ion cannon in general: Y-Wing in particular

By mikeespo, in X-Wing

Am in the middle of a scenario with a Y and an A vs two TIEs and an interceptor.

Y just vaporized. Was wondering about ion effects. The hapless Y was piloted by the late Horton Salm. He fires a ion and hits, card says combat phase unaffected. Then the Imperial pilot with less skill fires and Boom!

I have a slight problem with that. I would think that there should be some negative penalty in combat due to the ion effects, maybe one less attack die or one more defense die...at least if the hit comes in the same round as the ion attack due to pilot skill.

Thoughts?

Losing movement choice the next turn is big enough already.

ok. A few things: this is clearly a few turns into the game, as the y-wing had its health chewed up. However, the interceptor still had life? Any Y should be able to neutralize an interceptor. Especially with that turret action. I'm thinking bad flying caused your Y's demise, and that with a turret and an a-wing you should have no problem laying 2 damage on an interceptor.

Losing movement choice the next turn is big enough already.

Especially on an Interceptor running PTL.

I do think FFG kind of missed the boat when it came to Ion effects. Ion cannons effect all sorts of systems, not just a ships avionics.

I would have liked to see an Ion cannon damage deck, with maybe 10 cards with different effects on them. Once you get hit with an Ion attack, you get an ion token, and then draw form the deck. They could range from doing just damage to a ship, to reducing or crippling its attack value, etc.

Too late for them to implement in this game, but you could always drum up some house rules during friendly matches.

Well. Not sure I agree. What is a Y to do when so many maneuvers are red...no actions, evasion 1? Vs three TIEs flying in formation.

Y had protons, ion, and astromec. Lots of damage was done to Salm at range 3

Edited by mikeespo

Salm tooled up and an A-wing vs 2 Ties and an Int is a poor match for the Rebels as the damage output is minimal if you can't align to fire the torps.

Salm can control one ship at best leaving the other two to hunt as needed. It would not be hard for a good Int pilot to stay at R3 and just push shots into Salm's tail and the A-wing is no match for 2 Ties together.

You would have been better off with a lower skill Y and a good X-wing or even an E.

The Ion Turret is a great weapon, but you need to use the ship with it as a control ship and not as a multi purpose fighter as the two options currently do not mix well.

Well. Not sure I agree. What is a Y to do when so many maneuvers are red...no actions, evasion 1? Vs three TIEs flying in formation.

Y had protons, ion, and astromec. Lots of damage was done to Salm at range 3

The Y's dial really isn't that bad. Once you're in close, your 1 and 2 speeds are fine for a turning match. (Done it against Squints before)

One thing I've practiced doing (with any non-Horton Y-Wing), is to never engage at R3. I'll slow down before coming in, to keep out of the R3 bubble, then come in for shots at R2. No bonus dice for me, but none for them either, which I've found to be more important. (YMMV, of course.)

Well. Not sure I agree. What is a Y to do when so many maneuvers are red...no actions, evasion 1? Vs three TIEs flying in formation.

Y had protons, ion, and astromec. Lots of damage was done to Salm at range 3

It's not that bad, but Rebel ships are generally less maneuverable (the A-Wing being the exception) than their Imperial opponents, but much sturdier. That said, one green-die ships are going to take more damage, even at range 3.

Great advice. Learning the nuances. That is why this is such a great game! :D

Great advice. Learning the nuances.

One thing I realized shortly after starting to play was just how deep the game really was. For something that takes about 10 minutes to explain so someone has the basics, it has an amazing amount of depth.

Your match up sounds a bit one sided in favor of the Empire. I find that anything under 100 points and you can start to see bad match ups. Now I know you're still kinda learning so you may want to keep the games small. But expect to see the odd match up being pretty one sided.

A's and Y's are both good ships but lack damage due to being attack 2. Ties make up for this in numbers and Interceptors are actually pretty good as long as they don't get hit.

It also sounds like maybe the imps got some lucky dice rolls? 5 total dice even with Focus shouldn't of done more then 2-3 or so points to Y at range 3, on avg.

Ion's don't seem super powerful sometimes... Until you hit a Interceptor with it, doing a point of damage leaving it 2 left, and make it do a white 1 so you know where it's going and making it very hard for it to arc dodge.

Ion + Stress = Dead Interceptor, because now it can't do anything. Since ion's make the ship do a white maneuver, the interceptor can't shed the stress.

Yes Vanor, the did get some good rolls. But still, it seems tough to win with this ship tho. I agree, point values don't assure an even match up.

Perhaps I don't get the idea when u guys refer to "space control"...its hard to do that when your running for your life. :D

Scenario over. Green squad pilot vaporized too, but he did take out Night Beast. Dark Curse was able lo limp back to base with two hits.The interceptor never was touched..Kept barrel rolling out of harms way as the ever agile Turr Phennir flew his nimble ship with incredible skill.

I am definitely preferring the Empire. Seems the ships are easier to fly.

Edited by mikeespo

They're also very easy to kill. I one shotted soontir with an a-wing today. Unless you're flying a large ship or a defender, they go down fast. Rebels can pack big guns, shields, and so many other tricks in a single list. Imperials get swarms snd arc dodging.

Wow. Never saw a one shot kill yet.

Wow. Never saw a one shot kill yet.

Play with tie fighters or in my case interceptors alot and it happens.

Wow. Never saw a one shot kill yet.

Take Wedge and you'll see them all the time! ;)

Wow. Never saw a one shot kill yet.

Oh it happens when those green dice get out their daggers and you roll all blanks, I've killed z95`s multiple times with one shot and have taken down e-wwing's by scoring a direct hit as well.

That's why I like my defenders even if someone shoots at range one with an x-wing and gets lucky they can only do five damage best case which still leaves my ship one hull and the potential to kill him in return.

The Y wing is a fantastic ship with an ion cannon. Horton is not the best shot with it though. His abilitiy only works on half your ion shots. here he needs to be boosting torpedo shots but because ordinance just inherently sucks right now, that is really just a bad build. Each ship needs to really be spec'd out to do one thing. other ships take care of other things. Try a Gold with ion. The ion is a great control piece especially on the gold for a couple reasons. he is low enough in pilot skill that most likely they spent any focus on attack so your ion should hit. When an opponent is ioned, you know exactly where they will be so you can not be shot by them next turn. you can also park ships in front of them to deny them actions and ion them again. Ion turrets are not the damage dealers in any squad, they need to be supported by fire power. (or if you just want to run control, try rebel convoy, 2 gold with Ion and 2 outer rim smugglers.)