100 point Imperial List

     Last night, I tried out my new 100 point Imperial list for X-wing miniatures game.  I had found some material about deploying them in a 2-wide, 3-deep formation to keep them within range 1 of each other.  This lets me take advantage of the Swarm Tactics and Howlrunners abilities.  Here is the list

Tie Advanced: Darth Vader - Swarm Tactics
Tie Fighter: Howlrunner - Swarm Tactics
Tie Fighter: Obsidian Squadron
Tie Fighter: Academy Pilot
Tie Fighter: Academy Pilot
Tie Fighter: Academy Pilot

     The trick with the deployment is that you cannot fit this formation in the deploymen zone, as it is too deep.  There is a good way to deploy the rear row ships on either side at a 45 degree angle.  On the first move, you can get them behind the rest.

     In my first game with them, I was up against Cupid who was playing a very elite 3-ship Rebel build using Wedge with Garven and Dutch tag-teaming off each other.  They had some droid upgrades, too.  He ended up flying right into my saturation zone of fire with Wedge on turn 2.  I used Swarm Tactics and Howlrunners re-roll to take out Wedge before his other pilots even got to fire.  I had some good rolls with my Evades and everybody survived.  Turn 3 saw every ship from both sides perform a Kiogoran flip and we were all facing each other again.  This time, I took down Dutch in his Y-wing.  After the next movement, the scene looked bad for the Rebel Scum with all 6 of my ships having him in their sights....

     Needless to say, the game was over after that turn.  Now, given that I rolled well and he rolled bad, I still feel that this list is dangerous.  This was only my second game using the Empire, and the previous time was not nearly as much of a swarm.  I will indeed be using this in the future, but first I need to get me another Tie fighter, as I was borrowing one from Cupid. 

     Also, I really like my GF9 game mat, even though it is overpriced.  In addition to looking great and having clearly defined borders, the texture of the surface prevents a lot of the accidental movement that happens with slick surfaces.  What do you think?