I played in my first organized event today (14-player local store tourney), and I had a blast. I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed it. Everyone was exceptionally welcoming, laid back and helpful. Having started (very slowly) around October, I've only played against one other friend (2+ games per week) and maybe 3 games against my brother total. I really didn't know what to expect, but hoped I'd meet some cool people and not embarrass myself with utter defeat. It was a big yes on both fronts.

One thing I want to try to avoid is netlisting. I'm fine with finding an optimal build for one ship, preferably with tweaks, but I want to find my own spin on their wingmen. That in mind, I love Rey. Before I got the Ghost, I usually ran her with VI and with or without EU, depending on wingmen. Probably 50% of the reason I got the Ghost was to get Kanan crew to make that sloop title amazing. I stumbled into using Expertise on my own, but I understand now that this isn't some revolutionary approach for her.

The question was, "Now what?" I'd flown her with single ace wingmen (Poe, Norra), but was never enamoured with whomever flew with her. They'd either blow up exceptionally fast or not provide enough damage early enough to save her. I do think I could fly them better, but I just wasn't good enough yet with a 2-ship Rey build.

Enter the blocker mini-swarm. I figured if her wingmen were blowing up so soon anyway, I might as well fly a bunch of them who are meant to blow up. Playing this list turned out to be pretty simple. The swarms job is, in this order:

1. Block ships
2. Get out of Rey's way
3. Block Rey to give her Range 1 shots in arc, preventing bumps she'd have had with opponent ship
4. Attack

I'm pretty okay with most joust scenarios. I'd send in one or more blockers (usually a single A-wing), keeping Rey and the others back, hopfully for focused fire. Rey would strip tokens and hopefully some damage, blockers try to plink in a bit of damage here and there. The absolutely key, I've found, is carefully choosing the initial engagement. I need to do what I said above...block for action denial and focus fire. I can't undershoot that initial block and come up short, or it's trouble for the whole list. If flown well, yes, a blocker my be dusted in that first round, but that's okay, because it wasn't shots on Rey. Yes, Rey may get focused down, but that's okay because Finn and her ability (plus a defensive focus if it makes sense) helps her mitigate damage pretty well and that'd keep all my blockers available.

Anyway...I ended up going 3-1 (just 4 random swiss rounds, no finals) and came in 2nd. I don't recall what the the MOV spread was, but the winner was the only 4-0 with a Howlrunner Crackswarm (which I thankfully didn't end up playing). I couldn't have been much more pleased with my play and the results. This really encourages me to play more and come up with more of my own lists. It's only a small store trourney, but I played some experienced players and held my own with a list I pretty much came up with by myself. I'm proud of that.

Rey (45)
Expertise (4)
Finn (5)
Kanan Jarrus (3)
Millennium Falcon (TFA) (1)

Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)

Prototype Pilot (17)
Chardaan Refit (-2)

Prototype Pilot (17)
Chardaan Refit (-2)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Well done and hopefully this will be an omen of future success. Just out of curiosity, what were the lists you played against like?

I don't recall particular upgrades on everything, but the gist was:

Game 1: Slaver (know it had Gonk, think Zuckuss and 4-LOM), Scout(don't recall anything) and Fenn Rau (PtL, title, one more upgrade). This was my one loss, on points. I was a little nervous for this first match. I knew my opponent had been playing for years and was a fixture in the local scene. I set up everyone bottom right, he set up middle top. My first mistake was turning into the rocks probably a turn too early, which split up my blocker swarm a little. In the ensuing dust up, I lost an A-wing, he lost his scout (which he told me was designed to be a pain and get blown up). After that skirmish, both of us were mostly in the upper right quadrant and I made my second mistake, which was to try to pop Fenn instead of keeping on the Slaver and burning it down. I had a range 2 shot with Rey on Fenn, fully modded, but his comparatively meager green dice beat my blank-rolling red dice. He missed that Rey, who was at 1 hull, had a focus, and didn't 4-LOM it and Rey evaded. He was surprised when I used the focus for the evades, and that's when he said he missed it and asked if we could retcon it. Even though it meant Rey would die, I let him do it. He was a great guy, I was already happy that I'd hung with him, so I figured no big deal. Time was called the next round with my Bandit and A-wing surviving and he won something like around 70ish-40-ish. I don't think it mattered much in the end. He still might have killed Rey anyway the next round and I didn't have much of a shot to take out Fenn nor get the Slaver to half.

Game 2: Dengar (fat as hell with ordnance) and Fenn (also a little chubby with APT). It was clear his list was an alpha-striking, in your face and blow you up quick monster. I felt okay with jousting a lot of stuff, but not that monstrosity. I set up bottom right, he set up top right. I slow rolled just enough to be out of range 3. Next round I set up a line of blockers, which blocked both of them. I already knew action denial with blocking was a big thing for this list, but this turn really proved it out. Both Dengar and Fenn had PtL, without blocks, they could have popped a little guy each, easy, or crippled Rey. Without their actions, they did very little...think they peeled 3-4 shields off Rey. Rey one-shotted Fenn (range 2, baby!). Dengar died two rounds later, stuck in a kill box with all four of my ships. Rey still had one shield remaining, he never got his ordnance off. Think the game took less than 30 minutes.

Game 3: Zeta, Inquisitor, Whisper. We made a very small debris field on the right side of the board. I set up kind left/middle bottom, he set up right/middle top. He flew Zeta and Inquisitor into the rocks and Whisper away to the right (I guess to flank later). I zoomed up then banked in and blocked Zeta, which caused Inq to bump Zeta. After a shockingly poor set of attack rolls, Zeta only lost one shield, I don't remember what happened to my guys. The ensuing scrum saw me blocking the living hell out of Zeta and Inq (I don't think they ever got an action, maybe one for Inq), and they both died. I'm pretty sure I lost an A-wing along the way. Whisper then inexplicably survived two round of running the gauntlet right through all my ships without even a scratch. I really figured I'd get another squad wipe, but it wasn't meant to be. We ended on time with me only getting Zeta and Inq, him with an A-wing. I was happy I won, but really felt I should have tabled him.

Game 4: Dengar(Lone Wolf, bunch of other stuff) and Bossk (faaat Bossk). The Game 2 and 3 guys, I felt were probably around my experience level. This guy was more like my first opponent, so I was preparing for a beat down. I set up left bottom, him right top. He was really slow rolling, going my right to left, so I knew I'd have to time that initial encounter really well, or I could miss the initial blocks and be in a bad spot. So...I missed the initial blocks and was in a bad spot, haha. I really should have been less aggressive. If I had, worst case scenario he might have had a couple range 3 shots at my blockers before I got to block. Lesson learned! But, I did miss the blocks so Dengar and Bossk melted off Rey's shields with some return shield removal on Bossk (I know better than to shoot Dengar in-arc!). I then proceeded to pull off some amazing blocking. Bossk never got an action again and ended up dying from an asteroid hit. Rey was pretty hurt and I could tell my opponent was wanting to speed things along in the hopes of blowing her up before time. At one point he offered to move my Bandit while I was finishing an A-wing move, sooo...yeah, it was pretty clear. I don't think I was playing slow, but...maybe I'm slower than he's used to. Anyway, I ended up keeping a series of blocks on Dengar and finished him off about 10 minutes before time was called. In his defense, he had some poor attack dice luck towards the end and could very well have taken Rey off the table. He got half points from Rey, all my blockers survived.

Heh, I guess that ended up being more of a battle report! I was the only Rebel player, with the remaining lists being about a 50/50 split on Imperial and Scum. I think every Scum list had Fenn with either a Jumpmaster or YV as a wingman (or both). It really was a great time and I kind of shocked myself with my success.

Bumping to see if anyone else has more input.

Perhaps 2 Juke+Snap Shot Greens are better than 2 A's and a Z?

I like this idea, the search for the Rey wingmate had me also wondering about wingmates as being the better option. I came up with this list as the TIE fighter should be in stores soon. Ahsoka can add action economy to Rey and avoid shots from all but the highest PS. Since Ahsoka will be untargetable by most she can park next to Rey with opponents in arc for Jyn Erso. If Jyn doesn't proc she can take a focus to give an action to Rey who can stack a focus/evade combo. If Rey's managed to be out of arc she can stack some tokens onto one of the Z-95s. So far it's very untested. I should call my local store and see if my TIE is in yet. Well I guess there is no getting it until Thursday so maybe I'll proxy tonight.

Rey (45)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Finn (5)
Jan Ors (2)
Millennium Falcon (TFA) (1)

Ahsoka Tano (17)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Jyn Erso (2)
Captured TIE (1)
Sabine's Masterpiece (1)

Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)

Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

3 hours ago, wfain said:

Perhaps 2 Juke+Snap Shot Greens are better than 2 A's and a Z?

Hmm...interesting. I am a big fan of Green A's, so I might consider that. I like having the 3 blockers so if one goes down quickly, it's not that big of a deal, but kitted out Green A's might not go down as quickly.

53 minutes ago, Zorprime said:

I like this idea, the search for the Rey wingmate had me also wondering about wingmates as being the better option. I came up with this list as the TIE fighter should be in stores soon. Ahsoka can add action economy to Rey and avoid shots from all but the highest PS. Since Ahsoka will be untargetable by most she can park next to Rey with opponents in arc for Jyn Erso. If Jyn doesn't proc she can take a focus to give an action to Rey who can stack a focus/evade combo. If Rey's managed to be out of arc she can stack some tokens onto one of the Z-95s. So far it's very untested. I should call my local store and see if my TIE is in yet. Well I guess there is no getting it until Thursday so maybe I'll proxy tonight.

Rey (45)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Finn (5)
Jan Ors (2)
Millennium Falcon (TFA) (1)

Ahsoka Tano (17)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Jyn Erso (2)
Captured TIE (1)
Sabine's Masterpiece (1)

Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)

Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Oh yes....oooooooh, yes. I do love my A's, but I'm pretty **** jazzed for Sabine's Tie.

With the release of Sabine's Tie tomorrow, I'm going to try a minor tweak. It's feels like a clear downgrade for the mini-swarm, but I'm curious how the addition of EU to Rey could impact things. Rex will basically be a mini-Biggs, which might also help Rey's chances to survive a little longer.

Rey (45)
Expertise (4)
Finn (5)
Kanan Jarrus (3)
Engine Upgrade (4)
Millennium Falcon (TFA) (1)

Captain Rex (14)

Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)

Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

I've found that Rey doesn't use EU with a list like this, there's just not enough open space for it. I haven't had an end game scenario where Rey couldn't catch whomever was left. That being the case, I've made these changes.

Rey (45)
Expertise (4)
Finn (5)
Kanan Jarrus (3)
Inertial Dampeners (1)
Smuggling Compartment (0)
Countermeasures (3)
Millennium Falcon (TFA) (1)

Captain Rex (14)

Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)

Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

What about:

Rey (45)
Swarm Leader (3)
Kanan Jarrus (3)
Finn (5)
Scavenger Crane (2)
Smuggling Compartment (0)
Countermeasures (3)
Millennium Falcon (TFA) (1)

Green Squadron Pilot (19)
Snap Shot (2)
Chardaan Refit (-2)
Crack Shot (1)
A-Wing Test Pilot (0)

Captain Rex (14)
Shield Upgrade (4)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Expertise is very good, but Asajj/Latts is a chore! So blow her off the map, and **** the stress!

7 hours ago, Sekac said:

What about:

Rey (45)
Swarm Leader (3)
Kanan Jarrus (3)
Finn (5)
Scavenger Crane (2)
Smuggling Compartment (0)
Countermeasures (3)
Millennium Falcon (TFA) (1)

Green Squadron Pilot (19)
Snap Shot (2)
Chardaan Refit (-2)
Crack Shot (1)
A-Wing Test Pilot (0)

Captain Rex (14)
Shield Upgrade (4)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Expertise is very good, but Asajj/Latts is a chore! So blow her off the map, and **** the stress!

I've discovered Inertial Dampeners to be practically mandatory for Rey. Rex doesn't live long enough to warrant much of an upgrade. If he did, I'd probably be more included to go with Stealth Device. I've gone down the dark road of Snap Shot and found it lacking. With no way to modify the attack, it's barely a deterrent. Besides, with this list I'd rather my blockers get a bump than a chance at a damage or two.

I'm starting to lean towards something other than Expertise on Rey. I've been playing her with Adaptability or VI along with Poe and I don't know if I'm missing Expertise. I don't feel slooping Rey needs EU, which means there are only two actions available to her. If she's in-arc, she really don't have much use for a target lock. So, that ultimately ends up with her taking a focus most of the time. With Expertise, that means I'm only using that focus for defense. That's not a bad thing, but maybe not the most efficient use of those points.

3 hours ago, gennataos said:

I've discovered Inertial Dampeners to be practically mandatory for Rey. Rex doesn't live long enough to warrant much of an upgrade. If he did, I'd probably be more included to go with Stealth Device. I've gone down the dark road of Snap Shot and found it lacking. With no way to modify the attack, it's barely a deterrent. Besides, with this list I'd rather my blockers get a bump than a chance at a damage or two.

Yeah Rex could easily be replaced by another A-wing and with many cheap EPTs these days, there are obviously options beyond snap shot. The point either way is that 6-7 dice attacks are amazing.

I'm no expert on using Rey but I feel like reusable counter measures has got to be more useful than a once per game stop. Inertial dampeners are great once, and if used at the right time. But a 3 agility falcon with re-rolls would keep that super laser online longer.

I had great luck with the list below. I went three for three against an Imp Tie list.

I wanted to build a Rey list that had hardy wing men. I also wanted to try to get 6 attack dies at range 1 through an obstacle.

RED ROOKIE REY

99 points

PILOTS

Rey (53)
YT-1300 (45), Trick Shot (0), Finn (5), "Leebo" (2), Millennium Falcon (Segnor's Loop Version) (1)

Red Squadron Pilot (24)
X-Wing (23), R2 Astromech (1), Integrated Astromech (0)

Rookie Pilot (22)
X-Wing (21), R2 Astromech (1), Integrated Astromech (0)

After using the list, the only thing I'd change is switch Leebo to Nien Nunb just to be able to clear stress faster. So I can do more S-loops and I didn't use boost as much as I thought I would.

View | Tweak | Export as XWS

On 1/28/2017 at 11:44 PM, gennataos said:

I played in my first organized event today (14-player local store tourney), and I had a blast. I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed it. Everyone was exceptionally welcoming, laid back and helpful. Having started (very slowly) around October, I've only played against one other friend (2+ games per week) and maybe 3 games against my brother total. I really didn't know what to expect, but hoped I'd meet some cool people and not embarrass myself with utter defeat. It was a big yes on both fronts.

One thing I want to try to avoid is netlisting. I'm fine with finding an optimal build for one ship, preferably with tweaks, but I want to find my own spin on their wingmen. That in mind, I love Rey. Before I got the Ghost, I usually ran her with VI and with or without EU, depending on wingmen. Probably 50% of the reason I got the Ghost was to get Kanan crew to make that sloop title amazing. I stumbled into using Expertise on my own, but I understand now that this isn't some revolutionary approach for her.

The question was, "Now what?" I'd flown her with single ace wingmen (Poe, Norra), but was never enamoured with whomever flew with her. They'd either blow up exceptionally fast or not provide enough damage early enough to save her. I do think I could fly them better, but I just wasn't good enough yet with a 2-ship Rey build.

Enter the blocker mini-swarm. I figured if her wingmen were blowing up so soon anyway, I might as well fly a bunch of them who are meant to blow up. Playing this list turned out to be pretty simple. The swarms job is, in this order:

1. Block ships
2. Get out of Rey's way
3. Block Rey to give her Range 1 shots in arc, preventing bumps she'd have had with opponent ship
4. Attack

I'm pretty okay with most joust scenarios. I'd send in one or more blockers (usually a single A-wing), keeping Rey and the others back, hopfully for focused fire. Rey would strip tokens and hopefully some damage, blockers try to plink in a bit of damage here and there. The absolutely key, I've found, is carefully choosing the initial engagement. I need to do what I said above...block for action denial and focus fire. I can't undershoot that initial block and come up short, or it's trouble for the whole list. If flown well, yes, a blocker my be dusted in that first round, but that's okay, because it wasn't shots on Rey. Yes, Rey may get focused down, but that's okay because Finn and her ability (plus a defensive focus if it makes sense) helps her mitigate damage pretty well and that'd keep all my blockers available.

Anyway...I ended up going 3-1 (just 4 random swiss rounds, no finals) and came in 2nd. I don't recall what the the MOV spread was, but the winner was the only 4-0 with a Howlrunner Crackswarm (which I thankfully didn't end up playing). I couldn't have been much more pleased with my play and the results. This really encourages me to play more and come up with more of my own lists. It's only a small store trourney, but I played some experienced players and held my own with a list I pretty much came up with by myself. I'm proud of that.

Rey (45)
Expertise (4)
Finn (5)
Kanan Jarrus (3)
Millennium Falcon (TFA) (1)

Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)

Prototype Pilot (17)
Chardaan Refit (-2)

Prototype Pilot (17)
Chardaan Refit (-2)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

I'm also playing in my first tournament this Saturday. I'm debating flying the following variation that I've had some success with during league play:

The As evade and boost mostly. Pretty effective if they can cause ships to bump in arc for Rey. Kanan helps open one of their dials the rounds Rey isn't slooping or clearing her own stress. I've taken HM toting Zs, Strikers, and Whisper once (that was awesome), off the board in one shot. The one game I lost with this build had a PS9 Ahsoka Tano w/ BMST in the list. She shutdown the A's PTL action economy. Still, came down to her and one A at the end each with 1 hp going into the last round. I've flipped back and forth between Wired and Crack Shot on the As mainly. Cool Hand or Adrenaline Rush might be good too.

I was thinking about this list again, haven't flown it in a while. I was never happy with Bandit/Prototype/Rex and felt I'd played the original list a bit to boredom. Then I stumbled upon Wingman while working on a different list. This might be what I want. Wingman Sabine can clear stress from ID and even opens up Rey's dial on turns she's stressed unless I really need her to have that focus. Sabine also has the flexibility to end up a lot of places to stay within range 1 of Rey. If I lose iniative to Assaj, that will put a wet blanket on things, but I don't feel there's room for a bid. I'd just have to control range well. The only thing I don't like is having to go with two Bandits, since they're nowhere close to as good of a blocker as a Prototype A-wing.

Rey (45)
Expertise (4)
Finn (5)
Kanan Jarrus (3)
Inertial Dampeners (1)
Smuggling Compartment (0)
Millennium Falcon (TFA) (1)

Sabine Wren (TIE Fighter) (15)
Wingman (2)

Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)

Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder