Bwings, along with Xwings, have been left behind by the meta. Formerly the mainstay of the big rebel lists "BBBBZ" and "Bloody Daggers", the parade of arcdodgers, arcdodging fat turrets, TLTs, torpedo boats, and now finally x7 defenders have all crushed these traditional jousters. The x7 is particularly telling, because it too is a jouster- one that can actually compete with the rest of the list, and therefore leaves the "fixed" Xwing and the Bwing in the dust.
With wave 10 being released and as we wait for SW58 and wave 11 to be announced, the Vassal Custom Card League is a chance to try our own hand at balancing these classic ships.
Even when Blue Squadron and Dagger squadron were wrecking the meta, bwing aces have never seen much use. Ten Numb is sometimes pulled out an an ace hunter, able to force a crit through the teeth of a 4-agility focus/evade/autothruster/palp, but with the fall of the otherwise fragile Tie Interceptor, even Ten is falling to the back burner.
The first part of my Bwing fix is intended to help those out of date jousters, while throwing a bone to the likes of Ten Numb and Nera Dantles.
The Bwing's official loadout is lasers, ion cannons, an autoblaster, and a large rack of torpedoes. But in the Xwing miniatures game, even if you could load up on all that, you still only get one shot each round, so its clearly not worth the points to do so.
Hence, a per-upgrade price reduction. Tractor beam, Ion and 2 plasma torpedoes offers utility options, but arn't necessarily BETTER than the Bwing's native 3 attack. (remember, no guidance chips because this is a mod- Plasma torps are trading TL'd 3 reds for naked 4 reds, plus shield utility, the classic example of missiles not being worthwhile before chips)
This upgrade makes them all free- useful for what they do, but not better than the Bwing's native 3 die primary. Manglers, Autoblasters, and Heavy Laser, however, still costs points on par with what they offer, as many as 4 points for the HLC even after the price drop.
According to Major Juggler, a B-wing chassis with HLC has a jousting value of about 26.2 points, which puts Blue Squadron Bwings almost on par with an equivalent value of Tie Fighters. And giving those same Blue squadrons FCS raises their jousting value to 27.5, on par with the likes of x7 Defenders and the FCS Lothal Rebel.
Ten Numb gains utility from being able to autohit with Tractor beam, Ion cannon, or flechette without having to pay for expensive canons. And Nera Dantles has access to 3 free plasma torpedoes, 3 points for 3 proton torpedoes, or 4 points for 2 protons, plus a full cost Extra Munitions upgrade. (it's not a secondary weapon, so it doesnt get a price drop)
But what about Ibtisam or Farlander? Sure, they get bonuses, but they need to stress themselves to get it, limiting their options and shutting down the Bwing's dial. My answer:
A weakened Hera Crew combined with a weakened Primed Thrusters, for the same price as either. A GSS equipped Bwing still cares about stress because of the stress cap, but the ability to perform a red maneuver while stressed is HUGE- just ask anyone who's flown Lothal Rebel. Being able to take a barrel roll after performing a red maneuver is another bonus- and one that plays directly to the strength of high PS pilots like Ten Numb and Farlander.
Ibtisam's ability is amazing, but was previously ruined by shutting down his own dial and actions. This title makes Ibtisam a powerful mid-ps ace who must manage his stress, keeping it above 0 but not above 2.
Keyan Farlander benefits from both the barrel roll and for "red maneuver insurance", the ability to guess wrong on that stressful maneuver for a shot, keep the stress, and still k-turn back into the fight.
Stress is also a strong theme of the new Bwing pilots:
Like, he could have flown one of the E-wings in that battle, but no. Tycho has a better version of the Primed Thrusters effect, but still has the Red Maneuver stress cap. You can build him as a PTL monster, or you can have fun with stuff like Rage/Bwing E2/Inspiring Recruit.
The FIRST "Blade-wing" pilot, according to Disney. Hera's ability is a natural fit with the stress management of the GSS upgrade, able to threaten red OR green maneuvers off a stress. Of all the Bwing plots, Hera makes the best arcdodger, at least for 3 rounds before the stress cap is reached.
A member of Blade Squadron at the Battle of Endor, Braylen is a low PS pilot interested in GSS in order to keep his dial open if his ability misses.
And the Elite Generic:
Not much to say here, except that Snap Shot is TOTALLY a secondary weapon for the IWP modification card. Crack Shot and Predator will likely be other popular options.
So is there anything else for the Bwing? Well, just a cannon I found lying around...
Given it's spectacular showing on TV, the design goal with this weapon was the ability to 2 shot an Imperial Raider in epic- not exactly an Arquitens Cruiser like in the show, but close enough for minatures sake. Secondary goal was to make it so Soontier isn't automatically vaporized when it fires in his direction. This card has been through 3 different revisions, and is now a bit easier on 2 and 3 agility ships, as they can evade more of the damage before the remainder gets doubled, but 1 and 0 agility ships could be taking 8 or 10 damage with stacked mods, Jan Ors, opportunist, ect. And Ten Numb just loves the idea of forcing a doubled crit through against a Tie Interceptor or the like. Making it a discard means it can be more powerful without worrying too much about reuse or recharge mechanics- like Crackshot, it's powerful but one-and-done. I feel the addition of a strong, anti large base weapon option will improve the meta.
What about the Xwing? Afraid the game's namesake will be left behind yet AGAIN? Not this time!
The Xwing is in an odd place- a poor jouster with Astromech utility, and not much else. The T70 has even worse jousting efficiency, but more utility, by adding a boost action and a tech slot. Still, of both ships, the only pilots that see competitive play are Biggs and Poe.
The subject of "Xwing fixes" is a controversal one, ranging from flapping wings and studdering lasers, to sacrificing the Xwing's iconic torpedo launcher for system or crew slots, to simplle defensive buffs or maneuver upgrades that make Biggs even more ridiculus, or dillute the Xwing's identity as a jouster. Everyone has their own ideas, and they all suck except your personal favorite.
My own approach is, like the Tie X1 Advanced, an option for more customizabiltiy.
Basically, it's Awing Test Pilot, except your extra EPT ALWAYS costs 3, whether it's Adaptability or Expose.
There's nothing in the EPT list that Biggs will want to spend 3 points on- his whole deal is that he dies to save your other ships. Poe is more an issue, but after throwing Pattern Analyzer, R2D2, Autothrusters and -this- on him, you're starting to get close to Corran point values on a ship that isnt THAT much more durable.
Tarn Mison and Jess Pava are the only Unique ships that cannot use this, and I feel that R7 or M9-G8 Tarn is one of the better of the existing Xwings. Jess has a powerful formation-flying ability at a point cost that lets her make the most of it, unlike General Etan's Ewing.
But while this opens up stuff like Hobbe's Targeting Astro/Stay on Target combo, the high end aces need more maneuverability, and taking Engine upgrade sacrifices the fix they already received, Integrated Astromech.
It's Expert Handling crossed with Lieutenant Lorir, the Interceptor pilot. Nothing here is Xwing exclusive, and it should be priced appropriately for any pilot- more than a normal barrel roll via EH or VT, but less than a speed-enhancing Engine Upgrade (and the same as R7T1, which gives a bonus on top of boosting in exchange for a limited trigger).
As an Action card, it can be combined with experimental interface, but unless you have barrel roll on your card (or your name is Tycho) that's probably a bad idea. Being an action card also means it doesn't combine with Primed Thrusters on the T70, (Or GSS in my Bwing half-ace-pack) though of course Pattern Analyzer still works.
It's pure pilot skill, anyone can do it, so it doesn't dilute the Xwing's identity as a jouster. But it opens up the entire front half to be potentially in your firing arc at the cost of dice mods and possibly a stress, which makes jousting an arcdodger more reasonable.
And then theres the Xwing's iconic torpedo slot. Used in New Hope, Jedi and Force Awakens to defeat planetkillers, and a standard of video games and starfighter-focused novels alike, the slot often lies empty on this dog-fighting game- Especially on the Xwing or T70, where Guidance Chips competes with Integrated Astromech (or autothrusters) as the fix of choice.
Usable on any ship with a torpedo slot, it stops the equipping of any other torpedo upgrade, including Extra Munitions, in exchange for a single powerful Proton, Ion, or Advanced torpedo for less points than normal At the same time, while not increasing accuracy, it makes the torpedo hit even harder when it hits. rewarding a ship for doing everything it needs to do to actually fire a munition. Without guidance chips, it remains more useful against low agility targets like decimators and shuttles- which is appropriate for the less nimble torpedo compared to missile upgrades.
Which brings us to new Xwing pilots!
Corran's partner isn't your usual astromech. He has espionage programming, advanced slicing gear, and extensive criminal databases. In short, he's an Intelligence Agent in Astromech form.
