Help with Sloane list?

By Cpt ObVus, in X-Wing Squad Lists

So, I’m experimenting some more with Sloane, and I have this list, which I like the look of, but Fel takes up quite a lot of points, and I’m wondering if I’d be better off using a somewhat less expensive unique in his place, and using the points to upgrade to Feroph, or perhaps turning him into two ships, like Wampa and an Academy TIE? I mean, for Fel’s cost, I could even get two Academy TIEs and Feroph in there, and obviously there’s something to be said for numbers in a Sloane list.

On the other hand, I really love that everything has three reds in the list as it stands, and I mean, Fel is Fel. I’d kinda hate to lose him.

I should also note that I only own two TIE/sk’s and three TIE/in’s, and I don’t use the Strikers enough, so that partly explains the 2-2 split. I don’t really want just one Striker off on its lonesome unless it’s maybe Duchess, so I figured they’d probably fly as a unit, and the Interceptors would hang together. Of course, if somebody thinks I oughtta do something weird, like slip in a v1 Prototype or something, I’m open to ideas. Here’s the list. Thoughts?

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Fel/Sloane

(31) Planetary Sentinel [TIE/sk Striker]
Points: 31

(31) Planetary Sentinel [TIE/sk Striker]
Points: 31

(31) Alpha Squadron Pilot [TIE/in Interceptor]
Points: 31

(54) Soontir Fel [TIE/in Interceptor]
Points: 54

(39) Scarif Base Pilot [TIE Reaper]
(12) Admiral Sloane
Points: 51

Total points: 198

Have you had an easy time keeping all these ships in Sloane's range? I just imagine that would be difficult because the strikers and reaper are both stuck go-fast speed,

I think that's fairly solid.

Obviously if you had a third striker you would probably want 3 SKs vs 2-2, but material limits aside it's good.

The only downside is, as Ploxis mentioned, it'll be hard keeping them in Sloane's range. You might also have a tougher time getting Sloane's ability to do a lot of work, as all of your ships are squirrelly and hard to kill.

have you got a decimator?

Rear Admiral Chiraneau (76) Swarm Tactics (4) Darth Vader (14) Admiral Sloane (12) Dauntless (4) Ship total: 110 Half Points: 55 Threshold: 8

"Wampa" (28) Ship total: 28 Half Points: 14 Threshold: 2

Planetary Sentinel (31) Ship total: 31 Half Points: 16 Threshold: 2

Planetary Sentinel (31) Ship total: 31 Half Points: 16 Threshold: 2

Total: 200

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0: https://raithos.github.io/?f=Galactic Empire&d=v8ZsZ200Z214X132WW26W14WWWWW147Y221XY213XWWY213XWW&sn=Unnamed Squadron&obs=

8 hours ago, Manolox said:

have you got a decimator?

Rear Admiral Chiraneau (76) Swarm Tactics (4) Darth Vader (14) Admiral Sloane (12) Dauntless (4) Ship total: 110 Half Points: 55 Threshold: 8

"Wampa" (28) Ship total: 28 Half Points: 14 Threshold: 2

Planetary Sentinel (31) Ship total: 31 Half Points: 16 Threshold: 2

Planetary Sentinel (31) Ship total: 31 Half Points: 16 Threshold: 2

Total: 200

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0: https://raithos.github.io/?f=Galactic Empire&d=v8ZsZ200Z214X132WW26W14WWWWW147Y221XY213XWWY213XWW&sn=Unnamed Squadron&obs=

I do have one, yes. It’s one of the few Imperial ships I’ve never fielded, however. The zero Agility is intimidating. And it’s sooooo expensive; I feel like Sloane wants lots of ships, right? I’ve had decent luck with Sloane on a Reaper before, with Academy TIEs and Brutes, but I was looking for a list that did lots of damage. Is Sloane on a VT-49 the “conventional wisdom” go-to?

What about the Lambda T-4a?

8 hours ago, SavouryRain said:

I think that's fairly solid.

Obviously if you had a third striker you would probably want 3 SKs vs 2-2, but material limits aside it's good.

The only downside is, as Ploxis mentioned, it'll be hard keeping them in Sloane's range. You might also have a tougher time getting Sloane's ability to do a lot of work, as all of your ships are squirrelly and hard to kill.

I mean, Sloane’s Reaper can always pull stops, S-loops, and red Coordinates to turn around/slow her down a bit, if necessary. And I think one of the things I like here is just how squirrelly everyone is. That’s kind of a win all its own, no?

In the past, I started with some TIEs and Rampage in a block, heading for a joust. Sloane’s Reaper was placed about three to four medium base-lengths away, perpendicular to my edge, facing my other ships, and as they marched 2-forward, she would slip in next to them, slightly behind, at about the time of first engagement on turn two or three. Worked pretty well, but the disappointing part was the lack of offense from the TIE/ln’s. I was hoping /in’s and /sk’s could get the killing started faster.

Edited by Cpt ObVus
46 minutes ago, Cpt ObVus said:

I do have one, yes. It’s one of the few Imperial ships I’ve never fielded, however. The zero Agility is intimidating. And it’s sooooo expensive; I feel like Sloane wants lots of ships, right? I’ve had decent luck with Sloane on a Reaper before, with Academy TIEs and Brutes, but I was looking for a list that did lots of damage. Is Sloane on a VT-49 the “conventional wisdom” go-to?

What about the Lambda T-4a?

before point change my friend won a quite big online tornament with this list...

sloane is good also in a list like this because makes the other 3 ships (that usually pop fast) live longer.

in addition to sloane there is vader that adds more control on your enemy maneuver and weak their defences

is a strange list but i advise you to try it

Sloane lists were kind of a solved meta element a while back. She's just one of those cards that ends up having a best use case - finding that sweet spot of efficiency in terms of triggering Sloane's ability vs maintaining a list with stopping power of its own

To that end, SOTL's Sloane list was probably THE Sloane list -

2 x Alpha Squadron Pilot (TIE Interceptor)

4 x Academy Pilot (TIE Fighter)

Scarif Base Pilot + Sloane (TIE Reaper)

That clocked in at something like 199 points, and since then something has gone up and it's now 201 points.

As a result, I don't know what the next best Sloane list is, but I think that's still an interesting starting point.

The question now becomes, do you a drop a ship and use the points to upgrade everything else, or do you downgrade one of those TIE Interceptors to something cheaper?

I think I'm leaning towards the 5 ship swarm plus Sloane over cutting an Interceptor out.

The extra points let you upgrade an Academy to an Alpha and put Tactical Officer on the Reaper for white co-ordinates. Something like this:

Academy Pilot (22)
Ship total: 22 Half Points: 11 Threshold: 2

Academy Pilot (22)
Ship total: 22 Half Points: 11 Threshold: 2

Alpha Squadron Pilot (31)
Ship total: 31 Half Points: 16 Threshold: 2

Alpha Squadron Pilot (31)
Targeting Computer (3)

Ship total: 34 Half Points: 17 Threshold: 2

Alpha Squadron Pilot (31)
Targeting Computer (3)

Ship total: 34 Half Points: 17 Threshold: 2

Scarif Base Pilot (39)
Admiral Sloane (12)
Tactical Officer (6)

Ship total: 57 Half Points: 29 Threshold: 4


Total: 200

It's a shame Targeting Computer can't go on all three Interceptors, but whatever. White co-ordinate will let one of those two focus, lock and reposition in one turn.

Normally for the points I'd take Vizier instead of putting Tactical Officer on SBP but in this list I think keeping matching Initiative is important. Choice of movement order can be big in a swarm type list, and this gives you a pseudo control over the Reaper's ailerons. If you don't want to Aileron, you can move the Reaper first and bump one of your ships. If you do want the Reaper to Aileron, move the other ship first then activate the Reaper. Obviously doesn't apply to all cases, but it is still an option.

The important thing to remember with this list is to keep everyone mobile, not to fly them as a big jousty block. You're banking on Sloane limiting dials here, that's what stress does best. The re-roll is a bonus. You won't take advantage of that if you're being a super predictable jousting block. Look for blocks and flanks, peel damaged ships off and put full health ones in the way. Use the Interceptor's dial and double repositions.

I get that you're looking at your Strikers and wanting to use them, and I know that Strikers seem like they should pair really nicely with a Reaper but IMO they don't. Not in this context anyway. The movement becomes too awkward and flying them together limits them too much. I'm also not sold on their survivability for the cost. For me, Strikers are all about the named pilots. Duchess, Pure Sabacc and Countdown can do great things with a Reaper - just not as a Sloane list. I'd say you've probably got to pick one of the two: Sloane or Strikers. Not both.

Honestly I think the striker's wiggle sets it up better than alpha interceptors. And they just 'seem' a bit more survivable.

On 12/11/2020 at 11:38 AM, KingmanHighborn said:

Honestly I think the striker's wiggle sets it up better than alpha interceptors. And they just 'seem' a bit more survivable.

I mean, they’re definitely not, though. 4 hull and 2 Agility is definitely weaker than 3 hull and 3 Agility.

So @GuacCousteau , @KingmanHighborn , @Ploxis , @Manolox , @SavouryRain , I was thinking about what Guac said regarding Stikers, and thought hey, maybe we downgrade Fel to an Alpha pilot, and upgrade the Stikers to Pure Sabacc and Countdown? I know from experience that Sabacc draws a ton of heat, and anything that further confuses target priority against Sloane is great. Plus, unmolested, Pure Sabacc can get in close and blast for 5 reds, which is awesome. Countdown, meanwhile, I’ve never tried him, but he looks like a tank. I like these guys because they look like independent operators/flankers... hammers, while Anvil Group is the Reaper and the Alpha Interceptors. It looks really fun to fly, at very least. I do wish I could find the points for a Hull Upgrade on Countdown or a Shield Upgrade on Pure Sabacc, but I think they’re gonna be solid here even if they aren’t fully optimized.

Countdown & Sabacc/Sloane Swarm

(43) "Countdown" [TIE/sk Striker]
Points: 43

(43) "Pure Sabacc" [TIE/sk Striker]
Points: 43

(31) Alpha Squadron Pilot [TIE/in Interceptor]
Points: 31

(31) Alpha Squadron Pilot [TIE/in Interceptor]
Points: 31

(39) Scarif Base Pilot [TIE Reaper]
(12) Admiral Sloane
Points: 51

Total points: 199

Thoughts? I like this one maybe better than the Fel version; the names Strikers are a massive improvement over the generics.

4 minutes ago, Cpt ObVus said:

I mean, they’re definitely not, though. 4 hull and 2 Agility is definitely weaker than 3 hull and 3 Agility.

Ehhh think of it this way. If someone rolls three hits and I blank out, I'll still have my striker. And that's been my experience with the two. Which is why I said it 'seems' that way for me.

I do like the named pilot idea though. And yeah, Sabacc is a lot like Wampa, it forces the opponent to either dive on him, and leave themselves open to 12 red dice of return fire, or risk letting Sabacc have his fun while trying to go after Sloane.

5 hours ago, KingmanHighborn said:

Ehhh think of it this way. If someone rolls three hits and I blank out, I'll still have my striker. And that's been my experience with the two. Which is why I said it 'seems' that way for me.

i agree... green dices are bad.

striker seems to be a little tankyer than interceptor... but not too much.

in a game without sloane the best way to be shure to shot before to pop with strikers is to have higher initiative than your enemy....

so i would advice you to take higher initiative than 1 (the meta is full of generic ships so ini 3 to me is the minimum for a striker)

with sloane this rule change a bit because a lot of time enemy try to half your ships instead of destroing them...

so with sloane ships becomes a little bit tankyer end often survive more than ususually they do and initiative becomes less important.

another thing is that if you shoot last (having low ini) you will probably trigger easier the sloane's reroll ability in the same turn your ship have been destroyed

this is why low init generic are good with sloane

try all version of you list and chose the more balanced

basically they all can work

Edited by Manolox

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

TIE/ln Fighter - •“Wampa” - 28 •“Wampa” - Black Eleven (28)

TIE/sk Striker - Planetary Sentinel - 31 Planetary Sentinel - (31)

TIE/sk Striker - Planetary Sentinel - 31 Planetary Sentinel - (31)

TIE/sk Striker - Planetary Sentinel - 31 Planetary Sentinel - (31)

TIE Reaper - Scarif Base Pilot - 57 Scarif Base Pilot - (39) •Hondo Ohnaka (6) •Admiral Sloane (12)

Total: 200 View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

Edited by Manolox

My boy Moffy J might be a good fit in a list like this. Alternatively you can drop him to fit 2 Precision Ion Engines on the Tie/lns.

(39) Scarif Base Pilot [TIE Reaper]
(12) Admiral Sloane
(8) Moff Jerjerrod
(4) Shield Upgrade
Points: 63

(31) Alpha Squadron Pilot [TIE/in Interceptor]
Points: 31

(31) Alpha Squadron Pilot [TIE/in Interceptor]
Points: 31

(31) Alpha Squadron Pilot [TIE/in Interceptor]
Points: 31

(22) Academy Pilot [TIE/ln Fighter]
Points: 22

(22) Academy Pilot [TIE/ln Fighter]
Points: 22

Total points: 200

18 hours ago, KingmanHighborn said:

Ehhh think of it this way. If someone rolls three hits and I blank out, I'll still have my striker. And that's been my experience with the two. Which is why I said it 'seems' that way for me.

12 hours ago, Manolox said:

i agree... green dices are bad.

striker seems to be a little tankyer than interceptor... but not too much.

I feel like this is classic anecdote based list theorising, though. Yes, the Interceptor can blank out and when it happens to you it's a real feels bad moment that makes you think they're not worth it, but the reality is that you're really unlikely to blank out completely.

It also ignores the fact that there is a flip side - the Interceptor can block 3 damage at once. The Striker, under normal circumstances, simply can't. And if you have a focus token, the chances of the Interceptor evading all 3 damage are actually higher than the chances of you completely blanking out.

If we compare the two in a difficult situation, taking 3 attacks from 3 dice primaries at range 2, all with a focus and assuming both the Striker and Interceptor have a focus token, we see the following.

The TIE Striker takes an expected 3.7 hits, knocking on the door of being dead. There is a high, 92% chance of taking at least 2 damage, and a 77% chance of taking 3. Lastly, there is a 54.71% chance of the Striker taking the 4 damage needed to kill it.

TIE Interceptor, meanwhile takes an expected 2.6 hits, still close to the 3 that will kill it, but less close than the Striker. It has only a 74% chance of taking at least 2 damage and crucially a 50.41% chance of taking the 3 to kill it. Over multiple attacks, the Interceptor has less of a chance of taking the damage that will kill it.

The chances of an Interceptor blanking out against a 3 dice focused attack are only 2.2% with a focus. Also importantly, If we assume each ship takes one attack in each of two rounds, the chances of the Interceptor taking 2 and 1 are 15% and 45% respectively. The chances of the Striker taking 2 and 2 are 31% each time. Over two rounds, even only facing one attack, the Striker is more likely to die.

Varying the number of the attack dice gives you the real differences between the two ships. The Striker is way more likely to survive a range 1 shot coming in with 4 dice, the Interceptor is way more likely to shrug off all damage from two dice attacks.

So yes, while I wouldn't necessarily say the Striker is defensively weaker than the Interceptor, over the course of multiple games I prefer the way the Interceptor's maths falls out in a swarm type list .

19 hours ago, Cpt ObVus said:

I mean, they’re definitely not, though. 4 hull and 2 Agility is definitely weaker than 3 hull and 3 Agility.

So @GuacCousteau , @KingmanHighborn , @Ploxis , @Manolox , @SavouryRain , I was thinking about what Guac said regarding Stikers, and thought hey, maybe we downgrade Fel to an Alpha pilot, and upgrade the Stikers to Pure Sabacc and Countdown? I know from experience that Sabacc draws a ton of heat, and anything that further confuses target priority against Sloane is great. Plus, unmolested, Pure Sabacc can get in close and blast for 5 reds, which is awesome. Countdown, meanwhile, I’ve never tried him, but he looks like a tank. I like these guys because they look like independent operators/flankers... hammers, while Anvil Group is the Reaper and the Alpha Interceptors. It looks really fun to fly, at very least. I do wish I could find the points for a Hull Upgrade on Countdown or a Shield Upgrade on Pure Sabacc, but I think they’re gonna be solid here even if they aren’t fully optimized.

Countdown & Sabacc/Sloane Swarm

(43) "Countdown" [TIE/sk Striker]
Points: 43

(43) "Pure Sabacc" [TIE/sk Striker]
Points: 43

(31) Alpha Squadron Pilot [TIE/in Interceptor]
Points: 31

(31) Alpha Squadron Pilot [TIE/in Interceptor]
Points: 31

(39) Scarif Base Pilot [TIE Reaper]
(12) Admiral Sloane
Points: 51

Total points: 199

Thoughts? I like this one maybe better than the Fel version; the names Strikers are a massive improvement over the generics.

I mean, I love the named Strikers, I think they're fantastic.

If you want to try them out, then absolutely give them a go.

Personally, I still don't think they fit a Sloane list. I think you're sacrificing numbers to get them in, and I think that flying them as you suggest here - as flankers - probably means that Sloane won't do all that much for you. 12 Points is a lot to spend on something that maybe gives you a couple of re-rolls per game. I don't think that Sabacc and Countdown have the Initiative or post manuever repositioning to take advantage of stress limited enemy dials either. The key aspect of the 6 TIE + Sloane list was that you could basically cover the whole board with it and constantly rotate ships around. Without those numbers.... I dunno.

If you want to run the named Strikers and Reaper support, my suggestion would still be to go all named pilots and drop Sloane in favour of upgrades that more directly benefit the Strikers. Predator on Sabacc, for example, basically gives you the same trigger frequency for the list as Sloane would, but for a sixth of the points.

This is just one example of what you can do with the Striker uniques and a Reaper:

"Pure Sabacc" (43)
Predator (2)

Ship total: 45 Half Points: 23 Threshold: 2

"Countdown" (43)
Hull Upgrade (5)

Ship total: 48 Half Points: 24 Threshold: 3

"Duchess" (44)
Suppressive Gunner (8)
Targeting Computer (3)

Ship total: 55 Half Points: 28 Threshold: 2

Major Vermeil (49)
ISB Slicer (3)

Ship total: 52 Half Points: 26 Threshold: 4


Total: 200

I like it more than I do the two Alpha version.

But honestly, I've never flown the list you're suggesting. My doubts could be completely unfounded and Sloane could pull a lot of weight.

Try it out and let us know.