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Youve seen the Spoilers (if not, look in the other thread) but what do you plan to do with them?

The First Order Ties are quite a shift and I think it'll take a while to figure out exactly to do with them - 5 omega squadron pilots with push the limit is nice amd simple, but I worry you're losing too much firepower compared to a current howlrunner swarm.

The uniques are nice.... epsilon leader's superwingman ability makes me want to get him an engine upgrade and fly wing with PTL squints


The rebel stuff is more obvious. BB8 adds action-free barrel rolls - pair witj horton salm and a twin laser turret and you have an easy way to clear the turrets donut hole.

Poe plus auto thrusters plus lone wolf plus r5p9 can solo swarms with ease...

I'll be honest, I don't really expect the TIE-FO's to see much use over Academy Pilots for the most part. Poe I would consider running PTL over Lone Wolf, since you need the focus, and likely want to maneuver with boost.

Resistance and First Order are completely different factions, right? i.e. no mixing Rebellion with Resistance and so forth

 Flashman wrote:
Resistance and First Order are completely different factions, right? i.e. no mixing Rebellion with Resistance and so forth

Not according to the leaks, they can me mixed together. I won't be doing that though..I prefer to keep things era specific or fluff accurate.

 Thargrim wrote:

 Flashman wrote:
Resistance and First Order are completely different factions, right? i.e. no mixing Rebellion with Resistance and so forth

Not according to the leaks, they can me mixed together. I won't be doing that though..I prefer to keep things era specific or fluff accurate.

I think think that they have them as subfactions so that you don't suffer in terms of squad options with the new ships, but so they can potentially be split off or era-segregated at a later date.

The First Order TIE is a weird one -as noted it's much more like an Awing with 4 hits and green hard turns.

For omega squadron pilots, that's nice (they're just about tough enough to consider using more expensive things like ptl on) but epsilon squadron seems like an upgrade of durability in exchange for firepower.

Omega Leader is just scary though. If he can get to range 1 withPush The Limit, three crits of the primary weapon of a TIE ffighter is......unexpected.

The TIE/fo is superficially very similar to an A-Wing with chardaan refit - almost identical stats, and the dial has a lot of similarities. The two big differences are Barrel Roll and the 2-speed SLoops. That's more similar to a B-Wing, but the TIE/fo has the same awkward lack of 1 bank and 1 straight maneuvers that plagued the original TIE fighter.

It has no disadvantages compared to the original TIE fighter other than an increase in price. For 3 points (a price hike of 25%) you gain extra durability, slightly increased damage potential, and good dogfighting maneuver. I think it's worth it, but I don't think it obsoletes the old TIE. The new upgrade slot is an unkown quantity - for example, the Illicit upgrade slot has gained a lot of value, to the point where I consider Scum Z-95's to be far better than their rebel equivalents.

So how about them lists?

Howrunner is a less efficient in a TIE/fo swarm simply due to having 1 fewer ships to buff, but this still seems like a good choice. One thing to look out for is if we get a 1 point tech upgrade that is very strong for it's cost - there would be enough space in the list for every TIE/fo to take a 1 points upgrade, and still be at 98pts for an initiative bid.

Epsilon Leader is going to be an interesting choice all around, as his Super Wingman has a place in any list where shedding stress off of a formation of ship is desirable. An obvious choice is to make him the lynchpin of a TIE/fo swarm, allowing them to Kturn or Sloop without having to worry about stress on follow-up turns. Omega Ace with PTL would be his best buddy, as you can get the focus+target lock combo for crits every turn.

Zeta Ace's Super Barrel Roll makes him a poor choice for formation flying. I expect that he will be used to plug a 20pt hole in a list as a harasser with Lone Wolf (though I would rather have a TIE Advanced /w accuracy corrector for 1 more point).

I think one thing we may see is mixed Swarms of TIE's.

Howlrunner
3 Epsilon
3Academy

99 points

or

Howlrunner+some upgrades
2 Epsilon
4Academy

That's probably a good approach. Howlrunner lists often leave an awkward points gap, plugging it with TIE/fo's seems like a good approach (you can put them at the front of your swarm to absorb hits).

How about:
Howlrunner /w Determination, Stealth Device
4x Academy Pilot
2x Epsilon Squadron
100pts

or:
Howlrunner
Epsilon Leader
4x Academy Pilot
1x Epsilon Squadron
100pts