so next week is the big day at my LGS. i have been on the forums (and practicing) with variants of a list that is centered upon dutch and garven dealing out their actions like candy. the problem is i cant settle on the other two ships

heres what i got set: dutch + ion turret, garven

what i cant decide is do i go with:

1. add R5 on dutch, FCS blue, rookie=100

2. blue + AS, rookie=100

3. 2X blue, R5 on Dutch=99

I have flown all three and the synergy works well in that most ships will be target locked and focused every round. The AS build usually doesnt take advantage of the AS too much becaus ei fly in a tight formation and concentrate fire for the first two rounds or so. The FCS works well when going agaisnt builds with a lot of HP but against tie swarms I usually dont get to use th eFCS because by the time it comes back around to the Blue's turn to fire its target is dead due to concentrated fire. I flew the third list today against a vader swarm. It ended up with a Black squadron with one hull vs the blue with one hull. i out flew him but the dice werent with me on two free attacks. we both K-turned he fired first and i lost. The firs tlist im basically trading a defense die for shields and Ive had some success with it but seems a little thin with jus tth eone Blue. Again second list I ahve really been able to use the AS too much.

Am I missing something with this build or should I scrap it? and go with something else?

Looks solid. I don't fly rebels too often but rebels firing with TL and Focus usually means trouble. I might take the FCS blue jus so Dutch could focus on handing out TL's to the other 2 and it can even focus as an action so garven can do the same with focuses. There should be enough opposing Bwings and shuttles and firesprays and falcons for fcs to matter.

So list 1 over list 3? Thats kind of the way im leaning but there sure seems to be more survivability with the third list. Dang Im jus tnot sure...guess im getting fired up for the store championship!

I would go with number three, but instead of an R5 unit on Dutch, I'd give one of the B-wings a FC system. Thats a nice list with lots of fire power, survivability, and plenty of actions.

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/99985-singapore-gamersaurus-rex-store-championships/

I used this list to help me get my first place:

Garven
Dutch + ions + R5K6

Rookie Xwing

Rebel HWK + Recon spec + blaster turret


The key to this list is your sequence of actions and maneuvers. Generally, when moving Dutch should be the last to move, so that when Dutch takes a TL, everybody is already in range and ready to take their own TLs. When attacking, Garven usually should be the one to attack first so he can pass his focus token around, and if Garven spends his TL, Dutch may be able to give the TL back to him via R5K6. If you need to switch TL to another target, have Dutch attack 1st.


Anyway, with my list, you have a chance at the random 3rd TL, which when paired up with either the Rookie Xwing or HWK, means that you can pinpoint survivours and wipe them out if they survived Garven's attack. You also have 2 turret weapons, so tight dogfighting and TIEint jumping out of firing arcs would be less likely to bother you. Collisions with the HWK is mitigated when you realize that Garven's token can be passed to the actionless HWK, and that both Garven and Dutch can assist ships with stress tokens on them, so your HWK can afford to use the red maneuvers to escape firing arcs or get into a better position if need be. R5K6 either likes to activate all the time or none of the time for the entire duration of the match, but I usually make decisions with the assumption that it would activate (ie. dutch spending TL to reroll 0 dice so i could trigger R5K6)

As for going against swarms, once again flying and hiding behind asteroids and patience is more important than the actual build itself. I've seen a 3 Ywing 4 rebel ship build take out a swarm before, and even I have to say on paper it looks like the swarm should have easily won the rebel 3Ys

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An alternative list lineup would be:

Garven
Dutch + ions

Rookie Xwing

Biggs

if you prefer something more classic. You also have 3 ships with medium PS, so you have a fairly good chance to wipe off 1 mook before it fires back if your opponent is a little unlucky with his defense rolls, and Biggs offers a bit more protection to the entire squad if you know how to use him well.

Garven
Dutch + ions

Chewbacca + Expose

If you want a falcon list. The key to this list is that Chewbacca can pull off a 5 attack dice TL + F into a string of 5 hits against any targets at range 1, or a string of 4 against any targets at range 3, so you could easily wipe off targets that you do not like on demand.

I hadnt thought of using R5K6 because, frankly, I had put that card aside thiknking it was one of those wasted cards. However in this build it is very intriguing.

Question: do you find that the HWK gets targeted often? I fear its fragility. Im wondering if something like: http://xwing-builder.co.uk/view/52234 would be successful. Are you going for the HWK just for the 360 turret?

Well, previously back in wave 1 I was already using that garven/dutch combo, except that a 2nd Rookie Xwing wasnt particularly helpful due to its limited firing arc, and a Ywing didnt work either as the overall firepower of the squad was reduced. Hence the HWK. I've tried with Bwings, but they didnt solve the problem. In the era of Soontir PTL, imperial aces etc, you really need turrets to protect your squad. On top of that, I'm not a big fan of the Bwings due to their slower dials and 1 agility, when compared to the Xwing, but its more of a personal choice I suppose.

Don't worry too much about survivability, if opponents are attacking the HWK, it means that they arent attacking dutch or garven. On top of that, at range 3 the HWK has 2 focus tokens and 3 agility for defense, so it can absorb quite a bit of hits. And you still havent factored in Garven's free token yet.

One particular thing that I enjoy about the HWK + Dutch's 3rd TL is that the TL occurs when the game state is really finalized, even after Turr has done his stuff, other higher PS pilots have attacked and used their focus etc, and etcetcetc, so your TL option for the HWK is really accurate; you can pinpoint specific targets to hammer, eg. the lucky survivour with 1hp left, or some other target that needs a beating, and you are not restricted by a limited firing arc

Ahh good point about when the TL can take effect against high PS opponents. I will give this list a whirl. With the list in my original post I have tended to fly in a tight formation. Right after the alpha attack an dmy focused fire from all four ships I typically swing Dutch wide while keeping within range two and taking advantage of his turret. I have found that opponents would then target Garven or the Bwing. Is flying with a similar tactic something you employ? Do you run the HWK and Dutch in one direction and the X's another when breaking formation?

all 6 of my games I opened with the 4332.

setup like this:

H R

D G

with roughly just less than 1 ship spacing between the left and right ships. HWK and Dutch should be touching each other, and Rookie and Garven touching each other. Place the HWK column on the inside (ie. if you start on the left side of the board, the HWK Dutch column should be on the right). As far as possible try to avoid starting in the middle of the board, unless you wish to branch off in the asteroid field.

Open with Rookie (forward 4), HWK (forward 3), Garven (forward 3), Dutch (forward 2). This way you instantly get a checkerboard formation, which you can revert back into a square formation anytime you wish to. When in the checkboard formation, you find that you can use your bank moves more freely and can attack better at 45deg, and while in the square formation you can attack straight on or 90deg better due to the positioning of your ships (bit long winded, but the basic idea is that you have 2 ships at the same range at the front, as opposed to only 1 ship taking point). You can go 3221 if you want a slightly slower approach

You should keep Garven behind the rookie and Dutch behind the HWK. This is because the Xwing column is a lot faster, and if you place Garven behind the HWK you may find the HWK blocking some of Garven's moves. Similarly, Dutch may not be able to keep up with the rest of the team due to its slightly slower speed, and since that column is on the outside, it will naturally be at a further distance away from the fight, meaning targets may be out of your turret range.

You can also and should U-turn the Xwings without too much worry, especially the rookie. You can still pass Dutch TL and Garven focus to the stressed rookie, so you can have him do things like U-turn, then immediately forward 4 or easy turn 3 on the next turn to get him back in combat, and it can easily stun your opponents who wrongly assumed that the Xwing would be a bit too far away from the combat.

when you are attempting a frontal assault against your opponent, you MUST take extreme caution with your speed, and avoid range 3 combat. Range 2 combat is best for you, it is where I'm always able to take out a Bwing on the very 1st combat round. The only time I failed to do so was because I was in range 3 combat with my opponent, and my HWK and Dutch couldnt pump out the necessary damage.

excellent strategy i have been using this formation with similar results

will definitely be using your tactics at the championship. thanks!