Rogue Review- TIE/ba aka Major Vonreg’s TIE

Welcome to Rogue Squadron, pilot! In this series, we will be looking at the ships you can fly in Fantasy Flight Games X-Wing miniatures game. We’ll take a look at a chassis and what makes it unique along with some upgrades and squadron combos. Strap in and get ready to fly.

Lock S-Foils in Attack Position

The TIE/ba Interceptor is the First Order’s first true ace arc dodger as it comes with an I6 pilot, unlike the Silencer, and its three dice attack and chassis ability helps it outmaneuver its targets to hit them hard, unlike the FO and SF. It is truly unique in this category though as its chassis ability, Fine Tuned Thrusters, not only helps it arc dodge but also get double mods for an attack. It’s the first ship that can get those coveted double modded attacks with regularity, no Force, and no upgrades.  This comes at a novel cost; a strain or a deplete token. Pilots are presented with a tough decision there; do I reduce attack or make my fragile ship easier to blow up?

When aiming to be an arc dodging ace, the choice is usually easy. If you’re moving last and no one’s shooting you, reduce your green with no fear. If you didn’t escape, do you have a potential killing shot at the ship that can shoot you? Probably take the strain and try to finish your target off. If not, err on the side of caution.

The TIE/ba feels very much like an evolution of the TIE Advanced v1 (prototype). For starters, it shares the blue speed one maneuvers and four health. It also has the V1’s 1.0 ability in the form of easy access to Locks. The V1 came with no chassis ability replicating that old function. Because of the different factions, it is often misleading to compare two ships directly, but if you do, you find for 15pts you get an extra attack die, a minimum pilot initiative of 3 and an awesome ability to arc dodge or get double mods.

Red Five Standing By

The TIE/ba Interceptor comes out of the box with three unique pilots and only one generic. Of course, one is the titular Major Vonreg. The rest are all initiative 3 or higher solidifying this ship’s role as an ace ship. It’s fragile but deadly. How do the pilots stack up?

1. Major Vonreg (I6)- During the System Phase, you may choose 1 enemy ship in your Bullseye. That ship gains 1 deplete or strain token of your choice. 
   1. On first glance, this looks like a great ability. Passing out deplete or strain for free? And you’re an I6 so getting Bullseye isn’t so bad for them. But then you see that this happens during the System Phase. Before anyone maneuvers. If they dialed in a blue they are just going to clear it.
   2. The main advantage for the ability is not the tokens but in limiting your opponent’s maneuver choices. If there’s a ship in the Bullseye, they’re going to feel compelled to dial in a blue, even if it’s a suboptimal maneuver. This helps Vonreg plan his maneuvers and can help him stay out of arc.
   3. Beyond his ability, he’s a reasonably affordable I6. There are cheaper I6’s but none that play the Ace role quite as well.
   4. Might be a place Targeting Synchronizers can work as he’s not to expensive for an I6 and its easy for him to get Locks that lower init ships can use.
2. Holo (I5)- At the start of the Engagement Phase, you must transfer 1 of your tokens to another friendly ship at range 0-2. 
   1. This is an odd ability. You have to give away one of your tokens? That’s some bullshit…oh wait… any token? Yes, any token.
   2. Opponent locks Holo? Pass it off. Holo took a strain/deplete using Fined Tuned Thrusters? Pass it to a cheaper mook. Get tractored? Pass that to a ship who could benefit from a barrel roll.
   3. There are some serious shenanigans you can get up to with token passing.
   4. One thing I saw at a tournament was a bunch of FO’s Locking Holo at the start of the game. If he’s ever in a situation where he doesn’t have a token he wants to get rid of, those Locks can be handed off instead.
3. Ember (I4)-While you perform an attack, if there is a damaged ship friendly to the defender at range 0-1 of the defender, the defender cannot spend focus or calculate tokens. 
   1. This ability isn’t very good.  The best strategy is almost always to focus fire a single ship. If there is a damaged ship and an undamaged ship that close to each other, why not shoot the damaged one?
   2. This does give Ember a slight advantage when your opponent manages to escape firing arc with the ship he’s been focusing on. Now his new target loses some of his defensive mods.
   3. Flying against swarms of Vulture droids is the best place to use Ember.  His ability shuts down Network Calculation.
   4. Cluster missiles might be a good upgrade for him, as he could fire, damage a target, and then prevent token spending on the second shot.
4. First Order Provocateur (I3)- None
   1. The only generic comes in at Initiative 3 which places him above most other generics.

All Wings Report In

What’s the ideal number of TIE/ba to buy? One to two. They work best as an ace paired with a variety of escorts. But a pair of them can cause trouble as well. At current point values, you could fly four of them but that wouldn’t be the best list.

Sharing is Caring (Extended)

• Major Vonreg (TIE/ba)
  • Targeting Synchronizer
• Ember (TIE/ba)
  • Cluster Missile
• 2x Omega Squadron Expert (TIE/sf)
  • Cluster Missile

This list tries very hard to make Ember and Targeting Synchronizer work. Vonreg, in an ideal situation, Strain’s a target and then gets a Lock for Ember and the two Omega’s to fire off their Cluster missiles. This results in seven attacks instead of four for a round.  Additionally, Ember can capitalize on his ability with Cluster. Fire once and if he gets damage through on the first target, for the second shot he blocks the target from spending Focus/Calculate tokens. You have a two point bid with this list and could downgrade the Omega’s to Zeta’s for an additional four.

Lieutenant Holoday (Hyperspace)

• Holo (TIE/ba)
• Lieutenant LeHuse (TIE/sf)
  • Special Forces Gunner
• First Order Provocateur (TIE/ba)
• Lieutenant Rivas (TIE/fo)
• Epsilon Squadron Cadet (TIE/fo)

LeHuse likes to borrow people’s Locks and he has a few allies that can provide him those. That gives you two I5’s with good odds at getting double modded three dice attacks and then a Provocateur at I3 that can as well.  The Epsilon’s main function is to Lock Holo early so he has something he can pass if he needs his other tokens and is also a good place for Holo to toss his Strain tokens.

Vonreg’s Elite (Extended)

• Major Vonreg (TIE/ba)
  • Daredevil
• Midnight (TIE/fo)
  • Fanatical
• Quickdraw (TIE/sf)
  • Special Forces Gunner
  • Fire Control System
  • Deuterium Power Cells
• Null (TIE/fo)

Wrote about this one last week. It’s all about firing first and moving last. Three I6’s and, at least for awhile, an I7.