So some of us have had our Gen Con wave 9 stuff for a little while now. I have played at least 1 game with everything except the Arc 170. After playing these games, I have a very definite opinion on the good, the bad, and the ugly of wave 9 and a clear winner as far as faction goes. I feel that just like Wave 8(although debatable), Scum has come out far and away better off from Wave 9 than either of the other factions, and not just because they got two ships and the other two got one. If I had to rate the ships in order, I would rate them, Fang Fighter, Shadow Caster, Arc 170(and I haven't even flown it yet) and then Tie-SF. So my take on Wave 9, is The Good(Scum), The Bad, (Rebels) and The Ugly(Empire) So what do you all think? Let me know below. Also state how many(if any) games you've played with each ship and your opinion of each.

Any info to back those opinions up?

Eh

okay so I love the ARC model and I mostly enjoy how it plays

However, despite r3a2 gunner "Stressmule" braylen being imo incredibly competitive and push r2d2 tail gunner norra being almost there (main issue is Miranda runs similar costs but is FAR easier to use, except against dengaroo where TG kicks ass), it's missing something

Hopefully hotr crew (and much) and the tie's capt rex address its issues, which are mainly speed and utter dependency on Biggs.

(More specifically, even with tail gunner your aux arc is basically worthless v evade token ships or at range 3. R3-a2 don't care and in fact welcomes the gunner triggers either way, but without norra max damage + 1 from ability you aren't doing a damnn thing. On the other hand, Miranda gets TLT which shoots twice to mitigate evades and ignores range bonuses )

The fang, though? Imo MOST OVERRATED ship in maybe any wave

To be clear, they're good ships with rau and terry packing good abilities, but man o man. Guys I play in NYC, empire city, I practically SWIM through Palp aces. Next to them, the fang is simply precious

And I mean "D'awww, it thinks it's fel/jax" precious

While the title is surprisingly amazing and the two highest ps very solid, they are ultimately nothing new

Have had zero issues with them using ARCs apart from terry REALLY pissing me off. Seriously, that stupid guy is the ONE THING that makes me regret having an aux arc

Finally, faint scattering of shadowcasters here but Ventress has some obscene potential if flown well. The lancer is largely as predicted, absolute ass in a dice trade but very tricky and those tricks + mobile arc witchcraft can win games

No sf yet sadly

Most importantly, though, there is NO ugly

because this wave is ******* gorgeous

1 game and you have an opinion about these ships worthy of making a post with no facts about those opinions?

You cant judge a ship by 1 game. I few the Punisher several times before deciding it was garbage, and i flew the Phantom several times before deciding it WASNT garbage.

The wave9 ships dont play normal. Im willing to bet theres a lot of shenanigans people simply havnt noticed because of the aux arcs/mobile arc stuff.

A guy at my FLGS got one of the TIE/sf fighters from a friend at GenCon, and has proposed using either of the generics with just FCS. They fit a role that nobody else in the Empire can do at the moment, which is the slow-moving 3-attack ship. They can just march foward doing green 1-forwards, while their more nimble wingmen Juke or Crack Shot their way to victory.

They basically feel like the Imperial version of a B-Wing or Lambda. You'll probably get more mileage from their generics than their aces.

Edit: disregard

Any info to back those opinions up?

I'm going to start another thread with some of my initial thoughts on each ship separately. This thread is just to gauge the communities initial reaction to each ship.

The variance of the viability of the pilots in wave9 is very high. I would go so far as to say you really have to rate the individual pilots.

-- Wave 9 Aces --

Fenn Rau + Old Teroch

Asajj Ventress + Sabine Wren

-- Good Pilots --

Ketsu Onyo

Braylen Stremm + Thane Kyrell (either with R3-A2)

You can actually made good squads with the preceding 7 pilots from Wave 9.

-- More data required --

Norra Wexley

Quickdraw + Backdraft

-- Utter Trash --

Every single generic pilot

Shara Bey

1 game and you have an opinion about these ships worthy of making a post with no facts about those opinions?

You cant judge a ship by 1 game. I few the Punisher several times before deciding it was garbage, and i flew the Phantom several times before deciding it WASNT garbage.

The wave9 ships dont play. Im willing to bet theres a lot of shenanigans people simply havnt noticed because of the aux arcs/mobile arc stuff.

I didn't form an opinion off of 1 game. I formed an opinion using the hundreds of games I've played since wave 1 as a test group and then using that knowledge of how ships should feel at certain point costs, the utility of different dials and maneuvers, the interaction of different stats, etc to form a hypothesis. My hypothesis, which is my opinion, is that Scum is the winner in this wave. Why? Because, Scum got an arc dodger that doesn't have to dodge arcs, another awesome large ship with a pretty good dial that is now the fastest ship in the game(with Engine Upgrade) and pretty good pilot abilities. Like I said before, Rebels I haven't played yet, but I have played with the Tie/SF and I'm not a fan. Let's just examine the "best" pilot in the SF - QuickDraw. He starts out at 29 points. What do you get for that? Ps9 - that's great. 2 attacks(3 with title), 2 evades, 3 shields and 3 hull. His ability seems awesome on the surface, but at best you are using it 3 times a game, but more likely 1-2 times tops. With only 2 evades you will die quickly, especially if you attempt to get into the thick to use your rear arc and forward arc at the same time. And don't even get me started on that horrible dial! 6 whites, 5 greens, and six reds makes it pretty bad. The rear arc is mostly a gimmick that a good opponent will not allow you to use without punishing you for it. Overall I think the SF is pretty much a turd, and I'm not a fan.

I have no strong feelings about Wave 9, or Wave 10 for that matter.

All i know is that there is simply something magical about bumping Ryad(who did a 2 speed maneuver) with Biggs at range 1 of a focused and TL'd Norra, rolling 4 hits and a crit after her ability, Ryad rolling blank focus focus, and pulling a direct hit crit.

There is also something magical about stacking stress on the Inquisitor from Braylen's rear arc. Once you realize that R3-A2 Gunner Braylen has 180 degrees of "**** you" zone, it changes the way you think about the game.

Just absolutely magical. The ARC-170 is the best ship i've flown since the T-70 came out. Once i one-shot Ryad, i was immediately in love. Is that super situational? Yeah, definitely. Is it still amazing? Yes.

With Flechette Torpedos + Gunner (or tactician) + R3A2 + munition fail safe as an option, you can lay down 3 stress a turn on a single ship. The Rebels have a new stressor that should not be taken lightly.

There is also something magical about stacking stress on the Inquisitor from Braylen's rear arc. Once you realize that R3-A2 Gunner Braylen has 180 degrees of "**** you" zone, it changes the way you think about the game.

Just absolutely magical. The ARC-170 is the best ship i've flown since the T-70 came out. Once i one-shot Ryad, i was immediately in love. Is that super situational? Yeah, definitely. Is it still amazing? Yes.

quoted for all the truth

though there's nothing situational about Braylen (**** is guaranteed, son!)

There is also something magical about stacking stress on the Inquisitor from Braylen's rear arc. Once you realize that R3-A2 Gunner Braylen has 180 degrees of "**** you" zone, it changes the way you think about the game.

Just absolutely magical. The ARC-170 is the best ship i've flown since the T-70 came out. Once i one-shot Ryad, i was immediately in love. Is that super situational? Yeah, definitely. Is it still amazing? Yes.

quoted for all the truth

though there's nothing situational about Braylen (**** is guaranteed, son!)

I was referring to Ryad blanking out and pulling the direct hit. That may never happen again, but i will cherish that memory for the rest of my days.

As for Braylen, i looooooove that guy. Being able to double stress ships behind you is so amazing. Yeah, you're probably not going to DAMAGE ships behind you. This turn, anyways. Next turn, though? When they're still stressed and have no actions? And when Norra has them TL'd and a focus, and Braylen get's his Gunner shot off? Yeah, you'll do damage. The ARC-170 in general is the answer to unmaneuverable Rebel ships being tailed for the whole game to their doom. Go ahead. Try and tail Norra and Braylen. You won't do it for long, i promise you that. ARC-170s are weird to me for that reason, too! It's like... The first time i played with them, my first instinct after the first joust was to hard turn away and set up in the center. Then i realized.... i could just execute a 1 forward, and that was far more advantageous. I LOVE this freaking ship.

Only thing i can't figure out is if i want Norra with C3P0 or Tail Gunner. She'll hit harder out the back with Tail Gunner, but won't live as long.

I can barely hit **** without max damage norra ability AND tailgunner

don't know how anyone could stomach c3po and no tailgunner

I can barely hit **** without max damage norra ability AND tailgunner

don't know how anyone could stomach c3po and no tailgunner

Your name is ficklegreendice.

That's why.

I mean, i get your point. But the green dice. they be fickle.

can't rely on them

can't even rely on them being unreliable

but tailgunner also has the added benefit of making dengaroo look like a chump

yeah, nice re-roll + infina-focus you got there, buddy. too bad it's only with one agility. CRIT

Can we wait on these threads till the mass majority have gotten ahold of them, and people learn where they fit in? Ah, who am I kidding this happens every wave. People will always bandwagon or jump to conclusions.