Hello again, ladies and gentlemen. I know Gencon is in a few weeks, but I figured I'd start writing about my experiences leading up to the big event.

At the May 4th event at FFG, they revealed the ships that we will be getting in Wave 3. Since then, I have been thinking that the Rebel squads will be stronger once Wave 3 hits, so I have been focusing on playing Rebels more.

The squad that I have been playing the most consists of Chewbacca, Wedge, and a Green Squadron Awing. I have been playing them with a strategy that I developed that I call "Delay Wedge."

Basically, I keep Wedge back from the other 2 for a turn. Some would say that one less turn from Wedge at the beginning of the game is a mistake, but I see it more as a compromise. You see, normally people fly Wedge and get him directly into the fight in the beginning. And hence, my opponent usually targets Wedge with his alpha strike. That means Wedge will be the first ship I lose, and he won't have gotten a good number of attacks off for the points that I sink into him. So instead, I have been delaying Wedge for a round. That means my opponent has a choice: either fire off the alpha strike at my other 2 ships, or try to save it for Wedge and risk dying without shooting the missiles/torps/ whatever.

Meanwhile my other 2 ships have a round of attacking, which means Wedge's first attacks will be on a damaged ship, likely one without shields, or at least without full shields, so Wedge's attack is more likely to get through to the hull. So he will have a better chance of destroying a ship before it gets to fire back, hopefully while it still has its missiles in the tubes.

Another nice thing about this tactic is positioning. With my other 2 ships in front, if my opponent wishes to Koiogran turn to get behind them, Wedge will have a Range 1 shot at a stressed ship. So usually, my opponent won't K-turn to get behind my other 2 ships, and that helps me to anticipate what maneuvers they will take on the turn after first engagement. Then I can get Wedge into a good position for a good shot, hopefully a kill shot.

I have found that Wedge lasts much longer into the endgame with this strategy. Thus he gets more attacks off before dying, if he even dies at all. Normally this means that the damage I have sustained will be spread amongst my 3 ships, and that's a good thing, because usually that means that all 3 ships will last longer, thus getting more shots off. It is far more difficult for my opponent to focus fire on one ship if I employ this tactic, I have found.

So, it's been working for me, so I think I will be playing this squad at the Warm-up Tournament on Thursday. Yes, I know, me playing Rebels. We'll see what happens.

I've also been playing a lot of Pirate games lately in anticipation of my upcoming "Hothie's Ugly" tournament. I made another post about that, so you can see all about it there.

But, the one squad that I have played the most, and the reason for my avatar, is my "Additional Damage" squad. I got to the finals of the May 4th event and the Team Covenant Vassal tournament with that squad. But, I lost in both finals, so I still haven't proven that I can win it all with that squad yet.

Additional Damage consists of:

Bounty Hunter with Assault Missiles and Seismic Charges
Bounty Hunter with Assault Missiles and Seismic Charges
Howlrunner with Squad Leader

I am playing in a tournament later today, and I think I'm going to play a variant of that squad. I will see how well my variant does, and if I like it or not. If it does well, I may bring that to the North American Tournament. I have changed it up a little to try and eliminate some of the negatives about the squad, and boost some of the positives a little bit.

So, I will post later today with the results.

I ran a variant of Additional Damage at the first AFM tournament in Chantilly, VA yesterday, 3-1, but placed 4th due to one of the wins being a modified win...I named my version:

Hunting Party

Bounty Hunter w/ION cannon, Gunner, Siesmic Charge

Bounty Hunter w/ION cannon, Gunner

Black Squadron Pilot w/Squad Leader

While I like the idea of the ION cannon and the ability to know where your one or two of your opponents ships are going to be, I'm definitely not sold on it yet. The option of doing multiple damage vs one damage in the early game just wasn't overall too effective. Hopefully, I will get a few more games in this week to tweak the list or change it up entirely.

Yeah, I'm not thrilled with the Ion Cannon on a firespray. You give up a lot of potential damage, and it can only be used in the primary arc. Maybe go with 1 Ion, but I wouldn't go with 2, personally. And I wouldn't think Squad Leader on a PS4 pilot would be too effective. I used it on Howl so that I could fire my Assault Missiles with both TL and focus at targets that are PS8 or less which move after the BH's do, usually Biggs. At least that was the thought behind having Squad leader on Howl.

Today I tested out my Additional Damage variant in a tournament setting.

Bounty Hunter with Assault Missiles
Bounty Hunter with Gunner and Seismic Charges
Howlrunner with Squad Leader

First round I faced Dave. He was running:

Vader with Shield Upgrade and Squad Leader
Maarek with Shield Upgrade and Marksmanship
Black Squadron Pilot with Veteran Instincts
Black Squadron Pilot with Veteran Instincts

Vader's Squad Leader came in handy against my Assault Missile, as he allowed the BSP to have an Evade as well as Focus, so the Missile missed. His defense dice rolling was feast or famine, though, because he either evaded everything or nothing. Twice I took all 3 shields off of Vader and then Maarek with a single shot. It ended with 1 BSP evading everything for a round, then I finished him off next round without losing a single ship. 1-0

Next up was Marty with his 3 Y-wing squad:

Horton with Ion Cannon, Proton TorpsX2, and R2 Astromech
Dutch with Ion, Proton, and R2 Astromech
Gold with Ion, Proton, and R2 Astromech

I focused on Dutch and managed to take him out fairly early, putting the Damaged Sensor Array crit on him. That took him a round to get rid of, but in that time I put enough damage on him to finish him off before he could pass out TL's again. Marty did manage to Ion one of my BH's into asteroids for 2 straight turns, then ioned him close to the edge of the board before finishing him off with Horton. But it wasn't enough. Howl finished off the Gold, then it was Horton vs my BH and Howl. BH put 2 crits on him, which were both Direct Hits. He had 1 hp left, so next round I dropped the Seismic in his way and finished him off for the win. 2-0

Next round was Lynne. She played her favorite combo of:

Han with Gunner, Swarm Tactics, and MF title
Gold with Ion Cannon Turret
Gold with Ion Cannon Turret

This game I was able to focus on Han, and I managed to kill him fairly early, I think 4th round. I did put the Damaged Cockpit crit on him ,which was huge. Then it was a matter of cleaning up the Golds. 1 BH and Howl were both down to 1 hp left, but I survived the fight with all 3 ships. 3-0

Then I played Zach, who ran:

Wedge with PtL, R2 Astromech, and Shield upgrade
Tycho with PtL, Cluster Missiles, and Stealth Device
Gold with R5D8 and Ion cannon

Zach boosted Tycho into range 3 on the first turn. I managed to take his stealth off. Wedge and Tycho then pounded one of my BH's down to 2 hull left, but I managed to kill both of them while only losing Howlrunner in the process. The Gold was outmatched then, so I ended up winning that one. 4-0

Overall I'm fairly happy with how I flew the squad. I haven't flown it in person since May 4th, so I was happy that I did well with it. I kept forgetting about Gunner, though, as I would roll 2 blanks and 2 eyes, then reroll 1 with Howlrunner, get a hit, which always managed to get through, so no Gunner attack. So I need to remember that I have Gunner and try to hope for better rolls on the second attack. I only lost a BH once and Howl once in 4 games, though, so I'm pretty happy about that. I also need to do a better job of keeping track of dials, as I switched them a few times today. That was just carelessness on my part. So, not bad, but I need to be better.

I've only been playing a few months now and have only just now started posing, but I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you Hothie for your write ups. Always informative and really a boon to the community at large and myself in particular, so thank you!

EDIT: IIRC, I wanted to also give you my condolences for being a Cyclone fan, my mothers family is from Iowa City and I spent some time at that University over there, so you know how it goes. If I am incorrect, my apologies, but either way good hunting!

Also...since I'm new and you know, inflection doesn't carry well over the internet....I jest!

Honestly, I'm more of a Hawkeye fan myself, we just play in Ames. Not that I care either way, I graduated from UNI.

Glad you're enjoying the write-ups. I don't think I'll be playing again before Gencon, so I may not have much more to contribute until then.

Which version of Additional Damage do you think will better deal with a TIE swarm? It seems like a swarm would be a good foil for a twin Firespray squad in a lot of cases, but I might feel different facing an Assault Missile threat.

Well, I lost to a swarm at the May 4th event, but I can guarantee I won't make the same mistakes again. I think I'll go with the current version and see how that does.

Honestly, I'm more of a Hawkeye fan myself, we just play in Ames. Not that I care either way, I graduated from UNI.

Glad you're enjoying the write-ups. I don't think I'll be playing again before Gencon, so I may not have much more to contribute until then.

I have a couple family members that attended/are attending UNI, I guess I shouldn't be surprised, Iowa has plenty of small world moments lol. How was that 2009 Iowa v UNI game for you? Heart attacks both ways!

Either way, it was more just a blanket thank you for your contributions up until this point, so if the contributions slow down that's okay too. I expect the deluge of information to come at GenCon will make up for a bit of a slow period in the lead up to the event.

Hothie, i really enjoy reading your battle reports (keep them coming!)

im tinkering with this rebel squad at the moment:

Chewie+gunner+DrawTheirFire

Wedge+Swarm

Rookie X-Wing Pilot

its got nice synergy as long as you keep wedge close to chewie he is crit proof.

the drawback is once you break off ur ships lose swarm/crit protection

i can see how holding wedge back a bit as u suggested could cause opponents problems Having Wedge around in the endgame would be key to winning most games eh?

in terms of firepower im thinking Han wout gunner might be as good as chewie with gunner so im a bit torn as which way to go but im leaning towards chewie at this point.

Well, if you run Han instead of Chewie, you'll lose the beauty of Draw Their Fire, but you'll open up maneuvering options for them because you can drop Swarm off of Wedge, too. You won't have any abilities that you'll need to stay in formation to take advantage of. Personally I'd stick with what you have, but there is something to be said for your ships not being chained to each other when my Assault Missiles come at you...

I've been running Expert Handling on both Chewie and Wedge, because I'm trying to get used to running ships with EH for once Wave 3 hits. I think EH is going to be an important card that we will see lots more of, so I'm trying to get a feel for it now.

but there is something to be said for your ships not being chained to each other when my Assault Missiles come at you...

Amen to that one! Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice...

I tried your additional damage build last night, first assault missile worked like a champ! The second, ha, can you say 4 blanks!! Needless yo say the rest of the match didn't favor me!!

So, why did I change up what many to be my signature squad? A few reasons:

for reference, the original:

Bounty Hunter with Assault Missiles and Seismic Charges
Bounty Hunter with Assault Missiles and Seismic Charges
Howlrunner with Squad Leader

the new variant:

Bounty Hunter with Assault Missiles
Bounty Hunter with Gunner and Seismic Charges
Howlrunner with Squad Leader

1. With the original, I would usually damage myself a lot with the second Assault Missile and either or both of the Seismic Charges. I had a hard time getting Howl into a good spot where she wasn't getting hit by one of my own effects. With the variant, I only have 1 missile to avoid, which is usually early enough that I can, and I have 1 seismic to avoid, which is better. This means I am damaging myself a lot less, which is better in the long run.

2. Gunner on the variant allows for better attacks throughout the game, rather than 1 big attack and then lots of luck in the midgame in the original. Gunner combined with Howlrunner means that BH will be hitting more consistently throughout the game, so even though I give up additional damage from the extra missile and seismic charge, I mitigate that with better damage throughout the game.

3. the variant is 98 points versus the original being 100 points. This is significant for a few reasons:
a. the new Draw rules for the Championship Rounds. If there is a draw, the winner is the person with initiative.
b. 3 Bounty Hunters. I am expecting to face this squad a lot next weekend. 3 BH's comes to 99 points, so they would always have initiative against the original. Which means, they would move and take their actions, and then mine would move and collide so I wouldn't get my actions. With the variant, my BH's move first, which means I get my actions and they collide with me. I also get to land where I want to land with my BH's, and with 5 large ships on the board, that's not an easy thing to do.
c. Initiative. This is important for asteroid placement. With me always having init, I can always place the big asteroid where I want to put it, rather than be at the mercy of my opponent's placement of it. I also get to move first against my opponent's PS 3's and PS 8's, which I just talked about.

4. I sometimes had a hard time trying to get the second Missile and the second Seismic charge off. There were many games where I didn't use one or both of those pieces of ordinance. Many times a ship would die without using either the second missile or the second charge, or I would win the game without using either. So I don't feel too bad giving up one of each and going with the variant.

5. Along those lines, I often would get myself into bad positions trying to get the second missile or charge off with the original. With the variant, I have a lot more freedom to maneuver however I want. I'm not stuck trying to get into bad positions just to use my second missile or charge for fear of losing it and having those points wasted.

So, all in all, I feel better running the variant. I'm not giving up any of the feel of the original. I still have the freedom to set them up how I want depending on what squad I'm facing against. And I have the freedom to fly them more how I want to fly them.

Hothie, you've mentioned the draw rules before, and I just don't see it in the revised tourney rules. What am I missing?

The End of Match section says that the match ends in one of three ways:

1. Destruction of all of (at least) one player's ships.

2. Ending the turn after the time limit has been reached.

3. Concession.

The only time modified match wins are mentioned in the Tournament Rules are under the bullet where you end the turn after the time limit has been reached. If both players ships are all destroyed, that falls under bullet 1, which is a 1 point Draw for both sides, regardless of the number of points on each side.

Am I missing something?

Paul

Hmmm, well, looking at it again, maybe I misread the initial update.

Although, if you go on to read about the Championship Round Draw, the winner is the person with initiative, so I will at least have that. Maybe that's what I was thinking about when I first read the new update.

After a long drive through many miles of construction (insert orange barrel roll joke here), I finally made it in at about 7 last night. I contacted vorpal sword, so he and I played a practice game last night. I practiced my warm-up tourney squad. It was a close game, but I ended up winning.

I'm playing a Han squad today, dressed as Endor Han. Ill be in costume all day Saturday as well. Unfortunately I can't post pics from my phone onto here, so pics will have to wait until I get home.

GL Hothie. As someone who plays at a much lower level, it is always interesting to see your experiences. Thanks for being so transparent about your builds, look forward to your results.

I played my first round in the warm up tourney. I'm running

Han with Chewbacca

Wedge

Rookie pilot

First game was against billy, and this was his first tourney. He ran

Luke with veteran instincts, stealth device

Wedge with push the limit and r5d8

Biggs with shield upgrade and r2d2

I set up in the opposite corner of him, he had init. I flew through the asteroids while he flew straight down the side. He turned, and actually took my rookie out in 1 turn while he evaded my Han attack on Biggs. But then he kept going straight into an asteroid with Biggs. I managed to avoid his firing arcs by going 3 bank with Han. I then took Biggs out. We exchanged more attacks, and I took his wedge out, but Luke took my wedge out, so it came down to damaged Luke vs han. I went 4 straight, he didn't have a shot and I did, rolled 3 hits and he was done. 1-0

He ran an interesting list, I liked it. We talked some strategy afterwards. On to the next round...

Round 2 I faced Richard running 3 bounty hunters. He set 2 up on 1 side of the board and 1 on the other side, so I went after the loner. He hit lots of asteroids, and his defense dice failed him all game long. I focused on 1 bh at a time, and won without losing a ship. 2-0

I felt bad cause his rolls were so bad, and mine were decent.

Keep it up Hothie!!!!

Round 3 against Christian from Denver. He ran

Wedge

Biggs with r2f2

Chewbacca with draw their fire

He did a really good job off keeping all of his ships at range 1 of each other. He was able to spread damage around with dtf, and kept all of his ships in play until the very end when I killed wedge, but wedge shot back and finished off Han. He also did very well about giving me range 3 shots on Biggs, while his other ships had better shots. So I lost, 2-1.

Excellent Stuff!

Fourth round I played against Gary. He ran the same squad I did, with a minor variation

Han with determination

Wedge with r2 astromech

Rookie pilot

His Han with marksmanship was the difference in this game, as in the end it was his Han on mine. His marks was critting me a lot, and there wasn't anything I could do. 2-2

Last round I played against Jeff from Ottawa. He was running s swarm.

Howl with stealth

Backstabber

Black sq pilot with draw their fire

Alpha

Alpha

Academy pilot

Well, I played this one right. I made him fly through the asteroids to get me, but in the end its still a dice game. My defense dice were failing me. I managed to take out howl and backstabber, but that was all. Loss, 2-3

So, it was a long day. I met a lot of great people that I look forward to playing games with tomorrow.