Intro:
Although I have played a few 100 point matches since buying into X-Wing, and frequently browse this forum, this is my first written Battle Report. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures. It (like the other games I have played) was a casual match against a friend. It was also my first game on a 3x3 playmat. Previous games were played on rectangular table surfaces of roughly regulation length, but with narrower widths. Since we were used to playing on a narrow field, the official Starfield Playmat really opened up the play area for us. Neither of us knew ahead of time what the other was bringing for a squadron. My friend only knew that I was going to play Scum and Villainy.
Squad Discussion:
I like to challenge myself and find ways to make ways to make unpopular ships work (in my previous game I flew to victory two Delta Squadron Defenders with Ion Cannons paired with two Predator Black Squadron Tie Fighters). I had been reading mixed reviews of Xizor's pilot ability, so I decided to try to make a competitive squad centered around ensuring he would be the finisher. To do that, I needed escorts with less agility and with cost efficient total hull/shields to help soak up the damage. Ships that enemies would both have an easier time hitting, and ships that could survive a point or two of damage (especially crits). I considered a pair of naked Y-Wings, and two Z-95s. Although Y-Wings have the most hull/shields for their cost, I felt that they needed a fair amount of upgrades to be worth it (Ion Cannon Turrets, in my opinion, were too expensive for cannon fodder). Since I did not want to fly fewer than four escorts, I decided to fly all Z-95s instead. Although I own a few Rebel Z-95s, I chose to go with Hot Shot Blasters on each rather than add a fifth. I hoped that the illicit upgrade would give them a little extra firepower and help protect against arc dodgers. Originally, the list had Veteran Instincts, but I decided to experiment with Lone Wolf (with the thought that it might help Xizor survive once his escorts were destroyed).
The Sleepy Prince:
Prince Xizor (31)
Lone Wolf (2)
Advanced Sensors (3)
Inertial Dampeners (1)
Autothrusters (2)
Virago (1)
Binayre Pirate (12)
"Hot Shot" Blaster (3)
Binayre Pirate (12)
"Hot Shot" Blaster (3)
Binayre Pirate (12)
"Hot Shot" Blaster (3)
Binayre Pirate (12)
"Hot Shot" Blaster (3)
Total: 100
The Smugglers (I think my opponent called them the Big Two):
Dash Rendar (36)
Lone Wolf (2)
Autoblaster (5)
Intelligence Agent (1)
Anti-Pursuit Lasers (2)
Han Solo (46)
Intimidation (2)
C-3PO (3)
Saboteur (2)
Millennium Falcon (1)
Total: 100
Battle Report:
Since both squads were tied for points, we rolled for initiative. My opponent won the roll and chose to keep initiative. As Dash and Xizor share the same pilot skill, this meant that Xizor would move after Dash. However, since Dash was equipped with Intelligence Agent, I would need to rely on barrel roll and boost to stay out of arc.
My opponent selected only asteroids, so there were no debris fields in this area of space. We placed them mostly to one side of the mat, creating a rather wide open lane on the other. Since the Z-95s were equipped with Hot Shot Blasters, I decided to brave the open space and meet the Corellian ships head on. Rather then face the Villains, however, my opponent chose to place his ships away from mine in the opposite corner. It had been a couple months since my last match, and I had yet to practice with this squad, so I made a mistake placing the ships. I decided to proceed slowly for the first turn, so I could see where the YTs were heading before hitting full throttle. I hoped I could draw them into the asteroids, and meet them after K-turning on his side of the mat. I proceeded with speed one maneuvers, and tried to adjust the positioning of my ships. On the first turn, I ended up with two action-less ships at slight angles (which made keeping formation in future turns interesting). Although I was safe from incoming fire, it was not a good start to the match. I hoped I had gotten the stupid mistakes out of the way.
On the second turn, my opponent forgot that Dash moved before Han and bumped them. I, meanwhile, recovered from my own collisions from the round before.
I then proceeded to hit the acceleration as planned. Dash banked in toward my forces. Han flew closer to my starting side to avoid being raked by asteroids.
My ships continued their rush to the other side. Dash turned in through the asteroids, narrowly missing clipping one, barrel rolled, and managed to get a range three shot off on one of the Z-95s. Given the range, and an asteroid for cover, the Z-95 easily dodged the attack. Han turn in as well narrowly missing an asteroid of his own. Given the range between the two Freighters, this also activated Lone Wolf on Dash (which would stay active for the rest of the battle).
I proceeded to K-turn with three of the Headhunters. The remaining Headhunter and Xizor pulled hard turns to face the incoming YT-2400. Dash managed to get a Z-95 in arc and stripped two shields from it with the autoblaster. I, likewise, managed to score a couple hits on Dash. At this point, Han was out of the fight.
Soon the injured Z-95 went down in flames. In retaliation, my forces stripped the remaining shields from Dash. Dash was now in the midst of my forces, yet somehow he managed to avoid collisions.
By now Han had entered the fight and had helped strip two shields off another Headhunter. I managed to fly this Headhunter to safety, and drew the Smuggler's attention to other ships. A third Headhunter lost a shield. So far, the squad was working as planned. Although Xizor was a valid target, my opponent chose to attack the Headhunters, rather than have me redistribute damage to them myself. Autothursters also discouraged turreted shots. However, with my firepower dwindling, I was not certain I would have enough to break though the Falcon. It all depended on how quickly I could finish off Dash.
Xizor was targeted for the first time and ended up free of damage after passing a crit to the escort who had one shield remaining. Xizor scored a hit on Dash. Two of the Headhunters activated their Hot Shot Blasters and inflicted a hit and two crits against Dash. I do not recall the first crit, but the second was a Direct Hit; turning the YT-2400 into space debris.
With Dash gone, I only had to contend with the Falcon and 3-CP0. Only one Headhunter had a Hot Shot Blaster remaining. The other two Z-95s were without shields. To win, I knew I had to deny Han actions, but closing to range one meant taking four turreted attack dice. I swarmed the YT-1300, and proceeded to block Han for the next four turns. He managed to down one more Headhunter before the end. However, without the evade from the Title, the Falcon could not withstand the incoming fire. The match ended with an untouched Xizor, an untouched Z-95, and a second with no shields.
Final Thoughts:
As one would guess, since it is counter intuitive to Xizor's pilot ability, I only had one opportunity in the match to make use of Lone Wolf; one I forgot to use. It was a good experiment, but I will go with Adrenaline Rush, Calculation, or Veteran Instincts for future matches. I could also drop Inertial Dampeners and go with Predator for increased firepower, but I really like the option of a hard stop.
The S-loop is a great maneuver. It gave me more arc options than a standard K-turn, and with Advanced Sensors, I was still able to take actions.
Hot Shot Blasters were well worth the investment. Although I failed to use one before my first Z-95 casualty, the remaining three were incredibly useful; adding both the ability to shot out of arc and adding an extra attack dice at just the right times.
Anti-Pursuit Lasers, although never triggered, made me thankful for Advanced Sensors and Inertial Dampeners. There were a couple times where Xizor would have slammed into Dash without them.
Autoblaster was surprisingly effective on Dash, and did the majority of the damage inflicted by my opponent. Thankfully, I was able to keep Xizor out of arc the entire match.
Intimidation and Saboteur were wasted points and would have been better served elsewhere. In my opinion, they ended up giving me a four point advantage.
C-3P0 worried me initially. I was not certain how I was going to punch through with the majority of my ships with only 2 attack. However, I was able to block the Falcon four turns in a row and made short work of both its shields and hull with concentrated fire. Lesson learned: even mini-swarms are great against Han.
Edited by HungryFFG
