Howl is always worth bringing as a huge damage booster for a swarm. I also like 8 academy, though I think 7 with Howl should always be superior. I have a list called black death, which involves 2 interceptors and 4 academies. They ties screen and block. And tie interceptors blow stuff up. I am not a fan of alphas, as it is hard to use your maneuverability well with such a low PS. I just cannot see the value in that. I have traditionally run 2 sabers with VI but I need to revisit that now that access are out. To me ñ there is no point in running an interceptor with a PS of less than 6

I've been having a lot of success recently with:

Buzzsaw Shuttle

Howlrunner + swarm tactics

4 x Academy TIEs

I won my local store championship with a 6 Toe swarm, all 6 named pilots with stealth device on Howlrunner. I like this list because it functions after Howlrunner dies. Most people laser focus on her and ignor Backstabber, mauler and dark, who all will ruin your day.

After dozens of battles and several tournaments:

• I have never lost against a Rebel squad with 8x Academy Pilot (my top sixteen placement at Worlds was as much about lucking out with Rebel opponents in round 1-3 and 5 of qualifying as it was anything else)
• I have never won against an Imperial squad with 8x Academy Pilot (Howlrunner supported squads consistently tear me to shreds)
• I am about 50/50 when I have Howlrunner in my squad (I have not noticed this swinging dramatically depending on what upgrades I place on her to protect her)

I am not sure if this is similar to what others experience or just my own experience, but it makes a certain amount of sense since a TIE swarm is rolling two dice a lot of the time, and Rebels tend to roll a lot less green dice in response. 2v1 punches holes in ships a lot faster than 2v3, but with Howlrunner around you at least have decent odds of those two dice ending up hits a lot more of the time.

So as fun as 8x Academy is, I fly Howlrunner in almost every competitive situation if I've got enough other ships around to make her worth it (min 3 but 4-6 is more the range I look for)

My preferred Swarm is

Named Tie Swarm

Howl + PTL + stealth

Backstabber + stealth

Nightbeast

Dark Curse

2xAP

That will soon change to:

Black Tie Swarm

Howl +elusiveness+ stealth

Backstabber

Nightbeast

Black Squad + wingman

Black Squad + oppertunist

AP

even without howlrunner, the cheap redundancy that academy ties offer is very powerful. at close range they can really dish out a lot of damage - rerolls or not.

tie-bombers add an interesting variant for tie-swarms, even wout ordinance they r good.

this squad was posted on another thread...

howlrunner + swarm tactics

2x scimitar squadron + proton bombs

3x academy tie

im starting to look at proton bombs in a squad now. trick is to get them on a decent PS pilot so u can see where there low PS ships are. i think a large ship such as the shuttle with intel agent could be used to spy on their high PS ships dial to make placement of bombs/mines more effective.

I wonder if this thread could be woken up again, with the advent of the fat han fat chewwie and the inevitable fat deci and fat dash list to come, how could the swarm list be revamped or tweaked to counter?

A 6 ship semi elite swarm interests me a lot......

I'd also like the latest on Swarm tactics. I've recently become the proud owner of four more TIEs, giving a total of 9, rather than just 5.

Is the Swarm a shark list (doesn't die; doesn't evolve), or are there nuances in build and tactics that make it more survivable in the current meta?

if not mentioned for 8 tie fighter lsit u can build these two

dark curse + 7 academy

or

Backstabber + 7 academy 100 points total for both squads

i like to fly 6 tie swarm myself and have that kind of obsidian squadron, black squadron sheme going and so on

for example Mauler with dark curse, backstabber and 3 black squadrons with veteran instincts ;P the ps ranges from ps 7 to ps 6

one nice solid squad ^^

I think the 6 list is a good way forward. Gives a lot of the redundancy but perhaps a little less of the unwieldily element of 8. I havent flow 8 though. From videos it seems as though they can trip over each other too easily.

The column makes the 6 seem as though it would hit hard on a first fly past. All guns pointing the same way etc........

Focus on max offence or defence? I think offence will always trump defence because the dice is better...

I suppose it's technically a TIE swarm but it doesn't feel right referring to anything that isn't a pack of hex TIEs as a TIE swarm...

Jonus

Bombers

Howl

This is my build.

What about some of the tactics? With Howl, it's good to keep her in range of as many TIEs as possible, so they all get the reroll, but what about separating them out?

Also, what about jousting jaws: Flying the first flight (of 3-4) out front, with the second flight going slower, and then once the first flight has flown past the enemy, K-turning them, to catch them between the first flight and the second flight.

(pretty large pic incoming)

Behold the awesome beauty of massiveTie swarms!

my favourite is:

Howlrunner, Stealth

Dark Curse/Backstabber (your choice)

Black Squadron, Draw Their Fire

4x Academy Tie

it is very good because the block of 6 packs a massive punch and can joust pretty much anything, while DC or BS sneak round the flank for cheap hits. also, with Stealth and DTF in there, howl almost always survives the opening salvo.

i think i've gone something like 12-2 with it at various events/casual games.

(pretty large pic incoming)

Behold the awesome beauty of giant Tie swarms!

[iMAGE]

There's a lot more than the allowed 12 small ships of a single type on that board... I like it!

My new favorite is Howlrunner + Swarm Tactics and 5 Scimitars. Much harder to ace a TIE before it fires

(pretty large pic incoming)

Behold the awesome beauty of giant Tie swarms!

[iMAGE]

There's a lot more than the allowed 12 small ships of a single type on that board... I like it!

My new favorite is Howlrunner + Swarm Tactics and 5 Scimitars. Much harder to ace a TIE before it fires

We agreed beforehand to ignore the limitation of Tie Fighters and allow as many as we physically had; 24 between the four (players) of us.

The Imperials had little else. 4 Bombers, Krassis in a Firespray and Whisper.(Phantom)

The Rebels had a modestly kitted Transport, 8x Z95, 6x A-wing (including Jake & Tycho), 3 X-wings (incl. Biggs), Dutch in his Y-wing, 3x B-wings: Nera Dantels, Keyan Farlander and some poor schmuck blue. And finally Roark in a HWK to round off the squad.

All things added there were 600 points per side and the game took about 7 hours...

No post is fun without pretty pics so...

Jake Farrel diving in behind the remainder of the Tie Bombers who, damaged as they were by a wave of 4 prototype A-wings trying to save the Transport, started their suicidal bombing run on the "Dutyfree"

Awesome pic (IMO) Really cinematic.

I've had good success, locally, with Black Squadron Pilot's spamming Predator, but then again I went 2-3 at Nationals, so yeah.

It's easy to fly because of the like PS, but since you only have 6 (fragile) ships, once they start falling you crash fast.

I've moved away from Swarms for a bit, but when I inevitably return I'd like to try 4 Academies and 4 Obsidians.

I can not believe this has not been said yet, but thanks to Predator, the Obsidian Swarm is really popular right now:

Howlrunner - 18

Backstabber - 16
Obsidian Squadron Pilot - 13 X5

99 Points

What do you think?

98 Points

The great 8 and the techy 7 tie swarms are probably still "The Best". The High PS 6 tie swarm was good when everyone was running at ps 4 but not so much anymore.

Howlrunner

Mauler

Backstabber

Alphax2

Academy

Also hits **** hard, but again, not really viable in this meta.

Or

Howl + swarm

Mauler + swarm

Alpha x2

Academy x2

I got into the game right before wave 4 and just started playing tie swarm after Doug Kinneys wonderful article on the drunken shark approach. The version I've run through 4 games has been

Howl with determination 19

Backstabber 16

Black squadron with draw thier fire 15

Obsidian 13

Obsidian 13

Academy 12

Academy 12

Dougs article has swarm tactics on howl instead of determination and drops one of the obsidians down to an academy, but I have trouble investing in ps8 in my meta, everyone who wants a Ps advantage goes all in at 9+

There are a lot of swarms, and all have strengths and weaknesses.

Howl + Stealth (to deter attacking her)

6 Obsidian (avoid predator)

Nice simple swarm. Run formations and attack in mass.

Howl+stealth

Nightbeast

Gundark

Backstabber

Darkcurse

Mauler

1 less ship, but a lot more power and a better spread of pilot skill. Less dependant on the formation as each has it's own specialty. Still want to keep them fairly close for Howl's ability though.

Yes, I know hull is mathmatically superior to stealth, but hull points don't deter attacks, where the stealth may make the enemy attempt to target someone else.

The 4 academy, 4 obsidian used to be pretty effective, but with predator around, I'd be a little careful with those academy pilots.

The best is the most flexible by far:

4x academy pilots

4x obsidian pilots

Most howlrunner swarms are easy to exploit once you are better at the game.

Lately I have been running

Howlrunner

Backstabber

Black with draw their fire

X3 Obsidian

AP

It has the guns to burn down a fat falcon, and a better PS over a Rebel or AP swarm. Phantoms are tricky, but when you learn to fly the swarm differently, phantoms can be handled. My evolution of the shark articles are on Team Covenant. Give them a look to see the steps I am taking to counter phantoms and other builds. Its all in how you fly it.