There were a few Falcon lists, only 1 true "han shoots first" though. I think there was a Chewie build with wedge and a lando, horton, luke build that went to 4th place.

I got to play Hothie twice and it was some of the most difficult games I've ever played. I swear he's more intimidating because he's so nice, if that makes sense at all. Plus he determines inititiave with this world champion coin…

Hothie I agree that the Bounty Hunter is a ship that might be a better target than vader. What I realized from last round is Vader could probably live if I could keep him with actions, I I tried to fly where there was more room and just skirmish with him for the rest of the game. The Bounty hunter really can't run though, and it's the source of most of my offiense.

Once I killed dark Curse I realized I had a decent shot of winning (I thought I was going to lose for about an hour, he had brought my Vader down to 1 hull and he was worth 35. But I had Vader pretty much away from the action and both of my ties were the only things he could kill and were worth less than DC.

There were 3 falcon builds there. Two were played by the 2 women at the tourney. One of them was the other undefeated in the semifinals. Kelvan beat her. She ran Lando, Luke, and Horton. It was interesting, and obviously effective. There were no 2 squads the same at the tourney, which is what I predicted a long time ago. I don't think there were many Interceptor builds. I wasn't paying too close attention to the people I didn't play against, but I didn't see many interceptors out there. There were a few 3 ship rebel builds, with Xwings, Ywings, and Awings in different combos.

Here are some photos I took yesterday:

This was game 1 against Nathan. You can see how he set up. He didn't really use Howlrunner's ability very effectively at all (she's far left in this photo). He isolated her, and then I took her out right away.

This one was my first game against Kelvan. you can see the asteroid bottleneck where i got him to run into his own ships, thus taking Vader's actions away, thus allowing me to kill him easier.

And this one was against Gavin and his TIE swarm. You can see Howlrunner in the middle of the left group. You can also see how I set up the asteroids so that he would have to run the gauntlet to get to me. Big open area on the right for my slaves to maneuver.

Hothie I tried your list out today against wedge w/ptl, pt, r2f2 and stealth along with 2x green squads with ptl, concussion missiles, and stealth…

I can't fly that list as well as you did, I got worked.

i was there with:

Green sqaudron pilot: dead eye, cluster // Wedge: R2, Shield upgrade, Marksmenship // Dutch: R5D8, ion, proton torpedos

I believe it was Kelvin who everytime he passed my matches was astonished at my ability to keep wedge alive

the squad did very well, i know there are builds centered around 1 ship and added support, or on theme but i like how my squad each has a threat, granted wedge is the greatest. but the focus on wedge opens up green to make a cluster blitz or Dutch to float and control the middle.

i wish there had been time to do a few funzi matches with some of the new faces (to me) i saw there

Kelvan said:

That list relies on their missiles for an alpha strike and their stealth for defense afterwards. That looks like a pretty tough list, and if I get someone flying it well, I might likely get worked, too.

So I gotta ask- did you see anyone playing the Kath + Ion thing and if so, how did the TOs rule?

I didn't see anyone playing it, although there were a few firesprays being played. I don't know if that combo was played or not.

Just curious.

Still considering rolling it. I never got a reply to my rules question, I'm assuming you didn't either?

Whoa! Is the guy in your first picture using a pill organizer to keep track of his tokens??? That's BRILLIANT!

I'll definitely post on the rules thread the minute I get a response from ffg. Yeah, I think he was using something like that for his tokens.

To my knowledge I did not see a kath + ion combo. I actually don't think I saw Kath at all…

Cid_MCDP said:

A bit off topic, but I use this 10-compartment divider for tokens, and it holds everything I need for two players and then some… Focus, Evade, 2 for TL pairs, 2 for Shields, Stress, Crits, Number sets, and one open one left over.

http://www.containerstore.com/shop/collections/hobby/dividedBoxes?productId=10029793&N=72538

I stopped using it once I got the Battlefoam trays, but this one is perfect for X-wing. The 6-compartment one fits movement templates (straights on one side, banks/turns on the other) and plenty of dice with other space left over:

http://www.containerstore.com/shop/collections/hobby/dividedBoxes?productId=10029791&N=72538

Both are very sturdy plastic with good latches that I've never had come open. And you certainly can't beat the price on them.

Kelvan said:

It seems pretty self explanatory to me that the only way this combo works is to essentially roll at least 2 crits AND have at least one cancelled by green dice/evade token (if there was only one crit and it was cancelled then there would not be any hits left to apply the ion token).

So one crit uncancelled by opponent = ion token, one crit cancelled by opponent = stress, 2 crits with one cancelled by opponent = both. Kath would be worded "if a crit is cancelled give the defender a stress" instead of saying "when the defender cancels" if this was intended to work the way people wish it did. Dice cancel stuff, then the gun does so its being done in a different step of the resolution process AND by a different player.

bobbywhiskey said:

This is discussed at length on the rules forums.

And on topic, I'm thinking of changing it up for Saturday. I'll play test tomorrow and see how I do.

Buhallin said:

Ah, well cheers for that!

I'm currently re-thinking my storage and transport setup as my Wave 2 purchases have completely caused me to outgrow my current setup. I know I should just stop being a tightwad and cough up for the battlefoam, but I'm not quite there yet.

Get a $20 tacklebox, it works great for storing, organizing and hauling your X-Wing stuff. Mine even comes with cup holders.

hothie said:

What are you thinking of changing to? I have had luck with the Boba VI HLC Siesmic, Bounty Hunter and Tie combo for a while. I really like it.

Herrgeist said:

I was originally thinking 3 Bounty Hunters, which are beastly but tough to fly well. But then I came up with a different squad today, and I can't post it until after the event Saturday because it will totally show my hand on how I play it. So I'll post a write up either late Saturday night or Sunday with my squad and results.

hothie said:

Actually, I play tested my idea last night, and it didn't work out so well. So I'm playing another 2 Slaves and TIE variant that I like better than my Regionals squad from last Saturday.

I flew the 3 Firespray list a few times and it is a bugger to fly, but can it dish out damage and it's hard to kill. It certainly is worth the time to perfect it.

So, I've been playtesting a lot of 2 firespray builds with Troy over the past 2 weeks, and he has beaten me the last 5 games with his squad. Also I've been bouncing ideas and insights off of kelvan for the past week, and we finally settled on a squad that we think was good.

Today I attended the Iowa City Regional Tournament at Critical Hit games. Thank you to the organizers for putting on the event. There were 10 people, 4 locals, and 4 from my gaming group, and 2 from Nebraska. I ran:

Howlrunner with Stealth
Kath with Gunner and Marksmanship
Bounty Hunter

My thoughts: last week I flew Boba with Heavy Laser Cannon. I found that I got 1 good shot off in the early rounds with the HLC, but then I had to K-turn in order to get more shots off with it to make it worth its points. That would leave me stressed, so the HLC shot wouldn't be nearly as effective in the later rounds, typically. Also last week, I flew Dark Curse with Stealth. No one attacked Dark Curse, because they had no reason to. So my Bounty Hunter took a lot of abuse instead. So, I decided to give my opponents a much juicier target in Howlrunner. I also took the HLC off and just focused solely on primary attacks. Then I downgraded Boba to Kath to make those primary attacks count as either stress or crits (or both), and upgraded Kath for that purpose. Not having the HLC also meant that I never had to k-turn with my firepsrays, and I didn't all day long. I just kept flying forward, getting actions, and slow turning when my opponent was far enough away so as not to be a threat. With that, I made much more effective use of the rear-arc, knowing that i wouldn't be stressed, so I could use it better with actions and Howlrunner.

And of course, my first game was against Troy, my play tester. He ran:

Wedge with Swarm Tactics and R2 Astromech
Chewbacca with Draw Their Fire
Biggs

Not only was I 0-5 against this list in the past 2 weeks, Chewbacca is the one pilot who nerfs Kath's ability, and really the purpose of this squad.

We set the asteroids up and make kind of a pocket for my ships to fly into. I did a 3-turn with Howl to keep her within 1 of the other 2 to start with. He came at me, i put a lot of damage on Biggs, but Chewie took the crits for him. I think round 3 I took Biggs out. He focused on the Bounty Hunter and eventually took him out. I took Wedge out, and he took out Howlrunner, which left Kath vs Chewie. He gave me the Blinded pilot card, which meant I didn't get to attack when I had a juicy shot lined up on Chewie. I was disheartened. But then I remembered I had a gunner, so I took my gunner attack and put 3 hits on him, and that was huge. I ended up finishing Chewie off a few rounds after that. 1-0

Then I faced off against Jim from Nebraska. he has been playing a lot with the Bellevue group, which is a really good gaming group in Omaha. He ran:

Chewbacca with marksmanship and Gunner
Wedge
Rookie Pilot

It was after this picture was taken that I made my one big mistake that game. I went straight 4 with the BH (on the right). I should have done the same with Kath to use the rear arc,but instead I made a 2-turn, which ran her right into chewie. then howl went straight 5. Giving up Marksmanship for a turn,not being able to hit chewie, and being outside of range 1 of howl really hurt me. Plus Jim couldn't miss all game long, so with those 2 things combined, he took me out pretty good. I didn't kill a single ship of his. 1-1

My next game was against Lynne, whom I had an 0-3 record against 1 on 1. She ran:

Han with Gunner and Swarm Tactics
Gold Squadron Ywing with Ion Cannon X2

The Ywings scared me a little, so I had to fly to where if i did get ioned that I wouldn't hit an asteroid. And she did ion me a lot that game. And she really flew very well in that she didn't fly right towards me. She used her 360 arcs and flew away from me, making it harder for me to line up shots. I did take 1 Ywing out. Then I did something that I'm kind of proud of: I used Howlrunner as a blocker. yes, my level 8 blocked Han and kept him on an asteroid for a turn. She then in 1 round took out my Bounty Hunter and Howl, so it was han and a Ywing vs a full kath. Kath ended up taking Han out, and then the Ywing, but it was a pretty close game. 2-1

Then my last game, and the last round, was against Victor. He was 3-0 on the day, and if the tourney was called before that round, he would have been the, say it with me folks, victor. But instead we played a 4th round. He ran:

Chewbacca with Gunner and Millenium Falcon
Wedge with swarm tactics
Rookie Pilot

Again I face a Chewie squad, which is a good counter to mine. In the 3rd round i took Wedge out, which was huge because he no longer had 2 9's attacking before me. He took Howlrunner out. I put a crit on his rookie, which reduced his primary weapon value. So he flew the rookie away from the fight for a few rounds trying to get rid of that card. So I sent my 2 firesprays after chewie, and put a lot of damage on him. He was chasing the BH whittling it down. By then the rookie was ready to join the fight again. But Kath was there to meet him. the rookie made a rookie mistake and flew right into range 1 of Kath. A gunner shot later and the rookie was a ball of flames. then he managed to finish off the BH, so it was a hurt chewie vs my full Kath. At this point he was ahead 48-46, but there was 15 minutes left, so he couldn't stall for that long. I did a 3 turn and landed kath right in front of chewie, facing the same direction, which is right where I wanted to be. i could trade range 1 shots with him, and him moving first meant he had very few places to go, as we were right near the edge of the board and asteroids. He went 3 straight, I went 3 straight, I fired first and finished him off. 3-1

The tournament ended with 4 of us at 3-1, but I was the winner on strength of schedule. So i brought home the trophy and the pass to Worlds. I had won a dice bag the weekend before in KC, so I gave the dice bag to Victor for being a super nice guy and a great sport.

Overall i was really happy with the way i flew today. I didn't hit any asteroids all day long, and aside from my game with Lynne (which was bad flying on my part) and 1 move against Jim, I kept my collisions to an absolute minimum. All of the maneuver practicing I have been doing has really paid off for me, as i just felt better about my flying today in general. And especially when you keep in mind my attitude about the Firespray just a few short months ago, I've come a long way in my play style with it.

Congratulations to Hothie for the win, he finnaly got my squad when it counted. It was a great tournament with a lot of great players. As Hothie stated I lost the first round to Hothie.

I played Chewbacca with Draw their Fire, Wegde with ST and R2 astro and Biggs.

0-1

I then played Zack who ran Wedge R5 astro, Biggs R2-F2 and 2 rookie pilots. I only lost Biggs due to the fact I used the falcon to break up the swarm he was using.

1-1

I then faced Marty(Ziggy2000) who was running Krassis with Gunner and HLC, 2 avenger pilots with stealth and Elusiveness. I only lost Biggs and managed to take out the Krassis in the 2nd round then picked off the interceptors one at a time after that.

2-1

I then faced JIm who ran Chewie with Gunner and Millenium Falcon, Wedge with ST and a rookie pilot. I lost Biggs in the 5th round and took out wedge in the 4th and the rookie in the 5th. Then JIm graciously conceeded in the 7th with Chewie and Wedge hot on his tail.

3-1

I ended up in a four way tie with 15 points and ended up 2nd with strength of schuedule. It was really fun playing against everyone and meeting the gamers in Iowa City.

@hothie: congrats, I imagine the combination of Kay + marksmanship + howlrunner + gunner must have been effective? How often did gunner come up? Any double stresses?

@commander scrappy I've been meaning to pick your brain on that squad list. Will you point out why you think your squad works and it's pros and cons? I know it's effective just curious to your thoughts.

Gunner came up more often thatn I want to admit. It was really important twice, my first game against Scrappy when I got the Blinded Pilot card which made me make an attack with no dice when I had a beautiful shot lined up on Chewie. Gunner then kicked in and I got to take the shot and got 3 hits on an already damaged Chewie. The second time it was important was in my last game against Victor. I had his rookie Xwing at Range 1 with 2 hull left. He evaded the first attack, then gunner kicked in and I vaped him. That was big because another round or 2 of Kath going after the Xwing would have meant a few less rounds going after Chewie, which I needed as time was running out.

And since I faced Chewie squads all day, which is a good counter to mine, I barely passed any stress out at all. I think I stressed 2, maybe 3 ships all day long, once each. So, no, the double stress didn't come up at all for me. Dustin ran a Soontir and Fel PTL Stealth combo, and I was salivating to play against him so I could double stress him, then take him out next round while he couldn't hide behind his tokens. But I never faced him. Instead I faced the squads that counter mine, which made it even more difficult to come out on top.

I get that damned Blinded Pilot crit so often, I rarely leave home without gunner ships. It's just too brutal.