Potential with Jake/Ahsoka/Warden bomber?

By gennataos, in X-Wing Squad Lists

I've run this before and feel there's something there, but I'm just not flying it well enough to take full advantage. I think I've been too aggressive in the past, trying to land a bombing run and Procket attack in the initial engagement to erase a ship. Any thoughts?

Warden Squadron Pilot (23)
Twin Laser Turret (6)
Extra Munitions (2)
Sabine Wren (2)
Thermal Detonators (3)
Cluster Mines (4)
Advanced SLAM (2)

Jake Farrell (24)
Push the Limit (3)
Proton Rockets (3)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Autothrusters (2)
A-Wing Test Pilot (0)

Ahsoka Tano (17)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Cassian Andor (2)
EMP Device (2)
Captured TIE (1)
Sabine's Masterpiece (1)

Total: 99

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

The thought is Ahsoka acts as a scout for the bomber with Cassian crew and a general nuisance with the potential of an EMP. She can also lend Jake a hand with a free TL or evade.

i'd swap thermals for proximity mines on the Warden. the PS of him makes him better for Mine laying.

I find wardens tend to die quite quickly as their ps means they get shot, ALOT, and I've only had 1 game where i ran out of bombs (extra munitions on Cluster mines)

looks fun though, i am kind of running something similar (Tycho with Rage is in there and Warden is almost naked except a double helping of Cluster mines) and will just need a bit of learning how to fly it. i also put Rey on Ahsoka just to bank focus tokens so i can K turn if needed and not need to worry too much for actions.

5 minutes ago, taulover55 said:

i'd swap thermals for proximity mines on the Warden. the PS of him makes him better for Mine laying.

I find wardens tend to die quite quickly as their ps means they get shot, ALOT, and I've only had 1 game where i ran out of bombs (extra munitions on Cluster mines)

looks fun though, i am kind of running something similar (Tycho with Rage is in there and Warden is almost naked except a double helping of Cluster mines) and will just need a bit of learning how to fly it. i also put Rey on Ahsoka just to bank focus tokens so i can K turn if needed and not need to worry too much for actions.

I agree about wardens dying quickly, which is why I like maneuver reveal bombs over another set of action mines...I'm more likely to get them all off.

Just now, gennataos said:

I agree about wardens dying quickly, which is why I like maneuver reveal bombs over another set of action mines...I'm more likely to get them all off.

The problem with that is all the higher PS ships are able to dodge it, even though it can mean they aren't token ed up for the shooting phase.

I love just dropping a well placed cluster/proximity on someones face or directly in their flight path (my wardens are great at getting cluster mines over the targets intended flight path, many times a small ship has succumbed to it!)

You could swap Cassian and Sabine crew over and put an ion bomb onto the Tie. that is a fun combo to have (ion bomb one turn then EMP device the next when you're next to them)

Just now, taulover55 said:

The problem with that is all the higher PS ships are able to dodge it, even though it can mean they aren't token ed up for the shooting phase.

I love just dropping a well placed cluster/proximity on someones face or directly in their flight path (my wardens are great at getting cluster mines over the targets intended flight path, many times a small ship has succumbed to it!)

You could swap Cassian and Sabine crew over and put an ion bomb onto the Tie. that is a fun combo to have (ion bomb one turn then EMP device the next when you're next to them)

They can dodge it, but they probably won't like having to do that. Plus, with the threat of an EMP, they may not have much of a choice! I do like the idea of swapping Cassian and Sabine around and giving the TIE an Ion Bomb. I'm not sure where I could shave that point to make it happen, though.

As it stands, I can't see much reason why your opponent shouldn't just put all their guns on the Warden and take it out in 1-2 rounds of fire. 42 points is a lot for something that goes boom so fast.

I see a couple ways to mitigate that. First, we can cut the points on the Warden. I think it comes down to cutting TLT or the second bomb, and given how often you'll need to take advantage of advanced slam, you won't be getting too many shots off of that TLT, which leaves it something of a waste of 6 points. I'd cut the TLT and improve thermals to Connor Nets.\

The next part of the problem is that you're making target priority really easy on your opponent. Jake has 1 good shot with the PRockets, after which he's scooting around doing the best he can with 2 red dice. He's also really squirrely, so your opponent has even less motivation to shoot him over the warden. And Ahsoka's main advantage is that she just plain can't get shot by most ships. Much as I love the A wing, I suggest swapping Jake out for something more threatening, like a b wing or a t-70 x wing. But this topic is Jake Ahsoka Warden, so I won't twist your arm on this one.

Finally, as @taulover55 suggests, swap Sabine and Cassian and put ion bomb on Ahsoka. This gives you another bomb to play with and also means that they can't turn off Sabine's extra damage just by blowing up the warden. You could swap EMP for the scavenger crane to give you the potential to ionize more than twice, or you can keep EMP to guarantee two ionizations a game.

2 hours ago, gennataos said:

I've run this before and feel there's something there, but I'm just not flying it well enough to take full advantage. I think I've been too aggressive in the past, trying to land a bombing run and Procket attack in the initial engagement to erase a ship. Any thoughts?

Warden Squadron Pilot (23)
Twin Laser Turret (6)
Extra Munitions (2)
Sabine Wren (2)
Thermal Detonators (3)
Cluster Mines (4)
Advanced SLAM (2)

Jake Farrell (24)
Push the Limit (3)
Proton Rockets (3)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Autothrusters (2)
A-Wing Test Pilot (0)

Ahsoka Tano (17)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Cassian Andor (2)
EMP Device (2)
Captured TIE (1)
Sabine's Masterpiece (1)

Total: 99

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

I flew a similar list, only had regening Snap instead of Jake. It's a nice combo of ships. Think about the current meta. Lots of Fenn out there. So if you are flying Jake, give him a nice initiative and maybe a range 2-3 missile instead of prockets. If he moves after Fenn, he can control that range 2 dead zone of Fenn, then launch a missile attack.

Here is my list. Wasn't too bad, but haven't gone back to it since my first game:

"Snap" Wexley (28)
Veteran Instincts (1)
R5-P9 (3)
Primed Thrusters (1)
Autothrusters (2)
Black One (1)

Warden Squadron Pilot (23)
Autoblaster Turret (2)
Extra Munitions (2)
"Chopper" (0)
Proximity Mines (3)
Cluster Mines (4)
Advanced SLAM (2)

Ahsoka Tano (17)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Sabine Wren (2)
Scavenger Crane (2)
Thermal Detonators (3)
Captured TIE (1)
Sabine's Masterpiece (1)

Total: 99

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

The first time I played it, I beat post-nerf Paratanni. Like utterly destroyed it, lol. So it has potential. Ahsoka with bombs is awesome, and Sabine is protected against ships under PS9. Dont be aggressive. Get the enemy to chase you, and lead them into a bad situation. I stayed out of range 3 of asajj, and in range 3 of manaroo and chipped away at Manaroo. My opponent rushed Asajj in finally, and that's when Ahsoka and Bomber went to work.

Snap kept Fenn occupied in the match. Flanking him, then Fenn got a range 1 shot on Snap and erased Snaps shields. Then Snap flew away with Fenn en route, but Snap is way too fast and regened shields. In the meantime, the bomber and Ahsoka went to work on Asajj. A couple proximity mines, and thermal det, and an early damage from Snap finished her off. Manaroo fell quick, then it was Fenn vs my entire squad, Warden still had two clusters, and Snap was fully healed as was Ahsoka. Game was called, but no way Fenn kills speedy Snap with regen in time. And Ahsoka is really hard for Fenn to kill, cause she can just barrel roll out of his arc at beginning of combat.

I went for proximities and clusters, specifically for Parattanni, so I can drop proximities on the edges where Asajj likes to do circles, and force her inside toward the rocks. Then I still have clusters for damage. ABT to keep Fenn out of range 1, and Chopper so it can still have its entire dial open and drop bombs if stressed, because there is a lot of stress out there, and this list was built for Paratanni in mind at the time.

Edited by wurms

Thanks for the input, everyone! After your responses and thinking on it more, it probably has too low of a floor for me to fly effectively.