Ive been running 2 lists that run 4 ships, ive yet to lose with my 4 tie int list and my 2 tie 2 adv list has only lost once and that was more due to me playing like a tit

deviant-dj said:

what upgrades do u use?

is vader one of the advanced ties? or do u run 2 storm squadron pilots (23pts each)

What about making regular TIEs into pseudo-Interceptors? How about this:

Turr Phennir with Push the Limit (this combo will be a staple in my Imperial squads from now on. I've used it very effectively every time I've run it. It's beautiful when I can attack, then duck out of the way and not get attacked back. :)

Mauler Mithel with Engine Upgrade

Backstabber with Engine Upgrade

Dark Curse with Stealth (another beautiful combo. Hasn't taken a hit yet.)

Academy Pilot

Essentially, giving Boost to Mauler and Backstabber give them the maneuverability of the Interceptor, and their abilities give them the extra dice. So you're effectively getting Interceptors for cheaper, with higher Pilot skills. Yes, I know, the extra dice are in the given situations, but still. And the maneuvers are a little different, but not by much. Thoughts?

And as an added plus, I can actually field this squad now without using proxies, as I have 1 Interceptor.

hothie said:

nice synergy hothie. i like dark curse + stealth. very sneaky. the high squad point cost of the intercepters in comparison to tie fighters (even the name ones) makes it hard to field a team with more than 2 intercepters thats good enough eh? Turr = the new Vader.

The_Brown_Bomber said:

Yeah, this gives the feel of interceptors at a reduced cost, which leaves points available for an Academy Pilot. And it's difficult to compare Turr and Vader because the ships are so very different (shields, maneuverablilty, upgrades, stats), but I can say having Push the Limit on Turr is absolutely wonderful, at least for my play style.

Hothie, nice roster! 

Fel with PTL is superb, same with Dark Curse using a Stealth field. Been toying around with those two aswell.

But I've found another hard named empire pilot who is hard to kill.

• Turr Phennir w/Daredevil

You don't have to fly at the enemy with him, instead trying to always get to the side of the enemy ships, then executing his daredevil action to bring him into the enemy side, where he can shoot at him, but not getting shot back. And as you fire at him you can then move again, either out of the way or preapare to follow the previous target to finish him of. :)
But you really need to be good with the turns here. ;)
Using Darth Vader with squad tactics, means that he can first make his move, do the daredevil action, then getting a free action from darth, he can perfom a barrel or a boost, and after attacking, do a barrel or a boost again, but need to choose carefully on what he cooses first, as they are free actions and you can't do 2 of the same free action in the same turn. Insane maneuvering.. I love it already! :)

• Scoontir Fel w/PTL
• Turr Phennir w/Daredevil
• Dark Curse w/Stealth
• Saber Squadron pilot w/veteran
• Total: 99p

Gives you an edge against other 100 rosters and can manouver the hell out of almost everything.

Keep in mind Daredevil will give you a stress token, as it is a red maneuver. Therefore, if Turr uses that during the activation phase, he won't be able to take his free boost/barrel roll after attacking, because he will have a stress token, thus preventing him from taking those free actions. This is why I'm not a fan of Daredevil on Turr.

Instead, I prefer Push the Limit. During the activation phase, use any of his listed actions as necessary, then after attacking, either Boost or Barrel roll. Then activate Push the limit to use another action as necessary. My preference is to barrel roll, the boost out of my opponent's firing arc, thus I will attack him but he cannot attack back. You will then receive a stress token. Next round execute a green maneuver, of which the TIE Interceptor has plenty, rinse, and repeat. :)

hothie said:

So I played this today against Ziggy, and it worked really well. He took Turr out quickly, but even so, this squad still had enough firepower to take out his Turr, Howlrunner, and Krass, only losing the Academy Pilot to a well-placed proximity mine. It was a fun game, which we knew it would be right off because we loaded the asteroids in the middle of the board. He had a Firespray, so I knew maneuvering through the field would be difficult, and it proved to be. He probably should have relied on his auxiliary firing arc more while getting into clear areas to fire and maneuver. Oh, and Stealthed Dark Curse still hasn't taken a hit yet in 3 games. I like this squad. I boosted a few times with Backstabber and Mauler, which helped, and had a lot of fun barrel rolling into and out of firing arcs.

hothie said:

gr8 feedback. good to see ur putting up some decent results already, i can help but think two intercepters is optimal but there simply isnt room with this nimber of name pilots so u will have to rob peter to pay for paul which is tough as u have already got decent synergy. im gonna do some testing and tweeking witha  simlar build.

Yeah, giving Boost to Backstabber and Mauler really worked well. Backstabber got to use his ability a few times, so it was like shooting with an Interceptor. If I were to use more actual interceptors, I would have to get rid of the Academy Pilot, and that 5th ship really makes a big difference. Especially since I can use him to "block". I can't really do that with any of the other ships in the squad. So, I'm happy with the build.

hothie said:

I haven't playtested at all, so I'm looking for your feedback of having actually played a couple sessions… it seems as though Push the Limit is overkill on Turr. How often do you find the PTL free action to be "critical"? The reason I ask is because, for 1 point less, you can take Veteran Instincts on Turr (making him PS9), and initiative for the game (PTL costs 3 vs VI costs 1 and a 99 point build "costs" 1.) As was mentioned above, you'll outmaneuver Wedge all day long.

Oh, using PtL comes up every single game with Turr.

Imagine I am facing your ship at Range 1. Turr has pilot level 7, and yours is less than that, so I attack first. I make my attack, I then use my free barrel roll action. Then with Push the Limit, I use the boost action. I am now no longer in your firing arc. So I attacked you at range 1, rolling 4 dice, and now you can't attack me back. Plus, in one of the games, after attacking at range 1, my barrel roll and boost action got me out of Range 2 of the ship behind me, so now I was at range 3, AND I was hiding behind an asteroid. So, now my rolling 3 defense dice against the ship behind me just went to rolling 5 defense dice after I made my attack. That was absolutely beautiful, and totally worth it. You can trick Turr out any way you want, and have fun doing it. For me and my play style, I'm sticking with Push the Limit on him.

Im quite liking the 1-2 punch combo of purr and fel, im debating losing my 2 unamed ints and sticking vader with push the limit and either concusion or homing missiles just to get close, take out something important then boost past.

A little disclaimer for those who may be reading this thread for advice, and haven't actually tried out the Interceptors yet.

An Interceptor is a lot of points for one attack die and the same survivability as a Tie Fighter.  Their largest strength is maneuverability (maneuver dial coupled with boost action) and that extra attack die is just a bonus.  Keep that in mind when you field them for the first time, because if you fly straight at your opponent and are both firing range 1 shots at eachother, your Interceptor will die just as quickly as an Academy Pilot.