Hi all

Im not the most veteran X-Wing player but I do get some games in weekly at my local store.

Im certainly not the best player as im still unlearning attack wing and learning X-wing

I got into X-wing the day Scum were released. Currently I have just about everything except the epic ships as I have no interest in epic (thats what Armada is for). I have my favorite ships as does everybody, and I listen to a few podcasts and try to keep up with the meta and such. Ive noticed however that some ships are just never on the table. Id like to see more viable options than what is currently out there. im not going to give suggestions for any ship as i dont think for this game im qualified enough but i will put up a short list of ships Ive never seen on any table and ask you all to offer a suggestion or 2 as to what FFG could do to make these ships more attractive to us players

Tie Punisher Big Bad Tie ...its actually the reason I started buying imperial ships, I saw this monster and had to have one

Star Viper ... yes I keep hearing this ship will be in an upcoming aces/veterans pack so maybe we should skip this one

Firespray 31 Actually my favorite ship in the game, unfortunately this thing seems to have a permanent home in everyones case

G-1A .... I see the cards from it all the time, just not the ship, I did try it, no luck there but thats not saying much

Other ships that just seem to be behind the meta or simply not being played

Kihraxz Fighter

B-wings

z95

Ewing

So am I right? are these ships just not being played?, how can they be "fixed"?

For the most part yeah, these ships are not used much competitively. However, I've done well with most of those ships, at least in small tournaments, so they can be made to work decently.

TIE punisher is a bit over-priced, but I like to use it in a hit+run capacity. Give it LRS + Homing missile + extra munitions, pick up a TL from a long way away, then swoop in and fire off a missile. Next turn, run away using boost to GTFO. Grab a TL again, turn around and come back at the target. It really only works in a list of other ships that can occupy your opponent and are relatively survivable.

Of course, at 28 points, you could also get a Delta w/ X-7 title. Less early game punch, but overall way more durable and has much better time on target. Hard for the punisher to compete with that...

I also like the Firespray, at least in Scum lists. I really like Scum Boba and have used him successfully with Xizor as well as in other lists.

Star Vipers unfortunately have become obsolete with the release of the Protectorate starfighter. It can do everything that a Star Viper can do, but cheaper. Still, the pilot abilities of Guri and Xizor are different and work well in lists built specifically to take advantage of them.

The Mist Hunter generics are actually quite good (like the b-wing in fact). A ruthless freelancer with FCS is a solid 25 point ship. Also, for 33 points, a Gand Findsman with PTL, outlaw tech and advanced sensors has incredible action efficiency. 2 tokens every turn, no matter what move you pick on your dial.

B-wing w/ FCS is good too, although it can suffer against large-based ships with its piddly 2 k-turn (situational, but against opponents that know this weakness, its a significant disadvantage----fortunately not many players realize it)

E-wing is seriously over-priced. Worse perhaps than pre-veterans TIE Defenders. Except Corran Horn. He's amazing value for his points, and this really is the conundrum. Fixing the e-wing without making Corran Horn insanely OP is extremely difficult...

The Khiraxz is awful, unfortunately. Its worse than even a T-65 x-wing, since the x-wing at least has integrated astromech to help a bit and has some amazing pilot abilities (in fact, all the uniques are good in their own way). Talonbane is not terrible, but the rest of the Khiraxz pilots are meh.

z-95 is not terrible. Its use as a filler ship has diminished in recent waves, but both rebel and scum versions have some decent pilot abilities to work with.

Now having said all that, its important to realize that ALL of these ships are perfectly viable outside of major competitive events. They work just fine casually. Not saying that a fix for many, if not all, wouldn't be nice, but its not like any of them are awful (maybe the Khiraxz, but even that ship can scrape by in casual play).

The k fighter has a minor saving grace: it has an ok dial and costs 25 points with mindlink and slicer tools. That lets it slot into a Mindlink list as a 3rd ship while spending a little extra on the other two.

For example, I've been enjoying it in:

Asajj Ventress - mindlink, slicers, dengar

Manaroo - mindlink, slicers, k4, unhinged

Black Sun Ace - mindlink slicers

It's not the best thing in the world but it's the thing that fits the mindlink and slicers plan while letting Manny take k4.

As far as Z95s, for scum, N'dru has an AMAZING alpha strike for the points value. With the preview of the quadjumper, he also now has the possibility of this not just being an alpha strike. I foresee you'll see a lot of him when a list can squeeze him and his 25 points in. For reference:

I still occasionally run 2x Blue Bs w/ HLC. 4 dice attacks just seem to always draw a lot of hate from the enemy, but if you pair them with a good end-game ace, you can mess with target priority. And sometimes the basic lists, flown well, need to give the new age fancy lists a run for their money.

Firespray could use another title such as

Title (unique)

0 points

Firespray only

You lose either the missile or bomb upgrade slot.

When you reveal your maneuver, you may decrease its speed by 1 (to a minimum of 1).

You may fire secondary weapons through your aux. arc.

Gives it 1 hards, a 2k-turn, gives imperial boba an extra trick, gives all the secondary weapon user a good bump, the clear winner of this title is scum kath but it still would overall give a big boost to the firespray without a simple point reduction and scum kath would still be at 42 points with mangler and nothing else.

The TIE Punisher needs a good system slot to make it worth it, FCS is nice but still makes it even more overpriced for something the bomber can do for cheaper. It needs to be the super bomber/missile platform that it was suppose to be. I posted this in a previous thread that a few people liked

system mod
Tie punisher only
0 pts

You may treat 'ATTACK (TARGET LOCK):' header as 'ATTACK:'.
Once per turn, If a game effect instructs you to spend a target lock, you may ignore it.
Once per turn, after an attack, you may make another attack with a secondary weapon or you may perform a bomb Upgrade card action as a free action.

It puts redline back to "top dog" for punishers and deathrain an extra option for droping bombs, or can take the cheaper pilots for a heavy hitter that would still be more expensive than the bombers but not overshadow it.

Title (unique)

0 points

Firespray only

You lose either the missile or bomb upgrade slot.

When you reveal your maneuver, you may decrease its speed by 1 (to a minimum of 1).

You may fire secondary weapons through your aux. arc.

system mod

Tie punisher only

0 pts

You may treat 'ATTACK (TARGET LOCK):' header as 'ATTACK:'.

Once per turn, If a game effect instructs you to spend a target lock, you may ignore it.

Once per turn, after an attack, you may make another attack with a secondary weapon or you may perform a bomb Upgrade card action as a free action.

Title (unique)

0 points

Firespray only

You lose either the missile or bomb upgrade slot.

When you reveal your maneuver, you may decrease its speed by 1 (to a minimum of 1).

You may fire secondary weapons through your aux. arc.

The problem with this is that you could outfit Kath with a Heavy Laser Cannon and have a 5 dice attack out the rear arc without much investment at all. Couple that with Tail Gunner, and Scum Kath becomes extremely OP. I like the idea, but it needs to not make every other option just not good enough to be considered.

system mod

Tie punisher only

0 pts

You may treat 'ATTACK (TARGET LOCK):' header as 'ATTACK:'.

Once per turn, If a game effect instructs you to spend a target lock, you may ignore it.

Once per turn, after an attack, you may make another attack with a secondary weapon or you may perform a bomb Upgrade card action as a free action.

I like this one, but I think it should be restricted to secondary weapons costing 4 or less points. That way there aren't Homing Missiles being spammed to hold on to that Target Lock to be spent on the second shot. Plus it makes AoE secondaries not able to be used with it. Still powerful, but not OP.

The restriction to the system one sounds pretty reasonable how would you word it though?

"Redline" (27)
Electronic Baffle (1)
Extra Munitions (2)
Concussion Missiles (4)
Long-Range Scanners (0)

"Quickdraw" (29)
Push the Limit (3)
Electronic Baffle (1)
Shield Upgrade (4)
Special Ops Training (0)

"Omega Leader" (21)
Juke (2)
Comm Relay (3)
Stealth Device (3)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

I believe this is the most usable Punisher list. Had some fun with a variant that was build to outdamage U-Boats back in the day, but without them OL can be used as lategame. I have yet to try it, but it is as promising as you get with Punishers. Don't use the generics, they are worse Bombers. The characters have some merit to them!

The Tie Striker is coming with Lightened Frame which will likely make the Punisher much more survivable. Really looking forward to it.

I agree that some of the ships mentiined need some love. But imo i do not think theybare dead in the water. For instance the Firespray. Not sure why the poor thing spends so much time on the shelf cause Scum Boba is really good. Kit him out with Fearlessness/VI, EU, and Glitterstim and you have a massive R1 tank that for the first engagement hardly gets scratched. Add some bombs for some trollishness after the first pass.

The G1-A is an interesting beast. Kinda like a Bwing but with a better dial. As the great Paul Heaver said it wants to be the Second deadliest ship on the board. Take it with something more deadly and it generally gets ignored. Zuckuss is an amazing pilot and with the Title and Advaced sensors he can dance around the board surprisingly well. Take Dengar as a crew and you are set.

For the others. Yea they do need some love. It's not that they are bad but they need a push in the right direction. Not really a fix but a buff. They are all so close to being good but fall ever so short.

The restriction to the system one sounds pretty reasonable how would you word it though?

system mod

Tie punisher only

0 pts

You may not equip secondary weapons that cost more than 4 squad points.

You may treat 'ATTACK (TARGET LOCK):' header as 'ATTACK:'.

Once per turn, If a game effect instructs you to spend a target lock, you may ignore it.

Once per turn, after an attack, you may make another attack with a secondary weapon or you may perform a bomb Upgrade card action as a free action.

You lose out on Proton Bombs, but you can't use those well with the upgrade anyway.

I've always felt that the punisher should have some sort of benefit that reflects all those ordnance pods hanging on to it. Something like allowing +1 copy of each limited secondary upgrade (so 2x extra munitions) or something that allows it to have fire 2 of the same one-shot secondary as a single combined shot (ala Macross).