EH Jax?

By kopmcginty, in X-Wing Squad Lists

Recent thread about being different with the lovely Tie Interceptor got me thinking.

Jax 26pts

Expert Handling 2pts

Experimental Interface 3 pts

Title

Autothusters 2 pts.

33pts

Get into range one and his ability does annoying things as usual but also with the EH roll dropping a TL you force an opponent ship attacking you to rely on naked dice.

Weakness is that Predator and LW gives not a **** about TL's. PS 9+ locks after you move and it restricts the order of your repositioning.. Ie you have to boost the EH though you could do a regualr BR first if dropping a lock isn't a concern.

Just seemed interesting and I've not seen it before.

My brother and I discussed it a few months ago, but it's great to see that somebody else arrived at that idea. I've used it only once in a game against myself, and I was not thrilled with the results. I haven't tried it since, but it might do to try it against a real opponent. In fact, I really should because there were a lot of experimental bits to that squad that didn't pan out.

Oh wait, that was in a time before I had Autothrusters, so I had Shield Upgrade instead. I think Autothrusters makes it much better because barrel rolling out of arc not only removes a TL, but also enables Autothrusters against turret ships. And the new Emperor Palpatine can help him out even more. What else would you run with such a Carnor?

I'm wondering about Omega Ace. 2-3 crits to evade without spending tokens and pretty cheap. Throws off targeting priorities a little. They really should go for Jax to remove his ability but he is a PIA to kill meanwhile the crits are coming in. They go for Omega instead it just helps Jax make it to end game.

If

My thinking being the ships synergize nicely without actually relying on each other.

Maybe;

TIE Interceptor: · Carnor Jax (26)

Expert Handling (2)

· Experimental Interface (3)

Royal Guard TIE (0)

Stygium Particle Accelerator (2)

TIE/fo Fighter: · "As Omega" (20)

Push The Limit (3)

Lambda-Class Shuttle: Omicron Group Pilot (21)

· Emperor Palpatine (8)

15 points left for flavour. That's enough to make Omega a tooled Vader or Fel though.. And then its just a Palpmobile list with a slight twist. :/

If you're looking to go for something different with Jax then I strongly suggest trying VI. Although it's not that different as there are one or two people talking about it on the podcasts and such, it really makes him a great Ace's hunter. It depends on how you're playing... Competitively you need something that it going to improve on the current 'standard' load out. If you're playing for fun... Try it. In fact try anything once! It's the players who tend to think outside the box that end up defining the meta! ;)

I don't think expert handling works well on Jax because of pilot skill. The biggest threats to Jax from a target lock perspective are often PS9 (FCS whisper, Vader or even Fel with a target comp, VI corran, VI poe, etc). So expert handling does not even help you against them. You move first at PS8 and if you happen to have a TL on him, the BR to ditch it doesn't mean much, since they will just put it back on when they move. Not to be totally negative though, because there are some ships that rely on TL that are less than PS8. Redline, Dash, brobots (non VI anyway), etc.

I also don't think Veteran Instincts turns Jax into a better 'ace hunter'. His ability makes him a great ace hunter already. You can just use him as a blocker or area denial piece vs. higher PS ships. And you can do that more effectively with the ability to boost/BR because you have way better positional control with push the limit. He's a huge pain in the ass for high PS aces already. You just need something else in the list to do the actual killing (not hard given you typically have 65-71 points to fill out a Jax list).

Edited by blade_mercurial

Absolutely. I love Jax.

So long as I'm the one flying him. Easily one of the most annoying pilots to face.

Just trying to think outside the netlists a bit as though the meta is so wide open atm, its still so easy to slip into 'this is the best bud cos everyone says so' mode.

I do love VI messing with who is the top dog PS wise. It's one of the reasons I ha E been flying VI Vader a lot. Arcdodging and R1 atc'ing Fel and the like gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

I guess your right, I do think EH build could be hilariously strong agaisnt most pilots but would be weak against some of the ones that msybe matter most.

Think I'll try it out in a league match for giggles still though.

I'm seeing less and less target locks these days not more. I think I'd prefer VI or PTL pretty much every time. EH wa great on firesprays back before the nerf, still might work on Fat Bottom Kath but on an Interceptor? Maybe if Bro-bots and redline are true terrors in your area. Maybe if TL based ordnance was scary enough.

Only time I faced Redline I had a Poenanigans list. Upset the poor bloke no end when he kept thinking he had Poe pinned. Only the occasional Brobit list.

I see what your saying about TL in general. When i run Jax he gets locked a lot as he has the Wedge effect... Jax must die. They grnrtsllu jnow im hitting R1 so not being able to use focus on him would make that a wasted action. It's the combination with his ability that of course got me thinkin on these lines.

On reflection with feedback maybe I'm trying to shoehorn something that doesn't actually play to the ships real strengths. So not for competitive games but I do know someone that lives his TL's. I do think I may troll him with it. Same guy that hated BB8 Poe. Shame I can't run them both! :D

If Jax getting target locked is bothering you, fly him alongside Kagi w/ sensor jammer. He's a bit expensive, but will annoy your opponent even further ;)

For a total 'screw you' list, you can throw in Strom as the third wheel:

Jax w/ PTL, autothrusters = 31

Kagi w/ SJ = 31

Strom w/ title and SJ = 26

88

Still have 12 pts to round out the list...

Don't take it against very casual players though, because its kind of evil :P