So I was hoping to finally buy my first firespray this weekend, so for the past week I've been flying my first firespray squad on vassal to get some practice with flying the firespray, along with seeing if my squad is good or not. Well after 5 games with 5 different opponents I am only 1-4.

The squad is:

Krassis+HLC+Recon

Mauler Mithel

Backstabber

Saber Pilot

I will admit that one loss was easily my worst xwing game ever luck wise, I rolled too many blanks to count that game. If some of the losses were close I wouldn't be so worried, but none of them were.

I think I figured that most people would focus on my firespray first as it's the biggest threat, but instead everyone has gone for my ties first and they keep going down super quick in all my games, usually 1 per round.

Is this squad a lost cause? Or am I just having really bad luck with it so far? I should also point out I only own 3 ties, 1 advanced, 1 interceptor, and 1 bomber so wingman combinations for my firespray are somewhat limited.

The list looks pretty good, though I'd trade one of those TIEs for an Interceptor to give you some more firepower.

The key is maneuvering, though. You have to be good at keeping your squad in formation and finding ways to get behind you opponent so you can have the advantage. You also need to be a good judge of which is the biggest threat on the battlefield. I ran a battle last week against a guy who used two X-wings and two A-wings, and the main reason he lost, aside from not taking EPTs and astromechs, was that he never knew which fighter to concentrate on. He should have been gunning for my TIE Interceptors, but instead he went for my empty TIE Bombers and ended up losing a game of chicken with them.

Here's what I would take:

Bounty Hunter (33) + HLC (7) [40]

Saber Squadron Pilot (21) + PTL (3) + SD (3) [24]

Backstabber (16)

Black Squadron Pilot (14) + VI (1) [15]

Total: 98

Krassis' pilot skill is cool, but you're looking to make the most of your points and without a significant number of Push The Limit cards to work with you're going to have to make it up elsewhere. You have a good selection of cards to work with, so I would experiment with this or something similar and try to find a combination that works for you. Admittedly, I don't play the Firespray enough, so I don't know how well this list will synergize, but it looks good on paper.

I think the flaw in the list is that it is incredibly fragile and staying out of fire arcs is not just important, but vital, add to that the fact that Mauler and backstabber both rely heavily on positioning and if you are anything less than amazing at choosing your maneuvers you're going to get eaten alive. I think your list has potential, but you really need to figure out approaches and feints. There's also no really good way to fly this squadron together, interceptor is super agile, Krassis is not, the ties obviously can keep up with each other but that will encourage turning towards them first and thus deny stabber his extra die. Highly indvidualistic hit and run wolfpack tactics seem to be the order of the day here.

Agree the list looks good. The reason it might not work is that I think you may be trying to use the wrong thing as your squad's 'centre of mass' - think of it as TIEs with a firespray supporting them, rather than the other way around...

The biggest problem with Krassis - well, it's not a problem, exactly, just a 'thing' - is that when gunned up with a Heavy Laser Cannon he is definitely a sniper.

4 dice shots, with a reroll, that you can use repeatedly, ignore the bonus defence dice for long range fire and don't need a target lock for are awesome. Alright, relatively few criticals but 'blown to smithereens' is a decidedly acceptible alternative to the odd face-up damage card. However, it means he wants to be lurking towards the back or flank of your squadron, not going front and centre and mixing it up. The firespray does all right as a true dogfighter - it's more manouvrable than you expect and those front/rear primary guns are worth their weight in carbonite-coated bounties - but that's wasting the heavy laser, and hence wasting Krassis' abilities too.

Therefore, to use him best, you want him at the back plinking away with his starfighter-sized sniper rifle, whilst the ties or interceptors mix it up and keep people away from him. Which means that expecting people to focus on him, rather than the short-ranged TIEs, is setting yourself up for disappointment; he's tough, fairly agile, well shielded and a long way away. Assume people are going to go for the TIEs and use that to lead them places where Krassis gets clean shots off at them (hopefully before they blow the TIEs away!).

On a similar note, Backstabber is not ideal for this role. He's good in a big(ish) swarm of TIEs, where he's more likely to be 'unmarked' and able to slip in on someone's side or rear. If he's playing lineman, and (with a big hunk of metal in the backfield) the line is kind of thin, he's not going to get much chance to use his ability. Possibly a generic black squadron pilot with a defensive skill or modification (Evasive? Expert Handling? Stealth Device? not sure what you have...) might do you better: someone cheap who's a touch harder to kill than normal.

You've got a heavily upgraded big ship and some elite TIEs. Both are good, but expensive. I usually try to spend at least half of my points in a cost effective way. For example you could keep the Firespray and the HLC (I think Krassis w/ HLC is awesome) Then you have enough points for 4 more Academy Pilots with 9 points to spare. That is enough to turn one of those TIEs into a Howelrunner, or even a Saber Squadron.

If you really want to go for point efficent, lose the HLC, or drop Krassis down into a Bountyhunter and you can add an extra TIE.

Remeber every upgrade and pilot upgrade you take reduces the number of ships you have. I am not saying don't do it, I am just saying be aware of the cost you are paying.

Try this:

OR this:

I flew a very similar list to good effect. The issue, which some have pointed out above, is that the TIEs are relatively fragile.

My solution to it was to beef up the TIEs defensively. Here's what I ran:

Krassis + HLC + Seismic Charge

Mauler + Push the Limit

Backstabber + Stealth Device

Dark Curse

The Seismic Charge can be changed at will. I like them, lots of people appreciate the Recon Specialist, and both can be a good defensive investment (you'd be surprised what people will do to avoid those bombs). Each TIE, though, has something to help it survive - DC does it naturally, Mauler's PtL means extra tokens (or getting out of arcs) and Backstabber's Stealth helps a pilot who should be off to the side and not an easy target anyway.

FWIW, I dislike Fel in there, because at that point you're effectively a 2-ship build. The Academy TIEs aren't going to accomplish much on their own. Fel can be a gamewinner, but he's still vulnerable to a bad roll, and if that happens you're probably done.

You are surprise that people go after your TIEs first? I'll point out that there is a VERY simple reason for that: taking them out is a far easier way of reducing you squads firepower than focusing on that Firespray will be. Look at it, you've got Krassis who is rolling 3 or 4 attack dice but is usually protected by 2 defense dice, a Focus token or two, AND takes 10 hits to knock down. Compare that to the three other ships all of which can be rolling 3 or 4 dice for attack, 3 dice for defense but only take 3 hits to take out. If you look at it as "hitting probability/survivability" those TIEs are valued at 1 or higher while the Firespray is down at something closer to 1/3 to maybe 1/2; this makes the TIE a much higher priority to take out.

Krassis + HLC + Recon is a very good usage of points. You will almost always have a defensive focus on what is generally considered the most survivable ship in the game, and a very good offense coming from it as well.

The problem is with his escort. They WILL die first, as they're throwing out comprable damage and are considerably more fragile.

You've got enough points in them to play 4 Tie Fighters if you abandon the hope of 3 attack dice each.

Academy and Obsidian Ties will draw less fire than your current escort due to only having 2 attack dice each, causing your opponent to potentially misplay and try to beat down the most survivable ship you own first.

If your opponent is smart, they'll still go for your escort first, but going with 4 regular ties still gives you a few advantages.

1. It hurts you less if they kill one of your escorts, as you will still have 3 left.
2. If you're playing by tournament rules, they'll earn fewer points by killing one.
3. The lower pilot skill means that you can fly them more disruptively: forcing your opponent to lose offensive and defensive actions by forcing collisions, and keeping them in place for Krassis to kill off.

You'll probably miss the 3 attack dice attacks. You'll be down one entire die, and you'll have a little harder time punching through their evasion, but the offensive reduction isn't as bad as it seems, particularly when you realise the massive increase in survivability to your full fleet.

Of course, this assumes you have 4 Tie Fighters, rather than the 2 and an Int you posted in your original fleet. If this is not the case, might I inquire as to what ships you have available to you?