Sowing Fear

“You’re confusing peace with terror.”
“Well, you have to start somewhere.”
   –Galen Erso and Director Krennic, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

The Galactic Empire rules through fear. From the expressionless uniformity of its legions of Stormtroopers to its swarms of TIE fighters filling the skies, the Empire relies on terror to keep the systems under its control in line. The TIE reaper continues this tradition with its menacing attack profile and fearsome firepower. When one of these ships enters a battle, what’s on the inside is just as terrifying as its powerful laser cannons and thick armor plating.

Known as a high-performance transport, the Reaper is capable of carrying specialized soldiers and other crew members into the thick of a fight. Every crew upgrade that you add to this ship has the ability to enhance the Reaper’s lethality in its own way, sowing fear in all those who would fly against the might of the Empire.

The TIE Reaper Expansion Pack redefines terror for Imperial X-Wing™ squadrons. With a highly-detailed TIE reaper miniature, this expansion includes the ship and upgrade cards that let you strike fear into the heart of your opponent.

Join us today as we take a closer look at the TIE Reaper Expansion Pack for X-Wing!

An Unconventional Fighter

In many ways, the TIE reaper eschews many of the principles that have become hallmarks of Imperial fighter squadrons. Rather than relying on speed and maneuverability like so many of its TIE counterparts, the Reaper is a bulky fighter that, with only one agility, isn’t going to be avoiding many of the shots directed its way. Instead, the ship relies on its two shields, six hull, and unique action bar to survive the heavy enemy fire it will undoubtedly attract.

Despite its heavy hull, the TIE reaper can take the evade action, giving it a surprising amount of evasive power for a ship its size. Even more unusual is the Reaper’s ability to take the jam action. Not only does becoming jammed force an enemy ship to remove one of its focus, evade, or blue target lock tokens, the pilots included in the TIE Reaper Expansion Pack take full advantage of this ability. Captain Feroph,  for example, gets a defensive bonus while jamming, adding an evade result when attacked by a jammed ship.

Additionally, a pilot such as Major Vermeil can also take advantage of the Reaper’s jamming capabilities to enhance their attacks. If Major Vermeil can use jam to remove the last focus or evade token from an enemy ship, he can change a blank or focus result to a hit when attacking that ship later in the round. But this isn’t the only way for you to use Vermeil’s ability. He can also be used as a Decoy,  swapping pilot skills with someone like a Scarif Base Pilot,  for example. Dramatically reducing his pilot skill for the Combat phase gives him a good chance of shooting last, hopefully after all your opponent’s focus and evade tokens have been spent.

The TIE reaper’s ability to jam certainly sets it apart from other ships, but that’s not the only thing that makes it special. Its unique maneuver dial also makes it capable of some unique flight patterns. With speed-one Segnor’s Loops and the ability to remain stationary, the Reaper is a perfect candidate to use its two crew slots to be Emperor Palpatine's personal transport.

Additionally, if you decide to equip it with Advanced Ailerons,  the Reaper becomes even more maneuverable. This free title allows you to treat your Reaper’s speed-three bank maneuvers as white maneuvers, letting it go even further without becoming stressed. However, this title also means that you must execute a speed-one forward or bank maneuver before you reveal your dial, so long as you’re not stressed. If you have a TIE reaper piloted by "Vizier" in your squadron, this can become a boon, with “Vizier” granting a focus or an evade token to the ship equipped with Advanced Ailerons.  

An Elite Transport

While its unique capabilities certainly make the TIE reaper a unique ship, it is most well known as a transport. Its two crew upgrade slots lend it a good deal of customizability, opening up all sorts of possibilities for creative squad-building. One of the Reaper’s crew slots could be filled by a Tactical Officer,  adding another rarely-seen icon to its action bar. Having a Tactical Officer on a Reaper gives it the Coordinate action, allowing the Reaper to choose a another friendly ship at Range 1-2 to perform a free action. If that ship is a TIE reaper with an ISB slicer aboard, it can then jam two ships instead of one.    

In addition to rank-and-file crew members, the TIE reaper is also capable of carrying some of the Imperial elite such as Director Krennic.  Always at the forefront of new Imperial weapons technology, Director Krennic can enhance two ships at once by assigning the Optimized Prototype condition to a friendly Imperial ship with three or fewer shields at the beginning of the game. Not only does this increase the target's shield value, it allows you to spend one die result to remove a shield from the defender. What’s more, after the ship equipped with Optimized Prototype attacks with its primary weapon, if the ship with Director Krennic is at Range 1-2, it can acquire a free target lock on the defender.

With the Optimized Prototype condition, the TIE interceptor can spend a blank result while firing at the X-wing to remove one shield. After this attack, the TIE reaper carrying Director Krennic can acquire a target lock on the X-wing.

Director Krennic gives you the opportunity to create some deadly duos. With Optimized Prototype, an ace such as Soontir Fel becomes more durable and all the more efficient at eating away enemy shields. Meanwhile, the ship carrying Director Krennic can continue the barrage with its target locks.

Rule Through Fear

The TIE reaper may be an unconventional starfighter by Imperial standards, but it is no less capable of inspiring fear in those that must face it. Add one to your squadron and show your enemies the true power of the Empire!

Crush any resistance with the TIE Reaper Expansion Pack (SWX75), available now for pre-order from your local retailer or through our website!