I3 Imp generics

By Ikka, in X-Wing Squad Lists

Thought up this list today, after the points update. Probably not the best, but I've been flying gunboats pretty often lately and usually struggle finding a great compliment to them, so having the Aggressor and fighters at the same Initiative makes everything nice and neat while giving a pretty nasty set of firepower at Rang 1-2. Thoughts?

Onyx Squadron Scout (30)
Predator (2)
Dorsal Turret (3)
Veteran Turret Gunner (8)

Ship total: 43 Half Points: 22 Threshold: 3

Rho Squadron Pilot (35)
Trick Shot (4)
Passive Sensors (3)
Adv. Proton Torpedoes (6)
Advanced SLAM (3)
Os-1 Arsenal Loadout (0)

Ship total: 51 Half Points: 26 Threshold: 4

Rho Squadron Pilot (35)
Trick Shot (4)
Passive Sensors (3)
Adv. Proton Torpedoes (6)
Advanced SLAM (3)
Os-1 Arsenal Loadout (0)

Ship total: 51 Half Points: 26 Threshold: 4

Black Squadron Ace (26)
Crack Shot (1)

Ship total: 27 Half Points: 14 Threshold: 2

Black Squadron Ace (26)
Crack Shot (1)

Ship total: 27 Half Points: 14 Threshold: 2


Total: 199

  • Passive Sensors and SLAM don't work together terribly well since they're both 'perform action step only'
  • I agree having everyone be I3 is a good idea. Being able to chop and change movement order to either clear a potential bump or to fire a critical-causing torpedo last is great.
  • Is Trick Shot really that great? Without barrel roll or speed 1 turns, I'd have thought you'd want to avoid fighting in and around close-packed rocks. With the TIE fighters to get up close and personal, and nice, tough gunboats that can afford the odd point of damage, have you considered Ruthless? Pushing a critical through is often worth causing a single non-critical damage, and one nice side effect of everyone being I3 is that EVERYONE can trigger Ruthless, layering extra damage on one unfortunate wingman, even if they're on 1 hit point left, because he doesn't 'die' until the end of the initiative step.
  • The TIE aggressor is....pretty ineffectual at range 3, not bad at range 2 and pretty darn brutal at range 1. It's certainly worth its 33 points, and roll/link/evade is not bad either.

Predator only works on primary.

Edited by Blademaster72
12 hours ago, Blademaster72 said:

Predator only works on primary.

Then definitely consider Ruthless.

On 6/27/2019 at 3:46 AM, Magnus Grendel said:
  • The TIE aggressor is....pretty ineffectual at range 3, not bad at range 2 and pretty darn brutal at range 1. It's certainly worth its 33 points, and roll/link/evade is not bad either.

Can you expound on aggressors being brutal up close?

7 hours ago, sthej said:

Can you expound on aggressors being brutal up close?

With Veteran Turret Gunner and Dorsal Turret, you get a dramatic increase in firepower as you close:

  • At range 3, only the primary weapons can fire.
    • That's a 2 red dice, against (for the sake of example) 3 green dice for something like an X-wing, Delta-7b or TIE Striker, making you no better than a lone TIE fighter.
    • You've only got about a 20% chance of hitting.
  • At range 2, the defender loses their range defence bonus and the dorsal turret can now shoot as well.
    • That's now two red dice against two green dice, twice, equivalent to a pair of TIE fighters at medium range.
    • You've got about a 40% chance of hitting with each shot, even just given a single focus token each for attacker and defender
  • At range 3, the attacker gets a range bonus on both the primary weapons and the turret
    • You're now kicking out 6 dice per engagement phase, equivalent to a pair of X-wings at medium range.
    • You've now got about a 70% chance of hitting on the first shot, and a 60% chance on the second shot.

Essentially, because you're firing two attacks, you take range bonuses twice, and because the individual attacks are weak a bonus die is a much bigger deal (going from 2 dice to 3 is a huge increase compared to going from 3 dice to 4), which means that proportionately your firepower increases as you get closer far more than for other ships. Y-wings are much the same.

Ah, thanks for the explanation!

10 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

With Veteran Turret Gunner and Dorsal Turret, you get a dramatic increase in firepower as you close:

  • At range 3, only the primary weapons can fire.
    • That's a 2 red dice, against (for the sake of example) 3 green dice for something like an X-wing, Delta-7b or TIE Striker, making you no better than a lone TIE fighter.
    • You've only got about a 20% chance of hitting.
  • At range 2, the defender loses their range defence bonus and the dorsal turret can now shoot as well.
    • That's now two red dice against two green dice, twice, equivalent to a pair of TIE fighters at medium range.
    • You've got about a 40% chance of hitting with each shot, even just given a single focus token each for attacker and defender
  • At range 3, the attacker gets a range bonus on both the primary weapons and the turret
    • You're now kicking out 6 dice per engagement phase, equivalent to a pair of X-wings at medium range.
    • You've now got about a 70% chance of hitting on the first shot, and a 60% chance on the second shot.

Essentially, because you're firing two attacks, you take range bonuses twice, and because the individual attacks are weak a bonus die is a much bigger deal (going from 2 dice to 3 is a huge increase compared to going from 3 dice to 4), which means that proportionately your firepower increases as you get closer far more than for other ships. Y-wings are much the same.

...might be time to look at an Aggressor list, methinks.