Over the last couple of weeks, there’s been a LOT of X-wing! We’ve seen the winding down of all 3 TTS leagues I was signed up to and in person event in Bromley, not to mention club nights – in total 13 games of X-wing! Over this period, I have been sticking to Scum and mostly tinkering with my Norwich Winning list – Fenn (AaD), Dengar (AaD), Mando (AaD) and Kanan (with Gamut Key)… with mixed results!
- I found that, despite the chonk of 9 hull with 2 greens, Dengar dies pretty easily. He’s not very maneuverable and has a pretty duff dial – if you start on the left of the board, you have to move to the right and carefully plan when you’re going to turn… which can be pretty predictable. Alternatively, if you start on the right, you have to ensure you are going you have enough room to turn back again. As such TURN 0 IS VITAL!!!
- Rocks – set up in the middle on the opponents side as much as possible.
- Placement – Make sure you aren’t setting up to joust on the right… or if you are, make sure there will be enough room to sloop 2-3 turns in.
- Support – try to get Kanan positioned so that he can stay behind Dengar and have him in arc at all times.
- Also, Dengar AND Fenn have a big problem if blocked. Dengar has a 2 dice printed attack, so range 0 is not great for Dengar. Also, Fenn doesn’t get Concordia at Range 0. As such, blocking is not great.
- Kanan is pretty decent. But Gamut Key is tricky to get right! If you have a token AND charges on Gamut, great, but I found this rarely comes together at the right time OR you do it once on turn 3… More recently I have been trying Greef Karga instead, for the easier co-ordinate.
- This makes Dengar SO MUCH BETTER, as it allows a pre-move Barrel Roll and a blue move to clear the stress. The downside is that it makes Kanan much squishier (only having his force as a mod and being stressed most of the time). However, it does allow for the Greef target lock trick later in the game (if Kanan has a turn to grab a lock at some stage).
- And as ever, Mandolorian is “bang or bust”! He’s either MVP or he’s useless. Probably the best value 11 points in Scum… but very tough to get right every game. Over the last 2 weeks, I tried swapping him out… initially for Leema Kai with Pro-torps, turret and R4 astromech. Leema wasn’t great in this list, being too flimsy and slow. I had some other ideas, but more on that later.
In general, I found that a few list types were very tough to beat with this:
- Power Jedis + LAAT – their strong repositioning makes it very tough to get a win, and they can easily block.
- BYO Boba + 2 other ships – BYO Boba is basically Fenn’s kryptonite! He will push in for the block whilst getting all the benefits of rerolls… plus he has rear arcs to keep stronger time on target.
- RAC / Vader / Whisper – might just be one guy, but one player at my club has a list with these three and easily beats the list because the Decimator is set up to frustrate Range 0/1 stress. This is because he uses 7th Sister and 000 to great effect! At the start of the turn, 000 offers stress or calculate: if the opponent takes stress, 7th Sister turns it to Jam and runs your day! For Fenn, I have to guess correctly where RAC is going to be so he doesn’t have to reposition and take the all-important Focus! It’s a tough one.
So after a few goes online and warm-ups at the club, I made some changes to remove SOME of the weaker parts of the list:
Holy cow! You can get all these in a list?!!
Fenn Rau (AaD) – Fang Fighter (15)
Fearless (0)
Adaptable Power Systems (AaD) (0)
Beskar Reinforced Plating (0)
Ship Cost: 15 Loadout: (0) Half Points: 7 Damage Threshold: 2
The Mandalorian (AaD) – Naboo Royal N-1 Starfighter (11)
Outmaneuver (0)
The Child (AaD) (0)
Kineso-Switch (AaD) (0)
Calibrated Laser Targeting (0)
Ship Cost: 11 Loadout: (0) Half Points: 5 Damage Threshold: 2
Guri – StarViper-class Attack Platform (13)
Predator (3)
Advanced Sensors (8)
Ship Cost: 13 Loadout: (11/11) Half Points: 6 Damage Threshold: 2
Durge – Rogue-class Starfighter (11)
Elusive (4)
Proton Cannons (5)
Contraband Cybernetics (4)
Ship Cost: 11 Loadout: (13/13) Half Points: 5 Damage Threshold: 3
Total: 50
Objectively, this is a GREAT list! All the elements can work very well independently. All the elements are high initiative and are the kind of thing you can’t leave alone. All the ships are fun to fly and are just tanky enough to ensure you don’t die in one shot. Very cool! Most notably, back in the day, it used to be barely possible to fit Fenn and Guri in a list at all – now you can and with 2 GREAT BACKUP SHIPS AS WELL!!! It’s practically inflation busting…
Battle over Bromley
I took this to the Troll Trader in Bromley casual STO warmup to give it a whirl. The main idea was to decide which was better – Durge or Mando (as I was still musing what to do with the last 11 points – as per the above). It was a 4 round affair, and, again, gave me mixed results!
Round 1: vs Ian “X-Wing Jesus” Wardle! Scramble the Transmissions
Never great to be flying into your own team on Round 1, but it is what it is! Ian and I fly against each other a lot, and we are usually pretty well matched… I think he has the slight edge in tournament play, though (robbed me of a ticket to worlds a few years ago, for example!). He was flying:
Starter Box Vader
Countess Ryad – Outmaneuever
Colonel Vessery – Proton Cannons, Juke
That’s it. 5 cards, lots of pain!
I assumed that me having higher initiative would have put me in good stead (especially in Scramble), but actually, it helped him! His defenders were dynamite and the Proton Cannon (topped with Vader’s lock sharing for Vessary) found their target a good couple of times before he was taken off the board. Ryad finished the game untouched (due to having all the tokens, all the time) and Vader was half pointed, but would not die. On my side, Guri, Mando, and Durge took a pummeling and the last turn of the game saw Fenn blank out to Vader at range 2 from behind, to take 3 hits and die (the X-Wing Dice Stats Calculator saying a 5% shot… but never tell me the odds).
35-53 Loss
Not a great start, and nether Mando or Durge did anything “great”.
Round 2: vs Phil Pond. Salvage Mission
Phil is from the Firestorm team towards Reading / Basingstoke (I think!) and I’ve never played vs him before… although I have had him help me out when Nick and him used to stream live events via Firecast streaming (halcyon days!). He was flying another Scummy list:
Ketsu Onyo Lancer-class Pursuit Craft (16) (Fearless + Qi’ra + Contraband Cybernetics + Beskar Reinforced Plating + Shadow Caster)
Talonbane Cobra Kihraxz Fighter (12) (Predator + Deadman’s Switch + Afterburners)
Durge Rogue-class Starfighter (11) (Elusive + Proton Cannons + Contraband Cybernetics)
Kavil BTL-A4 Y-wing (11) (Dorsal Turret + Concussion Missiles + R3 Astromech + Proton Bombs)
Interesting that Phil was looking at a Y wing, when I had worked out they aren’t great the week before, but when we were talking about it, he pointed out that Kavil basically guaranteed 3 dice in most directions, so quite good for area denial.
Phil mostly set up on the right, except Ketsu who set up on the left. I set up in the middle and then started to head left to face Ketsu. In turn 2, Fenn managed to sidle up to range 1, out of her arc, and blast 5 dice in… where she blanked out, giving me an instant 8 point advantage. Plus Mando was able to pick up a box, giving me 12-0! Over the next couple of turns, his Durge and Talbonbane rushed left to support Ketsu, but it was a little too late as both she and Kavil ended up taking heat from Mado, Guri and Fenn. My Durge was left to limp off after an initial flurry of attacks (that earned him a Panicked Pilot, getting him to 3 stress!) and took 3 turns to recover and grab a box. The other 3, though, spent a few turns finishing up, getting to 50 points pretty quickly and only losing half of Fenn and half of Guri in the process…
50-21 Win.
Again, hard to say which of Durge or Mando did better, since Durge took an early stress bath and Mando was carrying a box the whole game so wasn’t really able to do his thing.
Round 3: vs Peter Mancktelow. Change Engagement
Peter was the host of the event and clearly no slouch. His list was… baffling!
Ketsu Onyo Lancer-class Pursuit Craft (16) (Shadow Caster + Fearless + Contraband Cybernetics + Overtuned Modulators + Qi’ra + Mandalorian Optics)
Zuckuss G-1A Starfighter (11) (Mist Hunter + Trick Shot + IG-11 + Deadman’s Switch)
Constable Zuvio Quadrijet Transfer Spacetug (10) (Proximity Mines + Debris Gambit + Delayed Fuses + 0-0-0 + Deadman’s Switch)
Guri StarViper-class Attack Platform (13) (Predator + Advanced Sensors)
I have not seen the good Constable or Zuckass on the table for a good long time and honestly, I made a huge mistake with Range 0 rock placement! Pro tip: if you’re flying vs Ketsu, don’t make a “rock donut”… she will just fly over the rocks and laugh at you!
I set up on the left, Peter set up on the right mainly, except Zuckass, who set up on the left. Zuckass proceeding to run away, getting Mando and Durge to chase him. Guri and Fenn started heading towards Ketsu. Ketsu basically zoomed in and flew over rocks to get to range 1… and then it all went wrong! Durge and Mando started realising that Zuckass is a pain at any range, chucking out extra dice and NOT DYING. The Good Counstable was a terror for the points, throwing out mines and forcing tractors on my ships. Rock placement gave me nowhere to go… I managed to get half points on most of his ships, but I lost Guri very cheaply and made a stupid mistake of trying to engage at R1 to ships that were set up to make R1 a bad place to be! If you see this list coming… run away!
30-51 Loss
One positive! It would appear that I definitely appear to prefer BOTH Durge and Mando to Guri, who seems to keep dying on me!
Round 4: vs Paul Schaller. Ancient Knowledge
Paul was flying a 5 ship list!
Biggs Darklighter T-65 X-wing (10)(Ion Torpedoes + “Chopper” + Servomotor S-foils)
Leevan Tenza T-65 X-wing (10)(Notorious + Contraband Cybernetics + Servomotor S-foils)
Kendy Idele (BoE) T-65 X-wing (10)
Thane Kyrell T-65 X-wing (11)(Snap Shot + Servomotor S-foils)
Horton Salm BTL-A4 Y-wing (9)(Selfless + Ion Cannon Turret + R4 Astromech)
Had no-one told him that 5 ships are so passé! His ships were not a great match for mine, since I had the higher initiative and some big guns. I was able to melt at least 3 of his ships before he had halved even one of mine. Whilst it’s scary to face off against, unfortunately, his attack dice would not find much paint, leaving my slightly more dangerous team to make the most of it. He recovered slightly towards the end, but by the end of the game, he had lost 3 ships and taken damage to the 2 remaining and I had only lost Durge and some points from Guri (I think!).
54-36 win
In this game, Mando was on fire! He managed to lure Peter’s swarm into a bad position and run away, thereafter getting behind them to outmaneuver them to death!
So I went 2-2, but still made it to 5th place out of 14 people due to a fairly decent points tally. Ian (my round 1 opt and Mandos team captain!) also went on to win – and I was the only person to take a ship off him all day, so I claim a moral victory!
But who did I prefer? Mando or Durge…? Well… probably Mando. Durge is a bigger threat, but he also seems to deliver less in a pinch. Mando has force and a useful pilot ability (if you can remember it) which keeps him alive for an extra turn or two. And his cheeky SLAM – lock ability is really worth the points in itself. I think they both did really well and I am considering keeping them both and dropping Fenn for… reasons. What reasons? Well… it seems that the XWA are listening. A side chat with Oli P at the event suggested there are things coming that will maybe put SL Fenn up in points in the near future (GOOD!!!) so time to start thinking of other options.
A newer hope?
After Bromley, I started thinking about another option… dropping Mando and Dengar for Boba. Not BYO Boba, but AaD Boba. In one online game, I was surprised about how lethal he was! So, for club night, I tried something completely (ish) different:
Boba Fett (AaD) – Firespray-class Patrol Craft (18)
Homing Beacon (AaD) (0)
Fennec Shand (AaD) (0)
Seismic Charges (0)
Slave I (Separatist) (0)
Ship Cost: 18 Loadout: (0) Half Points: 9 Damage Threshold: 5
N’dru Suhlak – Z-95-AF4 Headhunter (8)
Lone Wolf (3)
Overtuned Modulators (3)
Afterburners (8)
Ship Cost: 8 Loadout: (14/14) Half Points: 4 Damage Threshold: 2
Kanan Jarrus – HWK-290 Light Freighter (9)
Greef Karga (5)
Ship Cost: 9 Loadout: (5/5) Half Points: 4 Damage Threshold: 2
Fenn Rau (AaD) – Fang Fighter (15)
Fearless (0)
Adaptable Power Systems (AaD) (0)
Beskar Reinforced Plating (0)
Ship Cost: 15 Loadout: (0) Half Points: 7 Damage Threshold: 2
Total: 50
Simple premise: Boba can lock and reduce attacks by 1. Kanan can reduce by another. IF PEOPLE ARE SHOOTING AT BOBA, THEY AREN’T GOING TO GET VERY FAR!!! If they don’t shoot at Boba, Boba can shoot them twice! It’s a win win, surely!
Well… never tell me the odds. Kanan with Greef and Boba is a great combo, but it’s tricky trying to keep them all lined up over the course of a game. Firesprays move very fast, so often it feels like Kanan has his work cut out keeping up pace! Plus Kanan is perma-stressed if you’re using him to give Boba actions. But on the flip side, a Firespray hangs around 2 tuns longer than you want, even at the best of times!
Also in the list is N’Dru, who might actually be the best value 8 points in Scum right now. Bring able to add Lone Wolf and Afterburners makes him pretty useful if you can keep him all alone.
I got to fly Ian trying a slight tweak to his 2 defenders and Vader list and won! Only just, but it was a win.
I also played against Dave “Darth Sparkles” Potin and his Decemator / Vader / Whisper list and also won!
It’s not the second coming, but I think it’s worth a few more reps to work it out. Could be a real contender!
Twist!!!
So there’s just one week to go! I’m basically there with my list ideas, I’m coming out the traps strong, and even have a bye for round 1! Nothing can stop me now!!!
Oh… except a minor issue… I am now not able to go to STO due to some family issues. Massive shame, but life comes first. I hope I’ll get to watch it on stream all next weekend, and if a scum list featuring SL Fenn and Dengar wins, I will probably sulk for a week 😉
More next time!
X Wing Musings 
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