Spicerack's X-Wing 100pt List

Well, since everyone else is doing it, I thought I might as well post my list as well.

As the only Imperial player among us, I have had the unique opportunity of using the Phantoms and Defenders to death. After some initial success with both Phantoms and Defenders it has quickly become apparent (whilst getting annihilated by Crazy’s anti-Phantom list) that these ships have their limits. 

Whilst I love them both dearly, the meta has definitely shifted to cater for these unorthodox threats, and will continue to do so as the new Rebel Aces and the pair of large turret ships are released later in the year.

So I've been doing some thinking as to what I do now.

One of the things I’ve come to notice whenever TommyH or Crazy bring up the latest tournament results is that there’s always a TIE swarm in the top 10. More often than not there is a swarm list placing; the most recent I’ve seen was a first place with 4 Obsidians and 4 Academies.

However your conventional TIE swarm works something like this: a mix of usually 7 TIEs, boosting Pilot Skill with Swarm Tactics, and running in a formation around Howlrunner. The biggest weakness of this sort of swarm is the reliance on keeping in formation with Howlrunner to maximise your damage output. It can lead to all sorts of issues including, and not limited to, a severe susceptibility to Assault Missiles. Once Howlrunner is taken down (which you find happens more and more often with Blount to automatically knock-out those Stealth Devices) the formation loses a significant advantage and your firepower diminishes exponentially if the game dissolves into a fighter ball.

I wondered what could be done to give a large formation of ships the same benefits as Howlrunner, but without the risks. As mentioned above, one way to do this would be just to run 8 TIE Fighters, but I wanted something quirkier than 8 standard ships. So I drew up the below:

Black Squadron Pilot (17pts)

-          Predator

Black Squadron Pilot (17pts)

-          Predator

Black Squadron Pilot (17pts)

-          Predator

Black Squadron Pilot (17pts)

-          Predator

Black Squadron Pilot (17pts)

-          Predator

Night Beast (15pts)

A bit light on numbers for a TIE swarm, you might say, but before you dismiss it hear me out.

As we’re all aware it’s the cheap cost of TIE Fighters on a relatively effective frame that forms its appeal. In fact considering the most expensive stock TIE is the Black Squadron Pilot with PS4 and an Elite Pilot Talent slot, it’s a pretty incredible ship, and there’s good reason for its success.

Taking advantage of the new Predator upgrade from the Defender kit, the above performs exactly as though every ship were always supported by Howlrunner. A free reroll on attack can make the difference between wiping a heavily armoured enemy ship in a turn of concentrated fire, and having to weather yet another round of shooting. Not to mention what happens when you get TWO rerolls against PS2 B-Wings.

It also means that flying in a tight formation is completely unnecessary. Every ship is now capable of making independent moves and being just as combat effective as ever, gaining what’s practically a free target lock every turn regardless of actions or stress. Pushing further down the action pathway, Predator allows you to Evade at your leisure, without worrying about combat effectiveness. Sure, Focus has its place, but having massed Evade can make a TIE swarm a hard nut to crack.

The above can be used as a free-form swarm, not required to bunch up to be effective. Keeping a main block to go jousting frees up others to flank, which can put reliable firepower on target as necessary. Night Beast adds a little bit of a wildcard element to the list, giving him the ability to perform two actions when pushing those greens to get him into prime position for a strafing run. He’s switchable of course with the 15 point Winged Gundark, who can be more effective for an aggressive player.

Now I’m not saying it’s an invincible list, I’ve only played a handful of games with it so far, however as far as the concept goes I’m quite pleased with it. I’d love to hear your opinions, and your thoughts on how, or whether, the Imperials can make the most of both old and new ships; please let us know in the comments below!

My biggest problem now is finding 5 Predator cards…

Make good choices.

Spicerack