Integrated Astromech - how good is it?

By force kin, in X-Wing

Why doesn't the consistent winner matter?

Because winning Regionals or Worlds has more to do with how good of a player you are then what faction you're flying. It's not like Paul won 3 world championships simply because he flies rebels. Part of that is he defeats Rebel, Imperial and S&V lists. So as long as the top 16 or so shows good diversity in factions then everything is fine. If there was truly a faction imbalance you'd see the top 16 be skewed accordingly.

Survey says (top 10 X-wing lists):

5 Rebels

3 Scum

2 Empire

I'd say that is diverse and history of top 10 lists shows the Scum and Empire have both had their days in the sun.

I say that's CR-4P!

Lol, just kidding.

I think Imps may be on the rise again soon though. Those Vet titles look pretty sweeeet, especially with T-Beams on the way? Dang.

Edited by Darkcloak

IA is a really good bonus, it can give you that extra turn of being able to shoot, which should never be overlooked. In the last 6-7 games with a 3X list I have used it once or twice each game. Hell, I've had Wes run off only to come back and kill something because of it. It's a great card.

The real issue for X-Wings right now is lack of usable Astromechs, and overcost Astromechs. Adding in more usable ones and a 0pt title that reduces their cost by 1 helps all around for the X-Wing. The Astros don't even need to add a bunch of new stuff, give options for White 1 Hards, or a 5 Straight, a free boost after a 3 bank, etc.

The one thing I don't want to see, as someone who flies T-65s, is for them to become T-70's. I"m pretty happy with their dial, and planning gets you shots easy enough.

IA helps, but a little more is needed and I am on the side of "Please don't just give Boost or Barrel Roll and Evade to EVERY ship" There needs to be some uniqueness to all the different ships. And since IA does help, the X-Wing just need a little more, nothing too powerful.

The new Defender titles fill me with hope that a similar thing may be done with the X-Wing. Give it multiple titles that each define a specific role. (Just spitballing here, not too thought out or play tested)

Jouster Title

1 point

X-Wing only, Rebel Alliance only

When attacking or defending at range 2, roll one additional die.

Ace Counter Title (Or as I like to call it, 'Since I can't reposition, I am going to make it hard for you to do it')

1 point

X-Wing only, Rebel Alliance only

When an enemy ship you have a Target Lock on performs a Boost or Barrel Roll, you may assign it one Stress token.

The first one would make X-Wing aces absolute beasts at range 2 and the wording of the title means it works with and against secondary weapons. Makes a range 2 face off with a TLT a much tougher battle for the TLT ship.

The second one is very situational. You have to get the lock, and even then, the other ship may simply choose not to reposition to avoid the stress, but there will come a point when Soontir has to decide if its better to eat the stress, or turttle up and take the shot from your guns.

I used to be annoyed at the idea that the "fix" for the X-Wing was a couple good Astromechs. But the more I look at it- especially with IA- the more I think it might be.

Part of the issue is that every Astromech that comes out has to be balanced for 4 different ships. That gets _tough_. The R2 is great on a Y-Wing, because it has a lot of red on its dial. It's great on an E-Wing because the E-Wing action bar would love PTL. And the T-70 has nearly as much red as the Y-Wing and nearly as many actions as the E-wing, and so would _love_ the R2. But wow are none of those things true for the T-65.

Etc and so forth.

However! If, say, your "ace counter" title as a T-65 only 'mech, for 1 point, might be a great idea. It would help make Wedge/Luke/Wes a bit harder a target, and actually make use out of their higher PS in a way that nothing is currently doing. Luke might always want R5-P9, but it would be nice to have options.

I think IA is a fantastic idea. If a title card were to make astros 1-2 points cheaper, I'd be a very happy man indeed.

The problem is making it T-65 only. The T-70 is a great ship as is. You wont encourage people to play t-65s by also giving buffs to an already superior ship

The problem is making it T-65 only.

My first thought was, just make it T-65 only, but then I remembered that's not actually on any of the card or dial so that doesn't work.

FFG has established that X-Wing would include T-70's as well, since the TIE/fo Fighter can use things that are TIE Fighter only.

A 0 or 1 point generic X-Wing only Astromech that permitted you to exchange your Attack and Agility values before you revealed your dial might be cool. That would make the X-Wing a flexible fighter and further enhance their ability to joust.

Edited by WWHSD

I personally would like to see something with S foils. But a decent 0 point astromech would go a long way to putting the T-65 on par with the B-Wing.

Ya know, better astros to feed off the IA would be a nice idea. How abaout a generic astro that lets other ships with the same astro use their targeting data?

R3

1 point

When attacking, you may treat target lock or focus tokens assigned to friendly ships also equipped with the R3 upgrade card as your own.

A 0 or 1 point generic X-Wing only Astromech that permitted you to exchange your Attack and Agility values before you revealed your dial might be cool. That would make the X-Wing a flexible fighter and further enhance their ability to joust.

The more I think about this, the more I like it. It's an upgrade that puts a little more interaction in a jousting combat by allowing you to adjust to the situation and attempt to force targeting priority decisions on your opponent. Do you shoot at the 2 Agility X-Wing at full health or do you keep focusing on the one that has lost it's shields but is throwing 3 green dice?

Draw Their Fire in Astromech form might also be thematic for Rebel mooks. You wouldn't really need to restrict that to a particular type of ship either.

The problem is making it T-65 only.

My first thought was, just make it T-65 only, but then I remembered that's not actually on any of the card or dial so that doesn't work.

FFG has established that X-Wing would include T-70's as well, since the TIE/fo Fighter can use things that are TIE Fighter only.

Someone else in another thread said Rebel X-Wing only.

Why can't you get sub-faction specific? Easy :D

Many feel that IA isn't a good enough X-Wing fix. That maybe true so that's not what I'm talking about.

Thematically speaking I think it is great to encourage, if not rule it that, all X-Wings to carry an on-board AstroMech. Okay I didn't read the book and just watched the movies. From that perspective they should take flight without one. Besides navigation data they were the on board fixer up mechanic too getting just a little more speed while locking down a loose stabilizer.

Also toward the end of Star Wars (many call it ANH) you see R2-D2 take a hit rather than the X-Wing itself.

So thematically it makes sense; IA and AstroMech. :)

Edited by Ken at Sunrise

Played two games tonight faced wedge with IA both times he died never triggering it my bomber blew him away with prokets the first time and tie/D just delivered too much damage the second time.

To top it off if wedge had barrel roll he could of rolled into range one and avoided the bombers arc instead he died like a punk.

Played two games tonight faced wedge with IA both times he died never triggering it my bomber blew him away with prokets the first time and tie/D just delivered too much damage the second time.

To top it off if wedge had barrel roll he could of rolled into range one and avoided the bombers arc instead he died like a punk.

INB4 "Should've taken BB8"

Anyone flying into range 1 of a bomber with prockets kind of deserves it

Edited by jokerkd

Anyone flying into range 1 of a bombef b with prockets kind of deserves it

I'd try rereading his post first.

Anyone flying into range 1 of a bombef b with prockets kind of deserves it

He was ioned by the defenders he had no choice in the matter, but if he'd had barrel roll he could of done something.

At range two or three I had plasma torpedoes so he's under attack for the same no matter the range.

On a side note guidance chimps are amazing first time ever taking ordnance didn't feel like a waste.

Anyone flying into range 1 of a bombef b with prockets kind of deserves it

I'd try rereading his post first.

Not sure how re-reading it would lead me to this

Anyone flying into range 1 of a bombef b with prockets kind of deserves it

He was ioned by the defenders he had no choice in the matter, but if he'd had barrel roll he could of done something.

At range two or three I had plasma torpedoes so he's under attack for the same no matter the range.

On a side note guidance chimps are amazing first time ever taking ordnance didn't feel like a waste.

Which makes sense now

Edited by jokerkd

Anyone flying into range 1 of a bombef b with prockets kind of deserves it

He was ioned by the defenders he had no choice in the matter, but if he'd had barrel roll he could of done something.

At range two or three I had plasma torpedoes so he's under attack for the same no matter the range.

On a side note guidance chimps are amazing first time ever taking ordnance didn't feel like a waste.

So what you are saying is that any ship would have died in these circumstances? Super useful information for a discussion on IA!

He set himself up for failure, sounds like his own problem there.

Edited by AmPm

A 0 or 1 point generic X-Wing only Astromech that permitted you to exchange your Attack and Agility values before you revealed your dial might be cool. That would make the X-Wing a flexible fighter and further enhance their ability to joust.

What if this was a dual upgrade card called S-Foils, with a -1 attack die, +1 agility effect and the ability to perform a 5 straight when a 4 straight is revealed, and another side that is just blank?

Exempt the T-70 from it so that we we don't buff Poe and there you go. A free title that helps Biggs and encourages some regen play on a T-65 instead of on Poe and Ello. That sh*tty +1 agility Astromech might actually see some play with it as you could stack a ton of green dice together.

Innate 2 agility

S-Foils 3 agility

Stealth Device 4 Agility

Range 3 5 Agility

Obstruction 6 agility

+1 agility die astromech 7 agility

*Curly from 3 Stooges noise* woopwoopwoopwoopwoop

There is that stealth X-Wing some of you guys want, haha.

I want a droid that lets me spend my target lock tokens like an evade or focus token. TL somebody and use it for defense.

I want a droid that lets me spend my target lock tokens like an evade or focus token. TL somebody and use it for defense.

So you want a Droid that gives you Tarns ability?

Please stop trying to give every ship boost and barrel roll. Not every ship needs boost and barrel roll. The X-Wing is within 1 point of being better than the B-Wing, all they need is a great Astromech that doesn't break the Y-Wing or T-70.

Please stop trying to give every ship boost and barrel roll. Not every ship needs boost and barrel roll. The X-Wing is within 1 point of being better than the B-Wing, all they need is a great Astromech that doesn't break the Y-Wing or T-70.

An x-wing title making astros 1 point cheaper would be fair and would allow me to run targeting astros on my 4 blue noobs with IA

I'd be very ok with that

Edited by jokerkd