The intro…
Hello and welcome to this week’s blog! There’s a fair bit to cover so let’s into it.
First up, the X-Wing World Championship happened!
I already knew a LONG while back that I wouldn’t be there this year but that didn’t really help with the FOMO once people started posting about being there.
The representation from Europe was somewhat lacking this year which is pretty understandable given that AMG were running the event and the general vibe of ‘official’ X-Wing over the last 9 or so months since the announcement. That said, there were still 200 people signed up to play across the two day 1 heats with 27 going through on the first day (including my blog buddy Levi ‘Obi-Win’ Schadt!) and another 26 on the second.
Day 1a – https://rollbetter.gg/tournaments/2107
Day 1b – https://rollbetter.gg/tournaments/2106/pools/2108
Day 2/finals – https://rollbetter.gg/tournaments/2106/players
I’ll give shout outs to Louis Leong for making the top 16 and also the aforementioned Levi who went on to make top 4! Top effort gentlemen! And then a MASSIVE congratulations to Calon Wong for winning what is technically the last official X-Wing world championship. Technically.
You see, it isn’t the last world championship at all.
The end of this tournament is seen by people in different ways. Some will see it as an end, a funeral, the last goodbye to a game that has given them so much.
And I get it. Officially supported events are great. Getting cards and components made by the people who make the game and are officially licensed and all that, well, it’s cool.
But it isn’t the end.
With the last tournament now done (well, ok, technically I think there might be another GT or two happening somewhere in the next month but you get my point…), the shackles are finally off for the X-Wing Alliance.
We could have done things earlier. Released content, made rules changes, created an organised play track. But we didn’t. In order to pave the way for a smooth transition and, more importantly, to respect the plans already in place by AMG, the XWA held back.
Yes points were released but with interest waning in points that hadn’t changed for almost 18 months at that time, something HAD to be done there, otherwise there was risk of too many people losing too much interest and the game simply drifting into the night.
Yes, new content was designed and has been teased but release has been held off until AFTER Worlds was all done and dusted. Respecting what was already planned was a non-negotiable.
Yes, there are plans in place for organised play but these plans don’t kick into action until after all AMG events are over. Planning for OP had to begin early and in earnest to make sure we had everything in place for a smooth transition and without a huge gap in between.
So yes, from an official, game publisher point of view, the sunset of X-Wing is now upon us. But after the night comes the dawn and oh what a glorious sunrise it’s going to be!
So, having said all that, then it’s probably time to talk about the future!
On the 24th of May Exile Squadron are hosting our XWA official Squad Championship event!
It’s going to be 4 rounds of swiss at our brand new venue (which still isn’t quite technically open yet! Soon though!) with a beautifully crafted Squad Champs kit (yes, I’m biased) and maybe a few other prizes thrown in too!
You can get tickets by commenting on the discussion post of the Facebook event page or, if you’re not on Facebook, just get in touch with me directly and we’ll sort it out! It promises to be a great day and who knows, you might end up with the winner’s coin and a bye for round 1 of a System Open event, such as the Welsh Open!
Yes, the Welsh Open is the FIRST EVER XWA System Open event! Running on the 19th and 20th of July 2025 we will have a full XWA prize kit (contents yet to be revealed. Soon though!) as well as a bunch of Exile themed prizes and whatever else we can get our hands on to give away!
The venue is Firestorm Games in Cardiff which is an absolutely top notch gaming space and lunch on both days is included on the ticket price!
It REALLY REALLY helps us a lot to know a rough attendance as early as possible so if you’re thinking about it, get planning and pick your ticket up soon! You can get your tickets here!
Alright, is that enough selling for today? No, maybe not…
Patreon Update…
Yes, it’s ALREADY APRIL!!!!
That means it’s time to start looking at the Patreon gifts for Q2!
First up, it’s the template!
It’s going to maybe be a touch tricky with shipping, this one but I’m going to try it, it’s the 5 straight template!
If you’d like to get hold of one of these and maybe some of the other goodies that I’ll be showing over the coming weeks (or maybe you just want to genrally support the blog!) then you just need to sign up to become a member by the 31st of April and you’ll get some! You can sign up here!
Right, let’s get to some proper content, shall we?
The batrep… (JARGON ALERT!!)
Alright. It actually feels like it’s been AAAAAAGES since I talked about an actual game of X-Wing. I’ve played a fair bit between online and in-person games and taken a good few photos but not got to writing things up.
First up, let’s talk list.
I’ve been flying this list for a good while:
Jan Ors – HWK-290 Light Freighter (5)
Moldy Crow (0)
Ship Cost: 5 Loadout: (0/0) Half Points: 2 Damage Threshold: 2
Fenn Rau – Fang Fighter (5)
Debris Gambit (3)
Marksmanship (2)
Mandalorian Optics (3)
Ship Cost: 5 Loadout: (8/8) Half Points: 2 Damage Threshold: 2
Wedge Antilles – T-65 X-wing (5)
Predator (3)
Afterburners (8)
Servomotor S-Foils (0)
Ship Cost: 5 Loadout: (11/11) Half Points: 2 Damage Threshold: 3
Hera Syndulla – A/SF-01 B-wing (5)
Proton Cannons (5)
Stabilized S-Foils (0)
B6 Blade Wing Prototype (0)
Ezra Bridger (9)
Ship Cost: 5 Loadout: (14/14) Half Points: 2 Damage Threshold: 4
Total: 20
It’s been… okay? It has been pretty matchup dependant. All the ships can do decent damage and if I get things right, devastating damage. No one ship too heavily depends on any other so it’s not some kind of over complicated list that falls apart once a particular ship goes down. All this while not being too ‘alpha-strike-y’ since it’s not using ordnance and then having no teeth afterwards.
The down side? All the ships are pretty squishy and disappear under focused fire, especially if my dice don’t hold up.
I’ve flip-flopped on Fenn’s talent too. Lone Wolf kept not triggering due to how I want to fly him once I get going, Debris Gambit gives him an evade action but I found him wanting to be aggressive more than , Predator is also an option.
Anyway, it was then suggested to me that I try out Esege Tuketu in the K-Wing, dropping Fenn and Jan and adding Esege and BoY Luke:
Esege Tuketu – BTL-S8 K-wing (4)
Perceptive Copilot (8)
Advanced SLAM (3)
Ship Cost: 4 Loadout: (11/11) Half Points: 2 Damage Threshold: 4
Luke Skywalker (BoY) – T-65 X-wing (6)
Instinctive Aim (0)
Attack Speed (BoY) (0)
Proton Torpedoes (0)
R2-D2 (BoY) (0)
Ship Cost: 6 Loadout: (0) Half Points: 3 Damage Threshold: 3
Wedge Antilles – T-65 X-wing (5)
Predator (3)
Afterburners (8)
Servomotor S-Foils (0)
Ship Cost: 5 Loadout: (11/11) Half Points: 2 Damage Threshold: 3
Hera Syndulla – A/SF-01 B-wing (5)
Proton Cannons (5)
Stabilized S-Foils (0)
B6 Blade Wing Prototype (0)
Ezra Bridger (9)
Ship Cost: 5 Loadout: (14/14) Half Points: 2 Damage Threshold: 4
Total: 20
I played 4 games with this, winning the first 2 in person ones but losing the next 2 (online).
Anyway, I then turned up to play against Steve Boulton and still had the Jan list packed in my bag so that’s what I went with!
Steve had brought a Scum list and while he’s been playing around with some different configurations of the list, they have all been based around flying Ketsu:
Ketsu Onyo – Lancer-Class Pursuit Craft (6)
Fearless (3)
Qi’ra (2)
Contraband Cybernetics (3)
Mandalorian Optics (3)
Shadow Caster (0)
Ship Cost: 6 Loadout: (11/11) Half Points: 3 Damage Threshold: 5
Fenn Rau – Fang Fighter (5)
Fearless (3)
Ship Cost: 5 Loadout: (3/3) Half Points: 2 Damage Threshold: 2
Talonbane Cobra – Kihraxz Fighter (4)
Composure (1)
Contraband Cybernetics (3)
Ship Cost: 4 Loadout: (4/4) Half Points: 2 Damage Threshold: 3
Old Teroch – Fang Fighter (5)
Fearless (3)
Ion Torpedoes (5)
Mandalorian Optics (3)
Ship Cost: 5 Loadout: (11/11) Half Points: 2 Damage Threshold: 2
Total: 20
Flying against things that can tractor me seems to be getting more common lately and it’s not been a thing for such a long time that I do struggle against it a bit.
Still, if I can get Ketsu off the table then I like my chances a little better of being able to do something here.
Let’s get the Pre-Flight checks:
Scenario – Salvage Mission
Target/Objective Priority – Probably Ketsu? Avoid being range 1 of Fenn
Obstacles – Qi’ra on Ketsu means that obstacles mean nothing. Might as well space them out to make it easier on me then!
Deployment – Not quite sure. I’ll place Jan and then group the i6’s together once I see where Ketsu is. I hate Ketsu.
We place ships and obstacles and we’re ready to go!
Turn 1
I’ll be honest, turn 0 didn’t go exactly as I’d wanted. Jan felt a bit exposed and by the time my i6’s moved up to the middle I’d need to pick whether to chase Steve’s Fenn or turn on Ketsu.
Still, I needed to make the best of it. No way Jan is jousting anyone so she hard turns left while my other ships cruise up the board.
ROAD 1st Player – Me
My ships move up while Steve turns in with Fenn while sailing down my far left flank with his other ships.
No shooting this turn so back to dials we go!
Turn 2
Ok, so Jan feels relatively safe for now and Steve’s Fenn turned in, the question is, would he stay turned in? I decide to go fast-ish with my Fenn and less fast with Wedge, keeping guns on the left just in case since Ketsu looked like she’s need an extra turn to come in.
Hera would hang back and claim while Jan catches up to Hera to get into shot boosting range.
ROAD 1st Player – Me
Steve’s ships on the right do come in but not as quickly as I’d maybe expected. Interesting. Jan goes straight and focuses. My Fenn moves up the board and does the same. Wedge goes straight and, since he’s not being super threatened, tries to claim the middle but misses. Balls.
Hera moves up and I’d intended to claim but I can’t afford to leave Wedge naked (tokens-wise) so she takes a focus.
Steve had brought Old T and Talonbane in and Ketsu, having locked the top right rock the previous turn, lands on it but ignores it because of Qi’ra.
Steve’s Fenn DOES in fact double back but with my Fenn and Wedge pointing at him plays a little cagey.
Not cagey enough, though. My Fenn’s shot strips his focus and Wedge follows up by landing 2 hits and a crit which turns out to be a Panicked Pilot. I’d have preferred a Direct (obviously!) but I’ve crippled that fang for at least 1 turn which is nice.
Fenn’s return shot does nothing.
Steve had picked up a crate with Talonbane so he kicks off the scoring
End of turn score: 0 -1
Turn 3
I’m technically down on points but I feel that hitting Fenn that hard has me ahead. The question is, how do I capitalise on that? Steve’s other ships are about to start screaming in at mine and I want to pick up boxes. Maybe I just go for kills first and see what happens?
I set Jan a 2 hard in, Hera will 1 bank right and then Wedge and Fenn will 3 hard turn in. Maybe Jan’s 3 dice shot can kill a tokenless Fenn, right?
ROAD 1st Player – Me (yep, again)
I start by hard turning Jan in and claiming the left hand objective. She’s already got 2 focus tokens anyway!
Steve had triggered Overtuned Modulators on Talonbane who then banks in to the middle. Old T zooms in fast and boosts into a red focus before Kestu takes a huge 3 bank into the middle. This could be interesting…
Wedge goes first, taking the 3 hard and bumping into Ketsu. Sadly, I found out, that doesn’t save him from being tractored. Boooooo.
Fenn followed up and DOESN’T bump Wedge. Yay! Hera 1 banks and takes a lock on Ketsu.
This is where things get interesting. Ketsu gives Wedge a tractor token but doesn’t move him. Wise.
I fire all 3 i6 ships into Ketsu. Wedge’s range 0 shot doesn’t do much but Hera’s Proton Cannon and Fenn’s range 1 both hit hard, stripping shields and getting 2 hits and 3 crits on her. Big oof. The 3 crits in question? Console Fire, Structural Damage and Weapons Failure.
Steve’s Fenn takes a pot shot at Jan but misses. Now I have a choice. Fire Jan range 3 at 1 health, tokenless Fenn or range 3 at 3 health Ketsu who has a focus.
I debate for a moment, thinking that if I don’t get Fenn now he’s going to make me regret it.
Jan rolls fire. 3 paint! Fenn’s dead, right?
Wrong. Fenn lives. Sad.
Old T missed arc on everyone so it’s just Ketsu and Talonbane into Wedge. He’ll be fine, right?
He was not fine. Talonbane rolls 3 paint, spends a calculate or 2 for 3 hits. Wedge’s single green (since he’s tractored) blanks. Ketsu fires and rolls 3 paint at range 0. Wedge’s single evade blanks. He’s dead.
Except he isn’t. I remember that Ketsu has a Weapons Failure and so he gets 1 hit back and lives on 1 hull. Close one!
I am annoyed that I didn’t kill any of Steve’s ships though. Maybe I should have just focused down Fenn?
Anyway, we’ve both got 1 box each and the turn is over
End of turn score: 1 – 1
Total score: 1 – 2
Turn 4
This is getting interesting now. Wedge needs to live if I’ve got any chance here. I set him a 4 straight. Hera will turn left to follow Ketsu, Fenn will hard turn right to start getting around (since he’s stressed) and Jan? Hmmm…. Probably just a 1 straight? Yeah, sounds fine.
ROAD 1st Player – Me (AGAIN!)
Ketsu triggers Mando Optics and locks the rock in front of her. I hadn’t seen that one coming! Jan goes 1 straight and focuses. Talonbane 1 banks left and focuses while Old T hard turns left and rolls into a red focus. Right in front of Jan. Have I made a mistake here…? Ketsu takes a –k turn (JARGON ALERT!!) onto the rock and (with Contraband) takes a focus. Bloomin stupid Scum ships.
Wedge 4 straights and, even though he’s stressed, uses an Afterburners boost (despite being stressed) to get distance from danger and head to a crate for next turn.
Fenn’s 2 hard bumps into Talonbane. He takes a red focus. Hera’s 2 hard turn lands range 1 in front of Ketsu, she takes a lock on the Lancer.
Steve’s Fenn banks in at Jan and boosts into a focus now that all his stress is gone. DANGER!
Old T triggers and Jan loses both her focus tokens. Balls. At least I can shoot first. No shot for Wedge but Fenn goes range 0 into Talonbane and takes a shield. Hera fires range 1 into Ketsu and between the lock and force (and helped by the Structural Damage), finishes off the Shadowcaster.
That’ where the good news ends.
Fenn unloads a 5 dice range 1 shot into Jan which is then followed up by Old T and Talonbane and, well, let’s just say, teh Hawk didn’t come out of it too well….
Ugh. Ok, well on the face of it, I’ve lost a 5 point ship and Steve has lost a 6 point ship. We both have an i6 on 1 health but Steve’s got a box and I haven’t. It isn’t ideal but all is not lost.
End of turn score: 6 – 6
Total score: 7 – 8
Turn 5
Right, there’s a few thigns to do now. Get my Fenn a decent shot, get Hera’s gun in the fight and get a box with Wedge.
ROAD 1st player – ME (ALWAYS ME!!)
It is at this point I realise that I didn’t use Jan’s ability AT ALL. NOT EVEN ONE TIME!!!! I FORGOT!!!! Maybe Fenn would be dead??! Probably not, but maybe? Anyway, it’s too late now.
Old T banks out of the way and picks up the box that Jan dropped while Talonbane hard turns out of the middle.
Wedge 1 banks and picks up a box while Hera takes the 1 talon roll (JARGON ALERT!!)to turn her gun in. My Fenn hard turns in and focuses.
Steve’s Fenn, to my surprise, also turns in, bumping into my Fenn’s face.
Was this my chance?
No, it was not. I put 7 dice into Fenn and not a single damage was done. NOT ONE!!!
Steve’s Fenn went into my Fenn at range 0 and also did not damage while Talonbane put 3 hits into Hera.
End of turn score: 1 – 2
Total score: 8 – 10
Turn 6
Choices are getting trickier here. I’ve now got 1 hull Fenn doing nasty things to me while the other 2 ships are happily scoring objective points.
Do I risk bringing Wedge in? Old T’s angle makes me think he might come in at me so I can’t over commit. I have to kill something. I’ll send Hera in to the middle (and maybe pick up?) while Fenn might chase down Old T
ROAD 1st Player – Me (SERIOUSLY!??!?)
Steve kicks the turn off by talon rolling Old T while Talonbane (who is stressed for reasons I don’t recall!) banks right.
Wedge 2 banks in and takes a focus before Hera banks into the middle and picks up the objective. My Fenn 2 hard turns and focses. A part of me wants to roll/focus but I can’t risk being in front of Old T and have him take my token.
Steve’s Fenn goes for the hard turn but bumps into Hera and opts against the red focus.
I can’t remember exactly in which combination it was but by shots from Fenn (and maybe Old T?) Hera loses 2 health this turn, leaving her on 3. Wedge just about has Old T in arc and shots from Wedge and my Fenn put 2 damage into him but don’t make him drop his crate.
End of turn score: 2 – 1
Total score: 10 – 11
Turn 7
Holy cow this is tight.
Right, what now? Fenn won’t die so maybe I go for Old T? I set Fenn a hard turn, Wedge another bank and Hera will hard turn to her right, hoping that Steve’s Fenn won’t go for a turnaround move.
ROAD 1st Player – Steve (finally!)
Steve banks Old T and focuses before Talonbane hard turns, keeping his stress (he just needs to get in the fight!). Steve’s Fenn hard turns over Hera but doesn’t reposition, just taking a focus.
Wedge banks and focuses, my Fenn hard turns and bumps into Old T (taking a red focus) and Hera hard turns right (which is red).
Hera is in a little danger from Old T here but it’s short lived as Wedge wipes the Fang out before it shoots.
There’s no other shots this turn. The timer hasn’t yet gone but it is close…
End of turn score: 7 – 1
Total score: 17 – 12
Turn 8
Now I have an issue. I have Hera on 3 health with a stress and a create who is close to Fenn. I have Wedge with 1 health and a create who has afterburners but can’t use it because of the crate. And I have full health Fenn.
My win condition here? End the turn with 2 or more boxes. I don’t think I can lose both Hera AND Wedge but I will likely lose one of them. If I can use Fenn to pick up the box that Old T dropped then put the other 2 in positions where it’s hard to shoot them, I think I’m ok?
ROAD 1st Player – Steve
Steve starts by hard turning Talonbane. Then Fenn hard turns and rolls into a focus. I’m sure Steve would have rather gone second here but it’s a safe enough position that he can almost certainly shoot someone.
I start with Wedge. He 3 banks left. I wish I could afterburners but alas, I cannot. I reveal Fenn’s 1 hard turn and my heart sinks. It won’t fit. I misjudged how far Wedge would go and now my nice and easy turn and claim is barely even a turn. He doesn’t take a damage but it doesn’t matter, the damage has been done in other ways.
Hera goes 3 straight and I realise that even if I had remembered to close her foils, the evade is only available as a linked action and she can’t roll to link to it.
So, no shots for me. Steve’s Fenn takes aim at Wedge and, of course, does the 1 hit needed to kill him.
End of turn score: 1 – 6
Final result: 18 – 18 draw
The conclusion…
Well, a draw that feels like a loss. Having done the hard work early on of taking out Ketsu and Wedge surviving the initial engagement, my failure to take Fenn out when he sat almost the whole game on just 1 hull was frustrating.
Even right at the end I had a way to seal the win but my planning fell short and the self bump screwed me up.
Still, playing against lists with tractor is something I’ve found difficult and at least I didn’t lose this one I guess? Fair play to Steve for pulling it back and recovering with Fenn when it looked like he was toast!
I’m still kind of playing this list by default as I haven’t thought about an alternative and then got to packing it into my bag to actually try out. I’ve put the odd list together in Launchbay Next with a few ideas but not had time to sim them out in Fly Casual, even.
Time seems to be slipping by very quickly at the moment and while it’s still around 2 months until the Squad Championship event in Newport, I know that it’ll be here in no time and if I’m going to change my list, I have to do it soon to get to grips with it properly. After all, I REALLY want one of those winner coins!
I’ve waffled on for long enough, I’d best bring this to a close! Remember to get applications in for events if you want to run one, get tickets for Newport and/or the Welsh Open if you can make it and don’t forget to sign up to my Patreon if you want some goodies!
That’s it for this week, 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.
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Exile Rookies:
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You are all amazing humans!