Just got back from Fresno regionals ( BATTLE REPORT HERE ) and my trip wookiees list that my brother and I came up with is different and handles anything the meta dishes out. It started with the basic trip wookiees of Expertise/tactician/breach and evolved drastically from there. If you're interested in actual list building and the thought process, I figured I would write how our wookiee list came about as we lost sleep days before regionals thinking about 1 point crew options to add that can drastically affect the entire squad. We wanted to be ready for anything, and bring our own spin on a list. I think it's interesting how one little card can change a lists efficiency, or choosing the wrong pilot can drastically affect your opponents decisions and how that affects how your list functions.

This is the process of how we built our list and hopefully it can help newer players in their thought process of getting ready for a tournament.

Stage 1

(x3) Wookiee Liberators w/ Expertise,Tactician,Breach Specialist = 99pts

A strong proven list for sure, but only in the right matchups. Asajj shuts you down, gunner braylen, tractor beams on debris, rigged cargo chute, and more importantly the mirror match of tactician wookiees. I also felt breach is mostly a waste for a tournament. You might use it once per match in a tournament if you are lucky, or you might never use it. I don't feel like its crucial against any particular matchup, just a luck card. I dont think it's bad by any means, but with the 3 extra points, I think more is available.

So, expertise gives you 2.25 expected hits. If it gets turned off via stress, you get naked dice of 1.5 expected hits. I picked the passive middle with predator to save 3 more points in the list and now have 1.94 expected hits.

I'm not happy with 1.94, and want to UP my damage output. So with the 3pts saved from Expertise, I add Operation Specialist. One wookiee misses, another wookiee goes from 1.94 to 2.68 expected hits (predator + focus). This is immune to stress,bumping, Palob, or any other token removal ability as well. Also, as your opponent, damages one wookiee, you can begin focusing for actions on the other two for 2.68 expected hits instead of just a static 2.25 from Expertise.

A favorite combo of mine is Operation Specialist + Rey crew. Last to miss, refuels Rey's focus for an endless supply. This means dropping a tactician on one wookiee. I think the damage output is worth it. Rey goes on the first wookiee firing. I now have 4pts left for the list, 3 points from breach, and the 1pt bid. This allows me Wullffarroo upgrade. However, rarely would people attack him instead of the other two wookiees, UNLESS you make him crucial to the list. Now they have to attack him and trigger his ability.

Stage 2

Wullfarroo w/ Predator,Operation Specialist,Rey = 38pts

Wookiee Liberator w/ Predator,Tactician = 31pts

Wookiee Liberator w/ Predator,Tactician = 31pts

Wullf is now a big threat. Rey and Predator give him a huge 2.68 expected hits, and he is the focus token machine for the list. And if they save him for last, he always has focus tokens or puts in damage with op spec + rey.

A test run on vassal proved its power. Versus Stridan/Inquisitor/Omega Leader, they went for Wullfarro first, triggering his ability by 2nd round of combat. Stridan had 5 hull left and Wullf was range 1 with a rey focus. 2crits and 3hits and Stridan is gone. Same round, Inquisitor is range 1 of both wookiees - it was either that or get tactician'd. First wookie rolls with just predator, and makes Inquisitor spend his tokens. Operation Spec tosses a focus to the next wookiee at range 1 who one shot kills inquisitor. Its now all my wookiees versus Omega Leader and opponent calls it. Game lasted 4 rounds.

Im happy with the offensive output, but Im still worried about certain matchups. Can I push enough damage through Dash/Poe (a popular list in our meta). Or what about Fenn, since he is back, and parattanni asajj?

Tested a game versus PTL Asajj and Dengar. They could control range and Asajj with focus evade was a pain, while Dengar is slooping everywhere. I didnt like it. I was just plinking away. Winnable with good flying, but a challenge for sure. What else could I add?My brother brought his version of wookiees and we tested it versus a parattanni variant.

Wullffarro w/ LW,Rey,HSCP = 38pts

Wookiee Liberator w/ Predator,Tactician = 31pts

Wookiee Liberator w/ Predator Tactician = 31pts

Here, he flanks with Wullffarroo and invites people to attack wullf to trigger his ability while the other two get behind you, or wullf comes from behind and erases any focus tokens you are saving for defense. This ups the damage output considerably for the wookiee liberators.

3 attack w/ predator vs 2 agility w/ focus = .87 dmg

3 attack w/ predator vs 2 agility without focus = 1.27 dmg

And because Wullf attacks at PS7, he can mitigate damage from PS ships 7 and below (like LW Dash) or force them to take TL's, increasing damage output from the wookiees. In our practice match, I didnt attack Wullf, and ending up winning (getting Asajj behind his wookiee liberators). HSCP was a pain though. We liked HSCP interaction, and it helps trigger op spec while weakening offense and defense of the opponents list. What we didn't like, was HSCP detracts from attacking Wullf. Killing two wookiees in 75 minutes is tough, so actually leaving Wullf for last is a good thing to do against this list, hurting HSCP efficiency and wasting 4pts on Wullf.

Stage 3

Lowhhrick w/ Predator, HSCP, Operation Specialist = 38pts

Wookiee Liberator w/ Predator,Tactician = 31pts

Wookiee Liberator w/ Predator Tactician = 31pts

We really wanted op spec in the list, and by dropping Wullf to Low gives us the points to swap Rey with op spec, and LW to Predator. If the opponent goes for a wookiee other than Low, its gonna be an uphill battle for them with that extra evade from Low's ability. This forces them to attack Low first with HSCP, spending their focus token whether they want too or not. We played against the same parattanni variant list and won easily. Attacking Low with HSCP drains focus tokens and pushes damage through with our attacks. It's really frustrating for the opponent. When they want to save that focus.

The list is looking good at this point, but something is bothering me. The opponent should be going for Low first, which means if a wookiee dies, it will be Low who dies in majority of our matches. That is 38pts every match. That does not sit well with me or my brother who have missed cuts by single digit MOV before. Im also not a fan of Low just stuck with predator rerolls for his offense.

Stage 4

I wanted to up Lows offense, while lowering his point value. Moving Op Spec to a Liberator lowers his point value, but his offense is still just stuck at 1.94. Then I had a thought. My favorite combo REY!! Combined opspec, Low will have a lot of focus tokens every round of combat. That is as good as Expertise for 2pts. Drop predator, and Low just got upgraded to 2.25 expected hits, same as Expertise!!!

With 1 point to spare, I have an empty EPT on Lowhhrick and an empty crew slot on a liberator. What are EPTs I want on Low? VI came to mind. Getting Low to PS7 with HSCP, lets him fire before Dash, Asajj, etc to strip focus tokens. Lightning Reflexes would be nice, but stressing Low is not something I ever want to do, and if the other wookiees dont have it, why would Low turn by himself? Determination for Kylo/RAC? But that isn't particular popular in the meta here. What is popular is Asajj and Dash. Dash with Rey can have multiple focus tokens, so getting to PS7 isn't crucial to attack first, but being ps6 would be nice to strip Asajj focus tokens first.

So we are now back to a 1 point crew for a liberator. Intel Agent would help us know where to reinforce in aces matchups, but in all our practice games, we never felt like that was an issue. Hera, we dont need, Nien numb isnt helping the squad, nor is breach specialist on the cheapest wookiee in our list. I have been seeing a lot of gunner Braylen stress arcs, and if combined with tactician wookiees is nasty. This can shut Low's reinforce down big time. Any double stress on Low is bad bad bad. So with 1 point we added inspired recruit to beat wookiee mirror matches and any stressers really. Its a 1pt crew that saves us against popular meta archetypes at the moment.

Lowhhrick w/ Adaptability, HSCP, Rey = 34pts

Wookiee Liberator w/ Predator, Tactician, Operation Specialist = 34pts

Wookiee Liberator w/ Preadtor, Tactician, Inspired Recruit = 32pts

We tested the list out against LW Dash and Poetensity. It completely annihilated it. Not even close. Dash stocked up 3 or 4 focuses from Rey (as did our Lowhhrick). By second round of combat, Dash was out of Rey tokens, Low just erased them with HSCP, and Predator Wookiees with Op Spec tore him up. Poetensity either had to shoot at Low with HSCP and lose his focus, or a wookiee who has reinforce + Lows evade. Dash dropped fast, Poe lost his focus to Low, and the Wookiees shredded him. We played this match a few times, Back tracking a few times to try other things out and everytime, Dash and Poe got destroyed.

Fenn and other non evade aces lose their focus and then Liberators go to work. Low was never out of focuses. Op spec always refueled him at some point. I rushed into battle only having a single focus on Rey a couple times, and by end of game (or when Low died) he had 2 or 3 focuses stocked on Rey.

Versus an PTL Asajj/Dengar practice match, adaptability paid off big time. Asajj had the shadowcaster title, and Low adapted up to PS6. So, Low fired first, and then Asajj could attack and tractor beam low out of arc, or on to obstacles. This happened twice in that game and convinced us, adapt was legit with the Asajj popularity at the moment. We also tried trickshot but was just rarely triggering and mostly a waste. Adaptability it is.

FINAL LIST

Lowhhrick w/ Adaptability, HSCP, Rey = 34pts

Wookiee Liberator w/ Predator, Tactician, Operation Specialist = 34pts

Wookiee Liberator w/ Preadtor, Tactician, Inspired Recruit = 32pts

Results:

Regionals: I went 4-2, 12th overall with 812 MOV. Both losses were very close (final salvo loss in round 3) and I felt like I could beat any list in the tournament. Never loss more than a single wookiee in any match. Really felt like I should be 5-1 but one roll goes against you and you are 4-2 instead.

Hope you enjoyed the read if you made it this far. Had fun and now I'm on to a new list. Really want to get back to my imperials

Wookiee nation was well represented:

Edited December 4, 2017 by wurms

This was really an excellent post.

As a fellow wookie enthusiast I enjoyed reading this. The iterative process of little changes and testing is intriguing and I think you arrived at a good result.

I've only ever really flown 4 of the ps1 pilots with wookie commandos, favouring the sheer quantity over the tricks you can bring with 3, but I am tempted to try something like your final list. I have mucked around with 2 ps3 wookies with predator and tactician and Eaden Vrill, whilst that was fun, it's probably not something I'll pursue competitively.

I tend to agree that predator is a better choice than expertise in this case, for two key reasons. Firstly, predator always works, it can't be turned off by stress, which is a valid concern. Secondly, it offers more consistency and a higher potential when paired with focus tokens. In this case you achieve that either by generating additional focus tokens through opspec or rey, or taking focus tokens on healthy ships to tempt the opponent to spread his damage around rather than focus fire like he ought to.

That final list presents a very muddled target priority and a series of poor options for your opponent. It is tailored to suit popular strong elements of the meta, and it's solid against the mirror. Put the reps in and it should pay off. I like it.