With one game of epic under my belt, I found that concentration of firepower is a key part of epic, and that even huge ship builds that arnt really energy intensive can burn through energy pretty quickly if they are maneuvering, shooting multiple guns, and running things over. (I flew a C-ROC, which may color my perceptions)
So what would be a better way to concentrate firepower and survive until a capital ship is running on regen, than a formation of Tie Defenders?
You could go for a single formation of 5 Deltas and a wingleader easilly enough. Vessery as wingleader to use his wingmen's locks after boosting, give everyone except vessery FCS, and you have enough for a Jendon with Palp to run away the entire game, possibly splitting the enemy forces, but something that can boost the survivability of a focused defender from across the map.
QuoteColonel Vessery (84)
Crack Shot (1)
Veteran Wing Leader (2)
Ship total: 87 Half Points: 44 Threshold: 4
Delta Squadron Pilot (69)
Fire-Control System (2)
Ship total: 71 Half Points: 36 Threshold: 4
Delta Squadron Pilot (69)
Fire-Control System (2)
Ship total: 71 Half Points: 36 Threshold: 4
Delta Squadron Pilot (69)
Fire-Control System (2)
Ship total: 71 Half Points: 36 Threshold: 4
Delta Squadron Pilot (69)
Fire-Control System (2)
Ship total: 71 Half Points: 36 Threshold: 4
Delta Squadron Pilot (69)
Fire-Control System (2)
Ship total: 71 Half Points: 36 Threshold: 4
Colonel Jendon (46)
Emperor Palpatine (11)
Ship total: 57 Half Points: 29 Threshold: 5
Total: 499
View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0: https://raithos.github.io/?f=Galactic Empire&d=v8ZeZ500Z194X116WWWW259Y198X113WWWY198X113WWWY198X113WWWY198X113WWWY198X113WWWY167XWW29WWWW&sn=Unnamed Squadron&obs=
But if we're relying on a single formation, there's a lot more milage we can get out of the wingmen defenders if we have the points to spend.
Jamming beams is the first touch. Nothing ruins a huge ship's day like losing it's reinforce and calculate tokens at the start of combat, and it's free, so no loss there.
Upgrading to Onyx squadrons with Juke is an extra 13 points per wingman- just enough to run a single formation, if you give up the named wingleader and lose the support ship- it was just vulnerable points anyway.
QuoteOnyx Squadron Ace (75)
Crack Shot (1)
Fire-Control System (2)
Jamming Beam (0)
Veteran Wing Leader (2)
Ship total: 80 Half Points: 40 Threshold: 4
Onyx Squadron Ace (75)
Juke (7)
Fire-Control System (2)
Jamming Beam (0)
Ship total: 84 Half Points: 42 Threshold: 4
Onyx Squadron Ace (75)
Juke (7)
Fire-Control System (2)
Jamming Beam (0)
Ship total: 84 Half Points: 42 Threshold: 4
Onyx Squadron Ace (75)
Juke (7)
Fire-Control System (2)
Jamming Beam (0)
Ship total: 84 Half Points: 42 Threshold: 4
Onyx Squadron Ace (75)
Juke (7)
Fire-Control System (2)
Jamming Beam (0)
Ship total: 84 Half Points: 42 Threshold: 4
Onyx Squadron Ace (75)
Juke (7)
Fire-Control System (2)
Jamming Beam (0)
Ship total: 84 Half Points: 42 Threshold: 4
Total: 500
View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0: https://raithos.github.io/?f=Galactic Empire&d=v8ZeZ500Z197X116W113W12WW259Y197X123W113W12WWY197X123W113W12WWY197X123W113W12WWY197X123W113W12WWY197X123W113W12WW&sn=Unnamed Squadron&obs=
But Defenders are expensive- not only in points, but in actual money- not everyone is going to have 6 Tie Defenders to throw on a table. And removing just a few of these beasts frees up a LOT of points.
With Vessery back, we can splurge on AdvancedSensors and Daredevil- being able to 1 red hard and blue 5 straight to the side makes it harder to pin your formation down or predict your maneuver, especially since you pick which way to boost after most pilots have gone. Missiles are tempting, but locks remain a challenge. There's enough points for 5 ships with Prockets and Ion cannons, for the classing game loadout. All that's missing is the Emperor's Reach himself, Steele in a Defender.
QuoteColonel Vessery (84)
Daredevil (3)
Advanced Sensors (10)
Ion Cannon (5)
Proton Rockets (7)
Veteran Wing Leader (2)
Ship total: 111 Half Points: 56 Threshold: 4
Onyx Squadron Ace (75)
Juke (7)
Fire-Control System (2)
Ion Cannon (5)
Proton Rockets (7)
Ship total: 96 Half Points: 48 Threshold: 4
Onyx Squadron Ace (75)
Juke (7)
Fire-Control System (2)
Ion Cannon (5)
Proton Rockets (7)
Ship total: 96 Half Points: 48 Threshold: 4
Onyx Squadron Ace (75)
Juke (7)
Fire-Control System (2)
Ion Cannon (5)
Proton Rockets (7)
Ship total: 96 Half Points: 48 Threshold: 4
Onyx Squadron Ace (75)
Juke (7)
Fire-Control System (2)
Ion Cannon (5)
Proton Rockets (7)
Ship total: 96 Half Points: 48 Threshold: 4
Total: 495
View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0: https://raithos.github.io/?f=Galactic Empire&d=v8ZeZ500Z194X117W111W11W102W259Y197X123W113W11W102WY197X123W113W11W102WY197X123W113W11W102WY197X123W113W11W102W&sn=Unnamed Squadron&obs=
Even fully loaded, that's still 5 ships- 3 conversion kits worth of unkillable death and mayhem. and that's a lot of points of different ways of killing people. I like my options, but lets scale things back to reasonable levels, and see what else we can buy to make the defenders untouchable.
Capping the formation at 4 defenders, then, we're looking at support ships that wont melt if looked at funny. While Decimaters are tough, a naked Gozanti clocks in at 8 points less than a Patrol Leader for the same health, and regenerates, to boot. Two naked gozantis, 3 Juke FCS Onyxs and AS Daredevil Vessery leaves 29 points for customization, if you leave the ions and rockets at home. (might as well bring the jamming beams, there's no reason not to). But if we're capping at 4 defenders, we should probably cap at 1 Gozanti. Bringing back Palp Jendon in place of one of the gozantis leaves 32 points for customization- we'll just have to hope the space cow can avoid notice, setting up in the opposite corner and trying to stay one step ahead- bearing in mind that anything the enemy sends to kill it isnt available to focus the defenders. At 54 points, the shuttle is cheaper than most epic units, so anything sent after it is probably a significant loss of power in the main engagement.
That leaves 90 points for a gozanti. There's a few ways to do this.
Blood Crow was Thrawns first command, which makes it thematic to pair with the defender wing. Powerful over very short distances, it asks for a Point defence battery, Agent Kallus, and Tibanna reserves. There's just enough points left for 5th brother for the force modification to blood crow (against a non-kallus target), or Boosted Scanners (for range 5 Coordinated boosts, jams, or designating targets for Vessery), or Moff Jererod for movement shenanigans (good for keeping Jendon one step ahead), or Captian Needa for dial manipulation (either for maneuvering the defenders, or for ramming things himself), or even an agile gunner to make sure the point defense stays on target while saving actions to feed to the tibbana reserves.
QuoteColonel Vessery (84)
Daredevil (3)
Advanced Sensors (10)
Veteran Wing Leader (2)
Ship total: 99 Half Points: 50 Threshold: 4
Onyx Squadron Ace (75)
Juke (7)
Fire-Control System (2)
Ship total: 84 Half Points: 42 Threshold: 4
Onyx Squadron Ace (75)
Juke (7)
Fire-Control System (2)
Ship total: 84 Half Points: 42 Threshold: 4
Onyx Squadron Ace (75)
Juke (7)
Fire-Control System (2)
Ship total: 84 Half Points: 42 Threshold: 4
Outer Rim Garrison (60)
Captain Needa (8)
Point-Defense Battery (10)
Agent Kallus (5)
Tibanna Reserves (3)
Blood Crow (5)
Ship total: 91 Half Points: 46 Threshold: 8
Colonel Jendon (46)
Emperor Palpatine (11)
Ship total: 57 Half Points: 29 Threshold: 5
Total: 499
View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0: https://raithos.github.io/?f=Galactic Empire&d=v8ZeZ500Z194X117W111WWW259Y197X123W113WWWY197X123W113WWWY197X123W113WWWY373X263W272WW15WWW285WW301WY167XWW29WWWW&sn=Unnamed Squadron&obs=
Alternatively, Suppressor lets you combine coordination and jamming into a single action, and saves you energy by not making you check range for the jam. A Targeting Battery makes you use the boosted sensors to get the lock, but even if you dont, it's still a range 5 harassing shot. An optimized power core provides a weaker, but more sustainable power boost, and damage control teams and ISB Slicers may make the enemy think twice about approaching to attack.
QuoteColonel Vessery (84)
Daredevil (3)
Advanced Sensors (10)
Veteran Wing Leader (2)
Ship total: 99 Half Points: 50 Threshold: 4
Onyx Squadron Ace (75)
Juke (7)
Fire-Control System (2)
Ship total: 84 Half Points: 42 Threshold: 4
Onyx Squadron Ace (75)
Juke (7)
Fire-Control System (2)
Ship total: 84 Half Points: 42 Threshold: 4
Onyx Squadron Ace (75)
Juke (7)
Fire-Control System (2)
Ship total: 84 Half Points: 42 Threshold: 4
Outer Rim Garrison (60)
Targeting Battery (9)
ISB Slicer (3)
Optimized Power Core (6)
Boosted Scanners (8)
Suppressor (6)
Ship total: 92 Half Points: 46 Threshold: 8
Colonel Jendon (46)
Emperor Palpatine (11)
Ship total: 57 Half Points: 29 Threshold: 5
Total: 500
View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0: https://raithos.github.io/?f=Galactic Empire&d=v8ZeZ500Z194X117W111WWW259Y197X123W113WWWY197X123W113WWWY197X123W113WWWY373XW270WW38WWW286W283W303WY167XWW29WWWW&sn=Unnamed Squadron&obs=
Tie Defenders are a point sink, but they are notoriusly durable, and the wing rules will only make a defender ace even more so. I focused on Daredevil Vessery, as someone who can maneuver without losing offensive mods, but there's arguments to make about Brath or Ryad and their loadouts. How would you use Tie Defenders as a centerpiece, rather than as a powerful supporting unit in an epic list?
