X-Wing at Gen Con...

Well, have to decide what I play next Friday at Gen Con.  I have essentially narrowed it to 2 lists.  The TIE Reaper, probably Maj Vermeil, Ryad and either the Inquisitor (more likely) or Soonter Fel (trading for the Imp Aces pack, if it arrives in time…) would be the first one.  The “Firestorm Special” being the second one.  CPT Nym and Ten Numb with Proton Bombs, Harpoons and the like just being chucked forward…  After playing the Inq/Reaper/Ryad list a few times, I think that is the one I will go with.  I have some concerns with the Firestorm list against a swarm(ish) list…  As the number of ships on the field have increased, the ability to erase one Ship in the Alpha Strike is no longer THAT important.  When there were at most 3 Ships on the other side it was key, but…  So, the 3 ship list with two Ace(ish) ships and Maj Vermeil in the TIE Reaper.  Now, I got burned BADLY in Bloomington with the inability to deliver a finishing blow to just kill things.  The Major hits AMAZINGLY hard.  I think the math works out to better than 85% to get 3 Hits on the 3 Dice Attack, 75% of 4 Hits a Range 1 I think…  Mind, this is on the target of the optimized prototype and that it will have no tokens of its own.  Since he rolls in and hits with the Jam action first, that should strip all of the tokens.  Then they do the Fencik/Plank thing where one hits the target, strips shields and grant the TL to the Maj…  Then the now vulnerable target gets hit again with the super accurate main guns…

So, bringing this:

InqRyadReaper3 (100)

Major Vermeil — TIE Reaper	26
Adaptability	0
Director Krennic	5
ISB Slicer	2
Advanced Ailerons	0
Ship Total: 33
Countess Ryad — TIE Defender	34
Push the Limit	3
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II	1
TIE/x7	-2
Ship Total: 36
The Inquisitor — TIE Advanced Prototype	25
Push the Limit	3
Autothrusters	2
TIE/v1	1
Ship Total: 31

Maj Vermeil drops his PS to 5 in order to shoot at the same time as each other…  With the PS in this edition being so wildly varied…  Well, basically, you have PS 9+ or you do not.  I do not.  So, I really do not care about the difference between PS 5 and 6…  So, solid Squadron altogether.  Ryad has token stacks for days, and with 4 (!) Shields she is really quite difficult to kill in the time allotted…  The Inquisitor is just such a solid ship in this edition…  I use him as a flanking sniper.  And of course I can actually put the Optimized Prototype on ANY of my ships as they are all able to meet the conditions.  I suppose if there is TLT spam on the other side, the Inquisitor might be the better Prototype choice.  But all three are solid choices.  And it will be fun to fly I think…  Frankly not anything that I feel like is just stupidly broken like say, the bomb chucking of the Firestorm list…

X-Wing Bloomington AAR and what to bring to Gen Con?

So, went over to Bloomington for the X-Wing SC…  Last year it was huge, capped out at 64 players and took over the whole store.  This one, there were 14 players.  A lot of folks I knew, and it was all pretty laid back and relaxed as we all acknowledged that v1 of the game is dying and we are all mostly waiting on v2 to be released this Fall… 

I wound up flying:

FelVaderReaper (99)

Scarif Base Pilot — TIE Reaper	22
Director Krennic	5
ISB Slicer	2
Lightweight Frame	2
Advanced Ailerons	0
Ship Total: 31
Soontir Fel — TIE Interceptor	27
Push the Limit	3
Multi-spectral Camouflage	1
Autothrusters	2
Royal Guard TIE	0
Ship Total: 33
Darth Vader — TIE Advanced	29
Veteran Instincts	1
Advanced Targeting Computer	1
Engine Upgrade	4
TIE/x1	0
Ship Total: 35

First game was streamed on https://www.twitch.tv/beergeekgamer So, given to understand Johannes and The Zack Matthews (Carolina Krayts) were commentating…  Lost Fel to a single Range 3 Harpoon as I rolled zero paint for my first 12 Agility dice…  Then Vader took apart Patrick’s list.  He ran Kulda, Nym and Jostero with the Harpoons, but Nym had the ABT in place of the normal TLT…  So, this was the first time the Jam action also paid off in a huge way for me.  Roll in, take away the Target Lock, then just pile on another token to eat the next attempt to TL or Focus…  Meant he was running Kulda on naked dice with 1 Agility while my Reaper chased with 3 dice, usually modified.  That only ends one way.  Mean time Vader showed the PS 10 Nym that PS 11 on something that does 2 Actions and can double reposition is just WAY too good.  The traditional defense being the TLT threatening the 360⁰ arc, so no Arc Dodging mattered not being present showed why those were at the time necessary. 

So, got paired up against another good player I had played there several times before…  Essentially a mirror match with his Reaper having only Palpatine on it.  This will come up later.  He had Vader and the Inquisitor kitted out.  So, slight difference, but essentially the same list.  I hunted down and killed his Palp carrier while he killed my Reaper…  Got his Inquisitor down to 1 Hull, but just couldn’t kill it.  So 31-32 loss.

Game three put me up against Will with his 5 X-Wings.  PS 2 Rookies with the Flight Assist Astromech/Integrated Astromech and the Renegade Refit/S-Foil upgrades…  Another REALLY long game.  He flew his formation really well, I split Vader off to try and draw them out of position so I could crash in and take them one at a time.  I got lucky and did something unexpected, a 3 Bank away followed by the boost/barrel roll to dodge 4/5 arcs.  Fell and the Reaper finally made it into position to start working the X-Wings over…  Well, Vader dodged what he could over the next few turns, but eventually even he dies…  I had killed one of his and all the rest were on fire…  NO shields left, most had kicked their Droids to dodge the killing Critical Hit, but time expired before I could actually kill a second one…  So 20-35 loss…  Seeing a theme here.  Games run to time and there is a lack of Damage to finish off ships.  So, pretty exhausting to play over a longer event…

Game 4 was against Kevin, he had 2 Reapers and Vader…  Again, another theme.  Tyler played this one as well and he won it out.  The Jam action on a pretty darn good Ship is VERY powerful.  Thinking my exhaustion caught up with me, I put the Advanced Prototype on Fel…  Stripped a LOT of Shields, but once again failed to actually kill things.  Think I finally got his Palp carrier off the table, but it was a bad one…

So, with Gen Con coming up in 2 weeks…  The Reaper is a keeper.  I feel like the TIE Defender would be something to slot in for Vader…  Fel was fun maybe?  Or the Inquisitor.  Those 2 are more or less interchangeable, but I lean more toward Fel just to have something different.  So, something like:

FelRyadReaper2 (100)

Scarif Base Pilot — TIE Reaper	22
Director Krennic	5
ISB Slicer	2
Advanced Ailerons	0
Ship Total: 29
Soontir Fel — TIE Interceptor	27
Push the Limit	3
Stealth Device	3
Autothrusters	2
Royal Guard TIE	0
Ship Total: 35
Countess Ryad — TIE Defender	34
Push the Limit	3
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II	1
TIE/x7	-2
Ship Total: 36

No bid though and PS 9 is…  Quaint.  So many things moving after Fel…  The Countess in the Defender however is going to be a beast…  Token stacks for days, adding in the ability to strip Shields and give her a fourth Shield.  The inquisitor slots right in, and might be a better choice…  Working a trade for the Imperial Aces pack for some of my old STAW stuff, so that might be the kicker as to which I actually bring… 

X-Wing: ISB Slicer FTW?

Ok, an “Oh Crap” moment with some of the new X-Wing stuff…  The ISB Slicer crew card from the Reaper pack.  It allows you to add a Jam token to a ship that is at Range 1 of the Ship you hit with a Jam.  Now, when I read that the first time I was reading it I read it as if it were Second Edition and Range 1 is NOT the ship you are measuring from…  Forgot this is First Edition and Range 1 includes the ship from which you are measuring…  So, Jam with the ISB Slicer and you can simply slap 2 (!!!) Jam tokens on the target.  EDIT:  No, not able to put two tokens on the ship, but you can eat the one  token then apply a second Jam...  The Jam eats the Target Lock, Focus or Evade tokens…  Or you can hit a target that has the TL on it, and prevent the NEXT action after it removes that lock…  Should be a decent defense against say Miranda locking up one of my Aces while I try to roll in and hit her hard…

So, modified my list to:

FelVaderReaper (99)

Scarif Base Pilot — TIE Reaper	22
Director Krennic	5
ISB Slicer	2
Lightweight Frame	2
Advanced Ailerons	0
Ship Total: 31
Soontir Fel — TIE Interceptor	27
Push the Limit	3
Multi-spectral Camouflage	1
Autothrusters	2
Royal Guard TIE	0
Ship Total: 33
Darth Vader — TIE Advanced	29
Veteran Instincts	1
Advanced Targeting Computer	1
Engine Upgrade	4
TIE/x1	0
Ship Total: 35

I’d like to bring the Reaper up to the PS 6/8 one, but that would mean I drop Vader down to say, the Inquisitor…  Doable I suppose…  Will have to test…

Gopher X-Wing SC AAR and looking forward a bit in the game and life...

 So, there were 11 players who showed up and therefore a four round, no cut to top.  Worked out well for me as I played the Kylo/Whisper list that is mentally exhausting after a few games.  Wound up 2-2 with only the loss to Tony’s “Final Form” (Miranda/Nym) list being one I felt I had no chance in…  My final game I missed a trigger to switch over the Target lock to get in a solid shot to finish off a ship and secure the victory…  Lost by 1 point of MoV (46-47), so annoyed with myself, but got the Range Rulers I was gunning for.  Overall, pretty good crowd with 5 coming in from Bloomington and 6 locals.  Seemed like everyone had fun and there was very little “ill behavior” one might expect from a competitive event.  But unlike MtG or some other games, not really money on the table.  None of the prizes are particularly valuable in and of themselves so tends to be a much more relaxed crowd. 

Game wise, I faced a 4 ship Imp build in game one.  With my PS 9 Aces just dodging everything, it was just a case of the Aces outclassing the lesser Pilots.  NOT the player, Chris did an excellent job flying but the writing was on the wall from the beginning with both of my ships being able to simply move out of the way and flank at will…

Game 2 was against the Miranda/Nym build flown by Tony…  Well, going in, I think this is something like a 90/10 split for him…  Neither of my ships can handle being bombed and they both hate the high PS Harpoon Missile…  Ironically, the TLT is simply not a threat against my ships.  Well, eventually per usual the Agility (Green) dice WILL betray you, but overall if I can get it to Miranda, I can keep to Range 3 or away from her to stay alive.  But of course the PS 10 being above mine meant I had to correctly guess every time where Nym was going.  And with repositioning it is simply impossible, so…  Had Damage on Miranda and Nym was down to a single Hull…  Was a single roll away from him dying to an Asteroid, but alas it was not to be and Tony played it well for the 100-0 win…  These 2 lists (his AND mine) are both excellent illustrations of why v2 is needed, and with half points, neither of us could points fortress and win…

Game 3 I played one of the Bloomington lads I have played a number of times.  Honestly I do not remember what he flew, but it was another one where I had to arc dodge and stay away…  Win, but exhausting to play it out.  ALMOST went to time until I finally caught his last ship and won.

Set me up for the battle of the 2-1’s with another excellent player from Bloomington…  He flew PS 10, 9 and 4 X-Wings (Wes, Wedge and one of the new ones, 2 tubes?) along with AP1 in the Shuttle.  Brutally effective list, and it was only because the T-65 chassis is simply outclassed in this edition (even after the “fix”) that I was able to stay in the game.  He hunted down and killed Kylo, but Kylo took out the PS 10 Wes on the way out.  Turns out that was the MoV…  Whisper was dancing around doing damage and finally killed AP1 and had 2 Tubes down to a single Hull…  Wedge was hurt badly as well…  But missed the trigger to swap her TL over to 2 Tubes and a 5 Dice attack that SHOULD have killed him netted me only 3 hits, leaving him at a single Hull…  Ah well, was an excellent game and well played on both sides.

So, having my Templates, I am honestly less concerned about doing well from here out…  So, I am faced with the choice of Fett/Fenn or an Imperial Ace build I threw together:

Imperial Aces (98)

Scarif Base Pilot — TIE Reaper	22
Director Krennic	5
Inspiring Recruit	1
Lightweight Frame	2
Advanced Ailerons	0
Ship Total: 30
Soontir Fel — TIE Interceptor	27
Push the Limit	3
Multi-spectral Camouflage	1
Autothrusters	2
Royal Guard TIE	0
Ship Total: 33
Darth Vader — TIE Advanced	29
Veteran Instincts	1
Advanced Targeting Computer	1
Engine Upgrade	4
TIE/x1	0
Ship Total: 35

   Seems like a fun “Ace” build, and without the crutch that Emperor Palpatine is for the Empire at the moment…  Will be a tough one to fly though, and I feel like I have to finish painting up my ships for it to keep the “Imperial Blue” theme going.  Fun, but another Ace build where I will live or die by my ability to dodge shots.  Might be one for Titan (Champaign) or even Mattoon…

Otherwise I think I go with:

Mandelorians 1 (97)

Boba Fett (Scum) — Firespray-31	39
Veteran Instincts	1
Ion Cannon	3
Dengar	3
Harpoon Missiles	4
Glitterstim	2
Bomblet Generator	3
Engine Upgrade	4
Andrasta	0
Ship Total: 59
Fenn Rau — Protectorate Starfighter	28
Push the Limit	3
Proton Torpedoes	4
Autothrusters	2
Concord Dawn Protector	1
Ship Total: 38

This list is LIKELY a “Gatekeeper” list as it has some REALLY good answers for things that my Kylo/whisper list simply did not…  For instance Nym/Miranda?  I have Initiative, so I move after his Nym and can either line up the Harpoon shot unanswered or rush in to Range 1…  I have a better ship there I think, and I will kill him.  Yes, he’ll hurt me and maybe even kill me, but Fenn Rau should be able then to kill off Miranda.  PS matters, and Fenn hits SO hard when played aggressively…  And as it happens, I DO play that ship hyper aggressively… 

I feel like my Firestorm list is a John Madden list.  “Just win, baby” being the quote I remember him for…  And winning dirty is still winning.  I do not think I would have fun playing that, but…  Gen Con?  Maybe.  Dunno, will see what happens this weekend at the Red Raccoon SC in Bloomington…  I suspect that will be a MUCH more intense experience as it was last year.  Most likely the closest I will have to a major event like Nationals at Gen Con…  Or is It Continentals?  Whatever, big event FFG is putting on and the LAST one for version 1 of the game…

Work wise?  Interviews last week, but for positions I know/suspect to already be filled.  Eh, you miss 100% of the shots you do not take, and I gave it my best shot.  Resume is tweaked and I feel like it is MUCH more focused on what I am applying for these days.  One more I applied for that I think is more of an actual search.  Am at something of a disadvantage being outside of that particular organization, but I think I would be a decent fit there and could certainly do the job.  At this point hoping to make it past the first obstacle and get an interview.  Getting in some “practice” interviews has been great and I think I am doing a LOT better there.  Previously I was “highly technical” on both my resume as well as my answers.  Answering the questions quickly, concisely and accurately…  But that is NOT what they are looking for in a Manager or Director…  Lessons learned, and frankly I do not entirely think that I was ready previously…  Finished my MS, got more experience and coaching and I do think I am completely ready at this point.

X-Wing meta thoughts, updated post Wave 14...

Mkay, so I wrote up a long post about what I THOUGHT the Meta was going forward…  And then Wave 14 hit and there ARE some big changes.  Small wave, only 2 packs, but the things it contains…  The X-Wing swarms are a thing now.  You CAN get 5 of them in, and either Crack Shot to erase an Evade AFTER dice Modification (Another thing I am looking forward to v2 for, hopefully the death is this sort of silliness, or at least changing it to Bullseye Arc only) or Flight Assist Astromechs to have extra actions to zip about the board and give every X-Wing the extra survivability of the “Integrated Astromech” card that allows you to kick the droid off of the ship to cancel a Critical or Hit (after you see what it is).  So, pretty good… I expect to see at least a few X-Wing swarms (or swarm like builds) as the Springfield event was won by one and I know some of the locals are play testing it…  It is solid, and I suspect a good choice.

The other major ship is the TIE Reaper.  With the Jam action, so ANOTHER new action added to the game in its twilight stage…  What could possibly go wrong as they clearly checked out on the game quite some time ago and playtesting has been “less” than we came to expect earlier in the game’s cycle.  No real chance of a FAQ, and it is pretty powerful.  Range 1, Range 2 if in Arc, so can actually hit things a ways out.  Not any IMMEDIATE results, but it eats TL/Focus or Evade tokens OR prevents you from getting another one until it does eat a token.  For my “Ace” type builds where I rely on Actions, this is going to be rough.  Have seen a few builds, and I know one of the Locals has simply replaced the old Palpatine Shuttle with a Reaper…  The Ship itself is FAST.  The pre maneuver move throws it a long way if you are not ready for it, and aside from the Jam, there is an Evade action…  This along with the Agility of the Ship it should be FAR more survivable than the old Shuttle.  So, expecting to see a few of these at the events, and I suspect they will do well.

The card I am likely to use was in the Reaper pack…  Director Krennic.  Broken, silly and stupid (even the Devs have admitted such).  

My likely list is:

KyloWhisperKrennic (93)

"Whisper" — TIE Phantom	32
Veteran Instincts	1
Sensor Jammer	4
Director Krennic	5
Advanced Cloaking Device	4
Ship Total: 46
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

The Krennic crew card gives my Whisper the following effects:  A Shield Upgrade, a Fire Control System, and an additional automatic Damage effect to strip Shields.  Whisper really needs those first two effects to be top tier I think.  2 Hull and 2 Shields is a bit low these days, so the extra Shield is really nice.  FCS, since you lack the TL action on the card is REALLY nice.  In my two test games so far, Whisper is an absolute monster loaded out like that.  I might swap the Sensor Jammer over to Advanced Sensors to get silly with the actions…  Cloak, then 3-4K if needed.  But more likely, just not being blocked with a Barrel Roll pre move, or a Focus/Cloak if needed…  Dunno.  The stupid high Defensive stacking I get by changing 1 Hit to a Focus on every incoming shot makes it REALLY hard to take her out over the longer run.  And until v2 of the game, Whisper has a 4 Dice Primary…  Dropping a Blank/Focus result to take a Shield is huge.  As I am chasing down something, I will have the TL after the first shot, taking Shields if needed every shot to keep up with say, Regeneration and just push through Damage.  I suppose I could “remove” shields from say, Quickdraw or another hard to hit Ace since it is NOT Damage were I say, worried about the revenge shot from QD…  Might hope to both roll REALLY well or REALLY poorly and take away one of the Hits/Crits to do only the Shield.  Not technically Damage, so it does not provoke the return shot?  Not sure about that, I don’t use QD myself, but something to check I think…  Edit:  No, it is worded as "When QD loses a Shield", so the obvious loophole was covered...  But in any case with the most common build and that having Expertise and PS 9, my 7 point bid guarantees that I can make him move first and HOPEFULLY dodge the Arc…  Whisper is just REALLY maneuverable, and Kylo with this setup is just almost unblockable.  I have finally figured out how I need to fly the Silencer.  I was so used to flying Fenn Rau in his Fang Fighter where you have no choice but play hyper aggressively (like a Mandalorian by an odd chance) and you are well rewarded for doing so…  The Silencer plays more like the old SFB “Klingon Saber Dance” where I fly at range, dodging where I can (and I can usually), just wear them down with the cuts before committing to a rush into close range for the kill…  Maybe, probably just the dance.  I have to keep the goal in mind, and with the scoring for this game not penalizing a bid, those 7-9 points I am short in this list are actually banked should I lose only 1 of my 2 ships…  If I lose both, then I give up the full 100 points of course, but they’ve earned it I suspect… 

Had some issues with Stress, but nothing TOO bad…  I am concerned about the Ghost/Fenn match up, but kill Fenn to force the issue.  Frankly, either of my ships should be able to solo the Ghost and the Shuttle when I remove the support ship, so trading should it be necessary will be fine.  So, a few more test runs I guess to get in some more practice with the list…

Guessing I’ll fly my Firestorm list at Bloomington…  Maybe, the Kylo/Whisper list is pretty darn fun…  Will see I suppose…