So, the problem I have with the Intel Agent is that it's not something you are using every round. Because it's Range 1-2, you aren't going to get to use it until ~Round 3, at which point you are already in a rhythm. You're eager to get movement going. It's just... rare that I remember it those times when I have a chance at using it.

I really need to figure out something to act as a reminder. Maybe keep a copy of Intel Agent with my dials so I remember.

As for seismics, they are great little toys. I usually keep them (unless the craft is heavily damaged) until later in the game just to increase the chance my opponent forgets about them.

No, you are quite right. Ion Pulse Missiles will be a threat. The trick is that both Kath and the Albino Solar Kangaroo have abilities to move as an action. The ship may be ioned, but as long as the ship isn't stressed, it can either barrel roll or boost afterwards still. And since the missiles are discarded after the attack, it's difficult to dominate this list with them. It'll hurt, yes, but it's not a death sentence. Good thing to think about.

New favorite Shuttle reference.

I cant help but wonder if the Proton+Seismic wouldn't be better off as a Proton Bomb instead.

my latest variant:

Kath Scarlet + Expert Handling + Rebel Captive + Seismic Charges (45)

Omicron Group Pilot + FCS + Gunner + Intelligence Agent + Engine Upgrade (33)

Scimitar Squadron Pilot + Proton Torpedoes + Seismic Charges (22)

changes ive made?

• dropped 2 academy pilots and replaced with a single bomber (6 hull)
• added seismic charges to Kath + bomber
• bomber also gets proton torps

one less ship but the bomber is twice as durable (but 1 less agility) as a tie-fighter and has additional early punch with torps and charges.

Intelligence Agent on shuttle should actually help to drop those seismic's and get max effect from them.

thoughts?

well, i would suggest a change, drop bomb on kath for a gamma bomber

A gamma is way more likely to have a ship it can target lock early as 1's,2's,3's and potentially 4's will move before it does.

bear in mind i dislike missiles without both target lock and focus.

I really need to figure out something to act as a reminder. Maybe keep a copy of Intel Agent with my dials so I remember.

What if you put a token of an unused type next to the ship base? When you go to move the ship you might see it there and wonder/remember why that token is there.

I think maybe you could take a critical token, color it with a black sharpie, then either use a white paint pen or use rub on transfer letters to put and IA on it.. I think I will be doing this for some of mine.. Marksman, the droids maybe a couple others.. nice reminders

I think maybe you could take a critical token, color it with a black sharpie, then either use a white paint pen or use rub on transfer letters to put and IA on it.. I think I will be doing this for some of mine.. Marksman, the droids maybe a couple others.. nice reminders

But what if I need that critical hit token later? I only have about 60 of them!

In that case, just to be sure you have all of the crit tokens you will need you will have to just write it in marker across the back of your hand. That way every time you do anything you will notice that you have an agent to use. Plus you get the added bonus of everyone asking you about it, so that will reinforce the mind to remember.

I think maybe you could take a critical token, color it with a black sharpie, then either use a white paint pen or use rub on transfer letters to put and IA on it.. I think I will be doing this for some of mine.. Marksman, the droids maybe a couple others.. nice reminders

But what if I need that critical hit token later? I only have about 60 of them!

I know, I know... it's just a risk we'll have to take, I was looking at the pile of them I have, and wondering that myself

Scarlet Cowgirl:

Kath/rebel captive/expert handling + Omicron/FCS//gunner/EngineUpgrade + 2x Academy Pilot

• This squad can beat pretty much anything if u fly it well and dont get screwed by the Dice Gods.
• so what do people think are the hardest matchups for this squad?
• tie swarm? falcon squads? anything with a 360 firing arc?

thoughts?

Turrets squash a lot of builds...

Bwings are rough. High PS swarm are as well. But like you said, dice are average and you fly well, you can beat anything with Her!

Bwings are rough. High PS swarm are as well. But like you said, dice are average and you fly well, you can beat anything with Her!

hmm, against B-Wings do u think 2x academy pilots or a single bomber with 6-7 points of torps/missile/seismics would be more effective?

of course the answer is probably... it depends if ur secondaries do damage

i suppose two attacks - even from academy pilots will do on average more damage throughout the game than a single bomber right? sorta depends what they target early. keeping ur academy pilots out of close combat - trading shots with them is usually a bad idea. YES i pretty much just answered my own question

I would almost always choose 2 AP.

Bwings are rough. High PS swarm are as well. But like you said, dice are average and you fly well, you can beat anything with Her!

hmm, against B-Wings do u think 2x academy pilots or a single bomber with 6-7 points of torps/missile/seismics would be more effective?

of course the answer is probably... it depends if ur secondaries do damage

i suppose two attacks - even from academy pilots will do on average more damage throughout the game than a single bomber right? sorta depends what they target early on. keeping ur academy pilots out of close combat - trading shots with the is usually a bad idea. YES i pretty much just answered my own question

Against B-WIngs, more ships is always better. 1 agility isn't going to mitigate the 2x Academy damage enough to make a single missile worth the difference.

The thing about the academy pilot is that he will almost always punch above his weight class. I've debated taking the bomber for the bomb and a missile to help with damage out put early game but time and again those fresh from boot pilots will give a smackdown to someone that decided to go after the shuttle. B's are easy targets because of their lack of agility dice.

B-wings have been the thing that have been the hardest challenge with this list because of advanced sensors. They end up in places I don't like as much.

agreement here JV - i was looking at replacing the Academy Pilots but they are rather essential to this list and their agility/mobility will be missed. I think my initial setup of them in the centre needs refining - of course it will depend on asteroid placement but it is likely i will be placing them first and likely the shuttlebus before any ENEMY SHIPS are placed. Most commonly i put the shuttle in the corner, both academy pilots in the centre and the firespray in opposite corner to the shuttle.

any setup that forces ur opponent to split their forces and gives u good chance to flank with the shuttle or firespray seems to work best. i think i just need to put my academy pilots more out for harms way for the first few exchanges - possibly giving each larger ship an escort or swinging them aggressively to one of the flanks on turn1 once i see how they are approaching me.

i have tried slow rolling the academies up the centre as bait but this tactic largely reduces the tie-fighters options if the enemy rushes them and if i swing wide with the enemy too close they get caught side on and i get flanked myself. now that i am thinking about it i think placing 1 academy near each of my big ships should work as long as they r not too close (say 3 small base lengths away). Alternatively they could start more in the centre and then both swing out to the flanks - one on each side in support of the my large base ships as they angle back to the centre of the board . if they setup to go straight down the same side as my shuttle i can use a double escort for my firespray, let the shuttle take the early heat and flank hard with everything else.

Scarlet Cowgirl:

Kath/rebel captive/expert handling + Omicron/FCS//gunner/EngineUpgrade + 2x Academy Pilot

• This squad can beat pretty much anything if u fly it well and dont get screwed by the Dice Gods.
• so what do people think are the hardest matchups for this squad?
• tie swarm? falcon squads? anything with a 360 firing arc?

thoughts?

I love this thread and I've decided to make this my first Imperial squad on Thursday. Up until now, I've only flown Rebel. It's only been five games, but still, It took a lot of thought before I finally decided to come over to the dark side.

Thanks to my YT-1300 experience and multiple readings of SableGryphon's Lamda 101 post, not to mention this forum topic, I feel pretty comfortable giving this a try.

I'm not sure how I'll set things up. I think I'll keep and open mind, see what my opponent does and play it by ear. It should be fun.

Scarlet Cowgirl:

Kath/rebel captive/expert handling + Omicron/FCS//gunner/EngineUpgrade + 2x Academy Pilot

• This squad can beat pretty much anything if u fly it well and dont get screwed by the Dice Gods.
• so what do people think are the hardest matchups for this squad?
• tie swarm? falcon squads? anything with a 360 firing arc?

thoughts?

I love this thread and I've decided to make this my first Imperial squad on Thursday. Up until now, I've only flown Rebel. It's only been five games, but still, It took a lot of thought before I finally decided to come over to the dark side.

Thanks to my YT-1300 experience and multiple readings of SableGryphon's Lamda 101 post, not to mention this forum topic, I feel pretty comfortable giving this a try.

I'm not sure how I'll set things up. I think I'll keep and open mind, see what my opponent does and play it by ear. It should be fun.

hey Ringo - this squad is the one that turned me to the dark side i tried a few shuttle variants and was hooked. From then i was pretty much not going back to rebels - ive grown bored of most rebel squads - new expansions might change that but for now its shuttle squads all the way for me.

be ready for a bit of a learning curve with flying ur shuttlebus. it will take some practice to get totally comfortable with it but your efforts will be rewarded by a fun squad that can really surprise people. The shuttle with buzzsaw combo hits hard - remember to take ur free target locks after ur 1st attack and again after yout gunner triggered attack (if its needed) - you should get two hits quite frequently with ur shuttle because the first attack usually strips their focus or evade token leaving them open for ur next attack.

the really random aspect of setup is where they will put their 3 asteroids. in general its better to put 1-2 of your asteroids placements in the corners (2.5 range band from edge and corner) - where u place ur last asteroid will depend on where their early asteroid placements are as well as whether they r flying lots of agile ships or are using a rebel force with turret attacks. In general rebel opponents will not be too worried about creating a tight cluster of asteroids in the centre. Imperial players will want less obstructions for their formation flying but if they r a skilled player they probably will WANT a dangerous asteroid field to navigate as they will be backing their skills

in my experience the main thing i try to achieve with my asteroid placement is are two uncluttered corners (or at least one) where my big base ships can start in the corner and bank into the centre. My goal is to try for a turn2 or turn3 flanking attack with either firespray or shuttle.

keep ur academy pilots at long range until you see an opportunity to get in a free shot or block a key high PS ship. watch that ur academy pilots dont get in the way of ur big ships (unless u want to plan a deliberate bump from ur shuttle to get in an extra shot b4 boosting away and repositioning for another attack.

Lots of good tips, Brown Bomber. Thanks!

I'm really interested in your tips on asteroid placement. I think a lot of people at my store don't think a lot about it, but can be very important, especially when you're flying a couple of large ships.

One thing I have to think start thinking about more during matches is deliberate bumping and blocking. I started thinking just about getting people in my firing arc. Then, I evolved into also doing my best to stay out of my opponent's firing arc. The bumping will be a whole 'nother level of strategy.

I can't wait to play.

Ringo - happy to assist. The best piece of advice i can give you is fly the shuttle as often as you can. With engine upgrade its a fast ship. I still park it on asteroids occasionally but that is because i am pushing it to the max to get the best from it see how i seamlessly explained my piloting mistakes away

deliberate bumping doesnt actually happen in many games i play - i try to keep my academy pilots at long range but occasionally if the opportunity presents itself ill deliberately fly one of my tie-fighters into the path of my hipposhuttlemus - usually with a 3 sharp turn and line them both up to attack a prime target.

Kath Scarlet with expert handling is dangerous. At PS7 she can easily create problems for mid-range PS ships (PS 3-6)

It took a while for Rebel Captive to grow on me but it has. its a superb addition to Kath making her a ship ur opponent will pay a cost to attack early in the game... the combined threat of her attacking u and giving out additional stress if u cancel a crit is often enough to stop most ships attacking her altogether!

Welcome to the Hipposhuttlebus driver union...Er... I mean the darkside.

My tie set up is usually stacked in the middle. Round 1 is almost always a bank 3 and a barrel roll back to get a good angle on something. If they cut one way or the other he ties can cover it but going angled at first keeps you from getting flanked. A bank back lets you straighten back up, a turn getsyou angled the other direction, and if they rush you can kturn and be at an angle looking back and completetly out of thier arcs. Just remember to keep enough distance in your stack to accomodate banks. 2.5 distance is also just a good distance away. Unless they are rushing straight at you as fast as possible the biggies should be able to shoot and flank immediately.

Welcome to the Hipposhuttlebus driver union...Er... I mean the darkside.

My tie set up is usually stacked in the middle. Round 1 is almost always a bank 3 and a barrel roll back to get a good angle on something. If they cut one way or the other he ties can cover it but going angled at first keeps you from getting flanked. A bank back lets you straighten back up, a turn getsyou angled the other direction, and if they rush you can kturn and be at an angle looking back and completetly out of thier arcs. Just remember to keep enough distance in your stack to accomodate banks. 2.5 distance is also just a good distance away. Unless they are rushing straight at you as fast as possible the biggies should be able to shoot and flank immediately.

yeah nice tactic. angle away with bank3 and barrel roll further away and slightly back to set u up for either a K-Turn if they r rushing or you can angle back with something like a 2 sharp turn setting u up for long rang shots on the approaching enemy as ur big ships engage (one flanking and hopefully out of enemy arcs). its a good plan and one that allows flexility to change vectors if they split off into two forces or do something a bit unexpected

It took a while for Rebel Captive to grow on me but it has. its a superb addition to Kath making her a ship ur opponent will pay a cost to attack early in the game... the combined threat of her attacking u and giving out additional stress if u cancel a crit is often enough to stop most ships attacking her altogether!

Yeah, I think this combo (Kath and Rebel Captive) is what sold me on giving this squad a try. But, the buzzsaw hipposhuttlemus and it's multiple attack options with FCS and Gunner is pretty sweet. It's a nice one-two punch.

Heh, heh, heh!