So… More X-Wing in… So far so good. Still losing more than winning of course, but
I think I have a much better understanding of what is actually going on. Swarms are brutal, but vulnerable to Assault
Missiles and have VERY real issues flying in and around the Asteroid fields… So, learning the importance of placing the
obstacles and using them to force contact on my own terms. The YT-2400 with Dash at the helm and its
ability to simply ignore them is HUGE…
at least for me learning the game…
I suspect someone who has played the game a long time will not be nearly
so impressed with this ability. But
placing a dense field out there then flying in and around it keeps the TIEs at
a distance and leaves them vulnerable to being picked apart… Of course, if they can keep me away from the
field and line up on me… Well, it will
be a much shorter game then.
Liking the Rebel Heavy Fighters… B-Wings are probably my favorites from a “how
they work” aspect. Have to be careful
flying them, but good firepower and surprising maneuverability… Lack the crew/droid slot on their base model,
but thanks to the Rebel Aces pack… That
can be fixed for a price. Some amusing
combos allowing 360 degree firing arcs on a fighter that can sideslip into
range/arcs, and even with the standard 90 degree arc, it is at the least a fun
one to play. Depends on Shields a LOT,
and I can see why the R2-D2 addition would make this insanely over powered. I HAVE pretty much the rest of the Rebel
ships, and while I always liked the Y-Wing myself… Just having a harder time flying them. It is pretty much like the Dominion BB in
STAW… Decent attack, but flies like a
Battleship. And the TIEs just run
circles around it. Staying in formation
and skirting theirs make it OK, but not something that makes me feel much like
I really have a chance against them. So,
they tend to be on my “second line” builds.
For whatever reason I just don’t find the “swarm” builds all
that interesting to fly. So, while I
love the Z-95’s for the fluff (Han’s old fighter in one of the ancient books I
read when I was a kid IIRC) reasons and they are fun “filler” elements for my
builds I just don’t see myself playing all A-Wings and Z-95’s… The A-Wings are FAST. Neat, but very fragile for my tastes. A Rapier to my preferred Bastard Sword… Since I feel that the ability to TAKE damage
is important, probably more so than moving fast… Well, I will certainly give them a shot, but
they’ll never be my preferred fighter I think.
And the Z-95s are really just cheap.
While the quote attributed to Stalin going along the lines of “Quantity
has a quality all its own”... So, they are good for the points, but certainly NOT great fighters...
The X-Wings I’ve seen used are good… Nothing OP certainly in general, more “meh”
than “OMG”. Shields and Hull giving you
a “5” value for Health… Not sure if
X-Wing players use this sort of valuation like the STAW folks… But it gives a pretty decent “how hard will
it be to kill” level, and given X-Wing’s MUCH lower Attack values across the
board it should give a pretty decent estimate how long something is expected to
live in the game. In STAW, I had the
ability to one shot a LOT of good Capitol ships (pretty much anything short of
a Borg or BB decked out, and even those knew damn good and well that I was
there…) which made some aspects of the game FAR more important. The ability to move across the field and
deliver enough Attack Dice to get in that first Alpha Strike was something to
be well aware of. The general lack of
terrain there was/is a big issue, especially once the Borg hit the field. X-Wing has terrain and I have not really seen
anything like the silliness of a Borg Cube moving from one DZ to another on
Turn one and killing 1-2 enemy ships before they really get to do
anything. But back to the X-Wings
themselves… Good, but really niche I
think. Biggs with his “shoot me first”
ability keeps others alive long enough to get off their shots, and a few others
have interesting uses… But not great
firepower or maneuverability make it something I am less excited about. Kind of the “Space Marine” of X-Wing… The title character, and the basis of the
stats for everything else, but seems like its time has passed… We’ll see if they continue in this role or if
some expansion comes out to modify them like the A and B Wings…
About to get back to cleaning the “Basement of Doom™”, and moving
my minis around again. Found a big box of my Fleshtearers and it got me
thinking about 40K a bit… Apparently
Necrons are coming out in the short term (next week or two? Who knows with GW’s continuing lack of
anything like announcements…). We’ll see
what if anything they do to change up the silliness of the cheap overly effective
flier transports the Crons have now. And
rumor has the stupidity of Gauss getting changed… We’ll see I guess. But until those things change it is very hard
to see ANY forces being close to the top tier ones. The BA book was nice enough on my quick read
through, but of course the DLC effect of having half of the Formations NOT in
the damn $50 book is beyond grating to me.
Yes, I know that is how they make money, but sorry to say it has cost
them a fair number of players locally.
Mind, this is almost certainly short term, but my hobby dollars are NOT
going to GW anymore, and I am not the only one.
Wizkids, FFG and Privateer Press look like they are getting pretty much
100% of my hobby money. Of course with the
sheer number of GW (and FW) figs I HAVE, not like I’m needing to buy much at
all to get back to 40K when the cycle changes again. But then there is still a group playing
locally and I was pretty darn close to a 100% painted Fleshtearers force… My IG and Wolves were FAR from tabletop
quality painting due mostly to the sheer number of minis involved with the IG
Light Rifles Company (Praetorians) and the reality that I tended to get bored
quickly painting the exact same figure over and over in the late 1800’s British
Infantry scheme… With the Wolves, I
stripped a bunch and started to get them base coated and then the 40K malaise
hit. Crept in really… I was doing the Wolves as a VI Legion force
in the original 30K colors and with so many ancient minis, fielding a 30K force
was fun for a bit. Then of course the
extremely limit nature of “Crusade Era Marines” hit… The basic Marine is simply not enough to
field on the current battlefield and it was not nearly so much fun playing a
game where I knew I had no chance in reality…
Guessing when the basement is cleaner I will get around to more
painting, but that looks like it is a while off…
Ingress has taken over my current “gaming” for the most part
during the day at least… Wandering
around campus hacking and taking over portals for the “Enlightened” (green
team)… Before I messed up my leg a few
weeks back, was getting in a LOT of walking during my days. Now, well…
Not quite so much. But made level
8 a while back, and my wife is humoring my desire to wander about a wee bit to
play Ingress… And my youngest at least
is getting into the game and wandering about a bit with me. Spring with taking the dog out to various
parks might be interesting to Ingress in other places…
Still gearing up to clean ancient firearms, probably to sell/trade off... And of course the 2 Motorcycles.to get back to working order and sold... Kind of annoying as I really like the Silverwing, just doesn't have QUITE enough leg room or top end speed to take onto Interstates. Not a clue what if anything I will replace them with. Definitely WANT another motorcycle of course, just honestly nothing too specific is jumping out at me. Shaft drive, 1000cc engine or larger, forward controls or highway pegs to stretch my legs out a bit... So, probably a Goldwing or the like... Saddlebags are a must, the trunk less so. Like the backpack on the passenger backrest that the Magna has, seems to fit my personality well... We'll see I guess. Looking like we're getting a new truck (SUV) to replace the Ford Escape, so much lower priority the motorcycle is...
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