Having been playing a lot of four ship rebels at the moment has inspired me to push the boat out and pick up a Tie swarm

I’ve always loved the bad guys and after my current foray into the Dark Side with Rebels I feel myself drawn back to my natural environment. Having been using four ships I feel a bit more like having one or two more so roll on the Tie swarm. I do have a preference for aces or at least the idea of an ace plus mini swarm but I’m going to try and leave the big aces at home for a bit and go to a five or six tie swarm list. The safe thing about a Tie swarm or any swarm for that matter is that it is relatively competitive against most things if flown well. There are two current meta builds that tickle my fancy at the moment:

The Pattiswarm

Howl Runner Crack shot

3 x Black Squadron with Crack shot

3 x Academy Tie fighter

100 points

Or

Last Winter’s Night

Omega Leader, Juke Comms relay

Wampa

4 x Black Squadron with Crack shot

100 points

Of the two I like the ace element with Omega leader in Last Winter’s night although Omega leader has not been a TieFo that I have really bonded with. The downside is not having the Howl Runner re-rolls although it does allow you to fly and break formation without penalty, as you do not have Howl Runner. Dengaroo is a possible thorn in the side of swarms if they do not have something other than weight of numbers to nuke it.

Now I do like to add my own flavour and preferences which means rolling more red dice and possibly having a hammer and anvil style list:

First Day In Autumn

Howl Runner Crack shot

Mauler Mithal with Crack shot

Scourge with Crack shot

Black Squadron with Crack shot

Wampa

Backstabber

100 points

Snevery Day In Autumn

Howl Runner Crack shot

Omega Leader, Juke Comms relay

Zeta Leader, Juke Comms relay

2 x Black Squadron with Crack shot

100 points

Pros and Cons

With First Day in Autumn I am running Mauler and Scourge who are not particularly popular with the internet. My theory though is that they both shoot before PS3 and PS4 which in the current meta is relatively useful and will not feature too highly on the target priority list. I expect Wampa, the Imperial Biggs, to be the first target which should allow them to both trigger their abilities a round or two later. Against low shield count ships he may even get to roll the extra die if both Howl and Mauler pop off the shields and do some damage in the opening round.

My plan with back stabber is naturally to flank and be annoying. I could swap out Backstabber and Wampa for another two Black Squadrons with crack shot or say Omega Leader or something. This thought prompted me to think of Snevery Day In Autumn.

The name itself came from a short film I worked on in the early noughties shot in Ilfracombe, north Devon. It wasn’t the actual name but what the majority of the crew called it. Ilfracombe is rather picturesque in the middle of nowhere, although be warned, all three of the pubs have a Karaoke night and the locals take it rather seriously. They did not take kindly to my rendition of Mi Chico Latino by Geri Haliwell. We left the pub quickly after that. I guess despite having a GCSE in Spanish the fact that I just danced through the Spanish bit in the middle may have put their noses out of joint.

With the list itself I thought five ships would be a sensible initial move up to from four, although with easier manoeuvrability than my current rebel list by having repositioning and a hard one turn. I get to bring back an old favourite in Zeta leader and the ace hunting abilities of Omega leader. Of course with the advent of wave nine and black market slicers Zeta might drop out of popularity but I still love her. I have a core of Howl, two black cracks and Zeta whilst Omega can do what it likes. Naturally Howl Runner should be the initial target or possibly Omega leader depending on the number of ships in the opposing list.

Tweaking an old Favourite

After the Yavin Open I pondered on how I could improve the Echo Whisper combo other than just flying better and not drinking Red Thunder again. In fact I only started drinking cold brew coffee again two weeks ago. It’s great to get back on the wagon and it made me more regular again. The effect of re-jigging my travel case of ships meant all I could squeeze in were two phantoms and a bomber with all the Ties taking up a lot of space.

Snevery Red Thunder in June

Whisper with Veteran Insincts, Fire control systems, Agent Kallus, ACD.

Echo with Veteran Insincts, Fire control systems, recon specialist, ACD.

Tie Bomber PS2, Tie Shuttle title, Darth vader crew.

100 points

I have to admit I did not like not having crew on either of the phantoms by having the Doom shuttle instead of the bomber, particularly with Whisper. The extra five points to crew up is still tricky. Gunner on Whisper or Agent Kallus? Recon specialist on Echo or hull upgrade on the bomber, or another crew? The likelihood of Vadering more than twice is small although a hull upgrade does offer a potential four force chokes.

It’s always good to have a few options in your bag if playing pick-up games. It’s nice to offer someone a less aggressive option than Tie swarms if they are new to the game.

Theory Crafting

This is all well and good but untill I put it on the table and start rolling some dice it is just theory. The only caveat I would add it that all the above lists are all wave nine Imperial lists thanks to the actual piece of garbage called the Tie/Fo Special Forces. Wave Ten may offer some interesting additions with the Tie Striker, Upsilon Shuttle and the ‘a score to settle,’ EPT.

Till then I’ll leave you with this piece of advice that can probably translate into X-wing somehow. Always commit to the middle of a song in Karaoke, even if it’s in a foreign language.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgoKfHg1JsU