And the repaints begin... I guess Eldar are next...

Starting to repaint some of my X-Wing minis...  The first is my Star Viper and a pair of Z-95's...  Going for a more WWII feel on the Z-95's, so an OD Green base coat, not sure what next but probably nose a different color, etc...  Thinking they'll look like old P-47's or 51's...  Nose will go red and I'll likely go with the "Flying Tiger" shark mouth for them...

This is NOT mine, but what I'm working toward... Initial ship on the left of course...

Got the Star Viper base coated, more or less, and it does look a LOT better than that bad photo of mine would seem...  I've only flown it a few times, it is interesting, but not even a little OP I think.  Turrets hate them with the Autothrusters and agility, but they do not have a lot of HP nor do they do all that much damage...  About on par with an X-Wing really...  A bit more survivable and more in line with a correct points cost I think...  Plus they are interesting to fly...  The S-Loop is its only Red maneuver and takes some getting used to, but can easily get you places you need to be to line up a shot or avoid incoming fire...  A bit on the expensive side though really for competitive play.  I would be surprised to see many out on the tables even locally, though I suspect in some of my builds I will fly them...  Well, the one I have :-)...

Really liking the Y-Wings, Firesprays and B-wings I have been flying recently...  Not sure what I'll bring to my next events, but they are a while off I think...  Aggressor loaded out with a pair of Y-Wing or a Y-Wing and 2 Z-95's seems like a good build for me.  Or stick with Firesprays, maybe Boba Fett's...  :-)  Dunno, but looking forward to next event(s).

STAW is coming back a bit locally, that is great!  I won one of the Romulan D-Dedrix/Borg ships ("Avatar of Tomed"), and looking very much forward to flying that against the Dominion next Month.  Able to regenerate when it cloaks...  Pretty darn good.  Still a fun game locally, but unfortunately the glaring design flaws still exist outside of our "house rules" environment...  We play mostly Faction or at least Ship pure, so the "Borg All Stars" lists are just not seen here.  Not a lot that can be done against those things really.  Looking over the guy who won the latest big STAW event (Worlds?) list...  Big surprise, a Borg ship with CPT Picard (at a bloody discount, not even paying the cross faction penalty...) supported by an Admiral and Fighters...  So, the collection of the most broken and under costed things wins again.  Meh...  I can see why the game is dying all over the place if those builds are allowed to linger.  Contrast with X-Wing where the annoyingly OP "Phantom" builds just got neutered or at least "adjusted" a bit.  Nothing in X-Wing is completely over the top dominant in the way the things in STAW are.  Just doesn't happen, and when it starts to go that way, i gets adjusted.  Wishing Wizkids would get their act together on STAW.  Oddly, D&D Attack Wing (DnDAW) IS really well balanced and a lot of fun to play...  I am currently running a pair of Good Dragons with Dragon Riders as my force...  Not hugely effective against everything, but nothing that I cannot at least compete against.

On to Eldar hitting this weekend...  Some folks have the book now so "rumors" are not really rumors as such...  Well, crap.  My hope that they would be reined in like every other force thus far seems to be in vain.  Do they lose things?  Yes, the Wave Serpent loses the Shield shot every damn turn they get at the moment...  Assault, 2d6 shots, ONE USE...  So, the days of them driving up and using the WS to shoot armies off the table are gone at least.  But they gained a LOT more.  Jet Bikes now can mount Scatter Lasers in place of the Shuriken Catapult.  ALL OF THEM!!!!  So, a unit of up to 10 of the bastards brings out 40 Str 6 shots at 48" range on a platform that has a jink, 3+ Armor save and can move shoot move?  Well, fuck.  Oh, they are Troops too?  So, GW has decided that this game too must die.  Kind of annoying looking over at my Wood Elves army, knowing that I can re-shelf them without bothering to strip and repaint them.  Maybe Mantic's "Kings of War" game will take off locally..  I happen to have "a few" Fantasy type armies I could play...

Meh, X-wing is going REALLY strong locally, and glad a few others are ramping up a bit...

X-Wing builds evolving...

So, Emon was fun and I like the idea…  Just not sure the Firespray has enough to actually either a) do enough damage to justify the point cost (45-46 points) or b) can survive well enough to actually keep my in the running with “Margin of Victory” becoming a big thing now…  Wound up doing fairly well over the weekend at the “Top Guns” event with the build of Emon in his Firespray and a pair of Hired Guns in Y-Wings (Warthogs with Engine Upgrades).  Wound up 2-1 but with the Firespray dying in every game, my MoV was not so great, putting me to the middle.  Flew well against Alan’s Imperial list, and Emon’s Firespray REALLY does a number against the TIE Interceptor.  Double Stressed Soonter Fel usually dies the next turn, so the Push The Limit (PTL) card that he loves so much is a weak spot with Tactician on the field.  The Firespray usually does no damage with the 3 Dice attack, but the Stress still hits…  And those Y-Wings hit HARD when they get in close.  Game 2 was against a pair of YT-1300’s…  Chewbacca in the Falcon and Lando in another.  I flew pretty poorly against this.  I split up, meeting in the middle while the YT’s simply flew around the edge of the board knowing they had 360° arc, could cover each other and have a ridiculous number of Shields and Hull to punch through.  I should have simply lined up, chosen one and run right at it, incoming fire be damned…  I’d take some damage to be sure, but one YT to deal with is a LOT easier…  Game three was against another Imperial, close game.  Faced a Tie Defender, Decimator and a TIE Advanced I think…  Know it came down to the Decimator with its huge Hull against my last Y-Wing with 2 Hull left…  Got in behind as it flew into the Asteroids and got the kill before it could free itself…  Great game, came down to the last few Hull on each of our last ships… 

Which does point out that the Emon build does REALLY well against “Aces” builds with the few high quality small ships which are otherwise  difficult to deal with…  He simply does not survive well though.  The Firespray is not quite maneuverable or survivable enough to go toe to toe with the other big ships.  Lacking any EPT, I cannot easily modify the movement with PTL or Expert Handling.  Nor does it really put out THAT much damage with only the basic 3 Dice Attack…  Decent, but not great Arcs.  STAW and the Turrets here spoiled me for this…  The Excelsior with essentially a 270° Arc?  Yes, please…  Or Dash with a Mangler?  But an unmodified attack like this is just not enough to threaten either of the big threats…  Unlikely to hit the agile Auto Thruster equipped things nor will it do enough to the really big ships…  Assuming it even hits the Falcon when it is flown with things like C3-P0, Lando, Evade tokens everywhere, etc…  The Y’s are nice, but can be avoided and even set up like this are still flying tanks, and they turn like them…  So, thinking of switching for a bit to an Aggressor…

Syndicate Thug — Y-Wing	18
Autoblaster Turret	2
Unhinged Astromech	1
Engine Upgrade	4
BTL-A4 Y-Wing	0
Syndicate Thug — Y-Wing	18
Autoblaster Turret	2
Unhinged Astromech	1
Engine Upgrade	4
BTL-A4 Y-Wing	0
IG-88C — Aggressor	36
Expert Handling	2
Advanced Sensors	3
Heavy Laser Cannon	7
Autothrusters	2

If I am reading it right the timing for Expert Handling and the Advanced Sensors works out such that I can take the Barrel Roll, get the Stress token, then do a Green maneuver (which is almost the whole dial really), and clear the Stress…  Or of course a Boost, free Evade, then even something like an S-Turn to bring the HLC to bear…  With the Autothrusters it should be REALLY survivable against things like the Turrets and even Swarms if I can keep my distance…  So, either the pair of Y-Wings or?  Something else for 50 points…

Flying casual and just generally thinking about gaming "stuff"

So, looking like I’ll go to the “Fly Casual” league event at Titan this Sunday…  Looking at flying this Squadron:

Emon Azzameen — Firespray-31	36
Proximity Mines	3
Tactician	2
Seismic Charges	2
Proximity Mines	3
Andrasta	0
Hired Gun — Y-Wing	20
Autoblaster Turret	2
Unhinged Astromech	1
Engine Upgrade	4
BTL-A4 Y-Wing	0
Hired Gun — Y-Wing	20
Autoblaster Turret	2
Unhinged Astromech	1
Engine Upgrade	4
BTL-A4 Y-Wing	0

Pretty simple, the “Warthog” Y-Wings fly using their Green 3’s and a Boost action to get as close as they can, hoping for Range 1.  Range 1 they have the 3 Dice Primary Weapon attack and the 2 Dice Auto Blaster…  Now, the AB cannot be dodged by anything, so this is a VERY nice one to track down some of the difficult to hit TIEs and the like…  Emon bombs things and Stress tokens all around…  Fun list, but I suspect it will not be one of the “top tier” lists…  But it will surprise a lot of folks who ignore the slow, poorly armed Y-Wings…

Other gaming…  Well, playing D&D Attack Wing and STAW it looks like…  Liking the Dragons, and they fixed most all of the issues I had with STAW, but too late I fear to save the game locally…  Shame, it is a fun one with reasonable players…   X-Wing has a large group playing locally, hopefully more of the Gopher folks will get (back) into the game… 

40K actually looks to be making a small comeback with leagues and the like at the Gopher…  Still can’t say I have any particular interest though.  Sorry, for the cost of the latest Codex for one army and the DLC/Supplemental Codices I have a pretty solid X-Wing force already.  The pace of releases is SLOW for X-Wing by comparison as well.  Good in some ways, but it does lead to the possibility of stagnation I guess.  With a new third Faction, there seems to be a LOT of new life in the game and of course there are those movies coming up…  But back to 40K…  New armies that have not really existed before are hitting the shelves.  Ad Mech (Adepticus Mechanicus) is the latest…  Looks like it has potential and with the obvious tie in to the Forgeworld Horus Heresy stuff that is EXTREMELY popular…  Not my cup of team, mind, but nice models I guess.  Shame, there were a few now former locals who used to REALLY want to play Ad Mech, but they left the area and/or the game.  I am still finding more stuff in the basement and I am not thrilled with how much 40K stuff I have to be honest…  Heck, between that and the firearms I’d like to get rid of, I could easily afford a nice new(er) bike…  Well once I sell the Magna and then the Silverwing I guess…  Eh, LONG term plans I guess.  Will have to look into an online “garage sale” to sell off things, but as I am not in a hurry, not really looking to just dump them…  Well, except for the Magna…  That I want gone ASAP, but need to get the title straightened out still…

AAR for the Titan Games Store Championship (X-Wing)

So, AAR for the Store Championship at Titan Games…

I ran :

Emon Azzameen — Firespray-31	36
Seismic Charges	2
Tactician	2
Proximity Mines	3
Proximity Mines	3
Andrasta	0
Kavil — Y-Wing	24
Ion Cannon Turret	5
Unhinged Astromech	1
N'Dru Suhlak — Z-95 Headhunter	17
Lone Wolf	2
Cluster Missiles	4
Munitions Failsafe	1

Record wise?  Yeah, not so good…  But got in 5 great games, and the first big loss was one I might well have had a good chance at winning.  Played Tyler, an excellent player who won several SCs and he fielded a decked out Soonter Fel and 5 TIE fighters.  Killed off the Interceptor, but then promptly messed up and flew my Firespray INTO his TIE swarm rather than away as I thought I was doing…  Doh.  Went down fighting and got MOST of his stuff before dying, but that kind of set the tone for the day.  Don’t get me wrong, had a great time, played against a lot of friendly and excellent players, so this was NOT like my experience playing MtG or even 40K in tournaments.  I understand that there were some issues with people measuring movement with their hands, etc. at some of the top tables, but being down in the middle I did not see that of course.  All around a great tournament from my perspective but per usual, YMMV and I am sure other perspectives felt differently about it.

Now, I define things a bit differently I guess than a lot of other folks, so I should probably go over that a bit.  Swarm or “Swarmish” is what I refer to as a build that has 5+ ships in it.  Now, to get 5 or more ships in at 100 points of course you are talking TIE Fighters, Z-95’s, M-3’s and maybe Y-Wings I guess for the most part.  So, a bunch of cheap, low quality ships to fit into the philosophy of “Quantity has a Quality all its own”.  In general I do not buy into this, being brought up a product of the American military I tend to go the other way and like to have smaller, better forces.  Not perhaps the true top of the line, but that is not out of the question by any means of course. 

So in any case I saw a LOT of Swarmish builds there.  Typically either a big ship like a YT or Firespray and a bunch of Z-95’s, or an Ace and friends…  There was one lad who brought a dual TIE Phantom list with the named Pilots to get in one more run before “nerfing” with the recently released FAQ.  Good player, but honestly I am thrilled that FFG made that change to those things.  Stark contrast to GW and the Wave Serpent, but I digress J…  In any case, I saw only a single Decimator and I think only 2 YT-2400’s.  A few Aggressors, several other Firespray builds (they were quite popular) but the top tables were dominated by the YT-1300’s.  At least 2 guys up there had dual YT-1300’s fully decked out “Fat Han” style.  So, things easily almost guaranteeing 3 Evades/shot and loads of Hull/Shields with a good Turret.  Pretty sure I would not have done so well against that sort of build.  Almost need something to completely shut down their actions via Stress, blocking or the like…  But seems to be the current build to beat in the “larger than local” meta as it were.  Amusing I guess as no one local plays that sort of ship that I had seen, certainly NOT a pair of them.  To be fair, I DID consider seriously bringing the Falcon with Chewie along with Dash, so close but…  Lacking a few of the things that make “Fat Han” what it is, I think it would have been good, but not nearly so good as those builds.

Emon Azzameen — Firespray-31	36
Seismic Charges	2
Tactician	2
Seismic Charges	2
Proximity Mines	3
Andrasta	0
IG-88B — Aggressor	36
Expert Handling	2
Fire-Control System	2
Heavy Laser Cannon	7
Autoblaster	5
Inertial Dampeners	1
Autothrusters	2

This is what I am looking at as my “current” build I guess.  That or 3 B-Wings, 2 of them with HLC/Fire Control and the third with Ten Numb, Mangler Cannon and FC.  Lots of heavy accurate fire, and should be able to cover each other as they slowly move across the board to shoot up the enemy…

Final list for the Store Championship, and the bike...

So, I've gotten more test games and this is the list I've sent along to the TO...  The Die is cast as it were.

Emon Azzameen — Firespray-31	36
Seismic Charges	2
Tactician	2
Proximity Mines	3
Proximity Mines	3
Andrasta	0
Kavil — Y-Wing	24
Ion Cannon Turret	5
Unhinged Astromech	1
N'Dru Suhlak — Z-95 Headhunter	17
Lone Wolf	2
Cluster Missiles	4
Munitions Failsafe	1

Pretty simple list all things considered...  I can run the Z-95 either starting behind the other two ships, or clear on the other side of the board.  NEED to keep him range 2+ from everyone else to get the bonuses (+1 Attack Dice, Re-Rolls on Attack and Defense).  The Cluster Missiles are short ranged, but potential 8 Dice with built in re-rolls...  Should put a big dent in most things.  Kavil on the Y-Wing just flies around doing hard 3's (Green with the Droid) shooting 4 Dice Ion attacks.  His fighter is fairly tankish (and flies like it too), so not really worried about losing him o any single attack...  Emon in the Firespray causes Stress and drops Bombs/Mines...  With the ability to drop them using the Straight 1, Straight 3 or the 3 Turn template, it really opens up a big chunk of the board as potential targets for his munitions...  And he still gets a shot out of front or rear arc...  If he catches something at Range 2, they get a Stress, whether he hits or not :-)...

We'll see how they do in the big field at Titan Games...  More than 20 have already pre-registered and with a hard cap of 32, might well be how many get in.  This is the last day for it to be run, so folks coming in from quite a distance.  I already won my Focus tokens at the Gopher, so not really stressing about the tournament itself to be honest.  Figure that my list is a fairly good one, and is fun to play...  Not a lot I simply cannot beat, can really only think of a few definite hard counters.  Even those are not really hard counters, just bad match-ups that I'll have to play better and get lucky to win.  Still a dice game, so...

So, got the bike completely fixed and out for a bit...  And then the weather went back to crap.  I'm telling you, this has happened EVERY time I get my bike ready, I should get the farmers here to kick in and buy me a nice new(er) bike that I can't ride much so that their crops would get the guaranteed amount of rain :-)  Maybe Sunday will be clear enough for me to ride out to the Tournament...

More practice for Store Championship builds (X-Wing) and bike stuff...

So, tested my previous builds and here is the adjustments I think will help...

N'Dru Suhlak — Z-95 Headhunter	17
Lone Wolf	2
Cluster Missiles	4
Munitions Failsafe	1
Emon Azzameen — Firespray-31	36
Seismic Charges	2
Tactician	2
Proximity Mines	3
Proximity Mines	3
Andrasta	0
Kavil — Y-Wing	24
Ion Cannon Turret	5
Unhinged Astromech	1
or: Emon Azzameen — Firespray-31 36 Seismic Charges 2 Intelligence Agent 1 Proximity Mines 3 Proximity Mines 3 Andrasta 0 IG-88B — Aggressor 36 Push the Limit 3 Fire-Control System 2 Autoblaster 5 Heavy Laser Cannon 7 Autothrusters 2 Played a few games with the other builds and other than the generic Y-Wing essentially ending up in the worst possible position (bumping the Firespray and within Range 2 of the Z-95), I think that list had potential.  The Auto Blasters were "less useful" on the Firespray and as a Turret on the Y-Wing, so those are gone...  I did REALLY like the Proximity mines and the bombs actually worked out well...  Except that the 3-hard turn template still keeps the bomb in Range 1 of you if you say, get bumped and do not actually move...  Was worth it to put the extra hit on an essentially impossible to hit ship though. Looking I think for a Tactician.  Unfortunately only came in the TIE Phantom set though.  Having the passive abilities on the Firespray and Aggressor is huge, and since "in your arc" includes the main and secondary arcs, the Tactician will be nice...  The Aggressor flew in an interesting fashion...  Was nice, but REALLY had a hard time in asteroids, and not putting on an Elite Talent was bad for me.  That Emon has NO Elite Talent slot is pretty annoying as well, but it is certainly a fun ship to fly... And then there is the bike...  Working GREAT.  Wound up replacing the battery as the arcing issue probably killed it.  Well, that and it is 3 years old...  Rode in to Campus today, and remembered WHY i stick to the back roads when riding the old bike...  But it was REALLY nice getting in a ride like that.  My amazing wife does not particularly like the whole "bike" thing, but I think she is very understanding about it...  Something to keep my balance in a lot of ways...

And the Silverwing lives again... Also testing X-Wing Squadrons for the next event...

Traced down the Electrical issue I guess...  Major cleaning of some of the corroded electrical connections and fuses and the old bike fired up...  Some of those connections were pretty badly corroded, but for a 30+ year old bike, nothing unexpected.  Checked oil and air levels and got in a few quick rides...  Made it as far as Philo, keeping to the back roads and all...  Debating taking the trunk off and seeing if the rack/back rest from the Magna will fit on the Wing.  Frankly the trunk is JUST a little too small to actually be useful as a helmet will not fit in it, and the backpack solution I have that fits over the back rest can fit in a LOT of cargo.  Though, the saddlebags are also just a bit small for a 15" laptop or tackle-box for X-Wing (or any other "Wing" game), so not really ideal in any case, but it is what it is and it is what I have to work with...

Speaking of X-Wing though I am looking at running the following at the Titan Games SC later in the Month...

Emon Azzameen — Firespray-31	36
Autoblaster	5
Seismic Charges	2
Intelligence Agent	1
Inertial Dampeners	1
Proximity Mines	3
Proximity Mines	3
Andrasta	0
IG-88B — Aggressor	36
Fire-Control System	2
Autoblaster	5
"Mangler" Cannon	4
Autothrusters	2

Or perhaps something like this:

N'Dru Suhlak — Z-95 Headhunter 17

Lone Wolf 2

Cluster Missiles 4

Munitions Failsafe 1

 

Syndicate Thug — Y-Wing 18

Autoblaster Turret 2

Unhinged Astromech 1

 

Emon Azzameen — Firespray-31 36

Autoblaster 5

Seismic Charges 2

Intelligence Agent 1

Inertial Dampeners 1

Proximity Mines 3

Proximity Mines 3

Engine Upgrade 4

Andrasta 0

 

REALLY liking the Firespray with mines like that...  The ability to throw out the mines in so many directions and distances will be something that a fair number of folks will not be expecting.  Would really like to have the HLC in the first one on the Aggressor replacing the Mangler, but point levels being what they are...  Or drop the Cannon altogether and take another Pilot for a different ability and  perhaps upgrading the ships in some way...  Second one, I can see finding the 6 points to make the Y-Wing Kavil instead of a Generic Pilot...  3 Dice attacks that cannot be dodged are just THAT good when facing the things that cannot otherwise be hit...  And the Y-Wing with the Droid is surprisingly maneuverable...  N'Dru is frankly just bait for the most part.  Yes, he COULD put down the big 8 hits in a single turn, but really it is still just a Z-95, so one of the more fragile Fighters out there...

Motorcycles and X-Wing... No real connection, but...

So…  It got warm this week.  And I have not one but two broken motorcycles…  Woo hoo.  Only one has a Title/plates, and of course that one has an electrical issue.  Weird one, I can charge the battery, then hook it up with the engine kill switch on and the key removed only to have the bike try to fire up.  Sounding like a short/bad ground, so I picked up the electrical contact cleaner and will tear the ancient Silverwing apart again this weekend…  Or sooner if I decide I’ve had enough…  Have to take the luggage and seat off to get to the master ground there, so it will be something of a project.  Will of course be checking the fuses, etc. first and having the nice digital multi meter should be able to track down the short…  HOPING for a simple thing like a corroded fuse, but given how that is the quick and easy fix so probably not.  But in any case, REALLY wanting to get back out and ride again, and the ancient Silverwing is the bike I have for that…  500cc engine, so NOT something I can really take out to an Interstate or on a longer trip…  But I really do miss riding in to work, hitting the back roads and unwinding.  Simple old bike, nothing flashy or fast but being one of those silly “biker” types…  It has been a VERY long time since last I rode…

Gaming…  Well, I played in the D&D Attack Wing event this week…  Won one of the Ancient Brass Dragons, so was fun and having more Dragons, especially the Good Dragons around is nice.  Picked up another X-Wing ship, the Aggressor class ship for the “Scum And Villainy” faction…  Another one that flies kind of weird, and it seems like you get rewarded for bringing multiples of this ship, which I am less likely to.  It STARTS at 36 points with nothing on it, decked out it is almost half of your points in any case so 2 at most for the “standard build size” of 100 points.  REALLY looking forward to the Firespray “reprints” hitting…  Boba Fett’s ship, gets new cards and stats to play as a Neutral (S&V), and a bunch of new Pilots and abilities.  Does not have the 360° arc, but it does have forward and rear 90° arcs along with some neat abilities…  Doubtful I can come up with something to defeat the current top of the meta ships, but I’m having fun flying what I enjoy and have been doing quite well competitively…  And Dave says the Gopher gets some in tomorrow so I will be picking one up, excellent!  Looking at playing in the bigger event at Gen Con, and with the pace of new releases from FFG being glacial when compared to WizKids and their Star Trek Attack Wing game, I may well be looking at pretty much what will be available at that time.  Looking like the big Imperial Epic ship will hit bringing much needed fixes to the TIE Advanced, but not a lot else has been rumored as near as I can tell…  So, for the most part, dealing with the things that are at the top end of the current curve will still be the things to deal with in a few months (Late July/start of Aug)… 

Liking the following build:

Ten Numb — B-Wing	31
Veteran Instincts	1
Advanced Sensors	3
"Mangler" Cannon	4
Corran Horn — E-Wing	35
Push the Limit	3
Fire-Control System	2
R2-D2	4
Engine Upgrade	4
Tala Squadron Pilot — Z-95 Headhunter	13

MAYBE swap the Advanced Sensors for a Fire-Control System and/or the Engine Upgrade for a Shield Upgrade…  Dunno, Horn with the Boost action is annoyingly difficult to catch, and regenerating Shields are REALLY annoyingly hard to take down.  Yes, have lost him, but the effort required and the fact that it usually takes a mistake on my part in there…  Ten is just there for the “I hit with a Crit” no matter what.  Another option is Ten with a pair of B-Wings of course for a slow and deadly force that just stays back, likely at range 2 and pot shots things out of existence…  Not horribly exciting, and hard to keep some of the top end arc dodgers in arc, but solid against a lot of things…

Wait, one connection...  The X-Wing game is one I can easily fit into the saddlebags on the ancient Silverwing...

Mostly X-Wing stuff... And almost time to get the motorcycle out again...

So, first big event for the X-Wing game under the belt…  I think I did fairly well coming in 3-1 with my Dash/Corran Horn list.  Tried to fly too fancy in my last game and I was simply not prepared for the TIE swarm played by someone who knows how to REALLY well.  So, a few things I need to change up for the next one later this Month I think.

Got in a few games last night…  First one was an odd “Scum” list I was going over… 

Star Viper (Xizor, Expert Handling, Virago, Auto Thrusters and Accuracy Corrector)

Z-95 ( N’Dru, Cluster Missiles, Lone Wolf, Hot Shot Blaster)

Y-Wing (Kavil, Ion Turret, Unhinged Astromech, Hull Upgrade)

Admittedly, the Hull Upgrade and Expert Handling was mostly because I could only find the one Hot Shot Blaster…  The EH worked REALLY well though on Xizor though.  I tend to do a fair number of Barrel Rolls in any case and the ability to shunt Target Locks is really nice, and especially nice if facing low skilled Missile boats.  The Star Viper is just fun to fly.  A bit on the fragile end I think though with only one Shield and four Hull.  As it happened, my Defense dice were hot and mine lived while killing off his virtual mirror.  N’Dru was a beast, but faced off against his mirror…  Like I said, my Defense Dice were hot, so I lived through the Cluster Missiles and he did not.  I am rather looking forward to see what a single Z-95 can do to some of the Large based ships like the Decimator.  The essentially 8 Dice attack for that one turn is huge and while it will not likely take down a Large ship, it should take down most Fighters…  The Y was just amusing flying with Green 3 maneuvers and the four Dice attacks from the Ion Cannon…

But that does bring me to what my second game showed.  Faced off against 3 TIEs, 2 Interceptors and one Phantom.  So:

Turr Phennir (VI, Auto Thrusters)

Soontir Fel (AT, PTL)

Whisper (VI, FCS, Stygian, Intel Agent)

And pretty sure there was one more point in there somewhere…  But I flew my Rebel Squadron that I am looking at for the next Store Championships run…  I already have the acrylic Focus markers, so not really all that interested in fielding something that is overpowering…  And I say that like I actually could J…  But with the Auto Thrusters on things like the TIE Interceptor and the A-Wing…  You can get to a point where the 2 Dice attacks essentially have no chance to actually do any damage, and even decent 3 Dice attacks are a very real long shot.  Thinking that these are hard counters to the Swarms hitting the field these days, assuming that you can keep from bumping before thinning the Swarm enough.  And since they have 4-5 Dice Attacks at Range 1, I am not thinking it will be an issue…  In any case I flew:

Ten Numb (B-Wing, Mangler Cannon, VI)

Biggs Darklighter (Shield Upgrade, R2-D2)

Horton Salm (Y-Wing, Ion Turret, R2)

Plan was to keep Biggs near Ten to draw fire, move slow and ping things with Critical Hits that cannot be avoided by any means…  On the unshielded TIES, this is a BIG deal.  But against a lot of the “hard to hit” things that one unavoidable Damage (especially as it is a Critical) is still quite good, so I wanted to give this a run.  Either a mini Swarm with 2 A-Wings and 2 Z-95s, a 3 Ship “Aces” list or paired with one of the YTs…  Was pretty happy with Biggs actually.  The X-Wing itself is fairly “Meh” lacking…  Well, something.  It cannot Boost, Barrel Roll, Evade or do much interesting on its own.  It is not particularly maneuverable nor is it particularly robust or even powerful on Offence…  So, not really sure how much I’ll fly the “poster boy” for the game itself…  I am probably just spoiled with the other ships I actually learned the game on like the B-Wing and E-Wing and seeing the Imperial things that are really just “better” in about every way for about the same point cost…  The Y-Wing was “OK”, but CLEARLY outclassed by the extremely advanced TIE fighters.  They were flying circles around him, and while he lived a while, he was completely ineffective for his 31 points.  Soontir Fel and Turr Phennir were 32 and 28 points respectively and completely outclassed the poor Y-Wing.  Felt like a Sherman up against a Panther really…  So, Ten worked like a charm, though I need to find some better things to outfit him with I think…  I DID actually completely whiff twice, both would have been Kill shots on a TIE Interceptor, so likely the Fire Control System upgrade or perhaps something to get more Green on the dial…

So, long story short:  Happy with Ten Numb, and that will be flown again…  Not sure what with though…  Fortunately, next Championship is in a few weeks, so some time…

40K is restarting at the Gopher I guess…  I wish them well.  Have to say, less interest in playing that game now, but I also know that at SOME point in the future the cycle will turn and I’ll likely go back to playing…  Maybe if the rumored Horus Heresy things actually happens.  I have a bunch of that stuff, and if I’m honest, that era interests me a LOT more than the current 40K setting where it seems that the storyline is essentially “The Empire is screwed, EVERYONE else is just better than the Marines” and the game is just throwing buckets of dice, most of which simply ignore Marine class armor, or glance Vehicles…  J  But I’m just one of those bitter old school gamers I guess, and not one throwing money at GW (Sorry Gopher!), so surprisingly GW did not ask my opinion about the system…

REALLY looking forward to the possibility next week and beyond of actually getting my ancient motorcycle out on the road…  Need to fix the electrical fault on the Silverwing, but I suspect that is just a ground issue, so hopefully simple enough…  And then I’ll get to ride again.  Been a LONG winter, and I want to ride again…

X-Wing... 48 points and?

So, playing in the Store Championship Saturday at the Armored Gopher and I have the first 48 points of my Rebel list fixed...

Corran Horn — E-Wing	35
Push the Limit	3
Fire-Control System	2
R2-D2	4
Engine Upgrade	4
Dash Rendar — YT-2400	36
Lone Wolf	2
"Mangler" Cannon	4
Nien Nunb	1
Engine Upgrade	4
Outrider	5

or:

Corran Horn — E-Wing	35
Push the Limit	3
Fire-Control System	2
R2-D2	4
Engine Upgrade	4
Chewbacca — YT-1300	42
Lone Wolf	2
Nien Nunb	1
Dash Rendar	2
Engine Upgrade	4
Millennium Falcon	1

So, either the YT-2400 with Dash at the helm or something I have not actually played...  Chewbacca in the YT-1300...  And not entirely sure what loadout for the Falcon really.  Dash, Nien Nunb and the Engine Upgrade are pretty much just the "fill it in" portion.  Like lots of Green on the dial, no Obstructed Shots...  But guessing that I could find other ways to spend 7-8 points that might be better...  Maybe.  Have to admit I like flying Dash's ship, and Lone Wolf on it is insanely powerful for 2 points...  Yes, it means you are NOT running a swarm of ships, but not really a problem I am thinking on these bigger, more expensive ships.  Horn's E-Wing is just REALLY powerful.  I would put it certainly as the rebel's most powerful or best Fighter.  Right up there with the Imperial TIE Phantom and its cloaking shenanigans...  Oh, and 4 Dice Attack...  The E-Wing is FAST, with regenerating Shields, extra Actions and Horn's ability to do a second Attack every other Turn?  I have finished off several other Fighters with his "Double Tap" to get in the extra shot...  Then run like Hell the next turn as your guns cool down :-)  So, that 48 point block is fixed...  Need to pick up the Scum set for the Mangler Cannon (well, that ans the really fun Y-Wings and Z-95's...)...  Having the Heaver Laser Cannon is nice, but Outrider is an extra 5 points, and it leaves you VERY vulnerable to anyone who can get inside of your main Cannon's range...  And flying WITH the Cannon fixed into the Front Arc is OK, but pretty darn expensive for a 2 Dice Attack if they can get outside of your main Arc...  3 Dice, flipping a Hit to a Critical is about where I'd want it, and I think it might be worth the 9 points it takes to get the 360 Arc for that...  Guess I'll see what Saturday brings...

30/40K, and Store Championships this week

So, looking like Warhammer 40K will expand to include 30K and the Horus Heresy…  On one hand I am thrilled.  Forgeworld has put out some absolutely AMAZING minis, and to be honest I think their rules are pretty well balanced and every bit as good as the ones put forth by the main company.   Not setting the bar very high I know.  And if they do things like make the Siege Shields into Storm Shields and get the Grav Guns consistent between the systems then it will be a very good thing.  Since I really like the “old” style Armor, having it in plastic should get the price down a bit or at least I would hope…  Heck, Knights, Titans and Superheavies are already in 40K so the old argument of “those things do not belong in 40K” should be dead.  I suppose that the Chaos folks who wanted to play Legion forces might get to as they essentially did not really change much from the end of the Heresy…  Well, the Thousand Sons did, but, when you go with the “Changer of Ways” and his keen sense of irony (For those not familiar, look up what happened to the Legionnaires with the Rubric of Ahriman) you take your chances I guess.

Lots of Ingress being played…  I was quite content to keep my own little “Fortress Tolono”, but a few players on the other team seem to have other plans and have gone out of their way to mess up my little setups.  So, I have gone forth and attacked, moving more to the role of a “line breaker” and destroying a lot of stuff…  Almost level 10 now, certainly would not be had I been left alone…    So, kind of the Shadow philosophy from Babylon 5 with conflict making the next generation stronger in some ways.  I have gotten quite good at tearing down Resistance fields and have actually walked almost 500 km, despite the particularly bad weather.  Almost time to get back to running, I still plan on running in the 5k race at the end of June, so need to get in much better shape by then.

Narrowed down my lists for the X-Wing Store Championships at the Gopher to:

Ten Numb — B-Wing	31
Veteran Instincts	1
Ion Cannon	3
Mercenary Copilot	2
B-Wing/E2	1
Blue Squadron Pilot — B-Wing	22
Fire-Control System	2
Heavy Laser Cannon	7
Blue Squadron Pilot — B-Wing	22
Fire-Control System	2
Heavy Laser Cannon	7

Or

Corran Horn — E-Wing	35
Push the Limit	3
Fire-Control System	2
R2-D2	4
Engine Upgrade	4
Dash Rendar — YT-2400	36
Lone Wolf	2
Heavy Laser Cannon	7
Navigator	3
Engine Upgrade	4

Not a LOT of difference I guess really…  First gives me 3 B-Wings to stay back as best I can and take long ranged shots.  Ion cannon there to try to get the unblockable hit and mess up the TIE Phantoms and their cloaking annoyance, or mess up other higher PS fighters.  The dual Heavy Laser Cannons are just there to hit things hard at range.  Nothing subtle, hopefully free Target Locks to help get more hits on the big ships.  Second one is more interesting, the E-Wing is VERY hard to kill and has the potential to get in 2 4 dice attacks with Target Locks and it is FAST…  Dash just dances through the asteroids and has a great deal of potential there.  Usually dies as his ship is probably one of the weakest Large ships…  But fast, maneuvers well and with a turret, it almost always HAS a shot.  I still do not like the “donut” with the Outrider making the cannon a turret.  No range 1 shots at all then if you have the Heavy Laser Cannon…  When the “Mangler” Cannon comes out, this will I think change for me.  And word is this week, so MAYBE before Saturday for this Store Championship…  The other store in town I am allowed in has theirs next month, so almost certainly by then…  And the Scum and Villainy faction will have hit in full…  Ordered most of what I intend to buy already from the Gopher…  When the boats unload and the Firesprays (Boba Fett’s ship) hit again, I will be getting one of those…  A lot of things that can be this faction or another…  The Scum Y-wing looks REALLY fun to fly, and I am looking forward to that…  Beyond that?  Eh, not sure I have any real interest in most of the “new” ships…  Kind of hoping FFG keeps going when the new movie(s) hit and there are some new things in the pipeline…  But one never knows when dealing with the Mouse….