So, I play in a verrrrry joust-heavy meta. Lots of rebel beef. If I bring just 3 aces (vader/soontir/whisper) I usually lose someone on the opening round of fire and cannot effectively dodge the joust. So now I am currently playing around with using a big beefy shuttle to draw fire and then flank with my actual squad. I'd like to know what folks think about this list, and how best to use the last 7 points. Options could be bid, targeting computer, predator, crack shots... daredevil on soontir (??). Other thoughts are that I could swap the emperor for a gunner on duchess. What do you think?

“Duchess” (42)

Soontir Fel (53)

“Pure Sabacc” (44)

Omicron Group Pilot (43)
Emperor Palpatine (11)
Total: 193

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

I'd just go Crack Shots (maybe Predator on Soontir). It's fast offense.

Anyhow, I like the "swarm of aces" mentality.

If you want to survive a joust, your approach is much more important than your list - that being said, your list will help.

You likely want a wildly obvious first target to draw fire in the joust from your mid-late game pieces. But it must not be something that will burn in 2 shots. It needs to take at least 3 to burn.

After that target, you want at least 2, ideally 3, effective ships who can ensure that your opponent will not be able to pull off another successful joust.

I think Vermeil with Vader crew is the perfect "first target." If your opponent does not burn him right away, he is a MONSTER.

As for the core aces, I would suggest GrInky with FCS, Duchess with Predator and 5Bro, and Del Meeko. 2 of them are incredibly potent aces, maneuverable and well-tokened, while Del helps everyone survive just a bit better

Building on the above, with a slightly different direction, this would be a monster list against jousty rebel beef:

Major Vermeil (49)
Crack Shot (1)
Darth Vader (14)

Ship total: 64 Half Points: 32 Threshold: 4

Grand Inquisitor (52)
Fire-Control System (2)

Ship total: 54 Half Points: 27 Threshold: 2

Seventh Sister (43)
Fire-Control System (2)
Cluster Missiles (5)

Ship total: 50 Half Points: 25 Threshold: 2

"Scourge" Skutu (32)
Ship total: 32 Half Points: 16 Threshold: 2


Total: 200

Cluster missiles discourage the rebels from flying as a block, or punishes them for it. Scourge can snipe a range 2-3 3 dice shot in the opening engagement(it's easy to bullseye jousters), and function as a pocket ace afterwards. Both grand inquisitor and seventh sister are tanky and mobile. And Vermeil is a beast who can really dish out the hurt, especially if he survives the joust.

1 hour ago, Cerebrawl said:

Building on the above, with a slightly different direction, this would be a monster list against jousty rebel beef:

Major Vermeil (49)
Crack Shot (1)
Darth Vader (14)

Ship total: 64 Half Points: 32 Threshold: 4

Grand Inquisitor (52)
Fire-Control System (2)

Ship total: 54 Half Points: 27 Threshold: 2

Seventh Sister (43)
Fire-Control System (2)
Cluster Missiles (5)

Ship total: 50 Half Points: 25 Threshold: 2

"Scourge" Skutu (32)
Ship total: 32 Half Points: 16 Threshold: 2


Total: 200

Cluster missiles discourage the rebels from flying as a block, or punishes them for it. Scourge can snipe a range 2-3 3 dice shot in the opening engagement(it's easy to bullseye jousters), and function as a pocket ace afterwards. Both grand inquisitor and seventh sister are tanky and mobile. And Vermeil is a beast who can really dish out the hurt, especially if he survives the joust.

I appreciate this recommendation. It looks mean and fun.

I only have one TAP, though. (I’m usually a one-copy-per-chassis guy, though there are exceptions.) Is there something else that could swap in for one of these two without losing too much effectiveness?

11 minutes ago, CoffeeMinion said:

I appreciate this recommendation. It looks mean and fun.

I only have one TAP, though. (I’m usually a one-copy-per-chassis guy, though there are exceptions.) Is there something else that could swap in for one of these two without losing too much effectiveness?

You're welcome.

As for a replacement...

Duchess with fifth brother and crack shot is 52. Could replace grand inq, and also give crack shot to Scourge. Not nearly as tanky, you have to rely on arc dodging.

If you have an alpha class you could go Vynder, FCS, Os-1, AdvSLAM, and diamond boron at the same price.

You could also keep grand-inq, and downgrade Scourge to Wampa, to fit one of the above.

VaderJendonSoontir

(46) Colonel Jendon [Lambda-class T-4a Shuttle]
(11) Emperor Palpatine
Points: 57

(67) Darth Vader [TIE Advanced x1]
(6) Afterburners
(3) Passive Sensors
Points: 76

(53) Soontir Fel [TIE Interceptor]
(3) Targeting Computer
(8) Shield Upgrade
(3) Daredevil
Points: 67

Total points: 200

On 11/19/2019 at 11:44 AM, Greebwahn said:

If you want to survive a joust, your approach is much more important than your list

^^This

On 11/19/2019 at 8:46 AM, Rettere said:

So, I play in a verrrrry joust-heavy meta. Lots of rebel beef. If I bring just 3 aces (vader/soontir/whisper) I usually lose someone on the opening round of fire and cannot effectively dodge the joust.

Kill one ship with trip aces to make it 3v3 and now the advantage is in your favor. Sending an ace in to just die is silly. Learn range, learn approach. A ace should not be getting caught by multiple arcs. Two at most. Trip aces should never engage until the jousters commit to one of them. Approach from multiple angles so they have to turn into one. Dont make the decision easy for them.

All that said, there are lists that do what you want. Vader, Soontir, double barrage missile bombers will do exactly what you want. Send them down middle with vader and soonts flanking. Barrage missiles take away range 3 bonus on initial engagement as well.

One of my all time favorite lists is Kagi shuttle with Grand Inquisitor crew. Kagi absorbs locks, so opponent will never be double modded shooting your aces until Kagi drops.

Darth Vader (67)
Fire-Control System (2)
Afterburners (6)

Captain Kagi (48)
Grand Inquisitor (14)
Director Krennic (4)
ST-321 (4)

Soontir Fel (53)
Predator (2)
Total: 200

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

Kagi just reinforces, always, and uses grand inquisitor force for offensive mods outside range 2, or uses grand inqy inside range 2 for coordinates for his aces, and title allows him to get locks every round so he can still use his lock for offensive mods after soontir fires with Krennic ability. Krennic is ideal for Soontir, who can stay at safe range, and even fire through obstacles and erases shields.

44 minutes ago, wurms said:

[Approach Is Ver Ver Important]

^^This

Kill one ship with trip aces to make it 3v3 and now the advantage is in your favor. Sending an ace in to just die is silly. Learn range, learn approach. A ace should not be getting caught by multiple arcs. Two at most. Trip aces should never engage until the jousters commit to one of them. Approach from multiple angles so they have to turn into one. Dont make the decision easy for them.

True, but if you can get an opponent to bite on the shuttle early...

One of my favorite things about Palp/Defender/Defender is when folks sink a lot of early shots into the shuttle and my Defenders are spared incoming fire.

i think one of the best lambda for aces is the initiative 1 with paplpatine for these reasons:

ps 1 means that you move first so you can be a blocker, that you do your action (becoause if you move first is easier to not bump) that can be everything you need (often reinforce) AND still that you can "coordinate" a force token using palp.

and is dirty cheap

I'm a huge fan of the Omicron Group Pilot w/Palp plus a i1 Defender plus any ace of your choice.

Both the Defender and the Shuttle can be a huge pain in the *** to kill. The Defender because it'll have Focus/Evade/Force (from palp) if it gets shot, and the shuttle because it'll have reinforce. Both ships make excellent blockers against swarms, and generally just disrupt things.

You have 77 points left for whatever you want. Soontir with a huge bid? Sure! Passive + Afterburners Vader? Fits. Fully-loaded Whisper? You got room for 5th Bro, Passive Sensors, and even a health upgrade or a stealth device. You could do a couple of naked baby Inquisitors, too. Whatever suits your style.

2 hours ago, player3503606 said:

I'm a huge fan of the Omicron Group Pilot w/Palp plus a i1 Defender plus any ace of your choice.

Both the Defender and the Shuttle can be a huge pain in the *** to kill. The Defender because it'll have Focus/Evade/Force (from palp) if it gets shot, and the shuttle because it'll have reinforce. Both ships make excellent blockers against swarms, and generally just disrupt things.

You have 77 points left for whatever you want. Soontir with a huge bid? Sure! Passive + Afterburners Vader? Fits. Fully-loaded Whisper? You got room for 5th Bro, Passive Sensors, and even a health upgrade or a stealth device. You could do a couple of naked baby Inquisitors, too. Whatever suits your style.

I really like this idea. I'm gonna try it!

5 hours ago, player3503606 said:

I'm a huge fan of the Omicron Group Pilot w/Palp plus a i1 Defender plus any ace of your choice.

Both the Defender and the Shuttle can be a huge pain in the *** to kill. The Defender because it'll have Focus/Evade/Force (from palp) if it gets shot, and the shuttle because it'll have reinforce. Both ships make excellent blockers against swarms, and generally just disrupt things.

You have 77 points left for whatever you want. Soontir with a huge bid? Sure! Passive + Afterburners Vader? Fits. Fully-loaded Whisper? You got room for 5th Bro, Passive Sensors, and even a health upgrade or a stealth device. You could do a couple of naked baby Inquisitors, too. Whatever suits your style.

I'll never forget bringing Kylo, Recoil and Malarus to an event and my first matchup was 2 i1 Defenders with HLC and the Omicron Palp shuttle. I got absolutely tabled, I'd never seen a list like that in my local meta. Good times!

Playing around today with the Lambda idea... Am a Hyperspace player myself, as I only joined from Second Edition onwards, but this seems like a neat idea:

• Lieutenant Sai: Fire-Control System, ST-321
• Soontir Fel: Targeting Computer
• Darth Vader: Fire-Control System, Afterburners

YASB 2.0

16 points to play around with. Can fit Krennick or Kallus on the Shuttle. Slap a Shield Upgrade on Soontir. Even Palpatine is an option with some little bid left.

Idea is, that Sai moves and coordinates Soontir into Focus. She triggers her Pilot Ability and performs a Focus Action herself, and afterwards acquires a Lock on a ship in Range 0-3 from Soontir for free. Soontir on the other hand performs Focus Action and can link it from his Ship Ability into a Red Boost or Red Roll. Afterwards he is able to perform a Blue Maneuver and still perform a Target Lock into the second action not yet performed from his Ship Ability. In the end, from a Coordinate and Target Lock you end up with a Focus plus Lock on the Lambda and a Focus plus Lock with two reposition actions on the Interceptor. Not to even mention the additional Focus Token you would get from Bullseye on Soontir Fel.

Vader can perform his actions as he sees fit, also being a candidate for a Focus Action from Sai, which he can link into a Red Roll, to drop Stress with a Blue. The same triggers apply as with Soontir, free Focus Action for Sai and a Lock on a ship in range 0-3 away from Vader. It also saves up Vader's action for a Target Lock and does not require him to burn through Force Charges to get double mods.

I must say, I really enjoy the potential action economy this set up has.