Jan Ors and Y-wings

By SmogLord, in Star Wars: Armada

So I haven't had much use for y-wings in the past. They tended to get bogged down and chewed up. Supported by Jan Ors, however, they seem like they could accomplish a lot for their cost. It doesn't matter if they have heavy if the opposing squadrons do as well. So for 10 points I get a bomber with a black die and 6 hull points, and I can pretty much ignore their "heavy" limitation. At least until Jan dies anyway. Maybe support her with a couple of x-wings to prolong her life?

Has anyone tried running a list built around this?

no but I too have weirdly neglected the y wing lately. She NEEDS an escort.

She really shines with Escorts. Dengar can get away with it to a degree because he has Scatter. Jan has no such luxury, but because she tosses out tokens, she gets a lot more out of her Escorts than Dengar. I consider one escort to be the bare minimum when using Jan. 2 X-Wings is probably about right for what you're looking to do.

I've done B-Wing heavy lists, which work well. I see no reason a Y-Wing heavy list would not work. I rely heavily on Independence, which you would not have to. 3 Assault Frigates and a swarm of Ys could be good.

Edited by Truthiness

The "until Jan dies" part is the problem when you are pairing her with non-escorts. What is to stop people from just curb stomping Jan immediately?

I used a list with 4X's, 3Y's, 2A's, and a HWK yesterday. With their extra hull points the Y's definitely survived longer, and were better able to get into position for their attack runs thanks to Intel, in the first game.

In the second I had to use the Y-wings to dogfight as I faced a similarly sized Rebel fighter contingent. The Intel allowed them to bounce around and focus fire on weak enemy squadrons to finish them off.

I'm not sure that Y's derive anything more out of Jan than other squadrons. Their extra HP means the other fighters get more of a benefit from Jan's tokens.

Overall though, having a mixed squadron component really does let you face anything with confidence (barring an all Interceptor or horde TIE list).

Agree that Jan (and HWKs) need an escort, or they go down fast.

Edited by Maturin

I have been running Jan with Y-wings.

X wings are better.

I have been running Jan with Y-wings.

X wings are better.

Yep, that is why they cost a huge percentage more than Ys, because they are indeed better.

I have been running Jan with Y-wings.

X wings are better.

Yep, that is why they cost a huge percentage more than Ys, because they are indeed better.

It's by no means an original observation, but I feel like the Y's advantage is staying power at a ridiculously low price. Jan, 5 X-wings, and 5 Y-wings is exactly 134 points. Assuming you have the carriers to take advantage of all those activations, that's an Intel bubble, two free braces, five Escorts (for a huge Escort bubble), 59 squadron hull, 33 anti-squadron dice a round, and a whopping 10 bombers (in an Intel bubble, with free reign to shoot at ships). Pair with Gallant to roll back even more damage, and you're almost free to ignore squadrons entirely to paste ships. :P

For comparison's sake, If you run Jan, X's, and B's, you're capping out at 9 squadrons instead of 11 (Jan, 5 X's, and three B's = 126 points). More lethal anti-ship damage per attack, but fewer total squadrons, anti-squadron dice (barely), and hull (lots less). Plus the X-Y list has an EU "Battle of Yavin" feel to it. ;)

Jan with 5 X-wings and 5 Y-wings sounds pretty imposing and also well-rounded for dealing with both ships and squadrons. The fact that it works out to 134 points is awesome. Maybe running all escorts with her is better, but rolling black dice with bombers just feels so good. I also agree that it looks cooler on the table as well. Thanks for the thoughts everyone.

First, I can't figure out how people keep their squadrons within Gallant haven's small one range bubble. Wish they would have made it 1-2 range. I just can't justify taking an AF and ramming it into my opponents. For defense that is on thing. However, if you are using the AF and Jan as part of your torpedo than I see merit, but your opponent will bring a lot of fire power to bare before she gets into range, which isn't bad if you don't add more points than the 72+Expanded Hangers and haven for 8 point (I think). At 85 points it will go down quick but might allow some other nasty ships to get into good firing positions and become less of a focus.

Where your thinking might be a little off is not have a another HWK to go with Jan. distance 1 is not that great and keeping Jan within 1 of all that is not going to be possible because people will engage the fringes of the ball and the AF will be sailing away from that point of contact.

Edited by AdmiralNelson

Interesting idea, Adm. N. Adding a second hwk to spread out the Intel range could be quite helpful. Hadn't even considered that. It also makes the list less vulnerable to IG88.

At some point, if enough people are keeping their squadrons in a tight Intel bubble, 2 die anti-squadron ships should start to shine. Please put all your squadrons in a tight ball at medium range of several Glad 2s, escort Nebs, etc...

I have been running Jan with Y-wings.

X wings are better.

Yep, that is why they cost a huge percentage more than Ys, because they are indeed better.

Don't get me wrong, I love Y-wings, but Jan with X-wings is better than Jan with Y-wings are.

I have been running Jan with Y-wings.

X wings are better.

Yep, that is why they cost a huge percentage more than Ys, because they are indeed better.

Don't get me wrong, I love Y-wings, but Jan with X-wings is better than Jan with Y-wings are.

It's too bad we have to either include only Y-Wings or X-Wings in our fleet, completely contrary to the fluff. ;)

A compromise measure of Jan + X-Wings + Y-Wings (or Scurrgs) seems much better than just Jan + spamming one or the other.

I have been running Jan with Y-wings.

X wings are better.

Yep, that is why they cost a huge percentage more than Ys, because they are indeed better.

Don't get me wrong, I love Y-wings, but Jan with X-wings is better than Jan with Y-wings are.

It's too bad we have to either include only Y-Wings or X-Wings in our fleet, completely contrary to the fluff. ;)

A compromise measure of Jan + X-Wings + Y-Wings (or Scurrgs) seems much better than just Jan + spamming one or the other.

Indeed. I don't see much point running purely X-Wing with Jan Ors. Sure, they synergize better to make Jan survive, but X-Wings are mainly good in anti-squadron, and can go against ships if no squadrons are left to be destroyed. I don't really see the value of Intel on anti-squadron personnally (anti-squadron want to be in the thick of things rather than avoid fighter screens altogether). The only time I would run it with X-Wings would be with Luke/Wedge/Dutch/Y-Wings. Now that's some bombers !

There might be a hidden gem with Jan Ors that I haven't seen discussed (my apologies if I missed it !). It's Jan Ors with A-Wings. "Wait what ?" I hear you say ? Bear with me for the following reasons :

1) Jan Ors has almost the same exact stats as A-Wings : Counter 2, 4 Hull, 3 Anti-squadron value, 1 Black Anti-ship. The only variation is the speed which is 3 instead of 5, but wait...

2) Jan Ors' Brace tokens ability works with squadrons at distance 1-2. So, that means that you can throw your squadrons to rush forward at Speed 5, move Jan Ors at speed 3 while still keeping the ability to give them Brace tokens.

3) Intel will make several A-Wings as mini Tychos without the Scatter. Unless I misunderstand the Heavy rule. Granted, it will leave Jan Ors not giving Intel to the A-Wings for 1 Turn, but as soon as she comes in, she turns them into mini Tychos.

4) Tactically, the A-Wings have lost their ability to use Counter to engage squadrons and be done with it due to Intel all around. Now, A-Wings, in my opinion, are good for the anti-ship black dice : you throw them up to deal damage on a 75% chance (better than X-Wings, although no crits, so against shields they are good), then you wait for the enemy to Intercept you (and there you use Counter).

Imagine the scenario where 3 A-Wings have sped forward at distance 5, with Jan Ors in the middle at distance 3. The three A-Wings are able to throw 3 black dice causing 2.25 damage on a shield facing (decent for 33 points). Now, in his turn, what does your opponent do ? Does he go to intercept the A-Wings, and thus risk multiple Counter 3 + Brace ? Or does he go intercept Jan Ors that is stranded in the open (and risk multiple Counter 2 + Brace, albeit less than the A-Wings). **** right, he's going to go for Jan Ors ! Meaning that your A-Wings have gained another turn of pumping shots into a ship. 2.25 damage might not seem much, but it's more than the biggest shield we currently have over 2 turns of consistent damage.

Now, imagine if you had Riekaan, with Jan Ors still able to activate if she had been killed and not intercepted. Tee hee.

Sometimes, it's not all about making the enemy's life difficult, but it's also about baiting him into traps. As a commander, I'd rather lose Jan Ors than lose 2 A-Wings (3 points less and 3 less blue dice, 2 less Counter and 1 less black anti-ship dice lost).

Are A and Y wings more points efficient than x wings....yes..... But if you are running any hwk you need that escort. So I'm always going to mix in at least one X to keep my HWK going for a bit longer. I just love one HWK, 2 y wings, one x wing linked with a four activation carrier. That's 45 points of speed three utility. But then I also love pure A wings..........

I have been running Jan with Y-wings.

X wings are better.

Yep, that is why they cost a huge percentage more than Ys, because they are indeed better.

Don't get me wrong, I love Y-wings, but Jan with X-wings is better than Jan with Y-wings are.

It's too bad we have to either include only Y-Wings or X-Wings in our fleet, completely contrary to the fluff. ;)

A compromise measure of Jan + X-Wings + Y-Wings (or Scurrgs) seems much better than just Jan + spamming one or the other.

Indeed. I don't see much point running purely X-Wing with Jan Ors. Sure, they synergize better to make Jan survive, but X-Wings are mainly good in anti-squadron, and can go against ships if no squadrons are left to be destroyed. I don't really see the value of Intel on anti-squadron personnally (anti-squadron want to be in the thick of things rather than avoid fighter screens altogether). The only time I would run it with X-Wings would be with Luke/Wedge/Dutch/Y-Wings. Now that's some bombers !

There might be a hidden gem with Jan Ors that I haven't seen discussed (my apologies if I missed it !). It's Jan Ors with A-Wings. "Wait what ?" I hear you say ? Bear with me for the following reasons :

1) Jan Ors has almost the same exact stats as A-Wings : Counter 2, 4 Hull, 3 Anti-squadron value, 1 Black Anti-ship. The only variation is the speed which is 3 instead of 5, but wait...

2) Jan Ors' Brace tokens ability works with squadrons at distance 1-2. So, that means that you can throw your squadrons to rush forward at Speed 5, move Jan Ors at speed 3 while still keeping the ability to give them Brace tokens.

3) Intel will make several A-Wings as mini Tychos without the Scatter. Unless I misunderstand the Heavy rule. Granted, it will leave Jan Ors not giving Intel to the A-Wings for 1 Turn, but as soon as she comes in, she turns them into mini Tychos.

4) Tactically, the A-Wings have lost their ability to use Counter to engage squadrons and be done with it due to Intel all around. Now, A-Wings, in my opinion, are good for the anti-ship black dice : you throw them up to deal damage on a 75% chance (better than X-Wings, although no crits, so against shields they are good), then you wait for the enemy to Intercept you (and there you use Counter).

Imagine the scenario where 3 A-Wings have sped forward at distance 5, with Jan Ors in the middle at distance 3. The three A-Wings are able to throw 3 black dice causing 2.25 damage on a shield facing (decent for 33 points). Now, in his turn, what does your opponent do ? Does he go to intercept the A-Wings, and thus risk multiple Counter 3 + Brace ? Or does he go intercept Jan Ors that is stranded in the open (and risk multiple Counter 2 + Brace, albeit less than the A-Wings). **** right, he's going to go for Jan Ors ! Meaning that your A-Wings have gained another turn of pumping shots into a ship. 2.25 damage might not seem much, but it's more than the biggest shield we currently have over 2 turns of consistent damage.

Now, imagine if you had Riekaan, with Jan Ors still able to activate if she had been killed and not intercepted. Tee hee.

Sometimes, it's not all about making the enemy's life difficult, but it's also about baiting him into traps. As a commander, I'd rather lose Jan Ors than lose 2 A-Wings (3 points less and 3 less blue dice, 2 less Counter and 1 less black anti-ship dice lost).

To which a single or pair of X-wings hang with Jan but not in range of the A-wings.

I would then just fly an interceptor over and kill the lone Jan would was behind the As. Point for thinking outside the box; however, after all that is how you create something valid.

Edited by AdmiralNelson

Jan cannot possibly survive without an Escort.

She's 4 hull, so that's a maximum of 4 attacks, even with her own braces.

In a more likely scenario it takes 2-3 attacks from dedicated attackers.

2 Xs (or 3 if you can afford/has the command economy for it) seems about right. Then she'll survive for long enough to be effective.

I like this, however enemy fighters have to be within distance 1 of Jan in order to get heavy from the intel effect. That means the A-wings are going to get locked down and not be like Tycho at all - unless Jan is right up there with them.

Maybe better to use a vanilla HWK to escort vanilla A-wings - shoot and move, shoot and move

I have been running Jan with Y-wings.

X wings are better.

Yep, that is why they cost a huge percentage more than Ys, because they are indeed better.

It's by no means an original observation, but I feel like the Y's advantage is staying power at a ridiculously low price. Jan, 5 X-wings, and 5 Y-wings is exactly 134 points. Assuming you have the carriers to take advantage of all those activations, that's an Intel bubble, two free braces, five Escorts (for a huge Escort bubble), 59 squadron hull, 33 anti-squadron dice a round, and a whopping 10 bombers (in an Intel bubble, with free reign to shoot at ships). Pair with Gallant to roll back even more damage, and you're almost free to ignore squadrons entirely to paste ships. :P

Can you really fit 10 ships in an Intel bubble? I sure can't. If I was facing that I could easily lock down at least half of your squadrons by sitting just outside of Range 1 of Jan Ors.