NOVA Squadron Radio – Episode 20 “Wave 4 Rebels!”

Welcome to NOVA Squadron Radio! This week we are still hip deep into Store Championship season so we cover a lot of that in the Flightdeck. In the News, Regional Dates have been released! And in the Main Topic, we discuss the Rebel side of the Wave 4. All of that and more!

NOVA Squadron Radio is:
Ed Horne – Host
Kris Soehnlin – Co-Host and NOVA Squadron founding member
Ronald Brannan – Co-Host and NOVA Squadron founding member
Chad Brown – Co-Host/Editor
Sean Dorcy – Co-host
Bob Randall – Co-host
Kris Sherriff – Co-host
Neil Jenkins – Guest Host

Here are the show notes from Episode 20:

[0:00 – 2:06] Show Opening

[2:06 – 27:17] The Flightdeck: What we have been flying lately and local tournament talk

[27:17 – 46:50] The News:
-NOVA Open 2015 Registration: http://www.novaopen.com/
-Another Jodocast Interview with Alex Davey http://www.jodocast.com/2015/03/09/x-wing-exclusive-interview-with-designer-alex-davy/
- No news is good news? Radio Silence?

-Wave 5 recap https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/137702-wave-5-stats-recap/
-Regionals announced https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/x-wing-regional-championships/

[46.50 – 1:49:01] Main Topic 1: Wave 4 Rebels!

[1:49:01 – 1:51:55] Show Closing!


Musical Credits go out to the band ‘Insane Ride’ and their songs ‘Sound of Rock and Roll’ and ‘Wrong or Right’ found on the Free Music Archive at http://freemusicarchive.org/

Thanks for listening, and talk to you again in two weeks!

Here is the direct link: http://novasquadronradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/NOVA_Squadron_Radio_Episode_20_final.mp3

www.novasquadronradio.com

Excellent, I'll start downloading as soon as I get off of my conference call

Or, you play it during your call... maybe bring some new X-Wing players into the game... your choice. But happy you're happy!

Have to download it first.... onto the phone that I'm using on the call lol.

Noticed you're going to talk about NoVA Open some.... any idea if they're going to expand their X-Wing events? I'm signed up for one Hunger games and on the waiting list for 2 others. Infinity's already expanded once. Honestly, I'm upset with myself for not getting in in time for the narrative campaign. That looks like a good time.

Have to download it first.... onto the phone that I'm using on the call lol.

Noticed you're going to talk about NoVA Open some.... any idea if they're going to expand their X-Wing events? I'm signed up for one Hunger games and on the waiting list for 2 others. Infinity's already expanded once. Honestly, I'm upset with myself for not getting in in time for the narrative campaign. That looks like a good time.

There have been some whispers that they are going to expand, but to what end I have no idea. Just keep an eye on things because I am sure if they do open it up, they will fill them right away.

You're not kidding. X-Wing filled up so fast I'm surprised it didn't crash their website.

Har har. I already mis-spoke 4 minutes in, in the Flight Deck! B and D, not B and C! Oops. Well, it can still work with C, but I strongly prefer D to bounce around funny. At least I corrected it later 5:38 in.

Har har. I already mis-spoke 4 minutes in, in the Flight Deck! B and D, not B and C! Oops. Well, it can still work with C, but I strongly prefer D to bounce around funny. At least I corrected it later 5:38 in.

I like your B-D squadron. I like the outmaneuver and FCS for that build. Seems very strong against Fat Han, and won't hurt against Phantoms either.

Har har. I already mis-spoke 4 minutes in, in the Flight Deck! B and D, not B and C! Oops. Well, it can still work with C, but I strongly prefer D to bounce around funny. At least I corrected it later 5:38 in.

I like your B-D squadron. I like the outmaneuver and FCS for that build. Seems very strong against Fat Han, and won't hurt against Phantoms either.

Yes. Provided that you can actually get shots on anything at PS7+ that can arc dodge! I played a few more games and my only losses have come against higher PS ships. No shots = dead. those big bases move a lot and still have a lot of blind spots.

I am looking forward to a Vassal game MJ to test my Fat Han against the Terminators!

Blount counters Laetin A'shera Yeah... other than stripping Stealth Devices off and delivery of a guaranteed Assault Missile or Ion Pulse Missile, his ability is kind of a waste. Blount with IPM and deadeye is a pretty solid Soontir counter. He'll shoot his SD off and Ion Soontir. However, you do have to get Fel in arc and have a focus. Easier said than done.

IG88 C&D wingman + HLC + Advanced Sensors + Autothrusters. I've run this a few times, and it's a lot of fun. You can S-Loop around in circles, and the nice thing is that after a while of doing this you can start leading your opponent one direction, then switch and a key moment and lay on the pain. I agree with Sean, when you add wingman into a build, you really want to build for that. One of the reason that wingman works so well with the shuttle, is that it keeps it's bad dial open.

Cracken is a good support ship, see the Spanish Nationals List. He adds a lot to that build, but isn't the main target, so you often get to use his ability multiple times which lets him earn his points.

Corran is basically glued to R2-D2, so an e-wing only astromech could be used to fix the generics and Etahn.

Something like the TIE advanced title, for example. Either a free mod or a free system slot would be pretty impressive without just making them replace the blue's.

R9-F9

Astromech

E-Wing only

During your activation phase you may perform 1 free boost action or action from your action bar.

Corran still probably wouldn't take it. Knaves and Etahn would love it.

Cracken is a good support ship, see the Spanish Nationals List. He adds a lot to that build, but isn't the main target, so you often get to use his ability multiple times which lets him earn his points.

That's a good point, pair him with glass cannons! Y-wings with BTL-A4 title come to mind. They love the extra action for a free target lock.

Excited to download but I can already tell I'm not gonna like the review on Etahn. He's been MVP every single game I've ever used him in. He's especially strong these days. Nearly impossible to kill MOV protector and turns ships like decimators into a silly silly joke.

Excited to download but I can already tell I'm not gonna like the review on Etahn. He's been MVP every single game I've ever used him in. He's especially strong these days. Nearly impossible to kill MOV protector and turns ships like decimators into a silly silly joke.

Well, he is certainly not quite as bad as the generic E-wings!

Maybe someday we'll get an EPT that procs on "If this attack hits" ... Curse you Imperial Only !!!!

Decoy has several interesting uses - a couple of which you've mentioned. There are two ways to use Decoy - On ships with higher P.S. (say, ps 7-9) or on ships with lower P.S. (say ps 3-6) - the line is a bit blurry... It's really more a higher p.s. ship equipping it, or a lower ps ship equipping

High PS uses generally involve pumping up a lower ship in a more opportune location, tends to work better with multiple ships, and looks most like swarm tactics with a bigger leash. The larger range however lets you really allow one ship to fire first if needed, when the decoy ship itself won't need to fire first. In general, I think this is a mistake - because you're not using the Talent slot for something greater - and if you're swarming you may be flying in formation. Another thing that can be done here is delaying to see if you need to use your focus for defense vs offense - especially if you know your ship is going to survive anyway, Either use of decoy can do this - swarm tactics does not.

Low PS is where this card starts to shine - This is where a lower P.S. ship steals P.S. from the higher ship, to fire first - the importance is that it doesn't cut into the high P.S. talent slot - and allows you to combo with the high p.s. talent slot.... Sometimes it's worth it for the points savings of the lower cost ship, some of the following are a bit specialized though..

Examples - (I'll just mention the decoy combo )

Decoy + VI (This is Echo + VI Vader you mentioned)
Decoy + Opportunist (Wedge can fire later in the round, letting opportunist trigger)
Decoy & Swarm tactics* (if both on a green a-wing, you can Steal high P.S. and give it back, without compromising the slot)
Decoy + High Power Munitions (Tank fires later, Proton rockets fire earlier)

There are some other fun A-wing tricks using Decoy and Decoy, or decoy and squad leader.
As well as a specialized Decoy + Airen Cracken + Expose - wait till late in combat to trigger expose.

Excited to download but I can already tell I'm not gonna like the review on Etahn. He's been MVP every single game I've ever used him in. He's especially strong these days. Nearly impossible to kill MOV protector and turns ships like decimators into a silly silly joke.

Well, he is certainly not quite as bad as the generic E-wings!

That I'll certainly agree with!

Buzzsaw Droids?

We GOT BUZZ DROIDS!

From here on out Any Dual Aggressors that have IG-88 B and IG-88 C with both FCS and HLC will be called a Buzz Droid squadron.

Yeah, Buzzsaw Droids are a real thing now, and pretty damned scary overall!

Excellent episode, fellas. Really enjoyed it.

I have a Store Championship this weekend and I'm thinking about pairing a Buzzsaw Whisper (which I am very familiar with) with the Echo build you spoke about at the very end of the show (which I have never heard about); PTL, Recon Spec, Advanced Sensors, Advanced Cloaking Device.

I usually run Echo with VI, Recon Spec, FCS or Sensor Jammer, ACD, but this new build intrigues me.

Any additional thoughts?

p.s. Juggler, NEVER stop.

Excellent Idea! I am going to have to try that one! I am not as brave as some to run Echo without VI, but I can see the reasons behind it.

Glad you like the show man!

Excellent Idea! I am going to have to try that one! I am not as brave as some to run Echo without VI, but I can see the reasons behind it.

Glad you like the show man!

I think with all the IG-88 out there at PS6, it is still extremely daring to not put VI on Echo!

One vote for stopping with the partial points talk. It's not going to happen, and there are other solutions. I get the math argument, but there is more to this game than the jousting math. Yes you must consider time limits when creating your list when going to a competition. A large ship or two is easy to fly and requires less practice to become proficient with. Because of their high hit points, they also recover from mistakes and rely less on green dice. I think these elements factor more into why they are popular.

I respect the idea, but feel it is a waste of time to continue to talk about partial points. Why not spend the time talking about new ways to handle high hit point lists in a timed game? There is a ton of new upgrade cards and pilots out there thanks to S&V.