Imperial Aces update

By Patriarch, in X-Wing

IMHO, the "Lorrir/Cowall vs. PTL Saber" is misplaced, because the real strength of the PTL Interceptor is not the tokens, it's the maneuverability. One extra evade token doesn't do as much to save you as not getting shot in the first place. When I see Fel single-handedly win games (which he's done multiple times) it's more about the maneuver options that the boost+barrel roll gives, not about the stack of tokens. Cowall also presents choices that aren't dependent on action use, which is a big difference. Lorrir allows moves that flat-out can't be matched by a boost+barrel roll, and does so without needing the jump-off spot between the two actions.

So the new 181st pilots get serious maneuver options at better PS for comparable or cheaper cost. They'll still have the same vulnerability as other Interceptors - fragile if the dice go bad, and turrets laugh at your maneuverability - but for players who can make them dance, they're going to be awesome.

IMHO, the "Lorrir/Cowall vs. PTL Saber" is misplaced, because the real strength of the PTL Interceptor is not the tokens, it's the maneuverability. One extra evade token doesn't do as much to save you as not getting shot in the first place. When I see Fel single-handedly win games (which he's done multiple times) it's more about the maneuver options that the boost+barrel roll gives, not about the stack of tokens. Cowall also presents choices that aren't dependent on action use, which is a big difference. Lorrir allows moves that flat-out can't be matched by a boost+barrel roll, and does so without needing the jump-off spot between the two actions.

So the new 181st pilots get serious maneuver options at better PS for comparable or cheaper cost. They'll still have the same vulnerability as other Interceptors - fragile if the dice go bad, and turrets laugh at your maneuverability - but for players who can make them dance, they're going to be awesome.

THIS... this is what I've been trying to say.. lol.. thanks.

Major really doesn't want anyone to use these guys ;) Anyway, over/under cost doesn't really matter to a lot of people. not everyone plays to win all the time. For a lot of people it's about the fun, and these pilots will be fun to fly I'm sure of it. Can't wait.

The game is better, even for casual play, if it's balanced. I have had the game since December 2012 and have only ever played games at my house, so I fall more into the "casual play" category than "tournament play therefore must win" category. I'm obviously going to try out all of these new pilots myself too, regardless of how much they cost.

I also happen to analyze the game quite a bit, particularly the statistical aspects. But that's not mutually exclusive with playing for fun. If anything, it makes playing casually even more fun, because you can be more assured that you can randomly pick up any set of ships and they'll be at least semi-competitive.

Competitive level play is another story entirely, and that's what I was referring to.

Edit: being glass cannons, there will be a much larger standard deviation of results when using Interceptors, so there will always be stories about how Fel killed 4 rebel ships by himself, and then the next game he got one-shot at range 3 through a rock with stealth, evade, and focus by a rookie X-wing.

Edited by MajorJuggler

I get the feeling that for both of the 181st milage will vary. Some people I think will be able to use their special abilities for really good effect. Others will be far more comfortable running PtL with Sabers. I'm not sure either is actually the better choice.

Major really doesn't want anyone to use these guys ;) Anyway, over/under cost doesn't really matter to a lot of people. not everyone plays to win all the time. For a lot of people it's about the fun, and these pilots will be fun to fly I'm sure of it. Can't wait.

The game is better, even for casual play, if it's balanced. I have had the game since December 2012 and have only ever played games at my house, so I fall more into the "casual play" category than "tournament play therefore must win" category. I'm obviously going to try out all of these new pilots myself too, regardless of how much they cost.

I also happen to analyze the game quite a bit, particularly the statistical aspects. But that's not mutually exclusive with playing for fun. If anything, it makes playing casually even more fun, because you can be more assured that you can randomly pick up any set of ships and they'll be at least semi-competitive.

Competitive level play is another story entirely, and that's what I was referring to.

Edit: being glass cannons, there will be a much larger standard deviation of results when using Interceptors, so there will always be stories about how Fel killed 4 rebel ships by himself, and then the next game he got one-shot at range 3 through a rock with stealth, evade, and focus by a rookie X-wing.

4 x Royal Guard Pilot + Push the Limit

-> Due to PS6 you can even better decide what to do with your 2 actions (compared to Sabers)


4 x Saber + Opportunist

-> Very glassy - but very dangerous as well


Taking Interceptors for competitive play is a high risk nevertheless. People tend to build more solid lists for a reason.

When using Interceptors you have to take the time to gain advantage of your high mobility. This also includes to break from furball before it gets too hot and seeking for new opportunities - A luxury you can't afford on tourneys because of the time limit.


Now this is where the new abilities might come in handy. 3 of the 4 new unique pilots come with furball abilities.

Cowalls ability is useful - no doubts about this. And he is priced just right.

Lorrir's is harder to guess, even if he had an EPT - using his ability costs an action and a stress token.

Jax is a quetion mark, too. While his ability sounds pretty decent, I predict that he's gonna be the first victim in most fights.


So maybe the Interceptor will see more action in competitive play. At least with Cowall.

for sure, was just poking some fun.

:)

Warning, long post ahead!

I have actually been thinking very hard on how to use Interceptors effectively, I would love to find a way to use them as a competitive squad. I have thought for a while now that perhaps they are simply overcosted by a point, and that they would be more competitive if there was a 1 point reduction across the board for all Interceptors. I actually mentioned this in another post recently. But I hadn't yet done the math to see how much more damage a TIE Interceptor will do compared to a TIE Fighter.

I just did the math. Using my MATLAB scripts, I ran some nested loops to compare all possible combinations of:

  • Defense dice (1-3)
  • Defense Focus (0-1)
  • range 1-3
  • Attacker focus (0-1)

For each case it calculates the average expected damage of the TIE Fighter, and also the TIE Interceptor. If we weight every possible scenario equally (a good first pass approximation), then the average damages are:

TIE Fighter: 0.65

TIE Interceptor: 1.12

The Interceptor does 1.72 times the damage of a TIE Fighter.

If we include Howlrunner, the average damages are:

TIE Fighter: 0.90

TIE Interceptor: 1.49

So, the Interceptor does 1.66 times the damage of a TIE Fighter.

So, the baseline cost of the TIE Interceptor, before we add in extra like maneuverability and boost, should be around:

12*(1.7^)^0.5 = 15.65

If you weight the range 1 and range 2 attacks more heavily, say 3-2-1 for range 1-2-3, then the weighted damages and ratios are:

TIE Fighter (weighted average, no Howlrunner): 0.73

TIE Fighter (weighted average, no Howlrunner): 1.27

Ratio = 1.65. Cost --> 12*1.65^0.5 = 15.42

TIE Fighter (weighted average, w/ Howlrunner): 1.05

TIE Fighter (weighted average, w/ Howlrunner): 1.66

Ratio = 1.59. Cost --> 12*1.59^0.5 = 15.11

In any event, you're left spending about another 2.5 - 3 points for Boost and a better maneuver dial. That's not the end of the world. It's also about equivalent to what the A-wing pays for its maneuverability. Let me rabbit trail here on the A-wing. Baseline cost increase from getting more shields / hull is, if we compare it to a TIE Fighter:

12*(4/3)^0.5 = 13.86

That leaves 3 points for better maneuverability and the target lock / missile slot, which is equivalent to how the Interceptor is costed. So, there's a few conclusions to all this:

  • The argument can be made that both the A-wing and the TIE Interceptor are overcosted by one point, but this is only true if the added maneuverability and the boost action that they get is only worth 1.5 - 2 points, not the 2.5 - 3 points that they are actually spending for it. This might or might not be true given the current state of the meta. I'm personally 50-50 on this one; if we could do half-point adjustments then that would probably be perfect, but that's probably not practical even for house rules.
  • A TIE Interceptor without Howlrunner only does 22% more damage than a TIE Fighter with Howlrunner. This makes pure Interceptors far less attractive than a swarm of TIE Fighters: 12*1.22^0.5 = 13.25, so PS1 Interceptors without Howlrunner are basically only worth 16 points compared to PS1 TIEs with Howlrunner.

Tactical observations:

  • Getting a couple of low PS Interceptors is a terrible way to spend points. Your opponent will simply kill them first, and your point dump just went directly down the drain without even firing.
  • Interceptors don't work as well as TIE Fighters with Howlrunner, since the Interceptors tend to break formation sooner. If not, then you're essentially paying for maneuverability that you're not using.
  • Swarming with 5 Interceptors might be a valid strategy, but you have very limited squad options: 2 PS1, 2 PS3, 1 PS4 w/ PtL, or 5x PS3.
  • Getting 4 Interceptors that are high PS might also be valid, especially with PtL, aka 4x Royal Guards w/ PtL.
  • I don't consider 3 Interceptor builds to be competitive, there's simply not enough hull even with PtL to save you. But they would be crazy fun to play.
  • You could substitute Howlrunner into either 4 or 5 ship Interceptor builds. She costs 18 points, the same as a PS1 Interceptor.

So, the TIE Interceptor seems to be at a disadvantage not necessarily because it's a glass cannon, but because TIE Fighters' synergy with Howlrunner is so good that the Interceptor's increased firepower is less significant. If you weight the range 1 and range 2 attacks more heavily, because in-game they happen more often than range 3, then this effect becomes even more pronounced. This gives a little more ammunition towards reducing the Interceptors points by 1 across the board, for house rules (if you're into that).

I also have some thoughts about the wonkyness of the named Interceptor costs, which seem fairly inconsistent to me. I get that certain abilities are better than others, but they all seem to be pretty consistently good, so I don't think there should be such large differences between them. With the "more ships is better" reality of competitive play, I would prefer to use the following for more (hopefully) balanced house rules:

PS 1 Alpha: 18 points (unchanged)

PS 3 Avenger: 20 points (unchanged)

PS 4 Saber (EPT): 21 points (unchanged)

PS 5 Fel's Wrath (EPT): 22 points (+EPT, -1 point)

PS 5 Lieutenant Lorrir: 22 points (-1 point)

PS 6 Royal Guard (EPT): 22 points (unchanged)

PS 6 Kir Kanos: 23 points (-1 point)

PS 7 Tetran Cowall (EPT): 24 points (unchanged)

PS 7 Turr Phenir (EPT): 24 points (-1 point)

PS 8 Carnor Jax: 25 points (-1 point)

PS 9 Soontir Fel: 26 points (-1 point)

I'm still on the fence about reducing Interceptor costs by 1 across the board for house rules; if so, that would be on top of the above changes. The above list could also potentially use some refinement, but I think it's significantly better than what we've currently got.

Note: I added an EPT to Fel's Wrath (since his ability is pretty terrible) to put him on par with Lorrir, who has a pretty nifty ability but no EPT. I'm also on the fence about adding an EPT to Kir Kanos. Without it, he'll die pretty fast and is the only PS6+ Interceptor that can't take PtL, which, in my opinion, is mandatory to help safeguard that massive point investment for 3 hull. With it, he's a damage monster with PtL for focus + evade.

Edited by MajorJuggler

A 'like' for your efford. Good analysis.

Like your solution approach of the 'more balanced' rules - this would make the unique pilots see more action in competitive play. I would even go for 17 points for the Alphas, because you can't really use boost and barrel roll as a first mover, you'll stick with using focus or evade all the time instead. The Avengers at least move after all the Academies, Rookies, Golds and so on ... so the Avengers actually could use boost and barrel to evade enemy arcs and get into a better attacking position, if the opposing player is going to use low PS ships. But is this worth the 3 points (assuming the Alphas are 17 points each) ... I'd say this is worth 2 points. So I would go with 19 points for the Avengers.

So I think only the Sabers, the Royal Guard and Cowall are good, point-wise. All other pilots are 1 point too much.

And Fel's Wrath of course needed an EPT to be useful. His ability is so useless - people just take him because of fluff reasons in fun battles.

PS 1 Alpha: 18 points (unchanged)

PS 3 Avenger: 20 points (unchanged)

PS 4 Saber (EPT): 21 points (unchanged)

PS 5 Fel's Wrath (EPT): 22 points (+EPT, -1 point)

PS 5 Lieutenant Lorrir: 22 points (-1 point)

PS 6 Royal Guard (EPT): 22 points (unchanged)

PS 6 Kir Kanos: 23 points (-1 point)

PS 7 Tetran Cowall (EPT): 24 points (unchanged)

PS 7 Turr Phenir (EPT): 24 points (-1 point)

PS 8 Carnor Jax: 25 points (-1 point)

PS 9 Soontir Fel: 26 points (-1 point)

I think you are correct on the point cost, with the exception on Turr, his ability is just so incredible abusive versus non swarm lists.

Altough I do not think the PS1 and PS3 A-wings should recieve a point, I am intrigued what you make of the current 2 a-wing characters, my guess they drop by a lot. (20-21 for Arvel and Tycho 23-24?)

I wouldn't change anything about the costs. It's not just a numbers thing, and you've also appeared to ignore the huge impact that agility has on the game. I've seen so many games where powerful 3 attack rebel ships end up firing blanks at TIEs due to inefficent (i.e., not all hit) rolls. The survivability of these ships is much better than you'd expect on account of essentially always being able to wing it through. Conversely, their attack makes absolute mincemeat out the low agility rebel ships in a way that doesn't occur quite so much the other way around.

As for the glass cannon argument, well yes theoretically, an Interceptor could be killed in one go by a rebel ship. But theoretically, an X-wing with a life of just 2 more hitpoints could be killed in one volley from 2 academy pilots. You have to be lucky with X-wings to avoid taking any damage, usually you might just roll 1 evade out of the 2 dice. Not so much with TIEs.

And that's even without accounting for an evade token, which is absolutely amazing when going up against the probable single rebel ship attacking it.

The Interceptor is a very formidable ship, and lowering the costs and potentially allowing for a swarm of these would tip the balance to the Imperials even more than it already is.

I think FFG made a mistake with the TIE hull points in the beginning. They should have all been 2. At least that way the variation between ships would be greater. It's probably why so many feel the advanced isn't so great.

I think FFG made a mistake with the TIE hull points in the beginning. They should have all been 2. At least that way the variation between ships would be greater. It's probably why so many feel the advanced isn't so great.

They tested the TIE Fighter with a 2 hull value and ended with 3 hull for a reason. As well as they tested the X-Wing with an attack value of 4. The TIE Advanced is 2 points too much. This is not a feeling.

The Advanced is not overcosted. It has the same hitpoints as an X-wing and is given the valuable target lock, whilst retaining the high agility of a TIE including it's barrel roll and evade actions. They shouldn't be less than an X-wing.

The Advanced is not overcosted. It has the same hitpoints as an X-wing and is given the valuable target lock, whilst retaining the high agility of a TIE including it's barrel roll and evade actions. They shouldn't be less than an X-wing.

They really are overcosted, they are more closer in gameplay to an A-Wing, 2 Attack / 3 Agility, Carries a Missile, Agile, has Evade and Target Lock.

For 3 additional points they are swapping a Amazing Dial for a Hull and a Boost for a Barrel Roll. Which is a lot to pay for very little benefit. (I'm pretty sure I would rather have both the A-Wings ability to shed stress to the hull, 2 green turn is amazing. And I do feel a boost is very slightly better than a barrel roll).

Edited by Rodent Mastermind

That means the A-wings aren't properly costed - not that the Advanced are under. X-wings should be the baseline comparison, not the A-wing.

You can't take the best elements of TIEs and X-wings, merge them together to create in essence a jumped up X-wing, and then have them cost less than an X-wing. They are then balanced by having their attack nerfed since otherwise you'd have a superior ship to the rebel cost equivalent.

edit - also, considering that FFG have valued an extra hull as 3 pts with the upcoming modification card, I'd say its about right.

Edited by redxavier

That means the A-wings aren't properly costed - not that the Advanced are under. X-wings should be the baseline comparison, not the A-wing.

You can't take the best elements of TIEs and X-wings, merge them together to create in essence a jumped up X-wing, and then have them cost less than an X-wing. They are then balanced by having their attack nerfed since otherwise you'd have a superior ship to the rebel cost equivalent.

edit - also, considering that FFG have valued an extra hull as 3 pts with the upcoming modification card, I'd say its about right.

But they don't take the best elements of the X-Wing, they have 2 Attack and no astromech slot.

You can't compare a 3 Attack / 2 Agility ship with a 2 Attack / 3 Agility ship and say they are the same thing they really aren't.

Then you come to maneuvability. The Advanced isn't more maneuverable than an X-Wing in fact it might even be less maneuverable as it doesn't have a 1 straight. I know I would rather have a 1 straight than a 5 straight.

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Also are you really saying that A-Wings are undercosted and should have their points raised?

Edited by Rodent Mastermind

Id take barrel roll and focus over a DROID which cost extra points, as well as there is more flexibility in missiles than torpedos you can very what you take game to game or to tournament.

It rely comes to a choice the extra red dice or green dice and its a personal choice.

Id say for the most part the balance is right, id never agree to increasing any ships points, or changing interceptors weapons to a hlc as ive seen suggested in other topics. Id listen to an argument to making changes the way the aces have allowing two modifications etc

But changing a wings to cost more seems worthless and futile

But they don't take the best elements of the X-Wing, they have 2 Attack and no astromech slot.

You can't compare a 3 Attack / 2 Agility ship with a 2 Attack / 3 Agility ship and say they are the same thing they really aren't.

Then you come to maneuvability. The Advanced isn't more maneuverable than an X-Wing in fact it might even be less maneuverable as it doesn't have a 1 straight. I know I would rather have a 1 straight than a 5 straight.

Also are you really saying that A-Wings are undercosted and should have their points raised?

An astromech requires an upgrade so shouldn't be included in the assessment.

My point was that they had to reduce the attack of the advanced because otherwise it would have been too obviously superior to the equally costed X-wing. But otherwise, it takes what the X-wing has going for it, its shields, and gives it to the TIE. Also, you're ignoring barrel roll and evade - two actions which are extremely valuable. Barrel roll gives you a lot of options in moving around the board, getting out of firing arcs especially, and evade is a free miss on a ship which rolls 3 dice already.

I'd argue the result is a balanced pairing for the same cost per ship. Right, you can't say that a ship with 1 set of stats vs another is the same, but equally a fully upgraded Wedge isn't the same as 3 TIE fighters.

And no, A-wings are fine. As noted above the 3 pts for the extra hull is correct. Almost everything is more or less balanced, though favourable to the Imperial side. I personally wouldn't have made the TIEs with the same hull points just to eventually lower it for the A-wing. I wouldn't consider A-wings to be more explodey. But that was a decision to balance the ship for the game because every ship needs to have some weakness. I just don't agree that the TIE advanced should be this super TIE that everyone wants it to be. I'm sure you'll get your TIE wetdream with the defender, avenger and whatever.

But they don't take the best elements of the X-Wing, they have 2 Attack and no astromech slot.

You can't compare a 3 Attack / 2 Agility ship with a 2 Attack / 3 Agility ship and say they are the same thing they really aren't.

Then you come to maneuvability. The Advanced isn't more maneuverable than an X-Wing in fact it might even be less maneuverable as it doesn't have a 1 straight. I know I would rather have a 1 straight than a 5 straight.

Also are you really saying that A-Wings are undercosted and should have their points raised?

An astromech requires an upgrade so shouldn't be included in the assessment.

My point was that they had to reduce the attack of the advanced because otherwise it would have been too obviously superior to the equally costed X-wing. But otherwise, it takes what the X-wing has going for it, its shields, and gives it to the TIE. Also, you're ignoring barrel roll and evade - two actions which are extremely valuable. Barrel roll gives you a lot of options in moving around the board, getting out of firing arcs especially, and evade is a free miss on a ship which rolls 3 dice already.

I'd argue the result is a balanced pairing for the same cost per ship. Right, you can't say that a ship with 1 set of stats vs another is the same, but equally a fully upgraded Wedge isn't the same as 3 TIE fighters.

Er we are not suggesting it should be a super tie.. We just think the points should match the model. Advanced are NOT taken in tournaments at all. They are definitely not 3pts better than an A-Wing. And you say an Astromech slot isn't worth much. Changing every 1 and 2 maneuver to green increases a X-Wings maneuverability to almost A-Wing levels for 1pt.

As I said I don't think the Advanced should be a super Tie, but it really is not X-Wing level good. So it either needs a bit of a boost or a point reduction so it actually sees SOME play.

And no, A-wings are fine. As noted above the 3 pts for the extra hull is correct. Almost everything is more or less balanced, though favourable to the Imperial side. I personally wouldn't have made the TIEs with the same hull points just to eventually lower it for the A-wing. I wouldn't consider A-wings to be more explodey. But that was a decision to balance the ship for the game because every ship needs to have some weakness. I just don't agree that the TIE advanced should be this super TIE that everyone wants it to be. I'm sure you'll get your TIE wetdream with the defender, avenger and whatever.

Even if you believe the Hull is worth 3pts, which I don't believe it is when built directly into a ship. You are totally ignoring the fact the A-Wing has a far far better dial. I would argue the dial is worth 1pt and that an extra hull is worth 2pts when built directly into a ship.. that would suggest that the Advanced should be 1pt more than an equal PS A-Wing.. at the moment it's 3 pts more.

Edited by Rodent Mastermind

sigh

First, there is only 1 ship that we can be certain that the dial affected the cost. The Shuttle. All others ships seem to not be affected by how good or bad their maneuver dial is. Though I am curious about the uproar about the slight overcosting of certain ships, but ignore the HWK. (I actually see where the cost comes from, but I also see where the cost comes from for the Advanced)

And really, what is holding the Interceptor back is NOT their cost. It is the prevalence of the Falcon and swarms. The Interceptor's greatest strength is their maneuverability, especially the higher cost ones with Push the Limit. It is really hard to get out of firing arcs of turrets and a well spread out swarm. But against most of the ships, and Interceptor is just going to outfly. And that is something the hallowed point cost formula can't discover. That is why there is playtesting.

sigh

First, there is only 1 ship that we can be certain that the dial affected the cost. The Shuttle. All others ships seem to not be affected by how good or bad their maneuver dial is. Though I am curious about the uproar about the slight overcosting of certain ships, but ignore the HWK. (I actually see where the cost comes from, but I also see where the cost comes from for the Advanced)

And really, what is holding the Interceptor back is NOT their cost. It is the prevalence of the Falcon and swarms. The Interceptor's greatest strength is their maneuverability, especially the higher cost ones with Push the Limit. It is really hard to get out of firing arcs of turrets and a well spread out swarm. But against most of the ships, and Interceptor is just going to outfly. And that is something the hallowed point cost formula can't discover. That is why there is playtesting.

It's a variety of things that make it not ideal for tournaments. But I don't feel the Interceptor is bad for it's points, it does do very well locally, and even at regional tournaments over here. I know I came up against at least 2 or 3 squads running them at the last tournament I went to.

As for the HWK, really not that bad. I think there were a fair number at the last tournament, and I know a couple of our play group use them regularly. They work far better at 150 than 100pts though, but the same is true for the Bomber. With Epic play I feel they will come into their own.

Edited by Rodent Mastermind

What does match the model mean though? Game balancing is about trade offs. You simply cannot have a ship which has no weaknesses, even a 50 pt ship. You say you don't want a super TIE, but that's precisely what the TIE Advanced will be if its stats are increased or its cost decreased - they're both the same effect. The Advanced's weakness is that it's attack is only 2 (and I hardly call this a weakness since it can be increased at range 1 and it's a fair roll against 2 agility at range 2).

We can argue all day about the merits of certain ships versus other ships. But the fact of the matter is that the X-wing and TIE Advanced are costed the same and are practically equal - 1 attack dice = barrel roll, evade and 1 agility in my book.

What does match the model mean though? Game balancing is about trade offs. You simply cannot have a ship which has no weaknesses, even a 50 pt ship. You say you don't want a super TIE, but that's precisely what the TIE Advanced will be if its stats are increased or its cost decreased - they're both the same effect. The Advanced's weakness is that it's attack is only 2 (and I hardly call this a weakness since it can be increased at range 1 and it's a fair roll against 2 agility at range 2).

We can argue all day about the merits of certain ships versus other ships. But the fact of the matter is that the X-wing and TIE Advanced are costed the same and are practically equal - 1 attack dice = barrel roll, evade and 1 agility in my book.

evade doesn't really add an awful lot to a ship that already has focus at 3 evade dice. A focus rolling 3 dice is almost as good as an evade, and is far more flexable. So all you really are adding is a Barrel Roll.. and even then the X-Wing probably has the better dial, and 3 Attack is a lot better than 3 Agility. TBH the X-Wing really isn't comparable to the Advanced, they are SO different.

The A-Wing is a better comparison as it has the same Attack and Defense values, similar Actions, same upgrades.

But the real proof. The fact that the X-Wing appeared in most of the top Rebel tournament lists at the last Nationals. The Advanced I don't think appeared at all in any lists I saw. If it was correctly pointed it should at least appear once or twice. (Heck, I think I'm the only person I've ever even seen fly an Advanced)

Edited by Rodent Mastermind

And really, what is holding the Interceptor back is NOT their cost. It is the prevalence of the Falcon and swarms. The Interceptor's greatest strength is their maneuverability, especially the higher cost ones with Push the Limit. It is really hard to get out of firing arcs of turrets and a well spread out swarm. But against most of the ships, and Interceptor is just going to outfly. And that is something the hallowed point cost formula can't discover. That is why there is playtesting.

Well said.

I'd actually like to bring this conversation back to the Interceptor. The squint is my favorite ship and I've never flown a squad without at least one, but I have real issues fighting the Falcon and, to a lesser degree, swarms or Y-Wings. As much as I love these new pilots and can't wait to use them, I don't know if Imperial Aces really solves the problem of turrets. Against any other ship, I can outfly them and shoot them from behind. This doesn't help against the YT-1300. The Interceptors greatest strength is entirely negated by a 360-degree firing arc.

How do we fix that problem?

And really, what is holding the Interceptor back is NOT their cost.

Lets say the Alpha would be 17 points each. With the Hull Upgrade you could go with 5 x Alpha + HU.

Now we had enough beef to be in a competitive region.

What makes me wonder is why only one of the uniques is priced quite right. Cowall has an interesting ability, EPT and is 1 point less compared to his comrades.