So, I know everyone says that Tie Advanced squads are not good but I kinda want to try the one below. It's the Imperial version of Wedge and rookies.

It could also be done with 4 Tempest Pilots with stealth devices or shields. With stealth on the four 'rookies' you could give one a 4 pt missile.

It packs 2 firepower not 3, but against rebels it has the same chance x-wings have against Imps.

2 dice v 2 dice

What are your thoughts on either variant?

It is also more maneuverable than X-Wings

Total Squad Points: 99

Pilot: Darth Vader

Tie Advanced x1 (29)

Upgrades:

Daredevil (3)Engine Upgrade (4)

Pilot: Tempest Squadron Pilot 1

Tie Advanced (21)

Upgrades:

No Upgrades Selected

Pilot: Tempest Squadron Pilot 2

Tie Advanced (21)

Upgrades:

No Upgrades Selected

Pilot: Tempest Squadron Pilot 3

Tie Advanced (21)

Upgrades:

No Upgrades Selected

Attack dice are better than evade dice.

Yep,

but 2 v 2 or 3 v 3 are comparable odds. That was my general point :-)

The main weakness will be against Imp v Imp where 2 att v 3 def will be a real pain.

The main weakness will be against Imp v Imp where 2 att v 3 def will be a real pain.

That's true for your opponent too though, unless you think Imperials should only use Firesprays and interceptors?

No, it cuts both ways, but in general, you'll either face 3 dice attack Imps or 5-8 2 dice, which means more incoming.

Shields and Hull with stealth should balance that a bit though.

I also am curious to see if a TIE Advanced build could have any success. I only have one because the only pilot I ever run with it Vader. I'm not a fan of the ship really. I found it be pretty disappointing but I would love to find out I am wrong and that more than one can be good.

I'm going to find out this weekend :-)

I asked what folks could do with 4 TIE Advanced fighters and Ravncat seemed to have some good suggestions.

Yeah, though, the TIE Advanced is flawed. Between the low attack skill and no elite pilot tallent for the pilots it feels to me the TIE Advanced is a disappointment. It has equal shields with the rebellion and slightly more manuverability, but I find myself more intimidated by X-Wings than TIE x1s.

The TIE Advanced can take missiles but once it fires them it faces the same problems A-Wings face: A lot of manuverability but low attack. The Advanced has a little more robustness but it's not going to help you kill rebels faster than they are destroying you.

The only pilot I've seen taken with any effectiveness is Lord Vader himself. I flew against a Maarek and Storm squadron pilot (With Fett) Scenario the other day and Steele did not once use his special ability. He was only good for bumping the initiative of the other x1 using Swarm tactics.

I think Maarek can be used effectively, he just needs to be built purposely to use his ability. He obviously is not better than Vader but I still think he can be good.

The main problem I see with the generic Tie-Adv is that they 1) don't have an EPS slot and 2) cost too much for their stats. I know that they have very similar stats to an X-wing but really they shouldn't cost the same as one. The exchange of one attack for one agility ends up being a huge detriment to their effectiveness. If they were each 2 or 3 points cheaper (maybe not Maarek or Vader) then I think we would see them on the table way more often. You could field 5 Tempest squadron pilots with 5 or 10 points left over to throw in other things.

Actually really the more I think about it the more it makes sense to me. The Tempest being 18pts and the Storm being 20pts would set them at 6pts more than an equivalent PS tie fighter. Thats 6 pts in exchange for 2 shields, a missile slot, a target lock, and a slightly worse dial, and in the case of the Black Squadron to Storm Squadron you would be loosing an EPS slot. That seems like OK to me for 6 points.

You could also draw a comparison to the A-wing which is essentially the same cost for equal pilot skill (PS3 A-wing is 19pts, suggested PS4 Advanced would cost 20pts), and trades barrel roll for boost and a hull for a substantively better dial.

I still think they wouldn't see tremendous use because you couldn't field more than 5 (and we have seen that the line between 5 and 6 atk 2 ships is actually quite huge) but they might begin to see more use as a couple generics mixed in with other ships.

I think Vader would definitely be too good for 26 or even 27 points, but Maarek could probably drop down to costing 25pts.

I just don't see why you would ever take a Tempest at 21 points when you could have a stealth upgraded Alpha interceptor for the same price. Those 2 shields aren't worth it, IMO, given your inability to deal damage and higher likelihood of taking it. PS2 offers almost no advantage over PS1, most of the time (unless facing an Academy swarm). The missile slot MAY become more valuable in wave 3.

Attack dice have 3 hits and a crit on an 8 sided dice.

Evade dice have 3 evade results on an 8 sided dice.

You are already losing statistically even before looking at anything else. Trading an effective dice for a less effective dice is not a good idea.

Attack dice have 3 hits and a crit on an 8 sided dice.

Evade dice have 3 evade results on an 8 sided dice.

You are already losing statistically even before looking at anything else. Trading an effective dice for a less effective dice is not a good idea.

Good point.

In wave 3 maybe we will ser a built with Vader with squad leader and missiles and a tie bomber full equipped

I just wish the Tie advanced was an Imperial X-Wing. They would be great. There will never be a fix for the Tie Advanced so we just have to make due.

was giving this topic some thought last night, and almost everytime i tried building around steele, he bacame more than 33points and i wish i just had a bounty hunter at that point, they seem a lost cause

We played the scenario Furball recently. I fielded Vader and marak. Vader was out in 2 turns. Marak inflicted a lot of damage and lasted the game. Vader is a big target and everything on the board shoots at him.