Chewie Awards, Wave Jive
So, I know I’ve been slacking, but in my defense, I didn’t feel like writing. With wave 7 out though, here comes your wave 5 Chewies. For those who don’t remember what was in wave 5, it was...uhm…I think the Pelta? And the Arquitens? And the Squadron packs, I think. And there was some kind of CorellianChampagne, but I don’t drink. JK, I’m an alcoholic.
Anyway, I am going to give myself one Chewie for “Release Schedule Most Closely Akin to How FFG Would Do It”. I would like to thank the Academy, Ardhaedel, Tirion, BiggsIRL, Truthiness and Shmitty for helping me out with this, collaborating with you guys was amazing.
You may remember that in the past I would not consider previous winners for a Chewie. That changed with wave Thor and will continue forevermore. Also, please try and remember what the game was like in wave 5, or these might not make sense. Also, these might just not make sense.
Without further ado, your winners;
Winner- Reinforced Blast Doors- RBD’s got a lot of love on their release. A little cheaper then some other defensive retrofits, and with a wider variety of possible users beyond just the big boys. Wave 5 also suffered from the rise of the rammers. People were just ramming things all over the place. One dude just started whipping **** at my head one game, no lie, screaming **** like “How dare you sleep with my wife!” and I’m like, “come on guy, play the game the way it’s supposed to be played! What’s with all these ram nonsense?” But with the rise of the flotillas, some on our panel fell in love with CR90Rambo’s which were particularly effective at flotilla hunting and causing significant automatic damage to large based ships, then using RBD’s to fling away the incurred face down cards. Some large bases would also take this over ECM’s (or in the Pickle’s case, in conjunction with) to help mitigate that sort of stratagem. Honorable Mention to Expanded Hangers.
Winner- Bomber Command Center. Not even close.And I believe this is still pre-nerf where they disallowed stacking the re-roll. BCC’s remain one of the great force multipliers in the squadron game to this day, and are simply a fantastic way to spend 8 points.I’ll give an Honorable Mention to Comms Net, which slots into any fleet at a nice low cost and produces value. I bet this wins the wave 6 award also, but come back and see me in 2025 when I do the wave 7 awards and give this to Intensify Firepower!
Winner- Flight Commander. The panel was split on this one, and I voted for Flight Commander. Flight commander is a key component in a traditional Yavaris build by allowing her to greatly increase her range as well as push triggering FCT’s prior to activating, and it also enables some fun RLB shenanigans. Flight Commander also has a nice place on an Expanded Hanger flotilla if you want to increase both its squadon value and the range it can command squadrons at. Honorable Mention to previous Chewie Winner Skilled First Officer.
Winner- Toryn Farr. Toryn wins her second straight Chewie in wave 5, because she’s broken. Dice modifiers generally do well in the Chewie’s, and Toryn helps out both in the squadron game, and even a little bit in ship vs ship combat. She’s Farr out, baby. Groovy. Honorable Mention to Billy Dee.
Winner- Ordinance Experts. This is the third time I’m trying to right a blurb for this freaking card. And I know, I’m going to have to right another one in the next one. I liked the first one! Whatever. Ordinance Experts, because no one can handle your handful of hard black dice quite like them. Letting you adjust for maximum bang since wave 2. Honorable Mentions to Flight Controllers, I guess. Really we all voted for OE.
Winner- Engine Techs. This was a tight race. Engine Techs, especially prior to the Demolisher nerf, were often taken because Demolisher was often taken. They also were used a lot by the fleets which shall not be named. Honorable Mention to Fighter Coordination Teams.
Winner- Leading Shots. Not a particularly competitive category in wave 5. Rerolls baby.
Winner- H9 Turbolasers. F*ck you, flotillas. Also good for denying brace to anything not running ECM’s. Also strong vs. Scatter Aces on 2 blue AA platforms, such as an ISD’s. Accuracy generated outside of the initial pool is also a nice way to avoid Solar Corona hangovers. Honorable mention to Dual Turbolaser Turrets, which came in on the Kitty and for five points brought a little red dice modification into the game that didn’t require sacrificing a blue die or a shown hit.
Winner- Assault Proton Torpedoes. Another Chewie for the torps that go kablooie! That’s 3 in a row for this five point wonder. I don’t really see a need to write about them. Hey, what do you guys think about Expanded Racks’ chances in wave 6?
Rebel Winner- VCX/ Imperial Winner- Lambda Shuttle- Strategic and Relay. These were some powerful additions to the squadron game, and by the end of wave 5 we saw them start to become the plag---pestil--- er, great additions that they are! Seriously, these squadrons enabled all kinds of new archtypes. Strategic of course created a host of ways to farm objective points, and Relay…you know what, I can’t bring myself to write anything nice about Relay. Frack Relay. Honorable mentions to X-Wings and TIE Defenders.
Rebel Winner- Biggs Pimpin’. Who wants a moustache ride?! Surrounded by his high-end escort service, Biggs makes sure you get to party when you want to party. He’s got something for everyone in his stable. High roller? Party with the Trench Bros Wedge and Luke. Maybe you’re into something a little more by the book, and that’s ok baby Biggs don’t judge. Even his generic escorts are down to clown all around, led by his bottom ***** Jan Scores, throwing out those braces and combing with his own ability to spread the love and turn that big slap into a little tickle.Honorable Mentions to Norra Sexily and Corran So Horny, not because he was voted for by anyone but because I wanted to write that.
Imperial Winner- Colonel “Double Tap dat ***” Jendon- Tired of those one pump chumps? Colonel Double Tap takes your strongest, most potent squadron and gives them a little blue pill that guarantees that they are ready to perform. Whether he’s Eifel Towering a transport with eskimo brother Marek “Lexington” Steele, properly handling his Saber or simply letting your Master Bader single handedly take care of things, take this elite shuttle and soon you’ll be bendin’ like Jendon. Which is to say, your opponent, over the table. Also, he has re-lay, a completely broken ability which allows you to have sex with the same partner twice, from anywhere within 1000 miles. Honorable Mention to Morna’sKnee’s.
Rebel Winner- MC30 Torpedo Frigate- Flotilla hunter. Whaler. Ackbar Star Destroyer. The MC30T, particularly the Landmonition variant, is a powerful little brawler that reliably brings back a strong return on investment. Since wave 2, the MC30 has found itself at home in a variety of rebel lists, and it’s easy to see why. Few ships in the game, if any, can boast of this this SHRIMPS’s delicious combination of firepower, maneuverability and defensive capability. Though we may not agree on what form of aquatic life it most closely resembles (since some of us refuse to accept the already established vernacular as they are stubborn, disagreeable and also wrong. I’m looking at you, Umbrella Drink Shinobi!) we can all agree that the MC30 is a beast of a ship. Honorable mentions to the AFMK2B, MC80.
Imperial Winner- Imperial Class Star Destroyer-The most iconic ship in the Star Wars universe, and one of the main draws to this game, the Imperial Class Star Destroyer does it all. In Wave 5, the ISD would most often serve as a battle carrier, providing a powerful command station for you fighter wing as well as an effective ship to ship combat platform, along with its Fuckery of accompanying flotillas. (In researching this article, I came to find that the name for a group of flotillas is a Fuckery. One has a Fuckery of flotillas, similar to a Murder of Crows, a Herd of Cows, a Grumble of Pugs or a Cromartie of illegitimate children).
Winner- Demolisher. Rooty-tooty move ‘n shooty! Breaking hearts and core rules of the game since wave 1. I have some hope that Avenger will overtake this in the wave 6 voting, because this blurb isn’t fun for me anymore.
Winner- Yavaris. 2 in a row for Yavaris, the undisputed king of squadron force multipliers. It’s bad enough she’s double-tapping B-Wings, but now the Chewies too? Is nothing sacred? Yavaris does all kinds of wonderful things for a rebel ball, and with the addition of the VCX you can now do it from literally anywhere on the board. What Colonel Jendon does for a single Imperial fighter, Yavaris does for up to three rebel squadrons, often after nudging them onto their target with FCT’s. Often seen in the company of one Gallant Haven amidst their own Fuckery of Flotillas, Yavaris is on every Imperial Admiral’s Most Hated list. Honorable Mention to Gallant Haven, Admonition.
Winner- Moff Jerjerrod. Woo Hoo! Motti hits the mat! Jerry, Jerry, Jerry, Jerry! Listen, do you or a loved have trouble getting your VSD’s on target? Have your Kittens lost their playful pounce? Always wanted to do sick inside turns with an ISD? Please call 1-800-J-E-R-R-Y-F-T-W and share your story, while we redouble our efforts to make your choice of Imperial Admiral interesting again. Someone voted Ozzel, also, which I think was fair at the time. But I refuse to mention him honorably. He is clumsy and stupid.
Winner- General Rieekan- Hey, you know how when you blow something up, and then it leaves the board? Could someone tell this guy? BECAUSE IT SEEMS HE DIDN’T KNOW! Rieekan and his Aces had an extremely strong showing at worlds, thanks to Canada, and was subsequently nerfed. I blame the flappy head contingent. But, what are the chances he stays down? Honorable Mention to Admiral Ackbar.
Winner-Gallant Haven- Haven was always a viable choice for rebel squadron lists, but it was in wave 5 that GH really became a meta bugaboo for its cornerstone role in the GH/Yav 2+3 lists. Garnished with Rieekan, seasoned with like, all of the salt.
“Winner”- Firesprays- Rogues in general took something of a hit in wave 5, as the synergy between relay and flotillas brought activated squadrons to the fore of the competitive game. But Firesprays suffered the most to me. When they first hit the scene they saw plenty of action, but by wave 5 they were rarer then a mint condition Honus Wagner card. Boba Fett? Boba Fett!? Where?
“Winner”- Targeting Beacons- When we first popped the cork on the Cornellian Champagne, I think what was most exciting for those of us playing since day 1 was the addition of new objectives. The same-old, same-old was getting stale. But sadly, many of them simply didn’t compete with what we already had. And there may be no worse offender than Targeting Beacons. The opportunity cost on this thing as a red objective is insane. And for what? Do yourself a favor, take Most Wanted instead, it’s better for your list. No, I don’t need to actually see your list, I feel pretty good about this.
Rebel Winner- Gold Squadron- For 12 points, you get 6 hull, 2 blue bomber die, 3 speed and you get to lose heavy. Look, if you are bringing Rebel bombers, this is the first one that should go in your list. I’d take it before I took a B-Wing. Fantastic synergy with Toryn Farr (who is probably in your bomber list anyway) as well as BCC (which is definitely there). This double re-roll eligibility also makes it a relatively consistent trigger for Norra Wexley. The Gold Standard for bombers!
Imperial Winner- Saber Squadron- Snipe 4 on a speed 5 platform creates the largest anti-squad threat bubble in the game (next to perhaps the Phantom if you count the cloak movement). As an extra bit of fun, that snipe 4 can be increased via Howlrunner and Flight Controllers, to give you a solid Snipe 6 with a swarm reroll if you meet the right conditions. As you might guess, Saber excels as part of a strong anti-squadron alpha, with snipe allowing them to push pastpesky keywords such as Escort and Counter. It also allows for a kind of pseudo-rogue once the squadron scrum establishes itself, as the range 2 bubble is fairly long. A solid tool in punking Jan Orr through her ball of escort squadrons.