T-70 X-Wing: Red Squadron Veteran (26)
Expertise (4)
R2 Astromech (1)
Integrated Astromech (0)
Weapons Guidance (2)
T-70 X-Wing: Red Squadron Veteran (26)
Expertise (4)
R2 Astromech (1)
Integrated Astromech (0)
Weapons Guidance (2)
T-70 X-Wing: Red Squadron Veteran (26)
Expertise (4)
R2 Astromech (1)
Integrated Astromech (0)
Weapons Guidance (2)
-- TOTAL ------- 99/100p. --

So I decided to dally around while waiting for the TIE Aggressor to be unveiled in it's entirety (I am really stoked for Synced Turret). In my musings, I decided on posting what I'm calling "The Spear".

This list is designed to deal as much damage as it can by staying stress-free for Expertise, and turning blanks into hits with Weapon Guidance. Simplicity is this lists greatest strength and weakness. It is predictable, and like all low-PS lists, suffers from being sniped by higher skill pilots. But I feel that with 3 shield, and (effectively) 4 hull, there is enough inherent toughness to deal some damage before going down.

Decently maneuverable, and you hit like a sixteen wheeler. I like it. And if you're focusing, you can always spend it on defense, and if you don't, use the Weapons Guidance. That's actually some really nice synergy right there; I might need to try flying it.

That...... is a really wonderful list!

Trip T-70's with a twist, no ace shenanigans. I really like it. Good job!

3 hours ago, Kreen said:

Decently maneuverable, and you hit like a sixteen wheeler. I like it. And if you're focusing, you can always spend it on defense, and if you don't, use the Weapons Guidance. That's actually some really nice synergy right there; I might need to try flying it.

With only two greens would Sensor Cluster be better? Youre either going to use it to change 2 eyes to evade (due to expertise) or spend it for a garaunteed evade if you roll one evade or blanks.

Also - as a side - I like the list but only have 2 T-70s. What would be a good 34 pt replacement? Maybe this:

Cassian Andor - crack shot - FCS - Rey - Inspiring Recruit - Title - Tactical Jammer

i know it is nothing like a third T-70 but his ability and the IR will help in the new stress meta to keep those expertise mods available

1 hour ago, Rolotamasi said:

With only two greens would Sensor Cluster be better? Youre either going to use it to change 2 eyes to evade (due to expertise) or spend it for a garaunteed evade if you roll one evade or blanks.

Expertise only works offensively. And if you wanted, you could use Sensors instead of Guidance, but you lose quite a bit of offensive power. Turning a blank into a hit ignores the usual fickle dice, and even if you blank out, you'll probably still be able to squeeze out one hit. Given that it is oly 2 Greens, I decided to squeeze for power instead of survival.

As for replacing one of the T70s, you could use anything up to 34 points. There's no synergy between the ships themselves, and replacing one of them does not reduce the effectiveness of the other two. If you wanted to replace one, you might get better milage with a support vessel that provides extra actions or focus (ie: Esege, Kyle, Airen, etc...). I would personally reccomend Esege w/ Recon & TLT, so you're not totally reliant on getting Arc with the X-Wings, but really, these T70s are self contained. They'll fly with anyone.

Like it too, I have been playing T70s a lot but always some combination of the ace pilots. Expertise has always been a winning upgrade for me though.

Mainly with my upgrades I've been trying to enhance more than one aspect of the ship, but the simplicity here does appeal.

On 4/11/2017 at 6:14 PM, Drakeheart said:

T-70 X-Wing: Red Squadron Veteran (26)
Expertise (4)
R2 Astromech (1)
Integrated Astromech (0)
Weapons Guidance (2)
T-70 X-Wing: Red Squadron Veteran (26)
Expertise (4)
R2 Astromech (1)
Integrated Astromech (0)
Weapons Guidance (2)
T-70 X-Wing: Red Squadron Veteran (26)
Expertise (4)
R2 Astromech (1)
Integrated Astromech (0)
Weapons Guidance (2)
-- TOTAL ------- 99/100p. --

So I decided to dally around while waiting for the TIE Aggressor to be unveiled in it's entirety (I am really stoked for Synced Turret). In my musings, I decided on posting what I'm calling "The Spear".

This list is designed to deal as much damage as it can by staying stress-free for Expertise, and turning blanks into hits with Weapon Guidance. Simplicity is this lists greatest strength and weakness. It is predictable, and like all low-PS lists, suffers from being sniped by higher skill pilots. But I feel that with 3 shield, and (effectively) 4 hull, there is enough inherent toughness to deal some damage before going down.

I love this! Except for one little thing-- you completely waste 6 points of upgrades every time you perform the (excellent) Talon Roll! Stress-dealers are also pretty prevalent, currently. Would you consider a switch to Predator? Pretty similar offensive output, but MUCH harder to shut down, and opens up the dial a little bit.

Also gives the points to make the 3rd ship a Red Ace 36, Pred/WG Ello Asty, or some variant of Nien Nunb and create some target priority dilemmas for your opponent.

3 hours ago, RampancyTW said:

I love this! Except for one little thing-- you completely waste 6 points of upgrades every time you perform the (excellent) Talon Roll! Stress-dealers are also pretty prevalent, currently. Would you consider a switch to Predator? Pretty similar offensive output, but MUCH harder to shut down, and opens up the dial a little bit.

I did consider it, but also decided against it. Predator is a good option to mitigate the inherit danger of using Expertise, but also defeats the purpose. This is about risk & reward. Expertise is a strong option, that provides a lot, at the risk of being shutdown just because you pulled a red maneuver. And obviously, not being able to focus because you're stressed is a problem; but turning a blank into a hit is a serious game changer.

My point is, you could take the safer option of Predator, at the cost of loss in damage output; or you could run the high wire, and watch with glee as your opponent's face drops to floor as he has to pray his green dice don't fail him again.

25 minutes ago, Drakeheart said:

I did consider it, but also decided against it. Predator is a good option to mitigate the inherit danger of using Expertise, but also defeats the purpose. This is about risk & reward. Expertise is a strong option, that provides a lot, at the risk of being shutdown just because you pulled a red maneuver. And obviously, not being able to focus because you're stressed is a problem; but turning a blank into a hit is a serious game changer.

My point is, you could take the safer option of Predator, at the cost of loss in damage output; or you could run the high wire, and watch with glee as your opponent's face drops to floor as he has to pray his green dice don't fail him again.

What are you considering the damage dropoff, here? With Predator/WG you're basically taking the same concept as Expertise/WG, except instead of auto-focus converts you get reroll opportunities and a little bit of stress-proofing. I've run Pred/WG on Ello Asty a few times now and it's pretty rare to not end up with 3/3 hits. The downside is that it's a little less defensive, since you can't do any focus conversions without spending the token.

IMO Predator is more reliable but less "safe" since you sacrifice a little bit of defense, but offensively I think Predator/WG ends up being better than Expertise/WG (although I don't have the statistics off the top of my head).

32 minutes ago, RampancyTW said:

What are you considering the damage dropoff, here?

....

IMO Predator is more reliable but less "safe" since you sacrifice a little bit of defense, but offensively I think Predator/WG ends up being better than Expertise/WG (although I don't have the statistics off the top of my head).

Expertise provides no defensive option. It is all offense. Predator, as well, is all offense.

Predator offers a maximum of one hit; two if fighting very low PS pilots. Expertise provides as many hits as the amount of eyeballs rolled (up to three, in this case).

Predator may reroll into blanks or focus. Expertise will turn any focus into a hit.

Expertise is far more powerful. Predator is more reliable. Neither option is defensive.

49 minutes ago, Drakeheart said:

Expertise provides no defensive option. It is all offense. Predator, as well, is all offense.

Predator offers a maximum of one hit; two if fighting very low PS pilots. Expertise provides as many hits as the amount of eyeballs rolled (up to three, in this case).

Predator may reroll into blanks or focus. Expertise will turn any focus into a hit.

Expertise is far more powerful. Predator is more reliable. Neither option is defensive.

Expertise is defensive in the sense that you don't have to spend eyeballs on offense to get converts. Three focuses? You're in business. The predator build would have to spend it.

Not sure if Expertise is "far more powerful," they just have different applications. Predator/WG, for example, allows a 50/50 chance of Hit/Blank/Blank to become Hit/Hit/Hit, but loses the defensive token for Hit/F/F, which is where Expertise shines.

Really not trying to say that Expertise is wrong, just wanted to discuss options, and what the additional 2 points might buy you if you did decide to switch!

23 hours ago, Rolotamasi said:

With only two greens would Sensor Cluster be better? Youre either going to use it to change 2 eyes to evade (due to expertise) or spend it for a garaunteed evade if you roll one evade or blanks.

Also - as a side - I like the list but only have 2 T-70s. What would be a good 34 pt replacement? Maybe this:

Cassian Andor - crack shot - FCS - Rey - Inspiring Recruit - Title - Tactical Jammer

i know it is nothing like a third T-70 but his ability and the IR will help in the new stress meta to keep those expertise mods available

For that point gap how about VI Procket Jake to help deal with opposition aces

I have been considering something similar for a hangar bay event where unfortunately my other list has most of my favourite upgrades. I was looking at something like this

Red Ace with R2-D2, Comm Relay and Shield Upgrade

2 x Red Squadron with Predator, R2 Astromech and IA

No AT's on Red Ace as using them on my other list but the Shield upgrade really does leverage the pilot ability. It may work, it may not but I think it's at least solid (and I get to use my alt art red ace)

Just now, J Viz said:

I have been considering something similar for a hangar bay event where unfortunately my other list has most of my favourite upgrades. I was looking at something like this

Red Ace with R2-D2, Comm Relay and Shield Upgrade

2 x Red Squadron with Predator, R2 Astromech and IA

No AT's on Red Ace as using them on my other list but the Shield upgrade really does leverage the pilot ability. It may work, it may not but I think it's at least solid (and I get to use my alt art red ace)

This is sort of what OP and I were discussing! Swapping out the SU for WG on the generics might be a good call, makes them a lot more dangerous offensively and Red Ace is plenty tank already.

3 minutes ago, RampancyTW said:

This is sort of what OP and I were discussing! Swapping out the SU for WG on the generics might be a good call, makes them a lot more dangerous offensively and Red Ace is plenty tank already.

I like it, but I maybe should have said I only own 2 copies of IA...but I guess I could borrow from somewhere.

T-70s may be weaker than defenders but doesn't make them any less fun

1 minute ago, J Viz said:

I like it, but I maybe should have said I only own 2 copies of IA...but I guess I could borrow from somewhere.

T-70s may be weaker than defenders but doesn't make them any less fun

They're just kinda... different. Defenders are super hard to kill and have a nice dial but aren't particularly mobile without engine upgrade, and have directly aggressive pilot abilities. T-70s are less efficient but more flexible, and have higher PS per cost, and have pilot abilities that do a good job of leveraging both offensive and defensive potential.

I started running a Ello/Nien/RSV list for fun because it's thematic, but I'm discovering that Ello's white T-rolls combined with Nien's Stay on Target/Targeting Astromech/PA synergy has created a hyper-mobile, unpredictable list that hits hard and is tough to lock down. Still struggles with point efficiency, but as you said, it's FUN and has held up better than I expected.

So enough theory. How does it play?

I don't think it's competitive at all but you may have fun with it being punchy. But being punchy isn't everything and you honestly have 6 points tied up into trying to get 3 hits happen when a Push the Limit target lock+focus would probably net you about the same results for half the points.

Low pilot skill means that they might die before they get to fire and lots of upgrades are going into offense that never gets to serve you.

Personally I just think WG and Expertise are too expensive to take on no name pilots with low PS.

These are the only 3 T-70s I would want on the table. I don't think you'd stand a chance.

T-70 X-Wing: · Jess Pava (25)

· R4-D6 (1)

Integrated Astromech (0)

T-70 X-Wing: · "Red Ace" (29)

· R2-D2 (4)

Integrated Astromech (0)

Comm Relay (3)

T-70 X-Wing: · Poe Dameron (31)

Veteran Instincts (1)

· R5-P9 (3)

Autothrusters (2)

-- TOTAL ------- 99/100p. --

Well there's only one way to find out. Drakeheart you gotta fly this list and let us know how it goes.

BTW if you haven't already seen it there's a pretty lively triple T-70 list thread.

Tl;dr - Well... they work as intended.

I've only played a few games so far, but it is definitely a punchy list. So far, the only list I've fought where I believed the list was an issue was against Defenders. 3 dice w/ mods is annoying to try and pierce with generics. But otherwise, unless I blanked out, I was scoring on the side of two to three hits per roll. This was expected. But the real strength is that it can do this consistently. They'll wittle down opponents, and the trick to winning with them is jousting in and retreating. And so far, they have proven tanky enough to get several rounds of jousting in before finally buckling.

As a final word; this is not for the faint of heart. Be bold, but smart, and this list can be very rewarding.