NOVA Squadron Radio – Episode 30 “Pittsburgh Regionals!”

Welcome to NOVA Squadron Radio! This week we are a week late thanks to GenCon and Nationals. However this week we cover the full Wave 7 Reveals from GenCon and in the main topic we cover Bob’s big win at the Pittsburgh Regionals event. All of that and a lot more!

NOVA Squadron Radio is:
Ed Horne – Host
Chad Brown – Co-Host/Editor
Sean Dorcy – Co-host
Bob Randall – Co-host
Kris Sherriff – Co-host

Here are the show notes from Episode 30:

[0:00 – 2:13] Show Opening
[2:13 – 13:08] Flight Deck
[13:08 – 1:04:30] News:
NOVA Open 2015: Registration is open! http://www.novaopen.com/
Wave 7 Preview: https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/7/27/wave-vii-scum-and-villainy/
BoLS has a Raider: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCUQ1CyssaM&feature=youtu.be
New FAQ and Tournament Rules: Becoming an Ace https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/7/24/becoming-an-ace/

[1:04:30 – 3:40:10] Main Topic: Pittsburgh Regionals Review
[3:40:10 – 3:43:35] 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/2015/08/NOVA_Squadron_Radio_Episode_30_final.mp3

www.novasquadronradio.com

Picture worthy, round 5 almost flying off the board:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_FtpUvAFB8pcWV6T3hXaWxhQ1k/view?usp=sharing

ENHANCE!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_FtpUvAFB8pSmU5Z09MOC11ZG8/view?usp=sharing

"That was too close!"

You'll have to excuse the slightly blurry picture. I only realized later that this picture wasn't 100% clean. I was just happy to be on the board!

(I'll see about uploading these later as image hosting later rather than Google Drive. Also, google drive is rotating them 90 degrees. Annoying.)

I welcome the boost and barrel roll changes. I think it is less about putting training wheels on, and more about:

1) Eliminating the need for people to lean over the board for lengthy periods of time agonizing over whether they should boost/br. Speeds up play.

2) Rules consistency. Now you can't boost/br unless the landing spot is open and valid across all cases. Can't boost into a ship. Can't boost onto an asteroid. Can't boost off the board.

Yeah that was just a crazy maneuver Bob!

Just curious, Ed. In regards to your dislike of Advanced Homing Missile, do you think Tactician is a weak card? It's also range 2 only, and people have had a lot of success with it. There's a lot of caveats about the difference between a single use warhead and a every-turn crew, but they're both only range 2. If you can avoid range 2 all the time, which you imply, you can avoid range 2 all the time. Additionally, what if the ship carrying AHM really likes Range 3 or Range 1 and can use AHM to get you to stay clear of Range 2? What if your ship has to move before the ship with AHM, and you don't know where Range 2 is going to be?

Yeah, I think the Boost/Barrel Roll ruling was mostly about consistency. You can't boost yourself into an asteroid, so why were you allowed to boost yourself into something more catastrophic?

I found the bye MoV change mid-Rergionals to be odd. I got caught by it at Chicago; cost me as much as ~10 places ultimately (but not enough to make a difference in prizes, so no biggie). Others there who had heard about 200 point MoV granted at other Regionals were *very* annoyed.

Still listening to the rest ...

Biophysical - And I know this is also not going to settle well, but yes, I have the same issue with Tactician that I have with Adv. Homing Missiles. Yes, I know in the hands of a player like Froggies it did well at Worlds last year, but for me I like the upgrades I take to be point for point the best I can take. Something that could potentially be used every round if possible. And something so situational seems like wasted points more often then not. Yes, when you get it to work it is deadly, however what about the rest of the time when you don't make it work?

I know I am in the minority in this line of thinking, but for me, I want squeeze every last drop of potential out of my points spent.

Bob, FWIW, Tactician won't work with the CR-90's primary weapon because it is Range 3-5 only. But you are definitely correct about the Quad Laser Cannons, of which you could now conceivably equip 3 (given that more come in the Raider box).

Biophysical - And I know this is also not going to settle well, but yes, I have the same issue with Tactician that I have with Adv. Homing Missiles. Yes, I know in the hands of a player like Froggies it did well at Worlds last year, but for me I like the upgrades I take to be point for point the best I can take. Something that could potentially be used every round if possible. And something so situational seems like wasted points more often then not. Yes, when you get it to work it is deadly, however what about the rest of the time when you don't make it work?

I know I am in the minority in this line of thinking, but for me, I want squeeze every last drop of potential out of my points spent.

It doesn't matter to me one way or another. Like I said, I was just curious.

Bob, FWIW, Tactician won't work with the CR-90's primary weapon because it is Range 3-5 only. But you are definitely correct about the Quad Laser Cannons, of which you could now conceivably equip 3 (given that more come in the Raider box).

Good catch, I was forgetting the obvious range 2 restriction, and primaries are only range 3-5.

So, it was a max of 18 stress per turn, with 3 tacticians, 3 quads, and they all miss on their first attack. Now it is "only" a max of 6 stress per turn with one tactician.

Great cast guys, and way to go MJ! Nice win at one of the larger Regionals. With wave 7 coming out and the Raider, do you think you will stay with Brobots or will you switch things up as you prep for worlds?

Great cast guys, and way to go MJ! Nice win at one of the larger Regionals. With wave 7 coming out and the Raider, do you think you will stay with Brobots or will you switch things up as you prep for worlds?

Plan A is to stick with the BroBots and figure out how to crush all the new wave 7 goodies like Conner Traps and more PS9 (Vader). Doug Kinney already beat the stuffing out of me using Conner Trap on a vassal match, so I have some re-calibration on tactics and approach angles to do!

Great cast guys, and way to go MJ! Nice win at one of the larger Regionals. With wave 7 coming out and the Raider, do you think you will stay with Brobots or will you switch things up as you prep for worlds?

Plan A is to stick with the BroBots and figure out how to crush all the new wave 7 goodies like Conner Traps and more PS9 (Vader). Doug Kinney already beat the stuffing out of me using Conner Trap on a vassal match, so I have some re-calibration on tactics and approach angles to do!

Doug DOES love his bombs.

Great cast guys, and way to go MJ! Nice win at one of the larger Regionals. With wave 7 coming out and the Raider, do you think you will stay with Brobots or will you switch things up as you prep for worlds?

Plan A is to stick with the BroBots and figure out how to crush all the new wave 7 goodies like Conner Traps and more PS9 (Vader). Doug Kinney already beat the stuffing out of me using Conner Trap on a vassal match, so I have some re-calibration on tactics and approach angles to do!

Doug DOES love his bombs.

IG's can carrie bombs... Maybe retooling the squad a little might be the next step.

IG's can carrie bombs... Maybe retooling the squad a little might be the next step.

Maybe. But in my opinion I absolutely need every single upgrade on them "as is" anyway. (VI / HLC / FCS / AT / title / dampeners). If you remove any one of those upgrades then my chances of still winning Pittsburgh Regionals would have gone way down.

Edit: also, the amount of time that targets are behind me and eligible to get a bomb dropped on them is extremely low. Such is life with only two forward arcs.

IG's can carrie bombs... Maybe retooling the squad a little might be the next step.

Maybe. But in my opinion I absolutely need every single upgrade on them "as is" anyway. (VI / HLC / FCS / AT / title / dampeners). If you remove any one of those upgrades then my chances of still winning Pittsburgh Regionals would have gone way down.

Edit: also, the amount of time that targets are behind me and eligible to get a bomb dropped on them is extremely low. Such is life with only two forward arcs.

As wave 7 hits I have a feeling the meta is going to shift some, and maybe the tools that got you the regional win aren't going to what you will need for the next wave. That being said your build is great and you may want to just see how things go, and if you need to tweak your squad or your tactics.

As wave 7 hits I have a feeling the meta is going to shift some, and maybe the tools that got you the regional win aren't going to what you will need for the next wave.

I really want bomb to help counter the two ship meta... I just hope that it is enough.

I welcome the boost and barrel roll changes. I think it is less about putting training wheels on, and more about:

1) Eliminating the need for people to lean over the board for lengthy periods of time agonizing over whether they should boost/br. Speeds up play.

2) Rules consistency. Now you can't boost/br unless the landing spot is open and valid across all cases. Can't boost into a ship. Can't boost onto an asteroid. Can't boost off the board.

Agreed. I really didn't understand why this was such an issue. It doesn't hurt the veterans at all so it's a non issue for them.

I really want bomb to help counter the two ship meta... I just hope that it is enough.

I think you may see some glitterstim alpha strike squads that can just destroy 2 ship builds. The Alpha strike squad is getting very close now. I think TLT is going to change things as well. If you really want the two ship meta to change then a change in how MoV works would do that. The point fortress is one of the best ways to do well in tournaments.

I really want bomb to help counter the two ship meta... I just hope that it is enough.

I think you may see some glitterstim alpha strike squads that can just destroy 2 ship builds. The Alpha strike squad is getting very close now. I think TLT is going to change things as well. If you really want the two ship meta to change then a change in how MoV works would do that. The point fortress is one of the best ways to do well in tournaments.

I really want bomb to help counter the two ship meta... I just hope that it is enough.

I think you may see some glitterstim alpha strike squads that can just destroy 2 ship builds. The Alpha strike squad is getting very close now. I think TLT is going to change things as well. If you really want the two ship meta to change then a change in how MoV works would do that. The point fortress is one of the best ways to do well in tournaments.

Froggies, you're giving me more homework to do, now I need to add "Cluster Missiles + Glitterstim" to my backlog!

98 points

4x PS1 Z-95 + Cluster Missiles + Glitterstim

Thug + TLT + R4 Agro

or

100 points

4x PS3 Z-95 + Cluster Missiles + Glitterstim

Thug + TLT

Cluster Missiles + Glitterstim probably isn't worth the 6 points. But it's an interesting idea. There are probably better combos somewhere.

Cluster Missiles + Glitterstim probably isn't worth the 6 points. But it's an interesting idea. There are probably better combos somewhere.

It's pretty nuts on N'dru, and he's way better at getting the Target Lock.

Double post

N'Dru + Lone Wolf + Cluster Missiles + Glitterstim for 25 points is really good. With him you get 2 4 dice attacks with a reroll and focus. The nice thing is that glitterstim helps protect the attacker. One thing that happens with these Alpha strike squads is that the low ps ship often has to spend their focus for defense to stay a live so they can get the missile out of the tubes, only to find that the missile does very little damage because it needed that focus.

Honestly, that's why I like Glitterstim so much even for primary weapons. You can lock for an action, then get Focus for offense, and focus for all defensive rolls too. I think there's a lot of situations where that's the difference between a ship that dies before it shoots and a ship that pushes a couple damage through while staying alive.