[Empire] Getting comfortable with the Striker

[bahourmat 74]

I have been fiddling with a couple of lists in anticipation of the Striker hitting the UK (very) soon. At the moment, have already tested these two:

 

Downton Abbey (99)

 

"Duchess" - Lone Wolf, Lightweight Frame and Adaptive Ailerons

 

Countess Ryad - Push the Limit, Twin Ion Engine Mk II, TIE/x7

 

Soontir Fel - Push the Limit, Autothrusters, Stealth Device and Royal Guard TIE

 

 

Dead Man's Hand (99)

 

"Pure Sabacc" - Swarm Leader, Adaptive Ailerons, Lightweight Frame

 

Colonel Vessery - Juke, TIE/x7, Twin Ion Engine MkII

 

Countess Ryad - Push the Limit, TIE/x7, Twin Ion Engine MkII

 

 

The first one was mainly for fun (seeing as we have three "royals" now, in the Empire), but I had a game yesterday and it's actually pretty cool to fly. I need to get used to those movement shenanigans. Maybe not as crazy as the Phantom, but it'll take some time get the hang of it.

 

The second one (which I also was able to test-run yesterday) was hilarious. Sabacc, with Squad Leader was doing Fenn Rau levels of red dice insanity. The pre-boost allowed him to get some great repositioning against my opponent (he was flying a mini-Scyk swarm) and both Vessery and Ryad were very capable wingmen. I'm definitely hoping to keep at it with both of these.

[Karhedron 1,865]

Vessery and Ryad make a formidable tag-team and I have been trying out various wingmates for them. The Striker looks promising.

[doobleg 658]

Tried this last week:

 

Countdown w/Adaptive Ailerons

 

"Pure Sabacc" w/Adaptability, Lightweight Frame, and AA

 

"Omega Leader" w/Juke & Comms Relay

 

Gamma Squadron Veteran w/Deadeye, Plasma Torps, Cluster Missiles, Thread Tracers, Guidance Chips and Extra Munitions

 

Total: 100pts

 

Adaptive Ailerons made formation flying and coordinated attacks tricky, but running the Strikers together up the side and bringing them around as OL and Gamma crawl up the middle seemed to work pretty well.

[boomaster 120]

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Edited December 27, 2016 by boomaster

[tko540 2]

Have you had any further developments with your lists?

[BleakSquadron 405]

As far as it goes I haven't had a chance to fly my strikers yet (been flying my SF's too much). I do have a list to dip my toes in the water though.

Duchess (28)

-predator

-title

-light weight frame

Whisper (41)

-VI

-ACD

-agent kallus

-FCS

OGP (29)

-Palpatine

-collision detector

Does 2 things for me. Gets my phantom out to play again (been too long, I'll definitely be rusty), and brings in a striker in a scenario where it won't be the lists fulcrum. Hopefully my inexperience with the striker won't matter as much while I count on my phantom.

Edited January 16, 2017 by BleakSquadron

[bahourmat 74]

Have you had any further developments with your lists?

 

Unfortunately, have had some crazy busy weeks and haven't had the chance to continue to try out the Striker. I was hoping to also give a go at coming up with a couple of Strikers alongside a TIE/D. I really want to have a go at Expertise and TIE/D (probably on Rexler) and see what I can fit with the remaining points.

[mad mandolorian 137]

i wonder if Dutchess with swarm leader is worth dropping a ship in my triple aces list (Vader, Fel, Phener)

[admat 474]

I really like bahourmat's lists. So far I've only tried the Striker in the following squad:

 

Duchess (Push the Limit, Lightweight Frame, Adaptive Ailerons title)

Rexler Brath (Expertise, x7 title, Twin Ion Engine Mk. II)

Backstabber

Dark Curse

100 points

 

Simple list. Because of the stress from PTL, the Striker mainly used its title ability for the early movements. I need to practice more with this new ship, it seems like a lot of fun. I must say too that Expertise on Rexler, though costly, is awesome (especially with the x7 title).

Edited January 17, 2017 by admat

[4fox100 609]

The only striker i have used so far is Countdown. And i tell you these things are really fun to fly. Also Countdown's ability is hilarious to pull off. Oh you just rolled five hits to my zero evades? One damage please

[bahourmat 74]

The only striker i have used so far is Countdown. And i tell you these things are really fun to fly. Also Countdown's ability is hilarious to pull off. Oh you just rolled five hits to my zero evades? One damage please

 

As long as you keep him out of a second shot, he should be able to troll your opponent just fine

 

How are you coping with keeping him unstressed?

[4fox100 609]

The only striker i have used so far is Countdown. And i tell you these things are really fun to fly. Also Countdown's ability is hilarious to pull off. Oh you just rolled five hits to my zero evades? One damage please

 

As long as you keep him out of a second shot, he should be able to troll your opponent just fine

 

How are you coping with keeping him unstressed?

Hit and run tactics mostly. Also been experimenting with MkII engines on him.

[bahourmat 74]

The love affair with the Striker continues, even if I'm not handling it very well 

 

Last week, I managed to squeeze in a game at the local store. Faced up against the new "thing" (apparently), ie Parattani. It was pretty brutal.

I was flying:

 

Dead Man's Hand (98 pts)

 

- Rexler Brath - Expertise, TIE/D, Ion Cannon and MkII Engine

 

- "Duchess" - Predator, Adaptive Ailerons and Lightweight Frame

 

- "Pure Sabacc" - Veteran Instincts, Adaptive Ailerons and Lightweight Frame

 

I had tweaked this recently, as I wanted to squeeze in Duchess and went for the PS8 all around, which didn't help at all. In hindsight, Duchess pretty much relies on VI for that PS10. Even swapping around Predator and VI between the strikers would've been better, I think. On the other hand, I botched the pre-boost way too often and against a very well flown Paratanni, I just crumpled.

 

Also, reading here in the forums and also on a few of the FB groups, the Striker really needs those dice modifications. With dice being what they are, a support ship is what I'll be adding on next. At the moment looking at the following:

 

Bomber Support (98 pts)

 

Gamma Sqd Veteran - Crackshot, TIE Shuttle, Twin Ion Engine MKII, Systems Officer, Fleet Officer

 

"Duchess" - Veteran Instincts, Adaptive Ailerons, Lightweight Frame

 

"Countdown" - Adaptive Ailerons, Lightweight Frame

 

Black Squadron Scout - Snapshot, Adaptive Ailerons, Lightweight Frame

 

Alternatively, this could also be fun:

 

Bomber Support V2 (99 pts):

 

Tomax Bren - Cool Hand, TIE Shuttle, Twin Ion Engine Mk II, Fleet Officer and Systems Officer

 

Black Squadron Scout - Snapshot, Adaptive Ailerons, Lightweight Frame (x2)

 

Scarif Defender - Adaptive Ailerons and Lightweight Frame

 

Hopefully I can put these to the test this week.