NOVA Squadron Radio – Episode 26 “Wave 6 – Part 3 w/Doug and Paul!”

Sorry this is late, I had a trip to and from Columbus for job interviews that held this up.

Welcome to NOVA Squadron Radio! This week we celebrate our one year anniversary! and to help us celebrate, the two World Champions Doug Kinney and Paul heaver stop by for a visit. This week is a monster of an episode, and we close out our coverage of wave 6,discus the Emperor, and our favorite moments from the last year!

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

Doug Kinney – Special Guest

Paul Heaver – Special Guest

Here are the show notes from Episode 26:

[0:00 – 2:00] Show Opening

[2:00 – 43:13] The Flightdeck: What we have been flying lately and local tournament talk

[43:13 –1:59:20] The News:
News: NOVA Open 2015: Registration is open! http://www.novaopen.com/
-September 3-6 at the Hyatt Regency NOVA Open 2015 Star Wars X-Wing™ Narrative Campaign: "Ascent of the Dark Side"
-Wargames Con 2015 June 18-21 Austin, TX http://www.wargamescon.com/2015/04/were-back.html
The Grand Design : https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/5/26/the-grand-design/
Cloud City Radio (Luke and Lee) https://soundcloud.com/user716859692
Tournament Etiquette Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gDfiXLa2jU

[1:59:20 – 4:09:10] Main Topic 1: Most Wanted Part 3!

[4:09:10 – 4:14:10] 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/2015/06/NOVA_Squadron_Radio_Episode_26_final.mp3

www.novasquadronradio.com

I haven't finished it yet, but what a behemoth of an episode! Great stuff so far, it's like getting 2 episodes this week.

I gotta say Laetin A'shera does deserve a little more conversation. I'm not saying he's good, but I think it's worth looking at all the angles before dismissing him. Every criticism of his ability is true, but I think he's pretty decent against some popular cards in this meta.

Gunner-like abilities no longer can allow a terrible first shot, and hope for a better roll on the next one. This is even better when combined with fire control system like IG-B and Corran Horn often take. Usually the rule there is "always save the focus token for the TL shot." But now they might spend that token on the first shot--hoping to push an unlikely shot through. But if that gambit fails, then the damage ceiling on the second shot gets lowered by one red die.

It also messes with some target priority decisions swarms might make. Often it's best to use the weakest attacks first to strip tokens and have the powerful attack hit last. But here, 2 die attacks are about as likely to add a token as they are to strip one. Now the B-wing is going to fire first, hoping to push a little damage through and strip the first token, and hopefully the Z-95s can finish it off. But even if the B-wing does drop the initial defenses, then the first Z-95 had better hit, or A'shera quickly becomes a hard target again.

Similarly, in situations where you've got 2 ships, one that can see just A'shera, and one that can see him and another scum ship. Generally, you want to fire with the ship that only has one target first, and the one with the choice second. But if the ship with the choice is the more powerful attack, then the choice becomes more difficult.

Essentially, he forces your opponent to reconsider some otherwise simple choices, and increases his chance to make the wrong one. Not going to blow anyone's socks off, but he does have some interesting interactions.

And, hey! If nothing else, he gives Lt. Blount something else to hard counter!

I totally agree on the Starvipers though. At 23 and 25 they would've had the interesting choice of 4 Enforcers with autothrusters, or 4 Vigos? It seems pretty analogous to the E-wing treatment. Generics being overcosted, but with useable-to-good named pilots.

Anyway, enough rambling..

Happy Anniversary(ish)!!

I was sitting at the train station building squads and listening to the podcast and have been fiddling with Edan Vrill, building the exact same list right before you discussed it, literaly moments before the squad was still build up in the builder. Except I had the dagger equiped with flechette cannon instead of mango.

Congrats on worldwide saturation, you deserve it. You run an amazingly fun and high class podcast and should feel proud of all that you have accomplished in the span of a single year.

Congrats on a year of Podcast. I do enjoy the show.

Congrats on 1 year! I have enjoyed each episode.

If I have one criticism of this episode... you had two World Champions on the show and I barely heard from them!

I agree that FFG swung and missed with the Syck. I had high hopes for the ship when I saw you can pack an HLC in a small package. They just made them two points too expensive. They should have made the title free or at the very least dropped the ship cost two points. At 14 points you still wouldn't have been able to run 5 HLCs. Not sure how you even fix the ship...

Topics or mini-topics as requested:

Pick a card from the back of the folder that rarely gets used. All the hosts try to build the best list they can using that card. Same for unused pilots. Pick a popular forum topic and go over opinions on it. Ship Storage options. How to start a local group. Interviews with people who did well at a tourney with an unconventional list to dive in to how it works. Tips and tricks (you can always 4k a small base if you are inside the asteroids, a ship can't escape its own arc without boost/BR, stuff like that). How each of you judges distance. How to practice aside from playing games. "How to" on getting ListJuggler stats (seriously, there is still a lot there I haven't figured out). X-Wing accessories. Cover squad builders and other sites you use and their pros/cons. Pick some popular lists and look at some turn zero strategies - how do you want asteroids/ ship placement against various other archetypes?

That's all I can think of for now.

Thanks for keeping it up.

I enjoyed listening.

Great show guys and happy 1 year to all of you. It was a pleasure to be on the show and it's been great listen. Keep doing what your doing! My favorite moment is listening to all of you say Xizor. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who struggles with name pronunciation. I don't agree with your assessments of some of the ships. I sometimes think you guys dismiss things a little too quickly just based on Math. I really do like MJ's math wing on the ships jousting values, but it's really just 1 part of the picture. When you talk about the Scyk, you complain that it doesn't have the 1 straight so it's not a good HLC platform. You fail to mention it has a 5k and a 3k which is excellent for gaining distance, and is much better then the B-Wing when trying to disengage and gain distance from the target. Here's a squad that has done very well for me and the HLC on the Scyk's have always earned their points.

Cartel Justice:

x2 Cartel Spacers + Hull + HST + HLC (26 each)

x2 Thug + ABT + Unhinged + Prox mine

I'm 11 and 1 with this squad and I've taken out "Tier 1" squads with it. I've always managed to get multiple HLC shots and I've lost track how many times the hull upgrade on the Scyk has kept that ship in the game for one more shot. Barrel Roll on the Scyk is so good at adjusting range and with the Thugs up in the opponents face you force tough choices on shot priority. When you just look at the Scyk you may find it lack luster, but that doesn't mean that it's a terrible ship. Because very few people fly this ship most people don't know it's dial and what it can do so they find it hard to predict. I've surprised lots of players with its 5k turn. One of the things that I do with that ship is take my range 3 shot, move up faster then many would think and block my target, then Kturn behind. This tactic has worked multiple times because players think I'm going to try and be greedy with HLC shots.

Serissu is such a good ship and I love running her with Palob. If I have a focus token stack with Palob and lots of rerolls from Serissu then Palob lasts much longer. I find Serissu is best used to protect 1 high value target rather then a swarm of small targets. Serissu isn't Howlrunner.

My 2 cents...

If I have one criticism of this episode... you had two World Champions on the show and I barely heard from them!

I agree, this was disappointing.

On the Starviper, I really just wish that all of the Starvipers were +2 PS. That way Scum got the all but mandatory PS9 dude (who makes a ton more sense than Talonbane Cobra), Guri sits at 7, though she is already worth her cost compared to the others (even at 40 points), and then the Enforcer and Vigo slot in at 3 and 5, giving them a PS (and maneuver) advantage versus generics.

But then again I would make exactly the same argument for all the "elite" ships, i.e. the Starviper, E-wing and Defender. "Some" of their deficiencies are fixed (for the generics at least) by letting them outbid generics for their same current cost. Of course the PS1 Defender defenders would cry about not being able to block anymore, but that is probably why they also needed the Sensor slot so they could Enhanced Scope if they really wanted to.

Future discussion suggestions:

- Scenarios for tournament play

- Alternative tournament strategies (for escalation, etc)

- Specific tactics vs specific ships and lists (e.g. defeating Fat Han, options vs RAC/Fel, etc)

- Crazy fun lists (four Shuttles with 2 ea tacticians, etc)

- TO hints for running good events

- Ship or upgrade optimization -- how to make the most of a single type or ship or upgrade card

- Making unused pilots effective -- lists or ways to get little-used pilots into play

Future discussion suggestions:

- Crazy fun lists (four Shuttles with 2 ea tacticians, etc)

I have a bunch of these. Maybe I should write an article on some of them.

Congrats on a full year!

The best thing I could say is that of all the podcasts I listen too, this is the one I wish I could be on. While I know I have nothing I could offer better than you guys already do - it says a lot about your personalities and group dynamics that I "feel" like I could just jump in and be friends with you all.

As for upcoming topics -

-Certainly have Doug back to talk about "Fly Casual" in more detail. What it means to him, and its effects on the community since it started.

-A special roundtable of guests "The women of X-Wing"

-Since the community is growing - how about a primer on "What to expect at a large event?" "How to prepare physically and mentally" from experienced players and TOs

Looking forward to the next year!

Am still only halfway through the episode, but I have to say: I think people are seriously underestimating the Emperor. I've been experimenting with him on Vassal, pairing him with Rexlar and an HLC. He is able to score three hits and a crit with his HLC fairly reliably, which is just disgusting. I may even downgrade him to Vessary with VI. Even when I don't use him on offense, I still have him to massage a bad defense roll.

I'm starting to think he's the Defender fix we've been waiting for, and am terrified of what he's going to add to Soontir Fel.

I agree on the Emperor as well. He's super expensive, but he has the best ability so far in this game. He can literally change a game.

Kenkirk with Isard and the Emperor is going to be nuts. Once his shields are down, he'll get two evades a turn no matter what. He can be blocked, land on a rock, etc. Doesn't matter. Two evades. In the 2 ship meta, that's 50% of your opponents attacks basically negated. He'll only have to worry about Outmaneuver and Wedge. Two cards that don't see the table all that often.

Am still only halfway through the episode, but I have to say: I think people are seriously underestimating the Emperor. I've been experimenting with him on Vassal, pairing him with Rexlar and an HLC. He is able to score three hits and a crit with his HLC fairly reliably, which is just disgusting. I may even downgrade him to Vessary with VI. Even when I don't use him on offense, I still have him to massage a bad defense roll.

I'm starting to think he's the Defender fix we've been waiting for, and am terrified of what he's going to add to Soontir Fel.

Out of curiosity, what are you putting him on? Kenkirk or the Rear Admiral?

Edit - P.S. As I said on air, the jury is still out with me. If you just look at the offensive boost he grants putting him on the Admiral and nothing else, then he is obviously not worth his points. But the utility of potentially being able to use that die change result instead to help Soontir take 1 less hit can be game changing. You would have to do some pretty in-depth analysis to try and get a more well-rounded appraisal on the Emperor's worth in regular play, let alone epic. I think he should provide the most benefit in Epic since he will stay alive the longest there.

Am still only halfway through the episode, but I have to say: I think people are seriously underestimating the Emperor. I've been experimenting with him on Vassal, pairing him with Rexlar and an HLC. He is able to score three hits and a crit with his HLC fairly reliably, which is just disgusting. I may even downgrade him to Vessary with VI. Even when I don't use him on offense, I still have him to massage a bad defense roll.

I'm starting to think he's the Defender fix we've been waiting for, and am terrified of what he's going to add to Soontir Fel.

Out of curiosity, what are you putting him on? Kenkirk or the Rear Admiral?

Edit - P.S. As I said on air, the jury is still out with me. If you just look at the offensive boost he grants putting him on the Admiral and nothing else, then he is obviously not worth his points. But the utility of potentially being able to use that die change result instead to help Soontir take 1 less hit can be game changing. You would have to do some pretty in-depth analysis to try and get a more well-rounded appraisal on the Emperor's worth in regular play, let alone epic. I think he should provide the most benefit in Epic since he will stay alive the longest there.

I think when you start to apply his ability elsewhere I think he becomes a lot more valuable and, provided the ship he's on is able to be kept alive, he should be able to make use of that ability. Ironically, I think changing a single die in an epic game every round is actually LESS useful than in a 100pt game.

I think when you start to apply his ability elsewhere I think he becomes a lot more valuable and, provided the ship he's on is able to be kept alive, he should be able to make use of that ability. Ironically, I think changing a single die in an epic game every round is actually LESS useful than in a 100pt game.

That's true, but he also only costs 8/300 = 2.7% of your points in Epic vs 8/100 = 12.5% in normal play, in net it is more or less a wash. You should still come out ahead in epic simply because he will live longer (hopefully) on a Raider in Epic than on a VT-49 in normal play.

As a side note, VT-49 + Emperor really screams "KILL ME" before anything else. It shifts the target priority slightly, although in many matchups you want to kill the VT-49 first anyway.

I think when you start to apply his ability elsewhere I think he becomes a lot more valuable and, provided the ship he's on is able to be kept alive, he should be able to make use of that ability. Ironically, I think changing a single die in an epic game every round is actually LESS useful than in a 100pt game.

That's true, but he also only costs 8/300 = 2.7% of your points in Epic vs 8/100 = 12.5% in normal play, in net it is more or less a wash. You should still come out ahead in epic simply because he will live longer (hopefully) on a Raider in Epic than on a VT-49 in normal play.

As a side note, VT-49 + Emperor really screams "KILL ME" before anything else. It shifts the target priority slightly, although in many matchups you want to kill the VT-49 first anyway.

I guess that's true that when you have 12.5% to automatically change one die when you have fewer vs. 2.7% when you have a lot more might come out similarly in terms of value

Am still only halfway through the episode, but I have to say: I think people are seriously underestimating the Emperor. I've been experimenting with him on Vassal, pairing him with Rexlar and an HLC. He is able to score three hits and a crit with his HLC fairly reliably, which is just disgusting. I may even downgrade him to Vessary with VI. Even when I don't use him on offense, I still have him to massage a bad defense roll.

I'm starting to think he's the Defender fix we've been waiting for, and am terrified of what he's going to add to Soontir Fel.

Out of curiosity, what are you putting him on? Kenkirk or the Rear Admiral?

Edit - P.S. As I said on air, the jury is still out with me. If you just look at the offensive boost he grants putting him on the Admiral and nothing else, then he is obviously not worth his points. But the utility of potentially being able to use that die change result instead to help Soontir take 1 less hit can be game changing. You would have to do some pretty in-depth analysis to try and get a more well-rounded appraisal on the Emperor's worth in regular play, let alone epic. I think he should provide the most benefit in Epic since he will stay alive the longest there.

So far, I've tried two different lists:

The first is Kenkirk with Palpatine and Ysanne, and Rexlar with HLC. This is the one where I'll probably switch him for Vessary, as it'll buy a point to give Determination to Kenkirk. Vessary's pilot ability pairs well with Kenkirk's PS6, and should allow the Emperor to provide maximum utility. I wouldn't consider him for Chiraneau, as he both lacks the extra agility and already has a way to force crits onto his target.

The second was Palpatine on an Omicron with APL, Rexlar with Lone Wolf and HLC, and Lieutenant Colzet (new PS3 Advanced) with Fire Control System. I thought this list would be a terrible idea, and was surprised to see it actually still did okay in limited matches last night.

The thing that puts him ahead of C3PO is that he's reactive. If you guess zero with C3PO and roll an evade, then C3PO can't help you for the rest of the round. If you end up rolling hits or evades naturally, or if your attack roll is terrible enough that you probably wouldn't hit anyway, then you can save Palpatine for later in the round when you need that extra modifier. You can also wait on using him until after you do all of your other dice modifications.

I also disagree that he'll be better in Epic than standard. It may be easier to squeeze him into your list when he's only 8 points, but the reduced number of dice rolled each round will mean he'll have a greater chance to affect the results of the round. This is especially true in a two-ship meta where you are only attacking and defending 2-3 times each round.