The intro…
Well hello! Welcome to this week’s blog!
First of all, I’m sorry for being a day late! This past weekend was absolute madness with new flooring going down in the house, my wife being unwell and us looking after my 3 month old niece overnight fir the first time.
It was as bonkers as it sounds. Moving furniture, changing nappies, warming bottles, night feeds and not enough sleep contributed to a, ummm, less productive than usual Monday.
I know I’m under no obligation to publish on a Tuesday and it’s quite likely that nobody actually cares whether or not I do but having a schedule helps me to stay organised and missing it when I hadn’t planned to feels a bit bad.
So, I’m sorry. Hopefully next week will be less insane!
Speaking of insane….
Our next event at Firestorm Games Newport is a Christmas-time one and since everyone has been trying so hard with store champs of late, one with a bit of a twist…
Yes, this event will be:
- Extended
- Cross faction
- No ban list
Oh yeah. The only restriction is no repeat pilots (so no bringing 3 Darth Vaders for example). But if you want Boba, Luke and Vader? No problem. Anakin, Soontir and Fenn Rau? Go ahead. Bring your MOST broken bonkers crazy combo!
It’s on December the 2nd at Firestorm Games in Newport and tickets are available here. There’s also a Facebook event page here for any questions.
Patreon update…
So it happens AGAIN that the last day for sign ups for the quarter lands on a Blog Tuesday! Ironic eh? Even more ironic that I don’t publish in time!
Anyway, I’ve already covered what the gifts for Patrons are this quarter (alt arts, Exile template, s-foil tokens and 3D printed crates for objective markers). The very last thing to show you is what’s up for this quarter’s giveaway.
In case you weren’t aware, all Patrons Veteran and above get entered into a giveaway based on their tier (1 entry for Veteran, 2 entries for Commander and 3 for Legend) and I’ll use a random generator on Instagram live to draw a winner and the prize gets added to that person’s gifts.
Simple, right?
Well this month I’ve got something a little different. A few months ago I saw that some people were buying a particular Gauntlet model which is not only X-Wing scaled but is fully articulated with wings that move up (just like the X-Wing model) but also rotates around the chassis. Nice! It’s great to proxy an official model and since you get multiple dials and bases in the Gauntlet pack this will let you field a second one!
Anyway, if you’d like to be in with a chance to win this and to get your hands on some of the gifts then you can sign up to support the blog here. As always there’s no pressure to do so, the blog will continue on!
XTC Update…
Not much of an update here this week since last week was our bye/break week.
Things in group B are looking pretty interesting right now. We started with a loss against Hellas but Ireland (one of the two seeded teams) also lost, going down 3-2 to Columbia.
In week 2 Ireland bounced back with a win against Scotland (the other seeded team) which certainly keeps things finely balanced.
We’re back in action this week (week 3) against columbia.
Now, having narrowly lost in week 1 and having our bye in week 2, things looks rather different as we start this week with Columbia having beaten both Hellas AND Ireland and being 2-0 up.
Not only that but Ireland came out swinging following their week 1 loss to Columbia and beat Scotland with a clean sweep 5-0. Wow.
That means that group B is wide open and while a week 1 loss against Hellas certainly put a dent in our qualification hopes, this is a fresh week and hopefully we can get some decent results.
Things are equally bonkers in other groups with Australia beating England, Poland beating Spain but losing to Mexico and current XTC champions Canada losing to the Pirates. However it all shakes out it’s certainly going to be interesting!
I’ll report back on our week 3 results and week 4 pairings next week.
The batrep… (JARGON ALERT!!)
So my belated batrep then. While this may not be long, it’s certainly interesting. WEll, to me anyway. Why?
This week Mark Hall managed to get down to Firestorm Newport for casual Wednesday. Some time at the start of the year Mark’s work schedule changed and he stopped being able to come down during the week. Weekends were still fine for tournaments and we still communicated often to plan for the Welsh Open and our Newport events but Wednesdays were off the table. Literally.
We’ve not actually played against each other in a good while so it would be nice to actually play and chat.
Interestingly, the list he’s been flying of late (when attending various tournaments on free weekends) looks rather familiar…
Ezra Bridger (Gauntlet Fighter) (6)
Heightened Perception (3)
Trick Shot (4)
Hera Syndulla (4)
Nightbrother (0)
Swivel Wing (0)
“Chopper” (Crew) (1)
Ship Cost: 6 Loadout: (12/12) Half Points: 3 Damage Threshold: 5
Han Solo (7)
Trick Shot (4)
Perceptive Copilot (8)
Bistan (8)
Millennium Falcon (0)
Ship Cost: 7 Loadout: (20/20) Half Points: 3 Damage Threshold: 6
Luke Skywalker (BoY) (5)
Instinctive Aim (0)
Attack Speed (BoY) (0)
Proton Torpedoes (0)
R2-D2 (BoY) (0)
Ship Cost: 5 Loadout: (0) Half Points: 2 Damage Threshold: 3
Sabine Wren (TIE Fighter) (2)
Beskar Reinforced Plating (3)
Ship Cost: 2 Loadout: (3/3) Half Points: 1 Damage Threshold: 1
Total: 20
In case you don’t recognise it, this is EXACTLY the list I was flying from around May or June until switching to my current list a few weeks ago.
That means I know how it works, what the triggers are and how to beat it right?
Right?!
Let’s get those Pre-Flight checks:
Scenario – Assault at the Satellite Array
Target/Objective Priority – It depends. Hit Han if he strays too close but otherwise focus down Ezra and then Luke.
Obstacles – Clustered but preferably over my side, meaning Han has to travel a long way before getting those Trick Shots.
Deployment – Preferably in a block but it depends on first player.
We place objectives, obstacles and ships and we’re ready to go.
My plan here is to zoom up to half way and then turn in at Ezra. The Gauntlet is positioned to sit in the middle of the triangle of objectives off to the left which means by approaching this way Mark will either have to ignore my ships or drop that plan and turn to fight me. Either works for me.
Mark stops with Ezra while Luke angles away and Han starts up to the rocks.
It’s all going ok so far. Lulo might be able tag the top right objective. Maybe? I set a 3 bank for the A-Wing while everyone else will go straight again.
Han continues straight while Ezra goes forwards and clears his stress with a 3 straight. Unfortunately Luke bumps into the Gauntlet (costing him a shield) but as I’ve not turned in it’s not too costly. Sabine took a boost and 5 straight to just get out of the way.
On reflection, I picked the wrong move for Lulo. I actually did the moves and found that a 5 straight, roll and boost did get him into range 1 of that objective while a 3 bank boost did not.
The only shot is Lulo into Luke but it does nothing and we claim 1 point each for objectives.
Now it’s decision time. I want to turn in on Ezra. Luke can’t risk another bump so is likely to get out of the way and it’s unlikely Han will get anywhere dangerous just yet. Mark has to decide whether Ezra shoots for the spot to score 3 objectives or come and fight me.
I mess things up though.
Ezra hard turns in at me. Excellent. Sabine hard turns to stay out around the edges while Luke takes a 4-k (JARGON ALERT!!). Han perfectly executs a 2 hard turn to sit between the rocks. Nice.
Jess’ 2 hard turn isn’t far enough forward to give Zorii room for the 1 bank and the Y-Wing bumps the T-70. Not disastrous in the grand scheme but it prevents me getting the double modded Plasma Torp that I wanted. Balls.
Everything else goes ok but will that cost me?
The short answer is yes. But I’ll get to that in a minute.
Han’s only shot is into Lulo which does nothing. I unleash 4 double(ish) modded shots into Ezra plus Zorii’s slightly pathetic primary shot and get Ezra down to 1 hull. He doesn’t die.
That Plasma Torp going in first would have been pretty nice, right?
While Han’s shot into Lulo did nothing, Luke’s Instinctive Aim Proton Torp is teh exact opposite, landing 2 hits, 1 crit and an eyeball (which Mark spends a Force on).
Lulo… blanks out.
Big. Ouch. Thankfully the crit isn’t a Direct and Lulo lives on 1 hull (God bless that shield upgrade!). It is a Console Fire though.
Mark’s positioning nets him more points on objectives but Ezra is (hopefully) about to pop and net me 6 points. Probably.
I’ve got 2 ships in range 1 of the middle objective to cancel out the gauntlet so it’s 2 points for Mark and 1 for me.
I now need to dedicate some resources to finishing Ezra while also- thinking about my next target – Luke.
I’ll use Temmin to dive in for a block with his free boost. Jess will go slow to get the shot into Ezra while Zorii and Ello follow up behind.
Ezra stops and rotates, looking to catch Lulo in arc. Sabine pre-boosts, hard turns and focuses. Interesting.
Jess goes 1 straight and does NOT bump Ezra. Nice. Temmin goes 4 straight and boosts at Luke, looking to block the 1 bank in that I’m expecting.
Luke does 1 bank and is blocked (yay!) but I once again bump Zorii into the back of Jess. How. Annoying.
Ello cruises up next to her and provides a focus while Lulo dives out of Ezra’s way and right into Sabine’s face.
Han banks away from the fight and focuses, ready to take his first double tap.
Han pours fire into Jess and Zorri, taking shields from both. Ello takes out Ezra before Jess nibbles at Sabine while Lulo follows up with a haymaker to take the TIE out. She didn’t even fire.
Luke puts the last hit in to take out Lulo while dodging Temmin’s range 1 shot.
A brutal turn
Despite outscoring on objectives AND taking out 2 ships, I’m not as far ahead in score (12 – 8) as I feel I should be. Zorii’s looking precarious too. i need to take out Luke.
The turn is a bit of a wash as I turn my ships around while Han tries to get back in the fight and Luke gets the heck out.
And yes, Luke did score both objective here. Nice.
Things get a little bit Benny Hill (ask your parents) as I chase Luke while Han chases me. Mark is having the better of it though as he burns down Zorii while I’m plinking 1 hit at a time into Luke with Mark’s green dice being very generous with the paint.
As the timer goes off we get to a crucial point. If Han can take out Jess and Luke lives, Mark wins. If Luke dies, I win no matter what happens to Jess.
Han shoots at Jess but his shot whiffs (JARGON ALERT!!) and he’s out of range of the rock to get the reroll. She lives!
Luke’s fortune finally runs out as Ello takes his range 2 shot and Luke blanks out.
Final result: 21 – 16 win
The conclusion…
What’s interesting here isn’t the result exactly but how it panned out.
The key thing really was my own mistakes. I can’t quite believe how many self bumps I made! The first bump of Zorii into Jess meant that I missed out on firing double modded Plasma torps in turn 1 which, in turn, meant that Ezra survived the first engagement.
If Ezra dies there then the game changes significantly.
Still, I’m glad I got the win despite my poor dial choices and Luke deciding to go Into some sort of crazed evade episode as I chased him down. He never did that when I flew him!
Overall it was it a good fun game and certainly closer than I’d expected it to be (given how I did when flying that Rebel list into pretty much this exact Resitance list) and closer than I thought it would go once Ezra had burned down. I guess that serves me right for making some assumptions!
It’s always great to play against Mark, super chill, no pressure, good natured and chatty. I miss playing you Mark!
I will probably look to switch up my list from this ‘try hard’ Resistance one at some point. I’ve not had the chance to look at an alternative yet, let alone repack my bag (a major undertaking!) but it’s on my to do list.
Since I’m already late and there’s not much more to say about this list I’ll call it a night here. Hopefully next week things will be a bit less crazy and I’ll get my post out on 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.
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A MASSIVE thank you to my wonderful Patrons for their ongoing support for the blog and enabling me to give away shiny things!
Exile Initiates:
Douglas Thomson
Exile Rookies:
Ben Kennedy
Exile Veterans:
Mark Beor, Daniel Barringer, Michael Bird, Steve Boulton, Jason Desmarais, Darin Schwarze, Alex Peters-Bean, Mark Packer-Hughes
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You are all amazing humans!