2nd list to try anti Nymranda

So was back at ibuywargames last night with my other list

“33” 98 points

Poe Dameron (PS9 Version) [Black One, BB-8, Advanced Optics, Veteran Instincts, Autothrusters] (41)

Wedge Antilles [Flight-Assist Astromech, Veteran Instincts, Integrated Astromech] (31)

Fenn Rau [Veteran Instincts, Hotshot Co-pilot, R2 Astromech] (26)

All at PS11, and with enough shenanigans to hopefully limit ordinance damage a bit!

Played two games against Pete Wood, previously mentioned here. Pete was running a largely archetype Nymranda – or as he prefers MiraNym (which is kinda catchy).

MiraNym 98 points

Scurrg H-6 Bomber: Captain Nym (52) [Long-Range Scanners (0) Havoc (0) Veteran Instincts (1) Twin Laser Turret (6) Extra Munitions (2) Harpoon Missiles (4) Proton Bombs (5) Thermal Detonators (3) Trajectory Simulator (1) “Genius” (0)]

K-Wing: •Miranda Doni (46) Long-Range Scanners (0) Bomblet Generator (3) Sabine Wren (2) Harpoon Missiles (4) Extra Munitions (2) Twin Laser Turret (6)

We played 2 games, and they had very different results !

First game started very cagily with me piling down the right side of the board and then turning round and chasing Nym down on the left side of the board, and then swooping round for Miranda. Pete’s dice seemed to come without any paint on, but Wedge is a beast and with Poe’s Black One title removing target locks, and restricting the use of the filthy harpoon missiles, the first game was a one sided affair. Pete hasn’t played for a while and was refreshing himself, both on the new ships, and with how to ‘x-wing’ generally !

Second game was not so good for me. We jousted, and this time there were more bombs dropped and I didn’t account for them, especially given their delivery via trajectory simulator. Everyone took a face up card, and rolled 2 dice for damage and then Sabine poked another damage at Fenn.

TLT’s then finished Fenn off and Poe and Wedge were not far behind !

So what have I learnt (or re-learnt!) ?

• Its a dice game! There is luck involved. Shenanigans are not going to save you entirely if your dice do you over.
• Remember what your opponent has on the board. Not treating the bombs with respect cost me the second game.
• Remember what you have on the board! Wedge got dealt the double damage crit, and I should have used the integrated Astromech to discard it. Overall it wouldn’t have affected the result, but it might next time.

On the positive side I didn’t crash my ships into each other, I kind of got the order of activation right, allowing Fenn to force the focus to defend a 2 dice attack, leaving the target more open to the ‘big’ dice from the X-wings.

 

So which list do I take to the Regional at Warboar this weekend ? With all due respect to my opponents, last night was a harder test than last week. Pete really knows how to play. I also think last weeks list be more prone to Alpha strike lists. It has some tricks, and the Ghost is a monster if you end up in arc.

If I had more time I would probably try a version of the Ghost piloted by the Lothal Rebel but with Ezra and Maul as crew to give some reroll and stress tricks, as well as still having the Fenn coordinated cheeky PS11 boost to push out of range one if necessary or to close the primary arc down to range one.

I decided against StressRau, as it really restricts the utility of Fenn after the first contact. The Dial on the Sheathipede is not great, and carrying multi stress is not easy.

So I think X-wings it is. Its what the game is called after all. I’ve been flying Wedge since Wave 1, so its only fitting to see him out and about again. With Poe Dameron at his side, and Fenn Rau in support, I’m happy the list is solid. Its down to me to deliver!

Black One standing by. Red Two standing by. Phantom II standing by.

Good Hunting 33 Squadron !

 

TTFN

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If you’re looking for tournaments near you head over to the 186th Tournament Calendar.

 

 

1st Run out of a new (to me) list

In my previous blog I discussed my thoughts on Nymranda, and my preparation (ha,ha) for the UK Regional season. I’ve been trying to keep up with the changes the last wave of ships brought upon us, and the general feeling was not great. So when the new FAQ (found here) dropped it was pleasing to see that FFG had reacted to one of the moaned about actions (the interaction between “Genius” and “Trajectory Simulator) by disallowing it. They also clarified the “does TLT trigger the Harpooned condition” to say that a naturally rolled “Crit” with a TLT does trigger the Condition. This still makes the Combo of TLT and Harpoons in a list quite intimidating.

So Wednesday night means X-wing night at ibuywargames in Woking. I have been planning my Nymranda counter lists, based on the premise of either Alpha-Striking at PS11 or action denial, or even better a combination of the two!

“33” 98 points

Poe Dameron (PS9 Version) [Black One, BB-8, Advanced Optics, Veteran Instincts, Autothrusters] (41)

Wedge Antilles [Flight-Assist Astromech, Veteran Instincts, Integrated Astromech] (31)

Fenn Rau [Veteran Instincts, Hotshot Co-pilot, R2 Astromech] (26)

Everyone at PS11, Poe removing Target Locks, Fenn removing Focus, locking other tokens, and Wedge hitting like a brick.

I’ve toyed with other versions, with Fenn with the stress bot, and gunner, or R2-D2 on Poe for regen, but this I think gives an all round depth.

“GHOST & 2 PHANTOMS” 100 points

Kanan Jarrus [Ghost, Sensor Jammer, Twin Laser Turret, Jyn Erso, Rey, Engine Upgrade] (56)

Fenn Rau [Veteran Instincts, Hotshot Co-pilot, Flight-Assist Astromech] (26)

“Zeb” Orrelios [“Chopper”, Phantom] (18)

Again there are options – I think the R2 droid on Fenn may get better usage, but the ability for a cheeky boost after moving to get a target is great. The ability to co-ordinate the Ghost to allow it to take a second action is great, either to take a cheeky evade or to boost into range one for a brutal attack. Also the power of the 2nd TLT allowed by the docked Phantom is not to be underestimated with the number of low agility ships out there.

So I unpacked my first list and realised I had not got a T-70 dial with me, so ended up using the 2nd list for 3 games.

I apologise now to my opponents – I am lousy with names, but remembered to take a copy of their lists. So in no particular order …..

Opponent 1

Norra Wexley (Title, Engine Upgrade, PTL, R2-D2, Rey, Seismic Torp)

Captain Nym (Title, Eng Upgrade, VI, TLT, Bomblet, Homing Missile, Extra Munitions, Accuracy Corrector)

Not the usual Nym build, but quite effective, and Norra with Rey gives the Arc quite a kick. Nym was outmanoeuvred and my opponent forgot to drop bombs a couple of times, which was unfortunate. The Ghost was able to boost into range 1 for the kill shot and then Norra was next. The Seismic torpedo was effective in taking out an obstacle and splashing damage onto Fenn, but the Ghost proved too much for the low agility Rebels.

Opponent 2

Vader (Predator, Eng Up, ATComp,TieX1, Cruise Missile)

Chirenau (Gunner, VI, EngUp, RebCap)

The Rear Admiral is the weak link in this list, to my mind. The lack of green dice means that the Ghost can poke away with the TLT and do pretty much guaranteed 4 damage a turn, and with the Evade and Kanans ability mitigate a couple of hits a turn in defence. The RebCap is an irritation but the stress is going to be on Fenn and he has about enough green to be able to shake it. Once the Decimator had been deflated, Vader, who was slippery, couldn’t keep a bead on my ships long enough to avoid the return fire.

Opponent 3

Norra (Title, Chopper(Crew), R2D2(Astromech), Vectored Thrusters, PTL)

Miranda Doni (Sabine, Bomblet, LRS, TLT)

Ezra (Sheathipede) (Snap Shot, Hera, R3-A2)

Here the PS advantage on Fenn gave a huge advantage against this list. Allowing Fenn to have a shot and remove the focus token, and then to restrict the use of any other tokens caused problems, and unfortunately for my opponent his ships arrived pretty much one at a time into combat, which allowed the TLT to wreak much damage on the low agility ships.

Overall it was a good evening for my list. However I didn’t play an Aces list, and I didn’t play against Nymranda, which was the point of the exercise!

So I am back to ibuywargames tomorrow. I have packed a T70 dial, and I have some list ‘tweaks’. First is swapping an R2 unit in for the flight assist droid on Fenn, and then changing the Ghost down to a Lothal Rebel and swapping the Crew for Ezra and Maul. This gives a massive 1 point initiative bid. Not convinced of the value of that, but we shall see.

The other option is putting the stress bot on Fenn and putting gunner as crew, as I think stress loading the enemy could be fun too!

I’ll keep you posted !

TTFN

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If you’re looking for tournaments near you head over to the 186th Tournament Calendar.

Regional Preparation Thoughts & What to do about Nymranda (and future similar problems)

So its a given that for a variety of reasons I don’t get to play as many games as I would like, and my skills in x-wing are certainly not top level. I have been playing the game for a long time and enjoy the game immensely. Not just winning, but watching opponents out manoeuvre me, the great community we have in the UK, and seeing new players joining the ranks as well.

I don’t enjoy it when my dice desert me, or if there is a ‘Negative Play Experience’ doing the rounds. TLT’s were that for a while, Attani mindlink was a frustrating experience to be up against in certain combo’s.

Right now, in the UK, there has been, at the first UK regional, a perceived problem with Nymranda, the Captain Nym and Miranda Combo, with its ability to sling bombs forward, launch Harpoon missiles, and even to some extent turtle up and regen if things don’t go so well.

I say perceived as we have only had the one UK regional so far, and others across the globe don’t appear to have ‘suffered’ as badly. This may be a factor of differing local ‘metas’, which I find unlikely as most tournaments are either streamed online, or exceptionally well reported and so lists travel the globe quickly.

So people in the UK are busy building Nymranda counter lists. Lists that block before they move, high PS alpha strike lists, stress inducing lists. All have merit, and all have weaknesses.

And this is the issue at the heart of the problem. X-wing is an evolving game of Rock-Paper-Scissors-(Lizard-Spock). As new ships drop with their new upgrades people find new and exciting combo’s that break the game in new and exciting ways.

The new ships and their  upgrades are playtested. My feeling is, however, that the emphasis on playtesting is the ships and their interaction with existing cards. The thing that seems to slip the net is the interaction between new upgrade cards and existing ships and upgrades. Now maybe thats how the playtesting is done. The testers will be excited to see how the new stuff works against existing lists and ships. The testing scenarios are likely to be one player has the new ship(s) and the other uses an existing list. I don’t know how much ‘all wave’ testing is done, or if a testing group is only given access to a single ship rather than the entire wave, but it does appear that there is not the emphasis on testing each component in existing lists. Time may well be a factor. (Working in IT I am well aware that the testing phase of a project is the one that gets cut first.)

I, however, suspect there is a lack of emphasis on that. When the TLT was spoiled my first thought was how great it would be with the BTL Title on the Y-wing giving you 3 front arc attacks EVERY ROUND (you had someone in arc)! 

It was brutal against low agility ships, the Ghost fell off the board under its death by a thousand papercuts goodness. Even ships with more green dice could struggle under the weight of the number of attacks. Arc Dodging and Auto-Thrusters were the way forward, and are very much the nemesis of the low agility Y-wings.

The TLT equipped Y-wing became a staple with the Stress Bot, double stressing caused Aces all kinds of problems.

The Harpoon missile is another example were the card is ok (possibly undercosted, or should spend the TL to fire) , but with Alpha striking ships it is extremely problematic.

So anyhow, back to regionals !

I suspect the next regional will have less Nymranda than were present in Cardiff. Its not an autowin list – nothing is, but in the hands of a capable pilot its odds are better than average.

But with the counter lists out there, I think we will see less Nymranda in the cut, and it will be the luck of the draw, quite literally, that defines who meets what, and whether Player A with their Nymranda meet a strong counter list with Player B, or if Player B will end up against another Nymranda counter list that Player C is flying.

As usual we will see the usual suspects doing well. These players will be the people who can put the hours of playing in, against a variety of opponents and lists. Practice does make perfect. X-wing is a dice game, there is luck involved, but there is a huge amount of mitigation that can be done by positioning your ships better than your opponent, by having an optimal build that synergises all of your options, and knowing what your opponents ships are capable of, both in terms of whats on their dial, and how their upgrades and abilities interact.

In the meantime I will attempt to get more than one game with a list I am looking at before my first regional in early Feb! (and no, I don’t know every dial, nor do I know every upgrade, so I will be asking questions should we meet across a table 🙂 )

TTFN

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If you’re looking for tournaments near you head over to the 186th Tournament Calendar.

I played a game of X-Wing

So with a long pause, caused by the Christmas break, and a cold that took nearly a month to shift, and with Regionals looming I took a list I have been playing for a while ( Warboar’s Q4 kit tournament  ) and tweaked it ever so slightly.

Wedge Antilles (34)

X-Wing (29), Flight-Assist Astromech (1), Proton Torpedoes (4), Adaptability (0), Guidance Chips (0)

Airen Cracken (24)

Z-95 Headhunter (19), Harpoon Missiles (4), Veteran Instincts (1), Guidance Chips (0)

Captain Nym (42)

Scurrg H-6 Bomber (30), Veteran Instincts (1), Harpoon Missiles (4), Autoblaster Turret (2), Bomblet Generator (3), Rey (2), Guidance Chips (0)

Out was turfed BB-8 to be replaced with the new Flight-Assist Astromech, and the Plasma Torpedoes were upgraded to Protons to provide more Alpha Strike bang.

I went to ibuywargames Wednesday night X-wing evening, where I am an off-and-on regular and know a fair few of the players.

I only managed to get one game in, against Tom Forstner, who usually flies under the Zombie Squadron Banner, with a very current list of Kylo in his new Silencer and two Starwings with Harpoon Missiles. Two new types of ships I hadn’t flown against before, and also don’t own, so their dials and shenanigans are a surprise.

I got my approach somewhat wrong. and ended up with two harpoons sticking out of Airen, and not enough damage on any of my opponents, but when Cracken went pop he did, at least, take down one of the Starwings in cascade, but that left Wedge against Kylo and Nym vs a Starwing.

Wedge blanked in all the wrong places, and Kylo rolled enough evades to win that dual, and then Nym didn’t stand a chance. I should of left a bomblet on the field, but didn’t and that also allowed Kylo to dance better than me.

The Starwings are cute gunships, the Slam and Reload make them a great ordinance delivery ship, and the Silencer is a Big Interceptor with Kylo doing his ‘Dark Side’ stuff onboard.

I do like my list, and think it has merit, but I am not sure if it has sufficient legs to be competitive. I need to play more games with it, and maybe tweak it. Suggestions gratefully received !

Ultimately, maybe I just need to ‘Git Gud’, which only comes with practice!

TTFN

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If you’re looking for tournaments near you head over to the 186th Tournament Calendar.

 

FFG Star Wars Regionals

Have been posted on Esdeviums page.

Dates below are as at 1/12 – I’ll try and update ’em as I find ’em.

Playing 3 games, Open System events, and having a life outside gaming mean I am going to need to take a long hard look at the calendar soon. Tickets will go fast, I’m sure.

There has been some comments about there not being regionals close to some players. Simple matter is Esdevium can only give events to stores that apply. So pester your stores in the first instance.

Star Wars: X-Wing
Store Name	Date
Athena Games	24/02/2018
Gamers World	03/03/2018
Warboar	03/02/2018 & 04/02/2018
Patriot Games	TBC
Beanie Games	04/03/2018
Element Games	27/01/2018 & 28/01/2018
Knightly Gaming	TBC
Wayland Games	TBC
Kirton Games	10/03/2018
Firestorm Games	TBC

 

Star Wars: Destiny
Store Name	Date
Alpha Games	TBC
Madhouse EXP	TBC
Sanctuary Gaming	24/03/2018
Beanie Games	25/02/2018
Fan Boy Three	24/02/2018
Harlequins	TBC
Common Ground Games	18/02/2018
The Games Shop	27/01/2018
Kirton Games	17/02/2018
Proud Lion	03/03/2018
Comic Culture	TBC

 

 

Star Wars: Armada
Store Name	Date
The Gathering	TBC
Dark Sphere	TBC
Beanie Games	18/03/2018
JustPlay	TBC
Common Ground Games	04/03/2018
Firestorm Games	TBC

 

 

Star Wars: Imperial Assault
Store Name	Date
Dark Sphere	TBC
Big Orbit	03/02/2018
Fan Boy Three	25/03/2018
Chaos Cards	24/03/2018
iBuyWargames	10/02/2018
Kirton Games	20/01/2018

 

Star Wars: Living Card Game
Store Name	Date
Warboar	17/02/2018
Big Orbit	TBC
Travelling Man	TBC
Fan Boy Three	28/01/2018