I participated in a Spring Kit tournament recently at a cool small store (Merlyn's Toys, Games & Collectibles) in Charlottetown, PEI (Canada). Everyone was really nice and it ran very smoothly. There were 12 players, so 4 rounds. The mix of builds was interesting, with 7 Rebel lists, 1 Imperial list and 4 Scum & Villainy lists. As for myself, after "agonizing" a while over builds I decided to give a list used at a previous tournament (last December; 2 wins - 2 losses) another go:
Chewbacca - YT-1300 (Predator, Gunner, C-3PO, Millenium Falcon)
Leebo - YT-2400 (Determination, Heavy Laser Cannon, Recon Specialist)
99 points
So, the main thing here is no Outrider title on Leebo. I know it's a very popular choice whenever the YT-2400 gets picked, but I think that, especially combined with HLC, Dash is the best pilot for it. Also, I like being able to still use the primary turret when needed. Leebo's HLC remains dangerous of course and can't really be ignored. However, Chewie is the main threat because of his great ability, and the Predator and Gunner combo. It makes for a costly Wookie (or should I say "Wookie duo" since Gunner is also a Wookie according to the card art) paired with C-3PO and the MF title (54 points), but it's my favorite YT-1300 build by far.
OK, here are summaries of my four rounds...
Round 1, facing two Aggressors:
IG-88 B & C (both with Veteran Instincts, HLC, Autothrusters, Advanced Sensors, IG-2000)
I've played a few variants of the dual Aggressors already, so I know how strong it can be. They proved resilient again, with their three defense dice showing (way too) many evades. I managed to destroy IG-88 C first. B's ability is strong but it didn't get to activate once I think since my ships had lower defensive capabilities, so at least one hit would go through on the first attack each time. I was able to fly relatively well and kept at least one of my ships out of the firing arcs of the opponent's ships most of the time. When I finally destroyed IG-88 B, I still had both my ships flying, but Chewie was a bit low (4 hulls remaining). 100-0
Round 2, facing Dash and Corran:
Corran (R2-D2, FCS, Shield)
Dash (PTL, Mangler, Kyle, Engine, Outrider)
not sure if this is the exact build, but it was 100 points
My opponent was a friend and regular player at our FLGS (Moncton, NB). He always flies very well. I've flown a similar list and was afraid of that duo. Dash can be a pain to chase and Corran's shield regeneration (thanks R2!) and double tap makes him a real threat. But I got really lucky here, Leebo's HLC coupled with Chewie's attack on the following turn destroyed Corran much earlier than expected. Suddenly, my two relatively healthy ships chasing Dash were much better odds and I was able to finish the round with, again, both YTs still flying. 100-0
Round 3, facing BBBBZ:
Blue Squadron Pilot x4
Bandit Squadron Pilot
100 points
Again, my opponent was a great friend and a very experienced player. This list is so solid, made to last and deal a lot of damage quickly. My main advantage was Leebo's HLC and Chewie's Predator since on lower PS (1-2) it allows two rerolls. Also, getting to shoot first helped me a lot by concentrating fire to remove a ship before it gets to fire back. After evading like crazy while dealing lots of damage, I lost Chewie. My friend recognized that he would be the most hurtful against his list and concentrated fire on the Wookie mostly. By then I had destroyed one B-Wing and damaged at least two others, ignoring the Headhunter. Thankfully, Leebo was still relatively healthy (5 hulls, 2 shields) and managed to finish two more Bs and grant me a very close full win, by 12 points exactly. An intense but fun game. 66-54
Round 4, facing the sole Imperial list:
Captain Yorr
Omicron Group Pilot x3
Academy Pilot
99 points
Yep, four Lambda shuttles! I was secretly hoping I wouldn't have to face this build. It was kind of imposing, all those large ships covering most firing arcs, target-locking constantly and blocking quite a few maneuver possibilities. I decided early on that I would ignore the TIE and try to concentrate fire on Yorr to remove his very useful ability (in this case anyway) as quickly as possible. It didn't go as planned though, as my opponent protected Yorr well enough. I then switched to concentrating fire on one Shuttle at a time when possible. I deviated from that though when Chewie got into range 1 of the TIE and was able to destroy it in one shot. What seemed to be a low-priority target would proved key later on... Leebo received most of the attacks until he went down, but he got to activate his ability twice, and Determination cancelled a hit both times! After he was gone, Chewbacca did the best he could while being a bit trapped for two turns until he got past the remaining shuttles (one Omicron had been destroyed before Leebo so three were left). He managed to destroy a second shuttle but he was getting low on health (4 hulls). From then on, he got to do some damage each turns but was mostly trying to stay at range 3 and benefit from the extra defense die. He was still flying when time was called, after surviving three consecutive turns with only 1 hull remaining! The mighty Wookie would just not fall. Incredible. A very intense game (a modified win, by 9 points, thanks to the TIE). 54-45
So I went 4-0 and won my first X-Wing tournament. What a day! Great people, great games, some close calls. Before X-Wing, I had never played competitively in any tabletop game. This was my 5th X-Wing tournament and best result obviously. I finished 2nd (3-1) last summer, and my other three experiences had mixed win-loss ratios (1-2, 2-2[couldn't play the 5th final round], and 1-4). But no matter the results, the game is so enjoyable and, for the most part, such a cool way to meet nice/fun people that it's been my main game for a long time now, and I suspect it will continue to be.
Many thanks to the other participants, the store owner for his great spirit and energy, and the TO for doing such a nice job and running everything so smoothly.
Now, should I go to Regionals and if I do, which build should I bring... Decisions, decisions... :-)
Edited by admat