Up until now, I’ve been more an Imperial Navy junkie, staying away from anything that didn’t have a TIE in its name. Call it a fluff preference. Whatever.

Yet just recently I’ve been toying around with pure Firespray lists, imagining them to be a mercenary outfit willing to sell their services to the highest bidder and just as happy killing imps as rebels. I like the load out options, tankiness and the flexibility (and challenge) of using the rear firing arc that the ship offers.

(I wish we had more pilot choices for the Firespray, if not ships – ‘Mercenary Aces’ anyone? – but that’s something for another day).

So, my tendencies at the moment are towards either a higher PS duo or the vanilla trio of 3xBH.

For the duo, I’ve been considering Fett and Scarlet, each with PTL, Recon, Assault Missiles (or replacing A/M with engine upgrade on both for more flexibility + a seismic charge on Fett).

To me the combination of PTL and Recon seem to work really well for the ship (with the good greens on the dial helping with shredding stress):

- TL and double focus for attacking (and getting those missiles off in one turn with focus if needed)

- Evade and double focus for defending (or defending/attacking)

So three questions for all the Firespray experts out there:

1. What are the current thoughts re which build is the most competitive for the tournament scene – a trio or a duo (if the latter, what build to you recommend)?

2. What starting positions and movement advice do you suggest to help counter our blind spots?

3. How to best use bombs in conjunction with the ship's dial and rear arc (I have very little experience with them and feel I miss too often with them).

Any input greatly appreciated.

There are quite a few ways to outfit a dual Firespray list, any one of which can be perfectly viable. Just don't fall into the trap of using Navigator on Fett - it's not nearly as useful as you might think. My major recommendation is to reserve enough points to fly either Backstabber or Dark Curse as your third ship. Tempted as you are to equip a couple of unique pilots, be aware that Bounty Hunters are just as viable in dual Firespray lists. PS3 can go a long way in a meta full of generic Blues, Rookies, and TIEs. To answer your questions:

1) That's a meta call, and highly dependent on your ability to pilot multiple large ships. If people are flying troublesome squads that require specific answers, fielding triple Firesprays obviously won't leave you enough points to upgrade your ships accordingly. That having been said, triple Firesprays do tend to place well in competitive events.

2) Since you won't be flying many ships with dual or triple Firesprays, I would shy away from straight up jousting. Place them towards either the middle of the board or the corner opposite from your opponent's ships, then slow roll until you get a feel for where they're moving and bank towards them. Asteroid placement is also important here. You want to leave yourself a couple of lanes wide enough to pilot a large ship (or two) through, so corners tend to be ideal. Try not to let your opponent set up a small triangle in the very middle of the board; asteroids at range 1 of each other should be avoided at all costs.

3) Bombs aren't competitive, and there are better ways to spend the points. If you absolutely must use them, remember that Proton Bombs and Seismic Charges are better on high PS ships, Proximity Mines the opposite. That having been said, remember what I said about Bounty Hunters above. There's a decent chance that your PS3 ship will be higher than at least some of your opponent's, potentially rendering your Proximity Mines even more useless than they might otherwise be.

Regarding specific upgrades: Push the Limit is great on just about any ship with an EPT slot, but there are better ways to spend those points on a Firespray. If you can only afford one of the two, take Recon Specialist instead. Firesprays are surprisingly tough to kill with Recon Specialist, especially if you let your opponent chase you around the board while you take potshots from your auxiliary arc. Avoid Marksmanship unless you're also taking Gunner, which happens to be a solid combo on Kath. Gunner by itself is an amazing upgrade, giving you ample confidence when taking shots against high agility ships (TIE fighters), shooting at range 3, or during periods of action denial (such as the inevitable bump, or stress). Some people swear by Expert Handling on their Firesprays, but I prefer to spend my points elsewhere. Secondary weapons are also a matter of preference, so consider how often you shoot out of your auxiliary arc before you invest in an HLC or Ion Cannon.

I agree with the ORC. One good list that my friend was/is running is 2x BH w/ Gunner and 2x academies.

Gunner comes in handy on those builds with high agility or even just a bad die roll.

Plus with 2 blockers you get a lot of good opportunities to stunt your opponent.

a variation to test out would be this

BH w/ Gunner

Academy

2x Royal Guard Interceptor w/ PTL

100 points and non many ships that will match your Pilot skill. Interceptors are a dangerous flanker and if you divide your squad on setup your opponent has to choose who to attack first. Either your hearty Bounty hunter while the enemy is flanked by deadly interceptors. The alternate is they have to attack the royals and have a bounty hunter with gunner (constant damage) to finish the remaining squads off.

Thanks for the feedback so far! I'm not married to the idea of bombs so am happy to leave them at home if that's the consensus.

My post was something of a work in progress. I think I'm more or less finished editing it at this point.

Merc Aces would include new pilots for the Firespray, the YT-1300 (on the ORS stats), and possibly the HWK. But they'd all be open to both factions

For several months I played over 50 games doing dual firespray only, with no support ships, Tried different pilots and upgrades, some worked better than others, but overall I just couldn't win consistently enough with them, I was only winning around 40-60% of the time.

Recently I added a single academy tie to get a third ship, and it has made a HUGE difference. Now I'm winning more like 70-80% of the time.

I will admit that dual firespray only is easily the funnest I've had in X-Wing, but the inconsistency with it caused me to finally give up on it.

Here are a couple of builds, just to add food for thought:

39 Boba Fett

6 Advanced Proton Torpedoes

3 Push the Limit

3 Recon Specialist

0 Slave-1

33 Bounty Hunter

16 Backstabber / Dark Curse

Resist the temptation to rush in and alpha strike with Boba's APT. He's worth too many points to let your opponent focus him down early, so make good use of your other ships to bait out your opponent's. I would take Dark Curse over Backstabber.

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38 Kath Scarlet
5 Gunner
2 Expert Handling

36 Krassis Trellix
3 Ion Cannon

16 Backstabber / Dark Curse

A straightforward list that makes good use of Kath's EPT slot, though not so much her pilot ability. Movement and position take a premium here: EH keeps targets in her arc, while keeping her out of your opponent's. Gunner acts as pseudo action economy, so your offensive potential isn't hurt by taking a barrel roll and stressing instead of a focus or target lock. The utility of an Ion Cannon on Krassis should be obvious in a list that emphasizes positioning, so try to keep him in the rear with his front arc oriented toward your opponent's ships as much as possible. I would take Backstabber here in a flanking roll.

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33 Bounty Hunter

5 Gunner

33 Bounty Hunter

5 Gunner

21 Omicron Group Pilot

3 Darth Vader

This is a simple but effective list that brings a Doom Shuttle as backup. At an even 24 points, you have a couple of options should you choose to replace it: Academy Pilot x2, Kir Kanos, Saber Squadron Pilot + PtL. If you're squaring off against crit prone ships (i.e. TIEs, Ys, and any large ship that isn't Chewie), I'd recommend keeping the shuttle.

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33 Bounty Hunter

3 Recon Specialist

33 Bounty Hunter

3 Recon Specialist

21 Omicron Group Pilot

4 Engine Upgrade

3 Advanced Sensors

Use the Firesprays to kite your opponent's ships away from the OGP, making liberal use of their auxiliary arcs and spare focus tokens to soak up hits. Slow roll with your Shuttle to keep it at a distance, then punch it with Engine Upgrade when it's in a good position to flank. Simple as it may seem, this is probably the most skill intensive of the lists I've provided.

If you want to see something awesome give a Firespray Expert Handling. Big bases already make barrel rolls awesome, but add that rear arc and you have something awesome.

I discovered this when I tried out my Go-Anywhere-Boba: Boba Fett+Navagator+Engine Upgrades+Expert Handling. You can see a theme with him. But as I played him I found that I used the Expert Handling a ton, and not much else. So now my favorite Firespray is Kath+Expert Handling.

wonderwaaaah don't you think marksman and gunner is a bit redundant? While it is a nice combo for shooting I would rather rely on my natural dice and a recon specialist with gunner.

definitely duo, and there are a few subtypes that are commonly seen:

1) Kath + Boba, both with PTL Recon Spec

2) 2 Bounty Hunters, 2 TIEs (or 1 TIE). Commonly seen variants are something like BH + Gunner, BH + Gunner, Academy, Academy

3) 2 Bounty Hunters, 1 Shuttle

wonderwaaaah don't you think marksman and gunner is a bit redundant? While it is a nice combo for shooting I would rather rely on my natural dice and a recon specialist with gunner.

on Kath you have this special combo. Shoot at some far off target at range 3 expecting your shot to miss. Of course the shot missed, and since He evaded your crit (from marksman), He gets a stress. Now with gunner, shoot at your actual target.

See I don't like relying on the dice that much, other than the possiblity of an auto crit, i feel the shot is better suited at range 1. If they don't evade the crit (and it falls onto shields) you now are getting shot back at range 1 where that crit may have been better suited. Also your damage has become spread out at this point possibly leaving the ship at range 1 alive after the rest of your squad fires.

WonderWAAAGH, don't you think marksman and gunner is a bit redundant? While it is a nice combo for shooting I would rather rely on my natural dice and a recon specialist with gunner.

Not at all. It's one of the few good ways to make use of Marksmanship, and perhaps the only good way to make use of Kath's pilot ability. Compare Kath + Gunner + Marksmanship to Krassis + HLC + Recon Spec. For the same price, you get a slightly higher PS, the ability to use your powerful combo out of both arcs, a decent probability of stressing an opposing ship, a good probability of forcing an opposing ship to use its evade/focus token, and a really good probability of landing at least one damage, even at range 3. Try it and find out for yourself. Here's one possible list:

38 Kath Scarlet

5 Gunner

3 Marksmanship

18 Howlrunner

12 Academy Pilot

12 Academy Pilot

12 Academy Pilot

Kath + HLC is an extremely bad choice

Kath + HLC is an extremely bad choice

Yeah, but I don't think anyone is advocating that.

Anyone ever try Kath/Boba Fett + Recon Specialist + Deadeye? That could keep someone on their toes with those missiles.

1) I fly duo Slave with 1 or 2 TIEs. I prefer Kath+Mark+Gunner and Krassis+HLC.

2) I play aggressive with Slave, i fly to opponent try to kill as fast as i can.

3) I don't use bombs, i prefer Cannon (ion or hlc) than bombs/missile/torpedo. Missiles are one shot, Cannon it's like a diamond, it's "forever"

Try to make use of/boost pilot abilities where possible. Kath, Gunner & Marksmanship is good, Kath, PTL and Rebel Captive is good. Krassis needs a secondary weapon to make use of his ability - HLC might be too expensive, but Ion Cannon adds some utility.

The Firespray is already quite agile - add an Engine Upgrade and in combo with the rear arc it can be a beast to fly.

Kath gunner and marksmanship. Add to taste.

Possibly a dumb question but how do people prefer to use their support TIE fighters with the Firespray lists?

Possibly a dumb question but how do people prefer to use their support TIE fighters with the Firespray lists?

I use 2 Tie Fighters fliying in formation around the Slave. They try to kill some annoying ship. Usually i use Dark Curse + Black w/ Draw their fire.

I normally play Fett, Scarlett + guest tie fighter/interceptor.

The only cards I reach for and have to chose between are merc co-pilot and marksmanship. I may use others but these 2 are the first I seek out.

I play these 2 as, well, Fett is Fett, and as a repaint Scarlett's ship looked the most interesting. I've found.myself wishing I had Trellix a few times though, so I'll possibly pick a 3rd up and repaint that.

Deployment? Opposite sides of the table angled inwards.towards the middle of the table to give the best overlap at engagement range, poss turn 2.

Guest tie runs as a flanker, picking off scraps.

If you want to use a third ship with your dual firesprays I recommend Dark Curse, the ability to shut down focus and rerolls is huge and makes him stay around much longer than a tie fighter should. I personally do not like secondary weapons on the Firespray because they cannot be fired out of the back arc. I fielded Krasis with the HLC last night and I only got about four shots out of it by two games before I found myself wanting to turn away from my opponent to shoot out of the back. I don't think the 7 pts is worth it as you're strapped for pts already.

Possibly a dumb question but how do people prefer to use their support TIE fighters with the Firespray lists?

I fly my single academy up close and personal to my opponent for 3 functions:

Block my opponent

Get range 1 shots, ideally by flanking

Try to draw fire away from my firesprays which are more important to keep alive

I've definetly had a few games where my opponent afterward has said my lowly academy was the mvp for me. Either because he kept getting in good range 1 attacks and/or because they tried to take him out and wasted a bunch of shots doing it because of his 3 evade dice, and usually a focus as well from moving first.