Just wonder what everyone's opinion on this is.

I mean I have played about 10 games and dark curse is always on the empire side, which basically means I cannot attack him with one of my ships.

Now with this new Tie interceptor that doesn't allow focus actions, or tokens at range 1. The turret becomes even weaker.

It's now possible that we could have a point where it would not be able to attack 2 enemy ships in on battle.

So what does everyone else think?\

Eagletsi111

You can still attack, just not with the turret. And you can still use the Blaster turret against Jax as long as you remain at range two. To slightly modify an earlier argument of mine, two unique pilots out of what is now over 60 choices will not render the blaster turret obsolete. Just remember, it's a secondary weapon that is only an option for two ships, a pure support boat and a sturdy little bomber, neither of which is likely to be the main killer of a squad.

For the actual game you may be right, but it seems every time I play against empire in an tourament match. They always have Dark Curse. So maybe I should amend my state to say, "Is the Blaster Turret near useless in touraments?"

Von, I may be wrong but if the blaster turret is within R1 of the Jax guy, you cannot use focus tokens at all, not just against him. That means you stick Jax within R1 of the blaster turret and now it becomes a marsh mellow gun instead of a horrible turret compared to the ion turret.

True. But that's just extra incentive to stay at range 2 of him isn't it? Or to kill him quickly.

Jax seems to have a pretty strong ability there, but at least you can do something against it.

But you are right it makes the Turret even more obsolete. In the case of Dark Curse it's really ridiculous especially considering his low cost and even moreso considering the restriction the turret already has. I would not mind if it was a little less useful against Dark Curse, but no firing it at all at him is really a very bad choice by FFG because it counters lists based on the turret 100%. That's just a real pity.

Freighter? Fighter Bomber? Who cares, because balance is king and this is not a good choice. I still hope they will reconsider this it's just not a gud ruling.

Dark Curse can't stop Ion effects...

If you're using the HWK-290 in a support role I think the Ion cannon is more helpful in the end, rather than fitting it on a Y-Wing where it seems inefficient. I've wanted an offensive turret for the Y-Wing for a while now but the Blaster Turret is a bit of a disappointment as far as mounting it to the Y-Wing.

I'd like to see someone running multiple HWK-290s with Recon specialists and Blaster turrets though. Y-Wings in similar "circle the wagons" seemed a little underpowered, but maybe HWKs could pull it off better. Multiple 3-Dice turret shots on small bases!

I agree that FFG got this rule wrong. I don't like it when games have specific abilties that COMPETELY HOSE other abilities; it's just not fun for anyone.

In addition to this Dark Curse fiasco, FFG also got wrong:

The not premeasuring target-locks in the FAQ
The point cost on TIE Adv (should be a point less)
Lack of elite pilot skills on Horton (of course he's an elite pilot!!)

I still love this game, though...

but no firing it at all at him is really a very bad choice by FFG because it counters lists based on the turret 100%.

A couple things...

The Blaster Turret isn't that good in the first place. So there aren't going to be lists based on it. It does only slightly better damage then the Y-Wings primary, and unless you have some way of getting it more focus may not be even as good.

Also the only ship that you can't shot at is Dark Curse, so it's not like the counter is 100%. You can still shoot at other ships with the turret.

It's not like Curse has some sort of range 3 bubble around him that prevents ships from using focus.

Y-Wings in similar "circle the wagons" seemed a little underpowered, but maybe HWKs could pull it off better. Multiple 3-Dice turret shots on small bases!

Typically a HWK is going to die faster then a Y wing will. So I don't see 4 HWK's with blaster turrets doing that well...

Freighter? Fighter Bomber? Who cares, because balance is king and this is not a good choice. I still hope they will reconsider this it's just not a gud ruling.

I agree, balance is king. But balance doesn't mean "every ship needs to be good in a list of identical ships". FFG never left any ambiguity as to what role they designed the HWK for. Support, allowing other ships to excel while being somewhat lackluster itself. On top of that it's clear that the blaster turret was never meant to be a mainline gun, rather a slightly cheaper alternative to the ion turret. It's an optional add on that allows a low attack ship to get some licks in, and more importantly, to defend itself long enough to make its allies pull out a win.

If you only use rock don't cry foul when someone decides to use paper. If everyone on your team grabs the sniper don't be shocked when someone shotguns you all, and don't be shocked when dark curse kills your HWK spam.

I agree that FFG got this rule wrong. I don't like it when games have specific abilties that COMPETELY HOSE other abilities; it's just not fun for anyone.

[...]

I still love this game, though...

I don't know. It doesn't seem to bother most people but it does bother a few quite a lot. I don't know how effective it was or if that's the point.

Some like a balanced group of ships, other's prefer a balanced point system. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. There may always be something that counters or nearly counters certain builds. We don't always like this because we try to avoid the Rock/Paper/Scissors (RPSLS)syndrome but it can happen. As long as it is rare it may actually help push toward the balanced ships if not the balanced points.

Just my two cents.

Honestly. Dark Curse has been a thorn in the side of Garven, Dutch, Horton, Han, and Howlrunner since day one. But he's a low dmage ship that crumbles like a wet paper bag once you actuall manage to hit him so I've never been concerned.

How to defeat Dark Curse: Step 1. Roll better than your Opponent. Step 2. Dark Curse takes damage. Step 3. Repeat. Step 4. Profit.

For the record, I always thought the blaster turret was worthless. The only way to make the BT work on Y-Wings is to run a grey/dutch combo with the grey having a blaster turret and dutch with an ion. I can't think of a way to make the blaster turret work otherwise.

So you guys are claiming Dark Curse does not have a counter?

Yes he does: X-wings.

He does. What's being complained about is that he can counter one particular upgrade card. A card that isn't supposed to be anything to write home about to begin with.

I will let you in on a secret: people will complain for complaining's sake.

Another way to counter Dark Curse: Wedge with Marksmanship.

If you're building a list consistently exclusively of blaster turrets, I don't know why you'd be expecting to win in the first place. Maybe your tournament opponents keep turning up with Dark Curse because they know you, specifically, can't kill him. Adapt and overcome!

We never play tournament so our intention is to add the house rule wherein you CAN use a blaster turret on Dark Curse. Our interpretation (which may be contrary to the latest FAQ, just not sure) is that you spend the focus token to FIRE the turret, not to enhance the rolls. If you want to focus to enhance the rolls, you need to use two focus tokens.

We'll see how that works. I'd appreciate criticisms/comments on this approach.

The main criticism is that it does run counter to official ruling in the FAQ, which is quite explicit. You don't get to shoot at Dark Curse with a weapon requiring focus.

I've been using a Gold Squadron Y-Wing with a blaster turret as a back-line support ship in a few of my lists. He's there to mop up anyone that the front-line ships soften up, and can also put pressure on TIEs looking to flank my ships.

For the record, I always thought the blaster turret was worthless. The only way to make the BT work on Y-Wings is to run a grey/dutch combo with the grey having a blaster turret and dutch with an ion. I can't think of a way to make the blaster turret work otherwise.

This would be quite a good list if not for Dark Curse.

I honestly think the Y-Wing is a better blaster turret carrier especially with an R2.

Dark Curse indeed hoses pretty much everything the rebels have except if he does 0 evades repeatedly and you hit everything. The problem is his low cost. And he may not have huge firepower but put him against a Hawk or even a Y-wing with blaster turret and he just can win it alone pretty much.

Also i don't get why people keep saying that a HWK or even turret spam list are intendedly bad because this should not work because {insert weird fluff reason here}. But every other spam list is okay to them. Some are even very competitive. But people don't have any problem with that. Now look at 3 Bounty hunters for example. Is that intended fluffwise? Ask yourself. 3 prisoner transport ships kicking the butts of professional military fighter pilots. That's okay, but 4 "freighters" kicking the butt of the fighter pilots is a problem. Sorry i don't get that.

And yes. Balance means not only faction to faction but also between ship types. Sure there can be some ships excelling against others but a HWK without the blaster turret is not good against anything even with its support abilities. Let's take Kyle as an example. His ability is good, and with Moldy crow and recon specialist it becomes even better. But he is just never ever gonna be worth his point cost if he can't fight for himself. And Dark Curse counters this for only 16 points. Poor balance. That's just what this is.

We never play tournament so our intention is to add the house rule wherein you CAN use a blaster turret on Dark Curse. Our interpretation (which may be contrary to the latest FAQ, just not sure) is that you spend the focus token to FIRE the turret, not to enhance the rolls. If you want to focus to enhance the rolls, you need to use two focus tokens.

We'll see how that works. I'd appreciate criticisms/comments on this approach.

The main criticism is that it does run counter to official ruling in the FAQ, which is quite explicit. You don't get to shoot at Dark Curse with a weapon requiring focus.

I agree with TheKesrel. Everyone can have house rules (we do too), it's just that these run specifically counter to the rules. Just make sure you're up front with new people because it can change their build.