I came up with a few empire squads, but I can't make up my mind which one is more viable. All of them are based on Howlrunner and 9 skill pilot (Vader or Soontir Fel) and the general idea is to pass this 9 using swarm tactics to affect whole team. However these squads vary in some ways and I can't decide which is the ultimate one. Please post your thoughts and advices.

1

Darth Vader + Homing Missiles + Swarm Tactics (36)
Howlrunner + Swarm Tactics (20)
Black Squadron Pilot + Swarm Tactics (16)
Black Squadron Pilot + Swarm Tactics (16)
Academy Pilot (12)

2

Soontir Fel + Swarm Tactics + Stealth Device (32)
Howlrunner + Swarm Tactics + Stealth Device (23)
Turr Phennir + Swarm Tactics (27)
Alpha Squadron Pilot (18)

3

Soontir Fel + Swarm Tactics (29)
Howlrunner + Swarm Tactics (20)
Mauler Mithel + Swarm Tactics (19)
Black Squadron Pilot + Swarm Tactics (16)
Backstabber (16)

I think youre putting too much faith in howlrunner. I mean hes good, but mixing him with Interceptors?

I think youre putting too much faith in howlrunner. I mean hes good, but mixing him with Interceptors?

You may be right but imo she is just too good to skip.

I think it could work, You'd have to fly in less of a rigid formation and more of a loose satelite type system, with howlrunner placing herself within range one of the intercepters without regard for her own ability to attack. I think one would overall be the easiest to make work though, number three soontir would lose too much manuverablility if he wanted to keep giving his swarm tactics and in that one the standards really are the primary force and two would require a good amount of skill to make work even if it might possibly be better if perfected.

While I think PS9 is nice, I feel it kind of nerfs the effectiveness of Fel or vader to have to keep them in range 1 of all of these ships. Personally I would drop ST on either of those guys. Since Howlrunner already needs to be at range 1 for her ability, it makes sense to start the ST chain with her. PS8 will likely still be higher than most if not all of the ships on the board. Then you get 2 points to add another upgrade somewhere. I like your 3rd list, especially If you can free up another point somewhere (maybe downgrade backstabber to gundark since BS would need to be flying in formation and therefore not using his ability as consistently),you could add PTL to Fel. That would be a pretty solid list IMO

I think it could work, You'd have to fly in less of a rigid formation and more of a loose satelite type system, with howlrunner placing herself within range one of the intercepters without regard for her own ability to attack. I think one would overall be the easiest to make work though, number three soontir would lose too much manuverablility if he wanted to keep giving his swarm tactics and in that one the standards really are the primary force and two would require a good amount of skill to make work even if it might possibly be better if perfected.

Actually i thought of giving Howlrunner engine upgrade, making her more interceptor-like, but i would have to get 1 point from somewhere.

While I think PS9 is nice, I feel it kind of nerfs the effectiveness of Fel or vader to have to keep them in range 1 of all of these ships. Personally I would drop ST on either of those guys. Since Howlrunner already needs to be at range 1 for her ability, it makes sense to start the ST chain with her. PS8 will likely still be higher than most if not all of the ships on the board. Then you get 2 points to add another upgrade somewhere. I like your 3rd list, especially If you can free up another point somewhere (maybe downgrade backstabber to gundark since BS would need to be flying in formation and therefore not using his ability as consistently),you could add PTL to Fel. That would be a pretty solid list IMO

You've got a point there, Fel could really use PTL. PS8 is still good enough.

Personally, for these sorts of setups with mixed ship types, I like Dark Curse more than Howlrunner. Very hard to hit, can either draw valuable enemy fire or get in there and do damage if they choose to ignore him.

Dark Curse....ewwww

Dark Curse....ewwww

Did I mention I donlt like him. Unless hes on my side.

How many times have I target locked that bastard.

I really like #2, except for the fact that it's only four ships. However, three of them are TIE interceptors, and combining Focus with "Howlrunner's" re-roll ability will be awesome (her ability on 3 dice will be deadlier than with 2 I think). And let's be honest: TIE interceptors aren't any more maneuverable than TIE fighters until you throw Stress tokens into the mix. Then all the green maneuvers make a difference. But on the initial approach when all of your ships are alive then I think it's pretty good. And the Stealth Devices on your top TIEs is a great idea.

But I do agree that Soontir wants Push the Limit. I recently played a game without any self-stressing upgrades on Soontir and it was like eating cake without frosting: edible, but just not up to its potential.

#1 is kind of weak with only five ships. Whenever my opponent brings an Imperial squad with just five ships that all have Primary Weapon Value of 2 I breathe a sigh of relief because I have a pretty good chance of beating them. Just my experience.

And the last comment I'll make is that you are putting lots of points in this bid for Pilot Skill, but your squads are all at 100 points. If an opponent has a similar squad, and they have 99 points, all your pilots will shoot last. Not good. Your best options are to 1) devote less to the Swarm Chain or 2) cut a couple of points to bring your total down to 98. That way you cut your losses if you lose initiative because you've chosen other abilities/upgrades that aren't dependent on initiative, or you ensure you're shooting first.

I really like #2, except for the fact that it's only four ships. However, three of them are TIE interceptors, and combining Focus with "Howlrunner's" re-roll ability will be awesome (her ability on 3 dice will be deadlier than with 2 I think). And let's be honest: TIE interceptors aren't any more maneuverable than TIE fighters until you throw Stress tokens into the mix. Then all the green maneuvers make a difference. But on the initial approach when all of your ships are alive then I think it's pretty good. And the Stealth Devices on your top TIEs is a great idea.

But I do agree that Soontir wants Push the Limit. I recently played a game without any self-stressing upgrades on Soontir and it was like eating cake without frosting: edible, but just not up to its potential.

#1 is kind of weak with only five ships. Whenever my opponent brings an Imperial squad with just five ships that all have Primary Weapon Value of 2 I breathe a sigh of relief because I have a pretty good chance of beating them. Just my experience.

And the last comment I'll make is that you are putting lots of points in this bid for Pilot Skill, but your squads are all at 100 points. If an opponent has a similar squad, and they have 99 points, all your pilots will shoot last. Not good. Your best options are to 1) devote less to the Swarm Chain or 2) cut a couple of points to bring your total down to 98. That way you cut your losses if you lose initiative because you've chosen other abilities/upgrades that aren't dependent on initiative, or you ensure you're shooting first.

Howlrunner + 3 attack dices rocks, from what I've managed to calculate she boosts a chance to get 3 hits on 3 attack dices from 42% to around 74% (ofc combined with focus), and chance of getting 2 hits or less, greatly decreases. I think her effectiveness increases the more attack dices you roll bc you have higher chance to roll a blank, and thats when her ability comes to action. But on the other hand in the first build you have more ships, so theoretically she can provide more rerolls to her team.

As for the initiative, i don't know if i understand you properly, and forgive me if i'm wrong, but you seem to not exactly get the idea of initiative. Player with initiative resolves combat steps first but even if he manages to destroy opponent's ship, following to simultaneous attack rule, destroyed ship will have a chance to fire back, before being taken out of the battlefield, assuming that he is equal PS.

I took soontir mainly for his PS9 and 3 attacks. But i like the idea of changing the strategy a bit and giving him PTL. Following to what Jedi Moose commented, Howlrunner will be staying at range 1 anyway so it's not a bad idea to start a chain with her. She would have to go without stealth device, so it would be 98p squad.

1

Darth Vader + Homing Missiles + Swarm Tactics (36)

Howlrunner + Swarm Tactics (20)

Black Squadron Pilot + Swarm Tactics (16)

Black Squadron Pilot + Swarm Tactics (16)

Academy Pilot (12)

All in all, they look like pretty sweet list though. I'll have to try them out sometime.

It's not redundent. His plan is to chain it so that every ship has a skill of nine. vader upgrades one ship and that ship hits another until they are all maxed out.

It's not redundent. His plan is to chain it so that every ship has a skill of nine. vader upgrades one ship and that ship hits another until they are all maxed out.

Exactly.

I was thinking to myself that Mauler or Phenirr could also use Veteran instincts instead of swarm tactics, putting them out of the chain and giving 1 extra point.

It's not redundent. His plan is to chain it so that every ship has a skill of nine. vader upgrades one ship and that ship hits another until they are all maxed out.

Exactly.

That makes sense. Very clever!

I didn't know they would stack up like that. Thanks for enlightening me.

Good call about the simultaneous attack rule, Azarro. Somehow I always forget about that one. Man, that means 100 points is definitely superior because if you lose initiative you get to reposition with Boost and Barrel Roll. It's amazing that I have been playing for a year and still forget things like that.

Turr Phennir is the exception to that. His special ability takes effect before the enemy could return fire if you have initiative, which could be crucial with him. There are probably other abilities that would interact similarly, but I can't think of them now.