X-Wing prep for SC 2018 season...

So, only a little bit of X-Wing over the long break…  Much work on house, etc…  But DID listen a few times to an excellent cast from the Carolina Krayts (http://carolinakrayts.libsyn.com/podcast/listener-4-how-to-git-gud-and-other-aspects-of-being-good-at-games).  SO much excellent content in this episode.  They did skip all of the normal silliness and it mostly concerns game theory and how to get better at the game.  Most of the podcasts are concentrating on version 2 now, so it is frustrating…  I REALLY want to play v2, but we have until mid-September and all of the Store Championships and Gen Con to get though…  So, have to decide what to play in the interim and just how “competitive” I really want to be…  And there are really only a few normal events during this time frame I think…

Not entirely sure how much of this will end up with me on the table at the local events at least.  Mattoon is too small a venue to really bring out the “big guns” as it were.  Titan IS big enough, but the local Meta is…  Well, weird.  I’ve played some of the better “Meta” lists locally like the Triple Wookies.  Did OK, but it HAS been a long while since I made a local cut.  My “Try Hard” list (Nym/Dengar) made the cut at the larger SC in Bloomington.  Exhausting to play so many games, especially as the day went on and the quality of the opposition continued to improve.  NOT saying that the early rounds were pushovers, I simply had a better list than several of the guys I played against.

But coming up on the SC season again, and having some of them scheduled locally finally I suppose it is time to decide on what to run.  I have it distilled to 3 basic lists I think.

Mandelorians 3 (97)

Boba Fett (Scum) — Firespray-31	39
Expertise	4
Ion Cannon	3
Dengar	3
Homing Missiles	5
Glitterstim	2
Bomblet Generator	3
Engine Upgrade	4
Andrasta	0
Ship Total: 63
Fenn Rau — Protectorate Starfighter	28
Push the Limit	3
Autothrusters	2
Concord Dawn Protector	1
Ship Total: 34

This is probably my “fun” list…  An Ace in Fenn Rau and a really solid “Swiss Army Knife” in Boba Fett.  Fett has a lot of answers to a lot of things out there now.  Solid, but I suspect it will be no better than a gatekeeper list.  I can easily PREVENT some of the big Meta lists from getting past, but… 

×

KyloWhisper (91)

"Whisper" — TIE Phantom	32
Veteran Instincts	1
Sensor Jammer	4
Rebel Captive	3
Advanced Cloaking Device	4
Ship Total: 44
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

This is another fun one…  It has some things I do NOT want to see, but it matches well against a lot of things.  Can by the time SC season actually hits swap out the Rebel Captive for Director Krennick to make Whisper just an offensive machine with the Shield removal and FCS (essentially) built in…  Lose the Stress to deal with Expertise, but…  In any case, it is a really fun one for me to fly with it just being Aces.  I HAVE to restrain my normal “slightly more aggressive” nature though while playing…  The losses I look back and analyze I find that it is almost always just me overextending and being overly aggressive…

Firestorm Special (99)

Ten Numb — B-Wing	31
Veteran Instincts	1
Trajectory Simulator	1
"Mangler" Cannon	4
Extra Munitions	2
Sabine Wren	2
Proton Bombs	5
B-Wing/E2	1
Ship Total: 47
Captain Nym (Rebel) — Scurrg H-6 Bomber	30
Veteran Instincts	1
Twin Laser Turret	6
Extra Munitions	2
Harpoon Missiles	4
Thermal Detonators	3
Proton Bombs	5
Trajectory Simulator	1
"Genius"	0
Long-Range Scanners	0
Havoc	0
Ship Total: 52

This is just my “Try Hard” list.  While some consider it a joke it does simply erase things off of the board…  Have played against really good lists and in some cases won it in 4 turns.  This is the same sort of list that my last year’s Dengar/Nym list was.  Not necessarily “loopholes”, but seems like that effect…  Bombs that ignore Shields and just put Criticals into the Hulls, TLTs and unavoidable Critical Hits to trigger the Harpoon Missiles…  Oh, and Sabine to add in more Damage…  Only 2 ships, but SO many interactions and it really illustrates WHY version 2 of the game is absolutely needed.

Eh, need to get in more games I think...  But have pre-orders in for some of the v2 stuff and not entirely sure how much fun the SCs will be and worried that Gen Con (Continentals) will be just no fun at all as it is being played AS v2 gets the early release...  Have new templates coming in as well...  Will see how things play out.  Looking like Bloomington is at the end of July, Titan in mid August...  Gopher in mid July perhaps?  Looking at those three at least, maybe Peoria and Springfield...  Will see.