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Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game | The Official Thread

daevv

Member
What's everyone's thoughts on any of the Brobot lists? Worth the investment for only casual play? Right now they are the B-Team for Scum in tournaments but I still picked up one of the ships a few weeks back, wondering about buying a second. Only played it with another large based scum ship in some casual games to marginal success. Any decent/fun lists with only one Aggressor? I like how the upcoming Shadow Caster looks to be coming with an IG-88 crew card but that is a long way off to wait for some IG-88 synergy. Thanks.
 

Danthrax

Batteries the CRISIS!
49 people got at least three wins in the last two qualifying days to make it to the finals today here at Nationals in Columbus. I'm one of them, ranked 32nd. Started yesterday 0-2 and won my next three straight to make it @_@

[edit] And there are five no-shows today, surprisingly, so only 44 of us will compete for the championship.
 
What's everyone's thoughts on any of the Brobot lists? Worth the investment for only casual play? Right now they are the B-Team for Scum in tournaments but I still picked up one of the ships a few weeks back, wondering about buying a second. Only played it with another large based scum ship in some casual games to marginal success. Any decent/fun lists with only one Aggressor? I like how the upcoming Shadow Caster looks to be coming with an IG-88 crew card but that is a long way off to wait for some IG-88 synergy. Thanks.
BroBots is a solid list, that I am absoute shit at flying for some reason. A second Bot isn't a bad investment, imo. I have two myself.
 
What's everyone's thoughts on any of the Brobot lists? Worth the investment for only casual play? Right now they are the B-Team for Scum in tournaments but I still picked up one of the ships a few weeks back, wondering about buying a second. Only played it with another large based scum ship in some casual games to marginal success. Any decent/fun lists with only one Aggressor? I like how the upcoming Shadow Caster looks to be coming with an IG-88 crew card but that is a long way off to wait for some IG-88 synergy. Thanks.
BroBots is a solid list, that I am absoute shit at flying for some reason. A second Bot isn't a bad investment, imo. I have two myself.
 

EYEL1NER

Member
Drove an hour into the city with last Wednesday's list for the X-Wing "I am your Father's Day" Event. The big store I went to first that doesn't do much X-Wing didn't have anyone playing and no one had been in all day for it. It being Free RPG Day meant that the store was packed for that. I asked about X-Wing and mentioned that I had brought an army but I ended up leaving because it was hectic. A guy at the counter did give me the free double-sided Luke/Vader promo though, so that was good.
I went to another store that frequently does tourneys just to see what the store was like since I had never been there. There was a massive MtG tournament happening though, so I could barely get in and walk around. They are doing some X-Wing events tomorrow and giving away the promos then too but I won't be getting out then. A full day of gaming sounds like a good Father's Day to me but I imagine my wife and daughter would rather have me home.
 

EYEL1NER

Member
I like the Howlrunner, Baron, 2 Black, and 2 Academy list. It means all but one fighter firing at once. At the same time I like having two advanced prototypes; A second thread tracer can be used against subsequent ships and they are more durable thanks to their shields and free evade after target locking. Guess I'll have to play around with both to see which works better for me.
So any updates on your swarm with the TIE Advanced Proto? Have you tweaked it or tested it at all? I was wondering because I wound up buying an Inquisitor's TIE (after seeing your post and then looking at the stats and pilots) and am trying to formulate a swarm around him. What I was thinking is to through in an Omega Leader in a TIE/fo. Enemy ships he has a lock on cannot modify attack or defense dice when dealing with him and I thought that would be a great combo off the S-Thread Tracers: If an Alpha Strike fails or get disrupted or falls apart and things last a while, I'll have a TIE/fo shooting pretty early in the stack who will have one enemy ship's number and be pretty safe from that ship's attacks.
I'm not having too much luck building a swarm around the two of them though.

One idea I was toying with:
Sienar Test Pilot (16)
XX-23 S-Thread Tracers (1)
Munitions Failsafe (1)
TIE/v1 (1)

"Omega Leader" (21)
Swarm Tactics (2)

"Zeta Leader" (20)
Swarm Tactics (2)

Academy Pilot (12)

Academy Pilot (12)

Academy Pilot (12)

Total: 100

EDIT: I'm not accustomed to building a swarm though. I know "more ships," "swarm tactics," and almost always "Howlrunner" are the major ingredients. I guess I could drop an Academy TIE from the list and change another Academy TIE to Howlrunner.
I guess here is another potential list, an altered version of the above list:

Sienar Test Pilot (16)
XX-23 S-Thread Tracers (1)
Munitions Failsafe (1)
TIE/v1 (1)

"Omega Leader" (21)

Epsilon Squadron Pilot (15)

"Howlrunner" (18)
Swarm Tactics (2)

Academy Pilot (12)

Academy Pilot (12)

Total: 99
So 99pts for initiative or I could throw Veteran Instincts on Omega Leader or maybe some other 1pt upgrade somewhere.
 
I haven't tested the swarms yet, no. I've flown mini swarms before but never anything with more than 5 ships. I like the look of both of those lists though. I know it doesn't matter at all but I always feel weird mixing old and new TIEs. Though I do currently have a TIE, TIE/FO, and Phantom list.

Last night I taught two friends how to play. I put them both in an X-Wing and T-70 X-Wing and I flew four Academy Pilot TIEs. No obstacles, no upgades or abilities, strictly going over basic rules and function. They had fun but lost both X-Wings while I lost two TIEs.

Next I introduced obstacles, pilot abilities, and upgrade cards. I gave one Chewie with the Millennium Falcon title, Lone Wolf, Gunner, and an Engine Upgrade. I gave the other Leebo, the Outrider title, Heavy Laser Cannon, Determination, and C-3PO. This time I flew a couple random named TIE pilots along with Howlrunner. Naturally they wiped the floor with me and had a lot of fun with upgrade synergy.

I went over the basics of what to shop for when starting and one is already dedicated to building a Scum and Villainy/Mandalorian list.
 

EYEL1NER

Member
I haven't tested the swarms yet, no. I've flown mini swarms before but never anything with more than 5 ships. I like the look of both of those lists though. I know it doesn't matter at all but I always feel weird mixing old and new TIEs. Though I do currently have a TIE, TIE/FO, and Phantom list.

Last night I taught two friends how to play. I put them both in an X-Wing and T-70 X-Wing and I flew four Academy Pilot TIEs. No obstacles, no upgades or abilities, strictly going over basic rules and function. They had fun but lost both X-Wings while I lost two TIEs.

Next I introduced obstacles, pilot abilities, and upgrade cards. I gave one Chewie with the Millennium Falcon title, Lone Wolf, Gunner, and an Engine Upgrade. I gave the other Leebo, the Outrider title, Heavy Laser Cannon, Determination, and C-3PO. This time I flew a couple random named TIE pilots along with Howlrunner. Naturally they wiped the floor with me and had a lot of fun with upgrade synergy.

I went over the basics of what to shop for when starting and one is already dedicated to building a Scum and Villainy/Mandalorian list.
I think I'll run that second list tomorrow night and see how it goes. I spent a while a couple nights ago reading some articles about flying swarms in formation and knowing what turns will cause your ships to collide. I'm a bit worried about keeping so many ships together and keeping them from running into each other on the first turn but I may spend some time tomorrow before I go just maneuvering ship bases on my dinner table and seeing how close I can keep them, what positions I can get them into, etc.

That sounds like a fun evening for you. Glad you got some people interested in the game and will potentially have more people to play it with. I tried to recommend the game to a friend who was wanting to get back into 40K but as soon as I mentioned that the ships were pre-painted, he was out. I guess he really enjoys painting minis, which is his prerogative, but I don't.
 
I'm working on a new Rebel Aces build. I currently have a list featuring Poe, Biggs, and Ibtisam. It has done well enough but I'm ready to change it up.

I never use missiles or torpedoes because I feel they are too expensive to discard. For the sake of trying something new I decided to give a torpedo strike a shot.

Wes Janson
Veteran Instincts
R3-A2
Flechette Torpedoes
Guidance Chips

Jake Farrell
Veteran Instincts
Push the Limit
A-Wing Test Pilot
Chardaan Refit
Autothrusters

Nera Dantels
Opportunist
Fire Control System
Proton Torpedoes
Extra Munitions
Guidance Chips

The idea is pretty straightforward: Wes removes focus or evade tokens and applies stress, potentially double stress. Jake swoops in and uses opportunist to throw 3, potentially 4, dice at the same target. Finally, Nera cleans ups with a proton torpedo from the back.

EDIT:Replaced Munitions Failsafe with Guidance Chips. Swapped Opportunist for Push the Limit on Jake. Swapped Veteran Instincts for Opportunist on Nera. Jake still swoops in on a target with a stripped tokens. But now Nera can take on a stress to trigger opportunist and fire a proton torpedo for 5 dice. Between the guidance chips and the torpedo's focus to crit it's more or less a guaranteed hit.
 

EYEL1NER

Member
I ran the swarm I listed above with the Sienar Test Pilot, Omega Leader, and Howlrunner last night (with one small modification: Vet Instincts on Omega). Two of the guys from last week were there and a guy from Tuesday Night Board Game Night showed up too. The guy on Tuesday saw me eyeing X-Wing ships and asked if I played; when I replied in the affirmative he indicated that he was interested in purchasing some items to start playing. He said he had been reading up on it, studied the rules, and wanted to play but didn't know what to start off with. He asked some more questions and I gave him some recommendations, and then I told him to show up last night and at least watch a game and if an odd number showed up and I was left out, I had enough of everything that this guy could play against me using my stuff.

So that guy showed up and I put together a quick rebel list for him. I had found and saved four 'teaching' lists using 75pts squads that each contain a popular movie character and no more than two different types of ships. I took the rebel list of Luke, an X-Wing Rookie, and a Gold Squadron Y with a couple upgrades and then added another Rookie to it to get it closer to 100 points (I think he wound up at 95pts). The guy did alright and when we quit playing he had killed one of my Academy TIEs and had landed a hit on the other one while I had only stripped the shields and landed a hit on the Y-Wing (two damage cards on the Y were from asteroids though, so it wasn't technically all me doing the damage). He flew Luke and the Gold pilot right into my swarm which I flew straight down the middle and prevented my Sienar Test Pilot from getting his S-Thread Tracers off and prevented Omega Leader from getting his needed target lock. I also screwed up my formation by putting the three 1PS pilots in the rear which made movement terrible, having to remove the front row pilots to move the rear row forward past them and then do the same to move the now-rear row forward. Flying a swarm and a close formation was something I thought I didn't have enough experience or skill with and I proved myself right. Once the formation collided with the X and Y, it screwed everything up. Trying to K-Turn past them saw everything bumping each other; it was a huge mess.

The rest of the session saw us discussing the store with the owner and future plans. Apparently the X-Wing group was the last group who was playing for free, even DnD groups are paying on their nights. So he is implementing a "$5 or buy a ship to play for the week" policy starting next week. We talked with him about obtaining OP kits and running tourneys with promos and he said he would start getting them. I think before I arrived it was brought up that 6-8pm isn't enough time and he would need to stay open longer if we were paying to play, because games getting cut short is always annoying. I'm actually not so sure that the large majority of the group is interested in paying $5/week and my wife doesn't like the policy so I'm not sure how much longer the games will go on. Makes me wish I had worked up the nerve to go in months ago and start playing... One guy said he has hosted sessions at his house before and can continue doing that. I think I may buy a second Phantom next week though for the buy in because I have been thinking about some squads with two sparsely equipped low-PS Phantoms.

I bought my first TIE Bomber last night. I'll be getting another Bomber once I get Imperial Veterans I guess and have two Punishers but I have yet to fly any ships with bombs. One thing that was really cool that happened was when I was talking about tournaments at the stores an hour away in the city had how I want to attend some, that I don't care about being the best in the area but do desire the promos. I mentioned how I had begun looking for older promos on eBay and was about to pull the trigger on the PtL promos, 3 for $16. A guy got one out and said "I don't need too many of these, you can have one." I asked if he was sure and he said he already had a few as well as the original PtL cards. He also said that if I go to one of the stores in the city that hosts OPs and tournaments, so many people there have so many of the promos that people would probably give me some, or sell me some, at least.

Speaking of the store that I just mentioned: they are doing an OP on Saturday night. I plan to go and this is the list I think I will take:

The Inquisitor (25)
Push the Limit (3)
Proton Rockets (3)
Autothrusters (2)
TIE/v1 (1)

Soontir Fel (27)
Push the Limit (3)
Autothrusters (2)
Stealth Device (3)
Royal Guard TIE (0)

Omicron Group Pilot (21)
Fire-Control System (2)
Darth Vader (3)
Gunner (5)

Total: 100

The Inquisitor will be Pushing the Limit and taking multiple actions and attacking from out of arc and at distance (negating the range three Defense die). He has Proton Rockets on in case he slips up and someone winds up too close: unleash those with five red dice. Soontir will be doing the same strategy minus the Rockets to keep people away. The Shuttle will have the capability to combo the Vadar, Gunner, and FCS to quickly strip some shields off any heavy targets to leave them open for the nimble Inquisitor and Soontir Fel and can also pull zero moves to block enemies or prevent their movement and leave them open for attacks.

I can't wait for Imperial Vets to get my hands on a Systems Officer. I saw someone on Reddit talking about the possibilities for the Inquisitor when a ship with Systems Officer is near: "A Prototype with PTL can acquire a target lock from a systems officer, perform a free evade action, PTL off of that, perform a green to clear, then do a regular action." Free Target Lock, Free Evade, Evade triggers PtL to focus, pull a green move to remove PtL stress, then pull barrel roll or boost to get into firing position? That kind of versatility is insane!!!

In addition to wanting to get a Systems Officer, I've been looking into getting some 1/78 scale WW2 pinup decals to try to put on some ships. I saw a B-Wing with a pinup Twilek painted on it and loved the way it looked.
 
I went to league night last night. I have a store tournament coming up Sunday so I figured I would run my Dash/A-Wing list to get some practice in. I had used it in the past with success but hadn't flown them in a while. I got absolutely skunked. I went up against Fel, Jax, and The Inquisitor. I lost both A-Wings almost immediately. Dash was saved by the bell but I didn't destroy a single ship.

I'm usually opposed to only running large ships in a list, especially if they're both turreted. I feel that ships that never die and can just shoot at whatever they want without planning their firing arc takes a lot of the skill out of the game. But after that game I don't really care. I'm probably going to swap the A-Wings for a Lothal Rebel. I'm usually a good sport about losing but something about that game just broke me.
 

EYEL1NER

Member
I went to league night last night. I have a store tournament coming up Sunday so I figured I would run my Dash/A-Wing list to get some practice in. I had used it in the past with success but hadn't flown them in a while. I got absolutely skunked. I went up against Fel, Jax, and The Inquisitor. I lost both A-Wings almost immediately. Dash was saved by the bell but I didn't destroy a single ship.

I'm usually opposed to only running large ships in a list, especially if they're both turreted. I feel that ships that never die and can just shoot at whatever they want without planning their firing arc takes a lot of the skill out of the game. But after that game I don't really care. I'm probably going to swap the A-Wings for a Lothal Rebel. I'm usually a good sport about losing but something about that game just broke me.
I'm not surprised that Dash would have survived it, with all that shield and hull that he has. Wow though. I have to say, that makes me feel hopeful that I will do as well as that Imperial player with my similar list tomorrow. I even thought about fitting Jax or Turr in there in place of the Lambda because even though I have high hopes for the Lambda, he didn't do anything for me last week and he is going to get hit a lot (or lose health from Vader, which is the game plan).
What were some of the upgrades he was running? I am assuming that Fel was the standard Fel with Autothrusters and PtL but I am curious what the Inquisitor had on him.
 
What were some of the upgrades he was running? I am assuming that Fel was the standard Fel with Autothrusters and PtL but I am curious what the Inquisitor had on him.

Fel and Jax had the standard Interceptor upgrades: PTL, royal guard, stealth device and auto thrusters. Inquisitor had TIE/v1, PTL and auto thrusters.
 

EYEL1NER

Member
I ran the "Palp Aces sans Palp" list last night at an OP. Everyone that saw the minis said "Oh, Palp Aces," and I had to say "Nope. I have yet to obtain a Palpatine card." I went 1-2 overall. Two of the guys from the local group were there, one I hadn't met yet. It was a pretty good time, though I wish I didn't have to drive an hour for it. My daughter was kind of upset with me that I got home so late. Turnout was seven people including the employee who put together a list real quick and played when he found out that two of the people were playing as a team.

First game was against a guy whose hands were shaking the entire game. He started setting up and was sweating profusely and assuring me that I would win and that he was awful. I was thinking to myself 'Man, it is just a game, don't get so stressed over it' but it ended up being close and I too was dripping sweat midway through from the pressure. He ran Zuckuss/Mist Hunter with an IG and a HWK. They were all mind-linked as well. He took out my Lambda and another ship, and I took out Zuckuss. He won with around 60 points to my 55 or so when we finished the last round after time was called.

Second match was against the first round guy's son and his son's friend, who played as a team. They didn't know what they were doing that much and I tried to be easy on them. They ran a Ghost/Phantom and an X-Wing. I took out the X, then the Ghost from a Doom Shuttle combo and Fel, and then Inquisitor took out the Phantom. I took no damage really other than to my Lambda which was down to one hull through Vader/Gunner comboing.

Third match was against the local guy who runs a TIE Advanced swarm with an additional prototype. All the TIE Advanced had Accuracy Correctors, so my Lambda went down hard with its one agility die and no evade action. Not to sound like a poor loser or take anything away from him but I feel horribly and it cost me my other ships. He was flying better than normal, I didn't see any bumping from him. I set up horribly though and psyched myself out against him after seeing him fly his swarm three times now. Fel was on the opposite side of the mat while his swarm destroyed my other two ships because I didn't have a game plan at all. He did fly two Advanceds off the board accidentally in a bad move and I killed his Prototype but on the last move of the game after time was called, I did a hard one right off the board. I actually thought I would stay on and was hoping to get points because he was out of arc of the Advanceds. I estimated wrong and his corner was off, so he got the full 100. I didn't even figure up my points.

Like I said before, it was fun. I made some mistakes that I need to work on, like mixing up my INT and Prototype dials. Luckily the moves were located on both but they weren't green on the opposite dials which left both of my ships stressed. And I accidentally rolled green dice for an attack once, five damn green dice. Luckily my opponent in round one laughed it off and let me roll reds but in game three I kept reaching for the green dice for attacks for some reason. And lastly, I forgot all about the simultaneous attack rule. All my third opponent's ships were PS2 and my Omicron shuttle was PS2; he had initiative and took me out but I still should have had an attack. Not like a Doom Shuttle would do much to a swarm but it could have taken out one Advanced maybe.

I was asked if I had a Father's Day double-sided card because they had a stack of like 70 and I did, from last week. I was awarded a Veteran Instincts promo and three official plastic Ion tokens, the orange-ish colored ones.
 

EYEL1NER

Member
I'll be playing tonight and figured I would post the list I am thinking that I'll take. I got Imperial Veterans in (for $17 too, which was an absolute steal!) and have been wanting to use Countess Ryad badly. I like Soontir Fel a lot, the ability to PtL and arc-dodge for defense while still lining up attacks is nice, even if I still do not possess the skill to always pull it off. The Countess with PtL and an Engine Upgrade has that same power to expertly evade firing arcs, but those two combined with her pilot ability regarding K-Turns means she can point in damn-near any direction and change gears to attack anywhere within 360 degrees around her. Keeping with that "Be highly agile and nimble" theme, I am thinking about taking Lt Lorrir for a spin for the first time. Ever since that first time I saw his pilot ability, I knew that I liked him, but I always wished he had an EPT slot and I never wound up using him (I favored Turr Phennir over him when picking non-Soontir INTs). Being able to almost pivot in place by performing a turn and then doing a curved barrel roll seems like a very valuable ability to have. So with all that said, here is the list I am looking at:

Countess Ryad (34)
Push the Limit (3)
Engine Upgrade (4)
TIE/x7 (-2)

Soontir Fel (27)
Push the Limit (3)
Autothrusters (2)
Stealth Device (3)
Royal Guard TIE (0)

Lieutenant Lorrir (23)
Autothrusters (2)
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)
Royal Guard TIE (0)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Ryad can joust or just PtL around the enemies and will be getting free evades from the title card when she is pulling any 3, 4, or 5 speed moved. Soontir will be doing what Soontir does. Lorrir will use Fel's General strategy (with less tools to work with though) and has the Twin Ion Engine Mk II to help clear stress after he uses his curved barrel roll.
I had another list without Lorrir but with a Baron of the Empire TIE Adv Prototype. I was using him with the TIe/v1 title, Proton Rockets, PtL, and Guidance Chips (also a 100-pt list). I liked the nobility theme, what with two Barons and a Countess. The Baron of the Empire would have been a substitute for the Inquisitor that I ran last week and at the recent OP, only without the pilot ability, PS, and enough points to use Autothrusters rather than a 0-pt mod. I could lose Proton Rockets in favor of more points for Authothrusters, but I like the defense they provide by keeping people out of range one, and they also provide me with a sense of security for if I am piloting the ship poorly and get too close to someone. Proton Rockets have served me well though in the two times that I have used them, with five dice against ships that haven't had more than two agility. I opted for Lorrir over the Baron though becuase while I really like the Advanced Prototype, I like Interceptors even more and prefer the three red dice they throw. An Inquisitor is throwing three red dice on primary weapon attacks but if I can only get a Baron and not the Inquisitor, I'll go with another Interceptor instead.


But anyway, that is what I am working with.
I had a question for everyone though. Which do you prefer as obstacles in general: Asteroids or Debris? I've never used Debris but they seem a bit better: Less chance for damage if you land on it and can attack if you land on it. Flying through/over Debris gives off stress though and with my lists flying PtL-capable Aces, I would almost rather take the damage than the stress. So, opinions?

I also got this in the mail yesterday and cannot wait to use it. The quality from my iPad camera looks poor but the detail on the INTs is really nice and it feels great. Next up after this is getting some colored bases and some Command Deck trays for card organization during gameplay. I also bought a bunch of Sharpie Paint Markers and need to spend some time painting the sides of all my tokens. At some point down the line I may order another custom movement tray like the one below but using a more generic Star Wars theme to it for use with a Rebel or Scum list (since this one screams 100% Imperial).
AjjIhIw.jpg
 
Had an amazing weekend at a store tournament. Out of 20+ people I made the top 4, a first for me. I used my new Rebel Aces list.

Wes Janson
Veteran Instincts
R3-A2
Integrated Astromech

Jake Farrell
Veteran Instincts
Chardaan Refit
Autothrusters
A-Wing Test Pilot
Push the Limit

Keyan Farlander
Opportunist
Proton Torpedoes
Guidance Chips
Extra Munitions

The squad worked out exactly like I had hoped: During movement Jake swoops into the enemy's face as a suicidal distraction/arc dodger. Wes fires first to remove their tokens and stress them out. Jake chips away what he can. Finally Keyan stresses himself to roll 5 dice with a proton torpedo. Between the torpedo's focus to crit, a crit with guidance chips, and Keyan's stress/focus ability that torpedo is almost guaranteed to hit with at least 2 criticals (I had several rolls along the lines of 3 crit, 2 hit).

This list absolutely melted U-Boats and cornered Dash. The only games I lost were against a pair of bomb dropping K-Wings, first in my second round and then in the top 4. Thanks to Integrated Astromech Wes survived a direct hit on two separate occasions.

Only thing I wasn't really happy with was the X-Wing's lack of maneuverability after Wes stressed himself. Next time I may try swapping R3-A2 for BB-8 for the sake of extra movement at the cost of control.
 

Danthrax

Batteries the CRISIS!
swx53-vectored-thrusters.png


My Kihraxz is gonna love this card. Now I don't have to put Expert Handling on my Talonbane Cobra! I won't be able to put Engine Upgrade on him anymore, but that's OK, I think barrel rolls are generally more useful anyway. And now I can put a different EPT on him, like maybe Predator.
 

5taquitos

Member
This is going to be a stupid question, but what are the Dial ID Tokens for, the ones with the ship silhouettes? I know what the numbered ID tokens are for, but I can't figure out what the silhouette tokens are for.
 

EYEL1NER

Member
This is going to be a stupid question, but what are the Dial ID Tokens for, the ones with the ship silhouettes? I know what the numbered ID tokens are for, but I can't figure out what the silhouette tokens are for.
Are you referring to the small back squares with white silhouettes of the ship on them that started coming with recent waves? Those are inserted into the plastic dials upgrades so you can distinguish which ship the dial belongs to. The upgraded dials come with all ships released prior to the dial coming out and new ships come with their own. They slot into the plastic so they are visible on the back while the dial is face down.
You can see them in the dials at this link: https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/10/22/ace-maneuvers/
 

5taquitos

Member
Are you referring to the small back squares with white silhouettes of the ship on them that started coming with recent waves? Those are inserted into the plastic dials upgrades so you can distinguish which ship the dial belongs to. The upgraded dials come with all ships released prior to the dial coming out and new ships come with their own. They slot into the plastic so they are visible on the back while the dial is face down.
You can see them in the dials at this link: https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/10/22/ace-maneuvers/
That's it, thanks a bunch!
 

EYEL1NER

Member
That's it, thanks a bunch!
No prob. I've bought a couple dial upgrades kit, two for Imps, but I have yet to use them because I want to apply a bit of paint to spruce them up like this guy on BGG did and have been too lazy: https://boardgamegeek.com/article/23034515#23034515



I didn't post how last week's match went after posting the list I was taking. I can talk about it a bit though. There were five of us in total. The week before when five showed up someone sat out and no one wanted to do that this time, so we decided on a free-for-all on a 4x4 mat. When we sat out ships though, we saw that three of us had Imperial and two were playing Scum. Someone said that if we wanted to play Imp vs Scum, the Scum team could whip up a quick 100pts to add to their list. A guy who lived a couple seconds away in base housing said that he had a 100-pt Scum list sitting at home that he was wanting to field, so he ran home to get it and then split responsibility of it between himself and the other Scum player. We had a guy with his four TIE Adv (with accuracy correctors) and his Sienar Test Pilot Proto-Advanced list, a guy with two Interceptors (Turr and someone else) and a Countess Ryad, and then my two Interceptors (Fel and Lorrir) and my Countess Ryad. The Scum had two IGs, two Firesprays, a U-boat, Zuckuss in the Mist Hunter, and a Z-95. We used a full set of asteroids for each team and then set up with teams on opposite sides.

It did not go well for us Imperial players at all. Besides my Fel, we were out-PSed by most of the enemy team who were firing first. 300pts of Scum wound up being a lot of firepower. My Ryad and Lorrir took one side and had a clear path straight through a bunch of asteroids but the Scum sent the Mist Hunter, IGs, and U-Boat straight after me. I was in trouble right away and the other two Imp players set up on the other half of the mat. The TIE Adv swarm did its usual "hug the side and then slight turn in once halfway across" and was nowhere near being able to help me. The second player tried to get his INTs and Ryad on my side to help but the U-Boat ended up giving it some problems. They slowly started to pick us off, even the Z-95 getting lucky at the end and dealing a ton of damage. We lost every ship, and if I remember right, did not even kill a ship (Zuckuss might have died though, I can't remember).

It was a tough one. At first when I finished I was talking to another Imp player and going over our mistakes and talking about how strong the enemy team was, but after I started on my home I started thinking that the mat we played on was way too small for that many ship and asteroids. I think my list would have done a lot better against one enemy squad with more open space, especially Soontir. And Ryad could have had a chance to joust without another five ships being waiting when K-turning past a target. It was just all too much. Still ended up being four hours of fun though.


I'm not sure exactly what will happen tomorrow night. The place we played for the last two weeks will be unavailable now since the guy who got us access is going to the desert for six months. I have to take my wife to an appointment tomorrow too before we play and do not know when it will finish; we will be getting our second ultrasound (and don't get me wrong: I am not complaining about having to go to it, I can't wait to see how much our son has developed since the first ultrasound). Hopefully we have somewhere to play.
Here is the list I am thinking about though. I think I will wait a while to try Ryad again because I liked her so PtL but she really needs VI since 5 is so low. I really REALLY want to fly a Phantom in a list but cannot create a good one with a standard Soontir and an Echo or Whisper. I mean, I can make a list with both but there is not really any room in there for anything else. I did some searching for things to pair with Soontir and any Phantom and saw people saying that the two don't pair well (hard to use both as flankers when you need something for the enemy to be targeting) but suggesting a Bounty Hunter with a Phantom. I've never used a Firespray or anything with bombs and decided to try it. I guess I always thought the low-PS Firesprays were like the low-PS YT-1300: I thought the stat lines were weaker. When I saw that the BH had the same stat line as Boba, I decided it looked good. I'm not really looking to get too much done with the list but am just throwing things at the wall with the Bounty Hunter to see what I like; I'll get to try the tractor beam out, an auxiliary firing arc, and two proximity mines. I'd like to get Autothrusters on Turr and maybe VI instead of adaptability but no room.
My only issue is that I don't have a K-Wing so I don't have the Bombardier crew card to equip on the Bounty Hunter. If I can't borrow it from someone else, I'll drop it and either make a play at initiative with 99-pts or find something else to equip on Turr.

Soontir Fel (27)
Push the Limit (3)
Autothrusters (2)
Stealth Device (3)
Royal Guard TIE (0)

Bounty Hunter (33)
Tractor Beam (1)
Proximity Mines (3)
Bombardier (1)
Extra Munitions (2)
Long-Range Scanners (0)
Slave I (0)

Turr Phennir (25)
Adaptability (0)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder
 

EYEL1NER

Member
My match last night was fun. I was the only person who wound up showing at someone's house to play, so we just had a 2P game that lasted 90-120mins or so. I ran the list above with a Bombardier card borrowed from the host; he ran two Glaive Sq Pilots in shiny red Defenders and a Seinar Test Pilot Proto-Adv, with stealth devices equipped on all, PtL and the x7 titles on the Defenders, and an accuracy corrector on the Proto-Adv.

We rolled for initiative since we were both sitting at 100pts and I lost that but we didn't have similar pilot skills so I didn't need it to make the most of Turr. I took the Bounty Hunter down a large channel through some asteroids, right at the Proto-Adv flanked by the two Defenders, acquiring a Target Lock with my Long Range Scanners, while Turr came in at an angle and Soontir flanked in from even further away. I ended up bumping the Bounty Hunter against the Prototype and missed a chance to drop a bomb behind me if I had cleared that ship. It left me open to getting shot by both Defenders but I was able to land a Tractor Beam on one and move him directly onto an asteroid, just on it enough that he would definintly still overlap it when moving on the next turn. On the next turn I was able to drop a proximity mine and deal some shield damage to the Proto-Adv while the Defenders switched gears and went after my Interceptors. Turr was dealt a hit and a crit in one volley, sustaining a damaged sensor array. Because I've never seen them used and never used them before, I did not put a crit token near the ship, which turned out to be a mistake because we both forgot about the crit for three or so turns and Turr kept up his actions and even dealt some range 1 shield damage to a Defender before barrel rolling out of arc. I then remembered the crit and put a token by him. That crit stayed with him for another 5 or 6 turns and I was only able to flip it on the turn that I had a Defender at range one right behind me and died. The Bounty Hunter was already dead at that point though, having accidentally flown off the board. I got too close without realizing it and next thing I knew I was looking at a distance short enough that all 1 speed maneuvers would put me over. The speed 1 hard turn was just barely over though. Soontir ended up mopping up one Defender and the Proto-Adv though without getting hit. I was arc-dodging the remaining Defender who had a shield and full hull left, trying to get a good shot and wait for him to stress himself with a PtL, and he misjudged a turn and landed a corner slightly off the board, leaving me the winner.

It was quite a bit of fun. I hope he misjudged that turn and wasn't just ending the game though because I think Soontir would have come out on top over that Defender. That x7 title is good though, damn. I mean, I used it last week and reaped its benefits but man is it hard to land a shot when they are hauling ass around the board at speed 3+ the whole time with an evade and a focus. I did land a couple hits though when he blanked on dice. I would say half the damage done to all three of his ships came from asteroids; he kept landing on or flying through them and had unlucky red rolls. Then when I did sneak hits through, I got lucky with landing Direct Hit crits, two of them at least.

Turr didn't do much at all for me, especially after he got that crit. I managed to keep Soontir alive with SD intact, so he put in the work that he is good at p and played the long game (which is why he will be in all of my lists, I have used him so much that I think I am actually getting better at flying him, instead of just picking him because I like him and his ship). I did fly the Bounty Hunter off the board, and he only had two hull remaining at that point. But I did like using the proximity mines and tractor beam and he does have a good stat line. Maybe I'll try a named Firespray pilot down the line. The tractor beam was nice but I guess I didn't realize that equipping it on a low PS ship that shoots after the rest of your guys wasn't a good move; he reduced the ship's agility for nothing, because my other dudes had shot, and then the round ends and the token is removed. Moving that ship onto the asteroid was nice though and makes me want to try a list full of tractor beams and ion weapons (so for Imperials that would mean Firesprays and a Decimator, I guess?).

All in all it was fun. I'm really bummed out now though because I leave the country on vacation to SE Asia next Tuesday, so no X-Wing until next month. Luckily I'll be back in time for a Summer OP at a store but I won't have played in a couple weeks at that point and I'll need to place in the top 8 to get some acrylic stress tokens. At the Spring OP last month we didn't even have 8 people show up but the list of 'interested' people on the event scheduled on FB is a lot higher this time.
 
I think my next purchase is going to be a Firespray. I currently have three build ideas though I'm not sure what I would pair with each.

IMP Boba
Veteran Instincts
Navigator
Engine Upgrade
Cannon or bomb depending on the build

SV Kath
Push the Limit
Engine Upgrade
K4 Security Droid
Going to swap K4 for Tailgunner when wave 9 is released

Emon
Experimental Interface
Slave 1
Proximity Mine
Extra Munitions
If I want to change up the type or amount of bombs I can swap Slave 1 for Andrasta
 

Danthrax

Batteries the CRISIS!
The Imperial Boba with Navigator combo doesn't really do much in practice, unfortunately. I wouldn't blame you for trying it out for the fun of it, though.

So y'all hear about the tournament changes? No more modified wins and no more draws. Now you either win or you lose. One tournament point for a win and zero points for a loss. Margin of Victory is used to break ties and indicate strength of schedule.

If you and your opponent are tied in points destroyed after time has been called, you add up the attack value printed on all your remaining still-alive ships and roll that many red dice against each other — whoever gets the most hits and crits wins. (If you destroyed each other's last ships at the same time, you add up the printed attack values on every ship in your squadron.) It's called a Final Salvo.
 

EYEL1NER

Member
I think my next purchase is going to be a Firespray. I currently have three build ideas though I'm not sure what I would pair with each.

IMP Boba
Veteran Instincts
Navigator
Engine Upgrade
Cannon or bomb depending on the build

SV Kath
Push the Limit
Engine Upgrade
K4 Security Droid
Going to swap K4 for Tailgunner when wave 9 is released

Emon
Experimental Interface
Slave 1
Proximity Mine
Extra Munitions
If I want to change up the type or amount of bombs I can swap Slave 1 for Andrasta
I'my not sure what a good Firespray build is. I missed out on the days where an Imperial Firespray (or two) could demolish some ships and am late to the party with them. I did debate for a while on which title to use though, like you said at the bottom taking Andrasta means more bombs. In the end I went Slave 1 and Extra Munitions to get another Prox Mine since it was less points than taking three individual mines. Like I said in the prior post though, I way overloaded that Bounty Hunter and was just throwing everything at the wall go see what stuck. In the end I got to try out a Firespray for the first time, play a ship with an auxiliary firing arc for the first time, use a bomb for the first time, and use a tractor beam for the first time. So now that I have used them I know what I like. I enjoyed moving an enemy ship into a disadvantageous position with tractor beams a lot.
The Imperial Boba with Navigator combo doesn't really do much in practice, unfortunately. I wouldn't blame you for trying it out for the fun of it, though.

So y'all hear about the tournament changes? No more modified wins and no more draws. Now you either win or you lose. One tournament point for a win and zero points for a loss. Margin of Victory is used to break ties and indicate strength of schedule.

If you and your opponent are tied in points destroyed after time has been called, you add up the attack value printed on all your remaining still-alive ships and roll that many red dice against each other — whoever gets the most hits and crits wins. (If you destroyed each other's last ships at the same time, you add up the printed attack values on every ship in your squadron.) It's called a Final Salvo.
I read about it and have been reading some of the for/against discussion on the FFG forums and the X-Wing subreddit. I am leaning towards "for" at the moment because the instances where it will occur are not super-common, being tied in points or destroying the last ships at the same time. It seems like it will get rid of intentional draws, which is okay with me; I remember reading about the Roanoke Eight Intentional Draw Debacle earlier in the year and it didn't sit well with me.
I don't know though. My opinion on it shouldn't carry too much weight, since I have never participated in a tournament. I have only been to one OP so far and will be going to my first tourney in August (and don't expect to place high, but man would first place and a free huge ship be nice; I could finally get an Imperial Raider). Maybe if I had been participating in more tournaments I would have a different opinion on it. But at the moment I do dislike the idea of people colluding to not play the game because they are safe in points, and if this disrupts that, then good.
 

Slermy

Member
New Preview is up! This time focusing on the the TIE Special Forces.

The TIE/sf pilot "Backdraft" looks like a lot of fun:
swx54-backdraft.png


https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2016/7/18/special-ops/

Unrelated, I finally got to fly my TIE Adv. Prototypes (mixed with some new Imperial Veteran toys). I had two Sienar Test Pilots, but am thinking of swapping them out for one Inquisitor.

So my question is: Which is generally better for the points? More ships, or a loaded ace?
 

jstevenson

Sailor Stevenson
New Preview is up! This time focusing on the the TIE Special Forces.

The TIE/sf pilot "Backdraft" looks like a lot of fun:
swx54-backdraft.png


https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2016/7/18/special-ops/

Unrelated, I finally got to fly my TIE Adv. Prototypes (mixed with some new Imperial Veteran toys). I had two Sienar Test Pilots, but am thinking of swapping them out for one Inquisitor.

So my question is: Which is generally better for the points? More ships, or a loaded ace?

depends on how survivable the ace is. if it's squishy, you lose all those points. If he can arc dodge or take a ton of hits and you can keep it alive, it may be able to destroy multiple enemy ships.
 
Sensor cluster sounds pretty good. It's basically the opposite of Weapons Guidance. Then again I've never actually used Weapons guidance. Comm Relay may cost an extra point but it seems like the more useful option.

swx54-sensor-cluster.png


I don't see myself ever using collision detector. I get the idea of using it to catch your opponent off guard but I can only see it coming back to bite me in the ass. Should work nicely with debris though.

swx54-collision-detector.png
 
damn what would you guys build with these rules assuming im going rebel + scum (dont have punisher)

100pt - bring two lists from different factions:
Rebel list must include a hawk
Imperial list must include a punisher
Scum list must include a starviper
 
Full disclosure: I do not fly rebels all that often. Also I am not the greatest list maker.

Jan Ors (25)
Wired (1)
Twin Laser Turret (6)
Chewbacca (4)

Wes Janson (29)
Crack Shot (1)
R2-D2 (4)
Integrated Astromech (0)

Tycho Celchu (26)
Rage (1)
Chardaan Refit (-2)
Push the Limit (3)
Autothrusters (2)
A-Wing Test Pilot (0)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

All are PS8, so ideally you would attack with Wes or Tycho first so that Jan can give them an extra die. The stress she gets from that allows her to use Wired. You could swap Chewbacca for Kyle Katarn (and a 1 pt. initiative bid) so that she can get 2 focus a turn (one for each TLT shot?). If you can get your ships all focused on one target, it's basically guaranteed to take a ton of damage. Wes attacks with 4R base, strips a token even if he misses. Jan TLTs a few more tokens off and then Ragecho can finish em off. Chewbacca and IA are your only real defense though, so make sure you focus down your opponent's main damage dealer first.

Scum list is a bit harder to come up with, because frankly the Starviper is in need of a major boost. You could try:

Guri (30)
Predator (3)
Cloaking Device (2)
Autothrusters (2)
Virago (1)

Trandoshan Slaver (29)
4-LOM (1)
Zuckuss (1)
Dengar (3)

Torkil Mux (19)
Twin Laser Turret (6)
Tactician (2)

Total: 99

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Torkil drops an enemy to PS 0. Then Guri and your Party Bus try to destroy that ship before it gets to go. Guri can take a 1 pt. System Upgrade, but really there's nothing great there. Collision Detector isn't out yet, but it's a 0 point upgrade that ups your maneuverability by allowing templates to cross obstacles during declock, barrel roll or boost, all of which she can do. Party Bus kind of has to go slow though, since once you start using Zuckuss to make people reroll successful defense dice, you're going to struggle to move and get things in arc. Make the first salvo count.
 

5taquitos

Member
Going to be entering my first league night next week. Pretty nervous, since I've only ever played friendly games with my brother, but excited to get stomped and learn. I'm thinking of taking my "Etahn's Crit Crew" list which I haven't tested at all and will likely not work as I intend :p

Tycho Celchu (28)
  • A-Wing Test Pilot
  • PTL
  • Crack Shot
  • Chardaan Refit
Etahn A'baht (39)
  • Engine Upgrade
  • Veteran Instincts
  • BB-8
Nera Dantels (33)
  • Guidance Chips
  • Deadeye
  • Proton Torpedoes
  • Extra Munitions
 

Tensketch

Member
Fearlessness is the new crackshot. I imagine there's a legit reason why it's Scum only, probably so we don't get any hyper Fel's or Han's.

I'm putting it on Boba Fett and It's gonna be amazing I cannot wait. This is the ship that has me hype for wave 9. I'm placing my preorder in another tab as I type this.
 
Kath Scarlett is getting one hell of a bump with this wave. Kath + Fearlessness + Tail Gunner = Everything behind me at range one eats five dice, plus another hit result on top of that, plus you roll one less evade die. I can see me running this as a 'turn around as quickly as possible and let them chase me' build, but it'd still work with Engine Upgrade and a Glitterstim to just boost past and bring the pain,
 

EYEL1NER

Member
The Protectorate Starfighter has me seriously considering running some Scum ships. I love Interceptors and the way these Protectorate ships seem like they can fly makes me think I would love them too.
 

5taquitos

Member
Played my first league night last night with the list I posted a few posts up. Got smashed in both games, but both opponents were super helpful with postgame analysis and reminding me of rules. The scene was chill, so I definitely plan to go back.

My first game was a complete blowout. I was up against two Defenders and a Phantom, and the Phantom and Countess tore me up. I almost had Countess destroyed, but it was always a lost cause. I chocked it up to first-time jitters.

I did much better on my second game, though it was still a blowout. I almost managed to take out his Dengar. He was running a crazy two-Jumpaster list where Dengar essentially banked stress (he had 11 at the end) and Manaroo passed him two focus each turn, along with the occasional target lock. Each was fully loaded with crew and upgrades that I can't remember.

I almost got Dengar out when I landed a crit that caused him to take damage whenever he bumped a ship. I managed to put Tycho in front of him on the next turn, the move of the night I was most proud of, so he was just two hits away. Couldn't end up sealing the deal, as I had misjudged distance for Nera so she couldn't use her torpedoes and was facing the wrong way. I was mopped up soon after.

I got the one crit on Dengar with Etahn, but I wasn't able to use him like I envisioned. I had a difficult time ensuring that enemies were in his arc when my other ships were attacking, so I couldn't take advantage of his skill. I still think the list is solid can be a lot better with some more practice, I hadn't even flown it at home before taking it last night.

I had a whole lot of fun, it was a great first experience for competitive play.
 

Danthrax

Batteries the CRISIS!
Last Wave 9 preview (the ships surely will be sold early at GenCon this week): Shadow Caster

Destroying existing obstacle tokens and dropping new ones is a thing now!

swx53-seismic-torpedo.png
swx56-rigged-cargo-chute.png


FFG said:
One of the upgrades from the Shadow Caster Expansion Pack is Rigged Cargo Chute. This illicit upgrade allows you to take an Action to drop one cargo token, deploying it from your rear guides like a bomb. This token then functions identically to a debris cloud token, remaining in place for the remainder of the game… except that because you deploy it during the game, you can use it to choke off your enemy's ability to maneuver through a corridor between other obstacles. And because you can equip as many as two of these on the Shadow Caster, you can dramatically reshape the flight paths your opponent thought were open.

swx56_d4_dropcargo.png


swx56-sabine-wren.png
swx56-asajj-ventress.png
swx56-ketsu-onyo-pilot.png


swx56-shadow-caster.png
swx56-ketsu-onyo-crew.png
swx56-ig-88d.png
swx56-latts-razzi.png
 

Tensketch

Member
Scum control is truly here. We are going to see 3 evade ships ground down to 0 in a few turns.
Nice to see they chose IG-88D to prevent any potential psycho S-Loops coming from other ships as IG-88D can do that thematically because he's a machine.
Destroying obstacles is exciting, I can see that being devastating to Dash.
Funny that they have the Rigged Cargo Chute use a falcon in it's artwork when they haven't officially spoilt the smugglers cargo hold mod yet. But I can see that being super useful as an anti swarm device when being chased. Force them through the debris to cause massive stress and maybe a few crits here and there.
 

Slermy

Member
Some of the previously unspoiled upgrades were unveiled:

Gyroscopic targeting: (lancer class mod) At the end of the combat phase, if you executed a 3, 4, or 5 speed maneuver this round, you may rotate your mobile firing arc. 2pts

Black Market Slicer Tools: (illicit) Action: choose a stressed enemy ship at Range 1-2 and roll 1 attack die. On a hit or crit result, remove 1 stress token and deal 1 facedown damage card. 1pt.

Black Market Slicer sounds nuts. It'll really shake things up for those PTL'ing aces.

More here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/XWingTMG/comments/4w4itn/wave_ix_dials/
 

Tensketch

Member
The ARC-170 dial is just... OK. I kinda feel sorry for it, I feel like it's not going to see any table time and people will only buy it for the thrusters card.
 

EYEL1NER

Member
The Shadowcaster has a great dial and some great upgrades. I don't think I like the mobile firing arc idea though, but at least they are doing some interesting things with it I guess. I'll buy one but I doubt I'll ever get one on the table. If I flew Scum I would probably think about it, but I think it looks absolutely hideous. If something doesn't look cool to me, it's hard for me to be interested in it (which is one of the reasons I don't fly Scum).
I did just score a Hound's Tooth for $20 though, so I have been thinking about putting a Scum list together to work it into ahead of the Fang fighters coming out.

A lot of the new tech that the Shadowcaster brings to the table has me concerned about the Interceptor Aces that I love to fly so much too. It won't make me stop flying them though. Here's hoping the Empire gets some cool tech for the Interceptors in Wave 10.
 
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