Head Hunting with the Z-95

The Z-95 Headhunter is one of the best known ships in the Star Wars expanded universe right behind the X-wing, TIE fighter and YT-1300. It was the precursor to the X-wing and was developed before the Invasion of Naboo in Episode 1 A Phantom Menace. I have been looking forward to this ship just for purely role-playing and campaign purposes though it looks like it might be quite useful in a tournament build against swarms.

The basic Z-95 is the

Bandit Squadron pilot

He is PS 2 and twelve points... but don't for a second think he can swarm like an academy TIE. He has two hull and two Shields to the Academy TIE's 3 Hull but he only has 2 Agility vs the TIE's 3. He also does not have an evade action like the TIE. What he does have is a missile slot and this will be the Z-95's bread and butter. Missile support on the cheap. 

Assault missiles give this guy Swarm killin' potential

Equipped with this an you can make sure that those expensive Assault Missiles will not go to waste.

So for 18 points you get a ship that can make a TIE Swarm pay for maintaining formation. Two of these cheap dudes and Lieutenant Blount will make a Swarm disintegrate real fast I think.

So for 59 points you are firing three assault missiles into a Tight Swarm formation and if the "miss"les miss? you don't lose them and can try again next turn. Blount though always hits even when he misses so you can choose use the card and damage all of the other TIEs around your target or wait a turn and try again. He is also good at stripping those pesky stealth devices off of ships like interceptors and if they are in formation your opponent could lose all of his stealth devices in one shot. 

He also gets a Elite Pilot Skill so Deadeye maybe for firing missiles and using a target lock to re-roll the attack or Veteran Instincts to let him shoot before he gets blown away...because he will have a target painted on him by anyone who runs their ships in formation, or Push the Limit and TL and Focus in the same round for an almost guaranteed hit. 

You could team Cracken up with the Bluntman and throw him a focus to use on his attack or for defense either way they make a good swarm-killing team. He also gets an EPS so maybe Opportunist for those close in range one attacks which would give him 4 attack dice. More than enough to finish off TIEs from the swarm after a salvo of Assault Missiles.

Tala Squadron is just your PS 4 version of Bandit Squadron and used in the same way with just a bump to your PS if you want to avoid some of the new things like Predator that punish low PS pilots or your opponent uses PS 3 or PS 4 pilots themselves and you want the chance for initiative during a tourney. 

The Dial is pretty good and is very similar to the X-Wing. The only red maneuver is the 3 K-turn and it has plenty of useful green maneuvers to bleed off stress. Not particularly fast or maneuverable with no 5 speed maneuvers or the ability to boost or barrel roll in its action bar it is a very cost effective and solid missile platform.

Anti-Swarm list

Airen Cracken 25 pts

Assault Missiles and Munitions Failsafe

Lieutenant Blount 24 pts

Veteran Instincts, Assault Missiles and Munitions Failsafe

3 x Bandit Squadron Pilots 17 pts each / 51 pts total

Assault Missiles

Total 100 Points

This gives you a huge Alpha Strike against a swarm and will either force them to separate, thereby reducing their effectiveness or punish them for staying inside Howlrunner's range. Once the blob of TIEs is weakened then you can hunt them down with your own mini swarm of angry little Headhunters.

Against fortress falcon, focus on Chewy the first few rounds and do some splash damage if he forts up with Lando right off the bat. Get to range one an blast away until Chewy is dead then chase Lando down and finish him off as well. You could throw a couple of Ion Pulse Missiles...

If you expect the double falcon lists to be a problem, this prevents Lando from sharing free actions with Chewy. It could hang him up long enough for you to close the distance and end him. Alternatively you could take Cluster Missiles...

Against those 1 Agility YTs or Shuttles or B-Wings or Y-wings or pretty much anything slow and who could give your Z-95s fits with their turrets. So maybe sub out the Assault missiles on the bandits for Cluster Missiles and Munitions Failsafes.
At least on two of them.

Just to keep everyone honest.