The intro…
Well hello! Welcome to this week’s blog!
Not all that much to bang on about today except maybe THE WELSH OPEN 2026!
As I mentioned last week, tickets are available now by going to the Facebook event page and getting your name down! It’s on the 4th & 5th of July at The Arena in Newport and tickets are £30. The last 3 years have been great fun and we’ve got plenty in store to make it another great one this year!
Patreon Update…
Yes, this is THE FINAL WEEK OF THE QUARTER!!! AAAARRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!
Annoyingly I’ve been rather disorganised and don’t have pics of the items that I’ve not already talked about! Oops!
I have got Exile Force tokens (1 for Veterans, 2 for Commanders and 3 for Legends) and also the Legends will get an acrylic spot gloss Jag card!
We’ve also got the giveaway which will be a Stomeroni Starck dial and base plate as well as a set of blank ‘write your own’ acrylic base tiles, all made by Cog O Two!
If you’d like to get hold of any of this stuff or if you’d just like to to support the blog then you can sign up to be a Patreon supporter here!
Ok, enough of this, on with the stuff!
The main bit…
I’ve been in a bit of weird spot with X-wing this last month or so. Not in a bad way (not at all actually) but in a very unusual turn of events for me, I’m on a win streak. A good one
I’ve played casual games on a Wednesday and I’m also in a Tauntaun online event, and while I don’t exactly know how many games I’ve won in a row, I could work it out but I kind of don’t want to. I might scare it off.
This sort of run is very unlike me. In fact even bringing this up and talking about it means that I’m likely to start getting in my own head and will screw something up in the next game.
Still, the whole purpose of this blog is to look at what I’m doing, both right and wrong, and analyse it to see how I can use that information to improve. While I’ve not labelled this section a batrep (JARGON ALERT!!), I do have a game to go over and I’ll maybe try and isolate what choices were good and what were bad, mostly because I feel that I’m quite good at picking out what I’ve done wrong but I’m definitely terrible at identifying what I’m doing right.
Often I feel that games that have gone well are more down to luck than good play and while that’s certainly the case on some occasions, I have to acknowledge what I’ve done well so that I can understand why it was the right choice and to help me continue making right choices.
This isn’t isolated to X-Wing either, by the way. I don’t know if it’s my upbringing or just how my brain is wired but being in a place where I can say ‘yes, I’m good at that’ or ‘I did this really really well’ is VERY difficult for me. I’m just not a confident person in that way.
Feel free to psychoanalyse that.
Anyway, let’s get to the game.
I was playing the list I’ve been flying a few weeks now:
Fenn Rau – Fang Fighter (14)
Elusive (4)
Fearless (3)
Ship Cost: 14 Loadout: (7/7) Half Points: 7 Damage Threshold: 2
Boba Fett – Firespray-class Patrol Craft (21)
Fearless (3)
The Child (9)
Seismic Charges (3)
Marauder (0)
Veteran Tail Gunner (5)
Ship Cost: 21 Loadout: (20/20) Half Points: 10 Damage Threshold: 5
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
Total: 50
Now if you’ve been reading for a while or know me at all, you’ll know I typically fly Rebels or Resistance, Scum is a bit of a departure for me. I know now that Scum are in a very good place at the moment (verified by Levi’s recent blog post) but actually when I put this list together, I didn’t realise that it was close to the top of the power curve. First bit of luck I guess?
I would prefer to have the Armed and Dangerous Fenn but since Boba got a 1 point increase in the last change, I have to make do with the standard one. I know there are other good Scum options and combos around (namely Mando) but this one seems to work for me so I’m more than happy to stick with it.
In this particular game I was flying against Steve Boulton who surprised me slightly by not flying First Order! He was also flying Scum (and Boba) in a 3 ship list.
Boba Fett – Firespray-class Patrol Craft (21)
Fearless (3)
The Child (9)
Seismic Charges (3)
Marauder (0)
Veteran Tail Gunner (5)
Ship Cost: 21 Loadout: (20/20) Half Points: 10 Damage Threshold: 5
Emon Azzameen – Firespray-class Patrol Craft (18)
Fearless (3)
Cad Bane (3)
Conner Nets (5)
Andrasta (0)
Proximity Mines (9)
Ship Cost: 18 Loadout: (20/20) Half Points: 9 Damage Threshold: 5
Captain Jostero – Kihraxz Fighter (10)
Ion Missiles (3)
Overtuned Modulators (3)
Burnout Thrusters (5)
Ship Cost: 10 Loadout: (11/11) Half Points: 5 Damage Threshold: 3
Total: 49
Ok. Looking at this I can see that I need to be wary of Emon’s devices and Boba in general. Lets look at the Pre-Flight checks:
Scenario – Assault at the Satellite array
Target/Objective Priority – Prevent Emon ruining my day with prox mines
Obstacles – Be wary of seismic charges and leave space for Dengar
Deployment – I generally tend to spread out and this will be no different. Steve is 1st player so I get the advantage of knowing where he is.
We place objectives, obstacles and ships and we’re good to go!
The right side of the board has been heavily scattered with obstacles which definitely hinders Dengar so he went far left. Steve’s two Firesprays on that side threw me a little but I decided to hang Fenn out as bait (and maybe bag an objective claim), fully intending to turn in left rather than joust. If the sprays take the bait then they get mired in Dengar’s obstacle situation. Maybe.
Overall I’m feeling ok about this. Jostero doesn’t scare me and I wonder if I can isolate him.
I go fast with Fenn and roll out since neither of Steve’s Sprays went fast. My other ships go slower and Jostero is looking to flank me while I look at the other two ships.
Boba went fast! Fenn’s turn and focus boost gets him out of major danger. I considered facing off with Boba but with only 1 shot into him, giving him rerolls and possibly being in arc to be shot by Emon as well, I decided that ducking out was the way.
I’ve got 2 objectives but Steve has 3 covered so goes ahead on points.
I’m a bit conflicted about this turn.
Fenn HAS to run. Being shot at range 2-ish by 2 3 dice ships is just not something I want to risk. It’s annoying though. I manage to balance it by positioning Boba where he can shoot twice, as can Dengar.
The whole turn is a bit of a damp squib though as I take 1 shield from Jostero while my ships remain undamaged. Steve is still tagging more objectives though so creep 2 more points ahead of me.
This turn, all the Firesprays go full Firespray. My Boba takes a Talon-roll (JARGON ALERT!!) while Steve’s both turn away.
I anticipated the fast block from Jostero which puts him at range 1 of Fenn and Dengar (who rotated arc) and still in range of Boba.
Boba didn’t need the shot. Dengar softened him up, Fenn finished him off. Brutal. Emon and Boba both put shots into Dengar (who couldn’t revenge shot them) but neither managed to land any damage.
Dead Kihraxz and more objectives gives me 14 points that turn and an 8 point lead.
Choices need to be made here by both players and while I don’t think mine were perfect for this turn, I had one eye on the turn after. Wary of the Proxy mine, I send Boba after Emon. Dengar needs to just get out of the way while Fenn needs to stay clear of the Proxy mine AND the seismic that were clearly being dropped.
Steve now has 3 problems. He’s lost a gun. Boba is WAY out the way and Emon is being hunted AND has no shot.
I put 1 damage in to Emon. Ugh.
It always feels a bit odd denying myself shots, especially with only 3 ships in my list but sometimes the positioning for future turns is just more important.
Emon turns hard at Boba and forces the bump. Dengar is stressed and can’t clear it to rotate so he’s just drifting in space for now.
I want to point Fenn at Emon but turning right meant pointing directly at the prox mine and being range 2 of 2 guns. No thanks.
He turns away and repositions for better options next time.
My Boba bumps Emon but does get Steve’s Boba in rear arc for 2 shots. The only ship to take damage is my Boba. It’s just 1 though so it’s not too bad.
Emon turns right and this time I have him. Steve’s Boba is still too far to be effective and while Dengar isn’t double tapping, I’ve got range 1 shots into the Spray from all 3 ships.
Emon takes 8 damage from the 3 shots.
Steve’s picked up 4 objective points to my zero these last TWO turns but I get 9 for Emon to stay 13 points ahead.
Steve is in ‘hail Mary’ territory here now so flees with Emon while Boba comes in to hammer some damage. I make a mistake here, turning Boba after Emon but leaving him in Fenn’s way.
I get a bit lucky as Fenn survivies unscathed but only after hammering Boba at range 1. As does Dengar. As does my Boba who also manages to finish off Emon.
That’s another 23 points to me and the game is over.
The conclusion…
Ok, that was a bit more of a batrep than I’d intended but still, not quite as in-depth as normal!
The game clearly went well.
What I did well:
Refusing to get kill-boxed or flanked. It can be tricky with just 3 ships, especially with Dengar being a large bas ship but I felt I was unpredictable enough and kept my guns on target. Mostly. That said, Steve also had 3 ships. This could have gone worse against a higher ship count list.
I think my Boba play is ok. I do find myself frequently annoyed that there’s no 3 hard turn on the Firespray but if that’s my biggest gripe about it then it can’t be too bad, right?
What I didn’t do well:
Dengar. Moving into the middle was fine but getting him into a place where he was stressed and unable to clear it cost me SEVERAL shots. His double tapping is one of the main features of the list and is pretty vital when you’ve got a low ship count.
I need to work on getting him into better positions with options that don’t count him out of the game.
I’ve had a number of online games in teh Tauntaun Fam Alpha tournament that’s been on this month. My next game is against Tom Veale and if I can remember how to screenshot in TTS (without risking putting my laptop in airplane mode and disconnecting the game) AND where those screenshots are saved then I might well blog about that next week.
Anyway, that’s it for this week. Thanks for reading, don’t forget the Patreon and I’ll see you next time!
The outro…
Thank you so much for visiting my blog, I hope you’ve enjoyed it! If you’d like to support me in continuing my X-Wing blogging adventure there are a few ways you can do that.
You can follow my social media accounts for updates
If you’re looking to buy some gaming ‘stuff’ and don’t have a local gaming store, you can use my affiliate link for Firestorm games. They’re great!
If you would like to directly support the blog then please consider becoming a Patron! I would be forever grateful!
A MASSIVE thank you to my wonderful Patrons for their ongoing support for the blog and enabling me to give away shiny things!
Exile Rookies:
Opi-Wan Kenobi
Exile Veterans:
Mark Beor, Daniel Barringer, Michael Bird, Jason Desmarais, Darin Schwarze, Alex Peters-Bean, Mark Packer-Hughes, Eric Gordon
Exile Commanders:
David Bryan, Ben Kennedy, Richard Goulart
Exile Legends:
Rebecca Westwood, Admiral_Ackbar47, Phill Blackmore, Chris Fear, Sean Oakley , Steve Boulton, Richard Goulart
You are all amazing humans!