With new upgrade cards like Push the Limit, and the introduction of the Boost action, you really have to think about how you're going to try and reduce your opponent's squad's effectiveness. How are you going to stop/deter him from Boosting?

One way to counter the Boost Action is to cover mulitple firing arcs, so that you can still get off a shot even if your opponent boosts. Running "Fel Back" (my most recent squad that I posted) with 6 ships will help in that regard. The ships are independent, so I don't need to fly them in formation, meaning I can cover multiple firing arcs in order to guarantee I have a shot on your boosting ship.

Another way to stop your opponent from using PtL or the Boost action is to take away their actions, through blocking. Fel Back has 4 level 1 pilots, as well as a 5 and a 6. At 99 points, this squad should excel at being able to block your opponent from taking actions. And if you can stop him from Boosting out of firing arcs, that means you have a better chance of getting good attacks on him, thus improving your effectiveness.

We all love to make these awesome squads that can use PtL and other fun abilities to great effectiveness. But have you considered how you're going to counter that when your opponent brings it?

Not specifically about an interceptor, but if blocking is going to become the name of the game after wave 2, does that just increase Arvel Crynyd's value?

MetaphoricDragon said:

Blocking has always been a viable part of an overall game strategy. I honestly think there will be less blocking going on, as squads tend towards fewer ships and higher pilot skills.

I was just thinking about how I'm going to prevent my opponent from boosting all over the board, and taking away his Perform Acton step will be one way to do that.

And I think Arvel will be useful in some squads for multiple reasons. You will definitely have to be on your toes when you see Arvel across the board from you. There will be a learning curve for those who wish to use Arvel, but for those who are quick studies, using Arvel effectively could prove to be very difficult to play against.

I plan on using Arvel Crynyd tomorrow with that exact idea in mind. I know that my opponent will be playing at least, four squints. Should be interesting.

Big question is what do I back him with? Wait I'll start that conversation on a different thred.

How have people's 100 point intercepter lists been coming along with the release of wave 2?

Vespula said:

So far, if I'm running a firespray, I really like 2 interceptors. I think a swarm with interceptors really ends up being 3 interceptors and 3 fighters - you can make it 4 interceptors and 2 fighters if you want, but I think there is a very solid case for the 3 and 3 approach with Howlrunner being one of the Ties. I only have 2 interceptors at the moment, and am now planning to get at least 2 more since I really like the firepower they put out.

I had run Hothie's list. It plays well.

Three shall be the number, and the number shall be three. Four shalt thou not get, neither get thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to getting three.

Vespula said:

Which one? I've posted many on this thread (too many, some might say, ) I'm just wondering what you found, what worked, didn't work, etc.

Four Turr Phennir would be sweet. I just wish there were enough points left to include Stealth on all the Interceptors.

Want to try four Saber with PtL and Stealth. It will be a a bit thin on units but fun.

Bahhhh never mind. It will take me over. Guess four Saber with PtL or four Saber with Vet and Stealth

Well, Saturday I ran a Slave with 4 TIEs and went 3-0 with that. This weekend I want to try a mixture of the non-Slave Imperial ships and see how that does. This squad I just made up on Sunday, but I think it will really suit my play style well. I don't want to give away too much, as I think it might be my Regionals list if I have some success at it in practice games. Need to see how it does against the large ships, but I think it will do well.

I wish I was in an area to see how you play. You have had some very solid input on these forums. Always a pleasure to see firsthand people's play styles.

hothie said:

I am curious as to what you are doing with that list. I have been messing around with a Bounty Hunter, 3 Alpha Squad and 1 Acadamy pilot. The AP I am using basically for blocking and getting into range 1. Everyone seems to either focus on the Firespray or the Alphas primarily, which opens up either the Firespray or Alphas (depending on their primary target) along with the AP quite detrimental to them. Though I have though about using 4 APs and tossing upgrades across the ships or dropping the 1 AP and using those points to upgrade those ships. Right now I am finding the low end for the emprie being around 5 ships. Planning on doing a couple of games with 2-3 firesprays for the fun of it just to see what it will be like.

Though the 5 interceptor squad of Turr+PtL and 4 Alphas has proven to be qutie strong. All the local games here everyone has been going nuts with the Stealth Device upgrade on their ships. Engine Upgrade/Boost in general for me has been moping up the floor with all of them quite a bit. PtL is quickly becoming a favorite of mine to use.

DeadInkPen said:

yeah for some reason everyone seems to be stuck on the notion that the extra defence die is worth the 3 points. Odds are that you are just wasting the 3 points because with all the new action cards out there, you are just going to get hit right away anyways.. homing missles are a prime example of how to strip off the stealth device with ease, target locks give a great chance to get a hit in when rolling 3 dice vs 4 defense.
Expose is another great example of a card, and one i might add that doesn't get a lot of attention for how good it is; especially in lists that grant bonus actions to other ships

the average evade roll on 4 dice is 1-2.. stronger on the 2 side but still high chances of only rolling 1 evade and even lower of rolling 3 or 4 so when playing a game that has a lot of luck factor to it by using dice, why rely on a strategy that requires even more luck to make it work

i just don't understand the logic behind stealth device

this game favors aggression heavily over defensive tactics so I work with the flow and make builds around more threats

5 TIE Interceptor Avenger pilots, easy.

DoubleNot7 said:

In the words of Yoda, " … and that is why you fail."

DeadInkPen said:

I ran Krassis with HLC, Mauler, Backstabber, and 2 AP's. I was playing against some noobs, so we didn't play with asteroids. So, they weren't ultra competitive builds I was playing against, but in 2 of the games I didn't lose a single ship. The other game I still had Krassis and Backstabber left.

On topic, I played my new squad with 2 Interceptors today. I played against the "Han Shoots first" list (Han with 2 Rookie Pilots.) The first game we didn't use asteroids, as he was new to using the large ships. He did beat me that game. We played again with asteroids, and I won that game. Of course, both games I had a LOT of 4 dice rolls against the Falcon, and every time I rolled 1 hit. It doesn't matter how well you fly if you're only rolling 1 hit with 4 dice every time. It got really annoying, to tell you the truth. Also both games he 1-shotted Backstabber with his first attack, so I need to figure out how to use him differently, because playing down a TIE to start with kinda sucks.

Anyway, will play more this weekend and see how that goes.

"Han Shoots First" lists, especially ones with Han running marksman and/or gunner, are going to be brutal against both TIE's and squints. Three hull points just don't cut it against that kind of consistant damage.

I run 4 Interceptors, 3 sabers, and Phennir. Give them all push the limit.

I like to run them in wing pairs.

Fly them close, but not too close.

executor said:

On the topic of the Stealth Device, a Homing Missile with Target Lock has almost exactly a 50/50 chance to hit ship with 4 Agility and Focus. If you want to spend three 5-point missiles to take down two 3-point Stealth Devices, be my guest.

Stealth Devices mess around with the damage distribution in ways I think are interesting. If you have 3 Attack and Focus, and I have 3 Agility, you have a 72% chance to hit me and do an average of 1.22 damage with your attack; if I have a Stealth Device, you have a 60% chance to hit me, and do an average of 0.95 per attack. If I can use a Focus to defend myself, the benefits are even larger: the Stealh Device halves your chance to hit and almost halves your average damage. That may not turn out to be worth it in the end, but what I like is that it gives me a small edge in the early rounds, where a bit of luck for my opponent can have large consequences at the end of the game.

On the topic of Expose, you say it isn't getting enough attention for how good it is, and I disagree: it's getting way more attention than it merits, given how bad it is. In most cases, it has a smaller offensive benefit than Focus--and Focus doesn't inflate your point value or cripple your defense. It's only valuable in a list where the ship running it can gain an extra action, and even then you need to keep a careful eye on how you're going to minimize the defensive risk.

Vorpal Sword said:

Well just to be fair you also get some damage in the exchange as well.

Stealth Device on a lucky roll will last past the first engagement. On an awful roll, you're just as dead as if you didn't have it.

Most of the time it will reduce the amount of damage your unshielded TIE Interceptor takes while it closes for a flank. That makes it pretty worthwhile.

I still haven't been too tempted to run a 3rd interceptor.