I now have 3 Z-95's so have plenty of these cards but I don't recall anyone using these in any squads.

Are they useful? If you use them how do you use them? What ships do they go well with?

I've tried a couple of Wingman builds. One was a bunch of A-Wings with PTL and Wingman, The other was HLC'd Rexler and Vessery each with Opportunist, supported by Howlrunner and Mailer Mithel each with Wingman (this was at 150 points, though).

The combos work, but they tend to fall apart as the game goes on and your positioning becomes more forced and/or you start to lose ships.

Omg + advanced sensors + fleet instructor, 2 black squadrons with wingman.... You can halt the formation anywhere! Everytie gets focus, the shuttle gets a target lock...

People have suggested Wingman on Green Squads flying in pairs with PtL. This isn't a bad idea, but with so much green on the A-Wing dial they don't need it too much. It works better on someone who is good at buffing next to ships that generate stress easily or often. I like Wingman on Airen Cracken or Lt. Blount for example (how appropriate!) because they are easy to keep in formation with lots of different ships, but for this example we'll say PtL Wedge.

As for Decoy I've had some real trouble with that one. There are very few reasons or situations where I would want to give up my pilot skill on my ships for someone else on the squad, the only real situation being that the pilot in question is likely going to get wasted because they're seen as the easiest target and won't even get their attack in for the turn. The only really good scenario I can see this working is with a swarm + leader situation, namely a Z-95 squad or a Howlrunner squad. Otherwise the benefit is somewhat negligible and I can think of more useful and interesting uses of 2 points and an EPT slot.

wingman looks useful as a one of in some lists to alleviate extra stress. but ive never actually flown it. the range restriction might be pretty hard.

Wingman sounds good on paper, but then you remember that most of the ships that take a lot of stress are also ships that depend on maneuvering actions. If you've got a PTL interceptor, for example, you don't want to chain it to a less-maneuverable wingman just to get rid of stress. And then there's the opportunity cost of having to pay for a ship with an EPT but not using its EPT to benefit itself.

Decoy is just bad. You need a ship with high PS that doesn't mind shooting at low PS, and you need a ship that has an EPT and is willing to spend it on a PS boost instead of predator/PTL/etc but has low enough PS that decoy gives a meaningful PS boost over just taking VI. Or you need a high-PS ship that doesn't care about wasting its EPT and PS advantage to help someone else. And you need to be in a situation where swarm tactics won't work. I suppose in theory there might be a use for decoy, but I can't think of anything that I'd want to play competitively.

but for this example we'll say PtL Wedge.

And this is an example of why wingman is bad. Wedge is the kind of ship you could keep your wingman next to fairly easily, but why would you take PTL on Wedge instead of predator? Unless you're spending extra points on engine upgrade/R7-T1 to boost (and then leave formation) your only other action besides focus is target lock. So why take stress for a target lock when you can have a stress-free reroll from predator? Now the only reason Wedge will ever be taking stress is when he k-turns, and is it really worth taking a support ship just to have stress-free k-turns?

I was first on my gaming group to come up with Boba +VI to bring Echo+Decoy to PS10. It won more than it lost so a PS race began and a friend started using Vader instead of Boba. There is where Decoy really shines: either add VI to Vader and bring Echo + ACD or put Decoy on him and bring Whisper+VI+ACD and Sigma + ACD.

No experience with Wingman so far...

Consider the following:

Echo + Decoy + w/e

Vader + VI + [EU]

mooks

Decoy works very well here, Vader doesn't mind shooting at PS6 (as long as he moves at PS11), Echo loves shooting at PS11. The problem with this list lies with Vader, he doesn't pull his weight as much, and the additionals can't make up for it.

Decoy is good for:

* range 2 as opposed to range 1 of ST

* still get an EPT slot on *one* of the ships involved

* lowering the EPT might also prove interesting, you get to shoot on token-stripped ships

Of course you have to take into account how much PS matters to you. In many cases PS is good because of additional maneuvering possibilities, while swarm tactics or decoy help only with the combat phase. This makes it worth its weight in gold for ACD, but it might have other uses as well. Need to strip tokens for Opportunist on your high-PS ship? (think Keyan + Opportunist) - Then get a low-PS ship with EPT and stick around. Keyan might then fire after most of your ships, which might mean a guaranteed Opportunist trigger (or loads of damage before that).

What I'm saying is that Decoy definitely has its uses, although it's more nuanced than Swarm Tactics. Swarm Tactics is very blunt "Things shooting soon is good. Me want this shoot soon", while Decoy is the more tricky card, that you really have to think about before putting it in your list.

The problem with this list lies with Vader, he doesn't pull his weight as much, and the additionals can't make up for it.

But that's an inherent part of the problem with decoy: you're spending a lot of points on a mediocre ship just to get a high-PS EPT to boost some other ship. A phantom shooting at PS 11 is nice, but is it really better than a phantom shooting at PS 9 and 31 points of efficient threats?

Need to strip tokens for Opportunist on your high-PS ship? (think Keyan + Opportunist) - Then get a low-PS ship with EPT and stick around. Keyan might then fire after most of your ships, which might mean a guaranteed Opportunist trigger (or loads of damage before that).

Or, instead of wasting points on a mediocre a-wing just to lower Farlander's PS (and maybe trigger opportunist, if the high-PS a-wing somehow manages to strip tokens) you could take Wes Janson and have a much better ship that strips even more tokens at high PS. Most of the time this kind of decoy trick is just a case of being too clever for your own good. Instead of screwing around with fancy tricks just take the brute force solution.

I like putting wingman on Cracken as it makes him dedicated to buffing others and since he pilots a Z-95 he tends to get overlooked for all the other ships/threats in the same list. He does work best in lists with four or more ships as that makes easier to stay in range of someone who can utilise his buffs.

Decoy I certainly see the use for but I myself haven't tried it out. To give an example, Wedge is freaking amazing but his ability is often hampered by the fact that the enemy has focus and/or evade. By switching PS you could potentially make him shoot later and thus make his ability more effective.

The problem with this list lies with Vader, he doesn't pull his weight as much, and the additionals can't make up for it.

But that's an inherent part of the problem with decoy: you're spending a lot of points on a mediocre ship just to get a high-PS EPT to boost some other ship. A phantom shooting at PS 11 is nice, but is it really better than a phantom shooting at PS 9 and 31 points of efficient threats?

Echo at PS11 is nice and worth the hassle, it's Vader i'm having trouble with. He's resilient and all, but doesn't pack enough firepower. In any case, this isn't a discussion on the list as much as it was meant to show there's a use for Decoy. It's a good tool to have.

In regard to the Wes case: What if you wanted to shoot Wes before Wedge, but still have an EPT on Wedge? You could do that with decoy. It's a useful thing to have in the X-Wing arsenal. It's sufficiently different from Swarm Tactics and useful in its own way.

Decoy I certainly see the use for but I myself haven't tried it out. To give an example, Wedge is freaking amazing but his ability is often hampered by the fact that the enemy has focus and/or evade. By switching PS you could potentially make him shoot later and thus make his ability more effective.

You've got this backwards. Wedge wants to shoot first because defensive focus is least useful when the target has fewer green dice to get eyes on. If someone else takes a shot at a target with focus then it's averaging more damage prevented than if your opponent spends it on Wedge's shot. Similarly, an evade token is one damage prevented no matter whose shot your opponent uses it against. So, if a target is defending against Wedge and some other ship(s) it doesn't matter which order they fire in. And then you have to account for the wasted EPT slot. Instead of screwing around with PS tricks just put predator on Wedge and increase your damage the straightforward way.

The only situations where PS matters involve conditional effects. For example, opportunist ships want to shoot after other ships have had a chance to strip tokens, ships with crit-causing abilities want to shoot after other ships have had a chance to strip shields, etc.

Echo at PS11 is nice and worth the hassle, it's Vader i'm having trouble with. He's resilient and all, but doesn't pack enough firepower.

But that's the whole point of what I was saying, you can't just look at PS 11 Echo in isolation. You have to consider the cost you're paying to get PS 11, and compare it to shooting at lower PS but having the points you spent on support ships available to spend on other threats.

In any case, this isn't a discussion on the list as much as it was meant to show there's a use for Decoy. It's a good tool to have.

But, as I said, it is a discussion of decoy because one of the big drawbacks with decoy is the price of bringing an appropriate ship to carry it. Your list is a good example because Vader is pretty much a waste of 31 points other than the PS boost for the phantom.

In regard to the Wes case: What if you wanted to shoot Wes before Wedge, but still have an EPT on Wedge? You could do that with decoy.

Or you could just put VI on Wes and shoot at PS 10 and PS 9 instead of PS 9 and PS 8, and get the extra bonus of not having to keep your ships within range 1-2 of each other.

It's a useful thing to have in the X-Wing arsenal. It's sufficiently different from Swarm Tactics and useful in its own way.

It really isn't. It's a trick that seems clever on paper, but in reality just isn't as effective as more straightforward options. A toolbox full of fancy tools sounds appealing, but most of the time in X-Wing you just want to smash stuff with a hammer.

I really want to use a list that involves the use of Wingman, an HWK, an X, and an E wing or two Z-95s.

I really want to use a list that involves the use of Wingman, an HWK, an X, and an E wing or two Z-95s.

EDIT: WOW. How did I pull that off!?

So I use wingman with cracken... His ability is at range one and so is wingman, so I always want him in range one of something! It means that I can get say 3 actions with Horn (PTL + Cracken) and still be stress free at the end.... Or I have a k-turning biggs with a focus etc...

Wingman's good on PTL A-wings (fly two together and they get effectively stressless double actions), Decoy's good if you want to bring pilot skill down for some reason.

I would argue that Decoy is good in that list because it *almost* gives you a reason to run Vader! And I'm not looking at Echo in a bubble here, I'm well aware of the drawbacks of doing these "tricks". But the fact still stands that you can't use Echo at PS6 or PS8 without being highly vulnerable against PS9 pilots, and this "trick" takes the Phantom beyond everything except Roark or PS9+VI, which is rather rare. Is this worth 2pts for Decoy, and EPT slot and 5pt for an overcosted Vader? That's debatable. Plenty of players use Phantom + VI, so 1pt and an EPT slot is worth 2PS in their eyes. To be able to pay for the extra 5-6 points you have to depend on a very cost-efficient escort for these two.

While the Wes and Wedge example had an easy (and better) way out, I'm sure there are other examples where simply putting VI wouldn't work, I just flew this one example use.

Don't get me wrong, I would have never used Decoy if I didn't want to have fun with a PS11 phantom, but I still think it's nice to have around, for now or for later expansions. Also consider that X-Wing is departing from "smash with a hammer" mentality and more into the "tricksy" part (just look at increasing Rebel synergy, Scum and Villainy "feel" in the devs interview, and the downfall of "low-PS no upgrades" lists).

I think wingman might see some use on A-wings.

My problem with decoy is, it's too limited. If you fly against interceptors, they will block Vader. You are outside of the 2 range and are stuck with an upgrade with. If anything has a barrel roll or a boost or both and ptl, they will prevent Vader from reaching his target, or just kill Vader and after that they only have to hunt a 6 or 7 PS phantom who is not cloaked vs their attacks.

The other problem is you only add 5 points for a better pilot (Vader), but forget that most lists don't bring an advanced. Vader+decoy cost 30 points more than VI on your phantom.

Why do people spend 1 point for VI? Well that's an easy one. ACD. Sure a predator would increase their fire power, ptl would add to their manuaverability (if you do it on the cloaking action, not their own movement) and I can add a complete list of all other EPT's, but in the end, you add so much survivability for 1 point, that you can't buy a better EPT. And the EPT slot is on the Phantom, not the support ship that now can't deal with anything anymore.

I see a place for a wingman, though I just don't see a lot of uses for it. I think you are usually better off with a predator or a ptl. But decoy, it's a nice trick, but won't be worth it's point 9 out of 10 games.

One of the lists I'm running for the Team Covenant Open:

Soontir Fel + Push the Limit

Carnor Jax + Push the Limit

Royal Guard Pilot + Push the Limit

Black Squadron Pilot + Wingman

100 points

The main reason I started playing with Wingman alongside Soontir Fel is all the stress-inducing cards of late, and some new ones on the horizon. If I can clear his stress at the beginning of combat, for example, he's perfectly fine with taking the stress from Rebel Captive. It works wonders. On lists without those stress-inducing upgrades I can line up for a joust, and Koiogran turn even after using Push the Limit the round before, which has also been helpful.

In short, I really like it, and it's one of the few ways I see PtL interceptors surviving this era in the meta.

The only ship I ran with Decoy is Jan Ors. She's rarely in range 1 of her allies since her natural ability works at range 3, and equiped with a Ion Turret, she don't have to shoot early since she's not a big hitter. Her PS8 is great to pass to a ship that will bring more pain early on or just shoot before getting shot. Exemple: a Blue Squadron Pilot with a HLC and Jan attack boost.

My problem with decoy is, it's too limited. If you fly against interceptors, they will block Vader. You are outside of the 2 range and are stuck with an upgrade with. If anything has a barrel roll or a boost or both and ptl, they will prevent Vader from reaching his target, or just kill Vader and after that they only have to hunt a 6 or 7 PS phantom who is not cloaked vs their attacks.

The other problem is you only add 5 points for a better pilot (Vader), but forget that most lists don't bring an advanced. Vader+decoy cost 30 points more than VI on your phantom.

Why do people spend 1 point for VI? Well that's an easy one. ACD. Sure a predator would increase their fire power, ptl would add to their manuaverability (if you do it on the cloaking action, not their own movement) and I can add a complete list of all other EPT's, but in the end, you add so much survivability for 1 point, that you can't buy a better EPT. And the EPT slot is on the Phantom, not the support ship that now can't deal with anything anymore.

I see a place for a wingman, though I just don't see a lot of uses for it. I think you are usually better off with a predator or a ptl. But decoy, it's a nice trick, but won't be worth it's point 9 out of 10 games.

Vader + Decoy isn't 30 points more than VI, you also get a ship with that. The 5 points I mentioned are what some consider to be number of point with which the TIE Advanced is overcosted. So I would be losing cost-efficiency by using a Tie Advanced, about 5 points if I want to quantify it. And bear in mind that Decoy is put on the Phantom, not on Vader, so I could just as well field Vader + VI , Echo + Decoy and Soontir (which is a very cost-efficient pilot, to compensate for Vader).

Why would I want PS11 on the Phantom and am willing to give up so much to get it? Well that's an easy one, ACD. (see what I did there )

If it's not worth putting in 9 out of 10 games as you say, that still means it's viable in 10% of games. That's a lot more than I give it credit. I think it's usable in some niche lists right now, similar to Squad Leader or Draw their Fire. It's never going to see widespread use, but there are some lists that can use it effectively.

I've used Decoy well with a PS1 Defender + HLC and Jonus. Keep Jonus at range 2 of the Defender, and range 3/4 of the target the Defender is hunting. Use Decoy to give the Defender Jonus's PS so he can unload on it and hopefully kill it or really knock down the shields. Works well for those cases where your opponent is bring a bunch of middle PS level pilots.

I've considered it with Vader and Defender, but usually run Vader with Swarm Tactics, which accomplishes almost the same thing, but you need to stay with range 1, where Decoy can be used at range 1 - 2. If you add Jonus to the group, then the Defender gets the added re-rolls from Jonus.

I've used Decoy well with a PS1 Defender + HLC and Jonus. Keep Jonus at range 2 of the Defender, and range 3/4 of the target the Defender is hunting. Use Decoy to give the Defender Jonus's PS so he can unload on it and hopefully kill it or really knock down the shields. Works well for those cases where your opponent is bring a bunch of middle PS level pilots.

I've considered it with Vader and Defender, but usually run Vader with Swarm Tactics, which accomplishes almost the same thing, but you need to stay with range 1, where Decoy can be used at range 1 - 2. If you add Jonus to the group, then the Defender gets the added re-rolls from Jonus.

But Jonus ability only works at range 1. In that case, I would really go with Swarm Tactics since you are bound to make them fly close together anyway.