On 8/3/2019 at 12:08 AM, NLJUNGBERG said:

Im bringing version one (Adv. Opt.) to a tournament next weekend and trying to get as many games as i can before.
I just want to thank you for sharing this list, i absolutely love it.

I lost myself with all the versions posted here. Can you tell how is the first version, please?

48 minutes ago, Gorgias said:

I lost myself with all the versions posted here. Can you tell how is the first version, please?

The first, IMO worse, version is the one I discussed in the post here :¨

Temmin Wexley (54)
Composure (1)
Integrated S-Foils (0)

Jessika Pava (51)
BB Astromech (3)
Integrated S-Foils (0)

Lieutenant Bastian (48)
Integrated S-Foils (0)

Finn (29)
Heroic (1)
Advanced Optics (4)
Perceptive Copilot (8)
Total: 199

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

The next, IMO better, version has pattern analyzer on Finn and adds up to 200 points. It has weaker damage output, but it is better against bad matchups and against better players.

Ran my Poe, 2 Blue 70s and a Blue A-Wing again yesterday, this time at a local tournament. Went 2 - 1, finished second place, only loss was to a Kylo and three generic TIEs list (kinda the dark side mirror of my own list lol) because I couldn't get anything to stick on Kylo. I even got Poe a range 1, 4-dice shot, with focus and target lock, hit with 3 of the 4 dice and he nattied the evades. Every time I fired at Kylo he would roll natties on evade. Lost by 4 points...oh well...I will get him next time. That was the first time I've faced Kylo and that player, but know that i know his tricks, Kylo's luck will run out 😛

Both wins were tablings...a Ric/Sinker/2 Torrent list and a Luke/corran/Gavin list (although to be fair, the E-Wing player flew Gavin off the edge of the board by mistake but I got the other two ships)

35 minutes ago, cpdilloway said:

Ran my Poe, 2 Blue 70s and a Blue A-Wing again yesterday  , this time at a local tournament.

Cool, how do you equip your ships? 😎

2 hours ago, Mighty said:

Cool, how do you equip your ships? 😎

Poe had Heroic, Black One, R2 Astromech and S-foils, the two other X-Wings had BB Astromech and S-foils and the A-Wing was naked. Love those little BB droids

12 hours ago, GreenDragoon said:

The first, IMO worse, version is the one I discussed in the post here :¨

Temmin Wexley (54)
Composure (1)
Integrated S-Foils (0)

Jessika Pava (51)
BB Astromech (3)
Integrated S-Foils (0)

Lieutenant Bastian (48)
Integrated S-Foils (0)

Finn (29)
Heroic (1)
Advanced Optics (4)
Perceptive Copilot (8)
Total: 199

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

The next, IMO better, version has pattern analyzer on Finn and adds up to 200 points. It has weaker damage output, but it is better against bad matchups and against better players.

Thanks!

So what are people’s thoughts on something like this:

New Squadron

(51) Jessika Pava [T-70 X-wing]
(0) Integrated S-foils
Points: 51

(48) Lieutenant Bastian [T-70 X-wing]
(0) Integrated S-foils
Points: 48

(68) Poe Dameron [T-70 X-wing]
(0) Integrated S-foils
(2) R4 Astromech
(1) Heroic
Points: 71

(29) Finn [Resistance Transport Pod]
(1) Heroic
Points: 30

Total points: 200

you lose snap, and some toys on Finn, but in return have a I6 closer..

16 hours ago, battlestarbill said:

So what are people’s thoughts on something like this:

New Squadron

(51) Jessika Pava [T-70 X-wing]
(0) Integrated S-foils
Points: 51

(48) Lieutenant Bastian [T-70 X-wing]
(0) Integrated S-foils
Points: 48

(68) Poe Dameron [T-70 X-wing]
(0) Integrated S-foils
(2) R4 Astromech
(1) Heroic
Points: 71

(29) Finn [Resistance Transport Pod]
(1) Heroic
Points: 30

Total points: 200

you lose snap, and some toys on Finn, but in return have a I6 closer..

Finn with Heroic alone isn't going to hold up very long tbh. You could drop Poe for a pattern Analysed Nien and get PerCo back on Finn. You then get a I5 closer and better balanced Finn.

Right after 3 high level tournaments with this list time for some recap. Played at the Paris System Open Hyperspace Trial, European Championship and European Championship Hyperspace trial with it. Current win rate is just shy of 70% which is spectacular for high level tournament play with such an average pilot. Anyway onto some analysis. First the list.

I really like the way it flies but something I noticed is that the list really lacks the one point bid. Two games that I did lose I would have won if I had the bid which would ensure my I2 would move first for easier blocking. Unfortunately the only thing that can be removed is BB from Pava but that got me thinking.

I noticed that I rarely if ever use BB for its intended purpose and just use 1 or even both rerolls on that clutch turn when everything is shooting at everything. But I also noticed that those turns only happen when I'm flying against a joust list. And joust lists are the only list archetype that I don't feel comfortable flying against.

So with that in mind. Switching from BB on Pava to Black One on Wexley both gives me a mini bid and solidifies Wexley as a mini ace against jousty lists.

In general what do you guys think is the correct approach against lists that can outjoust and outblock you. I got dismantled pretty bad by a 4U list at the Europeans.

Other than that I can't really see any complaints against the list. Its easy to fly but gets a bit monotone after a while. Advancing forward I'll still probably play it but will start experimenting with some combination of Finn + Leia Cova + some combination of X and A since that to me is a bit "smarter" to play but gives more flexibility.

A question for the experts on the list, @RStan @Flurpy @Tyhar7 @Mistborn_Jedi And whoever wants to chime in:

What about this version with Cova?

Cova Nell (38)
Heroic (1)
Jamming Beam (0)
Leia Organa (19)

Lieutenant Bastian (48)
Integrated S-Foils (0)
Jamming Beam (0)

Jessika Pava (51)
Integrated S-Foils (0)
Jamming Beam (0)

Finn (29)
Heroic (1)
Pattern Analyzer (5)
Perceptive Copilot (8)
Total: 200

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

I still don't see her value as that high. However...

Temmin has a similar problem as Awings in the list, as he wants to move faster. Cova with her stops and reverses doubles down on slow movement. Additionally, it would maybe allow us to go back to optics on Finn and a 1pt bid? The only thing better than a PA kturn is a white kturn.

The problem I see is that Leia should now do too many things at once and that doesn't work so well.

Thoughts?

I'm an expert? Wow, we're all in trouble!

I've been running that list off and on the last few weeks (but with Crack Shot on Cova instead of Heroic). We've got a local Hyperspace Trial on the 14th where I will probably run this.

It's fun to fly and can hit very hard. Cova's ability to do a Leia-fueled white stop/reverse and then throw 4 dice with a focus at R1 is very good. She's essentially unblockable and surprises people more than you'd think. I think it's a little better against dodgy aces than the XXXpod version and jousts just about as well.

As you mentioned, Leia has a lot to (potentially) do in this list but you have to resist the urge. Probably 90% of the time you should use Leia on Cova and pretend she doesn't exist for the rest of the ships. Usually there's 1 time where you're willing to trade off the buffed Cova to help another ship. One of the keys to making the list work is knowing when to do that.

I've also tried it with Snap & Greer instead of Jess & Bastian. I like the XX version better than the XA version based on how I fly.

@GreenDragoon I think the list definitely has legs. There's pros and cons to it. Definitely focus on using Leia for Cova and keep PA on Finn. Cova w/ Leia in a vacuum is probably a better ship than Comp Snap. It's got more difficult moves for an opponent to consider in the scrum engagement phases. Cova has 1 more health and the heroic insurance which is harder to take down than Snap who can die just as easily as Bastian.

What I don't like is Jess loses access to an Astromech and most of all, the flexibility of Snaps mobility. If the Cova squad faces a better jousting squad like TIE Swarm, Sinker Swarm or maybe Sear Swarm, it can't split up and surround as good as the Snap version can. Cova can't boost or barrel roll. It's got great moves as the turns of engagement in the mid game, but getting to a favorable engagement against superior jousters will be difficult.

Again, there's pros and cons and it's worth trying to compare.

Thanks @RStan and @Mistborn_Jedi

I have a HST in a few hours. Sounds like a good idea in general, but not something to do without any practice before. I'll bring the snap version and 5As, haven't even decided yet...

I have to agree with Rstan about the movement. I don’t tend to maintain formation much passed the initial engagement. Preferring to stay unpredictable and split into two pairs. Snap then becomes a boon, helping to hunt down stragglers or targets of opportunity. (Which use to be L’ulo’s job) He’s also preferable to have in the late game, him or Bastian.

CovaLeia certainly has some great features to add a lot of flexibility in the list. Certainly agree the temptation to use those options should be kept to opportune moments.

That said, the big issue I see is that using CovaLeia in the list, you have now created a clear priority target in your list that previously didn’t exist.

The Big XXX deal list and the XXXx before it, both benefited from not having a clear priority target. I often use this, presenting my opponent targets I want them to shoot at to help spread the damage, plus keep guns on the table. This is harder to do if my opponent isn’t indifferent about their target choices.

Cova in this list it target number 1. Leia is both powerful and unpredictable and the ship itself is the most expensive on the board. Feel like Cova is not going to last long past any initial engagement. For the 10% of the time you do use her features on the other ships and not to just to make Cova a viable addition it doesn’t seem worth it over what Snap brings to the list.

If Snap really isn’t working for you I have been playing with switching out Snap for Nien to add the I5 late game ace back into it. Not as strong in the initial engagement but you do get 3 ships that can K or talon roll and still have mods for the follow rounds.

Thats what I get for going out on the weekend, everybody else already chimed in

But yeah Ill agree with the smarter players above. In general the more I think about Cova the less I like her in a 4 ship build. If you think about what made all the previous good Resistance builds Good, it was the similarity of all the ships involved. 5A is all literally the same ship, Resistance 5 was a combination of 4 pocket aces which could maintain time on target at a similar pace and all the various XXX or XXA was 3 straight up aces. Same goes for the Big XXX deal, they all have roughly the same capabilities and speed. There is no clear workhorse in that list.

If you pair Cova/Finn with Snap/A-Wing then they slow them down while Pava/Bastian only present a clear target in Cova compared to the Big XXX deal.

Cova with Leia and Heroic which is all she really needs is great in a vacuum. Im just not sure how she gels with the Resistance. With Rebels she would be perfect, surrounding her with other beef/Selfless ships. Since Ive got some time before the next tournament, I will be experimenting with a fully loaded Poe and Nien with Cova. Her ability to run away directly from the enemy and still maintain actions might suit ace play, plus she gives Poe those 1-2 turns when he cant clear his stress with R4.

I have a list in the works that has similar ships/components. @Flurpy gave me some advice and pointed me here. Trying to figure out a mid-range list using Nien. While I don't have room with Leia, I think Korr/Larma are effective together on Cova. Mainly thinking about R2 on Nein vs. Afterburners. If I go R2, I can upgrade 3PO to PerCo. It's just really tight list to run everyone at their absolute best, but I love the ship and abilities enough to think that even at about 85% there, it can work well.

Resistance Transport Pod - •Finn - 41
•Finn - Big Deal (29)
Heroic (1)
•C-3PO (6)
Pattern Analyzer (5)

Resistance Transport - •Cova Nell - 48
•Cova Nell - Evacuation Escort (38)
•Korr Sella (6)
•Larma D’Acy (4)

RZ-2 A-wing - •L’ulo L’ampar - 46
•L’ulo L’ampar - Luminous Mentor (43)
Predator (2)
Heroic (1)

T-70 X-wing - •Nien Nunb - 65
•Nien Nunb - Sarcastic Survivor (55)
Predator (2)
Afterburners (6)
• Black One (2)
Integrated S-foils (Closed) (0)

Total: 200/200

View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

A slight variant I've been experimenting with:

Nien Nunb (55)
Integrated S-Foils (0)
Pattern Analyzer (5)

Ship total: 60 Half Points: 30 Threshold: 4

Jessika Pava (51)
Integrated S-Foils (0)

Ship total: 51 Half Points: 26 Threshold: 4

Lieutenant Bastian (48)
Integrated S-Foils (0)

Ship total: 48 Half Points: 24 Threshold: 4

Finn (29)
Heroic (1)
Pattern Analyzer (5)
C-3PO (Resistance) (6)

Ship total: 41 Half Points: 21 Threshold: 2


Total: 200

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0: https://raithos.github.io/?f=Resistance&d=v8ZsZ200Z298XWWW175W206WWY296XWW175WWWY254XWW175WWWY350X172W206W191W&sn=Unnamed Squadron&obs=

On the upside, you gain a IN 5 semi-ace that can fairly consistently get double-mods in a knife-fight/scrum. On the downside, both Jess (no BB astromech) and Finn (downgraded from Perceptive Copilot to C-3PO) become slightly worse, and the initial punch is weaker. TBH I don't think this is better than the established version with Snap, just wanted to put this out there as food for thought.

58 minutes ago, bitsai said:

A slight variant I've been experimenting with:

Nien Nunb (55)
Integrated S-Foils (0)
Pattern Analyzer (5)

Ship total: 60 Half Points: 30 Threshold: 4

Jessika Pava (51)
Integrated S-Foils (0)

Ship total: 51 Half Points: 26 Threshold: 4

Lieutenant Bastian (48)
Integrated S-Foils (0)

Ship total: 48 Half Points: 24 Threshold: 4

Finn (29)
Heroic (1)
Pattern Analyzer (5)
C-3PO (Resistance) (6)

Ship total: 41 Half Points: 21 Threshold: 2


Total: 200

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0: https://raithos.github.io/?f=Resistance&d=v8ZsZ200Z298XWWW175W206WWY296XWW175WWWY254XWW175WWWY350X172W206W191W&sn=Unnamed Squadron&obs=

On the upside, you gain a IN 5 semi-ace that can fairly consistently get double-mods in a knife-fight/scrum. On the downside, both Jess (no BB astromech) and Finn (downgraded from Perceptive Copilot to C-3PO) become slightly worse, and the initial punch is weaker. TBH I don't think this is better than the established version with Snap, just wanted to put this out there as food for thought.

It essentially the list I’ve also been playing with. If you drop PA on Finn you can also swap Jess for Snap. Which might be preferable, she is the weakest link in the late game.

21 hours ago, kempokid said:

I have a list in the works that has similar ships/components. @Flurpy gave me some advice and pointed me here. Trying to figure out a mid-range list using Nien. While I don't have room with Leia, I think Korr/Larma are effective together on Cova. Mainly thinking about R2 on Nein vs. Afterburners. If I go R2, I can upgrade 3PO to PerCo. It's just really tight list to run everyone at their absolute best, but I love the ship and abilities enough to think that even at about 85% there, it can work well.

Resistance Transport Pod - •Finn - 41
•Finn - Big Deal (29)
Heroic (1)
•C-3PO (6)
Pattern Analyzer (5)

Resistance Transport - •Cova Nell - 48
•Cova Nell - Evacuation Escort (38)
•Korr Sella (6)
•Larma D’Acy (4)

RZ-2 A-wing - •L’ulo L’ampar - 46
•L’ulo L’ampar - Luminous Mentor (43)
Predator (2)
Heroic (1)

T-70 X-wing - •Nien Nunb - 65
•Nien Nunb - Sarcastic Survivor (55)
Predator (2)
Afterburners (6)
• Black One (2)
Integrated S-foils (Closed) (0)

Total: 200/200

View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

I have a few suggestions on how to make this better IMO

First, cova is spending 10 points to do what 5 points can with pattern analyzer. Drop the crew, add pattern analyzer.

Second, lulo is very sad without a bid in my experience, and generally too squishy for my taste. Let's upgrade to a X-wing with the extra points leftover. This could be any cheap ship you want, like bastian or a red squadron, but I think you could use jaycris tubbs to support cova, allowing her to do multiple red moves in a row.

Next, let's make another upgrade, this time on nein. Let's take a light Poe with heroic and R4. This puts us up on points, so we'll need to find a place to shave some off

*cue nervous sweating from finn*

Finn is good, but his purpose is just cheap dice, which is fine, but I don't think he's worth taking over the upgrades I mentioned above, so let's swap him for a naked vi moradi.

This leaves us a 190 points, so we have a bit of wiggle room to fit your style. I prefer 2 upgrades: elusive on cova, and BB-8 on tubbs. Elusive makes cova wicked tough to chew through, so she'll stick around to put in hurt. I think tubbs is good as a stress support, but if you give him BB-8, he becomes an excellent blocker, especially with Vi moradi's dial-revealing ability. That leaves us with a hard-hitting ace, a hyper-tanky attack platform, a 7 health blocker with double repositioning, and a cheap nuisance whose ability works even after she dies.

Ta-da!

T-70 X-wing - •Poe Dameron - 71 •Poe Dameron - Trigger-Happy Flyboy (68) Heroic (1) R4 Astromech (2) T-70 X-wing - •Jaycris Tubbs - 52 •Jaycris Tubbs - Loving Father (49) •BB-8 (3) Resistance Transport Pod - •Vi Moradi - 27 •Vi Moradi - Starling (27) Resistance Transport - •Cova Nell - 46 •Cova Nell - Evacuation Escort (38) Elusive (3) Pattern Analyzer (5) Total: 196/200 View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

58 minutes ago, Roller of blanks said:

I have a few suggestions on how to make this better IMO

First, cova is spending 10 points to do what 5 points can with pattern analyzer. Drop the crew, add pattern analyzer.

Second, lulo is very sad without a bid in my experience, and generally too squishy for my taste. Let's upgrade to a X-wing with the extra points leftover. This could be any cheap ship you want, like bastian or a red squadron, but I think you could use jaycris tubbs to support cova, allowing her to do multiple red moves in a row.

Next, let's make another upgrade, this time on nein. Let's take a light Poe with heroic and R4. This puts us up on points, so we'll need to find a place to shave some off

*cue nervous sweating from finn*

Finn is good, but his purpose is just cheap dice, which is fine, but I don't think he's worth taking over the upgrades I mentioned above, so let's swap him for a naked vi moradi.

This leaves us a 190 points, so we have a bit of wiggle room to fit your style. I prefer 2 upgrades: elusive on cova, and BB-8 on tubbs. Elusive makes cova wicked tough to chew through, so she'll stick around to put in hurt. I think tubbs is good as a stress support, but if you give him BB-8, he becomes an excellent blocker, especially with Vi moradi's dial-revealing ability. That leaves us with a hard-hitting ace, a hyper-tanky attack platform, a 7 health blocker with double repositioning, and a cheap nuisance whose ability works even after she dies.

Ta-da!

T-70 X-wing - •Poe Dameron - 71 •Poe Dameron - Trigger-Happy Flyboy (68) Heroic (1) R4 Astromech (2) T-70 X-wing - •Jaycris Tubbs - 52 •Jaycris Tubbs - Loving Father (49) •BB-8 (3) Resistance Transport Pod - •Vi Moradi - 27 •Vi Moradi - Starling (27) Resistance Transport - •Cova Nell - 46 •Cova Nell - Evacuation Escort (38) Elusive (3) Pattern Analyzer (5) Total: 196/200 View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

You know I completely over looked Tubbs in combination with the Transports, especially Cova. Hmm food for thought.

2 hours ago, Roller of blanks said:

I have a few suggestions on how to make this better IMO

First, cova is spending 10 points to do what 5 points can with pattern analyzer. Drop the crew, add pattern analyzer.

Second, lulo is very sad without a bid in my experience, and generally too squishy for my taste. Let's upgrade to a X-wing with the extra points leftover. This could be any cheap ship you want, like bastian or a red squadron, but I think you could use jaycris tubbs to support cova, allowing her to do multiple red moves in a row.

Next, let's make another upgrade, this time on nein. Let's take a light Poe with heroic and R4. This puts us up on points, so we'll need to find a place to shave some off

*cue nervous sweating from finn*

Finn is good, but his purpose is just cheap dice, which is fine, but I don't think he's worth taking over the upgrades I mentioned above, so let's swap him for a naked vi moradi.

This leaves us a 190 points, so we have a bit of wiggle room to fit your style. I prefer 2 upgrades: elusive on cova, and BB-8 on tubbs. Elusive makes cova wicked tough to chew through, so she'll stick around to put in hurt. I think tubbs is good as a stress support, but if you give him BB-8, he becomes an excellent blocker, especially with Vi moradi's dial-revealing ability. That leaves us with a hard-hitting ace, a hyper-tanky attack platform, a 7 health blocker with double repositioning, and a cheap nuisance whose ability works even after she dies.

Ta-da!

T-70 X-wing - •Poe Dameron - 71 •Poe Dameron - Trigger-Happy Flyboy (68) Heroic (1) R4 Astromech (2) T-70 X-wing - •Jaycris Tubbs - 52 •Jaycris Tubbs - Loving Father (49) •BB-8 (3) Resistance Transport Pod - •Vi Moradi - 27 •Vi Moradi - Starling (27) Resistance Transport - •Cova Nell - 46 •Cova Nell - Evacuation Escort (38) Elusive (3) Pattern Analyzer (5) Total: 196/200 View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

I'm not sure I can dispute this being a better or worse list than what I posted, but it's pretty far off my intentions. Your alternatives are very thoughtful but I'd like to keep as close to the Finn/Cova/Lulo/Nein combo as possible.

As for Cova, having PA is close to what Korr/Larma can do, but not quite. With Larma, I can coordinate with up to three stress tokens, and then clear them all with Korr whenever I need to. With the PA option, I'd have to take on two stresses and spend two rounds clearing it if I wanted to coordinate on a red maneuver. Korr/Larma essentially lets me keep the dial open and take actions every single turn (since I don't have to clear stress to perform a coordinate until I hit that third stress).

On 9/9/2019 at 12:01 PM, kempokid said:

I'm not sure I can dispute this being a better or worse list than what I posted, but it's pretty far off my intentions. Your alternatives are very thoughtful but I'd like to keep as close to the Finn/Cova/Lulo/Nein combo as possible.

As for Cova, having PA is close to what Korr/Larma can do, but not quite. With Larma, I can coordinate with up to three stress tokens, and then clear them all with Korr whenever I need to. With the PA option, I'd have to take on two stresses and spend two rounds clearing it if I wanted to coordinate on a red maneuver. Korr/Larma essentially lets me keep the dial open and take actions every single turn (since I don't have to clear stress to perform a coordinate until I hit that third stress).

To be fair Nodin might be a better support option with Korr/Larma. Far more mods, you can actually put Threepio on Finn and have them coordinate between each other to give Finn 3 calculate tokens and Nodin 3 actions on top of coordinate. It works well for those two too coordinate Nien and L’ulo as well. Only downside is Nodin won’t last to long under fire. Slap an Ion cannon on him he is offensive enough.

Had a difficult game against a Tavson + Quickdraw + Backdraft list yesterday, while flying Finn + Snap + Jess + Bastian. How would you set up and approach a Tavson + 2 list? Would you joust it in a block and trust in your firepower, split out some X-wings and approach from multiple angles (taking on a higher burden of execution and the risk of being caught in a bad partial engagement), or something else?

Some specific details:

- the Tavson list brought all gas clouds
- Tavson had Pattern Analyzer, so he can stop and still get an action
- Quickdraw and Backdraft both have Swarm Tactics, so all 3 ships shoot at IN 6

2 hours ago, bitsai said:

Had a difficult game against a Tavson + Quickdraw + Backdraft list yesterday, while flying Finn + Snap + Jess + Bastian. How would you set up and approach a Tavson + 2 list? Would you joust it in a block and trust in your firepower, split out some X-wings and approach from multiple angles (taking on a higher burden of execution and the risk of being caught in a bad partial engagement), or something else?

Some specific details:

- the Tavson list brought all gas clouds
- Tavson had Pattern Analyzer, so he can stop and still get an action
- Quickdraw and Backdraft both have Swarm Tactics, so all 3 ships shoot at IN 6

What made it difficult? How did it play out? Tavson can get that one action during his activation with PA, but his ability is effectively turned off while he's stressed.

The Tavson player surprised me by taking first player so he could corner 2 of my 3 rocks, so I put the one rock in my control in the center. The gas clouds ended up sprinkled fairly evenly around the remaining spaces. I elected not to straight-up joust Tavson + friends (again, not sure if this was the right call), so I split up into 2 groups (Finn + Bastian just right of center, Snap + Jess in the SW corner) with the idea of making Tavson commit to one side of the center rock and bringing in the other group behind him. Tavson and the SF's set up in the center.

We both spent the first several turns not commiting; Finn + Bastian hard-turned and then k-turned back and forth along my board edge, Snap + Jess crawled up the west edge with 1-speed maneuvers, Tavson stopped as much as possible and intentionally blocked the faster ships from zooming ahead. When I turned Finn + Bastian up the east edge, that's when Tavson and the SF's finally committed and zoomed in hard on them. Once I saw that, I moved Finn + Bastian as slowly as possible while bringing Snap + Jess over as fast as I could to help out, but the first engagement still ended up with Finn + Bastian at range 1 of Tavson (yikes), range 2 of the SF's, while Snap + Jess only had range 3 shots on the enemy formation.

First round of combat, Quickdraw used Swarm Tactics to give IN 6 to Tavson, who rolled (after a Target Lock re-roll) Hit, Hit, Crit, Crit. Finn rolled double blanks, then re-rolled with Heroic into... double blanks. I used his ability and spent 1 Focus for one Evade, but still ate Hit, Crit, Crit. The second Crit drew Direct Hit, and that was it for Finn. No one else did any damage.

After that, things devolved into a scrum behind Tavson. Nothing else died, and when time was called, I lost 66 (halved Tavson + Backdraft) to 67 (lost Finn, Bastian halved). Initially I chalked it up to bad luck on that very first shot, but in retrospect, even if Tavson didn't one-shot Finn he might still have died to follow-up shots from Quickdraw and Backdraft. Hence my questions to see what I could/should have done to create a better engagement for Finn + friends against this list.