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Hello fellow Imperial Commanders!

Just picked up one of these. Love the model!
Any suggestions on builds and tactics for this baby?

My first few tries:

1] DeathRain: [44]
--- Munitions Failsafe, Fire-Control System, extra Munitions, Assault Missiles, Cluster mines, Conner Net.

2] Punisher squad: [100]
--- Cutlass Pilot: Twin ion engines, Accuracy Corrector.
--- Cutlass Pilot: Munitions Failsafe, Accuracy Corrector.
--- Cutlass Pilot: Cluster Mines.
--- Black 8 Pilot: ION Bombs.

In this squad would like to keep each ship to 25pts.

3] Punishers Incoming!: [200] { ok going a little nuts here }
--- Cutlass Pilot: Shield upgd, Accuracy Corrector, Cluster mines, Cluster mines.
--- Cutlass Pilot: Shield upgd, Accuracy Corrector, Cluster mines, Cluster mines.
--- Cutlass Pilot: Shield upgd, Accuracy Corrector, Cluster mines, Cluster mines.
--- Cutlass Pilot: Shield upgd, Accuracy Corrector, Cluster mines, Cluster mines
--- obsidian Pilot: x4

What builds do ye fine works good for this ship?
How are they against B-Wings? Seems to be our B-Wing, at least to me it does.

Thanks.

I've struggled to make the punisher work as a ship, as have a few others at my club. They seem fairly easy to destroy due to their one agility. Saying that the best way to run them, I've found, has been by using Redline with extra munitions, FCS, assault missiles, cluster missiles and shield upgrade, along with a swarm of two standard TIE Fighters, and two First Order TIE Fighters, one with a hull upgrade

A generic with an accuracy corrector is similar to a B-Wing. You also free up your actions for doing boosts.

Cutlass Squadron Pilot (21)
Accuracy Corrector (3)
Total: 24


If you want to use ordnance, Redline is a strong choice. You can also use the generic, though I feel like a regular TIE Bomber is a better choice for a generic missileboat. Cluster Missiles have a very strong synergy with Fire-Control system, you want to use those. Your other missiles are kind of personal preference; I like Assault Missiles, but Plasma Missiles are also a good choice. I generally don't take more than two (4 shots total /w extra munitions).

"Redline" (27)
Fire-Control System (2)
Extra Munitions (2)
Assault Missiles (5)
Cluster Missiles (4)
Total: 40

Deathrain is in a class of his own. There are a number of different ways you can build him, but I like using the bombs that trigger when a ship overlaps, along with enhanced scopes. This takes all the guesswork out of bombing.

"Deathrain" (26)
Enhanced Scopes (1)
Extra Munitions (2)
Proximity Mines (3)
Conner Net (4)
Total: 36

You can also make a more traditional bomber, but I'm not convinced that they're viable. I still think Fett and Chiraneau are the best Imperial bombers, purely due to their ability to "surprise proton bomb!" at PS8 or PS10.

I've enjoyed Deathrain he does go down pretty fast but I've had some great luck with him vs arc dodgers.

Deathrain
- Enhanced Scopes 1pt
- Experimental Interface 3 pt (optional) I usually go twin ion engine
+ what ever bomb combination

At most your near 40 points for deathrain. With EI you get to boost then drop a bomb allowing far better coverage, but most the time its not necessary with enhanced scopes.

If you want to use missiles and torpedoes you should use redline not deathrain. Redline's ability is too good not to cover him with bombs and enhanced scopes.

I actually tried Redline with 2 sets of Cluster Missiles, FCS, Extra Munitions, and Plasma Torpedoes. It was rather effective.

My strong MVP candidate for imperials right now:

Deathrain (40 points)
Advanced sensors
Extra munitions
Conner net
Proton bomb

Advanced sensors gives you a ridiculous number of bomb placement options, proton bombs make swarms cry, and conner nets make aces cry. Put it on the table and look at how many possible places a bomb can go. You've got action bombs and before dial bombs, proton bombs before or after a boost, conner nets before or after your maneuver, and all of them off the front or back of your ship. You just can't out-fly that many possible bomb locations, and the only question is how many bombs you're going to suffer before you kill Deathrain. And at only 40 points you have more than enough free to bring whatever other nasty stuff you want.

*redline with colonel jendon(with title st-321 card) gives redline his two target locks from the get go

*Fire control systems, as already mentioned, lets him get back his target locks after attacks
-Combo above with cluster missiles and extramunitions and you have a nasty double attack with re-rolls from the extra target locks that you get back after each shot from the missiles.

*epsilon leader can be helpful if you don't want to use twin ion engine mk.II to help remove stress

Oberron wrote:
*redline with colonel jendon(with title st-321 card) gives redline his two target locks from the get go

I'm not totally sure that Jendon works that way - he just passes the blue target lock token, which wouldn't proc redline's ability (has to actually acquire a target lock). If it does work, then you could do something like:

Colonel Jendon (26)
Fire-Control System (2)
Emperor Palpatine (8)
Engine Upgrade (4)
ST-321 (3)

"Redline" (27)
Fire-Control System (2)
Extra Munitions (2)
Plasma Torpedoes (3)
Cluster Missiles (4)
Proton Bombs (5)

"Wampa" (14)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Jendon passes Redline the needed target lock, which frees up Redline to focus, boost, or perform a red maneuver. Palpatine can either supercharge Redline's attack with a guaranteed critical hit result, or give it to Wampa for a shield-penetrating hit. Jendon's other upgrades help him contribute to the fight, rather than just being a pure Palpmobile.

Cutlass Squadron Pilot (21pt)
- Accuracy Corrector (3pt)
Total: 24 points

A simple but decent build, very similar to a B-wing and you can boost all day long! It's also fun to add bombs for not many more points!

For getting always 2 hits, 9 total health and good maneuverability its pretty strong.

It's not actually a bad plan. You'll need something in your list to deal with targets you can't reliably hit with 2 hits, thought -I don't think 4 punishers with accuracy correctors will work.

Although taking four with Twin Ion Engines MkII to open up their dial a bit too could be amusing, whether it's effective or not.

Has anyone had any success with a double Punisher build with the premium pilots?

I was thinking:

Redline + FCS + Extra Munitions + Plasma Torpedoes + Cluster Missles + Autothruster

Deathrain + Enhanced Scopes + Extra Munitions + Plasma Torpedoes + Cluster Mines + Cluster Mines + Autothrusters

Scourge + Wired

I haven't tried a list yet but I probably will at some point.

I don't think I'd take a punisher with autothrusters, you get -1 damage at range 3 (if you roll 1 of 2 blank) but that's about it since it only has 1 agility. Autotrusters only work if you roll a blank green dice, so when you have 1 die you have a lower chance at using it. If there was some way to use evades then that'd be far better (like jan ors crew).

I would probably do a list like:
Deathrain (26pts)
- Extra Munitions 2pt
- Enhanced Scopes 1pt
- Conner Net 4pt
- Proximity Mines 3pt
total: 36pts

Redline (27pt)
- Extra Munitions 2pt
- Fire-Control System 2pt
- Cluster Missiles 4pt
- Plasma Torpedoes 3pt or proton torpedoes 4pts
total 38-39pts

With 25-26 points left I would add a tempest squadron or royal guard pilot to finish it up, or I would add concussion missiles to deathrain and go from there.

I'm not a fan of cluster mines unless you can get one ship to hit at least 2 of them, which requires some precise movement. I like them on Emon Azzameen since he can drop them at multiple angles.

Deathrain is a bit awkward due to his bomb dropping, you move first and hit someone with a bomb, but then they move off and you likely wont have anything to shoot. A lot of deathrain's actions are spent on bomb drops or boosting to reposition so he wont be able to use missiles or torpedoes often.

 easypeasylemonsquezy wrote:

Deathrain is a bit awkward due to his bomb dropping, you move first and hit someone with a bomb, but then they move off and you likely wont have anything to shoot. A lot of deathrain's actions are spent on bomb drops or boosting to reposition so he wont be able to use missiles or torpedoes often.

I agree, which is why the plasma torpedoes are ideal (range 2-3), because he should get at least one shot off, possibly 2 before he ever gets into range 1 of something.

I just got the Punisher on pure looks. It looks like a lot of fun. Slow, will get hit a lot, but I hope to dish out more than it takes. We will see.

They evaporate remarkably quickly if your opponent so much as looks at them funny.

They're not a top level competitive choice, but build them under that assumption and I'd expect some mileage out of them.

Looking at the points once you've bought their missiles and bombs, the Punisher looks more like it was set up for Epic than normal games.
Its 1/3 of your list and not much more effective than a Y-Wing.

KellyJ wrote:
Looking at the points once you've bought their missiles and bombs, the Punisher looks more like it was set up for Epic than normal games.
Its 1/3 of your list and not much more effective than a Y-Wing.

Yep, this is pretty much my view on Punishers, in a dogfight a buzz-saw or doom shuttle is about the same points as a tooled up Punisher and will most likely be more effective

 Azreal13 wrote:
They evaporate remarkably quickly if your opponent so much as looks at them funny.

They're not a top level competitive choice, but build them under that assumption and I'd expect some mileage out of them.

I think the first part is what makes Deathrain the competitive option. Bombs happen before any shooting, so it's very hard to kill him without letting him have an effect on the game. In almost every game I've played that 40-point Deathrain I posted has justified its point cost with some combination of damage, ion control, and controlling movement with the threat of a bomb.

Curious Peregrine on what your lists look like with that deathrain.

TuddFudders wrote:
Curious Peregrine on what your lists look like with that deathrain.

I've been using Fel and a pair of academy pilot meatshields.