Smoke from cigarras hung low around one of the tables of the Steamline Space Tavern as another round of whiskey and beer was delivered to a group of pilots back from a successful mission.
Bake Travnor, Whiskey Squadron’s leader, took a sip from his glass. Travnor worked for the owner of the Steamline, Lew the Hutt. Lew was fighting over shipments of goods with the owner of a rival Outer Rim joint, a conflict known as the Tavern Wars. Travnor scratched his grey beard as he looked over the other pilots, mostly young smugglers he had recruited. They were loudly debating the relative merits of different ships.
“I’m telling you, I’d take an Interceptor over five Ties,” said a young human named Wiley, a pilot who had made a name for himself running contraband for the remnants of what had once been the Black Sun syndicate. “Ties are no match for Interceptors.”
Travnor finished his whiskey and motioned for another.
“Interceptors are fine, yes, but unless you know what you’re doing a Tie swarm will ruin your day faster than an angry Zilo Beast.”
The pilots leaned forward, as they knew from experience that Travnor was about to walk down space battle memory lane. He told the group about the old Shadow Wing, an elite squad of Interceptor pilots operating around the time of the Battle of Endor. He described how they were ambushed by a host of Tie Fighters loyal to a rogue Imperial commander and how Shadow Wing’s superior ships were no match for the onslaught of the standard Imperial battle craft.
Travnor smiled, mostly because his drink was being refilled.
“Best not to trust in much, boys,” he said.
So can Tie Interceptors surivive a Tie Swarm? The following scenario puts that question to the test, and is a recreation of the battle in Issue 2 of the new “Tie Fighter” comic series
Mission set up
Shadow Wing (175 points): Soontir Fel, Turr Phennir, Saber Squadron Ace and an Alpha Squadron Pilot. That leaves you with 5 points for upgrades.
Tie Swarm (200 points): You can build a swarm any way you like. I suggest Del Meeko with 7 Academy Pilots. This comes in at 191 points, so there are 9 points left to play with. I don’t think it’s really worth it to go with Swarm Tactics for Del, as Shadow Wing already has initiative. Del’s ability is useful, as friendlies up to range 2 may reroll 1 defense die against a damaged attacker.
Game time is the standard 75 minutes
X-WING TAVERN WARS 