X-Wing: Let's Fly Some Wangs

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > X-Wing: Let's Fly Some Wangs

KongGeorgeVII: Feb 17, 2009; Flow like a
harpoon
daily and nightly.

guts and bolts posted:

Things I noticed played against Big Kids:
- Initiative is pretty often yielded, seems like, where applicable. I'm used to taking it because I'm a moron, PTL/BB-8 Poe really, really wants to move as close to last as he can. I should have been yielding initiative much more often than I have been.

Initiative is highly match up dependant. Arc dodging aces often want to move last more than they want to shoot first but a swarm of academy ties want to move and shoot before other PS 1s so they can block better. There is no right or wrong, it just depends on what is on the other side of the board.

guts and bolts posted:

I got some conflicting advice from a goony guy watching me play - that A-Wings never want Chardaan Refit and always want Proton Rockets, that Barrel Rolling with Poe on a green maneuver wasn't necessary, etc. - but other than him folks were really cool.

Chaardan is a solid upgrade either way, but is especially good on the generics to make them cheaper blockers. It's not a bad move to put prockets on an ace since you might be moving last which makes it significantly easier to get into range 1 with boosts (and barrel rolls on Jake). Again, not a wrong move but a choice to consider, maybe your A-wing would have felt more useful if it had a bit more bite but what would you trade from the rest of the list for a single attack?

guts and bolts posted:

Here's some questions I have, because the guy I played actually did not know.
- Can C-3PO beat Omega Leader? It says to guess, then "before modifying dice" you add an Evade result, but the goon told me that adding die is modifying dice and so it can't happen. The card is worded strangely if so, but I ceded the point and did not "guess" when OL was shooting Han after a target lock.
- Debris is different from asteroids? Is there, like, a strategy to where I should be trying to get debris instead of asteroids with certain lists? That completely took me by surprise to have him shooting while overlapping. It was weird.

Had to check on the wording of C3PO but it looks like you played it right. Modifying dice is defined as adding, changing or rerolling dice, and C3PO adds a dice which is not allowed as per Omega Leader's ability. Interestingly Omega Leader cancels out the Emperors ability but only if you have the emperor's ship target locked. The emperor can modify the attack or defence dice of a different ship you have a lock on because it counts as the emperor's ship doing the modification. It seems that Omega Leader is one of the more complicated ships to fly and fly against. Quite a few odd rule interactions about what you can and cannot do. https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/196425-quick-psa-regarding-omega-leaders-ability/

Debris obstruct, give you a stress and do a critical damage on a critical result but don't do anything on a hit. They can be good on lists that don't mind getting stressed but you don't often see them unless someone is running Dash Rendar (the pilot version). Dash loves those stress clouds because he gets to ignore them completely while you don't. Dash doesn't mind regular asteroids either but he still can't shoot while he is on them so he at least has to think a little bit about where he ends up. Usually people don't use stress clouds if they aren't running dash because ideally you shouldn't be crashing into asteroids anyway and if you do come up against dash you don't want to make his life any easier.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 06:12

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 16, 2024 05:19

kingcom: Jun 23, 2012

Foolster41 posted:

Also, I don't think I quite get the point of allocating energy. You allocate it and then spend it right after, so why doesn't it just have you spend it from the pool on your ship?

I'm assuming the pink number is the "energy limit" (For example on Ionization Reactor), though I notice a lot of "Energy:" upgrades don't have a limit, so could I put more than the needed energy there?
I assume too though that energy on these cards still count towards the ship's energy limit, so there's not much point anyway, right?

I'm not 100% on this since i've only played a couple of big ship games with my home group but my understanding is that a card with an energy limit can have energy placed on it and left there regardless of if you use it or not that round.

Your turn is :

Big ship phase,

Movement phase:collect energy based on movement that goes on the ship card itself but doesnt exceed the total amount.

The energy can then be allocated from the ship card to any other card with an energy limit.

Energy can THEN be spent on any card with the "Energy:" word

Take action/s.

This is essentially to make sure you are allocating all/any energy you want BEFORE you start triggering abilities (and therefore you cant move the energy again later) If someone knows this is wrong please correct me !

# ? Jan 5, 2016 06:41

Chill la Chill: Jul 2, 2007; Don't lose your gay

I just found what I need to paint on my decimator:

# ? Jan 5, 2016 07:14

Strobe: Jun 30, 2014; GW BRAINWORMS CREW

Played with a really oddball (for me) list tonight and goddamn near one-shot a Scum Kath (yes, you read that correctly), so I figured I'd share the shenanigans.

Jan Ors (25)
Twin Laser Turret (6)
Kyle Katarn (3)
Squad Leader (2)

Garvin Dreis (26)
R2-F2 (3)
Integrated Astromech (0)

Jake Farrel (24)
A-Wing Test Pilot (0)
Proton Rockets (3)
Guidance Chips (0)
Decoy (2)
Opportunist (4)

Total: 98

Garvin moves first, doesn't give a poo poo whether he's blocked or not. If he isn't, uses R2-F2 if he's staring down a swarm or focuses if I want him to. Jake moves next, and probably takes a TL or evade. Incidentally, he also doesn't give a poo poo whether he's blocked or not. Jan moves last, clears a stress to get a focus from Kyle, and uses Squad Leader on Garvin (if Garvin used R2-F2 or got blocked) or Jake (if Jake TL'd or got blocked) to taste. Combat rolls around and Jake uses Decoy with Garvin (which is focus sharing range on Garvin's ability, convenient enough), Jan fires a TLT at whoever I feel like, Garvin fires at whoever is in front of him and spends his focus (or spends it on defense; I'm not picky) to transfer it to Kyle, who boosts or barrel rolls (potentially out of being blocked) into range 1 of a target. He now likely has TL and focus against something that has taken a couple shots already and potentially has spent focus attacking (this is at PS 6 after all). Jake stresses himself with Opportunist, Jan stresses herself to add another attack. Jake fires his Prockets with 7 dice, focus, TL, and a Guidance Chip free mod to a hit if there's still some miraculous blank left after all that.

7 red dice in an A-wing against a tokenless defender. And 5 red dice even when not shooting the Procket. I hit Kath with five hits and two crits. Kath got focus/focus, took everything (and one hit from Jan's TLT, and one hit from Garvin) including a Direct Hit, and exploded. It was beautiful.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 07:15

Owlbear Camus: Jan 3, 2013; Maybe this guy that flies is just sort of passing through, you know?

Chill la Chill posted:

I just found what I need to paint on my decimator:

Nose art pin-up, or kill tally marker?

# ? Jan 5, 2016 07:17

Foolster41: Aug 2, 2013; "It's a non-speaking role"

I joined a vassel league, so now I have the complete (well, almost there is a large list of allowed ships, I'm not sure what's missing even from released ships) freedom to fly anything, and not ties like I always run, so I can't decide. :P

One idea I had was:

KZZ (100 Points)

code:

Miranda Doni  (Twin Laser Turret,  Extra Munitions,  Proton Torpedoes, 
 Advanced Homing Missiles, Gunner,  Ion Bombs,  Seismic Charges,
 Shield Upgrade) - 57 Points

Lieutenant Blount (XX-23 S-thread Tracers, Marksmanship, Stealth Device) - 24 Points
 
Tala Squadron Pilot( Proton Rockets,Stealth Device) - 19 Points

(Edit: I'm guessing doing failsafe+extra would be overkill.)

Another one, the Imperial version:

Bomb Squad (99 Points)

code:

Major Rhymer (Proton Torpedoes, Extra Munitions, Advanced Homing Missiles, Advanced Homing Missiles,
 Crack Shot, Seismic Charges, Shield Upgrade) - 45 Points

Academy Pilot (Targeting Computer) - 14 Points
Academy Pilot  (Targeting Computer) - 14 Points
Academy Pilot  (Targeting Computer) - 14 Points
Academy Pilot  - 12 Points

Foolster41 fucked around with this message at 11:03 on Jan 5, 2016

# ? Jan 5, 2016 10:25

Ojetor: Aug 4, 2010; Return of the Sensei

Foolster41 posted:

Another one, the Imperial version:

Bomb Squad (99 Points)

code:

Major Rhymer (Proton Torpedoes, Extra Munitions, Advanced Homing Missiles, Advanced Homing Missiles,
 Crack Shot, Seismic Charges, Shield Upgrade) - 45 Points

Academy Pilot (Targeting Computer) - 14 Points
Academy Pilot  (Targeting Computer) - 14 Points
Academy Pilot  (Targeting Computer) - 14 Points
Academy Pilot  - 12 Points

Academy Pilot with Targeting Computer sounds pretty bad. It's essentially a bad TIE/fo. PS1 FOs are only one point more but get segnor loop and a shield on top of the target lock action. Drop the targeting computers and make one of the TIEs Howlrunner instead. Another option is dropping Rhymer down to 40 points, that would let you take 5 academy pilots or 4 epsilon squadron pilots (PS1 TIE/fo). I think 6 ordnance shots is a very ambitious loadout, anyway. No way a TIE Bomber is ever getting off more than 4 missile shots in a single game.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 11:33

Slab Squatthrust: Jun 3, 2008; This is mutiny!

ConfusedUs posted:

Dash Rendar loves debris because he totally ignores them. With asteroids he doesn't take any damage but still can't shoot if he stops on one.

Dash secretly actually loves asteroids even more. Greatest threat is swarms, swarms hate big rocks, you can Dash through them all day while they have to go around or lose shots completely. Also, the threat of damage is high enough on an asteroid that swarms can't just fly over them all the time for free like they can with debris.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 16:00

alg: Mar 14, 2007; A wolf was no less a wolf because a whim of chance caused him to run with the watch-dogs.

Bottom Liner posted:

Poe is incredible, but Ello Asty is by far my favorite T-70 pilot. He's just so drat fun and maneuverable. Here's the list I'm tinkering with right now

Ello Asty (30)
Veteran Instincts (1)
BB-8 (2)
Integrated Astromech (0)

Poe Dameron (31)
Veteran Instincts (1)
R2-D2 (4)
Integrated Astromech (0)

Warden Squadron Pilot (23)
Twin Laser Turret (6)

Total: 98

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

The idea is to give them no good targets to focus. Ello dodges everything via maneuverability, Poe can go into heavy regen, and the K-wing is beefier. If any get focused, the other two capitalize.

Gonna steal this to run at Store Championships on Saturday. I don't need any of the winnings and this looks fun.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 16:33

ConfusedUs: Feb 24, 2004; Bees?
You want fucking bees?
Here you go!
ROLL INITIATIVE!!

Foolster41 posted:

I joined a vassel league, so now I have the complete (well, almost there is a large list of allowed ships, I'm not sure what's missing even from released ships) freedom to fly anything, and not ties like I always run, so I can't decide. :P

One idea I had was:

KZZ (100 Points)
code:
Miranda Doni  (Twin Laser Turret,  Extra Munitions,  Proton Torpedoes, 
 Advanced Homing Missiles, Gunner,  Ion Bombs,  Seismic Charges,
 Shield Upgrade) - 57 Points

Lieutenant Blount (XX-23 S-thread Tracers, Marksmanship, Stealth Device) - 24 Points
 
Tala Squadron Pilot( Proton Rockets,Stealth Device) - 19 Points
(Edit: I'm guessing doing failsafe+extra would be overkill.)

Another one, the Imperial version:

Bomb Squad (99 Points)
code:
Major Rhymer (Proton Torpedoes, Extra Munitions, Advanced Homing Missiles, Advanced Homing Missiles,
 Crack Shot, Seismic Charges, Shield Upgrade) - 45 Points

Academy Pilot (Targeting Computer) - 14 Points
Academy Pilot  (Targeting Computer) - 14 Points
Academy Pilot  (Targeting Computer) - 14 Points
Academy Pilot  - 12 Points

You really, really need to reconsider taking that much ordnance on a single ship. Especially on Miranda; remember you still need arc to shoot missiles and torpedoes.

If your loaded ship goes down without shooting its stuff, those poitns were entirely wasted. You'd be better off with more ships in both cases, even if it's just another Z95 or TIE.

And speaking of the TIEs, drop the targeting computer and upgrade one to Howlrunner (or drop poo poo from Rhymer and ADD Howlrunner.

If you want to shoot lots of missiles, try

Lt. Blount - XX-23 Thread Tracers
5x Bandit Sq - Concussion Missiles - Guidance Chips

The first thing you get in arc is going to evaporate. You'll even have a couple points leftover. Maybe bump a couple of bandits to Talas.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 17:09

Stickman: Feb 1, 2004

overdesigned posted:

If we're going to relate our dice woes... (I think I posted this in the thread way back when)

Scene: Atlanta Regionals, 2013

It's the last round before the cut to top 8. I'm well out of the running but there's one match left. I'm flying Medium Han and Corran Horn, which was ballsy in 2013 if you ask me but anyway I digress.

I don't even remember what the guy I was up against was flying, but I remember he insisted on rolling his dice in one of those little dice tray receptacles. Which, okay, whatever, you do you, guy.

He then rolled 37 evades in a row.

37 individual green dice were rolled. All of them came up evades. I didn't even know what to do.

This one is suspicious. It's possible, but the probability of 37 evades in a row is one in five quintillion! That means if there are one million x-wing players in the world who average 100 games a year, we'd still expect to have to wait about 50 million years before anyone rolled 37 evades as the first 37 green dice of a game. Did he have some "special" rolling technique?

E: Getting 37 evades in a row in the first 37 green dice of a game is 10 billion times less likely than winning the powerball!

# ? Jan 5, 2016 18:30

Bottom Liner: Feb 15, 2006; a specific vein of lasagna

alg posted:

Gonna steal this to run at Store Championships on Saturday. I don't need any of the winnings and this looks fun.

Hell yeah! Give me a report of how it goes and win anyways :black101:

# ? Jan 5, 2016 18:32

Reynold: Feb 14, 2012; Suffer not the unclean to live.

Stickman posted:

This one is suspicious. It's possible, but the probability of 37 evades in a row is one in five quintillion! That means if there are one million x-wing players in the world who average 100 games a year, we'd still expect to have to wait about 50 million years before anyone rolled 37 evades as the first 37 green dice of a game. Did he have some "special" rolling technique?

E: Getting 37 evades in a row in the first 37 green dice of a game is 10 billion times less likely than winning the powerball!

Step 1: Drill hole in green dice through the eye of the focus symbol

Step 2: Insert magnet

Step 3: Fill in hole and paint over white to match original look

Step 4: Roll on "special star wars edition dice tray" exclusively

Step 5: Dupe rubes

# ? Jan 5, 2016 18:36

Acebuckeye13: Nov 2, 2010; Ultra Carp

Stickman posted:

This one is suspicious. It's possible, but the probability of 37 evades in a row is one in five quintillion! That means if there are one million x-wing players in the world who average 100 games a year, we'd still expect to have to wait about 50 million years before anyone rolled 37 evades as the first 37 green dice of a game. Did he have some "special" rolling technique?

E: Getting 37 evades in a row in the first 37 green dice of a game is 10 billion times less likely than winning the powerball!

poo poo happens. I once played a game of 40K where my opponent didn't fail a single armor save (And these were Necrons, so it was all 3+ and 4+ saves).

# ? Jan 5, 2016 19:04

hoiyes: May 17, 2007

Even if you're including eyeballs modified to evades, it comes out to one game every hundred million or so haha.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 19:21

guts and bolts: May 16, 2015; Have you heard the Good News?

The area I live in is not exactly metropolitan, but it isn't rural, either; and I bring this up only because I've discovered there are about six game shops in my area where Wangs are flown, albeit a lot of the players overlap from store to store (naturally). Last night I was at the one most local to me, met some cool bros, and generally had a good time - it's on the smaller side but everyone's friendly and I like buying stuff from them. This place I'm probably heading toward tonight is bigger, serves beer (!!) and has a much larger Wang group from all reports, which has me nervous all over again.

My best experience so far with Wangs has been seeing how cool other people are about playing games - with me, or anyone. I was in the smaller shop recently staring longingly at the Rebel Transport and the store owner made mention of when they get new X-Wing stuff, since apparently it sells fast enough to where if you're not there by Wednesday (new stock is Tuesday - TODAY OH poo poo) you're left with just the picked-over skeleton of their inventory. I explained that I was looking for a Millennium Falcon (prior to getting it anyway as a present) but that I was new, and some non-employee instantly launched into a speech selling me on buying more models and come play a game and he busted out this huge tackle box of ships and at the time I interpreted him as being, like, aggressive or weird, I don't know. So I made an excuse, promised to play a game when I brought my stuff (it was in the car), and left.

I played near that dude last night and it turns out he just really fuckin' loves X-Wing. So does practically everyone playing it that I've met. It's weird to be enthusiastic about something, especially being enthusiastic on the internet, but I'm really glad I got the TFA Core Set for Christmas, even if I'm a few years late to the party and I'm stuck in fourteen-year-old kid mode (BLACK LEADER WHEN, BLACK LEADER WHEN) and now I have to spend hundreds of dollars on plastic toys. Contrasted with my previous experience with miniatures game it's like night and day; as recently as last week I was kinda spying on dudes playing what I think was Warhammer (they looked space-marine-y) and they seemed to actively hate playing. It was sad.

Anyway, blog post over.

My current Han Solo build is feature-complete but for the C-3PO, which I borrowed last night and otherwise will proxy, but I assume that's a no-go for Store Championships. Is it considered poor etiquette to ask to borrow one from a friendly player before the games begin? Do I get my alt-art C-3PO before I have to play? Because then I'm fine!

More Han questions for those better at Wangs than I:
- The general feeling I got from the table when I played Han Solo was that the YT-2400 is "better." Comparing the two in the squad builder it's hard for me to draw any definitive conclusion, but I still think Han Solo is really good if only because his ability is a slightly-worse-but-totally-free Target Lock reroll, right? With PTL especially this makes Han a pretty good economical choice, since I can Evade/Boost on turns where it's necessary and still do the Han/Gunner shenanigans. Am I just wrong? Should I consider caving in and buying Dash?
- C-3PO "loses" to Omega Leader as was stated earlier in the thread, but I still feel like he's the most viable choice for crew on such a low-agility ship. (Guess zero and guarantee yourself one mitigated damage, right?) I picked Gunner because it felt like he was just the best option, but I've seen lists with Luke or Lando or Chewie and they just feel categorically worse than Gunner is. Am I wrong about this, too?

# ? Jan 5, 2016 20:05

thespaceinvader: Mar 30, 2011; The slightest touch from a Gol-Shogeg will result in Instant Death!

Han and Dash are good at different things, basically. Han is tanky and durable, and can outlast many things that aren't focus firing the poo poo out of him, whereas Dash is incredibly manoeuvrable for a big ship (and indeed, is among the most monoeuvrable ships in the game) but has relatively low PS and many builds will have some kind of donut hole problem.

But mostly, they're fairly similar big fat rebel turret pancakes, and not particularly interesting to play or to play against.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 20:12

ConfusedUs: Feb 24, 2004; Bees?
You want fucking bees?
Here you go!
ROLL INITIATIVE!!

guts and bolts posted:

The area I live in is not exactly metropolitan, but it isn't rural, either; and I bring this up only because I've discovered there are about six game shops in my area where Wangs are flown, albeit a lot of the players overlap from store to store (naturally). Last night I was at the one most local to me, met some cool bros, and generally had a good time - it's on the smaller side but everyone's friendly and I like buying stuff from them. This place I'm probably heading toward tonight is bigger, serves beer (!!) and has a much larger Wang group from all reports, which has me nervous all over again.

My best experience so far with Wangs has been seeing how cool other people are about playing games - with me, or anyone. I was in the smaller shop recently staring longingly at the Rebel Transport and the store owner made mention of when they get new X-Wing stuff, since apparently it sells fast enough to where if you're not there by Wednesday (new stock is Tuesday - TODAY OH poo poo) you're left with just the picked-over skeleton of their inventory. I explained that I was looking for a Millennium Falcon (prior to getting it anyway as a present) but that I was new, and some non-employee instantly launched into a speech selling me on buying more models and come play a game and he busted out this huge tackle box of ships and at the time I interpreted him as being, like, aggressive or weird, I don't know. So I made an excuse, promised to play a game when I brought my stuff (it was in the car), and left.

I played near that dude last night and it turns out he just really fuckin' loves X-Wing. So does practically everyone playing it that I've met. It's weird to be enthusiastic about something, especially being enthusiastic on the internet, but I'm really glad I got the TFA Core Set for Christmas, even if I'm a few years late to the party and I'm stuck in fourteen-year-old kid mode (BLACK LEADER WHEN, BLACK LEADER WHEN) and now I have to spend hundreds of dollars on plastic toys. Contrasted with my previous experience with miniatures game it's like night and day; as recently as last week I was kinda spying on dudes playing what I think was Warhammer (they looked space-marine-y) and they seemed to actively hate playing. It was sad.

Anyway, blog post over.

My current Han Solo build is feature-complete but for the C-3PO, which I borrowed last night and otherwise will proxy, but I assume that's a no-go for Store Championships. Is it considered poor etiquette to ask to borrow one from a friendly player before the games begin? Do I get my alt-art C-3PO before I have to play? Because then I'm fine!

More Han questions for those better at Wangs than I:
- The general feeling I got from the table when I played Han Solo was that the YT-2400 is "better." Comparing the two in the squad builder it's hard for me to draw any definitive conclusion, but I still think Han Solo is really good if only because his ability is a slightly-worse-but-totally-free Target Lock reroll, right? With PTL especially this makes Han a pretty good economical choice, since I can Evade/Boost on turns where it's necessary and still do the Han/Gunner shenanigans. Am I just wrong? Should I consider caving in and buying Dash?
- C-3PO "loses" to Omega Leader as was stated earlier in the thread, but I still feel like he's the most viable choice for crew on such a low-agility ship. (Guess zero and guarantee yourself one mitigated damage, right?) I picked Gunner because it felt like he was just the best option, but I've seen lists with Luke or Lando or Chewie and they just feel categorically worse than Gunner is. Am I wrong about this, too?

Look up "Fat Han" builds. It's usually Han + R2D2 (crew) + C3P0 (crew) + Engine Upgrade + some other stuff I can't remember.

It's ridiculously tanky.

The YT-2400 is a completely different ship. It's no better or worse really overall. It just has different strengths.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 20:12

alg: Mar 14, 2007; A wolf was no less a wolf because a whim of chance caused him to run with the watch-dogs.

At my store the owner would have no problem giving me a welfare c3po as I register for the tournament. He usually gives out the participation prizes in round 1

# ? Jan 5, 2016 20:19

guts and bolts: May 16, 2015; Have you heard the Good News?

thespaceinvader posted:

Han and Dash are good at different things, basically. Han is tanky and durable, and can outlast many things that aren't focus firing the poo poo out of him, whereas Dash is incredibly manoeuvrable for a big ship (and indeed, is among the most monoeuvrable ships in the game) but has relatively low PS and many builds will have some kind of donut hole problem.

But mostly, they're fairly similar big fat rebel turret pancakes, and not particularly interesting to play or to play against.

I had a blast playing Han last night. Granted I'm a Rebel/Resistance fanboy and Han Solo is my favorite character, but Engine Upgrade and PTL together were fun - trying to negotiate through asteroid fields without crashing, getting into a massive traffic accident with three Lambda shuttles, it was cool. Will playing "boring Rebel turret pancake" Han Solo earn me enmity from other players? That kinda sucks.

ConfusedUs posted:

Look up "Fat Han" builds. It's usually Han + R2D2 (crew) + C3P0 (crew) + Engine Upgrade + some other stuff I can't remember.

It's ridiculously tanky.

The YT-2400 is a completely different ship. It's no better or worse really overall. It just has different strengths.

R2-D2 versus Gunner seems to be the choice here, then, where one is defensive and one is offensive. Unless I was doing it wrong, you can Han Solo your first attack roll, then Gunner if it didn't hit, then Han Solo the Gunner roll, too - and I think I prefer that to "regenerate shields a bunch" on a pilot who clearly wants to be shooting mans and never tell him the odds, etc.

"Red Ace" would strike me as really boring (R2-D2, Comm Relay, Autothrusters) except that he still gets to be a fighter with a cool model and T-Rolls.

EDIT: ^^^^ "welfare" 3PO is right, I've heard horror stories about engines breaking on the Tantive IV and it's a lot of bones for a ship I don't think I'll ever fly. Thanks for the advice.

guts and bolts fucked around with this message at 20:26 on Jan 5, 2016

# ? Jan 5, 2016 20:21

ConfusedUs: Feb 24, 2004; Bees?
You want fucking bees?
Here you go!
ROLL INITIATIVE!!

guts and bolts posted:

I had a blast playing Han last night. Granted I'm a Rebel/Resistance fanboy and Han Solo is my favorite character, but Engine Upgrade and PTL together were fun - trying to negotiate through asteroid fields without crashing, getting into a massive traffic accident with three Lambda shuttles, it was cool. Will playing "boring Rebel turret pancake" Han Solo earn me enmity from other players? That kinda sucks.

R2-D2 versus Gunner seems to be the choice here, then, where one is defensive and one is offensive. Unless I was doing it wrong, you can Han Solo your first attack roll, then Gunner if it didn't hit, then Han Solo the Gunner roll, too - and I think I prefer that to "regenerate shields a bunch" on a pilot who clearly wants to be shooting mans and never tell him the odds, etc.

"Red Ace" would strike me as really boring (R2-D2, Comm Relay, Autothrusters) except that he still gets to be a fighter with a cool model and T-Rolls.

EDIT: ^^^^ "welfare" 3PO is right, I've heard horror stories about engines breaking on the Tantive IV and it's a lot of bones for a ship I don't think I'll ever fly. Thanks for the advice.

Gunner is total overkill but yeah, if you wanna be super shooty, go for it.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 20:29

AndyElusive: Jan 7, 2007

Why is everyone jonesing for a Black Leader release when just a few pages back it's been shown with just a small bit of effort you can make your own by repainting the standard t70? Which is what I fully intend to do today. Hopefully it doesn't come out looking like hot garbage.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 20:36

overdesigned: Apr 10, 2003; We are compassion...; Lipstick Apathy

AndyElusive posted:

Why is everyone jonesing for a Black Leader release

AndyElusive posted:

Hopefully it doesn't come out looking like hot garbage.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 20:53

thespaceinvader: Mar 30, 2011; The slightest touch from a Gol-Shogeg will result in Instant Death!

guts and bolts posted:

I had a blast playing Han last night. Granted I'm a Rebel/Resistance fanboy and Han Solo is my favorite character, but Engine Upgrade and PTL together were fun - trying to negotiate through asteroid fields without crashing, getting into a massive traffic accident with three Lambda shuttles, it was cool. Will playing "boring Rebel turret pancake" Han Solo earn me enmity from other players? That kinda sucks.

Not in any serious capacity, no.

Turrets are less interesting than non-turrets, but that doesn't stop me or anyone elser playing them, because even given that, it's still X-Wing.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 20:57

Snooze Cruise: Feb 16, 2013; hey look,
a post

AndyElusive posted:

Why is everyone jonesing for a Black Leader release

I think part of it is just people really wanting cool new ships from TFA and the thing is that is one of the few things we have seen from the movie.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 20:59

Obama 2012: Mar 28, 2002; "I never knew what hope was until it ran out in a red gush over my lips, my hands!"

-Anne Rice, Interview with the President

guts and bolts posted:

I still think Han Solo is really good if only because his ability is a slightly-worse-but-totally-free Target Lock reroll, right?

Well, sort of--the problem with Han is you have to reroll all of your dice. Having a target lock reroll is better because you only roll the misses. Han's ability is more of an insurance policy against terrible dice rolls.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 21:02

Panzeh: Nov 27, 2006; "..The high ground"

ConfusedUs posted:

Gunner is total overkill but yeah, if you wanna be super shooty, go for it.

The thing about gunner is that with the points you spend on him, Han needs a good shot every time.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 21:07

guts and bolts: May 16, 2015; Have you heard the Good News?

AndyElusive posted:

Why is everyone jonesing for a Black Leader release when just a few pages back it's been shown with just a small bit of effort you can make your own by repainting the standard t70? Which is what I fully intend to do today. Hopefully it doesn't come out looking like hot garbage.

I'm a nerd. Poe is hands-down my favorite new character from The Force Awakens (Finn being second and Kylo Ren and Rey tied for third, Captain Phasma being dead last) and his ship is black man I need it, I need to fly a Halloween X-Wing

thespaceinvader posted:

Not in any serious capacity, no.

Turrets are less interesting than non-turrets, but that doesn't stop me or anyone elser playing them, because even given that, it's still X-Wing.

I feel like large ships need either an aux arc or a turret because of how clunky their dials tend to be, but then you have ships like the Outrider and welp. Still, my fanboyism for Han Solo outweighs all other possible concerns.

Obama 2012 posted:

Well, sort of--the problem with Han is you have to reroll all of your dice. Having a target lock reroll is better because you only roll the misses. Han's ability is more of an insurance policy against terrible dice rolls.

For sure. But Han's action is free, which is why it's worse, and if I'm taking the title and Engine Upgrade I want to be Evading if I'm being focused (guess zero on 3PO to guarantee two mitigated damage) or Boosting to get a better position, or Evading and Boosting if I'm in deep poo poo (hence the PTL). Han + Gunner seems like the ultimate in insurance against lovely dice.

ConfusedUs posted:

Gunner is total overkill but yeah, if you wanna be super shooty, go for it.

Because I'm deliberately not Target Locking (no missiles and can't re-roll twice on the same attack anyway), dicefixing seems to be at a premium on Han since he's 60something points for "just" three dice at a clip. More to the point, R2-D2's ability can't even affect the game until they've chewed through five shields with the added bonus that I can mitigate, typically, at least two damage every turn. I'm not trying to say R2-D2 is bad, or that I know more than anyone else does, but I don't know why you'd say Gunner is overkill and R2-D2 is a clear-cut "better" option. Unless there's something I'm overlooking, which is likely.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 21:22

Chill la Chill: Jul 2, 2007; Don't lose your gay

Go whole hog and use Luke sky walker gunner and kill barons dead. :getin:

I played several practice games yesterday and I still got it. You can tell when the SVP player will run away with Fel, in which case you spend a turn or two killing the shuttle then come back to eat the aces. That's if you don't just kill Vader in a joust and come back for the others later. :3:

# ? Jan 5, 2016 21:23

Chill la Chill: Jul 2, 2007; Don't lose your gay

R2D2 used to be the better choice when you were mostly facing 4BZ and other pancakes since they won't trigger gunners anyway. Now that aces are back, it's time to show them who the real ace is. :getin:

# ? Jan 5, 2016 21:25

admanb: Jun 18, 2014

If you think Gunner on Han is overkill you've never tried to take down Soontir Fel or some other tokened-up motherfucker who just won't get hit.

But, R2-D2 is more universally useful whereas Gunner is good in some matchups, and bad in others. So it really is up to personal preference.

Chill la Chill posted:

R2D2 used to be the better choice when you were mostly facing 4BZ and other pancakes since they won't trigger gunners anyway. Now that aces are back, it's time to show them who the real ace is.

Or pretty much this.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 21:25

Bottom Liner: Feb 15, 2006; a specific vein of lasagna

I need Kylo's command shuttle fiercely. FFG PLEASE

# ? Jan 5, 2016 21:28

admanb: Jun 18, 2014

Oh, and yeah Han's ability is worse than Target Lock, but "worse than Target Lock" is still pretty good when it doesn't cost you an action and can be used on the Gunner shot.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 21:28

Snooze Cruise: Feb 16, 2013; hey look,
a post

Bottom Liner posted:

I need Kylo's command shuttle fiercely. FFG PLEASE

oh my god that would actually be pretty awesome

# ? Jan 5, 2016 21:28

guts and bolts: May 16, 2015; Have you heard the Good News?

admanb posted:

Oh, and yeah Han's ability is worse than Target Lock, but "worse than Target Lock" is still pretty good when it doesn't cost you an action and can be used on the Gunner shot.

This is what I was driving at.

Bottom Liner posted:

I need Kylo's command shuttle fiercely. FFG PLEASE

mr.capps posted:

oh my god that would actually be pretty awesome

As long as it isn't like the Lego version, which keeps the telescoping wings but they are locked in a straight-up position and cannot make the ominous V.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 21:31

ConfusedUs: Feb 24, 2004; Bees?
You want fucking bees?
Here you go!
ROLL INITIATIVE!!

Why not take Predator and R2D2 and get the best of both worlds.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 21:33

admanb: Jun 18, 2014

ConfusedUs posted:

Why not take Predator and R2D2 and get the best of both worlds.

Predator doesn't solve the same problem as Gunner -- i.e. a Soontir with Stealth Device, Autothrusters, a focus token, and an evade token. That stack is so good that just getting 3-4 hits isn't enough, you need to get 3-4 hits once to burn the tokens off and then 3-4 hits again.

Also, running Predator and Gunner on Han is a common thing to do.

admanb fucked around with this message at 21:38 on Jan 5, 2016

# ? Jan 5, 2016 21:36

guts and bolts: May 16, 2015; Have you heard the Good News?

ConfusedUs posted:

Why not take Predator and R2D2 and get the best of both worlds.

Can't I only reroll once? I mean I guess I could use Predator to reroll just one bad result and if it comes up hit/crit use Han's ability to reroll the other bad results, I get that. Nice against swarms? Predator doesn't really help me kill Empire/First Order aces any better, really, at least not so much as for me to get rid of Push the Limit.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 21:37

Foolster41: Aug 2, 2013; "It's a non-speaking role"

Ojetor posted:

Academy Pilot with Targeting Computer sounds pretty bad. It's essentially a bad TIE/fo. PS1 FOs are only one point more but get segnor loop and a shield on top of the target lock action. Drop the targeting computers and make one of the TIEs Howlrunner instead. Another option is dropping Rhymer down to 40 points, that would let you take 5 academy pilots or 4 epsilon squadron pilots (PS1 TIE/fo). I think 6 ordnance shots is a very ambitious loadout, anyway. No way a TIE Bomber is ever getting off more than 4 missile shots in a single game.

ConfusedUs posted:

You really, really need to reconsider taking that much ordnance on a single ship. Especially on Miranda; remember you still need arc to shoot missiles and torpedoes.

If your loaded ship goes down without shooting its stuff, those poitns were entirely wasted. You'd be better off with more ships in both cases, even if it's just another Z95 or TIE.

And speaking of the TIEs, drop the targeting computer and upgrade one to Howlrunner (or drop poo poo from Rhymer and ADD Howlrunner.

If you want to shoot lots of missiles, try

Lt. Blount - XX-23 Thread Tracers
5x Bandit Sq - Concussion Missiles - Guidance Chips

The first thing you get in arc is going to evaporate. You'll even have a couple points leftover. Maybe bump a couple of bandits to Talas.

I've run targeting computer ties before and they seem pretty effective to me. Yeah, their not as good as FOs, but I love having large swarms and that 1 point lets me squeeze in more ships.

Edit: Though I suppose since it's 99 points I could give up the better chance at initiative and bump one to FO.

I'd never run a bomber type, so I was thinking I might as well go for gusto, but good point. I'll trim down the bombs and bump up the escorts on both versions.

Edit: So is Extra Munitions just not worth it, since I'll never unload the double shots? Should I just drop the torps and charges so it's 2x adv. homing missings with the EM giving me 4 missiles?

Emperial bombSquad: 99 Points

code:

Major Rhymer ( Extra Munitions, Advanced Homing Missiles, Advanced Homing Missiles, Crack Shot, Shield Upgrade)
Epsilon Squadron Pilot - 15
Epsilon Squadron Pilot - 15
Epsilon Squadron Pilot - 15
Epsilon Squadron Pilot - 15

Foolster41 fucked around with this message at 21:49 on Jan 5, 2016

# ? Jan 5, 2016 21:42

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 16, 2024 05:19

Chill la Chill: Jul 2, 2007; Don't lose your gay

ConfusedUs posted:

Why not take Predator and R2D2 and get the best of both worlds.

You could and it's ok. I just prefer taking predator and Gunner. :3:

We'll see how it does against newer lists on saturday's store champ.

guts and bolts posted:

Can't I only reroll once? I mean I guess I could use Predator to reroll just one bad result and if it comes up hit/crit use Han's ability to reroll the other bad results, I get that. Nice against swarms? Predator doesn't really help me kill Empire/First Order aces any better, really, at least not so much as for me to get rid of Push the Limit.

PtL is bad on han, at least the way I typically fly him and IMO the best way to fly him. PtL means your falcon will move slower and as such won't be arc dodging or moving out of range as easily. The reason why Han's ability works so well with C3PO, gunner, and predator (or any similar mix) is that he doesn't require using actions at all. If you get to use an action, it's mostly an evade or boost in order to move out of arc. Otherwise, he can run over all the asteroids just to get a clear shot and have a reasonable chance at scoring well with selective rerolls and gunner. I just prefer Predator since you can more often get those fun 3-4 hit rolls on the attack.

E: something I forgot. Due to the nature of dogfights with aces, you will have to k-turn with Han when you fight them. This again is another reason why you don't want to be relying on actions. Remember that in a straight up joust, you can k-turn and follow Fel into a bad (for him) position because the moment Fel k-turns, Fel dies. Fel's green turn maneuvers are easy to predict given enough experience.

Chill la Chill fucked around with this message at 22:03 on Jan 5, 2016

# ? Jan 5, 2016 21:58

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > X-Wing: Let's Fly Some Wangs

«‹›1028 »