TIE Interceptor: First Impressions

TIE Interceptor

 

 

 

So I got three games in with my TIE Interceptors this weekend and without turning this into a Battle Report, I’m just going to quickly highlight some of the pros and cons of this ship. To start off I was unable able to use every version so my findings will be based off of my experience with Thurr Phennir, Soontir Fel and a Sabre Squadron Pilot.

 

Pros

1.       Maneuverability

2.       Firepower

3.       Actions

4.       Agility

 

 

1.       Maneuverability

This basic function is an extremely important aspect of the X-Wing Miniatures Game. The unique dial system of movement lends to the playability and unknown factor. The TIE Interceptor as with the basic TIE Fighter is very maneuverable and I enjoyed the speed and tight turns that were very useful for outmaneuvering the enemy and getting behind them. The TIE Interceptor did not let down in this category and its maneuver options are one of the attractive features of this ship.

2.       Firepower

The big difference between the TIE Interceptor and other TIE variants is the firepower. The TIE Interceptor has three attack dice and rivals the X-Wing in firepower. The higher attack value was the most notable difference that I recognized which most players would easily see on the card. When I was playing I noticed that being able to maneuver and bear down with the increased firepower was very beneficial and it is the deciding factor for me when I consider the TIE Interceptor in my list.

 

3.       Actions

The TIE Interceptor has four actions in its action bar. The actions are: barrel roll, focus, evade and the new boost action. I won’t dissect each action but I will say that the ability to pick between four actions was very helpful and the boost actions quickly developed into me getting into range one to utilize the higher attack and get off four shots. This was extremely effective when it was combined with Thurr Phennir who can then barrel roll or boost out of a firing arc. The actions helped out immensely and they combined with the firepower and maneuver to make a very deadly ship.

4.       Agility

 

Having three agility was a great defense to the enemy firepower and it repeatedly proved useful and blocked the enemy attacks. The high agility was  great and it really helped this ship survive throughout the fights.

 

Cons

1.       Shields (lack of)

2.       Options for attachments

3.       Points

 

1.       Shields

 

As with most other TIE ships excluding the TIE Advanced version the Interceptor has no shields and relies on its agility to spare it damage. The lack of shields was not as noticeable since the agility value was three. I knew coming into the game that there were no shields and this was not the big negative factor that I worried about.

 

 

2.       Options for attachments

 

The TIE Interceptor has very few options and some of the cheaper versions have no options at all. This does limit the amount of customization but with the new upgrade cards like stealth device, engine upgrades and shield upgrades you don’t need as many upgrade icons on your ships. The options are limited though so prepare for some pretty standard combinations.

 

3.       Points

 

The point cost is higher than the TIE fighter which is expected but the named characters start getting into the high 20 point range and with some upgrades they can even exceed 30 points for a ship that has three hull with no shields. The points are one of my cons that I am not too worried about because the damage output that the Interceptor provided was well worth the points.

 

 

 

Nuts and Bolts

 

 

So from my opinion, I absolutely love the TIE Interceptor and Thurr Phennir with Veteran Instincts was just awesome. He would move, then boost to range one, shoot then barrel roll or boost out of a firing arc. This tactic proved very effective and he claimed many rebel pilots. The damage output combined with the maneuverability of the TIE chassis made a very capable ship that offset the points and usual glass hammer moniker that is attributed to the TIE series of fighters. My next problem is convincing the guys form Blackheart to keep letting me play as the Imperials, somehow I am the default Rebel Player. So those are some basic takeaways that I had with my Interceptors, hope everyone enjoys.

 

What Tactics Articles Do You Want?

We are planning on writing up some articles and Battle Reports but we want to hear from you on what games you are interested learning more about. Right now there are a few out there that have caught many gamers and we are going to try and get some articles on the popular games. Before we get going we want to make sure we do articles that you want. So here are some games that we are considering reviewing or doing articles on:


Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures

Dust Tactics

Bolt Action

We play plenty of other games and if you have questions or want us to review something let us know.



Rob

X Wing Miniatures Wave 2 restocked !

Well we have been waiting a while to get our hands on these and I know there has been plenty of unboxing videos and battle reports following the Wave 2 ships but Fantasy Flight Games has been a little slow on getting product out there. Some were selling for 30$ or more because of the lack of stock. Today some online retailers got restocked and if you are fortunate you may find some for retail price or less. I thought I would let everyone know considering how hard it is to find these ships. The Firespray and Millennium Falcon are a little easier to find but the TIE Interceptor has been very elusive followed by the A-Wing. We will be posting a battle report soon on some of our X-Wing games. Good Luck picking them up and get them while you can.


Bob

Empress SAS

Here are some more pictures of the Empress miniatures. The top picture shows the British SAS team of 4. The bottom picture has one of the SAS team painted in MultiCam. Both of these pictures were simply taken from a Google search and are not from Black Heart Gaming. We did get some of the SAS models and we will be painting some of them soon. Four of them are primed and we are trying a few different primers to get some nice colors. We do plan on using them as proxy models for our future game for play testing but we thought we would show off some of the quality of Empress Miniatures on the site. I like the basic look of the top picture but I have to say that I a very impressed by the MultiCam effect that the second picture has and since our game will feature a time line of approximately 2050, we could incorporate both types of clothing. I hope you enjoy the pictures and if anyone has questions or comments feel free to post them.

Bob

Dust Tactics New Unit Preview

Armor 4 NCO Command Squad for the SSU

 

 

So for those of you that have played Dust Tactics these guys are quite impressive. They have a wide variety of weapons although mainly anti-infantry weapons, they do have a little anti-air with the Dual DSHK. The NCO Command squad rules are pretty good and having recently played in the 2013 Regional Tournament I used the Allied NCO Command squad and the NCO rules were very helpful. I will say that the armor 4 value on these fallen heroes is really going to make them hard to kill. The damage output is good and the cost doesn't seem to high when you have these considerations.

 

From a hobby standpoint, these models look great in my opinion and are a welcome to the Dust Tactics community. The pre-primed models are of course easy to paint and the low cost of a box is a nice addition. So here are the final armor 4 units that the SSU have added to their inventory and we will be writing a review of them and some hypothetical tactics that may be used prior to their release. Well, good gaming and if you have questions or comments feel free to post.

 

Bob

 

Empress Insurgents !

Here are a couple of pictures of some painted insurgents from Empress Miniatures. Nick from Black Heart Gaming painted these guys up for some upcoming play testing of our future tabletop game. The insurgents have some reinforcements coming and Nick will be finishing off his full squad of guys soon enough. The miniatures are quite detailed and the weapons are very accurate. We have invested in Empress Miniatures Kickstarter and those models will be here around Christmas, so we will also preview those. We picked up about 40 models from Empress and we will continue showing everyone the level of detail that have and how much we like them. If you need some modern models you should check these guys out.

X-Wing Tutorial By Starlit Citadel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YesRnPXtHi0&feature=player_detailpage

 I thought I would post this link and let anyone who has questions about X-Wing or is interested in joining the ranks take a look at a quick review. I will agree that you need more than just the starter box to really feel the game. Luckily a few of us here at Black Heart, have pitched in and we can build some really good lists with the amount of expansion ships we have. If you are not aware the Wave 2 ships are sold out for the most part. There are a couple of online sites that may still have the Millennium Falcon or Slave 1 but the A-Wing and TIE Interceptor have been sold out for some time and there are many people that are anxiously awaiting their return. I hope you enjoy this quick tutorial and if you have questions send them our way.

Bob

More Dust Tactics Previews

Ok, so here are two more previews from Gale Force 9 on their upcoming Dust Tactics releases. I will have to say as an avid Dust Tactics player I really like where they are going with these new units. The SSU snipers just look deadly and with both the spotter and sniper ability they are going to be really tough to deal with especially with Range 10 and Armor 4. The Allied Bunker is a Beast ! 25 Hit points is just so tough and I am curious to see the new rules regarding bunkers. The SSU definitely have some new units that are really going to shine, although you are paying quite a bit of points for them the Armor 4 characteristic is hard to take down. I know a fellow gamer that is with Black Heart Gaming is already getting his German laser units ready as his main defense against the new SSU units. We will keep posting these units as they come out and if you get a chance check out the Gale Force 9 website and you can see more screen shots there.

Fantasy Flight Reviews Upcoming Units

 

So here are some previews from the Wave 3 expansion of X-Wing. Two of the ships featured are the B Wing and the Lambda Class Shuttle. These two ships have quite the punch and some serious shields. The article details some of the upgrades that these ships can take and that bring some new elements to your games of X-Wing. If you get the chance check out Fantasy Flight Games and see all the details surrounding these new ships.
http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=4236

Star Wars X-Wing Battle Report

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5L83jJwb1U&feature=player_embedded


This is a good battle report on the new Wave 2 Firespray with some TIE fighters versus some X-Wings and Wedge Antilles. If you haven't checked out X-Wing yet I highly suggest you do, it has really taken off and it has a strong following. It is a very easy game to learn and play and the starter set is a great value. If you want to know more about it let us know and we will do a review of the basic set and the game.



Bob

Grendal Drop Ship

Here is another drop ship from Antenocitis that has caught everyone's eye. This was out last month and I decided to post it again since it seems like Antenocitis has really been producing some nice concept art. From my opinion I think the drop ships look a lot better than what Games Workshop has produced with their latest line of flyers over the past year. I know this is just concept art but if you have seen Antenocitis products they do a great job with their builds. I would expect at least similar quality with the concept art. This piece could easily fit into an Imperial Guard Force or it has possibilities with Infinity. The idea isn't too far from the current MV-22 Osprey, but instead of rotors it has VTOL engines and a supporting armament. I look forward to their actual models of this craft and I will have to purchase one and see how it comes out. I know we are considering the idea of drop ships in our future project Resurrection: A New Dawn, so we are looking hard at some design concepts and possible models. Well, if you have questions or comments feel free to leave them below.

Bob

Antenocitis Concept Art

Earlier this week we previewed some concept art from Antenocitis dropship and yesterday they put out some more pictures of their upcoming infantry models. These are just a few of the pictures that are available and there are a lot more out there. Their range has a lot of potential for their game system and for proxy models in other systems. If you haven't checked them out head over to their site or check out http://sttheo.deviantart.com/gallery/ this is the concept artist's site. This stuff is looking very good and it has some potential. Maybe they will do a Kickstarter soon. Leave some comments and tell us what you think.

Gale Force 9 PREVIEWS NEW SSU DUST TACTICS MODELS

Well here they are the SSU "Red Tornado", it looks like Gale Force 9 is coming out with a bang with their newly  acquired Dust Tactics range. One of our gaming guys is a huge SSU fan and he took second place in the 2013 Regional Tournament with his Air Mobile force, I am curious how he will do with this new unit that looks like its packing quite the punch. I think these guys might find some other games that will use them as proxy models too. So the release dates are on the GF9 website and the prices are very affordable. If you haven't played DUST Tactics you should check it out. If you have questions about it feel free to comment and we can answer your questions or find out for you. Stay tuned as we keep getting more previews of these new units.

Antenocitis- Krokidil 224 Gunship

Well this thing looks great and I think it can fill the role in some different games. If you haven't checked out Antenocitis site before they make some really good vehicles and they are currently designing some very good looking drop ships and flyers. The potential use for this model is vast and I can see many gamers using this as a proxy. Let us know what you think and if this might be something that you would want to use in your games. Check out Antenocitis and some of their models, I think you will like them.

Bob

Warhammer Tau

The Warhammer Tau Blog is a very useful resource if you are a new or experienced Tau player in the Warhammer40k universe. I just wanted to make people aware of their site and its new management. The site has a team of avid Tau players that are pushing out about two to three articles a week. The Tau were my second Warhammer40k Army and they are still my favorite. Since the new release of the Tau Sixth Edition Codex the Warhammer Tau Blog has been breaking down the book with some very good reviews and some important points for new Warhammer 40k gamers. I have been distracted as of late with Warhammer 40k and I do plan on getting back into it eventually and when I do I will go visit their site and brush up on my Tau knowledge....What has been distracting me? Well DUST tactics and X-Wing. Which as I previously noted one of Black Heart Gaming's team members will be reviewing. So keep checking us out and we hope to keep the gaming alive.

Rob

DUST Tactics on Gale Force 9's website !

DUST tactics which was recently part of Fantasy Flight Games moved over to Battlefront and Gale Force 9 recently. This is one of the new units that they plan to unveil. If you are a DUST Tactics fan you need to head over to their site and see all the new releases coming out. As of right now they have unit releases projected to October to include the next expansion. One of the guys from Black Heart Gaming is going to do an article on the breakdown of units coming out and he will throw out some hopeful thinking for the new units coming our way. Keep checking us out as more reviews and news will be headed your way.


Bob

Moder War Gaming Rulebook.... Force on Force by Ambush Alley Games and Osprey Publishing

Ambush Alley Games and Osprey Publishing has produced this rules set for modern war games....



I just purchased this rule book and I am looking forward to conducting a review once it arrives in 3-5 days. I have yet to jump into a modern war game and with my recent purchase form Empress Miniatures I think this might be a nice addition to the games that we play. The rule book was very reasonably priced and hopefully I can at least review the contents of the book within a week. For those of you interested in the product or if you have any questions on what is in side and you want something specific addressed leave a comment and we will look into it....