I have my first tournament this weekend and built what i think is a pretty tough squad but being as I have only played 6 games I could use some input. thanks in advance.
Arc
Baylen stram
R5 astro meck
hull up grade
Recon specialist
Over haul
stats Pilot 3
Attack 3
agi 1
hull 7
shield 3
Arc
Thane Kyrell
R2D2
Shield upgrade
Tactcian
Over haul
stats
attack 3
agi 1
Hull 5
Shield 4
U-Wing
Heff Tobber
Hull upgrade
Recon specialist
Bistan or Jan Ors
Pivot wing
attack 3
agi 1/2
hull 5
shield 4
Just for future reference, you don't need to write out the attack dice/agility/hull/shields (most people that are going to chime in know them). Pilot Skill is good to mention, since there are too many to memorize.
Thane doesn't need the shield upgrade since he has R2D2. BUT, I'd switch R2 & R5. The reason being, Thane's ability: " After an enemy ship inside your firing arc at Range 1-3 attacks another friendly ship, you may perform a free action . " It will allow you to trigger R5 instead of spending an action. So, a bad guy in Thane's arc (rear one counts too!) shoots at a friendly, then Thane gets to take a Focus, Target Lock, use R5 or Barrel Roll if you have Vectored Thrusters (which you should). And if another ship fires at a friendly in his arc, (Range 1-3) Thane's ability kicks in again until you've done all the actions available or you choose to skip the free action.
I'd keep Jan Ors on one ARC and Rec Spec on the other since Jan's ability can turn one of the two focus' from Rec spec into an evade.
Remember:
Then you can place Tactician, or another crew on the U. Personally, I don't recommend using upgrades that turn a hit to a critical. You already got the hit, so why not spend those points on another upgrade that will have different or possibly more useful effects?
Here's my take on your list, while keeping in spirit of what you started with:
Breylen Stramm (25) Recon Specialist+R2-D2+Vectored Thrusters+Alliance Overhaul
Ship Total: 34
Thane Kyrell (26) Jan Ors+R5 Astromech+Vectored Thrusters+Alliance Overhaul
Ship Total: 31
Heff Tobber (24)Fire-Control System+Baze Malbus+Tactician+Shield Upgrade+Pivot Wing
Ship Total: 35
Baze is like a discount Gunner. And hopefully you have FCS.
For Setup/Deloyment, in order to get Thane's ability to kick in often, have Braylen set up off-center, ahead of Thane. Look at your keyboard. See the A key and the Z key? Like that. Have a gap as thick as the Range Ruler between them. Between all ships really. Then fly them together as good wing-men do.
Good luck, and let us know what worked/didn't work, etc.
Edited by Force Majeure
With no idea of what you have in your collection (I am guessing not a ton!) I would suggest some changes to the list. What Force mentioned are all good suggestions, though I would (if you are able to) add an engine upgrade on the U-wing, instead of the shield. The boost will give heff more chances to block people as well as more reliable ways to get arc on his targets.
Just as an added comment to the swap of R2D2 from thane to Braylen. The reasoning behind this, is that whichever ship that holds R2D2 WILL almost certainly become the first target. If thane has R2D2 then your enemy benifits greatly from shooting him down: You lose your regen, AND thane's ability does not trigger.
As force also mentioned, swapping the hull/shield upgrades out for vectored thrusters really is worth it! Getting that mobility-action really really helps you getting people in your arc.
On a side note. If you want to, you could also slim down both the uwing and thane, by getting the neo-classic Norra Wexley:
In your current build you have a very beefy Braylen, but you do not utilize his ability at all, which is kind of a waste.
This is just a suggestion to a different build you can make with 2xARC and a u-wing.
Your version includes 2x Tactician, which gives a nice element of control to the list.
This list gives you a serious end-game ace (Norra), and a Thane that can use his ability to buff up Norra with up to 3 focuses (you can change 1 to an evade), to really fuel Norra all those sweet focuses. Heff becomes a deadly blocker, that can shoot 4 dice into whoever he blocks. It gives your opponent a tough choice of targets: Do you take out the tanky norra, the support-ship Thane or the annoying blocker that gives evade to the team.
Again, this is just a suggestion to keep you thinking! ;-)
Norra Wexley (29)
Push the Limit (3)
Tail Gunner (2)
R2-D2 (4)
Vectored Thrusters (2)
Alliance Overhaul (0)
Thane Kyrell (26)
Jyn Erso (2)
R2-D6 (1)
Trick Shot (0)
Vectored Thrusters (2)
Alliance Overhaul (0)
Heff Tobber (24)
Fire-Control System (2)
Jan Ors (2)
"Zeb" Orrelios (1)
Pivot Wing (0)
Total: 100
ok how about Cassian Andor 6 Uwing
"At the start of the Activation phase, you may remove 1 stress token from 1 other friendly ship at Range 1-2"
expert handling, enhanced scopes, Recon specialist, Jan Ors, Pivolt wing.
Thane Kyrell 4
" After an enemy ship inside your firing arc at Range 1-3 attacks another friendly ship, you may perform a free action . "
R5-D8, Vectored thrusters, Alliance over haul
Braylen Stramm 3
after you execute a maneuver you may roll attack dice on a hit remove a stress
R5 astromech, Vectored thrusters, Recon specialist, alliance over haul.
Better?
Ha ha! I see what you did there. When I wrote mentioning the Pilot Skill, I meant the value (the number) not the ability. Most of us have an idea of a named pilot's ability, it's the value, that most people don't have a good handle on, "Is Garven Dreis a PS 5 or a 6?" That kind of thing.
There's nothing inherently wrong with your build. You just have to get out there, fly and get more experience. We can make lists 'til the cows come home, but without time on the table, you're not going to really know what works for you. It goes without saying, two people flying the same lists are going to have different styles and have different results.
Choose a list, test the list, tweak the list.
A lot of us fall into the trap of flying something once or twice and thinking that gives us all the information we need to make an informed judgement on a list's viability. To get a good grasp, you need to fly it at least a dozen times. It's hard to not want to fly every ship you own immediately, but you should put the reps in, with what you've chosen to fly first.
Also, you're going to get trounced the first two or three dozen games. Try not to get frustrated. This is your training period. Temper your expectations, set smaller goals (like: "If I only take out Fenn Rau this game, I'll consider that a personal victory.") and you'll be a happier player. Before you know it, you'll be all set for the next Regionals!
Force is right, don't expect to win a lot until you have plenty of time with a list and have seen and planned for a lot of different opponents. That being said, your theory here is good. The big thing I have to say is if you are going to have Braylen in there, why not use R3-A2 for control (Gunner and AO can combo for double stress pretty easy: First shot you only roll 2 and don't modify, then gunner activates and you roll 3 and use any modifiers. You and your opponent have 2 stress, you make a green move (cuz arcs like to move slow anyway) clear one then ability activates 50/50 remove second stress and if it does you still get an action. your opponents ACE is tokenless!!)
Welcome to X-Wing and fly casual!!
Thanks for the input guys, FYI 3/3 W/L...I have been playing mini war games for 20+ years so I do have a concept of what is going on (kinda) but I also know when to seek help. Hopefully i do well Saturday, Ill let you know how it turned out good or bad.
Well the topic header is no longer valid because as i am sure many people can attest too, builds change. So I finally went with....
The Millennium Falcon Han Solo (9)( original ) with
Expertise
Engine Upgrade
Jan Ors
Jyn Erso ( kind of a mistake )
And the evade upgrade.
With
Norra Wexley (7) Arc-170
Expertise
R2d2
Vectored thrustsers
Tail gunner
Alliance over haul
As fairly solid build that i was proud to field. but the day stood against me in real life and in game.
I got up that morning feeling good but by noon I had a migraine spots in my vision and vomiting, debilitating to say the least, the tournament starts at 2pm, I don't get upset by much in life, I'm 45 years old and **** happens, this really pissed me off, so I decided **** it, I'm going, I had to pull over 3 times get out of my truck and vomit but i made it before 2pm, but I was in some major pain, Luckily they took pity on my and I had a buy first round. so by the second round I was feeling better but a little loopy ( witch led to mistakes ).
my first match was against a Tie swarm 6 ties total, 4 rookie pilot and 2 veteran, I cant remember what ones, but I was able to take out the 2 vets and one rookie before for flying off the board with Norra, ( mistakes were made) and honestly I was over matched the guy i was playing had been at it for a few years, so all in all i did better than I expected.
The second match I was feeling pretty good the endorphin's had kicked in and my pain level was ok and I was a little high from them.
I went up against Scum, 1 jumpmaster, an M3-A interceptor and a Protectorate star fighter.
I played Han and Norra with in range one of each other In and out on the asteroid field center of the board ( the Falcon is pretty dam maneuverable ) took out the star Fighter in the first pass, Han and Norra are bad ass when using Expertise range one 8 dice all hits. the rest of the match I chipped away at the ships taking no real damage for the win.
and that was it for the tournament play. I didn't win but I did ok I felt
after wards I played four games and won all of them, and ARC-170 with R2D2 is insanely hard to kill.
That's fantastic! Imagine how it would have gone without the migraine--you would have won them all!
Yea once I started feeling better I started having fun, definitely learned a few things...never fly into the Tie swam being the most important