X-Wing, did they break Dash?

So…  As I was playing the Dash lists as a “Well, maybe there is something here” sort of thing and have been fairly happy with my ARC/YT-2400 list in what was its final form with Zeb/Intimidation on the ARC and Kannan on the YT…  Well, turns out someone else saw something that is FAR more effective. 

DashRoark (197)

Dash Rendar — YT-2400 Light Freighter	100
Trick Shot	1
Han Solo	12
Perceptive Copilot	10
Outrider	14
Rigged Cargo Chute	4
Ship Total: 141
Half Points: 71 Threshold: 5
Roark Garnet — HWK-290 Light Freighter	38
Squad Leader	4
Tactical Officer	2
Moldy Crow	12
Ship Total: 56
Half Points: 28 Threshold: 3

Now, theirs had no Rigged Cargo for the 7 point Bid.  Me?  I REALLY like the Cargo as it adds another piece of terrain that Dash at worst ignores or at best causes Stress and additional Attack Dice for me.  The ability to just drop the Cargo is huge, and could potentially double Stress an opponent who did not see it coming.  Potentially a Critical or two, but with that being only a 1 in 8 chance, not something to count on. Great when it DOES hit, but… 

In any case, where this one seems like it breaks things is the interaction between Roark, Han Gunner and I 7.  Roark gives I 7 to Dash in the Engagement Phase, he shoots.  Then he chooses to activate Han Gunner who also shoots at I 7.  Gets around the restrictions of not being able to shoot out of the same Arc as the restriction specifies “cannot attack from that arc again this round”.  Han IS the one Bonus Attack allowed by the rules, so no longer a restriction.  Roark can also Coordinate an Action to Dash, allowing him to double Focus, Target Lock, Rotate Turret, etc…  Typically I think going to Focus for the potential modification to both shots.  Brutal as if I can get an “obstructed” shot at Range 2-3 I shoot twice for 5 Dice while the Defender does not get the additional Agility due to the Outrider Title.  Potentially erasing most things Medium Based or below before they get to shoot…

Now, it IS a fragile combination… I 4-5 for movement, Range 1 sucks with only 3 Dice Attacks, and the whole combo hinges on the HWK surviving and being in range/arc to give Actions and I 7 to Dash.  But facing someone not prepared for it?  Like I said, it could very well erase 2 Swarm Ships each turn (thinking TIE/Z-95)…  Things like T-65 X-Wings or TIE Phantoms?  If I catch them in Arc, double tap and barring bad variance I think one just dies each turn.  The Title also allows Dash to run over or land on an Obstacle to remove a Red or Orange Token…  So, Target Locks or Tractors?  No thank you.  No help against I 6 of course rolling in to TL, but…  I still shoot first, so…

The biggest counter play I see against it would be someone who CAN close quickly, or just be REALLY good at Arc Dodging…  Having played against some who are in fact that good (Will and Tyler out of the Peoria are come immediately to mind), I know it can be done…  I suspect this list will be the big fish in the small pond, but when I get to Bloomington or the like, it will get me to the middle tables.  Not bad, just not likely to win me a big event.  WILL be fun though…  Maybe.  I might well go back to using the version with Norra in the ARC as that one is just fun, not competitive…  And frankly I suspect this combination (Roark/Han Gunner) will be one that gets the FAQ treatment as it seems pretty bad...  Just my opinion of course, but...

X-Wing: my Rebels hit the table (like a lead zeppelin) and looking forward to Wave 3...

So, a few more games in and this is what my list is evolving to:

DashNora2.5 (200)

Dash Rendar — YT-2400 Light Freighter	100
Trick Shot	1
Kanan Jarrus	14
Shield Upgrade	6
Outrider	14
Rigged Cargo Chute	4
Ship Total: 139
Half Points: 70 Threshold: 6
Norra Wexley — ARC-170 Starfighter	55
Intimidation	3
“Zeb” Orrelios	1
Tactical Scrambler	2
Ship Total: 61
Half Points: 31 Threshold: 5

I tried the Veteran Gunner/Turret Gunner on the ships but have yet to get it to actually go at all…  Not once.  So, Kanan comes back and we’ll see.  Norra becomes the Blitzer who just runs right at the enemy and blocks…  With Zeb, Intimidation and the Scrambler I should be able to shoot in base contact while they are -1 Agility.  Yes, they can shoot back, but I get the +1 Evade.  Also, Dash should be trailing at a distance to pile in the heavy Attacks…  Will see I suppose how this works out.  This sort of list flies so much differently than the Ace type lists I am good at where I can just fly and react as things happen…  Trust in my ability to fly it well.  This seems the other side of that coin where Dash needs to stay far away at all costs.  Not a lot of the Daffy Duck “Parry, Dodge, Lunge” that I do with the Aces…  Still not convinced the Rebels really have much of a chance at this point, but will keep trying I suppose...

Had my Dash go from full to almost dead in a single round today, so getting in close and bumping is bad, but the Critical Cascades are just beyond brutal…  Fuel Leak being the second (of three) Criticals that hit him in a single attack…  So, 3 Damage became 5 like that.  So, not entirely convinced that Large Bases are going to be usable in this Edition with the Damage just piling up that quickly…  Certainly NOT like they were in v1 with Dash being a Meta staple until the end there.  Faced a Dengar in the JM5K in the last Event…  Was unimpressed.  The ship itself just is nowhere as good and the abilities lock you into a forward Arc that can be dodged easily enough.  And of course with the game itself getting so much more deadly he lacks the staying power he had in the old game.  Will see how this list plays out over time I suppose…  It IS fun, and likely what I’ll play until the Third Wave hits…

Speaking of that…  SO looking forward to my beloved Jedi J…  Since I identify pretty well with Anakin (the Clone Wars version at least) with the…  Let’s call them “anger issues” coupled with the being really good at the whole fighting thing…  Pretty much summed up here:

The Jedi Fighters (Delta 7’s) look amazing.  Fly like the Fang or TIE Interceptor, but with Force users and what look to be Force actions.  Not sure if they will be efficient, but they look perfect for me and a lot of fun to fly.  The ARC-170’s are back and look amazing as well…  Not so sure about the V-19 Torrents…  Seem “OK”, but almost like something closer to a Z-95 in terms of abilities…  So, filler ships I suspect for me, and so not really something I am overly interested in.  Will see.  Much depends on the points they end up costing of course, and as that is not information we have at this point is I think pointless to try to build lists or anything.  Just looking forward to snagging these when they DO come out.  

Re-watching the “Clone Wars” series, had forgotten how good it actually was.  I did prefer “Rebels” personally, but like I said, I could see where the older series was really quite good.  NOT a kids show, really aimed at the Star Wars crowd and I think they hit their mark well.  So much so that the much maligned “prequel” movies actually seem a lot better…  Well for me at least J… And even then I am ignoring/forwarding through the parts with Jar Jar and some of the more overly dramatic parts with Anakin.  In the Clone Wars, he was portrayed as a real bad ass who could be a cold blooded killer when push came to shove…  So, his fall to the Dark Side was not a surprise at all as it was in the movies…  Well, we all knew it was coming, but it just seemed to be lazy writing how “and this happens” hit…  But of course, I have no clue how much got cut out of the movies that might have made it make more sense watching it…  But watching the Clone Wars between the second and third movie made it all fit in quite well.

First v2 X-Wing event in Champaign... What to bring?

So, first local X-Wing event coming up Sunday…  I have 2 lists of course because I’m silly that way…  And stubborn.  The first is:

FelWhisperSai3.5 (199)

Soontir Fel — TIE Interceptor	52
Lone Wolf	4
Ship Total: 56
Half Points: 28 Threshold: 2
“Whisper” — TIE/ph Phantom	52
Juke	4
Collision Detector	5
Darth Vader	14
Ship Total: 75
Half Points: 38 Threshold: 3
Lieutenant Sai — Lambda-class T-4a Shuttle	47
Advanced Sensors	8
0-0-0	3
Shield Upgrade	4
ST-321	6
Ship Total: 68
Half Points: 34 Threshold: 6

The “Standard” list I’ve been flying more or less since the beginning of v2 ALL the way back both Months…  Suits me well with the 2 Aces, it does get a bit heavy on the Min/Max in terms of Action Efficiency for my taste…  So, it might well be one that is simply too good for “Casual Play”.  Guess it depends on what else I see, and if the folks from say, Bloomington, Peoria and Springfield make the trek over here to Champaign…  Springfield is having an Event the same day, so I suspect it will not be well attended by travelers, but who knows…  And it IS Veteran’s Day, so will likely be meeting my wife later to snag a meal (Yes, one of those silly Veterans, was once a 12B2V, or so my DD-214 asserts).  It is REALLY good as lists go.  Lacking the Redline that a lot of the truly competitive players are fielding now, but the “Cloak & Choke” Whisper is just insanely good.  Soontir Fel is cheap and fragile, but quite a good Ace and an absolute blast for me to fly.  Yes, always one bad roll from dying, but to me that is a big part of the fun of this game.  The Shuttle?  “Let’s stack up a way to get 3 Actions out of the Ship before it moves and therefore cannot be blocked”…  Coordinate a Focus, gain a Focus and TL for the Shuttle.  Then just roll in.  Fearing the Tugs, this ship just becomes my bulldozer and bullies them off the field.  The Aces are going to flank and hopefully not get caught while the dumpster fire in the middle rages and they get a few kills.  Against other “not S&V Swarm” lists?  3 solid ships with excellent Action Efficiency all around.  And I HAVE flown this a while now.

On the other hand, my stubborn streak kicks in and since I REALLY like the Rebels…  Hearing over and over how they are simply unplayable now, I came up with:

DashNora (199)

Dash Rendar — YT-2400 Light Freighter	100
Trick Shot	1
Veteran Turret Gunner	8
Shield Upgrade	6
Outrider	14
Rigged Cargo Chute	4
Ship Total: 133
Half Points: 67 Threshold: 6
Norra Wexley — ARC-170 Starfighter	55
Expert Handling	4
Veteran Tail Gunner	4
R3 Astromech	3
Ship Total: 66
Half Points: 33 Threshold: 5

Just 2 Ships.  Not hugely maneuverable or durable…  Well, Nora is a TANK if I can get her close to an Enemy Ship.  Pro Tip, not really that hard for a Medium Based ship with a White Barrel Roll to get close.  Might not have Arc, but just adding the free Evade means she lasts a LOT longer than she should under fire.  And the ARC-170 is actually a surprisingly good ship…

Dash?  What if I were able to get 2 (!) 5 Dice Attacks each turn while denying the Enemy the additional Agility Dice for an Obstructed Shot?  Seems pretty good to me…  Guessing it will not get the “dream shot” often, but just having that threat there should cause people to approach with caution.  Even a basic 5 Dice Attack has the potential to erase things.  Dash being “Easy Mode” for movement since he can simply ignore Terrain for Movement. 

Probably nowhere near optimized, really just an idea I had to play with Ships I really like and combinations of upgrades that seem like they might give me a fighting chance against a lot of things.  So, guessing I’ll throw that down if it looks like not many folks are there as I have less interest in playing the hyper competitive list in that setting… 

Other news?  The first real previews of the CIS and Republic X-Wing Ships hit today.  REALLY looking forward to my Republic stuff hitting the table for me…  Q1 of next year, so a bit off, but…  Jedi Starfighters, 2 different Clone ships…  One being the ARC-170 J…  Hoping the ETA-2 hits as well and Ashoka Tano is one of the Pilots…  Like the Delta, and Anakin Skywalker looks REALLY good, so not going to be lacking for “Ace” ships to field…  Heck, generic Jedi are going to be a thing.  The CIS looks interesting but definitely not my play style, so likely to be safe from me purchasing them…  Some VERY interesting mechanics and the ships themselves look quite nice, but…  No, not my thing really.

Ah, post Mynock Open X-Wing...

 Got to watch a fair bit of the “Mynock Open” held out in LA over the weekend.  Some excellent games streamed on the Gold Squadron Twitch channel (https://www.twitch.tv/goldsquadronpodcast).  Have to say that I was surprised to find that while there were approximately as many Rebel players as Scum & Villainy (S&V) that there was only a single Rebel player to make the cut to day two.  I did not think that it would be quite that badly lopsided.  The breakdown between S&V and Imperials was actually 8 each.  Odd cut system, but that was the way that the rules were applied out there.  Hard to explain, but it looked like a really good way to do a really large event (something like 160 players IIRC).  But S&V and Imps are clearly well ahead of the Rebels at the moment.  Not surprising, they both have ships that are really quite good and frankly costed far too low combined with good synergies that allow the combos to work.  Rebels have a few really good ships, but no real synergy across them all.  A single Leebo to represent the Rebel YT-2400’s and a single Rebel Han Solo meant that there were almost no Rebel Large Based ships there…  I do suspect that Dash kitted out will be a terror on the field…  Just not entirely sure that the 2 Ship builds are viable against so many ships on the field these days.  I will likely give that a try after this weekend with the first local (Champaign/Urbana) v2 events hitting.  This weekend however I will be flying more or less what I have been flying this whole edition:

FelWhisperSai2 (193)

Soontir Fel — TIE Interceptor	52
Lone Wolf	4
Ship Total: 56
“Whisper” — TIE/ph Phantom	52
Juke	4
Collision Detector	5
Darth Vader	14
Ship Total: 75
Lieutenant Sai — Lambda-class T-4a Shuttle	47
Director Krennic	5
Shield Upgrade	4
ST-321	6
Ship Total: 62

 7 points left to play with, so either a Shield for Whisper or say, Minister Tua for the Shuttle to grab Reinforce tokens as the Shuttle dies more slowly.  Suspect the Shield on Whisper is the way I’ll go as I REALLY like my Aces…  Saw a fair number of the “Cloak & Choke Whisper” on the streams, in fact so many that I suspect it has become the default build for the ship…  Soonter Fel I saw with Juke a fair bit…  Not bad, I do prefer Lone Wolf myself as I want the insurance against the “oh crap” dice roll since I otherwise really lack things like a TL or the like to roll my way out of a bad roll.  And since he can now just evaporate on a single flubbed roll…  Well, to be fair I was able to lose mine in a single shot in v1, but that was an extreme outlier where now?  Not really unlikely if someone say, lines up a Proton Torpedo with decent modification on the roll…  So, he runs scared the whole time he is on the table for me.  USUALLY survives, but there is always that chance that I guess wrong or something to that effect…

Or they have Tug Boats…  Those things are just bloody terrifying these days.  Jakku Gunrunner is 28 points and really does not NEED anything else…  I1 to allow for blocking easily enough, at that cost it makes sense to run a LEAST a pair of them since they can do weird things like slingshot themselves with the Action Tractor to the other Tug to get in a Boost/Barrel Roll followed by the second one activating in a now advanced position to roll in and hit the Enemy ship with its Tractor…  Bullseye gets you a second Tractor token allowing you to move a Medium base…  THAT should terrify things like Redline and Boba Fett as they suddenly are out of position or on a bloody rock…  Saw a LOT of these over the weekend on stream, for very good reason.  Might buy a second one, but I suspect this is one of the very first things to get nerfed and hit the points elevator for the “up, up, up” treatment…  Without a real defense against this tactic/effect, it is just entirely too good against the rest of the field I think.  ALMOST a relic of v1 I think as I actually used this to horrifying effect back then with one event requiring that I fly the Gunrunner.  Was NOT a penalty for me as my other 2 ships were Guri and Fenn Rau loaded for bear.  Did the Fencik/Plank maneuver where the Gunrunner rolled in, blocked and/or tractored the target (usually both) and the other two ships rolled in with both having 5 Dice Attacks and good modifications…  Nothing survived that treatment.  Same thing now it seems.  -1 Agility is good, and the real potential to simply move a Ship in an unexpected way?  WAY too good for a single action on a cheap ship.  And as I am not flying it this time around (in fact lending my only Tug to a buddy, so I KNOW there will be some out there), need to come up with defenses against this.  Really aren’t many…  My Shuttle will likely become a big blocker/barricade to just keep the Tugs away from my valuable Aces…  Run fast and stay at R3 to wear them down…  The Tugs ARE slow and pretty predictable on the field, so in theory the Imperial TIE Interceptor and Phantom SHOULD be able to run circles around them…  Issue of course is that there will not be only one, and of course since it will likely be part of a Swarm, avoiding the Tug will likely land me in Arc of other ships…  And blocked Aces are dead aces…

Looking ahead, I’ll likely give something like this a try as I think it goes fairly well against the “standard Meta” that I am seeing at the bigger events at least.

New Squadron (200)

Dash Rendar — YT-2400 Light Freighter	100
Trick Shot	1
Veteran Turret Gunner	8
Hull Upgrade	5
Outrider	14
Rigged Cargo Chute	4
Ship Total: 132
Wedge Antilles — T-65 X-Wing	52
Trick Shot	1
Proton Torpedoes	9
R2 Astromech	6
Servomotor S-foils	0
Ship Total: 68

Mind, it IS a 2 Ship list.  And the low Ship count combined with the now absolutely terrifying Damage Deck (well, the Criticals at least) I suspect are discouraging most players from even attempting to bring these ships…  But on paper at least, Dash can throw out 2 x 5 (!!!) Dice Attacks each turn against ships that do not gain additional Agility for being behind cover.  Not EASY to set up, but it certainly should be possible as he completely ignores terrain for movement and I AM bringing even more terrain to hide behind.  Debris of course for me as I do NOT want to land on the rock without being able to shoot very often…  Removing Red/Orange tokens for moving across Terrain is also going to be something I think…  All theoretical of course as I JUST broke out the cardboard for Dash today…  Does at the least sound like fun as I still have a special liking of the old YT-2400…  Will at the least be a rude surprise I suspect for a few folks when they DO see it…

Too much time on my hands to think about X-Wing 2.0

 Still running 3x/week and running around a LOT at work this week as we had our Exchange server migration yesterday...  LOTS of work, most of it fairly mindless, giving me time to put some of my thoughts into order...

Dice stacking in v1 vs v2:  This was probably the biggest problem that the game itself had in the first edition.  Not nearly the problem it was in the current edition, but it is very early.  I do not THINK they will be painted into the corner like they were in first, but being cynical…  Well, at least only surprises are good ones I am told.  But when there were ships that had a 1 Agility that could 100% of the time dodge 3 Hits and have better than a 75% shot at just outright dodging a 4 Hit Attack?  Yeah, something had to change in a big way.  In second edition there ARE some things that can get decent stacks set up, but they are thankfully quite rare and REALLY expensive overall.  TIE Defenders and Phantoms come to mind.   Both have an almost artificial way to get an Evade token, allowing them to simply take the Focus Action to have the fully stacked Defense.  On the Defender with 3 Agility/Hull/Shield platform it means that even should you fail out one roll, it might well NOT mean that the ship just died.  The Phantom?  Well, 2 Agility and Shields backed by 3 Hull…  Not getting shot is the best for that ship I am finding.  Gone are the days that I could fly Whisper right at someone knowing that I’d have 4 Agility, Evade and Focus tokens and likely the Emperor’s “adjustment” of dice should I really need it.  But those ships, while GOOD are not simply dominating the events we are seeing now.  Both struggle against massed firepower, be it Ordnance via TIE Bombers or just plain guns from more ships on the tables these days.  4 TIE Strikers backed by a Shuttle or an Ace is a solid build.  And frankly terrifying to a lot of Aces without the passive Dice modification in this edition of the game.  Have not really seen many Large Ships…  The Imperial Shuttle (I am flying one finally, need to get mine painted to match the rest of my stuff), yes…  But the Rebel Falcon or Dash’s YT-2400?  Not really seeing them.  Not REALLY sure why honestly.  I suspect they are actually fairly good…  Just that the new Damage Deck’s Criticals are just terrifying and the cascade effect on those ships is FAR worse now.  Of course nerfing the major offenders including the Jumpmaster 5000 (ALL of them) helped a lot.  All around Turrets are gone, everyone is not like the Lancer Class from the first edition.  MUCH better rules for turrets I think.  But lacking the insane Defense stacking are they playable at all?  Guessing I will get to flying the 2400 at least.  It WAS the first ship my wife bought for me in the game, and I always liked flying it.  Even if it was alternately completely outclassed and completely overpowered…  Then back to simply outclassed, for the most part…

Action efficiency:  THIS was pretty much the thing that HAD to go.  Gone are the bulk of the passive modifications like Expertise.  Not completely gone of course, one of the lists I am flying right now:

FelWhisperSai2 (199)

Soontir Fel — TIE Interceptor	52
Lone Wolf	4
Ship Total: 56
“Whisper” — TIE Phantom	52
Juke	4
Collision Detector	5
Darth Vader	14
Ship Total: 75
Lieutenant Sai — Lambda-Class Shuttle	47
Fire-Control System	3
0-0-0	3
Director Krennic	5
Shield Upgrade	4
ST-321	6
Ship Total: 68

This sets up what is probably the best action efficiency I have found so far in the game.  The Shuttle moves, Coordinates say a Focus to another ship.  This gives the Shuttle a Focus as well.  Then the Shuttle gets a Lock (without having to be in Range of the Target) again for free.  The TL gives bonuses to the ship I have made the “Optimized Prototype”, allowing me to strip shields or flip Damage Cards without having to actually hit the target…  Whisper of course gets the Evade from De-Cloak, gains an Evade if she Hits the target, likely has Focus from the Shuttle, Vader has the Force point that might be used to strip tokens or just push Damage.  Then she has Juke to flip an Evade to a Focus.  And as Vader has likely already stripped the Focus token…  And if she has not used all of her Evades, she gets to Re-Cloak at the end of the Turn to do it all again.  Fel?  Still the Arc Dodging PTL (light) Ace…  He can get the Focus free if he has ANY enemy in his Bullseye Arc, and that is surprisingly common…  Well, in the HUGE sample size I have myself (4 actual games of v2).  Still pretty darn good.  Hard to block a lot, and the Shuttle itself is probably up there with “Most Improved” ship in this edition.  Jam, Reinforce, Coordinate actions?  On the big Hull…  Should note I am actually gaming the system a bit by adding the Shield upgrade to kick the Shuttle up to 11 total Health.  Have to get 6 Damage to get the half points on the ship.  And half points on EVERYTHING is actually how I am seeing a lot of games being resolved these days.  Mind, Agility 1, so not like LT Sai is dodging all that much, but to be honest if they concentrate THAT much on the Shuttle my Aces should tear them apart.

What looks like it is going to the top so far:  While some are (I suspect) incorrectly saying that the “Meta is solved”…  I think that there ARE some things that are rising to the top for now at least.  And it has become evident that SOME things are perhaps under costed…  In my own lists, Juke is just stapled to the TIE Phantoms and Defenders.  For 4 points it is just too good NOT to take.  And any time you have to have some really compelling reason NOT to take an upgrade, it points to an issue I think.  Things like Supernatural Reflexes, Trajectory Simulator and a few of the ships themselves are I suspect due to hit the point cost elevator a the first “revision”.  And that there WILL be regular revisions of the game itself does make me hopeful at least that there will be a lot more longevity in this edition and there are not long periods of certain things absolutely dominating the competitive Meta…  Yes, casual play in local stores is not really affected, but that only works so long as ALL of the players abide by the self-imposed restrictions.  Once one or more bring the “netlists” that define the top tier of the competitive Meta, the system breaks completely.  And a lot of the “casual” players stop coming out to play which does have the effect of killing the local scene…  I suppose I put myself in more of the “Competitive” camp as I do enjoy the local Store Champion type events…  But I do also like the local scene.  With the FFG official alternate formats coming up perhaps there will be a bit of both in the future…