So, first big event for the X-Wing game under the belt… I think I did fairly well coming in 3-1 with
my Dash/Corran Horn list. Tried to fly
too fancy in my last game and I was simply not prepared for the TIE swarm
played by someone who knows how to REALLY well.
So, a few things I need to change up for the next one later this Month I
think.
Got in a few games last night… First one was an odd “Scum” list I was going
over…
Star Viper (Xizor, Expert Handling, Virago, Auto Thrusters
and Accuracy Corrector)
Z-95 ( N’Dru, Cluster Missiles, Lone Wolf, Hot Shot Blaster)
Y-Wing (Kavil, Ion Turret, Unhinged Astromech, Hull Upgrade)
Admittedly, the Hull Upgrade and Expert Handling was mostly
because I could only find the one Hot Shot Blaster… The EH worked REALLY well though on Xizor
though. I tend to do a fair number of
Barrel Rolls in any case and the ability to shunt Target Locks is really nice,
and especially nice if facing low skilled Missile boats. The Star Viper is just fun to fly. A bit on the fragile end I think though with
only one Shield and four Hull. As it
happened, my Defense dice were hot and mine lived while killing off his virtual
mirror. N’Dru was a beast, but faced off
against his mirror… Like I said, my
Defense Dice were hot, so I lived through the Cluster Missiles and he did
not. I am rather looking forward to see
what a single Z-95 can do to some of the Large based ships like the
Decimator. The essentially 8 Dice attack
for that one turn is huge and while it will not likely take down a Large ship,
it should take down most Fighters… The Y
was just amusing flying with Green 3 maneuvers and the four Dice attacks from
the Ion Cannon…
But that does bring me to what my second game showed. Faced off against 3 TIEs, 2 Interceptors and
one Phantom. So:
Turr Phennir (VI, Auto Thrusters)
Soontir Fel (AT, PTL)
Whisper (VI, FCS, Stygian, Intel Agent)
And pretty sure there was one more point in there somewhere… But I flew my Rebel Squadron that I am
looking at for the next Store Championships run… I already have the acrylic Focus markers, so
not really all that interested in fielding something that is overpowering… And I say that like I actually could J… But with the Auto Thrusters on things like
the TIE Interceptor and the A-Wing… You
can get to a point where the 2 Dice attacks essentially have no chance to
actually do any damage, and even decent 3 Dice attacks are a very real long
shot. Thinking that these are hard
counters to the Swarms hitting the field these days, assuming that you can keep
from bumping before thinning the Swarm enough.
And since they have 4-5 Dice Attacks at Range 1, I am not thinking it
will be an issue… In any case I flew:
Ten Numb (B-Wing, Mangler Cannon, VI)
Biggs Darklighter (Shield Upgrade, R2-D2)
Horton Salm (Y-Wing, Ion Turret, R2)
Plan was to keep Biggs near Ten to draw fire, move slow and
ping things with Critical Hits that cannot be avoided by any means… On the unshielded TIES, this is a BIG deal. But against a lot of the “hard to hit” things
that one unavoidable Damage (especially as it is a Critical) is still quite good, so I wanted to
give this a run. Either a mini Swarm
with 2 A-Wings and 2 Z-95s, a 3 Ship “Aces” list or paired with one of the YTs… Was pretty happy with Biggs actually. The X-Wing itself is fairly “Meh” lacking… Well, something. It cannot Boost, Barrel Roll, Evade or do
much interesting on its own. It is not
particularly maneuverable nor is it particularly robust or even powerful on
Offence… So, not really sure how much I’ll
fly the “poster boy” for the game itself…
I am probably just spoiled with the other ships I actually learned the
game on like the B-Wing and E-Wing and seeing the Imperial things that are
really just “better” in about every way for about the same point cost… The Y-Wing was “OK”, but CLEARLY outclassed
by the extremely advanced TIE fighters.
They were flying circles around him, and while he lived a while, he was
completely ineffective for his 31 points.
Soontir Fel and Turr Phennir were 32 and 28 points respectively and
completely outclassed the poor Y-Wing.
Felt like a Sherman up against a Panther really… So, Ten worked like a charm, though I need to
find some better things to outfit him with I think… I DID actually completely whiff twice, both
would have been Kill shots on a TIE Interceptor, so likely the Fire Control
System upgrade or perhaps something to get more Green on the dial…
So, long story short:
Happy with Ten Numb, and that will be flown again… Not sure what with though… Fortunately, next Championship is in a few
weeks, so some time…
40K is restarting at the Gopher I guess… I wish them well. Have to say, less interest in playing that game
now, but I also know that at SOME point in the future the cycle will turn and I’ll
likely go back to playing… Maybe if the
rumored Horus Heresy things actually happens.
I have a bunch of that stuff, and if I’m honest, that era interests me a
LOT more than the current 40K setting where it seems that the storyline is
essentially “The Empire is screwed, EVERYONE else is just better than the
Marines” and the game is just throwing buckets of dice, most of which simply
ignore Marine class armor, or glance Vehicles…
J But I’m just one of those bitter old school
gamers I guess, and not one throwing money at GW (Sorry Gopher!), so
surprisingly GW did not ask my opinion about the system…
REALLY looking forward to the possibility next week and
beyond of actually getting my ancient motorcycle out on the road… Need to fix the electrical fault on the
Silverwing, but I suspect that is just a ground issue, so hopefully simple
enough… And then I’ll get to ride
again. Been a LONG winter, and I want to
ride again…
