I'd like to start a discussion on empire evasive tactics and the use of stealth device.

From what I've seen in most discussions and empire builds, there are generally 2 ways to make your fleet more evasive… taking stealth device, or engine upgrade (or daredevil). The basic concepts are: use stealth to get more evasive dice… or use boost/barrel-roll combos to get out of firing arcs.

So, do you feel Stealth Device is worthwhile on your empire ships? Such as Fighters & Interceptors? If so, and you can only take 1 action, which action do you think has the better chance of preserving your stealth… evade or focus?

A TIE with Stealth gains as much defense from Focus as it does from Evade, unless it is being shot at by Wedge.

Statistically, with 1 to 3 dice Evade is more effective on average. At 4 dice it breaks even defensively but Focus gives you the option for offense if you don't burn it defending. These are averages, however, so if you want to avoid the statistical outlier (hit by 1 and rolling 0 evades on 3 or 4 dice for example) you will also want to Evade.

Bottom line, if you are expecting to roll 4 dice or more on defense, you are better off with Focus.

Alpha Squadron + Stealth with Focus. If you haven't had to spend it on defense, you get a walloping attack come Skill 1 shooting time ^,^

I play Imperials mostly, so I play Howlrunner with SD a lot. Rolling 4 defense dice means it's almost invariably the better choice to take a Focus. SD is a good deterrent, often. Opponents will sometimes take the shot they feel they can connect with and take some of my Skill 1 pilots who haven't attacked yet, rather than risk a clean miss against an incoming TIE swarm.

Howlrunner trailing a pack of interceptors sounds pretty sick on paper.

What do you all think is better… an elite pack of 4, all with stealth… or a swarm pack of 5/6 with 1 or 2 stealth devices to protect named ships?

I run Vader, Turr and Soontir, with ptl on Turr and Soontir. They all get a stealth device and can use both evade and focus in the same round. Makes them **** hard to hit :-)

codeinfused said:

You should check out the Battle Reports section for lots of variations in actual use.