"Double Tap" trick, in an essence is combination of Target Lock and Focus actions. I'd like to have a quick look at the math of this powerful combo and ways of getting it, especially for the Imperial players.
Lets look at attack dice for x-wing. Each die is an d8 with following options and chances of rolling it:
Note that this math is for probability of roll on a die, NOT for a successful attack.
Biggest difficulty is getting both Target Lock and Focus on one ship, preferably during one turn. This easy to achieve with any Rebel ship, since all of them have both Target Lock and Focus as standard. When arriving into a Range 3 from enemy Rebel would place TL, fire some warning shots and wait until next turn, when target would be closer, (preferably in Range 1 for extra die), and will Focus for maximum damage output.
Starwolf, out..
Lets look at attack dice for x-wing. Each die is an d8 with following options and chances of rolling it:
1 Critical hit = 12,5% chance
3 Hits = 37,5% chance
2 Focus = 25% chance
2 Blanks = 25% chance
Note that this math is for probability of roll on a die, NOT for a successful attack.
So with unmodified dice you would have a 50% chance of scoring single hit on one die. Focus action gives 25% and Target Lock should give you a re-roll in case of blank, thus improving your chances of scoring a hit. .
On average your starship would have 3 attack dice, either from standard weaponry or close range. When attacking you should have an average result of 1 hit, one focus and one blank on those 3 dice. Logical action for player would be to re-roll blank by spending Target Lock and then spend a focus token to modify them last result into a hit. In total you should get 3 hits.
Biggest difficulty is getting both Target Lock and Focus on one ship, preferably during one turn. This easy to achieve with any Rebel ship, since all of them have both Target Lock and Focus as standard. When arriving into a Range 3 from enemy Rebel would place TL, fire some warning shots and wait until next turn, when target would be closer, (preferably in Range 1 for extra die), and will Focus for maximum damage output.
Imperials, have a slightly different problem: very few expendable ships have Target lock action without upgrade. Namely: TIE-Bomber, TIE-Advanced, Lambda shuttle, Firespray-31, TIE-Defender and VT-49 Decimator. The most popular way to provide re-rolls was called Howlrunner, (her ability allows to re-roll one die for friendly ships in range 1, should you ask), and Captain Jonus (TIE-B) with same ability, but on 2 dice for secondary weapons.
Another ways of "double taping" are:
- "Push the limit" elite pilot skill on a ship with TL action. However negativity of stress limits its usefulness.
- "Squad Leader" elite pilot skill. Darth Vader with Squad Leader can take 2 Action, and is one of the best synergy providers in small Elite list.
- Colonel Jendon in Lambda, who can assign 1 of his blue TL to a friendly ship in range 1. However, Lambda's slow speed limits use of this ability of fast ships.
- Fleet Officer, crew upgrade for Imperial only side, which allows to assign 2 focus tokens to two ships in ranges 1-2. Can be found in Decimator.
- HWK-290 with Kyle Katarn as a pilot of Moldy Crow. Assigning focus tokens in range 1-3 and keeping them thanks to Moldy Crow should put him on top of kill-list of any Imperial squadron.
- HWK-290 with Jan Ors as a pilot. Free re-rolls to a friendly ships in range 1-3, for the price of stress token on HWK-290 is a legalised cheating, аs well as a competition for first place in a must-die-first list.
This is a relatively simple tactic, allows you to significantly improve your damage output in any game, especially against low-agility ships. Use it well, and fly casual.