Hey all, firstly appologies for another dash and vcx build however I need a bit of advice on my build before I enter my very first local tournament.

The Build:

Dash

Outrider

PTL

HLC

Kanan

Lothal Rebel

FCS

ABT

Hera

Intel Agent

99 point build. The reason atm for Intel agent is I tend to fly the ghost recklessly and up close and whilst he is there intel agent proves handy in assisting dash with his antics. I know if I remove intel agent I could add han crew or chopper pilot which I know are popular choices but the same time though I would lose my init bid.

Do I need an initiative bid and should I give it to the opponent so dash moves later?

Should I bin Intel Agent?

What changes could I make to give me a better chance against palp aces or uboats?

Do I even stand a chance against palp aces or uboats? :-D

Thanks in advanced.

How comfortable are you flying Dash ? If you get too aggressive and up close the doughnut of HLC will hurt you. Drop it for Mangler frees you up some points.

I would also consider Accuracy Corrector with the Rebel if you are gonna use ABT.

Chopper pilot is good if you are a really aggressive flyer.

Actually I prefer FCS as it benefits the primary weapon nicely as well as the ABT. With Range 1 on a PS3 ship with no repositioning moves, the ABT is more of a deterrent than an Ace-killer. Every once in a while, you might get lucky and get the ACC+ABT combo off but overall I think the FCS will prove a better boost to your damage output.

I agree. Unless you are running Phantom for the double tap, FCS is almost always going to be better. And when you think about it, even if ACC process to be better once every game (typically not the case), if you average getting 4 shots a game, it's still only the better choice 25% of the time.

To the OP, I don't think init bid is super important on turrets especially if you drop to Mangler, so I would drop IA for Han. Even if you don't drop to Mangler, if you try to keep R3 on enemies, there's a high probability they won't be able to get into R1 with it some amazing prediction/bad choices on your part. Fly smart and keep buzzarding with Dash, and you'll do fine.

Good advice there already. I'm no expert but I just ran this list in a tourney, with Han instead of Intel Agent. Almost took APL instead of Han.

Didn't face Palpy Aces but plenty of toilet seat lists there. If there's a way of avoiding taking a load of hits from turrets flying a bus like the VCX I don't know it, so my approach was to go aggressive pick one target and try to keep range 1 arc on it for 5 dice primaries. Never used the ABT once in all 5 games, but I think it does give some opponents pause about getting their aces close.

Hera is great. Opponents forget her ability and you can surprise them with moves when stressed. But it does come with a problem. Once those shields are gone if you go aggressive and rack up the stress, as soon as you start collecting crits you get nerfed bad. And if you get hit with the all-damage-dealt-face-up one, and you have 3 or more stress tokens to clear, the ship dies fast.

I honestly don't know if I'd take Han again. Sure he's good as an alternative to using the TL, but if you're going to get it back again anyway with FCS it's no big deal and I only used Han's ability twice that I recall, almost always it was better to reroll the lot. Not sure who I'd replace him with though which is why I considered APL or Chopper pilot as it definitely is a great ship for blocking.

Dash is great with Kanan, EU and the HLC. Don't change a thing there.

Good advice there already. I'm no expert but I just ran this list in a tourney, with Han instead of Intel Agent. Almost took APL instead of Han.

Didn't face Palpy Aces but plenty of toilet seat lists there. If there's a way of avoiding taking a load of hits from turrets flying a bus like the VCX I don't know it, so my approach was to go aggressive pick one target and try to keep range 1 arc on it for 5 dice primaries. Never used the ABT once in all 5 games, but I think it does give some opponents pause about getting their aces close.

Hera is great. Opponents forget her ability and you can surprise them with moves when stressed. But it does come with a problem. Once those shields are gone if you go aggressive and rack up the stress, as soon as you start collecting crits you get nerfed bad. And if you get hit with the all-damage-dealt-face-up one, and you have 3 or more stress tokens to clear, the ship dies fast.

I honestly don't know if I'd take Han again. Sure he's good as an alternative to using the TL, but if you're going to get it back again anyway with FCS it's no big deal and I only used Han's ability twice that I recall, almost always it was better to reroll the lot. Not sure who I'd replace him with though which is why I considered APL or Chopper pilot as it definitely is a great ship for blocking.

Dash is great with Kanan, EU and the HLC. Don't change a thing there.

I'd probably go APL in this build -- Chopper handing out a stress is fun and all, but, against the folks that you're likely to block, they've got plenty of options for clearing the stress, and the real inconvenience for them was the block to begin with (and Chopper actually helps Soontir out, if you manage to pull a block).

Ok, thank you everyone for your input, it's all really helpfull. As suggested I think I will be keeping Dash as he is. I don't have APL but I definitely could borrow it off a friend ready for the tournament, I will experiment between that and Chopper on Vassal to see how I get on.

I know Chopper can help Soontir out but I do prefer how his ability is guaranteed where as APL I have to rely on my terrible luck.

Edit: I wonder if Leebo has a place here, could be usefull in catching someone out.

Edit: I wonder if Leebo has a place here, could be usefull in catching someone out.

There was a crit blocker Leebo/Chewy list that I saw a while ago. Leebo with Determination and obviously Chewy's ability. Not sure overall how successful it was, but certainly was a pain knowing you had to do straight damage to take them down. Saw it massacre a Greedo list. Good times.

I think he meant Leebo crew, which would be viable, though I tend to stay away from anything that is action dependent on the VCX -- I tend to rely on the silly back-to-back reds to screw with an opponent's perception. My most enjoyable game was pulling two sets of back-to-back 5Ks against a mini-swarm & shuttle build.

I think he meant Leebo crew.

He probably did. I'm going to go drink the rest of my coffee and come back later.

Doh yeah I should have elaborated leebo crew, but yeah now you highlight it he doesn't have much synergy with the go wild and use Hera style of play.

I like what you're doing currently with Dash. It's the way that Dash dashes.

I like the Lothal Rebel, except I'd drop Intel Agent down to Chopper (crew) and then add Guidance Chip and 1 Flechette Torpedo to the list.

Doesn't seem like much, but the single stressing Flechette gives you a one time rear arc attack at range 2 or 3(combined with the TL from FCS), which is better than not getting that attack, and it gives you a stress mechanic to threaten Soontir and Inquisitor. It's a solid investment of 4 points to enhance your area of denial vs. those fragile PtL Imperial Aces.

The other option is to drop the Intel Agent and then spend those 2 points upgrading from Lothal Rebel to Chopper Pilot, because shooting at PS4 can be relevant against U-Boats and Crackswarms these days. I'd definitely do one of those two things, as I think that either one is more beneficial than the Intel Agent and the 1pt bid, but that's just me.

Sound advice thank you! I've given chopper a good test run now and it does seem to be a bit better than my original build

I really like the Flechette idea so will test run that now.

I like what you're doing currently with Dash. It's the way that Dash dashes.

I like the Lothal Rebel, except I'd drop Intel Agent down to Chopper (crew) and then add Guidance Chip and 1 Flechette Torpedo to the list.

Doesn't seem like much, but the single stressing Flechette gives you a one time rear arc attack at range 2 or 3(combined with the TL from FCS), which is better than not getting that attack, and it gives you a stress mechanic to threaten Soontir and Inquisitor. It's a solid investment of 4 points to enhance your area of denial vs. those fragile PtL Imperial Aces.

The other option is to drop the Intel Agent and then spend those 2 points upgrading from Lothal Rebel to Chopper Pilot, because shooting at PS4 can be relevant against U-Boats and Crackswarms these days. I'd definitely do one of those two things, as I think that either one is more beneficial than the Intel Agent and the 1pt bid, but that's just me.

Exactly my thinking CB!

I'm currently running this same list and tried it with APL. Problem is when you finally get it off ... you roll a blank or an eye!

The flechette does help to cover a lot of area and stop people k turning behind you. Then you can fit guidance chips and chopper crew for when you really want that focus after a K turn.

I've been flying something similar and I've been wondering what techniques you can use to make the Ghost last as long as possible. Basicaly, in all my games, Dash gets free rein while the Ghost lives, so every extra round it survives is another tasty HLC shot.

I have been flying my Ghost straight into the body of my opponent's force to start blocking and disrupting, and opening up the possibility of that surprise red 5K, but maybe a slower approach would be better, a range 3 shot, maybe followed by a 5K turn in front of the enemy then making them chase you while Dash shoots from the periphery?

Thoughts?

Nice video for Dash / Lothal pilots, from regional semi-finals in iceland:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnW82CQy2bM

I've been flying something similar and I've been wondering what techniques you can use to make the Ghost last as long as possible. Basicaly, in all my games, Dash gets free rein while the Ghost lives, so every extra round it survives is another tasty HLC shot.

If you want your Ghost to survive then maybe looking at a Kanan build would be better. Of course that costs more points so you have to decide what sort of game you are going to play. You are never going to get a Ghost that is cheap, tanky AND shooty. You can have 2 and ignore the third or have 1 with a bit of the other 2.