How about as a nasty bit of a swarm.....im thinking about trying this out.

Omnicron Group Pilot

-gunner

-Darth Vader

-fire control system

-anti pursuit lasers

Dark Curse

-stealth device

Academy Pilot x 4

Six ships and the shuttle is actually designed to live fast and die hard. Plus, I dont think you can flank the shuttle effectively with 5 other fighters to worry about.

I am thinking the shuttle is a novelty item for home play and missions and not for tounament as the rules currently stand. In a tournament you are basically handicapping yourself the points you put into the shuttle. There is no point in a tournament game where I thought, if only I had a space winnebago to do A, now I am stuck doing B. There are times in every game I have played the shuttle where I think I should have played something else.

I think the trick is no Rebel (you f-ing scum!!!) opponents will dedicate that many points to a support vehicle in lieu of a primary vehicle. The HWK, you say?? With the small base and better options it functions a lot better as a primary and/or support vehicle than the shuttle. BUT, the HWK doesn't have wings that fold down, so I guess we're even. Still, I can see the shuttle having a place, we just need to discover where that place is (and I am not cuting up a $20 miniature like that other guy did just to create dibris, my wife doesn't even know how much I've spent on this game as it is, for Pete's sake!!!)

I feel the shuttle is meant as an sacrifice ship you have to build it as that to punch out as much damage as possible as quickly as possible. if the ship puts out 5/6 damage + Crits i feel it has done it's job (sacrificing a 24 point for 29 point is a win in my book.

That's where I think it is. Your aim is to do huge spike damage early in the game, and put the enemy into a position where they are playing an uphill game. Who cares if the shuttle handles like a pig if you put the enemy in a situation where they are down 2 ships out of the gate, they are not going to be going after it, the only way they can claw back victory is to go after more dangerous targets.

I feel the shuttle is meant as an sacrifice ship you have to build it as that to punch out as much damage as possible as quickly as possible. if the ship puts out 5/6 damage + Crits i feel it has done it's job (sacrificing a 24 point for 29 point is a win in my book.

A 24 point shuttle that does damage??? What are you running - OMG with Vadar? How is the basic 3 attack dice working for you? I am looking at a "suicide shuttle" but was thinking a gunner might also be needed in there as well.

Yeah, the shuttle is a challenge in the 100 point format, it's a gamble, can you make the support abilities and extra upgrade points translate into victory?

The difficulty is that the shuttle is the ship you don't want to have last - but is not quite so likely to be targetted first. The other big ships, Firespray + Yt-1300 really make the hard choice of, do we commit on the big ship and let small things hit us, or do we get rid of their support. - The shuttle on the other hand doesn't seem to have that issue - it's easy to deal with last, and it's not built to deal lots of damage.

So - the shuttle's really need to be built very offensively, or, give enough support to the fighters to increase the offense and defense of the rest of the list. It's certainly a bit of a bummer that the shuttle abilities are all within range 1...

The shuttle certainly shines in larger games, and mission/scenario play. It's much less a challenge to build a shuttle into a 150 point list...

I like the lambda because it gives the empire access to something it has sorely needed for a while... cheap ion weapons. Any Imperial swarm list can swap 2 academy pilots for an Omicron Lambda w/ ion cannon (24pts each). Defensively I think 6 hull at 3agi and 5 hull, 5 shield at 1agi is fairly equal. For blocking purposes I think 2 manueverable small bases and 1 clumsy large base, while each having their own pros and cons, still ends up fairly equal. Offensively you trade two 2dice guns for a single 3dice gun and the potential to ionize a ship or two in the opening pass.

I see potential is it's ability to function as a flanking element, coming in from the side and covering the main area of the first exchange with long range ion fire, limiting your opponents maneuvering as they joust with the rest of your force. Also worth noting, especially for swarm mirror matches, having the lambda follow behind your swarm makes your enemies ability to k turn behind you after the first pass difficult. I plan to test these ideas out soon

Hadn't even crossed my mind to use Lambdas with Ions. My testing so far has been similar to Macar's, where I am using it as a disposable complement to a swarm ( the interplay with Gunnar had not occurred to me though). I look forward to hearing how you're Ioning goes But 48 points invested in 2 shuttles and Io Cannons? Sounds dangerous to me

I feel the shuttle is meant as an sacrifice ship you have to build it as that to punch out as much damage as possible as quickly as possible. if the ship puts out 5/6 damage + Crits i feel it has done it's job (sacrificing a 24 point for 29 point is a win in my book.

A 24 point shuttle that does damage??? What are you running - OMG with Vadar? How is the basic 3 attack dice working for you? I am looking at a "suicide shuttle" but was thinking a gunner might also be needed in there as well.

I dunno what OMG Is but here is my current build

Howlrunner w/ elusiveness

Yorr with Vader/Gunner

Academy Pilot x4

The larger Swarm that focuses on swarm-tactics

Howlrunner w/ Swarm

Omnicron with Vader

Black squadron w/ Swarm x2

Academy Pilot x2

IMO, the range 1 on their abilities is what really kills Lambda's usefulness in the squad. The bad dial could be much more tolerable if they could keep supporting your squad from a reasonable distance, which will make it both a useful ship and a desirable target at the same time. But your enemy knows pretty well that once the lambda is outmaneuvered (which is not precisely difficult to achieve) he won't be able neither to fire back nor support your team, and he can take the luxury of ignoring it, focusing on your other -far more vulnerable- ships.

It is like playing with your squad split on different maps. Your opponent will comfortably kill half of your squad on one map, and then, it will move onto the 'other map' and finish the lambda at their leisure.

And while it is somehow possible to increase its combat capabilites by investing into loads of upgrades... You can simply take a firespray in its place, which will do the just same job (if not better) than the Lambda in that regard.

As an added insult, almost all upgrades that come in the set are far more deadly when placed on other ships.

In my ever persistent quest to make the lambda shuttle effective, when I finally get that Imperial aces pack, I will be trying this one out...

Omicron Group Pilot

-Sensor jammer

-anti pursuit lasers

-intelligence agent

-ion cannon

Soontir Fel

-PTL

-Stealth Device

Carnor Jax (OR Turr Phennir with similar prior to imperial aces)

-Oppurtunist

-Royal guard

-stealth device

-hull upgrade

The goal will be to use the Omicron pilot as a mobile metor, cutting off the enemies points of attack and setting up shots with the Ion Cannon. Sensor jammer allows the omicron to avoid focus fire pretty well, and intelligence agent will help predicting high PS enemy movements for the interceptors. The interceptors will do their best to avoid focus and force the enemies to move into the firing arc of the Shuttle. I will toy around with including vader as well.

It at least SOUNDS fun, if it isn't effective. I'll update how I feel after some playtesting soon enough.

IMO, the range 1 on their abilities is what really kills Lambda's usefulness in the squad. The bad dial could be much more tolerable if they could keep supporting your squad from a reasonable distance, which will make it both a useful ship and a desirable target at the same time. But your enemy knows pretty well that once the lambda is outmaneuvered (which is not precisely difficult to achieve) he won't be able neither to fire back nor support your team, and he can take the luxury of ignoring it, focusing on your other -far more vulnerable- ships.

It is like playing with your squad split on different maps. Your opponent will comfortably kill half of your squad on one map, and then, it will move onto the 'other map' and finish the lambda at their leisure.

And while it is somehow possible to increase its combat capabilites by investing into loads of upgrades... You can simply take a firespray in its place, which will do the just same job (if not better) than the Lambda in that regard.

As an added insult, almost all upgrades that come in the set are far more deadly when placed on other ships.

IMO, the range 1 on their abilities is what really kills Lambda's usefulness in the squad. The bad dial could be much more tolerable if they could keep supporting your squad from a reasonable distance, which will make it both a useful ship and a desirable target at the same time. But your enemy knows pretty well that once the lambda is outmaneuvered (which is not precisely difficult to achieve) he won't be able neither to fire back nor support your team, and he can take the luxury of ignoring it, focusing on your other -far more vulnerable- ships.

It is like playing with your squad split on different maps. Your opponent will comfortably kill half of your squad on one map, and then, it will move onto the 'other map' and finish the lambda at their leisure.

And while it is somehow possible to increase its combat capabilities by investing into loads of upgrades... You can simply take a firespray in its place, which will do the just same job (if not better) than the Lambda in that regard.

As an added insult, almost all upgrades that come in the set are far more deadly when placed on other ships.

Yorrs ability is range 1-2 so much more tolerable.

Also no you can't simply take a firespray, the firespray is 33 points minimum Omnicron is 21 points or 24 points for yorr. Even with 8 points of upgrades you still fall a point shy of the firespray.

I bought 3 for the upgrades, and won a 4th one in the Tourney last Saturday. It does seem like an awfully large pile of shuttles, even for me.

The advanced sensors may be the most useful benefit from having so many...

He buys three after we've already agreed to allow proxy cards in our league. That's dedication!

Or maybe insanity.

Howlrunner w/ elusiveness

Yorr with Vader/Gunner

Academy Pilot x4

I've been running something similar with some success:

Yorr with Vader & APL

Howl with Swarm & Stealth

4 x Academy.

It's actually really rather effective - by the time you're loading Yorr up with Stress (third run and happily K-Turning without a care) he's close enough to death (you should have shot and Vadered three times by then If you've been left alone) that he's done his duty already (and if you're being pestered, that's what the APL are for).

I also tried it with four named Ties (Howl, MM, BS & DC) and two Swarms (Howl & MM), which I had more fun with, tbh.

Something that I thought might give a little perspective on a 4 shuttle list. 4 shuttles = 20 shields and 20 hull. That's 40 damage that your opponent has to chew through to claim a win. Against 3 x-wings 6 shields and 9 hull, or a han shoots first's 9 shields and 14 hull. 2 YT1300s only gets you 10 shields and 16 hull. And the shuttles are still thowing 3 attack each, same as the x-wings/yt1300s. Add in Persuit Lasers or giving 2 HLC would just addto the fun.

Hit points dont win games. The ability to maneuver and kill things does.

I use my shuttle to lure my kid because he's a sucker and thinks because it looks cool he should kill it first. Then I sweep around and clear him out. He cries like an 8 year old.

well, he IS 8 but whatever. CRUSH!

Hit points dont win games. The ability to maneuver and kill things does.

Exactly....if you can't shoot, you can't win.

Hit points dont win games. The ability to maneuver and kill things does.

Exactly....if you can't shoot, you can't win.

I should know...I play lots of Y-Wing builds...and rarely win.

I use my shuttle to lure my kid because he's a sucker and thinks because it looks cool he should kill it first. Then I sweep around and clear him out. He cries like an 8 year old.well, he IS 8 but whatever. CRUSH!

Take note of this loving father with his nurturing technique people.

Post is WIN!

I am rather liking a shuttle bomber combo. Col Jendon with ST321 card, Advanced Sensors, Gunner and Heavy Laser Cannon. Major Rhymer with ordinance to taste and Colonel Jonus with ordinance to taste.

I do not feel the need for Weapons Eng as I can make the needed locks in two moves. If points allowed, I'd put Vader and Anti Pursuit Lasers on the Shuttle.

The ploy being using ordinance and HLC to strip shields, then give them the old Vader treatment :-)

the bombers can come about and attack anyone who gets behind the shuttle. That's not ideal, but it may be enough.

It might be a viable build......

Dog fights are all about maneuverability and shooting....period. That's why I love the A-Wings so much...

I agree with the "if you can't turn to shoot me it's pointless" idea floating around.

While I have seen a lot of addons like the ion cannon or heavy laser cannon, I don't feel the upgrades get the bang for their buck on these ships. Especially with a lack of a k-turn.

I really feel the shuttle was meant as a divert and sacrifice type of ship. Vader is by far the best upgrade for the shuttle since regardless if you hit you pull out a crit in the end.

If you were feeling quite vindictive, you could drop Gunner in my build suggestion and add a Saboteur for added nastiness.

Vader is by far the best upgrade for the shuttle since regardless if you hit you pull out a crit in the end.

Yes. And you want him and APL on something with a fairly low PS. I have a very hard time justifying the cost for any shuttle pilot better than Yorr.

Just remember that isn't a toy or Action figure, is a Sculpt that you use to play a boargame, greettings

I came up with this that will be getting a fly this weekend. It uses the shuttle to deliver crits and be a nuisance, blocking and bumping. The two bombers can dish some pain and somewhat defend the shuttle as well.

Omicron Shuttle (22)

Anti Pursuit Lasers (2)

Vader (3)

Saboteur (2)

Advanced Sensors (3)

Major Rhymer (26)

Advanced Proton Torpedo (6)

Concussion Missile (4)

Push the Limit (3)

Captain Jonus (22)

Proton Bomb (5)

Seismic Charge (2)