On 1/18/2018 at 10:46 AM, FTS Gecko said:

Well, the winner of the French regional certainly managed to leverage it successfully enough. Whether that result gets repeated or not is a different matter. PS is a big factor here it seems to me, Vynder should be able to reliably hit lower PS ships for big damage (probably after his wingmates strip shields as well). Of course, having Cruise Missiles on top means he's a threat at all ranges..

It's certainly a unique build and I think it's effective against some lists, but before we get too excited, this was a very small regional (36 players) that was more like an above average size store championship.

I've been flying a fat PtL vynder (very similar to the French Regional one) with varying degrees of success as part of my Fast&Furious list :

Major Vynder Vin Diesel (43): Push the Limit, Harpoon Missiles, Advanced Proton Torpedoes, Advanced SLAM, OS-1 Arsenal Loadout

RAC The Rock (57): Veteran Instincts, Inspiring Recruit/Intel Agent, Kylo Ren, Dauntless, Engine Upgrade

It's a very fun list to fly - both ships are really fast and can do a lot of damage. That said, it really struggles in some matchups.

Vin Diesel is, as you've guessed, great at dealing with lower PS ships. Catching a higher PS ship is much more difficult, especially if they have double repositioning to dodge arc. No matter who he's flying against, Vin needs to be flanking. He's sturdy enough to take a few hits but needs all his tokens for attack, so a front-on joust is bad news unless you're sure to get a PS kill in. Coming in from the side also helps him to be less predictable against higher PS ships. I'm still not great at flying him, but any time he ends up jousting more than a single ship, he dies soon afterwards.

In terms of loadout, I've found harpoon missiles much more useful than cruise missiles. Moving slowly hinders cruise missiles a lot, and if you're using PtL you can't go speed 3. Even without needing to clear stress, speed 3 is often just too fast and will lead to bumps or running over rocks in a lot of cases. PtL could also be swapped for expertise to open up the dial, but I prefer PtL as it allows you to take a TL or focus after reloading so you can get that sweet sweet +1 green die. You do have to think carefully about your next move when using PtL though.

The biggest weakness of fat vin diesel is needing to have a target lock to fire. Countermeasures and Black One are hard hard counters, and being bumped by lower PS ships is also a real risk, because then you're just a tokenless 43pt ship with 2 red dice. In a way, he's a flipped version of a TIE phantom - fairly sturdy chassis, but less reliable offence (and now I want to make a squad with both Vynder and Echo).

RAC was my wingman because he can PS0 opponents to make them easier for Vynder to catch, and the intel agent helps inform your slam choices (I had inspiring recruit before to help against stress control, but I think intel agent is more useful here, even though RAC and Vynder are often not flying close together). Getting an enemy to PS0 can take a turn or two, and you don't want to have Vynder waiting out of range for the PS0 to land because RAC will get vaporised while he does. The PS0 also comes at the cost of not handing out blinded pilot to protect RAC. So while I brought RAC and Kylo as a crutch to help out Vynder, the big V really needs to get in and join combat in those first few rounds as well, which is hard to do against high PS enemies.

Next time I fly fat Vynder I think I'll try out the French regional list (with harpoons instead of cruise), and after that perhaps Echo can have another run now that proton bombs aren't zooming all over the place.

On 1/15/2018 at 4:39 PM, Alpha Xg1 said:

Hey Kharnete?

From memory, does the Collectors edition have iMuse?

I have a major problem with the GoG games - I can't seem to calibrate modern joysticks!

I have to pick up a CH Flightstick or something with manual trim. Hehe.

Ahh quote myself!!

@Kharnete

CH Combat Stick has arrived! You KNOW what I'll be doing this weekend!

"Killing Rebels sure is fun isn't it Mu 1?"

On 18/01/2018 at 3:44 PM, horsepire said:

Did y'all see that a Vynder with advanced proton torpedoes list won a French regional? I played around with the combo last night (PTL/advanced SLAM/APT) and it's really fun.

Dang! Do you know the full list?

Has anybody bothered to use cannons that are not HLC, or even the seemingly worthless jamming beam?

Seems a shame that we were given so many choices with the GUNBOAT, but most of them are useless.

tl;dr

Has it been already discussed why we didn't got Maarek Stele as Gunboat pilot?

The title should include ion cannons to be fired after SLAM, otherwise I like the design of the Gunboat - apart from the fact that Maarek isn't a pilot.

57 minutes ago, GeneralBergfrühling said:

Has it been already discussed why we didn't got Maarek Stele as Gunboat pilot?

Oh, yes. Repeatedly.

The current consensus is that FFG are aving him for the Gunboat Aces pack.

52 minutes ago, GeneralBergfrühling said:

The title should include ion cannons to be fired after SLAM...

...Ion is a very powerful mechanic compared to the Tractor Beam, Jamming Beam and Flechette cannons... but agreed. As pointed out above, you can almost replicate it with Ion Pulse Missiles and the OS-1 title, but it's a bit more expensive and not quite the same...

13 hours ago, gadwag said:

I've been flying a fat PtL vynder (very similar to the French Regional one) with varying degrees of success as part of my Fast&Furious list :

Major Vynder Vin Diesel (43): Push the Limit, Harpoon Missiles, Advanced Proton Torpedoes, Advanced SLAM, OS-1 Arsenal Loadout

RAC The Rock (57): Veteran Instincts, Inspiring Recruit/Intel Agent, Kylo Ren, Dauntless, Engine Upgrade

*snip*

I wonder if you can have some success with Kylo as a pilot. If you drop APTs, you can fit a fully supped up Kylo with an annoying Tie Fighter thrown in there.

Major Vynder (26)
Push the Limit (3)
Harpoon Missiles (4)
Advanced SLAM (2)
Os-1 Arsenal Loadout (2)

Kylo Ren (TIE Silencer) (35)
Push the Limit (3)
Advanced Sensors (3)
Advanced Optics (2)
Autothrusters (2)
First Order Vanguard (2)

Black Squadron Pilot (14)
Crack Shot (1)

Total: 99

2 minutes ago, FTS Gecko said:

Oh, yes. Repeatedly.

The current consensus is that FFG are aving him for the Gunboat Aces pack.

...Ion is a very powerful mechanic compared to the Tractor Beam, Jamming Beam and Flechette cannons... but agreed. As pointed out above, you can almost replicate it with Ion Pulse Missiles and the OS-1 title, but it's a bit more expensive and not quite the same...

... then you have no cannons. For style reasons I want to have my Gunboats equipped with Ion Cannons, Linked Battery and Concussion Missiles. I know the Gunboat didn't had SLAM - but you can't decide to not use it because the dial is missing a k-turn. If you at least could fire the Ions after slamming, I would be perfectly fine.

5 hours ago, william1134 said:

Has anybody bothered to use cannons that are not HLC, or even the seemingly worthless jamming beam?

Yes.

Jamming is fun and interesting. I've used it on a Nu with XG-1, Tractor Beam, and ASLAM. Not bad for the cost.

5 hours ago, william1134 said:

Has anybody bothered to use cannons that are not HLC, or even the seemingly worthless jamming beam?

Seems a shame that we were given so many choices with the GUNBOAT, but most of them are useless.

Friend, Mangler spam is a thing.

Quadruple GUNBOAT!!! (100)

Nu Squadron Veteran (25) - Alpha-class Star Wing
XG-1 Assault Configuration (1), Long-Range Scanners (0), "Mangler" Cannon (4), Flechette Cannon (2)

Nu Squadron Veteran (25) - Alpha-class Star Wing
XG-1 Assault Configuration (1), Long-Range Scanners (0), "Mangler" Cannon (4), Flechette Cannon (2)

Nu Squadron Veteran (25) - Alpha-class Star Wing
XG-1 Assault Configuration (1), Long-Range Scanners (0), "Mangler" Cannon (4), Flechette Cannon (2)

Nu Squadron Veteran (25) - Alpha-class Star Wing
XG-1 Assault Configuration (1), Long-Range Scanners (0), "Mangler" Cannon (4), Flechette Cannon (2)

3 minutes ago, Kieransi said:

Friend, Mangler spam is a thing.

Motion to rename this list Spamgler Boats...

1 minute ago, FTS Gecko said:

Motion to rename this list Spamgler Boats...

I second the motion. All in favor?

I'm in....

errr, Aye!

13 minutes ago, Kieransi said:

I second the motion. All in favor?

Aye

1 hour ago, Kieransi said:

I second the motion. All in favor?

Arrrr.

Oy. Wrong fandom.

"Aye"

12 hours ago, Goseki1 said:

Dang! Do you know the full list?

There were two very similar lists in that French Regional . The one in first place was:
Major Vynder (Alpha-class Star Wing) Advanced Proton Torpedoes, Os-1 Arsenal Loadout, Advanced SLAM, Cruise Missiles, Push the Limit
"Quickdraw" (TIE/sf Fighter) Special Ops Training, Primed Thrusters, Fire-Control System, Guidance Chips, Cruise Missiles, Veteran Instincts
"Countdown" (TIE Striker) Adaptive Ailerons, Guidance Chips
98pts total

From my experience with fat Vynder, I much prefer harpoon missiles over cruise, especially with PtL. However if he's flying in at speed 3 for the first engagement he'll have a good shot for round 1.

7 hours ago, Jo Jo said:

I wonder if you can have some success with Kylo as a pilot. If you drop APTs, you can fit a fully supped up Kylo with an annoying Tie Fighter thrown in there.

Gotta have the APTs (or at least proton rockets), otherwise it's too easy for opponents to get into range 1 where you can't shoot them (and they can shoot you back hard). Personally I'd just ditch the TIE, take APTs, and then add extra munitions and maybe even ion pulse missiles to vynder.

11 minutes ago, gadwag said:

"Countdown" (TIE Striker) Adaptive Ailerons, Guidance Chips

wtf? gchips on a striker?

1 minute ago, Vineheart01 said:

wtf? gchips on a striker?

Countdown is best kept cheap - no mod or TIE mk2 are the best options for him (and TIE mk2 is only worthwhile if you really have nowhere else to spend the points).

It's pretty common to throw chips on countdown (or Sabacc) just for a laugh

oh i get not having LWF on him, odds are it wont matter anyway. The gchips just caught me off guard.

That's exactly what they are there for - confusing opponents!

On 1/22/2018 at 1:55 PM, Azrapse said:

Isn't "she" also the pronoun used when you aren't sure about someone's gender? (Along with "they")

Perhaps Vynder is a female. Or perhaps her gender hasn't been defined and they use a default pronoun meanwhile someone at Lucasfilm makes their mind.

No, English uses "they" for gender unknown. FFG used female pronouns all but once for Vynder, so I think it's safe to say that Vynder was intended to be female.

I agree.