Hello - Let me preface this by saying that although I have obsessively bought WAY too many ships, I only get to play here and there with my friends, so I don't really have any tournament experience. Additionally, I am trying to justify NOT "needing" to buy 6 or more Headhunters.

However...

After seeing the stats for the Headhunter the obvious new strategy seems to be a swarm. The Headhunter is a very cheap missile platform. At 12 pts plus the new 3 pt Ion Pulse Missile that's 15 pts a ship, for a total of 6 ships in a 100 pt game (with pts left over for modifications and such). But with its low agility and relatively low hull+shields (compared to other rebel ships) I think 8 TIE's would would thoroughly beat this build.

We don't know the manuevers yet for the Z-95 but I have to assume TIE's will be more agile and manueverable. Even if you get off all 6 missiles (which can be hard to do with the TIE's tricky flying) AND they all hit (which is VERY unlikely since it's only 3 attack dice to 3 agility dice every time - at least for Ion Pulse Missiles) 2 TIE's still survive, and you are now slow, weak, and without missiles. Even if you upgrade to missiles with more attack dice (which you would have pts left to do) you cannot kill all the TIE's with missiles alone. Because of this I just don't see a Rebel swarm as a feasible alternative. Remember, the Headhunter was the X-Wing's predecessor. After the X-Wing became popular the Headhunter was relegated to support duties.

And support duty is exactly what role I think the Headhunter will actually take. Consider this: often I have games where that extra torpedoe or missile I stuck onto an X-Wing or A-Wing never gets fired because the swarm has overwhelmed me, or that ship just died because of a bad roll. That lost missile hurts a lot more when the ship costs 20+ pts. But with the Headhunter I see new opportunities. I prefer to play with high skill rebel pilots, but of course this is expensive. However if I was able to downgrade skill only slightly and make room for a Headhunter with a missile, I think it would definitely be worth it. I can get off its missile early, and at such a low cost I don't mind as much when it inevitably bites the dust.

Even 2 Headhunters with missiles might be better than Luke and a droid. These are the sort of opportunities I see with the Z-95 - not all-out swarms, but a better way to field more ships and counter the Empire's advantage of usually having numbers.

(I realize a swarm of 6 Headhunters might be better against non-swarm Imperial builds, but why bother when 8 TIE's is better?)

Thoughts?

I think you will see the Headhunter function for the Rebels in much the same capacity you see the TIE work for the Imperials - that is to say both as a swarm ship, and as a plug-in to squeeze in an extra body.

Now, I'm not making any claim to whether or not it'll be as effective in a swarm (or a swarm-lite with some missile support) compared to TIEs. We'll see how that plays out over time. But you know you're going to see Rebels trying a 7-8 ship swarm just because they CAN, now.

But just like Imperial squads where you often wind up with an AP or two wedged in to gain an extra warm body or two in advantage in smaller, non-swarm lists, I'm sure you'll see Headhunters pop up singly or in pairs, bumping Rebel builds up from 3-4 ships to 5-6 in addition to the occasional full on swarm.

At range 2:

2 dice with focus vs 3 agility is 0.61 average damage. That means 4.91 shots, on average, to kill a TIE.

2 dice with focus vs 2 agility is 0.85 average damage. That means 4.7 shots, on average, to kill a Z-95.

At range 1:

2 dice with focus vs 3 agility is 1.22 average damage. That means 2.46 shots, on average, to kill a TIE.

2 dice with focus vs 2 agility is 1.53 average damage. That means 2.61 shots, on average, to kill a Z-95.

Those numbers are very close. But there's two more very important factors:

• The Z-95 has shields, so the TIEs will take marginally more damage and negative effects from critical hits.
• The Z-95 is at PS2, and the TIE Fighter is at PS1. So the Z-95 will shoot first.

This second point is HUGE! It means:

• The Z-95s will get their range 1 shots off.
• 1 range 1 shot and 3 or 4 range 2 shots will kill a TIE, or alternatively 2 range 1 shots and 1 or 2 range 2 shots will kill a TIE.
• 1 or 2 TIEs die before they shoot. not coincidentally, its the TIEs in front, that would have had the best shots, that are dead and can't return fire. The TIEs that fire back are stuck making longer range shots than they just received, and they are making less of them.

8 Z-95s should win in a straight up fight against 8 TIEs. Considering a 7 TIE swarm with Howlrunner is another story.

Lets not forget that the Ion Pulse Missile will only do 1 damage, and while it provides 2 ion tokens, the ship is still only ionized for 1 turn as all ion tokens are removed at the end. The only reason it gives 2 is so you can insta-ion a large ship.

Good point about Ion Pulse Missiles. Still, other missiles will be more expensive but still fit into the squad. They will be necessary if you want to try and one-shot TIE's.

The PS comparison is important against a TIE swarm. I hadn't considered this. But against other squads a Headhunter swarm will still fire last, since its 2 PS is likely to be lower than most other ships. The squad of 6 with missiles or 8 without may be better than I'd anticipated, but I still feel like it's pushing the Z-95 into a role it's not really built for.

I do agree with CrookedWookie though - I'm sure rebels will try it just because they can now.

I think what it will be best for is kind of what the name implies - headhunting .

To elaborate, I think it will be an effective swarm counter: not because the Rebels will be running around with 8 of them, but because they might work 2 or 3 of them into a squad to add extra bodies, possibly with missiles, specifically there to shoot before APs and try to headhunt the ps1 TIE pilots.

Not so much meeting swarm head on, but fleshing out Rebel squads from 3-4 ships to 5-6 ships and giving them a couple of cheap ps1-killers in a lot of squads. Take a BBXX squad or something, replace one of the B-Wings with a couple of Headhunters and have them trying to line up unanswered shots against APs, knocking them out before they get to fire on the rest of the squad.

I should also point out that the higher PS of the Headhunters mean that the PS1 TIE swarm moves first. That means that the Z-95s then move and can target lock. 17 points for a headhunter with an Assault Missiles is no small matter.

A rather effective Headhunter swarm would be:

3x Bandit Squadron Pilot + Assault Missiles

4x Bandit Squadron Pilot

Plus it's 99 points so you have a point to bid for initiative.

Theoretically you could wipe out an entire PS1 TIE swarm before it had a chance to fire. More likely one Assault Missile will miss. But then you've still got 4 more shots to clean up. You might lose a couple in the first pass, but you are going to be doing far better than that PS1 swarm.

I should also point out that the higher PS of the Headhunters mean that the PS1 TIE swarm moves first. That means that the Z-95s then move and can target lock. 17 points for a headhunter with an Assault Missiles is no small matter.

A rather effective Headhunter swarm would be:

3x Bandit Squadron Pilot + Assault Missiles

4x Bandit Squadron Pilot

Plus it's 99 points so you have a point to bid for initiative.

Theoretically you could wipe out an entire PS1 TIE swarm before it had a chance to fire. More likely one Assault Missile will miss. But then you've still got 4 more shots to clean up. You might lose a couple in the first pass, but you are going to be doing far better than that PS1 swarm.

And this could end up being the final straw to the dominance of imperial swarms. The question becomes how well does this 7 ship swarm hold up to other builds? If it's really only good against swarms, then it won't be a common build, and as such, imp swarms will still exist. Though there are enough imp mini swarms in W3 right now, and I can see mini swarms of the Z-95, so it could be useful against that anyways. And it sure would be a counter to Biggs (if you can get a lock on him).

But I really feel like it's too soon to speculate. Decoy, Wingman, Outmaneuver, Predator and Tactician sound like game changers from what I can make out... So without knowing for sure what they can do, I'm not willing to start building and theorizing W4 squads.

Lets not forget that the Ion Pulse Missile will only do 1 damage, and while it provides 2 ion tokens, the ship is still only ionized for 1 turn as all ion tokens are removed at the end. The only reason it gives 2 is so you can insta-ion a large ship.

3 headhunters with Ion missiles. Let that firespray/Lambda get close to yur edge of the board as it flies towards you (just before it clears the asteroid field should do it) Drop Ion issiles 2-3 turns in a row to make it fly off the board. Sounds great in theory but I wonder if it will be as easy as it sounds

Unless I win the lotto I don't see myself getting more than 2 of these so they will be relegated to support in my list. Still, they should be great little missile platforms.

I think they will make great escorts for the Transport as well. How great would it be to ionize a TIE or even a large ship so it flies right into or in the path of the transport.

I should also point out that the higher PS of the Headhunters mean that the PS1 TIE swarm moves first. That means that the Z-95s then move and can target lock. 17 points for a headhunter with an Assault Missiles is no small matter.

A rather effective Headhunter swarm would be:

3x Bandit Squadron Pilot + Assault Missiles

4x Bandit Squadron Pilot

Plus it's 99 points so you have a point to bid for initiative.

Theoretically you could wipe out an entire PS1 TIE swarm before it had a chance to fire. More likely one Assault Missile will miss. But then you've still got 4 more shots to clean up. You might lose a couple in the first pass, but you are going to be doing far better than that PS1 swarm.

Another Missile idea is:

100 points, so hopefully you should move last vs PS2 ships.

4x Bandit Squadron Pilot with Concussion Missile

3x Bandit Squadron Pilot

You lose one ship, but gain an alpha strike with 4 missiles. Ouch.

Another squad I thought of is:

100 points

Biggs + Stealth Device (or hull)

6x Bandit Squadron

Leave Biggs in the back and force them to make longer range shots. You actually want to get reasonably close in this case, so all of their ships have to shoot Biggs, and you get nice juicy range 1 shots and kill a couple of TIEs out in front.

I could see the following be a good use of Biggs with the Z95 missile platform

Biggs + Torp + SU

Bandit + Conc x4

3 points to flavor

So you they have to shoot Biggs, who takes a SU to stay alive long enough to get his Torps off (w/o Focus... average hits = 2.68) then you have the 4 bandits with concussions (w/o focus... average hits = 2.68 again). So on the opening salvo you'll be rolling 13.4 hits. That's enough to wipe out a YT, leaving just the two escorts to tango with the 4 Bandits remaining. Or wipe out both of the escorts leaving the 4 bandits to zoom into R1 of the YT and kill it in the next 2 rounds while losing only 1 Bandit. Given this is just an example against 1 HSF, but expect similar results with other non-swarm squads. I wonder how the ordnance failsafe will interact with this type of list.

I agree with the original poster especially since the tie swarm has several force multipliers and many more uniques. A straight up 8 vs 8 I expect the ties to out maneuver and win just like they currently do in the meta. But the headhunter is really a number filler and an alpha strike ship with its missiles. It's ideal as a support ship. But like everyone said people will play a z95 swarm and some might find an effective build.

Due to budget constraints with Wave 4 and the Epic Ships getting released at roughly the same time, I'll maybe have 3 or 4 of these, if that. That said, here's an interesting list I've already thought of.

Blue Squadron Pilot, Heavy Laser Cannon x3

Bandit Squadron Pilot x1

Before, it wasn't even an option to fly 3 B-Wings with cannons (unless it was Ion Cannon) and another ship, so this thing is going to be used for list filler for me like in this example, but even with low PS there's tons of firepower between four ships. That said, I also see it being perfectly viable alongside other ships when you have them with missiles, or having them run with their new pilots, provided they're good. Hell, their extreme cheapness (for a Rebel ship) even makes them tempting platforms for upgrades.

I see using the headhunter in a 5 ship build w/ Squad Leader Jan Ors. The AD boost to missiles will be nice early, and then later you can turn which ever head hunter has the best shot into a temporary X-Wing.

Maybe something like:

Bandit w/ Concussion

Bandit w/ Concussion

Bandit w/ Cluster

Bandit w/ Cluster

Jan Ors, Ion Turret, Chewbacca, Squad Leader

The Build on Jan has quite a few different possible variations, but 5 dice concussions and 4 dice the 3 dice clusters should lay down some pretty good damage. Alternatively, you could drop 2 head hunters and toss in a PtL Wedge:

Bandit w/ Concussion

Bandit w/ Cluster

Wedge w/ Ptl

i dont see the swarms effecting my main list to much.

i run

soontir(PTL,stealth)

fenir(PTL,stealth)

vader(PTL,engine upgrade)

have killed swarms without losing a ship

Not sure what will prove to be the best use of them but personally at first glance Im thinking something along these lines.

Bandit

Bandit

Rookie

Rookie

Luke R2D2 + swarm

As has been said previously, more to boost you to a 5-6 ship list than a full swarm.

i dont see the swarms effecting my main list to much.i runsoontir(PTL,stealth)fenir(PTL,stealth)vader(PTL,engine upgrade) have killed swarms without losing a ship

Amen! Ran upgrade for a long time and expose work very well as well.

I agree with these statements, that the Z-95 will not be at it's best as a singular swarm, but when supporting other ships, or having other ships supporting it. A swarm that has target locks sounds fantastic, until you realise that people will just shoot ships in such a way that you don't have enough target locks on the ships that you want to kill, so you're forced to fire ships at targets without the benefit of TL.

I agree with the original poster especially since the tie swarm has several force multipliers...

Honestly they have Howlrunner and that's about it. She's the only named pilot that really adds a lot to a swarm. All the other Tie Pilots have abilities that only effect them.

It's IMO a given you'll see the named pilots for the Z-95 doing things with missiles much like the bomber named pilots do.

I agree with the original poster especially since the tie swarm has several force multipliers...

Honestly they have Howlrunner and that's about it. She's the only named pilot that really adds a lot to a swarm. All the other Tie Pilots have abilities that only effect them.It's IMO a given you'll see the named pilots for the Z-95 doing things with missiles much like the bomber named pilots do.

wasn't just looking at tie/ln ships but other cards and ships that significantly improve tie fighters such as jax in his interceptor.

There's a E-Wing that will help a Z-95 swarm quite a bit. So it still isn't like the Tie Swarm has more advantages then the Z-95 might.

Also it's not like a lot of people will be putting Jax in a Tie Swarm...

i dont see the swarms effecting my main list to much.

i run

soontir(PTL,stealth)

fenir(PTL,stealth)

vader(PTL,engine upgrade)

have killed swarms without losing a ship

You're a good dancer.

wasn't just looking at tie/ln ships but other cards and ships that significantly improve tie fighters such as jax in his interceptor.

There's a E-Wing that will help a Z-95 swarm quite a bit. So it still isn't like the Tie Swarm has more advantages then the Z-95 might.

Also it's not like a lot of people will be putting Jax in a Tie Swarm...

I can definitely see Carnor Jax in a swarm list. Will not be common, but possible, and powerful:

Jax+ Ptl

Howlrunner+Elusiveness+Stealth Device

4 academies

Jax will do what interceptors do, get behind your enemy AND additionally deny them focus/evade, whilst the five TIEs will do what a TIE swarm does with a defensively stacked Howlrunner. Was my first idea when I saw the card for Jax. Thoughts? Anything anyone might change?