Hey guys,

So if Wave 5 has shown us anything, it's that defense is the new offense. We all know about our Fat Hans and Super Dashes and Chiraneaus etc., but I'm the last person to ever want to draw attention to them so let's focus on something else:

I want to compile a list of the little guys, these relative cheap, surprisingly cost effective pilots that piss your opponents off so much because they don't want to waste blaster rounds on them

Now, while things such as the academy pilot would certainly qualify, I'm looking more to compile pilots/combos that were made to be unattractive to shoot at. I find them endlessly fascinating as they're super defensive on one hand, but on the other they boast incredibly offense because they simply don't have to give a ****. They're also surprisingly uncommon in my experience.

I'm talking about guys like:

Gemmer Sojan (Refit, Predator) [23 points]

--> It's a 23 point 2-dice ship that looks like a bug next to your Xs, Ys, and Bs. Why would your opponent spare it a 2nd thought when it's worth so little and yet rolling four god-dang agility? Well, range 1 dice with re-rolls might have a say in the matter

--> Incredibly effective versus swarms (Predator + high agility against low offense), decently effective against 3-dice ships, weaker to highly modified attacks

Tarn Mison (R7 Astromech) [25 points]

-->So, it's a durable X-wing. The hell is up with that? Tarn carries the double "you don't want to shoot me" card because a.) if he re-rolls your dice, you will not be able to re-roll them yourself b.) if your attack flubs, you've just given him a free target-lock.

--> Incredibly effective against single, highly modified attacks (especially against FCS ships, including even Phantoms). Vulnerable to swarms and gunner (after R7-s once per round ability, Tarn reverts to being an X-wing).

and, quite possibly, Laetin A'Shera who seems to operate like Gemmer with the added benefit of gunner insurance and the detriment of -1 shield.

So, what annoying little buggers have you faced/fielded that were either underestimated or ignored? Did you find them effective in your games? Against what in particular.

And let's try to keep these guys cheap, point-wise. We can all go on and on about the new Soontir Fell, R2-D2 PTL Corran Horn, and even the awesome Prince Xizor, but these big names don't need any more exposure than they already have

Also, no Biggs. Biggs isn't just someone your opponent doesn't want to shoot, he's someone your opponent is forced to shoot.

Luke

R2D2

Lone Wolf

Shield upgrade

Do you go for him? or Wedge?

Dark Curse. The king of this kind of thing.

Dark Curse. The king of this kind of thing.

He gets worse with a SD.

Oh god, how did I forget the core-set buddies

For shame, fickle, for shame!

I always wanted to try LW Luke, seems like a monster of a late game ship. How'd he go for you?

As for Curse, I like mine plain. There's nothing more infuriating than his ability coupled with the knowledge that he's barely worth more than an academy pilot

Any cheap-o ship with munitions. Dark Curse is an obvious fit for the criteria, but if I have a lowly bomber with Cluster Missiles or Ion Pulse Missiles, or even just a bomb, the opponent has to make a choice in going for Howlrunner, Soontir, or suffer a munitions attack if left ignored.

Dark Curse. The king of this kind of thing.

I HATE Dark Curse with a passion

I nearly fainted when I one-shotted him at a Tourney

2 days later I spent 20 minutes chasing him around the board with 2 A-wings - All back to normal then

Dark Curse. The king of this kind of thing.

I HATE Dark Curse with a passion

I nearly fainted when I one-shotted him at a Tourney

2 days later I spent 20 minutes chasing him around the board with 2 A-wings - All back to normal then

Funny story

I actually had a player whose decimator I had blocked go "well, I'm not getting any modifications anyway, so I might as well shoot dark curse"

Thankfully, the green dice didn't feel like ruining my day and good ole curse remained unscathed for the rest of the game, but I did find the reasoning funny when the poor academies would have been safer bets in the later turns

Not so much cheap ships, but three A-wings armed to the teeth got me through 4 games in a tournament and I only lost the poor little green sqdr pilot in two of the games. Sometimes I feel like an a-hole for being so evasive, even though the list is built around it.

I found N'dru with lone wolf to be a great flanker. for 19 points he can last a really long time assuming he's not focused down by 3-6 ships. And he has enough firepower to be a great distraction that can't be ignored.

Not so much cheap ships, but three A-wings armed to the teeth got me through 4 games in a tournament and I only lost the poor little green sqdr pilot in two of the games. Sometimes I feel like an a-hole for being so evasive, even though the list is built around it.

I do feel this is the single most pronounced strength of the A-wing in general (though imo Gemmer is king)

It's not very points efficient for its 2 dice offense, but you're getting an incredible defensive stat-line, an incredible dial, and boost (would prefer roll, but what can you do?)

I've only recently been incorporating the humble refit Prototype into my squads because I've begun hating fitting in a lone bandit. The dude is so useless it's painful, and more than not he just gets in the way of the rest of my squad. The prototype, though? Let me put it this way, last sunday my prototype caused a rebel on rebel hairball to continue on for two turns. That's two turns of no actions for any of seven ships but the prototype

I found N'dru with lone wolf to be a great flanker. for 19 points he can last a really long time assuming he's not focused down by 3-6 ships. And he has enough firepower to be a great distraction that can't be ignored.

Oh right, can't forget N'dru

I always thought the rebels got kind of shafted on the character Zs because the Ties had awesome pilots like Night Beast/Curse/Stabber who were all very efficient for their cost. Now here comes scum with N'dru, basically backstabber 2.0 (imo, easier to use ability but in a far worse ship) before you toss on lone wolf.

Oh god, how did I forget the core-set buddies

For shame, fickle, for shame!

I always wanted to try LW Luke, seems like a monster of a late game ship. How'd he go for you?

As for Curse, I like mine plain. There's nothing more infuriating than his ability coupled with the knowledge that he's barely worth more than an academy pilot

My opponent chose to go for Wedge (I was flying L B W) Post-Biggs, So I flew Wedge very aggressively to make the most of his rapidly dwindling life expectancy. By the time Wedge bought it, Luke was against a Delta Defender on 2 hp and an Academy.

They barely scratched him. LW's a beast when you're all alone.

Oh god, how did I forget the core-set buddies

For shame, fickle, for shame!

I always wanted to try LW Luke, seems like a monster of a late game ship. How'd he go for you?

As for Curse, I like mine plain. There's nothing more infuriating than his ability coupled with the knowledge that he's barely worth more than an academy pilot

My opponent chose to go for Wedge (I was flying L B W) Post-Biggs, So I flew Wedge very aggressively to make the most of his rapidly dwindling life expectancy. By the time Wedge bought it, Luke was against a Delta Defender on 2 hp and an Academy.

They barely scratched him. LW's a beast when you're all alone.

Who would've thought

It's a nice tactic, though. You got the big, bad Wedge being all scary while modest lil Luke's just waiting for the time that it's just him against the battered remnants that can no longer hope to defeat him

I'd cast my vote for my number 7 academy TIE I used in a recent torunament. In one turn he got shot by all enemy ships (four in total), faced something like 8-9 hits, 6-7 which were crits (my opponent had E'than) and he survived without even taking a single damage. The look on both my and my opponents face must have been spectacular. No-one wants to waste shots on my number 7 TIE Fighter anymore.

I'd cast my vote for my number 7 academy TIE I used in a recent torunament. In one turn he got shot by all enemy ships (four in total), faced something like 8-9 hits, 6-7 which were crits (my opponent had E'than) and he survived without even taking a single damage. The look on both my and my opponents face must have been spectacular. No-one wants to waste shots on my number 7 TIE Fighter anymore.

you did promote him to Dark Curse, right?

delete

Concerning squad building, I have only one thing to say: "Never rely on green dice. They are like a swarm of bankers, they betray you whenever they can."

Not super cheap, but I love me some Ibitsam with Ellusiveness and Sensor Jammer. For 34 points you get some tanky firepower that's surprisingly difficult to hit considering the one green die.

The silly little prototype I like to park at R1. Do you take the focus fired shot on him and kill him off even though he's only 15 points, or do you go for the bigger threats that separate your shots??? Muwhahahahaaa... And then the prototype rolls 2-3 evades on every attack anyways and you take off 1 shield. Then the next turn Tycho get's 1 shot

that's why Tycho's not on the list

Definitely Dark Curse and/or Night Beast (with his focus/evade token combo). These two cost nothing and are absolute buggers to kill, even unupgraded....

Not super cheap, but I love me some Ibitsam with Ellusiveness and Sensor Jammer. For 34 points you get some tanky firepower that's surprisingly difficult to hit considering the one green die.

Add C3PO for more pain!

Let me put it this way, last sunday my prototype caused a rebel on rebel hairball to continue on for two turns. That's two turns of no actions for any of seven ships but the prototype

Did the other guy happen to be running Tarn?

Because that sounds exactly like a game I played recently. The dude's prototype refit spend the whole game just making hard turns and focusing, barely even shooting with it. That slippery devil really was a pain.