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I've been thinking of a squadron representing Palpatine's personal shuttle and Royal Guard escorts. The shuttle pilot is the first question; Jendon and Yorr are Vader's shuttle pilots, so they're out. Kagi was apparently the clone pilot of the shuttle Palpatine used to pick up Anakin from Mustafar - if he's still flying his master around twenty years later, he must be pretty good at his job.

So, upgrades. Emperor Palpatine, obviously, but then what? A Stealth Device, going by the Wookieepedia page. I'd be inclined to add a Sensor Jammer to add to the survivability. I was thinking of leaving the cannon sot empty, but if there's something thematically appropriate, let me hear it.

As for the bodyguards, I was thinking of a Shield and Hull upgrade on both of a pair of Royal Guard TIE Interceptors. Wingman seems appropriate for at least one of them, as does Draw Their Fire.

I've still to decide on the opposing force (probably elite X-Wing or A-Wing pilots seems appropriate) or the exact scenario; simply lining up and shooting at each other seems wrong. Something along the lines of keeping Palpatine alive for a number of turns or until he reaches a certain location. Or perhaps have additional Imperial reinforcements arrive as the turns go by - Darth Vader and Maarek Steele would be relevant here, I suppose; they've done it before.

Any thoughts on this, or other thematically interesting matchups?

Kagi is canonically the Emperor's shuttle pilot, but at the same time he's not the ideal - he is very expensive, and his ability isn't all that great.

Two TIE interceptor Aces benefit well from Palpatine's ability, as do Advanced Aces - Vader and Stele historically saved palpatine at one point in TIE fighter - granted I think they were in defenders at the time, but we'll let that one go....

Sensor Jammer is a good idea. Stealth device....I'll be honest, it's not great. Stealth device gets discarded the first time you're hit, and you're unlikely to dodge even the first attack. I'd rather take countermeasures, which, whilst it only lasts for one turn, lasts the whole turn, and lets you burn off a target lock into the bargain. Alternatively, try an engine upgrade - it's surprising how fast a shuttle is with one, and since it's only trying to avoid a fight, not line up shots, you can afford to keep the hammer down.



Royal Guard are awesome, but the problem is that they are rather dependent on Push The Limit - they're best used not with Wingman or Draw Their Fire (which requires them to stay at range 1 of the unwieldy shuttle) but 'flying loose' and actively hunting down any threat whilst the Emperor provides direct assistance....


Suggested List:

Omicron Group Pilot - Sensor Jammer, Emperor Palpatine, Countermeasures

Royal Guard Pilot - Push The Limit, Royal Guard TIE, Shield Upgrade, Hull Upgrade

Royal Guard Pilot - Push The Limit, Royal Guard TIE, Shield Upgrade, Hull Upgrade

OGP and Palpatine
Vader with Predator, Title, ATC, Engine
Fel, Title, PTL, Autothrusters and Stealth Device

Nasty... nasty list if you can fly the arc dodgers right.

I did this with OGP, Palps, HLC
2X RG Tie-Int, PTL, Title, Shield, Stealth.

Rolling 4 defense with an Evade Token along with with Palps ensuring at least 1 evade dice keeps the TIEs alive a long time.
The OGP moves slow and pings from range with the HLC. If Palps was not needed on defense he can always add a Crit to the table.
If the enemy closes the shuttle the TIEs eat him long before he can get enough damage.
In my test match I ended up tabling dual falcons with a damaged shuttle, damaged TIE, and the other TIE untouched (still had Stealth).

 Anpu-adom wrote:

OGP and Palpatine
Vader with Predator, Title, ATC, Engine
Fel, Title, PTL, Autothrusters and Stealth Device

Nasty... nasty list if you can fly the arc dodgers right.

Yeah, really nasty....but not legal for standard games. It's 101 points. Vader can take a 1 or 2 point EPT. Predator is 3.

I usually put VI on Vader for a 1 point initiative bid.

I would have thought my opening post would have made it clear that we weren't talking "standard" games. :(

Admittedly, I was initially trying to fit this group into 100 points, but I'm reconsidering; swap one of the Royal Guard TIE Interceptors for one of the named pilots, perhaps, to mix up the pilot skill values.

 AndrewGPaul wrote:
I would have thought my opening post would have made it clear that we weren't talking "standard" games. :(

Admittedly, I was initially trying to fit this group into 100 points, but I'm reconsidering; swap one of the Royal Guard TIE Interceptors for one of the named pilots, perhaps, to mix up the pilot skill values.

Re-read your OP....no mention of non-standard games made. You only talked about thematic lists. There's nothing wrong with that but when someone talks about lists, even thematic ones, they usually make them 100 points or less.

I miscounted... yes. Vader with Lonewolf works with 3-ships lists, but is more effective in 2-ship builds. Veteran Instincts makes for interesting play against other Ace builds and is probably worth it to allow Fel to move after other Aces.
Carnor Jax is also useful if you don't want to play Vader or buy an Imperial Raider. Keeping him close to the shuttle prevents a lot of damage going through the Sensor Jammer.

 Zathras wrote:

 AndrewGPaul wrote:
I would have thought my opening post would have made it clear that we weren't talking "standard" games. :(

Admittedly, I was initially trying to fit this group into 100 points, but I'm reconsidering; swap one of the Royal Guard TIE Interceptors for one of the named pilots, perhaps, to mix up the pilot skill values.

Re-read your OP....no mention of non-standard games made. You only talked about thematic lists. There's nothing wrong with that but when someone talks about lists, even thematic ones, they usually make them 100 points or less.

To me, a "standard" game is 100 points, line up and shoot each other with no victory conditions. As soon as I mentioned a specific scenario condition (not just a "thematic list", but the whole setup including both fleets being tailored for the scenario), the game is not "standard". Apologies for being unclear. If a certain choice of pilots and upgrades is more appropriate, then the points values are an irrelevance.

By "more appropriate", I mean "suiting the theme", not necessarily more "efficient" or better.

Carnor Jax is also useful if you don't want to play Vader or buy an Imperial Raider.

No Raider, no Palpatine....

Fel and Vader are a nasty pairing. Personally I'd take Veteran Instincts or Adrenaline rush on Vader (the latter lets you come out of a K-turn and still get your lovely two actions...)

locarno24 wrote:

Carnor Jax is also useful if you don't want to play Vader or buy an Imperial Raider.

No Raider, no Palpatine....

Yep... my brain isn't attached to my mouth (fingers?) right now.
Anyone want to talk about putting Palpatine on a Phantom? How about what systems upgrades go best with Fel?



I'll just stop talking now.

locarno24 wrote:
No Raider, no Palpatine....

Not quite; I don't own a Raider, but finding out what the Emperor Palpatine crew card does wasn't beyond me.

Sadly not possible either. Palpatine takes up two crew slots, so only the raider corvette, gozanti carrier, decimator or shuttle can carry him

Anpu-adom wrote:
Yep... my brain isn't attached to my mouth (fingers?) right now.
Anyone want to talk about putting Palpatine on a Phantom? How about what systems upgrades go best with Fel?


I'll just stop talking now.

locarno24 wrote:Sadly not possible either. Palpatine takes up two crew slots, so only the raider corvette, gozanti carrier, decimator or shuttle can carry him

You are making it hard for me to stop talking...
Yes... I was pointing out a few other impossible situations... Fel can't take systems either. My brain was working... now that I'm awake, I remember that sarcasm doesn't translate well on the internet... and seemingly neither does self-deprecation humor.

It's a good thing that the Emperor can't tool around in a Phantom. It's already almost invincible when flown by a competent pilot... adding the ability to set a dice (without the downside of a 1 agility ship) would be simply too much.

I'm delving to my memory 20 years ago(!) but...

The TIE Fighter game had a specific mission where you were escorting Palpatines shuttle between two star destroyers. Naturally, the Rebellion attempts an ambush...

Not only that, but I believe in that exact same mission, you had Darth Vader flying as your wingman.

So.... How about Marek Stele, Vader in an Advanced, Palpatine? Shuttle has to cross a 6' by 3' lengthways

That would be a great mission.

 Compel wrote:
I'm delving to my memory 20 years ago(!) but...

The TIE Fighter game had a specific mission where you were escorting Palpatines shuttle between two star destroyers. Naturally, the Rebellion attempts an ambush...

Not only that, but I believe in that exact same mission, you had Darth Vader flying as your wingman.

So.... How about Marek Stele, Vader in an Advanced, Palpatine? Shuttle has to cross a 6' by 3' lengthways

The Emperor was in one of three Escort Shuttles (like a Lambda but heavier hull and shields, more powerful weapons and a rear turret - sodding annoying when you're trying to shoot them up with a TIE Fighter). There's you, Vader and four others in TIE Defenders, and when you hyper in, a couple of squadrons of traitor TIE Advanceds launch to attack you.

Or there's the mission (campaign 5, mission 1) where you find out that Admiral Harkov is a traitor; you start out by "training two rookies how to clear a minefield in an unshielded TIE Interceptor". Halfway through that, the two "rookies" are ordered to attack you (while you're still up to your elbows in laser mines), and then when you defeat them, subsequent waves of more Interceptors, Bombers and Advanceds show up, until you can flee the annoyingly long distance to the Star Destroyer sent to rescue you.