X-Wing Wave 9 soon?

So, two of the official previews are now up for X-Wing Wave 9…  Were I an optimist I might guess that there would be some at Gen Con perhaps there might be some there…  But that IS a bit of a squeeze time wise.  Doesn’t matter for me of course as I’ll not be there in any case.  But the fact that they are going into the detailed previews this soon does lead me to believe that Wave 9 is closer rather than later.  Some of the upcoming upgrades are REALLY looking good.  But then I’m one of the weird players who does like to try out a lot of different things…  I think the question will be just how many of the Wave 9 ships will I be getting.

The Mandalorian ships are REALLY close to my play style.  Fast, aggressive and all about Offence.  Their Defense is actually quite good, but it is only really good if they are moving fast and in close to the enemy… 

The TIE/sf looks like it will be yet another part of a TIE swarm, and I am guessing I’ll be able to fit one in with say Defenders or the Phantom…  Neat, but probably more of  gimmick than  something overpoweringly effective…  But we’ll see.

The ARC-170?  I suspect the same…  Neat, and a lot of fun builds are shaping up…  Might be fun, but I see this as more “interesting” things than overpowered ones.  The Shadowcaster looks to be the same…  We’ll see I guess

Titan AAR and Rebel X-Wing builds...

50 point Team event @ Titan AAR

Was a pretty fun one, 8 players showed up with the majority being Imperials…  Will and I I know played S&V with Will being N’Dru’s Z-95 and a Y-Wing TLT build…  I flew the Dengar option…  A few TIE swarms, both Crack and normal…  Tyler flew a TIE Defender loaded out and a basic TIE/fo…  But in the game we had together, we were plagued by a complete lack of Agility dice on our part and his Defender melted to a series of Range 3 shots from basic TIEs…  If you can’t evade it, even the 2 Dice attacks from a TIE will eventually win out…  Game went to time with my Dengar down to 3 Hull left and them with two basic TIEs (a 12 and 13 point version) for an actual draw…  Each side had 25 points left on the table J…  Happens when I get 3 hits for 3 turns and they roll perfect Defense each time…  It is a dice game after all…  Fun time, got in some good games with good folks...  Back to a more competitive League next month... 

Going forward, I have my Juke Box Heroes with TIE Defenders, a good fun list…  Looking at a few Rebel builds as well.

Unnamed Squadron (100)

Hera Syndulla — VCX-100	40
Accuracy Corrector	3
Twin Laser Turret	6
Nien Nunb	1
Intelligence Agent	1
Ghost	0
Ship Total: 51
Sabine Wren — Attack Shuttle	21
Adaptability	0
Autoblaster Turret	2
"Chopper"	0
Phantom	0
Ship Total: 23
Jake Farrell — A-Wing	24
Lone Wolf	2
Chardaan Refit	-2
Adaptability	0
Autothrusters	2
A-Wing Test Pilot	0
Ship Total: 26

With the FAQ the TLT looks a LOT better on the Ghost…  And it comes down to Accuracy Corrector, Sensor Jammer or Reinforced Deflectors…  I tend to go a “bit” more aggressive (hence “Garau” as my call sign) so AC is my preference in general for a ship with no real Defense in any case.  Might as well go all Offence and Defend by killing them faster and hopefully first…  Wren on the Attack Shuttle is really only there as a last ditch effort, I think having the end of turn extra Turret shot will be better overall…  Though I could swap the TLT for an Autoblaster Turret and the Engine Upgrade for the extra movement…  THAT might well be a very rude surprise for a lot of folks…  Change it from a “Stand Off and Circle” sort of thing to an aggressive move to contact and obliterate them….  The A-Wing is a solid contender, not bad, but still quite fragile for my taste at least…  Still, having it run a flank and threaten say, a Shuttle with the Emperor on it?  Seeing that particular combo a LOT of course, and so…  Jake really shines with PTL, but points are tight, so…

Unnamed Squadron (100)

Dash Rendar — YT-2400	36
Push the Limit	3
Heavy Laser Cannon	7
Kanan Jarrus	3
Engine Upgrade	4
Outrider	5
Ship Total: 58
Corran Horn — E-Wing	35
Veteran Instincts	1
Fire-Control System	2
R2-D2	4
Ship Total: 42

The other Rebel build I am looking at is a lot more like what I started the game with…  With those ships being the first I got for the game as gifts from my wonderful, understanding wife…  They are still among my favorites.  The E-Wing really does need a bit of help these days though, and I suspect that a Rebel Veterans sort of thing to shore up the E-Wing and X-Wing might well be a very good thing…  But in any case, I think running Corran along a flank and heading Dash into the Asteroids will be a good thing…  Dare them to come in and try to get into Range 1 among the rocks while I dodge and take HLC shots.  The E-Wing is really there for the end game and the double tap option to kill vulnerable things on the way.  The YT-2400 will likely NOT make it to the end, it simply melts too quickly in the modern game.  It is better than a lot of big ships, but at the end of the day, 2 Agility, even trying for Range and Rocks…  Well, while good not quite as scary as it was in the beginning…  But still, a LOT of options here for me and the way I DO fly…  Seeing a LOT of things I think this will be able to deal with in the local Meta…

50 point X-wing team event at Titan tomorrow...

Looking like I WILL be going to the Titan event as dropping my youngest off at her camp will actually end in the same time frame… 

Unnamed Squadron (50)

Dash Rendar — YT-2400	36
Lone Wolf	2
Heavy Laser Cannon	7
"Chopper"	0
Outrider	5
Ship Total: 50

Pretty simple…  Dash roams in and zips about the rocks…  I might swap in PTL and the Mangler cannon, but that does drop off the potential damage.

A better one might be:

Unnamed Squadron (50)

Dengar — JumpMaster 5000	33
Veteran Instincts	1
K4 Security Droid	3
Unhinged Astromech	1
Punishing One	12
Ship Total: 50

THIS one might be more interesting…    Especially with the FAQ boost he gets…

50 points IS an odd one though, the Defenders are 30-40 point ships or I’d fly one of those…  Most of the good Aces are in the same range, so not sure what I’ll see…

Jobs vs Careers and what to fly next for X-Wing

Jobs vs Careers

So, had a long chat with some folks who used to work wit/for me about this and how it applies to our current situations.  To me, a job is what you are doing now.  So, nothing changes more or less, static, etc…  You know what the expectations are, and the only real changes are evolution like OS changes, etc…  On the other hand, a career is all about change.  I see a career as a series of jobs across your “lifetime” at that company or in that industry. 

The current organization we work for is fairly rigid…  And when I say that, we have our jobs and we can add things onto them, but we still need to keep doing our original job.  No mobility at all.  And the leadership is fairly desperate to KEEP it as a rigid structure and while we HAVE a promotion policy and structure set up for it, we have yet to use it.  Some of this is due to the customer expectations over time with Departments really expecting the same person to be the IT support forever.  I think that is partially our fault since the organization grew somewhat organically and imbedded within the Departments.  In some ways this is good, but it does put us in “hold until relieved” mode more or less forever.  So, there was and to some extent still is  a great deal of fear about the University’s central IT organization absorbing us…  Not as much a fear now, and frankly with me coming originally a “corporate” background really never WAS a fear for me.  But I suspect this is a thing we need to change and “manage customer expectations” to allow our IT pros to have mobility and to actually KEEP some of our own people here for an actual career rather than just have them here for a job…  Not sure this IS something that ATLAS can change with the people here now, and so I suspect that we will change involuntarily.  Either we collapse as a few more folks leave now that hiring has opened up here at the University or we merge in some other IT organizations or get merged into the central one…

Looking at X-Wing: 

Juke Box Hero (99)

Countess Ryad — TIE Defender	34
Juke	2
Stealth Device	3
TIE/x7	-2
Ship Total: 37
Maarek Stele (TIE Defender) — TIE Defender	35
Juke	2
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II	1
TIE/x7	-2
Ship Total: 36
"Omega Leader" — TIE/fo Fighter	21
Juke	2
Comm Relay	3
Ship Total: 26

Simple enough build…  Juke is POWERFUL.  And this gets me a bunch of hits through “OK” defenses…  Hard to take down Aces, but with this much Juke here a few should get through and things like Stele’s Crit ability could be fatal.  Fun to play as well…

Looking at going back to basics too…  I started the game with Dash, and I may well bring that back.  That and I like the Ghost…  So, that might be where I fly for a bit…

Gopher in July X-Wing AAR...

Gopher tournament AAR…  Special thanks to Dave for letting us take over his store for the afternoon/evening!

Well, had 10 people show up, so pretty good turn out for a holiday weekend.  Simple enough 3 round event, loads of new folks, but most had played STAW or a bit of X-Wing…  Loads of random prizes to go around like Target Locks, Ion Tokens and alternate art cards…  First event with the Imperial Veterans out and FFG released a FAQ yesterday so there were a few changes…

Winning build was Allan’s VT-49 (Admiral/Emperor)/Whisper (Recon, VI, Adv Cloak, Adv Sensors)…  Solid one. Pretty powerful for a limited field.

Game one was against Bryce, he flew a S&V Boba Fett, Y-Wing and Z-95…  Z died quickly, then I chased down the Firespray and then the Y…  Was a learning experience for him, first event, and he did not do too bad…  The TIE Defenders are just a lot better than the older ships that are not kitted out with good equipment…

Game two was against Alllan’s squadron J…  Wound up bumping Omega Leader into his VT-49 and that was that…  5 hits and a bad Agility roll meant I was down a ship from the beginning…  The Emperor’s ability is REALLY powerful but it came down to the 2 ships of his hitting hard enough to wear through the Defenders…  I was pretty happy how my ships actually flew, forgot about the Stealth Device on the Countess’ ship of course, might have made a big difference…  And of course flying the FO too aggressively, it is an end game ship, hard to kill late in the game, not a first striker/jouster…

Third game against Ken…  He had the Falcon with Chewie, a naked Y-Wing and Poe’s T-70…  Not bad, it went on for quite a while until I crashed my Defenders into Range 1 of the YT-1300…  The Countess had been chasing it for a bit, chewing into the shields a bit and into the Hull…  The 2 Defenders hitting together killed it quickly…  Poe lost shields to Omega Leader and then the Defenders closed for the kill…  The Y was last, but it too fell…

Have to say, the Countess’ ability was HUGE.  Maneuverability being key.  Steele’s hit twice, but only once was it actually important…  Not sure I’ll stick with him.  Was OK, but not really THAT good…  Will see what else might fit…  But they are really fun ships to fly…

Gopher Tournament tomorrow... Now with extra Defenders!

So, looking at running a tournament at the Gopher tomorrow…  Should be a fun one, nothing high pressure….  New FAQ hit today, and goes into effect as of a few days ago…  AND Imperial Veterans are here!  So, I have my Red Defender to fly with my Blue one…

Looks like I’ll fly this:

CountessSteeleOmegaLdr (100)

Countess Ryad — TIE Defender	34
Juke	2
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II	1
TIE/x7	-2
Ship Total: 35
Maarek Stele (TIE Defender) — TIE Defender	35
Push the Limit	3
Stealth Device	3
TIE/x7	-2
Ship Total: 39
"Omega Leader" — TIE/fo Fighter	21
Juke	2
Comm Relay	3
Ship Total: 26

Been practicing with the Countess for a bit now, and that is a fun ship to fly…  I am finding the Defender a LOT more my speed than the Interceptor or even the Phantom…  The Phantom IS a lot of fun to fly, but it is really fragile.  Hits like a hammer, but it is not that hard to take off the table with modern stuff.  If you catch it without cloak, it only has 2 Agility…  But the Defender has 3 all the time and with the x7 title?  Almost always has an Evade token…  And Juke pairs REALLY well here for a bit of extra Offence…   I tried the /D with an Ion Cannon, but…  Well, flying against Large based ships, not nearly so useful, and the x7 seems to be the way I’ll go…

TIE Defender builds for the weekend...

Looking at the TIE Defenders…  Got in a test game with the Countess today and she was actually far better than I expected.  Note, with PS 5, her ability to reactively K-Turn was “less useful”.  NOT useless as the Green 5 K-turn cleared a Large Base ship and got me behind it to hunt it down…  But unless people are using the “Party Bus” build or the basic U-Boats at PS 4 I’m probably moving first in any case…  Seeing a LOT of Ace types here so…  But the X7 title was REALLY good.  Not thinking that I’d be using Ordnance on the Defenders much…  The /D with the Cannons will be a good thing I think…  But giving the Defender the free Evade for the 3+ Speed maneuvers is HUGE.  In a 1 on 1 fight, not having to use PTL to get the Focus and Evade on top of the 3 Agility dice… 

So guessing I’ll proxy the second Defender in to get used to the other system setup…  List gets REALLY tight after the 2 big ships, but I am finding the TIE Defender to be about the perfect ship for me in the current meta…  The TIE Advanced Prototype and the TIE Interceptor are both good, fast ships, but REALLY fragile.  Having played AGAINST Aces a lot I am familiar with how they die, and I’m not quite skilled enough to avoid the traps with them myself…  a blocked Soonter Fel is a dead one…  With the Defenders though….  I can usually survive the first hard hit and still get in a few more turns…

Unnamed Squadron (100)

Countess Ryad — TIE Defender	34
Juke	2
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II	1
TIE/x7	-2
Ship Total: 35
Maarek Stele (TIE Defender) — TIE Defender	35
Predator	3
Ion Cannon	3
TIE/D	0
Ship Total: 41
"Omega Leader" — TIE/fo Fighter	21
Comm Relay	3
Ship Total: 24

REALLY hoping the Vets expansion is in before the weekend…