Crackshot EPT Swarm - Crackswarm!

[Rividius 583]

So, has anyone thought about running 5x Black Squadron Pilots with Crackshot, and Howlrunner?

 

Presumably you have to use Crackshot during the modify your dice results step, so you might waste it if they don't roll any evades. But it could be interesting if you manage to trap one difficult to get at ships and they dissolve.

[Jo Jo 4,808]

The attacker can modify the defenders dice after he rolls. So you'll know if he rolled an evade that you can cancel with crackshot. I can see a swarm of BSPs equipped with crackshot being really nasty.

[Ailowynn 1,723]

Sounds like the ultimate Fat killer. The ultimate diet. Crackshot swarm is basically liposuction.

[ObiWonka 7,081]

It's a shame the Black Sun Ace in the Khiraxz fighter costs 23. 1 point less and you could run 4 of them each with Crack Shot and Glitterstim. They do a lot of drugs in the Outer Rim...

[WWHSD 9,273]

The attacker can modify the defenders dice after he rolls. So you'll know if he rolled an evade that you can cancel with crackshot. I can see a swarm of BSPs equipped with crackshot being really nasty.

 

Shouldn't this happen at the Compare Results step rather than the Modify Defense Dice step since you are not modifying the dice but instead canceling a result? 

 

 

From page 12 of the rules.

"Canceling Dice Each time a die result is canceled, a player takes one die displaying the canceled result and physically removes the die from the common area. Players ignore all canceled results during this attack. All abilities that allow players to cancel dice must be resolved at the start of the “Compare Results” step."

 

Accuracy Corrector was errataed to be an exception to this.

Edited August 3, 2015 by WWHSD

[WWHSD 9,273]

The Defender needs to decide whether to spend his focus or evade token before knowing whether or not you'll burn Crackshot.

[Ailowynn 1,723]

The Defender needs to decide whether to spend his focus or evade token before knowing whether or not you'll burn Crackshot.

That, I think, is what makes Crackshot worth it. It gives the attacker the power to modify dice after everything else is done, so you can be absolutely sure that it won't be wasted. Plus, it counters 3P0, which is nice.

[Rividius 583]

Ah. So that's how it works. Even better.

[ficklegreendice 34,362]

hard to fill out the points

 

even howlie + mauler + 4 black squadrons (Crackshots on all!) is a mere 97

 

hull on howlie it is

Edited August 4, 2015 by ficklegreendice

[Rividius 583]

I'd do something like this. Howl boosts a BSP to PS 8 and hopefully he can remove the shields for Scourge to roll extra dice.

 

"Howlrunner" (18)

Swarm Tactics (2)

 

"Scourge" (17)

Crack Shot (1)

 

Black Squadron Pilot (14)

Crack Shot (1)

 

Black Squadron Pilot (14)

Crack Shot (1)

 

Black Squadron Pilot (14)

Crack Shot (1)

 

Black Squadron Pilot (14)

Crack Shot (1)

 

Total: 98

 

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

[Magnus Grendel 11,679]

I like.

 

Scourge or Mithel both work. Scourge is most useful in subsequent rounds, but since Howlrunner tends to be priority target he'll probably survive. Mithel is more for if you're closing to point blank - which you probably want to do to make 2-dice attacks sting, Howlrunner or not.

 

 

I must say that there are some very nice 1- and 2- point talents floating around now, all of which work really well with Black Squadron.

• Calculation
• Crack Shot
• Determination
• Draw Their Fire
• Swarm Tactics
• Veteran Instincts

I think at the moment that Crack Shot is probably better than Calculation  - the latter is a great decimator crippler but actually landing the damage is more important than criticals, and getting hits through with a 2-dice primary attack isn't easy in a game laden with stealth devices, autothrusters, and evade token-spamming pancakes.

 

It's kind of like ordnance for the TIE....except cheap and with no prerequisites to use.

Edited August 4, 2015 by Magnus Grendel

[voidstate 697]

I must say that there are some very nice 1- and 2- point talents floating around now, all of which work really well with Black Squadron.

• Calculation
• Crack Shot
• Determination
• Draw Their Fire
• Swarm Tactics
• Veteran Instincts

 

Yeah. It nicely rounds out the squadron I was having fun with last week (previously the crack shot TIE was Night Beast):

BLACK SQUADRON

100 points

PILOTS

“Howlrunner” [Push the Limit, Stealth Device] (24)

Black Squadron Pilot [Wingman] (16)

Black Squadron Pilot [Draw Their Fire] (15)

Black Squadron Pilot [Adrenaline Rush] (15)

Black Squadron Pilot [Lightning Reflexes] (15)

Black Squadron Pilot [Crack Shot] (15)

View: http://xwing-builder.co.uk/view/284170/black-squadron

Tweak: http://xwing-builder.co.uk/build/284170

[Magnus Grendel 11,679]

...I get the Wingman and Draw Their Fire buddies for Howlrunner.

 

Adrenaline Rush.... yeah, carrying a focus token through your first K-turn is fair enough and needs no explanation. I wouldn't have thought it worth throwing a point at on a generic TIE but it's hardly a bad option.

 

Lighting Reflexes - how much have you used this? I get that for a TIE fighter it's essentially a one-use Segnor's Loop. I can see it being a nice option for someone like Mauler Mithel - where everyone else koiograns, he does a hard turn and uses lighting reflexes to turn back into the enemy and gets a range 1 shot from outside their arcs of fire.

 

****. I'm going to need to buy a ***** ton of Kirhaxz, aren't I? Lightning Reflexes and Crack Shot are both very nice for TIEs.

 

 

For that matter, how about a Lighting Reflexes Swarm?

 

Howlrunner

• Determination
• Hull Upgrade

Mauler Mithel

• Lightning Reflexes

Black Squadron Pilot

• Lightning Reflexes

Black Squadron Pilot

• Lightning Reflexes

Black Squadron Pilot

• Lightning Reflexes

Black Squadron Pilot

• Lightning Reflexes

 

Essentially a higher PS Howlrunner swarm - but when the formation "bursts" the TIE fighters could go bloody anywhere.

[WWHSD 9,273]

I'd do something like this. Howl boosts a BSP to PS 8 and hopefully he can remove the shields for Scourge to roll extra dice.

 

"Howlrunner" (18)

Swarm Tactics (2)

 

"Scourge" (17)

Crack Shot (1)

 

Black Squadron Pilot (14)

Crack Shot (1)

 

Black Squadron Pilot (14)

Crack Shot (1)

 

Black Squadron Pilot (14)

Crack Shot (1)

 

Black Squadron Pilot (14)

Crack Shot (1)

 

Total: 98

 

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

You could also drop the Swarm Tactics for Determination plus either Hull or Stealth to try and get an extra round out of Howl.

[Magnus Grendel 11,679]

Have had a fair bit of use out of a Crack Shot Swarm in the last month, and - aside from the need to get many, many Crack Shot Elite Pilot Talent Cards, it's been awesome.

 

If you're a swarm player - or want to try one - I heartily recommend it.

 

I've flown it in standard games:

Howlrunner with Push The Limit & Stealth Device

5 Black Squadron Pilots with Crack Shot

(Comes to 99 points - giving a small initiative bid to control rock placement)

 

It worked very well.

Against Autothrusters & Stealth Device interceptors, it worked well - all three squints got hit and lost their stealth device because of a Crack Shot sniping off an evade result. I lost, but because of poor piloting - if I'd been paying attention I genuinely felt I could have won.

 

Against a pack of Twin Laser Turret Y-wings it was a brutal slugging match which ended with the only things on the board being one TIE fighter and a lot of expanding wreckage.

 

Against a Sith Lords list (Commander Kenkirk with Emperor Palpatine, escorted by Darth Vader) it won by blocking the decimator...at which point it got eaten alive.

 

The fact that you have to commit evade tokens, palpatine dice modifications, etc. and only then, in the "cancel results" stage do I have to use Crack Shot is incredibly powerful - especially if you take long ranged shots first, an opponent is often hesitant to spend an evade if its only effect is to make you use a 1 point card to punch damage through anyway.

 

It capitalises on the advantages of a Howlrunner swarm - raw firepower on the first turn of engagement (before Rashon inevitably eats laser bolts by the end of the first combat phase). At PS4 it gets shots in to kill one generic ship before it shoots, and Howlrunner is unlikely to die before the rest of the swarm fires (with Academy Pilots she often gets killed by PS2 B-wings or Y-wings).

 

I also had a couple of epic games, which used a full 12-ship TIE squadron. I was tempted to take Howlrunner again, but didn't as it felt a bit wrong. Might still try it next time as people tended to take mostly generic pilots, so I would have benefited from her for the critical first turn.....The swarm put up a credible head-to-head fight against a massive block of heavy laser cannon-wielding B-wings.

 

The thing I didn't expect was how well they did against capital ships. Because Reinforce tokens add an evade, Crack Shot can be used against them effectively. Being able to strafe the back end of a Corvette and ignore its primary means of damage reduction for a turn was utterly lethal, and if I'd concentrated all twelve TIEs on it, I genuinely think it would have blown up in only a couple of turns.

[FTS Gecko 24,137]

Not exactly a swarm; a little bit more of a roadblock:

 

Black Sun Ace - Crackshot, Inertial Dampners

Black Sun Ace - Crackshot, Inertial Dampners

Black Sun Ace - Crackshot, Inertial Dampners

Black Sun Ace - Crackshot, Inertial Dampners

[DraconPyrothayan 6,107]

Crack Shot is interesting to me, as it operates like Ordnance: a 1-time-use buff to damage.

Its identical to adding a [Hit] to your roll, excepting only times when they rolled no [Evade] results.

 

The fact that it doesn't require the use of an Action makes it quite valuable in this comparison.

A two-die ship using their single action to TL, to fire a Concussion Missile or Proton Torpedo expects 3 damage

A two-die ship using their single action to TL, to modify their 2-die attack with an active CS, expects 2.5 damage. 

 

The latter uses a different slot; one that typically comes packaged in a higher Pilot Skill.

 

There are 3 varieties of ship with Elite Talents sub 20 points: TIE Fighters, A-Wings, and Named Z-95s. 

[WWHSD 9,273]

Crack Shot is interesting to me, as it operates like Ordnance: a 1-time-use buff to damage.

Its identical to adding a [Hit] to your roll, excepting only times when they rolled no [Evade] results.

 

The fact that it doesn't require the use of an Action makes it quite valuable in this comparison.

A two-die ship using their single action to TL, to fire a Concussion Missile or Proton Torpedo expects 3 damage

A two-die ship using their single action to TL, to modify their 2-die attack with an active CS, expects 2.5 damage. 

 

The latter uses a different slot; one that typically comes packaged in a higher Pilot Skill.

 

There are 3 varieties of ship with Elite Talents sub 20 points: TIE Fighters, A-Wings, and Named Z-95s. 

 

I think the thing that makes it really interesting is that it modifies your opponent's token spending behavior even when you don't use it. Ships that can't afford to take a hit, like a ship on its last hull or an Interceptor with Stealth Device, need to spend their tokens assuming that you will use Crackshot.  

Edited September 8, 2015 by WWHSD

[ForceM 1,456]

I beat a Palpmobile with fully kitted out Carnor and Soontir with a crackshot list yesterday.

I used the original list with 3 Omegas and 3 Black squadron with Crackshot each for 99 points.

I must say i feel that this is the best of all the proposed lists as the FO's Better dial and durability made a big difference in the end.

I had a few good blocks in the beginning on Carnor and Soontir, and was able to dent the Stealth devices in turn 2 of the fighting each. The huge boon this list has is that you can just wait if he is gonna use Palpy, and if not you use Crackshot to score a damage.

So i killed Soontir and lost one BSP in return. Then killed the shuttle as Carnor disengaged then i lost another BSP when Carnor came back.At that point a tournament game would have gone to time, even before i list the 2nd Tie. But we decided to play it to an end. Carnor managed to kill all of my Ties but 2 FO's before i was finally able to push through the last point of damage. I had only one Crack shot left which made it very difficult to get through.

I feel if i had run Howl and other elite Ties, this would have been very limiting in my maneuvers and have caused a lot of bumping. I would have lost a lot of actions and potential damage. So i am not at all convinced about not taking the Omegas!

[ForceM 1,456]

A Variation i am considering is switching out one of the BSP for Wampa. Because he is also PS4 and does not interfere with movement flexibility. And because he fulfils a similar function to the Crackshot ships.

He can be very dangerous to stealth devices and low hull strength ships. If he weakens those, the Crack shot ships have it easier to finish them off! You would also have 2 points left to give him a Targeting Computer, so he can get a crit more reliably!

Edited December 27, 2015 by ForceM

[ParaGoomba Slayer 3,180]

Firstly yes, it's great. But your list isn't. You go 3x Black Squadron, 3x Omega Squadron, 6x Crackshot.

Secondly, Crackshot works after your opponent rolls and modifies their defense dice.