A while ago there was a thread about in game tactics vs boba. I thought it was a great read and a nice change of pace, so I propose this. What are some in game tactics vs 5 blue squadron X wings?

A couple thoughts:

Only joust if you are confident you can control the engagement range. X wings are sturdy and you're unlikely to kill one in a round unless you've already hit it for a couple damage.

Spread your ships out and approach in such a way that all of your ships have an escape vector, or at least can duck behind an obstacle.

Drag them through the rocks. X wings have a hard time making turns around obstacles, which is your best bet to split their arcs and only take a couple shots. And if they close wings to maneuver, you can worry a little less about their offense.

Force the X-Wings to split up or engage at a range where some of them don't have shots. If they X-Wings split fire they are much less scary. Even if you're also flying a swarm list, you can split off one group to flank, or you can range control to dive into r1 and bump the X-Wings

X-Wings only have 2 green dice, so they will gradually die if you chip damage in.

Most 5X players are going to mindlessly joust you. Some of them are going to be really smart. Gotta figure out which you have early. Use of the boost action is a good sign it's the latter.

Block the k-turn, exploit the lack of a one hard. They take a long time to re-engage and can't corner around obstacles quickly.

Decidedly dangerous at range 3. Make sure if you're landing there, they're not all in range. Two in range is ok, three is spooky, five is bad. If they're mindlessly jousting they'll be in a formation and it's easy to control range. If they're not they'll be building a killbox and it's harder.

Target priority is important. You need to focus damage and remove a ship ASAP. Don't always shoot the best target, think about what you'll be able to shoot more next turn, or what you can put the most shots on.

Blocks help a lot. Strategically getting blocked can be good too, as it removes one incoming shot. Just depends. Don't get blocked in front of all four other arcs. Don't three hard into the killbox.

Your win condition probably isn't usually total destruction. Hammer those half point thresholds and be mindful of your own. It's alarmingly easy to halve a T65. Halve 2 kill 1 and you've got 80 points. How much damage can you take to give up under 80 points? Is that a realistic amount to hold your opponent to? If not, halve 2 kill 1 is insufficient; know your wincon.

Mostly, it's just a game; unless your list is really bad.

Is 5x actually good tho? It seems like it's a list people run "because they can"

5 minutes ago, Roller of blanks said:

Is 5x actually good tho? It seems like it's a list people run "because they can"

As a mindless joust? Probably not really. It'll be OK, but not exceptional. 5 Kihraxz isn't terrible, for example.

However, that Focus + Boost is really good. That right there is the reason to fly 5X. You're a Kihraxz by default, but you can turn yourself into a fat A-Wing, and do great things for blocking and range control. With a block set, others can open S-Foils and spit hot fire.

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As an in-game tactic: if your opponent is doing more than just jousting, be aware of what moves the X-Wings can block.

36 minutes ago, Roller of blanks said:

Is 5x actually good tho? It seems like it's a list people run "because they can"

It’s not bad, but for reasons above it needs good decision making to perform at higher levels. It’s autopilot when someone makes a mistake and decides to joust when they shouldn’t have.

13 hours ago, Roller of blanks said:

Is 5x actually good tho? It seems like it's a list people run "because they can"

Its a step above decent in hyperspace cause HS is more jousty and the arc dodgers are mostly gone. In extended 5x is worse. I consider it a gatekeeper list. It will probably stomp new players and average players not use to facing beef lists, while experience players can beat it 8 or 9 out of 10 times.

Approach em from multiple angles. When they kturn or sloop, you pounce on them and make em suffer - even a range 1 faceoff when they kturn, with 4 naked dice they only avg 2 hits, so take advantage when they bump and do red maneuvers. Your goal is not to kill all 200pts. Trade 2.5 xwings for less than 100pts of your list = win.

Shoot them. 5X is not a good list.

On 3/11/2020 at 9:48 AM, Stay OT Leader said:

Shoot them. 5X is not a good list.

Counterpoint, run like ****, table flip if you can! Whine like the little crybaby you are that you cannot afford 5 x-wings...ahem sorry, just a joke

I remember my old professor would sometimes interrupt a research-meeting by shouting "THAT IS COMPLETELY WRONG" which made everyone wake up/look up form their computer..

Actually, I totally I agree with SOTL, 5 X-wings is an average list, which can be beating at multiple levels, list building, turn 0, engagement and follow-up.

The first thing you need to ask yourself is why do you need strategic advice against this list? Because if you are flying a TA-175 powered seperatist swarm the answer is simply: "Joust".

On 3/10/2020 at 11:03 AM, Roller of blanks said:

Is 5x actually good tho? It seems like it's a list people run "because they can"

I see it as a litmus test list. It's consistently "pretty good" along with 5Ks, so if you can consistently beat it, your list is probably really good.

I ran into a 5x list for the first time last week. The list I had brought couldn’t match the fire from it. But I think I’ve come up with a good list against it. I’ll see your 5 X-Wings and raise you 6 Strikers. Better maneuvering, can come at you from a ton of angles, doesn’t need to joust, out guns them and blocks them. Now I just have to buy one more.

6 strikers would definitely need practice for those not used to flying several of them. I’ve been flying five of them since they came out. It started out giving me a headache having to think about all those ailerons as well as the regular maneuvers. Now it just comes as second nature.

Practice...practice...practice!!!

Edit: after reading another post, 5 strikers with outmaneuver may also be interesting.