Last Jedi silliness and the last 1.0 X-Wing events...

So, the Last Jedi…  Have to admit it was my least favorite Star Wars film.  Caveat, I have not seen the Solo film yet, but from what I have heard it was actually in the “not bad” range, so I suspect rather strongly that TLJ will remain my least favorite SW film.  I know that the Mynocks spent an hour or so arguing here that it was objectively the best SW film, and that is fine J.  Best or worst, I did not like it at all.  THAT is how I am judging the films…  Seemed like they went way out of their way to give a giant middle finger to most of the older SW fans, and the specific problems I had were:

1.       Poe not knowing the new Admiral’s plan.  Yes, Leia demoted him from Commander to Captain.  Got it.  Of course, a real military does not really work that way, but whatever, I get this is just a fantasy J.  At that point the whole Resistance was down to a single ship, the Flagship that had the entirety (well, except for Leia herself) of its bridge crew killed.  THAT he was an Officer would have made him a Senior Officer.  And so NONE of the Officers who were involved in the aborted Mutiny had a clue what the Rear Admiral’s plan was…  Not bloody likely.  Hell, the Flight Deck enlisted crew all knew what it was.  They were the ones loading up the Transports with fuel and Cloaking Devices.  And Rose knew it well enough to give that information to the extremely unreliable DJ, including the specifics of the Cloaking Devices frequencies, etc…  So, I am amused that the Rear ADM is viewed by some as some sort of “equality” here representing under-represented females, but to me she was just a bad character.  And that whole situation was just a giant steaming plot hole that just seemed to be very lazy writing…  But just my opinion of course…

2.      Rey…  Okay, I actually like the character.  Excellent actress who works hard to pull off the young Jedi, and I like that.  This seems to be one of the things that the Director decided to just go 180 degrees from what was being built up in the previous movie and just throw it all away.  Rey has no back story now apparently, she’s just the random lucky one who got picked by the Force.  Not that her parents were characters in previous stories and there was some sort of continuity there.  Nope.  Just some random no one who magically was granted these amazing powers and for no apparent reason Anakin/Luke’s Light Saber called to her specifically and that whole flashback scene in the cantina had no meaning whatever.  I also thought she could have spent a LOT more time training with Luke.  Which brings me to

3.      Time compression…  Everything happening in SUCH a short time frame?  Why?  Everything essentially happening while the First Order were busy running the Resistance remnants down.  Fenn and Rose pop out, have an adventure/side quest and then make it back in time to witness the conclusion of the chase scene?  Made everything just seem rushed.  And just sort of thrown together at the last moment on the fly…  Kind of links to the Jedi training between Rey and Luke for me, but there is not really a sense of how long that actually took…  The length of time Finn was in a coma, but that is not known.  Probably just me, but I wanted more there, but I could see why this was compressed.  Just wish they gave some sense of time passing and that it was not like 3 days of “seminar” Jedi training to advance her to Jedi Knight at least.

4.      Most of the space battles…  So, bring in a DN class ship to hit the planet…  Fine.  But no fighter screen?  At all?  Having seen the TIE fighters scramble on other occasions, I have a hard time believing that they would not have scrambled on arrival…  Or maybe during the stupid prank call scene?  Not like the FO was trying to conserve fuel or ammo, so…  I guess trading the DN for ALL of the Resistance Bombers was OK for Snoke?

What did I like?  Well, in my opinion, Luke did the most Jedi thing ever when he faced down the First Order on his own, ultimately using the force in a completely nonviolent manner to defend the people he loved and sacrificing himself in the process.  Right up there with Kanan Jarus for me, but then I REALLY liked “Rebels”.  And Kanan was not nearly so powerful I think.  Still that was a great scene for me.  I also liked the Duel scene where Rey and Kylo fought the Praetorian Guards…  Nice, well done fight scene.  The Jedi training was pretty good, just seemed rushed/compressed. And the whole “you’re nobody” thing that I dislike…  Eh, just my opinions per usual of course.

So, have an X-Wing event this weekend at Mattoon…  Will bring 3 lists, 2 I actually want to fly and one just to give the lads there a chance to get in some reps against a more top tier list if they really want to.  Since the ACTUAL Store Championship is after the official release date for v2, I am frankly concerned that the attendance will be quite low…  All of them local have suffered and this one being after the actual date for the new edition?  Anyway, we will see I suppose.

WedgeWesNorra (100)

Wedge Antilles — X-Wing	29
Lone Wolf	2
Renegade Refit	-2
Flight-Assist Astromech	1
Servomotor S-Foils	0
Integrated Astromech	0
Ship Total: 29
Wes Janson — X-Wing	29
Predator	3
Renegade Refit	-2
Flight-Assist Astromech	1
Servomotor S-Foils	0
Integrated Astromech	0
Ship Total: 30
Norra Wexley — ARC-170	29
Push the Limit	3
Seismic Torpedo	2
Saw Gerrera	1
R2-D2	4
Vectored Thrusters	2
Alliance Overhaul	0
Ship Total: 41

Possible to swap Nien Numb out for Saw to get more Greens on Nora’s ARC dial, and not really sold on Predator for Wes…  Might go for the free VI or Crack Shot.  Still, make the swan song of X-Wing 1.0 an event with actual X-Wings?  And looking over the v2 stuff for the X-Wings, they do come out pretty well… 

Otherwise, Fett and either Guri or Fenn for the S&V Aces…  Well, they WILL be the S&V Aces in v2.  Fun builds, semi competitive I suppose as they have the answers to a fair number of the “meta” lists.  I was frankly shocked to have my Countess Ryad be an Ace in my Titan SC build.  SO many things PS 5 and lower, mostly lower frankly.  Was weird.  Third option as I said will just be the Titan SC build list…  It is a strong list, but I do not feel like it is actually oppressive like say, the Ghost/Fenn or Harpoon Alpha lists are.  Requires actual skill to fly it, and it is certainly beatable.  2 hard to hit ships, one of which is extremely fragile backed by a light Shuttle.  If I mess up or they bring the right things?  Well, it will be a VERY short game I suspect. 

But on to v2.0…  I have to say I am actually quite excited to start playing the new edition.  It looks pretty darn solid, only a (very) few things out of balance at the moment.  And with the announcement of the Republic coming out?  Um, yes.  I am REALLY looking forward to flying those ships…

As X-Wing 1.0 dies, the Students return...

Well, looking like up to 2 more events in v1.0 of X-Wing and both at Mattoon (“The War Zone” is the store name).  One is a “practice” event for the Store Championship and the second is the event.  HOPING for a reasonably well attended event, and might wind up opening up to carpooling folks from the Champaign area to help boost the numbers.  No pressure for me at all though as I already won one at my local store.  Cannot have duplicate Bye cards, and even the prize cards are neat, but no need for duplicates.  So, I will be flying something “silly” like:

Fett Guri 2 (97)

Boba Fett (Scum) — Firespray-31	39
Veteran Instincts	1
Ion Cannon	3
Bomblet Generator	3
Dengar	3
Glitterstim	2
Engine Upgrade	4
Andrasta	0
Ship Total: 55
Guri — StarViper	30
Intensity	2
Advanced Proton Torpedoes	6
Fire-Control System	2
Scavenger Crane	2
Autothrusters	2
StarViper Mk. II	-3
Virago	1
Ship Total: 42

Or:

WedgeWesNorra (100)

Wedge Antilles — X-Wing	29
Predator	3
Renegade Refit	-2
Flight-Assist Astromech	1
Servomotor S-Foils	0
Integrated Astromech	0
Ship Total: 30
Wes Janson — X-Wing	29
Lone Wolf	2
Renegade Refit	-2
Flight-Assist Astromech	1
Servomotor S-Foils	0
Integrated Astromech	0
Ship Total: 29
Norra Wexley — ARC-170	29
Push the Limit	3
Seismic Torpedo	2
Saw Gerrera	1
R2-D2	4
Vectored Thrusters	2
Alliance Overhaul	0
Ship Total: 41

The first is one I have flown before and have stolen much from Phil GC (https://suchanxwinghipster.wordpress.com/) …  Guri is just fun to fly and Fett is a tank.  Frankly not worth trying to get in a third ship at this point, so they’re both built up in “Swiss Army Knife” mode with all of the options filled more or less.  Guri with the APT is a sledgehammer.  Have run It locally before and it just tears thing up.  And of course with the Crane I will have the chance to fire it at least one more time.  Best I’ve done so far is 3 times in a game at Titan.  Fett just rolls into the enemy and has infinite bombs to punish pursuit.  The Ion Cannon is surprisingly effective against the low Agility things or just to take a Range 3 pot shot.  Once the target is hit by the Ion, it will only go 1 Forward, leaving it for me to close with my ships, dodge arcs and just hammer it.  Amusing and actually kind of a counter to a number of “meta” lists.  And as I have actually run the Firesprays a fair bit, I am fairly good with that ship.

Second one is just a collection of the new stuff frankly.  2 T-65 X-Wings with good pilots and one of the Aggressive Recon ships (ARC-170).  I hesitate to call the X-Wings “Aces” because despite the high(ish) PS they are still in v1.0 X-Wings and just not all that maneuverable.  But they are “X-Wings” and that is what the bloody game is named for, so fitting that the last run for me in v1.0 be with actual X-Wings.  Nora in her Arc is solid, Regenerating and I will likely swap Saw for Nien Numb to get more Greens on the dial…  Though Saw with the “all Focus go to Criticals” is REALLY powerful.  Might be a thing.

In any case I’ll pack up a selection of duplicates and the like to distribute to the Mattoon folks…  I want them to have a level playing field in the event any of the try hard types show up.  I can safely count myself OUT of the try hard ranks as I already won one…  Heck the list I flew was powerful, but not really all that broken at all by modern standards at least.  Palp in the Reaper, Soonter Fel and Countess Ryad in her TIE Defender.  Probably not what most would have predicted to be walking away with the win.  And this time I did not feel at all dirty flying that list to the top tables as opposed to last year when my Dengar/Nym was just broken and silly, but as I was “trying hard”…

Rough year as the Students are coming back…  Several friends have been in accidents, including one on his motorcycle.  He’s still in the hospital, but prognosis is good and it was a reminder to me why I wear the gear when I ride.  Helmet, jacket, etc…  Probably not the high end armor I will eventually get (I suppose), but the other component is that I am NOT riding in to work while there are so many new folks here who clearly are not familiar with the area or traffic rules/laws.  Kind of why I did not ride to Indianapolis to Gen Con a few weeks back.  SO much construction and even when I was young I avoided riding in/near the big cities (grew up near Chicago, in Joliet)…  Just too many things that could go wrong and if I’m being honest the bike is a 1984 Goldwing…  Solid and PROBABLY would make the run just fine, at the end of the day it is a 34 year old motorcycle and not in “mint” condition.  And that whole ride cautious thing helps keep me accident free…

Job search continues… Have another interview coming up in a different area.  Will be interesting, I had thought this one was already filled, so at the least it will be another practice run for me.  And clearly I need the practice.  Got word back on one that was closed without a hire…  Cannot say I was surprised.  One thing (Grants) was mentioned once in the Description and not at all in the Job Requirements, but fully half of the questions in the interview centered on writing and administering Grants…  So, poorly written PAPE, I hope they are able to get it adjusted for what they think the job will actually entail and re-launch the Search…  I’ll know better than to apply if it correctly reflects what that interview did of course J…  As I have had to shepherd through PAPEs and adjustments to them in the course of creating a promotion “ladder” (policy), I fully understand the frustration and seemingly complete disconnect between the people trying to get the right people hired and HR trying to follow the rules as understood here in Illinois…  Ah well J  The search goes on, and I HAVE a job, so not like I am desperate to get one…

X-Wing 1.0... I'm Free!

I’m Free!

A little bit dramatic I suppose, but down to the last few X-Wing 1.0 events.  And I actually won a Store Championship…  So, in theory I have a bye for a Regional or the like should I go next year.  But that is a ways off…  LONG day, Swiss then the cut.  Played a new guy first…  Not “new”, just new to the area.  He had the FO Upsilon Shuttle, The Inquisitor and (edit, I remembered) Maj Vermiel...  I set up in a fairly standard spread formation, Fel and the Palp Reaper to one side and Ryad in her Defender to the other side.  Ryad was set to joust, but I had no intention of doing that.  Fel burned in and flanked.  He caught the Inquisitor for a Range 3 shot while the Inq had not token stacked.  As it was the only shot for the turn I used Palp to call for a Crit.  I had a Focus, so when the expected 1 hit, 1 Focus and 1 blank came up I could change it to 2 hits and a crit.  Then when he blanked out on Defense and the Crit was a Direct Hit, the game was pretty much decided.  He had Hux on the Upsilon for some tricks, but with my 2 Aces backed by Palp, it was a very quick 100-0 for me.  Game 2 brought me against Allan and his 3 YT-1300’s…  2 of the cheapest ones (PS 1, 6 Hull and 4 Shields, 2 Attack) and one of the Resistance ones (PS 3, 8 Hull and 5 Shields, 3 Attack).  He rushed at me, caught Fel at Range 1 to use his bug zapper on 2 of his ships (Feedback Array, does one Damage to a ship at Range 1, but you get an Ion and a Damage)…  Neat trick, and had he caught me with 3 of them or ever gotten close to Fel again might have worked.  But once again Ryad was a rock star.  Fell died, but he did a LOT of damage before he died.  And he strung them out for the Defender to just pile in Damage…  And with Palp, there were a LOT of Crits.  So second win for me, but certainly not a clean sweep at 100-30.  Third game was the final for the Swiss…  Marty was running a Rebel 4 Ship list with Jes Pava, Ezra (Standard “Stressra”), Lowrick (Rey crew) and CPT Rex.  Solid build and pretty much a hard counter for the Imperial Ace build I was running.  LONG game.  And the first one I’ve ever had come down to a “Final Salvo”.  I suppose that is a spoiler J … But, every ship was on fire by the end and of course nothing died.  I dodged a LOT there, and Palp was key to my survival with the “I declare a Dice Result”, usually being an Evade to keep a ship alive.  So, his 10 Dice Salvo to my 9…  I lost, but that was the best “loss” from a MoV point of view keeping me in second place. 

So, on to the cut…  I played Patrick who I last played over in Bloomington on the live stream.  He was running a pair of Skurrgs with Nym and Sol Sixa kitted out as Heavy Bombers with Harpoons, TLTs, Cluster Mines (and one had the mapper to place 2 sets of Clusters out after setup.  Made for a VERY tight field.  Another long game, but TLTs do not like seeing big token stacks.  Also, frankly got lucky with the Harpoons, he only fired one, and Fel cleanly dodged it…  Well, he HAD help from Palp and the token stack, but…  Wore him down and finished it off near time…  On to the rematch with Marty.  So, the curse of the Swiss is real.  I learned what I needed to do in our first game and since it involved selling out everything to kill Ezra, I hung Fel out as bait.  He died, but not before piling in a bit of Damage on Ezra and leaving him in position to be shot by the other 2 ships in my Squadron.  The Emperor himself wound up getting the kill as Marty’s dice finally cooled off and mine got REALLY hot.  From there it was the PS 5 Countess just dancing around and piling in damage aided by Palp declaring a Crit here and there.  THOSE were what got me the game.  Lowrick got hit with 2 of the Crits preventing any actions other than on Damage cards and a Weapons Failure.  Since I engaged so quickly, his Rey had no Focus banked up and -1 Attack and no mods means that the TIE Defender simply ignores your attacks while hers are killing things.  Palp’s Reaper eventually died as well leaving Jes and Lowrick, but Low was on fire and so the next turn I killed the Wookies.  After that, it was just a T-70 vs a higher PS TIE Defender with a Pilot Ability making her the ultimate Jouster.  Took a few turns, but the game was already decided with the Defender being more expensive.  He HAD to try for the kill, and I was happy to joust with the token stack and shields remaining on the ship.  Oh, and Lone Wolf providing dice re-rolls for me…

So, won an really nice Mat, the Regional Bye, the other color Range Rulers, cards including the “1^st place” Cavern Angel I can use for another few weeks…  Neat J  And now I am free to play my Fett/whatever for the next 2 events to bring my v 1.0 X-Wing journey to an end.  Preordered the conversion kits (yes, all of them) for the first wave and will be getting the larger Damage Deck with the new Core Set.  Sadly, I have no real interest in Wave 2 with the First Order and Resistance just not being all that interesting to me.  On the other hand, Gen Con brought us the announcement that the prequel Factions would be joining X-Wing AND Legion so the Galactic Republic will definitely be on my list.  Jedi fighters and Jedi leading Clone Troopers?  Um, yes.

Gen Con AAR (X-Wing)

Gen Con AAR

So, I got up at 3:30 (am) Friday for the drive over to Gen Con to make it there long before the “09:00” start…  Turns out I need not have worried much as the event did not REALLY start until 10 or 10:30.  Lots of construction en route, but the ancient Ranger got me there easily enough.  Drank a few of the coffee Monster drinks and listened to a lot of my music to get into the correct mindset for the event.  Made it there in plenty of time, hitting the garage at about 7:30.  So, I need not have worried so much of course but better by far to be there early than risk showing up late.  Or not in this case.  Seemed like a lot of folks rolled in at ~ start time or a bit after, so the start was delayed waiting for them and then of course for the standby folks to fill in should anyone simply not show up.  No clue how many that was, but suspect it was more than a few.  Mind, I was on the “mid-tier” tables so I got to see a LOT of weird builds at my level.  Will see how the upper tier were actually built out but I suspect strongly there were only a few really good builds up there.  So, I flew:

InqRyadReaper3 P Chappel… (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

Solid build…  Turns out it is really good against almost everything.  ONE really big hard counter being Stress control.  And, round one was against a Rebel 4 ship (“Fair Ship Rebels”) build that was big a few waves back…  But of course, my ships absolutely depend on Actions to do the things like avoid firing Arcs and you know, getting shot.  So, take THAT away and I have 3 fairly fragile ships.  NOT a bad experience, one of the lads out of Milwaukie WI, and a lot of fun to play against.  So, were I to draw the hard counter and just lose 0-100, this at least was a fun opponent to lose to.  Moved to round two…  And was more Stress J…  Going to be one of those days apparently I said, but the opponent again was a blast to play against so had fun even while I was losing…  Got to game 3, and they were passing out a LOT of extra participation prizes so neat cards to hang in my office I suppose at the least…  Then I realized they were v2 cards, and a fair number of them were ships I’ll actually be using.  Awesome.  Well, my round 3 opponent unfortunately (for him) had a TIE Bomber with a Systems Officer (to give free TL actions) and a pair of named Imperial Gunboats kitted out with loads of “stuff”.  Theory being, they get the TL from the Bomber then roll up, Focus and have a fully modified shot that hurts…  Well…  I was playing Maj Vermeil who asks “Well, what if you NEVER had a Target Lock during the whole game”.  Was a short game at least as I won 100-0.  So, the hard counter was reversed.  My fourth and turns out final game was against a build with Kath Scarlett and Morelo Eval in the YV-666.  Interesting build and another exhausting game as that is simply SO much to shoot through with the somewhat low powered main guns I have on my Fighters.  But the Firespray in v1 is simply THAT bad and the 666 is brutal in its 180 Front Arc, but it cannot easily turn around.  Rush it, accept that he will get one good shot, then you are behind it and killing it quickly.  Turns out that Agility 1 simply melts so quickly against focused fire.  Still it came to the Firespray vs the TIE Defender at the end…  And went to time…

So, dropped out there…  Even if I won out, I had pretty much guaranteed not to make the cut…  And frankly I was exhausted after the EARLY wake up and then all day playing on short tables set up on concrete.  Seems to be a thing for younger folks and my injuries have caught up to me it seems.  Still, had a great time overall…  Only slightly overshadowed by my afternoon’s e-mail…

Got another interview!  4^th one this Summer, and this one is one I suspect is an actual possibility as there is not REALLY someone already there waiting on the interview process to finish to finalize the promotion they were going to get in any case…  2 of mine so far HAVE been that formal “promotion” process rather than a real Search, but since I knew that going in I treated them as excellent opportunities to have a “live fire” practice interview.  And by now I am certainly feeling like I am MUCH better prepared for the jobs I am interviewing.  I suspect I was simply not ready a few years ago when last I was seriously searching.  Now with some objective assistance completely reworking my Resume and Cover Letter to focus on Leadership/Management experience I am actually making that critical first cut to get in for an interview.  Previously my resume was FAR more focused on “I do tech things”, and yes, I do/did them quite well.  I have a number of industry certifications and now an advanced degree (MS) to prove it.  Well, the advanced degree is one of the big things qualifying me for things at the “Director” level…  The University has a somewhat odd system for this, at least when compared to “The Industry” as a whole…  There, the fact that I had a BS was actually seen as sort of a negative, at least in the mid 90’s when I was starting my career.  From that entry level perspective I had “wasted” 4 years learning useless stuff while I could have been out working on the cutting edge and actually MAKING things…  Well, the even get the AP job at the University of course you DO have to have a BS/BA in something…  Anything frankly, that mine is in a technical field is not very common in the IT field here, nor is it seen as a particular advantage…  Well, in LAS where I am now…  Were I in say, in Engineering perhaps the BS in Mechanical Engineering might be a plus…  Hopefully?  Any case, having the MS qualifies me for the higher level of Management jobs I am seeking.  Well, that and for the last several years I HAVE been managing an IT group doing exactly what the job I am currently seeking does…  So, I just have to convince the Committee and folks actually making the hiring decision of that.

Anyway, back to X-Wing… 2 more events coming up for v1 before that ends in September.  Frankly not overly excited about them, but they are my local store and one nearby trying to start up a group so I feel like I HAVE to at least show up and give it a shot.  I suppose I can try for the top 4 rulers and alt art cards, but as I already have a set of the top 8 ones not really seeing this as a “I need to win this” thing like last year…  Won the rulers and never used them.  I have an excellent set of acrylics from Curled Paw Creatives (link: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CurledPawCreatives?section_id=18639890) that I use all of the time and as my new ones are my favorite color (green) and have the Jedi symbol on them, they are the ones I prefer to use…  Will likely run the Fett/Fenn build at one since it actually works fairly well and I will be flying that pair in v2 a LOT… 

The point values, at least the initial ones, have been posted by FFG.  Allowing us to do some actual builds with the new stuff before next Month and it going live…  So far at least everything is looking really good.  Will see how well things are balanced when they hit the table later of course, but I have to admit I am liking everything so far.  Oh, and with the Clone Wars coming back FFG announced at Gen Con that the Galactic Republic and Separatists were coming to both X-Wing and Legion as playable factions…  REALLY looking forward to the Republic.  Honestly I did not really mind the prequels so much (Episodes 1-3)…  Jar Jar Binks was just annoying to me, but I could usually filter him out.  Lots of Jedi running around actually doing Jedi things.  Felt kind of bad for the actor who landed the Anakin Skywalker role as it required a William Shatner level of silly over acting to make the character fit Mr. Lucas’ vision it seems…  Not sure I have seen him in anything else since then.  And of course I was rather looking forward to an Obi Wan Kenobi movie with Ewan McGregor…  Maybe they will actually get around to that at some point.  Just hope that the silliness surrounding the latest movies dies down and maybe they get back to making more Star Wars movies…  But that’s just me I guess, I am not so rabid a fan that I am willing to destroy something that might not agree with my own personal vision of it…  I played a fair bit of the old SW role playing game back in the old days, so for me the more movies and books out there, the better.  With Clone Wars getting the ending that it should have gotten the first time, Rebels being concluded (and REALLY well done IMO), I was rather hoping for more live action movies with characters from those series…  Ahsoka Tano having been one of my all-time favorite characters would be MY preference of course, but whatever works…

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…