Revised Commander's Guide - X-Wing Squadrons

Well, if I'm going to write about all the other stuff that has changed since Wave 1, I might as well talk about squadrons too.  Today we'll go over the ubiquitous and probably most well-known Rebel starfighter, the X-Wing.

You probably have a LOT of X-Wings.

How many X-Wing squadrons do you have?  You probably have 4 from the core set, plus 2 for each Rebel Fighter 1 pack.  Or you could be me with 2 core sets, 3 Fighter 1 packs and plans to buy a 4th so I can get some replacement Y-Wings since "Green" and "Yellow" squadrons broke off engines and maybe I want to run 8 A-Wings some day.  Point is, you've got quite a few.  (14, with plans for 16 in my case)

500 Point Tournament Fleet

At our local game shop, we really enjoyed the 500-point fleet building in the Corellian Conflict.  So, when it was time to run an event with the new 2017 Spring Tournament Kit we decided to run it at 500 points.

I've seen some in the Armada community advocating bumping the standard tournament size up to 500 points.  I've not been convinced we need to do that overall, but it seems fun for a one-off event.  Read more to take a look at the fleet I will be taking.

200 Articles Posted!

Another impressive milestone for those of us who understand math from a base 10 system, we've published 200 articles on Steel Squadron HQ!  Well, we did just now, with this article, because it is #200!  That's 200 articles of the best strategy and tactical advance you could ever ask for!  And that doesn't include the pages that we've put up to make finding old articles and understand the game better.

Let's take a look at what got us here.

Commander's Guide - Corellian Conflict X-Wings

We have finally got more spoiled cards, so it is time to get back to my favorite part of the blog:  Commander's Guides!

Just look at that handsome gentleman.

It's time to talk about the X-Wings.  The namesake for the site URL, and by far the most famous starfighter in all of Star Wars.

Being the Playerbase We Want to Be

If something is legal according to the rules, and gives you an advantage, should you do it?

How much pride to you take in being an Armada player?  A miniatures gamer?  In being someone that shops at your local game store?

How do you want your local area to be seen in your city?  In your region?  In the greater community?

Wave 1 Memorial Tournament - Round 4 vs MattShadowlord Game Play

Final match of the Wave 1 Vassal Memorial Tournament - I am up vs Matt Shadowlord and a chance to pull into 2nd or 3rd place with a convincing win.  To review, here is his fleet:

[ MattShadowlord FLEET - 396/400]
- DESPOT Victory I-class Star Destroyer - Admiral Screed (99)
- JUSTICE Gladiator I-class Star Destroyer - Assault Concussion Missiles (63)
- ORDER Gladiator I-class Star Destroyer - Assault Concussion Missiles (63)
- PACIFICATION Gladiator I-class Star Destroyer - Assault Concussion Missiles - Insidious (66)
- AUTHORITY Gladiator I-class Star Destroyer - Engine Techs - Assault Concussion Missiles - Demolisher (81)
- TIE Fighter Squadron (8) x3 = (24)

My ships would be the so far intact original Porkins as Garm's new flagship, the Memories of Alderaan from the previous game, and the new Darklighter II.  BEAST and Dinner Squadrons had been reformed.

Wave 1 Memorial Tournament - Round 4 vs MattShadowlord Initial Thoughts

Is there a sign on my back that says "Match me up against Australians?"

My round 4 opponent would be MattShadowlord, a guy I typically see on vassal, and have played once or twice casually due to both of us being available about the same time - during the week days (for me) early in the morning.  Hurray for a schedule that has me working for 16 hours every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  In this tournament he was playing Imperials, and matched evenly with me - both at 20 points.  After pod play both of us were tied, with Maturin, for 5th place, giving the winner a pretty secure top 4 slot, but only if one of us actually won outright this time.  First place was pretty much out though, baring JJs Juggernaut / Green Knight and Doobleg / Gowtah both going to 5-5 draws.

Wave 1 Memorial Tournament - Round 3 vs doobleg

Here's the final round of Pod 4 for the FFG Forums Wave 1 Memorial Tournament, verses my "first" opponent doobleg.  An excellent player and the winner of the previous tournament, I knew he was going to give me a run for my money.  I also knew that at 15 points I'd have to pretty much win outright to stay in control of the pod.  At this point, doobleg had 8 points having played only a single game against Brian Black, and still had to face off against DabDarklighter.

To refresh our memory, here is what I was up against:

DOOBLEG'S EMPIRE FLEET (385 points)

Victory I-class Star Destroyer - Admiral Motti (97)

Victory I-class Star Destroyer - Weapons Liaison - Assault Concussion Missiles (83)

Victory I-class Star Destroyer - Admiral Chiraneau - Expanded Hangar Bay - Corrupter (93)

Major Rhymer TIE Bomber Squadron (16)

TIE Bomber Squadron (9) x4

Mauler'' Mithel TIE Fighter Squadron (15)

Darth Vader TIE Advanced Squadron (21)

TIE Advanced Squadron (12) x2

Wave 1 Memorial Vassal Tournament - Round 2 vs Dab Darklighter

In ongoing coverage of my tournament for the Wave 1 Memorial, here is my second round opponent. This time I was up against Dab Darklighter - a guy that is relatively local for me - we actually have played before in the past in real life.  For a reminder, here was his list:

DabDarklighter's Fleet:                       400 pts

Flagship                          126pts  

        VSD2                         85

        Admiral Motti            24

        Intel Officer                7

        Leading Shots            4

        XI7 Turbolasers         6

Ship                                102pts  

        VSD2                        85

        Intel Officer                7

        Leading Shots            4

        XI7 Turbolasers         6

Ship                                86pts    

        VSD1                      73

        Gunnery Team          7

        XI7 Turbolasers         6

Ship                                86pts    

        VSD1                      73

        Gunnery Team          7

        XI7 Turbolasers         6

Wave 1 Memorial Vassal Tournament - Round 1 vs Brian Black

In ongoing coverage of my tournament for the Wave 1 Memorial, here is my first round opponent. Due to how the pod worked, I wound up playing my first game against Brian Black, simply because both of us were free on Sunday night.  For a reminder, here was his list:

+++ Brian Black's Wave 1 Tournament List (396pts) +++

+ Ships (304pts) +

Victory I-Class Star Destroyer (84pts) [Expanded Hangar Bay (5pts), Flight Controllers (6pts)]
Victory II-Class Star Destroyer (123pts) [•Grand Moff Tarkin (38pts)]
Victory II-Class Star Destroyer (97pts) [•Dominator (12pts)]

+ Squadrons (92pts) +

Major Rhymer TIE Bomber Squadron (16)

TIE Bomber Squadron (9) x4

TIE Fighter Squadron (8pts) x3
"Howlrunner" (16pts)

Wave 1 Memorial Vassal Tournament - After Action Report (Initial Thoughts)

With the FFG forums again having a vassal tournament, I knew I needed to be a part of it.  Fortunately not running this one - clontroper5 was going to handle that bit - I could relax and just enjoy the games.  Please note, while I am publishing this after the fact, I actually wrote this article before playing a single game of the tournament.

Commander's Guide - X-Wing

This article is part of the Commander's Guide series.

Did someone say BONUS UPDATE?  Because it's bonus update time here at Steel Squadron!  In honor of 4000 visitors, you get not one, but two write-ups in a single weekend!

Well, without further ado, let's cover the Rebel's original starfighter squadron, the X-Wing.

X-Wing

The X-Wing Squadron is the Rebel's default squadron, coming standard with the starter kit.  Though to call the X-Wing Squadron the baseline for other rebel ships misses the point.  The X-Wing comes with the Rebel's strongest anti-squadron dice, at 4 Blue (2 points average).  This gives an X-Wing squadron a halfway decent chance of one-shotting the Imperial standard TIE Fighter, or TIE Interceptor (to be covered later).  In addition, the X-Wing comes with 5 hull, putting it out of range of being one-shot by anything the Imperials could field, short of Vader himself.

The X-Wing does come with an increased cost over its Imperial starter set counterpart, clocking in at 13 points per squadron.  And it is slightly slower - the squadron has a 3 movement value, which means it motors almost the same speed as a ship going Speed 3.

But the X-Wing isn't just about anti-squadron attacks.  It has a few other roles that it fills within the greater collection of Rebel fighters.  It has BOMBER, which puts its 1 Red anti-ship armament at the normal 0.75 average damage, and gives it the ability to resolve critical effects if it hits hull.  Plus it has a 1/8 chance of dumping a 2 point hit onto an enemy ship that didn't feel like engaging the X-Wing with a fighter screen.

But that's not all.  The X-Wing is also capable of ESCORTing other squadrons into the dog fight, forcing an engaged opponent to target the X-Wing instead of the easier target.  By carefully managing your X-Wing's movements, you can utilize ESCORT to split fire between multiple squadrons, keeping your squadrons alive longer, and more importantly, firing longer.

Luke, Generic X-Wing, and Wedge escort the Yavaris into the fight.

Luke Skywalker

The Hero of the Rebellion is best known for blowing up the Death Star with a well placed torpedo, and in Armada he places those torpedoes with precision on enemy ships.  Luke upgrades his Red anti-ship armament for 1 Black, which with BOMBER gives him an average of 1 damage per attack, and a 1/4 chance of 2 damage.  Which he will put directly onto the enemy ship's hull with his special ability.  With a crit effect - pending that 2 damage result.  Alone that is plenty scary, but paired with Dodonna, that is just unfair.  

In case another squadron tries to engage his (and they will!) he sports 2 Brace tokens to take advantage of the X-Wing squadrons natural 5 hull.  And all that for just 20 points.  Isn't Luke worth 1/2 of another Corvette?

Wedge Antilles

If Luke showed off the X-Wing's BOMBER skill, Wedge turns the X-Wing into an enemy squadron killing machine.  When he attacks an enemy squadron which has already activated for the turn, Wedge gets an additional 2 Blue anti-squadron dice, bringing his total to 6 (and average damage to 3!)  This makes Wedge all kinds of dangerous to enemy elite pilots, as he has a real chance of rolling multiple damage and accuracy results.  It also means that Wedge and Dutch are best friends forever, as Dutch can activate an enemy squadron that Wedge has his eye on, setting Wedge up for the knockout punch.

Wedge costs only 19 points, just 6 more than a standard X-Wing squadron, and comes with the same 2 Brace tokens and 1 Black anti-ship dice that Luke does.  With the redundant Brace tokens, his decent chance to do considerable damage, and 5 hull, Wedge can even become a better ESCORT for your more vulnerable squadrons - or a place for heavily damaged squadrons that won their engagements to fall back to.



Well, that's it for this round.  Thank you all for the continued support!  I'm ecstatic to have hit 4000 views in just a month.  What squadrons should we cover next?  Let me know in the comments below!

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Pilot Skill and the Meta

In the early days of X-Wing, there was a bit of a meta game involved with bidding for pilot skill.  The general rule of thumb was either you wanted to win the bid, or go as low as you could.  The top PS pilots would win out against the mid tier, the mid tier would win out against a low PS swarm, and the swarm would overwhelm the higher PS ships due to sheer numbers.  Then wave 4 dropped, and the Phantom came.

Now, high PS ships that could arc dodge were not exactly a new thing to X-Wing.  TIE Interceptors and to a certain extent A-Wings were already part of the meta since Wave 2 as being ships that got much better the higher their PS vs their opponent, due to the option of moving with their action.  Even TIE Fighters and Advanced (and any X-Wing with evasive maneuvers) could do that with barrel roll in wave 1.  The Phantom though took it to a whole new level for one main reason - advanced cloaking device.  Now, combined with Veteran Instinct and Whisper for a total of PS9, you had a ship that became incredibly slippery when moving (and moved more or less last), and if you did get a shot on it, it was at 4 defense dice (since it cloaked before anything else).

So that brings up a bit of an issue in the meta.  PS 11 and 10 ships became the hottest thing.  PS9 became effective, but not amazing - either shooting first before the cloak, and lost the chance to maneuver, or shooting after the cloak, but with a chance to get into position.  PS 2-8 ships might as well be PS1 against any list running a Phantom.  You can run a swarm and try to pin down a phantom - which you can do with varying degree of success, but your PS 5 & 6 ships detract from the goal of putting as many ships on the board as possible in that case.  You can pimp someone to PS 10, but they you lose out on another elite pilot skill that would make them better.

Wave 5 added a new wrinkle in the 58 special - a very effective arc dodging Dash that clocks in at PS7.  Not as effective against a phantom - as a good Phantom player could still either sit beyond range 3, or fall into the donut hole - but still a decent chance of landing a 4 damage HLC shot against 4 defense dice.  With an arc dodging big ship that ignored rocks (when moving), PS 8 and higher becomes somewhat viable, but still falls prey to the same issue regarding Whisper.

Right now, the meta has become a bit of a rock / paper / scissors in two rounds.  You can either take a "Fat" ship (high PS large ship with 360 arc), a Phantom (usually Whisper) or a swarm.  Pick two of three.  You may actually chose two of the same (double phantom or two large ships).

Corran Horn Doubletap - When To Use It, How To Maximize It.

Corran Horn may be the biggest Marty Stu of the entire Star Wars universe.  He joins Rogue Squadron, winds up as one of the best pilots, rivaling Wedge and Tycho for the role.  Oops, and he's a secret grandson of a Jedi Master, and able to withstand torture and dark side temptation and blah, blah, blah.

Well, in X-Wing Miniatures, Corran Horn is no different in as much as he is all about doing things that no one else can even hope to try, and showing up the folks that have been doing his job (high offensive fighter) longer than he has (Wedge).  But how are you supposed to get the most out of him and his ability, and when should you activate it?  That is what we will be talking about today.

Let's talk about his ship first.  Corran is piloting an E-Wing which functions as more of a supped up defensive X-Wing/B-Wing/A-Wing hybrid.  It has the X-Wing and B-Wing's offense (3 attack), the A-Wing's Defense (3 defense), an X-Wing Hull/Shields (5 total), and interestingly enough both the X-Wing's Upgrade (Astromech) and the B-Wings (System Upgrade), as well as the B-Wing's barrel roll, and basically the X-Wing's dial.  Nothing new for the rebels with the E-Wing, just the best of the rebel's ships, for a hefty price-tag (27 for the naked generic low-pilot version) putting it squarely in 3 ship territory.

But the named pilots, Corran and Etahn, are what makes the E-Wing actually a viable ship.  Corran's ability allows you just straight up break one of the basic rules of X-Wing - and that is take another attack in a single turn and not even in the combat phase.  This is, to put it mildly, amazing.  As such, it comes with a drawback - if you shoot with him this way, you can't take another shot the next turn.  So when should you use the ability (which I will from here on out refer to as the doubletap), and when should you sit on it?

The best idea for this is to use the doubletap when it would be more advantageous to shoot this turn, than on Corran's next round.  This means also NOT using the doubletap when it gives you no advantage over saving it for a future shot.  I hesitate to give any hard and fast rules, but the basics should look something like this:

1.  Am I likely to be in a better position against a better target next turn?  Hold Fire.
2.  Am I at range 3 of the enemy ship?  Hold fire.
3.  Am I in range 1 of the enemy ship?  Fire Away!
4.  Do I have modifications to my dice?  Fire Away!
5.  If I doubletap now, can I possibly kill this ship before it gets a chance to fire next round?  FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE KILL THAT THING!

You get the point.  Don't shoot that second shot if it isn't in your best interest to do so.  There is one further consideration of course, which is if you can be in a better position two turns down the road, by having no shot this turn.  Then it is again a no-brainer - if you aren't going to get a shot anyways, might as well take it now no matter how much of a terrible shot it is.

Well, with that in mind, let's look at how we can best maximize Corran's role on your list.  Corran and his ship definitely fills the role of a closer - a good relatively high PS ship for end game mop-up.  R2-D2 is frequently seen on him in the hopes of getting him into the end game with relatively full shields and staying power, and works well with shield upgrade.  Veteran Instincts boosts him to a PS10, firing before phantoms and more or less before anything else.  Advanced Sensors boosts his maneuverability, letting him barrel roll before his maneuver, and works great paired with engine upgrade.

Now as to maximizing his special ability, pairing him with fire control systems gives him a free target lock for his second attack, assuming it is the same target as the first shot.  Predator gives him a light target lock on whatever he wants to shoot at, and marksmanship gives him a better focus attack on his target through both attacks as well.  R7-T1 is an interesting choice for an astromech, letting you boost into range 1 (or just out of arc) to doubletap more effectively, and with a free target lock to boot!  R3-A2 lets him double stress a target (and stress himself as well, admittedly) which is wonderful for phantom fights.

My favorite way to set him up is to run him very aggressively, with Biggs as one of his supports.  R2-D2 or R7-T1, Veteran Instinct (for phantom hunting) and Fire Control Systems.  Get him into range 1, and Biggs just barely in range 1 of him, and turn him loose.  You don't need to focus on defense until Biggs drops, and by then you hopefully have doubletapped your way into a fair exchange for poor Biggs.  With R2-D2, he also makes a good alternative target for Biggs, if you can split the fire between the two by getting Biggs just out of arc for some of the enemy ships.

Again, feel free to comment below on your favorite way of using Corran in your list, and argue why I am an idiot letting Biggs tank for a agility 3 ship.

The Biggs Gambit - How to Utilize Biggs Darklighter in a Rebel List



                There seem to be two general schools of thought involving Biggs as a pilot.  The first thought is “This guy is going to take every shot they throw at him; how can we keep him alive?”  This has led to Biggs being run with all manner of upgrades, designed to keep him in the air – R2-F2 / Stealth Device to give him more evasion, various means of giving him additional focus or evade tokens, and means of regenerating shields once he has been hit.  The second concept has Biggs as an opening gambit – sacrificing ¼ of your points to be able to bring every gun to bear on the fight.  With this idea, Biggs shows up with no upgrades, receives no support, and dies so that you hopefully take more points in the initial exchange.

                I’m personally an advocate for the latter school of thought regarding Biggs, with some caveats.  Biggs is definitely an opening gambit – by taking him you have to be willing to lose him in the opening salvo and have a plan to make his sacrifice count.  That being said, you don’t WANT to lose him, and if you can keep him alive in some fashion, you should endeavor to do so, just so long as it does not impact your offense.  With this in mind, let’s talk about Biggs, what he does, and how to maximize his impact on the game.

                Consider Biggs ship, the X-Wing.  An excellent article on X-Wing as a base ship was made by “Tie Pilot” over on the official fantasy flight forums - http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/129849-the-x-wing-under-fire/ definitely give it a read if you haven’t done so already.  The gist of the article boils down to that the X-Wing doesn’t really fit into one of the 3 roles you see from most ships – Maneuverable (Boost / Barrel Roll), Turret, and “Filler” – and as such are being outclassed in the meta by B-Wings (Maneuverable), Y-Wings (Turret), and Z-95s (Filler) for their price point, and what makes X-Wings viable is not the generics but the huge list of named pilots with excellent abilities.  None of this is entirely untrue.

                The X-Wing has a more than a few things going for it.  It has 5 points of combined hull / shield that you have to chew through to get it off the board (and is Biggs main selling point).  2 evasion, putting it right in the middle of the pack (and averaging about 1 evade per attack).  It has a pretty decent dial for offense, only missing a 1 turn for close quarters brawling.  It has an excellent dial for defense, missing only a 5 straight.  Furthermore, cementing its role as an offensive ship, it has 3 attack and target lock action.  And all for 21 points for a generic.  The downsides of the X-Wing is that it really doesn’t do offense particularly better than another generic ship.  B-Wings are a better pure offensive ship; with systems upgrades, better pure dials with the Red 1 Turns, and the ability to barrel roll to get ships into its arc – the only “downside” being that it is a better defensive ship when it just eats shots and ignores defense, thanks to a combined 8 hull/shield.

                Now the implications of what Biggs does – he makes other ships around him able to be like the B-Wing – they can ignore defense entirely for offense because they just aren’t going to get shot.  When he flies with other high Pilot Skill ships, they don’t have to worry about saving the focus for defense – just maximize the damage output!  Biggs is the only one eating those shots anyways.  Hell, don’t take a focus – Target Lock is better by the numbers for pure damage output.  It lets you play aggressive with ships, since they can get into range one of the enemy, offload, and the opponent simply can’t shoot back.

                What this means is that around Biggs, the name of the game must be offensive focus.  Paul Heaver did this most famously with his “Biggs Walks the Dogs” list in 2013 worlds, with Biggs trailing behind a pair of Dagger B-Wings and a Rookie X-Wing – all offensively oriented ships that do not want to spend much, if any, time contemplating defense.  I have been lately running Biggs as a wingman to Corran “I really want to shoot you twice from range 1” Horn, to keep him from being shot back at from range 1.  Consider that when you take your action, you are thinking ahead – will I be better taking an offensive action, or a defensive one?  With Biggs, you know you need that defensive action, and with everyone else on your team, you know that a defensive action would not be necessary.

                An interesting conundrum that was discovered when jousting values were calculated, were that low PS TIE Fighters were performing better than higher PS TIE Fighters in a straight up joust.  Offensive and Defensive actions were the answer – Higher PS ships spent their focus tokens on attack, which sometimes gave a benefit and sometimes did not, while the low PS ships always could spend their tokens on defense, and thus receive the defensive benefit, and always know that if the token was still left, they could spend it on attack.  Biggs simulates this by always using his focus for defense – and letting your other ships focus on the offensive aspect of the game.

                Obviously you want to fly him in the back of your formation, to try and get as much of a range advantage for him compared to your damage dealers up front.  “Biggs takes a focus” should be the first words out of your mouth after he moves. 

Here’s the big caveat.  If you can manage it, what Biggs likes most of all is a few ships just out of range 3 of him on the first exchange.  Biggs is a Gambit.  You are betting that you will be able to destroy 25 points of enemy ships or more in exchange for offering him as a sacrificial lamb.  With that said, what if your opponent doesn’t go for the sacrifice?  What if they try to spread their damage between Biggs and some high profile target ship?  Or maybe your opponent did accept the gambit and you got lucky, and Biggs is limping away with very little hull left.  This is the perfect possible situation.  Biggs survives with a small amount of damage and (likely) your other ship survives as well.  You’ve made your exchange, and (hopefully) still have 100 points to work with, while your opponent has… less. 

This brings into play the “Biggs Maneuver” – a “get me out of here” maneuver that points Biggs away from the scrum, usually a bank 3 or turn 3, occasionally a straight 4.  The key with this is to set Biggs up to K-Turn the next round.  Now Biggs flies on his own, and your other ships fly on their own.  Break your formation and dog fight it for all that its worth.

Hopefully this helps the newer folks out there get an idea of just how Biggs is best utilized in their lists.  Feel free to comment below with any questions, comments, or to debate the merits of a Fat Biggs in your list.