Another Crazy-Dracon fleet that actually looks pretty viable at the moment.

By DraconPyrothayan, in X-Wing

I put this together back when the E-Wing was first announced, and no-one thought it was good coming out of Wave III.

However, now that Pic and Gorc are dominant in Wave V, it may be time to dust it off again.

Here's the original formatting, from last year's post.

"EEE, or the Retiarian Trident"

.-=-. .-=-. .-=-. .-=-. .-=-. .-=-. .-=-. .-=-. .-=-.

Blackmoon Squadron Pilot

+ R7 Astromech

+ Fire-Control System

-={33}=-

Blackmoon Squadron Pilot

+ R7 Astromech

+ Fire-Control System

-={33}=-

Blackmoon Squadron Pilot

+ R7 Astromech

+ Fire-Control System

-={33}=-

.-=-. .-=-. .-=-. .-=-. .-=-. .-=-. .-=-. .-=-. .-=-.

TL:DR for those of you who do not wish to read through that entire thread, the combo has several different ways of working.

The core combo is that the Es acquire a Target Lock on their foes, and can then continually refresh that Target Lock simply by attacking it (FCS).

They can also spend that TL to ensure that the enemy ship in question does very little damage (R7).

Neither FCS or R7 require an action, so it boosts your offense and defense considerably without eating into your action economy.

In making sure that all of your ships have this combo, you're ensuring that the ship you have chosen as your victim designate has a severe handicap in dealing damage at all.

Now, the list has two different ways of playing, depending on whether you attack before your opponent.

  • If you shoot first, the FCS is always on for your R7, but you have to let the TL float across turns for your damage buff, meaning the ship who is attacked by your victim doesn't get the offensive buff.
  • If you shoot last, you have to let the TL float across turns for your defensive buff, meaning you have to spend an action at the start of the game to activate the combo-chain. Otherwise, it functions identically to the other option, excepting that you're hit harder if they've grabbed an Expert Handling somehow.

Now, in the high-ps Pic and Gorc metagame, you'll almost always be in the second category. Fortunately, your E-Wing is mobile enough to give the Pic ship some severe difficulty in where you'll be flying. You'll want to dodge him as much as possible, as even though it is more important to mitigate the damage of Whisper/Corran, its substantially harder to reliably attack them every turn.

Thus, this combo targets the Gorc: Big fat ships that use their 8-foot lightsabers in a circle around them to keep you at bay.

This build eats Fat Han, SuperDash, and the Decimators, simply by nullifying the damage they put out.

The combo from the victim's perspective:

Lose half of the initial damage you threw.

Filter the remainder through 3 agility ships, who very likely Focused or Evaded

Repeat every turn.

Kinda makes you wish you packed a Gunner.

Doesnt fat han screw with this since han can roll terrible reroll and get a good roll then you can't force him to reroll because the rules prevent you from rerolling a reroll.

Doesnt fat han screw with this since han can roll terrible reroll and get a good roll then you can't force him to reroll because the rules prevent you from rerolling a reroll.

Defenders reroll opponent's attack dice before the attacker can reroll.

Defense mods happen before offense, so it works fine against Han. Same as Elusiveness, Sensor Jammer, etc.

ObiWonka and I had considered flying 3 E-Wings with Accuracy Corrector and Hull Upgrade. I wonder how it would compare to this list. I like the ideas behind both.

Edited by MegaSilver

Doesnt fat han screw with this since han can roll terrible reroll and get a good roll then you can't force him to reroll because the rules prevent you from rerolling a reroll.

No. The R7's reroll happens before Han's. Simple way to remember turn order: the player that rolled the dice manipulates them last.

Edited by Stone37

Draco: why not convert one Blackmoon to Tarn Mison, save 8 points, and use the 9 to upgrade one of the Blackmoons to Etahn or Corran?

When Han attacks someone with R7, it effectively just means that every single die ends up getting rerolled. His ability essentially cancels R7. He just can't reroll a die again, so target locks or predator are not helpful. But focus would be.

Draco: why not convert one Blackmoon to Tarn Mison, save 8 points, and use the 9 to upgrade one of the Blackmoons to Etahn or Corran?

Someone actually posted a converted lists like that on the old thread.

I called it WIN.EXE

Honestly, if I'm going to demote the old lists, I'd knock 'em down from Blackmoon to Knave, but this particular list was penned when 3 and 4 PS mattered an awful lot.

Draco: why not convert one Blackmoon to Tarn Mison, save 8 points, and use the 9 to upgrade one of the Blackmoons to Etahn or Corran?

Someone actually posted a converted lists like that on the old thread.

I called it WIN.EXE

Honestly, if I'm going to demote the old lists, I'd knock 'em down from Blackmoon to Knave, but this particular list was penned when 3 and 4 PS mattered an awful lot.

I much prefer the sound of that list.

Tarn, Blackmoon, Corran

Also.... just while we are on the topic of Es: The only have the same lifespan as a Tie Advanced. Or a Tie Defender -1 shield.

Or a tie fighter with 2 hull upgrades.

THEY ROLL 3 GREEN DICE. HAVE A CARE WHAT YOU THROW YOUR FATES TO.

Just kidding. Its a fun list. But a warning for green dice.

--

When played all of those ships: Defender, Es, Knave or Corran, they tend to die in 1 or 2 rounds of focus fire. Those 3 green dice are witches. Witches are green right? Burn them. Buuuurn them.

Edited by Blail Blerg

Doesnt fat han screw with this since han can roll terrible reroll and get a good roll then you can't force him to reroll because the rules prevent you from rerolling a reroll.

Defender modifes attack dice BEFORE attacker modifies attack dice - neutralizes Han quite nicely

Edit - totally beaten to the punch on that one :)

Edited by Funkleton

I dig the name if the list! Named after the weapon of a Gladiator!

I did just finish Spartacus ( a year late, thanks Netflix!) so it's still cool to me.

I think it had been mentioned before, but you can free up some points and throw good ol' Tarn Mison in there instead of a Blackmoon Pilot. A combination of 3 E-wings would be scary to see at first for any list and it's good to see a lot more of the "older" lists making a comeback thanks to Wave 5's turret meta.

If Iam not mistaken, Tarn can generate a TL each time he is attacked, now, you can only use R7s ability once per round, but you could tke a TL against an attacker, then spend it defensively and then accquire a TL when attacked again by someone else. This makes tarn's ability superior to FCS, though an xwing is clearly not superior to an Ewing.

I like the concept, and Like it even better with Tarn, blackmoon, and Corran, as mentioned above.

I like the synergy of having all three of the same ship.

The inherent weakness, is of course PS3. I am wondering if an R2 unit and Sensor Jammer may be a better option as Sensor Jammer works on every attack and doesn't rely on the attacker being the one you locked initially.

R2 let's you use the K-turn more effeciently as well, which may just keep you out of the firing line altogether.

You'd have to drop to Knaves or not use the R2...

or Knaves with R7 and sensor jammer...

Hmmmm....

Edited by Englishpete

I like the synergy of having all three of the same ship.

The inherent weakness, is of course PS3. I am wondering if an R2 unit and Sensor Jammer may be a better option as Sensor Jammer works on every attack and doesn't rely on the attacker being the one you locked initially.

R2 let's you use the K-turn more effeciently as well, which may just keep you out of the firing line altogether.

You'd have to drop to Knaves or not use the R2...

or Knaves with R7 and sensor jammer...

Hmmmm....

Of course, in this metagame, PS 1 = PS 3, except against Tarn and Swarm.

I like the synergy of having all three of the same ship.

The inherent weakness, is of course PS3. I am wondering if an R2 unit and Sensor Jammer may be a better option as Sensor Jammer works on every attack and doesn't rely on the attacker being the one you locked initially.

R2 let's you use the K-turn more effeciently as well, which may just keep you out of the firing line altogether.

You'd have to drop to Knaves or not use the R2...

or Knaves with R7 and sensor jammer...

Hmmmm....

Of course, in this metagame, PS 1 = PS 3, except against Tarn and Swarm.

Incorrect

PS 1, PS 2, and PS 3 are all relevant (swarm ships, rebel swarm ships, and the predator safe zone) and then PS 4-8 might as well be PS 3. :P

The synergy with R7 and Sensor Jammer is interesting as you reroll the dice with the R7 and then if you leave a hit after that reroll, turn it down to an eyeball.

Now, does your opponent spend a focus for a hit, or does he keep it for defense against what is coming back at "him" ?

It's worth a test flight or 2 I guess.

How bout this list?

Tarn Mison (23)
R7 Astromech (2)
Shield Upgrade (4)
Corran Horn (35)
Calculation (1)
Fire-Control System (2)
R7 Astromech (2)
Knave Squadron Pilot (27)
Fire-Control System (2)
R7 Astromech (2)
Total: 100

Has anybody even bought 3 E-wings? Or ran something like this?

I own 3 E's :-)

I have had some luck with:

Corran Horn (35)
Veteran Instincts (1)
R2-D2 (4)
Hull Upgrade (3)

Etahn A'baht (32)

Biggs Darklighter (25)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

I own 3 E's :-)

I sold my E to help afford my own Tarn :(