Im going to a tournament and thing of takeing the following list. any advice would be great thanks.

List 1 = 100 points

84 pts . 7 TIE Fighters
16 pts . 1 Back Stabber

List 2 = 99 points

20 pts . Howlrunner + Swarm Tactics

17 pts . Mauler Mithel

16 pts . Dark Curse

15 pts . Winged Gundark

15 pts . Night Beast

16 pts . Back Stabber

I like the first list, think I will have to give that a try.

Here is the actual list I'm trying next tourniment:

100 points: 4 Academy Pilots, 4 Obsidian Pilots

I was tempted to put Howlrunner in there but it would cost me a TIE Fighter and Wedge so easily snipes off unique TIEs because he's initiative 9 and reduces their Agility by 1 and can carry Proton Torpedoes - twice I've lost a perfectly healthy TIE to a single salvo!

Backstabber is 16 pts.

I like list 1 but list 2 I have lots more options.

I think TIE Fighter vs TIE Fighter list should end in a Draw 90% of the time (TIE, hehehe)

But if i use List 2 i have a chance to kill other TIEs and he will find it hard to kill me if you see what i mean.

Iif Mauler Mithel Shoots at someone within range one he gets 5 Attack Dice vs there 3 Deff dice

Like this Mithel Shoots at Range 1 he gets +1 Dice (from his card) and a 2nd +1 for being within range 1 like everyone else, when he dose this withing range 1 of Howlrunner he gets a 3rd +1 Attack Dice. = 5 Attack Dice

I think this list should do well vs someone that has my List one and should do well vs the other factions too.

I hope

R5Don4 said:

thx mate

I dont have the Card with me and thought it was 15.

Mauler Mithel is still only rolling 4 attack dice at Range 1. Howlrunner just lets him reroll one of them. That is different than the 5 vs 3 you mentioned. 5 hits could take down an xwing in one turn, 4 hits cannot, unless you get the right critical damage cards.

With list one, you have to fly in formation to concentrate fire, which after turn 3 gets a little crazy, especially with asteroids. With list 2, you have more freedom to split up and attack from different angles. It's not always the squad you bring, it's also how you play it. I say play whichever suits your play style better. Either way, have fun!

I see my mistake on how i put that, sorry.

I meant it as 4 die but with a re-roll = 5 dice rolled.
As I have not rolled 4 hits on the first try. so the extra re-roll is nice.

Oh and one thing about that skill.. it dose not say how many ships can use it so i see as any ship at rang 1 of him gets to re-roll there dice.

I mean it as if i had 3 ships within 1 of him they all can re-roll 1 of there dice, Is that right?
OR
only 1 ship can re-roll there attack dice and not anyone else in range one?

Nazull said:

The Sinister Six! I just got my sixth TIE and I've been itching to try this one out. This list can be as confusing to you as it is to your opponent, so fly accordingly.

qwertyuiop said:

I am not usre about the 1 Swarm Tactics Skill. might change it for Expert Handling so that Howlrunner cant be killed out right from PTs.

Or give him and Mauler Determanition.

I like the second list. It does only have 6 TIE's but six isn't a small squadron.

A couple of recommendations, unless the tournament rules give you some advantage for being 99 points buy determination. I think it is pretty worthless as an upgrade, but If it costs 1 point you weren't going to spend anyway then it is basically free. But the main reason why I would take it comes from the FFG tournament rules from Gencon (I don't know if they have changed).

At Gencon we added up all the points of our surviving ships, if the battles ended early. I litterally fought a battle where neither of us succeeded in killing a ship. I ended up winning because he only spent 99 points. We checked with the judges, it seemed a lame way to win but they confirmed that I won because my opponent didn't spend all of his points.

Hrathen said:

Yer that dose seam a bit strange.

I would of said the one with only 99 points spent would of won, Due to him getting the same as you but with useing less points.
OR add the number of points not spent on a Draw as the winning modifier. like if u spent 98 and i spent 99 u win the draw.

But each to there own ways of doing things.

I'm a big fan of the 7 TIE swarm. I personally like having low skill pilots as they can really interfere with higher skill pilots ability to get actions and even choice of attack. I've had some luck with this on in particular (but, you can easily swap out for other ships of your liking… though you should seriously consider keeping in Dark Curse as he's noticeably harder to kill since target lock and offensive focus tokens are not useful against him).

16 Dark Curse
16 Backstabber
15 Night Beast
14 Black Squadron Pilot X2
13 Obsidian Squadron Pilot
12 Academy Pilot

Hrathen said:

i recently played in a tournament where damag points (4vp per damage card/lost shield) were added to the sqd pts of the destroyed ships. this worked pretty well actually.

Has anyone thought about updating this Sinister Six with a couple of TIE/fos?

Impressive thread necromancy.

TIE/fo fighters are okay, but frankly you can make an effective "elite TIE fighter" swarm with still just basic TIE/ln fighters - the newer pilots, and newer EPTs suit some of them right down to the ground.

Mauler Mithel + Snap Shot is a brutal combination, and actually very effective against higher PS aces.

Wampa is not actually that effective in practice without Palpatine ju-ju-ing his dice, but you wouldn't know if from the level of abject fear he generates in TIE interceptor/Protectorate fighter players.

Scourge is a pretty good caddy for either Snap Shot (making for a nasty pairing with Mauler Mithel) or Swarm Leader (if a bit fragile for hate he'll attract as the latter).

Dark Curse, Night Beast and Chaser are all good options as evade token donors to 'power up' a swarm leader.

haha! Sorry, yeah. I'm new in here and was just thinking what was going on at the beginning...

Thanks for the tips!

Crack Shot Zeta Leader seems to be a popular addition to a standard Crack Shot swarm. 4 Crack Shot Black Squadrons, plus Crack Shot Howlrunner, plus Crack Shot Zeta Leader is exactly 100 points and gives you a little bit of extra firepower.

Have a look at Howlrunner's meta-wing page:

http://meta-wing.com/pilots/19

There might be a few ideas in there.

• Generally, named TIE/ln pilots and cheap elite talents make for some effective combinations.
• Swarm Leader, Crack Shot & Snap Shot all give you more firepower
• TIE fighter pilot abilities tend to be very powerful (because the extra cost to make them an ace is a much higher proportion of their cost).
• Don't hesitate to throw a couple of generics or at least cheap uniques in there. Chaser and Night Beast, in particular, are low enough PS to be used as blockers, and get 'free' focus tokens easily - meaning they can use their action to barrel roll somewhere annoying, or give up their evade to a swarm leader and still be fairly tough.
• A mix of Howlrunner, Black Squadron Pilots with Crack Shot, and Academy Pilots is probably the nastiest one going at the moment.
• If you can, a support ship in the form of an Operations Specialist TIE shuttle is very nice in a snap shot and/or academy pilot heavy swarm. Many low-powered attacks means many misses means lots of lovely free focus tokens.

Personally, when considering a swarm, there are two versions I consider first before anything else:

The Pattiswarm: (System Open 2016 + others)
Howlrunner w/ Crackshot
Black Sqd w/ Crackshot
Black Sqd w/ Crackshot
Black Sqd w/ Crackshot
Academy Pilot
Academy Pilot
Academy Pilot

The Keith: (Regional? + National 2014)
Howlrunner w/ Stealth Device
Black Squadron Pilot w/ Draw Their Fire
Obsidian Squadron Pilot
Obsidian Squadron Pilot
Obsidian Squadron Pilot
Academy Pilot
Academy Pilot

Seven TIES each, solid blocking potential, disgusting focus fire and attack dice efficiency, what more do you what?

Shout out to Tom and his orange TIES, can't remember the exact list he flew but we both took TIE swarms to some success during the Phantom Menace.

Also, all three are exceptional players and I think that needs to be stated, TIE Swarms are both amazing looking but also tremendously taxing over the course of an event. The lists can handle it, its your own mental fatigue that is the real challenge.

I've really wanted to try out a TIE ace Swarm with as many bonus dice as I can fit in for some time:

NIEN! NIEN! NIEN! NIEN! NIEN!

Howlrunner - Adaptability
Duchess - Adaptability, Adaptive Ailerons, Lightweight Frame
Zeta Leader - Veteran Instincts
Scourge - Veteran Instincts
Mauler Mithel - Veteran Instincts

Keyboard problems !

14 minutes ago, FTS Gecko said:

I've really wanted to try out a TIE ace Swarm with as many bonus dice as I can fit in for some time:

NIEN! NIEN! NIEN! NIEN! NIEN!

Howlrunner - Adaptability
Duchess - Adaptability, Adaptive Ailerons, Lightweight Frame
Zeta Leader - Veteran Instincts
Scourge - Veteran Instincts
Mauler Mithel - Veteran Instincts

I have use this squadron and that was fun, you bring enough ace to deal against enemy aces.

Some fun squadron I use when i play casual :

Zeta Leader/Mauler Mithel/Scourge/Dark Curse/Backstabber/Wampa : All pilot with Ept have Adaptability

Zeta Leader/Mauler Mithel/Scourge/Omega squadron pilot (2x) : All with snapshot ! Can be dreadful if lucky !

If you wanna up your swarm to 6 ships you can also run:

Scimitar Squadron Pilot (20) - TIE Bomber
TIE Shuttle (0), Operations Specialist (3), Intelligence Agent (1)

Black Squadron Pilot (16) - TIE Fighter
Snap Shot (2)

Black Squadron Pilot (16) - TIE Fighter
Snap Shot (2)

Black Squadron Pilot (16) - TIE Fighter
Snap Shot (2)

Black Squadron Pilot (16) - TIE Fighter
Snap Shot (2)

Black Squadron Pilot (16) - TIE Fighter
Snap Shot (2)

Lots of snapping and lots of focus tokens...