Jax- just previewed, imperial aces- ups the offense of a tie swarm. I think his cost is prohibitive to the 7-8 squad (obviously). So does he replace Howlrunner or show up in a less swarmy even bigger offensive build?

Jax- 26

Howlrunner-18

Mauler-17

Academy tie- 12

Academy tie- 12

Academy tie- 12

That's only a 6 swarm but I would say it brings the same firepower as a 7 or 8. I feel swarm tactics is a must but who do you put it on? Or do you stealth up Jax/Howlrunner? a single draw thier fire dummy?

And how about that Royal Guard title? Turr/Fell with stealth and a shield? What do you put in front of them?

If you're gonna run Jax, you better run something else scary, too, so the opponent at least has to make a choice about who to go after. Howlrunner qualifies. It's still an EASY choice (obviously Jax), but you've just bought Howlrunner a couple turns of survival, maybe.

So the question becomes: what can I bring to the table for ~26pts that is scary enough (Howlrunner + dif in pts between academy and mauler + 3 left over)?

The answer is: not much or not enough perhaps. A PS 9 Mauler with a free reroll and no evade or focus tokens is pretty **** scary. Mauler at 9 followed by PS 8 Howler/Jax/swarm tactic academy is also pretty gnarly...again, all with a reroll and no evade/focus potential. I think Mauler with VI + Howl with swarm might be the way to go. Or go with stealth on Jax and let the dice gods decide.

Not "scary" but squirrelly:
Turr+ PTL+ stealth+ sheild upgrade (31pts)
Jax + stealth (29pts)
Royal Guard (22pts)
Alpha Squadran (18pts)

4 interceptors. 8/8/6/1 PS (go near first, near first, before mooks and have a blocker at PS 1). Good luck tracking them down if you don't one shot them.

Scary Enough?
Vader + Missiles + PTL (36)
Turr + PTL + stealth (31)
Jax + stealth + Royal Title+ sheild upgrade (33)

Who do you shoot 1st now? Can you actually shoot one of them if your not using turrets?

If you're gonna run Jax, you better run something else scary, too, so the opponent at least has to make a choice about who to go after. Howlrunner qualifies. It's still an EASY choice (obviously Jax), but you've just bought Howlrunner a couple turns of survival, maybe.

that will depend on how your opponent is flying, if everything is a tight formation, howlrunner would still be my first choice.. it's all the re-rolls that are going to kill you, not a single interceptor getting 2-3 shots off before going down

Really? I'd consider losing the ability to focus or evade to be pretty major, although I guess with most rebel lists you still have the target lock option.

Plus, all other things being equal or nearly so, wouldn't you rather get the 3 attack dice off the board, rather than the measly 2?

Scary Enough?
Vader + Missiles + PTL (36)
Turr + PTL + stealth (31)
Jax + stealth + Royal Title+ sheild upgrade (33)

Who do you shoot 1st now? Can you actually shoot one of them if your not using turrets?

Jax, then Turr, then Vader. That one's easy. If Turr or Vader offer themselves up, then fine, I'll take the shots on them. But I think this list is not scary enough at all with only 3 ships/12 total hit points.

A decked out Firespray is not a bad answer. That's a ship that you generally don't want to be facing unscathed in the late game. Usually opponents have gone right at it, no matter who else I fly alongside it. Although I don't think I've ever done a Firespray + Howlrunner combo.

Jax has a cool ability, that's for sure but guys like Han or stuff like marksmanship just don't care about it and X-Wings aside from Garven Dreis will Target lock you instead.

So what ithinkis that he does up the offense and surely the defense of your list. But i see him more as a counter to imperial swarms that rely on Evading more than Rebels do, and on top of that they don't have the offemsive ability to Target lock, so they lack offense if they can't focus.

This guy might finally see the end of 7-8 ship swarms as he can guve you the time you need to decimate them if you keep him in the middle of them.

Rebel lists might in the ither hands just have focused him down before he gets to them.

If you really want an offensive ship, take Kir Kanos instead, or even better the combination of the two...

A decked out Firespray is not a bad answer. That's a ship that you generally don't want to be facing unscathed in the late game. Usually opponents have gone right at it, no matter who else I fly alongside it. Although I don't think I've ever done a Firespray + Howlrunner combo.

That was going to be my next route too. Not sure where exactly to go with it but there is a big X on the Firespray's base for a reason!

How decked of a FireSpray do we want?

Plain BH+ Missiles+ seismic= 40

Jax + Stealth = 29

Mauler + VI= 18

Academy Tie =12

99pts

How about Jax, Turr, Fel. PtL on Jax and Fel, VI on Turr. Everyone gets a stealth device. It's a glass Cannon, but it's mighty maneuverable. get in close, fast. Turrets are the usual headache, but it will give other lists fits, especially all those elite rebel build lists.

I'm just happy that Carnor Jax is in this game now. I'm looking forward to see how these guys work on the table.

How about Jax, Turr, Fel. PtL on Jax and Fel, VI on Turr. Everyone gets a stealth device. It's a glass Cannon, but it's mighty maneuverable. get in close, fast. Turrets are the usual headache, but it will give other lists fits, especially all those elite rebel build lists.

That was one I considered. I love the mobility and firepower but hate the survivability. Really like 2 interceptors but more ships or a bigger target seems better.

Get in their face:

Bounty Hunter + Gunner= 38

Jax+ stealth = 29

Howlrunner + swarm= 20

Academy tie = 12

Leaves a point to upgrade or further protect. VI is probably good on Jax as he will likely be taking a lot of fire. Not going to be missing a lot. Gunner might be overkill but I do expect the bounty hunter to be last man standing. seismic charge on BH is possible too. Cut Howl down to another named tie and Royal Guard title Jax with sheild upgrade too? Not a lot of wiggle room but a swarm enabled bounty hunter and an interceptor with 1 reroll and no one able to evade it is going to ice something the first round.

Is his ability really overrated since it has a small range restriction and everyone will just target him?

How about this:

Is his ability really overrated since it has a small range restriction and everyone will just target him?

In my opinion he is, actually, which is why I started the Kir Kanos thread. At range 1, this guy is likely to get blown away regardless of his ability, and over range 1 he is no better than any other Interceptor.

His popularity will probably go like this "OMG this guy is awesome I just have to use him in all my lists!" Then people will get him killed a lot and it will shift to "He's an overcosted waste, his ability looks good but is actually awful!" Then people who take the time to work out good ways to fly him so that he lives will emerge and things will more or less equalize. I imagine most people who use him long term will be circling him around the back of enemy formations to smack them on the back of the head going "nananana you can't concentrate!"

I would run him either as cheap as possible so i could get lots of firepower into the rest of the list while he disrupts them with his "bubble". Or i would give him the maximum defense kit via royal guard, shield, stealth and PTL.

Of course people will try to bring him down at range 2 or 3, but nonetheless he has a very strong ability. The best proof is that even now that he is not yet out, people already think about how to counter him. He could get an

important element in the meta.

Yeah. We immediately we t to talking about what else to put in the list to not make him priority #1... Both new named Royals seem to be keyed towards "cinematic" so they are not the obvious choice and can still contribute something special. Both will find places on lists but probably less so than initial "wow".