Mauler vs Alpha

By hothie, in X-Wing

Posted at
Torresse said:

spacemonkeymafia said:

Interesting assumption.� His advantage goes beyond just shooting first (which I don't know how that is ever a bad thing when you're down to heads up play??), he moves and reacts after the Alpha, which, in head's up is a huge advantage.� Boosting and Barrel Rolling before you get to see your opponent's movement is guesswork and hoping you don't end up screwing yourself over.� Mauler will see where Alpha ends up and will always choose the best action option.� Given 1000 such battles, I think Mauler will win more often than he loses.

spacemonkeymafia said:

Interesting assumption.� His advantage goes beyond just shooting first (which I don't know how that is ever a bad thing when you're down to heads up play??), he moves and reacts after the Alpha, which, in head's up is a huge advantage.� Boosting and Barrel Rolling before you get to see your opponent's movement is guesswork and hoping you don't end up screwing yourself over.� Mauler will see where Alpha ends up and will always choose the best action option.� Given 1000 such battles, I think Mauler will win more often than he loses.

Lets say Mauler rolls a hit and focus, two blanks. does he, or does he not use his focus?�

When its alphas turn, he will be able to choose when the best time to use the focus is

Posted at

spacemonkeymafia said:

Interesting assumption. His advantage goes beyond just shooting first (which I don't know how that is ever a bad thing when you're down to heads up play??), he moves and reacts after the Alpha, which, in head's up is a huge advantage. Boosting and Barrel Rolling before you get to see your opponent's movement is guesswork and hoping you don't end up screwing yourself over. Mauler will see where Alpha ends up and will always choose the best action option. Given 1000 such battles, I think Mauler will win more often than he loses.

Mauler attacks without knowing the outcome of the Alpha's return fire, and (if he has Focus) has to guess whether to spend his token on offense or reserve it for defense. When it's the Alpha's turn to attack, he already knows the outcome of Mauler's attack--so if he has Focus, he can freely spend it. Of course there's no information advantage if the Interceptor uses Evade instead, but over the long term that's actually not a good scenario for Mauler either.

I've had the Interceptor on the table a lot since the Kessel Run, and in one-on-one play the maneuverability and extra attack really do make a huge difference.

Posted at

Torresse said:

anyone follow that logic?

"Truly, you have a dizzying intelect." This has been quite the discussion, and I've enjoyed all the perspectives and 'what if's.

Me, I'd love to try "Mauler Mithel" with Veteran Instincts. Pilot Skill is pretty important (though not a deciding factor all on its own). If I had a squad full of Academy pilots and threw in a TIE interceptor, you can bet he'd be the target priority for my opponent. And with PS 1, he could get ganged up on in a hurry. But with "Mauler Mithel" at PS 9, he could conceivably barrel roll out of firing arcs, or at the very least inflict some hurt before he becomes one with the Force.

Another reason I vote "Mauler Mithel" is because he is unique. You can field more than one Alpha Squadron Pilot (by the way, I love that they pulled that name from the TIE Fighter video game). Why can't you have your cake and eat it, too? Throw "Mauler Mithel" into Alpha Squadron and I bet he'd be a great help to the team.

I reserve the right to change my opinion, but I won't write down all of my back-and-forth thoughts; you can read those in the posts others have made above.

Posted at

Herrgeist said:

MM

Being able to fire first can be the difference between winning and losing. If it was just a one on one I think it would be a clear choice.

Yes, a clear choice against Mauler Mithel.

Posted at

Torresse said:

Mauler mithil is out manuvered, and out gunned (at 2-3) but excells with his ability to have a higher pilot skill, and ability to take a pilot skill (I would be scared of seeing a high initive mauler get behind a lower initive pilot at range 1 if he had expose :S)

Focus is more damage than Expose.

Posted at

ShadowJak said:

Torresse said:

Mauler mithil is out manuvered, and out gunned (at 2-3) but excells with his ability to have a higher pilot skill, and ability to take a pilot skill (I would be scared of seeing a high initive mauler get behind a lower initive pilot at range 1 if he had expose :S)

Focus is more damage than Expose.

Or, at least, exactly as good as a Focus that costs 4 build points and incurs a defense penalty.

Posted at

I have had a similar situation pop up several times, but its been something rebel vs Vader (most recent was Luke vs Vader). Vader's high pilot skill lets him barrel roll out of fire arcs, or line up a shot he wouldn't other wise have. Even with 1 damage on vader and a clean Luke, I lost the battle and never even got a shot off.

I'll take MM over the Alpha 4 games out of 5.

Posted at
Endgame124 said:

I have had a similar situation pop up several times, but its been something rebel vs Vader (most recent was Luke vs Vader). �Vader's high pilot skill lets him barrel roll out of fire arcs, or line up a shot he wouldn't other wise have. �Even with 1 damage on vader and a clean Luke, I lost the battle and never even got a shot off.

I'll take MM over the Alpha 4 games out of 5.