After a friend suggested I gave Colonel Jendon a try in my usual Darth+Soonts+SOMETHING ELSE list, I got to thinking about his ability. While it only has two charges, it gives a very useful capability to take locks on the first turn when you likely aren't going to be taking any meaningful actions (with the exception of boosting/barrel rolling for positioning). This can then allow for a more 'optimal' first round engagement, where you can be double-modded against your chosen target. On that basis, I've cooked up the following lists, both which feature Maarek Stele, the pilot who I'd argue benefits the most from being able to lock before the turn of engagement.

Lambda -class T-4a Shuttle - •Colonel Jendon - 67
•Colonel Jendon - Darth Vader’s Shuttle Pilot (46)
Collision Detector (6)
•Emperor Palpatine (11)
Shield Upgrade (4)

TIE Advanced x1 - •Darth Vader - 73
•Darth Vader - Black Leader (65)
Fire-Control System (2)
Afterburners (6)

TIE Advanced x1 - •Maarek Stele - 55
•Maarek Stele - Servant of the Empire (46)
Marksmanship (1)
Fire-Control System (2)
Afterburners (6)

Total: 195/200

View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

This list is the most straightforward of the two. Darth Vader and Maarek, rigged with Afterburners and FCS (and Maarek with the lovely Marksmanship to help deliver More Crits), and Jendon, accompanied by the Emperor, with Shield Upgrade and Collision Detector. The approach is simple; Jendon fires up his ability in turn one while both TIEs slow roll forward, target locking whomever they choose. That done, they both go hunting. Jendon then rumbles around the battlefield, trying to stay alive, with the Emperor filling up the entire passenger compartment cackling about how everything is proceeding as he has foreseen (if Maarek has to switch his target lock, the Emperor's charge will be used to help him out).

TIE Advanced x1 - •Maarek Stele - 55
•Maarek Stele - Servant of the Empire (46)
Marksmanship (1)
Fire-Control System (2)
Afterburners (6)

TIE Advanced v1 - Inquisitor - 48
Inquisitor - (38)
Fire-Control System (2)
Supernatural Reflexes (8)

TIE Advanced v1 - Inquisitor - 48
Inquisitor - (38)
Fire-Control System (2)
Supernatural Reflexes (8)

Lambda -class T-4a Shuttle - •Colonel Jendon - 46
•Colonel Jendon - Darth Vader’s Shuttle Pilot (46)

Total: 197/200

View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

List two...this is born from my love of Supernatural Inquisitors. It's silly. It's likely a bad idea which won't hold up so well. But it'll be fun to give it a shot, and the Inquisitors will be running around with double-modded shots and evade tokens, which can make them marvellously survivable.

I super love the 2nd one. No idea how it will hold up but it looks a blast.

1st, I'm not sure about. Can very hurt things but it's a bit clunky. Like swinging a sack of bricks. I think hyper mobile aces with bigger bids may be bad for it...

50 minutes ago, Cuz05 said:

I super love the 2nd one. No idea how it will hold up but it looks a blast.

1st, I'm not sure about. Can very hurt things but it's a bit clunky. Like swinging a sack of bricks. I think hyper mobile aces with bigger bids may be bad for it...

I'll be honest, both of these are for use in the weekly play nights I attend. Our 'meta' generally leans towards three-ship (or more!), so it'd likely not run into hyper-mobile targets....

Unless someone brings Fenn-Guri or some other two ship formation. Which I'd really like to see, so I can find our how I cope.

3 hours ago, AceDogbert said:

Lambda -class T-4a Shuttle - •Colonel Jendon - 67
•Colonel Jendon - Darth Vader’s Shuttle Pilot (46)
Collision Detector (6)
•Emperor Palpatine (11)
Shield Upgrade (4)

TIE Advanced x1 - •Darth Vader - 73
•Darth Vader - Black Leader (65)
Fire-Control System (2)
Afterburners (6)

TIE Advanced x1 - •Maarek Stele - 55
•Maarek Stele - Servant of the Empire (46)
Marksmanship (1)
Fire-Control System (2)
Afterburners (6)

Total: 195/200

I'm not sure. My concern is that it's only 2 'proper' fighters, but I guess with locks taken care of and afterburners on both ships they can dance fairly well. I'm wondering about that shield upgrade and initiative bid, though - 5 points doesn't seem enough to really reliably swing matters your way against enemy initiative 6, and if you're not facing an I6 opponent, Vader wins anyway and Jendon is flying a scow that would struggle to outmanoeuvre an arthritic wombat (though collision detector may help).

Those 5 points could represent Hate for Vader (though that might be less necessary with Palpatine available), or, if you dropped the shield upgrade to a hull upgrade, Sense - which means (a) you don't have to worry about the initiative bid so much, and (b) provides maarek some assistance, too, against I6 or I5-with-a-better-bid opponents.

Also, Jamming Beam. Hard to imagine ever wanting to use it, since the shuttle fires last, but it is free. If you ever snag a phantom's evade token and stop it recloaking you'll be glad you remembered it.

35 minutes ago, Magnus Grendel said:

I'm not sure. My concern is that it's only 2 'proper' fighters, but I guess with locks taken care of and afterburners on both ships they can dance fairly well. I'm wondering about that shield upgrade and initiative bid, though - 5 points doesn't seem enough to really reliably swing matters your way against enemy initiative 6, and if you're not facing an I6 opponent, Vader wins anyway and Jendon is flying a scow that would struggle to outmanoeuvre an arthritic wombat (though collision detector may help).

Those 5 points could represent Hate for Vader (though that might be less necessary with Palpatine available), or, if you dropped the shield upgrade to a hull upgrade, Sense - which means (a) you don't have to worry about the initiative bid so much, and (b) provides maarek some assistance, too, against I6 or I5-with-a-better-bid opponents.

Also, Jamming Beam. Hard to imagine ever wanting to use it, since the shuttle fires last, but it is free. If you ever snag a phantom's evade token and stop it recloaking you'll be glad you remembered it.

I've found that a two ship plus a shuttle formation can be reasonably successful (I've found Sai with the title and the Grand Inquisitor can get very good action economy).

That said, if I throw out the prospect of a bid entirely, the list looks as follows:

TIE Advanced x1 - •Maarek Stele - 55
•Maarek Stele - Servant of the Empire (46)
Marksmanship (1)
Fire-Control System (2)
Afterburners (6)

TIE Advanced x1 - •Darth Vader - 79
•Darth Vader - Black Leader (65)
Fire-Control System (2)
Afterburners (6)
Sense (6)

Lambda -class T-4a Shuttle - •Colonel Jendon - 66
•Colonel Jendon - Darth Vader’s Shuttle Pilot (46)
Collision Detector (6)
Jamming Beam (0)
•Emperor Palpatine (11)
Hull Upgrade (3)

Total: 200/200

View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

Very good shout on Sense on Vader. I can see that becoming very useful.

1 hour ago, AceDogbert said:

Very good shout on Sense on Vader. I can see that becoming very useful.

That was my thought.

With Jendon setting up the pair's lock before contact, and Palpatine providing a 'floating' force point for dice modification, Vader shouldn't need to burn too much force on actions, so the force to power sense should come nice and cheap.

With Maarek not needing to lock, the combination of knowing where your enemy is going, afterburners, and the TIE/x1's natty focus/link/roll* means that even if he moves before an opponent he can make a credible shot at outflying someone.

* Which is unusual - it's the "right way round" in that even if the barrel roll fails you still end up with a focus token. Most ships with linked reposition have it the other way around....

54 minutes ago, Magnus Grendel said:

* Which is unusual - it's the "right way round" in that even if the barrel roll fails you still end up with a focus token. Most ships with linked reposition have it the other way around....

Now that you mention it, that is a very good point. Only ships I can think of which have that same Focus>Reposition link are the X-Wings (Servomotor S-foil Focus into a red boost, Integrated S-foils Focus into a red barrel roll) and the B-Wing.

And the S-Foils need to be closed in the case of the X-wing, which reduces the ship to a much less capable platform.

TIE/x1 are really good little ships for their cost; they fall down purely because they live and die by target locks - hence Jendon is such a natural pairing for any TIE/x1 pilot except Vader.

3 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

TIE/x1 are really good little ships for their cost; they fall down purely because they live and die by target locks - hence Jendon is such a natural pairing for any TIE/x1 pilot

You could fit Jendon with 4 x Tempest Squadron Pilots. No FCS though.

Still, it would be pretty fearsome for an initial joust.

I'm enjoying this thread and although I've only recently acquired a lambda to play with but I have found Jendon a natural partner for the Tie x/1 and I've had fun with the following list:

Colonel Jendon (46)
Emperor Palpatine (11)
Ship total: 57

Rexler Brath (82)
Juke (5)
Fire-Control System (2)
Ship total: 89

Maarek Stele (46)
Marksmanship (1)
Fire-Control System (2)
Ship total: 49

Total: 195

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

Basically swapping Vader for Rexler who's expose ability can stack nicely with Maarek choosing crits although I've not quite managed to pull it off yet.

In the last game I played Jendon was definitely the MVP as he was giving out long range locks and coordinating Maarek and Rexler and seemed to be doing more damage than both of them with his unmodded attacks. Maybe the Emperor's presence was inspiring him to work harder.

I love the second list just because I liv SuperInkies, and because 4 ships is good. But I think Vader with Palp for support is a scary thought if you are a skillful pilot

Well, I gave the Maarek/Vader/Jendon v2 list a shake last night.

First match was against Soontir (Predator)/Vynder (cannon config, Advanced Slam, Ion Cannon)/Feroph/Lt Sai (with Title). This was a scrappy affair, where we actually started engaging on round one (due to some high speed SLAM action). Early on, Vader was almost shot down by an arc dodging Soontir, leaving the Dark Lord suffering from a Stunned Pilot crit on one hull. Things looked grim, but I clung on, badly damaging Feroph.

Things turned around in one glorious round, however, as my opponent wound up bumping Soontir into the tail of Jendon. Maarek Stele (due to Vader's Sense) had Afterburnered into the perfect position to exploit, and pushed through two crits. Even forgetting Maarek's ability (HOW DID I FORGET THAT), I still managed to get a Direct Hit, ending the Baron. On the other side of the board, I confounded my opponent by K-turning Vader behind Feroph after the Reaper had a surprising turn of speed (my opponent expected me to slow roll towards him, so moved to block), with Vader finishing off the Reaper that round. The rest of the game devolved into chasing down Vynder, as my opponent's Sai tried to come about again.

My second game was against Scum Fenn (Fearless), Old Teroch (Fearless) and Scum Han (Trick Shot, Title, 4-LOM, Zuckuss). To call this game scrappy doesn't do it justice. I lost, but managed to destroy Old Teroch fairly easily as my opponent had him hang back rather than rushing forward to engage (I had Jendon-locked him in the first round, so my opponent held him back). What lost me the game was underestimating just how potent Fenn Rau can be (in two shots, he managed to take both Vader and Maarek from full health to one hull), and wasting my Afterburner charges late game.

To me, this confirms this list actually has some legs. Sense was fairly useful, but I'm in two minds as to whether or not I drop it for Hate or a bid, or whether or not the Collision Detector is worth it on the shuttle (it helped, and enabled me to coordinate on turns where I might otherwise have not done so, but not earthshatteringly useful).

Does Jendon work on himself? The whole "friendly ship" is missing the word "other".

3 hours ago, Scopes said:

Does Jendon work on himself? The whole "friendly ship" is missing the word "other".

It would work, so if you had Krennic on board Jendon could also lock beyond range three.

13 hours ago, Scopes said:

Does Jendon work on himself? The whole "friendly ship" is missing the word "other".

When 2.0 first came out, I think I played nearly 5-6 games using Jendon’s ability on himself without my opponents or myself ever realizing that the shuttle did not have the TL action anymore. 😂

Finally, someone said, “uhhh....” and told me. It crushed me. LOL 😩