TIE Defender Unboxing for X-Wing Miniatures game

Imperial High Command decided that defender pilots would only be selected from TIE interceptor pilots who had flown at least twenty combat missions and survived. We're either the best pilots in the Imperial fleet or the luckiest.”
    –Onyx Squadron Leader Rexler Brath

One of the most recognizable of all Star Wars starfighters from outside the classic films, the TIE defender represented a major shift in Imperial policy.

Classic Imperial tactics relied upon massed swarms of relatively inexpensive TIE fighters, favouring quantity over quality. However, as the Rebel Alliance enjoyed more and more success with its more advanced starfighters, the Empire decided to re-evaluate the cost of replacing its starfighters and pilots. It was this decision that led to the development of the TIE defender.

Upgraded with enhanced firepower and deflector shields, the TIE defender proved more than a match for its Rebel counterparts. In fact, when the TIE defender was introduced, shortly before the Battle of Endor, it was easily the most advanced starfighter in the galaxy. The addition of a hyperdrive allowed it to perform an even more flexible role within the Imperial Navy, though the significantly higher investment the Empire had to make in creating each TIE defender meant that only its best pilots would ever fly one.

so lets see what you get to add to the Imperial forces....

As always with Fantasy Flight Games, you get plenty of nice high quality card Tokens providing you with all you need to add the TIE Defender to your forces.  You can see from the manoeuvres she is fast, though hard turns do cause a bit of an issue its balanced by the fact you have a white K-Turn.  You can K-turn and do actions every turn crossing a dogfight from one side to the other and still firing to maximum effect.

You also get rules reference cards for how ION tokens work and titles and modifications, so you never need to worry about missing rules.

For Pilots we have Rexler Brath.  With skill 8 he Is moving close to last, and shooting early on, with the TIE/D stats of 3 across the board you are hitting hard for a TIE class ship, and his ability can allow you to hit harder by flipping over damage cards for the cost of a focus token.

Colonel Vessery is skill 6, so middle of the road,.  He is best used attacking ships that have already been target locked, as soon as you roll attack dice if your target already has a lock on it from another ship you get a free one, so with some planning you can get a free target lock for him each turn to combine with a focus for maximum damage potential.

Onyx and Delta Squadron pilots round out the pack for some generic choices.  All the pilots have some great art on them, and are a pleasure to look at.

For upgrades we get the Ion Cannon, this can control ships movement letting you know where they will be as they drift forward for a turn.  Ion torpedoes so the same thing, but are a a one shot weapon and  last two turns.  With the white K-Turn on the ship, you can hammer them, flip around and hammer them again getting your actions still.

Munitions Failsafe helps conserve your weapons, as if you fire and do not hit you do not need to discard your weapons.  Very handy for those Torpedo attacks. 

Outmanoeuvre is an elite talent that lets you reduce your targets agility by 1 if you are not in their front arc.  With a ship that has a white K-turn this can be good to get behind them. 

Predator lets you re-roll a dice in an attack, or 2 dice if your target is pilot skill 2 or less to try and maximise your damage.

 The Ship is great looking.

 With plenty of detail and a great paintjob

The TIE Defender is a great and powerful addition to get some punch into your Imperial fleet.

You can pick one up from your local game store here


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