Resistance Aces... Kinda

By Sonikgav, in X-Wing Squad Lists

Poe Dameron (68)
Heroic (1)
R4 Astromech (2)
Integrated S-Foils (0)
Pattern Analyzer (5)
Hardpoint: Torpedo (0)
Proton Torpedoes (9)

Nien Numb (55)
Heroic (1)
R4 Astromech (2)
Integrated S-Foils (0)
Pattern Analyzer (5)
Black One (2)

Tallissan Lintra (35)
Heroic (1)
Predator (2)
Primed Thrusters (8)

Total: 196

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

Arc Dodging, Stress Handling, Defence Modding nonsense at PS5 and above.

Biggest Decision is who gets the Protons, Poe or Talli?

Poe. Definitely Poe

I've got a similar list but I've given Nien, squad leader. He'll be able to trigger it and clear off the stress. Especially when that can give Poe a 4 action turn or Talli a double position and mod to activate her ability.

I feel like Pattern Analyzer and Poe don't quite mix well. Poe is often going to use his ability, which will leave him stressed and unable to do a red turn. On turns where you don't start stressed, and want to take a red move, Poe can't use his ability.

I wonder if Primed Thrusters would be better on him. The new A-Wing dial has amazing blues, and Tallie will almost never need to worry about stress, so move it over from her. Poe seems like the kind of guy who'd be in big trouble after something like getting dinged by 4-LOM, for example. All of a sudden having 2 stress is going to cause him some problems. But not with Primed Thrusters. Blue move clears down to 1 stress, then you'll be able to get at least one reposition action, or you could take a second one if you really need it.

I also keep going back and forth on Nien Nunb (there are some really good hijinks he can get up to with Pattern Analyzer), but he's really position-dependent. Get too far out of the fight, and his ability won't function. On the other hand, Ello Asty doesn't need Pattern Analyzer to take a focus after a T-Roll; his are just white. Meanwhile, since he's normally not pulling red moves on his own, Ello can probably also skip taking an R4 Astromech. Does Ello even need any upgrades beyond Heroic?

So I've got the start of some sort of Race-To-The-Bottom list...

  • Poe (Heroic, R4, Proton Torpedo, Primed Thrusters, S-Foils) 88
  • Tallie (Heroic) 36
  • Ello Asty (Heroic) 57
    • Total 181, bid 19. That's a crazy high bid, but Init 5 is highly contested, and Poe really wants to have the hammer and move last, too. But the thing is this: I don't know that other upgrades are even all that important. Crack Shot and HLC would be fun, though.
    • My next adds would probably be Crack Shot or Predator on Tallie and HLC on Ello. That'd still leave a 13-14 point bid. But maybe with HLC, Ello starts to want to link a barrel roll off his focus action, and wants R4 after all. So 11-12 point bid.
    • Now, this is all with a race-to-the-bottom in mind. Casual night where you don't care about bid, there are no doubt some more fun toys which could be added. Some sort of missile on Tallie (maybe Homing, maybe Proton Rockets), and maybe Advanced Optics. The AdvO (old Weapons Guidance) effect was always better on 2-dice than on 3 dice. Per the probabilty calcluator, you wind up with 1.86 hits on average, 0.36 more than just a focus, essentially the same as Predator, but without worrying about bullseye arc. However, it does nothing if you're unwilling to spend the focus token, such as if you want to spend it on defense.

5 hours ago, theBitterFig said:

I feel like Pattern Analyzer and Poe don't quite mix well. Poe is often going to use his ability, which will leave him stressed and unable to do a red turn. On turns where you don't start stressed, and want to take a red move, Poe can't use his ability.

I wonder if Primed Thrusters would be better on him. The new A-Wing dial has amazing blues, and Tallie will almost never need to worry about stress, so move it over from her. Poe seems like the kind of guy who'd be in big trouble after something like getting dinged by 4-LOM, for example. All of a sudden having 2 stress is going to cause him some problems. But not with Primed Thrusters. Blue move clears down to 1 stress, then you'll be able to get at least one reposition action, or you could take a second one if you really need it.

I also keep going back and forth on Nien Nunb (there are some really good hijinks he can get up to with Pattern Analyzer), but he's really position-dependent. Get too far out of the fight, and his ability won't function. On the other hand, Ello Asty doesn't need Pattern Analyzer to take a focus after a T-Roll; his are just white. Meanwhile, since he's normally not pulling red moves on his own, Ello can probably also skip taking an R4 Astromech. Does Ello even need any upgrades beyond Heroic?

So I've got the start of some sort of Race-To-The-Bottom list...

  • Poe (Heroic, R4, Proton Torpedo, Primed Thrusters, S-Foils) 88
  • Tallie (Heroic) 36
  • Ello Asty (Heroic) 57
    • Total 181, bid 19. That's a crazy high bid, but Init 5 is highly contested, and Poe really wants to have the hammer and move last, too. But the thing is this: I don't know that other upgrades are even all that important. Crack Shot and HLC would be fun, though.
    • My next adds would probably be Crack Shot or Predator on Tallie and HLC on Ello. That'd still leave a 13-14 point bid. But maybe with HLC, Ello starts to want to link a barrel roll off his focus action, and wants R4 after all. So 11-12 point bid.
    • Now, this is all with a race-to-the-bottom in mind. Casual night where you don't care about bid, there are no doubt some more fun toys which could be added. Some sort of missile on Tallie (maybe Homing, maybe Proton Rockets), and maybe Advanced Optics. The AdvO (old Weapons Guidance) effect was always better on 2-dice than on 3 dice. Per the probabilty calcluator, you wind up with 1.86 hits on average, 0.36 more than just a focus, essentially the same as Predator, but without worrying about bullseye arc. However, it does nothing if you're unwilling to spend the focus token, such as if you want to spend it on defense.

I really love your breakdown here and it definitely got me looking at my list building in new ways, especially what upgrades are needed and which ones I just threw in. Do you think these 3 have enough firepower (even with torps on Poe)? Maybe a proton in Ello would help here, being more reliable than HLC and he can shoot them after a talon roll.

I see Resistance as the faction of heavily loaded ships, but few of them. As such I made the following list;

Poe Edon

(69) Edon Kappehl
(6) C-3PO
(5) Proton Bombs
(6) Proximity Mines
(2) Skilled Bombardier
(8) Veteran Turret Gunner
(3) Trajectory Simulator
(4) Ablative Plating
Points 103

(68) Poe Dameron
(0) Integrated S-foils
(1) Heroic
(5) BB Astromech
(2) Black One
(8) Primed Thrusters
(9) Proton Torpedoes
Points 93

Total points: 196

I was trying to make something that had tools vs every archetype. Swarm? Let's launch bombs and SLAM behind you. Aces? Mines before or after moving and an ace that out aces you. Control? We can murder a quad jumper a round and dodge the rest. Fair ship rebels? Splash damage, lots of attacks, and a ship that could take on any two of them alone.

But I'm sure there's ways to improve here and I'd be interested for your take - a couple of things I've considered are like swapping out BB for R4 (but what to do with the points?) and changing Ablative for Pat Analyzer as it allows actions on a 0 stop turn which also means I avoid my own bomb damage but more than twice a game and with other flexibility options.

16 hours ago, FriendofYoda said:

I really love your breakdown here and it definitely got me looking at my list building in new ways, especially what upgrades are needed and which ones I just threw in. Do you think these 3 have enough firepower (even with torps on Poe)? Maybe a proton in Ello would help here, being more reliable than HLC and he can shoot them after a talon roll.

I see Resistance as the faction of heavily loaded ships, but few of them. As such I made the following list;

Poe Edon

(69) Edon Kappehl
(6) C-3PO
(5) Proton Bombs
(6) Proximity Mines
(2) Skilled Bombardier
(8) Veteran Turret Gunner
(3) Trajectory Simulator
(4) Ablative Plating
Points 103

(68) Poe Dameron
(0) Integrated S-foils
(1) Heroic
(5) BB Astromech
(2) Black One
(8) Primed Thrusters
(9) Proton Torpedoes
Points 93

Total points: 196

I was trying to make something that had tools vs every archetype. Swarm? Let's launch bombs and SLAM behind you. Aces? Mines before or after moving and an ace that out aces you. Control? We can murder a quad jumper a round and dodge the rest. Fair ship rebels? Splash damage, lots of attacks, and a ship that could take on any two of them alone.

But I'm sure there's ways to improve here and I'd be interested for your take - a couple of things I've considered are like swapping out BB for R4 (but what to do with the points?) and changing Ablative for Pat Analyzer as it allows actions on a 0 stop turn which also means I avoid my own bomb damage but more than twice a game and with other flexibility options.

I agree that you have nice counters her to most major archetypes. I would definitely trade Proxies for Seismics - more charges, throwable, reloadable. I would also agree that PA would be more useful that Ablative plating. I also think that, if you wanted the points, you could ditch Skilled Bombardier with little downside.

As for Poe? Love him

If dropping Mines for Seismics maybe we switch Edon to Vennie and upgrade 3P0 to Perceptive Cop?

Something like this (bonus of having a bigger bid vs rival 6's)

Vennie — MG-100 StarFortress 67
Trajectory Simulator 3
Pattern Analyzer 5
Perceptive Copilot 10
Veteran Turret Gunner 8
Proton Bombs 5
Seismic Charges 3
Ship Total: 101
Poe Dameron — T-70 X-Wing 68
Heroic 1
BB Astromech 5
Integrated S-Foils 0
Primed Thrusters 8
Black One 2
Hardpoint: Torpedo 0
Proton Torpedoes 9
Ship Total: 93

Total: 194

I was thinking similar but Bastian support

Poe Dameron — T-70 X-Wing 68
Heroic 1
R4 Astromech 2
Integrated S-Foils 0
Pattern Analyzer 5
Hardpoint: Cannon 0
Heavy Laser Cannon 4
Ship Total: 80

Nien Numb — T-70 X-Wing 55
Heroic 1
Integrated S-Foils 0
Pattern Analyzer 5
Ship Total: 61

Lieutenant Bastian — T-70 X-Wing 48
M9-G8 7
Integrated S-Foils 0
Ship Total: 55

List total: 196

Under optimal conditions Bastian

  • moves/gets a target lock as soon as Poe engages
  • keeps M9 active the whole round of fire
  • potentially switches TL when he or Nien engages for multiple M9 triggers
  • uses the TL and (gets it back) when he engages

Seems like pretty good econ

Not sure about EPTs, crack or elusive may be better on Nien


Edited by prauxim
7 hours ago, prauxim said:

I was thinking similar but Bastian support

Poe Dameron — T-70 X-Wing 68
Heroic 1
R4 Astromech 2
Integrated S-Foils 0
Pattern Analyzer 5
Hardpoint: Cannon 0
Heavy Laser Cannon 4
Ship Total: 80

Nien Numb — T-70 X-Wing 55
Heroic 1
Integrated S-Foils 0
Pattern Analyzer 5
Ship Total: 61

Lieutenant Bastian — T-70 X-Wing 48
M9-G8 7
Integrated S-Foils 0
Ship Total: 55

List total: 196

Under optimal conditions Bastian

  • moves/gets a target lock as soon as Poe engages
  • keeps M9 active the whole round of fire
  • potentially switches TL when he or Nien engages for multiple M9 triggers
  • uses the TL and (gets it back) when he engages

Seems like pretty good econ

Not sure about EPTs, crack or elusive may be better on Nien


I legit can't say I know how this'll play out, but if it works, its super dope. However, I think Poe would be MUCH better served by primed thrusters

14 hours ago, Greebwahn said:

I legit can't say I know how this'll play out, but if it works, its super dope. However, I think Poe would be MUCH better served by primed thrusters

Care to elaborate?

The both let you do an action when you do a red maneuver, but PA gives more options and costs less.

PT is only seems better if you plan to not clear stress on a regular basis, not ideal for Poe.

Well, if you don't have a BB or BB-8, and you plan (as you should) on using Poe's ability, then he will never not be stressed at the start of his activation (that is, without help), so he will never be able to pull a red, making PA useless. With PT at least, if he really needs to pull a white, he still can

4 minutes ago, Greebwahn said:

Well, if you don't have a BB or BB-8, and you plan (as you should) on using Poe's ability, then he will never not be stressed at the start of his activation (that is, without help), so he will never be able to pull a red, making PA useless. With PT at least, if he really needs to pull a white, he still can

Ah fair point on PA. Maybe no tech then. Paying 8 for the option to do white + single repo instead of blue + any 2 actions seems like a bad call, esp with R4 making 1 hards green.

6 minutes ago, prauxim said:

Ah fair point on PA. Maybe no tech then. Paying 8 for the option to do white + single repo instead of blue + any 2 actions seems like a bad call, esp with R4 making 1 hards green.

Primed Thrusters can do more than that.

latest?cb=20180803045353

If you start with 2 stress, you can do a white move (3-hard, 3-bank, 4-straight) and perform both a boost and a barrel roll.

If you start with 3 stress, you can do a blue move, and perform both a boost and a barrel roll.

Now, it's entirely possible that PT isn't worth 8 points to some folks. That's fine. I don't know if PT is worth 8 points to myself. But it's good to have a proper understanding of the extent of what it can do. It's both a tool which lets you ignore up to two stress on white moves.

Maybe that 2-hard is going to put you on a rock. Maybe the 3-straight will be blocked. You've got the option to go faster. Maybe you're still dialing in the greens you want, but your opponent has ways to give you stress. Maybe you don't want to let an enemy with 0-0-0 gain a calculate token. 4-LOM hits you with a second stress? No problem. Quadjumper tractors you onto a debris cloud? You've got options.

I think it's less about planning to float stress, but about times when the gamestate makes you change your plans.

3 hours ago, theBitterFig said:

Primed Thrusters can do more than that.

latest?cb=20180803045353

If you start with 2 stress, you can do a white move (3-hard, 3-bank, 4-straight) and perform both a boost and a barrel roll.

If you start with 3 stress, you can do a blue move, and perform both a boost and a barrel roll.

Now, it's entirely possible that PT isn't worth 8 points to some folks. That's fine. I don't know if PT is worth 8 points to myself. But it's good to have a proper understanding of the extent of what it can do. It's both a tool which lets you ignore up to two stress on white moves.

Maybe that 2-hard is going to put you on a rock. Maybe the 3-straight will be blocked. You've got the option to go faster. Maybe you're still dialing in the greens you want, but your opponent has ways to give you stress. Maybe you don't want to let an enemy with 0-0-0 gain a calculate token. 4-LOM hits you with a second stress? No problem. Quadjumper tractors you onto a debris cloud? You've got options.

I think it's less about planning to float stress, but about times when the gamestate makes you change your plans.

Fully aware it of how it works, was just stating a typical example of the trade off that is made available to Poe by PT to demonstrate how bad it needs to be before its worth it.

If PT finds a place where its worth its high cost, it's going to be on ships who's econ is position dependent and not killed by stress (e.g. abilities like "gain a [] token if at R#") or some comparable level of synergy.

On Poe however, no such unique synergy exists. Its over-investing in a non-ideal situation.

Edited by prauxim
22 minutes ago, prauxim said:

Fully aware it of how it works, was just stating a typical example of the trade off that is made available to Poe by PT to demonstrate how bad it needs to be before its worth it.

If PT finds a place where its worth its high cost, it's going to be on ships who's econ is position dependent and not killed by stress (e.g. abilities like "gain a [] token if at R#") or some comparable level of synergy.

On Poe however, no such unique synergy exists. Its over-investing in a non-ideal situation.

Well, the contrasting example you'd made in your post was a white move with *one* action.

Just wanted that there for completeness.