The intro…
Well hello there and welcome to this week’s blog!
Slightly awkwardly this is my first blog of 2026 despite being the THIRD Tuesday of the month! Oops! I feel like it’s FAR too late to wish a Happy New Year but what the heck, I’m doing it anyway!
So, what does this new year bring? Well, quite a lot, actually. In fact, I’ve played so many games that, even though I’ve got pictures and scores, I’m not sure how much it’s worth going into them right now. But we’ll see.
Before I get too deep into this post I want to give a shout out to Noah Hallett (of Casual Dad Games) who has put together a Reddit post with a very comprehensive list of current X-Wing content!
There’s a LOT of content creators mentioned but in the blog section I am honoured to get a mention (yay!) along with Levi’s Obi-Win blog. It does, however, make me a little sad that we’re possibly the only two bloggers still around! If that’s something that you think you’d enjoy but don’t know where to start, don’t be afraid to get in touch!
Before I go any further, I have some news on an event….
THE WELSH OPEN 2026 TICKETS ARE LIVE!
Yes, The Welsh Open is back on the 4th and 5th of July 2026! Now, things are a little bit different this year to the last few.
First up, we’re in a different venue! The past 3 years have been at Firestorm Games in Cardiff. It’s a beautiful store but costs have been rising and there are certain things (which I won’t get in to right here) which have made us start looking elsewhere.
This led us to The Arena in Newport! This is where we in Exile Squadron play our games now and the store easily has space for 40 players (maybe more?), is away from Cardiff which is more expensive for accommodation (especially if a gig gets announced for that weekend….), it’s closer to people traveling from England and parking is plentiful!
This brings us to the other change – ticketing.
The venue has said they can offer us a cheaper rate if we manage ticketing ourselves. While that’s not ideal, it does allow us to spend more on prizes so that’s what we’re going to do!
If you are interesting in coming then please go to the Facebook event page and leave a comment on the ticket purchase post. Payment instructions are in the post as well and once you comment and pay I’ll then add your name to the list and that’s it, you’re in! If you don’t have Facebook or there’s any issues then please contact me directly or comment wherever you’ve seen this blog post and we can get it sorted out.
Anyway, let’s get down to some business
Patreon Update…
HOLY COW! IT’S PATREON MONTH!
How is that time already?!?!
Well, thankfully I had anticipated how busy my life would be and planned ahead for this quarter! That means I’ve got everything* in hand and ready to go!
*probably
Let’s see, what shall I tease first….
It’s an Exile corner marker and Kylo Ren pilot card!
The Exile marker is the penultimate piece of the Exile template sets that I’ve been giving out to supporters. The Kylo Ren card is part of the series of pilot helmets created for me by the amazing Dan Eicher!
If you’d like to get hold of any of these items or if you’d just like to support the blog OR if you’re just a lovely person with nothing better to do with your money then you can sign up here to be a Patreon supporter!
Ok, enough shilling for now, let’s get to some proper blog content shall we?
Consultation corner…
It’s a phrase I used at the time and y’know what? I like it!
In the last blog I asked a question: Where should Boba go?
I offered the following options in a poll and results were… interesting!
- a) 1 hard right to take the bump into Old T. Pros – It’s a better escape angle to keep him involved and close to objectives (scenario is Assault), I can red focus if bumped, bumping reduces the effectiveness of Old T’s shot. Cons – Talonbane is hovering just behind so Boba could be taking 3 shots instead of 2 if I mess it up. Also, ROAD means I don’t know where I’ll end up.
- b) 3 bank right & boost. Pros – gets me furthest from Old T and likely out of Talonbane rage/arc, lets me drop bombs. Cons – might bump into Fenn?
- c) 4 straight & boost. Pros – gets me further from Old T and pretty much no change of a shot from Talonbane. Also, bombs. Cons – puts me further out of the fight than I’d like, especially given that I’ve only got 2 ships now.
It is slightly humbling that almost half of the responses would have taken an option that I hadn’t even considered but slightly encouraging that the same number of responses would have made the choice that I actually took.
Frustratingly, I didn’t actually take a picture but I 3 banked with Boba and then boosted. I considered a banked boost but that would lose arc on Old T and if Fenn didn’t go where I expected then I wasn’t going to get a shot. Not the end of the world but given that I only had 3 ships, not great either.
Fenn did 4-k and Old T banked and boosted into red focus (after Boba moved) and then both shot at Boba with Fenn’s shot at range 1. It’s worth knowing that Josh’s Fenn is the AaD one with the red token shenanigans but he opted to keep the deplete rather than swap for a strain if I recall correctly.
It wasn’t ideal but Boba did survive not only that turn but at least 2 (maybe more?) afterwards and managed to drop a Proton Bomb which did some damage as well. It’s not great to lose Boba but Fenn and Dengar were left alone enough to finish off the rest of the list and win me the game. So a good result!
I did get some more direct feedback as well with some interesting options:
Really weird camera angle, but the 3 bank should fit. And even if it doesn’t, Fenn is not a danger, if he bumps, you get a free shot into Fenn at range 0 which he hates, and Teroch is not getting ability. Even if the 3 bank fits, I’d consider staying and grabbing a focus rather than boosting away
-Azaghal – Discord
So, pretty much what I did but boosting didn’t get me out of range 1 of Fenn anyway so yes, a focus would have helped here.
Nice blog! For the Boba positioning question, I’d probably do a 3 bank right (it looks like a 3 probably fits but not totally sure, maybe a 2? 3 is definitely better if it fits). The thought is that you would reinforce backwards, and either all 3 enemies end up behind you in the reinforced arc, or Fenn bumps into you, which should just barely get you a VTG shot on him and Old T (and you get reinforce on 2 ships and still have force).Though actually, you might want a 2 bank just in case Fenn does a talon roll to the right. Idk, might work!
-Bakugan_Wii – Reddit
Again, the 3 bank is suggested but the reinforce over the boost would actaully have helped.
As it turned out, Boba took 2 shots and not 3 because Dengar went full beast mode on Talonbane and wiped him out at i6. Brutal.
I think you had a couple of other options, one of which i don’t think relies on ROAD.
A lot of it depends on what Terry does; Josh wants to maximise his chance of using his ability. He could take the 1 hard right, but runs the risk of clipping the croissant, similarly if he goes straight I think he clips the rock on your right. He can take the 2 hard right but risks you doing a 1 hard right and dropping behind him. Based on all that I think he did a 2 speed right bank (note – this was correct!). Fenn can turn in towards you, and I think he’s in a better position relative to the croissant, but there’s a risk of colliding with Terry; I’m wondering if he did either a K-turn or a T-roll? (correct again, he 4-k’d)
Option 1 is you do a 2 hard right turn and accept that you eat at least 1 damage from the croissant, but it potentially gets you out of Terry’s arc. ROAD could block you if Terry moves first, but then you’d be behind him. Option 2, you take a 1 hard left which i think keeps you out of Terry’s arc and I don’t think can be blocked by ROAD. You could boost away and still probably have a rear shot on Terry, and it seems like a good position for a bomb next turn.
-Phil Pursglove – Reddit
The option 1 offered here is the same/similar to option A from my poll. ROAD was the main reason I didn’t take it as it offered too many potential down sides. I’ll wait to comment on option 2 until after the next comnent.
Hey Dylan, I’d be curious about if a turn away was an option in your game? The fang ability and teroch’s ability doesn’t work on boba’s rear arc and it would also present proton bomb threats for the next turn
-Oli Pocknell – Discord
This is the kind of experienced Firespray thinking that I need to learn. I hadn’t actually considered this and had I done it, Fenn is facing totally the wrong way with what Josh did and both Fangs would be scattering the following turn when I Proton Bomb them.
This was the play to take.
Anyway, I really enjoyed this as a thought exercise and it’s helped me over the last couple of weeks with how I play Boba.
The main bit…
As it’s been a little while, nearly a month, wait ACTUALLY a month?!Oh wow.
Uh, since it’s been over a month since my last blog it’s a little tricky to keep track of what’s been happening so I figured that I’d keep this one fairly short and to the point (well, that’t he intention anyway…) while I get back to some sort of normality.
Let’s start with actual games of X-Wing, shall we?
I’ve played quite a few games so far with several casual play Wednesdays and I’m also taking part in the Tauntaun Fam event that’s happening online. I’m still running the same Scum list, partly because I want to learn how to fly Firesprays better (and, hopefully, also how to play against them better) but mostly because I’m lazy and haven’t repacked my bag.
Fenn Rau – Fang Fighter (14)
Fearless (3)
Elusive (4)
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
View in YASB: https://yasb.app/?f=Scum%20and%20Villainy&d=v10ZsZ50Z97X121W119WWWY103X121WWW453W71WWWW153W89Y716X601W602W603W159&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron&obs=
There is a slight change to what I was running before in that Boba did have Proton Bombs and Delayed Fuses. This was a bit of a hangover from the points adjustment early December/late November when Boba’s points and loadout were tweaked. He’d lost the points for Fearless and this seemed like a decent option but on hearing about this Boba build on the Sith Takers Podcast, I have recently changed Protons to Seismics to get Fearless back. It’s not a major change but I do like it. I just need to remember that Fearless is on there…(yes, I’ve missed that opportunity at least once already!).
Clearly the major change I had to make with that points adjustment was changing AaD Fenn for ‘build your own’ Fenn. I think that the AaD is a MUCH better option given the upgrades he has and is well worth that extra point.
That said, there’s no way to keep Dengar in the list and I don’t really like any of the other combinations of downgrades as alternative options so it’s a change I’ll tolerate!
Games with the list have been going pretty well. I haven’t properly tracked my record with the list but it’s very positive in terms of results and a few weeks back I did actually manage a 51-0 win with it which is a bit nuts.
Not every game has gone smoothly mind you. This one was particularly messy:
Bombs aplenty with Grudge rerolls went about as well as you’re thinking it did…
Still, you can’t win ’em all!
With Christmas and New Year now in the past, the Sith Takers Open is looming large ont he horizon.
It might not surprise you to know that I’m looking to take this same list up to the event. I’m not going with any sort of hope or expectation other than to have a great time. It’s going to be over 140 players including some of the best in the world so I’m just happy to be there while it’s happening and be a part of it!
That doesn’t mean I want to be going 0-5 though which is why I’m going to continue repping with this list and put myself int he best position possible.
I am REALLY looking forward to going and seeing lots of people that I normally only get to talk to online.
XWA Update…
I figured this should be its own section just because of how much of my time it’s taking at the moment.
In case you somehow missed it, the XWA X-Wing World Championship is happening this year at Adeption in Milwaukee and tickets are now live!
Sadly I’m not going but in my role as XWA Prize Lead, clearly I’ve got a lot of work to do!
The team and I have been working hard to curate a wide range of prizes that we feel players will love and we are close to getting those designs finalised and orders placed. As soon as we have some more details that we can release you will see them plastered all over the usual social media places.
I have to say that it’s been very hard work and the weight of responsibility and expectation is feeling pretty heavy at the moment. I’m really grateful to the team of people around me in XWA who are pulling together to make this the best that we can for our community.
So let me encourage you, if you’re willing and able to make it to Worlds then I HIGHLY recommend you do it but I also ask you to book your ticket as early as you can! We (the XWA) are not a company running for profits, when we order prizes there’s no margins to be made. Knowing how many people we’re expecting at the event is a HUGE deal for us so please, book in if you’re planning to go!
The conclusion…
Well, so much for a short blog eh?
It has been increasingly difficult to keep up with the blogs but it is something that I continue to enjoy and while I enjoy it, I’m going to keep doing it!
Things are looking good and I’m excited for what my X-Wing journey looks like in 2026. I’m looking forward to many games, time spent with friends, lots of events and many fun times.
That’s it from me for today. Who knows, maybe next week I’ll actually do a batrep (JARGON ALERT!!)
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.
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Exile Rookies:
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You are all amazing humans!