Picked up my second arc 170 today and played a casual game with the list that fickle green dice is posting every time someone asks about arcs only I made a small tweak because I don't own integrated astromech or R4D6 and I didn't think braylen would be able to take many actions because stress mule so I dropped vectored thrusters from him this gave me enough points to put R2-F2 on Biggs and just use that as my action every turn since he was going to die anyway.

So my list

ARC-170: · Braylen Stramm (25)

· R3-A2 (2)

Gunner (5)

Alliance Overhaul (0)

ARC-170: · Norra Wexley (29)

Push The Limit (3)

· R2-D2 (4)

Vectored Thrusters (2)

Tail Gunner (2)

Alliance Overhaul (0)

X-Wing: · Biggs Darklighter (25)

· R2-F2 (3)

-- TOTAL ------- 100/100p. --

FGD list

ARC-170: · Norra Wexley (29)

Push The Limit (3)

· R2-D2 (4)

Vectored Thrusters (2)

Tail Gunner (2)

Alliance Overhaul (0)

ARC-170: · Braylen Stramm (25)

· R3-A2 (2)

Vectored Thrusters (2)

Gunner (5)

Alliance Overhaul (0)

X-Wing: · Biggs Darklighter (25)

· R4-D6 (1)

Integrated Astromech (0)

Two observations here. One, braylens ability paired with green maneuvers means he actually is free to take frequent actions and that barrel roll would have come in handy. And two, r2f2 is pricy but wow is it nice to roll 4 evade dice with Biggs. He lived a lot longer than usual. Also Norra freaking Wexley hits like a d@mn freight train. So many times i pulled 4 hits out of her attack I actually felt bad for my opponent. FGD I don't know if this list was your design or if you found it elsewhere but i applaud you. Wow just freaking wow.

no I'll actually take credit for this one

(though really, slapping on the two best astromechs isn't a huge innovation, see Paul Heaver's world winning r2-d2 poe + r3-a2 TLT btl-a4 Y list, but eh)

I put a month's work ironing this **** thing out and I want something, damnit!

apart from the gobsmacking models ofc

they're amazing ships that I didn't think would live up to their outstanding model quality, and I couldn't be happier to have been wrong

i've played 10 games with the Norra/Biggs/Braylen archetype and lost only 2. One was to 3 T-70s and a Y and the other was something i forget.

The thing that surprises me is how good it is against such a wide range of stuff. Doing a lot of damage with a ship works against a lot of stuff. Directing fire away from my good ships works against everything. Double-stressing ships to deny actions works against a lot of stuff. Nearly everything likes to take actions.

With trip jumps out of the picture, there arent too many bad matchups. Dengaroo isn't GREAT, but it's not quite bad either. You don't necessarily HAVE to double stress with Braylen, and Gunner is really good for getting through defenses as-is. You still have a lot of really good offense on the table, and zuckuss doesnt do much to 1 agility anyways. It's just that Dengars ability gets around Biggs, which is bad. The only other kind of list that's bad is swarm lists, especially Rebel Swarm lists, or TLTs. TLTs SUCKS for this list, because there's so much HP on the table against you, and the weapon that naturally counters your 1 AGI is also there. Biggs can't live through that much firepower for long. Personally i'm hoping that people aren't planning on picking TLT lists back up because of how many other cool, neat toys that people would rather play, but... not counting on it.

Anyways, the point is while this list has some hard counters, they've been abandoned for a long time, and it's just as likely that they'll never come back then that they will.

TLTs may not be the end of the world, though they may force a move away from the lovable failin' Braylen to something more punchy v low agility

http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Rebel%20Alliance&d=v4!s!204:18,-1,184,3:41:26:;4:-1,77:-1:20:;206:1,61,69:41:25:&sn=in%20case%20of%20TLTs%20break%20glass

hope it doesn't happen personally as failin' Braylen's just such a clutch pilot to have against everything that isn't TLT ys or VCXs

Ehhhh...no. R2-F2 is always useless. Even free he'd be worse than your regular action.

After all, rolling 2 dice with 5/8 conversion (IE., taking focus instead of using R2-F2) = 14% of no evades, 47% of one evade, 39% of two evades

...vs...

After all, rolling 3 dice with 3/8 conversion (IE., not taking focus and using R2-F2 instead) = 24% no evades, 44% of one evade, 26% of two evades, 5% of three evades

IE., taking 'focus' over taking R2-F2 is just better - lower odds of completely whiffing, higher odds of 1 or 2 evade results.

Ehhhh...no. R2-F2 is always useless. Even free he'd be worse than your regular action.

After all, rolling 2 dice with 5/8 conversion (IE., taking focus instead of using R2-F2) = 14% of no evades, 47% of one evade, 39% of two evades

...vs...

After all, rolling 3 dice with 3/8 conversion (IE., not taking focus and using R2-F2 instead) = 24% no evades, 44% of one evade, 26% of two evades, 5% of three evades

IE., taking 'focus' over taking R2-F2 is just better - lower odds of completely whiffing, higher odds of 1 or 2 evade results.

That's true against a single shot, but against a lot of shots, R2F2 is actually solid. So in a TLT meta, R2F2 is actually way better than R4D6. You get an extra 3/8 dodge against each TLT shot that comes in. That's pretty meaninful if 2+ are shooting at you.

Ehhhh...no. R2-F2 is always useless. Even free he'd be worse than your regular action.

After all, rolling 2 dice with 5/8 conversion (IE., taking focus instead of using R2-F2) = 14% of no evades, 47% of one evade, 39% of two evades

...vs...

After all, rolling 3 dice with 3/8 conversion (IE., not taking focus and using R2-F2 instead) = 24% no evades, 44% of one evade, 26% of two evades, 5% of three evades

IE., taking 'focus' over taking R2-F2 is just better - lower odds of completely whiffing, higher odds of 1 or 2 evade results.

R2F2 is like expose - by itself, it's pretty terrible - but as number of defense rolls go up, and as you stack additional actions - it can actually shine. it's why in wave 1 R2F2 Biggs was pretty awesome when at range 3 of a tie swarm - you were adding as many as 7 dice - which works out to be almost 3 expected evades - where it's certainly better than a single focus adding at most 3 evades (if you roll triple eyes while having the token).

R2F2 struggles to be worth it vs a single attack. When you can stack dice, it is possible to make a 6 dice rolling biggs with multiple focus and an evade token, that reduces an incoming attack and forces rerolls on the attacking ship- that's pretty crazy though - and requires your whole list - and eventually you'll bump, or be not at range 3 and your dice will blank....

Ehhhh...no. R2-F2 is always useless. Even free he'd be worse than your regular action.

After all, rolling 2 dice with 5/8 conversion (IE., taking focus instead of using R2-F2) = 14% of no evades, 47% of one evade, 39% of two evades

...vs...

After all, rolling 3 dice with 3/8 conversion (IE., not taking focus and using R2-F2 instead) = 24% no evades, 44% of one evade, 26% of two evades, 5% of three evades

IE., taking 'focus' over taking R2-F2 is just better - lower odds of completely whiffing, higher odds of 1 or 2 evade results.

That's true against a single shot, but against a lot of shots, R2F2 is actually solid. So in a TLT meta, R2F2 is actually way better than R4D6. You get an extra 3/8 dodge against each TLT shot that comes in. That's pretty meaninful if 2+ are shooting at you.

in my experience, they both do the same in that scenario

i.e, jack diddly ****

... The only other kind of list that's bad is swarm lists, especially Rebel Swarm lists, or TLTs. TLTs SUCKS for this list, because there's so much HP on the table against you, and the weapon that naturally counters your 1 AGI is also there. Biggs can't live through that much firepower for long. Personally i'm hoping that people aren't planning on picking TLT lists back up because of how many other cool, neat toys that people would rather play, but... not counting on it.

It sure would be ironic, and rather sad, if nerfing U-boats ends up taking double ARC-170 lists out of the meta, solely because TLT's flood back into use.

Personally i'm hoping that people aren't planning on picking TLT lists back up because of how many other cool, neat toys that people would rather play, but... not counting on it.

Winning is fun.

Personally i'm hoping that people aren't planning on picking TLT lists back up because of how many other cool, neat toys that people would rather play, but... not counting on it.

If TLTs will be good against the new meta then you can count on people bringing them in numbers, regardless of how 'uncool' they might be perceived as by the community at large.

Winning is fun.

Well all we know is that Dengaroo and Palp Aces are guaranteed in the new meta. Rebel Regen will make a comeback as a result of Palp Aces. Basically it's like a reversion to Wave 7 meta, but with new Wave 8(Dengaroo) and 9(ARCs and Protectorates) lists as well. In my opinion, TLT use was gradually declining in the latter half of Wave 7 meta because Poe was more effective against Palp Aces than TLTs were(because Palp Aces have so many defensive bonuses including AT), so i wouldnt be all that surprised if it DIDNT make a huge comeback.

We also have to consider that the only reason we didnt see Bomber ordnance lists is that they were completely negated by the existence of jumps. Bomber ordnance lists might just keep TLTs dead. And i would be SO ok with that.

Gave me my best tournament result in a while, 7/28 (initially thought I was 8th, but appareantly not). Even though at points I failed the list hard! I had a 3 hull 1 shield Norra fly off the board because I was way too greedy with the aux-arc, turning a sure victory (killed Party Bossk, who wasted his Missiles on Norra, so I could just regen the damage, then it was my whole list vs. a super-stressed Assaj) very quickly into a depressing loss. In another match vs. Palp-Defenders I split up my ARCs too far, so that Norra got picked apart while Braylen couldn't turn around. Luckily those were my only losses and my MoV was very good. So praise twin ARCs!

Personally i'm hoping that people aren't planning on picking TLT lists back up because of how many other cool, neat toys that people would rather play, but... not counting on it.

If TLTs will be good against the new meta then you can count on people bringing them in numbers, regardless of how 'uncool' they might be perceived as by the community at large.

Winning is fun.

Well all we know is that Dengaroo and Palp Aces are guaranteed in the new meta. Rebel Regen will make a comeback as a result of Palp Aces. Basically it's like a reversion to Wave 7 meta, but with new Wave 8(Dengaroo) and 9(ARCs and Protectorates) lists as well. In my opinion, TLT use was gradually declining in the latter half of Wave 7 meta because Poe was more effective against Palp Aces than TLTs were(because Palp Aces have so many defensive bonuses including AT), so i wouldnt be all that surprised if it DIDNT make a huge comeback.

We also have to consider that the only reason we didnt see Bomber ordnance lists is that they were completely negated by the existence of jumps. Bomber ordnance lists might just keep TLTs dead. And i would be SO ok with that.

Also, the disappearance of triple Jumpmasters could mean the rise of Tractor Beam equipped G1-A, or B-Wings, and more widespread use of ordnance (not only TIE Bombers). Neither of these were available in Wave 7. A TLT Y-wing tractored onto a rock doesn't attack that round. Tractored to range 1 or 4, and you get similar results.

Escort some of your ships with with Ahsoka Tano on a captured TIE with Jyn Erso. It's unlikely that the Y-Wings can avoid at all damage from coming in with every attack, and they cannot attack the rival buffer.

TLT lists will be a presence, but I don't think they'll be as pervasive as triple jumps would have been in the absence of the FAQ...

And triple jumps feels like it's a lot worse of a matchup than quad tlt's, so overall the new meta is a step up for the arcs (I think).

Rebel Regen will make a comeback as a result of Palp Aces.

I have my doubts about that. Dengaroo destroys regen and I don't know whether regen does too hot against defenders either.

I like a weapons engineer and the new M9G8 astromec on my Arc. You add two TLT Y-wings and target lock them with the arc to make them hyper accurate. Add a Z95 with a missle and guidance chip of your prefered flavor.

Would you not take a list due to one specific enemy list?

Cover your bases a bit yeah. But unless I knew everyone else was running the counter to my list I wouldn't let it stop me at all.

I prefer Predator to PTL on Nora. Just makes her output way more reliable imo.

Gunner Braylen has really surpassed my expectations. I haven't played regen Nora enough to really give much of an opinion though.

I have my doubts about that. Dengaroo destroys regen and I don't know whether regen does too hot against defenders either.

I haven't tried Regen vs Dengaroo yet. I have a friend who likes his scum particularly scummy so I must try it out. The big question is, which regenerators? I frequently run Poe and Red Ace and I can see Dengaroo being a hard match for them although the speed of the T70s combined with Boost means they have a half-decent chance of chasing down Manaroo. Norra and Miranda on the other hand might do well against Dengaroo as they have the hit points to take a few punches from Dengar and then "walk it off". They can bot fire out of arc as well which makes it much easier for them to avoid Dengar's retaliation shot.

Against /x7 Defenders is it surprisingly similar. Regen and free Evade tokens rather cancel each other out. The white K-turns on the Defender give it an edge in jousting but Autothrusters and T-Rolls help the T70s. Again Miranda and Norra have a better time of things. TLT and 5-dice Homing missiles from Miranda can chew through Defender's token stacks quickly and Norra can pile on the damage too.

I think Rebel Regen will do quite well with U-boats out of the picture, it just won't necessarily be Poe and Red Ace all the time.

There's a guy that goes to my local stores that runs an interesting ARC list and has had very good success with it. I actually haven't faced him yet, but I've seen him play it against multiple opponents and win.

Norra Wexley: PTL, R2D2, Vectored Thrusters, Tail Gunner, Alliance Overhaul

Braylen Stramm: Targeting Astromech, Proton Torps, GChips, Tail Gunner, Alliance Overhaul

Biggs Darklighter: R3A2

From what I've seen, he starts them together, but is ready to split Braylen off whenever, but keeps Biggs on Norra 100%. Not sure how the whole game went, but he went against a Dengaroo and Norra was full health at the end of the match against a 2 health Dengar with Norra obviously finishing him off.

I'm 18-3 on Vassal with Fgd's patented list and I think it's a really good one. Now I'd like to find a proper name to honor its creator, something like Fireworks of Godly Darklight, or... well, I'm open to suggerstion

I'm 18-3 on Vassal with Fgd's patented list and I think it's a really good one. Now I'd like to find a proper name to honor its creator, something like Fireworks of Godly Darklight, or... well, I'm open to suggerstion

I call it "DARClighters".

Good name but it does not quote Fgd

Theres no way to elegantly fit the "**** dice results" theme of r3a2, r2d2 and r4d6 in a name as far as i can see

Id take DARClighters in a heartbeat

And ill be content woth my contributions of Braylen "stressmule" stramm (aka Failin Braylen/successful stramm)

I am a little behind the curve on ARC glory here, still only having one.

But I had some decent showings using Braylen Stressbot Tactician (with a filler Flechette Torpedo for good measure) recently.

I had not considered Gunner with Stressbot. My question is, does Stressbot trigger both times with a Gunner shot? I haven't fully absorbed all the timing chart nuances.