Ok so you have an Ace ship at just inside of Range 1 of your opponent. You’re facing him, directly behind him, with him heading directly away from you (ie on his tail). You both only have Front Arc 3. He doesn’t have a particularly maneuverable ship (no Boost / Roll, nor special turns) so chances are he’s going to Koiogran 4. But he might fake and Staight 1 or Turn 1 to try to make you overshoot.

What’s your best bet move here with which ever Ace of your choice (Luke, Poe, Soontir, Fen, etc.)?

Straight 4 to keep him in Range 1? Bank 3 and Boost / Roll to angle back in? Straight 1? Just extend in another direction until you can be sure of where he’s heading?

Thanks for the opinions.

so Before we even begin to plan that move, here’s some questions to consider:

wheres the rest of the list?

If this is going to be a pure 1v1 duel, you may consider some riskier plays without it becoming a 1v2 and quickly ruining your approach.

What is my opponents health?

Can I 1 shot the ship with this move? Are we taking on a tie fighter or something beefier? Current hull/shields? If you move first, the chances of him getting a return shot?

what is my health?

how important is it that I don’t get shot at next round of combat?

you don’t want to put your ship in unnecessary spot to get a retaliatory shot in and blow you up.

Now given all of that, assume this as a pure 1v1:

1 straight

remember when you K-turn you turn the ship 180 degrees. So if your on the opponents 6, after following the K-turn they’ll be on your 6. Not a good place to follow them into. You’re better off tokening up and playing the long range game. If you have a debuffing ace like wedge or Inquisistor, or have crackshot handy, you will be in a far better position. You can alternatively 3 straight and get range 1, but do you really want to play that game, even if the opponent is taking a token less shot because they are stressed.

Also this is written from a jousters perspective. I have no idea what Kylo or Soontir or whisper do with this approach.

What actions does my ship have access to?

The 1 straight is the safest move. If he does a 1straight you're still on his six. With a boost or barrel roll you shoulx be able to keep him in arc regardless of his move. Worst case he pulls a full stop and you bump. Next turn he should be stressed and you won't be and you're still on his six.

21 minutes ago, Stoneface said:

The 1 straight is the safest move. If he does a 1straight you're still on his six. With a boost or barrel roll you shoulx be able to keep him in arc regardless of his move. Worst case he pulls a full stop and you bump. Next turn he should be stressed and you won't be and you're still on his six.

I agree with Stoneface. Unless they Boost or Barrel Roll or Slam or have a reposition, it is impossible for them to escape your arc if you are locked into moving to the space they are vacating.

Unless your ace doesn't have a 1 straight and they do.. then it's top gun time.

44 minutes ago, JJ48 said:

What actions does my ship have access to?

Up to you as to which pilot / ship you have but assume no Turret.

1 hour ago, FlyingAnchors said:

so Before we even begin to plan that move, here’s some questions to consider:

wheres the rest of the list?

If this is going to be a pure 1v1 duel, you may consider some riskier plays without it becoming a 1v2 and quickly ruining your approach.

What is my opponents health?

Can I 1 shot the ship with this move? Are we taking on a tie fighter or something beefier? Current hull/shields? If you move first, the chances of him getting a return shot?

what is my health?

how important is it that I don’t get shot at next round of combat?

you don’t want to put your ship in unnecessary spot to get a retaliatory shot in and blow you up.

Now given all of that, assume this as a pure 1v1:

1 straight

remember when you K-turn you turn the ship 180 degrees. So if your on the opponents 6, after following the K-turn they’ll be on your 6. Not a good place to follow them into. You’re better off tokening up and playing the long range game. If you have a debuffing ace like wedge or Inquisistor, or have crackshot handy, you will be in a far better position. You can alternatively 3 straight and get range 1, but do you really want to play that game, even if the opponent is taking a token less shot because they are stressed.

Also this is written from a jousters perspective. I have no idea what Kylo or Soontir or whisper do with this approach.

Thanks for the suggestion of 1 Straight

Assume it’s down to a 1 on 1 and you can’t one shot each other at this point but could damage Hull / Critical.

Other than that your choice of whatever Pilot / Ship you’re using but no Turret.

28 minutes ago, It’s One Of Ours said:

I agree with Stoneface. Unless they Boost or Barrel Roll or Slam or have a reposition, it is impossible for them to escape your arc if you are locked into moving to the space they are vacating.

But if he does indeed pull a 4K then you’re head on at Range 3?

Edit - I guess that may not be bad as you’ll be modded, he won’t. Maybe even good if you have Torpedoes or Missiles.

4 hours ago, KiloFiX9 said:

But if he does indeed pull a 4K then you’re head on at Range 3?

Edit - I guess that may not be bad as you’ll be modded, he won’t. Maybe even good if you have Torpedoes or Missiles.

Unless he has Torps and you don't.....

Honestly, there's too many variables to give a straight answer....

If it's my choice of ship, then I take Countess Ryad with Adv Sen and just dial in a good old 5 straight.

Impossible to answer as there's too many variables. Tell us what ship they are and what ship we are. Who's moving first?

6 hours ago, Carnor Rex said:

Unless your ace doesn't have a 1 straight and they do.. then it's top gun time.

Even then, unless you were reaaaaaally close, if you do a speed 2 and they do a speed 1, it's probably still collision time - meaning you're safe (from them, anyway).

As a rule, even if you're confident they're going to K-turn, move slow. If they do, then it's a range 2 shot, but you have a focus token and they (probably) don't. At range 1, even unmodified dice can do for you if you get unlucky.

Aces, as a rule, want to go for repeated "safe" shots rather than the kamikaze strafing run (mandalorians aside, since range 1 is actually safer for them...).

1 hour ago, SOTL said:

Impossible to answer as there's too many variables. Tell us what ship they are and what ship we are. Who's moving first?

Ok if we need to be more specific

Say your opponent is generic Red Xwing.

You are Soontir.

1vs1. Both undamaged. Clear field

Red vet loses. Basically. Fel dials a 2 bank or 2 straight and fixes it with repositioning depending on where the vet ends up and doesn't care if he bumps. He's worth more points so he arc dodges until he's got a good shot without risk and repeats until time or enemy death. It simply should ever get to the point where the x wing gets a shot on him ever again.

^^^ this.

8 minutes ago, thespaceinvader said:

Red vet loses. Basically. Fel dials a 2 bank or 2 straight and fixes it with repositioning depending on where the vet ends up and doesn't care if he bumps. He's worth more points so he arc dodges until he's got a good shot without risk and repeats until time or enemy death. It simply should ever get to the point where the x wing gets a shot on him ever again.

• The red squadron veteran can turn and roll, to try and shake you, but it's most likely just to cause a bump, which you can live with
• If you've got no idea which way the X-wing's going to turn (because no stress and a completely clear field) then you might as well go straight, because if you plump for a turn you have a 50/50 chance of being wrong. That's not a risk to you but won't help you either.
• The only way the X-wing is ever going to turn 'fast' enough to get its guns pointed back at soontir is by extending the range and turning 180 about; if it tries to come about with 'normal' turns, soontir moves after it and turns just as well as he does (arguably better since autothrusters>roll/link/focus and he has green turns which the X-wing doesn't have unless it has an R4 astromech equipped)
• therefore the real risk is what happens if he pulls a speed 4 K-turn, because it's hard to avoid getting shot here. Fortunately, if you were behind him and respond with a speed 2 straight, you'll be at range 2. 3 unmodified dice versus 3 dice with an evade token and probably a focus token (if you were directly behind him and both go straight, odds are you'll have bullseye on him for a free focus token) is not 100% safe, but it's pretty good odds, and even if you reserve both tokens for protecting yourself, 3 red dice versus 2 green dice with no modifiers on either side is still significantly in your favour.
  • If you respond to the K-turn with a roll forwards and a boost away in the same direction, you should (!) avoid being shot, but it's a close-run thing, and if you end up with a gnat's wing left in arc, it's likely to be range 1-2 with no tokens. Be very sure before you commit to this option...
• He could pull a Tallon roll, but whilst that also gives both of you a shot, you can boost in the direction he rolled, which will probably put you out of arc.

If you know he's pulling a 4k, I think a 3 straight gives you a solid roll, boost, bullseye focus with Soontir and then sets you up for a 2 turn (clear stress), boost, roll, bullseye focus on the following turn.

The issue with the scenario is there's no reason for the X-wing to k turn here. The X should pull a hard 3 turn in either direction with S-foils closed and boost or lock (lock is preferrable). Following turn, T-roll or K-turn as you know Fel will give chase, but the range is greater now, so he can't dodge away. If you managed a lock in the previous turn you get modded shots even though you're stressed. This brings up a whole different series of maneuvers for Fel in the chase, so again, it all depends on what you can predict from your opponent.

18 minutes ago, Bad Idea Comics said:

If you know he's pulling a 4k, I think a 3 straight gives you a solid roll, boost, bullseye focus with Soontir and then sets you up for a 2 turn (clear stress), boost, roll, bullseye focus on the following turn.

The issue with the scenario is there's no reason for the X-wing to k turn here. The X should pull a hard 3 turn in either direction with S-foils closed and boost or lock (lock is preferrable). Following turn, T-roll or K-turn as you know Fel will give chase, but the range is greater now, so he can't dodge away. If you managed a lock in the previous turn you get modded shots even though you're stressed. This brings up a whole different series of maneuvers for Fel in the chase, so again, it all depends on what you can predict from your opponent.

The issue with that is that a speed 3 turn and lock leaves you still pretty close to where you were (about 3 bases away on a 45' angle). If Soontir started range 1 behind you, a speed 2 straight puts him more or less where you were, and an autothruster linked boost puts him at range 1 with a focus token; which can take a huge chunk out of your ship if you've no focus token to augment your own defence rolls.

8 minutes ago, Magnus Grendel said:

The issue with that is that a speed 3 turn and lock leaves you still pretty close to where you were (about 3 bases away on a 45' angle). If Soontir started range 1 behind you, a speed 2 straight puts him more or less where you were, and an autothruster linked boost puts him at range 1 with a focus token; which can take a huge chunk out of your ship if you've no focus token to augment your own defence rolls.

Yep - I agree, which is why I mentioned that a lock is preferrable, but I put the boost in there. It all depends on the situation. There's simply not enough info in the scenario depicted to make an informed decision. So, yes, I agree with you 100%, hence the last sentence in my post.

9 minutes ago, Bad Idea Comics said:

Yep - I agree, which is why I mentioned that a lock is preferrable, but I put the boost in there. It all depends on the situation. There's simply not enough info in the scenario depicted to make an informed decision. So, yes, I agree with you 100%, hence the last sentence in my post.

Agreed. But, yes, if you think you can get a 'safe' bump, filing away a lock for when you do pull a turnabout is not a bad move.

Thanks all. Your responses have given me a lot to consider.

It sounds like short of specific circumstances the best bet is a 1 or 2 straight then action to adjust.

Worst case you’ll bump. Or end up head on but you’ll be modded.

Just now, KiloFiX9 said:

Thanks all. Your responses have given me a lot to consider.

It sounds like short of specific circumstances the best bet is a 1 or 2 straight then action to adjust.

Worst case you’ll bump. Or end up head on but you’ll be modded.

Plus if you end head-on then next turn he likely has to clear stress and you can k-turn in behind him again.

Nice to see a thread about flying rather than list building 😊

3 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Even then, unless you were reaaaaaally close, if you do a speed 2 and they do a speed 1, it's probably still collision time - meaning you're safe (from them, anyway).

As a rule, even if you're confident they're going to K-turn, move slow. If they do, then it's a range 2 shot, but you have a focus token and they (probably) don't. At range 1, even unmodified dice can do for you if you get unlucky.

Aces, as a rule, want to go for repeated "safe" shots rather than the kamikaze strafing run (mandalorians aside, since range 1 is actually safer for them...).

Well he did say directly behind him. Anyway I thought it funny.. but maybe no one watches top gun anymore?

2 hours ago, KiloFiX9 said:

Thanks all. Your responses have given me a lot to consider.

It sounds like short of specific circumstances the best bet is a 1 or 2 straight then action to adjust.

Worst case you’ll bump. Or end up head on but you’ll be modded.

Think of it like you’re locking in to their 6. By making sure you end up in the space they vacated with the same arc facing, they will never leave your firing arc without a reposition. Which a higher PS ace in a nimble ship can adjust for. The best a jouster can do at that point, is hope a wingman takes out his tail, or 4k > blue straight > 4k indefinitely (i.e. “fo back and forth”).

Some ships are notoriously difficult to lock in behind them, either because they can still get a Focus on a K, or because they’re just too squirrely. B-Wings with Advanced Sensors, for example. Assuming you lock in behind them, they have a short K-Turn, extremely short Tallon Rolls, and can take an action before maneuvering. They can go slower than an Interceptor, and can even Roll so that a 1 Tallon turns them around close to where they started. Another damned near impossible ship to lock in behind of, is a Starviper with Sensors. Banking Roll into a Segnor-Loop for a 90-degree lateral turn around. Nuff said...