TIE/ca Punisher - •“Redline” - 76
•“Redline” - Adrenaline Junkie (52)
Proton Torpedoes (13)
Concussion Missiles (6)
Proton Bombs (5)

TIE/in Interceptor - Saber Squadron Ace - 36
Saber Squadron Ace - (36)

TIE/ln Fighter - Academy Pilot - 22
Academy Pilot - (22)

TIE/sa Bomber - •Major Rhymer - 43
•Major Rhymer - Scimitar Leader (37)
Adv. Proton Torpedoes (6)

TIE/ln Fighter - Obsidian Squadron Pilot - 23
Obsidian Squadron Pilot - (23)

Total: 200/200

View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

Any advice?

Welcome to the forums, @RawF15 !

I'm not an Imperial player myself, but I believe Advanced Sensors is usually stapled to Redline because of the synergy with his ability.

A toolbox loadout like the following really lets you make full use of his free target locks at all ranges:

_______________

(52) "Redline" [TIE/ca Punisher]
(3) Seismic Charges
(5) Cluster Missiles
(10) Advanced Sensors
(13) Proton Torpedoes
Points: 83

1 hour ago, RawF15 said:

Any advice?

• Hrm.
  • Not sure why it's one obsidian/one academy. I'd probably spare a point, and go with two Academy pilots.
  • The other thing I notice is that Redline has two missiles/torpedoes which are Range 2-3. You'll probably never use all of the charges, and if going with two different missiles/torpedoes, it'd be better to use missiles/torpedoes with different ranges. Something like Advanced Proton Missiles and Diamond Boron Missiles, or Proton Torpedoes and Cluster Missiles. That way, you'll have all the ranges covered.
• So a few of these options give a few spare points.
  • It'd be nice to toss a Crack Shot on the Saber Squadron Pilot. It's a nice little bit of damage when you can pull it off.
  • Another nifty upgrade is Passive Sensors on Redline. One action to spend the charge gets you a lock, and then you can calculate later and get another Lock, which is incredibly flexible and lets you do something like Cluster Missiles on two targets with two locks.
• If looking for more points, I'd do one of two things:
  • Switch Proton Bombs for Seismic Charges. Both are good bombs.
  • Swap Major Rhymer for Tomax Bren with a missile, such as Mag-Pulse Warheads and maybe also Crack Shot. It's kind of a cool little ship, and MPW is a nice weapon on the right pilot (high initiative, otherwise low attack dice).

Pretty much what @theBitterFig said. Get rid of a little bloat and streamline them. Passive on redline allows him to get locks on any in combat phase. He takes a the calc action and aquires lock with his ability for double mods. This lets him shoot torps at i5s and i6s. Removing concussion missiles allows more bombs. Aces will flank the squad and bombs keep them honest.

“Redline” (52)
Passive Sensors (3)
Proton Torpedoes (13)
Seismic Charges (3)

Major Rhymer (37)
Adv. Proton Torpedoes (6)
Proton Bombs (5)

Academy Pilot (22)

Academy Pilot (22)

Saber Squadron Ace (36)
Crack Shot (1)
Total: 200

“Redline” (52) Advanced Sensors (10) Proton Torpedoes (13) Captain Jonus (45) Barrage Rockets (8) Scimitar Squadron Pilot (27) Barrage Rockets (8) Scimitar Squadron Pilot (27) Barrage Rockets (8) Total: 198 View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

I do love the Punisher chassis. Though they always seemed best in Epic, Redline can pull her weight IF she’s not the focus or if she’s the bait.

Bait Squad

(52) "Redline" [TIE/ca Punisher]
(3) Seismic Charges
(3) Passive Sensors
(13) Proton Torpedoes
Points: 71

(53) Soontir Fel [TIE/in Interceptor]
(2) Predator
Points: 55

(36) Saber Squadron Ace [TIE/in Interceptor]
Points: 36

(36) Saber Squadron Ace [TIE/in Interceptor]
Points: 36

Total points: 198

thanks everyone! those sound like great suggestions.

I love flying Vader. Has anyone tried squads with him and the Punisher? This is something I made up real quick.

TIE/sa Bomber - Scimitar Squadron Pilot - 30
Scimitar Squadron Pilot - (27)
Seismic Charges (3)

TIE Advanced x1 - •Darth Vader - 101
•Darth Vader - Black Leader (67)
Fire-Control System (2)
Supernatural Reflexes (32)

TIE/ca Punisher - •“Redline” - 68
•“Redline” - Adrenaline Junkie (52)
Passive Sensors (3)
Proton Torpedoes (13)

Total: 199/200

View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

Supernatural Reflexes Vader is... really expensive, and probably not really better than a traditional build of Afterburners and choice of System (Passive Sensors or Fire Control System).

I'd probably rather fly something like this:

• Vader (Afterburners, PS or FCS) 75-76 - Either system is fine. Passive Sensors is great if you wind up facing other Initiative 6 pilots a lot, but FCS is fine otherwise.
• Redline (Proton Torpedoes, Passive Sensors, BT-1) 70 - BT-1 isn't amazingly powerful, but seems like the best use of spare points.
• Scimitar Bomber (-) 27
• Scimitar Bomber (-) 27 - Bombers without Bombs are just pretty solid buckets of stats. Not as exciting, but I think I'd rather have two of these than only one with one bomb. Going with one bomber with a bomb, one TIE fighter might work.

//

If you really want a Vader with some pre-move action potential, the best way to go is probably with Precognitive Reflexes, FCS, and Afterburners. PCR doesn't synergize with Vader's ability or Afterburners, but it's a lot cheaper for those times when you really need to make it work. At only 88 instead of 101 points, that's a lot more room to grow a chunky bomber, up to 44 points. My two preferred bombers would be:

• Deathfire with Barrage Rockets and Seismic Charges
• Tomax Brenn 9 points of ordnance
  • Ion Missiles + Proton Bomb?
  • Concussion Missiles or Mag-Pulse Warheads + Seismic?
  • Crack Shot + Homing Missiles + Seismic Charges?
• Someone cheaper, but add a bit more ordnance to Redline (a bomb? cluster missiles?)

Good idea to try it with afterburners, I will try that.

...or, make target priority really hard for your opponent:

Punishment

(52) "Redline" [TIE/ca Punisher]
(3) Seismic Charges
(3) Passive Sensors
(13) Proton Torpedoes
Points: 71

(53) Soontir Fel [TIE/in Interceptor]
(2) Predator
Points: 55

(67) Darth Vader [TIE Advanced x1]
(6) Afterburners
Points: 73

Total points: 199

On 6/3/2020 at 12:33 PM, Bucknife said:

Welcome to the forums, @RawF15 !

I'm not an Imperial player myself, but I believe Advanced Sensors is usually stapled to Redline because of the synergy with his ability.

A toolbox loadout like the following really lets you make full use of his free target locks at all ranges:

_______________

(52) "Redline" [TIE/ca Punisher]
(3) Seismic Charges
(5) Cluster Missiles
(10) Advanced Sensors
(13) Proton Torpedoes
Points: 83

I dunno if perhaps you’re remembering incorrectly, but at 10 points, Advanced Sensors seems horrendously expensive and not nearly as powerful as Passive Sensors (only 3 points!) on Redline.

Passive Sensors allow you to perform two actions, and thus get two free locks. On the action step, you use the Sensors and flip the charge token. That’s a regular action, giving you a free lock. Then before Redline engages, he can use a Calculate action, get another free lock, then go to town with Cluster Missiles or something, with two locks and a calculate to help him make the damage stick to two different targets. That seems... really good.

I’m not sure what Advanced Sensors bring to the party; basically they just move your action to before movement, rather than after movement, and aside from being hugely expensive, they also preclude you from taking more than one action that turn, so you can only get ONE free lock out of the deal.

Am I missing something?

Advanced Sensors is incredibly powerful on Redline. Their ability is for a non-action lock, so you can do any action and get a lock. Sure, it's only 2 actions compared to the 3 of Passive Sensors (where two have to be locks), but it's rare that you actually need more than a single lock. But the main thing AdvS does is shift the time of the action. Pre-dial actions are incredibly powerful. Redline goes from a really predictable ship to a squirrly and nimble one, if you can boost or roll before you move. Or you can focus early, grab the free non-action lock, then dial in a move which will bump or is a red move. There's a reason Redline got nerfed to the ground.

Are they horrendously expensive now? Yes. Advanced Sensors used to be 8 points, Proton Torpedoes 9, and Redline was a lot cheaper too (like... 44?). Is it worth it to try to follow the old strategy with the new points? Probably not, but not because the effects are less powerful. They're more powerful than Passive Sensors builds, but just too expensive.

Passive Sensors, however, does something Advanced Sensors *didn't.* It's insurance against having a smaller bid. One problem with pre-nerf Redline is that they really needed to have the deeper bid, really needed to move second. In the mirror match, if you moved first, GGWP, you're done. Passive Redline can make it work going first. That's not nothing. It's just no pre-move boosts to become a strong arc dodger in addition to being a double-mod torpedo launcher.

does somebody of you often play redline? i would but the adv.sens./protorp build seems too expensive to me considering that he dies every time end that is difficoult to build a good squad around him.

it cost like vader .... but vader doesen't die so fast and have i6.

this is why i prefere deathrain:

traj.sim/siesmic/protonb/protorp : 71 points.

or

traj.sim/siesmic/protonb/diamondbm :65 points

2 points more for skilled bombardier

ok it's not redline but in this meta maybe is better