As an Imperial pilot, I can't for the life of me figure out how to fly against B-Wings. Their bulk and firepower make me freeze up. I think I've only ever beat a B list once.

depends on what you fly

if Tie swarm or mini-swarm, you will just eat them alive at range 3 while they will have a harder time hitting you past 4 green dice

at the other extreme, the B's 2 k makes them very susceptible if you can just park a few ships around that range. Losing a whole turn of damage from a prevented turn just screws them because B-wings aren't really durable, they're just guaranteed to last a few rounds of fire.

finally, starting to sound like a broken record here, but B-wings in particular detest ion weapons. That one green die on a small ship base practically guarantees that you'll land the effect on it.

While I'm a good early and late game flyer, the middle portion is usually just awful for me. I routinely squander whatever advantage I gained in the opening rounds and let my opponent back into the game (forcing me to go ship to ship in the late game where, again, I seem to do better).

And god help me if I face an opponent who leaps out to great advantage early on. I have a really really hard time getting back into it.

Maybe I'm just unable to track the complexities that occur when everything becomes a furball in the mid-game.

@Red Castle: I think we mean the same thing, and poker might be the better analogy. You can beat a beginner, of course, but it's more difficult to out-think them because they're just not thinking the way you are yet. They're considering options a more advanced player/practitioner/fighter literally sets aside without thinking.

I just like to move in way too fast to get closer to hit them with my sword.

My actual problem is I probably don't pick my priority targets very well, and let myself get distracted by non-essential targets when I can't hit the priority. Then end game goes miserably for me.

I do a pretty good job at thinking through what my opponent is going to do, but- as others have said about themselves- thinking through PS order of ship movement has lead to far too much unnecessary bumping on my part.

I also have a tendency to prize awesome/fancy maneuvers over smart maneuvers. "Hey, check out how all my ships moved as a group, without bumping or breaking formation! Too bad they ended up somewhere pointless."

Also: must remember if I've made a Red maneuver with my Advanced Sensor B-Wing, _before_ I use PTL. Um. Not that I've ever done that.

@Red Castle: I think we mean the same thing, and poker might be the better analogy. You can beat a beginner, of course, but it's more difficult to out-think them because they're just not thinking the way you are yet. They're considering options a more advanced player/practitioner/fighter literally sets aside without thinking.

We do mean the same thing. I was just pointing out that going against a beginner is still a very-easy/one-sided match and far from being the most difficult fights like you said.

But I know what you meant. When I started fencing, I was going into the fights without any idea of what I was doing; like you said, I was just trying my best to attack or defend without any real technique, only my instinct to help me. Then as I learned more and more technique, I started to have worst results, I was scoring less points than before. How come I got worst by knowing more? The problem was that now I ''kinda'' knew what I was doing and started to think too much about what I should do. You become predictable as you try to apply what you learned. My coach was always telling me that my problem was not the technique, because I had it, but that I was thinking too much. Plan your strategy before the game, then trust your experience. By facing the same situation time and time again, by doing the same move time and time again, there will come a time when you'll just react to it without even thinking about it. Parry-Riposte, Counterattack, Prise de fer, etc... you'll just do what is necessary without even thinking about it.

Like Takuan Soho once wrote in 'The Unfettered Mind', this is the mind of no-mind: The absolute state of mind in combat. Don't stuck your mind in your blade, or your movement, or your thinking, or your opponent blade, or whatever; let your mind be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. By not letting your mind be stuck in one place, it will be free to react to every threat coming your way and take every opportunity that opens to you.

So, while the beginner will be somewhat harder to defeat because he's unpredictable, the newly initiate, the one starting to understand the game will be his own worst enemy. He'll overthink so much each move that he'll be more predictable; he'll try to overplay you so much that he'll never react accordingly to the obvious. He'll spot his own mistakes and instead of going from there and adapt, he'll focus on them and try to correct them. He's the one most vulnerable to the dreaded Analysis-Paralysis. That's definetly the worst part to be when learning a new discipline and where a lot of people give up, because instead of seeing progress, you only see that your results are not improving and that you might get beaten by beginners. Then, to make a Star Wars analogy, you remember what Obi-Wan once said and everything start to click: 'Trust your feelings'.

By the way, in X-Wing, I still have the flaw to overthink my move some times, so I didn't want to sound like someone that knows better.

I've got a few issues that I'm trying to work on.

1. Builds. Certain ships lose their luster if they're too popular. I love the falcon and would love to play it but I just can't bring myself to. I also don't like lists with less than 4 models. I feel naked. Gotta have at least a couple Zs to fill it out. And finally, I only play rebels. These 3 hurdles pigeon-hole me into certain builds and make it much harder to adapt to the meta changes.

2. Deployment. Specifically with big ships. I don't like to spread my formations out but big ships don't fit well or maneuver well in tight formations. I feel like I place asteroids really well but my wide deployment footprint often limits my opening maneuvers.

3. Early game baiting. Occasionally I surprise myself and lure my opponent into going where I want them to, but usually I slow roll when I should dart in, or play aggressively when I should take it slow. I'm making the most ground in this area but I still feel like I've got a way to go.

4. Overly elaborate traps. I'm good at setting traps, but I'm usually so committed to them that I don't leave myself an out if my opponent pulls a random move. I'll set a blocker and have everyone else converge fire, only to find that my opponent made a sub-optimal move and I just fell into my own trap.

5. Forgetting goddamned intelligence agent! I need to get a reminder tattooed across my knuckles so I don't forget when I'm about to start flipping dials.

6. Predictable K-turn jousts. Throwing red dice is better than not. Right? Not always. I find that I'm often so focused on getting back into the fight ASAP that I k-turn at first opportunity and my moves become predictable and often repetitive. Sometimes I need to just breeze past, throw out target locks when I'm not gonna get shot, reset my formation, and come back with a plan.

Thanks again for this topic! Too many posts these days are focused entirely on external factors. We can't control the meta, we can't whine troublesome ships into obscurity, and we definitely can't blame the dice until they perform better.

This is a great exercise in focusing on the one aspect of this game we have COMPLETE control over. Not only that, but finding a way to articulate where we need to improve, not just settle for remarks like, "I need to get better at this game."

Hmm, on the subject of overthinking how do you guys handle it?

For me, it always comes up when facing off against incredibly maneuverable ships (so all the ******* time in this meta) and knowing that it's up to me to make the plays and for the other guy to casually react to them

More recently, I've been cutting down on the amount of brainpower required using less tactics and mainly game mechanics to make my life easier.

Things like barrel-roll (essential for re-deploying your low PS ships after the opponent sees them set down, also for setting up unique angles of approach)

or Ion (much less of a headache when you know where they're going) or Intelligence agent (2nd verse same as the first, to a lesser degree because your barrel-rolls can only course correct so much) or Stress Wess (phantoms can be annoying, but never had much problems with Z-95 shaped tie fighters )

Not sure if there's a more tactical solution, though

I find that I overthink in tournaments until I lose a game, then I fly great the rest of the day. Suppose once the self-imposed pressure is off it turns back into just a game.

1.) Whenever I see someone's fat turret list across from me, I just assume I'll win with my 8 z-95's, and I'll do a bunch of stall maneuvers in my starting area for a few turns and then go after the fat turret. Then all of a sudden time has been called and it's at half health and I only have 2 k turned shots on it and I haven't touched any of its escorts. >_>

2.) I never feel life running fat turrets or super phantoms so that hampers me. I did place top 8 with chilligan's generic phantom swarm though in a store championship. Nah, who am I kidding, 8 ships and 8 target locks on your dumb 60 point turret good luck LOL.

Hmm, on the subject of overthinking how do you guys handle it?

I always have this quote in mind, from William Gibson's Johnny Mnemonic:

If they think you're crude, go technical; if they think you're technical, go crude.

Hmm, on the subject of overthinking how do you guys handle it?

Normally, I'll handle it by also thinking about the next turn and the consequences of if I guessed wrong. If I have to choose between 2 or 3 maneuvers for ship, I'll generally go with the one where I'll still be in a good position for the next turn and that doesn't put me in the worst situation if I guessed wrong (I'll generallly just prefer to go away and come back later than risking losing my ship, like getting Fel blocked while being in 2-3 range 1-2 shots.) Of course there is exception, it is always situational.

As for my opponent moves, if I'm against a highly maneuvrable ship like PtL Dash or a Phantom, I'll just try to cover the most angle or try to force him into going into a corner for the next turn.

But, most of the time, I'll just do like Obi-Wan said: ''Trust your feelings.''

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly7oDAHbOno

I am drawn toward ships with abilities when I build lists. I justcan't settle for generics.

Also, I am addicted to movemebt actions. I barrel roll and boost way more than I should.

I am drawn toward ships with abilities when I build lists. I justcan't settle for generics.

Also, I am addicted to movemebt actions. I barrel roll and boost way more than I should.

if that's a flaw, then no one has business being perfect

Half the reason I play so many B-wings/Fighters and now even a pair of defenders is for the sheer joy of wheeeeeeeeeee~