tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64622488653941743912024-03-13T15:03:54.482+02:00 Aripa X<br><br> X-Wing (&Armada) tales from Romania and beyondAndrei Voinescuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10147376697913659005noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462248865394174391.post-38038998233004424382017-07-05T01:25:00.001+03:002017-07-05T01:31:06.766+03:00TIE Swarm - Death by a thousand cutsThe TIE Swarm is one of the first archetypes of this game, one that is instantly recognizable as Star Wars, a list that looks incredibly cool on the table and which is fun to play. I think it would be a great loss for this game not to have TIE swarms lying around. Alex Davy once said that the swarm is like "the shark of X-wing", you always have to be ready for it, but this is no longer the case. It has been steadily losing power since its inception, with the exception of the Crackshot FAQ. <br />
<br />
I am turning the phrase "death by a thousand cuts" on its head, since I
am speaking of the swarm's death. It has been trending downwards
steadily for 8 waves with few intermissions, but I am ready to call it:
At the present moment, the swarm is not only dead, but <b>unfixable</b> - without new mechanics or heavy-handed title fixes, it will never be a top tier list again. Top players might still be able to make it work, either by outplaying their opponents or getting favourable matchups during their tournament run, but they would still be running at a disadvantage most of the time.<br />
<br />
This would be my first opinion piece. I am not a high-caliber swarm player, but I have been playing TIE swarms on and off since I first started playing the game, back in wave 2. I designed the <a href="http://aripax.blogspot.ro/2015/03/a-different-type-of-swarm.html">Sigma swarm</a> and flew it with good success in a wave 5 meta filled with Phantoms, Dash, Han and Decimators. I flew the Zeta Leader crackswarm during wave 8 and in the last tournament I've tried a bit of something new to see what it can do.<br />
<br />
<h3>
History</h3>
<br />
To talk about the swarm now, let's see briefly what made it great when it first appeared and what were its weaknesses <br />
<br />
The key ship in this is the TIE Fighter, which in the beginning was the most efficient ship in the game point-wise, so it made sense to cram as much of them in a single list as possible. An 8-TIE swarm made sense, but that was not actually the first variant to be popular, because action economy was very rare and valuable. Rebels had Garven and Dutch, the Empire had Howlrunner. While 2 out of 4 Rebel ships would have double actions, the 7-Tie swarm would have almost 2 actions for 6 of them. On 2 dice, TL+focus is 1.87 expected hits, while 1 reroll + focus is 1.82, a difference of just 3%. Compare that to the Howlrunner gain, which is 21% more expected hits, so you can see what I mean by almost 2 actions.<br />
<br />
So what did the list do? It demolished everything that was standing right in front of it. You had to fly the list in formation to a) benefit from Howlrunner and b) overlap as many arcs as possible, but the single TIE Fighter is extremely nimble, so the block as a whole moved fast and turned quickly where it fit.<br />
<br />
There were a few problems with the list from the beginning, but some could be compensated by flying it well:<br />
<ul>
<li>Most TIE Fighters were PS1, so you were guaranteed to lose a few before they fire over the course of the game.</li>
<li>You were always telegraphing via deployment which formation you were using (2x3, 3x2), which in turn telegraphed which lanes you would fit into and which you wouldn't. This is because you couldn't afford to lose formation too early, that would put you in danger of not having the Howlrunner reroll or friendly bumping.</li>
<li>Flying in formation was difficult and you had to keep as many open lanes as possible, so that it wouldn't be obvious which one you would eventually engage on. Did I mention that the pinwheel formation was discovered in wave 4? Wave 1&2 formations were two and a half bases wide.</li>
<li>It had difficulty killing high-agility opponents, which meant the mirror matchup was effectively a pillow fight. Fortunately, at the time nothing was powerful enough and had 3 agility at the same time. </li>
</ul>
Then wave 4 hit like a truck and instead of the swarm there was the Phantom mini-swarm, but it's not the place to talk about that. Wave 5 brought about highly maneuverable turret ships (yay). Wave 7 brought Crackshot, but it was only with the arrival of the new core set that the crackswarm was discovered. An FAQ on Crackshot explained how it functions and it suddenly was after all other modifications. Effectively, it meant 6 extra damage in the first round for a swarm, so it could erase the biggest threat on the table (hopefully). The swarm was decent against the biggest threat of wave 8, triple jumpmasters. This suddenly changed when Dengaroo took the meta by force. With Rey, Dengar, Fenn Rau, TIE/sfs, the swarm never found a way to recover.<br />
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<br />
<h3>
The thousand cuts</h3>
<br />
<br />
They're not really a thousand, but they're a lot and they add up.<br />
<ol>
<li>Power creep: The simplest to explain yet one that is slightly subtle. Power creep is now a factor. Although FFG did a good job overall, it's now been 11 waves and the differences now are evident. Power creep in base statlines, but also in upgradeability.</li>
<li>Automatic Damage: This type of mechanics has been around in the game since wave 2, but the options now are much more broad (Wampa, bombs with Sabine, Vader, etc.)</li>
<li>High-accuracy Damage: Damage has never been as accurate as it is now. You can fly Rey and shoot 6 dice with TL and focus, or you could have Fenn with 5 dice TL+focus. Action economy has gone through the roof, gone are the days when 2 actions were an incredible feat. Now you can have two actions quite easily while bumping (K4 + expertise). In the past, the swarm had relied on bumping to get the job done on some higher PS enemies. Try to bump Dengar and shoot at it from range 1, see where that takes you! </li>
<li>No new tricks: While most other lists benefit from new upgrades all the time, the swarm remains stagnant. There is very little space for upgrades, since you can't afford to spend points on all the ships. Having crackshot on your swarm costs more than one TIE Fighter, and that's just 1pt itself, not to mention that the EPT is the only upgrade the TIEs have, and only on a small selection of pilots!</li>
<li>Rigid deployment: Swarms have to deploy where multiple lanes are available, most of the time in one of the corners. If the opponent knows where to put the obstacles, it's probably down to one good corner. Even if the swarm doesn't have the lowest PS there's very few good spots to deploy so it's quite predictable.</li>
<li>Rigid movements: It's not that TIE Fighters are less maneuverable now than they were before, it's that everything else is just as maneuverable or more, and other lists don't have to maintain formation!</li>
<li>Low/Inexistent action economy: While everybody is swimming in actions, the swarm is stuck on focus and Howlrunner. </li>
<li>Reliance on range 1 mechanics: The entire swarm revolves around Howlrunner, for as long as she's still alive.</li>
<li>Gradual loss of firepower: The swarm is losing teeth every round. It will lose a TIE Fighter per turn for the first few, with Howlrunner going down among the first. With the crackswarm, the initial engagement is big on firepower, but has a sharp fall afterwards. If the swarm could not do enough damage on the first volley it will just die. Ironically, the swarm used to be the list with the least variance. Now, running with <i>only </i>2 actions, it's not guaranteed to have a brilliant alpha strike, so it's higher variance than many other things currently being run. You can't spend crackshot if your opponent has an extra evade result.</li>
<li>Plethora of free actions: The swarm used to strive in bumpfests. Between several TIE Fighters getting unmodified shot vs. an X-wing, or vs. tokenless Soontir, it's clear that the swarm had the upper hand. But suddenly you can face Glitterstim, or Lone Wolf, or Rey (crew and pilot), Finn, even Countermeasures! There's plenty of ships that can eat a swarm up if they ever collide head-on!</li>
<li>Dengar and Quickdraw: The two/four shots per turn with the capability of taking out 2 TIEs. Need I say anything more?</li>
<li>Reinforce: The existence of reinforce in 100pt games brings down 2-dice ships another notch. I've played in Epic with crackshot before, being forced to crackshot a reinforce evade to get that single hit in is one of the more depressing things you can do in X-wing.</li>
</ol>
<ol>
</ol>
<br />
<h3>
What FFG already tried to fix this</h3>
<br />
Chaser, Youngster, Scourge and Wampa. In order from most awful to actually great, these are the only things FFG has ever did for the lowly fighter (I don't believe crackshot was intentional).<br />
<br />
Chaser is an attempt to fix the action economy, but it falls into the same pit as Night Beast. Any focus after the first is superfluous, and focus+evade is exactly what Nigh Beast can do as well. Definitely not enough as long as the TIE Fighter doesn't have a Target Lock. Between 3 Fighters with one having an evade, everybody would shoot the other Fighters.<br />
<br />
Youngster was on the right path, give a bonus to many Fighters at once. It fails when you consider that Action: header cards are bad for action economy! It's silly to think that Expose would be a good idea when you don't actually have another action for a focus. Swarms with Rage also never picked up.<br />
<br />
Scourge is a decent TIE Fighter, the extra dice is good, but it still has the other shortcomings of a TIE in a swarm.<br />
<br />
Wampa is amazing, because it bypasses every possible defense at any point in the game, even if it's the last TIE on the board.<br />
<br />
<h3>
What FFG could do to fix it</h3>
<br />
I don't like doing houserules or rule modification proposals, upgrade cards etc., so I won't do that there. I would instead explore a bit the design space of what could be done.<br />
<br />
I don't think FFG can slap a title and call it ok. There's too many problems and having 8 title fixes on the table at once (presuming a 0pt title) is silly. Moreover, fixing the TIE Fighter with the title is both admitting the existence of the power creep <b>and</b> making it worse.<br />
<br />
So what could be the solution? I was thinking of squadron-level upgrades. It can manually enforce the types of ships (build lists only with TIEs), it can activate until the end of the game, there's plenty of points for a squadron-level upgrade (4-10 pts). It could fix action economy, and by unlimited range, replace the needs for formation as well. Or it could help the swarm deal more damage, or protect against one-hit kills. It doesn't have to fix everything (and it shouldn't), but bringing the swarm where not every matchup is an uphill challenge should be the goal.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Instead of a conclusion</h3>
<br />
I would like to be wrong, I really would. Please tell me how I'm wrong :). Maybe I should be stubborn and play the swarm exclusively for a while? To give you a hint of what I've been trying to fly to make up for the downsides of the swarm in the current meta, here's this version:<br />
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<br />
It adds Kylo to the swarm, which seems to fix a lot of shortcomings, helps by blinding or damaging cockpits all over the place. It's a bit tricky to trigger kylo after turn 1, but there's a version with vader in its place that could do the trick. Wampa doesn't have synergy with Kylo but pushes damage through. Intelligence agent helps a lot against higher PS ships. It doesn't seem enough though.<br />
<br />Andrei Voinescuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10147376697913659005noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462248865394174391.post-45941437269248011152017-06-20T18:46:00.001+03:002017-06-20T18:46:48.243+03:00How to Tweak a ListThere are numerous blog posts on list-building as a subject in general, even on the FFG main page ( <a href="https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2014/10/28/assembling-your-squadron/">Assemble your Squad</a>), but I'd like to take a moment to discuss list tweaking/adjusting.<br />
<br />
The process of tweaking comes after play-testing. The fact is you're never going to nail the fine details of a list from the get-go. You put it on the table and see how it fares. At the end of each game, you should be able to see which upgrades performed well, which were unnecessary and see what could be better. This requires good critical ability, you have to be able to differentiate from losses due to mistakes, the list underperforming or just dice outliers (notice I don't say bad dice).<br />
<br />
I like to start with a single list and start categorizing the cards in the list. In general, I like to place pilots and upgrades in a list in four different categories, according to their role in the list:<br />
<ul>
<li>Must-haves (<span style="background-color: red;">red</span>): These are cards I have designed the list around or just things I want to fly. These should remain in the list no matter what. (e.g. Soontir with Push the Limit)</li>
<li>Need-to-haves (<span style="background-color: orange;">orange</span>): Cards that are not mandatory, but I would only give up on them if I really need the points for something else. These are usually utility cards that go well on ships but are not "glued" to them (e.g. Stealth Device on Soontir).</li>
<li>Toolbox cards (<span style="background-color: yellow;">yellow</span>): Cards that provide utility in my list but are not a mandatory or obvious pick (e.g. a Proton Rocket on the Inquisitor)</li>
<li>Filler cards (<span style="background-color: lime;">green</span>): Cards that provide minor utility and are easily interchanged between versions of the build (e.g. 0pt EPTs).</li>
</ul>
This is not an indication of actual upgrade strength, but of the importance in the list and the rigidness of allocation of points (i.e. if I'm short on points I would never take out Palpatine in this list, but I would take out Fire-Control Systems if need be).<br />
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I'm going to break down my Euros list (write up and short explanation of the list <a href="http://aripax.blogspot.ro/2017/06/european-championships-write-up.html">here</a>) to demonstrate the technique of adjusting and show
how I've reached this final version. Let's first take a look at the
final list and its cards:<br />
<ul>
<li>Must-haves are an Upsilon
shuttle with Palpatine (pulpsilon?), Sabacc with Title/Lightweight
Frame, Backdraft with Title/Lightweight Frame. The pilots themselves are
what I wanted to fly, that's why they are fixed. I could have included
an upgrade to the Duchess, but the truth is I like Sabacc <b>a lot</b>, so it's a must-have</li>
<li>Need-to-haves
are Fire-Control Systems. FCS is good on a TIE/sf because you can
expect your previous target to be in one of the two arcs. It happens
often that you are shooting at the same target and it helps a lot with
offense. On the Upsilon it's equally important because there's 4 dice
involved. If you use the FCS Target Lock once or twice per game I think
it's enough. There are plenty of moments where the upsilon has no
actions (stop, hard 1 turn, coordinate), so action economy on a 42-pts
ship is pretty important.</li>
<li>Toolbox cards are Kylo Shuttle title and
Snap Shot. Snap Shot is a very strong card, but it was not vital on the
first list-building attempt. The shuttle title brings down Attanni
lists, so it's a utility card that's tailored to the current meta.</li>
<li>Adaptability
and Primed Thrusters are nice cards, but not at all important for this
build. I could have easily replaced them with other upgrades. I also
marked the Starkiller Base Pilot as green because I would have upgraded
him in a heartbeat if I could spare the points.</li>
</ul>
<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Now let's go through the process of tweaking the list. If we start with all the red cards, we have about 9pts to spare, 5pts without the orange cards. Here's a pool of cards that I have considered for this list with their importance.</div>
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<ul>
<li>a 2pt ugrade to Major Stridan purely for PS, PS4 being above the Contracted Scouts. Also works pretty well for coordinate. In play-testing I have found that the shuttle doesn't go down as easily, and definitely not in the first round against Scouts, so it doesn't matter as much as I thought.</li>
<li>Electronic Baffle instead of FCS: good only if I really need the points, baffle allows multiple stops and is really good for maneuverability</li>
<li>Hyperwave Comm Scanner allows me to place the shuttle at PS12, my first deploy being Sabacc at PS6</li>
<li>Pattern Analyzer is similar in effect to baffle, I can stop and take an action, but I can't do it the following round as well.</li>
<li>Kylo Ren's shuttle takes down Attanni lists and jousters with bad greens (Defenders that are not Ryad)</li>
<li>Ion Projector locks down certain ships into an eternal bump with the shuttle</li>
</ul>
I started with Ion Projector, FCS and title on the shuttle, but dropped the Ion Projector because it was difficult to trigger, I wanted the shuttle to shoot most of the time rather than block as I would do with a lambda. <br />
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For Sabacc:<br />
<ul>
<li>Snapshot increases the offense of Sabacc from potentially 5 dice to 8 (5+3). I found in play-testing that I could consistently get at least two triggers per game. A good snapshot at the right time can mean game over for the opponent.</li>
<li>Trick Shot increases offense to 6 dice max. In practice this is more difficult to trigger, especially the 6 dice range 1 shot.</li>
</ul>
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For Backdraft:<br />
<ul>
<li>0-1pt EPTs, because I knew I wouldn't have the points for something more expensive. I took adaptability to take him over Dash and on par with Miranda.</li>
<li>FCS, no contender</li>
<li>A tech upgrade: Targeting Synchronizer allows Sabacc to fire a TL+focus shot, potentially keeping that TL for the shuttle as well. Pattern Analyzer allows a lot of shenanigans like 3-sloop focus so I can aim the rear arc at incoming ships.</li>
</ul>
In the end I went with Adaptability and Primed thrusters, but now I would choose Veteran Instincts. Primed Thrusters was useful in 2 games out of 9, and it wasn't game changing. Having PS9 would have helped a lot more.<br />
<br />
So, in summary, these are the steps I would take from a pre-existing list to tweak it:<br />
<ol>
<li>Take the core of the list, mark it as <span style="background-color: red;">red<span style="background-color: white;">. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: red;"><span style="background-color: white;">Generate a pool of interesting cards for the rest of the unoccupied slots (you can start with those from the first list), mark them as <span style="background-color: orange;">orange</span> if they're needed a lot, <span style="background-color: yellow;">yellow</span> if they're useful and <span style="background-color: lime;">green</span> if they're just around to fill up points.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: red;"><span style="background-color: white;">Play-test a few combinations and choose based on what works and what doesn't</span></span></li>
</ol>
<span style="background-color: red;"><span style="background-color: white;">So, is this the end? You could end up with a "final" list that you won't modify for months to come, but you're also likely to come up against a shifting meta. In that case, see if there are any toolbox cards that you can quickly swap out to account for that! </span> </span><br />
<br />
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<br />Andrei Voinescuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10147376697913659005noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462248865394174391.post-91804181866866355202017-06-13T19:25:00.003+03:002017-06-13T19:32:18.785+03:00European Championships Write-up<div style="text-align: justify;">
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If I was going to make it to one foreign X-wing tournament, it would be the European Championships. Being more busy than usual, I was unable to make it to the Yavin System Open (where we had 415 players last year), but I was instead able to make it to the Euros, taking place at the same location at roughly the same time as Yavin in 2016!</div>
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As a list I took what I was most familiar with, Upsilon with TIE s/f and Striker. I had been flying TIE s/f's with great success before lightweight frame, so I was both confident in their ability and in me flying them. I was also investigating a Tomax + Backdraft + extra list, but in tests it underperformed massively in the initial engagement and it collapsed afterwards. </div>
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When taking an Upsilon Palp and a TIE s/f, you're left with about ~30 points for a 3rd ship, which could very well be Omega Leader (as the Mynocks fly it). Omega Leader is nice, but in this meta you have to be much more aggressive and attack-oriented. Pure sabacc does this by having 4 dice in the beginning of the game. Snap shot came about instead of my previous Ion projector and Trickshot, I think it was an extraordinary addition.</div>
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Let's do a quick breakdown of the list: I took <i>Palpatine</i> because
he's still super good, I can easily tell when I'll be able to use him
effectively. He saves Sabacc sometimes, he can get extend Backdraft's
life or just provide extra firepower on the shuttle. In practice I've
had one Palpatine miss every 2-3 games, at the Euros I was at 1 per
game. <i>Kylo Ren's Shuttle</i> is one of the most important upgrades in the list, it decimates Attanni lists and also impedes jousters. <i>Fire-Control System</i> is mandatory for the shuttle, it's a pity not to get a dice modification for free on 4 dice. It's also at 1-2 uses per game, but I lost a game because I forgot it, so I know it's worth it. <i>Lightweight Frame</i> is a ridiculously good card, although it interferes a bit with Palpatine use. <i>Primed Thrusters</i>, for 1pt, allows you to 1-turn/3-sloop and barrel roll, or barrel-roll with stress via Coordinate. <i>Adaptability</i> brings Backdraft to PS8, where there's a lot of action currently (mainly Miranda, good against Dash too). <i>Snap Shot</i> is the dark horse in this list, that gives it its name: Potential 8 dice coming from Sabacc in a single round. 3 dice with Palpatine against few modifiers (Attani helps here) and another range 1 shot. The Striker is maneuverable enough to make this work, as it can both cover great distances, do very tight turns, or just go over formations.</div>
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A summary of the "bag of tricks" of this list:</div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li>Snapshot with 3 dice and Palpatine, catches everyone by surprise</li>
<li>Kylo stress</li>
<li>Coordinate with shuttle</li>
<li>Coordinate a barrel roll while stressed on the TIE s/f</li>
<li>Using Palpatine on the lightweight frame extra dice, as a last resort if the rest of the roll went really badly</li>
</ul>
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The plan generally is to tank with the shuttle a couple of shots while Sabacc flanks and Backdraft brings in the rear. Sabacc hops around, the shuttle exits and comes back for another round, Backdraft turns to point his rear-arc where it needs to be.</div>
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One problem I've had with it is that I still don't master Sabacc as well as I should. I've had about 30-40 games with Striker variations, but it still feels like I'm driving with no brakes. I am unable to stall with him, I should have practiced some maneuvers for this. As such, I was forced to never stall with the shuttle in the opening maneuvers, I had to get everything right with minimal information from my opponent. I did mitigate this by deploying in an obvious "I'm going to bump the first round" formation, but I always 2-banked or 3-banked out of it. </div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6btyNiM3bUM/WT_uN310ToI/AAAAAAAANjw/XeyOG6B_wRYzawwNpeIumHy8yZv7UkT4wCLcB/s1600/deploy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="684" height="372" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6btyNiM3bUM/WT_uN310ToI/AAAAAAAANjw/XeyOG6B_wRYzawwNpeIumHy8yZv7UkT4wCLcB/s640/deploy.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Overall I'm pretty proud of how the list performed. My losses could be attributed entirely to user error (getting Sabacc killed too early), which could have been avoided with more training. I would consider it an A-level list, one of the good things the Empire can offer at the moment. </div>
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</div>
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<br /></div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
Round 1 - Alban Trinchero (Switzerland)</h4>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>"Quickdraw" (29)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Expertise (4)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Fire-Control System (2)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Pattern Analyzer (2)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Lightweight Frame (2)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Special Ops Training (0)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<b>Colonel Vessery (35)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Crack Shot (1)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>TIE/x7 (-2)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>"Omega Leader" (21)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Juke (2)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Comm Relay (3)</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i>Total: 100</i></b>
</div>
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<a href="http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Galactic%20Empire&d=v4!s!208:220,36,-1,204:42:31:;70:140,-1,-1:33:17:;187:152,153:-1:-1:&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron&obs=">View in Yet Another Squad Builder</a></div>
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My first round opponent was a good
player (system opens, nationals goodies), placed very closely to me in the end. He
began by slow-rolling Quickdraw and Vessery and drawing me to the
obstacles in the center. Sabacc was not only too early but also clipped a
debris field (sloppy play on my part, but it's hard to visualize
1-forward then 2-bank at a millimeter level). Sabacc died the following
turn, after getting a snap shot on Omega Leader. The rest of my list
focused on Vessery and managed to get it off the table. Unfortunately, I
spent a focus too aggressively and didn't leave room for defense on
Backdraft, losing 3 shields because of this. Backdraft went down
quickly, but the shuttle outmaneuvered and bumped everyone. In the end,
it was the shuttle against Omega Leader on 1 hull and Quickdraw on 2.
Failing to get a FCS, I was tied between a full stop with no modifiers
against Quickdraw versus a 1-forward with focus. The shuttle was playing
a game of chicken with Quickdraw, with Omega Leader out of sight. I
calculated there was no way he could evade my front arc so I did the
1-forward. Quickdraw was barely able to 3-bank and barrel roll out of
arc and so ended any chance of my winning this game.</div>
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35-100 loss, which I almost avoided using only the shuttle!<br />
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</div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
Round 2 - Hey that's my fish!</h4>
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<br /></div>
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Just kidding - there were significant delays so we played a few games of hey that's my fish!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NkHVNeb57ps/WT_w5W5g52I/AAAAAAAANj8/mLmuIibNL6UEMUIAM9lQIYz7eJ_Uf9OTQCKgB/s1600/20170602_154704.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NkHVNeb57ps/WT_w5W5g52I/AAAAAAAANj8/mLmuIibNL6UEMUIAM9lQIYz7eJ_Uf9OTQCKgB/s640/20170602_154704.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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</div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
Round 2 - Mikkel Lars Knudsen (Denmark)</h4>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Shara Bey (28)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Adaptability (0)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Jan Ors (2)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>R2-D2 (4)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Alliance Overhaul (0)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Norra Wexley (29)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Push the Limit (3)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Kyle Katarn (3)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>BB-8 (2)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Alliance Overhaul (0)</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Jess Pava (25)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>R3-A2 (2)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Primed Thrusters (1)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Integrated Astromech (0)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i>Total: 99</i></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Rebel%20Alliance&d=v4!s!205:170,-1,75,3:41:-1:;204:18,-1,74,148:41:-1:;199:-1,69,203:-1:20:&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron&obs=">View in Yet Another Squad Builder</a></div>
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Round 2 started at about 16:30, people were already tired. This list was played in formation, with Norra supposedly exiting the formation at the last possible moment with BB-8 to flank. I was able to block Norra with my flanking Sabacc and get great shots on Jess Pava. Took out Jess and Norra, barely escaping with the shuttle. Then Shara was somehow activated and turned into a monster. It took a potshot at the shuttle, destroying it. It then entered Sabacc's range 1, received a snap shot and a range 1 shot with very little damage. What followed was two rounds of Sabacc getting snap shot and range 1 shots, but with very little damage, instead taking weapons failure (snapshot down to 1!). With Sabacc dieing horribly, Shara 2 pts more expensive than backdraft, I was on my way to my second loss. Backdraft couldn't do more than one damage per turn because of R2-D2 + Jan evade. I disengaged, got around, then surprised him with a hard turn that got me 1 rit + 3dice with TL and focus on a 2 shield 1 hull Shara. </div>
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100-68 win, definitely not as well as it should have gone after the initial exchanges, but a win.</div>
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<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
Round 3 - Luis A. Lozano Garcia (Spain)</h4>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Wedge Antilles (29)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Swarm Tactics (2)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>BB-8 (2)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Integrated Astromech (0)</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Biggs Darklighter (25)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>R4-D6 (1)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Integrated Astromech (0)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Captain Rex (14)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Jess Pava (25)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>R2-D6 (1)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Crack Shot (1)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Integrated Astromech (0)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i>Total: 100</i></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Rebel%20Alliance&d=v4!s!0:9,-1,148:-1:20:;4:-1,77:-1:20:;224::-1:-1:;199:-1,70,-1:-1:20:U.140&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron&obs=">View in Yet Another Squad Builder</a></div>
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My opponent set his formation up to joust me, and we engaged with my perfect setup, Sabacc flanking with a good position to snap shot Jess Pava the following round. I was able to kill Biggs in the first round at range 3, which my opponent attributed to incredible dice. The fact that I was shooting 11 dice with focus at a 6HP ship was not as relevant. 4 dice with focus + Palp, 3 dice focus and 4 dice with focus at range 3 against 3 dice with R4-D6 at range 3 is 5.15 <b>average</b> damage. Add to that a focus for one of the defense rolls, add that Palpatine counters R4-D6 and above average dice and Biggs goes poof. </div>
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The next round I focused on Jess Pava, almost taking her out, while he put a lot of damage on backdraft. What followed was the best snapshot of the tournament. He had stressed captain Rex by 4k-ing into my blocking shuttle, so I thought he might bump Captain Rex again or at least I could get into a favourable position to snap shot Wedge by 2-slooping behind Rex. He 2-banked, which never fits if you're so close to a large base ship. 3 dice snapshot with Palpatine was Hit-Hit-Crit and he came up empty. </div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qvmip2jMq9E/WT_9bWC9BdI/AAAAAAAANkM/axHtR0u7R9oGWgzv9melm8zrTWO5rKa3QCLcB/s1600/motherloadsnapshot.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="561" data-original-width="769" height="465" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qvmip2jMq9E/WT_9bWC9BdI/AAAAAAAANkM/axHtR0u7R9oGWgzv9melm8zrTWO5rKa3QCLcB/s640/motherloadsnapshot.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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In the end it was a 100-21 win, he got half the shuttle. I think my opponent got flustered after his initial loss of Biggs, but I still consider that my list out-jousted his by a fair amount.</div>
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</div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
Round 4 - Adam Townsend (UK)</h4>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Asajj Ventress (37)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Attanni Mindlink (1)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Latts Razzi (2)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Black Market Slicer Tools (1)</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Concord Dawn Veteran (22)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Attanni Mindlink (1)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Autothrusters (2)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Concord Dawn Protector (1)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Fenn Rau (28)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Attanni Mindlink (1)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Autothrusters (2)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Concord Dawn Protector (1)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i>Total: 99</i></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Scum%20and%20Villainy&d=v4!s!219:176,190,-1,194:-1:-1:;216:176,-1:43:15:;212:176,-1:43:15:&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron&obs=">View in Yet Another Squad Builder</a></div>
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My first Scum opponent of the tournament, and with an Attanni list at that! He didn't seem worried about the stress that much, but he came in for the joust and was surprised when it became difficult to escape with only green maneuvers! I lost the shuttle, but it fired twice pretty well. Sabacc was a monster and took out Assajj on his own, always flying behind her and getting a 5-dice range 1 shot.</div>
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100-42 win</div>
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<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
</h4>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
Round 5 - Charlie ter Horst (Netherlands)</h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Contracted Scout (25)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Attanni Mindlink (1)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Extra Munitions (2)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Plasma Torpedoes (3)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Intelligence Agent (1)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>R4 Agromech (2)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Guidance Chips (0)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Contracted Scout (25)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Attanni Mindlink (1)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Extra Munitions (2)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Plasma Torpedoes (3)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>4-LOM (1)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>R4 Agromech (2)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Guidance Chips (0)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Contracted Scout (25)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Attanni Mindlink (1)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Plasma Torpedoes (3)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Intelligence Agent (1)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>R4 Agromech (2)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Guidance Chips (0)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i>Total: 100</i></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Scum%20and%20Villainy&d=v4!s!174:176,126,136,40,121,-1:-1:25:;174:176,126,136,173,121,-1:-1:25:;174:176,-1,136,40,121,-1:-1:25:&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron&obs=">View in Yet Another Squad Builder</a></div>
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As day 2 began, I was there 2 hours early and my smile dropped as I saw the pairings. Charlie is a friend from the Netherlands, I was there when he started playing, I did video commentary with him on a few dutch games, but recently he's taken it to the next level by going to Worlds 2016 and getting top 16! He's an extremely difficult opponent and he was flying a beast of a list, triple jumpmasters. </div>
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We had already talked about my list, so he knew not to joust. He feigned a joust, but was able to get all the jumpmasters out of arc of the shuttle to get target locks. The last one did a 4 straight and a barrel roll, terribly close to Backdraft and to the edge. Seeing an opportunity, I barrel rolled closer and realised I had him pegged against the board edge!</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ko2PUwH15OQ/WUAEASCY90I/AAAAAAAANkg/CSxBhw8wFbUgKBDKU5KRfuGD7JlyDRfFACLcB/s1600/charliebump1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="992" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ko2PUwH15OQ/WUAEASCY90I/AAAAAAAANkg/CSxBhw8wFbUgKBDKU5KRfuGD7JlyDRfFACLcB/s640/charliebump1.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
I was pretty sure that he was going to go off the board, but having no better shots and an asteroid on the other side, I decided to turn the shuttle in its direction. The bump was incredibly close, we called a judge over to be sure (as none of us wanted to perform this delicate operation). It was in by less than 1mm!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4jRa9QT1hR0/WUAEAGVF6PI/AAAAAAAANkY/VDVQqpgGv2M9lJ9Kwm9AJOIAeOkfIA7vACLcB/s1600/charliebump2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="339" data-original-width="492" height="440" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4jRa9QT1hR0/WUAEAGVF6PI/AAAAAAAANkY/VDVQqpgGv2M9lJ9Kwm9AJOIAeOkfIA7vACLcB/s640/charliebump2.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Backdraft turned away and got some shots on the jumpmaster, but with little damage. As I was putting down dials, I noticed that the 2-hard turn was very likely to finally get his ship off the board if it cleared Backdraft. I squinted and I squinted and I went for it!<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OoNvRxWbFBw/WUAEARXgvDI/AAAAAAAANkc/cuNTSL5yB0ogGerOQ8Dt7d2IEF1Ev5mXQCLcB/s1600/charliebump3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="327" data-original-width="405" height="516" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OoNvRxWbFBw/WUAEARXgvDI/AAAAAAAANkc/cuNTSL5yB0ogGerOQ8Dt7d2IEF1Ev5mXQCLcB/s640/charliebump3.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Success!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JiRctBiwlGc/WUAEAlxYZJI/AAAAAAAANkk/QjAE4LCubQkKUdL-hfOCCI9Y1vyV1McmACLcB/s1600/charliebump4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="582" height="306" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JiRctBiwlGc/WUAEAlxYZJI/AAAAAAAANkk/QjAE4LCubQkKUdL-hfOCCI9Y1vyV1McmACLcB/s640/charliebump4.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
With one ship off the board and very little damage taken (the lack of joust meant no torpedoes were fired), I was in a good spot points-wise but in a terrible position. Thankfully I was able to get enough points.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
51-47 win, with a crux roll of 0 on 3 dice with TL saving a 1 hull Jumpmaster at the end. We were scrapping for time because of the lengthy bump-off-the-table-situation. A very atypical game, but I was able to squeeze this win!</div>
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<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
Round 6 - Juan Riera Arriaga (Spain)</h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Miranda Doni (29)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Twin Laser Turret (6)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Extra Munitions (2)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Sabine Wren (2)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Thermal Detonators (3)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Cluster Mines (4)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Advanced SLAM (2)</i></div>
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<b>Gold Squadron Pilot (18)</b></div>
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<i>Twin Laser Turret (6)</i></div>
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<i>R3-A2 (2)</i></div>
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<i>BTL-A4 Y-Wing (0)</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Biggs Darklighter (25)</b></div>
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<i>R4-D6 (1)</i></div>
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<i>Integrated Astromech (0)</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i>Total: 100</i></b>
</div>
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<a href="http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Rebel%20Alliance&d=v4!s!139:135,126,-1,-1,166,181,127:-1:16:U.-1;9:135,-1,-1,69:21:-1:;4:-1,77:-1:20:&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron&obs=">View in Yet Another Squad Builder</a></div>
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My first Miranda matchup! As Bogdan, my sparring partner, mostly played Miranda, I was extremely confident in how to approach this game, especially since Miranda had no Homing missiles, only bombs. After a successful feint, the board looked like this: </div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G8eKp_dYmFs/WUAGrqPFynI/AAAAAAAANk0/gc6F3LBdZsAw3ODFsqAJgzn2z8OeSSikQCKgB/s1600/20170603_122326.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G8eKp_dYmFs/WUAGrqPFynI/AAAAAAAANk0/gc6F3LBdZsAw3ODFsqAJgzn2z8OeSSikQCKgB/s640/20170603_122326.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Sabacc was out of arc of Biggs and the Stresshog, range 1 of TLT Miranda. Perfect! Biggs took a lot of damage, then died the following round when he 1-forwarded right into snapshot range.</div>
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After this 100-0 win, I was 5-1 and looking pretty good!</div>
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Round 7 - Harrison Sharp (UK)</h4>
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<b>Darth Vader (29)</b></div>
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<i>Adaptability (0)</i></div>
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<i>Advanced Targeting Computer (1)</i></div>
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<i>TIE/x1 (0)</i></div>
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<b>"Backdraft" (27)</b></div>
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<i>Veteran Instincts (1)</i></div>
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<i>Fire-Control System (2)</i></div>
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<i>Lightweight Frame (2)</i></div>
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<i>Special Ops Training (0)</i></div>
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<b>Colonel Vessery (35)</b></div>
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<i>Decoy (2)</i></div>
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<i>Tractor Beam (1)</i></div>
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<i>TIE/D (0)</i></div>
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<b><i>Total: 100</i></b>
</div>
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<a href="http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Galactic%20Empire&d=v4!s!22:170,-1:23:-1:U.124;209:27,36,-1,-1:42:31:;70:55,144,-1:34:-1:&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron&obs=">View in Yet Another Squad Builder</a></div>
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After hurrying up with lunch and trying to see the expo in the 1h break, I got to the table a bit drowsy, having had no time to get coffee.</div>
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I got the idea of the list, he was flying it in formation, I made the error of believing he would not go for sabacc. He went after sabacc, tractored him into range 1 and killed him. I then exchanged the shuttle for his Backdraft. With some clever maneuvering, primed thrusters and good dice I was able to destroy Vessery, but when Vader finally got in my back I had no chance to evade him.</div>
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70-100 loss clearly brought down by my misuse of Sabacc. </div>
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Round 8 - Pierre Buffiene (France)</h4>
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<b>Contracted Scout (25)</b></div>
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<i>Attanni Mindlink (1)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Intelligence Agent (1)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Feedback Array (2)</i></div>
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<i>Anti-Pursuit Lasers (2)</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Contracted Scout (25)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Attanni Mindlink (1)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Extra Munitions (2)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Plasma Torpedoes (3)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>R4 Agromech (2)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Guidance Chips (0)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Contracted Scout (25)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Attanni Mindlink (1)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Extra Munitions (2)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Proton Torpedoes (4)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Boba Fett (1)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>R4 Agromech (2)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Guidance Chips (0)</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i>Total: 99</i></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Scum%20and%20Villainy&d=v4!s!174:176,-1,-1,40,-1,112:-1:4:;174:176,126,136,-1,121,-1:-1:25:;174:176,126,1,177,121,-1:-1:25:&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron&obs=">View in Yet Another Squad Builder</a></div>
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A list similar to Charlie's, one that now I at least had a game against. I set up in a similar fashion and I was surprised to see he came in for the joust. The debris you see in the picture right next to the jumpmasters is mine, it was meant to prevent him from escaping the shuttle if he came in jousting.</div>
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I got a good first engagement, good dice and, most important, the shuttle got a repeat shot on the outside jumpmaster when he was passing by. It was a 1mm in shot that we had to call the judge for, but it spelled disaster for my opponent. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vcWJm3CwR6g/WUAI-79iC4I/AAAAAAAANlM/bwTIiGkty5YOzglFd7bBVb57Pd7qTiq_gCKgB/s1600/20170603_163008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vcWJm3CwR6g/WUAI-79iC4I/AAAAAAAANlM/bwTIiGkty5YOzglFd7bBVb57Pd7qTiq_gCKgB/s640/20170603_163008.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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100-21 win.</div>
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Round 9 - Jonathan Kok (Netherlands)</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Jan Ors (25)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Wired (1)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Twin Laser Turret (6)</i></div>
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<i>Chewbacca (4)</i></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Rey (45)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Expertise (4)</i></div>
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<i>Finn (5)</i></div>
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<i>Kanan Jarrus (3)</i></div>
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<i>Scavenger Crane (2)</i></div>
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<i>Smuggling Compartment (0)</i></div>
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<i>Countermeasures (3)</i></div>
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<i>Millennium Falcon (TFA) (1)</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i>Total: 99</i></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Rebel%20Alliance&d=v4!s!48:150,135,33:-1:-1:;201:220,-1,200,159:40:27:U.215,m.12&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron&obs=">View in Yet Another Squad Builder</a></div>
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This was a matchup I was not particularly worried about, as I had played against Rey before, but not Expertise Rey. </div>
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He slow-rolled it, so Sabacc came in a bit too early. I then thought he would 4-straight over the debris and moved the shuttle in, but he instead did a 1-turn to the left that landed him in range 1 of Backdraft. With Sabacc and Backdraft hurting, I misjudged a Sabacc maneuver and he clipped a debris field. With 2 hull remaining, he took a Direct Hit. </div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-myIWNbVnyZU/WUAKBbnNxhI/AAAAAAAANlU/Pvo4khlTQIE202wic5ZUkIkJTEV-szD5wCKgB/s1600/20170603_182838.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-myIWNbVnyZU/WUAKBbnNxhI/AAAAAAAANlU/Pvo4khlTQIE202wic5ZUkIkJTEV-szD5wCKgB/s640/20170603_182838.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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36-100 loss, this game went south pretty quickly.</div>
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</h4>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
Hangar Bay</h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This was a more relaxed environment, and for the 3rd day I was not exactly focused on my game anymore. I had two wins and a spectacular loss to Carlo Tozzi, the Italian who won the Greek nationals last year. I was not only not expecting his list to hit so hard, but again I found myself with Sabacc not being where I needed him to be. I guess the skill ceiling for my list is higher.</div>
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</h4>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
Conclusion</h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
After 9 rounds, I was 6-3 and 52nd. Not the best score, but not the worst either! Consider how tough the competition was (all the best players from Europe) and how little I was prepared compared to last year at Yavin, it went great!</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
I had great opponents, from all around Europe (3 UK, 3 Dutch, 2 Spaniards, 1 Swiss, 1 Danish, 1 French and 1 Italian counting the Hangar Bay), this was incredible! Thanks to all of my opponents for great games, looking forward to next year! Sorry to Charlie, the onus was on me to make it further in the tournament after stealing that win from you.<br />
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Thanks to all the guys and gals organizing this event, despite a few bumps it was very well put together and it was a joy to participate! </div>
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I was super happy to fly my list, it was super fun to play for 3 days in a row. I'm not the best painter, but I had my dials matching the ships, I was pleased about that too. I got in a spectacular snap shot, a bump off the table and losses that I could easily explain with clear mistakes on my part. Not much more I could ask for.</div>
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Obligatory photo of the loot. Left hand side is the won loot: participation coin, Han Solo, Omega Ace and bump tokens, then there's stuff I received from my opponents (Han Solo, swarm tactics in spanish and a Danish bump token), on the right there's stuff I bought: template holder, Armada distance rulers, damage deck holders, 4 fantastic foil cards bought from the Italians.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tzB31iEFTYY/WUAKBaTagaI/AAAAAAAANlU/WWNTJIMc-CsY_dSyFzPN9DnSWmRJWOZuQCKgB/s1600/20170606_114915.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tzB31iEFTYY/WUAKBaTagaI/AAAAAAAANlU/WWNTJIMc-CsY_dSyFzPN9DnSWmRJWOZuQCKgB/s640/20170606_114915.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Andrei Voinescuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10147376697913659005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462248865394174391.post-5851026447359887362016-12-14T17:16:00.000+02:002016-12-14T22:42:52.569+02:00Armada Dice part II: Squadron to ShipWith wave 5 on the horizon, I want to put into context the stats for the squadron we already have. As everyone has seen, wave 3 has made a very powerful impact on the squadron game in Armada, because of the cheap activations, cheap squadron pushers and Bomber Command Center.<br />
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With the aid of a script I made, I can accurately calculate the damage based on clever ability usage. What does clever ability usage mean? It means not choosing the best order in which to resolve abilities, based on the initial roll<br />
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The aim of this blog post is two-fold: to show that there are clever paths to be taken when rerolling with simple rules of thumb that can be followed; to rank bombers based on their effectiveness taking into account the effect of Bomber Command Center and their cost.<br />
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<h4>
X-wings</h4>
X-wings are the lowest efficiency bombers currently in the game, with only one red dice. Bomber Command Center in their case helps bring them in line with Y-wing in terms of expected damage. An X-wing with 2 Bomber Command Centers will do an average of 1.15 average damage, as opposed to a naked Y-wing which does 1. Of course, the efficiency is nowhere near, since the X-wing is 30% more expensive.<br />
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What about rerolls? With an X-wing and one BCC, you're only expected to reroll Accuracies and Blanks to get the best average result. In the diagram below, the center is the starting point, with the 5 possibilities of the red dice roll. On the next level, the red line represents the best choice, which is rerolling only in the case of the blank or accuracy.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gi1l3FYzFSQ/WFFNV2gdktI/AAAAAAAALf8/8Wc-l-gVmH0Kq6qwoOGZiDTpgbsOBB5xQCLcB/s1600/blog_1red_bcc.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gi1l3FYzFSQ/WFFNV2gdktI/AAAAAAAALf8/8Wc-l-gVmH0Kq6qwoOGZiDTpgbsOBB5xQCLcB/s640/blog_1red_bcc.png" width="640" /></a></div>
What if we have 2 BCCs? Then the correct answer becomes rerolling all non-doubles on the first reroll, followed by blanks on the second roll. All in all, easy to remember!<br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"><i>To remember: While the X-wings have the lowest damage overall of all bombers, they benefit from having Bomber Command Center the most! 2BCCs increase their anti-ship damage by 50%!</i></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bXs1Ra9z4Kw/WFFNVNdR0MI/AAAAAAAALf0/2QeQyYuVmdsdVWxWC6Mzv4HzCxtCj0GOwCLcB/s1600/blog_1red_2bcc.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bXs1Ra9z4Kw/WFFNVNdR0MI/AAAAAAAALf0/2QeQyYuVmdsdVWxWC6Mzv4HzCxtCj0GOwCLcB/s640/blog_1red_2bcc.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<h4>
Y-wings/TIE Bombers</h4>
Y-wings are the Rebel's cheap, no-fuss bomber option. 1 average damage with 1BCC, up to 1.25 and 1.44 with 2 BCCs! 44% damage increase is still very good! The TIE Bomber has of course the same damage output, but with fewer fleet points, so with greater overall efficiency in terms of anti-ship combat.<br />
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What about rerolls? Turns out this is more complicated. The average being 1, if you have a single reroll and you rolled a Hit, you have 2 options:<br />
<ul>
<li>You are at average, be content with the result</li>
<li>Try your luck and go for the Hit/Crit</li>
</ul>
Both have the same average result, but the second option plays with variance a bit more, while the first option is safe!<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9OCxJt2G5L4/WFFNVPJM53I/AAAAAAAALfw/L-4jXH3tTMku1L2yhGSQDD6-WYtL_ESpgCLcB/s1600/blog_1black_2bcc.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9OCxJt2G5L4/WFFNVPJM53I/AAAAAAAALfw/L-4jXH3tTMku1L2yhGSQDD6-WYtL_ESpgCLcB/s400/blog_1black_2bcc.png" width="400" /></a></div>
If you have 2 rerolls, you can safely reroll Hits on the first reroll, followed by only-blank rerolls on the second reroll for safest and best average result! <br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"><i>Rule of thumb: No matter how many black dice rerolls you have, you can safely reroll hits on any reroll but the last! The last reroll is the one where you make the choice between safe and trying your luck! (but still with the same average result)</i></span><br />
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<h4>
Firesprays</h4>
<h4>
</h4>
Almost not worth mentioning, since the rerolls are extremely intuitive. Anything that isn't a damage you can reroll. Overall they gain 30% damage from having 2BCCs.<br />
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<h4>
B-wings </h4>
With B-wings things get interesting. In terms of damage, they have the highest totals of any unnamed squadron and overall incredible efficiency.<br />
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As to rerolls, the priority seems to be the black dice. First make sure you have at least a Hit on that, then reroll the accuracy if you have rolled one. In the image below, all non-optimal choices and their respective consequences have been eliminated, so a red edge represents a correct choice. If there are two red edges, that means that both choices carry exactly the same weight, meaning they come out with the same average damage, <span style="color: #990000;"><i>no matter what</i></span>.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J1nucQDnOSk/WFFNVMQwxVI/AAAAAAAALf4/hTZYZYAvoGsA70WXBYQJyokv_HZ75NZpwCLcB/s1600/blog_1black_1blue_2bcc.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J1nucQDnOSk/WFFNVMQwxVI/AAAAAAAALf4/hTZYZYAvoGsA70WXBYQJyokv_HZ75NZpwCLcB/s640/blog_1black_1blue_2bcc.png" width="640" /></a></h4>
Keyan is a special example (and now Ten Numb), because they're the only ones with 2 black dice and Keyan has a reroll capability built in! Keyan benefits little, only 13% for a single BCC and 22.40% for 2 BCCs, but it takes him to an incredible 3 average damage!<br />
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His reroll rule of thumb is similar to Y-wings: <span style="color: #990000;"><i>Reroll Hits as long as you have rerolls left, otherwise reroll only blanks if you want to keep it safe!</i></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hsAmZv_SrgQ/WFFNXLeLsAI/AAAAAAAALgA/ojFXh5HS3T0f9xvYQo01w2ljYMirbHonwCLcB/s1600/blog_keyan_2bcc.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hsAmZv_SrgQ/WFFNXLeLsAI/AAAAAAAALgA/ojFXh5HS3T0f9xvYQo01w2ljYMirbHonwCLcB/s640/blog_keyan_2bcc.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<h4>
Efficiency</h4>
So where does this take us? I have arranged the following table, where red columns are average damage, blue columns are benefits comparing to the vanilla scenario and white columns are <b>efficiency</b>, which I have defined as <b><span style="color: #990000;"><i>average damage per 10 points of squadron of that type</i></span></b>. In this first table you can see how the X-wing gets to 1.15 average damage, trumping the vanilla Y-wing and TIE Bomber at 1 damage.<br />
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<tr style="height: 21px;"><td style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"><br /></td><td colspan="2" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Default"}" rowspan="1" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Default</td><td colspan="3" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"1BCC"}" rowspan="1" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1BCC</td><td colspan="3" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"2BCC"}" rowspan="1" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2BCC</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"><br /></td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Avg"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Avg</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Avg/10p"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Avg/10p</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Avg"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Avg</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Benefit"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Benefit</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Avg/10p"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Avg/10p</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Avg"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Avg</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Benefit"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Benefit</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Avg/10p"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Avg/10p</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"1red (X-wing)"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">1red (X-wing)</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.75}" style="background-color: #f4cccc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.75</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-1]/1.3,0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.58}" style="font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.58</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.03}" style="background-color: #f4cccc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.03</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-3]-1" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,3,"0.00%",1]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.3733333333333333}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">37.33%</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-2]/1.3,0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.79}" style="font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.79</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.15}" style="background-color: #f4cccc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.15</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-6]-1" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,3,"0.00%",1]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.5333333333333332}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">53.33%</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-2]/1.3,0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.88}" style="font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.88</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"1black (Y-wing/TIE Bomber)"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">1black (Y-wing/TIE Bomber)</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #f4cccc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-formula="=CONCATENATE(TEXT(MROUND(R[0]C[-1]/1,0.01),"0.00"),"/" ,TEXT(MROUND(R[0]C[-1]/0.8,0.01),"0.00"))" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"1.00/1.25"}" style="font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.00/1.11</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.25}" style="background-color: #f4cccc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.25</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-3]-1" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,3,"0.00%",1]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.25}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">25.00%</td><td data-sheets-formula="=CONCATENATE(TEXT(MROUND(R[0]C[-2]/1,0.01),"0.00"),"/" ,TEXT(MROUND(R[0]C[-2]/0.8,0.01),"0.00"))" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"1.25/1.56"}" style="font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.25/1.39</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.44}" style="background-color: #f4cccc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.44</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-6]-1" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,3,"0.00%",1]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.43999999999999995}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">44.00%</td><td data-sheets-formula="=CONCATENATE(TEXT(MROUND(R[0]C[-2]/1,0.01),"0.00"),"/" ,TEXT(MROUND(R[0]C[-2]/0.8,0.01),"0.00"))" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"1.44/1.80"}" style="font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.44/1.60</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"2blue"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">2blue</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.5}" style="background-color: #f4cccc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.5</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-1]/1.8,0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.8300000000000001}" style="font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.83</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.83}" style="background-color: #f4cccc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.83</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-3]-1" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,3,"0.00%",1]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.21999999999999997}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">22.00%</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-2]/1.8,0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.02}" style="font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.02</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.95}" style="background-color: #f4cccc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.95</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-6]-1" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,3,"0.00%",1]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.30000000000000004}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">30.00%</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-2]/1.8,0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.08}" style="font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.08</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"1blue-black(B-wing)"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">1blue-black(B-wing)</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.75}" style="background-color: #f4cccc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.75</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-1]/1.4,0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.25}" style="font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.25</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2.14}" style="background-color: #f4cccc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2.14</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-3]-1" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,3,"0.00%",1]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.22285714285714286}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">22.29%</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-2]/1.3,0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.6500000000000001}" style="font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.53</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2.37}" style="background-color: #f4cccc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2.37</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-6]-1" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,3,"0.00%",1]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.3542857142857143}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">35.43%</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-2]/1.4,0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.69}" style="font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.69</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"1blue-black + Toryn"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">1blue-black + Toryn</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.94}" style="background-color: #f4cccc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.94</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-1]/1.4,0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.3900000000000001}" style="font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.39</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2.22}" style="background-color: #f4cccc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2.22</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-3]-1" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,3,"0.00%",1]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.14432989690721665}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">14.43%</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-2]/1.3,0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.71}" style="font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.59</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2.41}" style="background-color: #f4cccc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2.41</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-6]-1" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,3,"0.00%",1]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.24226804123711343}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">24.23%</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-2]/1.4,0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.72}" style="font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.72</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"2black(Ten Numb)"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">2black(w/o Keyan)</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2}" style="background-color: #f4cccc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-1]/1.9,0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.05}" style="font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2.44}" style="background-color: #f4cccc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2.44</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-3]-1" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,3,"0.00%",1]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.21999999999999997}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">22.00%</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-2]/1.9,0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.28}" style="font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.22</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2.72}" style="background-color: #f4cccc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2.72</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-6]-1" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,3,"0.00%",1]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.3600000000000001}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">36.00%</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-2]/1.9,0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.43}" style="font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.36</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"2black(Keyan)"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">2black(Keyan)</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2.5}" style="background-color: #f4cccc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2.5</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-1]/2,0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.25}" style="font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.25</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2.84}" style="background-color: #f4cccc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">2.84</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-3]-1" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,3,"0.00%",1]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.1359999999999999}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">13.60%</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-2]/2,0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.42}" style="font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.42</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":3.06}" style="background-color: #f4cccc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">3.06</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-6]-1" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,3,"0.00%",1]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.22399999999999998}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">22.40%</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-2]/2,0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.53}" style="font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.53</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
The second table has efficiency calculated and sorted in descending
order. The B-wing tops the list when taken with 2BCCs and is generally more efficient in all conditions.<br />
<br />
<style type="text/css"><!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}--></style><style type="text/css"><!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}--></style><br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" dir="ltr" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: 1px solid #ccc; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; table-layout: fixed;"><colgroup><col width="278"></col><col width="100"></col></colgroup><tbody>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"><br /></td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Efficiency"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Efficiency</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"B-wing + Toryn + 2BCC"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">B-wing + Toryn + 2BCC</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.72}" style="font-size: 120%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.72</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"B-wing + 2BCC"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">B-wing + 2BCC</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.69}" style="font-size: 120%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.69</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"TIE Bomber + 2BCC"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">TIE Bomber + 2BCC</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.6}" style="font-size: 120%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.6</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"B-wing + Toryn + BCC"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">B-wing + Toryn + BCC</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.59}" style="font-size: 120%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.59</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"B-wing + BCC"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">B-wing + BCC</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.53}" style="font-size: 120%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.53</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Keyan + 2BCC"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Keyan + 2BCC</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.53}" style="font-size: 120%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.53</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Y-wing + 2BCC"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Y-wing + 2BCC</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.44}" style="font-size: 120%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.44</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Keyan + BCC"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Keyan + BCC</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.42}" style="font-size: 120%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.42</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"TIE Bomber + BCC"}" style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">TIE Bomber + BCC</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.39}" style="font-size: 120%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.39</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"><br /></td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"..."}" style="font-size: 120%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
For
B-wings, both 1BCC and 2BCC bring enough damage to be taken into
consideration, although the first BCC brings the bigger boost in efficiency. I also considered B-wings with Toryn Farr nearby. As
expected, Toryn Farr is weaker than a Bomber Command Center for an
anti-ship of 1blue 1black. Of surprise is that the efficiency of an
X-wing with 2 Bomber Command Centers is higher than that of a Vanilla
Firespray!<br />
<br />
<i><span style="color: #990000;">To remember: Bomber Command Center transforms your mediocre bombers into decent bombers and good bombers into great bombers!</span></i><br />
<br />
<h4>
Cost of Flotillas<i><span style="color: #990000;"> </span></i></h4>
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">But let's not get ahead of ourselves! Flotillas cost too, right? So you could argue that efficiency of squadrons has to take into account the cost of those flotillas with Bomber Command Center, 26 pts minimum for the Rebels and 31 pts for the Empire.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">In the following table I have filled 134 points with a single squadron type and calculated the damage. Unrealistic, I know, but the point I'm going to make after this remains unchanged.. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><style type="text/css"><!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}--></style><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" dir="ltr" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: 1px solid #ccc; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; table-layout: fixed;"><colgroup><col width="278"></col><col width="100"></col><col width="100"></col><col width="100"></col></colgroup><tbody>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Squadrons"}" style="font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Squadrons</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Points"}" style="font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Points</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Avg"}" style="font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Avg</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Efficiency"}" style="font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Efficiency</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Fleet of 13 Y-wings"}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Fleet of 13 Y-wings</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":130}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">130</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":13}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">13</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-2] * 10, 0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"13 Y-wings + BCC"}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">13 Y-wings + BCC</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":156}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">156</td><td data-sheets-formula="=13*1.25" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":16.25}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">16.25</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-2] * 10, 0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.04}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.04</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"13 Y-wings + 2 BCC"}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">13 Y-wings + 2 BCC</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":182}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">182</td><td data-sheets-formula="=13*1.44
" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":18.72}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">18.72</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-2] * 10, 0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.03}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.03</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Fleet of 9 B-wings"}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Fleet of 9 B-wings</td><td data-sheets-formula="=14*9" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":126}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">126</td><td data-sheets-formula="=1.75*9" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":15.75}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">15.75</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-2] * 10, 0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.25}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.25</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Fleet of 9 B-wings + BCC"}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Fleet of 9 B-wings + BCC</td><td data-sheets-formula="=126+26
" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":152}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">152</td><td data-sheets-formula="=9*2.14" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":19.26}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">19.26</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-2] * 10, 0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.27}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.27</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Fleet of 9 B-wings + 2 BCC"}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Fleet of 9 B-wings + 2 BCC</td><td data-sheets-formula="=126+52" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":178}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">178</td><td data-sheets-formula="=9*2.37" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":21.330000000000002}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">21.33</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-2] * 10, 0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.2}" style="background-color: #c9daf8; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.2</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Fleet of 10 X-wings"}" style="background-color: #e6b8af; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Fleet of 10 X-wings</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":130}" style="background-color: #e6b8af; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">130</td><td data-sheets-formula="=10*0.75" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":7.5}" style="background-color: #e6b8af; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">7.5</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-2] * 10, 0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.58}" style="background-color: #e6b8af; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.58</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Fleet of 10 X-wings + BCC"}" style="background-color: #e6b8af; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Fleet of 10 X-wings + BCC</td><td data-sheets-formula="=130+26" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":156}" style="background-color: #e6b8af; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">156</td><td data-sheets-formula="=10*1.03" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":10.3}" style="background-color: #e6b8af; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">10.3</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-2] * 10, 0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.66}" style="background-color: #e6b8af; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.66</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Fleet of 10 X-wings + 2 BCC"}" style="background-color: #e6b8af; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Fleet of 10 X-wings + 2 BCC</td><td data-sheets-formula="=130+52" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":182}" style="background-color: #e6b8af; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">182</td><td data-sheets-formula="=10*1.15" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":11.5}" style="background-color: #e6b8af; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">11.5</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-2] * 10, 0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.63}" style="background-color: #e6b8af; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.63</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Fleet of 16 TIE Bombers"}" style="background-color: #d9d9d9; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Fleet of 14 TIE Bombers</td><td data-sheets-formula="=16*8" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":128}" style="background-color: #d9d9d9; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">126</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":16}" style="background-color: #d9d9d9; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">14</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-2] * 10, 0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.25}" style="background-color: #d9d9d9; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.11</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Fleet of 16 TIE Bombers + BCC"}" style="background-color: #d9d9d9; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Fleet of 14 TIE Bombers + BCC</td><td data-sheets-formula="=128+31" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":159}" style="background-color: #d9d9d9; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">157</td><td data-sheets-formula="=16*1.25" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":20}" style="background-color: #d9d9d9; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">17.5</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-2] * 10, 0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.26}" style="background-color: #d9d9d9; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.11</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Fleet of 16 TIE Bombers + 2 BCC"}" style="background-color: #d9d9d9; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Fleet of 14 TIE Bombers + 2 BCC</td><td data-sheets-formula="=128+62" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":190}" style="background-color: #d9d9d9; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">188</td><td data-sheets-formula="=16*1.44" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":23.04}" style="background-color: #d9d9d9; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">20.16</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-2] * 10, 0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.21}" style="background-color: #d9d9d9; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1.07</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Fleet of 7 Firesprays"}" style="background-color: #d9ead3; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Fleet of 7 Firesprays</td><td data-sheets-formula="=18*7" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":126}" style="background-color: #d9ead3; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">126</td><td data-sheets-formula="=7*1.5" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":10.5}" style="background-color: #d9ead3; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">10.5</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-2] * 10, 0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.8300000000000001}" style="background-color: #d9ead3; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.83</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Fleet of 7 Firesprays + BCC"}" style="background-color: #d9ead3; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Fleet of 7 Firesprays + BCC</td><td data-sheets-formula="=126 + 31" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":157}" style="background-color: #d9ead3; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">157</td><td data-sheets-formula="=7 * 1.83" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":12.81}" style="background-color: #d9ead3; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">12.81</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-2] * 10, 0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.8200000000000001}" style="background-color: #d9ead3; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.82</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Fleet of 7 Firesprays + 2 BCC"}" style="background-color: #d9ead3; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Fleet of 7 Firesprays + 2 BCC</td><td data-sheets-formula="=126+62" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":188}" style="background-color: #d9ead3; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">188</td><td data-sheets-formula="=7*1.95" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":13.65}" style="background-color: #d9ead3; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">13.65</td><td data-sheets-formula="=MROUND(R[0]C[-1]/R[0]C[-2] * 10, 0.01)" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0.73}" style="background-color: #d9ead3; font-size: 140%; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0.73</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></span><i><span style="color: #990000;"> </span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: #990000;"></span></i><br />
It seems that the efficiency is unchanged when taking this into account! So we end up paying the same per point of average damage as before! So what have we gained?<br />
<ul>
<li>Activations, a flotilla is an extra activation on the battlefield</li>
<li>Points for squadrons beyond the 134 point mark, because flottillas can "carry their weight" by directly enhancing squadron damage</li>
<li>Decreasing variance of squadron rolls considerably: Even if the B-wings + flotillas generate the same average damage, the risk of blanks is removed</li>
<li>Extra anti-squadron fire</li>
<li>By having more damage per squadron, we concentrate firepower.</li>
</ul>
There's certainly things to lose:<br />
<ul>
<li>Flotillas might be a liability since only one accuracy can ruin their day</li>
<li>More damage per squadron also means that you lose a lot of firepower for the same amount of HP lost. Individual squadrons are more important, because if you've only flotillas left, you can't do any damage with them. </li>
</ul>
<h4>
</h4>
<h4>
Conclusions </h4>
<h4>
</h4>
This went a bit beyond a simple math article, since there are some lessons to be learned from this. <span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: black;">Namely, that</span> </span><i>taking flotillas with BCC further increases your investment in bomber squadrons without increasing their efficiency</i></span>, but eliminating variance. I admit I thought of flotillas with BCC as a damage multiplier, but it's more akin to a <span style="color: #990000;"><i>damage focusing element</i></span>. You get more damage in per squadron activation and with less variation, this is incredibly valuable.<br />
<br />
<i><span style="color: red;"><b>Correction: The second paragraph was a mess and I put 8 points for all my TIE Bomber calculations. Shows how much I play Empire, right?</b></span></i> Andrei Voinescuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10147376697913659005noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462248865394174391.post-87739669408934505152016-12-01T13:12:00.001+02:002016-12-15T10:43:33.161+02:00Armada Regionals 2016I happened to be in London for a week, and I figured I'd stay for the weekend to attend an X-wing or Armada tournament. Lo and behold, there was an X-wing Regional at IQGames the weekend before and an Armada Regional the weekend following my trip. With no tickets left for X-wing, the choice was made for me! The venue was in Stockport, near Manchester, at Element Games North West Gaming Centre.<br />
<br />
The list I have had most success with leading up to the Regional was this:<br />
<br />
Author:
<b>
Chilligan </b>
<br />
Faction:
<b>
Rebel Alliance </b>
<br />
Points:
<b>
400/400 </b>
<br />
<br />
Commander:
<b>
General Dodonna </b>
<br />
Assault Objective:
<b>
Precision Strike </b>
<br />
Defense Objective:
<b>
Contested Outpost </b>
<br />
Navigation Objective:
<b>
Superior Positions </b>
<br />
<br />
[ flagship ]
<b>MC80 Battle Cruiser</b> (103 points)<br />
-
General Dodonna (
20 points)
<br />
-
Gunnery Team (
7 points)
<br />
-
XX-9 Turbolasers (
5 points)
<br />
= <b>135</b> total ship cost
<br />
<br />
<b>Nebulon-B Escort Frigate</b> (57 points)<br />
-
<i>
Yavaris </i>
(
5 points)
<br />
-
Raymus Antilles (
7 points)
<br />
= <b>69</b> total ship cost
<br />
<br />
<b>GR-75 Medium Transports</b> (18 points)<br />
-
<i>
Bright Hope </i>
(
2 points)
<br />
-
Expanded Hangar Bay (
5 points)
<br />
-
Bomber Command Center (
8 points)
<br />
= <b>33</b> total ship cost
<br />
<br />
<b>GR-75 Medium Transports</b> (18 points)<br />
-
Boosted Comms (
4 points)
<br />
-
Bomber Command Center (
8 points)
<br />
= <b>30</b> total ship cost
<br />
<br />
3 <b>B-Wing Squadrons</b> (
42 points)
<br />
3 <b>X-Wing Squadrons</b> (
39 points)
<br />
4 <b>Y-Wing Squadrons</b> (
40 points)
<br />
1 <b>HWK-290</b> (
12 points)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://armadawarlords.hivelabs.solutions/view_list.php?token=47659">http://armadawarlords.hivelabs.solutions/view_list.php?token=47659</a><br />
<br />
It's a very powerful list, but not extremely flexible. Of the hammer and anvil type, you have the blob of fighters and the small ships going steady, while the Liberty swoops and finishes up ships and squadrons.<br />
<br />
I have also been having a lot of fun with this Madine Liberty:<br />
<br />
<b>MC80 Battle Cruiser</b> (103 points)<br />
-
<i>
Mon Karren </i>
(
8 points)
<br />
-
Raymus Antilles (
7 points)
<br />
-
Gunnery Team (
7 points)
<br />
-
Engine Techs (
8 points)
<br />
-
H9 Turbolasers (
8 points)
<br />
-
Spinal Armament (
9 points)
<br />
-
Leading Shots (
4 points)
<br />
= <b>154</b> total ship cost<br />
<br />
It can easily take out 2 transport per turn and will get in the most impossible of positions. I just pair it off with anti-squadron fighters and Yavaris for a very fun to play list. I hadn't considered going dual Liberty.<br />
<br />
A third, distant option was to play Ackbar with an MC30 and 2 AF MKIIs, with the MC30 as follows:<br />
<br />
<b>MC30c Scout Frigate</b> (69 points)<br />
-
<i>
Foresight </i>
(
8 points)
<br />
-
Intel Officer (
7 points)
<br />
-
Veteran Gunners (
5 points)
<br />
-
Electronic Countermeasures (
7 points)
<br />
-
Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (
7 points)
<br />
= <b>103</b> total ship cost<br />
<br />
The idea with this one was to have one heavy-hitter that is super-precise and cannot be braced without repercussions.<br />
<br />
In the end, I settled on a variant of my initial list. I tossed the commander to a medium transport, dropped a Y-wing (going to <b>only</b> 10 squadrons) and put in Mon Karren and Leading Shots. Both upgrades are gold, of course, but I felt I couldn't fit them in before. The plan with this is to use the hangar transport and Yavaris as spear-heads, with boosted comms transport bringing up the rear. Mon Karren either covers the flank or comes in one round after the fighters hit first to finish off some ships.<br />
<br />
The final list was:<br />
<br />
<b>BYwangs</b>
<br />
Author:
<b>
Chilligan </b>
<br />
Faction:
<b>
Rebel Alliance </b>
<br />
Points:
<b>
400/400 </b>
<br />
<br />
Commander:
<b>
General Dodonna </b>
<br />
Assault Objective:
<b>
Precision Strike </b>
<br />
Defense Objective:
<b>
Contested Outpost </b>
<br />
Navigation Objective:
<b>
Superior Positions </b>
<br />
<br />
<b>MC80 Battle Cruiser</b> (103 points)<br />
-
<i>
Mon Karren </i>
(
8 points)
<br />
-
Gunnery Team (
7 points)
<br />
-
Leading Shots (
4 points)
<br />
= <b>122</b> total ship cost
<br />
<br />
<b>Nebulon-B Escort Frigate</b> (57 points)<br />
-
<i>
Yavaris </i>
(
5 points)
<br />
-
Raymus Antilles (
7 points)
<br />
= <b>69</b> total ship cost
<br />
<br />
[ flagship ]
<b>GR-75 Medium Transports</b> (18 points)<br />
-
General Dodonna (
20 points)
<br />
-
<i>
Bright Hope </i>
(
2 points)
<br />
-
Boosted Comms (
4 points)
<br />
-
Bomber Command Center (
8 points)
<br />
= <b>52</b> total ship cost
<br />
<br />
<b>GR-75 Medium Transports</b> (18 points)<br />
-
Flight Commander (
3 points)
<br />
-
Expanded Hangar Bay (
5 points)
<br />
-
Bomber Command Center (
8 points)
<br />
= <b>34</b> total ship cost
<br />
<br />
3 <b>B-Wing Squadrons</b> (
42 points)
<br />
1 <b>HWK-290</b> (
12 points)
<br />
3 <b>X-Wing Squadrons</b> (
39 points)
<br />
3 <b>Y-Wing Squadrons</b> (
30 points)
<br />
<br />
Card view <a href="http://armadawarlords.hivelabs.solutions/view_list.php?token=55050" target="_blank">link</a>
<br />
Fleet created with <a href="http://armadawarlords.hivelabs.solutions/" target="_blank">Armada Warlords</a><br />
<br />
The objectives are fairly obvious for a squadron fleet, the only other difference is that I've chosen to put a flight commander on one of the transports, to enhance actual activation range or to mitigate running over squadrons in tight spaces.<br />
<br />
The list has a total of 10 squadrons, 4 activations and 9 deployments, which I am pretty happy with. <br />
<br />
<h4>
Battle report - Round 1</h4>
My first round was against Jim Murray. He had Rieekan with 3 transports, Admonition and Yavaris. He took first player and chose Precision Strike. His Admonition wanted to deploy last, but he had the same number of activations as I did so he wasn't able to. I, on the other hand, put the Liberty on the other side, so it would enter combat almost horizontally while squadrons clashed in the middle.<br />
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<br />
He charged with Dutch and Wedge on a B-wing that was slightly exposed (seen in the picture) and took it out, but even without Yavaris' ability I was able to focus fire with everything I had to take out Wedge after he had activated. He had Yavaris with flight commander and fighter coordination team, with a trailing transport giving squadron tokens. Unfortunately, by the time his Yavaris was able to use its ability, he was running out of squadrons.<br />
<br />
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<br />
Admonition came in to kill my Nebulon, but my positioning allowed only a shot on the front hull zone, so I was able to tank some of the damage. I escaped with 1 hull, while his Admonition was coralled by transports in the middle of my fighter-bombers. On that same round, the Liberty took out both a transport and his Yavaris at medium range (hurray for leading shots). His Admonition, after making a transport kill, escaped the bombers (but had no tokens) and was only taking one side shot from the liberty at long range. It was a double hit and Admonition died, making the game a 10-1.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
Jim was very fun to play with and overall the game was much closer than the outcome showed. A better roll on his Admonition or me not taking out all ships could have lessened the win for sure. It's also funny to note that my bombers didn't get a single Hit+Crit the whole game, despite me having 2 Bomber Command Centers and pushing always for the second reroll.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<h4>
Battle report - Round 2</h4>
My second round opponent was James Stead, with a Motti ISD, Demo, Raider, Gozanti and a sprinkling of TIE Fighters (/w Mauler Mithel). He also took first player and chose Superior positions. I deployed directly in front of his ISD, with the Liberty on the side to protect the transports from Demo.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tU6VCcN8I5I/WD2x2OPlG_I/AAAAAAAALc0/iZZI2VJl8WwjZOXbUz1TdKd-DPHXPjcbQCPcB/s1600/20161126_132939.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tU6VCcN8I5I/WD2x2OPlG_I/AAAAAAAALc0/iZZI2VJl8WwjZOXbUz1TdKd-DPHXPjcbQCPcB/s400/20161126_132939.jpg" width="225" /></a>My plan was to take advantage of his low fighter screen to quickly take down the ISD, while making sure that Demo couldn't just barge in and kill my carriers. I was partially successful in that he kept Demo behind, but the ISD was slow to take damage. Fighters took out most of the shields and the liberty put in a couple of damage cards, but still it was not enough. The ISD was full of repair commands and started discarding damage cards and sprinted away at speed 3. I was able to catch the Raider off-guard and one-shot it due to the small traffic jam that was created by my Liberty deployment, but the Gladiator was still full-HP and coming to kill the Liberty. Yavaris and a transport died in the same round from the ISD and I wasn't able to get the second double-tap.<br />
<br />
This was where Dodonna came into play, because I was able to sneak a nasty crit on Demo:<br />
<br />
<i><b>Ruptured Engine</b> x2 - Ship - after you execute a manuever, if your speed on your speed dial is >1, suffer 1 damage</i><br />
<br />
This made Demo slow down and not use Engine techs, allowing me to finish it off with a few fighters and back-arc shots from the Liberty. It turned out to be a 50MoV win (6-5), but it was incredibly close. The ISD repaired all the damage cards from what I remember, I don't think I could have taken it down without a second volley of double-tapping B-wings.<br />
<br />
James was a very tactical player and the entire approach took a long time and was pretty tense!<br />
<br />
<b>Battle Report - Round 3</b><br />
<br />
After round 2 there were 3 players with 16pts and one with 18pts. I played on table 2 (which ended up being the one streamed). My opponent was Justin Read, playing a brutal twin Liberty twin transport fleet with A-wings. He chose to be second player and I chose his Superior Positions (options were Fleet Ambush and Advanced Gunnery, both No-Nos against his fleet).<br />
<br />
I deployed in the corner facing towards the interior of the board with speed 1, while he deployed in the opposite corner at speed 3. I think his plan was to do damage quickly, engage my squadrons, then get out.<br />
<br />
He dispersed his A-wings to cover every angle but took a gamble with a couple of them to engage my main force. I was able to kill them and send 3 fighter-bombers to his front Liberty, preparing a double-tap with Yavaris on the following round. I activated first with Yavaris and did massive damage to the liberty (all tokens and shields, with a couple of hull). My Mon Karren took care of the rest. Yavaris did get in a nasty position, took two frontal shots from Liberties, but managed to survive (one was long-range and obstructed). And just in time as well! I had the hwk in a good position in front of the other Liberty, so Yavaris would double-tap again the following round.<br />
<br />
A crucial mistake in this game was me not shooting against a transport in the turn where the second Liberty died. I think I chose to do a side-shot to rear and take a victory point instead, forgetting that I had gunnery teams. I guess I was excited about taking out the second liberty that I forgot the rest of his list.<br />
<br />
Towards the end of the game I desperately tried to kill the transports but with no success. I couldn't kill one with a front arc short-range shot and the squadrons weren't helping. Justin managed to kill every one of my fighters using the transports and A-wings.<br />
<br />
In the end the game was a 9-2. It was a good game, I think I did the right mix of going after big ships while also taking out an A-wing every once in a while. I think I made some mistakes in the late game so I didn't get the full win<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
Overall this was a very fun tournament. The organization was exquisite, with hot tea and coffee, sandwiches for lunch and muffins! I am glad I was able to participate and happy I came within a few shots of taking first prize! The first table had an incredible match that went from no ships destroyed to a 10-1 in a single round, so the winner of the regional definitely deserved it!<br />
<br />
All my opponents were cool to play against, I hope I'll play you again sometime! <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Andrei Voinescuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10147376697913659005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462248865394174391.post-47037237973147504642016-07-21T18:16:00.000+03:002016-12-15T10:43:52.566+02:00Focus vs. Target Lock: A fresh look with R3 in mind<br />
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<br />
<h3>
Introduction </h3>
Because of the blog post on <a href="http://poorgreypilot.blogspot.ro/2016/07/clear-chrome-plating-astromechs-part-4.html">poorgreypilot</a> and the recent <a href="http://mynockpodcast.libsyn.com/its-the-final-salvo">Mynock Squadron episode</a> covering the R3 astromech, I felt that there were additional points that needed to be made. Namely the fact that R3 astromech shifts the balance between Target Lock and focus.<br />
<br />
The debate on Target Lock vs. Focus is as old as the old core set. Which is better? Target Lock is purely offensive, can set up torpedo shots, carries over to the next round. Focus is temporary, but can be used for either attack or defense, as needed. I will talk about the established consensus (feel free to disagree on this or other aspects in the comments section), then I will try to explain why R3 shifts the balance between the two actions.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Math and Context</h3>
Let's start with the basic math: A single red die has 8 faces: 1 critical hit, 3 hits, 2 focus symbols and 2 blank faces. So the success rate for a single die is 4/8= 0.5 (50%). It is also rather easy to see that with a focus token you have 6/8=0.75 (75%) chances of a success. What about TL? Well, it's a bit more complicated, but you can break it down like this: You have your initial dice roll which gives you 50% chances of a success. In the other 50%, you get to reroll the die, which nets you another 50%. So the TL is 50% plus another 50% of the times you get to reroll, which means 75%, identical with focus!<br />
<br />
To summarize:<br />
<ul>
<li>An unmodified die gives you 50% with 1/8 chance of a critical hit</li>
<li>A focused die is 75% with 1/8 chance of a critical hit</li>
<li>A TL-ed die is 75% with 3/16 chance of a critical hit (the reroll grants us that)</li>
</ul>
So math-wise, for attack, there doesn't seem to be much a difference! The true difference comes from <b>context</b>:<br />
<br />
For Target Lock: <br />
<ul>
<li>If the ship you target locked dies, you lose the target lock</li>
<li>You cannot change targets if you target lock</li>
<li>You may keep the target lock for next round if you don't use it </li>
</ul>
whereas for Focus:<br />
<ul>
<li>You can spend it for attack or defense. If your Pilot skill is lower than your opponent, you may prioritize defense over attack on some of your ships (if 3 Academy Pilots have focus tokens and there's only one attacker, 2 can spend focus for attack while 1 can spend focus on defense if needed)</li>
<li>You can choose your target when you activate</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Chance to spend </h3>
The biggest difference, however, and one that I've never seen in written form anywhere, is the <b>chance to spend</b>. If you're the first to shoot, what is the chance you'll spend your token?<br />
<br />
<i>The main assumption is that you're spending the TL if you have less than the maximum number of hits/crits. If you're shooting at a low agility target and you're confident you're shooting the same target the following round, you can get away with keeping the TL at 2 out of 3 hits for example for a 6% boost in damage over 2 rounds (considering you focus the next one). This is a conversation in of itself.</i><br />
<br />
With that assumption in mind, for a 3-dice shot you have:<br />
<ul>
<li>chance to spend focus: 58%</li>
<li>chance to spend TL: 88%</li>
</ul>
In other words, with TL you have a 12% chance of keeping your TL for the next round, with focus you have <b>40% </b>chance of it being used defensively, not needing it for offense.<br />
<br />
What is the source of this? Hidden information. Focus gives you complete information of how many extra results you're getting if you spend the token, with TL it's literally a dice roll. Reasons that people don't use Target Lock can also be psychological: how many times have you picked up the dice, spent the TL, rerolled, then got nothing? Even if, on average, the results are the same as with focus, the disappointment felt is real.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Where does R3 come into play?<br />
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</h3>
<h3>
</h3>
Where am I going with this? The fact is that when you're using TL, you are discarding a lot of unused results. You're very likely ignoring whether they're blanks or focus symbols but the reality is that <i>50% of symbols that aren't hits or crits after rerolling are focus symbols. </i><br />
<br />
How many times are you going to roll perfect 3/3 with a single TL? How many times 4/4? My point is <i>when you're using TL, the are many unused focus tokens</i>. Otherwise said, there's a niche for R3 astromech usage where <i>the impact on damage output is 0. </i><br />
<br />
What are those odds you say?<b> </b>For any red dice, there's a 7/8 chance that after rerolling you don't get a focus symbol (initial focus symbols are rerolled). So a 3-dice attack has 1 - (7/8)^3 = <b>33%</b> chance of getting at least 1 focus it's not using. For a 4-dice attack it's <b>41%</b>.<br />
<br />
Assume you're playing with TLs instead of focus: you don't get any added defense, you have a slightly higher damage output (via keeping the token 12.5% of the time), and now you get 33% chance of an evade for 2 points.<br />
<br />
Contrast this with Autothrusters, an extremely cost-efficient card, which is also at 2pts (but on a more precious slot, at least for a T70). If you're attacked only once, and it triggers, you get 61% of it generating an extra evade.<br />
<br />
Or compare this to Shield Upgrade. This is half the points, and it needs to trigger only once before you get shot to make up its cost.<br />
<br />
To summarize:<br />
<ul>
<li>It is half as efficient as Autothrusters when you have one attacker at lower PS, but you have no range/arc restrictions, with better stats at range 1</li>
<li>It is much more efficient than a Shield upgrade if you get shot at least once after getting a token</li>
<li>It is a low-cost astromech that can be used with Integrated Astromech</li>
<li>Coupled with Comm Relay, it's a 5pt Shield upgrade that regenerates 33% of the time. </li>
<li>It can be comboed with Autothrusters for extra tankiness.</li>
<li>Coupled with Juke, it's 33% chance of triggering Juke, while also retaining your offensive action </li>
</ul>
<h3>
Uses</h3>
All in all, I think there's a place for the R3 astromech. I'm not advocating its use, but it's not as bad as people say. I would use it on a high-PS T-70 that can't use R5-P9 or R2-D2 effectively. It's also best on a ship that is taking off-fire and isn't the centre of attention. Ello seems the best target, for now, the only high-PS T-70 that isn't Poe (until further HotR spoilers). He also can't use R2-D2 effectively (he wants to T-Roll) and R5-P9 reduces his damage output (<i>actually</i>, with the statistic that 40% of focus tokens aren't used..). Juke is the cherry on top and makes him quite dangerous. <br />
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<br />Andrei Voinescuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10147376697913659005noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462248865394174391.post-56150895513239245952016-06-24T17:16:00.002+03:002016-12-15T10:44:00.871+02:00The Great Battle of Yavin - The PreparationIt's been a while since I've written something on this blog. Finishing my PhD was part of the reason, but I haven't posted since then either. A battle report for the Yavin system open for 2016 seems like a good occasion to start writing regular posts again, especially since I think I did rather well! I'm going to start with a small post on my list choice and experience at the Regionals, then I will follow up with a post on the actual Open.<br />
<br />
Just like in 2015, there was no X-wing Regional this year in Romania. So I was itching to find a place to go (in 2015 I went with a buddy to Salzburg Regionals - had loads of fun but no results). The System Opens were also a good opportunity to play some quality matches, but I was undecided on whether to go and to which one. Then came along the announcement of Yavin, a System Open and a Regional in one! Too good an opportunity to miss! We formed a group of 3 and booked plane and expo tickets and we were off!<br />
<br />
<h4>
List building</h4>
<br />
<br />
<h4>
</h4>
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<br />
But what to play? I had recent success with Imperial Veterans in the Team Covenant Open (Palpatine, Juno, Vessery) and I figured the expansion will surely be out by then (boy, was I wrong). I trained with Tractor Vessery, Inquisitor, Tomax the Crack Engine, which is quite a good list IMHO. It has a nasty alpha-strike at PS8 and can hold its own afterwards. You're a bit dependent on the Inquisitor to seal the deal in the endgame, because Tomax and Vessery are not the most maneuverable of ships, but otherwise it's very good. I was very confident with it and did very well in my training matches with it.<br />
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<br />
With the announcement that Imperial Veterans was not legal, I was suddenly without a list to play, with no time to put in the training as I did with the other list. So I scraped together a list with what I liked to play and knew was good. A lot of people like Whisper Omega Leader Palpatine, but OL always seems to do little damage in my games, especially early on. It can take on any ship 1v1, but it will be a long battle of attrition against most. In this meta I'm of the opinion that you need to shift the damage output towards the beginning of the game as much as possible. The inquisitor has a much higher damage output on soft targets, while also being harder to kill (especially when more than 1 ship is firing). Whisper has always been a strong pilot and is a good meta call right now, when the stressbot is rare and PS9 turrets have almost vanished. It's just that I have to take a focus more often instead of my usual evade, but seeing Phildo's games in the TCOpen I see that this can work. The list also has a higher damage output than the OL version when Whisper is cloaked, so you can actually delay Whisper if there's big threats for her in the opponent's list.<br />
<br />
So a bare-bones Whisper would be VI, FCS, ACD, with the Inquisitor and Palpatine that's 99 pts. Four choices arise:<br />
<ul>
<li>Do I leave the point for initiative? A good initiative bid is 97-98 for PS9 (96-97 currently for PS3), so 1pt does not buy me much. Dangerous PS9's are Han and Dengar, Han is rarely seen now. Dengar is much easier to take down though, and I have had a match with my list against Dengar+Bossk which went pretty well, not losing Whisper or the Inquisitor. Other PS9's will be primary arc ships, which I can hopefully dodge by moving afterwards. </li>
<li>Do I take a 1pt crew? Intelligence Agent is very good on Whisper, it will help in a few games I'm sure, mostly against PS9's <b>if</b> I get initiative.</li>
<li>Do I take Electronic Baffle? It transforms the shuttle into a fighting monster, surprises the opponent in many ways (repeated stops, 3 banks with action). This upgrade increases the damage potential of the shuttle, so it was the upgrade I ended up taking.</li>
<li>I could also drop FCS and go for something else, but I'm leery of lowering Whisper's damage potential, even if it's not for the 1st round of combat.</li>
</ul>
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<h4>
Practice at Birmingham Regional </h4>
<i>Disclaimer: Somehow I was counting only on memory for the lists and games, I didn't account for the fact that 15 games over 3 days would become one big blur. I didn't even write down the points, and for the Regional event it's especially difficult since I lost many games.</i><br />
<br />
So off I went to the Birmingham Regional on June 3rd. My expectations for the regional were low, since I wanted to practice for Yavin. I did use the regional bye though, since it allowed me 20 minutes of expo time right when it opened, the opportunity to see wave 9 and Armada wave 4 in person!<br />
<br />
Due to specific circumstances, this was the 2nd time I was using a bye, and the first time I was not the only one! I was a bit surprised to find myself opposite someone with Nationals templates with 3 jumpmasters. I said I wanted the practice...<br />
<br />
Game 2 was against this 3 jumpmaster list, of the Overclocked R4-Plasma variety. I think one lacked extra munitions and another had upgraded to bobba and proton to stay at 96 points. Having flown very few games against triple Jumpmasters, I set up Palpatine in the corner where the options were most open. The plan was to block with Palpatine using Baffle, since that forces them to 4 forward to get out, wasting torpedo opportunities. He sets them up in a line glued to each other (so a 1-turn would bump for each one), move I hadn't seen before. My Inquisitor and Whisper are more spread out, trying to get them from all sides and make them commit to a target. They leave their options open (and especially dangerous for the Inquisitor), so I power forward with Palpatine and Whisper. Problem is, I forget to decloak and lose my chance of a 1-on-1 exchange with a Scout. With no other shots that round, it would have been perfect. The place of engagement didn't favour him much due to asteroids, so I managed to sneak in with the Inquisitor and Whisper (not without taking damage though). The game was absolutely lost when I found myself head-on with a Jumpmaster at range 2 with Whisper. I had TL on some other jumpmaster, and I decided to barrel roll to get into range 1. I was off by a few millimeters, with no focus. I did 1 damage and because of all of this forgot to cloak. Of course Whisper was taken off the board shortly after.<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Lessons learned: Don't forget to decloak, don't forget to cloak, previsualize Barrel rolls better (didn't learn this one properly). Fighting in the asteroid field was pretty good, but he forced me to switch targets so I couldn't get a decent modified shot with Whisper to take something off the board. In the end I got two half-points for Jumpmasters, because the Inquisitor is badass.</i><br />
<br />
Game 3 was against a very interesting list: 2 Y-wings with TLT, Proximity Mines and Extra Munitions and a loaded-up Manaroo with K4 security droid. He played it very slow, I tried to come in from all sides (while still avoiding torps from Manaroo), so the Inquisitor was funneled into the jaws of death. I forgot about K-4 and I didn't register the 1-left free TL Manaroo did in the picture, so I was surprised when the following turn Manaroo turned, Barrel rolled and still got a torpedo off. Coupled with a TLT shot the previous turn, the Inquisitor was barely holding on. I managed to avoid Proximity mines with the Inquisitor and he didn't have room to maneuver to get others off, all while I was chipping away at his Y-wings with everything (shuttle included, mostly because of baffling). In the end I was able to edge out a win.<br />
<br />
<i>Lessons learned: Have a better approach plan, my Lambda was 1 turn too slow and the Inquisitor was 1 turn too fast.</i><br />
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<br />
Game 4 was against Zuckuss, Palob and Manaroo. He started in the middle, going slowly, I had the Inquisitor and Palpatine on my left and Whisper on the right. I assumed he would not turn for Whisper (a 2-turn with everybody), since that would put him in a bad position and I would potentially escape. I was wrong. Whisper had a torpedo incoming along with other fire, took 2 shields and a critical "Blinded Pilot" (new deck). My return fire was weak, 2 shields on Zuckuss. I was pretty shaken and I forgot about the crit, so the following turn I couldn't shoot so I couldn't cloak so I died. I don't remember if I destroyed anything that round.<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Lessons learned: Never discount a move from your opponent, even if it's a move that will put him in a bad position for many of your choices.</i><br />
<br />
Game 5 was against a party bus Bossk (Dengar zuckuss 4-lom), N'dru and Manaroo. He had a good approach, Bossk and Manaroo down the middle, N'dru down my right. I was on the left with all, tried to be very aggressive. I hoped I would get Bossk down in 2 turns and live up to that damage. I managed to get an engagement with Whisper safe from a torpedo shot, but I did very little damage (3 damage on Bossk in exchange for 3 damage - hit/hit/direct hit on Whisper if I recall). A very quick game indeed, couldn't even kill Bossk, but I did kill N'dru with a lucky shot from the Inquisitor (hit hit direct hit).<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Lessons learned: I still have no idea how to approach this matchup. Kill the party bus with the shuttle? </i><br />
<br />
Game 6 and the final game was against a Tel Trevura, Torkill, Contracted Scout list. We played in his right hand side corner, with the initial exchange being at range 3 on Torkil. On the second turn, he PS0-ed the Inquisitor, but Whisper was able to kill Torkill off. In the following knife-fight, he had to turn Trevura away, which let me focus fire the Contracted Scout down. Tel Trevura was destroyed shortly after (twice). He did get some torpedoes off, but I don't more than one per turn, which I was able to absorb on my aces.<br />
<br />
<br />
All in all, I went 3-3 (bye included), so just a hair short of abysmal, I think I was rank 70 out of 130 or something like that. But the good part was that I had things to learn from all of my matchups. Some dice went my way, the greens not so much, I think I took hit-hit-crit on my phantom 3 times in 6 games, that has to be something special. I was highest at table 5, but dropped quickly. I only played against Scum the whole day, while only getting one triple jumpmaster list, and one double, the rest were all very different, but all had at least one jumpmaster. <br />
<br />
I knew I wasn't going to change the list anyway, and I definitely felt that I could have turned my losses into wins with better play (and maybe some dumb luck in my 5th). 5 games was enough, I was ready for Day 1 of Yavin!<br />
<br />
I would like to thank all my opponents at the Regional, everybody was super friendly and nice. <br />
<ul>
</ul>
Andrei Voinescuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10147376697913659005noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462248865394174391.post-58487103993226987032015-07-03T03:50:00.002+03:002015-07-03T14:54:19.429+03:00Armada Dice part I: Ship to ShipI'm going to do an article or two on Armada, since I've been playing this just as much as X-wing in the last weeks.<br />
<br />
One of the things that felt unfamiliar when starting Armada where the dice. Just like any new game, I did not have a "feel" for the dice. I did not know what to expect from them, if one roll was good or one wasn't. You might say that it's better not to know so you can't blame the dice when you lose! This is partly true, because you may want to gauge your performance realistically, to know how to play it better next time!<br />
<br />
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
Armada dice and probabilities</h3>
This has been covered by many people, but we need this for this article as well. The basics of Armada dice are as follows: there are three types of attack dice, each representing a certain weapon type, having a maximum range and hit characteristics. Red dice are turbolasers, blue dice are ion weapons, black dice are missiles. <br />
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Red dice are the long-range weapons, that have a rather high variance of damage: there's 3/8 chance that you don't add a hit, but you also have 1/8 chance of a double hit. The average damage is 0.75 per die.<br />
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Blue dice are medium range dice. Though they have the same average damage (0.75) as red dice, the damage is more spread out, so you have lower variance among rolls. You also have 2 accuracy symbols, which help a lot in combat.<br />
<br />
Black dice are brute force, 1 average damage per die, with a 25% probability of a hit+crit. While they can also come out blank, you are more likely to get good damage out of them. They also have no accuracy symbols, so they're better if mixed with other dice types.<br />
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<h3>
Thoughts on combat </h3>
<h3>
</h3>
While Armada does not have defense dice like X-wing, it does give ships and elite squadrons some defense tokens. In the rest of the article I will talk about damage dealt to a ship. Talking strictly on the current defense tokens:<br />
<ul>
<li>Redirect does not affect damage dealt. It's still damage on the ship. The VSD has 10 shields, but shooting it over the course of the game you won't be able to fire on the same hull zone. Most of the times you'll start from one side and by the time you kill it you'll be on the other side shooting at it. At its weakest the VSD would look like 9HP (8 Hull 1 Shield), if you deplete all shields it will be 18HP. The actual situation will be closer to 18HP, even more if the Imperial player stacks combo Repair commands (+token).</li>
<li>Evade gets rid of 1 or 2 damage, so it affects damage dealt. </li>
<li>Brace cuts the damage in half and is the most important defense medium ships (VSD, AFMkII) have. This token reduces damage on an attack by 2-4 damage, which is a lot in the context of a single round. Of course this will be much smaller if the attacker rolls very few dice, and might not be relevant at all against swarms of small ships (Corvette swarms firing 1-2 dice). </li>
</ul>
If our goal is to reduce damage taken throughout the course of the game, each round we must guess which attack will have the highest resulting damage and keep the Brace token for that attack. Spending a brace twice is of course a reasonable action in some situations, but that is a topic for another time. Suppose we have the highest attack first, then we use Brace on that. Assuming we're piloting a VSD, we use Redirect more liberally afterwards (also subject for discussion for some other time).<br />
<br />
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
Script for calculating damage dealt</h3>
<br />
What I'm getting at is the core of my calculation for damage dealt to a ship, specifically to a VSD. This is more interesting since it is relevant in all games, from 180pt to 400pts: How much damage will you deal to the VSD this round? I will make the following assumptions:<br />
<ul>
<li>Attacks will be directed at the front, so there will be plenty of room for redirects </li>
<li>The first attack will carry most dice or at least have the most likely highest hit result. I will always brace on the first attack if it saves me a damage. Unused defense tokens carry over to the next attack</li>
<li>Redirects are from a "shared" pool, in this case 6HP worth of shields</li>
<li>The attacker will limit the use of Brace, Redirect and Evade, in that order (with accuracy symbols). If the tokens are used he will not limit them (also a good point of discussion for strategy)</li>
</ul>
I explore the tree of possibilities (tokens used, damage taken, shields available for redirect etc.). I sum probabilities on scenarios that share common criteria (in this case I aggregate according to total damage dealt in the end, including redirected shields). In this fashion I was able to calculate some average damage and draw some conclusions. <br />
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<h3>
Single CR90</h3>
<h3>
</h3>
Let's take a look at the damage dealt by a single Corvette, firing from its front hull zone at medium range. That's 2 red dice and 1 blue, for a maximum of 5 damage (not possible given that the VSD has Brace). You can do maximum 4 damage to the VSD if you have 2 double hits and an accuracy to forbid Brace. What you can also notice is that 0 damage is <b>very</b> unlikely, in stark contrast with X-wing. Here, there is no "barrier of entry", you don't have to exceed green dice. When shooting at a Star Destroyer, you're going to do at least 1 damage if you have at least 1 hit/crit symbol in your roll (because it doesn't have Evade). This becomes especially important in squad vs. ship scenarios. <br />
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If you are on the offensive you will probably have a Concentrate Fire command ready on the Corvette. Perhaps you will try adding a third red die first. But red dice have blanks and only one accuracy, so you're not getting rid of that Brace too easily. There is a net increase in damage, but you'll find more average damage with an extra blue die. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L-xxIHXa9XE/VZXEIhgm3EI/AAAAAAAAJ4c/5z7wIXuioiQ/s1600/single_corvette_CF.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fk2x02YQIjY/VZXHkm3Y9rI/AAAAAAAAJ4w/l6wP3EU18aM/s1600/single_corvette_CF.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="294" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fk2x02YQIjY/VZXHkm3Y9rI/AAAAAAAAJ4w/l6wP3EU18aM/s640/single_corvette_CF.png" width="640" /></a></div>
As can be seen in the next graph, just adding a blue instead of a red boosts average damage from 2.23 to 2.31. You can see the difference clearly in the upper and lower limits. 3 Red dice and 1 Blue have 1.32% chance of doing 0 damage, while 2Red 2Blue have only 0.88%. <br />
<i><b><br /></b></i>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R7zt5DSsntU/VZXHky8LpvI/AAAAAAAAJ40/eAAu49-Z5Sk/s1600/single_corvette_CF_blue.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="354" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R7zt5DSsntU/VZXHky8LpvI/AAAAAAAAJ40/eAAu49-Z5Sk/s640/single_corvette_CF_blue.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>Conclusion nr 1: Add blue dice over red dice if possible!</b></i></span></span><br />
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<h3>
</h3>
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<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
Double arcs with the CR90</h3>
<br />
With a Corvette it's not so hard to get a target in two arcs (front and one side). You might think that the side is too weak, only two dice. It turns out that shooting one more time is significantly better than just adding one die (naturally, since there's two), and it's almost twice as good as the first frontal attack! This may be a bit surprising, until you consider that Brace won't be used for two attacks (especially not 2-3 damage attacks), so the second attack actually has a higher expected damage than what it would normally be, since it will not be Braced for (unless Brace was not used in the first attack)!<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><i><b>Conclusion 2: Getting double arcs on a target is more important than commands</b></i></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
Ok, clearly we're starting to be confident in our little corvette. Let's put Concentrate Fire on it while it has this brilliant double arc. We should probably add a blue die, but to which attack? Do we want a large attack and a small one, or two balanced ones? Again, because of the Brace token, we need to split hits between attacks, such that one Brace use cancels as few hits as possible. If we boost the already-large front dice pool, we have 2-2-0 (2 Red 2 Blue) and 1-1-0 on the sides, which amounts to 3.54 average damage. But if we enhance the weaker side (2-1-0 and 1-2-0), we get 3.60 average damage. It's not much, but every bit counts!<br />
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>Conclusion 3: Even out dice pools if possible!</b></i></span></span><br />
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<h3>
Bring on the Assault Frigate</h3>
<br />
We reached 3.60 damage in a round, but we want to bring down that Star Destroyer. We need bigger guns! Let's take a state of the art Assault Frigate mkII with Paragon title, Enhanced Armaments. Enhancement Armaments add a Red die to the side, while Paragon adds 1 Black die to the second attack made on the same ship (which we will get if we have a double arc). This is <b>much</b> harder to do with an Assault Frigate than with Corvettes, but has the advantage of possibly setting this up on the approach and while running away (the rear hull zone is as good as the front). What may surprise you is that Concentrate Fire may add 1 Black die to the second attack!<br />
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</div>
<br />
What we have learned so far is that we want to add the strongest die.
Currently this is the Black die, at 1 average damage. We could add this
to the stronger attack (2-1-0 from the front and 4-1-2 from the side),
or we could balance out the attacks (4-1-0 and 2-1-2). The latter comes
out as more efficient, as our newly bred intuition told us, with a 6.45 average damage (vs. 6.34). First this seems great, and feels great too! Dishing out 10 damage to a Star Destroyer definitely seems the best choice. But then again, this isn't much more than double what a single aligned CR90s would do (with no Concentrate Fire!).<br />
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Back to CR90(s)</h3>
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Clearly this is a much riskier scenario, and one of the Corvettes might die this round, but let's see how much damage we can muster just by aligning arcs, no Concentrate Fire! These are 10 dice just like the Paragon attacks, but without any black dice and spread across 4 attacks. No attack is obstructed because you attack with the first one, move, survive the VSDs assault, then fire with the second CR90.<br />
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... about the same damage. With the same distribution. The brace on the bigger attack cancels out with the black dice on the second, so you get about the same average as with reds and blues.<br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>Conclusion 4: You can achieve the same result with 1 big ship with quality dice or with several smaller with average dice</b></i></span></span><br />
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There are a few things to take from this: Pre-planning is ok, getting that Concentrate Fire when you need it is great, but getting good arcs is substantially better. The more dice you throw at your opponent, the better! This sounds simple, and it was also true in X-wing, but here the expected damage increases linearly, even with the use of defense tokens. It's also important to make the good small decisions, which add up: should I add a blue die or a red die to my pool? Should I add an extra die to this attack or to this one?<br />
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<br />Andrei Voinescuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10147376697913659005noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462248865394174391.post-16074215730126467822015-06-26T15:59:00.003+03:002015-06-26T16:02:28.288+03:00Video Battle Report #3A friend from the Netherlands, Charlie, has asked me to join him on some video battle reports. This time, he's no longer TOing the tournament, but in fact playing in the finals! Subsequently I'm commenting along with Faan, winner from our first video!<br />
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This is a video from a tournament held in Amsterdam, on the 6th of June 2015.All the participating lists can be found on the corresponding entry in <a href="http://lists.starwarsclubhouse.com/get_tourney_details?tourney_id=470">ListJuggler</a><br />
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Andrei Voinescuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10147376697913659005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462248865394174391.post-2153754684319545532015-06-22T00:15:00.003+03:002015-06-22T00:15:44.982+03:00Hello WorldHello, world!<br />
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So this my first post, although it doesn't look like it. I've been trying to start a blog for a while now, but never felt like it was "ready", I didn't want it to start empty. So now I'm starting with ~10 posts. Some are battle reports I have written earlier, some are guides I have published before on other sites (I'm Chilligan on FFG forums). Some are new.<br />
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I plan on including a lot of X-wing related things on this blog, maybe some Armada too. Guides, Battle Reports, photos, anything, in the hopes of helping the community grow, both in Romania and in other places. <br />
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Have a picture of A-wings doing A-wing things.<br />
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<br />Andrei Voinescuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10147376697913659005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462248865394174391.post-78785396124407297552015-06-21T18:44:00.000+03:002015-06-22T18:43:29.751+03:00Rebel Buying Guide - Waves 1-5<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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You've bought the Core pack, you like the game and want to delve right into it. But there's so many expansions! Which one to pick? Luckily, there's no such thing as a bad ship (well, except the TIE Advanced, at least until <strike>MayJuly</strike>August 2015 when the Raider Corvette introduces some special cards for it), but some are more efficient than others, and some come with good cards to complement the ship, some don't. Despite that, I'd still recommend buying the ships you like first, since you will be more determined to make them work! Upgrade cards are also important though, and some of them have not stayed relevant. Some have found a niche use, while other are doomed to never see play. More of these types of cards are in the earlier packs, unfortunately. In general, ordnance in waves 1-3 is severely underpowered and some of the earlier Astromechs and Elite Pilot Talents don't affect the game that much. </div>
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I'm going to go through the Rebel expansion packs and discuss the relevance of the ships and upgrades to the state of the game as it is now (I will avoid discussions about the "meta" and list-building, and stick more to efficiency of ships in the general sense). I'll leave it to you to find out which expansions best fit what you want to play.</div>
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Wave 1 - X-wing expansion pack</h4>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bsalUbPBs4Q/VUKsAOcQ_5I/AAAAAAAAJjM/Wao4z5V2qVQ/s1600/xwingpack.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="195" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bsalUbPBs4Q/VUKsAOcQ_5I/AAAAAAAAJjM/Wao4z5V2qVQ/s1600/xwingpack.png" width="320" /></a>The expansion pack for this iconic ship comes with two new unique pilots with very good abilities. The ship itself suffers in survivability compared to the B-wing, and is not seen as often because of this, but if you like X-wings, Wedge is the definite pilot for it. In some builds Garven's action economy (pass along a focus after using it) helps a lot, so he is a good pilot.<br />
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The cards are pretty disappointing though: </div>
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<li>Marksmanship(<b>niche</b>): good for ships that attack more than once per round (Cluster Missiles, Gunner, Corran Horn)</li>
<li>Expert handling (<b>subpar</b>): most often used on big ships that can't barrel roll naturally. The stress, spent action and use of an EPT make it a borderline bad card though.</li>
<li>R5 astromech (<b>niche</b>): Inappropriate on a X-wing, since you are almost dead by the time you get to use it. It has its (limited) uses on Y-wings. </li>
<li>R5-K6 (<b>bad</b>): It does the same thing as Fire Control System, at the same point cost, but only works 3/8 of the time. </li>
<li>Proton Torpedoes (<b>bad</b>): There's no way around saying this. You spend the target lock, you get 4 dice with little modifications, expected damage to the defender comes about the same. </li>
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Wave 1 - Y-wing expansion pack</h4>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8Ajl0Mk0VQ4/VT4WDkl2PbI/AAAAAAAAJdI/JCaDo8F0uMw/s1600/ywingpack.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="172" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8Ajl0Mk0VQ4/VT4WDkl2PbI/AAAAAAAAJdI/JCaDo8F0uMw/s1600/ywingpack.png" width="320" /></a><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">One of the</span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> two ships the Rebels have able to carry turrets, the Y-wing is a good Ion Cannon Turret ship, with decent survivability. It has a modest dial though, so expect to go slower with this ship and K-turn very rarely. Dutch Vander has a good action-economy ability (2 TLs instead of one), but Horton's ability is less useful, since it is designed with range 3 ordnance in mind. He might see a lot more play if we ever get a range 3 turret (now known to be included in wave 7). </span><br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">The cards offer the minimum necessary for this crowd control ship: </span><br />
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<li>2x Proton Torpedoes (<b>bad</b>)</li>
<li>Ion Cannon Turret (<b>excellent</b>) : The definite crowd-control weapon. Set up killing blows, fly ships off the table. </li>
<li>R2 astromech (<b>niche</b>): Still one of the better generic astromechs, especially for its cost. There are plenty of better unique astromechs though. </li>
<li>R5-D8 (<b>subpar</b>): A simple focus will save you a hull point 25% of the time (on a Y-wing, more on an X-wing), and can be used for attack if you survive and don't use it. This is slightly worse than that. </li>
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Wave 2 - Millenium Falcon expansion pack </h4>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cIDORrow5D4/VT4WCwhkfBI/AAAAAAAAJc4/1nHO6DlXXKc/s1600/yt1300pack.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cIDORrow5D4/VT4WCwhkfBI/AAAAAAAAJc4/1nHO6DlXXKc/s1600/yt1300pack.png" width="320" /></a>The YT-1300 freighter is the first large ship expansion. It contains the ship, 14 (!) upgrades cards (with multiples for the good ones) and a unique scenario to play. This is probably the most successful ship in X-wing, having weathered all the possible meta-games since its debut in wave 2 up to wave 5 and beyond. The 360° firing arc and 3 attack dice give it good firepower. Coupled with a fantastic dial, the ship becomes very good in the hands of an able player, but proves to be very forgiving for the novice as well! The unique pilots all have movie fame, and they don't disappoint! </div>
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The cards are also very good:</div>
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<li>Engine Upgrade x2 (<b>excellent</b>): There is no big ship on which Engine Upgrade isn't good, especially if it is an ard-dodging-turret-wielding large ship.</li>
<li>Shield Upgrade x2 (<b>excellent</b>): While it is quite a waste of points to put this on a Milllenium Falcon, the card is very good, and will often find use on high-agility ships (A-wings, E-wings, TIE Interceptors,TIE Defenders)</li>
<li>Weapons Engineer (<b>good</b>): This card is great on ships that can pass Target Locks (Colonel Jendon on the Lambda Shuttle), or on ships that fire multiple times (the Epic ships). Its efficiency on the YT-1300 is limited however. </li>
<li>Chewbacca crew (<b>good</b>): A crew card that costs as much as a Shield Upgrade, but saves you at least 1 hull and 1 shield, possibly a critical effect as well. This card shines on 2 agility ships, but it's good on the Falcon as well. </li>
<li>Nien Numb (<b>good</b>): Nien Numb isn't that necessary on a Falcon unless Lando is piloting (some nice fluff right there) or you're using Push the Limit. It's very good on ships with limited greens, such as the HWK. </li>
<li>Gunner (<b>excellent</b>): a top notch card, perfect for the Falcon. Han Solo with Gunner rolls dice up to four times, one of those rolls has to be good, right?</li>
<li>Millenium Falcon title (<b>good</b>): If offense is covered you can spend an action for added survivability.</li>
<li>Veteran Instincts (<b>excellent</b>): Pilot Skill has increased in importance, and this is one of three cards that can modify it. Good for winning the PS bid (having higher PS than your opponent) on any ship.</li>
<li>Draw their Fire (<b>good</b>): This card is pivotal in many lists, because of its synergy with pilot Chewbacca or with shield regeneration (Luke + R2-D2) </li>
<li>Elusiveness (<b>bad</b>): Taking stress is no small matter, and taking stress with 50% (or more) possibility of it being all for nothing is just bad. Taking an Elite Pilot Talent slot and costing 2 points is even worse. </li>
<li>Assault Missiles (<b>good</b> in Epic): This is included in the bad ordnance of waves 1-3, but does much better against swarms or clumps of ships (of which you see plenty in Epic, not so much at 100 points anymore)</li>
<li>Concussion Missiles (<b>bad</b>): The equivalent of Proton Torpedoes for missiles</li>
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<h4>
Wave 2 - A-wing expansion pack</h4>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a_JxxJHLuqE/VT4WBr-2GII/AAAAAAAAJcw/0K_eIhlWXDE/s1600/awingpack.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="127" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a_JxxJHLuqE/VT4WBr-2GII/AAAAAAAAJcw/0K_eIhlWXDE/s1600/awingpack.png" width="320" /></a>Originally designed as a fast and maneuverable missile carrier for the Rebels, the A-wing has suffered because of the lack of good missiles. Upon redesign, the A-wing can lose the missile slot for a 2pt discount (Chaardan Refit, available 3x in the Rebel Aces pack). This makes the PS1 Prototype Pilot an excellent 15 point blocker and brings down the cost of the EPT-capable Green Squadron to 17 points, the cheapest ship with an EPT for the Rebels. The A-wing can still be run effectively as a missile ship if you have some of the newer rockets (Proton Rockets are a good example). Otherwise, I recommend getting this expansion after Rebel Aces, to benefit from those cards. The pilots included are pretty good, Tycho is amazing at doing maneuvers and Arvel can work quite well with some of the newer upgrades.<br />
<br />
The cards included are of the missile variety, with one notable exception:<br />
<ul>
<li>Concussion Missiles (<b>bad</b>): The equivalent of Proton Torpedoes for missiles</li>
<li>Cluster Missiles (<b>situational</b>): Can be good if you have a good setup, TL + Marksmanship for instance to modify both attacks, against a 0 or 1-agility ship will be devastating. </li>
<li>Homing Missiles (<b>bad</b>): The only ordnance in waves 1-2 that doesn't spend a TL, but costs a fortune.</li>
<li>Push the Limit (<b>excellent</b>): If you're not getting Imperial Aces, then this is the only expansion where you can get this card, it's worth getting just for this. Action economy proved to be very important in X-wing, and this card was a no-brainer pick for an EPT for a long time. Still auto-include in many lists today. </li>
<li>Deadeye (<b>bad</b>): Makes ordnance slightly less bad (you still spend the equivalent of an action, but are spared the necessity of getting to TL that ship) with the cost of 1 pt and an EPT slot. Not worth it. </li>
</ul>
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<h4>
Wave 3 - B-wing expansion pack</h4>
A mainstay of the Rebel fleet, the B-wing hits like an X-wing, is very customizable (even more with the Rebel Aces B-wing/E2 that adds a crew slot) and has very good tight maneuvers (although those are red).<br />
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<ul><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IbygbceM95E/VT4WBj7pJrI/AAAAAAAAJcs/lLrC4neGvq8/s1600/bwingpack.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="153" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IbygbceM95E/VT4WBj7pJrI/AAAAAAAAJcs/lLrC4neGvq8/s1600/bwingpack.png" width="320" /></a>
<li>Proton Torpedoes (again!): How can this card keep coming up? </li>
<li>Advanced Proton Torpedoes (<b>situational</b>): I hesitate to call this bad although it's incredibly expensive and needs range 1 because it modifies 3 blanks to focus symbols, so if you have a TL + focus at range 1 you will have a large number of hits. </li>
<li>Ion Cannon (<b>good</b>): A good control cannon, perfect for the B-wing firing at range 3.</li>
<li>Autoblaster (<b>niche</b>): The B-wing isn't a very fast ship, so getting in range 1 will be difficult if your opponent avoids this on purpose. </li>
<li>Fire-Control System (<b>excellent</b>): The perfect card to increase firepower on a vanilla B-wing, or any other B-wing for that matter. </li>
</ul>
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<h4>
Wave 3 - HWK-290 expansion pack</h4>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xiX5sIgxFK4/VT4WzUqQQdI/AAAAAAAAJd8/ndEMNfxKqac/s1600/hwk290pack.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="167" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xiX5sIgxFK4/VT4WzUqQQdI/AAAAAAAAJd8/ndEMNfxKqac/s1600/hwk290pack.png" width="320" /></a>A support ship with interesting abilities. Despite its ugly maneuver dial (probably the worst in the game), this ship finds its way into lists because of its turret slot, pilot abilities and crew. The support abilities are varied, Roark gives PS12 to a ship, Kyle gives out a focus, Jan Ors gives an extra attack die (for any type of attack). The range on these abilities is fantastic (1-3), so the support ship can stay out of harm's way while still providing the effect. About as resistant as an X-wing, the ship has greater survivability because of positioning in the squad, crew upgrade options (Chewbacca could give it 2+ HP for instance) and possibly infinite focus token stacks.<br />
The upgrade cards form a pretty good bunch:<br />
<ul>
<li>Ion Cannon Turret (<b>excellent</b>)</li>
<li>Blaster Turret (<b>excellent</b>): 3 dice turrets are expensive, and with this card you pay for those 3 dice with a focus token (to be able to shoot) and with maximum range (2). And it's still worth it.</li>
<li>Intelligence Agent (<b>good</b>): Although this isn't exactly good on a HWK, it's a useful card. Being able to see another maneuver is good, but you also need a way to react, which a HWK without an Engine Upgrade would not have. One of the best ships for this upgrade is the TIE Phantom, especially with the new Decloak rules, where the Decloak takes place just after Intelligence Agent triggers, giving the TIE Phantom vital information.</li>
<li>Recon Specialist (<b>excellent</b>): Action economy 101, 2 is better than 1. You can use 1 focus for Blaster Turret, 1 for dice modification, or just 1 for attack modification and 1 for defense. The possibilities are there and it's extremely versatile. Not to mention the synergy with the Moldy Crow or with Jan Ors (crew)...</li>
<li>Saboteur (<b>bad</b>): A card which echoes wave 1 so much - spend an action to maybe do something that is not always possible. The enemy has to have hull damage, you have to be in range 1(!), you have to spend an action, then roll for 50% chance of it all being for nothing. Then slam fist on table, then never take Saboteur again. </li>
<li>Moldy Crow (<b>good</b>): The HWK needs focus. Whether to share with others (Kyle), or to shoot its Blaster Turret, or merely for more defense, it needs focus. This allows it to accumulate focus tokens in the first rounds of the game, or otherwise keep those that it doesn't spend. </li>
</ul>
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<h4>
Epic Wave 1 - Rebel Transport expansion pack</h4>
The Rebel transport may not be allowed in 100pts matches, but its escort is! This pack brings 4 more Rebel pilots for the X-wing and some cool upgrade cards. While the pilots are good, the X-wing is still less efficient than the B-wing and sees less play. Tarn has an action economy ability, which due to its timing transforms it into a defensive one (coupled with the R7 astromech). Hobbie has an ability which gets rid of stress easily, pairing him well with R3-A2, Jek gets rid of stress very easily, but with a high risk and Wes strips tokens off the opponent. Of all the abilities, Wes' ability is the most lackluster, since it only strips one token, you have to build your list around that. The rest of the abilities work well in their respective scenarios, but fail to give the X-wing enough of an edge to reenter the battlefield in force. <br />
<ul>
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<li>R2-D6 (<b>good</b>): There are several X-wing pilots that can use this to great effect (not to mention Y-wings). Biggs and Garven can certainly use an EPT.</li>
<li>R3-A2(<b>excellent</b>): A very good control card. You take one stress to give one stress, with the single constraint of having the opponent in your firing arc. There are many reasons you would want to do this: you may have an easier time getting rid of stress than the receiving ship, or the ship you're putting stress on is of higher value than yours. This card is made even better with the introduction of the BTL-A4 Y-wing, which shoots twice, stresses twice at range 2. </li>
<li>R4-D6(<b>subpar</b>): A card that will work very rarely and give you little value. Your ship is being focus fired? You can trade that damage for stress and survive another round. With one stress or two , you may be dead in the water the following round too. May find an use on targets that only need to survive that one extra round (thinking of Biggs here).</li>
<li>R5-P9(<b>good</b>): What makes R2-D2 great is that it doesn't require an action. This card almost requires an action, but you can obtain a focus token in other ways. Still, you might actually keep the focus token while defending, spending it if it saves you 2hp or more. </li>
<li>Flechette Torpedoes x3(<b>good</b>): This torpedo is better than others since it automatically gives stress to your opponent, whether it hits or not, which may prove crucial against some ships you may be facing against. It is quite cheap as well. </li>
</ul>
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<h4>
Epic Wave 1 - Tantive IV expansion pack</h4>
<b><span style="font-weight: normal;">The</span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Correlian Corvette brings some very nice cards for non-epic play:</span><br />
<ul>
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<li>
C3PO (<b>excellent</b>): C3PO gives you an evade once per round if you guess correctly. A very fluff-based card ("Never tell me the odds"), this card amounts to a guaranteed evade on a 1-agility ship such as the YT-1300. In a game containing dice, being able to control the outcome of certain engagements is very powerful. </li>
<li>Han Solo (<b>good</b>): Ever had a TL and then rolled all focus symbols? This is what this is for. A card that makes your TL better than a "normal" TL, but less good than a combination of TL+focus. While this is ok in 100pts, there are better options for 3pt crew. The Epic matches are where this card really shines, since the Corvette has no way of using a focus token. </li>
<li>Leia Organa (<b>niche</b>) : I'm marking this as niche since you may be able to craft a scenario in which all of your ships have to K-turn at once and still get their actions, maybe.</li>
<li>R2-D2 crew (<b>good</b>): I like this card since it's the exact opposite from early astromechs. This will <i>almost</i> <i>always </i>give you something good, and <i>might</i> do something bad. And the best part is, the bad doesn't stack up and might not happen at all. For instance, if you have no damage cards, there is no chance of one getting flipped over. If you have one damage card that's already flipped, again, no chance of it doing further damage. Sure, Minor Explosion becomes your worst enemy, but hey! there's only 2 of those in 33 damage cards. </li>
</ul>
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<h4>
Wave 4 - E-wing expansion pack</h4>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ax0Mnp6WD0M/VT4WBlU_K8I/AAAAAAAAJdk/s1ILPKb3T-Y/s1600/ewingpack.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ax0Mnp6WD0M/VT4WBlU_K8I/AAAAAAAAJdk/s1ILPKb3T-Y/s1600/ewingpack.png" width="320" /></a>The E-wing can be seen as a more expensive X-wing. The extra point cost goes into added speed (5 forward and green 2-banks), durability (an extra agility die) and versatility (Systems slot). While the non-unique pilots seem to pay too much for those benefits, the named pilots compensate by having amazing abilities: Etahn has an aura ability which applies to every attack on an opponent in his firing arc, much more powerful than a range-1 aura. Corran Horn is a monster, since he can shoot twice in a single round, at the cost of not shooting the following round. FCS, opponents stripped of tokens make this second attack very powerful.<br />
The cards are quite good, Advanced Sensors was only available on the Lambda before, astromechs are very useful:<br />
<ul>
<li>Advanced Sensors (<b>excellent</b>): This card might not seem like much at first glance. Surely an action is still an action, whenever you do it? But then you realize you could focus before K-turning, or focus before a bump, or Barrel-roll <i>then</i> do a maneuver. You could even Push the Limit for two actions, get a stress, do a green maneuver, then clear the stress! Turns out Advanced Sensors is an amazing card. </li>
<li>Outmaneuver (<b>good</b>): This card gives you Wedge's ability if you are outside your opponent's firing arc. While not exceptional against small fighters, this card is very good against large turreted ships, since it triggers more often and shuts down C3PO use on Falcons. </li>
<li>R7 astromech (<b>situational</b>): After doing the math I can say that this negates one of their modifiers. You TL, the opponent TLs, they cancel each other out. Unmodified attacks get halved down, which is good. I have yet to see this in play however, apart from the Tarn+R7 combo.</li>
<li>R7-T1 (<b>good</b>): An action economy droid, giving two actions for one in certain situations. Good for Y-wings that want to get out of arc, or high-PS X-wings closing the distance.</li>
<li>Flechette torpedoes(<b>good</b>)</li>
</ul>
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<h4>
Wave 4 - Z-95 Headhunter expansion pack</h4>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Kb24jEDhvwM/VT4WEBaGF0I/AAAAAAAAJdM/hXAiOkOylXo/s1600/z95pack.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="159" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Kb24jEDhvwM/VT4WEBaGF0I/AAAAAAAAJdM/hXAiOkOylXo/s1600/z95pack.png" width="320" /></a>An inexpensive missile carrier, made to be the equivalent of the TIE Fighter for Rebels. It is quite efficient as 12pt filler, many lists will use 2-3 headhunters to fill up the ranks. It flies similar to the X-wing, but has a 3k turn, for better or worse. Lieutenant Blount is a great one-time delivery boy for Assault missiles (since his missiles always hit) and Airen Cracken gives out a free action in the Combat Phase (which is a very interesting timing for movement actions).<br />
The cards are pretty ok:<br />
<ul>
<li>Wingman (<b>situational</b>): A neat little EPT which clears a friendly of a stress. Very good in specific builds. </li>
<li>Decoy (<b>situational</b>): A similar card to Swarm Tactics, but with a greater leash (range 2) and which switches PS. Requires the entire list to be built around it, suffers greatly when one of two ships dies or gets an Injured Pilot. It can get a Phantom (even Echo) up to PS11, so it can be scary. </li>
<li>Munitions failsafe (<b>situational</b>): For 1 extra point, you can make sure you never discard a missile that didn't hit. Great for high-cost missiles, though not so often seen. </li>
<li>Ion Pulse missiles (<b>good</b>): Great against low-agility large ships that have an asteroid in front of them, decent otherwise, since it doesn't require you to spend a TL to use it.</li>
<li>Assault missiles(<b>good in Epic</b>)</li>
</ul>
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<h4>
Wave 4.5 - Rebel aces expansion pack</h4>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NsxCfOpBSa8/VYKgG67onYI/AAAAAAAAJ00/43_4UBUzQWQ/s1600/RebelAces-components.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NsxCfOpBSa8/VYKgG67onYI/AAAAAAAAJ00/43_4UBUzQWQ/s1600/RebelAces-components.png" width="320" /></a>Rebel aces pack brings new paintjobs for the B-wing and the A-wing, together with new pilots and genuine fixes for the A-wing. The A-wing pilots get better defense (Gemmer Sojan), or pure action economy (Jake Farrell, who can also Barrel Roll) . The B-wings get to shoot torpedoes out of arc (Nera Dantels) or a stress-for-focus incredible ability (Keyan Farlander). Keyan is the clear winner of the bunch, and outshines any other B-wing pilot by far. <br />
The upgrade cards tie in to the A-wing fixes and to the addition of the two-seater B-wing:<br />
<ul>
<li>Chaardan Refit x3 (<b>excellent</b>): The fix for the A-wing repurposes the ship from the original missile boat to a flanker/annoyer. This card is an auto-include for any A-wing, but also increases the relative cost of any missile that an A-wing carries. </li>
<li>A-wing Test Pilot (<b>excellent</b>): As TIE Interceptors have two modifications, the A-wing is allowed to have 2 EPTs. It's so good it makes it easy to get carried away and put too much on a single A-wing. </li>
<li>B-wing/E2 (<b>excellent</b>): The B-wing was already versatile, now it can carry an additional slot at the cost of 1pt and the Modification slot (which was not used on the B-wing anyway). Good options include Tactician, Jan Ors, C3PO, Chewbacca etc.</li>
<li>Proton Rockets (<b>excellent</b>): A good card that is used on A-wings even if it raises their cost by 5pts, the proton rockets have a maximum of 5 dice, do not require a TL, do not require spending a token, they require only that the attacker is in range 1. 5 dice with focus is good damage, and it's quite easy to have a TL+focus when shooting these rockets. </li>
<li>Kyle Katarn (<b>excellent</b>): Action economy tied to stress removal, which is very good. Kyle Katarn triggers even if a ship bumps, even if a ship is double-stressed. In combination with PtL, allows ships to potentially do three actions per turn. </li>
<li>Jan Ors (<b>good</b>): An evade token is worth more than a focus token for many rebel ships. This card synergizes extremely well with many other Rebel pilot abilities or upgrade cards(Garven, Kyle Katarn both pilot and crew, Recon Specialist), since many pass focus tokens among them. Another neat thing is that it can work on any ship in range 3, including the one it is on. </li>
<li>Enhanced Scopes (<b>niche</b>): If you really want to move before those blocking ships. Vital on a Lambda with Anti-Pursuit Lasers, possibly having other uses. </li>
</ul>
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<h4>
Wave 5 - YT-2400 expansion pack</h4>
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The smaller cousin of the Millenium Falcon, this ship only has a 2-dice primary turret, but compensates by being able to carry a cannon and shoot it out of its arc! It's also the first large ship to feature a native barrel roll action. Along with a dial including most of the existing maneuvers, this ship turns out to be very maneuvrable! The first unique pilot, Eaden Vrill, isn't that great, he allows an extra die for the primary weapon attack if the opponent is stressed, the second pilot, Leebo, has a defensive ability (choose one faceup damage card to take from two options). The third pilot, Dash Rendar, has a very good ability, very well matched with this large ship, it can ignore obstacles in the Activation phase.<br />
The cards included are either new cards (most of them good) or older cards that work really well on the YT-2400. This is one of the more self-sufficient packs, in that a lot of the cards you need are already included:<br />
<ul>
<li>Lone Wolf (<b>excellent</b>): A reroll of one die both on defense and offense, triggering as many times as you want per round, with only two conditions. Getting blanks is fairly easy to do and getting out of range 2 from any friendlies is easy in a 2-ship build or towards the end of the game.</li>
<li>Stay on Target (<b>situational</b>): This card was designed by Paul Heaver, Worlds' champion two years in a row. The idea was to give an extra edge to high PS pilots. While the effect is good, the cost is too great. You receive a stress (and skip "perform action" phase) each time you use it, plus the 2 points and EPT slot. It can definitely see play with ships that don't mind stress (on Keyan for instance it's good), but otherwise there are better options for EPTs. It could also be used as a card that compensates for mistakes, which increases its value for new players. </li>
</ul>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E_Mu8ASMkBU/VXrGky_sLFI/AAAAAAAAJto/jBUoz8wq9AQ/s1600/Dash-rendar_pilot.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E_Mu8ASMkBU/VXrGky_sLFI/AAAAAAAAJto/jBUoz8wq9AQ/s1600/Dash-rendar_pilot.png" width="229" /></a></div>
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This is a video from a tournament held in Amsterdam, on the 10th of May 2015.All the participating lists can be found on the corresponding entry in <a href="http://lists.starwarsclubhouse.com/get_tourney_details?tourney_id=419">ListJuggler</a><br />
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Andrei Voinescuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10147376697913659005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462248865394174391.post-75846708858069458022015-04-17T23:18:00.000+03:002015-06-21T23:25:19.273+03:00Video Battle Report #1A friend from the Netherlands, Charlie, has asked me to join him on some video battle reports.<br />
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This is a video from a tournament held in Amsterdam, on the 12th of April 2015.All the participating lists can be found on the corresponding entry in <a href="http://lists.starwarsclubhouse.com/get_tourney_details?tourney_id=367">ListJuggler</a><br />
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Andrei Voinescuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10147376697913659005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462248865394174391.post-1785870487609109752015-03-14T16:02:00.002+02:002015-06-21T22:55:38.139+03:00Krassis Trelix<a href="http://teamcovenant.com/vorpalsword/files/2013/01/Krassis.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://teamcovenant.com/vorpalsword/files/2013/01/Krassis.png" height="320" width="232" /></a><br />
I never quite liked the initial paintjob on the Firespray, so I decided to spice one of them up. I quite like the color scheme from Krassis' artwork, so I went with something similar, inspired by <a href="https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/108826-voiddragons-repaints/?p=1133178">Voiddragon's Krassis</a>. <br />
While still being quite new to miniature painting, I like how this one turned out. I used two different shades, but did no highlighting, as I'm not sure I would do it properly :). <br />
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<br />Andrei Voinescuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10147376697913659005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462248865394174391.post-45936457906013676002015-03-14T15:41:00.000+02:002015-06-21T22:56:02.221+03:00A different type of swarmThis is a rather long report on the longest running list I've ever had. 50+ games, 6 games lost, 2 of which were outliers (2 Ties one-shotted each turn). These include games at the FLGS, tournaments, Vassal play and Vassal tournaments, playing up to wave 5. I am probably done playing it, just got eliminated from the Vassal tournament (UK Team Covenant Open, top 4), so I think it's time to share :).<br />
This is also an example (for myself included) of how to think about a tournament squad and prepare for every matchup. I intend to add this to a suite of articles that I will include in a small blog separate of TC.<br />
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<h3>
How it all started</h3>
<h3>
</h3>
Back in October 2014 I was trying to come up with a new list for tournament use. As an Imperial player, I had started out with the Tie swarm, then Krassis mini-swarm, more recently doing an Echo mini-swarm. This final list performed rather well and it could stand up against Whisper mini-swarm or Fat Han. Echo could manage beating those, but the meta was about to get more high-PS turret ships, so it was about to become too much of an uphill battle.<br />
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The ships I like most are Tie Fighters, Phantoms and Defenders, in that order. At first I thought about winning the PS battle with a PS11 Echo, courtesy of Decoying Vader. Sadly, Vader in his current state has very little offense so the list couldn't make it (With Autothrusters and Tie Advanced x1 there's a lot more to discuss..). Then I came up with an idea: what if you relied on the offense of the phantom, without even attempting to win a PS-bid to use with Advanced Cloaking Device, just rely on those 2 dice with extra modifiers to keep an X-wing with 1less HP for as long as possible?<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--5SYliosrN8/VL5Y8hisgsI/AAAAAAAAJQY/x3YY1W8JqQc/s1600/sigma_in_formation.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="474" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--5SYliosrN8/VL5Y8hisgsI/AAAAAAAAJQY/x3YY1W8JqQc/s1600/sigma_in_formation.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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The idea for this variant was rather simple: Force the enemy to go after Howlrunner, while Sigma keeps a focus and evade token, improvise afterwards. If the opponent goes after the Sigma, he's not likely to kill it one round, and it becomes a 5 TIE Fighter squad with an initial damage boost. It did work, but for the most part it meant that Howlrunner was very vulnerable defensively, didn't do any damage, and Night Beast's ability was only good in the late-game, when not flying in a formation. I also didn't like hanging on 100 points, potentially not being able to block with the Academy Pilots.<br />
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So what was the next step? Drop Night beast, enter Black Squadron! Since Black squadron is higher PS then the Sigma, suddenly squad leader can work from the Black to the Sigma, instead of Howlrunner.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jMz6Z3odWAA/VL5aWQa1k2I/AAAAAAAAJQk/dStTyR8oxTs/s1600/sigmaswarm.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="474" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jMz6Z3odWAA/VL5aWQa1k2I/AAAAAAAAJQk/dStTyR8oxTs/s1600/sigmaswarm.png" width="640" /></a></div>
So why is this list good? And why is this better than the last?<br />
<ul>
<li>There's a heavy hitter, the Sigma, with a reroll from Howlrunner</li>
<li>Sigma has two actions, which will be focus + evade, focus can be spent for attack after higher-PS ships fire </li>
<li>Three good blockers, with rerolls on attack</li>
<li>An action-less ship, which can also block sideways, you can skip an attack with the Black Squadron if it helps your position, it's not much of an attack anyway. </li>
</ul>
Interesting choices:<br />
<ul>
<li>You can give a barrel roll or a cloak if you bump with the Sigma by mistake</li>
<li>After the Sigma is gone you can boost your Academies with key Barrel rolls at PS4</li>
<li>You can choose not to cloak some of time, especially when playing against high-PS ships </li>
</ul>
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</h3>
<h3>
How it plays</h3>
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</h3>
I play this list in a pin-wheel formation modified to work with 6 ships. You can turn or bank and ships will not bump each other. The setup for this formation is quite complicated, but worth it, I will describe it a bit later. The formation should be 2x3 with the wider part towards the opponent. It functions relatively well in vertical mode as well, because TIE Fighters are quite fast and don't have that 1 forward. Howlrunner is in the middle, but Sigma is further to the front than the Black, so the formation can move in the beginning as a "vertical" 2x3. Having the Sigma in the corner also allows the Sigma to break formation very easily. <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wPdejf02j0E/VL5sgsmdiAI/AAAAAAAAJQ8/pIDICB8rBnY/s1600/sigmaswarm3bank.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wPdejf02j0E/VL5sgsmdiAI/AAAAAAAAJQ8/pIDICB8rBnY/s1600/sigmaswarm3bank.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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In general this is highly positional play, where the first two-three moves are key to getting a good shot at oncoming ships. In most cases, I prefer having an opening salvo at range 3 with all my ships, then a "hug" at range 1 with the academies and Howlrunner, with the sigma further behind. Against many lists, getting these good engagements with average dice will get me a big advantage. <br />
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The Sigma will mostly stay in formation if there isn't a strong incentive to stay behind. If there is, standing just a bit back might still give the Sigma benefits from Howlrunner and the Black squadron, while giving her an extra defence dice. Another option is to maintain a "semi-formation", where the Sigma shadows the TIE Fighters, even being in range 1 of Howlrunner (pink), or just within range 2 of the Black squadron (red). <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ka8y_JDfrE4/VL5spe7lUVI/AAAAAAAAJRE/Xhjwuw2ApFM/s1600/sigma_swarm_decloak_formation.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ka8y_JDfrE4/VL5spe7lUVI/AAAAAAAAJRE/Xhjwuw2ApFM/s1600/sigma_swarm_decloak_formation.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<h3>
Opening moves </h3>
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</h3>
The setup is complicated, as pictured below. I use one edge of the board, I put the first Tie 3.5 bases away from the side. Academy #2 is 0.25 bases behind and 0.25 to his left. The third Academy is one full base behind and two bases to the left. This is a rather wide pinwheel in the middle, I keep almost half a base between AP#1 and the Sigma. The Black follows the same rule (but mirrored) as AP#3. Howlrunner is also offset from the Sigma with the 0.25 base. This may sound hard to achieve, but in reality I make sure the second Academy is in the middle between AP#1 and the edge, and I just align the Sigma to AP#2 and Howlrunner to the edge. <br />
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The movements for the first round are then 4 forward for the core (marked with yellow), and 3 forward or 2 forward for the sides, depending on whether I choose to barrel roll backwards or forwards (marked with red and teal, respectively). Barrelling forward is better because it avoids the corner asteroid every time. Alternatively, a 3 forward with the core also works, coupled with a 2 forward with the side ships, barrel-rolling them backwards to get into position. This makes a nice 2x3 formation, which is usually perfect for turning in towards the middle. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uhwkTQyPxJ0/VL5wUYF988I/AAAAAAAAJRQ/ml51XpV5bDw/s1600/sigma_swarm_setup.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="343" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uhwkTQyPxJ0/VL5wUYF988I/AAAAAAAAJRQ/ml51XpV5bDw/s1600/sigma_swarm_setup.png" width="640" /> </a></div>
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What if your opponent sets up opposite of this, and I want to avoid a frontal engagement? What if I want to feign going forward then turning left? Luckily it's quite possible. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nNpVlhSkvRY/VL52lX2xtOI/AAAAAAAAJRk/8TGqAZN0jMw/s1600/sigma_swarm_3hardleft.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nNpVlhSkvRY/VL52lX2xtOI/AAAAAAAAJRk/8TGqAZN0jMw/s1600/sigma_swarm_3hardleft.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Not only can it be done, but between going 4 forward then turning 3 or turning 3 from the beginning there's a small gap, big enough for the largest asteroid. As I'll discuss in asteroid placement, you want a normal swarm setup, so setting up the biggest asteroid near your starting position helps a lot. </div>
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So after making a 3-turn left with everyone except the bottom Academy, which did a 1-turn, the formation doesn't look as good. Is this still a formation? Yes, almost. Banking is considerably closer now, and AP#1 might collide with #2 on the table if they aren't maneuvered carefully (haven't done this sequence on a physical table yet), but it works! Black can also catch up by having him do a larger bank (3-bank, while others 2-bank). This can be seen in the image above on the right side. </div>
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The left side of the above duo is a sequence of maneuvers perfect for a K-turn. If the opponents baits a frontal engagement, going full forward, then you have one round of him shooting at the rear of your formation, then you can turn to engage him while he's in the corner. The cost is exactly this, spending a turn to reorient the formation so the Academies are behind the other ships, then K-turning. Works great against dual Decimators! Academies to a 2-forward, Sigma and Howlrunner do a 5-forward (well, Sigma does a 2 + 2 = 5 move :) ) Black does a 4 forward and catches up to the Academies, but won't get past them. Having the Black squadron lagging behind is the sacrifice needed for this added versatility. Additionally, against dual Decimators, he is a perfect blocker, he won't get a shot and his action is passed to the sigma. </div>
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<h3>
Asteroid placement</h3>
<h3>
</h3>
Asteroid placement works similar to placement for normal swarms. I try to keep asteroids away from the middle, or at least leave as few as possible in the middle to make room for navigating 6 ships through. I put asteroids in my corners (the big one near the setup point is an example), or I put asteroids at range 3 from the opposing side and range 2 from the board edges, which makes for difficult turn 2 maneuvering for my opponent. After asteroid setup I'm not fixated on a corner, I pick the corner which gives me some alternative "lanes".<br />
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<h3>
Matchups</h3>
<h3>
</h3>
Not all matchups are easy with list, on the contrary, some are quite difficult. What helps greatly is the fact that the list allows many different choices at each point between choosing maneuvers for 6 ships, choosing actions with squad leader and playing the phantom. Mid and late-game I can also break formation and start blocking like crazy. The efficiency of the TIE Fighter also helps a lot, a game is never lost until I've lost every single TIE, and I've had many games with below average dice and a disadvantageous position that I was able to turn around with only two Ties and a Sigma or only Ties, etc. <br />
<ul>
<li>Against 4-ship rebel builds, ships will most likely meet in the middle, where I usually go for the range 3 then range 1 plan. If the range 3 is substantially disadvantageous from a statistical point of view, it can be skipped, but then I won't be able to block him with the Academies the following turn. 2 of my genuine losses are against this type, specifically Biggs + R2-F2 with Kyle. Coupled with lower than average rolls on the Sigma in the first turn, I don't stand much of a chance to take down Biggs. A feign or two should make him break formation, but I wasn't able to do that with that opponent. 2 losses in a row, oh well. </li>
<li>Swarms won't give the list much trouble, since it has superior firepower, enough to turn the tides decisively in the first engagement. I just get into range 1 and let the dice work some magic. If there are no high-PS ships the Sigma can be used to attack from a different direction after the first engagement, but always keeping in mind to stay close to the Black squadron.</li>
<li>Imperial mini-swarms are a bit of a problem in a timed match environment, this is how I got a modified win with this list once and one of the reasons I'm dropping the list. I've discovered it's better to focus on the high-profile ship and take it down quickly, since taking out TIE Fighters is easy in the beginning but gets substantially harder as the list loses ships in return. </li>
<li>Wave 5 two-ship builds, Fat Han, all except Phantom Decimator: I'm clumping these all up because the objective with these is the same. Maneuvering so I can get good shots on the big ship, ignoring the escort. In the case of Dual Decimator, I go for the weaker one, the one he'll put forward.This matchup requires a lot of anticipation, some feigning direction on my part, but I can usually pull it off. The Dual Decimator with Oicunn Mara Jade is a big problem, though, and one of my losses. The trick is to do a range 3 engagement first, which the opponent will avoid at all costs. At range 1 with 5 ships shooting into Oicunn, there's a big chance he'll survive the round and trigger Mara Jade, which creates huge problems. This is why I researched the possibility of going 3 hard right/left, then K-turning, specifically to catch large ships in the corner.</li>
<li>Phantom lists, specifically ones with 1 Phantom, are doable. I use the Sigma with all its tokens, hope it survives sufficient rounds to make several attacks on the opposing Phantom. Even cloaked, there's a chance of damage with 4 dice. Using the Academies as blockers, it can be done. I never lost to a 1 Phantom list.</li>
<li>2 Phantom lists: Echo + Whisper + 2APs. This is the list from hell, one for which I have not prepared enough and which killed me in the UK Vassal tournament. Blocking can still be done, as long as both Phantoms are not on opposite sides. It's very hard to prepare against this list because the matchup relies heavily on guessing what the Phantoms are doing, training by myself on Vassal doesn't help. I'm also a bit torn on the asteroid placement, as it's easier to block in an open field but it also leaves a lot of options for the Phantom player. </li>
</ul>
<h3>
Shortcomings</h3>
<ul>
<li>The lack of a high-PS pilot hurts sometimes, and overall PS is very low, leading to a possibility of losing many Ties in the first exchange, without them firing back. But then again, that's valid for all swarms.</li>
<li>PS 3 is quite low, and in the current meta a lot of ships are higher than that (Talas come to mind). This is has its advantages though, mainly the fact the the opposing player might focus too hard on the Sigma thinking he can kill it in one round, which almost never happens. </li>
<li>The Black squadron will often completely whiff rolls, even with Howlrunner. </li>
<li>Making a wrong move in the beginning with the entire formation may prove disastrous, much like any other swarm. </li>
</ul>
<h3>
Conclusion</h3>
<h3>
</h3>
This was certainly a fun list to play, but at this moment I don't think it has a place in the current meta mainly because of timed matches and MoV. Timed matches limit my ability to make comebacks with TIE Fighters and get the large ships that run away with very little HP. That may change in the future, but for now this limits the build to Vassal play. Even there, MoV is lowest with this list, since I'll always lose a TIE Fighter or two in a game, even if I outplay my opponent by far. I would be reluctant to take this to a tournament with no top cut.<br />
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On the flip side I think this proves you can play a phantom + 5 Ties very differently from the Whisper +5 archetype. This is why I call it a swarm, not a mini-swarm, because the Sigma acts as part of the swarm for a long time and doesn't rely on outmaneuvering to stay on the board. This also helped me learn a lot about positioning, even if I was already familiar with swarm play. It's also the first list I participated with in an online tournament, where I had time to prepare for each match, for which I could know what are the odds for each engagement, how the opposing list plays, how to properly counter it. <br />
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<br />Andrei Voinescuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10147376697913659005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462248865394174391.post-340357881774241822014-12-02T16:44:00.002+02:002015-06-21T22:56:47.245+03:00Blue Squadron Pilots<br />
Thematically I like running pairs of non-uniques, and Blue Squadron Pilots are my favourites among the Rebels. While in the current meta they don't see a lot of play, I painted two of my B-wings to match their squadron.<br />
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Even if the shading is pretty heavy, I like the original paintjob, so for this quick one I just added some Blue and did my best to cover it up in equal amounts of shade to hide the difference. I also spruced up the engines a bit, gave them a dark red similar to the one in the movies. <br />
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Andrei Voinescuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10147376697913659005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462248865394174391.post-51392725575485586262014-11-08T21:23:00.000+02:002015-06-21T23:27:51.147+03:00The Epic Tournament Experience - Imperial VersionSo I got to attend two Epic tournaments while I was in the Netherlands, both were Team events. We had to bring 2 150pts lists for each teammate. My girlfriend was keen to participate in a team event so I went with her. I picked Imperial side, and went for a TIE swarm. Not being specifically well-versed in Epic, I decided to neglect the low PS problem, since it meant I had more ships on the board. Howlrunner + 7 APs, Echo (more maneuvrable than Whisper, can theoretically stay out of high-PS-ships' arc), Captain Kagi to lure away the Assault Missiles and two Assault Missile dispensers of our own with Captain Jonus to make sure they hit.<br />
<br />
There were 8 teams at the tournament, 4 Imperial 4 Rebel, with a total of one Rebel Transport. <br />
<br />
Our first game was against a similar list, but with Assault Missiles on Bombers. They also had Jendon with Weapons Engineer and STS-321, which meant they could target lock everything! Sure, the first target lock was on Kagi, but the second could be on anything, essentially negating Kagi's use. While we made sure their Assault missiles didn't fire by thinning out target-locked Ties and getting them in range 1 of the Bombers, we failed to hit with our own Assault Missiles because of .. dice. 4 dice with 3 rerolls (2 from Jonus, 1 from Krassis) was not enough to hit a Tie Fighter. Oh well. The game ended up being a slugfest with nothing else interesting happening, with our side losing by a small margin. Lesson learned: Assault Missiles take great work and care to hit and splash on the right targets.<br />
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The second game was against the only team that actually brought an Epic ship. They had no clue how to play it however, and despite me insisting that we check out the rules before we play, we started placing asteroids not according to the rules because they wouldn't have it any other way. Fly casual has its limits, but I let it go and started playing. The Rebel tranport was unequipped, they also had Han Solo, Luke, X-wings, Y-wings, A-wings. It started out pretty ok, but in the first round of engagement 4 Ties were one-shotted. Even with their A-wings out of the fight for 3 turns (they decided to turn around towards their edge of the board, then come back) and with Luke and R2-D2 biting the dust from being hit by the Rebel Transport, we were only barely able to recover and reach point parity. Then the A-wings swooped in and finished off one of the Firesprays, securing them the victory. They lost a Y-wing and 3 X-wings, while we lost 8 TIE Fighters. Lesson learned: PS is much more important than I anticipated. <br />
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Our third game speaks plenty of tiredness. 2h30 for each game is quite long, so both us and the opponents setup in front of each other and played chicken. We lost again, by a few points. Lesson learned: Bring bigger guns.<br />
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I saw this tournament as a clear list-building error on my part. The errors were made very clear from the first game: PS too low on too many front-line ships. Other ships too well equipped for how much damage they actually do etc. Unfortunately, we had to go in the following matches knowing it will be an uphill battle. <br />
<br />
In the end, the guys with the Rebel transport won the whole thing. A nice indicator that everybody had something to learn that day.Andrei Voinescuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10147376697913659005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462248865394174391.post-79405649702479087082014-09-08T02:57:00.000+03:002015-06-21T22:56:34.768+03:00Netherlands National X-wing Tournament 2014<div class="post entry-content " itemprop="commentText">
<br />
On
September the 7th 2014 I was lucky enough to participate in the
Netherlands Nationals, held in De Tafelridder, Leiden. It's a small
shop on the side of a canal, with just enough room for 20 X-wing games.
Turnout was of about 36 people. Start was at 10:30 and we finished at
about 22:00. <br />
<br />
First of all, I came in as a foreigner, not knowing anybody and never
playing anyone from there. I also have played only three other people
aside from my friends and relatives (what I can say, we had a small
Regional in Romania).<br />
<br />
I had two lists prepared for this tournament:<br />
<br />
Soontir Fel + TC + PtL, Vessery + HLC, OGP + Vader + FCS<br />
<br />
This list is similar to a list I saw in top 8 US <span class="searchlite">nationals</span>
(The only one with a defender), and I think I saw a variation of this
list in the actual tournament. FCS on OGP is an odd choice, but in most
of my games OGP seems to survive and fire a lot (I use Vader sparringly,
on shieldless targets), so 3-4 rounds with FCS seems to be worth it. I
also keep the target lock even if I stress the shuttle with a hard 2,
which is a big plus.<br />
I didn't take this list because I played with it in a small store
championship one day before the big tournament and I lost as soon as I
got tired. It's not a forgiving list, each pilot must give his very
best, you must be a bit lucky to not have Soontir die in one shot, etc.<br />
<br />
I also heard in the small store championship that Falcons with C-3PO
might not be so popular, so I was encouraged to play a Phantom list. I
took an Echo mini-swarm, which is a list I'm very comfortable with and
have lots of fun playing. I prefer Echo over Whisper because of the
added maneuverability.<br />
<br />
Echo + VI + FCS + Gunner + ACD<br />
Howlrunner + Stealth<br />
3 Academy Ties<br />
<br />
Echo's load-out is specifically made to deal with high-agility
targets and to mitigate any disastrous rolls. I also use Gunner to make
long-range shots possible, shooting with the Phantom from far away,
preferably from behind an asteroid as well. I apply this tactic whenever
I expect return fire (especially return fire from high PS) and it gives
me the additional green dice to survive a lot of the times. Echo
doesn't die prematurely this way.<br />
<br />
<br />
Round 1 was a bye from the Regionals. I thought it would give me time to take some pictures, see the lists, be less tired <img alt=";)" class="bbc_emoticon" src="http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/public/style_emoticons/default/wink.png" />
when it counted, etc. In the end, I don't think it was such a good
idea. A bye is 150 points, which in a tournament with no elimination
rounds means you don't make *any* cut or tie-breaker.<br />
<br />
1-0<br />
<br />
Round 2 was against the player that had to take a bye as well because
of me. Sorry man. <br />
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<br />
<br />
Chewbacca + Ptl + Gunner + NN + MF<br />
Gold Squadron Pilot + ICT<br />
Rookie Pilot + R2-D2<br />
<br />
The first game was rather bumpy. We set up asteroids on a
diagonal of 4, with 2 in opposing corners (think % sign). I take my left
corner with my Ties, Phantom middle left, he takes the opposite one.
I'm betting for him to go forward, so I turn in with all Ties towards
him and try to cross the asteroid belt with the Phantom. He tells me
he's a new player, and I immediately start making mistakes (either I
relaxed or I instinctively "went easy"). Second round of movement I bank
my fighters and the first one bumps a bit on the phantom such that they
all bump. His fighters were still away, Chewie going straight and the
Rookie with the Y-wing slowly banking. Of course Echo is good with
navigating asteroid fields, but she still missed the next turn of
shooting. Asteroid placement further delays Echo's voyage. I exchange
fire with only my Ties, not taking much damage but slowly chipping away
at his ships. After 2-3 rounds of shooting in open space left by the
diagonal, he's at 1hull with the Rookie and no shields on the Gold
pilot, Chewie untouched. His Rookie is facing away from the battle. I
lost no ships until this point so I'm feeling confident and I bring in
the Phantom closer (usually it was out of range of the Ion Cannon).<br />
<br />
At
this point they call 15 minutes and I realize I've been wasting a lot of
time, either casually talking to my opponent or taking my time to do my
actions. I proceed to go for Chewbacca, because the Rookie was too far
away already and the Gold squadron alone wouldn't be enough to win if he
destroyed one my damaged Ties. Then the worst thing happened: I bumped
the Phantom into his Chewbacca. No shooting, no cloak! He proceeds to
take out Howlrunner. Next turn, I bump again (not having the space to
K-turn the Phantom). He takes out an Academy. I use Echo to take out the
Gold squadron, but I still can't shoot Chewie. I don't even think
Chewbacca and Echo ever exchanged fire, but he was on low hp due to
constant fire from the Academies. They call again for time, 2 minutes.
At this point, I have to give him credit. All he wanted to do was play
the game. I did too, but as casually as I had played that game, I still
wanted to win if possible. His rookie re-entered the fight, and this
time I had a shot on him with Echo. I took him out, it was the last game
round. I won by 15 points. Chewbacca still had 4-5 HP.<br />
<br />
2-0<br />
<br />
I had two wins, but I felt as if I had lost two games. My next opponent had a Whisper mini-swarm<br />
<br />
Whisper + VI + RC + ACD<br />
5x Academy Pilots<br />
<br />
He
had 100 points. I lost this game before we even placed ships. I
chose to give him initiative. I don't know what I was thinking, I never
had any
swarm vs. swarm games. My motivation was that I could see what his swarm
was doing and make small adjustments with barrel roll, but this wasn't
the case. Having actions is immensely more important in the first range 1
exchange.<br />
<br />
He set up in the middle with the Ties, his
Whisper in the left, while I was 1in the middle with my Echo and on the
right with my Ties. My plan was to avoid Whisper's firing arc with Echo
as much as possible, and taking out Ties. I would also take whatever
chance I had at shooting at Whisper, preferrably with Howlrunner before
Echo. I would not take stress on Echo no matter what.<br />
<br />
We met in the
middle and he couldn't engage anything with Whisper for a while. Because
my Ties were bumping and his were not, my formation lost coherence and I
couldn't get concentrated shots on anything. Howlrunner dropped
quickly. Echo was shooting from range 3 (his side basically) at Ties,
doing 1 damage every time, not triggering Gunner at all. I only managed
to kill one Tie when time was called, he killed enough for a full win in
the final minutes (Echo + 2 Ties, previously he had only killed
Howlrunner, 21-12 would have been a modified win).<br />
<br />
<br />
2-1<br />
<br />
I was pretty demoralized after this loss, I did my best but my
original mistake cost me too much. I was 2-1, but no real victories. So I
wasn't looking forward to my next game, which was<br />
<br />
Han Solo + PtL + NN + Gunner + EU + MF<br />
3x Tala Squadron Pilot<br />
<br />
Every Phantom player's nightmare. Similar asteroid set-up, but not
because of me. I set myself up the same, he deploys the Falcon in
opposite corner, Talas in the middle. This time I position properly and
on the second round the Ties cross paths with the Phantom perfectly, as
it goes to shoot the Talas. My plan is to keep the Talas occupied with
the Phantom (hopefully out of Han's range, or at least at range 3 behind
an asteroid).<br />
<br />
I exchange fire Han-Ties and Echo-Talas. Minor damage on
the Ties, 3 shields off Han and 2 shields off a Tala. Han's against an
asteroid wall and I know he wants to start shooting the phantom, so he's
likely to go 3-4 forward to go over my Ties. I 3-bank with one Tie to
block that and proceed head-first with the rest. It's not as potent as
with a full-swarm, since out of 4 ties, 1 is facing <span class="searchlite">another</span>
direction, 1 is bumped into Han, and I'm left with shooting Howlrunner
and an Academy (albeit at range 1). Echo was tucked behind an asteroid
at range 3, shooting at Talas, so Han decided to go for the range 1
attack. 3 Hits. I roll 1 evade two focus. Should I evade Gunner by
taking two damage? Seems abrupt. I use the focus, he kills Howlrunner
with the Gunner extra attack. The Tala only takes one critical (so much for
using my Gunner): Stunned pilot, he'll be dead on the next round.<br />
<br />
The following round I 4k
and 3k with my two Ties and go forward with my out-of-formation blocker
(blocking the Tala so he dies). Han banks to go for Echo, then boosts.
Echo is moving further away, range 3 behind asteroid, Han is starting to
take damage. The next round Han manages a range 2 attack through an
asteroid, and he strips only one shield (which I could evade, but I
didn't want to trigger Gunner, a no-brainer). Return fire is not so
great for him, he takes a Damaged Sensor Array (no action bar -
including EU and MF). He's also on 2 HP, but his Talas are trying to mop
up the ties (the blocker Tie has agility -1) I disengage Echo and end
up taking out the Tala which had range 1 shot on my Ties. The third Tala
also drops that round and he concedes.<br />
<br />
3-1<br />
<br />
The previous game gave me confidence and personal satisfaction, I
could have gone home that instant and be happy that I won against a Han
Solo + 3 Tala, which I wasn't confident that I could do. I was facing<br />
<br />
Ibtisam + SW<br />
Roark Garnet + Blaster Turret + Recon Specialist<br />
2x Blue Squadron Pilots<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
This list was straightforward, but dangerous. Two ships shooting at
PS12 is no laughing matter. We deployed in opposite corners with all our
ships and met in the center. Roark was further away, but Echo was in
formation. I thought I could spare one frontal attack before I starting
flanking with Echo.<br />
<br />
I lost one shield, but a B-wing dropped that turn. The next
turn all his B-wings bumped (no place for K-turning) and I was where I
am most comfortable, behind an asteroid shooting Echo at range 3. The
next turn his B-wings went after Echo. Two of my Ties turned, the other
two (with Howlrunner) went after Roark. Echo disengaged and ended up
behind the B-wings, facing away, shooting at Roark at range 3. Roark
went down in a single round of shooting from Echo, Howlrunner and a
range 1 Academy Pilot, then every ship turned to face the B-wings. One of his
B-wings was on an asteroid, but that hardly mattered, because I was at
almost full HP on my ships, what followed was a botched mop-up (I forgot
not one, but TWO dials in one turn), but I took the full win.<br />
<br />
4-1<br />
<br />
My next opponent had a double Phantom.<br />
<br />
Whisper + VI + FCS + ACD<br />
Echo + VI + IA + ACD<br />
2 Academy Pilots<br />
<br />
I had no idea what to expect from a list like this, or what weakness I
could exploit with an inferior-PS phantom and Tie Fighters. The
asteroids left an open space in the middle, where we met. He had set up
in the middle, I on the right side. I avoided his Whisper with my Echo
like crazy, but since I had initiative he had to avoid my Echo with his
Echo as well.<br />
<br />
I started blocking decloak paths for Whisper, so that he
couldn't get good shots at Echo. I lost Howlrunner in the round she
successfully blocked a decloak path of Whisper. Karma i guess. We
continued dancing around, me trying my best to avoid Whisper fire, him
trying to get me, all around our academy pilots.<br />
<br />
He made one mistake (1
hard right instead of 1 hard left) with his Echo, and he chose to barrel
roll out of range of my Echo, towards the edge of the map. He exchanged
a round of fire for <span class="searchlite">another</span>, because
the next turn he could only 1 hard right to not get off the map, and I
was at range 1 again. He took evade (don't know why not cloak - maybe
fearing the green dice?). I rolled 2 eyes, but used Gunner to attack
again. 5 hits. He rolled 2 more evades. I took two shields off. He made
<span class="searchlite">another</span> bank maneuver the following
round, and tried to escape, but couldn't barrel roll out of my firing
arc because of an asteroid, so he evaded again. Time was called, this
was the last round. I had a vague notion that time was almost up, so I
was going after Echo with persistence, while keeping his Whisper
occupied by blocking decloaks with my remaining two Ties. He was
apparently not aware of the time limitation, so it caught him off-guard.<br />
<br />
I took Echo out, but
he still had a range 1 shot on one of my Academy pilots with one of his.
He rolled three focus (he had a focus token). I had one damage. I had
to roll two natural evades. I got none. The game ended with me getting a
modified win by 3 points. This was a list that would have been very
difficult for me to kill outright, but I won on time. This is a new
notion for me, since this was only my third tournament.<br />
<br />
5-1<br />
<br />
I ended up with 5th place because of my modified win. My only loss was against the champion, which I can easily disregard <img alt=":D" class="bbc_emoticon" src="http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/public/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.png" />
. I might even have gone different if I didn't choose initiative, at
least I would have killed more than a single Tie Fighter. The biggest
prize was getting good games against good opponents (excepting the bye
and the first game, where I played miserably) and holding my
own. It was also very interesting to see all these new lists. I had
heard of Whisper + 5, but it's a beast to see in person. The OGP + 6 was
also very intimidating.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
I still think my list is fun to play with Gunner and FCS, but I can
understand why some people would choose a different load-out. The
phantoms I played against go for the range 1 kill, but they have turns
where they don't shoot anything but are shot at. If I stick at range 3
with TL+focus, I will get constant but high enough damage output and I
can often risk to use a focus on attack. I am seriously considering
giving Howlrunner Swarm Tactics, since I can shoot a damaged Tie that
might not make it to shoot that round. Stealth Device is about 50%
efficient, sometimes it doesn't really matter that you had one extra
die, Howlrunner is still dead.<br />
<br />
I'm also glad that I brought along my girlfriend to play. She had fun despite being a very tiring event. She ran:<br />
<br />
Etahn A'baht<br />
Blue Squadron Pilot + FCS <br />
2 x Blue Squadron Bilot<br />
<br />
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<br />
She
had a few very close games and one full win, which is very good
considering this was a premiere event, people who showed up probably
play much more than she has (so far :) )<br />
<br />
More pictures in a <a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/110802094834163447459/albums/6057418242505177841">Google+ Album</a><br />
<br />
The loot included an acrylic range ruler, target lock tokens and an Alternate Art Chewbacca pilot card.<br />
<br />
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In the end I had lots of fun and hope to play these guys again. Fly Casual!</div>
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Andrei Voinescuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10147376697913659005noreply@blogger.com0Leiden, Netherlands52.162297375671585 4.500564336776733452.161688375671588 4.4993038367767335 52.162906375671582 4.5018248367767333tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462248865394174391.post-78901855207479161812014-07-31T22:51:00.000+03:002015-06-21T23:29:35.265+03:00Romanian Regionals 2014On the 20th of July 2014 <a href="https://www.facebook.com/wargamesstore">Wargames Store</a> in Bucharest organized the first X-wing tournament in Romania (Regional tournament). This is a retelling of events as I remember them.<br />
<br />
I was used to only playing 1 friend regularly who also bought in, the other were just people from our gaming group coaxed into playing :). I was excited to be able to test my skills.<br />
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One week before the tournament wave 4 arrived and we found out it was legal, so we tried the new ships. My go-to list at the time had Krassis with Heavy Laser Cannon and Howlrunner miniswarm, so I was excited to swap out Krassis with the new Phantom. I still remember flying it off the map in my first game on the second turn, because I missjudged how far a 2-bank decloak takes you. My friend went with Etahn and 3 B-wings, and we proceeded to do some training matches, which went extremely well. Echo seemed like a difficult ship to fly, but rewarding so I also spent quite some time familiarizing myself with the decloak paths. I would just drop some asteroids on the table, and decloak-move all around. Nowadays you can train with <a href="http://randolphw.github.io/echolocation/">Echolocation</a>, just pick a place on the map and try to get the best firing solution on it with a decloak and a maneuver.<br />
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The turnout for the tournament was smaller than I expected, only 9 people showed up, and I got a bye in the first round. Oh well, first tournament! The tournament was 4 rounds of swiss with a top 4 cut, so there would be plenty of games to be played. I had plenty of time to see the other lists and take lots of pictures. There was plenty of diversity, no two lists were alike. Unfortunately, I was too focused to take pictures while playing, so most of them are from the first round.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xzxva1WIRzI/U8xCFRy1lzI/AAAAAAAAIJc/cPcEbsrt6dw/s1600/IMGP7881.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xzxva1WIRzI/U8xCFRy1lzI/AAAAAAAAIJc/cPcEbsrt6dw/s320/IMGP7881.jpg" width="211" /></a>My first opponent had Soontir, Carnor and Turr Phenir. Since I had initiative, only Soontir would shoot before me. I lured him with Echo (shooting from behind an asteroid). As he approached, I moved sideways and charged with my Ties. One interceptor bumped took 3 range 1 shots, another was killed by Echo.<br />
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My second opponent was my friend with 3B's and Etahn. Turns out he was the only one who didn't outbid me on PS. We met with Ties charging on him near the edge of the map, Echo flying a bit behind, shooting from behind asteroids. I lost two ties and almost lost Echo to a mistake, but I emerged victorious.<br />
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I played my third opponent twice, once in the last swiss round and once in the top4. He had Wedge with Swarm tactics and R2-D2, a Gold squadron Ion and 2 Rookies. My plan was to take out Wedge with the Ties in a frontal assault, while Echo shot from afar or out of arc. In the first game he had a range 3 PS9 shot on Echo, in the other game he didn't. Both games played out fairly similarly, with my Ties getting a good engagement in the first round of combat. In one of the games he managed to Ion the Phantom and bring it down to 1 Hull, but he couldn't kill it.<br />
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In the finals I faced a list with Corran Horn + PtL + FCS, 2 Rookies, 1 Gold. For some reason we either rolled for Initiative or i gave him initiative, fact which I can't explain. A regrettable decision, if that was indeed the case. Perhaps I thought moving after Corran would give me a better advantage than shooting before him. I setup on a long winding path to either split his forces or flank, while Echo went in the middle as bait. The two Rookies and the Y (which had no turret) engaged the Fighters, dealing a lot of damage in the first few rounds. Meanwhile, Echo was letting Corran chase her. As the Ties weren't doing well on their own, I decided to help them with Echo. Corran was at least 1 turn away from the fight as the Ties with the help of Echo finally managed to kill the Rookies and the Gold squadron. I remember that at this point my opponent resigned. <br />
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More pictures <a href="https://goo.gl/photos/hjV2C91MqRuLdDUS9">on Google+</a>Andrei Voinescuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10147376697913659005noreply@blogger.com0Sector 1, Bucharest, Romania44.438488318945552 26.08268558979034444.438399818945555 26.082528089790344 44.438576818945549 26.082843089790344