Making a viable Miranda (using Han and Saw)

By Wazat, in X-Wing Squad Lists

Miranda with Proton Torpedoes + Han Solo + Saw Guerra + Proton Bombs + Advanced SLAM is 85 points. I like Han for this because his initiative 7 shot is great for regaining a shield to survive enemy attacks, and to feed Saw's self-damage ability. She can even do the occasional range 1 4-dice primary. Proton Bombs + Advanced SLAM give her a lot of hit & run capacity.

She's not meant to be the Miranda of first edition; that is thoroughly and rightfully nerfed. Rather, she's firing a 4-dice torpedo with a lock reroll, saw's tokenless focuses->crits modification, plus proton's hit->crit. That should wreck some faces on the first pass. Next round she's dropping a proton bomb & slamming away while everyone is jousting behind her. Having never flown her in 2nd edition, I have no idea if this measures up to her 85-point cost.

Is this viable? Would you ever put this on the table or is Miranda still just a mess? I don't think I know anyone who's ever played her or seen her played, so I'm looking for ways to make her effective.

If it's viable, who would you fly with her using the remaining 115 points? I'm tempted to have Jan Ors (HWK) join her just for 5-dice k-wing primary shot entertainment, but that's probably taking her in the wrong direction. ;)

Edited by Wazat
more descriptive title
2 hours ago, Wazat said:

If it's  viable, who would  you fly with her using the remaining 115 p  oints   ?

Not sure anything the Rebels have to offer is particularly competitive at the moment... but with that amount of crit potential I’d want to make sure I had 2-3 other ships firing first to strip shields!

Edited by DexterOnone

Good point, she should probably be firing last. I'd considered Dutch to fly ahead and grant locks and a leading shot.

Dutch doesn't necessarily have to fly ahead. Someone like Fenn Rau Sheaithpede could coordinate Dutch at Init 6... Let's see...

  • Miranda (Proton Torpedo) 57
  • Dutch Vander (Swarm Tactics, Proton Torpedo) 54
  • Fenn Rau (Swarm Tactics) 55
  • Lieutenant Blount (Swarm Tactics) 33
    • Alternately, Tala Squadron Pilot with Swarm Tactics, and using the 5 points saved for a Proton Bomb on Miranda, or a turret on Dutch. I'd go bombs.
    • The Z-95 could also bring Selfless instead of Swarm Tactics. It probably doesn't matter much getting the 2-dice shot high Init, and the other three ships are all somewhat vulnerable. Forcing a crit or two onto a Tala that your opponent probably wants to ignore seems handy, particularly with a lot of enemy ships likely to run Proton Torpedoes of their own.
  • Total 199, bid 1

So it'd be all init 6, with two pea-shooters followed by two Proton Torpedoes which are both Focus/Lock.

Looking over this, it strikes me that Miranda could be used like almost any Y-Wing (not Dutch with his action efficiency, but still).

This is also a major departure from your version of a Miranda... I dunno. Dutch just got me thinking.

So I played the fleet twice today and enjoyed it.

Garven Dreis (X-Wing) — T-65 X-Wing 47
Crack Shot 1
Proton Torpedoes 9
Servomotor S-foils 0
Ship Total: 57
Half Points: 29 Threshold: 3
Wedge Antilles — T-65 X-Wing 52
Proton Torpedoes 9
Servomotor S-foils 0
Ship Total: 61
Half Points: 31 Threshold: 3
Miranda Doni — BTL-S8 K-Wing 48
Proton Torpedoes 9
Han Solo 12
Saw Gerrera 8
Proton Bombs 5
Ship Total: 82

Half Points: 41 Threshold: 5

Total: 200, bid 0

I didn't play as effectively as I'd like (often forgetting to use bombs or other abilities) but still did well and had fun with it. I do think Dutch will be more useful than Garven by far, since getting locks for torps is so important. I also felt like Advanced SLAM may be worth taking for reloading or rotating arc on the run, but I don't know whether R4 or R3 astromech on Dutch/Wedge would be better than that. I'm also sad I don't have a point buy, since that helps Wedge so much. As for Wedge... having seen Swarm Tactics used so well in the past, I'm going to give that a try. Two torpedoes at Initiative 6, plus an init 7 turret shot from Miranda, is not a bad tactic. I might even chuck Advanced SLAM for a point buy to build off of that. Thoughts?

Wedge Antilles — T-65 X-Wing 52
Swarm Tactics 3
Proton Torpedoes 9
Servomotor S-foils 0
Ship Total: 64
Half Points: 32 Threshold: 3
Miranda Doni — BTL-S8 K-Wing 48
Proton Torpedoes 9
Han Solo 12
Saw Gerrera 8
Proton Bombs 5
Advanced SLAM 3
Ship Total: 85
Half Points: 43 Threshold: 5
“Dutch” Vander — BTL-A4 Y-Wing 42
Proton Torpedoes 9
Ship Total: 51
Half Points: 26 Threshold: 4
Total 200, bid 0

What about Magva on Miranda for the “shoot me, I dare you” effect

I like the triple proton torps. Swarm tactics is a good call too. I think Dutch is the weak link of the build, but his lock passing is very good for the torpedoes. I feel like the hardest part would be getting the ship you have locked from Dutch in arc of Miranda

Edited by Amc879

Yea, Magva is fun with torps. I'll keep that in mind as a future option to replace Saw. For now I've found I prefer to get my locks on my own initiative instead of relying on the opponent, since getting the torpedoes off is so important. Miranda has so much trouble getting turned around and getting the foe in arc that she needs to control when she has the lock, instead of trying to get the enemy to give her one.

Nathan Eide used her with Luke and Sabine. Gave him three very maneuverable ships.

I think she can be very useful if the meta converts to crap like trip upsilons because she can eat a couple big shots, slam behind them and while regening, her 1 dice primary can still do damage to reinforced ships.

Slamming around weak vulture droids and then laying bombs if they chase her can be effective also.

I think in extended format, she is less viable because she cant hang with whispers, redlines, and defenders.

I think Magva is ideal crew for ships like miranda. Its free actions when your 1 agility ship takes damage, aka whenever you are shot at.

I flew the new version a couple times on Friday and had fun with it, though it was very casual so the list really hasn't been stress-tested. I suspect it will faceplant in a tournament setting, but so far it's been decent.

For what it's worth, Miranda's nerfs are strongly felt. It's like they wanted to tie down every loose thread so she'd never threaten the meta again, just in case someone like me went looking for a crazy combo that could make her good again. ;) Her shield regen is limited to when she's both unshielded and has a primary shot she's willing to nerf, and a few times that's hurt. She can only boost or recharge on primary. Advanced SLAM stresses her. C-3PO takes up an important action to be active. Etc...

So uhh... despite all that, I'm enjoying the list. It's fun starting with Han's shot and following with a torpedo shot with massive crits from Saw. And Dutch is a huge asset, to the point that I don't necessarily feel horrible if he's not getting foes in arc as long as he's handing out locks effectively. I think Dutch is greatly out-performing Garven simply because I need the locks for torps. Wedge naturally hits like a truck loaded with nukes, as he should.

Regarding the new fleet changes: Squad Leader works great with a torpedo team; it's a keeper. That initiative 7 shot (which can be 3 dice) followed by two init 6 proton torpedo shots is great, and I've been alpha-striking like a champ thanks to it. I'm less certain on Advanced SLAM, since I haven't gotten a chance to use it yet; foes haven't put me in a situation where I needed it, in fact. Removing it for an initiative bid, an astromech for Wedge or Dutch, or an elite on Dutch couldn't hurt (e.g. selfless). I think I'd err on the side of initiative bid, unless someone feels an upgrade is really important.

I hear people expect a points rebalance to land as early as Monday. Might even contain other things like buffs/nerfs to slots, abilities, etc? I'm interested to see what happens.

Sadly, while Miranda's and Dutch's point cost went down 3 each, protos went up. 3x proton torpedoes added 9 points to my list, and Han added another 2; all told, I need to shave 5 points to make the list legal again.

Advanced SLAM can go, but I'm really hesitant to remove anything else in the list to recover the remaining 2 points. Maybe I'll have to downgrade Wedge, but that hurts Swarm Tactics.

Hmmm....