VI Jax list w/ Soontir & Shuttle

By GKZhukov, in X-Wing Squad Lists

Carnor Jax w/ Veteran Instincts, Royal Guard Tie, Auto-thrusters (29)

Soontir Fel w/ Push the Limit, Royal Guard Tie, Auto-thrusters, Stealth Device (35)

Omicron Group Pilot w/ Ion Cannon, Rebel Captive, Tactician, Engine Upgrade (33)

That leaves 3pts for either

Targeting Computer, Hull Upgrade or Stealth Device for Carnor Jax

Advanced Sensors or Enhanced Scope for Omicron Group Pilot

I suspect Darth Vader w/ VI would be better than Carnor Jax for this build, but I'm not planning on buying an £80 ship for the cards. At least Carnor has a couple of things going for him that Vader doesn't.

Another alternative is Doomshuttle + Academy Pilot instead of Control shuttle.

Why VI on Carnor Jax instead of PTL?

With no turreted ship a PS 10 pilot seems like a good idea for chasing Phantoms, Soontirs and having some chance against VI Corrans. Also allows him to shoot a Rebel Captive so Soontir doesn't get stressed. Whilst PTL does enable a potential BR/Boost combo, VI also means Carnor has a better chance of making it to R1 as opposing ships won't know for sure where to do their own BR/Boost/Decloak to and he'll be able to get the most out of his own reposition.

Against turrets Carnor will need to stay at R3 most of the time, as despite all the sky-is-falling nonsense I'm pretty sure a turret can still cream him in a couple of unlucky rounds regardless of AT.

I'm a little concerned about the amount of points I've tied up in the shuttle given its lack of manoeuvrability, even with EU. But I feel stress and ionisation will really help the Squints with their hunting, whilst providing an arc that things like the phantom will want to stay out of. Stress and Ionisation also feel like they will be extra powerful against 2 ship lists, whilst the Squint manoeuvrability should give me a good chance of outflying any non-turret, non-phantom list, even if they have better damage output and survivability.

Fat turrets will still be a pain as the control shuttle lacks the doom shuttle's damage output and the Squints are still not the ideal ship against turrets even with AT.

Any advice appreciated - I haven't flown any Squints or the Shuttle yet (still waiting to get them both), so don't know how effective this will be when it actually hits the game table.

Just a quick question. Wouldnt carnor actually survive better against turrets by being up close? If he gets close, he's less likely to in primary arc. That means autothrusters triggers, right? Second, since turret is secondary weapon (right?) if you are range one, you get an extra attack dice, but they don't get one in return I believe. Third, doesnt this mean they can't use a front arc secondary weapon like missiles or HLC? I'm just a new player, so excuse me if these are bad questions.

Oh also, it means his ability blocks their focus/rerolls.

AT triggers off avoiding primary arc OR off being at R3. Turrets are a primary weapon on Falcon and Decimator - they are secondary on Dash & Y-Wings.

In some circumstances yes R1 would be better (especially against HLC Dash, where everything wants to be at R1). However at R3 Jax also gets an extra green dice (whilst triggering AT regardless of arc).

The trouble is against something like Han Solo w/ Predator you're getting hit by 4 attack dice with re-roll options (and opponent can Target Lock instead of Focusing). When you have 3 hull, even with 3 dice and AT that's going to hurt.

So yes sometimes R1 is still a good shout against turrets, but most of the time with a ship that relies on arc dodging and green dice you'll want to be getting the full 4 + AT and minimising enemy dice to 3.

Carnor Jax w/ Veteran Instincts, Royal Guard Tie, Auto-thrusters (29)

Soontir Fel w/ Push the Limit, Royal Guard Tie, Auto-thrusters, Stealth Device (35)

Omicron Group Pilot w/ Ion Cannon, Rebel Captive, Tactician, Engine Upgrade (33)

That leaves 3pts for either

Targeting Computer, Hull Upgrade or Stealth Device for Carnor Jax

Advanced Sensors or Enhanced Scope for Omicron Group Pilot

I suspect Darth Vader w/ VI would be better than Carnor Jax for this build, but I'm not planning on buying an £80 ship for the cards. At least Carnor has a couple of things going for him that Vader doesn't.

Another alternative is Doomshuttle + Academy Pilot instead of Control shuttle.

Why VI on Carnor Jax instead of PTL?

With no turreted ship a PS 10 pilot seems like a good idea for chasing Phantoms, Soontirs and having some chance against VI Corrans. Also allows him to shoot a Rebel Captive so Soontir doesn't get stressed. Whilst PTL does enable a potential BR/Boost combo, VI also means Carnor has a better chance of making it to R1 as opposing ships won't know for sure where to do their own BR/Boost/Decloak to and he'll be able to get the most out of his own reposition.

Against turrets Carnor will need to stay at R3 most of the time, as despite all the sky-is-falling nonsense I'm pretty sure a turret can still cream him in a couple of unlucky rounds regardless of AT.

I'm a little concerned about the amount of points I've tied up in the shuttle given its lack of manoeuvrability, even with EU. But I feel stress and ionisation will really help the Squints with their hunting, whilst providing an arc that things like the phantom will want to stay out of. Stress and Ionisation also feel like they will be extra powerful against 2 ship lists, whilst the Squint manoeuvrability should give me a good chance of outflying any non-turret, non-phantom list, even if they have better damage output and survivability.

Fat turrets will still be a pain as the control shuttle lacks the doom shuttle's damage output and the Squints are still not the ideal ship against turrets even with AT.

Any advice appreciated - I haven't flown any Squints or the Shuttle yet (still waiting to get them both), so don't know how effective this will be when it actually hits the game table.

Your arguments for VI on Jax don't seem very convincing to me. If you build to 97/98 points, you can always ensure losing initiative vs Whisper, so that Fel can move last. Corran horn at PS 10 might be tricky, but that means no PtL, therefore focus fire should kill him quick (especially if you ion/stress him). Rebel Captive doesn't bother Fel that much (since he gets a free focus token out of it). Just don't use PtL if you are going to fire at a rebel captive ship unless you absolutely have to.

What's nice about a list that includes Jax is you know your opponent is going to focus on killing him first, so that lets Fel fly a little more aggressively. He might even benefit from a targeting computer instead of stealth device in this case...

I wonder if the ion/stress shuttle + jax is overkill? Perhaps not since shuttle only affects 1 ship at a time and is not as great vs large-based ships.

If I was thinking of flying something like this, I would definitely put PtL on Jax and drop rebel captive for advanced sensors on shuttle, but you might want to try it a few different ways to see what you like best.

Thanks for the feedback. I'd considered that Jax would get targeted first, but had failed to make the obvious leap that Targeting Computer could therefore be an option on Fel (though that said SD is still nice, so I'd probably test both options).

I guess re:Whisper I just hear tell of so many crazy initiative bids lately that I don't feel I can ever guarantee having/not-having initiative. Thus feeling like I want to get a PS 10 pilot in (or a turret) - especially as it has uses against Fel himself + other builds, and tends to mess a bit with opponents' minds, more so if they are used to their PS9 always ruling the roost. PtL is so good on Interceptors though so I can definitely see the counter-argument.