I usually play X-Wing with a friend/colleague of mine. He always plays Imperial side and I always play Rebels, but after today's match we decided to trade sides for the next time around. We share ships and we've got only one TIE Interceptor between the two of us.

I would like to run this Interceptor in lieu of Vader because (as a Rebel player) I can't stand the thought of having only 2 attack dice at range 2-3. But in every match we've played with a TIE Interceptor (I believe it has been 5 games), the Interceptor was the first ship to go down for either side, often before it even fires a shot. I am wondering if my buddy is just lousy at maneuvering or these Interceptors require some thought and effort to keep alive.

What has been your experience with Interceptors? Do you usually give them Stealth? Shield Upgrade? Or is the trick simply to maneuvre them well?

I'm thinking about incuding Soontir Fel + Push the Limit + Stealth in my list for next game. His PR is high, so he will move late in the round. If he moves into trouble, I can try Boost or Barrel Roll out of there and play an Evade action and then get a free Focus on top of that. This should ensure that he's fairly difficult to hit.

The trouble is, at 33 squad points, this is incredibly expensive. For the same number of points I can run Vader + Cluster Missiles or a naked Bounty Hunter. Is it worth it to sink these points into the Interceptor?

I haven't played many interceptors as I usually play rebel. I don't think they are weak, but it is also a game of luck (lost Luke to 2 lucky rolls before he could fire even 1 shot). Maybe your buddy hasn't utilized them as well as he could, but I tend to shoot at an interceptor over ties in any case because they are dangerous.

Shield upgrade is worthless compared to Stealth in my opinion. Push the Limit for an evade is a good choice considering all the green manuevers. I like Expose. Used 2-3 times in the right circumstance it can really increase your odds. I think the cost is worth it if you can throw in some rooks.

Or just play 2 Firesprays

I don't play in tournaments, just for fun. That being said, It seems to me that more ships the better. I'm a fan of the interceptor and the fact that it has 3 attack dice where most of the other ships you command have 2 means it will be targeted first more often than not. I would sugest holding them back a little letting other ships take fire first. I'm a real fan of backstabber. Using him is easy because there always seems to be some one he's out of there fire arc. I think taking a lot of cheap ships with only one upgraded keeps it fun. It's like having a leader to command your force. To me this game embodies having fun. Most games last just around an hour so trade forces and play again. Taking the cheapest Tie Advanced with some type of missle load out will draw fire from the inteceptors.. I rambel a lot so I'll end here . Just have fun with it.

Ozmodon65 said:

Inperial Swarm builds (7-8 ships potentially with Howlrunner and swarm tactics) are a really powerful build even in wave 2. But i suspect a 4 Interceptor build would beat this reliably since they just have huge firepower and i don't mean 2-dice attacks but 3-dice attacks which can overcome 3 agility defense.

That being said no wonder the interceptor gets focused down as it is the most dangerous ship on the board.

As the OP has said you can take Soontir or Turr Phennir with push the Limit and Stealth device. They can reliably outmanoeuver virtually anything with 3 actions per turn including boost and barrel roll. In fact any Interceptor with Stealth device and PTL is really durable especially if you take Focus/Evade as soon as you risk getting shot at. Make no mistake they will still go down, if dice are against you they go down very fast even. But more often than not your opponent will waste insane amounts of fire to kill these ships and this fire won't concern the rest of your ships… So you can freeroam with them and influct tons of damage during that time!

Just to let everyone know what I'm working with, I have 1 core set and 1 of each expansion, so I can choose from 3 TIE Fighters and 1 each of the Firespray, TIE Advanced, and TIE Interceptor. Here is the squad I've developed:

Total Squad Points: 100

Pilot: Academy Pilot 1
Tie Fighter (12)
Upgrades: No Upgrades Selected

Pilot: Academy Pilot 2
Tie Fighter (12)
Upgrades: No Upgrades Selected

Pilot: Krassis Trelix
Firespray-31 (36)
Upgrades: Proximity Mines (3), Heavy Laser Cannon (7)

Pilot: Soontir Fel
Tie Interceptor (27)
Upgrades: Push The limit (3)

I ditched the Stealth Device on Soontir to free up some points for Proximity Mines on Krassis. I'm not sure if this is a mistake. My intention is to fly an Academy Pilot out into the path of my opponent's YT-1300 (assuming he runs one) in order to block it, then have Krassis pull a 90 degree turn and drop a Proximity Mine right behind the Academy Pilot such that his YT would have to land on it or move through it. I would almost certainly still catch enemies in Krassis's rear arc, so he would effectively attack twice that round. I would be super excited if I could pull this off successfully what with asteroids and other ships around and everything, but I think it can be done - the question is whether it's worth losing stealth over.

I do not feel that running a single TIE interceptor is useful. While I can understand wanting a commander type ship for a fleet, the TIE Interceptor is simply not a good option because it will be focus fired. In my opinion, one should never run less than 3 TIE Interceptors if you plan on using them at all. I realize that is not an option for you and your friend at the moment, but I would just shelve the ship until the current shortage is rectified and you can get your hands on a few more.

The safest strategy for the empire is to attack in numbers as their ships are generally cheaper. So, I agree with Itza that one interceptor isn't worth it. Not just because it will stand out to your opponent, but because you're only bringing one to the table.

I prefer to fly lots of generic pilots in my lists and I like flying them in formation. Turr is okay when the formation splits to help him move a little better (though given my experience, he won't have enough room to do so when both sides clash at the center of the board). Fel's Wrath at least lets him attack better when he's destroyed…

In response to the basic question though… all TIEs have the best natural dodge in the game at 3. Even with this they're fragile but in swarm lists loosing one isn't the end of the world because you have 6-8 of them to keep attacking with. It becomes more costly for Interceptors because you're not flying as many of them, and loosing one puts a bigger hole in your attack power.

What I've been doing with mine is taking a pair of them, giving them stealth devices, and trying to run them along the side of the board and inward while the rest of my 4-Ship TIE formation is approaching from another direction. The enemy has a choice between the 4-ship wall or the Interceptors.

So everyone seems to be in agreement that one Interceptor alone isn't worth sinking so many points into. Now I'm considering a list that looks like this:

Total Squad Points: 100

Pilot: Academy Pilot 1
Tie Fighter (12)

Pilot: Academy Pilot 2
Tie Fighter (12)

Pilot: Academy Pilot 3
Tie Fighter (12)

Pilot: Kath Scarlet
Firespray-31 (38)
Upgrades: Marksmanship (3), Gunner (5)

Pilot: Alpha Squadron Pilot 1
Tie Interceptor (18)

I like the idea of the Alpha Squadron Pilot because he will (a) give me a little extra firepower in case my opponent gets fancy with A-Wings or Stealth Devices, (b) move at the same time as the Academy Pilots, which will give me a lot of freedom in my maneuvering, and © not be game-breaking if he dies. At 18 points, he's basically an Academy Pilot with an Engine Upgrade and an extra attack die (I might argue that he should actually cost 19 points instead of 18).

I am also interested to try Kath + Marksmanship + Gunner as I foresee these upgrades complementing her ability well.