Heh, Imperial Navy would then be much like the Parlamentary Vasudan Navy in the regards that both had a swarm fighter used and sacrificed in great numbers just to harass the enemy and force some of their fighters to be assigned to space superiority rather than assault roles.
Drawing a tangent from fighters and Imperial navy doctrines to game balance...
I remember reading from some EU sources that when the X-Wing was introduced and before the TIE Interceptor came along and all the imps had was TIE/ln's, the TIE pilots quickly learned to avoid engaging X-Wings unless they had at least four to one numerical advantage (in fact if they didn't have that much advantage they usually chose to flee, to the ire of their superiors...), so I suppose as far as balancing goes, X-Wing should be made a match for three and a half TIE/ln's of same skill level, statistically so that if four AI TIE's engage a single X-Wing, approximately half of the engagements the X-Wing is destroyed and half of the engagements it survives. Perhaps even including this... evasive behaviour in a TIE/ln AI module that makes them avoid engaging X-Wings unless absolutely necessary, if they don't have sufficient numerical advantage and if their AI level is low enough.
With humans in controls the situation becomes entirely different of course. I suppose making the TIE an eggshell with limited speed and offensive capability but good maneuverability is a true and tried choice, but at the same time I really would like to see an X-Wing that doesn't maneuver like a train like in the X-Wing series of games* (and an Y-Wing that doesn't maneuver like a train wreck)... but I suppose I can trust in the
Force the team members to make the gameplay fun and balanced and looking much like the combat in the BoE.
*I know they fly much like trains (and train wrecks) in A New Hope - TIE's included, but I would want to reason that being because of the limited special effects technology compared to the Return of the Jedi.
/offtopic.
