Ok guys i'm at witts end. I love the Empire but frankly i'm getting tired of having my arse handed to me game after game. I started playing during the Xmas break and have possibly 20 games under my belt and i think i've won twice with the Empire and which means i'm 2-17 because i played 3 games with Rebels and i'm 2-3. I want to stick with Empire but i'm starting to consider switching to Rebels as my major faction.

Advice would be welcome.

advice incoming

1-you're, not your.

Who do you play against? How many people, and what kind of lists is everyone running. If your a beginner getting beat by experience players, switching sides won't help.

Imperials win with numbers. Post some of your squad builds and the forum will help sort out any tweaks that they may need.

There are also some you tube videos regarding movement strategies and how to fly certain ships.

First, let's start with what ships you have in your collection, then what builds you're facing, then to tactics. Sound like a plan?

first of all never give up on empire !!

second. tell us the exact number of the ships u own

u should have atleast 4-7 ties and a few some other tie variants for some change in ure builds etcetc

yes, I agree with these guys. with empire, you should field 5+ ships or 2+ and a large base or two. pick 1-2 named ships, then fill your list with the cheapest pilots of ships of your choice, or academy pilots

I've tried the swarm it's dull. I've tried a Bomber squad and it did ok but i always lose a bomber before he gets to shoot and end up killing 1 Rebel ship but then things always go sour because bombers are not very manueverable.I've tried mixing squints with Eyeballs and the squints just died as fast or faster than Eyeballs simply because people targeted them more. I've used the Shuttle numerous times to ill effect because the **** thing can't turn. And the Advanced is really a joke for it's cost but we all know that.

As for opponents i tend to play against 7 other ppl at the LGS and half play rebel the other half empire . The most common ships i've seen are Chewie,Wedge,Luke,Biggs, some rookie pilots and a Y-wing once and a while with ION turret which i really hate. My buddy has a list he tried the other day(Biggs+R2D2 and shield,Dagger+Adv.Sensors x3) this list is crazy good the B-wings literally drift around you while they blast away at range 1 or 2.

Firesprays my good fellow. Two named or one named with fighter support. I also like to fly three basic Bounty Hunters.

As you get some practice in, shuttles are good choices, but complex to fly.

A named BH, with Turr Phennir and Soontir Fel works well.

What's your collection like?

A list of your available ships would help us help you?

Welcome Academy Pilot, to the glory of the Empire! You probably won't last long but if you do the rewards are great and many!

If you are seeing that many Yt's, y's, and Bwings a bomber list with cluster missiles should shut em down. If it really is a 50/50 split on factions temper that with some assault/concussion missiles. My favorite bomber list is: 3Gs+

3 Gamma

1 scimitar

1 academy

3 missiles (load out depending on what you expect to play)

3 seismic charges (2 if you need assault missiles)

Go with Jonus if you expect lots of those 1 agility ships. Go with assault missiles if everyone flys in a formation. The PS bump on the 3 gammas should have you firing before or at the same time as others.

If you have 6-7 ties you can go with a named tie swarm. It's a good all comers list with more strategy than the 7-8 swarms. I like:

Howl+ PTL + stealth

Backstabber + stealth

Darkcurse

Nightbeast

Academy x2

98 pts. You can drop DC to winged gundark and put a third stealth device on night beast or drop PTL to elusiveness for the same upgrade. Flys like a swarm but leaves you with 2 blockers and 4 ships that fire before all those PS 4 ships. Throw a swarm tactics on Howlie instead and you have 5 ships that fire before all but a few elites. You can also upgrade to Mauler for more swarm shenanigans or countless other small changes. Embrace the power of the dark side...er...swarm...um... Empire!

i've added my collection in my signature

I like a 4 bomber list, 3 scimitars and Jonus. the key here is assault missiles. Stomp him with an alpha strike in the first combat turn, which will do some damage and possibly force him to scatter, and then drop 3 seismic charges on him when you K-turn. I am also a fan of a small group of fighters and a Firespray, or Soontir or Turr and fighters/firespray.

The empire simply favors numbers. Most of your ships are highly agile but fragile. 2 primary solutions:
1. More ships with few named pilots

2. Stay out of front arc-most possible with Interceptors+PtL because they come stock with boost and barrel roll. so try Soontir, Turr, or Sabers.

My buddy has a list he tried the other day(Biggs+R2D2 and shield,Dagger+Adv.Sensors x3) this list is crazy good the B-wings literally drift around you while they blast away at range 1 or 2.

I run biggs+3 blues with adv sensor. The list you just posted is significantly more than 100 pts

A healthy list you've got there.

I'd suggest a Scarlet Cowgirl for ya.

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Scarlet Cowgirl brought to you by The_Brown_Bomber LTD, in partnership with SableGryphon Inc

Kath Scarlet {Firespray-31}

+ Expert Handling

+ Rebel Captive

[43]

Omicron Group Pilot {Lambda Class Shuttle}

+ Fire-Control Systems

+ Gunner

+ Engine Upgrade

+ Intelligence Agent

[33]

Academy Pilot {Tie Fighter}

[12]

Academy Pilot {Tie Fighter}

[12]

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You may trade out the Academy Pilots and the Intelligence Agent for a 25 point ship of your choosing, if you wish.

This fleet has the following in its favor:

A Firespray with Expert Handling

Large-Base Ships with Ex H have absolutely ridiculous barrel rolls. Give it a spin on a 3x3 field with several asteroids scattered about to familiarize yourself with the movement patterns. They're quite monstrous.

A Firespray with a Rebel Captive

The Rebel Captive means this ship is the least likely to be focused down. Fortunately for you, Firesprays are the most survivable ship in the game, and probably the best ship in the game to be your last fighter on the board.

At that point, the fact that firing at the Firespray will still be punished, and you've got the end-game heavily in your favor (assuming you hold your own in the Early- and Mid-Games)

A Mysterious Albino Void-Buffalo Buzzsaw Shuttle

With a FCS and Gunner on board, your Shuttle's attack step goes thusly:

1. Attack. Hope to miss.
2. Acquire a Target Lock on the Defender.
3. If step 1 resulted in 0 damage, Attack with Gunner
4. Spend the Target Lock acquired in Step 2 to re-roll even 1 missed die.
5. Acquire a(nother) Target Lock on the Defender
6. Profit.

With 10 total HP, it'l be a tough beastie to take down.

A Shuttle with an Engine Upgrade

Shuttles require Engine Upgrades to be any sort of mobile. Read the Lambda 101 and Lambda 102 posts (by SableGryphon) for more piloting information.

Multiple ways to know where your opponent will land when they move

Between the stress (caused by Kath Scarlet's natural ability and the Rebel Captive) and the Intelligence Agent, you should have an easy time lining up your shots.

The ability to capitalize on surprise placement

Every ship in your fleet has a Mobility Action. Barrel rolls from your Academy Ties make them very efficient blockers (i.e. I'm putting this ship here so that yours will run into it and lose its actions for the turn). Kath Scarlet's (admittedly stressful) barrel roll gives her excellent attack vectors, and the Shuttle's Boost gives you a massive speed advantage: all that the speed of Choice. Remember: new information should alter your plans, and nothing in the game gives you more freedom than repositional actions.

A healthy list you've got there.

I'd suggest a Scarlet Cowgirl for ya.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Scarlet Cowgirl brought to you by The_Brown_Bomber LTD, in partnership with SableGryphon Inc

Kath Scarlet {Firespray-31}

+ Expert Handling

+ Rebel Captive

[43]

Omicron Group Pilot {Lambda Class Shuttle}

+ Fire-Control Systems

+ Gunner

+ Engine Upgrade

+ Intelligence Agent

[33]

Academy Pilot {Tie Fighter}

[12]

Academy Pilot {Tie Fighter}

[12]

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

You may trade out the Academy Pilots and the Intelligence Agent for a 25 point ship of your choosing, if you wish.

This fleet has the following in its favor:

A Firespray with Expert Handling

Large-Base Ships with Ex H have absolutely ridiculous barrel rolls. Give it a spin on a 3x3 field with several asteroids scattered about to familiarize yourself with the movement patterns. They're quite monstrous.

A Firespray with a Rebel Captive

The Rebel Captive means this ship is the least likely to be focused down. Fortunately for you, Firesprays are the most survivable ship in the game, and probably the best ship in the game to be your last fighter on the board.

At that point, the fact that firing at the Firespray will still be punished, and you've got the end-game heavily in your favor (assuming you hold your own in the Early- and Mid-Games)

A Mysterious Albino Void-Buffalo Buzzsaw Shuttle

With a FCS and Gunner on board, your Shuttle's attack step goes thusly:

1. Attack. Hope to miss.
2. Acquire a Target Lock on the Defender.
3. If step 1 resulted in 0 damage, Attack with Gunner
4. Spend the Target Lock acquired in Step 2 to re-roll even 1 missed die.
5. Acquire a(nother) Target Lock on the Defender
6. Profit.

With 10 total HP, it'l be a tough beastie to take down.

A Shuttle with an Engine Upgrade

Shuttles require Engine Upgrades to be any sort of mobile. Read the Lambda 101 and Lambda 102 posts (by SableGryphon) for more piloting information.

Multiple ways to know where your opponent will land when they move

Between the stress (caused by Kath Scarlet's natural ability and the Rebel Captive) and the Intelligence Agent, you should have an easy time lining up your shots.

The ability to capitalize on surprise placement

Every ship in your fleet has a Mobility Action. Barrel rolls from your Academy Ties make them very efficient blockers (i.e. I'm putting this ship here so that yours will run into it and lose its actions for the turn). Kath Scarlet's (admittedly stressful) barrel roll gives her excellent attack vectors, and the Shuttle's Boost gives you a massive speed advantage: all that the speed of Choice. Remember: new information should alter your plans, and nothing in the game gives you more freedom than repositional actions.

She's getting a good run these days... I steered away from suggesting this little lady and her mighty steed due to the OP mentioning he's already tired of losing, and you will lose with this list vs. experienced players. Tough it out though and you'll be one tough SOB to take down.

She's getting a good run these days... I steered away from suggesting this little lady and her mighty steed due to the OP mentioning he's already tired of losing, and you will lose with this list vs. experienced players. Tough it out though and you'll be one tough SOB to take down.

It's a solid list. It ain't gonna win the pot at Worlds, but it's certainly a hard beast to buck in a local meta.

She might just yet. She might just yet.

Firesprays my good fellow. Two named or one named with fighter support. I also like to fly three basic Bounty Hunters.

As you get some practice in, shuttles are good choices, but complex to fly.

A named BH, with Turr Phennir and Soontir Fel works well.

This. Learning to fly 1 large ship well is easier then learning to fly a swarm effectively. With its rear arc the Firespray is really forgiving as you get better at the game. I'd say do a bounty hunter with recon specialist. Then you have plenty of points for fighter or bomber support. I'd say stay away from interceptors if the YT is popular in your meta because it really will ruin your squints since they can't get out of its arc. Don't load too much ordnance on your bomber if you take it and don't fly it straight at the enemy. Try to use it to flank a little (not a full flank but just not head on with the full enemy squad either).

The other thing is strategy. Focus fire on one or two ships as much as possible but don't be so single minded that you let your opponent lure you into a trap either. And sometimes you have to pass up the chance to shoot something to avoid being destroyed yourself. Don't be afraid to fly away and come back into the fight in a round or two.

That's just all stuff off the top of my head that I learned the hard way. Hopefully some of it helps...

It will also help us give you advice if you tell us why you think you keep losing. Is it your flying?, squad building?, opening setup?

I like Krassis Trellix with a Heavy Laser Cannon paired with Capt. Jonus with proton torp and Push the Limit.

Other ship(s) to flavor.

My buddy has a list he tried the other day(Biggs+R2D2 and shield,Dagger+Adv.Sensors x3) this list is crazy good the B-wings literally drift around you while they blast away at range 1 or 2.

I run biggs+3 blues with adv sensor. The list you just posted is significantly more than 100 pts

your right it was only 2 daggers with a rookie.

I've played with a Firespray with EH and i really liked it, so i may try that or i came up with this

Howlrunner +ST

Academy x4

OGP +Gunner+Engine+FCS

but the shuttle +Firespray + 2 academy seems tempting

Suggestion: Start winning from the beginning, in other words, decide on what squad (tactics) you want to play and make sure you are laying out your asteroids in a manner that helps you. My takeaway from my first game with asteroids was that their placement is not trivial & really has a lot to do with your battle-plan and, by extension, your opponent's.

Do not trip over your feet getting to the other guy. At the warm-up tournament at GenCon last year, in three of my four games, I took a route which did not have me engaging by turn two, and it appeared to throw off my opponent in each case. A lot of people know how to mount up for an alpha strike but not so much how to fly. I managed to lure my opponents into the asteroid field/splitting some of their forces has thery tried to funnel them in after me. While this did not cause them damage, it did allow me to break up the alpha strike and engage on more advantageous terms. As someone once said, if you are having a fair fight, your tactics are bad. (They used more flowery language, but you get the idea.)

RogueMorgan

BTW, Obi-won would probably not be the one to appeal to for help with this particular plea...

chopping and changing lists too often can deny you the time u need to master a squad, even a good squad. Scarlet Cowgirl is my squad of choice at the moment but its not easy to fly - u cant crash and bash your way to a win with an all-out frontal assault - its most effective at mid-long range - i use the tie-fightrs as flankers and occasionally blockers. what i like most about it is the range of ships - firespray, shuttle, 2x tie-fighters - thats lots of options for flanking formations and xcellent manouvreablity (except for the shuttle which needs to adopt a hit-and-run strategy to really shine in this squad).