First Tournament and i REALLY wanna win a Decimator!

By Sonikgav, in X-Wing

Looking for some list advice for an upcoming 'Wave 5 Pre-release' tourney.


Considering this http://xwing-builder.co.uk/view/137941/tanking-formation



Biggs - R2-F2, Stealth Device


Garven


Roark - Ion Turret, Jan Ors


Tala Squad - Proton Rockets


99pts



I figured something that can take a beating is probably the way to go for my first actual tournament as i can adapt more easily to what my opponent brings.




Roark gives his ability to Garven, who Fires and (hopefully) gives his token to Biggs, who then gets an evade token from Jan after already increasing his AG to 4/3.




The Tala is there for some extra HP, i wanna keep them in formation so a Prototype A wouldnt have made use of its boost and this way, if im up against a Phantom i can give it PS12 and peel it off to Proton Rocket a Phantom into oblivion before it can recloak.



My problem is my limited upgrade resources. My Signature shows all i have. Even Biggs' Stealth Device is something ill have to borrow, and im buying the Headhunter on the day of the Tournament so alternate suggestions may need to take that into account.




Any thoughts?


Edited by Sonikgav

I don't think you can realistically plan to get that procket off on a phantom. Remember they move after you do and they decide where to move before their dial is flipped, sort of. If I had a choice of no shots or landing on PS12 prockets I would take the no-shot option. Your plan against phantoms will be to shoot at them with anyone who gets arc.

I don't think you can realistically plan to get that procket off on a phantom. Remember they move after you do and they decide where to move before their dial is flipped, sort of. If I had a choice of no shots or landing on PS12 prockets I would take the no-shot option. Your plan against phantoms will be to shoot at them with anyone who gets arc.

Fair enough but there is that one chance i suppose. Either way, the Proton Rocket Tala is still more use to me than a naked Prototype A Wing.

Yea I'm sure it'll smash something, just probably not a phantom.

Yeah i going to have to agree about getting the rocket off. I just had a Match against a Decimator and Whisper w/VI. Jake w/VI couldn't pin her down as i had iniative and even with blocking at least 1 of her decloaks a turn she would just juke out of range 1 and either barrel roll to get out of arc or evade. A good phantom driver will take 2 dice attacks knowing you can do at most 1 damage in order to fire back with 4 dice. You dont have enough ships to decloak block and you dont't have any high PS in the Movement department. Honestly i would take the PR Rocks off and borrow an R2-D6 from somebody and put that and swarm tactics on Garven. allows you to slingshot the PS 12 to Roark and he can get an ion shot off on a Phantom. Better yet it'll be TL/Focused if you fire after Garven spends his focus, and that'll give you an excellent chance to lock down that Phantom.

I don't think you can realistically plan to get that procket off on a phantom. Remember they move after you do and they decide where to move before their dial is flipped, sort of. If I had a choice of no shots or landing on PS12 prockets I would take the no-shot option. Your plan against phantoms will be to shoot at them with anyone who gets arc.

Fair enough but there is that one chance i suppose. Either way, the Proton Rocket Tala is still more use to me than a naked Prototype A Wing.

I dunno how to phrase this, but I'd like to offer a counterpoint. The A-Wing has a better action bar, better dial, and more versatile role. It can set up with the rest and keep pace, or create a flanking position. I love me some Z95s, but I like 15 point As even more.

Edited by Damoel

Everybody goes into a tournament trying to win it. Going into your first tournament and expecting to win it...you might want to lower the bar. Too high expectations can be a problem for a lot of people.

Re: your squad, I see a lot of cool synergy and not a lot of red dice. I think that's ultimately what's going to get ya.

I don't think you can realistically plan to get that procket off on a phantom. Remember they move after you do and they decide where to move before their dial is flipped, sort of. If I had a choice of no shots or landing on PS12 prockets I would take the no-shot option. Your plan against phantoms will be to shoot at them with anyone who gets arc.

Fair enough but there is that one chance i suppose. Either way, the Proton Rocket Tala is still more use to me than a naked Prototype A Wing.

I dunno how to phrase this, but I'd like to offer a counterpoint. The A-Wing has a better action bar, better dial, and more versatile role. It can set up with the rest and keep pace, or create a flanking position. I love me some Z95s, but I like 15 point As even more.

2 Tala's and 2 A's is only 56 points. I fly it with 44 points of Corran Horn.

I think his list can handle phantoms pretty well, but after quite a bit of practice with low-PS prockets I have been very disappointed. If I ran them again I would stick with Jake or Tycho.

Everybody goes into a tournament trying to win it. Going into your first tournament and expecting to win it...you might want to lower the bar. Too high expectations can be a problem for a lot of people.

Re: your squad, I see a lot of cool synergy and not a lot of red dice. I think that's ultimately what's going to get ya.

This. Ultimately, x-wing is a game of killing other ships. And while your Biggs will tank a lot of damage, he isn't really protecting anything valuable.

To tweak your current list:

Craken

Garven R2D6 VI

Biggs R2F2 stealth device

Blue Squadron w/ Crew slot and Jan Ors.

Biggs R2F2 action, Craken shoots, gives biggs a focus (which he turns into an evade), Garven shoots, gives biggs his focus token then biggs is even more buffed up and now with 4/5 defense, an evade and a focus. And you have a B wing for late game instead of a HWK.

Edited by swimmingordy

And that's still 11 attack dice :). Craken could just take swarm tactics too instead of R2 and VI on Garven

Everybody goes into a tournament trying to win it. Going into your first tournament and expecting to win it...you might want to lower the bar. Too high expectations can be a problem for a lot of people.

Re: your squad, I see a lot of cool synergy and not a lot of red dice. I think that's ultimately what's going to get ya.

Your first tournament is going to be a trial by fire, and you're almost certainly not going to win it with that squad. But that's fine. Bring the squad you want to play. Practice with it a couple of times so you know how it handles. Give yourself the opportunity to tinker with it once you see how it performs in casual play -- and get used to the 75 minute time limit. This can be a big surprise to players at their first tournament.

Show up at the tourney prepared to have a good time, but expect to go home empty-handed. But good luck!

Edited by DagobahDave

To tweak your current list:

Craken

Garven R2D6 VI

Biggs R2F2 stealth device

Blue Squadron w/ Crew slot and Jan Ors.

Biggs R2F2 action, Craken shoots, gives biggs a focus (which he turns into an evade), Garven shoots, gives biggs his focus token then biggs is even more buffed up and now with 4/5 defense, an evade and a focus. And you have a B wing for late game instead of a HWK.

I do like this kind of idea with more dice but its over points. Id have to drop Stealth device just to get Swarm Tactics on Cracken.

Edited by Sonikgav

My first tournament (store championships in Jan) I ran, Vader, Soontir, Mauler and Dark Curse I think. No PTL on Soontir as I didn't own it nor did I know it existed. I got last :), winning a free set of dice for getting last. Man, oh, man was it a bloodbath.

Your first tournament is going to be a trial by fire, and you're almost certainly not going to win it with that squad. But that's fine. Bring the squad you want to play. Practice with it a couple of times so you know how it handles. Give yourself the opportunity to tinker with it once you see how it performs in casual play -- and get used to the 75 minute time limit. This can be a big surprise to players at their first tournament.

Show up at the tourney prepared to have a good time, but expect to go home empty-handed. But good luck!

This is kinda why i posted this. I didnt mean that im expecting to 'stomp all before me!' but im not experienced with squad building to know why i wont win with a list like this?

Originally i was planning on taking a tooled up Keyan/Farrel list but every variant ended up being just 3 ships and people telling me im not experienced enough to get the most out of those units yet.

My first squad was just BBYY with Ion all around. Felt cheesy but won a few games against more experienced pilots. Now i wanna try something with a little more strategy and maybe some names rather than 'STUN EVERYTHING!'... though maybe if i wanna win lol

I've leant out my cards to players to gap fill at tournaments, no biggie, you should be able to find someone willing to lend them to you. Swarm is good because biggs can shoot one last time if he's about to die, VI on garven is good so he retains it after Craken dies and doesn't have to stay in Formation. This game, in my experience, is still more about damage than control.

Edited by swimmingordy

Looking for some list advice for an upcoming 'Wave 5 Pre-release' tourney.

Considering this http://xwing-builder.co.uk/view/137941/tanking-formation

Biggs - R2-F2, Stealth Device

Garven

Roark - Ion Turret, Jan Ors

Tala Squad - Proton Rockets

99pts

I figured something that can take a beating is probably the way to go for my first actual tournament as i can adapt more easily to what my opponent brings.

Roark gives his ability to Garven, who Fires and (hopefully) gives his token to Biggs, who then gets an evade token from Jan after already increasing his AG to 4/3.

The Tala is there for some extra HP, i wanna keep them in formation so a Prototype A wouldnt have made use of its boost and this way, if im up against a Phantom i can give it PS12 and peel it off to Proton Rocket a Phantom into oblivion before it can recloak.

My problem is my limited upgrade resources. My Signature shows all i have. Even Biggs' Stealth Device is something ill have to borrow, and im buying the Headhunter on the day of the Tournament so alternate suggestions may need to take that into account.

Any thoughts?

An A-wing would be better. Just because it can't boost doesn't mean it's worthless. IMO, prockets are worthless on a two agility ship as they will only have four dice that way. Also, it'll be VERY hard to get a Z-95 into range one of a phantom who moves after it. Let alone also staying in range 1-3 of Roark.

Honestly, if I had your stuffs, and wanted something for my first forray, I'd do this, probably:

Blue Squadron Pilot (22)
Rookie Pilot (21)
Rookie Pilot (21)
Rookie Pilot (21)
Prototype Pilot (17)
Chardaan Refit (-2)
Total: 100
It aint pretty. It aint subtle. It aint fancy. But its a darned lot of dice, some durable ships, and a flanker. I don't fly rebel often, and am thus basically allergic to synergy. I operate on the all big threats or no big threats policy, and always solo operators. This is a lot different then your list tho, and offered simply as another option. No Roark for the Phantoms, which could be a problem, though.
Edited by Damoel

Ok, ive rethought this.

Biggs - R2-F2, Stealth Device

Garven

Green Squadron - Chardaan Refit

74pts

If i consider this my core, what i need to work out is what is Jan gonna be riding around in?

Roark - Ion Turret, Jan Ors (Ion support and PS12 to throw around)

or

Blue Squadron - E2 + Jan (More base firepower, HP and Initiative)

Edited by Sonikgav

Honestly, if I had your stuffs, and wanted something for my first forray, I'd do this, probably:

Blue Squadron Pilot (22)
Rookie Pilot (21)
Rookie Pilot (21)
Rookie Pilot (21)
Prototype Pilot (17)
Chardaan Refit (-2)
Total: 100
It aint pretty. It aint subtle. It aint fancy. But its a darned lot of dice, some durable ships, and a flanker.

You know... lol

That may actually be a better way to go if im honest. Rely on my own piloting skill over tricks.

I enjoy tricks, and have fun with them, but I tend to value consistency over fancy any day for tourneys.

Edited by Damoel

I enjoy tricks, and have fun with them, but I tend to value consistency over fancy any day for tourneys.

The only thing that puts me off is the low PS but other than that i could see me enjoying this kind of basic build.

Yeh, its not ideal, for sure. I'm still assessing how much it impacts my play. I don't get as many games as I'd like, so it takes me a bit to parse things soemtimes.

Yea, predator would have a field day against that list.