with the upcoming release of most wanted, i'm really looking forward to turning y-wings into relatively cheap (and hopefully efficient) swarm fighters. a y-wing with an autoblaster turret, an unhinged astro, and the new title effectively gives you 2 z-95s for 22 points. in a 5 ship list, with 2 Zs, 2 Ys and something else, you can effectively possess the firepower of a seven ship list.

the biggest problem i can foresee is meeting the requirement for the auto blaster to fire, which is why i have the unhinged astro plugged in there, to keep the y wing aggressive and stress free.

aside from blocking, which would lower the number of ships i have attacking, what are some of the best ways to track a high PS target when you move first? sheer random unpredictability? no one ever expects the y-wing to 4k. or should i over shoot with my newly available 3 speed maneuvers, hoping to catch them in a leapfrog situation?

Hmm

Interesting idea

Playing on the squad builder came up with this

4 Syndicate thug

Autoblaster turret

Title

Unhinged astromech

Binayre pilot

Hot shot Blaster

99 pts

If you can manage to get the ys into range one and in arc you'll get 23 red dice total.

3 for their primary so 12 total

Plus 2 for autoblaster for another 8

And 3 for the z95

I'd like to see how well this would preform

Others may have different opinions, but I've found that asteroids are a great equalizer for pilot skills.

Build as dense a field of asteroids as you can and take them right into it. While it will make you more predictable, it will do the same to them as well, and make their post dial-movement (from boost, daredevil, barrel roll, etc) more limited. It also means that if you can block some of rock-free real estate, you make it so they not only lose an action but also potentially land on a rock.

NOTE: This is much harder to do against turrets, since they don't have to worry about facing.

(Blocking)

Stress

Ion

Intelligence Agent

in no particular order

So, in the auto-blaster Y-wing's case, jack and **** apart from blocking. It's the price you pay for having terrifying range 1 firepower and not much else. Ys do have ion cannon turrets, though.

(Blocking)

Stress

Ion

Intelligence Agent

in no particular order

So, in the auto-blaster Y-wing's case, jack and **** apart from blocking. It's the price you pay for having terrifying range 1 firepower and not much else. Ys do have ion cannon turrets, though.

Blocking was the first technique that came to mind for me; it's really where the lower PS pilots shine.

(Blocking)

Stress

Ion

Intelligence Agent

in no particular order

So, in the auto-blaster Y-wing's case, jack and **** apart from blocking. It's the price you pay for having terrifying range 1 firepower and not much else. Ys do have ion cannon turrets, though.

Blocking was the first technique that came to mind for me; it's really where the lower PS pilots shine.

Indeed, but some ships are far better at it than others (not to mention the following three things facilitate blocking like no tomorrow)

Not to skimp on its importance, of course. I've run lists with a stress bot, two ion cannons, and a silly little A-wing. That silly little A-wing has done more to screw up my opponent's plans than either ion cannon and maybe even the stress bot

All ships can block, but not all ships are created equal. Low PS pilots with boost or roll can get into some very unexpected positions or can run into blocking range very flexibly while Ys and Zs lack post manuever movement and simply can't pull off the same tricks as reliably.

S&V has a rather pronounced lack of cheap post-maneuver ships (just the Scyk, the viper is expensive), but it's got ion for days

Careful planning?

hmm. running two cartel spacers instead of y-wings could be fun. it would lower my damage output, but it would leave me room for something big, a firespray, or a heavily kitted kavil in his y-wing.

Don't be where they expect you to be. Don't fly casual, fly like a harebrained mosquito on LSD.

Then, when you are behind them, go and kill.

Painful could be:

3 x Gold Squadron - Autoblaster turret - R2 Astromech - Title

3 x Bandit Squadron

(or Thugs with Unhingeds and Bynaires)

At most you'll attack 9 times with a total of 21 red dice.

I would swap your autoblaster turrets for blaster turrets and run the R4 agromech instead. and stick a prox mine on each of your Y-wings, you can move first, drop it in the Gap between two asteroids, and effectively close off lanes for them to manuver. Take this for a spin:

Firebox (what WW2 bombers did to overlap their gunners)

syndicate thug + R4 +Blaster turret + prox mine = 27 points x 3

Ndru (Z-95) with lone wolf

100 points, 3 minifalcons and an X-wing (functionally)

One downside: dropping the prox takes your action, then you don't have a focus to fire your turret that round, but 3 dice from the prox mine is unavoidable if you can stick it under them, and you have lots of HP and 3 range 2 360 arcs with 3 dice and TL.

Low PS, range 1 weapons and front arc only are a bad combination. If your opponent is in range 1 he often can dodge your arc.

However, ICT's or BT's with agromech's work like a charm if you want the title.

Okay, it's not really related to the topic since there is only one pilot that can pull it off and he's PS7, but reading this thread, I just got an idea that could be fun to try.

Kavil + Deadeye + R4 Agromech + AutoblasterTurret + Ion torpedoes (x2) (39pts)

Spend your Focus (thanks to deadeye) to launch your Ion torpedoes, get a Target Lock (thanks to R4) to modify your roll and raise the chance to hit, Ionize your taget and everyone around him, get in range one next turn, focus, attack outside of firing arc with your turret for a 4 dice + F or TL undodgeable attack.

Hmm

Interesting idea

Playing on the squad builder came up with this

4 Syndicate thug

Autoblaster turret

Title

Unhinged astromech

Binayre pilot

Hot shot Blaster

99 pts

If you can manage to get the ys into range one and in arc you'll get 23 red dice total.

3 for their primary so 12 total

Plus 2 for autoblaster for another 8

And 3 for the z95

I'd like to see how well this would preform

If anyone read the article about the bbbbz and 60 min matches this ywing squad falls just under the same pt value.

Torkil Mux will give your guys a chance to get the drop on your High PS opponents.

Here's my squad that I want to test out when I get my scum ships

Torkil + Blaster Turret + MC + RS + Hull

Syndicate Thug + Ion Turret + Unhinged Astromech

x2 Syndicate Thug + Autoblaster Turret + R4 Agromech + BTL-A4

It's a nice tough squad that can focus down a ship that you need to kill. If only Torkil could take predator.

Decoy: Make sure you have at least 1 High Pilot Skill in your list, then decoy to the one you want to shoot first.

Hug the left or right edge of the board and go as slowly as you can, k-turning when you think the opponent is going to try to get behind you. By hugging the edge of the board, you reduce the area that your opponent has to dodge your arcs.

In their efforts to neuter the TIE Swarm make PS bids matter more, the game designers have generally neutered any strategy that relies on pure jousting (flying straight at the opponent and expecting them to oblige you with the same). Instead of just bringing a homogeneous list where all your ships share the same weakness, maybe you could add a component that is better suited to dealing with mobile high PS ships. If you cut it down to 3 Y-Wings, you have 34 points leftover to spend on something that can help you deal with highly mobile targets, usually involving a PS bid and either ion or stress elements.

As an Imperial Player who plays a lot of swarms and mini-swarms, there are a few ways to make low PS work for you:

1) Numbers: If you have a lot of ships you can clog up green and white maneuver pathways and make them bump to lose actions

2) Overlapping fire: Focused fire is your friend. You have to drop ships whenever you can because everyone shoots before you do. If you have middling PS, take out ships that fire after you do because the high PS ships have done their damage. You can't be hurt by a ship that has been reduced to ash.

3) Keep them cheap: The role of cheap low PS ships is to die a fiery death in service to their master. Don't get attached to them and be prepared to make sacrifices, if necessary. When Phat Han dies, the Rebel player throws in the towel. When an Academy Pilot dies, the Imperial player chuckles and moves on.

If you want to to track a high PS target..

Slow your approach - give yourself time to see where he's going - if he commits first or not..

Force the choice - flanking will help you, but you can't choose your flankers - move one group ahead to engage, bring the other in at an angle, time it so they meet together, this can be tricky, but is easier if your opponent is avoiding committing to one group or the other.

For Arc-Dodging ships, you need to provide a target, and guess where he will go to get the shot - more than one arc is required here. Sometimes this can be done by having a lead, and a trailing wingman, at about range 1.5 from your lead ship.

If you can get on his tail, awesome - it's possible for Low P.S. to trail High P.S. ships, you need to end just behind the target ship, and follow along - this doesn't work so well against repositioning ships - but if you get behind his decimator, you stay behind the decimator, and you can continually have shots.

Torkil Mux will give your guys a chance to get the drop on your High PS opponents.

Here's my squad that I want to test out when I get my scum ships

Torkil + Blaster Turret + MC + RS + Hull

Syndicate Thug + Ion Turret + Unhinged Astromech

x2 Syndicate Thug + Autoblaster Turret + R4 Agromech + BTL-A4

It's a nice tough squad that can focus down a ship that you need to kill. If only Torkil could take predator.

I've been trying Torkil with K4 Security Droid instead of RecSpec recently, seems to work pretty well although it's definitely not the best with Blaster Turret.

Blocking one's self, to stall for a turn.

Specifically, the turn before combat.

The higher PS opponent seeks to be the one to move into combat, and therefore gain the offensive action advantage on that crucial round.

Yes, fortressing on that turn can avert this, particularly if you were mobile on each turn prior, allowing you to dictate the range of combat on the following turn.

I think blocking is probably the best tricks. Just fly into their face or try to land straight in front of them or where you think they are trying to go. IF they bump then the action is taken away and they can't shoot at the low skill pilot.

Decoy: Make sure you have at least 1 High Pilot Skill in your list, then decoy to the one you want to shoot first.

For me *this* ^^^^ or swarm tactics. I find a 6 strong swarm of Z95s really versatile, 4 of them are PS2 but with blount and cracken having swarm tactics, if flown right then i can take three shots at PS8 or two at 8 and two at 6 which can surprise the unwary.

One of may favorite squads, all low PS but great VS high PS