Event : DNA Gaming - Hamilton - First Monthly X-Wing Event (09/01/2016)
My wing-man and I decided to travel down to Hamilton for some dog-fighting at DNA Gaming's first monthly X-Wing event. Ten players including the two of us from Auckland showed up to the challenge.
There were some interesting lists at the event including two lists with double low pilot skill phantoms,lots of Poes and only one scum player in the whole tournament; myself.
I can't do a battle report per se but I can give you a break down of each list and some of the events of the day.
This is my own 100 point list I've been running since regionals, I am probably way too fond of it.
Boba Fett + Inertial Dampeners + Push the Limit + Gunner
Kath Scarlet + Heavy Laser Cannon + Opportunist + K4 Security Droid
Without going into too much detail the basic strategy behind my list is to use Boba to peel off tokens and Kath with opportunist to deal a substantial amount of damage using 5-6 die attacks. Boba also functions as the tank jousting and harassing at range 1 while Kath behaves like a dps chipping away from afar until she can position herself for an even more fatal shot with her back cannon.
My first opponent Josh was running the following 100 point list:
Tycho Celchu + A-Wing Test Pilot + Push the Limit + Wired + Autothrusters + Chardaan Refit
Poe Dameron + Push the Limit + R5-P9 + Autothrusters
Horton Salm + Twin Laser Turret (100)
Tycho Celchu + A-Wing Test Pilot + Push the Limit + Wired + Autothrusters + Chardaan Refit
Some pretty good use of synergy here with Tycho being able to take stress without limit, giving him the ability to continue to take double actions using push the limit and also the opportunity to use the stress for re-rolls using wired, this is handy for times when you crash or times when you don't want to spend your token for attacking. Only downside is Tycho cannot perform red maneuvers making some of his movements predictable as long as you keep enough distance to account for any barrel rolls or boosts.
Poe Dameron + Push the Limit + R5-P9 + Autothrusters
More use of synergy here, Poe can focus 1 die during attack and defense without spending his focus token, this means he can use his focus token for regenerating shields at the end of the round if required. He also has push the limits giving him the ability to boost, barrel roll or target lock in addition to focusing up each round.
Horton Salm + Twin Laser Turret
This combination is horridly elegant. Probably the most economical use of points in the list. Being able to re-roll any number of blank dice results means that the chances of at least 1 of your twin lazer shots hitting is very high particularly against ships with only 1 to 2 agility.
Overall in this build I find Horton is the star against my own list. Its very difficult for ships with 2 agility to handle twin lasers though the damage is low it is consistent and over a long drawn out game it can be deadly. Kill it fire is the rule here.Poe is equally annoying and also needs to die quickly. 1 point of damage will not do here because he will just spend his focus token to regenerate. Same rule applies kill it quick kill it with fire. Causing bumps is also a good way to deny Poe from regenerating that shield.Tycho is pretty maneuverable but at the correct range easy to predict and in the end I feel not really worth the 26 points he costs.
Still this list was quite destructive and I only barely won the match with Boba down and Kath on half points.
My next opponent is Nic at 99 points with the following list:
Bounty Hunter + Engine Upgrade
Sigma Squadron Pilot + Stygium Particle Accelerator + Fire-Control System + Tactician
Sigma Squadron Pilot + Stygium Particle Accelerator + Fire-Control System + Tactician (99)
Bounty Hunter + Engine Upgrade
Basic cheapie Firespray here, with an engine upgrade to keep you guessing. Very good value for points. He could also have opted for recon specialist or gunner, all of which would have had value depending on the situation.
Sigma Squadron Pilot + Stygium Particle Accelerator + Fire-Control System + Tactician
4 dice and continuous target locks, these phantoms are a force to be reckoned with, add a particle accelerator for a free evade and these low skill phantoms are getting a lot of free actions to add to their survivability. They also have tactician putting stress on enemies when attacking at range 2. This can really limit the moves of any approaching enemies, if they want to get any actions they will need to do a green manuvre to clear the stress and most ships won't be able to K turn around either.
I don't have much to say here, this list has a lot of dice to throw and both phantoms were quite slippery. In the end I couldn't even focus them down. I was often forced to attack the firespray first and slowly chipped away at the phantoms.
This was another close shave again with only one of my firesprays left alive on half points.
My next opponent is Hamish with the below 100 point list:
Poe Dameron + Veteran Instincts + Weapons Guidance + R5-P9 + Autothrusters
Red Squadron Veteran + Predator + R2-D2 + Autothrusters
Gold Squadron Pilot + Twin Laser Turret + R3-A2 + BTL-A4 Y-Wing (100)
Poe Dameron + Veteran Instincts + Weapons Guidance + R5-P9 + Autothrusters
Some very nasty and cool stuff here Poe with his pilot ability and weapons guidance has a lot of options to convert poor rolls into good ones, For example a hit, focus and a blank is easily converted into 3 hits by using pilot ability to convert the focus and weapons guidance to spend a focus token to convert the blank. If he get even better rolls he may not even need to use the weapons guidance for defense or in my case save the focus to negate opportunist and then later at the end of the round consume it to regenerate a shield using R5 P9.
Red Squadron Veteran + Predator + R2-D2 + Autothrusters
In a way his Red squadron Vet is a bit of a ghetto Poe, instead of spending a token to convert blanks he can re-roll one blank with predator and then use focus to convert any focus results for an attack. He can then regenerate his shields back using a green manuvere though slightly more predictable its a lot more point cost effective for what it does.
Gold Squadron Pilot + Twin Laser Turret + R3-A2 + BTL-A4 Y-Wing (100)
This is a nasty little guy is well worth its weight in gold, staying at range 2-3 It can do a standard 2 dice attack again followed up with a twin laser attack. Applying 2 stress tokens to the unlucky target and to itself. Of course having no actions its self does hurt its damage a bit the constant stress it applies can kill some ships and builds dead in the water by denying them actions and leaving enemy ships vulnerable to be taken out by the aces in the list.
Overall a very nasty build, I made the mistake of targeting the Red Squadron Veteran first thinking I could take it out in the first round of fire as I had done to some X-Wings in the past, I managed to put a damage card on it but changed my focus to the Y-Wing because I had some easier shots on it and it was proving itself very effective at disabling Boba.I ended up killing the y wing but this of course gave the Red Squadron Pilot the opportunity to charge back all its shields by green maneuvering far far away. Ultimately there was too much stress from le Gold and too much damage from Poe and the Red Squadron Vet returned to assist in cleaning me out.
My next opponent is Nathan sporting 100 points imperial might:
Sigma Squadron Pilot + Stygium Particle Accelerator + Sensor Jammer + Rebel Captive
Sigma Squadron Pilot + Stygium Particle Accelerator + Sensor Jammer + Intelligence Agent
Carnor Jax + Push the Limit + Royal Guard TIE + Stealth Device + Autothrusters (100)
Carnor Jax + Push the Limit + Royal Guard TIE + Stealth Device + Autothrusters (100)
Good old Carnor here to disable your tokens. Equipped with push the limit, stealth device and autothrusters as well. I mean I don't have much more to say here, he is nasty.
Sigma Squadron Pilot + Stygium Particle Accelerator + Sensor Jammer + Intelligence Agent
The combination of Sensor Jammer and Particle Accelerator is pretty good here for keep these low level Phantoms alive. In combination with Carnor even nastier because if you can't spend your focus token you can't get back that die stolen by sensor jammer. Intelligence agent is awesome for phantoms because they can change their de-cloaking based on enemy movements to arc dodge and get into those killer shooting positions.
Sigma Squadron Pilot + Stygium Particle Accelerator + Sensor Jammer + Rebel Captive
This Phantom has the same survivability as its twin except it adds insult to injury by applying stress to anyone who dares to attack it, this only makes it harder for the enemy player to get their actions back.
I would definitely approach this build differently the next time in regards to positioning and speed of approach. I feel I made the right decision by targeting Carnor to get him out early and got a very lucky shot against his four defense die one-shotting him off the board. However without actions due to stress and bumping my firesprays were not able to defend or attack well against the onslaught of his phantoms and I got brutally murdered in the end.
Conclusion
Awesome day out in Hamilton, the meta is noticeably different, huge focus on control and lots of strong builds built around stressing out opponents and denying them actions. I like playing against builds I've never seen before it really gives me something to think about for my next attempt at the opponent and also reveals the weaknesses in my own build. 10/10 would X-Wing in Hamilton again.
