Lately I've been focusing on my Imperial squads, trying to get in experience with them. Unfortunately, I'm starting to wonder if I'm not poorly suited to them, given my incredible bad luck with defense dice. Poor Soontir has yet to survive a single battle I've put him in.

Last night I flew three games. Two with the improved "Three Amigos" build:

Darth Vader (homing missile, engine upgrade) 38pts
Soontir Fel (PTL, stealth) 33pts

Turr Phennir (Veteran Instincts, stealth) 29pts

Making them all level 9 pilots, which is nice. First faced off against a mixed Imperial squad of a Bounty Hunter, Alpha Squadron, Backstabber, and Night Beast. I forget which upgrades they had. A stealth device or two, the Bounty Hunter had a Proximity Mine, Concussion missile, and presumably a Gunner, but I don't recall with certainty. These recaps are all off the top of my head; I didn't take notes so I might be getting some details wrong.

Everything started out great. I kept a tight formation while asteroids resulted in the enemy squad scattering all over the map. Vader's TL + Focus missile one-shotted the Alpha Interceptor before it could ever fire. We got in 2 hits on Backstabber on the next turn. But then things just went off the rails. I made a serious error and double-stressed Soontir, which resulted in him being out of the fight for almost 2 turns while he re-oriented. Turr got taken out. Vader took 3 points of damage in a single hit, including a structural damage critical, and Night Beast on his tail. Soontir got back in to the rescue, firing at range 1 at NB – and rolled blank, blank, blank, hit on 4 dice, easily dodged by NB. Vader took another hit, now down to his last hit point and with reduced agility. The BH got in a lucky shot and took out Soontir. So now I've got Vader (with one damage point remaining) against a half-dead BH and an undamaged Night Beast. But my opponent was playing NB fairly predictably, going for those green maneuvers, so I thought maybe I could take care of that by taking a chance. I broke hard right through an asteroid, and while I was successfully at surprising my opponent, I of course rolled terribly and took my final hit in the collision.

Terrible game, especially considering how well it started out. I had a great opportunity to capitalize and blew it on a poor move with Soontir, a few unlucky defense rolls, and an asteroid gamble that just didn't work out at all. Not that my odds of surviving were good in any event. But even with my mistakes, I still think I was in this one if my dice had been luckier...

So in the decond game I took the same crew.

I was up against a modified HSF – a Chewie Falcon loaded to the gills with Gunner, concussion missile, stealth, and I think a couple other little tweaks. Backing him up: Arvel's A-Wing, and a Rookie X-Wing. I thought this was a poor build from the get-go (stealth on a Falcon? An A-wing with no missiles or upgrades?) so I tore right up the flank in formation with a bloodthirsty grin.

Once again started out great... the A-wing ended up coming at me isolated while the Falcon tried to maneuver around some asteroids the slow way and the X-wing stayed close. Concentrated fire from my guys took Arvel down to 1hp and he fled away from my wolfpack. Darth's missile was right on target again, doing 3 damage to the Falcon's shields (and immediately destroying that stupid stealth device). Soontir and the X-wing ended going head-to-head and doing 2 damage each... not good for me. In self-preservation and to protect the flanks, I broke Soontir off to chase and destroy the A-wing. Turr nearly finished off the Rookie, but the Falcon gunner got him in the end. The next turn Vader got in a great opportunity to kill the Rookie, out of arc at Range 1, and completely whiffed. Soontir came back in, put 2 more damage on the Falcon, but rolled awful on defense and left a nasty smear across space. Vader finally finished off the X-wing, but then made a poorly-calculated turn that clipped an asteroid by a millimeter or so. Took the damage (of course he did), didn't get his two actions and with no focus or evade made himself a real easy target for 2 more damage from the Falcon. The next turn was the end of it... with my opponent still having 7 damage left on the Falcon.

The third round I decided I was sick of Vader (losing 2 actions is a BIG DEAL and it happened to me at least 3 times, always with terrible consequences). So I went with some 2x2 TIE heroes:

Soontir, PTL + stealth
Turr, Determination + stealth
Dark Curse, stealth
Backstabber, stealth

A third party joined the fray, so this wasn't exactly a "legal" match – we did a three person free-for-all furball. My one opponent stuck with his same Chewie Falcon list (with all its flaws), the other one went with Garven, Biggs, and Dutch. Biggs had a shield upgrade and R2D2, Garven and Dutch both had Proton torps, and Dutch also with the Ion.

The two other squads ended up closer to each other than to me, so they ended up exchanging fire for almost two complete turns before I even got on the scene. By the time I got there Biggs' shields were gone, Arvel was down to 1hp, and the Falcon had already fired its missile. The Falcon did a sudden 1-right turn, resulting in ALL THREE of player three's ships colliding with it and no fire happening for an entire turn.

My plan was to rush Dark Curse ahead along the flank to draw fire, but that didn't work out as my opponents all seemed to ignore him and I got drawn into the middle of the map. Soontir and Turr annihilated the Rookie X-wing before it could shoot and planned on driving straight at the Falcon, but it continued to break right towards the edge of the map, and the 3 rebel fighters came at me. Dutch collided with Biggs, but Biggs being Biggs I had no choice but to shoot him. All 4 of my ships got shots off at him and took him out. Return fire from the Y-wing did critical damage to Backstabber, eliminating his pilot ability. Sigh.

About this time, my opponents basically decided to have a temporary ceasefire and focus on the bigger threat (me), which was annoying, but I managed a hot streak on the red dice. Routinely pulling a focus, evade, focus, Soontir stayed at range 3 where possible and racked up a lot of damage. The enemy ion'd Backstabber, forcing him to collide with Turr – but failing to finish him off as I focused on the Y-wing and piled on the damage before it could shoot. The X-wing, down to 1hp, got forced into a corner and misjudged, exploding all over a nasty asteroid. Turr and Arvel died somewhere in there. This left Dark Curse (still completely untouched and in fact, never even fired upon, sigh), Soontir (also untouched), and Backstabber (1hp) chasing the Falcon, which was down to 5hp.

Then my bad luck returned in a huge way. The Falcon fired on Soontir, scoring two hits. I rolled an evade and two focuses, with an evade token and a focus. After agonizing over it for a moment, I decided to use the focus. The miss triggered Gunner, who fired for 3 hits! I then (of course) rolled a blank and 3 EYEBALLS. Boom, goodnight Soontir. Unbelievable.

The next turn, I did a couple more damage, but Backstabber bit the dust.

The following turn, Dark Curse took 2 unlucky hits, and missed his attack completely.

On the next and last turn, I finally got in the final hit on the Falcon and "won" - with 1hp left on Dark Curse, and no one else.

This was a nasty one, and like I said, was a three person free-for-all. It's unclear if I would have won in a heads-up. On the one hand, the two other fleets did 6+ damage to each other before I even arrived. On the other hand, pretty much after that turn they both teamed up on me, and I did land 5 kills (if you count chasing the x-wing into the asteroid).

Anyway, fun games, but very frustrating. I don't know how I'm going to explain how many Imperial Aces (and, uh, Vaders) I left scattered across the stars.

It seems that an important rule to consider when facing a Falcon with a gunner aboard: if you will only take ONE hit, especially if it isn't a critical, you're probably better off taking it then blowing limited resources to prevent the hit but giving him a brand new shot to take at you.

Yes, I did that on one occasion. The trouble is weighing between limiting damage on a virgin fighter, and losing your fancy stealth device...

The Empire in my opinion is not so good when they do not field a massive amount of ships. My Tie Interceptor Squad

Soontir Fel w/PTL

Turr Phennir w/PTL

Sabre Squadron x 2

is handicapped in the way that it just doesnt have enough HP. No shields mean you need more ships. Ive tried different builds and when I lose its always because I didnt have enough ships. The Tie Swarm I use with all 3 named Ties and Stealth on Howlrunner hasnt lost yet. They seem unbeatable the way I play them. But the difference is 6 more hp. When one of my ships does take some damage they move to the back of the pack. Cant do that with Interceptors though. They are a very solo fighting type of ship except my Sabre Squadron which try to stay together. Every game Ive fielded 5 or more ships I have won.

Well, part of the problem on my part was that I KNEW I was picking a poor build for fighting the Falcon, but I wanted more time with Vader and more time with the Interceptors. Unfortunately the 360° arc really destroys most of advantages of the Interceptor. Very tough nut to crack. Now, thinking about 2 interceptors plus two or three bombers...

What you do with Interceptors against the Falcon is use your boost to get into the two most likely places that he will fly next. Keep your main two Interceptors at range of here you think the overlap will occur. Then unleash up to 12 dice at it. He will not last long.

You mentioned in your first game that you double stressed fel. How did you do that, because I can't think of a way to do so on your own that is within the bounds of the rules. Did you get the gain a stress token crit card?

You mentioned in your first game that you double stressed fel. How did you do that, because I can't think of a way to do so on your own that is within the bounds of the rules. Did you get the gain a stress token crit card?

Ah, yes... failed to mention that. Through cheating, basically. Not thinking, I did a K-turn while he already had a stress token. A couple turns later I remembered this was against the rules, but my opponent and I decided to let it ride.

12 dice, Wookie Hunter? I assume you mean there's a 3rd interceptor somewhere? Or are you talking about 4 interceptors at more than 1 range?

In both cases I realize my problem was in not simply ignoring all other threats and diving straight at the Falcon, but that can feel hard to do when you're being aggressively pursued by fighters. I should have kept a reserve force to cover the six of most of my ships and sent the others right in. Instead, I tried to keep my interceptors at range 3 from the Falcon, which still sounds good but definitely didn't work out.

yes 3 at range 1 is my 12 dice

ive had good success with this squad...

Vader/engine upgrade/assault missiles/squad leader

Maarek/engine upgrade/homing missiles/push the limit

Howlrunner/push the limit

advanced ties shine at close range, esp when u can get two actions going (focus/target lock with 3 dice at range1). boost option lets you move in and out of arcs a bit more unpredicably

howlrunner could be replaced with sabre squadron OR any tie fighter you like to play... dark curse+stealth device?, mauler mithel+stealth device? backstabber+stealth device?

Advanced ties arent really that bad now that i really look at them. The thing is you really need to be a good player to use them effectively.

The below squad will give most lists a run for their money.

Total Squad Points: 100

Pilot: Bounty Hunter 1

Firespray-31 (33)

Upgrades:

•Gunner (5)

Pilot: Soontir Fel

Tie Interceptor (27)

Upgrades:

•Push The limit (3)

•Stealth (3)

Pilot: Turr Phennir

Tie Interceptor (25)

Upgrades:

•Veteran Instincts (1)

•Stealth (3)

The idea is to use the BH to run into the face of the opponent. Use the two squints to do what they do best and maneuver and shoot. It's a hard squad to pick a target in as they are all nasty and the gunner means ignore the BH at your peril. The squints can move and assume positions as needed. If you move to track one ship, the other two will have free range to shoot at you. If you chase them piecemeal, I like my odds 1-1 or even 1-2 against a swarm.

I've seen few players fly four or less TIEs well. When going up against a swarm or a well built rebel list, these lists tend to struggle. Your biggest advantage is shooting before your opponent's pilots. Also moving after your opponent's ships can be a big help. Stay out of firing arcs. Take those shots without a focus. If you go up against a lot of turrets you will have issues. Lots of issues.

Yes, I've seen. Last night introduced some new players to the game... and particularly introduced them to my unique skill of rolling 3 blank green dice more than once a game.

I think I'm going to try Shield Upgrade next time out, see if that doesn't give my particularly unlucky Interceptors a bit more survivability.

​

The below squad will give most lists a run for their money.

Total Squad Points: 100

Pilot: Bounty Hunter 1
Firespray-31 (33)
Upgrades:
•Gunner (5)

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

Pilot: Turr Phennir
Tie Interceptor (25)
Upgrades:
•Veteran Instincts (1)
•Stealth (3)


The idea is to use the BH to run into the face of the opponent. Use the two squints to do what they do best and maneuver and shoot. It's a hard squad to pick a target in as they are all nasty and the gunner means ignore the BH at your peril. The squints can move and assume positions as needed. If you move to track one ship, the other two will have free range to shoot at you. If you chase them piecemeal, I like my odds 1-1 or even 1-2 against a swarm.

This is actually very similar to a squad I just worked up, but haven't used yet:

"Krassis Shoots Eventually"

Krassis Trelix – Firespray-31 (36)
Heavy Laser Cannon (7)
Gunner (5)
Total - (48)

Sabre Squadron TIE Interceptor (21)
Expert Handling (2)
Stealth Device (3)
Total - (26)

Sabre Squadron TIE Interceptor (21)

Veteran Instincts (1)
Stealth Device (3)
Total - (25)

Total - 99 points. Could easily make the two Interceptors identical for 100.

Losing the HLC would make Krassis' ability irrelevant, at which point yes, you would move down to the BH and have 10 free points which would basically net you the list you posted. But in the couple games I've played, that HLC does prove worthwhile.

Dump the gunner! The HLC is more than likely to get a hit rendering it useless. Dumping upgrades AND downgrading those sabers you could field three squints AND an extra upgrade on that firespray.

I like the gunner because it basically guarantees hits every turn, but you may be right. I'll try it without.

I think I will stick with Sabres or at least Avengers over Alphas, though – my main opponent usually ends up flying at least a few PS 2-3 ships and I like to be above them. He also uses TLs like crazy, so Expert Handling will come in pretty handy, I think. If Avengers still had elite pilot skills, I'd do that.

So now I think we're looking at:

I'll run that a couple times. If the Expert Handling isn't seeming worth it, or forces my opponent to change up his play style away from TLs, I'll either downgrade or go with VI on both and swap the stealth to shields.

I like that list. Let me know how it flies for you.

I like that list against your friend if hes locking with low pilots but myself i find that EH is often wasted on the lower skilled pilots as they take their action before being locked onto.

Personal observation is all.

I am guilty of building squads that are only really good against the two people I play regularly.

Good luck.

i really dont think 2 squints is enough when flying with bounty hunter, id drop upgrades and squeeze at least a 3rd in

i feel bad when i only fly 4 ties + 1 BH, cause i know i can squeeze a 5th in

If it fails miserably the first time, I'll try it a second time with 3 Alpha Sqdn ships instead.

Got in 3 games as Empire tonight, and one as Rebel. I've got another Rebel thread so just the 3 Imperials here. Quickly:

First game was the aforementioned 3-ship, Krassix-centered squad. I faced a Rebel squad of Luke, Horton Salm, and a Prototype pilot. Both Luke and Horton had droids, and Horton was fully loaded with Ion and two torpedoes as well, which made him my number one target. Prototype pilot had a Concussion Missile, I think. I don't remember the details perfectly now.

This one was practically over on turn 3, owing to me being an apparently terrible player of this game. I sent Krassix to go down the middle slowly and create havoc with the HLC. I split the interceptors to race down the side and keep the Rebels uncertain. Well, that worked: Luke broke off to head towards them, which I figured would be a pretty easy advantage to me. Until I just ever so barely misjudged the distance to an asteroid and landed both interceptors on it in tight formation. Both took damage, of course. Neither got to fire, of course. Luke instantly killed one. I pretty much was ready to give up already at this point.

Krassix, however, at least did some damage to Horton, but took 4 damage(!) from the first torpedo. The following turn the Prototype pilot decided to go help finish off the Interceptors, which was the only thing that worked out great – he made a similar mistake and landed right on an asteroid, losing a shield. My interceptor managed to put a hit and a crit on him – Direct Hit; instantly dead A-Wing. Yay.

Rest of the game was predictably bad, though. I never found a good opening to use my Proximity Mine, I DID manage to use Expert Handling once or twice, but ultimately I lost everyone with still 4 HP left on Horton and 2 on Luke. Could have gone very differently if I knew how to fly!

Second game I don't remember super well. I decided I didn't have much use for the mine, and Expert Handling might be kind of a one trick pony, but I liked the squad, clearly its failures were my fault as an abusive leader, and I'd try it again. So this time no mine, PTL on both interceptors, and still 99 points.

Opponent switched up to a Wedge/Biggs/Garven squad. Everyone except Biggs had torps. Biggs had the annoying R2D2/shield upgrade combo. Again, he had a few other upgrades I don't entirely recall.

I kept all 3 ships to one formation this time. Biggs of course had to be the brunt of my assault, which was very aggravating as for 3 straight turns I put 2 damage per turn on him... finally cracked the shields, then failed with the big attack that could have done him in. He flew off to do greens for a while and I let him leave formation unbothered since Wedge was right there to target instead.

I flew pretty well this time, kept my opponent off-balance, blocked when I needed to and basically maintained the initiative. If I did one thing wrong, it was a time that I took PTL stress in situations where I really could have used a K-turn the next round. This put both of my interceptors out of action for an entire turn, almost took them off the edge of the game board, and gave my opponents free shots at them... mostly ineffective, but still. I also didn't get to use the HLC more than 3 or 4 times.

Ultimately I think this one ended with Biggs back to 3 shields, one hull hit, Garven dead, and Wedge with a point or two left. I still have problems correctly maneuvering the Firespray to maintain its secondary arc. If I'd been able to get in another turn or two with the HLC, might have been a different outcome.

Final round, I decided to go back to basics and ran the TIE all-stars (with stealth on Howlrunner). Opponent flew Garven, Horton, and Tycho – each carrying missiles/torps/Horton with the Ion Cannon, droids, etc. Stealth on Tycho.

This one was a slaughter.

I made a slight mistake in my deployment, which resulted in Howlrunner smacking into the back of the formation on turn one. But other than that, it was all roses. I ran everyone up in a 2x3 column (that turned into a 2x2x1x1 column, oops) at speed 5, while the X-Wing and Y-wing moved up fairly slowly and ended up just out of range on turn one. The A-Wing, meanwhile, ran up almost in range, and then agonized over getting a shot in. He decided to boost to get into range 3, I tried to keep my smiles to myself, and he missed a shot on Winged Gundark. I then responded with 2 attacks, both out of Howlrunner's reach thanks to my turn one mistake. 2 attack dice each against 5 defense. What the hell, ammo is cheap. The first one missed. The second one turned up a single hit – and then he rolled not a single evade on five dice and lost the stealth. On turn one. Brutal.

Second turn I switched to a 2-forward, which couldn't have worked better. Garven collided into Night Beast, Horton hung back 1 behind, and Tycho shot on ahead out of everyone's arcs. I got Howlrunner back up closer to the front. Put a few effective shots on Garven, then he got off his torpedo from Horton and annihilated Mauler. Sadness. But Garven didn't last halfway into the turn and by the end I had 5 healthy TIEs, and he was down a Garven, all of Horton's shields, and one shield on Tycho.

The next turn I K-turned the whole formation around behind the Y-Wing and landed a couple shots, Tycho ran off to take an ineffective range 3 potshot, and Winged Gundark got ioned. The very next turn I took out Horton before he could fire... and then spent the next two turns returning to a nice tight formation and weaving it pretty well through some asteroids. Tycho, of course, didn't stand a chance. Took the one hit on Gundark, and Mauler, and that was it the whole game.