Here's my imp list. Captain Jonus (22) Squad Leader (2) Homing Missiles (5) Seismic Charges (2) Gamma Squadron Pilot (18) Assault Missiles (5) Cluster Missiles (4) Seismic Charges (2) Munitions Failsafe (1) Gamma Squadron Pilot (18) Assault Missiles (5) Cluster Missiles (4) Seismic Charges (2) Munitions Failsafe (1) Gamma Squadron Pilot (18) Proton Torpedoes (4) Cluster Missiles (4) Seismic Charges (2) Munitions Failsafe (1) Captain Kagi (27) Sensor Jammer (4) Gunner (5) Rebel Captive (3) Colonel Vessery (35) Outmaneuver (3) Heavy Laser Cannon (7) Cluster Missiles (4) "Howlrunner" (18) Determination (1) Academy Pilot (12) Academy Pilot (12) Academy Pilot (12) Soontir Fel (27) Push the Limit (3) Shield Upgrade (4) Stealth Device (3) Royal Guard TIE (0) Total: 300 View in Yet Another Squad Builder Park Kagi next to that bomber squadron, fly them in tight formation and point them at anything you want dead.

Yep, large turreted ships bore the hell out of me too. It's just running away for an hour while taking potshots at the ships dumb enough to follow you.

It's a tough call. I think the Lambda is the more useful ship overall, (as it's so cheap and you can do so much with it) but it's got a rather large learning curve. Once you learn it though, the Shuttle is very, very useful. I've never made a tournament list without one. The Decimator is fun if you like turrets and the "running-away" playstyle that comes with flying a turret. Oicunn is pretty fun though.

I'm thinking that VI will lose a lot of its luster once Torkil Mux comes into play. When you have the possibility of coming up against a ship that completely negates your PS...it makes that high PS grab much less viable.

Well, luck may not be real but that still doesn't rule out curses. My RPG dice will often go weeks without rolling higher than a 10 on a 20-sided die.

Maybe it's just me...but I find the idea of complaining about the price of a luxury item in a capitalist society to be terribly amusing.

I don't think the Defender needs an Engine Upgrade, but to each his own. I DO think you're being disingenuous with your second point though, or do you run Whisper without Advanced Cloaking Device? Whisper and Rexler pretty much cost exactly the same. Whisper w/ ACD & VI is 37 points, same as Rexler. That leaves Whisper with an open sensor & crew slot and Rexler with all his slots. At that point the difference between the two is that Whisper is better against low PS fighters, but gets hard countered by turrets. Rexler isn't hard-countered by turrets and has a good chance of hurting them 'cause he has a good chance of pulling off his ability against those low agi ships.

It's...pretty easy to clear stress. You have 4 ways to do it: 2 straight, 3 straight, 4 straight, 5 straight. Unless you play against opponents that make a giant conga line of ships in front of you to cover every range band...you'll clear your stress and be free and clear. If you're mad that you can't change facing when clearing stress, get an Engine Upgrade. If those aren't good enough, there's Wingman or the fantastic Yorr that benefits your entire squad. Or you could just fly Vessery and not care about stress at all. You could even ::gasp:: be stressed for a turn. I'll let you in on a secret, having a stress on your ship for one turn doesn't cause your ship to spontaneously combust.

Because unless a ship wins at worlds it's terrible. Don't see any flaws in this logic. To be honest, even sighting it merely at the top 32 would have made me happy. Firespray didn't make it in the top 32 either. And the Firespray is a good ship. There's a big difference between a ship being good and being good in the current meta.

Because unless a ship wins at worlds it's terrible. Don't see any flaws in this logic.

I disagree. I've seen the TIE Defender used VERY effectively in concert with other ships. OK, it has a weakness (stress). That is pretty much it's ONLY weakness - but it's hardly an insurmountable one, especially for Imperials. Again, a bad craftsman blames their tools. A good craftsman learns how to use them effectively. I have seen the Tie Defender used VERY effectively too, but not consistently. Its ONLY weakness is stress? For 30 to 50 points you have: Only 1 action, forget push the limit on this ship (really not that big of a deal, but no sensor slot, no crew slot, no tricks up your sleeve). No evade, its sometimes difficult not to get ionized. No boost, its a ship that works best flying past enemies, a native boost would have gone a long way. No sensor slot. Lowest durability out of all elite ships, according to Major Juggler's math the T/D has jousting efficiency rivaling that of the Tie Advanced. Only 2 named pilots. Difficulty turning due to red hard 2's and 1's. Somewhat predictable dial. Easily blockable K-Turn. Argue what you want, but the Tie Defender is an expensive ship and it has a lot of short comings for what should have been the most advanced Imperial Fighter. Having people try to come up with interesting tittle cards to change the ship's performance, in the case of this topic, easier stress mitigation, is absolutely not unreasonable. You know that most of your points apply to most of the ships in the game, right? A few big points of contention I have though...as far as durability, Major Juggler did the math on it and it came out just under the Firespray. It's pretty dang durable. Major Juggler's math also shows that the jousting values of the named pilots (especially Vessery) are pretty dang good. I also don't agree about the dial. It has every bang and turn in the game. Sure, the 1's & 2's are red, but I've only ever had to use one of those once in all the time I've played the Defender. I also don't see how a dial can be predictable when it has every maneuver in the game but a straight 1. I also don't agree that the K-Turn is easily blocked. Most of the time your opponent can't do anything about it. I do think the PS3 pilot is pretty useless. The PS1 pilot is pretty decent with an Ion cannon. Brath can win you the game if his ability triggers (easier now with Fleet Officer) and Vessery is just a monster. When playing to its strengths as a long range, durable cannon platform it's actually a pretty amazing ship.

If you're that worried about stress...just run Vessery. Another reason why Vessery is entirely amazing. But really, stress isn't a big deal. If you're far away from your targets (which you should be in a defender) moving straight doesn't really hurt you. Or you could run Yorr, or a ship with wingman, or a ship with Fleet Officer. With a Fleet Officer ship nearby, you can keep stress on a Defender for a long time if you have to and not even feel it. And while I'm on the subject; if you haven't tried Fleet Officer yet, try it and be amazed. Easily one of the best cards for Imperials and really opens up the Imperial design space.

I've actually found them (especially Vessery) to be quite amazing. I've wiped out entire swarms with one Defender. Not to mention that a Defender flat out murders B-Wings.

Well, within means that the ship has to reside entirely within range band 1 or range band 2 when measuring. With "at" you just need to touch that point. It depends entirely on how FFG does the measuring. If you just slap a range ruler down next to a ship, the ship itself touches range 1, so it's at range one of itself. The only way you can be "within" range 1 of yourself is if they would allow you to measure distance by laying the range ruler on top of your own ship. That's a call that only FFG can really make, 'cause the rules as written don't really support it. Right, within means wholly within. Draw a circle around a ship that shows where range 1 extends to around the ship. Is the ship completely within this circle? Of course it is. So it is wholly within the range 1 band. I agree this should be in the faq to alleviate any debate, But you can't tell me that their ruling for a ship being at range 1 of itself doesn't hint that the ruling would also apply to within. Well, this is what within actually means: If the entire base of a ship is between points A & B, it is within range 1. And if the entire base is between B & C it is within range 2. If part of a base is between A & B and the other part is between B & C then it is within range 1-2. Just a single point of a base needs to touch any point of range 1 including the end to be "at" range 1. The only way a ship can be within range 1 of itself is to lay the ruler on top of itself. Remember, all ranges in this game are determined by the range ruler itself. So, if FFG allows you to lay the ruler on top of a ship when measuring, yes it can be "within" range 1 of itself. If not, then it can't.

Well, within means that the ship has to reside entirely within range band 1 or range band 2 when measuring. With "at" you just need to touch that point. It depends entirely on how FFG does the measuring. If you just slap a range ruler down next to a ship, the ship itself touches range 1, so it's at range one of itself. The only way you can be "within" range 1 of yourself is if they would allow you to measure distance by laying the range ruler on top of your own ship. That's a call that only FFG can really make, 'cause the rules as written don't really support it.

How is this tricky? It can target up to two ships at Range 1-2. A ship is at range 1 of itself, we know this from several sources. What is the doubt as to the answer here? Because Fleet Officer states within range 1-2. The FAQ says "at" which is entirely different from "within" in X-Wing rules. Sadly we'll have to wait for another FAQ.

I think I'm one of the few people that doesn't really have a problem with ordnance. Used at the right time and in the right circumstances they are quite amazing. If you fire off a missile the first time you get a target lock...yeah, they're pretty terrible. But if you plan your approach and plan your target they can be quite ridiculous. The great thing about ordinance is spike damage. Often times you can take a ship off the board before it can even shoot. That's well worth the 3-4 points if I can take out a 25+ point ship in a single shot. And depending on the build, you can make ordinance pretty reliable. One of my favorite loadouts is Vessery w/ Ion Cannon, Outmaneuver & Cluster Missiles. I can't tell you many times I've taken out a ship in one round with that. Boba Fett w/ APT, Rec Spec & Deadeye is also a monster. You're pretty much guaranteed to roll 5 hits with that. Jonus with multiple bombers w/ cluster missiles is always good fun. It just comes down to the proper loadout with the proper build at the proper time. I wouldn't waste a proton torpedo on a shielded ship, but I would certainly use a concussion missile. I'm okay with holding a target lock on a ship until I line up a good shot. Then when my 5 point homing missile kills or cripples your 30 point Soontir, I don't consider it wasted points at all. The less and less ships you see on the board (which has been the trend lately) makes ordinance better and better. Same with ions. Sure sometimes I'll lose a ship before it gets it's shot off, but you can say that about a lot of upgrades. I just think a lot of people say they suck just because of what other people say or because they haven't given them a fair shake. I've been experimenting with them a lot lately and have actually been quite surprised.

Ugh. These "the proper way to play with plastic toys" threads always end up terrible. Situations like these aren't binary and depend entirely on the circumstances. Sometimes I let people take their missed actions, sometimes I don't. It depends on each individual situation.

Actually it was Enhanced Scopes. That would also keep them at the same 29 point cost as what's already in Gadge's list. ACD is kind of a waste on a PS3 pilot. Pretty much everyone will shoot before he gets to recloak. With Stygium you may not get to decloak every turn...but it's a bit safer overall. Then with the combo of Intelligence Agent and Enhanced Scopes it's easy to stay out of trouble.

I honestly don't see a problem with A-Wings. For 15 points, you get an AMAZING blocker with the prototype. If I have the points, I'll take a prototype over a Z-95 every time. The Green Squadron Pilot is also a good buy. 17 points with Chardaan and you can outfit them in many interesting ways. If you need firepower, you can slap Opportunist on one. 21 points for a pretty tanky small ship that has a great dial and good actions isn't too shabby at all. Jake and Gemmer are also pretty good. There's a lot of roles that A-Wings can fill in your list. They aren't really a "filler ship". I like to think of them more as a "spec ops" ship. You can do some crazy things with a GSP and two EPTs.

Just to throw this in too, depending on the availability you may not see many Phantoms and Han's in your area and may see a lot of Dashs & Decimators instead.

As far as TIEs vs A-Wings, I think this would be a good matchup vs a 7 TIE Howlrunner swarm: Green Squadron Pilot (19) x5 Predator (3) Chardaan Refit (-2) Total: 100 The GSPs move after and shoot before the Academies. They are more durable and can boost out of arcs. They are also somewhat immune to blocking due to Predator. With Predator, they can use their entire dial (which is better than the TIEs). Would be a fun match to watch.

Yeah I can never get it right. It's easier said than done. Depending on the software you use you may be able to do some loudness normalization. Depending on how much it needs to adjust the sound of quiet person, it can hurt the quality, but it's pretty easy to do.

15 point A-wing is very, very competitive. If I have the points, I will use it over a z-95 every time.

Since no one mentioned it yet, here is Theorist's idea for a fix: A title card, TIE Advanced only - 0 points. When attacking, the TIE advanced gives a stress to the defender. I LOVE this idea. It gives the Imperials an actual control ship AND gives the advanced an actual role. Maarek still won't be worth it, but I would gladly pay 21 points for a Tempest. A hard to kill ship that can stress other ships at range 3? Yes please.