Regional Report - Las Vegas, NV - 04/21/2013

By Traden Myr, in X-Wing Battle Reports

Posted at

Regional Report
Little Shop of Magic - Las Vegas, NV
12 players (7 Rebels, 5 Imperials)
My list: (100 pts)
Alpha Squadron Pilot (18)
Avenger Squadron Pilot (20)
Saber Squadron Pilot - Push The Limit + Stealth Device (27)
Black Squadron Pilot - Draw Their Fire (15)
Howlrunner - Swarm Tactics (20)
I switched to this list the morning of the event from a Firespray x2 and TIE list. I was a bit worried about Han Shoots First lists (which my friend John was running) but I figured most players would be using the extremes of Pilot Skill (1/2 and 8/9) which would allow my list to fire at full force after the big boys and hopefully take out some chuds before they shot. This was a good assumption. Overall, I felt the list was strong at getting in a good initial pass and then out maneuvering the opponent and picking off anything that didn't die yet.
Round 1: Vs Rebels (Ant)
• Wedge (Swarm Tactics, Stealth, R5-D8)
• Biggs (R2-D2, Shield Upgrade)
• Arvel (Stealth, Cluster Missiles)
I was able to take out Biggs in about 2 rounds, which let me hammer Wedge into space dust. Unfortunately, my opponent believed he could boost Arvel into overlap, which would have been great, but illegal! Arvel's Cluster Missile basically missed Howlrunner. In the end, it took me a few rounds to strip Arvel of his Stealth Device. I had only lost my Alpha, but there were a few TIEs with damage on them.
Full win (5, +100)
My record (1-0, 5)
Round 2: Vs Rebels (Michelle)
• Chewie (Assault, Falcon, Shield)
• Horton (Torps x2, Ion, Shield, R2-D2)
This opponent was heavy on ordinance, but light on evade. I tried to close range quickly to avoid the Assault Missile, however I miscalculated and ended up in range 2 on round 2. Horton dropped two damage on a TIE with a Torp. Chewie had target locked my Saber. My heart dropped when he launched his missile and rolled 4 hits! Luckily, my Saber rolled 1 evade and 2 focus, and spent his focus token and evade token to complete evade the missile! This kept my force healthy and able to take Chewie out in 2 rounds. Horton fell soon after, despite hitting Howlrunner twice with his ion cannon, keeping her stressed and coasting slowly forward.
Full win (5, +100)
My record (2-0, 10)
Round 3: Vs Rebels (Frank)
• Han (Falcon, Veteran, Engine, Chewie)
• Gold Squadron Pilot (Ion Cannon)
• Rookie Pilot
In the first combat round, I took out his Rookie and dropped a crit on the Y-wing that stripped his turret. He wasn't able to recover much from that as his Falcon was chased down by the TIEs. I lost my Black Squadron to a Draw Their Fire crit, but was otherwise unscathed.
Full win (5, +100)
My record (3-0, 15)
Round 4: Vs Rebels (Jacob)
• Rookie (Shield Upgrade) x4
I had loaned Jacob 2 Shield Upgrades to make this list, which is almost the rebel version of my list. This round scared me a bit, but I hoped that my whole list shooting first would get me to a win. The first round of fire saw my Alpha get destroyed after I took out one Rookie (3 hull + 3 shields are a lot to break through!) The next round led to a big furball in the middle, which led to a one shot destruction of my Black Squadron Pilot. I was only able to strip 1 shield despite 3 shots at Range 1-2 that round. I was a bit worried now, as I was actually down 12 points. However, the rest of the match I was able to stay out of his firing arcs and whittle away at his X-Wings, taking them down slowly but surely.
Full win (5, +100)
My record (4-0, 20)
My undefeated record got me 1st place! It was a fantastic tournament, and I had great fun with all my opponents. Also, thanks to LSoM for hosting!
Random Observations:
• Only 1 Imperial in the top 4 (I think) - most of the top tables through out the day were Rebels with YTs.
• 4 YT-1300s (2 Han, 2 Chewie), only 1 Firespray (not sure which pilot)
• Quite a few rules misunderstandings that needed clarification across the entire tournament - defender modifies attack dice first (namely for Elusiveness), only one reroll per die, Gunner gives a new attack not a reroll, no boosting into overlap, obstacles / actions / firing, large ships and ion tokens (a single token persists until the second is added), spending a focus changes ALL eyes not one, etc.
• My meta still overvalues Protons and Cluster Missiles (which hasn't changed from my Kessel Run experience), although they are much better now against big ships!
• My pal running HSF went 2-2, losing his last two games against my opponents from rounds 2 and 3.
Thanks for reading!
Posted at

great report. thnx for sharing. good to see an imperial swarm list do well :) would u make any changes to ur list after playing it?

i like black sq ilot with draw their fire, it can save one of ur key ships :)

Posted at

The_Brown_Bomber said:

great report. thnx for sharing. good to see an imperial swarm list do well :) would u make any changes to ur list after playing it?

i like black sq ilot with draw their fire, it can save one of ur key ships :)

I am fairly happy with the list overall. I have considered switching out the Avenger Squadron Pilot for Backstabber and a Stealth Device for Howlrunner, which would make the list 99 points for initiative. However, I would like to try the list against a couple of other lists before I make any changes (i.e. HSF, 2 Falcons, 2 Firesprays).

Black Squadron Pilot with Draw Their Fire is a steal at 15 points! He kept Howlrunner alive in two games. Great little combo to keep Howlrunner alive!

Posted at

Traden Myr said:

The_Brown_Bomber said:

great report. thnx for sharing. good to see an imperial swarm list do well :) would u make any changes to ur list after playing it?

i like black sq ilot with draw their fire, it can save one of ur key ships :)

I am fairly happy with the list overall. I have considered switching out the Avenger Squadron Pilot for Backstabber and a Stealth Device for Howlrunner, which would make the list 99 points for initiative. However, I would like to try the list against a couple of other lists before I make any changes (i.e. HSF, 2 Falcons, 2 Firesprays).

Black Squadron Pilot with Draw Their Fire is a steal at 15 points! He kept Howlrunner alive in two games. Great little combo to keep Howlrunner alive!

im not sold on the two large ship builds. they r more skill intensive to play, esp the 2x Firespray builds. imo the best large ship squads use a single falcon such as the HSF variants. going with 2 rookies lets the HSF list supe up han with more upgrades or u can opt for r2d2 on a rookie.

i actually like this Falcon version i spotted on another thread: Chewie/gunner/draw their fire + wedge/swarm tactics + rookie pilot. (100pts)

u still get off ur attacks in first exchange before anything with pilot skill less than 9 and with draw their fire on chewie u can redirect specific damage to the falcon. of course its drawback is u have to keep ur ships close to abuse the synergy but u should be able to hit them hard the first few attacks and if u have to break formation u can always reform later on when wedge really needs cover fire. sure, they can just go for chewie first but then wedge with wingman will be free to attack at full strength :)