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Hey all,

For those who looked at my previous poll post, I have more or less decided on Palpatine Defenders for my list going to the CT regionals in late January. And so far I have rather enjoyed practicing with the following list

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Palpatine Defenders (DX)
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510th Imperial Escort Squadron

100 points
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Maarek Stele (35)
TIE Defender (35), Juke (2), TIE/x7 (-2)

Colonel Vessery (36)
TIE Defender (35), Tractor beam (1), Adaptability (0), TIE/D (0)

Omicron Group Pilot (29)
Lambda-Class Shuttle (21), Emperor Palpatine (8)
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View: http://xwing-builder.co.uk/view/614497/palpatine-defenders-xd
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I've had a pretty good success rate (4-3 and several of my wins have been 100-0 (or 100-14 if my opponent got half points on the shuttle) where my losses have been close) so far (with these being my first games with a large based ship), and in most of my losses I could easily ID a tactical decision I made that was just WRONG that led/contributed strongly to the loss - giving Miranda the space to fire 4 Torpedoes at Maarek Stele (tonight) with an extra die attack on all of 'em because I hadn't taken any shots to strip her shields was not smart.

But I'm sort of wondering about Juke on Maarek. I've been finding that a lot of the time he's shooting at a ship Vessery has already hit with a tractor beam... and with k-wings and falcons and ghosts (oh my!), the juke really hasn't kicked in very often. So much so that I'm contemplating giving Vessery VI and Maarek adapt so that they're both at ps8 (with a 1 point initiative bid or a twin engine Mk II for one Defender at 100).

It seems like there's a pretty big difference in attacking/ moving at PS 8 over 7 - much bigger than the 1 number would imply because there are a lot of pilots at ps8 either natural or with vi and 7 seems like a distinctive disadvantage.

So what do y'all think? Should I boost my ps? Or just Vessery and maybe give Maarek crack shot (so I can get a critical hit through, perhaps)? Even cool hand and lighting reflexes seem like they could justify the point (surprise value if nothing else)...

probably swap the title load outs for the defenders. the tracotr beam would be best on the highest PS pilot you have as not to be wasted on only 2 (assuming the shuttle is in arc etc) ships.

As built above, both Vessery and Maarek are at ps 7. And Vessery definitely gets the biggest boost from his pilot ability with the -D title.

The question is: do I use VI on Vessery to bring him to 8, and if so, what 0-1 point upgrade do I give Stele? I don't _need_ him at the same ps as Vessery (though there are movement order benefits) so I can skip Adaptability for something else. But if so, what? Trick shot could be fun... especially against ghost/ Biggs lists with tactical jammer (hmm, and with Vessery potentially putting enemy ships on rocks...). A score to settle will likely be good when it's released, but does me no good for the January tournament (I'm betting).

Crack Shot also has potential (though I am skeptical of the one-time use)... cool hand could let me get an evade on a 1- or 2-turn. Lightning reflexes could be another surprise maneuver and that's about all that seem useful.

Or is ps7 probably good enough that I shouldn't ditch juke on Stele?

My apologises, i didn't see the adaptability on Vessery

i haven't played the Defenders with Juke yet so i can't tell you if it is a good combo. on paper sure.

No worries. FWIW, a very typical Palp Defender list is Vessery, juke/x7 and Ryad ptl/eng mk 2/x7 w/ OG pilot Palpatine. Juke works well for x7 Defenders 'cause they almost always get the evade token. Vessery shoots before Ryad, so she takes TL and focus, Vessery gets the free TLs and has his own focus and evade tokens. And juke adds a bit of extra offensive oomph. (YouTube will back me up, it's strong).

When I last ran Vessery with tractor beam/ -D, I also gave him vi to be at ps parity with Omega Leader. And I don't really remember the ps being an issue.

The fact that I'm noticing it now (running ps7) should probably tell me something. So I'm probably going to adjust and take VI Vessery.

That means, though, that I no longer have the points for Juke on Stele. But because he's going to be throwing crits (hopefully), it helps to shoot after Vessery (and as I think I mentioned above, Juke doesn't seem to have made a big difference against targets that Vessery has already tractor beamed), so Adaptability isn't necessary for him.

Now adapt (or trick shot) also gives me the point to add twin ion engine Mk II (probably on Stele) but I wonder if crack shot or another 1 point EPT is a better choice

Crack Shot might sound like a throw away, but it's good. And if you use it early enough, people don't seem to mind it... but it's the first of the paper cuts.

Ran the ps 8 Vessery and crack shot Stele version of the list to a 3-0 at the FLGS weekly tournament tonight (though the guy who came in 2nd had better mov than me despite going 2-1).

I'm finding that Vessery at ps8 is a fairly big force multiplier. If I get the initiative, I can tractor opponents out of arc (or into Stele's) and if I don't, they have less arc dodging ability.

On three occasions (one in each game) in this week's tourney I was able (or possibly able) to take an opponent I'd bumped with Stele and move it into firing arc. In game 1 i threw the other ship on a rock, which in retrospect wasn't the best move. In game 2, I bumped, tractored back out and fired the kill. And in game 3, I threw a block on Fenn Rau with Maarek, but missed the tractor beam. But it would've been devastating if it had worked (and it skipped Fenn Rau's shot)

I offer some thanks to the jake a-wing player who had a moldy crow passing focus tokens to give jake a barrel roll to negate my blocks a few weeks ago. Tractor beams are fun too.