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With the release of the Imperial Assault Carrier, I was looking at a swarm with Youngster.

Youngster + Expose + Stealth Device

Obsidian Squad

Obsidian Squad

Obsidian Squad

Obsidian Squad

Obsidian Squad

Obsidian Squad

That is a 7 ship swarm and by using Obsidian, they will shoot before base ships like the blue squad B-wing, base x-wing, other tie academy swarms, etc. Expose on Youngster gives all the ships the potential to deal high levels of damage. Youngster would be the only ship not using expose in favor or focus or evades. The obsidians in a single turn can roll 18 attack dice total without being in range 1. Even is my opponent kills one of them, they should be able to do a huge amount of damage.

Should I stick with the stealth device on Youngster or give him a hull upgrade instead.

Honestly, Expose doesn't do much over normal focus- it adds a half-point of damage on average, while Focus adds a quarter point per die, meaning it adds a half to three-quarters of a hit, in exchange for taking a lot more damage (5/8s for losing a focused evade die, plus another half-point for not focusing your other evade dice).

In contrast, Marksmanhip on Youngster adds the same amount of damage as a focus action, plus extra from being able to land Crits. In exchange, you only suffer three-quarters of a point more damage versus conventional focus.

Expose does give you the possibility to get three damage on an attack. I guess it comes down to how big of a risk taker are you? focus/marksmenship lets you hit more consistently with two dice while expose can hit much harder with three dice.

Marksmanship also lets me score crits with great consistency.

I'm for marksmanship over expose. While the possibility of 3 dice is tempting, focus pushes more damage through. The key with this list is knowing when to use Marksmanship and when not to.

Indeed. Expose gives you extra red dice - thats best when you already have another way of modifying dice - either because howlrunner is one of your other ships, or because the ships supporting youngster are black squadron pilots with predator.

Thought about it, and here's how I'd use an Expose-based TIE Swarm.

Youngster
-Expose

Howlrunner

Black Squadron Pilot
-Push the Limit

Black Squadron Pilot
-Push the Limit

Black Squadron Pilot
-Push the Limit

Academy Pilot

Idea being that the Black Pilots will use Push the Limit to grab an extra die and focus. This, combined with the re-roll from Howlrunner gives me a nearly fully boosted attack. Academy Pilot will also expose, hoping to draw fire from my more valuable ships (I didn't have the points for anything better).

Interesting. I was thinking nearly the same thing last night as well. But more of an ace swarm.

Youngster: Expose, Stealth
Howlrunner: Predator, Stealth
Dark Curse
Maulerfiend Mithel
Scourge

Admittedly your larger swarm will win out, but I like this as well. One PS6, 3 at PS7, and one at PS8. Everyone has 3 dice to shoot, except for MM or scourge who can get 5 at R1, everyone re-rolls attacks (with predator on HR)

A list I saw on the FFG forums I'm probably going to try:

Howlrunner
Youngster: Expose
Scourge: Crack Shot
Black Squad: Crack Shot
Black Squad: Crack Shot
Black Squad: Crack Shot

 Crazyterran wrote:
A list I saw on the FFG forums I'm probably going to try:

Howlrunner
Youngster: Expose
Scourge: Crack Shot
Black Squad: Crack Shot
Black Squad: Crack Shot
Black Squad: Crack Shot

In YaXWMSB

That's pretty nasty. 4x Crack Shot is just vicious. You could, if you wanted, drop Expose down to Marksmanship to save 1pt. and get another Crack Shot on Howlrunner. I hate seeing empty EPTs.

I like Steamdragon's modification. That's nasty.