So! I've been reading some folks here talking about how "Linked Batteries does nothing for the B-Wing". And, well. I disagree. First:

Quote

Linked Battery. (2 points)
Small ship only. Limited.
When attacking with a primary weapon or [cannon] secondary weapon, you may reroll 1 attack die.

The B-Wing is currently underperforming because its defense is not capable of standing up to the sorts of punishment that is routine in the modern game. This upgrade won't fix that problem. But it certainly will add an interesting option to the B-Wing, and give them some flexibility in loadout. Rerolls are powerful. They're the rough equivalent of adding a whole extra unmodified die.

To see what this upgrade offers the B-Wing, we should look at what other upgrades allow rerolls. 2 upgrades come to mind: Predator and Fire-Control System (FCS). Predator costs 3 points, takes the Elite Pilot (EPT) slot and offers an offensive reroll- or 2 if the defender if under PS3. FCS costs 2 points, takes the System slot, and offers a Target Lock after you perform an attack. For completeness sake, I'll note that Target Locks can be traded to reroll as many attack dice as the attacker wishes. Generally speaking FCS is considered the best System Slot option in the game.

Interestingly, because the B-Wing has a flexible dial with lots of red maneuvers, the best B-Wing configuration is usually considered to be a Blue Squadron Pilot with Advanced Sensors (3 points). Advanced Sensors allows for a pre-maneuver action, and thus allows the B-Wing to use the entirety of it's dial, safe in the knowledge that it won't be sacrificing its ability to barrel roll or focus. Advanced Sensors, however, requires the System slot and thus keeps Blue Squadron Pilots from equipping FCS, and Blue Squadron pilots cannot take an EPT, and are locked out of Predator.

Which brings us back to Linked Battery. This upgrade takes a slot that the B-Wing doesn't generally use- Cannons - and gives a signifiant advantage. With Linked Battery, the B-Wing will have the System slot open to continue taking Advanced Sensors, or be able to take something like Collision Detector , to get the most out of the B-Wing's barrel roll action.

This is not- by any means- a B-Wing "fix". But this card is certainly an interesting and useful option on a ship that I want to see more of on the table.

It's something for sure

certainly going to merit comparison with FCS, but I think the fact that linked doesn't require TLs on higher PS ships is the key selling point. TLs on higher PS ships are very difficult to follow up on, and circumstances will often call on you to break pursuit and focus on another target at a moment's notice. That's just the way you gotta play with lower PS, not terribly maneuverable ships

It's not a B Wing fix.

At 0 points it could have been.

51 minutes ago, ficklegreendice said:

except not really, because if you havn't learned from the SCURRG I'll just say it straight: it's nigh impossible to make anything as busted as the deadeye scout

but the Gunboat has a configuration that will give the Lok a run for its money, and actually probably outperform it utterly. I've been advertising it constantly since the first glimpse at the boat, but now that we have a clean look you can see its power more explicitly:

11 points of upgrades on a 21 point base, 32 points total

You got a 4 dice + full mods ( LRS ) + CRACKSHOT alpha (which doesn't need focus to fire ala deadeye )

You get a sustained 4 dice + re-roll attack that never goes away (or a 3 dice primary range 1 with re-roll). And you even out PS SCURRG/scouts!

If you're going HLC, why not just run 4 PS2s with HLC and LRS? You lose the linked battery and crackshot, but gain a full extra ship. Another 7 health the opponent has to kill and a fourth 4 die attack

Yeah, 2 is pricey for the ships that can really make use of it (Gunboats and B-wings).

My God, that Tho Squadron Veteran is gorgeous.

Bout the only thing i could say it has over FCS is:

1) It happens immediately, no first-shot w/o rerolls in exchange for 1 reroll instead of all
2) Allows sensors to be used for Adv Sensors, Collisions, or Jammers

Cannon was previously left empty unless you had a 1pt lying around for tractors because why not (ive had tons of situations where i'd rather tractor at PS2 than fire 3reds)

Of the three previous ships that can equip it, the B-Wing is probably the best option for this. It might be better than FCS overall, as it's less vulnerable to being arc dodged and works on every attack. Plus, it allows you take a Baffle or other system upgrade.

1 minute ago, VanderLegion said:

If you're going HLC, why not just run 4 PS2s with HLC and LRS? You lose the linked battery and crackshot, but gain a full extra ship. Another 7 health the opponent has to kill and a fourth 4 die attack

wrong thread

also the answer is "torp scouts". Ps 4 is a huge deal, and so is crackshot and linked

Although it does open up the system slot on B-Wings for....say.... Advanced Sensors

@VanderLegion did you just somehow quote another thread into this thread? lol

Just now, Vineheart01 said:

@VanderLegion did you just somehow quote another thread into this thread? lol

Uh oh.... someone crossed the streams

Just now, ficklegreendice said:

wrong thread

also the answer is "torp scouts". Ps 4 is a huge deal, and so is crackshot and linked

Slam into R1 to block with the extra ship seems like a reasonable use.

2 minutes ago, Vineheart01 said:

@VanderLegion did you just somehow quote another post into this post? lol

Not sure how I did that. I hadn't even SEEN this thread yet, much less been into it. I was literlaly looking at the other thread when I said to quote...

Just now, VanderLegion said:

Not sure how I did that.

linked batteries, linked threads

what else possibly could want this?
Bwing

Small ship only, so no Lambda and Upsilon. Defender titles don't work with it.
Syck not enough dmg.

B-wing and gunboat, basically

Too bad it only works with cannon secondaries. If only it worked with Nera...

13 minutes ago, Blail Blerg said:

Syck not enough dmg.

At 0 points Sunny might take it for giggles. At 2 it is too expensive, as you also have to spend 2 for the title.

1 hour ago, Biophysical said:

Yeah, 2 is pricey for the ships that can really make use of it (Gunboats and B-wings).

I think if the B-Wing were more survivable, this upgrade would be worth the points. As it is, the Blue Squadron Pilot might be blown up before even firing a shot, so why bother putting more points into it?

3 hours ago, Managarmr said:

At 0 points Sunny might take it for giggles. At 2 it is too expensive, as you also have to spend 2 for the title.

Sunny with focus LOVES it.

16 minutes ago, Rakaydos said:

Sunny with focus LOVES it.

Only if you roll an eyeball and a blank, spend the focus, and reroll the blank into a hit.

Well at 2 points it is a stretch. For 1 point it would be a must include.

3 hours ago, Managarmr said:

At 0 points Sunny might take it for giggles. At 2 it is too expensive, as you also have to spend 2 for the title.

You know, 2 points might have been perfect if the card allowed to you equip another cannon. So the gunboat title would needed only to add one cannon slot to the ship instead of two. In that case you could have combined the Linked Batteries with all small ship cannon ships and make it somewhat useful on M3A ... but like it is. Narf.

4 hours ago, Audio Weasel said:

Uh oh.... someone crossed the streams

Dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria, gunboats actually being released by FFG- your honor we're talking about biblical scale cataclysms here.