Got in a few more X-Wing games and have actually downloaded
the Vassal stuff so that I can get more games in… Well, in theory… Assuming that I actually have that time. In any case, the S&V Ace list is
performing quite well. Learning the ins
and outs of the ships. N’Dru on the Z-95
is surprisingly good. I mean REALLY
good, especially against certain builds I expect to face. The good potential for an 8 hit strike in
there AND the recovery of those missiles to potentially do it again. Now, good players will see this and
understand how serious a threat he really is, but with Ordinance deployed on
ALL of my ships, there is really nothing that can be safely ignored at either
short OR long range. Also, 2 PS 9 Ships
is massive overkill in one respect, but it gives me a number of good
options. There ARE in fact Pilots that
are higher Skill, but not seeing them as often.
RAC with VI does come out to play locally at times, but honestly not as
concerned with the Decimator. Well, with
this list at least. Line up, volley the
Missiles/Torpedoes and then close to Range 1 for the 5 Dice Attacks on my Aces. Bombers are going to be an issue, but I have
to be careful in much the same way as I need to against the Uber-Jouster
lists. Stand off, volley
Missiles/Torpedoes and try to thin the other Squadron a bit before closing to
finish. Shoot early and often, just like
voting in Chicago. And the Bomber
effectiveness drops drastically as their numbers do, so being able to kill off
one K-Wing before we engage closely is going to be key.
Not really sure what else I might run into frankly. TIE swarms, TIE Defenders and maybe TIE
Phantoms for the Imperials… Aces are of
course likely there, but I suspect my own are better… Rebel Regen is a big thing, but I think I can
overload it and kill them easily enough.
Scum? Well, I bet a LOT of
Mindlink will be there. Fenn vs Fenn,
but I have Cobrabane to back my Fenn.
Contracted Scouts are a bit of a pain, but should be beatable.
So, since I started writing this one I got to watch the
excellent Gold Squadron Podcast’s Twitch streaming of the X-Wing Worlds
tournament over the weekend (well, Friday it started, but…) and got to see a
number of REALLY good games there. Got
to watch one of the local(ish, he’s from Peoria, but he plays here pretty
frequently) absolutely destroy a list like I was flying previously with his
Whisper/RAC list. Simple, brutal and efficient. Not so sure my old list would have done any
better, in fact I am fairly sure I would have done worse. My current one? Dunno, volleying the Ordnance is the make or
break moment in that one. If I can get a
few good hits in early, I might be able to take his Decimator off the
field. If I fail to do so? Well, at least it will be a short game I
suspect. Whisper is still quite good,
and the combo of Palpitine and Kylo Ren on the Decimator that has Critical
conversion already? Pretty darn powerful
on its own.
DID see one list that I REALLY like and might just steal:
BobaKath (100)
Boba Fett (Scum) — Firespray-31
|
39
|
Fearlessness
|
1
|
4-LOM
|
1
|
Homing Missiles
|
5
|
Extra Munitions
|
2
|
Guidance Chips
|
0
|
Slave I
|
0
|
Ship
Total: 48
|
|
|
Kath Scarlet (Scum) — Firespray-31
|
38
|
Expertise
|
4
|
Heavy Laser Cannon
|
7
|
Dengar
|
3
|
Ship
Total: 52
|
|
|
Just two loaded out Firesprays… But the combination of Boba Fett’s Homing
Missiles and 4-LOM mean that I can throw out a VERY accurate Missile that I can
prevent them from using their Evade or Focus tokens on, so just raw dice. Only change one I might make there, I like
the Salvage crane over the Extra Munitions, but it IS a bit more risky. More shots possible but HAVE to destroy
something to get the Missile back. Kath
is just a modified 4 Dice Attack, pretty much no matter what… Well, 5 Dice at Range one out the Rear Arc… With Dice modification and Rerolls, this
allows me to use the Evade action a lot more.
Bad part being that the ship has such a Craptastic dial. And of course it is seemingly over costed,
but only in comparison to the Jumpmasters…
Of course, almost EVERYTHING is over costed compared to them, so it is
really just an exercise in taking an option NOT obviously the most efficient.
SO Many Jumpmasters at Worlds… Kind of shining that spotlight on the ship
that a LOT of us feel is just too good for its point cost. SO many good things packed into the efficient
package there and it is so customizable.
This allows you to build it out to fill a very large number of roles in
the Squadron from straight out Torpedo Boat to Bumpmaster or Ace… I am not sure what if anything will be on the
next errata, but it seems obvious that SOMETHIN needs to be adjusted WRT this
ship. I know a lot of people were also
complaining about the Mindlink, but this one I think is FAR less a
problem. With the resurgence of Stress
and the built in disadvantage I am not really seeing this as the major problem
in the game at the moment. Yes, it IS efficient
and I DO use it in a list, albeit without the JK5K. But is it on the order of the JM5K? No. My
list is certainly beatable, and frankly easily so since it is just 3 Aces
(well, 2 and a good “almost ACE”) dependent on Agility to survive. A bad roll or two and that’s game.
Looking like I take a day or two off next week to get my
bike back on the road. Maybe the rain
will stop someday. Really missing the
ancient bike, it is something to get my thoughts in order riding on the back
roads out here. Still have an
overabundance of sick and vacation time, so might as well use some.
