I've not been able to play a lot recently. How dare my wife be pregnant with my child and need me.

But last night I did manage to get down to my local, Fistful of Dice in Portsmouth, for the usual X-Wing night. My first game was against Rey/Dash with Vess/Draft/2xBlackSquadron. I won but I didn't enjoy the TIEs. They didn't get to use their Crackshot and I didn't block well with them. Wasn't feeling it.

So for the second game I switched things up to a list I've been thinking about using.

TIE/sf Fighter: · "Backdraft" (27)
Wired (1)
Fire Control System (2)
Lightweight Frame (2)
Special Ops Training (0)
Pattern Analyzer (2)
TIE Defender: · Colonel Vessery (35)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Tractor Beam (1)
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)
TIE/D (0)
TIE Bomber: · Tomax Bren (24)
Crack Shot (1)
Plasma Torpedoes (3)
Long-Range

100 Points

I love Defenders. SFs have proven to be quite interesting lately (lovely model too), and Tomax? Well I thought it might be good fun. I was right!

My good buddy Martin used these guys -

Lancer-class Pursuit Craft: · Ketsu Onyo (38)
Fearlessness (1)
Gyroscopic targeting (2)
K4 Security Droid (3)
· Shadow Caster (3)
Glitterstim (2)
Glitterstim (2)
YV-666: · Bossk (35)
Fearlessness (1)
Cluster Missiles (4)
Guidance Chips (0)
· Dengar (3)
K4 Security Droid (3)
Inspiring Recruit (1)
Scavenger Crane (2)

Trepidation. I'd somehow avoided playing against a Party Bus, and Ketsu is fast. With little SF practice and only one previous game with a Bomber, could it be done?

Asteroids congregated on my right near me as Martin clearly wanted space to move his ships around. So I set up facing the rocks , away from him. First two rounds he moved down the left side. Backdraft slow rolled away from me (exposing the rear arc), whilst Tomax scooted up the right side and got the early TL and Vessery (who started at an angle looking through the rocks), surged forward to try and get around the back of the bus.

Round 3/4 was the first with any action. Vess/Tomax both turned in to face Ketsu. Bossk bumped into his ally and firing began! Tomax loosed the torps (2 shields), whilst Vess took away several shields on Bossk. Tractor Beam helped. In turn Vess took no damage and Tomax possibly took a hit. I got the feeling that Rechargeable Crackshot was going to be very useful (and it was). Backdraft was on his own, but his time would come.

Over the next couple of rounds my dice were Tatooine Sun hot. 3 crits. 3 evades. All natural. With Tomax blocking, Vess put 6 crits into Bossk; completely wrecked him. Got to love it when a 4k works perfectly and you're behind a stapler.

Now, it was at this point that we realised a couple of really bad things had happened. I was still treating Vess like she had X7 and neither of us had noticed! So we agreed to take Vess down to 1 hull. It was only later that I realised that I hadn't been using FCS on Backdraft for the entire game. Swings and roundabouts I guess. I'm rusty and no one noticed. Mistakes happen and I don't think it spoiled enjoyment of the game. Anyway...

Tomax went down soon after but had more than done his job. Loved that little ship. Teed up Vess, stuck around, blocked, and got a few shots in. Great show. *shakes wing*.

Vessery fell to the mobile arc a couple of rounds later but by this point Ketsu only had a few hull left. Backdraft, seemingly on a jolly for most of the game. decided that it was a good time to get involved and managed to get the bum gun facing the right way. Two rounds of shooting. Backdraft doesn't take a hit and Ketsu explodes.

Great game. Everyone did their job, the dice went well, and Martin is always a great guy to play with. We've promised each other a rematch!

Upon reflection I would change things a little.

TIE/sf Fighter: · "Backdraft" (27)
Wired (1)
Fire Control System (2)
Lightweight Frame (2)
Special Ops Training (0)
Pattern Analyzer (2)
TIE Bomber: · Tomax Bren (24)
Crack Shot (1)
Flechette Torpedoes (2)
Seismic Charges (2)
Long-Range Scanners (0)
TIE Defender: · Colonel Vessery (35)
Adaptability (Increase) (0)
Tractor Beam (1)
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)
TIE/D (0)
-- TOTAL ------- 100/100p. --

Tomax gets a bomb and Vess only goes up one PS. If Tomax wasn't hooked on crack I'd give him adaptability too and get them all on 7.

Great fun. Will definitely be using it again.