So who had "12 months" in the "How long will Doug stay away this time" pool?

Until about 3 weeks ago, it had been a year since i picked up my ships. Then I realized how much I missed playing, squad-building, and most importantly, meeting new and old friends. So I pulled what I have left off of the shelf and went about trying to organize what I had.

I ended up showing up at our local game store X-wing night . I brought Triple Defenders (I actually had to buy 1 because I only had 2 left.) Two Deltas with TIE D and Ion cannons, one with Tractor Beam, all 3 with TIE MKII. I faced off against Caleb running a Vader/RAClo. He spent a good deal of time explaining the state of the game now before we faced off.

He brought Vader up the middle with RAC on my right side, I slow played with 1-bank/barrel rolls first turn because with my list I want to have the fighting taking place primarily on my side of the board due to ion control, especially against RAC. And with Vader's cruise missile, range control was going to be very important. Second round I managed to just be out of range after Vader moved, so he barrel rolled into range and target locked in order to get his cruise missile off. I spent my focus for defense, taking 2 hits, and RAC's shot was long range and obstructed, so I evaded that. I then was able to get Vader ioned, but only did 3 damage to him after all of my attacks. Next round I took the hurt Delta and blocked Vader, while setting up 2 more ion shots. I didn't get him, but I did force him to fire away from the hurt Delta, keeping it alive longer. Next round I 4K and managed to finish Vader off. By this time his RAC was below the asteroids closest to me and facing into the board, so he either could run and make me chase him or turn into the board and hope to survive. He decided to turn in. The game hinged on a 3 crits from him vs my shieldless, tokenless Delta, I rolled 3 natural evades. Then I proceeded to pound him down to 3 hull left with 2 ion tokens. He was on a rock next round with a Stunned Pilot, so we called it. Overall I felt pretty good about being able to estimate maneuvers after being off for so long. W 100-0

Then, 2 weeks later I played a game with the same squad against Amon running 3 TIE/SFs with Cruise Missiles and Deadeye. This is a matchup that people say my list should have trouble with. He set up one of his sfs to flank, but he didn't quite get the timing right, as I was able to engage the other 2 while the 3rd was flying through the rocks. I did eat 2 missiles, but that didn't kill my TB delta, so I managed to burn one of them down in one round. Next round I got behind the other one and ioned it. I was able to stay behind it for the rest of the game, reducing its attack to just the rear arc. The 3rd one came in to play and finished off my hurt Delta, but I was able to outlast with the other 2 and finish his TIEs off for the win. W 100-32

Then on Saturday I played a vassal game against Scott. People had been telling me that my list would suffer due to low PS, so I changed it up a bit. This game I ran:

Rexler Brath with Veteran Instincts, TIE D, Tractor Beam
Whisper with VI, ACD
Duchess with VI, Adaptive Aelerons
(I think. Not sure how the points work out.)

I apologize, but I have forgotten what Scott was running. I know he had a Lowhrick, because Rexler was loving facing 1 agility ships with his Tractor beam. I don't recall how this one played out (sorry Scott), but I know that I only lost Duchess. Rexler and Whisper did a lot of the heavy lifting for me that game.

Then on Sunday I played another vassal game against Waylander. After talking with Scott, I switched out Duchess for Pure Sabacc with Adaptibility and AA, and put an FCS on Whisper. He was running a Dutch, Lowhrick, Wedge build. Again Rexler was loving AGI1 ships, as I managed to roll Dutch onto a rock. I brought Sabacc right into the fight and held Whisper away from Wedge (he took init) and kept on Dutch. Second round of combat Whisper finished off Dutch while Wedge killed Sabacc. We danced around for a bit until I finished off Lowhrick. Then it was 2 vs Wedge. He flew pretty well, but I came out on top. I don't remember if I lost Whisper or not, but I don't think I did. (Could be wrong on that.) I did misjudge a 3 bank with rexler and landed him on a rock during the turn that I was supposed to get a TL on Wedge. That came back to bite me later on. W 100-22

Then last night a played 2 games on the table. I brought the same list I played against Waylander.

Rexler with VI, TIE D, Tractor Beam
Whipser with VI, ACD, FCS
Pure Sabacc with Adaptibility and AA

First game against Kyle running 2 low PS wookiees and a tricked out Poe. He tried to flank with Poe, but mis-timed the engagement. First combat Rexler rolls a Wookiee onto a rock while Sabacc takes a few hits. Next round I PS-killed the damaged wookiee while he took out Sabacc. i was able to chase down and finish off Poe while the wookiee was turning around. I managed to decloak into an area he wasn't expecting and was able to finish off the wookiee for the win with a rexler TB reducing his agi to 0 and Whisper at Range 1. the remarkable thing about this game was that I was able to use Rexler's ability TWICE in the game vs his shieldless wookiees with agi 0. 100-22

Then I played against a younger player that has been actually playing for a long time. He brought a Kylo Upsilon shuttle with Vader and an AP. This game I started out trying to be cute and landed sabacc on a rock first turn. Nothing like spotting your opponent a free damage. He was able to force me to spread my damage out among his ships very well. This game went back and forth for a bit, but I killed the AP. Then he killed sabacc. I managed to focus down and finish off the Upsilon so that it was Vader vs Rexler and Whisper. I managed to block Vader with a Whisper decloak. Game ended on that turn with an actionless vader killing Whisper but dying due to simultaneous fire. Rexler had 1 hull left. So I barely won that one 100-61. Again I was able to use Rexler's ability vs the shieldless Kylo before Whisper finished him off.

I'm really enjoying running Imperial control lists. Rexler with a PS10 Tractor Beam is a pain to deal with, especially since my other 2 ships are squishier and bigger threats. So Rexler largely gets ignored until endgame. I am admittedly not a good Phantom flier, but seem to be doing okay enough with Whisper so far. And I do enjoy bringing a Phantom and a Striker in the same squad to make predicting my moves a little more difficult (for me as well!) Next up I need to try Countdown. I'm going to switch Rexler up for Maarek and see if the PS9 vs PS10 makes a big enough difference.

So, I'm back in the saddle again. Looking towards the Omaha Regional in March. I'll try to update this thread with thoughts and reports as I play more games.

Welcome back hothmeister. I've been playing a bit of Triple D myself, and it's been doing pretty well. Kudos on the work with the Phantom/Striker/Defender combo, it's a squirrely list, will be interesting to see how you get on with it!

Like the title. You throw interceptions in your last game every time before you retire?

1 hour ago, ObiWonka said:

Like the title. You throw interceptions in your last game every time before you retire?

Nope, it was a TIE swarm. No Interceptors.

Although my VI Jax has been lonely for a while.....

4 hours ago, FTS Gecko said:

Welcome back hothmeister. I've been playing a bit of Triple D myself, and it's been doing pretty well. Kudos on the work with the Phantom/Striker/Defender combo, it's a squirrely list, will be interesting to see how you get on with it!

Thanks. I like the variance and unpredictability of a Striker/Phantom combination. I may try it out this weekend and see if it holds up in a tourney setting.

Vassal game tonight vs a vader and 2 hlc gunboats squad. I ran my new variant:

Maarek with VI, TIE D, Tractor Beam
Whisper with VI, ACD, FCS, and Rebel Captive
Countdown with AA

Some cheeky maneuvering early. He flew his squad up the side, while I brought Whisper and Maarek through the asteroids. First round of combat I knew Vader would be coming hard towards Whisper, so I decloaked forward and did a 4K over the asteroid, which landed behind Vader, but Whisper didn't have a shot on him. He tried to block Countdown with one of his gunboats, but I avoided it. We traded shots with the only damage being an hlc shot on Countdown, which I cancelled for a stress and a damage.
Next round he blocked Whisper's 2 bank with a gunboat (man, those things can move with slam) and did a 4K with vader to get a shot on Whisper. Captive added a second stress to Vader. He did 1 damage, and then I returned fire and did one to him. next round I couldn't go after Vader with Whisper being in the asteroids, so I went after a gunboat instead. Maarek had grabbed a tl on Vader the turn before, so I 4k and had an obstructed shot on vader, but he had a shots with his RSv's on my other 2 ships. I'm gonna try and load a pic of the map here.

I had shots with Maarek on all 3 of his ships.

(edit: I saved the pic at the wrong time. This pic is just after I attacked. I had a focus, and there weren't any TB tokens on the board yet.)
On Vader I had tl and focus, but it was obstructed, so 3 modified vs his 4 unmodified. If I hit, I can roll him onto the rock, but his other 2 ships get shots on my other 2.
Or I can attempt the TB on his RSV2. If I hit I move his RSV forward, so that it doesn't have a shot on Countdown, but Countdown would have a range 1 shot on it at -1 agi. Or I could try and TB the other one who has a range 1 shot on Whisper, possibly rolling that one onto the rock.

I decided to shoot at the RSV that had a shot on Countdown. It was probably the wrong call, but honestly I was more worried about the hlcs than I was about Vader. I hit with the TB and moved RSV2 forward, then did my primary attack vs RSV 1 to try and strip either shields or a token to help Whisper out. He had to spend his focus to avoid damage from Maarek. Whisper then stripped the shields off of that one and evaded the return shot. Countdown stripped the shields off of the other RSV with a 4v1 shot.

Next round Vader gets rid of his second stress, boosts and barrel rolls, but is still in Maarek's arc. Maarek spent his tl on the TB shot, which hit, then did hit, hit, crit to Vader. I pulled 3 and gave Vader a Damaged Cockpit. He conceded there, as he had done a total of 2 damage to my squad and I had Vader at PS0 and 1 hull, and his other 2 ships onto just hull left. I was in good position to focus one of his RSV's down with Whisper and Countdown, and Maarek being PS9 was in a position where he could handle Vader and the other RSV.

Overall I felt pretty good about this game. His green dice went cold when it mattered, and he maneuvered really well. I think he was trying to block with his RSVs, when he should have just stayed back and pounded away with the hlcs. Getting the weapons disabled tokens on them was big because it meant he wasn't getting 4-dice shots with them. For me, having Maarek vs Rexler, PS10 Rexler wouldn't have mattered because Vader was PS11, but Maarek's ability sealed the game. Countdown was great vs hlcs, only taking 1 damage in the game and getting some good shots off. Well worth 20 points. And Whisper's 2 shots were both 5-dice attacks. I mean, yeah, it would have been nice to get more shots off with Whisper, but at the same time, I was trying to keep Whisper alive vs PS11 Vader, so I had to be selective about how I used her offensively. I like the squad, though. I'm happy with how it flies.

16 hours ago, hothie said:

Thanks. I like the variance and unpredictability of a Striker/Phantom combination. I may try it out this weekend and see if it holds up in a tourney setting.

[Mr Burns]Excellent[/Mr Burns]

Firstly, great to see you back.

Secondly, great to see you experimenting with the joy-to-fly lil' ships that are TIE strikers. They have their problems (turrets being everywhere, the annoying number of times lightweight frame stops working when you really need it) but point for point I think they're the most fun ships in the game at the moment* and awesome in a 'proper' dogfight.

* I think the XG-1 and OS-1 gunboat may match them for shennanigans. I don't have access to Vassal so haven't had a chance to experiment, but a striker-priced ship with some control elements which can actually keep up with Miranda Doni is very tempting.

4 hours ago, hothie said:

I decided to shoot at the RSV that had a shot on Countdown. It was probably the wrong call, but honestly I was more worried about the hlcs than I was about Vader

I think it was a fair choice; anything which limits Countdown to only taking one shot is the right call, whether you put Vader on the rock or hauled the gunboat out of arc, because you can take any amount of damage or criticals and it all comes out in the wash. Difference is; you can reliably hit the gunboat with a tractor shot.

4 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

[Mr Burns]Excellent[/Mr Burns]

Firstly, great to see you back.

Secondly, great to see you experimenting with the joy-to-fly lil' ships that are TIE strikers. They have their problems (turrets being everywhere, the annoying number of times lightweight frame stops working when you really need it) but point for point I think they're the most fun ships in the game at the moment* and awesome in a 'proper' dogfight.

* I think the XG-1 and OS-1 gunboat may match them for shennanigans. I don't have access to Vassal so haven't had a chance to experiment, but a striker-priced ship with some control elements which can actually keep up with Miranda Doni is very tempting.

I think it was a fair choice; anything which limits Countdown to only taking one shot is the right call, whether you put Vader on the rock or hauled the gunboat out of arc, because you can take any amount of damage or criticals and it all comes out in the wash. Difference is; you can reliably hit the gunboat with a tractor shot.

Thanks.

My thoughts on the Striker so far: PS10 Duchess was nice, but meh. Pure Sabacc with Adaptability was a 22-point, PS7 Biggs, because it is a ship that my opponent needed to attack and get off of the board quickly so as not to absorb too many 4-dice attacks from him. Countdown brings a much higher survivability at a cheaper cost. I haven't flown them with LWF because I'm not sure that it is necessary, and I would rather spend the points elsewhere (like Captive on Whisper.) If I _want_ my opponents to target my Striker, LWF deters them from doing so. And if they kill that ship first, then the lower cost I have on them the better. Countdown with AA at 20 points is highly durable, unpredictable, and still has a high enough PS to be able to shoot a 3 or 4 dice attack vs a lot of ships out there now. Or even against higher PS, makes for a very unpredictable blocker at worst.

But they are a lot of fun to fly with essentially their free boost action. I am glad I bought one last week, and I've been enjoying learning how to really use it.

Yeah, the decision was a tough one. Vader still being stressed and facing away from me meant that I could wait on Vader and deal with the bigger threats that were the gunboats at the time. It worked out for me.

12 minutes ago, hothie said:

PS10 Duchess was nice, but meh.

She's nice in theory. But a lot of the top dogfighters are also PS10 or even 11, and she has next to no defence against turret. In non-standard games, she's awesome; if you play any Furballs, a nice 30 point ship is Duchess with Lone Wolf (if allowed, Intensity if not), Adaptive Ailerons and Engine Upgrade. The levels of hooning-around-like-a-demented-fruitbat have to be seen to be believed, and in our last furball evening I had Duchess and friends had an advanced cloak Sigma squadron and a Kanan/PTL/Cloak sabine's TIE. Watching the facial contortions of people as they tried to figure out where the heck anyone were going to be was worth it in and of itself.

17 minutes ago, hothie said:

Pure Sabacc with Adaptability was a 22-point, PS7 Biggs, because it is a ship that my opponent needed to attack and get off of the board quickly so as not to absorb too many 4-dice attacks from him

He's a bit of a Kamikaze, but I'm not sure PS7 rather than PS6 buys you much. I'd be tempted to try him out with Crack Shot.

19 minutes ago, hothie said:

Countdown brings a much higher survivability at a cheaper cost. I haven't flown them with LWF because I'm not sure that it is necessary, and I would rather spend the points elsewhere (like Captive on Whisper.) If I _want_ my opponents to target my Striker, LWF deters them from doing so. And if they kill that ship first, then the lower cost I have on them the better. Countdown with AA at 20 points is highly durable, unpredictable, and still has a high enough PS to be able to shoot a 3 or 4 dice attack vs a lot of ships out there now. Or even against higher PS, makes for a very unpredictable blocker at worst.

You can definitely use him aggressively, especially against the two-ship-brigade. Going head-on with Fenn Rau and knowing you'll come out the other end dinged but alive is a nice experience. Which, in turn, means getting the range 1 bonus die more often and means in his own way he hits as hard as pure sabbac.

LWF is a matter of taste. It's more important for a pure striker swarm, I think, because the 17-point price of the Imperial Trainee means you're not going to get another ship in by leaving it off. When you're trying to make a striker into a 'pocket ace' to fill slot #3 in an imperial aces squad, it's less critical (especially for countdown)

23 minutes ago, hothie said:

But they are a lot of fun to fly with essentially their free boost action.

They do get a few sneaky bonuses with it being a maneuver not a boost. Because you can collide, but don't lose your action, it's good for lining up a segnor or similar that wouldn't have been possible if it was a boost. Plus, you can abuse it with debris - aileron across the debris, pick up a stress, reveal a green, lose the stress, get your action. For some reason, people always overlook your ability to do that.

Right now I'm vacillating between 2 squads for tomorrow's tourney.

Rexler with VI, TIE D, Tractor Beam

Whisper with VI, ACD, FCS, Agent Kallus

Countdown with AA

(100)

OR

Maarek with VI, D, TB

Whisper same but with Captive

Countdown same.

(99)

Against PS11+ and everything PS8 and under, Maarek has a better ability, so I like squad 2 better.

Against PS10, having a PS10 Rexler would simultaneously fire or possibly fire before my opponent's PS10s. This could be big, putting Nym on a rock before he attacks, for example. PS9 Maarek can't do that.

Against PS9, having PS10 Rexler is again big, moving after and shooting before them. This could save Whisper getting attacked without being cloaked.

And then there's the Agent Kallus vs Rebel Captive debate. I'm not sold on Kallus yet. I would prefer the full game control effect of RC over the "maybe, and only against 1 ship" effect of Kallus.

I dunno. I've got a 2-hour drive to decide tomorrow morning.

For what it's worth, my vote is on squad two because of Maarek Steele and Rebel Captive. Those two elements make the squad way better, despite the lower PS of your TIE defender. Just my two credits.

Great reports, and I am happy to see you flying strikers! I need to try out the named pilots. I think I've flown them only once each.

12 minutes ago, Parakitor said:

For what it's worth, my vote is on squad two because of Maarek Steele and Rebel Captive. Those two elements make the squad way better, despite the lower PS of your TIE defender. Just my two credits.

Great reports, and I am happy to see you flying strikers! I need to try out the named pilots. I think I've flown them only once each.

Thanks, man.

Me too. It's the squad that i ran on vassal vs a ps11 vader and felt okay with it. I'll just have to fly better against ps10s.

Another vassal game tonight vs Poe and 2 tactician wookiees.

I ran my Maarek squad from 3 posts up.

He went slow initially, so I moved up to his half of the board on my right side. First combat I took Range 3 shots at Poe, which was a mistake with AT and focus. Chances are very bad that I actually hit him. I should have shot at the wookiees first instead. Next round he had a range 2 shot on Whisper (pic included), gets 3 hits (he had init), I rolled 2 natural evades to only take 1 shield. Maarek then forced him to spend his focus token to evade the TB shot. (If TB hits, I roll him into Range 1 of Whisper and Countdown with a -1 agility.) I stripped his shields that round.

Next round I K-turn Maarek behind Poe and get shots on him with Whisper (with tl) and Countdown and took Poe off of the board, which was big. his tacticians were annoying for sure, but I was able to finish the game only losing Countdown. (note to self, Tactician is a good counter to Countdown.) He took 2 shields off of Whisper and 1 shield off of Maarek. Maarek's ability didn't come into play, but I was glad to be able to focus down Poe with him having init.

I feel good about running this squad in a tourney tomorrow. We'll see how it goes!

Tournament yesterday at Sparta Games in Omaha. My first tournament since the Regional that was held there 13 months ago. I wanted to try out my squad arch-type in a tournament setting and see how well I could do.
Tourney lists are here:
http://lists.starwarsclubhouse.com/get_tourney_details?tourney_id=3739

I brought:

Maarek Steele with VI, TIE D, Tractor Beam
Whisper with VI, ACD, FCS, Rebel Captive
Countdown with AA

My first game was against Jim, a long-time friend from the old WotC Star Wars Minis days. He brought a list that he has been practicing with for a while.
Captain rex
Fenn Rau
Lothal
Jess

I made 2 mistakes in this game. 1. I brought Whisper right into his kill box. It wouldn't have been as bad, since I had a 5vs2 on Jess first combat round, but I only rolled 2 hits, which he evaded, so I didn't get my free focus. He then poured all of his fire into Whisper, taking her down to 1 hull left. The second mistake I made was target priority. I should have gone after the Lothal while I still had all of my ships on the board. Sure, It takes a few rounds, but that is his firepower, and I can have a better shot endgame vs the rest. Instead, I took out Fenn after 3 combat rounds, but he took out Whisper on a 4 (TL)vs 5 (focus) with the Lothal. I then took out Rex, but he still had his hitters left, so he finished off Maarek, and Countdown was way overmatched. I think if I had flown Whisper better, it might have lasted a little longer, but my target priority mistake was what won him the game. L-100-34

Next I faced Greg running a Chewie and Miranda list. The Tractor Beam was effective vs the agi1 ships. I managed to avoid Miranda's bomb and take her out shortly thereafter in exchange for Countdown. Then I was able to focus down Chewie with the tractor beam, Maarek's attack, and Whisper's attack. W 100-20

Next I faced Eli running a Dengar and Asajj list. I was really not looking forward to facing this list, as Dengar gives me bad swarm flashbacks. He split his ships up on each end of the board. I brought Countdown up the middle, and left my 2 PS9s to go after Dengar. He targeted Countdown with Asajj, while I was burning Dengar down. I kept Whisper along the board edge, away from a fast Asajj, and managed to kill Dengar off quickly. Asajj's stress was a good counter to Countdown, and definitely hurt endgame with Whisper. Whisper had 1 hull left. But the Rebel Captive stress double stressed Asajj, which kept her from running too far, so I was able to chase her down and kill her for the win. 100-20

Last game was against Sam running a Miranda, Lowhrick, Roark list.

Again, 3 agi1 ships. Tractor beam was salivating. We both slow played, but when the first combat started, I had it all set up beautifully. He used Roark to get Miranda her tlt shots on Whisper, and then here's what I had:

Maarek tractor beam shot hit Miranda.
Maarek range 1 on Miranda 4v0
Whisper Range 2 shot on Miranda, 4v0
Countdown range 1 on Miranda, 4v0 with focus

TWELVE dice versus her ZERO, and I did a grand total of 2 damage to her, with Lowhrick using draw their fire once and reinforce token once. I knew that was my shot at pulling Miranda off the board, but the dice had other ideas. Next round she dropped her bomb, which only hit Maarek, and she was able to heal back up, and I never did manage to pull her off the board. Whisper died to a 3v5 Lowhrick attack the same round that Countdown died, and it was too much for Maarek to handle by himself. L 100-0

Overall I felt okay with the list. People say the TIE D is horrible, but a PS9 (or 10 with Rexler) tractor beam vs all of these agi1 ships is not to be taken lightly. And then I follow that up with a 4 dice attack from Whisper, and it can be pretty potent. On the way home I was thinking about swapping out Countdown for a bomber shuttle with Fleet and Systems Officers. I'm not sure that that is the right fix, but it might add both offense and defense to the hitters in the list. I dunno, we'll see.

Well done on the wins!

On ‎10‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 5:30 PM, hothie said:

The second mistake I made was target priority. I should have gone after the Lothal while I still had all of my ships on the board. Sure, It takes a few rounds, but that is his firepower, and I can have a better shot endgame vs the rest.

I'm not convinced, to be honest. It depends on the game-board, but trying to shoot up even an agility 0 target when you've got both Fenn Rau and Captain Rex messing up your ability to attack it is going to be awkward.

I guess Fenn and Rex with 2-dice attacks aren't a massive threat to a cloaked phantom or a defender, but they can sting, and if you get down to those two against one of your ships, you'll struggle to hurt them. Plus, even if you kill the VCX, you're just going to have to then chew through jess pava with the same attack-penalties (does she have M9-G8, by the way - just realised Fenn's no-modify ability gets extra scary when paired with stuff like M9-G8, R7 and sensor jammer)

On ‎10‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 5:30 PM, hothie said:

TWELVE dice versus her ZERO, and I did a grand total of 2 damage to her, with Lowhrick using draw their fire once and reinforce token once. I knew that was my shot at pulling Miranda off the board, but the dice had other ideas. Next round she dropped her bomb, which only hit Maarek, and she was able to heal back up, and I never did manage to pull her off the board. Whisper died to a 3v5 Lowhrick attack the same round that Countdown died, and it was too much for Maarek to handle by himself. L 100-0

Yeah.....I know I tend to agree that "there's always something you could have done" when talking tactics but there are times that the dice just go "not today, thank you." - when a tractored target takes next to no damage from twelve attack dice, it's really not your day.

Also, it's Miranda Doni, who you tend to only ever get one chance to kill before she just buggers off and you never see her again.

You may detect I have issues with that pilot in particular.

1 hour ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Well done on the wins!

I'm not convinced, to be honest. It depends on the game-board, but trying to shoot up even an agility 0 target when you've got both Fenn Rau and Captain Rex messing up your ability to attack it is going to be awkward.

I guess Fenn and Rex with 2-dice attacks aren't a massive threat to a cloaked phantom or a defender, but they can sting, and if you get down to those two against one of your ships, you'll struggle to hurt them. Plus, even if you kill the VCX, you're just going to have to then chew through jess pava with the same attack-penalties (does she have M9-G8, by the way - just realised Fenn's no-modify ability gets extra scary when paired with stuff like M9-G8, R7 and sensor jammer)

Jim went 4-0 on the day because not only is he a great player, but also because everyone he faced did the exact same thing I did. Everyone killed Fenn and Rex first, leaving the lothal to pound away on them all game long. Neither of Rex or Fenn are big enough guns to worry about endgame, so i think I shouldn't have worried about them initially and taken my chances with either of them endgame. The thing is, though, the mindset of "pull something off of the board quickly" takes over, and you see the lothal as a tank, and jess with the rerolls is tough with everyone around her, so you go after the easier ships to kill. The list is designed very well (list is on the link I attached) so just that reason.

Gotta go to work. More later.

Good to have you back with us my friend. Hopefully we can catch a game on vassal.

Played a game last night on the table vs Trent flying 3 Khiraxz with Harpoon missiles. I didn't have time to get a new squad built, so i brought my tourney squad. He was at 100, so i took the imitiative.

I tried to play the range right, but 2nd turn he was able to get a tl on Countdown. But with CD's ability, he chose to not shoot his harpoon. Next round i blocked with CD. Maarek tractor beam and whisper 5v1 made short work of the fighter. A few more rounds of dancing later i finished Talonbane off for the 100-0 win.

I've been playing on geordan, and I've got a few squads I want to try out.

https://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Galactic Empire&d=v4!s!179:219,-1:-1:-1:;49:-1,-1,-1,-1,-1:35:-1:u.95,u.183;154::-1:-1:;12:30:-1:-1:;10::-1:-1:;14::-1:-1:&sn=That's the combination to my luggage!&obs=

This just looks fun.

15 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Yeah.....I know I tend to agree that "there's always something you could have done" when talking tactics but there are times that the dice just go "not today, thank you." - when a tractored target takes next to no damage from twelve attack dice, it's really not your day.

Also, it's Miranda Doni, who you tend to only ever get one chance to kill before she just buggers off and you never see her again.

You may detect I have issues with that pilot in particular.

I thought about this game for a while, and really, I don't think I do anything differently. I mean I set it up almost exactly the best way that you can draw it up. Maarek and Countdown Range 1, Whisper at Range 2. I had to barrel roll with Maarek to get the R1 because Sam moved first and I wasn't entirely sure how fast he was going to go, and I evaded with Whisper to help counter his tlts (Whisper's TL was on Roark from the round before.) Countdown had focus. But the Tractor Beam hit, leaving me 4v0, 4v0, 4v0 shots on Miranda. I knew I had to try and take Miranda off the board, and this was my best, and likely only, chance. The dice just had other ideas that round. If I kill, or even seriously injure Miranda that round, it's a whole different game. but 2 damage on her is easily regenerated, and I never did pull her off of the board. But, that's the way the game goes sometimes.

5 hours ago, hothie said:

I mean I set it up almost exactly the best way that you can draw it up. Maarek and Countdown Range 1, Whisper at Range 2. I had to barrel roll with Maarek to get the R1 because Sam moved first and I wasn't entirely sure how fast he was going to go, and I evaded with Whisper to help counter his tlts (Whisper's TL was on Roark from the round before.) Countdown had focus. But the Tractor Beam hit, leaving me 4v0, 4v0, 4v0 shots on Miranda.

Even with Lowhhrick throwing in a reinforce, that still should have been at least enough damage on average to collapse her shields, if not sneak a damage card or two through...

I understand that it's not competitive for a whole slew of reasons, but I did like my Accuracy Corrector Tempest Squadron Pilots for precisely this reason - it means I don't have to roll the red dice when it's important.

5 hours ago, hothie said:

If I kill, or even seriously injure Miranda that round, it's a whole different game. but 2 damage on her is easily regenerated, and I never did pull her off of the board. But, that's the way the game goes sometimes.

Believe me, I sympathise. If there is one pilot I hate with a passion, it's Miranda Doni. Like you say, you tend to get that one chance to kill her and if you mess up or the dice don't go your way, it's gone and so is she.

I honestly never found Dengar or Nym that bad (I mean; they are, but they're expensive and still killable), but the combination of a ship able to outrun a boosting interceptor but massively more ability to change destination after seeing where I've moved, with a high enough native pilot skill to not care about any generic ship, shield regen that doesn't require you to actively do anything much to trigger it*, credible 360' range 1-3 firepower with the inevitable twin laser turret, and that bloody bomblet generator that's cheaper and more powerful than seismics and reusable and bloody Sabine bloody Wren......

...Sorry. I may have punched quite a few of my own buttons there. My sincere apologies. Rant over. You can go about your business, move along.

* See the discussion about Lightweight Frame above - one of my pet hates is the argument "oh, but to regen a shield I have to drop to only 2 attack dice with the twin laser turret!" - yes, but doing so turns off lightweight frame and I still don't get a range defence bonus so it's not like that's probably not going to hit anyway regardless. It's not quite as bad as accuracy corrector/twin laser turret which demands I get two evades every time on only two dice, but at least that's not undoing half the damage I inflicted whilst it does it.

Talk me out of running this list, because it's speaking to me like i need to learn how to fly this well.

https://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Galactic Empire&d=v4!s!15::-1:-1:;17:205:-1:-1:;151:205:-1:-1:;188:205,-1:-1:-1:;239:205:48:-1:&sn=Extra selfies&obs=

18 hours ago, hothie said:

Talk me out of running this list, because it's speaking to me like i need to learn how to fly this well.

https://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Galactic Empire&d=v4!s!15::-1:-1:;17:205:-1:-1:;151:205:-1:-1:;188:205,-1:-1:-1:;239:205:48:-1:&sn=Extra selfies&obs=

[lie mode] Because it's a horrible list and you absolutely should never touch it with a barge pole.

Also it's a known fact that squads with mixed era ships cause skin irritation, blindness, bad luck and health complications in later life. [/lie mode]

.....Okay, none of those things are true, but you did ask me to talk you out of it...

On a more serious note, it looks like a very interesting squad.

• Given that he's gone from being "look at me I'm a distraction!" to the biggest gun in your list, Pure Sabbac might justify lightweight frame at this point. Unless you still plan on flying him as a disposable kamikaze, of course.
• Mauler Mithel with Snap Shot is utterly, unbelievably brutal once you get the hang of flying him, and Scourge makes a great wingman (his ability isn't quite as synergistic with Snap Shot but it's close and the two together are amazing). My best performance with him to date is having them Snap Fire/Range 1 shot and managing to turn a full-health Keyan Farlander to dust bunnies in one shooting phase with 5 dice in snap shots and 8 in 'regular' attacks.
  • If you have the same pilot skill and the initiative, so you move first and shoot first, snap shot is amazing.
• Zeta Leader is less well suited to the task because you draw stress to get that extra attack; 'spending' stressing yourself to roll an unmodified die is less awesome than the weapons guidance/wired combo I normally see him with (reroll focus results then spend the focus on a blank). I'd probably take him with Wired and Twin Ion Engines MkII in preference to Snap Shot.
• Backstabber is always great value, especially with turrets a go-go.

vassal game against the mighty Travis Foss. Foss-ters, Australian for X-wing.

I brought this list:
http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Galactic Empire&d=v4!s!269:134,-1,-1:56:24:U.23,U.-1;70:27,144,-1:34:-1:;208:170,36,-1,-1:42:31:&sn=Unnamed Squadron&obs=


And he brought this one:
https://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Rebel Alliance&d=v4!s!280:107,237,-1,204:62:33:;251:170,63,166:-1:-1:U.-1;199:-1,69,187:-1:20:&sn=Unnamed Squadron&obs=

Having not owning a rho boat, I figured vassal would be a good place to try one out. I've heard they you get one good round out of them, then spend the next 3 rounds trying to get another good shot. I was also unfamiliar with the new bomber, and I paid for that.

First combat round I got his bomber down to 2 hull left. He got QD down to 2 hull left in exchange. Then next round he placed the bomb on the front of his ship, which I didn't realize he could do.Every ship was affected by the bomb, except for the bomber because of the title. QD rolled hit crit and died, and vess and the rho each took 1. I managed to kill the bomber that round, but he got vess down to 1 hull left. His Lowie is super tanky, and is nigh impossible to kill 1v1. He ended up winning this one pretty easily. A few things I took away from this game:

1. The bomber ability. I got it now.
2. Losing QD early hurt. He was one of my main TL triggers for Vess.
3. The rho having LRS was good for first exchange, but was worthless afterwards.
4. Lightning reflexes was good to be able to keep some heat on his ships, but still wasn't enough.
5. Vess without a free tl isn't nearly as effective.

Couple that with the results from NC this weekend, and I may start varying it up a bit. I'm really thinking back to my ion control squad I was running a few weeks ago. I might revisit that.


Edit; Another vassal game this morning. This time I ran:
Mauler with Crack shot
Scourge with crack shot
Zeta Leader with Wired and Advanced Optics
Backstabber
Pure Sabacc with AA, Crack Shot, and LWF

He ran a Horton and Lothal with Ezra build

He flew away from my TIEs, trying to make the most of his tlt shots. My TIEs went after Horton early, and I managed to get him down to 2 hull left. then I gave chase on the Lothal while leaving Mauler to finish off Horton. His Lothal killed Pure Sabacc (man that Maul and Ezra combo is crazy good), but not after Sabacc lived way more rounds than he should have. He killed Zeta leader, but the TIEs managed to finish off the lothal. Ezra ejects, then next round Mauler range 1 4v2 finishes the game. 100-48

I really like this squad. The extra dice TIEs are something I fiddled around with last year, and makes them really pack a punch for their cost. getting some good greens also helps out, for sure.


Edit #2:
Game Monday night vs Amon. I ran my triple Defenders, 2 Deltas with Ion and 1 Onyx with Tractor Beam. He ran a Stress Ezra with Lowie and Poe. I was wishing I had the triple Deltas with MKII because his stressbot was annoying. I was able to put some damage on Poe early, but then he ran away and regened with R2D2. So I had to focus on Lowie and Ezra. I managed to Ion Lowie a few rounds in a row and kill him. Then I was able to take out Ezra in exchange for a Delta. The remaining 2 Defenders were able to chase down and finish off Poe. 100-33

I would much rather have just stuck with the triple Deltas with MKII in this matchup. And as much as I hate having 3 PS1s, there is something to having 2 ion cannons on the board, combined with a Tractor Beam.

On 12/17/2017 at 6:36 AM, hothie said:

Game Monday night vs Amon. I ran my triple Defenders, 2 Deltas with Ion and 1 Onyx with Tractor Beam.

As soon as I read this, I thought, "I wonder why he didn't drop the Onyx to a Delta to make room for Twin Ion Engine Mk. II on all his ships?" Then I kept reading, and found that you came to the same conclusion. After many games with Delta Sq. Pilots, I have determined for myself that TIE Mk. II is basically auto-include. And at only 1 point, I'm cool with that.

I enjoy reading your reports.

1 hour ago, Parakitor said:

As soon as I read this, I thought, "I wonder why he didn't drop the Onyx to a Delta to make room for Twin Ion Engine Mk. II on all his ships?" Then I kept reading, and found that you came to the same conclusion. After many games with Delta Sq. Pilots, I have determined for myself that TIE Mk. II is basically auto-include. And at only 1 point, I'm cool with that.

I enjoy reading your reports.

Thanks, man. I was thinking that with the NU pilots out that PS3 tractor might be a little bit better. And, tbh, I can't find my MKII cards to use them. Having everything packed away for a year tends to mean things aren't where you think they should be. It's entirely possible that i loaned them out to someone.

Here's my current thought process:

I really like having 2 ion TIE D defenders on the board. They tend to lock ships down, and IMO they do more damage than x7s do. They can cancel bomblets, which can be huge.

The trouble is they are PS1, which means everything shoots first. And with gunboats making a big splash, i fear that i lose a ship before it has a chance to attack. So I'm interested in trying this variant out:

https://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Galactic Empire&d=v4!s!53:71,-1,-1,183:-1:4:;68:22,-1:34:17:;68:22,-1:34:17:&sn=New Squadron&obs=

I have some points i can play with, namely the MKII and crew on the shuttle. But I think overall I'm interested in seeing if I can make this work or not. Kagi is perfect counter to LRS and ordnance lists to keep my Deltas alive longer. And for 2 pts, APL is surprisingly effective at controlling my opponents' dials if the ions don't hit. And if they do, even better.