Well, started a longish post about the current state of the Meta
and why I thought FFG needed to do a major FAQ…Well, they went further than that and “X-Wing 2nd Edition”
was announced yesterday…I fall into the
“cautiously optimistic” range on it I think.The biggest downside will be the new Core Set and the Faction Upgrade
packs.The Core Set changes the
templates slightly with the line in the center, so Barrel Rolls changed
slightly with the Action requiring you to place it to the Front, Rear or Center
of the Base.Dice and Damage deck is
supposed to be the same, but will not chance it I think.The other thing is the Faction Packs… $50
each and as I play all three current factions…Well, Rebel and S&V will be where I go initially at least.So, I’m in for the $130 or so…
The biggest complaint so far has been that for players, it
will be a $200+ buy in to even keep playing.Probably true.One of the local
plays all three Factions and his two sons also play, so he is looking at a LOT
potentially to drop just to keep current.I understand and it does suck…On
the other hand, I came from the 40K world where they did version changes every
few years and it was: $50 for the rulebook, $20 (in the old days) – 40 for
EVERY army book, then add on the “spell” decks, etc…And hope your Army did not get the “Squat”
treatment and just get dropped altogether or just have major chunks become
suddenly useless for the current edition…I played a LOT of armies back then, so this was a MAJOR expense for me,
especially when money was a lot tighter.
Watched a fair bit on FFG’s Twitch stream and most of what I
saw looks quite good overall.No more
unlimited free Regeneration, NO TLT!!!You can only Evade up to your Agility, no longer going to have a Falcon
with 1 Agility somehow evade 4 Hits from a Harpoon…No mixing of Rebel and Resistance or Imperial
and First Order, so most of the “uber lists” are simply gone as of the v2 implementation.
Hopefully the local Stores will be able to get the promo
Damage Deck for the pre-order of the new Core Set, they do look quite nice…And I am ESPECIALLY glad I did not break down
and buy one of the Vader or Boba Fett Damage Decks that people have been
selling recently…I DO have to wonder
how widely known this change really was…I suspect some knew of it, there was some talk of certain players in the
online league refusing to schedule matches because they knew it was all
changing soon…Not perhaps as soon as
they thought, still a few months off…
So…Might be missing
the next Titan event, will see I guess.Wondering what will be banned, and while it might be interesting, no
real bearing on other events…
Looking like I have my initial list for the upcoming SC
season:
Mandalorians 1 (97)
Boba Fett (Scum) — Firespray-31
39
Veteran Instincts
1
Ion Cannon
3
Bomblet Generator
3
Dengar
3
Harpoon Missiles
4
Glitterstim
2
Engine Upgrade
4
Andrasta
0
Ship
Total: 59
Fenn Rau — Protectorate
Starfighter
28
Push the Limit
3
Proton Torpedoes
4
Autothrusters
2
Concord Dawn Protector
1
Ship
Total: 38
Stealing it from Phil GC over at https://suchanxwinghipster.wordpress.com/He also talked about it on the Warlords
YouTube, so a MUCH more detailed accounting of what the list is and what it
does…I think this fits nicely between
my liking the Firespray (and that stubborn desire to make it work) and my desire
to actually play “Ace(ish)” lists…Fenn
Rau is solid, if fragile.Fett is kitted
out as an absolute “Swiss Army Knife” or toolbox I think.The Ion Cannon for the small based low
Agility ships (Miranda, Nym, etc…) to control them and keep them where I know
their location the next turn and can swin a ship or both of mine to deal with
it.Or, if the opportunity presents
itself, simply walk it off the table.But more likely, hold it and have Fenn roll up and do Fenn things with
the Range 1, TL/Focus shot…
Jousting is likely what I will OFFER when I set up.If they are foolish enough to take me up on
that, so be it…This list should be able
to out-joust just about anything else out there now.My Firespray list might be an exception, but…
Of the big Meta lists like Ghost/Fenn, Rey/Lowrick,
Miranda/Nym and X/Stress Ezra/Lowrick are all ones that I think just get taken
apart by this.The multiple Wookie lists
I would lump in here as well, just have to be careful not to get over Stressed
while rolling in…But with Boosts all
around, especially on the Firespray, it should be possible to fire at Range 3,
likely taking one off between the two ships and then choose one and rush it
with one or both of my ships…
PS 11 Imp Aces or the Palp Aces might be an issue, but with
the Bomblet Generator giving me infinite bombs to threaten anyone ABLE to Arc
Dodge the Firespray (and more severely punish lower PS Arc Dodgers) this allows
me to lead out a bit with the Firespray, and have Fenn hang back a bit to cover
the flanks a bit.The thing about the PS
11 Aces is that usually they are running pretty darn lean.And lacking the Autothrusters on Vader or
Quickdraw it gets dangerous for them.I
have the Hull to tank a shot or two just to line them up, and they do NOT have
the Hull to get hit.Not a great
match-up, but one I think I can do well enough in.
The one I think is just outright bad is the RACLo
match-up.But even there, line up and
joust as best I can.There are only 2 “Blinded
Pilot” cards in the deck, and between bumping and bombing I can still do
damage.Fenn hanging out at Range 3 to
chuck in the Proton Torpedo is actually a fairly decent threat and not one
overly likely to get hit by the PWT of the Decimator at least.Just CANNOT end up Range 2 in arc…Frankly the only player I KNOW that can
easily outplay me is Tyler, and if I draw that match-up, so be it J…At
least he’ll know he was in a fight, even if it is just because my lads are
bleeding on his J…
Whisper is hyper defensive in this build…Only big negative being that she hits like a noodle.4 Dice base attack so a lasagna noodle, but a
noodle…Usually.Sometimes you do roll over the average…
Round 1 was against Tim…He flew his Palp Aces build, and I was fairly sure it was a loss for me…Another excellent game that went to time*…The * is because they were using 60 minute
rounds…I think that it would have
resolved more in my favor had we gone to the normal 75 minute round…Turns out, even hyper-defensive TIE Phantoms
melt when Quickdraw is able to roll over debris and use Palp to hit herself
with a Crit to shoot me before I token up…He did it twice, I anticipated the first one, but not the second one…So, Whisper did some damage on the way down,
but died to Quickdraw.Plus side for me,
QD was triple Stressed and out of Shields…So, Kylo was able to finish her off.Got half onto the Shuttle, and glad Whisper hits hard…But CLOSE game.
Game 2 was against Ben…Decent Rebel build.Miranda
scares me, so I hunted her down quickly.These two ships are just stupidly maneuverable…And my PS 9 was over everything he had, so he
never did have much chance to try and corral my ships.So, Killed Miranda, then it was clean up
mode.100-0 win.
Game 3 was against Ken and his new Rebel build…He WAS able to corral Whisper when I got
greedy and did a De-Cloak/3 Turn and ended up at Range 1 of 2 of his ships…Should have realized he would go slowly.The 2 Turn would have put me out of one arc,
and I could have PROBABLY survived one shot…So, just more things to get used to.Playing Aces that are hyper Defensive, do NOT get greedy and forgo the
shot if I have to.You dodge 100% of the
shots they do not take.But Kylo was
able to clean up…2 Damaged ships and a
B-Wing…Sadly, the B-Wing is simply
outclassed these days…
Take a ways?This is
a surprisingly solid build…Might be one
of the SC rotations for me.Might pick
up a second Alpha Class gunboat…I know
people have discounted the Kylo/2 Gunboat build as just not good enough, but I
do think it is a fairly strong one.At
least a “Gatekeeper” list I suspect.Will see what I can come up with…
Well, did the “retro” event with the Rey/Horton build…First game got stomped by dice variance.Would likely have still lost I think, but it
would NOT have been the 0-100 pasting.The Y-Wing died in a single round of shooting between a Harpoon Missile
that hit for maximum damage then the TIE Defender, also hitting for 2 hits and
a Critical…Down to just the Falcon, and
while it tried to do damage, my opponent had the hottest Dice I’ve ever seen,
shrugging off the 4-5 Hits I can throw out and hitting back just as hard
against my 1 Agility…So, quick game and
convinced me even more that the Y-Wing is just completely outclassed by the
more modern ships.
Game 2, Bye..Technically a “win”, but boring…So watched a lot of the games…Some interesting builds, but it was a LOT of TIE Defenders and Palpatine
in a lot of the Imperial builds.Guessing that I am in the minority thinking that the TIE/D’s are still
pretty powerful and that the Emperor is still overpowered even after the nerf.
Game 3 put me back into the 1-1 tables against Chris flying
an extremely odd 2 HWK and Y-wing list…I ended up winning 100-0, but really it was a LOT closer than the score
would have you believe.First time
Chopper actually did work for me.Regenerated
4 Shields keeping the Y-Wing alive on 1 Hull (and the -1 Agility Critical) and
the Falcon was at 7 Hull remaining JUST above the 50% mark with it being an odd
number on the YT-1300’s…Fun game, and
the Sloop title did what it was supposed to.
Down side, it convinced me that I will NOT be playing a
Falcon during SC season.Just not something
I really enjoy flying.I’ll probably
give the Wookies another shot, but I suspect they’ll be in the same “Not Fun”
category for me.
Up side, I got an awesome 3-D printed Proton Bomb that Stu
made…
Looking at a few odd test lists for Mattoon this weekend…First one brings to mind the following quote:
KyloVynder "Bring me
EVERTHING… (97)
Kylo Ren (TIE Silencer) — TIE
Silencer
35
Push the Limit
3
Advanced Sensors
3
Advanced Optics
2
Autothrusters
2
First Order Vanguard
2
Ship
Total: 47
Major Vynder — Alpha-class Star
Wing
26
Push the Limit
3
Proton Torpedoes
4
Harpoon Missiles
4
Advanced Proton Torpedoes
6
Ion Pulse Missiles
3
Advanced SLAM
2
Os-1 Arsenal Loadout
2
Ship
Total: 50
It has a ludicrous amount of Ordnance and could actually use
the “Swiss Army Knife” approach for throwing whatever is the best for any given
instance down range…And since he can
SLAM, Reload, PTL for a Focus/TL (assuming he did not use one that does not
burn the Lock like Harpoon or Ion), if I can keep far enough away…2 or 3 Turn followed by the SLAM of the same
type does get me 180 degrees around and ready to fire again…Silly, but Kylo is pretty good on his own and
this Gunship just has the missiles to be a PITA for a lot of things…Like a Ghost where I can really Ion Pulse it
EVERY turn…Doubt it will be something
longer term, but looks fun.
Otherwise the Kylo/Whisper list I flew before is a LOT of
fun…Very “Ace” build with 2 things that
would rather not be shot at…Whisper
still hits like a truck and when you DO shoot at her in my build, assuming I
remember all of the triggers, you gain a Stress for declaring her a target (turning
off Expertise immediately), I can change a Hit to a Focus which cannot be
re-rolled and then I SHOULD have 4+ Agility if my Cloak is up…Fun at least, and not really in any way
overpowered…
Otherwise might go with a S&V build:
FennThweekBumpmaster (97)
Fenn Rau — Protectorate
Starfighter
28
Push the Limit
3
Autothrusters
2
Concord Dawn Protector
1
Ship
Total: 34
Thweek — StarViper
28
Advanced Sensors
3
Inertial Dampeners
1
Autothrusters
2
StarViper Mk. II
-3
Virago
1
Ship
Total: 32
Contracted Scout — JumpMaster 5000
25
Snap Shot
2
Intelligence Agent
1
Rigged Cargo Chute
1
Ion Projector
2
Ship
Total: 31
Interesting build I think…The Bumpmaster is pretty solid, and anything that gets multiple shots in
a turn is far better than its points would lead you to believe.The Viper is a decent Arc Dodger and Fenn is…Well, Fenn.Solid, if extremely fragile.So,
I have to be aggressive and agile to do well with this list.
MUCH more my speed than the Falcon builds.Still have the Wookies and the Firestorm
ready to go…Both seem like they have
extremely good match-ups and could well get me to a cut, but neither I think
will win any of the larger SCs…
Otherwise?Have an
interview tomorrow…Not likely to take
it even if I get an offer, but looking at it as good practice.Guess that is where I am with my job search,
practice and hone the interview skills since that is where I failed the last
few times. Go slow, get it right next time.
Bike is running well, just the weather has been crazy…Got in a great ride Saturday and then Sunday
it snowed again…Will likely be 70 by
Thursday, so JUST a bit odd…Have the
application to join the “Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association”, filling that
out now that I have a working bike I am confident I can ride distances on…JUST a bit different than the Tres Hombres I ran with in the old days,
especially since there is an application and it states several times “We are NOT
a Motorcycle Club”…With the Hombres it
was a bit different J…The old days were interesting at least, or so
I am told…
Looking like I’ll have a few X-Wing events coming up in the
next few weeks.This weekend is at Titan
here in Champaign, and is the “Back to Basics” event: https://www.facebook.com/events/152085798844972/
Then another League starts in Mattoon the next week…
Looking like I will NOT run the triple Star Viper list
again.I was really disappointed how
poorly that one performed.Well, to be
fair how poorly I performed WITH that list.It is not really in my nature to avoid a conflict, so with that list
requiring a lot more dancing around than actually getting in and shooting
things I think it is not a list for me.
So, either the BAY list or the Rey/Horton one…Though Tony did point out that my Firesprays
list from last year would actually still be legal…Dammit J…
So, thinking about that one, have a fair bit of experience with it…It is “OK”, certainly nothing really OP.BAY is “fun”, Rey/Horton is somewhat more competitive…The REAL list would be Rey/Lowrick or Miranda
(or Poe I suppose).
The REAL version of the Rey list is one reason I do think
that my Firestorm list will be viable for SC season…I think that it just dies to the FS if I fly
it correctly.I have the higher PS, can
adjust to get in or out of Arc as needed, at least a little with the Barrel
Roll.Throwing the Proton Bombs and
following up with the Harpoon Missile and automagic Critical from the Mangler
should erase a K-Wing on the approach.Only cripples the YT-1300 most likely, but leaving the Falcon with no
Shields and 4-5 Hull remaining from the first exchange should work out well for
me.Imp Aces is probably a 70/30 or
60/40 split…A LOT depends on whether
they have seen what my list can do and correctly react to it.Not many will, this list gets dismissed as a “meme”
list and so few will play it or even bother to try and figure out what to do
against it.RACLo builds are probably
the mirror of that with me looking at the 30/70 split I think.I CAN beat it, but it will take luck.Since I KNOW Tyler Tippet will be at several
of my SC runs, I am likely to run into at least one run by someone who knows
VERY well how to run it…Tilting my odds
to “even worse than that”…OTOH, I
always have good games against Tyler and Will, so…At least I’ll have fun dying…
Other builds I am looking at:
Control Brobots…Solid, but another one that is both exhausting to play and not entirely
my style…Have to be willing to run,
snipe in at range and avoid a lot of combat until you have worn them down
completely.The old SFB “Klingon Saber
Dance”.So, a solid one I have painted
up and ready, but…
“A Wookie Mistake” is my 3 Gunship build…Expertise and Tactician on all three.Courier Droids on the PS 3 generics and
Lowrick gets Rey to build up Focus…Solid build…Another “Gatekeeper”
build though I suspect.There will be
some lists that this is a hard counter to, some it is a good match and a few
REALLY bad ones.But easier to fly over
the long day…
S&V “Aces”…Fenn
Rau, Kulda and ?Likely a Kihraxz of
some sort…So, 3 higher PS ships that
hit hard and likely have a few tricks.Third ship could be a Bumpmaster, that is a solid build.Likely to be a “Gatekeeper” build as the
Birmingham Barons I their Episode 41 (https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/bhambaronsxwing/episodes/2018-03-28T08_04_29-07_00)
put it…I THINK I could do well enough
to stay in the top half certainly and maybe even be close to a cut…Not likely at all to win though.
Other than that?A
few 4 Ship builds for pretty much all 3 Factions…Kind of wanting to avoid the “OP” Rebel
combos…Well, until towards the end and
then I switch to “Try Hard” mode like last year.
We got one preview so far for the next wave, but nothing
else.Waiting on FAQ and the next wave
to hit at this point.We are in a decent
place I think, but there is a VERY clear line between the “Top Tier” lists and
the rest.I think there are maybe 5-6
top tier lists at this point.A number
of other ones that are close, so tier 2…I put the Firestorm in there, so “Gatekeepers”.And then there are a bunch that are essentially
unplayable.Well, playable, but no
realistic chance of winning.This would
be why I think they absolutely need to change to keep the game healthy.Too many things that make unhealthy combos
that break the game.Just my opinion of
course, so YMMV….
Picking up the base set for Legion…Turns out I had some gift certificates, etc.
to spend, so…Will see, but even if it
flops, I should have some decent shelf minis…
Anyway, back to X-Wing it seems.Played “Tanks” this weekend.Beer & Pretzels WWII tank combat.Fairly simple game, but fun.The German Puma was actually pretty darn
solid for me.I was surprised, but then
I did a fair bit of the whole Armored Cav thing in the old days, so am fairly
familiar with how that works.So perhaps
a few more to hit the tables for me. and motivating me to get my American M-3's built...
Looking like I’m playing either my BAY list or a Rey/(Y-Wing
or B-Wing) list in Mattoon.Not so much
that I am going easy, but I think I need to practice with these things:
ReySalm2 (99)
Rey — YT-1300
45
Expertise
4
Finn
5
Kanan Jarrus
3
Engine Upgrade
4
Millennium Falcon (TFA)
1
Ship
Total: 62
Horton Salm — Y-Wing
25
Twin Laser Turret
6
Bomb Loadout
0
Extra Munitions
2
"Chopper" (Astromech)
1
Thermal Detonators
3
Guidance Chips
0
BTL-A4 Y-Wing
0
Ship
Total: 37
Now this one is amusing…Horton on the Y-Wing can chuck a BUNCH of the upgrades through Chopper
to regenerate Shields.The wording on
the Extra Munitions card adds an EM token to every bomb, missile and torpedo
upgrade.Combine that with the fact that
the EM card and Bomb Loadout both would then technically gain tokens that could
be discarded to add Shields.So, more
shields than I should ever be able to regenerate during a normal game at least. Rey's ship I have 2 basic builds... Kanan or C3-P0 and the new vs. the old title. C3-P0/old title is a tanky build that can realistically just completely evade a HLC or Harpoon Missile. The Kanan/TFA title is maneuverable and I think more fun... So, likely what I'll play here.
Other potential build is the BAY build:
BAY(100)
Horton Salm — Y-Wing
25
Twin Laser Turret
6
Bomb Loadout
0
"Chopper" (Astromech)
1
Guidance Chips
0
BTL-A4 Y-Wing
0
Ship Total: 32
Jake Farrell — A-Wing
24
Push the Limit
3
Chardaan Refit
-2
Veteran Instincts
1
Autothrusters
2
A-Wing Test Pilot
0
Ship Total: 28
Ten Numb — B-Wing
31
Veteran Instincts
1
Collision Detector
0
"Mangler" Cannon
4
Operations Specialist
3
B-Wing/E2
1
Ship Total: 40
This one is a LOT more fun... The A-Wing is slippery, but still just a 2 Dice Attack. Ten Numb is amusing and Horton is pretty solid... Just dies against a higher end "Meta" list, but fun to fly and another contender for the Titan event with the wave restrictions... This or the Star Viper list with three of the bastards...
So, on to a more “friendly” build for Mattoon and next Month
at Titan I think…JSeems like I go through cycles of playing
silly “because I feel like it” lists that have no real chance of taking an
event then come back to the hard corp power list to remind myself that I am actually
pretty good at the game...In any case
the “Firestorm” list has been called a “meme” list…Amusing, but I can throw out a LOT of damage
against someone not prepared for it…So,
one I will look at flying again in the Store Championship season.
On to the next list:
BAY (100)
Horton Salm — Y-Wing
25
Twin Laser Turret
6
Bomb Loadout
0
"Chopper" (Astromech)
1
Guidance Chips
0
BTL-A4 Y-Wing
0
Ship
Total: 32
Jake Farrell — A-Wing
24
Push the Limit
3
Chardaan Refit
-2
Veteran Instincts
1
Autothrusters
2
A-Wing Test Pilot
0
Ship
Total: 28
Ten Numb — B-Wing
31
Veteran Instincts
1
"Mangler" Cannon
4
Operations Specialist
3
B-Wing/E2
1
Ship
Total: 40
So “BAY”, at least in the firing order, so might be what I
call it.Ten Numb was actually pretty
solid, especially against the stupid high Defenses I am seeing these days…4 Agility, Palp and an Evade Token?Whatever, take a Critical.Jake is slippery and with the possibility of
setting up for Arc Dodging and such when he gets assigned a Focus…Just have to NOT be Stressed when it happens
I guess.But still, move fast, dodge
Arcs and try to throw in a Damage or two on the way…Horton is…Different.Set up to Joust the
first run through.Ideally, Range 2-3 so
I get Rerolls.Then as I take Damage, I
can shed upgrades to get Shields back.The BTL-A4 upgrade locking my Turret to the Front Arc being likely the
first to go so I can move him to a TLT carrier mid to late game.But the Y-Wing can actually throw out a bit
of Damage in the BTL configuration…So,
I dare them to shoot me and let me release the TLT.Still, it is just a Y-Wing at the end of the
day, and so another Agility 1 ship that has a “less than good” dial.
But the list is looking like fun.The Firesprays I flew last SC season were fun
too, but woefully underpowered.Same
thing here I suspect, but not gunning for the top spot anymore, proved my point
last time…
X-Wing podcasts this week are pretty much all "battle reports" for the Regionals, etc. they are playing in. So, pretty boring frankly as I have seen a number of the games on streams and I frankly have little interest in hearing about a play by play of the event. Disappointed that there were people giving the Krayts a hard time about their "Player 4" cast. I thought it was excellent work, a lot of higher level game theory and math going into it and kept my interest all the way through, and I go back to reference it still... Guess I just do not understand some people, and that is fine.
Work is a lot of Security changes coming... Getting good at presenting the case, but really sort of getting tired of having to repeat the answers to "Why can't I just keep doing things the way I am used to?"... A lot of the Faculty are brilliant... In their fields. But experience dealing with teenage children has come in quite nicely, as has my extreme patience and ability to (appear) remain completely calm no matter what is going on around me is serving me quite well. Still in the active job search mode, met with a "Recruiter" for a bit and I guess we'll see what comes of that. In the old days, we called them Headhunters and they got me a number of good jobs. I am of course going to be a LOT more selective these days, and would prefer to remain at the University, but am not seeing anything opening nor am I hearing anything on the ones I have applied for. Good and bad, per usual... No "Thanks for playing" mail, but nothing at all after a few Months... So, work on my Resume and practice interviewing again. We'll see I suppose.
Was going to take tomorrow (Friday) off, but am required to
come in…Guess early next week I stay
home to deal with some home repair issues and just “not be in the office” for a
bit.Want to work on my motorcycle, the
garage lights and the basement drainage issues…So, will be busy at least, and the bike being the only thing I WANT to
be working on of course, but needs being what they are…
