X Wing Musings

Last time we looked at the Legends and Relics pack, this week were looking at the Post Adepticon Points Adjustment (PAPA). Points updates are always like Xwing Christmas, and this update feels like a long time coming! Arriving 4 weeks after Adepticon, and only 5 months the last “points patch” (50p 1.1), expectations are high that this one would deliver some balance… specifically to Scum, who have been riding high as “XWing Easy Mode” for most of the latter part of the year.

Lots has been said elsewhere on what the latest adjustment has to offer, so here’s a (quick) breakdown of things that have caught my eye, by faction!

Scum

It makes sense to look at Scum first, as they have been the faction that has been most popular, and at a glance, it looks like… well, they’re still pretty solid!

Highlights:

• Fenn Rau (BYO and SL) – up 2 points. The worst kept secret and the least surprising update. Fenn is overpowered and overused, so this update means that Scum pilots really have to commit to keep him on the team. BYO Fenn does benefit from 5 extra loadout, giving him the benefit of basically all the Scum goodies (Beskar Armour, Mandolorian Optics, Clan Tactics, Fearless), so you could almost say BYO Fenn is as good as SL Fenn for 1 point more… but that extra hull point and stress busting Adaptable Power Systems (soooo good!) is well worth the extra point, even at 17!
• Lancers all get a points drop (Asajj, Ketsu and Sabine all down 1 squad point) with a fairly trivial points reduction. “Peak Ketsu” (Fearless, Mando optics, Qi’ra, Contraband Cybernetics, title) is still on the table (although other options are available!), and it’s now possible to fly 3 lancers and a Tie Fighter or Z95, if that’s your jam.
• Firesprays get some buffs. Some of the pilots (not Boba) are a bit cheaper, get some more loadout, and get the title slot back (Koshka Frost, Krassis Trelix, Hondo Ohnaka, Emon Azzameen). More shockingly, BYO Boba is… untouched. He keeps his crew slot and his loadout. Considering he’s been everywhere, this is… surprising! However, he can be defeated and he is a dumpster full of points.
• The Mandalorian (N1 Naboo Fighter) GOES DOWN in points to 10. Yes, it’s a 1 point drop, but this is insane. He was great value at 11, but at 10… he should see a LOT of play now.
• Jabba The Hutt Crew goes up to 14. This makes sense as he has been exploiting a loopholes in Overtuned Modulators for a while now. Curiously, though The Chile (who has also been everywhere) stays at 9 points.
• BYO Bossk goes up a point, but gains 3 loadout. Possibly because of the Jabba price hike above… it now means he’s just about the only ship that can make use of Jabba now.
• Brobots are back? All 4 IG-88s are down a point, making 3 and a TIE Fighter viable again. Brobots have not been massively competitive lately and the fact that Synced Laser Cannons have gone up recently makes they slightly less compelling.
• Khiraxz have more loadout. As do some Starvipers. But, neither got a new configuration… which is a bit of a shame. Khiraxz in particular are still missing something to make them compelling… although they can all carry Seeker Missiles now…
• Palob Godalhi drops in price! He’s now the same price as Dace Bonearm (with both able to take the Moldy Crow title) but has a far better ability. 11 points is pretty good for either of them.

In essence, Scum took a bit of a beating, but all the good stuff is still very good and very competitive. The fact that Mando and some Firesprays actually went down in price is very good news for Scum flyers and I have a great 5 ship Scum list with 5x 10 point solid Scum ships that’s been testing very well. Scum are still in a very good place.

Rebels

The perennial goodies already have lots to cheer about, with some great new additions in the Legends and Relics pack (I mentioned Ahsoka last time and I didn’t even mention the Modified R4-P Unit or R7-T1 astromechs, which look great!) including a “new” I6 Ghost (alright, it’s just Hera again, but I6 is good!). The points, though, are really interesting:

• All ARCs get a Crew slot back. This is great news for Arc lovers, as Rebels have a lot of very good Crew options and Arcs are missing something to put them apart from Xwings or B wings. This definitely helps some of the Arcs that rarely see play – e.g. Ibtisam could field K2SO now to allow him to flip around and not take stress.
• Most Millennium Falcons go down a smidge – Han, Lando, and Chewie all go down a point. There are a few loadout reductions, but nothing major. e
• Dash and Leebo are cheaper! And get a Gunner Slot at last! The YT-2400s have seen precious little play at all since release, mainly due to the sheer cost of them and without a Gunner slot, they are lacking a lot of utility. SL Leebo is now 15 points which is pretty competitive, and SL Dash is 16… but the BYO versions are a little more. The old V2 build of Dash, Trick Shot and Bistan is a distant memory, but this new development means that Dash and Leebo might see some play at last. However…
• Bistan is now firmly in Points Jail. I guess by making falcons and Dash cheaper, the tradeoff is that the thing that made them the most dangerous (an extra attack each turn) is now basically out of reach at 50 (!) loadout points (a 34 point increase).
• X-wings are cheaper than ever! Luke and Wedge are down in price (BoY Wedge down 2!!!). Corran Horn in the X-wing does go up slightly to 13, but the generic I2 Xwings are now ONLY 9 POINTS!!! That’s crazy good… although you can’t unlock a 6 ship list with Xwings, since the cheapest ship Rebels can field is 6 points. The Red Squadron Experts are only 10 with 10 loadout, allowing you to fly 5 X-wings with extra shields if you want.

In all, Rebels should be in a very strong position now. They have been somewhat maligned lately due to the fact that other factions have better value options, but Rebels now really have great value everywhere.

Empire

Empire are one of the most popular and competitive factions, so it’s not a huge surprise that there’s only a few notable changes in their points. However, they are big changes for Ace fans… and not in a good way!

• BYO Darth Vader UP to 16 points… but with more loadout. The cheapest Dark Lord of the Sith is not so cheap, being in a similar spot to Fenn Rau – only 1 point off the top version, but with enough loadout to now get his best toys (Afterburners and Fire Control System).
• Soontir Fel UP to 13 points (BYO) and 15 (BoE SL). Budget Soontir has had a very busy time in the last year, going up and down and up again in value. He now has a decent chonk of loadout (up 2 to 10)… but TBH, he really only NEEDS Predator to make the most of his bullseye. I’ve been running him with Predator, Elusive and Targeting Computer, and other than that one turn when he inevitably blanks out, he’s very solid! Adding a few extra loadout does give Outmaneuver and Targeting Computer as an option, but that feels very flimsy! And Unkillable BoE Soontir is probably a little overcosted at 15, but he’s very popular and tends to last well on the table… until he inevitably blanks out…
• Defenders DOWN!!! I’m more excited about this than anything in Empire! You can now easily fly 3 Defenders, or 3 Defenders and a Tie Fighter! Notable heroes are Vult Skerris for only 15 points (very good value, even with a paltry 6 loadout) and Captain Dobbs, also at 15 points (with a Juke-affording 7 loadout). These are pretty much insta-buys for an Imperial list and are so much fun to fly. Vult is an I5 as well, so a bona fide Ace in a Defender chassis is not to be sneezed at. 6 loadout can get you Predator and Lone Wolf, if you want, or can get you Pattern Analyzer and Interloper Turn… hear me our here – it will make it near impossible to predict where he’s going to be, and allowing him to do 1 hard turns or 2 K turns and still get an action is very interesting! You can run Dobbs, Skerris, and Colonel Jendon for a truly scary list, and I can confirm, a lot of fun! Also of note, Colonel Vessery and Captain Yorr are also down to a very reasonable 16 points – both very good pieces to have in your squad.
• Some other fun-but-not-seen-much-because there’s-cheaper-out-there heroes get a price buff: Major Vermeil in the TIE Reaper, Second Sister in the TIE Interceptor, Redline in the TIE Punisher, Captain Jonus (TIE Bomber SL), Captain Oicunn in the Decimator and Rampage in the TIE Heavy all go down a point, for… reasons? The price drop is welcome, but most come with a loadout drop. Will be interesting to see if we’ll see more of Redline and Vermeil in particular, as they are both pretty decent but have been in “points jail” for a while now.
• Some underused chassis get a loadout buff: Gunboats get a few extra points, as do TIE Strikers and most of the (non-Vader) TIE Advanced X1s. Great to see, but I suspect it will need to take a bit more to get Strikers back on the table (as they don’t have many slots to use the points on!). I think Gunboats are ripe for the using, especially with Seeker Missiles and Automatic Loaders being a thing. In fact, even the humble Rho Squadron Pilot can now take Proton Torpedoes and Automatic Loaders for 3x Protorps in rapid succession (assuming they survive the first pass!
• For some reason Dark Curse (TIE L/N Fighter) goes up 1 point to 10 (must have been caught fiddling his taxes).
• To approximately no-one’s surprise (since the list has been doing so well at major events) Imperial Super Commando Gauntlets and Obsidian Squadron pilots get a loadout trim (no Precision Ion Engines for you!). This is coupled to Grand Moff Tarkin going up a couple of points (one of the key ingredients in the STO winning list). To be honest, if you’re into flying the 7 TIE ship swarm plus Gauntlet list, it’s not too bad. You can still field the same number of ships and still have most of their tricks. The downside is that the TIE fighters are more predictable when they turn, but that’s not the worst outcome. Pretty fair tweaking, all in all.
• Honorable mentions also go to TIE Phantoms, who are unchanged in pricing, but all (like TIE Defenders) get a Tech slot. I’m not sure exactly how useful this will be, but giving them Pattern Analyzer could take some of the sting of the turn whey they have to turn around.

So Empire are in a funny spot – their favorites take a hit, but there are lots of options to field vast swarms of cheap ships to great effect. I think, like Scum with Fenn, you’ll still see a lot of Vader and Soontir, but there may be some surprises – Inquisitors in the TIE Advanced V1s seem primed to exploit Seeker Missiles in particular (especially with Instinctive Aim as an option), as do Gunboats. Aggressors could do a lot with Burst Laser Turrets. Strikers are… ready to strike. There are… Options!!!

Resistance

Resistance seems to be relatively unchanged with only a few minor tweaks:

• Starfortresses gain a smidge of loadout extra, EoD Vinnie goes up a point and Finch Dallow goes down 2 points. Considering only Vinnie has been seen on the boards lately, this seems a little unfair, but the Bombers have all got a LOT of loadout now – Paige Tico with 24 (!) loadout at only 16 points and Vinnie with 28 (!!!!!!) loadout at 17 seem a bit of a steal now.
• Some key favourites get a price bump for… reasons. Zorii Bliss in the regular flavoured Y-wing and Kaz in the Fireball both go up one (although both get more loadout… which isn’t a bad thing). A little mystified about this – Kaz was good value at 10, but wasn’t game breaking and if people took Zorii, they usually took the Wartime version. However, with Burst Turrets in the world, I can understand the need to scale back high initiative Y-wings, because they could be very efficient.
• If anything, Resistance A Wings are probably the winners here. Some popular pilots get a slight buff, most notably L’ulo L’ampar (the budget Xwing!) who is now a trivial 9 points! Whilst loadout is down to 5, that’s still plenty enough for Heroic and Predator or Lone Wolf. Seftin and Zizi are also 9 and 10 points respectively, so it’s definitely the case you can build a list of high initiative A Wings again.
• A few T-70s are back to affordable now – Ello Atsy (who was overcosted at 14) comes back to 13, as does Stomeroni Starck. Even the top level Flyboy Poe Dameron comes down to a “mere” 17 (with 20 loadout). Black Squadron Aces come down to 12 points, but that’s not great. Also, Kaz gets a new ability and a new T-70 to fly around in…

• Looks like a nice ship and with a decent chunk of loadout (13), will do well, even at a slightly steep 12 points. Overall, T70s still look like the meat and bones of Resistance.

• Finally, a few other ships have a slight points drop – Chewie and Lando in the Falcon go down a point… but all Falcons lose their second gunner slot (so no more Paige Tico / Veteran Turret Gunner nonsense). More importantly Cova Nell also goes down to 11 – arguably the best Resistance Transport (or “sofa” to their chums) who has up until now been pretty much in points jail. Cova can carry Leia around and effectively be a proxy Xwing when doing red moves (which fly as white if you spend Leia’s force).

In all, 11 points seems to be the sweet spot for the most popular Resistance ships. Above that, you’re looking at a deluxe ship, but below that, there are lots of A wings to slap into a list! It feels like Resistance are pretty solid

First Order

In contrast to Resistance, FO get a lot of cool price cuts to their most popular pilots!

• VonReg and Holo in the Interceptor both drop a point, making them much more competitive. Both have to eat a 3 point loadout drop, though, which isn’t great, but both still have loadout points in double digits giving plenty of options. I imagine Mag Pulse Missiles and Deuterium Power Cells on VonReg in particular could be popular.
• A few Tie SFs are back in the mix – Backdraft, BYO LeHeuse and EoD Theta 3 are all down a point (11, 12, and 10 points respectively). LeHuse is still a little pricey at 12 points, but has 20 loadout to chew through, making him a decent bet now.
• In the Silencers, MurderKylo is down from 18 to 17. This is big news indeed – expect to see a lot of him! Recoil is also down a point to 13, but sneaking in under the radar, First Order Test Pilots get a loadout bump (up 2 to 7). This is REALLY interesting as I still think these are being somewhat slept on as some of the best value ships in the game. This allows Fanatic and Advanced Optics… which could be a great combo (especially if there’s 3-4 of you). Or, Predator and Targeting Relay… good options! The fact that all Silencers get AT LEAST +2 loadout this round (including BYO Kylo) is a really interesting thing.
• In the TIE Whispers, Kylo goes down to 14 – expect to see a lot of him! He does only have 12 loadout now, though (down 3) but Kylo is Kylo – always good value. Wrath also drops a point to 12 with 14 loadout, so maybe he’ll see some more play, but most TIE Whispers other than Kylo are tough things to fly.
• Batwings are… better? Nearly all named Upsilons are down 1 point, making them… not massively overcosted. It’s not quite enough in my mind, since the cheapest is still 15 points (which is a lot for an I1 dumptruck) but the sheer terror of seeing 3 of these on a table is still something of a cautionary tale of the past. I can understand why they aren’t being made too cheap!

• TIE FO Fighters are untouched, other than the addition of Tamara Ryvora.

• Basically, an FO ship with the Resistance Astromech M9-G8’s ability baked in. Very solid, reasonably priced at 9 points and with a decent amount of loadout, this looks pretty decent.
• Curiously, FO Bombers are completely untouched. You might expect that after winning Worlds, they would be clipped somewhat… but as the Points team said in the launch QA, just because one person is good at a list, doesn’t mean everyone else should be punishers. TIE FO Bombers are still very much a skill ship to get right.

FO will probably do quite well this season!

Republic

Despite Republic being one of the more popular factions, there’s a lot of buffs going on here. Most chassis have a few ships with points reduced or loadout increased and some chassis are absolutely bargain basement!

• Clone Z95s are all getting more loadout. This is great news as they are generally lacking something, but they are still flimsy ships and 7 or 8 points feels like a lot for a ship that might not survive to shoot! They can just about all (except Killer and Slider) take Seeker missiles, though, which sounds pretty terrifying if you’re facing 5 or 6 of them!
• Naboo N1 fighters also get a pleasing loadout bump – most pilots getting 2 extra, except the Naboo Handmaidens and Bravo Flight officers, who just get discounted a point instead. They also all get a Tech slot. These guys are looking to be pretty amazing value now – Anakin in the N1 is only 9!!! That’s hot! I guess the only 2 issues are that the don’t have much in the way of attack (with only 2 red dice) and the ships themselves are pretty hard to find (being amongst the rarest of ships in real life).
• ETAs see a few core pilots discounted (BYO Obi Wan and Shaak Ti) to 11 and most other pilots getting 3 extra loadout. There’s also a new pilot joining the fray:

• Nice ability, decent cost (11), shame about the I4. But Quinlan can use Dark Side force powers, so Malice is on the table! Could be good!

• Quite a few Aethersprite 7Bs get discounted, with Barriss Offee going as low as 11 points! Adi Galia looks pretty solid at 13 points (due to her high initiative, nice ability and she didn’t suffer a loadout decrease) but Ahsoka and Luminara going to 12 points is also pretty compelling… it will be interesting to see if they see play now.
• Other than that, a few pilots across the faction saw a points drop – Anakin in the Y-Wing is a very affordable 12 points, slightly more at 13 in the Aethersprite. Contrail is 8 in BYO and 9 in SoC, and Wilhuff Tarkin is only 7 in the V-Wing. Finally SoC Oddball is down to 12 in the Arc – the only Arc impacted in this update at all.
• Last thing to mention is Urse Wren, ANOTHER new Republic pilot. She has a really interesting ability:

• With Mandalorian Optics and Synchronized Console, she could potentially get 3 Reinforce Tokens running at the same time in a turn! It’s a bit of a stunt (Mando Optics only has 2 charges) but sounds really interesting and means she could be crazy tanky AND she’s only 15 points. Really curious to see her in action.

Overall, Republic probably got the most buffs of any faction and I’ll be very surprised if they don’t start showing up in force!

CIS

The Seperatists, compared to the Republic have barely been touched. This probably reflects their status as a high efficiency faction that are not used so much, but generally win by those that know how. However, the few changes that have been made open doors…

A couple of the named SoC SL Tri Fighters have had cost reductions (DIS-347 and DIS-T81 to 9 and 10 points respectively). DIS-T81 is pretty good value at 10, as he rerolls for days and has Outmaneuver… but of course, like all Tri fighters, only has 3 hull so might not stay around too long. Volan Dras and BYO DIS-T81 also get a couple of extra loadout… nothing amazing so far.

Jango Fett and Sam Wessel in the Firesprays are a point cheaper. This is big, as it allows 2 ace Firesprays and… something else (General Grievous? Sun Fac?) in a list. Apparently, this is quite strong!

HMP Gunships (“Roombas!”) are all down slightly – they’re all now 9 or 10 points each, which allows for 5 in a list with ease. They have less loadout now, but enough to carry Kraken (for example) or enough to make a nuisance of themselves. Genosian Prototypes have 13 loadout – more than enough to buy a cannon upgrade and maybe a bomb?

Sith Infiltrators continue to race to the bottom – most getting another discount to make them attractive. O-66 is now only 12 points! That’s very good value for a big base ship AND can still take the Scimitar title! Count Dooku also goes down to 14 (BYO) or 15 (SoC SL) which, again, feels good value.

Finally, for the Vulture Droids, the Iron Assembler drops a point and the entry level Trade Federation Drone gets exactly enough loadout to equip Energy Shell Charges… however they are now restricted to 4 in a list (so no evil murdery bot swarms any more. Phew!).

CIS probably came out of this the least changed, but the loadout buff on the Vultures alone will make them very dangerous this season.

Wow. That’s a lot! I initially wanted to just bash out a quick review, but to write the above has taken me several sittings. Clearly there’s a lot to talk about this season! My gut feels for this Post Points World are:

• Scum are still going to be everywhere. Probably even more so as there have been some great discounted options this time around.
• Republic did very well – almost too well! They were already pretty strong, but this should give a load more options for them – especially with ETAs and Aethersprites.
• I really like Rebels as a faction and I would love for them to do better, but I strongly suspect that even with their new buffs, we won’t see Dash out to play much. I love the bargain Xwings that are available now though – BoY Wedge in particular is a steal!
• I think Imperial generics with Targeting Matrix could be a real thing this season. We’ve already seen a Gauntlet and Swarm list perform really well in several big events, but maybe something like Aggressors or Gunboats will get a turn now?
• It feels like Resistance might be the losers in this update. Some of their cheap mainstays got more expensive for no reason and only L’ulo L’ampar and Cova Nell fell out of points jail. I’m not convinced that T70 Kaz will see much play, either, since there’s other, similar ships are a lower price point.

What about Mystic Dave?

Well, let’s look at how my predictions faired…

When will the points land?

• Mystic Dave said: 31st March
• Actual Date: 26th April

Mystic-omiter: 0/10.

Yeah, that’s a big swing and a miss!

Thweek:

• Mystic Dave said: his ability might be to do with changing his initiative.
• Actual ability: Tractor token shennanigans.

Mystic-omiter: 0/10

Not really anything like the same.

Carnor Jax:

• Mystic Dave Said: his ability might be charge based and in his arc at range 1
• Actual Ability: Force Charge based and in his arc at range 0-1

Mystic-omiter: 8/10

Pretty close! Just the Force to mention!

Hotshots and Aces V3

• Mystic Dave predicts: That’s the name of the expansion
• Actual Expansion: Legends and Relics

Mystic-omiter: 5/10

Successfully predicted it’s not a movie-themed expansion. Wrong title, though, and no Resistance Racers.

General thoughts:

Mystic Dave predicts: Excessively good value pilots reigned in. Some mid-tier pilots buffed. All we are saying is give Batwings a chance…

Actual expansion: Fenn Rau, Soontir Fel and Vader up in points. Check. Mid tier pilots (especially Republic!) buffed. Check. Batwings reduced in price. Check.

Mystic-omiter: 8/10

Although, to be fair, this is a pretty generic description of most points updates… except the Batwings!

So, Mystic Dave won’t be rushing to do the lottery this week, but some fairly accurate predicting there.

Next time: A well overdue report on the recent (ish) Bromley event I went to less than a week after the points were announced!