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

Blue Squadron (B/e, Tactician)

Blue Squadron (B/e, Tactician)

Prototype Pilot (refit)

I kept telling people about the goddamn stress wings and I'ma keep tooting my horn about them

[...]

And that's the story of the Stress Wing!

Could you elaborate on how you fly this list?

I assume the Bs fly in pair/somewhat in formation with Luke effectively being their Wingman (until he peels off to deal with High Value Targets such as Phantoms) and the A-Wing being completley detached of these 3 and just going where he is needed most for flanking/blocking/distracting/harassing?

formation is a bit of a loose description since none of the ships are technically dependent on one another. You just want to main 3 (i.e, not the proto-type) covering each other on the approach. If at all possible, you ideally want to come in at an angle to the opponent, especially with Luke because stress off of R3-A2 is going to discourage the hell out of him jousting and because the X-wing, luke or no, is still not incredibly durable. Abuse PS 10 deployment and engine to make him come in from the safest angle if at all possible. You even get the option of setting a slow dial during the opening phase of the game and compensating with a boost in case the enemy does not commit. Imo, Luke's more of a flanker than the A-wing, though perhaps the traditional definition doesn't entirely fit (EU doesn't turn him into soontir, or anything). The only times I put Luke in formation is when I really don't want the enemy taking pot-shots at the Bs and he can either soak some dice or punish the enemy for focusing his squaddies (mostly viable versus swarms). The second time is when I have clear jousting superiority and I need to discourage stupid **** from happening (mostly versus two ship builds, especially those that like to fling themselves with boost for a turn 1 shot, especially Dash)

The A-wing goes in ahead. If the opponent wastes shots on him first, especially at longer ranges, he's already done his job. He can flank, but he's mostly a quasi-suicidal "look at me! look at me!" to keep the heat off of the other pilots so don't hesitate to use him as such. Blocking is the absolute priority with this little guy, and the engagements he can set up for you are potentially game-breaking when you're so reliant on your arcs. He's more "Tie Fighter" than interceptor.

I like what I see here, but there's no representation from the Imperials. Are they just not cut out for control lists?

They don't have access to Ion Turrets, nor R3-A2, and must therefore rely on Ion Cannons, Tacticians, Rebel Captive, and Mara Jade.

They're good options, true, but the problem is that they're only runnable en-masse in the Shuttle.

Yeah, Imperials aren't suited for control yet. They could, in theory, get a small amount of control through shuttles. A shuttle with an Ion Cannon, Tactician and Gunner could conceivably be brutal, dealing either a stress and Ion token in the first attack, or a second stress and full damage if Gunner triggers. It's a 31-point ship that can't turn around, though.

The keys to a strong control build are: Maintaining damage without losing control (the weakness of Ion and Flechette Cannons is their single point of damage, compared to the full damage output of the Tactician B-Wing and Warthog Y-Wing), being able to maintain control on a target who gets behind you (either through K-turns or turrets), and having multiple sources of control (ie, 25 points or less). Imps fail in all three of these areas.

Here's a good Imperial Stress Build

Whisper + VI + ACD + Rebel Captive

x2 Omicron + FCS + Gunner + Tactician

This list was created by Phildo. I think he ran this at nationals and did pretty good with it. You have to feel confident flying shuttles to make this build work.

I like what I see here, but there's no representation from the Imperials. Are they just not cut out for control lists?

They don't have access to Ion Turrets, nor R3-A2, and must therefore rely on Ion Cannons, Tacticians, Rebel Captive, and Mara Jade.

They're good options, true, but the problem is that they're only runnable en-masse in the Shuttle.

Yeah, Imperials aren't suited for control yet. They could, in theory, get a small amount of control through shuttles. A shuttle with an Ion Cannon, Tactician and Gunner could conceivably be brutal, dealing either a stress and Ion token in the first attack, or a second stress and full damage if Gunner triggers. It's a 31-point ship that can't turn around, though.

The keys to a strong control build are: Maintaining damage without losing control (the weakness of Ion and Flechette Cannons is their single point of damage, compared to the full damage output of the Tactician B-Wing and Warthog Y-Wing), being able to maintain control on a target who gets behind you (either through K-turns or turrets), and having multiple sources of control (ie, 25 points or less). Imps fail in all three of these areas.

Sadly true, I have been unable to generate a strong control list for the imps.

I do recommend, however, that people try control cannon Delta Defenders. That white 4k means they're uniquely equipped for abusing ion and flechette stress (which is basically a big "no joust for you!" stamp)

Pairing a control list with outmaneuver might be a good idea- if you know where your opponent is going to be, it gets easier to trigger opportunist. Triggering opportunist also makes it easier to keep a unit controlled.

This is my control list. Won my first ever tournament with it.

Nera Dantels

E2

Recon Specialist

Deadeye

Flechette Torpedoes

Flechette Torpedoes

Gray Squadron

Ion Cannon

R3-A2

Gray Squadron

Ion Cannon

Tala Squadron

The meta was a lot of fat Dash and Han lists with Push The Limit + Kyle, so as soon as a second stress went on them, they crumbled. Only came up against one Phantom but it was only a matter of time before it got ionned.

PS 4 to ensure I got to shoot before the endless Bandit Squadron pilots.

props on Nera

With the Aggressor and auto-thrusters out, flechette torps are about as relevant as they'll ever be, and flinging them out 360 could well neuter a wide variety of lists

I wonder what y'all think of the Flechette + Failsafe combo.

Pros:

It can be carried by cheaper platforms

It deals the stress irrespective of whether you hit with the attack

Most of the cheap platforms can equip a second Flechette torpedo

Cons:

It's only truly repeatable if you deal 0 damage on your attack, meaning it's better for tying down Phantoms and Interceptors. Still, it's only 1 less damage than an Ion Cannon...

It requires the possession of a Target Lock on your victim.

Outside of Nera (or if you can manage to get it and R3-A2 to fire at the same time), not a huge fan

guaranteeing shots is incredibly difficult since you have to shoot at a locked target if you're not using deadeye. Nera invalidates all concerns with a 360 and deadeye, while a PS 10 X-wing could flexibly get it off since it knows who to lock after moving. Imo, I'd rather have those two points on the rest of the list since stress Luke is already 35 points and becomes rather unwieldy at 37.

I guess Salm enthusiasts could give it a whirl? Personally, the lack of native ept and crap innate offense make the Y-wing a horrible high PS stress bot. I'd much rather have the panic attack's Gold + ICT + R3-A2, which is a relatively cheap and very frightening little pilot.

Presumably works well on Scimitar bombers if you bring enough of them, but I'll stick to my guaranteed R3-A2 and Tacticians

I wonder what y'all think of the Flechette + Failsafe combo.

Pros:

It can be carried by cheaper platforms

It deals the stress irrespective of whether you hit with the attack

Most of the cheap platforms can equip a second Flechette torpedo

Cons:

It's only truly repeatable if you deal 0 damage on your attack, meaning it's better for tying down Phantoms and Interceptors. Still, it's only 1 less damage than an Ion Cannon...

It requires the possession of a Target Lock on your victim.

I haven't used it since before wave 5, but I had some success with:

Blue + E2actician + Ion Cannon

Blue +E2actician + Ion Cannon

Rookie + R3-A2

Rookie

In a pre-BTL world, I preferred the raw damage output of Rookies to the ICT-plinking of a Y-Wing. After you get the stuff ionstressed you still need to wipe it off the board with regular damage, right? I wanted the full control suite on each B-Wing so that each was independently capable of ionstressing a small-base ship, or combining with Rooki3-A2 to ionstress something at range 3.

I played about 8-10 games with the list, and only lost one. Interestingly, the loss came to a Panic Attack list. However, I feel that it was largely due to him winning the initiative roll and being able to move first, making me susceptible to blocking/action denial.

Just a thought to use my 4 x-wings:

Luke, VI, Flechette Torps, Engine Upgrade 35

Rookie Pilot w/ R3A2 23

Rookie Pilot x2 = 42

You get 2 stress sources, one is 1-use only, but it it's at high PS (basically geared toward high ps arc-dodgers) and doesn't stress the user, the one at low PS is re-usable and creates another target besides Luke, and is on a cheaper platform that doesn't hurt being lost as much as Luke. Probably not as good overall as the B-wing variant, but it does have some nice advantages in that it's got a tough, high PS pilot and the stress it does generate works at range 3, which is a big deal.

small problem is in the combination of EU and flechette

If you boost, you can't target-lock. If you can't target-lock, you can't flechette. That's why Luke for me carries R3-A2 and EU, because even without other actions he'll still stress and benefit from his defensive ability. Removing R3-A2 from him keeps him defensive, but removes his offensive threat.

Although I don't trust ordinance on low PS pilots, I do believe R3-A2 is several times more effective on Luke (which is why I spring 35 points for the bastard )

Or, if you're crazy, you could always put all your eggs in one basket

Yeah, I was just trying to fit another stress source in there, and Flechette Torps on a Rookie was not good. You can use both Engine and Torps if you've already got the TL from an earlier turn (or the other player guessed your move incorrectly), which sort of works, and is helped if you've defined a no-go zone with R3-A2 on a Rookie. I'll acknowledge that it's sub-optimal, but it's an excuse to put 4 X-wings on the table, which looks super-cool.

Another query: this time helping me build a list.

I want to run BBYY Control.

B-Wings with B-Wing/E2 and Tactician

Y-Wings with Ion Cannon

That leaves me 4 leftover points.

Should I run:

1. Flechette Cannons on the B-Wings, potentially dealing 2 stress per attack
2. Fire Control Systems on the B-Wings, increasing my damage?
3. R7 Astromechs on the Y-Wings, increasing my overall defense?
4. R3-A2 and R5-K6 on my Y-Wings, assuming that the latter has BTL-A4 and is therefore not a waste of points?
5. R2/R5 Astromechs on the Y-Wings, and Enhanced Scopes on the B-Wings, giving extra Mobility/Defense to the Ys and Blocking Potential to the Bs?
6. Seismic Charges to the Y-Wings, through Bomb Loadout?
7. Any of the above with BTL-A4?

What think ye?

I like what I see here, but there's no representation from the Imperials. Are they just not cut out for control lists?

I've been working on one:

Omicron Pilot

- Gunner

- Tactician

- FCS

- Engine

Backstabber

Firespray

Now, the Firespray is what I keep changing around to see what I like best. Options I've tried (and worked fairly well):

Krassis

- Ion Cannon

- Cluster Missile

- Tactician

For him I bumped the shuttle up to Yorr, if I remember correctly. Also been known to put a Proton Bomb on him.

Kath

- Tactician

- Marksmanship

- Experimental Interface

- Cluster Missiles

This can potentially dump 4 stress onto one ship at Range 2, if they manage to stop a crit from each missile attack (which has happened, but it's awfully hard to shake that many stress tokens

Kath

- Tactician

- Veteran Instincts

- Mangler Cannon

- Engine Upgrade

Be vewy qwiet, I'm hunting Phantoms. Huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh

Kath

- Tactician

- Calculation

- Various other upgrades

Makes me wish the Firespray had 2 crew slots for a Recon Spec, but has worked OK. I think I like Calculation more than Marksmanship, since Marksmanship really needs EI, in my opinion. I like the fact that the Mangler opens up the EPT slot for something else, but it only works in the front arc. So you see the arguments I've been having with myself.

Like I said, been messing with it, and have had a good time with it so far (the most important thing). In one game actually had the shuttle doublestress a B-Wing, then I pulled the E-Brake and the B-wing was still within Range 2 the next turn.

PS: sorry so long

Another query: this time helping me build a list.

I want to run BBYY Control.

B-Wings with B-Wing/E2 and Tactician

Y-Wings with Ion Cannon

That leaves me 4 leftover points.

Should I run:

1. Flechette Cannons on the B-Wings, potentially dealing 2 stress per attack
2. Fire Control Systems on the B-Wings, increasing my damage?
3. R7 Astromechs on the Y-Wings, increasing my overall defense?
4. R3-A2 and R5-K6 on my Y-Wings, assuming that the latter has BTL-A4 and is therefore not a waste of points?
5. R2/R5 Astromechs on the Y-Wings, and Enhanced Scopes on the B-Wings, giving extra Mobility/Defense to the Ys and Blocking Potential to the Bs?
6. Seismic Charges to the Y-Wings, through Bomb Loadout?
7. Any of the above with BTL-A4?

What think ye?

Here's my suggestion for you

It's not a BBYY but I think you may find this fun

Blue + FCS + E2 + Tactician ( The FCS will help keep your damage output high. I found that I often had to Barrel Roll to keep the R2.)

Gold + R3-A2 + Ion Turret + BTL-A4 ( This ship can now double tap stress a high priority Target)

Blount + Deadeye + Ion Pulse Missile ( This will let you lock down a big ship. This will be very handy against an hard target like the IG2000, or Dash. It will keep big ships from Kiting you.)

It's not a BBYY but I think you may find this fun

1. Blue + FCS + E2 + Tactician ( The FCS will help keep your damage output high. I found that I often had to Barrel Roll to keep the R2.)
2. Gold + R3-A2 + Ion Turret + BTL-A4 ( This ship can now double tap stress a high priority Target)
3. Blount + Deadeye + Ion Pulse Missile ( This will let you lock down a big ship. This will be very handy against an hard target like the IG2000, or Dash. It will keep big ships from Kiting you.)

What's your 4th ship?

For Scum, I seriously considered:

Syndicate Thug - Ion cannon turret - A4 upgrade - 46 points

Cartel Spacer - Heavy Scyk + Flechette Cannon x3 - 54 points

Another query: this time helping me build a list.

I want to run BBYY Control.

B-Wings with B-Wing/E2 and Tactician

Y-Wings with Ion Cannon

That leaves me 4 leftover points.

Should I run:

• Flechette Cannons on the B-Wings, potentially dealing 2 stress per attack
• Fire Control Systems on the B-Wings, increasing my damage?
• R7 Astromechs on the Y-Wings, increasing my overall defense?
• R3-A2 and R5-K6 on my Y-Wings, assuming that the latter has BTL-A4 and is therefore not a waste of points?
• R2/R5 Astromechs on the Y-Wings, and Enhanced Scopes on the B-Wings, giving extra Mobility/Defense to the Ys and Blocking Potential to the Bs?
• Seismic Charges to the Y-Wings, through Bomb Loadout?
• Any of the above with BTL-A4?

What think ye?

If you can take r3a2 absolutely do so, DO NOT skip him if you are trying to play rebel control.

It's not a BBYY but I think you may find this fun

1. Blue + FCS + E2 + Tactician ( The FCS will help keep your damage output high. I found that I often had to Barrel Roll to keep the R2.)
2. Gold + R3-A2 + Ion Turret + BTL-A4 ( This ship can now double tap stress a high priority Target)
3. Blount + Deadeye + Ion Pulse Missile ( This will let you lock down a big ship. This will be very handy against an hard target like the IG2000, or Dash. It will keep big ships from Kiting you.)

What's your 4th ship?

x2 Blues sorry it was obvious in my head

You don't have the p.s. For a cloaked whisper shot, sooo... I'd run seismics and r3-a2 with btl a4 on one y wing. This lets you double stress, and create a no fly zone behind you, on your turretless y wng, while giving you a turret for arc Dodgers, which should help you get your A4 Y pointed at the peskier ships, and up the offense a bit. Alternatively, you can swap out that seismic and take Roark with an Intel agent and ion turret, to help positin the b's better, and let your double stressing y fire first.

You don't have the p.s. For a cloaked whisper shot, sooo... I'd run seismics and r3-a2 with btl a4 on one y wing. This lets you double stress, and create a no fly zone behind you, on your turretless y wng, while giving you a turret for arc Dodgers, which should help you get your A4 Y pointed at the peskier ships, and up the offense a bit. Alternatively, you can swap out that seismic and take Roark with an Intel agent and ion turret, to help positin the b's better, and let your double stressing y fire first.

I've never had a hard time getting Whisper in arc with these guys, now Echo is a different story, but Echo isn't seeing as much play right now so I'm not as worried about that.

You probably don't see a lot of the jade whisper builds..

Whisper, advanced sensors, vi, Mara jade, acd - you can't k turn to fight it, it will arc dodge you.

I like what I see here, but there's no representation from the Imperials. Are they just not cut out for control lists?

They don't have access to Ion Turrets, nor R3-A2, and must therefore rely on Ion Cannons, Tacticians, Rebel Captive, and Mara Jade.

They're good options, true, but the problem is that they're only runnable en-masse in the Shuttle.

Yeah, Imperials aren't suited for control yet. They could, in theory, get a small amount of control through shuttles. A shuttle with an Ion Cannon, Tactician and Gunner could conceivably be brutal, dealing either a stress and Ion token in the first attack, or a second stress and full damage if Gunner triggers. It's a 31-point ship that can't turn around, though.

The keys to a strong control build are: Maintaining damage without losing control (the weakness of Ion and Flechette Cannons is their single point of damage, compared to the full damage output of the Tactician B-Wing and Warthog Y-Wing), being able to maintain control on a target who gets behind you (either through K-turns or turrets), and having multiple sources of control (ie, 25 points or less). Imps fail in all three of these areas.

I've been contemplating a bit more of a 'passive control' list for the Empire.

Take, say, Yorr with a Rebel Captive, Sensor Jammer, and Tactical Jammer. It's a slightly painful 32 points, but that leaves you enough room for a couple of strong autothruster+PtL sporting arc dodgers alongside it. It's not going to be doing a LOT of damage on its own, but it provides a magnificently large 'friendly obstacle' to maneuver around - improving the utility of your arc dodgers, and annoying the enemy. Sure, they could shoot at it, but they (at least the first) are going to be getting stress to do so, and with a hit-> focus conversion for their effort, not going to be killing it quickly, anyway. And if they don't, it's going to be mucking up the rest of their attack - any efforts to inflict stress on your arc dodgers, on the shots that your stressors even GET, is going to be instantly gobbled up by Yorr.