"Missiles. Pull up!"

"They over shot us..."

-Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi

Welcome to card of the day!
Today's card is the Missile Upgrade Cruise Missiles.
This 1 die ordnance can be fired at range 2-3, and reads:
- ATTACK (TARGET LOCK): Discard this card to perform this attack. You may roll additional attack dice equal to the speed of the maneuver you executed this round, to a maximum of 4 additional dice.

What do you think of it? Is it weak or strong in this meta? What squads would you use it in? Any neat interactions to note? What strategies should you use in a game? Any rules questions you have? When would you take them over 'poons? Anything at all you want to say about Cruise Missiles, or ordnance in general, this is the place!

Personally, I think cruise missiles are one of the best designed cards of recent waves. They care about arcs, they're really powerful, but only if used properly, they take a lot of skill to get the best out of, but skillful flying can counterplay them entirely. And they're super simple to understand.

My gripe with harpoons isn't that they're OP or whatever, it's just that you don't see cruise missiles anymore. I loved the mind games you got from them.

I like cruise missiles a lot. Though overshadowed by harpoons, they have a place and arent op, imho.

Personally, I like to think of them as an alternative to prockets. Difficult to use, but high pay-off and strong on fast ships.

I like them on the inquisitor or vader as one-offs. Also on A-wings and lok revenants.

Btw: A fun pilot with them is juno. Oh the mind-games!

They are a great card, and a perfectly acceptable way to shed a point in a list if you can’t afford harpoons. I don’t think they are ever ‘better’ than Harpoons but they are a close second.

2 hours ago, MaxPower said:

Personally, I like to think of them as an alternative to prockets. Difficult to use, but high pay-off and strong on fast ships.

I love these two missiles, and put CMs on any ship that doesn't have 3 agility.

I don't use poons cuz meta-stank, so these are my go-to missile. On a Kimo with chips, they are ugly.

Cruise Missile Alpha Strike was the thing that allowed me to reliably beat Scum without Palpatine back in the days of Dengar... I like them a lot.

I really hope Poons get nerfed (spending TL requirement, and they would be still fair) so they become the best missile again.

I suppose the question is whether you go GUNBOAT or Bomber. Reload but 4 red straight vs 4 white straight and EM. PTL Rho vs Deadeye Gamma vets. Hmmm. I guess I’ll have to go for both.

I've been using cruise missiles exclusively since they came out.

I have 2 of my 4 ships in my top list using them currently.

Biggest reason I love them is the 3 point cost. Second is the potential for 5 dice every few games or so. Third is the skill required combined with not being a OP NPE like a certain meta favorite missile...

Basically a very good, very balanced piece of design - powerful, but very difficult to use to their fullest.

And hopelessly, hopelessly overshadowed by Harpoons.

1 hour ago, thespaceinvader said:

Basically a very good, very balanced piece of design - powerful, but very difficult to use to their fullest.

And hopelessly, hopelessly overshadowed by Harpoons.

Exactly this.

2 hours ago, thespaceinvader said:

Basically a very good, very balanced piece of design - powerful, but very difficult to use to their fullest.

And hopelessly, hopelessly overshadowed by Harpoons.

I dont think Harpoons are that much better than cruise. They are better. But it is an exaggeration to say that Cruise Missiles are always worse or overshadowed. Depending on your PS level, skill, and available pts Cruise are occasionally an out right better choice. Same is true for Prockets or Concussion missiles.

I have built exclusively around cruise missiles since they were released and have yet to be disappointed with them. They are not that hard to use well. Though harpoons again are fantastic. You just have to judge the speed and distance properly, and use the knowledge that your opponents will sometimes try to close fast to your advantage.

20 minutes ago, Boom Owl said:

I dont think they are that much better than Harpoons. They are better. But it is an exaggeration to say that Cruise Missiles are always worse or overshadowed. Depending on your PS level, skill, and available pts Cruise are occasionally an out right better choice. Same is true for Prockets or Concussion missiles.

I have built exclusively around cruise missiles since they were released and have yet to be disappointed with them. They are not that hard to use well. Though harpoons again are fantastic. You just have to judge the speed and distance properly, and use the knowledge that your opponents will sometimes try to close fast to your advantage.

Also dial. I wouldn't use a cm on a punisher, ( I know...but still).

36 minutes ago, Boom Owl said:

I dont think Harpoons are that much better than cruise. They are better. But it is an exaggeration to say that Cruise Missiles are always worse or overshadowed. Depending on your PS level, skill, and available pts Cruise are occasionally an out right better choice. Same is true for Prockets or Concussion missiles.

I have built exclusively around cruise missiles since they were released and have yet to be disappointed with them. They are not that hard to use well. Though harpoons again are fantastic. You just have to judge the speed and distance properly, and use the knowledge that your opponents will sometimes try to close fast to your advantage.

The only time Cruise are better is when you don't have 4 points to spend tbh. EVen if you get your 5 die cruise off, a Harpoon will do 5 damage anyway with the same or worse dice.

That's not to say I wouldn't use them though. On Intensity Vader they're great. You get the range control of being able to boost focus TL on the engagement.

12 minutes ago, thespaceinvader said:

The only time Cruise are better is when you don't have 4 points to spend tbh. EVen if you get your 5 die cruise off, a Harpoon will do 5 damage anyway with the same or worse dice.

Yea im only partially disagreeing with ya here. For me the harpoons are not guaranteed to proc without crits and reliably will self inflict a bit of damage. With cruise I can just take 2 and regularly get 10-14 hits on something. The spread damage to formations is nice, but you can still carve a key target out of your opponents list with Cruise very quickly. Cruise, Homing, Prockets, Concussion...there all pretty solid to. Harpoons are better. But cruise are still great!

And just the simple act of using a cruise missile makes every game more interesting and tense right from the start. Every little move counts. Though they can lead to moments of great sadness for either player early in games to.

They destroy lots of stuff, make many lists I dont enjoy fighting a little more fun to fight, and people underestimate them just like prockets because of all the hyperbole around harpoons.

Ahem...

https://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Galactic Empire&d=v4!s!191:19,126,-1,241,-1,-1:-1:25:;191:19,126,-1,241,-1,-1:-1:25:;191:19,126,-1,241,-1,-1:-1:25:;191:19,126,-1,241,-1,-1:-1:25:&sn=Unnamed Squadron&obs=

20 focus+chips modded dice over four attacks are still the best alpha-strike to date, as far as I can tell. The problem is it gets PS-killed, and the four-straights are just a tad predictable.

I have good time with Bras-Alpha during my store tournament.

Need a lot of practice to master them but the missiles reward you nicely (especially when you shot down this Miranda...)

15 minutes ago, Kieransi said:

Ahem...

https://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Galactic Empire&d=v4!s!191:19,126,-1,241,-1,-1:-1:25:;191:19,126,-1,241,-1,-1:-1:25:;191:19,126,-1,241,-1,-1:-1:25:;191:19,126,-1,241,-1,-1:-1:25:&sn=Unnamed Squadron&obs=

20 focus+chips modded dice over four attacks are still the best alpha-strike to date, as far as I can tell. The problem is it gets PS-killed, and the four-straights are just a tad predictable.

Ok, another caveat here. This is a bad list. 99% of competitive players/lists will see it coming a mile away and end up in Range 1 (which makes me sad), alpha-striking a bomber before it fires (which makes me sadder), or behind my bombers (which makes me saddest).

But it's also a total casual night NPE, wrecking so many jank lists and casual players. I stopped playing it for that reason.

But the true reason this list exists is to annihilate netlisters who want to pay to win but don't know how to fly. My thought process: "Oh, you brought Ghost+Fenn to a casual night? That's cute. You think the Ghost is tanky enough to joust? You like to fly Fenn behind the Ghost? Oh look, turn 1, I'm range 3 of the Ghost and out of range of Fenn. How does your Ghost like taking 20 damage?"

wish harpoons weren't a thing. I really like the variable effectiveness of a missile being dependent on how well you're able to fly (ie thread a needle so that a 4-foward+ lands you with a viable shot)

only issues with cruise is you're only ever going to see them on PS 11 pilots, so Vader/Quickdraw, because it's infinetly easier to set up

4 minutes ago, ficklegreendice said:

wish harpoons weren't a thing. I really like the variable effectiveness of a missile being dependent on how well you're able to fly (ie thread a needle so that a 4-foward+ lands you with a viable shot)

only issues with cruise is you're only ever going to see them on PS 11 pilots, so Vader/Quickdraw, because it's infinetly easier to set up

PS11 helps sure, but Inquisitor who only needs them against things at or below ps8 and even PS9 Talonbane with the 5k are good with em to. Also anything that can contrband cybernetics. People get caught up thinking you have to use cruise missiles in the first round of combat. You definitely dont and many times shouldnt.

7 minutes ago, Boom Owl said:

PS11 helps sure, but Inquisitor who only needs them against things at or below ps8 and even PS9 Talonbane with the 5k are good with em to. Also anything that can contrband cybernetics. People get caught up thinking you have to use cruise missiles in the first round of combat. You definitely dont and many times shouldnt.

This

It's pretty funny that this was such a powerful missile at its release then not a few months later it's completely eclipsed by Harpoons.

What I will give Cruise over Harpoons is that there is no risk of friendly ship damage. When I get harpooned I just fly nice and close to my enemy, let them get some splash too. This has no such risk. Thematically it's great on the Scurgg, it's solid on the Kilo or Gunboat, and absolute best (as all ordinance is) on Major Rhymer. Because Rhymer don't care no range restrictions.

So many things are great on Rhymer.

It's just a shame that Rhymer is several points overpriced compared to the rest of the bombers, which are themselves not exactly amazing value.

3 hours ago, thespaceinvader said:

So many things are great on Rhymer.

It's just a shame that Rhymer is several points overpriced compared to the rest of the bombers, which are themselves not exactly amazing value.

Give him reload. Problem solved. Also, +2 PS.

43 minutes ago, Do I need a Username said:

Give him reload. Problem solved. Also, +2 PS.

Reload solves nothing very much at all to be honest. Bombers struggle to shoot twice before they die already, without needing to spend a round in between doing nothing.

Just straight up giving him +2 PS would probably balance him pretty well tho. And Jonus, too.