Omicron Group Pilot + Anti-Pursuit Lasers (23)

Omicron Group Pilot + Anti-Pursuit Lasers (23)

Alpha Squadron Pilot (18)

The idea here is that Vader will be extremely maneuverable and near impossible to get within firing arc. The rest of the squad isn't terribly survivable, but can dish out great damage. I'd expect my enemy to ignore vader and focus down the other ships, but I'll have vader swoop in behind them being annoying if they ignore him.

Darth Vader + Daredevil + Engine Upgrade (36)

Omicron Group Pilot + Anti-Pursuit Lasers (23)

Omicron Group Pilot + Anti-Pursuit Lasers (23)

Alpha Squadron Pilot (18)

The idea here is that Vader will be extremely maneuverable and near impossible to get within firing arc. The rest of the squad isn't terribly survivable, but can dish out great damage. I'd expect my enemy to ignore vader and focus down the other ships, but I'll have vader swoop in behind them being annoying if they ignore him.

My recommendation is to drop the Alpha Squad pilot. Right now, that's a decent ship, but the shuttles aren't particularly effective. So, we can make them devils.

Take your current Vader setup which is solid and add:

2x Omicron Group Pilot + Fire Control System + Gunner + Engine Upgrade

Engine Upgrade will allow you to boost, which makes these shuttles super fast. You can whip your shuttles around with it, following targets or escaping danger.

Fire Control System gives you a target lock every time you fire. Gunner allows you to fire twice if you missed the first time. Together it goes something like this:

1) Attack 1

2) Resolve Attack 1

3) Gain Target Lock

4) If you didn't score a hit, initiate Attack 2

5) Use Target Lock gained in Attack 1

6) Resolve Attack

7) Get Target Lock again

It's a brutal combination and one that can quickly reduce many ships to so much space junk.

Thanks for the advice on the shuttles -

I'm just not sure that gunner is necessary with FCS. If I've got target locks for free - I'm almost certain to score a hit each attack, especially if I play against rebels since they are lower on evasion. I can't give them vader though since he's in the TIE Advanced - plus I have only 1 falcon, which means only 2 engine upgrades and vader needs the one he's got.

Should I consider dropping one shuttle for maybe a decked out bomber?

Thanks for the advice on the shuttles -

I'm just not sure that gunner is necessary with FCS. If I've got target locks for free - I'm almost certain to score a hit each attack, especially if I play against rebels since they are lower on evasion. I can't give them vader though since he's in the TIE Advanced - plus I have only 1 falcon, which means only 2 engine upgrades and vader needs the one he's got.

Should I consider dropping one shuttle for maybe a decked out bomber?

With FCS, you only get the target lock after the attack, which I should have specified, so you won't get the target lock for the first attack. Further, Gunner helps insulate you from lucky defender rolls or poor attack roles. It's the interaction between Gunner and FCS that makes these upgrades more than the sum of the parts. Plus, a kitted out shuttle like this clocks in at 32 points, which puts you right where you want to be for a third of your points.

This works best against ships with 2 agility dice. There is a very good chance that you will roll one hit and they will roll one evade. Then you kick in Target Lock and you've got a good chance to roll 3 hits against their 1. That strips the shields off a standard X-Wing, and puts it a hit or two away from death. No small matter that.

So with only 2 Engine Upgrades, I came up with this option:

Darth Vader + Daredevil + Engine Upgrade (36)

Captain Yorr + Fire-Control System + Gunner + Engine Upgrade (35)

Omicron Group Pilot + Fire-Control System + Gunner (28)

Since the omicron won't be able to turn as much, the idea is to keep it back and do a few extra Zero-Red manuevers. Yorr should facilitate this pretty easy. Plus it's added synergy with Daredevil if he happens to be close to Vader.

Once your opponent kills Vader and the Alpha squadron pilot, your Shuttles are going to have a devil of a time dog fighting.

The first time I flew the shuttle, the game ended up with only the shuttle and a HWK-290 alive. It was painful being outflow by the HWK-290. It took for ever for it to kill the shuttle, but it was inevitable. At last we both acknowledged that there was literally nothing the shuttle could do to get the HWK-290 in its firing arc and so we called the game.

The fix, Engine Upgrades on the Shuttle. Anything you actually expect your shuttles to fight I consider Engine upgrades a must. And if you haven't already given them Fire Control Systems, then give them advanced sensors. This lets you get that extra turn action in, before you take your move, or maybe just makes sure you don't lose your action when you do a red maneuver.

So with only 2 Engine Upgrades, I came up with this option:

Darth Vader + Daredevil + Engine Upgrade (36)

Captain Yorr + Fire-Control System + Gunner + Engine Upgrade (35)

Omicron Group Pilot + Fire-Control System + Gunner (28)

Since the omicron won't be able to turn as much, the idea is to keep it back and do a few extra Zero-Red manuevers. Yorr should facilitate this pretty easy. Plus it's added synergy with Daredevil if he happens to be close to Vader.

I would make Yorr an Omicron and give the other omicron Engine upgrade , that should put you at 100 points

But then I'd have to steal it from Vader, would make his Daredevil nearly worthless, and I feel that would defeat the point of this squad. Most likely I'll simply have to wait until I get a 2nd Falcon before I can do this squad.... which is fine since I DO plan to get one eventually anyhow.

Also I don't really like Dare Devil. It is a lot of points for the possibility that I might hurt myself. If Vader is your flanker, EU + Barrel-Roll get's him really far. Just remember to bank on the run rather than just go straight.

There's no possibility to hurt yourself if you've got the Boost icon. You could Boost left, then Daredevil Bank left.... it's just so much maneuverability I'm dying to try it.

Okay I re-read Daredevil. It gives you a stress, which means you can't perform actions (even free actions) after performing a Daredevil move, so you can barrel roll, then Daredevil, but not Daredevil then barrel-roll.

I don't like any upgrade that gives Vader Stress, since a stressed Vader is a Vader is a Vader without his awesome ability.

Agreed. Plus…. eh. Daredevil just really kinda sucks. I'd give Darth the Engine Upgrade, he's never failed to inflict MASSIVE damage in games where i've done that, high point cost on Vader be damned. My ideal Vader looks like this *(yes i know everyone has their own thing but this is just to lend the lad some perspective, ok? not to convince anyone that i'm right about the build)

Vader + Concussion Missiles + Marksmanship + Engine Upgrade

Being able to boost and barrel roll in one turn means he has the "hocrapgotta move pronto" flavor of Soontir Fel, and Marksmanship + Evade can make him amazingly lethal and unlike any other fighter out there, still allow for some defense. Lastly, as a countermeasure for whatever ship is your opponents most irksome, Marksmanship with the Concussion Missiles means at least something is going to have to be evaded. Let's break down the numbers on that shot

4 dice:

1 of them will be a hit no matter what

any given dice has a 75% chance to be a hit (1 crit, 3 hits, 2 focus means 6/8 sides, or 75% chance)

1 of those dice has just as good a chance to be a critical as a regular hit (1 crit + 2 focus is 3, the same as regular hits)

minimum evasion required is 1 hit and nothing else (only if you roll 4 blanks). The chances are even better if you fire on a single-evade ship: Horton, Ibtisam, Ten Numb, Dutch, and any YT-1300 that doesn't have the MF title… even with only 1 hit result, you're still at a better than 50/50 to hit even with that 1 little hit result. Even if you roll 3 blanks and a focus, your opponent is still looking at a hit and a crit, and with most rebel craft having only 2 evade dice or less, something is most likely to go through. Furthermore, you could conceivably kill or incapacitate almost any single starfighter with even a decent roll. True, it's only one hit, but that one hit can make all the difference (this particular combo has neutralized Wedge Antilles at least 4 times for me, and all of those times ended in victory).

And of course the effectiveness improves if you had to opportunistically take your Target Lock in another round while maneuvering Vader into a more advantageous position.