Titan X-Wing League Month 1 AAR

AAR

So, went 2/1 and did fairly well overall…  First game was a win, albeit a narrow one against a really well done almost mirror match.  Joseph was flying his Scouts as Torpedo Boats.  He gave me Initiative and so he’s be able to get the last move and either dodge or get Firing Arc.  My dice were Craptastic for the first half of the game, but was finally able to claw my way back and get the very narrow win.  MOV was bad though.  Running theme for this list I think.  Second game was against Jon’s Ghost build.  Massive fail for me.  Rushed in with Fenn, got to Range one…  Of Biggs, but JUST outside of Range one of the Ghost.  Then proceeded to blank out on my Attack of 5 Dice (I might have pushed through a Damage) then completely blank out on the counter shot from the Ghost…  Good Bye Fenn.  The game technically lasted a bit longer, but I have no real answer to the TLTs with the Scouts who were left at that point.  Game 3 was against Chad’s Imperial build.  Emperor Palpatine on the Shuttle, Pure Sabbac in the TIE Striker and Whisper in the standard “Buzzsaw” configuration (Gunner, Fire Control, Advanced Cloak).  This one I knew exactly what to do.  Bunched up, with the Torpedo Scout in front, flanked by Fenn and the other Scout bringing up the rear.  Straight joust against the Shuttle.  He moved Whisper to flank, probably the best possible move for him and kept the Striker in close to the Shuttle.  Unfortunately when I pounced, Fenn got into Range one with TL/Focus of both the Shuttle and the Striker…  Took the shot against the Striker and erased it.  5 Damage, and even rolling the 3 Agility dice…  Well, only one came up Evade.  His Whisper shot was also Range one, but with Fenn’s ability for +1 Dice and the Debris between us, he wound up only getting one damage through.  The Shuttle then ate a Plasma Torpedo to strip shields and the other Scout pushed through a few more.  His shot missed, being Range one in Arc of the Concord Dawn ships kind of sucks.  Next turn I think the Shuttle wend down and he maneuvered into position to chase Fenn.  By then he was more or less trapped, but I still had to sacrifice Fenn to get the Shuttles to position to deal with the TIE Phantom.  He wound up having to K-Turn to get to firing position, leaving him Stressed and uncloaked.  The Black Market Slicer tools actually DID something for me J…  Without the Cloak up and the Emperor to ensure Evades, Whisper is not nearly so scary.  Ended with the 2 and 1 record and Craptastic MOV as I said, so…

This brings me to the present…  What to do next?  My first thought was Rebel Regen:

MirandaNora (100)

Miranda Doni — K-Wing	29
Twin Laser Turret	6
Extra Munitions	2
Homing Missiles	5
Sabine Wren	2
Cluster Mines	4
Proximity Mines	3
Conner Net	4
Advanced SLAM	2
Ship Total: 57
Norra Wexley — ARC-170	29
Push the Limit	3
Seismic Torpedo	2
Nien Nunb	1
R2-D2	4
Engine Upgrade	4
Alliance Overhaul	0
Ship Total: 43

While this could solve my “Bleeding MOV” problem where either I’ll win big or lose completely since the Small Based ships do not surrender half of their MOV if they go below 50% health, it does nothing to deal with TLT ships I think.  Well, I’d have Homing Missiles and Nora’s potential 5 Dice Attack…  So, Bum Rush for the win or die trying I guess.  Not great odds frankly.  Not horrible though, so this is a potential one I think. 

Otherwise, what to do about the TLTs?  Need Autothrusters and 2-3 Agility ideally.  So, somewhat limiting for the Rebels certainly.  Imperials might do well with TIE Defenders, my original build with COL Vessery replacing Steele, Ryad and Deathfire looks like it would do VERY well in the Meta that was shown here this weekend…  Who knows what will change by next Month though. 

VesseryRyadDeathfire (100)

Colonel Vessery — TIE Defender	35
Juke	2
TIE/x7	-2
Ship Total: 35
Countess Ryad — TIE Defender	34
Push the Limit	3
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II	1
TIE/x7	-2
Ship Total: 36
"Deathfire" — TIE Bomber	17
Extra Munitions	2
Seismic Torpedo	2
Concussion Missiles	4
Cluster Mines	4
Long-Range Scanners	0
Ship Total: 29

This DOES provide burst Damage, Mines, Seismic Torpedoes and 2 VERY efficient Jousters in the TIE Defenders.  Would take skill and patience to do it, but I suspect that this would be able to take down the TLT based builds.  The TIE Bomber is unfortunately almost a write off.  Just NEED to get in and do 29+ points of Damage before it does die.  I especially like the Seismic option here as I can clear large chunks of the field to allow the TIE Defenders to have the clear field they really like for the various K-Turns they might be using.  So, one I could I think win with, but seems a bit boring to me…

Aggressor/Lancer is one I might try with S&V… 

Aggressor/Lancer (100)

Asajj Ventress — Lancer-class Pursuit Craft	37
Push the Limit	3
K4 Security Droid	3
Black Market Slicer Tools	1
Engine Upgrade	4
Shadow Caster	3
Ship Total: 51
IG-88B — Aggressor	36
Lone Wolf	2
Fire-Control System	2
Heavy Laser Cannon	7
Autothrusters	2
Ship Total: 49

I really like that build, just concerned that the Lancer will simply melt under the TLT fire.  With the Ghost reliably pumping out 4+ Damage/turn I’m not really confident I’ll kill it before the Lancer melts.  The Aggressor…  Well, that might live a lot longer against just the Ghost frankly.  HLC, try to keep at longer range, make a pass and then circle around. 

I suspect repeating with the same list, more or less…  I think I would just need more Torpedoes on the Scouts and it would perform fairly well.  Cut down on the fancy silliness like the BMST and Rigged Cargo to just get in and do Damage.  Run them together, don’t split off Fenn and focus fire into the target of choice.

Now, that deals with the TLTs…  Mines on the other hand are going to be an issue.  Looking very much like I have to choose one direction or the other and go with it.  Hope I do not draw the bad match…  Else you get to hear Adama say “Sometimes you have to roll the hard six”… 

Have not seen the Triple K-Wing list in a few sessions, but I know at least one of the Bloomington lads has played it.  It is a tough one to beat due to the sheer number of hits required to take it down.  The K-Wing really should be on a Large Base I think, but that’s just me…

New League starts Sunday, final test runs...

Gearing up for Sunday and it looks like I’ll be flying my S&V Squadron with Fenn Rau backed by a pair of Contracted Scouts.

FennScoutx2 ver2 (100)

Contracted Scout — JumpMaster 5000	25
Attanni Mindlink	1
Intelligence Agent	1
R5-P8	3
Black Market Slicer Tools	1
Anti-Pursuit Lasers	2
Ship Total: 33
Fenn Rau — Protectorate Starfighter	28
Attanni Mindlink	1
Autothrusters	2
Concord Dawn Protector	1
Ship Total: 32
Contracted Scout — JumpMaster 5000	25
Attanni Mindlink	1
Plasma Torpedoes	3
Seismic Torpedo	2
Intelligence Agent	1
Rigged Cargo Chute	1
Anti-Pursuit Lasers	2
Ship Total: 35

Simple enough, one Scout has Torpedoes to mess with things at range or to clear the field a bit.  The second is just a straight Bumpmaster.  Nothing subtle, BMST and R5-P8 to mess with people even more.  With the 2 Intel Agents I should have a decent chance to know exactly where the important things are going and put a Scout with APL there to wait for them.  Biggest weakness might well be against TLT overload.  Guessing that I just have to be very aggressive against the 4 x Y-Wing with TLT build or something else like that.  With Mindlink, Focus should be everywhere.  Found it difficult to deal with the Ghost and the 4 TLT shots that gets, but he has to be patient while I have to get in close.  I am confident that I can deal with TIE Defenders or Aces in general.  Other than minor changes like dropping the Rigged Chute for an Astromech or an upgrade to the Torpedoes…  Well, only other thing I was considering was the version with Cobrabane in place of the second Scout.  Might be fun and I DO like the ship…  It just needs one more option on the Action Bar…  Ideally Boost so that it can equip the Autothrusters and be a “real” Ace like Fenn Rau.  As it stands, the Pilot ability is neat, but at the end of the day relies on being able to roll Agility Dice average or better.  When that happens, it is an amazing ship.  Usually for me of course it flies in, gets hit and disintegrates…  But still, 2 5 Dice Attacks are pretty darn scary, and both are PS 9…  Dunno, guessing that will be my game time call on Sunday.

Other than that, work was interesting this week…  No money from the State of course means that things are getting pushed down to our level.  NOT as bad as we first feared, but it does illustrate the major differences between the University system and a business in the real world.  In the real world, something that was “Site Licensed” would be paid for at the top level, no questions asked.  Here…  Well, it is advertised as “Free” on the Campus’ official Webstore, but now we’re being forced to bill down to the individual Units based on their head count.  So, some bitterness about that at the Department level.  Not directed at me, so that’s good.  And of course, like I said, it ended up being a LOT less money than initially feared… 

Did get an excellent complement…  Helped one of the Staff recover a folder with a WHOLE bunch of Grant information on it.  She said that they were really going to miss me when I leave, and that she’d be happy to write a letter of recommendation for me.  Was not aware that she knew I was looking, but I suppose the few times I’ve “Clark Kented” it in my office to go to interviews were…  Odd enough to be noted.

Next League testing (X-Wing) and random thoughts...

Looking at what to bring to the next League event…  Most likely this:

FennScoutx2 (100)

Contracted Scout — JumpMaster 5000	25
Attanni Mindlink	1
Intelligence Agent	1
R5-P8	3
Black Market Slicer Tools	1
Anti-Pursuit Lasers	2
Ship Total: 33
Fenn Rau — Protectorate Starfighter	28
Attanni Mindlink	1
Autothrusters	2
Concord Dawn Protector	1
Ship Total: 32
Contracted Scout — JumpMaster 5000	25
Attanni Mindlink	1
Plasma Torpedoes	3
Extra Munitions	2
Intelligence Agent	1
Rigged Cargo Chute	1
Anti-Pursuit Lasers	2
Ship Total: 35

Ne bid for Imitative because I’m going with the aggressive “Dare them to let me go first”.  Not a LOT of repositioning, but enough I think.  Focus should be there with the Mindlink.  The first Scout is just there to muck things up.  Shoot at it if you dare, the BMST is there to punish pushing and the APL has won me several games on its own.  The second Scout is there to throw in another Bumpmaster and a few Torpedoes…  Will likely drop the EM for a Seismic Torpedo.   2 solid ships to get in there and just mess things up and cause disruption and damage.  Fenn is a solid Ace on his own.  With the Mindlink he should almost always have a Focus to allow him to reposition or whatever he needs…  Fun, very Mandalorian with the extremely high aggression level there. 

New Ed Sheeran album out, had to pick it up…  Lots of really good stuff there.  “Eraser”, “Castle on the Hill”, ”Shape of You” etc…  “Galloway Girl” I think is my favorite though…

Castle is a good one, but a bit more nostalgic than I get.  High School was so long ago and frankly another lifetime altogether for me.  Nothing there to be nostalgic about anymore.  Did that once and it went horribly so “Nie Wieder” as they say.  Nothing really to be nostalgic about from the Army either.  Different reason.  I do not talk about it much really.  The funny stories and jokes are about all I ever tell anyone about from that period in my life.  Kind of a family tradition I suppose.  No one ever talks about our time in the military in the family.  Well, that and the minor fact that I am the last one from my first Squad left.  So, the whole idea of a reunion is pretty much right out.  And of course I DO remember a lot more about that time than I actually talk about.  Frankly, my first Deployment was a cakewalk by comparison I think.  4 days of actual combat with a few months of low intensity conflict on either end.  Not that it was not stupidly dangerous…  It was.  Exposure to Chemical Weapons, booby traps, mines and oh…  Then there was the whole Desert thing.  In any case, it was what I considered a cakewalk.  We looked and lived like Gypsies and overall had it good…

Supply and Support other than Ammo/Fuel was problematic at times.  MRE was the standard meal for about a 4 Month period, so I can safely say I will never (voluntarily) eat another one of those…  Same issue I have with Potatoes.  We had them for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day that we ate in a “mess” situation (in Garrison, which frankly was NOT as often as one might think), so I tend to avoid all things potato these days…  Second combat deployment was a lot more nightmarish by comparison.  Should note that I do not ever really talk about that, but does go a long way toward explaining my aversion to a lot of things and how generally “aware” of the situations I am by default.  Still, was short and a LONG time ago, so I got off quite easy overall.  Loads of interesting awards that go on my old Greens should I eve wear them.  Heck, the Army went back to the more formal dress Blues since I got out, so I have all obsolete uniforms, per usual.  Body armor fits again.  Have NOT started wearing it to work out…  Yet.  Probably will though soon.  It puts me closer to the weight I was when I started working out seriously again, and is good to be used to moving with the armor on should one ever really need to do so.  Moving without it is comparatively faster and I remember scaring a lot of folks who never understood how fast I really was when I decided to move.  Especially when I first got out, hanging out at the local game store that was by an odd coincidence less than a block from my apartment and right next to the bar I ended up hanging out and working at later. An interesting period in my life that was back at Joe's...

League 3 AAR and next for X-Wing

So, the third month event is done for the Titan League…  I did fairly well, but I got knocked out of the top four at the buzzer…  Frankly, probably for the best as 3 games in a day might be the limit for me.  Though having practiced with the Squadron I flew a fair bit meant I did not make stupid mistakes and was prepared for the lists I did run across.  First game was a close loss against a good Rey/Falcon build…  Flew well, but it is a dice game and if you just fail to evade every shot for the first half of the game…  Well, things tend to go against you J…  So, not a great start. 

Game 2 was against one of the lads from Bloomington.  He did well in the Regionals and was testing stuff for the Chicago System Open next weekend.  Glad I was able to help I guess.  He flew the Ghost (Kanan pilot) and Biggs.  The biggest weakness of that one I found was that Kanan NEEDS actions in order to get the Focus and do his thing reducing attacks.  Manaroo kitted out as a Bumpmaster was deadly.  I joked that I was going to kill his Ghost with the APL…  Only REALLY did 3-4 Damage with that, but denying him actions for those turns meant that I was able to keep my Y-Wing alive and pumping in Focus while Fenn Rau swung around to finish him off.  So, the argument that the APL DID kill him could I suppose be made.  So, a 100-0 win.  I hope he makes the adjustments by the weekend, and as he is looking for a third K-Wing it seems he is… 

Third game was Chewie in the Falcon with 2 Y-Wings with just TLTs to back him up.  Short game.  Sorry to say he was outclassed, but he did get Manaroo down to half and kill off one of my other ships to make it 100-50…  MoV not quite enough J… Still, I had a fun and pretty darn good Squadron out there to play...

So, now the FAQ goes into effect this week, so what changes do I make?  Well, I could fly essentially the same list with a Contracted Scout replacing Manaroo in there and buying a few more 1 point upgrades.  Solid list still, and the Nerf to Manaroo is not that big of a deal really to me.  I think I could count on one hand the number of times swapping the TL/Focus were important to the overall game.  Yes, there were a few instances when it was nice to roll in with the Mandalorian fighter with Focus, TL and able to boost into Range one…  But more often than not it was simply not needed.  So Option One would be to simply make the minor change to the current list.

That might be boring though, and I really want to fly something different.  Rebels are looking OK now.  Ironically, they got NO real Nerfs in the FAQ, which should say a lot about the state of the game before the FAQ…

Unnamed Squadron (100)

Norra Wexley — ARC-170	29
Expertise	4
R2-D2	4
Vectored Thrusters	2
Alliance Overhaul	0
Ship Total: 39
Braylen Stramm — ARC-170	25
Tactician	2
R3-A2	2
Alliance Overhaul	0
Ship Total: 29
Horton Salm — Y-Wing	25
Twin Laser Turret	6
R2 Astromech	1
Ship Total: 32

Not sure if Nora needs PTL and Nein Numb or Expertise.  I suspect PTL/Numb will be the direction I go.  Solid ships the ARC-170 is and with 2 of them?  Frankly I lost the top 4 spot because in 2 of my games the Large base ship got to half or less killing my MoV, so something like this I think should work fairly well.  The Stress control, accurate TLT and Nora for the potential big hit…

Another one I am kicking around is:

Unnamed Squadron (100)

Norra Wexley — ARC-170	29
Push the Limit	3
Nien Nunb	1
R2-D2	4
Vectored Thrusters	2
Alliance Overhaul	0
Ship Total: 39
Ten Numb — B-Wing	31
Adaptability	0
Collision Detector	0
"Mangler" Cannon	4
Ship Total: 35
Gold Squadron Pilot — Y-Wing	18
Twin Laser Turret	6
Vectored Thrusters	2
Ship Total: 26

This one brings back the ancient B-Wing….  Ten Numb has the Pilot Ability to just push through the Critical…  With the Mangler Cannon that changes one Hit to a Critical, so there should be at least one Critical each shot.  Should be an interesting one at least… 

March, X-Wing League and stuff...

New FAQ dropped for X-Wing…  It fixed a number of the very real issues with the game.  Something you do NOT see with most other gaming companies.  Not 100% I think, they did not touch PTL and a few of the other borderline cards, but Manaroo, the Emperor, Zuckuss, and the x7 TIE Defender title…  Those were huge.  The Emperor going to call it before the dice are rolled is likewise big. Moreover, it makes it probably correctly costed I think.  Still REALLY powerful, just not going to be able to blindly use it as the insurance policy it became.  I think you’ll need to play it aggressive and quick.  NOT going to be able to just let it sit back and use it when a roll fails you…  Zuckuss is likewise I think corrected.  Can ONLY use it if you are not currently Stressed.  Kills off the Party Bus use and Dengaroo completely.  Well, the Bus can use it once.  Push through that one time Damage that might get you the game, just no longer going to be able to pile on the Stress and have no down side really…  All in all, great for the game I think.

Mind, the FAQ does not actually take effect until the 17^th so one last event with the old rules.

So looking at this for the last event:

FennManarooKavil2 (100)

Manaroo — JumpMaster 5000	27
Attanni Mindlink	1
Plasma Torpedoes	3
Extra Munitions	2
Intelligence Agent	1
Anti-Pursuit Lasers	2
Ship Total: 36
Fenn Rau — Protectorate Starfighter	28
Attanni Mindlink	1
Autothrusters	2
Concord Dawn Protector	1
Ship Total: 32
Kavil — Y-Wing	24
Attanni Mindlink	1
Twin Laser Turret	6
Unhinged Astromech	1
Ship Total: 32

Not too subtle and I do not think it is overly OP…  The Mindlink is going to get Focus all around and for the moment, Manaroo still allows me to pass the Focus and Target Locks board wide.  Next week it goes to Range 1 only, so I suspect it will be relegated to some VERY odd builds instead of the uber utility ship she is now.  Eh, in any case it is a fun list to play…  Post FAQ I’ll probably get back to Rebels as they were where I started in the game.

Speaking of getting back to the beginning…  Getting the old Ranger back on the road.  Need new tires for that and the Silverwing.  So, guessing that’s where the tax return if any goes to.  But I want the girls to have the vehicle with the advanced safety features and the like…  Me, I prefer the older stuff, so the simple pickup truck gets me where I need to go.  Sticking with the heavier workout schedule and getting back into shape…  Slowly, but since going fast has many risks at my current age…

Cleaning an ancient rifle for a bit this evening pre Elliptical workout…  Weird, when I was in the Army I hated cleaning weapons…  Now, the brass, wood and steel of the ancient rifles are…  Well, comfortable for me.  1898 Krag and a No 1 MK III Lee Enfield.  So, American rifle from the Spanish American War and the British rifle from WWI.  Both have VERY smooth actions, are more accurate than I can be with them and still quite useful as basic rifles.  Not automatic and not nearly as efficient as the modern AR type rifles, but…  That and my go to rifle being the Garand I shot when I was shooting competitively in the old days.  600m targets with WWII issue weapons…  Firing AP ammo, so no body armor on the planet works at 300m or less.  Simple and solid.  Kind of what I'm trying to get back to...