Rookie or Sabine?

By BCooper85, in X-Wing Squad Lists

Ok so the title is a bit simplified, at a tournament this weekend I'll definitely be using this:

Braylen with title, R3-A2

T-65 Rookie with IA and R2 x 2

Here are the options for the remaining points:

1. Add another Rookie, put Luke crew on Braylen

2. Add Attack Shuttle Sabine with Predator, put Gunner on Braylen

Thoughts?

I'd probably stick with a rookie and luke. You want to miss on your first attack, and hit on your second, and are likely to be without actions due to a massive pile of stress.

Sabine's not bad at all - but the extra oomph she gets from a few more upgrades (push the limit/kanan/a turret) are noticeable. The Rookie is pretty complete all-up at 22 points.

18 minutes ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Sabine's not bad at all - but the extra oomph she gets from a few more upgrades (push the limit/kanan/a turret) are noticeable. The Rookie is pretty complete all-up at 22 points.

That's a fair point, I did really well with option 1 (still had gunner but with VT) so maybe I'm trying to fix something that isn't broken!

Swapping VT to a gunner-to-luke upgrade sounds good. Yes, Braylen's a stress-deliverer, but he's still 1/4 of your squad, so having him actually contribute by making things explode occasionally would be nice.

The majority of my opponents when using this list saw Braylen as the main threat and went about taking him out ASAP, which is a good shout.

What they didn't expect was how much work the Rookies would put in, they constantly surprised. One thing I need to think about maybe is using one of them as blocker to set up attacks.

2 hours ago, BCooper85 said:

The majority of my opponents when using this list saw Braylen as the main threat and went about taking him out ASAP, which is a good shout.

What they didn't expect was how much work the Rookies would put in, they constantly surprised. One thing I need to think about maybe is using one of them as blocker to set up attacks.

Those X-Wings make a good hammer to Braylen's anvil. I had the same trend when I fly three Rookies with Miranda who is a little more dodgy than the ARC but lacks the stress mechanic. I might have to try your variant.

How much luck are you having with this list? Any particular tactics you've been trying? Tight vs loose formations?

16 minutes ago, LagJanson said:

Those X-Wings make a good hammer to Braylen's anvil. I had the same trend when I fly three Rookies with Miranda who is a little more dodgy than the ARC but lacks the stress mechanic. I might have to try your variant.

How much luck are you having with this list? Any particular tactics you've been trying? Tight vs loose formations?

I used it at a Q1 tournament, taking Braylen with title, R3-A2, Gunner and VT along with the 3 rookies. It was 4 games swiss followed by a top 4 cut.

In swiss I went 4-0 and won my semi-final, losing out in the final. So 5-1 in the end which is pretty **** good I think for lowly t-65s!

I should have flown it at the Q2 event I went to but chose to try something else, this list would have done so much better.

I fly it in a tight pinwheel formation, with Braylen at the back obviously. Always choose not to use the extra die on his first shot with no mods and hopefully miss, then gunner kicks in and you go for it. Double stress yay! I'm thinking of either swapping out a rookie for Sabine (attack shuttle) or keeping the rookie and upgrading gunner to Luke, replacing VT.

57 minutes ago, BCooper85 said:

In swiss I went 4-0 and won my semi-final, losing out in the final. So 5-1 in the end which is pretty **** good I think for lowly t-65s!

...

I fly it in a tight pinwheel formation, with Braylen at the back obviously.

Good job! I've got some 40 games in with my variant and my top finish is only 3rd in much smaller venues. Good flying!

No, I'm in total agreement with @Magnus Grendel that you should keep the Rookie and upgrade gunner to Luke.

  1. The shuttle is cheaper but more fragile than an X-Wing with IA, with a more limited dial (hard to believe...)
  2. The PS5 bump from PS2 doesn't make a huge difference in enough games - depending on your local meta
  3. Luke will give you that focus on while Braylen is stressed.