I'm starting to change my opinion on the shuttle. The problem with interceptors is their low hull. A shuttle gives the enemy 10 more hull to chew through. With gunner on the shuttle it can't be ignored.

I ignore it all day. When it turns around, it discovers it doen't have any friends left. Then it gets a hurtin' from behind.

what shuttle squad did u face? do u remember the upgrades they used? support ships?

I faced a shuttle on Saturday. He had HLC, shield upgrade, gunner, and rebel captive. He chose the shuttle which gives out TLs but I drew the escort away from the benefitting range.

I flew past him quickly to engage his escort. Since he didn't have engine upgrade, it took him a while to turn around. By the time the shuttle was able to commit to the battle, only one named interceptor was left. His other named interceptor and ties were gone.

In the right hands, the shuttle can be good. In the wrong hands, my mouth waters. My oponent was playing his fifth game, so he was kind-of new. He had never used a shuttle before.

I'm starting to change my opinion on the shuttle. The problem with interceptors is their low hull. A shuttle gives the enemy 10 more hull to chew through. With gunner on the shuttle it can't be ignored.

I ignore it all day. When it turns around, it discovers it doen't have any friends left. Then it gets a hurtin' from behind.

what shuttle squad did u face? do u remember the upgrades they used? support ships?

I faced a shuttle on Saturday. He had HLC, shield upgrade, gunner, and rebel captive. He chose the shuttle which gives out TLs but I drew the escort away from the benefitting range.

I flew past him quickly to engage his escort. Since he didn't have engine upgrade, it took him a while to turn around. By the time the shuttle was able to commit to the battle, only one named interceptor was left. His other named interceptor and ties were gone.

In the right hands, the shuttle can be good. In the wrong hands, my mouth waters. My oponent was playing his fifth game, so he was kind-of new. He had never used a shuttle before.

• ok. his shuttle is poorly upgraded for sure. not having Engine Upgrade is a mistake - perhaps if he had Vader crew and was using it as a sacrificial lamb it is less needed but on a gunship - no boost = suicide.
• Sometimes ive seen Vader crew + Gunner on the same shuttle - which i disagree with because those 5pts are going to blow up in a fiery ball so id rather have them somewhere else and just let the shuttle soak up damage and use vader at every opportunity to inflict an extra damage.
• Also HLC is inferior to Gunner+Fire Control System on the shuttle imo - HLC is a waste of points and an experiment that has been tried and failed before leading people to think it is the shuttle that is bad - it isnt - far from it.
• the first time i flew a shuttle i had success with it - i actually flew two shuttles in the same squad and crushed my rebel opponent. We played 120pts. I flew...

Omicron Pilot + Fire Control System + Gunner + Engine Upgrade

Omicron Pilot + Vader (Crew)

Howlrunner + swarm tactics

3x Academy Pilot

go to this link for the full battle report. http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/96731-double-shuttle-squad-for-the-win/

imho the shuttle is best used as a hit and run ship - thats where boost really helps u.

with a shuttle without boost u r essentially a flying a dead duck - even if u dont know it yet.

Yeah, that's too many points to sink into the shuttle without engine upgrade. HLC and Gunner don't work well together (the second attack is a primary weapon attack and the first is likely to hit for one damage on most craft). Shield upgrade is largely wasted points because it prevents engine upgrade so you can't deal with flankers. Rebel Captive is awesome. Colonel Jendon (the TL guy) is alright, but inferior both to Yorr (stress sink) and Kagi (Enemies must target lock Kagi if able), but needs either ST-321 or Weapons Engineer to be effective (or both!).

I'm starting to change my opinion on the shuttle. The problem with interceptors is their low hull. A shuttle gives the enemy 10 more hull to chew through. With gunner on the shuttle it can't be ignored.

I ignore it all day. When it turns around, it discovers it doen't have any friends left. Then it gets a hurtin' from behind.

Sure, you can ignore it, but its going to do some damage. In my experience a shuttle can get at least two rounds of shooting before the enemy can maneuver behind. Odds are some hits will be scored with gunner. Lambda/Gunner shooting is superior to interceptors.

I see the shuttle as a cheap way to boost hit points. Four interceptors have 12 hit points. This is their Achilles Heel. Three interceptors and a shuttle have 19 hit points, 5 of which are shields.

If you can find a way to encourage the enemy to shoot the shuttle it takes some heat off the interceptors. For instance, if the interceptors are range 3 and the shuttle is range 2 one might be tempted to shoot the shuttle. Also you can try to move your interceptors in such a way as to draw the enemy back into the frontal arc of the lambda.

This next comment will likely draw some debate but imho the shuttle is only good in the hands of a good player and is not for beginners. Its strengths outweigh its weaknesses in the hands of a player who understands how to fly it.

Also you can try to move your interceptors in such a way as to draw the enemy back into the frontal arc of the lambda.

You mean get your opponent to unknowingly fly into the path ur shuttle! Onebit - Thats a fearless and inventive tactic (see my sig) and is an example of how a good player can fly the shuttle to minimize its poor movement dial.

It is not for the new, but beware the newbie who cuts his teeth in the shuttle when he is no longer new.

The use of escorts to draw away ships and keep them in your shuttles front arc is a good call. As I've seen the more experienced people get flying against it the harder it is to get the best out of them.

With the right set up they'll still do damage, however once the hard counters start coming out they'll drop your shuttles fast. As well once they get zeroed in on your weakness and your moves become predictable, which isn't hard, it is going to hurt.

Arrogance is the key in the use of escort ships to draw them away, my opponents have started to do this, but with proper back up, your shuttles will be shooting all game long and suffer few hits in return, even if their escorts end up pretty dinged up. Just remember if they do this move your escort craft to avoid fire arcs and err on the side of defense so the shuttles can be the offense. As they may not turn very well but they can stay in once place and move slowly better then any other.

I've found 2v2 games with someone on the same page as you really benefit from shuttle support as they end up like controllable artillery, especially with yorr as at any time you can stall and bunker up, then move when you need to while they chase your support around the board. If they target the shuttles right off, that's great just be sure your escort is hitting the line when you are and just stay drawing fire as long as possible, you may not even lose a shuttle if they focus on you as its a lot of shooting to take down even one shuttle unless they are rolling thunder.

I do worry that the builds are somewhat limited if effective and thus after a time it will make even the most expert shuttle user a bit predictable.

I will say as well deplying my shuttles sideways does wonders for letting me drag out a fight and lets me engage at my best, and even now and then lure more nimble ships into asteroids as they try and get the good shot on those boosting shuttles.

here is an interesting squad iv been tweeking...

100pts

PS 4. Capt Yorr + Gunner + Engine Upgrade + Rebel Captive (38pts)

PS 2. Omicron Group Pilot + Vader (24pts)

PS 3. Bounty Hunter + Gunner (38pts)

As A.Angel suggested, i think deploying sideways is probably the best setup as it will buy you some time before your approach. I am not 100% sure how id place this squad, i think something like...

Setup: (spacing variable due to asteroids placement)

[ <BH <CY <OGP ]

my plan would be to get into this formation at the first exchange (med-long range shots):

^ ^

BH CY

^

OGP

Next movement (after first exchange): Omicron stalls (passing stress to Yorr), Yorr moves 1 green fwd (straight or bank depending on opponents ship placement), Bounty Hunter moves into flanking support:

^

CY

BH>

OGP