I find the guys locally who call themselves unlucky are the guys who regularly don't have tokens or ways to modify their dice, and/or find themselves out of position on a regular basis (easier to blame the green dice when they have no red dice on a turn).

Yes. This.

One thing it took me a while to realize as well is that if, on the initial exchange of fire, you have a single one of your ships shooting at the opponent, and his 3+ ships all have shots back... You're gonna have a bad time. And, until you notice why it's happening, you might chalk it up to "bad luck".

I also find that, unfortunately, sozin's lady luck site paints a very poor portrait of each player's "luck" throughout a game. I don't think I've seen a single game where (according to the site) luck favored the loser - ie: no one has ever overcome "unluckiness" with good flying.

That said, mitigating the effect of bad rolls is a key part of the game. Be it with better positioning, arc dodging, token stacking, re-rolls, engineering the initial encounter, etc.

autothrusters wont do you any good at range 1 will they?

They help at all ranges when out of arc (vs. turrets), or at range 3 otherwise. So getting to range 1 and out of arc (normal when facing deci/yt) will be very effective.

I thought this was going to be another Fat Han discussion. Really, does anyone reduce randomness more than Han?

all primary weapon turrets induce more randomness than reduce, because they ignore the only dice independent phase of the game (maneuvers) to get constant shots off at you (and thus force constant dice rolling). Against a player who is experienced fighting against turrets, the dice can readily come save fat han because failing to kill him by even one or two hull awards the opponent 0 points

Given that players have to counter turrets by spamming stats per points (because, again, maneuvering doesn't mean **** against them until thrusters hit tables) turrets tend to only increase the randomness in the game regardless of how much they modify their own dice because they place far more emphasis on dice than any other ship in the game.

If you want to really reduce randomness you just have to ignore dice results completely ala tactician, R3-A2, Rebel Captive, Vader, auto-thrusters (well, almost completely) etc. even if one's typically fickle dice crap out, they're still getting solid returns for their efforts by cutting down on opponent dice modification and/or limiting their choice of maneuvers (making them much easier to avoid and therefore cutting down on the dice they throw at you)

There is also Ion which, while dice dependent, can sharply cut down on the rng in games by forcing opponent's maneuvers. If you force your opponent into positions where he simply cannot shoot you, you will avoid the prospect of having to roll terrible green dice (except, of course, against turrets)

Basically, if you want to cut down on RNG, you have to take the reigns of the maneuvering aspect of the game because it is the only truly random-free part of the game (outside of select upgrades such as Feedback or Deadman's etc) until you hit an obstruction

I find it funny when people talk about being "unlucky", especially when notoriously so. I'm pretty sure given a large enough sample size the OP rolls pretty much the same as everyone else.

Possibly, I have consistently been called "unlucky" in both WH40k and X-Wing by friends and in tournaments. What can I say? In one tournament I rolled 14 blanks on red Dice in a straight sequence (over several attacks) at the beginning of a game, and it didn't really matter what I rolled after that, because my squad was ruined. :/

Of course that is conjecture, I can't remember what I rolled on the next 14 Dice in that tournament, but I consistently have bad results when it counts. :/

I call BS on 14 blanks in a row. The odds of that happening are .25 to the 14th power. You could roll dice for a lifetime and not get that result.

You can doubt me all you want, but calling me out on a personal experience is not only unnecessary, but also somewhat childish. I may be lucky in other aspects of my life, but dice-based games have a tendency of screwing me over, hence, my favourite board game right now is Terra Mystica.

I find the guys locally who call themselves unlucky are the guys who regularly don't have tokens or ways to modify their dice, and/or find themselves out of position on a regular basis (easier to blame the green dice when they have no red dice on a turn).

That may very well be, and if I was alone in calling myself unlucky, I would probably stay silent about it, but since I hear it from my opponents and friends even during one-off games, I have grown to live with it and would rather both try to better myself and also try to eliminate the aspect that others call out is a weakness of mine (in this case, luck).

Thanks everyone for all the replies! I really enjoy the conversation about what cards to use to reduce randomness, regardless of my list. Keep the suggestions coming.

I also found Intelligence Agent (and a list that can abuse it) can be quite key for mitigating rng

Keyan Farlander w/SoT, sensors, and int agent (b/e mod) is one of my favorite pilots both because he can heavily modify his attack (potential advance sensor target lock + SoT for "red focus") and because he can play absolute havoc with your opponent's shots

Worried about that Expose Chiraneau ripping through half of Keyan? Int agent that bastard and maneuver (+/- pre-manuever barrel-roll) for a block. Suddenly, your Keyan is guaranteed to take 0 damage from that source

I think it is a little more childish to believe in luck than to tell someone you don't believe their claim of a rolling sequence that would happen once every 3 billion tries, roughly.

You can add Xizor + four bug-zapper Blacksun Zs to your anti-RNG list

they are a magnificently fun combo

again:

oicunn

ruthlessness

gunner

doomshuttle

tempest AC

with some points to spare for fun stuff.

Hello everyone, I want to get your opinions on a squad built specifically to lessen the impact of bad luck. I am notoriously unlucky, and after looking through the previews for Scum and Villainy, I have realised that there are several cards that can help me get around the importance of dice rolls. I have built a list around two IG-2000's. The idea is that I should Always be able to inflict at least two damage every attack, using Accuracy Corrector and Autoblaster, and using just the Autoblaster if if attacking specifically the Decimator or the YT-1300. Of course this hinges on getting the ships in range of the Autoblaster and staying there. I was originally hoping to make a list using Autoblaster Turrets and Accuracy Corrector, but AFAIK, there are no ships that have both Turret and System Upgrade slots.

Anyway, the list:

IG88-B

Aggressor

Accuracy Corrector, Autoblaster, “Hot Shot” Blaster, IG-2000, Stealth Device

IG88-C

Aggressor

Accuracy Corrector, Autoblaster, “Hot Shot” Blaster, IG-2000, Stealth Device

Feedback appreciated!

I would drop "Hot Shot" Blaster for an Ion Cannon and exchange Stealth Device for Inertial Dampeners + Autothusters.

Now you Ionize them to set 'em up, then close in to knock 'em down with Autoblaster. I call this list Autoblaster-2000.

[i was going to post this list as a new thread, but I decided to use the search function to look for IG-88 and Autoblaster. It worked! And I had no need to create a new thread.]

Now that I finally won a store champ with it, I can feel safe whole-heartedly reconmending this list

I call it "you just got stressed:"

Luke (V.I, R3-A2, Engine)

Blue (B/e --> tactician)

Blue (B/e --> tactician)

Prototype (refit)

But you're shooting at range 3

Doesn't matter, get stressed

But I'm behind a **** obstruction

Doesn't matter, get stressed

But I'm rolling fifty green dice

Doesn't matter, get stressed

Look, you're dude's got blinded pilot

**** you, get stressed

Whether or not the OP is actually unlucky or not, I think his reaction to his perception of his luck is a healthy one.

OP, I think you've created a list that matches your intended goal, which is to eliminate as much variance as possible and be able to rely on your own skill to win games.

IG-88B and Autoblasters are a nombo, so you need to cut B for D. Since you're ideally going to be spending most of your time at range 1, and since the whole point of the list is eliminate luck, I'd cut Autothrusters for Hull Upgrades, Autothrusters can still let you down if you don't have a focus token on defense. Stay on Target will help you better control your range against lower PS ships in combination with Inertial Dampners and remove some more variance, although if you don't have access to 2 then you can run VI instead to get the upper hand on Dash and upgrade Hull to Shield Upgrade.

So the list would look like this

IG-88C&D

-Stay on Target

-Accuracy Corrector

-Autoblaster

-Hull Upgrade

-Inertial Dampeners

-or-

IG-88C&D

-VI

-Accuracy Corrector

-Autoblaster

-Shield Upgrade

-Inertial Dampeners

Fair warning, you will probably not win against any BBBB list, without variance to help you your damage output won't be high enough to kill them before they kill you.

And if you are open to other factions besides Scum, there is a rebel list that also acheives your goal of reducing variance as much as possible, it's called Fat Han and it's a very good list.

I think it is a little more childish to believe in luck than to tell someone you don't believe their claim of a rolling sequence that would happen once every 3 billion tries, roughly.

Just because something is unlikely doesn't mean it's impossible. I once rolled 5 crits in a row with no modifiers (all against shields of course), my calculator can't even tell me the odds of that happening without spitting letters at me.

It would be one thing if the OP was just moaning about their luck, but they're obviously trying to manage their luck instead, and I think that should be commended.

Just because something is unlikely doesn't mean it's impossible. I once rolled 5 crits in a row with no modifiers (all against shields of course), my calculator can't even tell me the odds of that happening without spitting letters at me.

(1 / 8) ^ 5 = 1 / 32768 = 0.003%

Who needs letters?

I think it is a little more childish to believe in luck than to tell someone you don't believe their claim of a rolling sequence that would happen once every 3 billion tries, roughly.

Just because something is unlikely doesn't mean it's impossible. I once rolled 5 crits in a row with no modifiers (all against shields of course), my calculator can't even tell me the odds of that happening without spitting letters at me.

It would be one thing if the OP was just moaning about their luck, but they're obviously trying to manage their luck instead, and I think that should be commended.

That's probably because you're calculating it the wrong way

You can just calculate 8^5, and invert it afterwards to get your 1 / 32,768 value. Your point is valid though, it's never something you can EXPECT, but it will certainly happen given enough time. It's still exponentially more likely than winning the lottery.

Consider that you probably roll 100+ dice per game, and many of us have played 100s of games, and stuff like this will turn up.

One of my favorite examples is always from 40k, back in 3rd edition when I was just starting to play. Maybe like my fifth ever game of 40k, tops. A friend fired 7 lasgun shots from his Imperial Guardsmen at my Terminator Squad. 4+ to hit, 5+ to wound and 2+ armor ... rolled enough to kill 6 Termis and I only had 5...

Bah, I see my need to be a storyteller allowed Klutz to ninja me.

I was hoping that bragging about not being able to use a calculator would make me more relatable.

I was hoping that bragging about not being able to use a calculator would make me more relatable.

And see where that got you?

I find it funny when people talk about being "unlucky", especially when notoriously so. I'm pretty sure given a large enough sample size the OP rolls pretty much the same as everyone else.

Possibly, I have consistently been called "unlucky" in both WH40k and X-Wing by friends and in tournaments. What can I say? In one tournament I rolled 14 blanks on red Dice in a straight sequence (over several attacks) at the beginning of a game, and it didn't really matter what I rolled after that, because my squad was ruined. :/

Of course that is conjecture, I can't remember what I rolled on the next 14 Dice in that tournament, but I consistently have bad results when it counts. :/

I feel you. I once played a game where I was playing a 3 ship build, all with either lone wolf (and consistently > range 2) or predator and literally rolled 1 hit or less every attack roll with rerolls and focus. It was only one game but man was it disheartening.

It is possible to roll the same dice results as everyone else but still be unluckier. In X-Wing, distribution context is just as important as raw dice results. For example, your opponent has 2 ships left with 1 and 2 hull each,

1st possibility you attack his ships with your 2 TIE Fighters, 1st attack gets 1 hit, blank greens, 2nd attack gets 2 hits, blank greens, victory!

2nd possibility On the first attack against the 1 hull guy you roll blanks, your second attack gets 3 hits and kill him, his second ship shoots back and kills 1 of your TIEs, time is called and you lose.

Same exact dice results for you, completely different outcome.

I see this happen a lot for green dice especially, they get 1 hit, woohoo 4 evades, they get 1 hit and 1 crit, 4 blanks dead Soontir, same amount of evades would have saved Soontir if they had been more evenly distributed.

Tempest Squadron Pilot — TIE Advanced 21
Accuracy Corrector 0
Shield Upgrade 4
TIE/x1 0

Tempest Squadron Pilot — TIE Advanced 21
Accuracy Corrector 0
Shield Upgrade 4
TIE/x1 0

Tempest Squadron Pilot — TIE Advanced 21
Accuracy Corrector 0
Shield Upgrade 4
TIE/x1 0

Tempest Squadron Pilot — TIE Advanced 21
Accuracy Corrector 0
Shield Upgrade 4
TIE/x1 0

Take Evade every turn or barrel roll if you're in a golden spot.

I cannot think of a list that takes away the randomness more efficiently than this.