As I am highly original and innovative, I'm considering flying the following in an upcoming HST (never been to one before, should be interesting!).

I had considered flying five SFs (thank you French 1st Edition clearout sale!), but decided that I liked the idea of flying four with more teeth was a better idea, which led me to a fat Quickdraw accompanied by three Omegas with Fanatical, AO and Fire Control Systems. The FCS are upgrades of opportunity; if I can 'safely' bank a lock on a desirable target, I will, but otherwise they'll be focusing all day. An alternative would be to ditch the FCS on the Omegas and upgrade one to Backdraft; this gives me an additional point of 'bid' (or 'points I don't know what else to do with'), so I may experiment with it as well.

TIE/sf Fighter - •“Quickdraw” - 70
•“Quickdraw” - Defiant Duelist (45)
Fanatical (2)
Fire-Control System (2)
Shield Upgrade (6)
Special Forces Gunner (10)
Pattern Analyzer (5)

TIE/sf Fighter - Omega Squadron Expert - 42
Omega Squadron Expert - (34)
Fanatical (2)
Fire-Control System (2)
Advanced Optics (4)

TIE/sf Fighter - Omega Squadron Expert - 42
Omega Squadron Expert - (34)
Fanatical (2)
Fire-Control System (2)
Advanced Optics (4)

TIE/sf Fighter - Omega Squadron Expert - 42
Omega Squadron Expert - (34)
Fanatical (2)
Fire-Control System (2)
Advanced Optics (4)

Total: 196/200

View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

I love TIE/sf. I think my favorite variant of the 5 list is 4 Omegas (Crack Shot, Optics), Backdraft (Crack Shot, Optics), but this is about a 4-ship list.

Fire Control System and Advanced Optics kind of clash. One demands you take Focus actions, one demands you take Lock actions. I think I'd cut one or the other. Spending points on opportunistic upgrades generally doesn't work out well, in my experience. Fanatical/FCS is solid (some folks flew it and did decently before the points adjustment), but Fanatical/Optics or Crack Shot/Optics are really easy--just focus and don't worry about switching to Lock or even Evade. As to talent, in my experience, Crack Shot is usually as good as Fanatical would have been. Seems like SFs their shields until the round they get killed.

I'll also say that, in general, Backdraft is really worthwhile.

I can see two directions I'd take this: more expensive generics, or cheaper.

For more forward firepower, you could run generics with the Special Forces Gunner.

• Quickdraw (Fanatical, FCS, Gunner) 59
• 3 * Zeta Survivor (Advanced Optics, Gunner) 138 = 46 * 3
  • Initiative is a little lower, and there's more thought which will have to go into where to point the firing arcs, but having Gunner means a lot more firepower in front arc.
• Total 197, bid 3.
  • One Zeta could easily be Backdraft with Advanced Optics and Crack Shot for 44 points, which opens up a few more points. With Fanatical QD, you could go for Pattern Analyzer, or drop to Crack Shot on QD and take Shield Upgrade or Afterburners. As an Init 6 without a Boost, Afterburners can be really handy. Getting out of a few firing arcs might be better for extending the lifetime of QD's ability than having an extra shield.

For cheaper generics, this is what I'd fly:

• Quickdraw (Crack Shot, FCS, Gunner, Pattern Analyzer, Afterburners) 69
• Backdraft (Crack Shot, Advanced Optics, Afterburners) 50
• Omega Expert (Crack Shot, Advanced Optics) 39
• Total 197, bid 3.

This last one really isn't all to different from yours. The only changes: Crack Shot over Fanatical (a probably doesn't matter choice that can go either way, but Crack Shot does open up a few more points), Afterburners vs Shield Upgrade (again, more about preferences than anything), and cutting FCS off the generics to upgrade to Backdraft, which you already discussed.

Not quite 4 SF’s, but I’ve been trying to determine if I want QuickDraw, 2x Omegas, and Muse vs. QuickDraw, Muse, and Kylo.

(45) "Quickdraw" [TIE/sf Fighter]
(10) Special Forces Gunner
(6) Shield Upgrade
(2) Fire-Control System
(2) Fanatical
(5) Pattern Analyzer
Points: 70

(31) "Muse" [TIE/fo Fighter]
(6) Squad Leader
(1) Biohexacrypt Codes
Points: 38

(76) Kylo Ren [TIE/vn Silencer]
(3) Hate
(7) Proton Rockets
(4) Advanced Optics
Points: 90

Total points: 198

OR

(45) "Quickdraw" [TIE/sf Fighter]
(10) Special Forces Gunner
(6) Shield Upgrade
(2) Fire-Control System
(2) Fanatical
Points: 65

(34) Omega Squadron Expert [TIE/sf Fighter]
(10) Special Forces Gunner
(2) Fire-Control System
(2) Fanatical
Points: 48

(34) Omega Squadron Expert [TIE/sf Fighter]
(10) Special Forces Gunner
(2) Fire-Control System
(2) Fanatical
Points: 48

(31) "Muse" [TIE/fo Fighter]
(6) Squad Leader
(1) Biohexacrypt Codes
Points: 38

Total points: 199

5 hours ago, kempokid said:

Not quite 4 SF’s, but I’ve been trying to determine if I want QuickDraw, 2x Omegas, and Muse vs. QuickDraw, Muse, and Kylo.

(45) "Quickdraw" [TIE/sf Fighter]
(10) Special Forces Gunner
(6) Shield Upgrade
(2) Fire-Control System
(2) Fanatical
(5) Pattern Analyzer
Points: 70

(31) "Muse" [TIE/fo Fighter]
(6) Squad Leader
(1) Biohexacrypt Codes
Points: 38

(76) Kylo Ren [TIE/vn Silencer]
(3) Hate
(7) Proton Rockets
(4) Advanced Optics
Points: 90

Total points: 198

I flew a variant of this at the Aus SOS Hyperspace event and ended up winning a World's invite. Very strong but you need to be able to fly it aggressively but also carefully. You don't want to get caught out and loose Kylo or QD before they have done their job. You also can't give your opponent time to set up their approach to their advantage.

I would swap out Shield for Afterburners on QD and try to get sense onto Kylo.

11 minutes ago, Deffly said:

I flew a variant of this at the Aus SOS Hyperspace event and ended up winning a World's invite. Very strong but you need to be able to fly it aggressively but also carefully. You don't want to get caught out and loose Kylo or QD before they have done their job. You also can't give your opponent time to set up their approach to their advantage.

I would swap out Shield for Afterburners on QD and try to get sense onto Kylo.

Yep, I’ve read some other threads today since posting that has me convinced to put burners on QD. Especially with PA. 3 sloop, boost, standard action combo could be clutch. I’ve flown them both quite a bit so feel confident to know how to set up the attack.

I’ve had trouble with QD in the past getting caught but PA and burners will change the game on her escapability.

Just now, kempokid said:

Yep, I’ve read some other threads today since posting that has me convinced to put burners on QD. Especially with PA. 3 sloop, boost, standard action combo could be clutch. I’ve flown them both quite a bit so feel confident to know how to set up the attack.

I’ve had trouble with QD in the past getting caught but PA and burners will change the game on her escapability.

Just FYI, timing swaps around on red maneuvers due to timing windows on the cards.

White move>Afterburners>Action

Red move>Pattern Analyzer>Afterburners

Update from the front!

Last night, I played against a good friend's Resistance list, consisting of three I1 A-wings (with Heroic) and two I3 T70s (one with Black One, both Heroic). The first game...well, I lost two SFs in two rounds due to a combination of poor flying and not rolling a single natural evade.

After conceding, and setting up again, we had a very close and interesting game. I managed to force my opponent to split his fire, which combined with my TIE/sfs remembering what evade results looked like, led to my opponent falling behind on the damage race. My opponent also avoided the bait of shooting at Quickdraw, which meant she came through the game entirely unharmed. At game's end, I had lost one SF, and conceded half points the other two Omegas while killing one A-Wing and both T-70s.

I feel that dropping the FCS on the Omegas and upgrading one to Backdraft is the stronger option. While I did get some use out of it, I think Backdraft will pose a greater threat.