Anyone had much luck making Etahn A'Baht work well?

[Bosco]

I really love his pilot skill and the E-wing ship itself, but I can't make a list with him that I feel great about.  The common arguments for him I've seen have either been nearly naked with a Z95-swarm to maximize return on his ability (number of ships shooting), or paired with Ten Numb and/or secondary weapons like a HLC.

My issue is I like the speed of the E-wing (combined with the systems upgrade Advanced Sensors you have a pseudo-decloak maneuver from the barrel roll action and a friendly maneuver dial) and feel like it just doesn't fit with Z95's nearly as well as it can with A-Wings.  Of course, by the time I write up my list it ends up being 3 ships with a total of 7 attack dice between then and only 13 combined hull/shields; not a particularly forgiving build.

 

Any suggestions/positive experiences that might help?

[DisruptiveConduct]

He's awesome in EPIC play, but in normal 100 pt games, he costs a bunch and Corran Horn is a much better pilot.

 

E'tan's PS 5 along with a Z-95 swarm really loses out to high PS phantom lists.

 

No positive experiences here. Sorry, homie.

[Bosco]

He's awesome in EPIC play, but in normal 100 pt games, he costs a bunch and Corran Horn is a much better pilot.

 

E'tan's PS 5 along with a Z-95 swarm really loses out to high PS phantom lists.

 

No positive experiences here. Sorry, homie.

 

I figured he'd be a monster in epic play, especially since his ability applies to enemy ships within a much larger area than the 'range-1 friendly' style ability of Howlrunner or the upcoming M3-A defensive version of that.

 

I also figured PS5 was a limiting factor, especially with a low PS swarm.  His base 3 AGI is a step up from the Z's, but for the points he's the obvious target; when I try and write a list with him I end up shoveling too many defensive upgrades into him to make it particularly beneficial.  My previous experiences using him saw him take a priority target role for my opponent and he literally gets shot to pieces before he gets to his chance to shoot in the second turn.

 

As a result when writing lists now I always end up with something like:

Etahn

• Advanced Sensors
• Lone Wolf (his ability only requires the enemy ships be in his arc, not friendly beneficiaries so he can get cheap rerolls here for both attack and defense as long as he plays solo)
• R2-F2
• Experimental Interface

The intent is he plays by himself on one side while the rest of the ships do work from the opposite side of the field, problem is he costs a mint (43 points, ouch!) like that and really I feel he needs the points freed up to provide more ships to benefit from his ability.  I guess I could run him with Biggs, but I just not a fan of sinking 1/4 of a list into a punching bag that might get one shot off before he kicks over, though that isn't that different than my luck with Etahn...

[DisruptiveConduct]

putting him alone only makes him more of a target, as you described earlier.

 

corran horn, on the other hand, can work with almost that same load out, and be much more effective.

 

his double tap really makes people think about when to engage him.

[Burk]

personally as an empire player, I fear etan more.

[thatdave]

I've been playing my 3 tie advanced list lately, but am looking at an Ewing list.  I will give him a go and report back.

[Bosco]

I talked my wife into a game tonight (a break from Carcassonne), so Etahn got some less-reinforced test play in a more generic setting.

Etahn A'baht

• Swam Tactics
• R2-F2

Prototype Pilot (A-wing)

• Chardaan Refit

Prototype Pilot (A-wing)

• Chardaan Refit

Eaden Vrill

• Tactical Jammer

 

First salvo Etahn managed to whiff on 4 defensive dice against 3 hits and a crit (raised from 3AGI  with R2-F2's action), but after that the crits started rolling out.  I managed to keep him alive the following turns while Eaden and the A-Wings spewed improved shots into anything viable.  

 

I don't think it is an overly competitive list, but it had several of the elements I wanted to try out.  The yt2400 lent a bit more reliable damage output to the build it wasn't hard to find something either stressed or at range 1 to pump the base attack dice up to 3 shots. The A-wings definitely fit in nicely for speed and maneuverability.  Unfortunately, our 2-year old woke up from his nap earlier than expected, so we weren't able to play to completion but he was clearly making a difference against anything with a shield.