Yeah, yeah, Guidance Chips for my Bombers are awesome and all, but this is what's really got me excited:

The "Bad News Barons" are a freakin' GO!!!

EPT? Check.

A whole three points cheaper than the Inquisitor? Check.

An obnoxious and potentially powerful ability? Check.

I was just excited to see this guy was coming to X-Wing. Now I'm absolutely thrilled that he dodged the fate of many other mid-PS pilots and has both a solid ability and an EPT slot. Solid contender for an "anti-Biggs" style pilot here who will pair well with his fellow Baron, Soontir Fel. Also a candidate for "king of really crazy PTL shenanigans", especially if you also throw the title on him.

Also maybe a solid guy to throw Juke on: TL to use the title for an Evade, any shots at you potentially gives you a focus or a better shot.

I'm excited. Maybe I shouldn't be, but I am. Valen. *******. Rudor.

Poe will eat this dude for breakfast.

Cheers

Baaa

Poe will eat this dude for breakfast.

Cheers

Baaa

Considering Poe costs nine more points, I'd hope so.

This guy wants Decoy so hard.

He wants to move late, and also gets superior action economy from attacking late.

The question we're all asking- If he uses his action to move, can that movement change the attack? I imagine he can't boost out of arc because that would be incredibly obnoxious in a 1-1, but what about barrel rolling into range 3?

But with the title, his ability and PTL what actions will he be able to do? Free evade, title makes him want to TL, that's two down. What other actions can he do? TL, got the evade, take a focus. Boost and Barrel Roll and that's it. Without a stress reliever poor Rudor will be missing out on his ability. Easy fix though. Wingman it away or take Epi Leader?

I think the second Baron may want to skip PTL... Still a pretty hot pilot though, not that PTL grants or denies hotness.

Squark brings up a good point. Movement shenanigans seem useless. I mean it seems pretty shady the way its worded to allow movement to affect the attack. If it was "when you are declared as a defender against an attack..." then you could get some use out of moving after the attack, but the way it reads makes me think that you get to take a free action after damage is dealt. At least to my mind that's how it works. Attacker declares against Rudor, roll dice, do damage, then Rudor gets his free action. Which can't be an action he used previously. Makes me think you want to spend your perform action step wisely so you can actually make his ability work.

Poe will eat this dude for breakfast.

Cheers

Baaa

Poe is also rather more expensive, and is already warping the meta around himself. So.... Yeah, of course he would win in a straight-up 1v1

The question we're all asking- If he uses his action to move, can that movement change the attack? I imagine he can't boost out of arc because that would be incredibly obnoxious in a 1-1, but what about barrel rolling into range 3?

The answer: As pointed out in the main thread, Valen gets the action after he defends, so he has to survive the attack to get his action. That being said, he might be able to dodge the follow-up shots by Gunners and TLTs.

EDIT: Yes, I just quoted myself. So what?

But with the title, his ability and PTL what actions will he be able to do? Free evade, title makes him want to TL, that's two down. What other actions can he do? TL, got the evade, take a focus. Boost and Barrel Roll and that's it. Without a stress reliever poor Rudor will be missing out on his ability. Easy fix though. Wingman it away or take Epi Leader?

I think the second Baron may want to skip PTL... Still a pretty hot pilot though, not that PTL grants or denies hotness.

Aye, PTL may not be the best way to go with him (depending on the rest of the squad). Juke definitely comes to mind combined with the v1 title.

But I wouldn't completely rule out PTL: Rudor can pull a sorta-Turr Phennir and keep it as an option for during the combat phase. Completely reliant on getting shot at, but getting to re-position and grab some more modifiers during combat phase when you know exactly who you can shoot at/is shooting at you could be something.

I think we may be onto something here!

Self-quoting Squark? Meh. It's okay.

Also what if you saved your PTL for procing off the ability? That could be ridiculously infuriating...

Kassis Trellix costs 14 points more. Rudor will have a chance against him.

Cheers

Baaa

Wonder how these things will work in practice. The Inquisitor gets to be the sniper, so he's sort of different, but the rest play more like A-Wings. Can Rudor hold a candle to, say, Farrell?

Kassis Trellix costs 14 points more. Rudor will have a chance against him.

Cheers

Baaa

Yup, and since July I've been planning to fly Rudor with Soontir Fel: https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/183753-valen-rudor/

Soontir, who you'll note, costs four points less than Poe. Soontir will have a chance with him

Kassis Trellix costs 14 points more. Rudor will have a chance against him.

Cheers

Baaa

Yup, and since July I've been planning to fly Rudor with Soontir Fel: https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/183753-valen-rudor/

Soontir, who you'll note, costs four points less than Poe. Soontir will have a chance with him

Which just goes to show; points don't mean prizes in this game.

Cheers

Baaa

What do we think about Daredevil on this guy? TL + evade in the action phase, or focus, and then you have 3 maneuver options after that first defensive roll. Stress from Daredevil isn't too awful with that amazing 1 hard green, which, for some reason, the full production Tie Advanced doesn't have...

Kassis Trellix costs 14 points more. Rudor will have a chance against him.

Cheers

Baaa

Yup, and since July I've been planning to fly Rudor with Soontir Fel: https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/183753-valen-rudor/

Soontir, who you'll note, costs four points less than Poe. Soontir will have a chance with him

Which just goes to show; points don't mean prizes in this game.

Cheers

Baaa

They don't, but I think it's unfair to compare Rudor to Poe. One is meant to be the lynchpin of a squad. The other? Not so much.

Rudor loaded out with thrusters, title, and Juke comes out to 27 points. I think that's pretty solid value.

Can Valen get 5 actions?

Take focus as action.

Receive target lock from friendly tracers

Get free evade action from title.

Defend against attack, barrel roll using pilot ability.

Push the limit of barrel roll to boost.

They don't, but I think it's unfair to compare Rudor to Poe. One is meant to be the lynchpin of a squad. The other? Not so much.

Rudor loaded out with thrusters, title, and Juke comes out to 27 points. I think that's pretty solid value.

So when you put him in a squad beside Fel and possibly the Palpmobile; who's the filler?

Cheers

Baaa

What do we think about Daredevil on this guy? TL + evade in the action phase, or focus, and then you have 3 maneuver options after that first defensive roll. Stress from Daredevil isn't too awful with that amazing 1 hard green, which, for some reason, the full production Tie Advanced doesn't have...

Could be fun, but I'm still leaning towards Juke, or situationally PTL, being the way to go.

As Draco mentioned, Decoy could also have its merits, allowing Rudor to use his laterish movement then Decoy to a lower PS so he can fire after almost everyone else has had their chance to shoot at him first.

Predator seems pointless with the natural usefulness of the v1 title.

Crack Shot is (mostly) overshadowed by the usage of Juke with the v1 title.

And, the worst idea I'll have all day: Expose.

Rudor doesn't have to activate Expose until after he's been shot at, which means he could get his free dice any time he gets shot at and has no one else around to shoot at him, having used his natural action to Focus or TL.

Still like Juke more, as it's cheaper and isn't reliant on getting shot at, but it's an amusing thought.

Can Valen get 5 actions?

Take focus as action.

Receive target lock from friendly tracers

Get free evade action from title.

Defend against attack, barrel roll using pilot ability.

Push the limit of barrel roll to boost.

He can get a free action with each attack, so assuming he had access to an Action! card he could get up to 6 per turn.

PTL shuts down a lot of shenanigans with this guy. Can't do actions twice. So... maybe another pilot to consider an ACTION EPT? Squad leader might be fun.

Boosting or barrel rolling out of range after the first TLT shot sounds fun.

They don't, but I think it's unfair to compare Rudor to Poe. One is meant to be the lynchpin of a squad. The other? Not so much.

Rudor loaded out with thrusters, title, and Juke comes out to 27 points. I think that's pretty solid value.

So when you put him in a squad beside Fel and possibly the Palpmobile; who's the filler?

Cheers

Baaa

Not a clue yet! Got 38 points to work with, though, and that opens up some possibilities. Couple of ace TIEs with Crack? Super-Vader with prockets? Carnor Jax and throw some prockets on Rudor? I'm sure I'll figure something out.

What exactly is "good" about him? If you field him against me, I simply won't attack him. I don't have to worry about this though, because he's got 2 attack dice, so he'll maybe deal 1 damage to my ships over the course of a whole game. Once I've ignored him and fought against your 78 point list, then I'll deal with this dude, if a proton bomb didn't 1-shot him already.

They don't, but I think it's unfair to compare Rudor to Poe. One is meant to be the lynchpin of a squad. The other? Not so much.

Rudor loaded out with thrusters, title, and Juke comes out to 27 points. I think that's pretty solid value.

So when you put him in a squad beside Fel and possibly the Palpmobile; who's the filler?

Cheers

Baaa

Not a clue yet! Got 38 points to work with, though, and that opens up some possibilities. Couple of ace TIEs with Crack? Super-Vader with prockets? Carnor Jax and throw some prockets on Rudor? I'm sure I'll figure something out.

He's a decent pilot,

TIE Adv Prototype - 27pts

Rudor; Autothrusters, Title, Juke

Palpmobile - 33pts

Omicron Group Pilot; Sensor Jammer, Emperor Palpatine

Soontir Fel - 35pts

Royal Guard TIE; PTL, Autothrusters, Stealth Device

Leaves 5 pts.

Will still get humped by Poe.

Edit: Made an arse of it; changed Autothrusters out for Sensor Jammer

Cheers

Baaa

What exactly is "good" about him? If you field him against me, I simply won't attack him. I don't have to worry about this though, because he's got 2 attack dice, so he'll maybe deal 1 damage to my ships over the course of a whole game. Once I've ignored him and fought against your 78 point list, then I'll deal with this dude, if a proton bomb didn't 1-shot him already.

Those are some weird conditions. Though, any ship you ignore is generally a good thing for me, imo. And I think you vastly underestimate the value of 2 Atk, especially with the title.