Why such a CULT love of this old fighter? Z-95 Headhunter COMPLETE Breakdown



The Z-95 Headhunter was produced by Incom, the same people that gave us the ARC-170 and X-Wing, as well as a ton of other Star Wars ships and vehicles. This complete breakdown of the Z-95 will take us into the cross section and history.

Ships & Vehicles: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ4vMwZTWJNhlIWiM_ILakRwLWJ19AukX

Capital Ships: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ4vMwZTWJNiFkkmI8m3PqDs5virydYVQ

Complete Series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ4vMwZTWJNiAXrXGvQOQb5_v38qOnEok

Check out these links!
https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/z-95-headhunter-alternate-commission-abb7f5bdb5b24267984d7157062d76d2
https://www.deviantart.com/tattooedhobbit/art/Z-95-Headhunter-Blueprint-960421621
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/yba1E9
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkknuuvqW30&t=3s&ab_channel=MetalDestroyer77

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40 thoughts on “Why such a CULT love of this old fighter? Z-95 Headhunter COMPLETE Breakdown”

  1. Because its the mainstay of the most PDFs in Star Wars, and never was adopted by the Empire, and thus there was literally tens of thousands of them laying around to be picked up by everyone who can fly. It also offers shields, ordnance and hyperdrive, something that many fighters lack.

    Clone Wars version looks uglier than original one btw, fight me.

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  2. I don't like the base Z-95 but I like the hyperdrive equipped variants. The lack of a hyperdrive just limits the strategic uses of the original too much. Its great for planetary and system defense but for things like convoy escort or offensive operations I want fighters that don't have to be deployed from carriers when reaching a system or recovered before departing.

    If I'm commanding a fighter carrying ships or ships on an offensive in Star Wars I want to be able to jump to a point near my target, deploy my fighters then have the fighters and the base ship, or ships ready to hit the ground fighting as soon as we arrive at the target. Likewise if I'm running a convoy escort I want to be able to have at least some of my fighters in the air while in hyperspace in case we run into an interdictor or an ambush at the jump zone of a system we are visiting. And if worse comes to worse regardless of mission, and we have to retreat the fighters being able to jump on their own instead of a carrier having to pick them up before jump becomes a very good thing.

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  3. For the longest time, the only ones who spoke of the Z-95 were the 80's and 90's generation Star Wars fans. It was one of the highlights of playing X-wing and Tie Fighter series for the PC in the 90's. The original Z-95 was not faster then the X-wing, and it handled much like a Y-wing. (For those who played the X-wing series…you know what i'm talking about) Trust me, no one said "Awesome! I get to fly the Z-95 this mission!". It was slow, limited weapons, and no shielding in the 90's series pc games. It felt like a punishment to fly the thing in any type of assault mission. It's cheap nature is why mercs in the series would fly them. Very odd to hear "It has a cult following".

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  4. I say this every time I comment on this channel..this is one of the best channels on YouTube for star wars ..unmatched ..the hobby of star wars is super interesting and a really enjoyable thing to be a part of ..the lore and information i get from here is super vast ..it has opened up a whole world for me . Thanka

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  5. Rogue squadron was able to sell their Z-95s Headhunters because of the cult following. and because those were used to liberate Corescant. So they were historical too.In the real world it would be like being able to buy a Spitfire or Hurricane veteran fighter of the Battle of Britain.

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  6. Head hunting & PTSD goes well with the pretence of this entire movie series…. Who didn't enjoy the feeling of seeing a head being lobb'd off! Remember now, This is Star Wars! Or would people rather see a flying uterus with laser fallopian tubes and breasts with John Boy's distant future relative in the pilot seat and a AI computerized egg as co-pilot. (Reference from Battle Beyond The Stars)

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  7. I can tell you from the days of GMing the tabletop SWRPG d6 WEG edition with a long running gaming group the Z-95 was super popular because firstly it came as an equipment loadout for the Starfighter Pilot PC template, where the Smuggler would get a YT1300 or Ghtroc freighter for example, but of course in most games the GM would steer the PC quickly towards joining the Rebellion since every TIE fighter in the galaxy will basically shoot an unregistered, unaligned, independent Z-95 on sight as will any Imperial Bounty Hunter; at which point the PC will typically upgrade to an X-Wing. But that's not how we rolled. You see add the starship modification rules, spend some time adapting a custom version for starfighter engineering and you could modify your Z-95 with improved laser cannons, armouring, shield generators, munitions launchers, sublight drives and add a hyperdrive module with a basic 2 jump navcomputer. Now the only thing you really lack in performance to an X-Wing is the droid navigator/flight-engineer, but as far as combat goes it can still run rings around just about anything Imperial. And you get to keep your independence. The only trouble you have is a limited range but you fix that with atmosphere scoops and ration your food consumables, you can go a long way along well travelled hyperlane routes in several days, but you definitely want to create a contacts network and that brings roleplay and adventure/quest opportunities. All told, the Z-95 was immensely popular. It's about the toughest thing to live this sort of lifestyle with.

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  8. I would prefer it to a TIE Fighter in a dogfight, but would always exchange it against a TIE Interceptor for that role. The Z-95's shields are basically as strong as attaching cardboard as armor – meaning they are not really significant. But if the Z-95-version has a hyperdrive, it is obviously superior to normal TIEs because you can just decide to fight another day and escape… 😉

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  9. the cockpit view of the z-95 gave me a question, is the reason why most fighters have their guns on the wing tips is due to how bright they are? like, are they put at a distance instead of closer to canopy so that they don't blind the pilot when shooting?

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  10. tbf, if i was a tie pilot and i see a z-95 i'd turn the other way cuz no way in hell am i going against a fighter with a cult following, it's loved for a reason and i'd rather not fuck around and find out what that reason is

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