The thing about two Academy TIEs is they make great blockers. So they are good for action denial, helping your shuttle turn, etc. They are also pretty good at range 1. With 5 extra points, you could upgrade your OGP to Yorr. Then you could slap a TC on one of the TIEs, a crew on the Shuttle or save it for initiative. Then you could swap out Predator for Push the Limit on Brath. With Predator, you are generally only getting 1 re-roll. Push the limit can get you a full re-roll every turn with a target lock. It also helps out your action economy a lot. Defenders really, really want their focus for defense. So you can barrel-roll & focus, Target Lock & Focus, etc. With Yorr eating the stress for times when you can't go straight, it's pretty nice.

Yeah, I'm glad that there are barely any defense modifiers. I like that ships blow up very fast. Just like in the movies!

I have a legitimate question! So, for MoV aside from winning your match you want to destroy farm more points from your opponent than he/she destroys of yours, correct? Do you think that will have any kind of effect on list building? For example, flying a TIE swarm you need to lose a lot of ships before it really starts impacting your score, but if you lose a Firespray that's a lot of points. Is this an issue? Do you think that it will help steer people away from lists such as the double Falcon?

Ooops. Thanks for those, added to the list. Thanks for the commentary. Why do you think it won't see much competitive play?

First off, I like both the Firespray and the Defender but for different reasons. When you look really closely at the ships though, they are very similar in a lot of ways. The Firespray is generally loved and the Defender is generally hated. Why is that? I took a long look at the two trying to figure that out, which is below. Anyway, why all the Defender hate? Points are roughly equal, but have some odd differences: PS1 Defender - 30pts PS3 Defender - 32pts PS6 Defender w/ EPT & Pilot Ability (Vessery) - 35pts PS8 Defender w/ EPT & Pilot Ability (Brath) - 37pts PS3 Firespray - 33pts PS5 Firespray w/ Pilot Ability (Krassis) - 36pts PS7 Firespray w/ EPT & Pilot Ability (Kath) - 38pts PS8 Firespray w/ EPT & Pilot Ability (Fett) - 39pts So it seems the devs think the Firespray is worth 2 extra points EXCEPT when it comes to the Delta. Kind of odd. Benefits of the Firespray over the Defender: Tankiness - The Firespray is a tank. It can take a massive beating. Rear Firing Arc Crew Slot - LOTS of good upgrades here Bomb Slot Easy Torpedo Slot Evade Action Benefits of the Defender over the Firespray: Smaller size - harder for opponents to get into arcs and to block White K-Turn Better Pilot Abilities SLIGHTLY cheaper cost Better cannon platform with white K-turn and not needing to worry about rear arc. AGI 3 People talk about how good the Firespray dial is and how terrible the Defender dial is, but both the dials are remarkably similar: (ignore how it says "A-Wing" just pretend it's the Defender) The Defender can cover the same amount of area as the Firespray and even slightly more if you count the Barrel Roll. The defender doing a left 3 turn will cover about the same area as the Firespray's left 2 turn. On top of this, the Defender can Barrel Roll AND also has the option of a 1 or 2 turn (though they cause stress) For green movements, it is a lot easier for the Firespray to stay in the fight. The Defender's green movements are made for it to run away and come around again. The ships themselves are very similar, though I think the Firespray is more of a close-range brawler, whereas the Defender is a long-range sniper. I like them both, I just don't understand why one is universally liked and the other is universally hated.

According to the new FAQ, yes, that's how it works. First, crits your opponent received are resolved. THEN you may use Brath's ability. So your opponent would eat the Minor Explosion twice. Edit:

Totally. Different strokes for different folks. That's one thing I really like about this game. There's so many different combinations and the viability of ships/upgrades has a lot to do with how you personally fly them. Some combos that would be terrible for me would be fantastic for someone else. That's also why I don't like it when other people (not you) go into a thread and say, "This ship is bad and you should feel bad for using it." Just because something doesn't work for you, doesn't mean it's bad for everyone. There's a lot more to a ship than pointing it at an opponent and rolling red dice.

HLC on a Defender is a beautiful thing, I just don't think it works well on Brath. With a 4-die attack, Predator is nice, but it's way worse than a TL. With an HLC, you want to stay at range 3. However, at range 3 you'll be in a lot more arcs and have a higher chance of being shot at. If you spend your focus to attack, the Defender REALLY suffers on defense. I think Brath works a lot better as a close-range brawler. His PS-8 will give him a lot more chances to dodge arcs, especially equipped with an Engine Upgrade. Slap an Autoblaster on him also and for a combined 9 points he's a monster at close range. The autoblaster also increases his chances of not needing to spend that focus for his attack roll. Hell, an ion cannon on Brath is pretty good too. His ability helps to mitigate the only one point of damage thing. HLC on Vessery or a Delta is pure magic though.

I'm in the same boat of, "I'd rather not have HLC on Brath." To be fair though, I like the Delta & Vessery WAY better than Brath.

This article where "Echo" is refereed to as he, was not written by a fan, it was the preview for the Phantoms. Obviously Echo is a hermaphrodite. It's the only logical conclusion.

I'm a big fan of ST-321 & WE, myself. WE gives Vessery more options and lets the Shuttle get a target for itself AND one for Vessery. It also keeps your opponent guessing. ST-321 can lock targets that Vessery can shoot, but the shuttle isn't in range for. My current build is: Vessery w/ HLC & Outmaneuver Shuttle w/ ST-321, Weapons Engineer & Sensor Jammer Academy Pilot (x2) Vessery is set up as a flanker. If my opponent goes after Vessery, he gets chased by two TIEs and a Shuttle. If they go after the shuttle, the Sensor Jammer helps keep it alive for a long time while Vessery shoots them from behind. The TIEs are used for blocking, protecting the shuttle and just general mayhem. Whenever I've played this list, my opponents either go after the shuttle or Vessery leaving the TIEs ample opportunities for unmolested range 1 shots.

Sure, but they weren't a big draw before Vessery, right? They clearly weren't needed and certainly weren't optimal (the TIE has an excellent choice of actions for the points and purpose already), so you're really adding points to make Vessery useful. I'm not saying he's bad, he's just not as cheap and efficient as some are making him out to be. Yes, you do have to invest more points to get Vessery's ability to work. I prefer to use the shuttle, personally. But, you get a ship that's way, way, way more reliable than Brath in both damage and defense. When Brath's ability goes off...it's amazing. You can win a game with some good luck. But Vessery will easily roll 3-4 hits on every shot AND most likely still have his focus for defense. Not to mention that Brath needs either predator or PTL to really make use of his ability. Vessery can use Outmaneuver which makes him even deadlier. Brath will be a lot better once Fleet Officer is out, but then you're back to the problem of needing another ship to help him out. Again, IF Brath's ability goes off it's a game-changer. But Vessery is just far more consistent.

Good-bye EH Kath Scarlet...it was good while it lasted.

The problem I have with Ves is that he requires the assistance of other ships to make him work and is just PS 6. As others have pointed out, that can be tough/costly/suboptimal to do in an imperial list. I think a mistake that a lot of people make when trying to run Vessery is putting a TL on ALL of your ships. You really only need one or two. By the time your TL ships ends up dead, your opponent should be so far behind that it doesn't really matter if Vessery can use his ability or not. Also, Vessery being PS 6 isn't a big deal. It's high enough to kill no-names before they can shoot. Also, if you are staying at range 3 with an HLC, it's pretty much impossible to arc-dodge him. Yeah, but a Defender doesn't need PS8 anyway. It doesn't do much for him. A Defender isn't an arc-dodger and it's tough enough to survive the hits from ships that fire first. A Delta w/ HLC costs the same as a naked Brath. The game charges too much for PS in my opinion.

My first couple games with the Defender were pretty disastrous. After experimenting with it though, I found that it is indeed a great ship. It plays the long-range sniper game fantastically. Sitting at range 2-3 with an HLC it can do very consistent damage and is very hard to kill. Its dial helps it easily escape if it gets in trouble and can easily set itself up for another pass. A lot of people are saying that it's a "predictable" ship, but it's only predictable if you fly it predictably. It can do every maneuver in the game but a straight 1. In all the games I've played with it, I've only had to take a red maneuver twice. Even if you are stressed, you still have a ton of white maneuvers you can do, including a K-turn. Out of the pilots, I don't like the Onyx. For 32 points you're not gaining enough over the Delta. The Delta is a great ship though. Even with it's low PS, it doesn't mind taking hits 'cause it can tank a lot. It's chances of getting blocked are also pretty nonexistant. Slap an HLC on it and it can really ruin someone's day. Out of the named pilots, I'm not a fan of Brath. When his ability goes off he can win you the game (If you've ever slapped 4 crits on a falcon in one shot you know what I'm talking about), but you're paying a lot of points for something that's not reliable at all. Vessery on the other hand is a monster. With an HLC you're rolling 3/4 hits every shot. Combining him with Outmaneuver makes him even better. He chews through B-Wings and Falcons incredibly fast. Also Vessery won't care about being stressed, or barrel-rolling or boosting (if you have an engine upgrade). He'll get a target lock no matter what if you're managing them well. I admit that the use of a Defender is not obvious at all just by looking at them, but if you give yourself some time to experiment with one, it is an incredibly effective ship.

Slapping some flechette torpedoes on that thing would be super-fun. Especially since they're only 2 points each!

The thought of doing this is so foreign to me I just don't get it. I mean, the only thing you could potentially get out of it is a better chance of acquiring some plastic tokens. Playing to get tokens/prizes instead of playing to win/compete just sounds so...dumb. I just like to grab the list I like to play and pit my skills against another player. That's what a tournament is really about, isn't it?

The Miniature Market tournament is a really good first tournament. At least it was for me. It was very laid back and friendly. I agree it's a great atmosphere to get into tournaments. My first tournament was also at Miniature Market back in May. What lists were you running trustybroom? Curious if I played against you at one/both of the past two tournaments. The last one was my first one. I was running: Omicron Group Pilot w/ Darth Vader Kath Scarlet w/ Expert Handling & Mercenary Copilot Maarek Stele w/ Predator & Engine Upgrade Since I had no allusions of winning I wanted to run a fun list and it was indeed fun.

It's possible, though I don't really see the benefit. You'd just be neutering your attack when the Falcon really wants to kill as much as possible as fast as possible. Not to mention all the points you spend on being able to do it.

The Miniature Market tournament is a really good first tournament. At least it was for me. It was very laid back and friendly.

In my opinion, it's the most fun and thematic way to play the game.

Cool. There's also another player on the forum, northdownwest (http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/user/229957-northdownwest/) who's setting up a weekly game night at the Fantasy Shop. You should send him a message.

I'm thinking that the vast increase in Falcon usage will help the adoption of the Defender. The Defender (especially Vessery/Brath w/ Outmaneuver and HLC) just poops on Falcons. In another note, I played a game the other day with Vessery w/ Outmaneuver and HLC. Vessery 1-shot TWO separate X-Wings during that game. Granted it included lucky crit pulling and unlucky defense rolling, but still...

Put it on Mauler Mithel and have some fun. 5 dice at range 1. Super-fun.

I still don't get people complaining about HAVING to buy large ships, multiples of ships, etc. Having all that stuff lets you play Epic games, which is the most fun way to play this game in my opinion. If you haven't tried an Epic game yet...you really, really should.