X-Wing... Gopher Tournament prep as June ends soon...

Playing the Echo/Decimator list a lot…  So far, I play a LOT more aggressively than most, so 4 Forward, 1 Boost and I can usually get shots in starting early… Now, the big weakness of this list seems to be that Echo/TIE Phantom in general is EXTREMELY vulnerable to not getting the Cloak bonus to the Agility roll.  So, Bumping, Debris, higher PS, my being silly and not taking Initiative when say, facing Miranda with PS 8 just like me…  J  Did THAT today.  But in general, things PS 9+ do not really have that difficult a time putting in a hit or three on the expensive Agility 2 ship.  Still, it IS a lot of fun to play, and it does drive folks a bit nuts with the weird movement I can get out of it… 

Have the first X-Wing event I am TO for coming up at the Gopher next weekend (2 July)…  REALLY hoping that the Imperial Veterans come out by then as I’m thinking that will be a lot of fun…  The TIE Defender is a lot more difficult to take off the field than the Phantom…  Fits my play style a lot better I think, I tend to be a lot more direct and value resiliency AND agility…  Oh, and they hit fairly hard.  Will I fly 2 Defenders?  Maybe.  List gets pretty tight then.  2 Defenders and…  Probably a TIE/fo like Omega Leader or Epsilon Ace as just a “decent” ship to back them up?  2 TIE’s at 12/each for blockers?  Or maybe a TIE Interceptor or TIE Adv Prototype I guess…  But those are getting to the VERY low end of the equipment they’ll need to survive in the modern game.  Only the TIE/fo seems like it is not just throwing away points to me, but of course, I could be wrong…

Getting some point on my Imperial Blues…  Not looking too bad, but my eye injury is making detail work impossible, so…  Going a LOT slower, mostly getting base coats at this point.  But my lads do stand out on the table a bit, and that’s what I am going for…  SO many Imperial Aces these days, I want mine to at least look different so I can see which are mine…

X-Wing thoughts, mid June

X-Wing stuff…  So far, I have an excellent record with Echo and ADM Chiraneau (VT-49)…  I think a lot of people see the large based ship and assume that I’ll slowly approach and make the nice, safe choices to get in range and try the long ranged sniping game.  What most folks do not realize, even those familiar with the “rule of 11” is that the Large based ship moving 4 Ahead is already 9 ship lengths in if you set up at the front of the DZ…  Then add in the boost for an additional 3+ ship lengths…  So, a VERY good chance I am lining up a Turn 1 shot.  Yes, Range 3, and good chance it will be obstructed, but I DO have Gunner ready…  So many people get caught thinking that Turn 1 is just repositioning and preparing to chase me around the Asteroid field…  Speaking of which, I bring 3 big rocks, placing one a Range 2 from their corner, another about the middle and the rest of the field tending to be a triangle giving a very open flank which I ignore.  I have only the 2 ships, one of which is INSANELY maneuverable and the other is just darn fast.  So, I run up the obstructed flank, slice through the field and dare them to come in after me.  It does make it especially difficult for a Swarm to keep in formation, which is the main reason I do this.  Keep them separated, then go after one or two at a time.  With two big guns and Gunner on both backed by Predator and/or FCS it tends to be a VERY accurate thing and burns through tokens and forces more dice rolling.  It usually only takes one bad roll to cripple or kill the more fragile Ace types, and so if I make them roll Agility Dice 4 times/turn it will come up sooner or later…  Yes, it is possible that it NEVER hits during the game, but really I’ve usually seen it hit 1 out of 3-4 times to get through those critical first few points of damage…   The U-Boats are difficult, but with the sheer accurate firepower I can throw out, I should kill one before they shoot, then it is a matter of hunting the other two down...

So, older build, but It seems to be doing well locally at least.  Mostly killing time until the “now shipping” Imperial Veterans hit…  Though honestly really looking far more forward to Wave 9…  The Mandalorian fighter especially seems to fit perfectly how I play in the “slightly more aggressive: fashion…  And the ARC-170 just looks really good.  One fighter I’ve really been hoping they bring out…  The others?  Eh…  I’ll likely get them and probably even use them, but… 

More X-Wing play-testing...

Got in games of X-Wing and Armada last night…  X-Wing was pretty quick.  I played:

Unnamed Squadron (100)

"Echo" — TIE Phantom	30
Veteran Instincts	1
Fire-Control System	2
Recon Specialist	3
Advanced Cloaking Device	4
Ship Total: 40
Rear Admiral Chiraneau — VT-49 Decimator	46
Predator	3
Tactician	2
Gunner	5
Engine Upgrade	4
Ship Total: 60

So, NOTHING subtle, but it was REALLY effective…  He fielded Corran Horn (PTL, Adv Sensors, R2, EU?) and 3 of the Z-95’s with Guidance Chips and Concussion Missiles…  Like I said, was quick.  Not sure if he was prepared for how quickly I could close.  Did require a bit of skill to fly through the Asteroids, but since he was trying to avoid it until too late…  Echo moving through things was pretty insane, but the VT just boosting each time to get in close was the killer…  The Admiral’s ability to fire the turret with Predator AND Gunner meant that the ships like Horn with their absolute dependence on their Green Dice are in a LOT of trouble.  They have to get fairly lucky fairly often to survive…  Even one blank on the Green Dice could well be them dying, and the ADM forcing 2 rolls/turn make that “bad” result come up more frequently…  It only took one turn of firing at R1 to burn through Horn’s shield (3 Hits and a Focus going to a Critical)…  I think this will translate fairly well to hunting Imperial Aces, but I’ll have to run it against them to be sure…

So, still waiting on the Imp Vets and now that Wave 9 is announced...  Waiting on those :-)...  Should be interesting...

Titan X-Wing League Month 3 AAR...

League Month 3 AAR… 

EchoInqOmega (100)

"Echo" — TIE Phantom	30
Veteran Instincts	1
Fire-Control System	2
Recon Specialist	3
Advanced Cloaking Device	4
Ship Total: 40
The Inquisitor — TIE Advanced Prototype	25
Push the Limit	3
Proton Rockets	3
Autothrusters	2
TIE/v1	1
Ship Total: 34
"Omega Leader" — TIE/fo Fighter	21
Juke	2
Comm Relay	3
Ship Total: 26

Well, a LOT smaller, and I wound up being the TO for the event.  Only 6 players, I think I was the sole Imperial player, Allan and Chad were the only Rebel and the rest were S&V… 

Game one I wound up against 2 Contracted Scouts loaded out with Proton Torpedoes and the full “U-Boat” kit…  And Zuckuss with FCS…  Wound up coming in from the flank and trying to simply rush past him as he turned into the big mess of asteroids I set up in the center of the board.  Tripped up Zuckuss and killing him quickly.  I think he got one Torpedo off from each Scout, stripped a few shields but by and large the rocks and the sheer number of Green Dice.  Wound up getting the Phantom behind a Scout and chasing it down.  Not a lot survives the 5 Dice Attack with the TL and likely Focus…  And I was able to dodge arcs REALLY well with my PS 8 trio…  Surprisingly the Proton Rockets were HUGE here, taking the G1A down after Omega Leader stripped a few shields.  But 100-0 win as I hunted them down proving my theory that Imperial Aces beat the U-Boats pretty regularly…

The second game was against Chad’s Rebels…  He fielded a Gold Squadron Y-Wing w/TLT, Biggs with a Damage control Droid/Integrated Mech, Wedge w/ R2/Integrated Mech and Aiden Cracken on his Z-95…  Good Squadron overall…  And he wound up killing my Inquisitor eventually…  HAD to shoot Biggs for a lot of the first round or two, but I wound up simply shooting past them (movement past, NOT actual shooting)…  His Y-Wing ad a REALLY hard time landing shots the whole game, so it was a lot less of a target priority for me.  The Inquisitor and Omega Leader teamed up on Biggs to clear the field…  He wound up running two of his ships over a rock, so shooting unmodified shots at such high Agility is a very difficult thing…  And it worked out for me…  LONG game, we went to time, but I wound up clearing the field for a 100-32 I think?  Can’t really remember honestly…  But by then I was REALLY getting the hang of Echo and I REALLY like that ship…  I wound up crushing both of my TIE ships though…  So need to reattach the wings…  Think it highlighted the difficulty the Rebels have against Imperial Aces…  As it happened, this was a VERY fun/mild form, I suspect that a “real” Ace list would have torn them up a LOT quicker and frankly likely without losses… 

Game 3 was against Allan…  He brought 4 PS 4 Z-95’s and 2 PS 2 Z-95’s with Guidance Chips and Concussion Missiles…  Have to admit I was wiped out by this point and I really just rushed in to get to R1 and ride the Green Dice…  Win quick or die…  I dies J…  I wound up killing 3 of his ships, but an early blank on the Agility for Echo hurt a LOT…  Had I rolled even close to average…  Might have done a LOT better…  Because I closed so quickly he had a hard time getting Missiles off, but the weight of the Swarms Dice…  Well, enough 2-3 Dice attacks will eventually get through…  And my ships are NOT that sturdy.  So, the down side of the high variance build…  Eventually, the odds catch up to you and that’s that… 

All in all, fun event…  Only 6 people showed up though…  So, it might well have changed the results of the League a LOT more than otherwise…  Pretty sure Allan won, but I moved up with my strong placing…  Not going to win, but with the big tie for first after last month, I think I actually passed a number of them…  We’ll see I guess J… 

But Imperial Vets coming “soon” and between the Resistance pack and Wave 9…  a LOT of really exciting things coming to the game.  Should be interesting…

X-Wing League Squad... Something VERY different...

Apparently I had too much time on my hands wandering about today during my annual review, etc...  So, got to thinking that I might try something different...

EchoInqOmega (100)

"Echo" — TIE Phantom	30
Veteran Instincts	1
Fire-Control System	2
Rebel Captive	3
Advanced Cloaking Device	4
Ship Total: 40
The Inquisitor — TIE Advanced Prototype	25
Push the Limit	3
Proton Rockets	3
Autothrusters	2
TIE/v1	1
Ship Total: 34
"Omega Leader" — TIE/fo Fighter	21
Juke	2
Comm Relay	3
Ship Total: 26

So, NOT Whisper...   I just got to thinking that the weird movement that I could get out of this, AND with all of the Squadron coming in at PS 8...

Echo movement: /http://randolphw.github.io/echolocation/

That is a good little page showing all of the potential positions that you can get to with Echo decloaking and then moving...

So, NOT likely to win of course, but I think it'll be fun... Forgot, will likely take Recon Specialist over the Rebel Captive...  Just liking the Focus for Attack AND Defense...

League final this weekend, X-Wing

Looking like I might end up as the backup TO for the event this weekend…  Not a big deal, just wanting to play more games J…  So downloaded the software and familiarizing myself with it.  Good for the (hopefully) soon to be scheduled Gopher events, so I’ll be able to run it off my laptop.  JAR file, so it took a bit of convincing on my “slightly more secure” machine to actually run what is a likely “less secure” program.  But simple enough stuff once it comes up, and it more or less runs the pairings, etc… 

But in any case, it is Thursday and no Imperial Veterans…  So, unlikely to have the good Defenders available…  I’m not in the running for the League prizes, I think, unless a LOT of the previous top finishers simply do not show up…  In any case, I’m looking at either the S&V Aces or the Ghost and ? to fly…  Looking at the loaded out Y-Wing I think or Jake’s A-Wing…  Or maybe I fly an Imperial scrub fleet with my 3 “sort of” Aces?  Or the Decimator/Whisper list now that I have that option perhaps?

Listening to the Mynoc Squadron podcast (http://mynockpodcast.libsyn.com/) on Variance…  Good stuff, and I’m calling it Live or Die by the Green Dice”…  Pretty much the same thing, they are of course using the correct terms…  I am finding the “LoDbGD” to be a fun one…  I got the one game where I had the TIE/fo behind a rock and was able to fly away from a volley of 3 Concussion Missiles only down a Shield.  On the other hand, I’ve also blanked out on the Green Dice to lose a full health fully loaded out uber-TIE in a single shot…  So, while your dice are hot, you are unstoppable, and you might well win it all…  Or you might not win ANY games and lose it all.  Variance hits a lot harder on the Greens as the Red dice DO have one more “hit” result on the 8 side dice, and there are simply a LOT more ways to modify or re-roll the Attack to GET more results…  So, this is one area where X-Wing mirrors STAW I think albeit on a MUCH more in controlled way…  STAW you could easily get 8+ Hit results on an attack (Yes, I play Federation and Dominion, so fly Fleets that can do this regularly), and since there is almost no way to dodge that many hit…  Well, barring the silly attack cancellation BS…  But I digress J and might have interjected some of my opinions on why that particular game is failing locally…  But back to X-Wing…  Have to admit I have REALLY enjoyed flying the Imperials over lunches with Tony…  Win or lose, I get a MUCH better understanding of the ships and I think I have a decent handle on them now.  So, depending on who actually shows up, I might even fly my Imperial Blues out to see how badly I get smacked about…  I haven’t faced a Crack Swarm, but I do not think that is so much the worst matchup for my Blues…  U-Boats would be rough, but arc dodging and patient pack hunting evens that up…  Ace v Ace?  Well, whose dice are hot matters more than anything else…  So, while the odds are not the greatest, I do tend to play aggressively and make my own luck that way…  Not a lot of people are really prepared for that, and as I’ve said this game directly rewards you with the “Attack is just better” design philosophy…

Other X-Wing news, they have just announced Wave 9 (https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2016/6/2/stay-in-attack-formation/) ….  Looking like 4 REALLY good ships, and the ARC-170 from the Episodes 1-3, so Republic Era fighter getting a retrofit…  Have to admit this is one I have REALLY been looking forward to.  The wave is going to hurt as I’ll be getting ALL of the ships now that I play Imperials as well…  But the previews all look REALLY good so far…  S&V get 2 good ships that fill in some holes I think…  All in all, looking great.  So, excited for the future of this game…

Planning for League finals... X-Wing

So, looking over a few alternate lists…  I am suspecting that the Imperial Veterans will NOT be here by next weekend (5 June for the event)…  I have a few “neat” builds I’ll look into flying if it is out, but…

That leaves me with a “fun” Imperial build, the Rebel “Bowling Ball” list or a S&V Aces build of sorts…

S&V Aces 1 (100)

Talonbane Cobra — Kihraxz Fighter	28
Predator	3
Cloaking Device	2
Engine Upgrade	4
Ship Total: 37
Zuckuss — G-1A Starfighter	28
Veteran Instincts	1
Outlaw Tech	2
Fire-Control System	2
Tractor Beam	1
Engine Upgrade	4
Mist Hunter	0
Ship Total: 38
N'Dru Suhlak — Z-95 Headhunter	17
Lone Wolf	2
Concussion Missiles	4
Glitterstim	2
Guidance Chips	0
Ship Total: 25

This list looks like fun…  I’ve been flying Cobrabane’s ship for a while and it can be effective…  37 points is pretty steep though, and I’m not sure about it, but the EU making the R1 shot more likely is nice…  The Cloak I HAD run with the Stygium Particle Accelerator, making the Cloaking Device a 4 point upgrade…  Effective while it kept working, and the Evade token was nice, but…  This is only 2 points more for something that ALWAYS works…  Zuckuss looks like another solid platform.  A S&V B-Wing really.  Potential for a 5 Dice attack at R1, barrel roll and boost…  Outlaw Tech to get me a Focus when I have to do a Red maneuver…  Looks solid(ish)…  And N-Dru…  I swap out Concussion Missiles for a single (I hope) 5 Dice Attack with re-rolls and Focus conversion along with the 2 blanks rolling over to hits…  Should hit solid at Range 2-3…  The Cluster Missiles WOULD get me the two 4 Dice attacks, but that also doubles up the Evade dice…  I have seen enough of the 4-5 Dice attacks get that one through on a hard to hit target that I would prefer to minimize the variance/luck factor…  One solid hit then he peels off to harass a flank for as long as he lives basically…  Per my usual list building, it is a VERY aggressive list based on the philosophy of: close fast, hit hard and if they are dead, you will not need to worry about defending against their counter…  So, “Klingon” basically, or per my call sign “Garau”.

For the Rebels I have:

HeraSabineJake (160)

Hera Syndulla — VCX-100	40
Accuracy Corrector	3
Autoblaster Turret	2
Intelligence Agent	1
Nien Nunb	1
Ghost	0
Ship Total: 47
Sabine Wren — Attack Shuttle	21
Adaptability	0
Autoblaster Turret	2
Phantom	0
Ship Total: 23
Jake Farrell — A-Wing	24
Outmaneuver	3
Chardaan Refit	-2
Push the Limit	3
Autothrusters	2
A-Wing Test Pilot	0
Ship Total: 30
Gold Squadron Pilot — Y-Wing	18
Twin Laser Turret	6
Proton Torpedoes	4
Extra Munitions	2
Guidance Chips	0
Ship Total: 30
Wes Janson — X-Wing	29
Adaptability	0
R4-D6	1
Integrated Astromech	0
Ship Total: 30

With the Ghost/Phantom being fixed at 70 points…  The choice is of the remaining 3 for the 30 point fill as it were…  OR I could drop the extra Torpedoes on the Y-Wing to make it a Stressbot…  But in any case, the Ghost is meant to roll in fast, seeing a Dial and choosing where to go for the best shot wither with the Primary or the AB Turret…  The Turret would then potentially get ANOTHER shot at the end, so in most cases I can erase an Ace with that alone…  Wes is “neat”, but at the end of the day, still just a T-65 X-Wing…  Was obsolete in the original movie/game.  Good Pilot though and a nice trick for token removal, but…  Y-Wings are “OK” at best now, I suspect they’ll go extinct when the new IV set drops…  The A-Wing is a good one, but still just a 2 Dice attack on a VERY fragile frame.  When luck is with me, he does REALLY well, if not…  Well…

IF the IV set hits this next week, then I fly:

SteleRyadOmega (100)

Maarek Stele (TIE Defender) — TIE Defender	35
Predator	3
Ion Cannon	3
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II	1
TIE/D	0
Ship Total: 42
Countess Ryad — TIE Defender	34
Push the Limit	3
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II	1
TIE/x7	-2
Ship Total: 36
"Omega Leader" — TIE/fo Fighter	21
Crack Shot	1
Ship Total: 22

Tricks and Defenders…  Should be fun.  I suspect that the big “power” lists will still be a challenge, and I frankly do NOT look forward to flying against Tyler’s Crack Swarm as I think he is the best I’ve ever seen with that…  But, per usual I am going in with the attitude of I get to play at least 3 games, THAT is a win for me…  If I win, great, but…

Looking at running a tournament over at the Gopher at some point, need to schedule that out with Dave, but again being flexible on it and not really stressing myself, it will be fun I suspect…