Hi there. I wanted to put together a thread where we discuss all of the hidden aspects of the game, and rediscover what makes each ship shine.

To start with, and possibly provide a template for others to drop their own ship analyses, I thought I'd tackle what some think is the worst ship in the game:

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The Lambda Class Shuttle

Strengths

• The LCS has 5 Hull and 5 Shields, which is on par for large-base ships.
• The LCS has superb upgrade slots: System, Cannon, Crew x2, Modifications, and one of the most potent Titles in the game.
• The LCS's named pilots have potent enough abilities that people still run the ship, even with its flaws.
• It's wheel has a 0 Stop maneuver, which means that A) i t is the easiest ship in the game to run into, and B) it has a very easy time at getting an offensive Range 3.
• It has 3 attack dice: never something to sneeze at.
• It is amazingly cheap, coming in at only 21 points! This also makes it the cheapest Cannon Slot in the game, behind the B-Wing's 22 and the Firespray's 33.
• It is an Imperial Ship
• Smart Foes tend to ignore it

Weaknesses

• The LCS is the only large-base ship without an enlarged primary firing arc of some sort.
• The LCS is one of only two ships in the game without a Koiogran Turn of any sort.
• The LCS only has 1 evasive die.
• The LCS has the highest percentage of Red Maneuvers to Total Maneuvers ratio in the game (5:11 if Left and Right are separate, 3:8 if they aren't. Contrast to the Y-Wing's 4:15 / 3:10 or the HWK's 1:4 / 1:4)
• No LCS pilot may take Elite Pilot Talents.
• Very few actions (only Target Lock + Focus)

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Analysis

There are two basic tactics for upgrading the Lambda Class Shuttle: plugging its weaknesses, or appealing to its strengths. I have seen few attempt to do both in one build.

To plug its strongest weakness (the brick-like maneuverability) , I grab Advanced Sensors [3 points] and an Engine Upgrade [4, or 7 points total], for the ability to boost prior to a red 2 turn or 3 bank: the only possible way for the ship to do a 2 turn about-face.

The Advanced Sensors [3 points] also plug the hole on the Red Maneuver ratio, as being able to take an action prior to performing a Red takes quite a lot of the sting out of becoming stressed.

I can also plug the "Firing Arc" hole by equipping Saboteur. A Range 1 360* not-actually-an-attack finisher can be very effective on a ship that's A) so every good at causing collisions and getting other ships into its Range 1, and B) so very action-starved.

To bring another ship down to my maneuverability level, I will occasionally run an Ion Cannon [3 points]. This is the cheapest ship that can Ionize in the Empire lists, which is a much better tactic than when used against the faction that only has 1 large-base ship [Rebel Scum!!!!]. Moreover, it's being played in the fleet that can drop Bombs for massive damage.

To play to its strengths , I'll give it a Heavy Laser Cannon [7], for a consistent 4 dice of damage, or Ion Cannon [3], for reasons already discussed. As secondary weapons, both of them excel at Range 3, as they don't give the bonus defensive die, plugging the Evasion Dice weakness. A Red Stop on the turn in which you expect combat to start, or the turn immediately after, will greatly improve your Range 3 odds.

As far as Co-Pilots, you can go for 2x Mercenary CoPilots, to turn two of your Range 3 HLC dice back to Crits, AFTER the HLC got rid of the crits in the first place. You can also go for Saboteur, as you can keep folks in Range 1 for a surprising amount of time with your Stop, or Darth Vader, because you're a cheap, low priority ship. If you go with the ST-321 title, and CERTAINLY if you go with Col. Jendon, the Weapons Engineer is king.

Considering that the Shuttle can force a collision more easily than any other ship in the game, Anti-Pursuit Lasers are amazing on the Shuttle, particularly if its running an Ion Cannon or a Saboteur.

The Synergy between the Shuttle and these newfangled Bombers is also astonishing. Its cheap price means I can fit 2 HLCs in a fleet alongside Captain Jonus, for massive amounts of damage. If its wearing an Ion Cannon, then the bombers can drop superbly placed bombs. If your bombers drop Proton Bombs, then the Saboteur comes into play much earlier than expected, as the damage-card stays on the victim's ship after the crit gets resolved.

The fact that your opponent will likely target the Shuttle last means you can play very defensively with your other pilots to stymie their offense. No real upgrades needed here, but it's certainly something to consider.

The Named Pilots get a little froggy.

Captain Yorr should by no means equip the Advanced Sensors, which are otherwise arguably the best System in the game. The other two systems are both good ways to add utility to him, offensively and defensively respectively. At 24 points, he's definitely better than 2 Academy Pilots for the sheer amounts of effectiveness he delivers to the rest of your fleet. He's also a good candidate for Darth Vader, as he's not a ship you particularly mind losing. Pair with a middling amount of hyper-mobile ships for best results, so he can possibly absorb a full-team Koiogran.

Col. Jendon is more of a Lord of the Target Locks than even "Dutch" Vander, as he can pass TLs to ships that do not have the action! As such, giving him ST-321 to get the ball rolling as quickly as possible, and a Weapons Engineer to get more bang for your Target Locking buck, are both practically required on him. If you use a Fire-Control System, you even get the two target locks for free every time you shoot at something, regardless of your current stress levels! Pair with a Semi-Swarm for best results.

Capt. Kagi is an interesting bird. He's a low priority ship that practically forces others to prioritize him in the attacks. Only give him defensive upgrades, including the Rebel Captive, to prevent offensive Target Locks for the first several rounds of the game. Pair with High-Damage ships that your opponents would prefer to target for best results.

Playing Against It

The shuttle is terrified of being flanked. Even at its most mobile, it has the maneuverability of a slightly-cooked goose. Get behind it, or beside it, and chase it down. Even a turretless HWK-290 can beat it, if the HWK in question follows this strategy. However, the Shuttle is rarely going to be your biggest threat, so it's rarely going to be your best target. They usually come with friends that deal lots of damage, so read the field carefully and correctly. Also, try not to run into it. Where it currently sits may yet be where it will sit tomorrow, so keep this in mind!

Wow great analasys. Very in depth.

Let me give is a try

TIE Bomber

Strengths:

6 Hull - though it does not have any shields it still can take more hits than an X-wing. I feel more confident upgrading it with missiles/torpedoes/bombs since I know there is litte chance that it will be killed first turn.

Cheap - starting at 16 points it is tied for the 2nd cheapest ship in the game. And unlike a naked HWK-290 a naked TIE Bomber is still a pretty effective craft.

Tons of Upgrades - Most of these are of course weapon systems. We'll talk more about these latter.

Target Lock - Having two attack dice and a target lock is sooooo much better than two attack dice. As your number of dice increases, focuses become more and more useful, but at 2 dice a focus action doesn't boost offesive power that much.

Weakness:

2 defense dice, and no evade action - this is the lowest for any Imperial Fighter. What this means is that though it takes a while to kill you (6 hull) your opponent can get it done pretty consistently if you just throws enough fire at you.

Less Maneuverable - This is really on in comparison to other Imperial Fighters. Compared to other bomber/attack craft like the Y-wing and the B-wing the TIE Bomber is actually quite nimble.

Tons of Upgrades - Yes I know this is an advantage, but with two slot for missiles, two for torpedoes and one for bombs that nice cheap bomber can get really expensive really fast.

Named Pilots -

Captain Jonus - he is like s super Howelrunner but for secondary weapons. He actually makes concussion missile better (IMO) than homing missiles. He is who I use when I want to field three Bombers (I only own three). His biggest dissadvantage is that his ability does not work on himself. To take advantage of it you want as many secondary weapons close to him as you can. I usuually don't load him up that much. Usually a missile and/or a bomb. I also like giving him squad leader. Since he isn't the one who will actually be doing the shooting he can give one of his actions to a neighbor. The other two ships are more heavily loaded. I like Assult missiles and Cluster Missiles. Cluster missiles are GREAT with Jonus, you get up to 4 re-rolls. I like to fill the rest of the squadron with as many other ships (Usually TIEs) to act as support.

Major Rymer - I like to use him a the lone bomber. Give him PTL, Advanced Torpedoes, and probably then either cluser/assault/homing missiles. His high pilot skill makes me want to give him a bomb too, but he usually is soo expensive already, I usually forgo the bomb. Since he is such an investment already I also like to give him a shield upgrade. Rymer works will in a smaller squadron with other elite Pilots. Make your oponant choose between him or Soonter Fell as the biggest threat.

When I build any squadron with TIE Bombers in it I like to plan out the first two turns of shooting as I build the squad. With 6 Hull points you will likely last that long before one of your bombers dies. If I want to get all my missiles/torpedoes fired off before the nasty dogfighting starts in ernest. Once that happens, I am okay with my TIE Bombers acting like, tougher, easier to hit, TIEs