X Wing Battle Reports: Imperials Vs Rebels/Rebels/Imperials

Yesterday I played several rapid-fire games of X Wing. I used the same squadron (or a slight variation) every time, one I've really been enjoying:

Tie Interceptor, Soontir Fel, Push The Limit, Royal Guard Tie, Targeting Computer, Shield Upgrade
Tie Phantom, Whisper, Veteran Instincts, Advanced Cloaking Device
Lambda Shuttle, Omicron Group Pilot, Darth Vader Crew (in the final game this was Mara Jade instead)
97

I went for the 3 point initiative bid as I really enjoy being able to choose to move after enemy Soontir/Whisper, or shooting before Han Solo, with my Soontir and Whisper.

Game 1

In the first game I played Jay, who was running the following 3 ship rebel build:

B Wing, Ten Numb, Autoblaster, Proton Torpedoes, Fire Control System, Veteran Instincts
Y Wing, Horton Salm, R2-D2, Advanced Proton Torpedoes, Blaster Turret
Z-95 Headhunter, Tala Squadron Pilot, Cluster Missiles

99

 The board after our rocks and setup. I decided I'd try and slow them with my shuttle, while Soontir and Whisper go in guns blazing.

 The Lambda gracefully sweeps through the middle, with the aces flanking. Jay pushes up his squadron, with his Tala ready to face off with Soontir next round...

 Soontir floats up for a Range 1 engagement with the Z-95, which I didn't realise had cluster missiles. Jay has his missiles ready to go with a Target Lock, so I need Soontir to kill that ship... one Target Lock/Focus stack later, the Tala is smithereens, failing both of his evades!
The shuttle hard turns into the engagement, and starts work on Ten Numb.
Whisper however has a much less glorious time- he accidentally lands on a rock, and does nothing this round or next. Hooray for Whisper...

 Whisper turns off the rock but he's still out of the fight. The Shuttle pulls a 1 straight, colliding with the B Wing to block. Jay's Y wing gracefully banks through the gap and blaster turrets my Lambda for minimal damage, while Soontir aims at Ten Numb, continuing to hurt him with his piles of tokens! 

 Whisper and Ten Numb line up R1 shots on each other- Ten Numb is PS10 with Jay's build, so I'm quite worried. The Phantom is reduced to 1 measly hull, but then the B Wing is too!
Jay's Y Wing is just off the bottom of the picture, coming back for another pass.
The Lambda begins a long process of turning through the rocks (without hitting any), while Soontir turned right rather than left because I was worried he would collide with something with the left turn.

 A quiet turn for me- Whisper decloaks then recloaks, to try and get away from Ten Numb but to no avail, the B Wing's Fire Control System ensuring my demise. Soontir pulls a hard 1 and a boost to get back in the fight next turn, while the Lambda and Y Wing have a competition over "Who can be out of the fight for the longest?"

 Soontir has had quite enough of not doing any damage, so he grabs a Boost/Focus/Target Lock ready to annihilate the B Wing. Ten Numb tries to barrel roll away but he's still in range 3- Soontir proves his worth again as he deals 3 hits, finishing off the second of the rebel scum!

 Now Soontir gets to play "Chase the Y Wing", made interesting by R2-D2 and the Blaster Turret. I start to do damage, forcing Jay to pull green manoeuvres to recover shields. The Lambda continues to turn.

 The chase continues- the Y Wing recovers a shield, then Soontir takes 2 off again. The Lambda is still turning.

 Soontir gets to Range 1 and does 4 damage to the Y-Wing! Now it only has 1 left, after recovering again this round. The Lambda keeps trying to get back in the fight.

Soontir pulls up next to the Y Wing and slightly behind it- after much deliberation, including an independent adjudicator our friend Ryan, Soontir has a shot. He goes the 4 hits he was destined for, and Horton Salm is destroyed. 3 out of 3 for Soontir!

After Action
Go Soontir! I was disappointed by Whisper this time- I flew him much more poorly than I did previously and got very little use out of him. Soontir however did not disappoint, putting out at least 12 points of damage over the game and bagging all 3 kills! My MVP this game has to be the Shuttle though, for avoiding all of the rocks... Admittedly it didn't look good if the game went to another turn though. Jay's squadron was pretty cool, although I think and Ion Cannon and perhaps Dutch Vander would be a better build for the Y Wing. The Ten Numb Autoblaster combo at Range 1 is brutal, essentially delivering whatever damage it rolls!

Game 2
This time I played Ryan. He only got into X-Wing this summer, but has taken to it very well. We played 2 games- in the first, I used the same squadron and he used the following Rebel list:

E Wing, Corran Horn, Fire Control System, Engine Upgrade, Push The Limit and R2-D2
X Wing, Biggs Darklighter, Hull Upgrade

Z-95 Headhunter, Bandit Squadron Pilot
Z-95 Headhunter, Bandit Squadron Pilot

99

Ouch! A tricked out Corran Horn along with a "Biggs Mini Swarm." However Corran is only PS8, so as long as I don't make any mistakes I shouldn't have too much trouble...

 I deploy similarly to before, with a similar plan- the shuttle will hold Ryan up in the middle, while my aces flank. The rocks are fairly tight in the middle.

 After a couple of rounds, the board is such. My shuttle is ready to turn in for the engagement next turn, while my aces are standing by.

 First engagement to the Empire! One Bandit Squadron is just too far in front of Biggs' leash, so he goes down to Whisper and the Shuttle. Soontir boosts to try and take advantage of a naked Corran, who clunked on a Headhunter. However, this takes him into range of Biggs so he is only able to take 1 shield, and also puts him in a bad position for next turn.

 The Lambda can't pull a 3 bank to avoid Soontir due to being stressed, so instead tries to go far enough forwards to avoid the collision. This does block Biggs and the Tala, and Corran koigrans so also loses his action. Whisper gets out of the way, and then Soontir... collides into the Shuttle. Oh crap. Ryan wastes no time- Biggs, the Tala and Corran reduce him to a single with their shooting, and then Corran activates his ability- with the Fire Control System's help he is able to blow the Interceptor to smithereens!

 The shuttle continues to stall Biggs, while the Tala is able to Koigran over, into a gap between the shuttle and the asteroid that is just big enough! Corran can't shoot this turn, so goes on the defensive. Whisper now has to do some heavy lifting, but first he gets away from the fighting, ready to make another pass. Combat passes with Corran taking no damage from the shuttle, and the Tala doing 2 to the shuttle.

My shuttle flies towards the bottom of the board, away from threats and also hoping Ryan will chase it and so fall into Whisper's trap. He doesn't go for it yet, just re-positioning his ships. No shooting this turn!

 Whisper pulls a decloak Koigran and is just in range of Biggs, to take a shot and get his cloak back up. Corran and the Headhunter follow the Lambda, and alas it is no more. Whisper really has his work cut out now...

 Whisper goes for the throat on Biggs, and gets it- with the damage dealt by Soontir earlier and Ryan only passing 1 evade, the X Wing is destroyed! Corran continues his approach, while the Bandit shoots the re-cloaked Whisper, but does nothing.

 We dance around, ready to continue the fight. Ryan gets Corran ready to Koigran next turn, while the Z-95 shuffles forward.

 The poor Bandit Squadron Pilot, abandoned by Corran, faces off against the mighty Whisper, and it goes predictably well for the Phantom. Corran pulls a Koigran, and it seems we're about to have an impromptu joust!

Whisper and Corran begin their duel. Whisper shoots first, taking 2 shield. Corran uses both of his attacks to do the same to Whisper though!


We stopped at this point as we wanted to get another game in afterwards. We decided to call it a draw- neither of us had kept time, our ships were similar points, and in a duel between them it's very tricky to determine the outcome- perhaps Whisper has the edge by moving afterwards, but Corran has R2-D2 and can wait for his chance to double attack.

After Action
Well, that game was tough! I flew Soontir very poorly in the first exchance, and Ryan had positioned well to take advantage. This match really did show me the power of a phantom though- for less than 40pts, it can clear up most of a Squadron by itself! Truly a beast of a ship, and if it can pick its fights then there's no stopping it! Corran was great for Ryan- he's lots of points, but he is very strong. It's a shame that Push The Limit is so necessary rather than Veteran Instincts- with PS 10, he'd be incredible.

 Game 3
Ryan and I pushed on for another quick game!
I used an almost identical squadron, but I wanted to try out Mara Jade instead of Vader. Her stress inducing ability is very strong, and I felt like I wasn't always getting much out of Vader as a blocker/delayer.

Ryan used an Imperial squadron this time:

Tie Interceptor, Soontir Fel, Push The Limit, Targeting Computer
Tie Interceptor, Carnor Jax, Push The Limit
Tie Phantom, Whisper, Advance Cloaking Device, Veteran Instincts
98

This is why I like a 3pt initiative bid. As high PS Imperials are getting more popular, you need to be able to win the mirror match. Most high PS builds will have a 1pt bid , but many more are countering that with a 2pt bid of their own. I bid 3pts, as there's not really anything else I want in my squadron for 1pt (except maybe Enhanced Scopes on my blocker shuttle, to make it PS 0 during the activation phase).

This time there are less pictures of the opening & deployment.

 My opening sees the shuttle and aces leapfrog each other, sticking close together. My plan is to lure Ryan into a close range dogfight, then block with the Shuttle and stress his phantom with Mara Jade.
Ryan deploys Carnor and his Whisper in the opposite corner, and his Soontir zips towards them along the top edge.

This is the first engagement, and it took us both by surprise. Ryan's Soontir accidentally landed on a rock, taking a damage and losing his actions. Seeing this, mine boosted into Range 3, and with a Target Lock/Focus stack was able to bring his doppelganger down! A very unfortunate start for Ryan. However his Whisper is able to return fire, taking 1 hull and 1 shield from my Soontir. Carnor takes a potshot at the shuttle for 1 hull.

 My Whisper decloaks opposite his, and we exchange firepower, each losing a shield or 2. The shuttle successfully stays out of Whisper's way.

The Lambda moves to Block Ryan's Whisper, but he is just able to avoid me. He damages my shuttle some more and recloaks, but I am still able to deal him another damage. I also stress him with Mara here.


We called the game here as the store was closing soon, we were both tired, and now there was almost nothing Ryan could do to avoid getting blocked and shot down by my Whisper next turn.

After Action
Brutal game- 3 aces died in 2 rounds! I felt bad for Ryan with his Soontir hitting a rock, as it really proved costly. Even though we ended up trading Soontirs, I was confident that my Whisper/Shuttle could beat his Whisper/Carnor due to initiative, and then taking out Carnor too made it a tough climb for Ryan. I liked Mara Jade in the shuttle- I find with this squadron that the shuttle either dies very fast and Vader is little use, or it blocks for a round or 2, he does maybe 1 crit and then has to turn around. Mara however greatly improves the blocking round, as she ensures every ship around her has a stress token, which prevents people pulling Koigrans over the shuttle or around the aces. I think I'll keep trying with her.

So that concludes this week's X-Wing action! There's also a 40k Battle Report to come too, which was potentially my final practice before the GT. It was against yet more Astra Militarum, this time with 3 Vendettas! That should be up very soon.

Thanks to Jay and Ryan for the great games, and thanks again for reading!

SimonW

X Wing Battle Reports: Imperial vs Imperial

Yesterday I decided that I fancied a small break from all the 40k I've been playing recently, so I had a couple of games of X-Wing before my arranged 40k match.

My opponent was my friend Chud, who's recently got into X-Wing, and he was running the following Imperial squadron in our first round:

Tie Interceptor, Soontir Fel, Predator
Tie Defender, Onyx Squadron
Tie Phantom Whisper, Veteran Instincts, Advanced Cloaking Device
99

I used the squadron below, as I've been meaning to try it for a while and this was the perfect opportunity:

Tie Interceptor, Soontir Fel, Push The Limit, Royal Guard Tie, Targeting Computer, Shield Upgrade
Tie Phantom, Whisper, Veteran Instincts, Advanced Cloaking Device, Intelligence Agent
Lambda Shuttle, Omicron Group Pilot, Darth Vader Crew
98

I gave Chud initiative to help with the PS9 mirror match as I wanted to be able to arc dodge if necessary. I was excited to use the Phantom, and I chose Whisper over Echo to help with the squad's PS9 bid. Whisper also doesn't need Recon Specialist, so he actually works out 1pt cheaper.

Round 1

 After rocks and deployment, we set our dials.

 My lambda banks towards the middle, ready to help my Soontir kill Chud's. Meanwhile my Whisper gets ready to brawl in the middle, while Chud's Onyx Squadron and Whisper advance centrally

 Our Soontirs drift into Range 1 of each other. Chud focuses and has a predator reroll to score 2 hits 2 crits, but my Soontir has a TL/Focus/Evade stack and only suffers 1 crit. Thanks, shield upgrade! I return fire with Soontir and the Shuttle and he is no more. Didn't even need Vader! On the left we continue to dance around while the Defender puts some shots into the shuttle.
Next turn Soontir moves and boosts around the rock while the shuttle blocks the enemy Whisper, then my Whisper and Soontir combine to take him down. The defender turns past the action but it doesn't look good. 

 My Soontir and Whisper chase down the defender for several rounds, working on its 3 Hull 3 Shield...

 Soontir avoids a Range 1 focus shot with a cheeky boost! Whisper spanks the Defender down to 1 hull this round...

 I reposition my ships ready for the kill next turn, while Chud tries to nail Whisper, who goes down to 1 hull! Bloody cloaking device malfunctioned...

After manoeuvres, Vader has range to the Defender so it's game over. We roll it out anyway and the Omicron Group Pilot steals the kill for himself!

So after the first game, I was pretty happy with the squadron. The opening was a variant of what I used for my Vader Shuttle & 3 Royal Guard Ints with PTL squadron, and it works very well for lists with a central ship and more than 1 flanker.

I didn't use Intelligence Agent once, and I'd probably swap it out for either Enhanced Scopes on the Lambda (when it's released) or even a 3pt initiative bid (as I think it's really important in this list).

I chatted with Chud about the rocks and his deployment after the game, and how it let me pick off his ships quite easily. I also convinced him of the merits of Push the Limit on Soontir Fel. In addition he decided to swap the Onyx Defender for a Delta to better block, and used the 2pts for a Targeting Computer on Soontir after seeing it work so well for me.

So we decided on a rematch...

My squadron was the same as last time. (98 pts)

Chud used:
Tie Interceptor, Soontir Fel, PTL, Targeting Computer
Tie Defender, Delta Squadron Pilot
Tie Phantom, Whisper, Veteran Instincts, Advanced Cloaking Device
99

Again I give Chud initiative.

Round 2

The rocks are similar again. Chud deploys much better this time, forcing me to deploy differently. I decide to try and nail his Whisper with mine and Soontir together before the rest of his squadron can arrive to help, and if needs be delay them with the Lambda.

Opening moves. Lambda pulls a 3 bank to set his course, stressing itself for next turn. My aces drift up 2, playing it carefully, and both Whispers cloak up. His Soontir heads straight for my shuttle, while the Defender holds the centre.

Chud tries to Koigran Whisper behind my aces but comes up just short. With careful decloaks and choosing to move Soontir first, they are both able to get shots. My Whisper cripples him, and then Soontir finishes him off. Meanwhile his Soontir and Defender really hurt my Lambda, who realises he is going to die soon so starts shooting and using Vader.

My aces turn inside to face his. The Lambda is nearly finished by Fel and is about to be killed by his Defender, so Vader destroys his own ship in an act of spite for an extra damage. Whisper clunks into Soontir, but luckily still has a shot so can get up his cloak and a defensive focus. The combined fire of my aces and Vader reduces the defender to 2 hull.

My Soontir pulls off some fancy flying to get a 4 dice TL/focus shot on Chud's, but he only deals 2 hull. Everyone else is busy repositioning.

Soontir comes around the rock and further damages the Defender, which clings to life on 1 hull thanks to its 4 evade dice this turn. Whisper and his Fel dance around each other, initiative proving very useful in letting me avoid him.

Whisper decloaks and hard turns, killing the Defender at last. Now the chase is on...

Chud's Soontir continues to turn and avoid me, stacking focus and evade whenever he can.

Over the next couple of turns, Chud proceeds to make some spectacular evade rolls to stay in the game- 4 hits, 3 evades and tokens!

"I have you now," I said, with my best Darth Vader impression. However, the force is not with me as I hit 3 times and Chud rolls 3 evades. Didn't even need his tokens...

I reposition, determined that Soontir Fel "The Destroyer" shall get his man!

Eventually Chud tries to speed away 5 and forgoes his actions, but I am able to boost into range 1...  Soontir does his thing at last and finishes the game.

So, a much harder fought victory the second time! This game really showed the value of Push The Limit on Soontir- he's simply a machine with it, especially if you can get him a Targeting Computer as well.

I really enjoyed flying my squadron too- the Lambda is quite tricky to pilot but now that I've got the hang of it, my space bison graceful shuttle is very rewarding. Naturally Interceptors with PTL are great fun, and their ability to alternate between defensive arc dodges and overwhelming firepower as required is always useful. Whisper was really impressive, with the decloak followed by a hard 1 turn standing out as a particularly good move. He also doesn't suffer too badly from action denial either, as long as he can make a shot afterwards to get his cloak up and hopefully a focus too. I think Whisper is better than Echo primarily because the extra pilot skill which, along with a strong initiative bid, gives him the advantage in the mirror match and also against Soontir, Han Solo, and other PS9 ships that are popular at the moment.

Thanks for reading my first X-Wing Battle Reports, and thanks again to my friend Chud for playing. It was nice to play something other than 40k for a change, but I still managed to get a GT practice game in later that evening, so stay tuned for that battle report to come as well!

SimonW