Alpha Strike Swarms

By DeathToJarJar, in X-Wing Squad Lists

Who says only U-boats get to have fun with munitions?

These are a couple lists I came up with to take advantage of Lt. Blount with a swarm of Z-95s. Just theorycrafting for now, I don't have nearly enough ships to actually do this yet.

Lt. Blount (17)

X-23 S-Thread Tracers (1)

Squad Leader (2)

Bandit Squadron Pilot (12) x5

Concussion Missiles (4)

Guidance Chips (0)

Total 100

So this list seems pretty good; five missiles on turn 1 ought to be able to kill something. Squad Leader is to give Blount some relevance after turn 1 to help out any of the swarm that didn't get to fire their missiles (presumably because the first 3-4 turned the target into a molten wreck). The drawback is that you miss out on the initial salvo if Blount gets killed before he gets the tracers off. I thought about dropping two of the bandits for Biggs to solve that problem.

Lt. Blount (17)

X-23 S-Thread Tracers (1)

Squad Leader (2)

Biggs Darklighter (25)

R4-D6 (1)

Plasma Torpedoes (3)

Integrated Astromech (0)

Bandit Squadron Pilot (12) x3

Homing Missiles (5)

Guidance Chips (0)

Total 100

This list sacrifices some firepower for more resilience. I also thought about dropping Squad Leader to put Ion Torpedoes on Biggs as a way to deal with aces, but seeing as how he might die before getting to fire I wasn't sure it was worth the points. I think Homing Missiles are better than Concussion Missiles against Aces (which I could see being a problem for this list) because it stops the use of evade tokens.

Any thoughts?

Biggs seems like a really expensive way to make sure Blount lives through the first round of shooting, but it could work. If you wanted to stick to the Z-95 theme, Cracken is a cheap-ish way to get those lower PS pilots a Target Lock after everyone has moved. I think you could swap one of the Bandits with its missiles for Cracken straight up, and shuffling some missiles to a lower point cost could get him one as well.

I'm not really sure that is better, but it gives a slight back up plan. It would also let one or two ships fire at a target that didn't get tracer'ed. Then it is just a matter of mobbing whatever lives through the alpha strike.

Talas. If you're going to use ordnance on a z-95, the bump to PS4 is so worth it. Maybe keep one as a Bandit to run in front as a blocker if you're worried about losing actions.

The question of what ordnance to go with can be meta dependent, but I feel tracer Blount is a good call.

Edited by blade_mercurial

I thought about Talas; they slot into the second list pretty easily (downgrading homing missiles to concussion missiles), with the first - which I think is the better list - I don't have enough points without dropping something significant. I could downgrade the munitions but the only real options at 3 points are Ion Pulse Missiles and Adv. Homing Missiles, both of which lead to a significant drop in my damage output (I can't see Proton Rockets being much good on Z-95's). Better to drop the missiles on one ship entirely? I'm thinking Blount with Tracers and VI, 4 Talas with Concussion Missiles, and a Bandit. Other option is I drop Bandit completely and upgrade a Tala to Cracken, but then I'm down a ship.

I thought about Talas; they slot into the second list pretty easily (downgrading homing missiles to concussion missiles), with the first - which I think is the better list - I don't have enough points without dropping something significant. I could downgrade the munitions but the only real options at 3 points are Ion Pulse Missiles and Adv. Homing Missiles, both of which lead to a significant drop in my damage output (I can't see Proton Rockets being much good on Z-95's). Better to drop the missiles on one ship entirely? I'm thinking Blount with Tracers and VI, 4 Talas with Concussion Missiles, and a Bandit. Other option is I drop Bandit completely and upgrade a Tala to Cracken, but then I'm down a ship.

Blount doesn't need VI.

Blount w/ tracers

4 talas w/ concussions + chips = 17 x 4

1 tala w/ tracers + chips = 14

100

(drop one concussion carrier to bandit if desired)

If you JUST want to counter Torpedo Scouts, then you can go without blount:

4 talas w/ homing missiles + chips = 18 x 4

2 talas w/ tracers + chips = 14 x 2

100

Technically, homing missiles are really good against aces too, but actually getting to launch them at an ace is easier said than done...