So much to my shock, the summer is over! It’s been a while since I’ve dropped a new post, so probably a good time to review what’s happened since the last one, as it’s been a very busy summer of Xwing!
Just about the time of the last post, season 9 of the Nickle City X-wing event was winding down. I was in KDB (as I had been a few times over the years) and we did… OK! We got to the Semi Finals, with me playing mostly Fen, Han Solo, Kanan and a couple of cheap Tie Fighters, and it did OK – 7-3 over the season. Unfortunately the list got hit by a points bump in August (see below) so isn’t really viable any more, but was a lot of fun at the time!
The league was ultimately won by the Trash Pandas, so well done them, but I can’t stress enough how much fun the league is. Season 10 is signing up right now – if you haven’t already, give it a go!
The Mandos Summer Championship happened on the 18th July. 16 players rocked up to Milton Keynes for a 4 round rumble and a good day was had by all. I was desperately trying out Resistance for the first time in about a year, in order to practice for an event in Belgium I had signed up to (more on that in a mo), and settled on this :
Aftab Ackbar – BTA-NR2 Y-wing (7)
Burst Laser Turret (4)
Targeting Computer (1)
Engine Upgrade (3)
Ship Cost: 7 Loadout: (9/9) Half Points: 3 Damage Threshold: 3
C’ai Threnalli – BTA-NR2 Y-wing (7)
Burst Laser Turret (4)
Targeting Computer (1)
Engine Upgrade (3)
Ship Cost: 7 Loadout: (8/8) Half Points: 3 Damage Threshold: 3
Cova Nell – Resistance Transport (11)
Heroic (2)
Jamming Beam (1)
Leia Organa (Resistance) (10)
Ship Cost: 11 Loadout: (13/13) Half Points: 5 Damage Threshold: 4
L’ulo L’ampar – RZ-2 A-wing (9)
Lone Wolf (3)
Heroic (2)
Ship Cost: 9 Loadout: (5/5) Half Points: 4 Damage Threshold: 2
Poe Dameron (EoD) – T-70 X-wing (16)
Heroic (0)
BB-8 (EoD) (0)
Primed Overdrive Thrusters (EoD) (0)
Black One (EoD) (0)
Ship Cost: 16 Loadout: (0) Half Points: 8 Damage Threshold: 3
Total: 51
It was a fun list, but ultimately, Cova was a poor choice – not too expensive, but very limited to doing red moves, or if you want to co-ordinate, you lose your red moves, so roll less dice! The Y wings were fun, but ended up dying (as you would expect), as did L’ulo. Poe often had to do a lot of heavy lifting, and with a lot of high PS ships out there, it was a tough time to try this. I dropped it immediately after flying it!
Over the day, I went 2-2, which was about right, but it was good to see our captain Ian “XWing Jesus” Wardle win… again! I think his run of winning Mandos events is somewhat unbroken since last year!
Just as the Mandos event was finishing up, the online 312 league was finishing up. In this league, I was playing in the Happy Accidents as an independent player shoved into the team. Once again, I ended up in the Scum track, so once again, I mostly played Fenn, Han, Kanan and 2 ties. Once again, I did OK, winning 5-3 games in the season and both my games in the playoff (so 7-3 overall… again). The Happy Accidents did a little better overall than KDB in the NCX league, winning the Competitive league outright! Great success! Looking forward to taking part in the next one, although my list is no longer viable…
At the end of August, on a whim I signed up with a few stragglers to go to the World Team Championship in Mechelen (Belgium). It was the first time I had attended, and really it was about sizing the event up, because I’d heard so much about it! The concept is simple – assemble as many 5 player teams of X-wing in a gigantic space to duke it out over 2 days. The first day is “sorting” to work out which of three leagues (Bronze, Silver, and Gold) folks will compete in for day 2.
Our team of 5 was Me (Resistance), Steve Boulton (Republic), Kobe Paridaens (CIS), Patrick “Crusader” (Rebels), and our Captain – Phil Pond (Scum). A pretty international team (3 Brits, 2 Belgians), so we chose a completely appropriate name for a team thrown together about 3 weeks before the event – The Yub Yubs.
The Yub Yubs taking on the World! Left to right – Stevie B, Me, Kobe, Patrick, and Phil (at the front).
So we rocked up to Mechelen on what seemed to the the HOTTEST FREAKING DAY OF ALL TIME to play in the Nekkerhal, which, to all intents and purposes, appeared to be a giant concrete pizza oven!
My list was a little different to the one from the Mandos event… less Y, more X!
C’ai Threnalli (EoD) – T-70 X-wing (11)
For The Cause (EoD) (0)
Heroic (0)
BB Astromech (0)
Repulsorlift Engines (EoD) (0)
Ship Cost: 11 Loadout: (0) Half Points: 5 Damage Threshold: 3
Zizi Tlo – RZ-2 A-wing (10)
Heroic (2)
Concussion Missiles (6)
Ship Cost: 10 Loadout: (8/8) Half Points: 5 Damage Threshold: 2
L’ulo L’ampar – RZ-2 A-wing (9)
Heroic (2)
Ion Missiles (3)
Ship Cost: 9 Loadout: (5/5) Half Points: 4 Damage Threshold: 2
Aftab Ackbar – BTA-NR2 Y-wing (8)
Burst Laser Turret (5)
Ion Bombs (4)
Ship Cost: 7 Loadout: (9/9) Half Points: 3 Damage Threshold: 3
Stomeroni Starck (EoD) – T-70 X-wing (13)
For The Cause (EoD) (0)
Accelerated Sensor Array (EoD) (0)
R5-X3 (0)
Ship Cost: 13 Loadout: (0) Half Points: 6 Damage Threshold: 3
Total: 51
In the time between the Mandos event and WTC, I got to really enjoy flying Stromeroni Starck, who ended up being my MVP for the weekend. C’ai also is very good value for money! The A wings… well, they’re cheap, as is (was!) Aftab. Basically, it’s a pure efficiency list, but I didn’t really get much time to practice (I flew it twice before setting off to Belgium).
Day 1, for sorting was OK. I went 3-5, but unfortunately, the rest of the team didn’t quite do as well… so overall, we won 2-5 rounds, putting us in the Bronze league. Day 2, though, was much tougher! I won 0 games all day, and as a team we only won 3 games out of 20! Turns out it was a tough room! I think we came last or second last (depending on how you read the scores), but it just goes to show how you really need to prepare for the event… 3 weeks just doesn’t cut it!
Overall, the Germans won and in a tough room that’s very impressive indeed. Considering the event attracted the very cream of X-wing players from all around the world (albeit mostly Europe!), it’s now definitely on my calendar to attend next year. Also worth noting that Mechelen is one of the prettiest towns I think I’ve ever seen, so even if high octane X-wing isn’t your thing, there’s plenty to see and do in the area…
Just as WTC was closing (like… literally! During the last round!), XWA dropped a points update!!! This was billed as more a “quality of life” update to reduce the power levels of certain elements (i.e. nerf Burst Laser Turrets and Resistance Y wings…). There wasn’t much to cheer about – most changes seem to increase points for various upgrades and any bonus loadout was given to the chassis that really rely on them to be useful – e.g. IG-88s given 2 bonus loadout due to Synced Laser Cannons going up. I’m still working through list ideas after this change, but I am thinking Rebels look really strong now, as do certain chassis in the FO stable… more on that next time!
So, as we go back to school and work, we can reflect on the fact that it was the hottest summer on record (at least in the UK) and the X-Wingiest summer on record! Next week, I’ve got the Mandos Autumn Championship to look forward to… It’s not too late to signup if you’re nearby. No doubt updates to follow! Until next time.
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