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Hey all.
I'm just about to order my 7th z-95, thinking of running Lt. Blount and mix of Tala/Bandit
pilots. But how viable would a Rebel swarm be? 1 worse agility, not as good of a dial as a
Tie but 2 hull and 2 shields. Model wise I think it would cool as hell! And probably alot of fun in gamesr 150 points or bigger, but does it have a chance in 100 point games?
Thought?

We've really been using them as cheap missile platforms. They're cheap, and have the potential to do big damage, meaning opponents tend to focus on them, letting your other ships breathe easier. Generally we've used 2 at a time. Curious how they'd work in bigger numbers.

The catch to the Z-95 swarm list is that it doesn't have the individual fire power to push a lot of damage through because they all individually have two firepower. TIE fighters get away with it because they have the swarm supporter that is Howlrunner, which makes it far more likely to get that two hits you need to qualify as a decent attack. It's the one universal problem with 2 fire power ships: they average one hit per attack roll.

Now there is a kind of Swarm supporter on the Rebels side, Etahn Abaht doesn't make them hit consistently the way Howlrunner does, but he makes it really bad if they hit your opponent at all. But if you take him and equip him with a respectable load out, the most Z-95's you can get with him is four in a hundred point game.

Tactically however, fly that Z-95 into range one and suddenly its practically an X-wing for all intents and purposes. It has just enough hp to target lock at range three, and then carry the lock in so that shot it gets at range one gets focused+target lock. Awesome!

So to answer your question. Personally for 100pts, for game piece collection in terms of cards that come with it and how many ship models you can optimally use at a time, four is the max I would ever truly recommend. If you play Epic a lot, sure go ahead and do eight unless your doing Team Epic in which case between the two each having four, you can share and have eight that way. Now how much Fantasy Flight Games product you should buy? All of it. Support the game like a hero. Go for it. Buy thirteen. Twelve to play in Epic and one to put on a shelf and just so you can say you bought thirteen Headhunters. Good Hunting and God's Speed

The thing about z95s is that you don't have to fly them like a tie swarm at all. Target lock means they don't need a howlrunner wannabe buffing them all so they don't have to fly in close formation, so they also don't have to be vulnerable to well placed bombs or assault missile splash damage or roadblock ships breaking up the formation or inconveniently placed asteroids. You can split up, pick a target, converge on it from all sides, target lock each ship individually and blow it to chunks.

 larva_uk wrote:
The thing about z95s is that you don't have to fly them like a tie swarm at all. Target lock means they don't need a howlrunner wannabe buffing them all so they don't have to fly in close formation, so they also don't have to be vulnerable to well placed bombs or assault missile splash damage or roadblock ships breaking up the formation or inconveniently placed asteroids. You can split up, pick a target, converge on it from all sides, target lock each ship individually and blow it to chunks.

This. This is the reason that the Zwarm is the build everybody has been talking about lately.

I still just am not impressed by the Z in my own experiences. It's an ok ship but not good enough at anything for me to take more than one. But I don't care for running swarms anyway. Just doesn't fit my playstyle. If I feel like that I'll pick up my IG lol.

I'll run 3 talas w/cluster mis, lt blount and assault mis, bare Biggs

Z-95s are fantastic, because they're so cheap but yet pretty much as survivable as an X-Wing. Even stock Z-95s are great with no missiles, since more ships on the table is huge.

I'm never running a Rookie X-Wing again, when you can get 2x Z-95s for just 3 points more.

Sure, a few of them will die horribly to enemy fire, but that's fine. They cost as much as a TIE fighter but are going to be slightly more survivable, while giving Rebels a cheap filler unit to compensate for their more expensive ones.

I have a game scheduled for Wednesday night and plan to run this:

Cracken's Bandit Swarm

Airen Cracken (19)
- Assault Missile (5)
- Predator (3)
- Hull Upgrade (3)
(30)

4 Bandit Squadron Z95s (48)
- 2 Assault Missile (10)
- 2 Concussion Missiles (8)
- 4 Munition Failsafes (4)
(70)

100 points

Cracken is on point, the two other elements pair up with one assault an concussion missile each. Assault missiles from Cracken fires first, he drops back to one of the other elements to help with actions.

Hull upgrade is so he will not die from a critical "two hit" card.

Seems to be a lot of firepower.

From here.

IMO:

Blount + assault missile
Tala x6

Blount makes swarms cry, you don't depend on one-shot weapons, and PS 4 lets you match up favorably against anything but all-elites lists without spending too many points on a PS bid.

Try Z-95s with Biggs.

 Peregrine wrote:
IMO:

Blount + assault missile
Tala x6

Blount makes swarms cry, you don't depend on one-shot weapons, and PS 4 lets you match up favorably against anything but all-elites lists without spending too many points on a PS bid.

I've seen that list used to great effect.

 larva_uk wrote:
The thing about z95s is that you don't have to fly them like a tie swarm at all. Target lock means they don't need a howlrunner wannabe buffing them all so they don't have to fly in close formation, so they also don't have to be vulnerable to well placed bombs or assault missile splash damage or roadblock ships breaking up the formation or inconveniently placed asteroids. You can split up, pick a target, converge on it from all sides, target lock each ship individually and blow it to chunks.

Yep.

The second I saw how cheap the Z-95s were I knew what was going to happen. They definitely should have been a point or two more and/or PS1/3. Having two shields and target-lock gives them quiet the edge on the standard tie fighter before even getting around to the higher PS and being able to carry a missile. It also makes a mockery of the A-wing by being so cheap with a higher pilot skill.

I've been having pretty good runs with:
Z95, Blount, Assault Missile
Z95 Tala, Assault Missile, Munitions Failsafe
Z95 Tala
X-Wing, Red Squad
X-Wing, Red Squad

The 2 assault missile are just enough to mess with swarms while the 2 X's have the firepower to clean up ships damaged by the missiles. After that 5 ships (even if they are mostly Attack 2) are pretty potent once they start focus firing on your ships.

(EDIT) I've also had players tell me that the Z's and X's are so closely related that in their mind they keep seeing 5 X-Wings in formation and it messes with their head.