The intro…
Hello and welcome to this week’s blog!
If you find this blog in the usual places where X-Wing is talked about then it’s highly likely you’re aware of some very recent (and pretty significant!) news from the XWA about the game. I’m talking more about it later so I’ll just keep it under my hat for now!
There’s not a lot else to cover right now so it’s time to dive straight in! Well, almost…
Patreon update…
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This time it’s tokens!
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Alright, on with the content*!
*well, you know, what passes for content in these parts!
The batrep… (JARGON ALERT!!)
Yes, in a strange twist on recent months, I have played a game and I’ve ACTUALLY got time to go in-depth on it.
Crazy, right!?!
But before that, let’s get to the news, because it’s relevant.
This week the X-Wing Alliance announced some pretty significant changes to the game.
I know, right! This is a big deal!!
A brand new scenario, a new way to score objectives AND scoring half points on ships in all scenarios!
Clearly there’s a lot to pick up here so, with a little of the insider knowledge and with my opponent on they also aware of the incoming changes, we decided to give it a go!
The very awesome Kester Smith made an easy to follow flow chart for the new scoring method (for objectives. We know how to score half points on ships already!) which is very helpful:
So, with this in mind and with Steve practicing for the WTC event where the rules will be in play, he brought me a list he wanted to test himself against.
I was flying this monstrosity:
Luke Skywalker – T-65 X-wing (5)
Plasma Torpedoes (7)
Servomotor S-Foils (0)
Ship Cost: 5 Loadout: (7/7) Half Points: 2 Damage Threshold: 3
Wedge Antilles – RZ-1 A-wing (3)
Hopeful (1)
Predator (3)
Ship Cost: 3 Loadout: (4/4) Half Points: 1 Damage Threshold: 2
Evaan Verlaine – BTL-A4 Y-wing (3)
Dorsal Turret (3)
Concussion Bombs (5)
Ship Cost: 3 Loadout: (8/8) Half Points: 1 Damage Threshold: 4
Wullffwarro – Auzituck Gunship (4)
Trick Shot (4)
Ship Cost: 4 Loadout: (4/4) Half Points: 2 Damage Threshold: 4
Saw Gerrera – UT-60D U-wing (5)
The Child (7)
Tactical Officer (3)
Contraband Cybernetics (3)
Pivot Wing (0)
Ship Cost: 5 Loadout: (13/13) Half Points: 2 Damage Threshold: 4
Total: 20
I’ve seen this list around but never seen it flown. The basic premise is that you use Evaan’s Concussion Bomb in turn 1 to switch on Saw and Wulfwarro’s abilities and then reload to avoid needing to repeat drop.
Evaan can then take a focus and spend that in future turns to give a ship at range 0-1 an extra green die for the whole turn of fire. Saw has Force and white coordinates, Wulfwarro could, theoretically, roll a 6 dice attack (3 natural, 1 for pilot ability, 1 for trick shot, 1 for range 1) while focused, reinforced and with a reroll from Saw.
And all of that without considering Luke with Protons and Wedge zipping around for objectives.
Nasty.
Steve was testing out FO for the upcoming WTC:
Zeta 5 (EoD) – TIE/fo Fighter (3)
Determination (EoD) (0)
Pattern Analyzer (0)
Targeting Matrix (BoE) (0)
Ship Cost: 3 Loadout: (0) Half Points: 1 Damage Threshold: 2
“Scorch” (EoD) – TIE/fo Fighter (3)
Determination (EoD) (0)
Fanatical (0)
Threat Sensors (EoD) (0)
Ship Cost: 3 Loadout: (0) Half Points: 1 Damage Threshold: 2
Commander Malarus – TIE/fo Fighter (4)
Composure (1)
Fire-Control System (2)
Cluster Missiles (6)
Shield Upgrade (10)
Ship Cost: 4 Loadout: (19/19) Half Points: 2 Damage Threshold: 2
Kylo Ren – TIE/wi Whisper Modified Interceptor (5)
Instinctive Aim (2)
Brilliant Evasion (2)
Concussion Missiles (7)
Sensor Scramblers (1)
Enhanced Jamming Suite (0)
Ship Cost: 5 Loadout: (12/12) Half Points: 2 Damage Threshold: 2
Major Vonreg – TIE/ba Interceptor (5)
Daredevil (4)
Mag-Pulse Warheads (7)
Ship Cost: 5 Loadout: (11/11) Half Points: 2 Damage Threshold: 2
Total: 20
It’s got decent initiative and some nasty shots coming out of it. It’s also FO which, for some reason, always seems to just make it a bit better than it looks like it should be.
So, with new scoring in effect and Salvage Mission being the scenario that it most affected by it, we got ourselves set up and ready to go.
Now, please bear in mind that I’ve not flown this list before (although I have used all these ships at some point) and have just a vague idea of what to do.
In order to make it as realistic as possible Steve was open to my changing things if I found I’d made a mistake since any WTC opponents (i.e. players whoa re better than me) would not make those mistakes.
Turn 1
Clearly I’m set up so that Evaan can drop a concussion bomb onto Wulf and Saw (who will go 1 straight) but my immediate quandary was what to do with the Y-Wing. I dialled in a 2 hard turn but on reflection a 1 straight or 1 bank would also have worked.
Luke and Wedge would move up the left flank to engage with/scare off Vonreg
ROAD 1st player – Steve
No great shakes or big surprises here. I dropped the bomb and moved my ships up. Steve’s ships all came at me with Malarus and Kylo moving fast.
No shots and no scoring. On to the next!
Turn 2
Right, now I need to take some time to think. Is Vonreg coming at my left flank? Even if he cuts inside I can likely still plink a shot into him. I’m tempted to pick up a box with Wedge but Luke is MUCH better for that even though I’d like to lock Vonreg with him. Wedge will go straight while Luke will 3 bank left.
I don’t know if Kylo is going to go around wide of the rock or cut inside but in order to wait and see I set both Saw and Wulf a stop while Evaan will bank right.
ROAD 1st Player – Steve
Steve’s ships continue their leisurely drift in towards me with Malarus and Zeta 5 picking up boxes. Again, I was sorely tempted to lock with Luke but I picked up the box instead. Kylo was, in fact, swinging wide around the rock. Hmmm….
As it happened, Vonreg came in fast but slightly regretted it. Thankfully (for Steve), a roll and boost got him out of arc of both my ships. Had Luke done a 2 bank instead of 3, Vonreg would have been in a spot of bother.
As a result, Kylo was the only one with a shot, a 2 dice plinker at range 3 into Saw. No damage was done!
End of turn score: 1 – 2
Turn 3
Now things are getting interesting. I want Wedge to come in so it’s going to have to be a 3 hard or 3 bank. But I want to talon roll (JARGON ALERT!!) with Luke and I won’t want Wedge in the way. I opt for the bank and will reposition afterwards. I set Wulf a 3 straight to clear stress while Saw will stop (with Contraband) in the hopes that Kylo might overshoot or miss arc on him.
I then set Evaan another 1 bank which I was about to severly regret. For a few reasons.
ROAD 1st Player – Steve
Zeta 5 kicked us off by zooming down towards the Y-Wing. He didn’t pick up a box though, choosing to focus instead. Then Evaan moved and… balls. He’s exactly where Wulfwarro is going to be. In order to not screw the Wookiee over, I rolled the Y-Wing right.
Scorch moved next. Slower than expected (probably thinking Saw was coming up fast) and focuses. Wulfie goes 3 straight, clears stress and, while the reinforce is probably what I should do, he focuses. Saw triggers contraband, sits still (but, after some deliberation, doesn’t rotate) and, since I’m really hoping that Kylo isn’t about to ruin his day, coordinates a reinforce to Wulf. Wedge does his 3 bank, has enough room to roll right and then boosts right as well. Sadly it isn’t enough to get Zeta 5 in arc.
Then Kylo and Malarus move. Sadly, Kylo 2 banks and, while I feared the shot into Saw, he takes a lock on Evaan. Malarus cruises forwards and does the same.
Luke takes his talon roll before Vonreg simply 2 banks, ains a strain to focus and then locks Evaan.
Look, we can all see it coming here, can’t we.
Yes, Evaan dies. It does, however take all 3 of Steve’s available shots to do it which is nice.
And you know what’s nicer? Luke has arc on Vonreg. A range 3 single modded (with Force) shot into strained Vonreg strips his shields and scores half points.
What’s amazing is that Wulfwarro follows this up with a 4 dice shot with 1 reroll and a focus and takes Vonreg off the board.
I also managed to nick a shield off Zeta 5 with Saw.
Steve has 2 boxes and I have 1. With the new scoring that’s…. exactly the same as the old scoring would be. Also 2 ships died and none are halved so everything is pretty normal so far!
End of turn score: 6 – 5
Total score: 7 – 7
Turn 4
Well, that’s a nice surprise, no i6 to worry about! I don’t, however, particularly like Wulf’s position. It looks like a 2 hard right turn will fit but with Scorch at the same initiative, there’s a risk I get blocked, possibly onto the rock. Then again, there’s not much else I can do so hard 2 it is!
With that in mind, Saw will go 2 straight which I’m reasonably sure won’t bump. Reasonably.
I’ll hard turn Wedge towards Zeta 5 (who ideally needs to die!) and that makes room for Luke to come back in.
ROAD 1st Player – me
Phew! I’m going first!
Zeta 5 takes 3 k-turn (JARGON ALERT!!) but with Pattern Analyzer still gets a focus. My 4’s are next with Wulf hard turning right and taking a focus (and not a reinforce since at least one ship might be in both front and back halves). Saw goes 2 straight and loses one of his 2 stress tokens. Wedge hard turns in and opts against boosting, just taking a focus.
Scorch goes next and Steve had not anticipated the hard turn from the Auzituck, bumping into Wulf and taking the red focus.
Luke banks in and takes a lock on Scorch (sine he can’t really shoot anyone else) before Malarus bumps into Wulfwarro as well (and also takes a red focus).
Kylo then banks right, missing arc on Saw AND Wulf and opts to jam himself (for extra dice nonsense as he already has full Force).
Luke kicks things off by firing a Plasma torp at Scorch, taking the shield and putting one hit on. Steve responds by shooting Wedge with Kylo for 1 shield and Malarus at Saw for 1 on him too.
Wulfwarro then fires at Scorch and misses but Saw finishes the job, taking the TIE/fo off the board. Simultaneous fire is in effect though and he takes 1 more shield from Saw before leaving. Wedge’s cheeky long range shot into Kylo takes a shield from him before Zeta 5 returns the favour.
Steve is still 1 box up on me but with half points in effect, he’s got 1 point for Wedge while I’ve got 3 for Scorch
End of turn score: 4 – 3
Total score: 11 – 10
Turn 5
Right, that’s 2 of Steve’s shops off the board now, I feel like I’m getting somewhere. I’m not all that happy with Wedge’s position though. Zeta 5 can block if I turn in to block Kylo and while I’m thinking that the 5-k is the best option, I’m starting to think a 3 sloop (JARGON ALERT!!) might be better.
With Malarus stressed and facing away from where I’ll be, I think Saw and Wulf will both move to pick up boxes so that I can get ahead (or at least draw) on objectives points.
If Zeta and Kylo both go where I think they will, Luke will be at risk. He’s carrying a box so can’t boost but a 4 straight will hopefully get him far enough of out harm’s way.
ROAD 1st Player – me
This turn was a bit nuts.
First up, Zeta 5 goes slower than I expect and I now think that Wedge won’t complete his move. Eeek!
Then Wedges goes for the sloop and it fits. Just barely. Like, less than 1mm in it. Saw goes straight, clears his last stress and picks up, Wulf hard turns and does as well. Luke goes 4 straight and, since he isn’t shooting and has Force, takes a lock on Kylo for later.
The bad news? Kylo banks in towards Wedge. And so does Malarus.
Kylo has bumped but it’s technically into Wedge so gets a red focus too.
RIP Wedge. Right?
WRONG
Against all odds, Kylo whiffs (JARGON ALERT!!) his range 1 shot into Wedge while Malarus only gets 1 hit onto him. WEDGE LIIIIIIIIVES!
Adding insult to injury, Wedge then takes Kylo’s last shield. What a jerk. No shots for anyone else (well, actually I think Zeta shot Luke but missed).
Kylo isn’t halved though and Wedge was already halved so no scoring on ships this turn. I’ve now got 3 boxes to Steve’s 2 so we both get 1 point for holding and I get an extra 1 for having more.
End of turn score: 2 – 1
Total score: 13 – 11
Turn 6
Alright, let’s see. What’s my win condition here? Wedge is likely to die. The only bonus there is that he isn’t holding a crate. If I can sacrifice him to keep my other ships safe then I’ll do that. I set him a 2 bank.
Saw will stop and rotate. I don’t love it since I’m risking him losing half points but I think his damage output can balance that out. I hope. Wulfwarro is in full ‘I can only fly like a potato’ mode so he’ll 2 hard turn again and see what he can shoot.
And Luke?
I consider a 4-k but actually I think a Talon roll (JARGON ALERT!!) to the right will fit and give me options for shots.
ROAD 1st Player – me
Steve starts us off by going all-in with Zeta 5 as he takes a 3 hard turn and focuses. Wedge 2 banks and evades. No boost here.
Saw stops and rotates before Wulf hard turns right and focuses. Luke’s 3 Talon lands PERFECTLY behind SAW (with room to shuffle forwards). Nice.
Kylo’s turn in is blocked by Wedge but no bump train today as Malarus just sits in behind.
Now there’s choices to be made. I am reasonably confident that Zeta 5 will die. I take the risk and Luke fires at Kylo with Force and a lock. It pays off as I get 1 hit on and halve the Whisper to score 2 points.
Kylo and Malarus unload into Wedge and this time he does die. 2 points to Steve!
Wulf goes next with a 5 dice banger from range. That’s 3 natively, add 1 for pilot ability and 1 more for Trick Shot. Even if he doesn’t die, if I can prevent him spending that focus on a shot into Saw, it’s worth it.
Well the dice gods smiled on me that day with Wulf rolling 4 paint out of hand. 1 re-roll from Saw’s ability and it’s 5 hits/crits. Zeta 5 survives that salvo but not Saw’s 4 dice follow up shot. That’s 3 more points in the bag and with that, the game is over!
End of turn score: 7 – 3
Final result: 20 – 14 win
The conclusion…
Alright, where to begin here? First up, the game itself.
I was a little surprised that I won this given it’s my first time flying it but I think that Vonreg dying to two speculative shots definitely swayed things. Steve went on to play 2 more games with his list and won both so I think he adjusted how aggressively he was using the TIE/ba and that yielded better results overall.
I really like the list. It’s got some good synergy and interactions. I might have a few more goes with it to see how I feel going forwards!
Obviously the main thing to talk about today is the change in points scoring.
Ironically, even though this is the scenario where it’s likely to make the most difference, I don’t think it had a huge impact on our game.
Looking at how it would have been scored without the changes, I’d have had 2 points less since Kylo lived and for objectives, I’d have had 3 points instead of 2 for the last 2 turns (balancing that out) where Steve would have been the same since I killed Scorch and Malarus was his only remaining carrier. I think we may have been out of time and if not, one more turn may have swung things again. It’s hard to say how it might have gone!)
That said, I think that these points changes are a positive thing. It does put more of a focus on dogfighting and that one expensive ship getting away on 1 hull and fortressing 5, 6 or 7 points is going to be less on an issue if you’ve already scored half of it and can potentially score half elsewhere in your opponent’s list. And we’ve all had games like that!
I’m yet to try out the new scenario – Ancient Knowledge – but it does look to be a very interesting concept! I’ll be looking at that next week with a bit more time to understand how it works.
It’s a pretty big blog today so I’m going to wrap it up here for now. Remeber to check out the Patreon and pop back next week when I’ve (hopefully!) had an opportunity to try the new scenario!
The outro…
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