Having received the Decimator last weekend I have been playing around with lists with it and would like suggestions on the one below:

TIE Advanced x1 - •Maarek Stele - 49
•Maarek Stele - Servant of the Empire (46)
Marksmanship (1)
Fire-Control System (2)

VT-49 Decimator - •Rear Admiral Chiraneau - 98
•Rear Admiral Chiraneau - Advisor to Admiral Piett (76)
Marksmanship (1)
•Darth Vader (14)
Shield Upgrade (3)
• Dauntless (4)

TIE/sk Striker - •“Duchess” - 53
•“Duchess” - Urbane Ace (42)
Predator (2)
•Fifth Brother (9)

Total: 200/200

View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

All 3 ships are I5 and have extra ways to create crits.

Should I drop vader down to something like Seventh Sister to save points for a bid? Or any other changes in ships or upgrades?

Thoughts:

• Chiraneau
  • Marksmanship on Rear Admiral Chiraneau feels a bit redundant. You've already got one 'free' focus-to-critical modifier, and more importantly triggering it requires someone to park themselves in the bullseye of the second most unmanouvrable ship in the Imperial Navy; anyone bullseye-ed by Chiraneau deserves whatever they get but I really can't see it happening often enough to justify even the 1 point investment of Marksmanship.
  • Dauntless gives you protection from being blocked - you should always have your critical reinforce token.
  • Vader is a pretty good buy. Yes, seventh sister would be cheaper but with zero agility on the defensive and Chiraneau's own pilot ability on offence it's not like you need that force charge as a force charge very often - you'll usually get to use it on Vader's (bloody awesome) ability, which is definitely worth the 5 points over and above that of Seventh Sister.
    • If I really wanted to save points, I'd drop Vader instead for Palpatine. You have the spare crew slots, and he's still 3 points cheaper. More importantly, you can use the force token with whoever requires it - that's particularly significant for Maarek Stele, who's going to need to target lock on the turn you first engage, meaning his green dice will be otherwise unmodified. A force token is quite likely to be handy to cover that moment of vulnerability.
• Duchess
  • Good-to-go. I do like Afterburners on her for manoeuvrability, but she's okay without them, especially your other 'ace' Maarek doesn't have them either.
• Maarek Stele
  • The minimal kit, but enough to get the job done. There is an argument to be had on marksmanship vs crack shot vs ruthless but in a squad where everyone can shoot first and drop shields for you, I think Marksmanship is probably the better call.
• Dropping Marksmanship, and reducing Vader to Palpatine gives you 4 points - one other 'easy' point saved is downgrading the Dauntless' Shield Upgrade to a Hull Upgrade - it comes with risk, but it only matters if that specific point of damage is a critical, so I think it might be justifiable.
  • 5 points would let you equip a hull upgrade to Duchess as well, or give the Dauntless proton bombs - good insurance if someone gets behind the unwieldy battlewagon.
  • 4 points would allow you to equip a novice technician to Dauntless (giving you some insurance against nasty criticals), or give Maarek Stele Ion Missiles for a bit of catch-you-by-surprise ion token control.

Honestly, I would drop Vader and Dauntless from the Decimator and stick a Minister Tua and Director Krennic on it. Equip the "Duchess" with the Optimized Prototype and you can flip Damage cards or burn shields. What I would go for is...

1. Rear Admiral Chiraneau: Minister Tua, Director Krennic, Hotshot Gunner
2. Maarek Stele: Marksmanship, Fire-Control System
3. "Duchess": Marksmanship, Fifth Brother, Targeting Computer

Can drop Hotshot Gunner for Afterburners on Maarek Stele. Or drop him for Moff Jerjerrod for that random surprise boost. A matter of preference what you want to go for. Vader is not bad, but I feel it is a tad wasted on the Decimator. I rather have Minister Tua, as you can just set up Decimator as a damage sponge and have two actions on him each turn. You will want to use Reinforce each turn regardless, but now you will have the option to Target Lock to trigger Optimized Prototype and then stress yourself for free Reinforce.

12 minutes ago, Schanez said:

I rather have Minister Tua, as you can just set up Decimator as a damage sponge and have two actions on him each turn. You will want to use Reinforce each turn regardless, but now you will have the option to Target Lock to trigger Optimized Prototype and then stress yourself for free Reinforce.

This combo here is why I generally see Hull over Shield on RAC.

Vader is a brute on a large base bowtie. Hotshot Gunner will give you much of the same effect for half the price, it's a very good choice and makes your R3 shots more useful, but Dauntless and Vader are quite terrifying at close quarters. I think that choice comes down to how you fly the squad, they're both mighty combos.

If we're talking about pushing crits with three ships at I5, I'd likely go for this:

Rear Admiral Chiraneau (76)
Trick Shot (4)
Admiral Sloane (9)
Hotshot Gunner (7)
Dauntless (4)

Ship total: 100 Half Points: 50 Threshold: 8

Maarek Stele (46)
Marksmanship (1)
Fire-Control System (2)

Ship total: 49 Half Points: 25 Threshold: 3

"Duchess" (42)
Fifth Brother (9)

Ship total: 51 Half Points: 26 Threshold: 2


Total: 200

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0: https://raithos.github.io/?f=Galactic Empire&d=v8ZsZ200Z214X133WWWW14W86WWW147Y174X125W113WWY211XW82WW&sn=Unnamed Squadron&obs=

This Decimator is designed to hang back a bit and push those crits through from a distance. I've seen Sloane provide a surprising amount of dice re-rolls for her wingmates even when you're not focused on forcing stress onto the enemy; makes them think twice about those K-turns, sloops and talon rolls.

14 hours ago, Vectivus333 said:

I've seen Sloane provide a surprising amount of dice re-rolls for her wingmates even when you're not focused on forcing stress onto the enemy; makes them think twice about those K-turns, sloops and talon rolls.

It's a rather nice option to have when facing anyone with linked actions (or autothrusters), as well.

I flew a list with the same pilots in a hyperspace tournament and surprisingly won(I literally made the list the night before).

Maarek had FCS/Marksmanship, Duchess had Fifth Brother and RAC had Vader/Dauntless/Proton Bombs.

I would have preferred Minister Tua, especially against higher PS ships or 5s with the bid. Vader is so valuable as a token stripper, especially as token stackers like Soontir or a Phantom.

Surprisingly, Maarek was my weak link, but that was because I used him as bait and then ran. RAC and Duchess can move fast enough to cut off the opponent if they go for Maarek. I also thought of him as my endgame ship, except for the matches where I put him in a bad spot and he popped in a turn.

Overall a fun list, and in Extended I would definitely take Tua over Dauntless and rethink the bombs.

I plan to fly:

1. Darth Vader: Afterburners, Fire-Control System
2. Maarek Stele: Afterburners, Fire_Control System, Marksmanship
3. "Ducheess": Shield Upgrade: Fifth Brother, Juke

"Duchess" and Stele seem like the Crit pushers, but with the passive of X1, Vader is a beast at forcing Critical Hits into enemies. Last game Luke Skywalker died to 3 Crits and a Hit out of one attack. Just brutal.

EDIT:

A bit more on the OP topic...

1. "Duchess": Marksmanship, Fifth Brother, Targeting Computer
2. Maarek Stele: Marksmanship, Fire-Control System
3. Rexler Brath: Juke, Fire-Control System

Technically you can force crits from Duchess and Maarek Stele with Force and Marksmanship and you have an Initiative 5 that can flip damage cards. Which is epic with Maarek Stele, because you can first pick them out of three. If they repair, you can punish them heavily. Each ship has the ability to Target Lock, you get one Force on "Duchess". Rexler Brath can Evade and Lock/Focus on the same turn, if he moves fast.

Alternatively you can drop the bid and swap "Duchess" for "Whisper" for the cost of Juke on Rexler Brath.

Thanks all for your tips.

Was missing a lot of those proposed upgrades, but got a good deal today for a conversion kit so can try them out now.

3 hours ago, Revanur said:

Was missing a lot of those proposed upgrades, but got a good deal today for a conversion kit so can try them out now.

Yay!

On 11/8/2019 at 5:40 AM, Schanez said:

• "Duchess": Marksmanship, Fifth Brother, Targeting Computer
• Maarek Stele: Marksmanship, Fire-Control System
• Rexler Brath: Juke, Fire-Control System

Always nice to see some Defender love.

10 hours ago, Vectivus333 said:

Always nice to see some Defender love.

Maarek and Rexler are a nasty combination - Maarek is very good at picking out "do something really bad then flip this card" criticals, which Rexlar absolutely loves .

54 minutes ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Maarek and Rexler are a nasty combination - Maarek is very good at picking out "do something really bad then flip this card" criticals, which Rexlar absolutely loves .

That was my idea. "Duchess" shoots first with a Lock and Force > Crit combo to potentially strip tokens. Maarek can follow up with his pick a Crit pilot skill. Rexler can then flip it again with his shot.