In the run up to the store championship (at The Monstore in Montclair, CA), I had decided that I needed to come up with a counter to mobile fat turrets and Phantoms. I had settled on throwing mobility out the window and just going for the fattest turrets on the block by running Chewie and Leebo, but as the tournament arrived I realized that the list could have some serious trouble if a Phantom/Decimator list took out Chewie first, as Phantoms and boosting big ships can pretty much live in Leebo’s HLC donut hole. That being the case, I decided at the last minute to fall back on a list I’d flown only twice before: Panic Attack (pioneered by Scott Williams and Jonathan Gomes at Worlds 2014).
For those of you not familiar with the list:
3x Blue Squadron Pilot (22) + B-Wing/E2 (1) + Tactician (2)
Gold Squadron Pilot (18) + Ion Cannon Turret (5) + R3-A2 (2)
Going into the tourney I was a little intimidated by the prospect of facing Phantoms without a fat turret, but decided that this would be the perfect list to focus down other people’s fat turret ships. B-wings are my favorite ship to fly, so I know how they handle and I was confident I could figure out how to fly the list to at least a middling performance. On to the tourney!
Round 1: Glen
Whisper (32) + Veteran Instincts (1) + Advanced Cloaking Device (4) + Gunner (5) + Fire Control System (2)
Captain Kenkirk (44) + Ysanne Isard (4) + Push the Limit (3) + Engine Upgrade (4)
Asteroids went out mostly on Glen’s side of the board, and I deployed in the center in a staggered line (which would allow me to reposition to meet whatever deployment Glen chose before the asteroids became bothersome). He set Kenkirk on the left and Whisper right. We both slow-rolled the first turn, but turn two saw Whisper try to rush the right side and get caught at range two by a pair of Blues as well as in arc of the Gold. I only landed a single damage, but Whisper ended the turn cloaked and triple stressed. Whisper was caught and killed while cloaked (but actionless!) on the next turn, and mopping up Kenkirk was simple with so much firepower (and the aid of something like 5 crits including multiple Direct Hits). Win 100-0, and I assuaged my doubts that my lack of play testing would doom me against the TIE Phantom.
(1-0)
Round 2: Chris
Whisper (32) + Veteran Instincts (1) + Advanced Cloaking Device (4) + Gunner (5)
Rear Admiral Chiraneau (46)+ Engine Upgrade (4) + Ysanne Isard (4) + Veteran Instincts (1) + Rebel Captive (3)
I must admit that rounds 2 and 3 run together a bit in my mind, as I faced two nearly identical Whisper + Chiraneau squads which were deployed and flown very similarly (while seated at the same table!). I apologize if I misremember and mix up some things here. Asteroid placement left me my central bubble to work in, and Whisper and Chiraneau both deployed in the upper left. Whisper approached my squad directly, but managed to avoid taking more than a single stress on the approach. Unfortunately, Whisper’s direct approach caught up with him, as he got skunked on a defense roll and took the remaining 3 damage in a single shot (admittedly after emerging unscathed through several other shots). With Whisper dead, killing the Decimator was simple, and I lost only the Gold. Win, 100-25.
(2-0)
Round 3: Dee
Whisper (32) + Veteran Instincts (1) + Advanced Cloaking Device (4) + Fire Control System (2)
Rear Admiral Chiraneau (46)+ Engine Upgrade (4) + Veteran Instincts (1) + Rebel Captive (3) + Gunner (5)
This one played out very similar to the prior round, with near-identical asteroids and deployments. Whisper again took the direct diagonal at me, with Chiraneau coming down the left side. In this case, after pouring several shots into whisper I finally managed to catch him with 5 blank green dice, which allowed me to strip his shields and land a crit reducing his pilot skill to zero. A PS0 Whisper is a sad, sad ship, and died quickly. (I must apologize again to Dee for missing the Rebel Captive stress on my Blue in the turn before Whisper died – neither of us noticed until we had started movement for the next turn, and it was too late to fairly add the stress, but I still feel like a jerk.) Having lost only the Gold (again), bringing down the Decimator was simple. Win, 100-25.
(3-0)
Round 4: Jim
Chewbacca (42) + Jan Ors (2) + Recon Specialist (3) + Predator (3)
Han Solo (46) + Recon Specialist (3) + Veteran Instincts (1)
I got my preferred asteroid and squad deployment, as usual, and Jim deployed Han and Chewie side by side on the left. He had a clever approach that had Han unexpectedly leapfrog Chewie for the first combat round, leaving me able only to stress Han. After two rounds of combat, I had achieved the task of triple-stressing both Han and Chewie, neither of whom would take actions again. Unfortunately, after the third combat round I was missing two of my Blues. Han’s native reroll and Chewie’s Predator shined, and I took around 5 damage per turn while only landing 4 or so on my best turn. I lost horribly, and I don’t see much I could have done to prevent it (other than roll better dice). Given that Jim had taken the list to a Top 16 finish at Worlds 2014, I don’t feel too bad about the loss. Loss, 0-100.
(3-1)
Round 5: Steven
Han Solo (46) + Millenium Falcon (1) + R2-D2 crew (4) + Engine Upgrade (4) + C-3PO (3) + Predator (3)
3x Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)
This is probably the closest, most exciting match of X-wing I’ve played to date. I got my preferred deployment, with Steven having deployed his Bandits in the upper right and Han nearby but facing my left. Combat started with Han trading range 3 shots with my lead Blue (each ship managed to take 3 damage somehow despite the range). At this point, I angled the Blues right to stomp the support as Han continues to head left hounded by the Gold who is handing out stress every turn to slow him down a bit. I traded most of a Blue for the first two Bandits, and the third was chased down as he tried to rejoin Han but got tagged by the Gold with an ion shot on the way by. After the support died Han managed to off my Gold and the injured Blue, but his damage output was seriously slowed by a Blinded Pilot crit that popped up twice (once due to R2-D2). The final round saw me with two Blues staring down a Han with a single shield and a single hull point. My range 2 shot had no actions – focus, focus, blank. Crap. Oh well, the other shot was range 1 with a target lock – hit, hit, focus, blank, rerolled to hit, hit, blank, blank. C-3PO let Han live with a single hull point as time expired. Grrrrr! Loss, 36-50.
(3-2)
At 3-2, making the cut to top 8 (of 22) was not a sure thing, but I was pretty confident that given my extremely high MOV for the first 3 rounds I would manage to make it. As it turned out, I was the 8 seed. Made the cut! Woot! (I noticed after the tournament that my MOV was way too low for the final round of Swiss; fixing it would have made me the 6 or 7 seed, but it wouldn’t have affected who made the cut.)
Top 8: Jim (again)
Having showed me one opening already, Jim decided to switch it up for the rematch. Jim deployed his double falcons in opposite corners facing the center, and I got my standard central deployment in my asteroid-free slow roll bubble. On the third turn his falcons turned to come at me side by side, but I had managed to position well for it and double-stressed both his ships immediately – they would never have another action. While in our first match it seemed like Jim could pour on the damage at will and I couldn’t hit a thing, in this match it reversed! Jim was landing around 2 damage per turn as his Predator and Han rerolls weren’t pushing his totals past 1-2 hits and my evade dice were hot. With copious use of target locks, concentrated B-wing fire brought Chewie down quickly, with Han following a few rounds later, having taken only a Blue with them. Win, 100-25.
Top 4: David
Han Solo (46) + Millennium Falcon (1) + Predator (3) + C-3PO (3) + Gunner (5) + Engine Upgrade (4)
3x Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)
In this game, I got my usual deployment, while the Bandits deployed in the upper left with Han nearby facing right. David made an excellent choice with Han’s approach, and had two viable lanes on the crucial turn – Han was facing my lower right, and could either 4-fwd and boost to get behind me or hard 1 back up the board and boost to run. I couldn’t really cover both, and I guessed (incorrectly) that he would take the aggressive route due to the short time limit (unlike many of my opponents, he realized that knowing when to retreat with the faster ship can win you the match against a bunch of slow B-wings). Now forced to turn (and k-turn) on the Bandits, I couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, and I lost two ships quickly. Realizing that (a) I lacked the firepower/arc coverage to kill Han at this point, and (b) I was mentally worn out from ten hours of X-wing, I conceded with something like 10 minutes left. Loss, 0-100.
I actually think that much of the final loss loss can be attributed to fatigue. Panic Attack is a list that requires one to accurately visualize all the escape routes for the opponent and plan to cover as many as possible with overlapping, range 2 fields of fire. By the end of the day, I just didn’t have what it took to corral Fat Han without a little help from my opponent, and David was savvy enough to retreat when necessary. Congratulations to David for beating me soundly, and wining the Finals as well!
One thing I did discover over the course of the day is that Panic Attack is a heck of a lot of fun to fly, and requires a whole different piloting philosophy for the lumbering fighters; I think I did more barrel-rolling in one day than I had total up to that point with B-Wings. You should all give it a whirl.
On the whole, I’m happy with my finish, especially given that I had literally the only list in the top 8 without a fat turret of some sort. I’m happy over here with my B-wings. Let’s keep them flying.
Edited by randomscrub