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Now that peace and quite are finally setting in at home, I have some time to pickup on the X-wing previews that FFG spoiled over the last couple of weeks. First of: the TIE-Advanced Prototype! First seen in the CGI series Star Wars: Rebels, which takes place between episode 3 and 4 and shows the Empire in all it’s glory, slowly tightening it’s grip on the galaxy. Only a few stand up to them and rebel against the usurpers. The Empire sends out Inquisitors to quell these rebels and eliminate any Jedi’s that survived Order 66.
In these times, Sienar, developer of the TIE-fighters (and more) also continue to improve their designs to make faster, stronger, better armored fighters to help the Imperium in their evil doings. The TIE-Advanced Prototype is just that: a prototype fighter that is shielded, more agile and superior in every aspect when compared to the venerable TIE-F. This ship is the prototype for the TIE-Advanced flown by Darth Vader in Episode 4 and although it functions pretty well, it’s still a prototype. So there aren’t all that many of them and only skilled pilots are allowed to fly these.
So the TIE-Advanced prototype. It comes with a standard 2 firepower and 3 agility, very common for TIE-Fighters. Although it lacks one hull point, it does have 2 shields, which makes it better protected than the TIE-fighters. Also, it has 4 actions to choose from, but sadly, no evade (but watch this space…). It has lock-on, something the TIE-F is lacking as well, and also comes with the Boost ability. All that, for 16 points for the cheapest pilot: the Sienar Test Pilot!
The dial also is nothing to sneeze at. It has tighter turns on speed 1, something I always wanted on my TIE-F’s, it then has almost every speed-2 and 3 maneuvers. Besides that, it can move straight on speeds 4 and 5 AND it can make a speed-4 K-turn. As far as dials go, what more could you possibly want? Also notice, there is only 1 red maneuver on the dial and a whopping 7 green maneuvers. Surely, test pilots do not know stress.
Compared to the 12 point costing Imperial Academy Pilot, 4 points investment gets you:
- Evade - 1 Hull point 2 Shields Boost Lock-on Missile Upgrade slot Awesome dial
Surely, that’s an investment I’m willing to make every day of the week!
The Inquisitor is one of the antagonists in Star Wars Rebels: Season 1. He relentlessly hunts the crew of the Ghost, which includes Kanan Jarrus, a Jedi who isn’t allowed to be left alive.
“When attacking with your primary weapon at range 2-3, treat the range of the attack as Range 1.”
An amazing ability, and too bad it only works on your primary weapon. Still, with an Elite Pilot Talent slot, you have some options to make the most of this. Predator, Outmaneuver, Expose and Push the Limit to name a few. Do note, that this ability (and 6 pilot skill) costs 9 points more than the cheapest version of the TIE-A-P though. It’s easy enough to invest heavily in the Inquisitor to max out his potential damage output, but you might be forgetting to up his defense. In the end, he “only” has 4 hit points and 3 evade dice with no innate Evade ability: if the enemy decides to take out the maximum threat first, the Inquisitor will be a very good start.
The unique ability though…dang! Not only does it mean you roll one extra attack dice pretty much all the time because of range 1: but also that the enemy does not gain an extra evade dice at range 3. I would have the inquisitor utilize his slower speed options to stay at range 3 to engage targets of opportunity and just annoy everyone: as long as you stay at range 3, you have an agility rating of 4 and still have 1 fire power for being “at range 1″. Truly, a very strong ability. And although you pay a hefty price, it feels right.
Valen Rudor was also featured in Star Wars: Rebels. His fighter crashed on Lothal after a battle with the Ghost, after which Ezra Bridger stole his helmet. Kids…
“After defending, you may perform a free action”
For 22 points, I have my doubts about this pilot. In some situations, this ability is golden: mainly when enemies can fire twice at the same target. Twin Laser Turrets for example gives Valen Rudor very good flexibility: First defend as well as you can, then perform a boost/barrel roll to get yourself in a better position. OR Use a target lock in combination with the new TIE/V1 title (more on that later) to steel yourself for the second attack. The fun thing is: this stacks… so if 2 enemies, both with Twin Laser Turrets, fire at you, you get a total of 4 free actions, as you defend 4 times. Good times. The downside of this is, that you need to survive the initial attack. Still, you have a Elite Pilot Talent slot, so you can have some more defensive measures. Surely, Valen is pretty annoying to get rid off, the longer a turn takes…
“After you acquire a target lock, you may perform a free evade action”
1 Point? Almost always worth it. Two for one action. Notice, that you gain a Evade action the moment you acquire a target lock. Valen’s reaction after defending could be a target lock, so you automatically perform an evade action. It’s great to have an offensive and defensive action in one and for one point, I can almost for certain say, that this title is always worth it. This might also be one of the upgrades that works exceptionally well on the Inquisitor as he is an agressive pilot: Target lock for 3 attack die (or more with the correct EPT) that can be re-rolled, and you still have an evade for any return fire. If you fly the TIE-A-P, invest in the TIE/v1.
“Attack (Focus): Discard this card to perform this attack. If this attack hits, each friendly ship at range 1-2 of you may acquire a target lock on the defender. Then cancel ALL dice results”
XX-23 S-thread Tracers are an odd ball upgrade. It costs you a missile slot, but it’s a single point missile, that requires a Focus token to fire. Note, it doesn’t state you have to SPEND the focus token. It doesn’t do damage at all, but when the attack hits, every friendly on range 1-2 can acquire a target lock on the target. If you have a squadron made solely of TIE-A-P with the V1 title, you have an entire squadron with target locks on one target, and all get an evade token. Ain’t that sweet.
Nowadays, you see a lot of one big ship being escorted by one smaller ship. With XX23′s, swarms get a little bit more juice once more which makes for a more interesting game.
Last but not least, a new modification! One for zero points, so if you take missile boats, and haven’t invested in a modification: bring Guidance chips!
“Once per round, when attacking with a missile or torpedo secondary weapon, you may chance 1 die result to a hit result (or a Critical Hit result if your primary weapon value is 3 or higher”
Lots going on on that card. If fired by a firepower 2 ship, you get a free additional hit, but if you have 3+ firepower rating, this becomes a free critical hit result! This is a huge boost for all missiles and torpedoes indeed! I like that firepower 3 weapons get a bonus added to it, as it felt that you should never fire secondary ordnance if you have a high firepower rating anyway. Personally, I don’t see the logic of this (primary weapons are not linked to secondaries in any way), but that’s fine. I like ordnance weaponry and this is a very good step in making them a bit more valuable again.
Combined with the XX23′s and the TIE-A V/1 you can make a Sienar Test squadron that looks something like this:
The Inquisitor, flying a TIE-Advanced Prototype Predator XX-23-S-thread Tracers TIE-v/1 Autothrusters
Valen Rudor, flying a TIE-Advanced Prototype Push the Limit XX-23-S-thread Tracers TIE-v/1 Guidance Chips
Sienar Test Pilot, flying a TIE-Advanced Prototype XX-23-S-thread Tracers TIE-v/1 Guidance Chips
Sienar Test Pilot, flying a TIE-Advanced Prototype XX-23-S-thread Tracers TIE-v/1 Guidance Chips
and you STILL have 5 points to spare on a 100 point squad! Target locks (and evades!) for everybody!
Wave 8 is approaching soon. Keep your eyes peeled, they might be with us as soon as Q1!
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