Wanting to try something dumb

By Browncoat50, in X-Wing Squad Lists

So I had this idea while driving into work:

Norra Wexly- PTL, BB8, Kyle Katarn, Title, Engine Upgrade - 41

Dutch Vander: FAA, BTL-A4, Synched Turret, Hull Upgrade- 31

Gold squadron pilot: FAA, BTL-A4, Synched Turret, Hull Upgrade- 29

98 point bid. Norra can Broll, TL and focus in 1 turn, Dutch gives the other Y wing a free target lock, and their astromech help keep them on target. Norra is throwing 4-5 Red dice with ability and range and the y wings are throwing 5-6 each round depending on double tap and range. Plus they have a lot of hull to chew through.

27 minutes ago, Browncoat50 said:

Norra can Broll, TL and focus in 1 turn

Better, in fact:

  • Reveal Green Move
  • BB-8 Barrel Roll
  • Push The Limit Target Lock
  • Execute Green Move
  • Kyle Katarn Focus
  • Perform Action Boost

She lacks the durability of R2-D2/C-3PO but she can't half dance.

29 minutes ago, Browncoat50 said:

Dutch Vander: FAA, BTL-A4, Synched Turret, Hull Upgrade- 31

Gold squadron pilot: FAA, BTL-A4, Synched Turret, Hull Upgrade- 29

Synced Turret isn't ideal - Black One and Countermeasures are primarily out there to deal with the Harpoon crowd - but they'll work perfectly effectively against your turret fire and can render you unable to engage with the turret. That's a specific matchup, though, and one you'll just have to deal with. Besides which - better they disable the synced turret than Miranda's ability.

Note that getting range 1 shots with Flight Assist Astromech is unlikely; because it gives you a free boost or barrel roll if you don't have a shot, it's good for "getting a shot" but not great at "improving a shot" - you have to sort of approach off-axis and then turn or roll in at the last minute.

Hull Upgrade is my main concern; on an agility 1 ship it's a fairly expensive buy for a single hit point. On the other hand, 9 hit points means it should probably take 3 harpoon missiles, not 2, to kill you, which is a relatively big deal. The only real alternative I can see would be upgrading to Twin Laser Turrets, but firing 3 separate attacks per turn burns through modifiers so fast that Dutch's ability becomes next to useless

How about switching to ion cannon turrets for added control?

I still like synched turret because no one is running it, and the damage output seems great

22 minutes ago, Browncoat50 said:

How about switching to ion cannon turrets for added control?

I still like synched turret because no one is running it, and the damage output seems great

If you can acquire and hang onto the lock, it's great - you get 2 rerolls with the turret, so you don't need to spend the lock, and in subsequent turns you can use your focus token on your primary attack, giving you two respectably modified attacks.

I do think it works on Y-wings, but given a choice I'd probably try it on scum & villainy Y-wings - pair it with an R4 Agromech and you can spend your focus on your primary shot, and pick up a target lock for your turret shot for free.

Ion turrets are nice - you're capped at a single point of damage but to be brutally honest getting more than a single point of damage with a synced turret shot is dependent on luck anyway and not something to be relied upon. More importantly, that extra point spend allows you to fire even unmodified (not exactly reliable but good enough for engaging agility 1 targets!) and ion tokens are a good answer to bombers and tough-with-low-agility arc dodgers like Advanced Sensors Nym and Miranda Doni (and Norra Wexley, too, for that matter).

7 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

I do think it works on Y-wings, but given a choice I'd probably try it on scum & villainy Y-wings - pair it with an R4 Agromech and you can spend your focus on your primary shot, and pick up a target lock for your turret shot for free.

Ooh that's sexy.

I played against someone using a pair of Gold Squadron Y-Wings with BTL, Targeting Astromechs and Synced Turrets (partnered with Dash) the other week and I have to say I would not recommend the combination. Often he was unable to fire the turrets because the locked ship was out of arc, and when they started getting stressed and ionised (plus Jamming Beam removing the target lock from one of them), it was near-impossible for them to get back in arc AND require the target lock.

Maybe it was just a bad match up for them (I was using a stress/ion heave Imperial list), but we both came to the conclusion that if you use Synced Turret you don't want the BTL title. Granted it might have gone better if he had Flight Assist Astromechs, but I can't see them making enough of a difference. He's thinking of switching up to Ion Cannon Turrets for the next time he uses the list.

Thoughts:

  1. @JudgeDeathCan't argue with experience, even if it's only one game, especially if it was a repeated problem throughout the game.
  2. Stress + Ionisation is a bad combination for Y-wings to have to deal with in any configuration - they have officially the worst green dial in the game (only 2 green moves, both straight) and at agility 1 are basically open targets for any token spewing cannons or missiles - and combined with arc-locking them with BTL-A4 just makes it worse.
  3. I suspect turrets with a prerequisite token are the worst you could have to deal with, though.
  4. @Browncoat50's version at least has the ability to pass target locks over - if Dutch gets a lock, the other ship gets a lock too, so in extremeis Dutch can fly straight and level and 'paint' a target for his wingman.
  5. @Skeether - I think it's one of the better uses for the R4 - the other being bolting it to the Killergorilla/Kaijugodzilla/Whatever It's Called and using it as a sort of knock-off version of predator (either with the primary weapon or paired with Deadeye & Harpoon Missiles)
  6. Holy crud someone one used a jamming beam and it did something useful....