The intro…
Well hello there stranger! Welcome to this week’s blog!
It has been a while.
Work has been nuts, Patreon has needed sorting (stuff is in the post, by the way!), X-Wing games (in person and online) have been happening and XWA things are in full swing.
It’s been a lot. Like, A LOT.
I made myself a promise waaaaay back when I started that I wouldn’t let the blog be the main thing. That it would never take priority over actually playing and enjoying the game and in recent weeks when I’ve had a little bit of time be available, I’ve made the choice to play
I’ve managed to put out a blog pretty much every week for the last…*checks notes*… almost 5 1/2 years. Not a bad track record!
If I want to keep that going (which I do!) I need to make sure I’m not burning myself out on things and so, without really intending to, I’ve taken a bit of a break. But I’m not done, the blog isn’t ending, I’m still here.
So, is there any news to cover? Well, yes, probably. Actually, how about this?
X-Wing Worlds at Adepticon 2026 has never been in doubt but here’s the properly official confirmation! Now I just need to finish planning all the prizes!
Overall it’s been an interesting few weeks since the points update. Events have happened and the new XWA 50 point meta is starting to develop. Which leads me nicely on to…
The main bit…
Ok, with so many games played over the past few weeks (well, it’s like 6 or 7, not hundreds or anything), I’m not planning to go in to detail on any one game in particular.
I am in an online team tournament with Tauntaun Squadron which has seen me nominated (self nominated) as the Rebel player which has tied me in to one particular faction.
I started off with a rather janky list with Ezra in the gauntlet and three named B-Wings.
Ezra Bridger – Gauntlet Fighter (16)
K-2SO (8)
Swivel Wing (0)
Nightbrother (0)
Leia Organa (7)
Ship Cost: 16 Loadout: (15/15) Half Points: 8 Damage Threshold: 5
Gina Moonsong – A/SF-01 B-wing (11)
Fire-Control System (2)
Synced Laser Cannons (8)
Stabilized S-Foils (0)
Ship Cost: 11 Loadout: (10/10) Half Points: 5 Damage Threshold: 4
Ten Numb – A/SF-01 B-wing (11)
Elusive (4)
Fire-Control System (2)
Jamming Beam (1)
Stabilized S-Foils (0)
Ship Cost: 11 Loadout: (7/8) Half Points: 5 Damage Threshold: 4
Braylen Stramm – A/SF-01 B-wing (12)
Marksmanship (2)
Fire-Control System (2)
Ion Cannon (6)
Stabilized S-Foils (0)
Ship Cost: 12 Loadout: (10/10) Half Points: 6 Damage Threshold: 4
Total: 50
This list was…. interesting. Not good, but interesting.
I really like Gauntlets, they’re tanky and fast and can pack a punch if loaded up right. They can also be REALLY annoying when you stop them and continue to stop and block things up.
Anyway, I had some mixed results with the list. B-Wings can be good when they put out huge amounts of damage and my configuration of upgrades had the potential for that but in practice I’m not sure I even pulled off the double tap once. Lower initiative sucks in that regard.
I got one win but a couple of quite heavy losses and while that’s not the end of the world, I started to understand that this list didn’t have enough going for it to continue. Still, it was fun.
Next up I found something that’s very familiar in the very recent past.
Wullffwarro – Auzituck Gunship (13)
Trick Shot (5)
Hull Upgrade (9)
Ship Cost: 13 Loadout: (14/14) Half Points: 6 Damage Threshold: 4
“Pops” Krail – BTL-A4 Y-wing (9)
Ion Cannon Turret (6)
Concussion Bombs (5)
Ship Cost: 9 Loadout: (11/11) Half Points: 4 Damage Threshold: 4
Jan Ors – HWK-290 Light Freighter (15)
Hopeful (1)
Jyn Erso (6)
Conner Nets (5)
Engine Upgrade (3)
Moldy Crow (0)
Ship Cost: 15 Loadout: (15/15) Half Points: 7 Damage Threshold: 2
Saw Gerrera – UT-60D U-wing (13)
Fire-Control System (2)
Tactical Officer (3)
The Child (7)
Contraband Cybernetics (4)
Pivot Wing (0)
Ship Cost: 13 Loadout: (16/16) Half Points: 6 Damage Threshold: 4
Total: 50
View in YASB: https://yasb.app/?f=Rebel%20Alliance&d=v10ZsZ50Z58X133WWW164Y598X138WWW355WY46X378W40W68W107W156Y35XW113W61W453W92WW140&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron&obs=
Back in the land of 20 point lists this is very close to what I was running, right up until the points change and including a 3-1 result at a Squad Champ event.
When I say very close, I mean it’s 1 ship down and technically it’s more like what Ben Saunders was flying (as he had Jan and I had Luke instead) but the core of the list is the same. Saw and Wulfwarro both get concussion bombed by a Y-Wing to activate their ‘when damaged’ abilities. This version includes Jan who can bump an attack up by 1 die which means that potentially, maybe, Wulfwarro can be rolling 6 dice with a focus and a reroll.
This list, well, it’s good. It’s my style and once I worked out how to space things and what I had to keep close to what, I did ok with it. A few wins and managing (in different games, sadly not consistently!) to make use of Jan’s ability AND Pops’ ion turret and bombs was nice. There’s 1 less ship than before but these ships are now slightly better with loadout increases meaning Pops gets the turret, Wulfwarro gets the hull upgrade and Jan can boost without stressing herself (leaving her free to use the ability).
It’s not flashy or sexy but it’s solid and while it can just disintegrate under focused fire (I mean, what doesn’t?!) it can take a few shots as well.
But then I had my head turned.
Listening to the Sith Takers Podcast I heard of a 3 ship Scum list which had done well in an event (I don’t remember which though, sorry!) and I thought to myself, eh, why not give it a go!
It’s been a LONG time since I flew a smaller number of ships and each of them looked particularly tasty. Plus, to my shame, I couldn’t actually tell you if I’ve ever put a Firespray on the table before. Shame on me.
Fenn Rau (AaD) – Fang Fighter (15)
Fearless (0)
Adaptable Power Systems (AaD) (0)
Beskar Reinforced Plating (0)
Ship Cost: 15 Loadout: (0) Half Points: 7 Damage Threshold: 2
Dengar (AaD) – JumpMaster 5000 (15)
R2-G8 (AaD) (0)
Synchronized Handling (AaD) (0)
Starboard Thrusters (AaD) (0)
Punishing One (0)
Ship Cost: 15 Loadout: (0) Half Points: 7 Damage Threshold: 4
Boba Fett – Firespray-class Patrol Craft (20)
Fearless (3)
The Child (7)
Proton Bombs (5)
Marauder (0)
Veteran Tail Gunner (5)
Ship Cost: 20 Loadout: (20/20) Half Points: 10 Damage Threshold: 5
Total: 50
It’s just 3 ships and two of them really would prefer not to pick up a crate in Salvage Mission BUT if you don’t watch yourself, it’s going to run your day.
Squirrely 5 health Fenn along with double tapping Dengar and Boba loaded with goodies.
I thought it would be too lightweight. Too fragile. I could see myself losing 2 ships in 3 turns.
It turns out, your opponent can’t shoot you if they’re dead.
Now sure, it’s just been ONE game so I’m definitely getting overexcited and it was playing Ancient Knowledge against someone who was not particularly bothered about picking up objectives.
But I was taking out ships left and right.
Quite possibly the best bomb I’ve ever dropped caught 3 out of 4 enemy ships and killed 2 of them.
Now sure, I’m eulogising over a list that I’ve flown once properly (I don’t include the 4 or 5 reps in Fly Casual to actually know what moves I can/can’t do) but to even be able to hang with a 4+ ship list is somewhat revelational.
Will I keep using it? Maybe. I can’t use it in Tauntaun but I’ll continue to fiddle about with it in person and see how it fares on a real table. Unless the points get nuked, of course.
The conclusion…
Is there a conclusion today? I mean, maybe?
In terms of lists, I’m looking at what’s fun and interesting and maybe good. I’ve got one eye on the Sith Taker Open but as that’s still over 2 months away it’s quite a long term view and I’ve got time. I mean, until I procrastinate and remain undecided and then pick one with only 2 practice games. That’s not something I’d do, is it?!
I guess what I’m concluding about really is the overall shift in points from 20 to 50. I’ll be totally honest here, I’ve not heard anyone be negative about it. At least, not once they’ve tried it. Of course there’s the whole ‘ugh, I’ve got to change my list and it’s not as good’ thing. I get it. But then everyone’s list is not as good, that was kind of the point.
From a personal point of view it’s still a little unnatural counting ship points to 50 and objective points in 2 and 4 but it’s no more jarring (probably less so) than the initial shift from 200 to 20 back in the AMG days. It just needs a little getting used to. Time and games will fix it and in 6 months time we’ll have mostly forgotten how to count to 20.
There’s good lists out there, that’s for sure. I’ve not looked in depth at many tournament results as another weekend has passed since the change. What I’m hearing, though, is that there’s a good variety of lists. Even within factions we’re seeing variety as the wider range of ships in points prices allows for more flexible options and fine tuning.
Overall I’d say that the shift to 50 points has been a positive change and well received by the community. Change is always risky but in this case I think that the risk was only ever going to be fairly minimal. The change from 200 to 20 points when AMG introduced scenarios was probably the worst received by the community (when compared to adding scenarios and ROAD to decide first player) and, in my opinion, had the most valid argument against it – granularity.
This move brings back some of the granularity while also keeping itself markedly different from other point systems (namely 1.0 and 2.0 legacy).
Right, I’m off to continue planning the prizes for Worlds. I’ll catch you next time!
The outro…
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