Hey All,

I had some good success running three ship rebel lists this past weekend with Jan Ors providing support and want to try something similar with the Imperial forces.

My two list ideas are as follows:

39 - Colonel Jendon (26) Heavy Laser Cannon (7), St-321 (3) and Weapons Engineer (3)

37 - Major Rhymer (26) Adv. Proton Torpedoes (6), Cluster Missiles (4) and Draw Their Fire(1)

12 - Academy Pilot

12 - Academy Pilot

The idea is that Jendon hands Rhymer target locks to let him get more "bang for the buck" when using the ordnance cards. Draw Their Fire lets Rhymer remain useful late game pulling crits off the Ties.

Other Idea:

39 - Colonel Jendon (26) Heavy Laser Cannon (7), St-321 (3) and Weapons Engineer (3)

38 - Major Rhymer (26) Adv Proton Torpedoes (6), Homing or Assault Missiles (5) - (open to suggestions on which is the better choice) and Veteran Instincts (1)

23 - Scimitar Squadron Pilot (16), Cluster Missiles and Proximity Mines (3)

This adds one more ordnance card to benefit from Jendon's target locks and the Proximity Mines should give me more time to make the long turn with the shuttle after the first pass.

I'm unsure about dropping a 39 pt shuttle on to the table (in my rebel lists Jan came in at 31). Those extra points are tied up in the HLC, and I'm wondering if it would be better to swap if for a more defensive upgrade (Anti-Pursuit Laser or Sensor Jammers) and depending on the list either add better tie pilots or another piece of ordnance for the Scimitar.

Thanks in advance for any advice/input.

Once FFG gets more Wave 1 models released I want to try a similar list with Darth Vader; the Squad Leader upgrade and two Tie Bombers (I don't own a Tie Advanced).

I like your first list better, though I'd swap out the adv torps on the bomber for something else since they are range 1 and cost half as much as an academy tie. I would like to throw out there that I haven't played as imps a whole lot, mostly against them. I'd take any of my imperial advice with a grain of salt :/

I like using Col. Jendon to pass target locks to ships that cannot pick them up on their own.

Yes, that works. He passes the physical token, so whether the recipient has the target lock action is irrelevant.

I give him ST-321, Weapons Engineer, and Fire-Control System, allowing him to start the passing on turn 1, and once in combat, he doesn't need to waste an action doing the target locking, as FCS + WE means he picks up one on the defender and one of his choice after attacking, passing one at the start of next combat and shooting at the other, spending it in combat, getting a replacement if he didn't kill the opposing ship, and using as many red maneuvers and/or focuses as he needs.... it gets ridiculous pretty quick.

That combo's 34 points as I recall, enough for a Howlrunner and 4 academy pilots (or 3 Academy Pilots and Soontir Fel with Push the Limit, or Soontir Fel + Push the Limit + 2 Alpha Squadron Pilots, or 3 Alpha Squadron Pilots and an Academy Pilot... et c)

I start the shuttle out on a horizontal run, through my opening fleet, to start passing the target locks out early on. I only need an action once every two turns if the shuttle's not in combat, after all, and don't need any actions to keep the combo going if he is. I use him as a mother-ship, letting the more agile Ties and/or Interceptors flit around between combat and returning home to defend and/or refill the target-lock.

I find I barrel-roll and boost more often if they have acquired a target lock on the opposing ship, because I don't need to rely on a focus to deal the extra damage.

So, yeah. I don't need to add more damage or defense to Col. Jendon. His damage is through other ships, and they do plenty of defending for him anyway.

I have found Jendon very useful.

@oddeye - That's the reason I took Rhymer - he can add or subtract one range to any secondary weapon, which makes those Adv Proton Torps range 2 for him

@DraconPyrothayan - interesting thought on running Jendon with regular Ties and Interceptors, I figured the best use of his target locks was to increase the efficiency of Tie Bombers (free Target Lock allows Rhymer to Focus as well and makes the Adv Proton Torps deadly).

I don't disagree with you: giving him a target lock for free is useful. You could do the same thing and save a lot of points by giving Rhymer Push-the-Limit, and using Captain Yorr to absorb the stress, or Captain Kagi to keep Rhymer alive.

Way I see it, Jendon's Target-Lock gift is only better than a double-action when A) the ship in question cannot take a target lock at all, B) the ship in question needs greater mobility or defensive options alongside the target lock, C) the ship in question wants to shoot an enemy with a higher pilot skill that moved into range after it took an action, or D) the ship in question cannot do a double-action (available at your local Push the Limit or Squad Leader dealerships!).

Now, Rhymer doesn't necessarily fit these criterion, unless he's going crazy with B , which might be fun, and is certainly stackable with PtL. Nothing quite like focusing and barrel-rolling into position, and getting the target lock at round's start, after all.

However, if you really want to spend those target locks on bombers, consider the lowly Scimitar Squadron Pilot. It cannot take Push the Limit. It moves into position first, and won't get the ability to target lock on the alpha-strike turn! It shoots last, and cannot rely on its own lethality to protect it from enemies.

Moreover, its cheaper than Rhymer by 10 freakin' points. You could run two of them, loaded for bear, and probably still afford a Fighter or two.

Personally, I like seeing my opponents' faces when I ready target locks on my academy pilots. Their confusion, followed by their "Oh Crap" excites the bastard part of my brain

Try this Omicron shuttle W/ HLC and Engine Upgrade x3

That leaves your 4 more points for your favorite Upgrade.

I only own one shuttle, so I have not tried this yet. But that is 4 HLC and with the Engine Upgrade hopefully they can get shots.

The other option is

Omicron Shuttle w/ HLC and Engine Upgrade x2

Captain Jonus

Academy Pilot

There are a couple of points left over but not enough to give Jonus any missiles. Jis job is just to Give 4 re-rolls a turn. 2 on each HLC.

I have read a lot of hate on the shuttle, but it is the cheapest way to get a HLC and it take 10 hits to kill.

That fist list has a total of 30 total hits.

Was playing against a local guy on Sunday and he ran two tricked out shuttles with a tie who had squad leader just to give the shuttles some extra actions.

The shuttles were

2 OMG w/ HLC, APL, ADVSensors, one with Vader, one with Gunner (may have been some extra fluff thrown in but that was the core, nothing like engine upgrades that drastically changed them from this build)

I went against them with 2 Blues with HLC and 2 Rookies. They got torn apart, though I will give you that I did not fly it optimally. Tried to get around to flank because running head on into those two shuttles seemed like a bad idea, but the Bs just were not fast enough to get around in time even starting across the field (3 by 3) and they got wrecked. Maybe head on would have worked better, just unloading the fire power? Possibly. I might also have done better to bait him into the asteroid field by sticking around in my corner. Those guys can muck up large ships pretty badly.

Saw this list last night mentioned on team covenant, sorry I can't remember who built it for credit but really want to give it a go.

Omicron, vader crew

Obsidian x3

Academy x3

99pts

Saw this list last night mentioned on team covenant, sorry I can't remember who built it for credit but really want to give it a go.

Omicron, vader crew

Obsidian x3

Academy x3

99pts

I was thinking of trying something similar;

Omicron with Antipersuit and Saboteur

4 x Obsidian

1 x Gama Bomber with bomb

The shuttle is so hard to maneuver that after your first pass its gonna be real tricky too get a shot off, I see the HLC as a real waste of points as unless you are very lucky you'll only get one shot out of it. At least with the APL you can inflict damage by putting it in the way and it doesnt require an action, handy as you are gonna spend a lot of time stressed with that dial. Tbh if I was flying against it Id just stay out of its range leave it till last, when its completely useless against just one rebel fighter all of which can turn inside it and chip away at it. Even Vader Crew requires an attack, so again you might never get the chance to use him if you are pointing in the wrong direction. The Saboteur at least allows you to harm someone behind you, if the shuttle survives long enough to find a rebel ship with hit cards. Still requires an action though.

I love the shuttle model, but man does it look like a task to make it viable!

37 - Major Rhymer (26) Adv. Proton Torpedoes (6), Cluster Missiles (4) and Draw Their Fire(1)

Draw Their Fire lets Rhymer remain useful late game pulling crits off the Ties.

Given that Rhymer is your most useful attack ship the last thing you want on him is draw you fire! With it you might never get the ordinance off, as everyone will be gunning for it, the ties are not a big danger and shuttle is easy to avoid.

6 hull points dont last that long

@berusplants - If I'm reading Draw Their Fire correctly taking the critical hit for another ship is optional, not mandatory. The theory is that after Rhymer has fired off all his secondary weapons that he can help keep the Tie's around late game if they get tagged with a crit.

@DraconPyrothayan - good points on Yorr vs. Jendon; plus his ability to take stress operates at range 2 which would allow the ships to me more spread out - this has given me another list idea:

31 – Captain Yorr (24) + Heavy Laser Cannon (7)

40 - Major Rhymer (26) + Advanced Proton Torpedoes (6) + Homing or Assault Missiles (5) + Push the Limit (3)

29 – Captain Jonus (22) + 7 points of upgrades - thinking Cluster Missiles (4) + Proximity Mines (3) (or Veteran Instincts and Seismic Charges)

Yorr lets Rhymer use PtL more freely; Jonus increases the hitting power of both Yorr and Rhymer.

Oh, and anyone have thoughts on what the better choice is between Homing and Assault Missiles?

I still prefer the Lambda for scenario driven purposes but if you are matching up for 1 on 1 tournament and want Lambdas, then IMHO the choice is:

"Road Block"

(x4) Omicron group, fire-control, anti-pursuit lasers.

I came up with this and I am very excited to try it out. Not sure how effective it will be, but i think it will be a lot of fun.

"Imperial Customs Patrol"

@berusplants - If I'm reading Draw Their Fire correctly taking the critical hit for another ship is optional, not mandatory. The theory is that after Rhymer has fired off all his secondary weapons that he can help keep the Tie's around late game if they get tagged with a crit.

@DraconPyrothayan - good points on Yorr vs. Jendon; plus his ability to take stress operates at range 2 which would allow the ships to me more spread out - this has given me another list idea:

31 – Captain Yorr (24) + Heavy Laser Cannon (7)

40 - Major Rhymer (26) + Advanced Proton Torpedoes (6) + Homing or Assault Missiles (5) + Push the Limit (3)

29 – Captain Jonus (22) + 7 points of upgrades - thinking Cluster Missiles (4) + Proximity Mines (3) (or Veteran Instincts and Seismic Charges)

Yorr lets Rhymer use PtL more freely; Jonus increases the hitting power of both Yorr and Rhymer.

Oh, and anyone have thoughts on what the better choice is between Homing and Assault Missiles?

Depends on what you want to shoot at... Multi-ship splash vs swarm or taking down that stealth device/hard to hit guy.

Can you get enough shots off with Yorr to justify HCL and Jonus? 1 forwards and stops are probably only getting you 3 rounds of attacking for those extra 13pts or so (Dif between Jonus and scimitar + HCL). With APT and homing/concussion they kinda reroll/ auto hit without needing Jonus.

This is one that I ran at a 19 player tourney a week or so ago:

Check out my write up for it:

http://www.afewmaneuvers.com/_/afm-articles/the-taming-of-the-lambda-r110

I focus entirely on Imperial and have been trying to make the shuttle work, it doesn't. Good that some have experienced success, especially with the Tie Interceptors but just imagine how well you would have done dumping the shuttle and adding anthother interceptor.

I focus entirely on Imperial and have been trying to make the shuttle work, it doesn't. Good that some have experienced success, especially with the Tie Interceptors but just imagine how well you would have done dumping the shuttle and adding anthother interceptor.

Well, I'm not saying you're wrong, but....

3 Ints using Target Locks and Focuses seem to me to be better than 4 Ints with just Focuses. Add in a 10 HP shuttle that has the same attack and can drop an unstoppable crit and it seems way better to me. On average I took out my opponent's key ship during the range 3 alpha strike every time. Only exception was the dual YT build.

I also consider myself an Imperial (I've not fielded a Rebel build yet) and I think it does work. At first I had the same conclusion as you did, but I challenge you to try it out some more. Try my squad. Its not the best list ever, but it's a very solid build. I think you'll be surprised.

This is one that I ran at a 19 player tourney a week or so ago:

I call it "Vader Locks and the 3 Sabers"

Colonel Jendon - 26

-ST-321 - 3

-Darth Vader - 3

-Saboteur - 2

3x Saber Squad Ints - 63

-3x Veteran Instincts - 3

It trounced (and I mean TROUNCED) a lot of builds on its way to the championship. Next time I'll switch out Saboteur for Fire Control System.

Check out my write up for it:

http://www.afewmaneuvers.com/_/afm-articles/the-taming-of-the-lambda-r110

This is the same list I came up with about 2 weeks ago as well. I put Saboteur on it just to try and see how it would work, and I felt FCS or APL were better choices for those 2 points.

I really like the look of this squad and when the Aces come out I think it only gets stronger.

Shuttles can work, but I'd wager that they're going to get less successful over time as people figure out how to fly against them. Malus makes a good example of that - 3 locked interceptors on the Range 3 alpha? What opponent is going to give you that long to get it all ready? Maybe in the new-and-shiny meta with a ton of B-wings, but there's no way TIEs or even X-wings will give you enough time to set that up reliably.

The real problem is that once you make the initial pass, the shuttle's out of it. It's VERY difficult to finish the turns it needs to re-engage, and you just can't put the guns back on target. At that point, it's dead weight - Jendon doesn't have the range to let your other ships maneuver, so he's 26 points of alpha strike boost. Not saying it's not helpful, but those 26 points probably generate 3-4 extra hits during the game, at most. What would 26 points of extra fighters do instead?

To the extent I've managed to make a shuttle work, it's been this:

Captain Yorr

- Advanced Sensors

- Darth Vader

- Gunner

- Engine Upgrade

Expensive as all hell, but it actually pulls its weight as a combat ship, which most shuttles don't. Vader+Gunner is a total trollface that will happily drop a pair of auto-crits on a target every chance it gets - it's basically a suicide ship, and is best combined with higher-PS ships that will take down shields. Engine Upgrade is expensive, but let's you actually make a turn during the game. Advanced Sensors is the key, though - it lets you keep the shuttle's actions even as you slow-roll its advance to delay the initial cross as long as possible, whether via collision or stalling. Yorr is just there for bonus, his ability to pull a stress from a K-turning fighter can make a difference, but it's not something you build around.

How much use did you get out of Vader?

I ask as I could see a rebel captive being very annoying on this build. With tweaking, I might even get an Ion Cannon as well.

"you shoot my shuttle" stress for you. Then providing I was shot by a higher PS, I Ion shoot the stressed ship. Then next round, it's a sitting duck for the Squints :-)

Just a thought on a variation

I ran that particular build in 2 games, and got 4 uses out of Vader each game. A lot of that was shock value - nobody really anticipated what it could do, so it wasn't a priority. Someone who drops even a few shots at the Lambda would close that down quickly.

I tried Rebel Captive on it, and wasn't impressed. The problem is that the shuttle just isn't a high-priority target. You don't take a shuttle out of the fight by killing it early - you take it out of the fight by getting past it and laughing while it tries to turn back into you. If you're actively using Yorr he'll quickly max himself on stress, which will just make it even harder to get back in the fight, and if you want to rope your fighters to Jendon's range 1, by all means, do it. There's just no compelling reason to shoot at a shuttle until late, and at that point I can happily take the stress and do my 1 moves to clear it as you lumber about.