while writing my latest article for my blog. I had an apostrophe. The article is about fleet building and I came to a conclusion. A lot of successful wave 1 fleets were all ship build skews. Outside of the World Champion who has 8 A-Wings it appeared the "Gencon Special" or "3 Guppies" was the way to go. There were some outliers but in general, more ships, less squadrons seemed to be the norm.

With the increase from 300 to 400pts can you take your wave 1 skew, splash in 100pts of squadrons have a well balanced skew list? The list that really shows this off is Tarkin Raider pocket carriers. Its a ship skew with 100 or so points in squadrons to help balance it out.

Look at the World Champion's list. 2 Guppies, 1 C90, and 8 A-Wings. His ships sort of skew for what the guppies like to do, and then he balances is out with squadrons. While not a truly balanced skew. Was he on to something with his fleet build that can be better explored in Wave2 with the addition of 100 more Fleet points.

This was my Tuesday morning apostrophe. If you don't know why its called an apostrophe, you make me very sad.....Smee.....

I'm sorry, but I don't know why it's called an apostrophe, you could PM me if you can't bare to explain it in public?

Also, what do you mean by skew? I'd have thought that mean a list that featured one trait more than another, such as being ship heavy at the expense of fighters, but you talk about a balanced skew, and having a ship skew with plenty fighters, which makes no sense.

Also also, it's "fewer squadrons", not "less squadrons".

I'm sorry, but I don't know why it's called an apostrophe, you could PM me if you can't bare to explain it in public?

Also, what do you mean by skew? I'd have thought that mean a list that featured one trait more than another, such as being ship heavy at the expense of fighters, but you talk about a balanced skew, and having a ship skew with plenty fighters, which makes no sense.

Also also, it's "fewer squadrons", not "less squadrons".

in short. Taking your wave 1 all ship skew list and add squadrons to balance it out.

Also also makes you sound like a trade federation droid.

Smee had an apostrophe and Captain Hook explained he had an epiphany. Its from the movie Hook. highly suggest if you have never seen it.

small problem is that I believe, albeit for no particular reason (gut feeling?), that we're going to want 4 ships minimum for the sake of activations

so that 3 guppy list will turn into Akbar 4 Guppies and 4 A-wings

Gen Col special will be fine, though. I wonder what squadrons you'd add to that to hit 400, and how the VSD (or possibly upgraded to ISD) would support them as people so very rarely use the GSD's nifty 2 Squadron

lol I think you meant

e·piph·a·ny

small problem is that I believe, albeit for no particular reason (gut feeling?), that we're going to want 4 ships minimum for the sake of activations

so that 3 guppy list will turn into Akbar 4 Guppies and 4 A-wings

Gen Col special will be fine, though. I wonder what squadrons you'd add to that to hit 400, and how the VSD (or possibly upgraded to ISD) would support them as people so very rarely use the GSD's nifty 2 Squadron

I agree mybe with GenCon special you up to ISD it has a value of 4 so take 4 squadrons and 2 rogues and just have it spam the command? not sure how the pts all shake out to be honest.

The few games ive played I had 2 ships and it went well. But i also have squadron heavy which can have the fire power or 2-3 ships. Its like activating 2 ships worth of fire power at once. its a weird balance in the game. I have to play more and i am sure its going to ramp up as store champs are being announced and winter kits are coming, never mind you know, wave 2.

adding that ISD to the gencon special is difficult

even cutting corners by dumping ACM to Advance Proton Torps (which I really like, so not much loss there imo) and switching a GSD-1 to a Raider-2 w/OLP (same cost as naked GSD-1), 4 interceptors take you up to 400 perfect with a properly upgraded ISD-2 (needa, gunnery team, ECM, x17s)

****'s expensive, a mere 4 points gets you another VSD (and if I knew a way to get two VSD-1s with tractor beams, I certainly would)

I'm sorry, but I don't know why it's called an apostrophe, you could PM me if you can't bare to explain it in public?

Also, what do you mean by skew? I'd have thought that mean a list that featured one trait more than another, such as being ship heavy at the expense of fighters, but you talk about a balanced skew, and having a ship skew with plenty fighters, which makes no sense.

Also also, it's "fewer squadrons", not "less squadrons".

in short. Taking your wave 1 all ship skew list and add squadrons to balance it out.

Also also makes you sound like a trade federation droid.

Smee had an apostrophe and Captain Hook explained he had an epiphany. Its from the movie Hook. highly suggest if you have never seen it.

Thanks for reminding me of that scene. Hook is not a good movie, yet somehow Dustin Hoffman and Bob Hoskins save that film from start to finish.

I'm sorry, but I don't know why it's called an apostrophe, you could PM me if you can't bare to explain it in public?

Also, what do you mean by skew? I'd have thought that mean a list that featured one trait more than another, such as being ship heavy at the expense of fighters, but you talk about a balanced skew, and having a ship skew with plenty fighters, which makes no sense.

Also also, it's "fewer squadrons", not "less squadrons".

in short. Taking your wave 1 all ship skew list and add squadrons to balance it out.

Also also makes you sound like a trade federation droid.

Smee had an apostrophe and Captain Hook explained he had an epiphany. Its from the movie Hook. highly suggest if you have never seen it.

Hook is not a good movie

out.....NOW!

Fry: "I'm having one of those things! You know, a headache with pictures!"
Leela: "An idea?"

Fry: "Yeah, that!"

The World's list was a fantastic list for the time and I don't think we'll see variations on it have much success now.

First and foremost, it was anti-meta. It ate GenCon for lunch. You can still play anti-meta now but the meta has shifted significantly. Once things shake out in a month or two we'll see what lists are doing well and smart players will tune against them.

Fighters have also changed a lot. More people will be bringing more fighters and Intel helps lock down that A-Wing screen.

You also have another 100 points to spend - where does that go? There's enough variety in great ways to spend that 100 that "another Guppy" is easily outclassed.

If anything, the closest thing we'll see to this list that's successful will have more fighter variety & possibly a MC30 for close attack. Ackbar is another great choice for admiral.

What's in a GenCon special? Is it basil?

I still feel 3 ship lists will be very viable. There is a finite amount of engagement space. 4 ship lists feel this problem and most inexperienced pilots found themselves colliding into themselves a lot.

First and foremost, it was anti-meta. It ate GenCon for lunch. You can still play anti-meta now but the meta has shifted significantly. Once things shake out in a month or two we'll see what lists are doing well and smart players will tune against them.

Fighters have also changed a lot. More people will be bringing more fighters and Intel helps lock down that A-Wing screen.

You also have another 100 points to spend - where does that go? There's enough variety in great ways to spend that 100 that "another Guppy" is easily outclassed.

You are looking forwards too far, many players will be locked into their strategies and tactics they employ now and will just add 100 points of new stuff. I have seen a few YouTube videos, and a whole mess of forum lists that don't seem too far removed from the strategic ideas that are about now. Squadrons are put in as an afterthought to use up the 35 points left over. One of the guys from IFF said it well, players will have to put their hands on the stove to find out its hot.

Meta gaming is a progressive thing, like the old lady who swallowed a fly, you have to pass through spiders, mice, cats, dogs and so on until you get to the end of the list say an elephant. You are kinda going from the fly right to the elephant or perhaps the goat or horse. Which is to say, I agree with your predictions, just now how we get there.

The first step in this process will be adding an ISD or MC80 to our current fleets. This happened mostly post Sullast and will be bypassed in places where players had the opportunity to get these toys. So I expect that for a little while we'll see the comfort of tried and tested lists enhanced.

After that? As best as I can see there will be a rush of Rogue Squadrons, that will push away the concept of squadrons not being worth anything, and at the same time we are going to see 3-4 ship builds of ISD's and MC80's, the whole come at me I can punch you in the nose for 7+ damage!! 3 ISD's and Vader (or Motti) will be a thing for a while don't you think?

The next step is the fast ships, that flank the ships that have big attacks and take their weaker arcs on. We are seeing some of the experiments with Raiders, Nebulons and MC30's now.

After that? There is always a bigger fish.

First and foremost, it was anti-meta. It ate GenCon for lunch. You can still play anti-meta now but the meta has shifted significantly. Once things shake out in a month or two we'll see what lists are doing well and smart players will tune against them.

Fighters have also changed a lot. More people will be bringing more fighters and Intel helps lock down that A-Wing screen.

You also have another 100 points to spend - where does that go? There's enough variety in great ways to spend that 100 that "another Guppy" is easily outclassed.

You are looking forwards too far, many players will be locked into their strategies and tactics they employ now and will just add 100 points of new stuff. I have seen a few YouTube videos, and a whole mess of forum lists that don't seem too far removed from the strategic ideas that are about now. Squadrons are put in as an afterthought to use up the 35 points left over. One of the guys from IFF said it well, players will have to put their hands on the stove to find out its hot.

Meta gaming is a progressive thing, like the old lady who swallowed a fly, you have to pass through spiders, mice, cats, dogs and so on until you get to the end of the list say an elephant. You are kinda going from the fly right to the elephant or perhaps the goat or horse. Which is to say, I agree with your predictions, just now how we get there.

The first step in this process will be adding an ISD or MC80 to our current fleets. This happened mostly post Sullast and will be bypassed in places where players had the opportunity to get these toys. So I expect that for a little while we'll see the comfort of tried and tested lists enhanced.

After that? As best as I can see there will be a rush of Rogue Squadrons, that will push away the concept of squadrons not being worth anything, and at the same time we are going to see 3-4 ship builds of ISD's and MC80's, the whole come at me I can punch you in the nose for 7+ damage!! 3 ISD's and Vader (or Motti) will be a thing for a while don't you think?

The next step is the fast ships, that flank the ships that have big attacks and take their weaker arcs on. We are seeing some of the experiments with Raiders, Nebulons and MC30's now.

After that? There is always a bigger fish.

A lot of this has been tested long and hard since Vassal on Wave 2 got released. There's now a tournament going on right now to test these even more. I suggest you guys go over and take a look at that thread because a lot of what you say "after that" is actually the now, or has been tested and played before.

In a lot of ways, Vassal is a great way to break through the meta completely because it's international and highly experimental. It's one of the reasons why the competitive, tournament-going X-Wing community has grown so huge, and its largely because of the Vassal tournaments. It's a great way to get games in against experimental lists.

Mm, never-mind. I dont understand the joke, but I'm going to hope there is a good one.

First and foremost, it was anti-meta. It ate GenCon for lunch. You can still play anti-meta now but the meta has shifted significantly. Once things shake out in a month or two we'll see what lists are doing well and smart players will tune against them.

Fighters have also changed a lot. More people will be bringing more fighters and Intel helps lock down that A-Wing screen.

You also have another 100 points to spend - where does that go? There's enough variety in great ways to spend that 100 that "another Guppy" is easily outclassed.

You are looking forwards too far, many players will be locked into their strategies and tactics they employ now and will just add 100 points of new stuff. I have seen a few YouTube videos, and a whole mess of forum lists that don't seem too far removed from the strategic ideas that are about now. Squadrons are put in as an afterthought to use up the 35 points left over. One of the guys from IFF said it well, players will have to put their hands on the stove to find out its hot.

Meta gaming is a progressive thing, like the old lady who swallowed a fly, you have to pass through spiders, mice, cats, dogs and so on until you get to the end of the list say an elephant. You are kinda going from the fly right to the elephant or perhaps the goat or horse. Which is to say, I agree with your predictions, just now how we get there.

The first step in this process will be adding an ISD or MC80 to our current fleets. This happened mostly post Sullast and will be bypassed in places where players had the opportunity to get these toys. So I expect that for a little while we'll see the comfort of tried and tested lists enhanced.

After that? As best as I can see there will be a rush of Rogue Squadrons, that will push away the concept of squadrons not being worth anything, and at the same time we are going to see 3-4 ship builds of ISD's and MC80's, the whole come at me I can punch you in the nose for 7+ damage!! 3 ISD's and Vader (or Motti) will be a thing for a while don't you think?

The next step is the fast ships, that flank the ships that have big attacks and take their weaker arcs on. We are seeing some of the experiments with Raiders, Nebulons and MC30's now.

After that? There is always a bigger fish.

A lot of this has been tested long and hard since Vassal on Wave 2 got released. There's now a tournament going on right now to test these even more. I suggest you guys go over and take a look at that thread because a lot of what you say "after that" is actually the now, or has been tested and played before.

In a lot of ways, Vassal is a great way to break through the meta completely because it's international and highly experimental. It's one of the reasons why the competitive, tournament-going X-Wing community has grown so huge, and its largely because of the Vassal tournaments. It's a great way to get games in against experimental lists.

Not to mention that Vassal is also good for testing multiples of things to tell you whether or not it's worth it to buy them to run on the table (I'm looking at you Firesprays!)

my biggest downfall may be that i hate vassal. I don't like it and I know it would be very helpful to me on improving play in a variety of events. You would figure I'd love it right? "wait, you're telling me i could play spacedollies, and I don't have to wear pants" its literally everything ive ever wanted in life, yet I can not do it.

The pinnacle of my original thought was the Raider Pocket Carrier list. It was 6 raiders with 3-ties each tarkin and expanded hangar bays. Its a skew list in that it focuses on simply one aspect of the game (and arguably the most important aspect). You could build this list at 300 and take no squadrons, but buy having the 100 or so pts in squadrons now, the list dynamic is still a skew but you don't have to worry about squadron heavy lists.

You yourself are a skew list, but due to the pts increase you have balanced yourself out (to a degree) by bringing squadrons.

Thats what I am referring too.

As for wave to wave theory....

When wave 2 was imminent I deleted all my lists. start fresh. I do this in WM H a lot too. Wipe out all my dojo and restart to see what i change or help me see new synergies that have been released.

Also, I am very glad that I have played this game from Core on. You will have to relearn what you have learned each wave but the lessons from previous waves shouldn't be forgotten. Having played the 0spd VSD in tournaments during the Core has let me keep that tactic in my back pocket during wave 1. Drawing on that experience and knowing when i can apply it. its not the main battle plan anymore and that's a good thing. Its a big reason i write my tournament reports so i can reflect.