I had my regional. Of course 2 out of 5 games were against GhostFenn, and of course I had the hardest SoS of the day. The second match should have been won with a 5/8th chance - a successful defense roll for the Ghost won though and all chances died right there. (e: but the whole day was pretty awesome and I had very fun games! Coincidentally against two ExpertiseQuickdraws, too!)

However, I won't sulk longer. I'll keep flying Vader and Quickdraw and the Nu as there is a second regional in 4 weeks. But I'd like to adjust something, so I present version 4:

Darth Vader (Total: 38)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Cruise Missiles (3)
Advanced Targeting Computer (1)
Engine Upgrade (4)
TIE/x1 (0)

"Quickdraw" (Total: 38)
Expertise (4)
Fire-Control System (2)
Primed Thrusters (1)
Lightweight Frame (2)
Special Ops Training (0)

Nu Squadron Pilot (Total: 22)
Harpoon Missiles (4)
Long-Range Scanners (0)

Total: 98

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

• still at 98 pt to underbid most lists, and all GhostFenn.
  • Vader is my Fenn-hunter. He gets the little guy with a 5dice cruise and kills him off in the following round, making sure that Fenn never plays much of a role
  • Chances of dealing 4 damage are relatively high even if Fenn has a focus (48%) or really high (72%) if Fenn underestimates the speed, which is usually the case
• Nu stays the same. Can't go cheaper, and the threat is real
• Quickdraw is very different!
  • no more Harpoon!
  • no more PS11! PSwars are finally cooling off again, and I don't care without a Harpoon
  • instead Expertise and finally FCS again
    • this turns her into the brawler she's supposed to be. Those double modded shots really hurt
  • LWF is obvious

I am not sure about the tech. Primed thrusters keeps me at 98 points. But I'm willing to go to 99 (especially anticipating the R3A2 evolution on Fenn, putting their list at 100).

• Pattern Analyzer gives me a focus when I can't use expertise after a sloop, or lets me roll
• Advanced Optics keeps the focus if stressed, no matter the source - but loses against HSCP
• Primed Thrusters lets me roll if stressed, no matter the source
  • has the added benefit of turning Vader into a 40pt ship if he's surviving. That actually won me a game at regionals...

Which tech would you take?
Do you think 1 Harpoon at PS11 is better than Expertise+FCS at PS9?
And what I'm struggling with most: Why not go full PalpAces or Triple Ace instead?

I wonder how much Ghost/Fenn players will start to consider Chopper or R3A2 or other stress mechanics. Makes Yorr that much more attractive.

Im guessing a fair amount of Expertise counters are going to hit the table really soon.

4 weeks from now I bet a ton of ghost players adjust with how fast people have been adopting things lately.

Might seem counter-intuitive but I really do think 2x PS11 has a very solid chance against Ghost/Fenn.

Have you considered not changing the list all that much?

I wouldn't be surprised if you could run something even closer to the previous list and make the cut.

I know from the 1 regional I got to basically any version of PS11 Vader/Quickdraw would have had a very realistic chance at 5 wins during swiss.

Problem is it bleeds MOV as usual.

Requires near mistake free games but im not convinced Expertise is necessary unless you go all in on it with Palp Aces.

5 hours ago, Boom Owl said:

Might seem counter-intuitive but I really do think 2x PS11 has a very solid chance against Ghost/Fenn.

Have you considered not changing the list all that much?

Yes, I am not entirely sure whether I should really change it at all.

The second GhostFenn game was incredible - there were so, so many below average rolls (including a blank blank blank focus, rerolled into hit blank blank blank). I‘d have won the game if we had taken the expected damage on rolls, even rounded down...

So I think the matchup is not that bad, and honestly I even like it. Just not so much at a regional two times in a row

5 hours ago, Boom Owl said:

I wonder how much Ghost/Fenn players will start to consider Chopper or R3A2 or other stress mechanics. Makes Yorr that much more attractive.

It has alread started. We even had one at the regional already, and I heard Poland had it at the System Open. Maybe really time to jump ships and go to Palpaces...

5 hours ago, GreenDragoon said:

Yes, I am not entirely sure whether I should really change it at all.

The second GhostFenn game was incredible - there were so, so many below average rolls (including a blank blank blank focus, rerolled into hit blank blank blank). I‘d have won the game if we had taken the expected damage on rolls, even rounded down...

So I think the matchup is not that bad, and honestly I even like it. Just not so much at a regional two times in a row

It has alread started. We even had one at the regional already, and I heard Poland had it at the System Open. Maybe really time to jump ships and go to Palpaces...

Yea thats the thing. I saw Ghost/Fenn two rounds in a row and beat it both times with the same basic list. Largely due to Vader's dice catching fire, though ATC helped immensely. I think on a another day you probably win at least 1 of those 2 on average if not both.

As long as you win out in your other swiss games which is basically a requirement then you never know what could happen.

Just a question - why Nu doesn't have the title, which allows him to shoot after slam? Isn't his manouverability decreased unnecessarily?

1 hour ago, MadMystic said:

Just a question - why Nu doesn't have the title, which allows him to shoot after slam? Isn't his manouverability decreased unnecessarily?

It‘s too expensive. The bid or upgrades on Quickdraw are more important.

LRS means you will have to disengage to regain a TL anyway, or you can‘t spend it. Both mean the title loses value.

A Deadeye Chips Rho can profit from the title - if you actually get the TL, which you don‘t have to

Ah, good point... Thanks!

On 28.2.2018 at 10:14 PM, GreenDragoon said:

I am not sure about the tech. Primed thrusters keeps me at 98 points. But I'm willing to go to 99 (especially anticipating the R3A2 evolution on Fenn, putting their list at 100).

• Pattern Analyzer gives me a focus when I can't use expertise after a sloop, or lets me roll
• Advanced Optics keeps the focus if stressed, no matter the source - but loses against HSCP
• Primed Thrusters lets me roll if stressed, no matter the source
  • has the added benefit of turning Vader into a 40pt ship if he's surviving. That actually won me a game at regionals...

Which tech would you take?

I am in love with Sensor Cluster on Quickdraw. I feel that it gives me much more control over when I lose my shields. Sure, it means that you do a focus action almost every turn, but there's a limit to how useful the barrelroll on a /sf is.

10 hours ago, Aiwarikiar said:

I am in love with Sensor Cluster on Quickdraw. I feel that it gives me much more control over when I lose my shields. Sure, it means that you do a focus action almost every turn, but there's a limit to how useful the barrelroll on a /sf is.

I‘m not sure. I also love sensor cluster if I have Palp in the squad, to fine tune the result.

My thoughtprocess here is though that eg Pattern Analyzer allows me to get an action when I normally would not. And every action will anyway be focus, and that focus will anyway be used for defense.

I would use PA for Tech. Other than that, I really like the list!