I'd like Luke to be targeted first when playing against an imperial swarm as it seems the only way I can beat that list is with his ability dodging a couple rounds of attacks while 3X try to kill as much as posible as fast as posible.

I've tried quite a few 4 ships builds and if I stick R2-D2 or PTL+R2F3 on him he is ignored until late of the game. If I pair him with Bs the swarm focus fires on the 1AGI ship (and take it down in a turn).

So, what squad would you recommend taking into account I'd like not only him to be targeted first but to win the game ?

What about any of these?

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100 points

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3 Rookies+Stealth

Luke

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3 Rookies

Luke +PTL + APT

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TIA

Who wants to shoot at Luke first when he isn't as threatening as a softer target?

That last build with the Advance Proton Torpedo could draw some fire but once its gone Luke again because the target that's a pain to hit for little reward.

What you may want to do is put Draw Their Fire on Luke along with giving him R2-D2 so he could take the criticals at least. That and 3 Rookies leaves you with four points to spend on other things or use alternative ships/pilots.

I think you're asking the wrong question here. Any plan that hinges on the enemy doing what you want him to do is doomed. You need to ask yourself why you want to force the enemy do shoot Luke first and then see if your goal can be achieved through other means.

If you're fighting a swarm and it keeps killing you, consider different tactics. Take new ships that prey upon your enemy's weakness, such as B-Wings with Sensor Jammers. A swarm can be defeated, but you can't force the swarm to act against it's own interest and do the work for you.

Something like this could work to make Luke the main-target...

100 Pts.

Luke Skywalker + R2-D2 + Draw Their Fire + Shield Upgrade (37)
Rookie Pilot (21)
Rookie Pilot (21)
Rookie Pilot (21)

I'd dump Luke and go with Biggs+R2-F2+Stealth Device. Give him torpedoes if you want, but this will ensure they fire on the X-wing you want.

Really though, I'd just as soon leave it the way it is and have you change tactics. You need to be very flexible when fighting with a squad of similar ships, so you can adapt to the destruction of one or the other.

Millennium Falsehood brings up the real answer although it may be hard to accept.

You want the enemy fighters to shoot at Luke because he has a slight edge when rolling his defense. This is PRECISELY the reason that your opponent does NOT shoot at Luke and instead save him for last. What you're asking them to do is essentially the same as asking them NOT to Shoot at Wedge because his offense is better than normal.

If you want to force attacks you're going to need to use Biggs as the lightning rod. He doesn't defend as well as Luke but he sure does a better job drawing fire.

Incidentally, you could use that Luke + R2D2 + DTF with a couple Rookies and then upgrade the last Rookie to Biggs if desired. It may not let you take any more hits when compared to giving Luke a shield upgrade but does make sure you know who's getting shot at.

I had a game with the first list. It went well as Luke was resilent and Rookies killed Howl yet at the end was Soontir+PTL with one hull left against 2 heavily damaged Rookies...lost,again. In order to make Luke the 'better' target he only took TL whle rookies went with focus, that did the trick...

I've been toying with sensor jammers on Bwings but that means 3 ships squad. btw, how am I supposed to kill Soontir with focus&evade ? focus fire seems like the obvious thing to do but I'm supposed to kill Howl+stealth first,right?

It's damm hard playing rebels ...

I hear you polmoneys: unless I'm playing Han Shoots First then I'm usually having a hell of a time winning with a rebel squad. If you're really having a problem with more irritating TIE units like Soontir and Howlrunner I suggest Homing Missles and Autoblaster.

Anyway, if you're really fixated on using Luke that's fine, but I suggest swapping an A or Y-Wing into the mix for their slightly more hardy nature: A-Wings are typically ignored unless they are within range 1 or target locked with a secondary weapon in mind. Y-Wings can also really annoy your enemies if they have R5-D8 equipped when they've lost their shields. In any case, Luke with R2-D2, Sheild Upgrade and DTF are your friends for this plan of yours.

I'm confident it's almost imposible (unless some nifty blocking trick) to stay at range 1 of Soontir so Autoblaster feels wrong. Green+PTL+HM might be the answer! maybe paired with B+HLC?

DTF+R2-D2 relies on crits and in my experience they don't come up often.

Thanks 4the inputs, keep u posted on my struggle against imperials

If you want something hard to hit for them to focus on take an A-wing with assault missiles. I know I'll try and kill any ship packing those when I'm flying a swarm.

If you want them to focus Luke, make Luke the biggest threat.

This is doable in a few ways:

1. Have Luke deal massive amounts of consistent damage. PTL and Marksmanship are useful for this.
2. Have Luke be a massive team-player, directly improving the rest of your fleet. Squad Leader, Swarm Tactics, Draw Their Fire + R2-D2, et c. are all ways to do it.

Or you could go with the following

Luke + Stealth Device + Adrenaline rush - 32points
Prototype Pilot X4 68 - points

Or you could go with the following

Luke + Stealth Device + Adrenaline rush - 32points

Prototype Pilot X4 68 - points

This makes Luke deal the most damage in your fleet, so it's my option 1.

This makes Luke deal the most damage in your fleet, so it's my option 1.

And people certainly do go after luke first in this build - It pulls out more wins than it should - Luke is a deceptively difficult target when coupled with stealth device and paired with lower attack ships. (that free focus conversion helps a lot)

This list fares a bit better against tie swarms than it does against Interceptors (the 3 attack helps cut through the stealth device faster than the 2 attack of the ties - but firesprays tend not to do as well, because The A-wings and luke are pretty good at cutting a firespray down. I've had more wins with this list than I expected to, as ignoring 4 a-wings to cut luke down gives the a-wings enough time to reduce the enemy numbers usually. You do have to be pretty good at flying and choosing actions with the P.S. 1 of the a-wings.

Yeah, but is there really the option to not go after Luke first? When he's got R2D2 he can soak up an incredible amount of fire. I've had some close wins and devastating losses against a super-Luke after having taken out everything else on the board. I'd rather just get rid of him early so I at least have a fixed number of hp to go after.

Yeah, but is there really the option to not go after Luke first? When he's got R2D2 he can soak up an incredible amount of fire. I've had some close wins and devastating losses against a super-Luke after having taken out everything else on the board. I'd rather just get rid of him early so I at least have a fixed number of hp to go after.

I'd rather him soak up damage when there aren't any other ships peppering me, thank you very much. If he takes twice as many shots to take down, and deals the same amount of damage as a single other x-wing, you may as well take down the other 2 x-wings to remove twice the firepower that's hitting YOUR ships.