I was building my squad the other day and was about to do one of my favorite ships- Soontir+ptl+stealth device. But as awesome as that ship is, i remembered that the last time I did it, Soontir got taken down in the first couple of rounds, 35 pts, smoked before it did really anything. So I was torn between that and just taking two ps1 Interceptors for one more point. I Imagine this happens a lot in our builds.

Named pilots i think are more fun, and certainly "sexier". But do they really help you win?

In general do you find that your investment in named pilots pays off? Is Wedge with R2D2 and squad tactics worth the price tag? or would it be better to just run rookie pilot instead? What about a smaller jump from academy pilot to Dark Curse? Is that 4 point difference worth it?

Which named pilots are you usually happy you took, and which ones leave you feeling disappointed? (Not looking for specific answers to those questions, just a general discussion)

It depends. With Imps, there is a 5 tie fighter list I use that has everyone firing at PS7 or better, with Vader handing out repositioning actions like candy. But, is this better than a 4 X-Wing squad with shield upgrades? I don't know. The ability to move last and fire first cannot be overstated, but there are builds that take advantage of the higher pilot skill enemies and exploit their weaknesses, specifically moving last.

The Imp list referenced above is a perfect example of that.

Darth Vader 29 (31)

Squad Leader 2

Howl Runner 18 (20)

Swarm tactics 2

Mauler 17 (19)

Swarm Tactics 2

Academy Pilot 12

Alpha Squadron Pilot 18

Total: 100

This list gets in the way of ships, denys actions, and still lets the blocking ship have a chance at a reposition from Vader so they can shoot with Focus at range 1 (it has happened more often than not). They also all fire at PS 9, 8, 8, 7, 7 or if one ship is out of the firing arc and can't be shot, at PS 9, 8, 8, 8, 1. It is a powerful list, but also breaks like a crappy wine glass if they manage to start landing hits.

Fel can certainly crash and burn early, I've also had games where he was the last man standing and single-handedly took out three X-wings.

I think one of the issues with higher-cost pilots, especially for the Imperials, is that they're still flying relatively fragile ships. I approach that problem by doing something to enhance their defense. Fel's the best example of this - by himself he's no more durable than an Alpha Squadron Interceptor, which is in turn no more durable than an Academy Pilot. So you beef him up. PtL means you're easily stacking two focus and an evade each turn, or even better putting him in a position where he can't get shot at all. I frequently run named TIEs with either PtL or Stealth to help make them more survivable.

It's not so bad with the Rebels because their ships are generally more durable and safe from a lucky one-shot kill. But the same thing applies - if you're going to hang a 35 point Wedge out there you need to do something to make sure he survives to earn his points.

I've always thought it interesting that the only ship with different stats for the named characters is the YT-1300. You'd think they'd give a bump to some of the more expensive named pilots in some way (besides pilot ability and upgrade options).

I like to use named pilots, but I have to remember to make use of their special abilities. I used Tycho a couple weeks back and was afraid to be too aggressive with him because of how fragile his A-wing is. After learning how to better use his ability with PTL, he became my heavy hitter instead of the one remaining X-wing I had. I feel that way if I'm going to use Turr Fennir. He can boost or barrel roll after after an attack. I think that can be a very valuable trait to have. When building for large ships I generally keep it a lower point pilot. They can still take extras, but I still have the smaller ships going the grunt work.

Oh, they are definitely worth it. . . at least some of them are. I love many of the names TIE pilots. For example Howelrunner, as the most expensive TIE is still less than a TIE Interceptor.

I will admit that some of them don't seem worth it, but many are. I think there is at least one named pilot for each type of ship that is well worth his/her points, though it is not always the highest skilled pilot.

I would, however, recommend not taking all named pilots, a few unnamed pilots mixed with a named pilot or two seems to be the most effective in my experience.

I have to say named pilots are awesome if you play good. Today at my FLGS I ran all 6 of the named ties against a player with an x-wing. A y wing. And 3 a wings. I took 3 total damage over the course of the combat. My pilots were averaging 4 attack dice. The reason why is simple. Keeping all my ships within one of each other in a real tight formation. The other players were shocked. The special abilities that the named ties is what made it so effective. Howl runner have each ship an extra attack dice and if Mauler Mithel was at range 1. 5 attack dice. Named pilots if played well are amazing.

both have their benefits. i think a mix is best or a sml squad of name pilots. just my preference.

i use swarm quite a bit on 8-9 pilot skill guys, wedge, howlrunner, han and a few others r all good candidates for swarm.

I have to say named pilots are awesome if you play good. Today at my FLGS I ran all 6 of the named ties against a player with an x-wing. A y wing. And 3 a wings. I took 3 total damage over the course of the combat. My pilots were averaging 4 attack dice. The reason why is simple. Keeping all my ships within one of each other in a real tight formation. The other players were shocked. The special abilities that the named ties is what made it so effective. Howl runner have each ship an extra attack dice and if Mauler Mithel was at range 1. 5 attack dice. Named pilots if played well are amazing.

Howlrunner doesn't give other ships an extra attack dice, she just lets them reroll one of their normal dice. Not quite as good as what you described.

Well it was something like that. It added up to 5 dice on Mauler Mithel.

Not sure how you got 5 attack dice with Mauler Mithel. It should be only four attack dice at range one I thought.

I love running named pilots but sometimes it really doesn't pay off with TIE Fighters. Whenever I drop Howlrunner on the board my opponent immediately guns for her. I've had it happen that she gets shot down only three rounds into the game. She was at range 3 and my opponent rolled two hits and a critical. I rolled four blanks. Poof.

Well it was something like that. It added up to 5 dice on Mauler Mithel.

Howlrunner doesn't add dice, she lets you re-roll one dice if within range 1.

Mauler adds an additional dice at range 1. You get the base 2 fire power, the range 1 bonus, and Maulers bonus dice.

Not sure how you got 5 attack dice with Mauler Mithel. It should be only four attack dice at range one I thought.

I love running named pilots but sometimes it really doesn't pay off with TIE Fighters. Whenever I drop Howlrunner on the board my opponent immediately guns for her. I've had it happen that she gets shot down only three rounds into the game. She was at range 3 and my opponent rolled two hits and a critical. I rolled four blanks. Poof.

You are correct, only 4 dice on Mauler at range 1, Howlrunner would just allow him to re-roll one of his misses.

As far as your example goes, I almost always include Howlrunner in my games, and she almost always survives till the end. I normally will place a stealth device on her for some extra protection and keep her at a safe distance. The key with Howlrunner is to not make her the primary target. If you are using her with a stealth device, keep her within range 1 of your heavy hitters like Mauler Mithel and Backstabber, or a firespray. If you are able to limit the firing arcs from enemy ships on her, the 4 agility should allow you to avoid most damage for a while (I also take evade 90% of the time as her action). Even better, if your enemy is focusing fire on Howlrunner, that should mean your damage dealers are not getting shot at, so it is a win-win situation. I would much rather have my opponent shooting at a stealthed Howlrunner with an evade token than my Mauler Mithel.

I would, however, recommend not taking all named pilots, a few unnamed pilots mixed with a named pilot or two seems to be the most effective in my experience.

I guess this is kind of the direction that I'm leaning. Played a 150 point game the other day. He had 5 named rebels, Wedge, Biggs, Garven, Dutch and Tycho. I had 3 Alpha interceptors, 1 Academy, Dark Curse, Howlrunner and Trelix, 7 total. 2nd round he 1 shot Howlrunner with a concussion missile (ouch) and took out 1 of my interceptors. 36 points. I took out biggs and tycho in the same round. Over 55 pts with their various upgrades. With my 5 ships left on the board, Wedge went down the next round. Leaving 2 ships that were pretty easy to mop up.

So i guess this made me come to the same conclusion as Hrathen and others on this thread. A couple of named pilots are great. A whole squad of them, maybe not so great. I recognize that this is an isolated game and may not be true in all situations. But i think this is the way I'll play it for a while.

Not sure how you got 5 attack dice with Mauler Mithel. It should be only four attack dice.

You can get 5 attack dice on Mithel if he has Expose active at range 1.

I got 2 dice for being a Tie. I got 1 die for range 1. I got 1 die extra for range. Then I got a Reroll. That's 5 dice.

As an Empire player I like to run quantity to my lists, and running named pilots is too high of a cost when I'm trying to wring as many points out of a list as I can, for as many fighters as I can. Being a fan of the Generic everymen grunt starfighters, I'm perfectly happy with my cloud of nameless mook fighters.

The problem with lots of ace pilots is, as someone mentiond, their fragility. 3 HP isnt great in the long run and unless an ace pilot helps with their defenses (like Dark Curse), you either need to have a plan on how you want to chain combinaitons or just leave the ace pilots behind for something cheaper to fill out a list.

Also quantity gives you more attacks per turn. It's only two dice, but 8 TIE Fighters shooting at a single target on one turn is either going to destroy that fighter, or maul it pretty badly, unless the dice gods are feeling specially fickle.

I got 2 dice for being a Tie. I got 1 die for range 1. I got 1 die extra for range. Then I got a Reroll. That's 5 dice.

Nope, that's 4 dice with a reroll. You're only throwing 4 dice with the chance of rerolling one of them if you don't roll a hit on one of them. Not the same as rolling 5 dice.

Not sure how you got 5 attack dice with Mauler Mithel. It should be only four attack dice.

You can get 5 attack dice on Mithel if he has Expose active at range 1.

thats actually a nasty combo. i think mauler should see more play than it does.

Apples and oranges really. There wasnt one time I shot with Mauler Mithel that I didnt end up getting to roll 4+1 dice.

Where are you getting the extra dice? A reroll is picking up a result you don't like and rolling it again, not adding another dice.

ETA: If you think an x-wing at range 1 with a target lock gets 8 dice, then I can understand your confusion. A re roll is not getting more dice, rather picking up dice you don't like the result of and rolling them again.

Apples and oranges really. There wasnt one time I shot with Mauler Mithel that I didnt end up getting to roll 4+1 dice.

It's not 4+1, it's 4 with an option to re-roll one die. The difference is, rolling 5 dice means you have a maximum damage potential of 5, whereas 4 with a reroll still only has a maximum damage potential of 4.

Once again, not to be disrespectful of your argument, but I rolled 4 dice all night long with Mauler Mithel. Every single time I picked one of those up and rolled it again. Im only talking about rolls. I got 5 rolls (5Dice) going for a maximum of 4 hits. 5 dice for Mauler Mithel with a maximum of four hits still means 5 dice to me. But either way if even both of us are wrong who cares. My Mauler Mithel raped the entire day. That is fact.

I'm confused Wookie.

You shouldn't be rolling up to 5 dice with Mithel unless you're using Expose that turn at close range. 2 natural, + 1 Close range, +1 for Mithel's ability. +1 if you use Expose.

Rolling 4 "all night" would have to mean you're constantly in close range every turn to the target. Becaue using expose only brings you up to 3 if you're outside of range 1.

Howlrunner only allows you to pick up one of your rolled dice and re-roll it. Re-rolls do not mean additional dice are added to your pool. Re-rolls just mean you can change the dice that you rolled, but only once. You're not allowed to roll for all possible results and pick the ones you want. If you roll that hit to look for a crit and loose it, you loose it. You don't roll four hits and a crit and decide that crit is going to be your "re-roll" result.

Mithel might only be that awesome in your eyes because you've been playing him wrong.

He's saying he rolled 5 times per attack, cause he had 4 attack dice that he rolled, and 1 re-roll of those dice. It's just not typical usage of "5 dice". i.e. He was rolling 4 dice, and rolled 5 times

...I rolled 4 dice all night long with Mauler Mithel. Every single time I picked one of those up and rolled it again. Im only talking about rolls. I got 5 rolls (5Dice) going for a maximum of 4 hits. 5 dice for Mauler Mithel with a maximum of four hits still means 5 dice to me.