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Didn't see this posted here, FFG has posted up a pilot preview: http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=4572

Tetran Cowell looks like a lot of un, 1 speed k-turns ftw!

Very Nice...

The Royal Guard looks scary, really destructive. The Saber Squadron Pilots will need a bit of playtime to figure out the kinks, but their abilities look great!

Edit:

After a second look, I think that Tetran Cowall with veteran instincts could be really, really good. Adrenaline rush could also be quite useful. Adrenaline Rush + boost means that you could basically make a 180 turn without moving.

Lt. Lorir, however, looks a bit less viable, as like most Interceptors he wants to move after his enemy, but he has a rather low pilot skill.

Carnor Jax's ability is just evil if used right.

IMO:

Lt. Lorrir: not a bad "extra" ship to throw in, but I'm not sure I'd count on him. His ability effectively gives a slightly better PTL boost + barrel roll at the cost of being able to use PTL to stack focus + evade when you need defense. He should be great at close-range maneuvering against low-PS opponents, but his ability is much less effective against high-PS pilots and almost worthless against turrets. And when you're at long range or have multiple separate ships to deal with then he's going to be dead very fast with only 3 HP and no focus + evade stack.

Tetran Cowall: pretty good, and might be a worthy second interceptor after Fel. The PTL slot makes a big difference, PS 7 is enough to use the variable k-turn as a reactive maneuver against everyone but the highest-tier pilots, and the price is right. Being able to just declare "I'm making a k-turn" in planning and then pick that huge range between 1 and 5 is an amazing reactive ability. And, as the b-wing has demonstrated many times, just having the ability to make a short k-turn can be priceless in tight situations where a long k-turn means a collision. The main downside is that PTL keeps you from making k-turns, so you have to forfeit an action and commit to making that k-turn the turn before you do it.

Kir Kanos: disappointing at best. Again, no PTL is very bad on an interceptor. And his ability is kind of awkward to use: you need to be facing higher-skill pilots so that you can decide whether to spend your action on offense after you've seen if you need the evade token, against low-skill pilots using PTL to stack actions is usually better. And against the best high-skill pilots (Wedge/Han/etc) having only a single defensive action means you die. And finally, you only get it at range 2-3, where your guns are less effective, so a PTL interceptor can get the firepower advantage back by boosting into closer range and focusing.

Carnor Jax: very good, and another second pick after Fel. PS 8, PTL, and a very nasty ability that doesn't even take up an action. You entirely shut down defense against a range-1 kill shot, and force attacking ships to rely on target locks (if they have any) to boost their offense (and remember, at PS 8 committing to target lock Jax isn't always easy). And, as the article says, he can deny an action to a ship before he moves, and then deny the use of actions by ships once he moves into range of them. And, unlike Lorrir, you have stacked focus + evade to survive the long-range exchange and get in close where your advantages are greatest.

Gotta say, after seeing the Royal Guard guys, I find myself wishing that Imperials had a model who could work like Biggs.

Also, I am wondering about the potential for combining Carnor Jax and Captain Kagi. Jax shuts down focus/evade, and Kagi forces your opponent to target lock him. It would be very expensive, but I am thinking that it could form the core of a fairly good Elite Imperial list.

 Crazy_Carnifex wrote:
Also, I am wondering about the potential for combining Carnor Jax and Captain Kagi. Jax shuts down focus/evade, and Kagi forces your opponent to target lock him. It would be very expensive, but I am thinking that it could form the core of a fairly good Elite Imperial list.

I think the biggest problem there is that it's too easy to just accept that your only offense-boosting ability is going to Kagi and kill him first. Shuttles aren't that durable, and taking that 3-attack (or better) ship off the table is a worthy accomplishment even if it's not the exact ship you want to kill. And when you've spent all of your points on close-range action denial you're going to be really screwed when you end up fighting someone with a marksmanship list (especially on the Falcon) and they laugh at the fact that marksmanship turns eyeballs into death without actually being a focus action.

Then there's also kind of a metagame problem in that rebel lists right now favor low-agility ships. A y-wing/b-wing/YT-1300 doesn't really care if you strip its defensive action since it relies on raw HP instead of dice results, so that severely reduces the value of action denial. I can see taking Jax because a PS 8 interceptor is solid and the ability is certainly a relevant one, but I'm not sure I'd want to spend a bunch of points on supporting him.

Imperial Aces is now listed as "on the boat"! So we should have boxes in hand by March.

 MythicalMothman wrote:
Imperial Aces is now listed as "on the boat"! So we should have boxes in hand by March.

I don't know whether this reflects release dates for other retailers, but the official one at Barnes and Noble for the Aces pack as well as the rebel transport and corellian corvette is listed as 4/23/2014 on their website.

Imperial Aces Expansion Pack

Tantive IV Expansion Pack

Rebel Transport Expansion Pack