the named ones, since their initiative scaling is ******* linear and their ability text is free. See meme-diagram below.

The crux of the problem is that named, high initiative ships that are more maneuverable and react with more perfect information are in fact better jousters than all generic lists due to their pilot abilities, and their high initiative allows them to escape consequences from engaging low-initiative lists head on via alpha strikes.

Because FFG doesn't price ability text and initiative properly, the only conpetitively viable Interceptor is Soontir Fel.

It's a sad day to want to fly generic interceptors.

I flew a lot of 4 Alphas + Fleet Officer Shuttle in first edition. That list could absolutely wreck some squads, but struggled against others. Ironically, it's greatest strength was jousting. Part of that was because the TIE interceptors had to remain at range 1-2 of the shuttle to receive the focus tokens, and the other part was the tokens themselves. I could keep one focus for the shuttle and give an extra focus to the lead TIE interceptor that was most likely to be the enemy's primary target. If a TIE interceptor was damaged the following turn, it would take an evade action and receive a focus token from Fleet Officer to make it an undesirable target. And if any Alpha Sq. Pilot needed to reposition, it could get a focus token, too (this last one is now incorporated into Autothrusters, so we're not missing this any more).

So now let's look at Second Edition. Admiral Sloane was already mentioned, and she's an obvious choice. Putting her on Lt. Sai let's you take maximum advantage of giving away a focus token to a damaged Alpha Sq. Pilot, because Sai gets a focus too. Being able to grant a damaged TIE interceptor focus + evade goes a long way towards keeping the squad kicking. In an effort to maximize offense, I also like to equip ST-321 and Tractor Beam to set up the Alphas to really tear into the higher agility ships. Sai + Sloane seems to be the best pick, assuming you can keep the shuttle alive.

Another option is to skip the support and go "bigger threat." Major Vermeil + Vader crew will draw fire away from the Alphas, allowing them to safely close to range 1 where they hit the hardest. If Vermeil is too fragile, Feroph is a nice alternative that is surprisingly annoying to take down. Feroph also has the points for Tactical Officer to be able to coordinate an evade to an interceptor in trouble.

At the tail end of First Edition I played a lot of 5 TIE strikers, and although I really like the way it feels, I personally enjoy a mixed squad better in order to cover for the weaknesses of my heavy fighters.

18 minutes ago, millertime059 said:

Not to mention we already have an 8 ship 3 dice alpha, that denies range bonus. And it’s hardly seeing much play.

Exactly this. No mods + fragile chassis really saps the power from such a huge volume of dice. And then the variance can hit your wrong and eliminate you from the cut or whatever.