Hey folks,

So I was thinking about the Garvin/Kyle focus factory combo and how best to build a squad out of it. I think I've found something but I was curious what people thought. Here is what I have:

Kyle Katarn 32pts

HWK 290 (21)

Recon Specialist (3)

Moldy Crow (3)

Blaster Turret (4)

Determination (1)

Garvin Dreis 33pts

x-wing (26)

r2 astromech (1)

expert handling (2)

proton torpedo (4)

Ibtisam 35pts

b-wing (28)

engine upgrade (4)

Push the Limitis (3)

Ok so I'm sure people understand the interactions of Kyle (and all of his equipment) and Garvin so I won't go into it too much but going pilot by pilot:

Kyle is built to generate and camp focus and will pass it of most often to Garvin. Determination is in to help prevent the chain from being disrupted, and the blaster turret is to help give Kyle punch in the game. I feel like his role is pretty simple and straight forward.

Garvin is in the list to chain the focus. Aside from that I decided I want to try to increase his manoeuvrability so I threw on EH for he barrel roll and an r2 to deal with the stress. The torp is in the list mostly because I had points left over, but it shouldn't be hard for Garven to shoot the torp with a focus and a TL so he will basically get one 5 die marksmanship shot.

Finally Ibtisam. I am loving her, I ran her once with the current load out and fell hard. Basically she is just the other end of the chain. She has a wide range of possible movements that allow her to get in close for big hits, and with ptl and the chain she will be able to have a focus and activate 2 other actions when I want/need. I think this gives her a lot of potential.

For the squad as a whole the base synergy is obvious and simple, but it chains up as far as 5 range (between kyle rng 3 and Garvin rng 2) which means the squad really isn't chained together that much leaving them mostly free to manoeuvre. There is a reasonable amount of damage that can be put out in this list and with the action efficiency I should be making the most of my dice. The pilots are all PS 6 which means I can always fly in the order I need/want which is nice.

The only real main concern to me is the lists staying power. I have 2 agi 2 ships and an agi 1 ship with 10 hull and 8 shields between them. I'll need to be eating targets fast to help this list stay alive. As a counter to this though I feel that when thinking about loosing any 1 pilot none will be a crucial loss. Kyle is obviously the worst because I loose the most action efficiency as a result but his ability to continual camp focus will help keep him alive and I would still have my 2 most offensive ships on the table. If I loose Garvin a gun has been lost and this is the smallest hurdle I can face. If I loose ibtisam my focus chain becomes more efficient as Kyle will keep getting his focus back allowing him to build his camp more easily. If I get down to any 1 ship left then they are for the most part reasonably self sufficient.

Over all I am really raring to give this list a try. I definitely think there is room to tweak but I am unsure what goes in and what comes out at this point. I'm curious to hear what people think this list could use.

Thanks!

I've thought of trying to use something similar. You have Kyle pretty much as anyone who want to use this should and Determination could be a must to keep things going and also for the odd chance to discard a Faceup damage card you're bound to get dealt.

My original incarnation was using a lesser B-Wing equipped with a HLC for those 4 attack dice at any range.

How are you running Expert Handling on Garven when he has no EPT?

How are you running Expert Handling on Garven when he has no EPT?

Hmmm... that would be my bad... I obviously forgot to double check his card.

I had a simmilar list...

http://x-wing.voidstate.com/view/15787/focus-wedge

Ravncat, what does Push the Limit on Kyle get you? Occasionally, it will get you a Target lock to go with two Focus tokens but you'd better make it count as you're movement next turn it pretty cut and dry. That could do more good on Wedge combined with an Engine Upgrade instead of a shield although it does make Wedge a more tempting target.

^{It's funny Garvin has no EPS slot.. He was the Red Squadron "Leader" at the Yavin 4..}

Dutch was Gold Leader at Yavin as well, but he doesn't have an EPT slot either. Neither does Horton, and that guy was a stud.

I'm not sure why they were so stingy with EPT on Wave 1, or why they decided to open it up afterwards, but it would be great if they would allow some generic X-Wings to have EPT and have the elite Y pilots get EPTs.

Without Biggs your not gonna get a whole lot of mileage out of Kyle

here's a list i thought up

Friends with Benefits

Kyle Katarn (21) + Recon Specialist (3) + Moldy Crow (3) + Blaster Turret (4) = 31

Garvin Dreis (26) + ADV Torp (6) = 32

Dutch (23) + R2-D2 (4) + Blaster Turret (4) + ADV Torp (6) =37

basically the list works by unloading the torps early as possible to reduce incoming shots and stall while kyle produce his magical candy using dutch as a meat shield and TL maker.

hope somebody could try this out and give me some feedback about it since i don't have any wave 3 stuff yet

I really like using Ibtisam as the third pilot in this combo. Most players have been indicating that the 1 B-Wing squads are going to have the B-Wing targeted and destroyed quickly, but obviously this one Ibtisam is going to be around for a while since Katarn is by far the stronger candidate for early exit. LOVE the idea of Determination on Katarn Once MM sends me the new ships the Garvin/Katarn was going to be the first build I made - so this is something to think about.

Ok so squad revamp is proving harder to me than I though... I really like the loadout of both Kyle and Ibtisam and I'm not sure how what to do with Garvin that makes proper use of the points I have left over. I could drop determination on Kyle to have R2d2 and an engine upgrade on Garvin which I think would fit, but I really don't want to drop determination off of kyle. I could alternatively put an adv torp on Garvin but I feel that trying to play into range one with an x-wing that has no movement tricks will be kind of blunt. Alternatively I can leave Garvin mostly bare and put a system on Ibtisam.

Any thoughts or advice?

I think Ibtisan is likely to focused on by your opponent first. After he dies so does Garvins ablity. Now you're just adding to Kyles' mountain of tokens. I'd say keep Garvin and squeeze in another ship or drop him and get another B-Wing.