VCX build to back up Dash?

By Essexkiwi, in X-Wing Squad Lists

First tournament coming up tomorrow, just can't decide on a final list.

Running 58pt Dash with Outrider, HLC, PTL, Kanan, EU

Have faffed around with running other backup for Dash but I'm settled on running the VCX, just can't decide on how to kit it out and whether or not to drop EU off of Dash to make the VCX better.

Options I'm considering are:

Lothal Rebel, ABT, FCS, Hera, Tactician (would run Han instead of Tactician but don't have him)

Lothal Rebel, ABT, Hera, Chewie. (50/50 build, can keep pulling red moves with Hera to keep in arc, Chewie for durability)

I have run the VCX before with 54pt Dash (dropped engine upgrade) as Lothal Rebel, FCS, ABT, Lando, Chewie. Great for durability unless stressed if Lando pushes out evades and with extra 3 hit points from Chewie, but if Dash gets hunted the loss of EU makes it harder for him to get out of Dodge.

I'm probably waaay overthinking this, so any pointers appreciated.

If you're keeping HLC Dash, I recommend dropping any second crew and going:

Chopper [VCX]

Hera [Crew]

Autoblaster Turret

FCS

I'm personally thinking of dropping down to Mangler Dash (GASP!) so I can stick Ezra [Crew] on the VCX, which should synergize fairly well with my constant red maneuvers...

Of course, I'm having a really hard time committing to the Mangler... Which means I'll probably run a Palp Aces list at the upcoming Regional instead of Dash/Chopper.

Edited by ArbitraryNerd

I find the main problem with super Dash is that it has no real answers to RAC with Engine Upgrade. He moves after you and even though you can move a little further by using your B-Roll, you both move so fast that the map just isn't large enough to consistently keep that ship out of your doughnut hole.

I know because I ran Vader+RAC against a Dash+Ghost combo and with my superior PS and arc dodging, and ate up his list while denying him ALL shots for 3 turns in a row. His Ghost had TLT, but there's always a blind spot for those two ships, and my higher PS guys were just able to exploit them.

I guess what I'm saying is, if you're going to run Dash, make sure to have a buddy who can cover the doughnut hole fiercely. Maybe Miranda with Conner Net and Ion Bombs to impede pursuit of Dash, who can then lay waste to the competition from afar? I dunno.

I would think hard about any build that fields a VCX without using its system slot.

Think on this:


Lothal Rebel (35)
Fire-Control System (2)
Autoblaster Turret (2)
Extra Munitions (2)
Proton Torpedoes (4)
Tactician (2)
Weapons Engineer (3)
Guidance Chips (0)
Total: 50
If you're a fan of symmetry, you can run two of that ship. Once you fire at anything, your FCS acquires a TL on it but also on your secondary target, essentially turning on your rear arc vs. two different ships, from which you can fire Proton Torps that are modified by themselves and G-Chips.
Enemy aces will have to beware R2 of your front and rear arcs thanks to the Tacticians and won't be able to get near you at R1, thanks to the autoblaster turrets, essentially making these things like two big Firesprays but without R1 blindspots on the sides and with bigger guns and more shields.

You can probably do better with unique upgrades, crew and pilots...but this one is really for all the symmetry lovers out there.

Edited by CBMarkham

Think on this:

Lothal Rebel (35)
Fire-Control System (2)
Autoblaster Turret (2)
Extra Munitions (2)
Proton Torpedoes (4)
Tactician (2)
Weapons Engineer (3)
Guidance Chips (0)
Total: 50
If you're a fan of symmetry, you can run two of that ship. Once you fire at anything, your FCS acquires a TL on it but also on your secondary target, essentially turning on your rear arc vs. two different ships, from which you can fire Proton Torps that are modified by themselves and G-Chips.
Enemy aces will have to beware R2 of your front and rear arcs thanks to the Tacticians and won't be able to get near you at R1, thanks to the autoblaster turrets, essentially making these things like two big Firesprays but without R1 blindspots on the sides and with bigger guns and more shields.

You can probably do better with unique upgrades, crew and pilots...but this one is really for all the symmetry lovers out there.

I would argue that you'd be MUCH better off replacing those torps and ABT with TLT. Leaves you with 2 points and a mod slot... Flechettes just to activate that rear arc?

Think on this:

Lothal Rebel (35)
Fire-Control System (2)
Autoblaster Turret (2)
Extra Munitions (2)
Proton Torpedoes (4)
Tactician (2)
Weapons Engineer (3)
Guidance Chips (0)
Total: 50
If you're a fan of symmetry, you can run two of that ship. Once you fire at anything, your FCS acquires a TL on it but also on your secondary target, essentially turning on your rear arc vs. two different ships, from which you can fire Proton Torps that are modified by themselves and G-Chips.
Enemy aces will have to beware R2 of your front and rear arcs thanks to the Tacticians and won't be able to get near you at R1, thanks to the autoblaster turrets, essentially making these things like two big Firesprays but without R1 blindspots on the sides and with bigger guns and more shields.

You can probably do better with unique upgrades, crew and pilots...but this one is really for all the symmetry lovers out there.

I would argue that you'd be MUCH better off replacing those torps and ABT with TLT. Leaves you with 2 points and a mod slot... Flechettes just to activate that rear arc?

Of course, these suggestions don't help with the actual topic of the thread, which is find support for Dash.

Even the most anemic Dash is 51 pts (No EU, Mangler instead of HLC). And, if you're going to run Dash, you REALLY want EU, so the cheapest (opinion) should be 55pts.

I'm personally struggling with taking a Mangler on Dash, but it DOES prevent issues such as RAC sneaking into a donut hole.

Well, if the goal is the best 42 pt VCX to pair with Dash, then TLT is out as that brings you to 41 by itself. I would argue the following would be a good start:

Lothal Rebel w/ FCS, ABT, Hera

This is 40 points. I would actually put Leebo on it to bring it up to 42. Yes I know, Leebo isn't a card you see often, but I would much rather take an ion token that be stuck at R2-3 of 3 toilet bowls. As a situational card, I think it's GREAT on the VCX, and might actually be better than EU in most cases. In addition, the fear of ABT coupled with boost creates a huge no fly zone for opponents when they're planning their dials on their aces.

Edit: The other option would be to go with Han instead of Leebo. Or dropping the second crew and going with Chopper.

Edited by Khyros

Well, if the goal is the best 42 pt VCX to pair with Dash, then TLT is out as that brings you to 41 by itself. I would argue the following would be a good start:

Lothal Rebel w/ FCS, ABT, Hera

This is 40 points. I would actually put Leebo on it to bring it up to 42. Yes I know, Leebo isn't a card you see often, but I would much rather take an ion token that be stuck at R2-3 of 3 toilet bowls. As a situational card, I think it's GREAT on the VCX, and might actually be better than EU in most cases. In addition, the fear of ABT coupled with boost creates a huge no fly zone for opponents when they're planning their dials on their aces.

Edit: The other option would be to go with Han instead of Leebo. Or dropping the second crew and going with Chopper.

I think the part proposed by Kyros, which I put in bold, is a spot on 40pt base. I like that list with Chopper Crew, and spend the last 2 points installing a Flechette Torpedo and then add a G-Chip to it. The Flechette gives you a weak rear arc at something you've already shot at (better than nothing) but it also lets you threaten certain ships with a stress token, which can actually be intimidating for Soontir or a Brobot or whatever.

As mentioned in the post above mine, Chopper pilot is also solid for 2pts, and Leebo is probably pretty solid also.

I'm just throwing my hat in to also advocate for FCS, ABT and Hera. That's a strong, cheap start. Last 2 points is on you.

Just throwing this out there but...you sure you want Dash?

Han Solo (46)
Push the Limit (3)
Kanan Jarrus (3)
Kyle Katarn (3)
Engine Upgrade (4)
Millennium Falcon (1)
Lothal Rebel (35)
Fire-Control System (2)
Autoblaster Turret (2)
"Chopper" (0)
Hera Syndulla (1)
Total: 100
'Cause Dash has a few strengths over this Han, but for two points more, I think the Han is way better. PS9 as opposed to PS7 is a benefit that's hard to overstate when you consider Omega Leader, Inquisitor, Whisper and RAC. Not to mention no doughnut hole.
You have to mind the obstacles again, but boy do you get a ton of actions with the ability to move at a crazy high PS. It's a mean ship.
Edited by CBMarkham

Why not plunk down an accuracy corrector with your ABT? Always fun to stuff two unblockable hits down your opponent's throat...

I'm just throwing my hat in to also advocate for FCS, ABT and Hera. That's a strong, cheap start. Last 2 points is on you.

Cheers Khyros and others. This is pretty much what I went with, 58pt Dash and Lothal Rebel with FCS, ABT, Hera and Han.

It actually went pretty well despite my mediocre skills at running it, although I never once used Han's ability as each time it was better to just reroll the TL. I also did a bit of blocking with it, so would have been better with APL, Ion projector or taking Chopper intead of Lothal.

I think the fastest that Dash died was when I faced triple K-Wings with bombs galore and had no idea what was coming having never played with or against them. The VCX took out two of them while solo before it finally went down. In all the games I played the VCX did exactly what I wanted it to, which was take a lot of fire off of Dash so he could do his thing, and pump out as many target locked 5-dice primary shots as I could get it in arc for before it went down. Hera was definitely great for 1pt, pulling repeat K turns surprises people. However if you keep pulling reds and ignore the stress tokens racking up, you definitely regret that once you get hit with the crit that makes all damage cards face up. That hurt me bad in two games.

Just throwing this out there but...you sure you want Dash?

Han Solo (46)
Push the Limit (3)
Kanan Jarrus (3)
Kyle Katarn (3)
Engine Upgrade (4)
Millennium Falcon (1)
Lothal Rebel (35)
Fire-Control System (2)
Autoblaster Turret (2)
"Chopper" (0)
Hera Syndulla (1)
Total: 100
'Cause Dash has a few strengths over this Han, but for two points more, I think the Han is way better. PS9 as opposed to PS7 is a benefit that's hard to overstate when you consider Omega Leader, Inquisitor, Whisper and RAC. Not to mention no doughnut hole.
You have to mind the obstacles again, but boy do you get a ton of actions with the ability to move at a crazy high PS. It's a mean ship.

Yeah I preferred Dash purely as I've run him a lot in my limited time playing so far, so know how to use him. Having run him a lot I guess you can literally say I've done my dash with him :) so will be looking at running Han or Chewy instead of I want a large ship.

I've been running

Dash

Title

Mangler (the doughnut hole of HLC has been lethal for Dash)

Kanan

EU

Chopper

FCS

Autoblaster

Hera

Han

FCS is a must on the VCX with Hera as you will have a mountain of stress and having the TL essentially gives you an action to help put hits through and burn down ships. If you can keep the VCX alive long enough to take a few ships off the board Dash can pretty easily mop up the rest.