"A TIE variant I've never seen before" Topic

The TIE Hunter:
link

Seems to be a cross between an X-wing and an Interceptor?

I assume it's EU canon, but does anybody know where this thing came from?

Wookieepedia knows all: link

Nintendo — Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike

Ah, fond memories of that game and the series. Shame we never got one on the Xbox 360. :-(

Too bad Factor 5 declared bankruptcy before they could finish any of their 7th gen console games (except for a Wii game).

EU canon

Well, that's an oxymoron.

Shouldn't it called a QIE Fighter?

Also available on Shapeways: link

I have to say i think that is a terrifyingly awful design. Not Mel's mini, that is fine and dandy. But the actual ship itself

To me the TIE is just a stupid design – two large panels on my flanks to prevent me from seeing enemies coming at me? Sure, why not? And who needs a rear-view mirror anyway?

All the video games were great for adding more ships to the galaxy. The downside is that each game wanted to have it's own unique ship that sort of looked like a TIE but wasn't the same as those used by other game companies. I think there's a finite number of times that you can dip into that pool with success.

On the other hand, each of the not-TIE designs seems to have its own fanbase. Guess it depends on how much people liked each game.

I've never played any of the video games. I spend too much time painting minis to add another time-consuming vice ^,^ So. I'm willing to assess each one purely on how it visually appeals to me without any nostalgia from prior games.

The Hunter doesn't do anything for me. I do like both the new FFG releases; like the Phantom a bit more than the Defender.

And thanks to the last round of Target core set clearance sales, I've got 6 TIEs and 6 X-Wings set aside to convert into 6 Twi'lek Chirdaki and 6 pirates' X-Tie uglies.

Too many TIE variants?

The Tie itself is not the ptoblem, as for the panels, you look right through them with sensor feeds. On modern attack helos and even armored vehicles they can set up heads up displays and goggles that let you look right through the vehicle and see what your sensor video is showing. Certainly if you have the tech to exceed light speed you wiuld have the tech to do video, holographic even. But the Tie was meant to be small, with firepower and defenses sacrificed for cost and maneuverability.

Yeah they should retcon most of those variants away and airbrush them out of the pictures. Most are ridiculous fanboy stuff that looked like crap, just add some cool new feature that would not fit into space available on a Tie. And in Lucas land they just let game designers and authors change the size of ships to fit the mishmash of abilities in.

Really the TIE Crawler? Why would you make a tank with a glass front?

The TIE Scimitar Assault Bomber is the one I really like the looks of.

I've been hoping for an FFG wave with Imperial ships that feature in the Timothy Zahn books, that should be a popular enough source to help sell them: TIE Scimitar and Skipray Blast Boat.

So far, I've resisted the urge to get those two from Shapeways. But seeing FFGs trend to mine the video games first, I might break down and add these to my Shapeways shopping list. Which of course would fuel the ju-ju to have FFG make them ^,^

Most of the TIE variants hurt my eyes and head when i see them, though i have developed a liking for the Avenger, I just do not like the Defender and really hate the Agressor though and to be honest think my TIE Spectre looks better than the TIE Hunter. But that is just me i suppose. to each their own.
It seems like it would get to the point that when new TIEs become too expensive to produce in the continuing attempts to keep up with rebel ships, that someone would say "OK, 24 sets of panels and 3 fuselages sections is a bit much, we need to go in another direction"

"The Tie itself is not the ptoblem, as for the panels, you look right through them with sensor feeds."

I doubt it. If you can get surprised by something as big as the Falcon coming at you from the rear…

If one is to condemn the TIE for poor visibility one has to wonder how the Falcon gets by when something comes up on the left hand side. advanced sensors are the answer to everything. I'm just not going to worry about it except from an aesthetic point of view. And i do love the original TIE

If sensors are the answer to everything, then why bother having windows or windscreen?

Familiarity.

All Star Wars craft are flown like WW2 aircraft so you need windows except fpr the Moldy Crow. It has windows but none of them are forward.

You couldn't get me to fly a TIE into combat for a million bucks. When your likely opponents can actually see to their sides, your survival time in a dogfight without good sensors would logically be measured in seconds.

Sign me up for a BTL-S3 or T-65 over a TIE any day.

On one hand, it's a clear case of "every video game wants its own TIE variant". Not to mention that most of them are very similar to one another: four laser cannons, warhead launchers, shields, hyperdrive. Optionally: ion cannons.

That right there describes the TIE Hunter, TIE Avenger, TIE Defender, TIE Phantom (add cloak), TIE Raptor, and TIE Aggressor (add a turret, sans shields). The TIE Oppressor is pretty close, too.

Now, in-universe, there IS a logical explanation. Post-Yavin, you had three key things happen. First, Rebel fighters were consistently beating TIEs. Second, the destruction of the first Death Star invalidated the Tarkin Doctrine, and third, with Tarkin dead, there was nobody to defend it anyway.

So naturally you had a proliferation of designs that popped up vying to be the one to replace the original TIE. In the end, that winner was the TIE Interceptor, supplemented by the TIE Defender. In other words, the imperial bureaucracy punted, with a super-fighter tacked on to handle hyperspace missions.

The TIE Hunter actually was an earlier model already in use by Storm Commandos (stormtrooper special forces). I'm not a fan of the design myself-- I personally prefer the TIE Spectre that Einar Gosric did on shapeways.