I originally wrote the following for people I work with and friends, but posting it here was a strong suggestion, so here goes. It's kind of long.
I was lucky enough to be able to play at the X-Wing National Championships last weekend. I've never been down to Canberra to play X-wing before but Three D6 ran a slick tournament and the online tournament tracker worked great - it was really good to be able to access the standings and lists.
The full standings are at http://www.tabletoptournaments.com.au/event.php?id=36
My list
IG-88B/C with Veteran Instincts, Heavy Laser Cannon, Fire Control System, Inertial Dampeners, Autothrusters, IG-2000
IG-88B/C with Veteran Instincts, Heavy Laser Cannon, Fire Control System, Inertial Dampeners, Autothrusters, IG-2000
Setup Tendencies
I like to put rocks in the corners because it keeps them away from my large-based ships and it's a decent visual reference if I'm considering a K-turn or S-loop and am worried about the edge of the board. If my opponent is "cornering" the obstacles as well then I'm happy, if not then I start picking the corner furthest away from where he's placed his rocks.
I like to put rocks in the corners because it keeps them away from my large-based ships and it's a decent visual reference if I'm considering a K-turn or S-loop and am worried about the edge of the board. If my opponent is "cornering" the obstacles as well then I'm happy, if not then I start picking the corner furthest away from where he's placed his rocks.
Setup-wise I think I have always placed my Bros on either the extreme left or right edge, facing forwards. I know there are some sneaky things you can do if you have them bumping at the start of the game but this doesn't seem to suit my play style. If I set up first, then I'll have a look at what sort of path I want to fly through the obstacles and pick a side based on that. If I set up second (or after the opponent has placed anything) then I'll set up in the further corner. The ship I am more interested in keeping goes on the outside, which is usually 88B, unless I'm playing against a low agility list.
Initial moves
Generally I want to 3 straight past the rock that's usually in my corner then use boost/subsequent moves to aim for gaps in the obstacles that I've looked at earlier. If I'm unsure as to whether my opponents are looking to oblige and aim for the same areas as I am then I'll go 1 straight and adjust as necessary.
Generally I want to 3 straight past the rock that's usually in my corner then use boost/subsequent moves to aim for gaps in the obstacles that I've looked at earlier. If I'm unsure as to whether my opponents are looking to oblige and aim for the same areas as I am then I'll go 1 straight and adjust as necessary.
Day 1
Game 1 - Dennis (B/C Brobots with Outmaneuver, HLC, FCS, Autothrusters, Title)
The key moment early was when Dennis S-looped one of his Bros in front of mine after the initial exchange, which wasn't too damaging. He mentioned that he forgot about my Inertial Dampeners which I of course used for a fairly damaging R1 shot. The approach degenerated into a melee where I had to play very carefully as I was fairly worried about Outmaneuver. The damaged bro went down and I had good shots on the other, but I lost one of my own in the process of clearing the board when I was running away to reset, landed on debris and took the HLC/Outmaneuver/Target Locked shot in the back. 100-49
The key moment early was when Dennis S-looped one of his Bros in front of mine after the initial exchange, which wasn't too damaging. He mentioned that he forgot about my Inertial Dampeners which I of course used for a fairly damaging R1 shot. The approach degenerated into a melee where I had to play very carefully as I was fairly worried about Outmaneuver. The damaged bro went down and I had good shots on the other, but I lost one of my own in the process of clearing the board when I was running away to reset, landed on debris and took the HLC/Outmaneuver/Target Locked shot in the back. 100-49
Game 2 - Morgan (Jake with VI, PtL, Title, Chardaan, Autothrusters, 3xGold with TLT)
I played against Morgan a couple of weeks ago with the same lists and I lost pretty handily, as I let him point all three Ys and Jake at one Bot and while I recovered marginally it was never to be.
This game I tried to slow things up until his approach was in vicinity of the triangle of three rocks Morgan had placed in the centre. I probably made my big move to get into range one turn too early as Morgan was able to easily duck in on his side of the rock cluster with the Ys while sending Jake to flank around the other side. Jake got into R1 of one of my Bros but ended up staring down a rock and the other Bot. He ended up with 3 hits but my triple natural evade laughed it off. Shooting back I managed to get Jake to 1 hull.
Then the punishment began. The green dice decided to take a break and I couldn't dodge a TLT shot at all. Jake was forced to run over the rock but he survived to keep arc dodging and bringing the pain. I was trying to get up close and personal with the Ys, bump the front one and take shots at the back ones but the chaotic engagement (from my point of view) wasn't helpful and with the green dice not coming to the party it was over pretty quickly. 0-100
I played against Morgan a couple of weeks ago with the same lists and I lost pretty handily, as I let him point all three Ys and Jake at one Bot and while I recovered marginally it was never to be.
This game I tried to slow things up until his approach was in vicinity of the triangle of three rocks Morgan had placed in the centre. I probably made my big move to get into range one turn too early as Morgan was able to easily duck in on his side of the rock cluster with the Ys while sending Jake to flank around the other side. Jake got into R1 of one of my Bros but ended up staring down a rock and the other Bot. He ended up with 3 hits but my triple natural evade laughed it off. Shooting back I managed to get Jake to 1 hull.
Then the punishment began. The green dice decided to take a break and I couldn't dodge a TLT shot at all. Jake was forced to run over the rock but he survived to keep arc dodging and bringing the pain. I was trying to get up close and personal with the Ys, bump the front one and take shots at the back ones but the chaotic engagement (from my point of view) wasn't helpful and with the green dice not coming to the party it was over pretty quickly. 0-100
Game 3 - Dave (Corran with ???, R2-D2, Plasma Torps and Munitions Failsafe, Miranda with Conner net, Proton Bombs, Plasma Torps, Advanced Homing, Extra munitions, Autoblaster Turret)
I can't remember much about the Corran build, but suffice to say that he didn't have VI so I was able to give him Initiative and move second. This game was the exception to my setup rules above, as he lined up Corran close to the middle, so I picked the closer corner to set up this time. Dave seemed happy to joust with Corran which I was equally happy with. Miranda dropped some cluster mines over where I was looking to punch out with 88C. Shots were fired and Corran took the worst of it, but I also lost the shields on 88C due to the Plasma Torps. I turned hard to avoid the mines and keep chasing Corran, who was trying by this stage to bug out. Corran died, but Dave set up a perfect cluster mine drop on 88C, with the full 6 dice, leaving 88B and Miranda. In the exchanges that followed, superior firepower won the day for 88B with his ordnance playing no further significant part in the game. 100-49
I can't remember much about the Corran build, but suffice to say that he didn't have VI so I was able to give him Initiative and move second. This game was the exception to my setup rules above, as he lined up Corran close to the middle, so I picked the closer corner to set up this time. Dave seemed happy to joust with Corran which I was equally happy with. Miranda dropped some cluster mines over where I was looking to punch out with 88C. Shots were fired and Corran took the worst of it, but I also lost the shields on 88C due to the Plasma Torps. I turned hard to avoid the mines and keep chasing Corran, who was trying by this stage to bug out. Corran died, but Dave set up a perfect cluster mine drop on 88C, with the full 6 dice, leaving 88B and Miranda. In the exchanges that followed, superior firepower won the day for 88B with his ordnance playing no further significant part in the game. 100-49
Game 4 - Alistair (Lt. Colzet with FCS, Storm Sqn. Advanced with AC, 2x Storm Sqn. Advanced with AC and Cluster missiles, all with Title)
The first thing that happened was Alistair set up his Storm Sqns in two columns of two, one with Colzet and the blank Advanced on the edge, and the two with clusters about R1 away, towards the centre. Then he swapped them over so the cluster missiles were on the edge. I was pretty happy about this.
The pairs split up with the Cluster carriers heading towards the centre, and Colzet and Co coming more or less straight for my Bros. I mostly shoot down Colzet at range before closing to finish off the job, while getting good protection from the AC shots with Autothrusters. While dealing with Colzet and friend his other pair comes in and puts the hurt on 88C with the ordnance and regular shooting, eventually getting him down to I think 1 or 2 hull which was I think below par for the damage output he expected. I manage to run away with the help of some nice green dice and 88B starts cleaning house. It took a while to draw a bead on the last guy but I got there with time to spare. 100-0
The first thing that happened was Alistair set up his Storm Sqns in two columns of two, one with Colzet and the blank Advanced on the edge, and the two with clusters about R1 away, towards the centre. Then he swapped them over so the cluster missiles were on the edge. I was pretty happy about this.
The pairs split up with the Cluster carriers heading towards the centre, and Colzet and Co coming more or less straight for my Bros. I mostly shoot down Colzet at range before closing to finish off the job, while getting good protection from the AC shots with Autothrusters. While dealing with Colzet and friend his other pair comes in and puts the hurt on 88C with the ordnance and regular shooting, eventually getting him down to I think 1 or 2 hull which was I think below par for the damage output he expected. I manage to run away with the help of some nice green dice and 88B starts cleaning house. It took a while to draw a bead on the last guy but I got there with time to spare. 100-0
Game 5 - Darren (RAC with Predator, Gunner, Isard, Jerjerrod and Engine, Fel with PtL, Autothrusters, Stealth and Title)
I was able to give Darren the Initiative and he obliged me by putting his first two obstacles in the corners with me following suit. He then put the third one in between the two rocks on my side of the table to create a line. I thought this was a great idea for my own list and followed suit on his side of the table. He set up his RAC in one corner, facing inwards, I went for my opposite corner as usual, then his Fel was placed to help him slow down RAC by bumping. He ended up driving his ships across his own table edge. I angled in towards where I thought he would end up, took a couple of shots at RAC to start stripping those hitpoints, then banked away towards the completely clear centre of the board to turn around and keep shooting. He follows me in, but I am able to keep RAC at range to minimise his effect (aided by some below average dice rolls on his part).
We got to a key moment when Fel set up with a Focus/Evade and a R1 shot on the side of one of my Bros but was at R2 of the other one. He rolled 3 focus and used his token. I took a point or two from the shot but return fire forced a crit through with the help of 88B's ability and FCS. With Stealth device gone (the crit was inconsequential, I think it was the one that damages him when he bumps) I was a lot happier to chase RAC who by this time was shieldless and damaged and had turned away for another orbit. I was again happy with this as it helped keep the range open and minimise return damage. Despite Isard and Jerjerrod, who threw himself out the airlock to flip a Direct Hit, RAC went down. I took pretty severe damage on 88C, but Fel had to chase the game to stay in it as the second game loss meant missing top 8. Having to use his focus to force through the damage and already missing the stealth, he didn't last too much longer. 100-0
I was able to give Darren the Initiative and he obliged me by putting his first two obstacles in the corners with me following suit. He then put the third one in between the two rocks on my side of the table to create a line. I thought this was a great idea for my own list and followed suit on his side of the table. He set up his RAC in one corner, facing inwards, I went for my opposite corner as usual, then his Fel was placed to help him slow down RAC by bumping. He ended up driving his ships across his own table edge. I angled in towards where I thought he would end up, took a couple of shots at RAC to start stripping those hitpoints, then banked away towards the completely clear centre of the board to turn around and keep shooting. He follows me in, but I am able to keep RAC at range to minimise his effect (aided by some below average dice rolls on his part).
We got to a key moment when Fel set up with a Focus/Evade and a R1 shot on the side of one of my Bros but was at R2 of the other one. He rolled 3 focus and used his token. I took a point or two from the shot but return fire forced a crit through with the help of 88B's ability and FCS. With Stealth device gone (the crit was inconsequential, I think it was the one that damages him when he bumps) I was a lot happier to chase RAC who by this time was shieldless and damaged and had turned away for another orbit. I was again happy with this as it helped keep the range open and minimise return damage. Despite Isard and Jerjerrod, who threw himself out the airlock to flip a Direct Hit, RAC went down. I took pretty severe damage on 88C, but Fel had to chase the game to stay in it as the second game loss meant missing top 8. Having to use his focus to force through the damage and already missing the stealth, he didn't last too much longer. 100-0
I ended the day towards the lower half of the 4-1 bracket. The 0-100 loss to Morgan really hurt me in the MoV standings (I wondered at the time if it had knocked me out instantly) but people were looking at the overall ladder and the common consensus was that it was "win and in" for the top 16 to make the cut. As it was, the particular scenario which invalidated that analysis panned out.
Day 2
Coming back to Three D6 in the morning I was pretty keen to see what I was flying against for the "win and in" game. There were a couple of lists that I didn't want to face, some I really thought I would have the upper hand, and three other Brobots lists, all of which were 97 points. I wasn't really sure how the game was going to go when I was drawn against one of the 'Bots lists.
Game 6 - Casey (IG-88B with VI, HLC, FCS, Dampeners, Autothrusters and Title, IG-88D with VI, Mangler, Sensor Jammer, Autothrusters, Title)
I was pretty nervous going into the game as this was one of those lists that had been designed pretty well for Nationals, and specifically had my list in mind, hence the 97 points to force me to move first. My set up is normal, with 88B in the corner, and he chooses the opposite corner with his 88B facing forwards in the corner and 88C facing sideways.
I was pretty nervous going into the game as this was one of those lists that had been designed pretty well for Nationals, and specifically had my list in mind, hence the 97 points to force me to move first. My set up is normal, with 88B in the corner, and he chooses the opposite corner with his 88B facing forwards in the corner and 88C facing sideways.
I come out of the blocks by moving 88B forwards and 1 turn 88C to start pointing at his 88B, aided by a boost to get some more distance. He slow rolls his Bros. I decide that I'm going to throw everything at his 88B and reposition 88C to be in a position to shoot, while shifting my 88B across the centre of the table. He 1 banks 88B towards my 88C, then decides to start to cut and run by boosting further around to push himself towards his 88C which is still slow rolling.
The next turn I'm able to bring my 88B around to bear on his opposite number while 88C also keeps the pressure on. His 88C flies past while 88B continues to run towards the corner of the board. By the time 88C comes back in a position to start shooting, I've well and truly pinned down 88B and he goes down in a hail of hits (me) and blanks (him). His 88C was left facing down my full list and with no help at all from the green dice, Casey called pulled the pin with 1HP left. 100-0
This full MoV win was good enough to put me in the top 8 in 6th spot (902 MoV), with 8th being 876 MoV. I was really happy to make top 8 and a lot of the tension had gone away for me, as I thought it really was the ceiling of my ability and anything more from here was really just gravy - looking at the field there were a number of players who beat me in Sydney, including Morgan, Travis and Grant not to mention the unknown quantities of the people and lists that I wasn't familiar with.
Top 8 Game - Grant (IG-88B with VI, HLC, FCS, Autothrusters and Title, IG-88D with VI, Mangler, Sensor Jammer, Autothrusters, Feedback Array, Title)
After the previous game against Casey I was feeling a lot better about this game and I was feeling pretty relaxed about making it this far, but Grant really knows what he's doing. Grant set up in the opposite corner to me, but facing sideways along his baseline, rather than towards my side. On turn 2 or 3 we bank in towards each other facing head on with his Bros perfectly line abreast and my 88B half a base ahead of my 88C, which is behind a rock. However, the rock wouldn't impede my movement if I moved far enough over it We check for range and we're all just out. Phew!
After the previous game against Casey I was feeling a lot better about this game and I was feeling pretty relaxed about making it this far, but Grant really knows what he's doing. Grant set up in the opposite corner to me, but facing sideways along his baseline, rather than towards my side. On turn 2 or 3 we bank in towards each other facing head on with his Bros perfectly line abreast and my 88B half a base ahead of my 88C, which is behind a rock. However, the rock wouldn't impede my movement if I moved far enough over it We check for range and we're all just out. Phew!
The next turn I set 2 straight and wonder whether I should pop my Dampeners and it's a really tough call. I thought Grant might S-loop which would put me in front of his Bros with no shots for me but he's gone forwards as well and it's pistols at 10 paces. At R1 with no target locks we don't do a lot of damage, but it gives me the target locks from FCS and puts me an a perfect position to K-turn the next turn.
Unfortunately for Grant, the K-turn and S-loops for his 88B are blocked by obstacles so he's forced to instead run away. I get some shots on as he runs while his 88C has looped too far away to do real damage with the Mangler. As his 88B is running and re-positioning I switch my focus to 88C and he doesn't last too long. I'm forced to chase his 88B across the table but with 2 on 1 the result from here wasn't in any doubt. 100-0
Unfortunately for Grant, the K-turn and S-loops for his 88B are blocked by obstacles so he's forced to instead run away. I get some shots on as he runs while his 88C has looped too far away to do real damage with the Mangler. As his 88B is running and re-positioning I switch my focus to 88C and he doesn't last too long. I'm forced to chase his 88B across the table but with 2 on 1 the result from here wasn't in any doubt. 100-0
Top 4 Game - Connor (IG-88B with VI, HLC, FCS, Autothrusters and Title, IG-88C with VI, HLC, FCS, Autothrusters, Dampeners and Title)
Despite two very good games against 97 point Brobot lists I wasn't liking my chances too much. Casey and Grant have well thought out lists that they used very well at Nats but I feel they sacrificed a lot of raw firepower by dropping HLC and FCS for Mangler and Sensor Jammer. Connor, on the other hand, had just as much firepower as me and was moving second. He also dropped in the bit about finishing the last game against an identical list in 15 minutes.
Despite two very good games against 97 point Brobot lists I wasn't liking my chances too much. Casey and Grant have well thought out lists that they used very well at Nats but I feel they sacrificed a lot of raw firepower by dropping HLC and FCS for Mangler and Sensor Jammer. Connor, on the other hand, had just as much firepower as me and was moving second. He also dropped in the bit about finishing the last game against an identical list in 15 minutes.
I set up in the corner and he chooses to set up near the middle with decent spacing between his Bros - 88C was closer to mine. I slow roll 1 straight and decide to Boost/Evade. Connor goes for the extremely aggressive 3 Bank/1 Bank Boost with his 88C to close the range as quickly as he possibly can, except he has misjudged his spacing and can't actually follow the boost with 88B. This leave him in the unenviable position of doing to himself what he had hoped to do to me, in that I was getting 2 shots to his 1. I only shot away 2 shields, but was able to bank towards his Bros at decent range to make sure I had shots on. His 88C slipped past me but his 88B had no choice but to close and get shot up quite badly. Next turn I was able to S-loop with my 88B to keep the pressure on and get in close with my 88C with a hard turn. Once he lost his 88B the result wasn't really in doubt even though I lost my 88C to a very destructive round of shooting (we both rolled 4 hits vs. 0 evades and no Autothrusters). 100-49
Final - Travis (Corran Horn with VI, FCS, R2-D2, Dash Rendar with PtL, Kyle Katarn, HLC, Title, Engine Upgrade)
Travis created a nice big patch of obstacles around the first rock I placed in his corner and I continued with my cornering strategy. He set up Dash in the cluttered corner and I as usual pick the opposite. He then sets up Corran directly opposite my Bros.
Travis created a nice big patch of obstacles around the first rock I placed in his corner and I continued with my cornering strategy. He set up Dash in the cluttered corner and I as usual pick the opposite. He then sets up Corran directly opposite my Bros.
If the camera showed my face you would have seen it light up when he said he was done with placement. I charge in and he turns Corran away but without a boost he's not going fast enough. My strategy was to 100% aim for Corran and I ended up chasing him across Travis' board edge. I land on a rock in an attempt to block but Corran slips through anyway; however he can't get away from the constant hounding and eventually the green dice fail and Corran goes down, leaving Dash to face a shieldless 88C and untouched 88B.
The video of this game will make it to YouTube sooner or later and if you are interested in how to fly Dash Rendar (I am) then I would strongly suggest you watch it for this. Travis flew him like an absolute champion. I had taken 88B out of the fight in the short term and while I got the occasional shot in, which did get damage through, his amazing flying was dodging my arc, even with him moving first and my Bros having boost. It wasn't helped by the fact that I should have just sucked up some debris stress/damage to get shots, but I was incorrectly avoiding this at all costs. 88C went down and Dash's amazing flying continued with 1 hull left and at PS0 due to a crit, to the point where promises were being made (and recorded) about what certain people would do if Travis won.
In the end we ended up facing each other and Travis chose to go to range 1 to cut out my 88B reroll. I used Dampeners to stop and took the R1 Target Locked shot, ending up with a hit and crit. Travis rolled the green dice, and... Blanks! 100-49
Again, a great tournament and I had an amazing run on day 2 with the Brobot matchups then the Dash/Corran in the final. I certainly made my fair share of mistakes over the two days, and I'm just thankful that the mistakes I made didn't cost me - you'll see me forgetting to spend a focus token in the final when shooting at Corran, for example, and some of my flying in that last game was just terrible.
I know not everyone is a fan of the Brobots concept but after having played them constantly and tried all sorts of different loadouts since they were released I'd like to think they're by far and away my best list. Nationals showed me that there's still room to grow and I'm going to be exploring some strategies for dealing with high survivability, consistent damage output lists like 4B and TLT spam. But first I'm going to fly something else for a couple of weeks.
and congratz on Winning