First Store Championship - (1 out of the 2 Store Champs I can go to...)

After the Europeans, I realised I didn't enjoy flying the Rho and Nu; but I decided I wanted to keep flying Kylo. As far as I'm concerned, he is the most fun ship to fly; ever. What I really love is that, with him, great flying often brings great rewards; of course, a single mistake can see him die very quickly. So, when looking for a pilot to partner him with, who else came to mind then his inspiration: Darth Vader. A ship that stays in the spirit: fantastic if you play him right, but any mistake will also get you punished more often than not.

So, meet the new list: "I will finish what you started": 97 pts

Kylo Ren (TIE Silencer) — TIE Silencer	35
Push the Limit	3
Advanced Sensors	3
Advanced Optics	2
Autothrusters	2
First Order Vanguard	2
Ship Total: 47
Darth Vader — TIE Advanced	29
Veteran Instincts	1
Cruise Missiles	3
Advanced Targeting Computer	1
Engine Upgrade	4
TIE/x1	0
Ship Total: 38
Academy Pilot — TIE Fighter	12
Ship Total: 12

I had tried it before in a couple of local games and it worked OK. Not really brilliant results; but fantastic games... And that's what's important, isn't it?
Wrong! What's important is having a fun day with friends! There were plenty of us Vagabonds going to spend a day in a nice pub, playing X-Wings; as well as plenty other goods friends and players...

We even got some random dude crashing our team photo :)

Vagabonds and a friend

I came in Rich's car, followed by Steve's.

So, of course, my first game was against Steve...
Steve was flying a list we talked about the week before (and that it let me try on the Wednesday) : Kylo and Whisper. Kylo is the same as mine and Whisper's got Krennic and sensor jammer.

I felt quite OK with the matchup with VI Vader moving last and shooting before Whisper. The engagement goes as I had hoped for: a 5 dice cruise missile (with TL and focus) on an uncloaked Whisper leaves her on one hull (the shield from Krennic really made a difference here). Unfortunately, the return fire at range 2 removes the shields from Vader and adds a crit in (one less agility). Not ideal...
On the other side of the board, Kylo on Kylo doesn't do a lot...
Next round, I guess exactly where Whisper will be, but mess up totally my moves and the boost I thought would get Vader out of arc brings him in range 1 of whisper. Bye, bye Vader.
It's now my Kylo vs Steve's list (my Tie Fighter has been killed after blanking out his greens and taking a hit and a crit which goes into a major explosion for the kill... Spoilers: he's going to do exactly the same (but with Direct Hit) in two other games!).
And Steve's whisper shoot last, which means she'll be cloaked and with sensor jammer when I attack, possibly with an evade as well... It was initially my game to lose and it was looking like I was going down that path quickly.
The only way I could win this was by arc dodging Whisper and get a surprise attack in before she can cloak. My kylo does a bit of runaway until I see an opportunity: by barrel rolling, then boosting, then hard-2, I should be able to get just past an asteroid above me and surprise whisper. It's exactly what happens and Kylo manages to kill Whisper. The game is now again mine to loose: I've got only 2 hull on Kylo against Steve's untouched Kylo, but I move last...


What I don't realise is that Steve is winning on points! I stay very (too!) prudent and manages to get to a point where we're both on 2 hull, but we're a few minutes from the end of the game. Last round sees both our Kylo face to face at range one.

Kylo on Kylo action

Steve shoots first. I roll my defense dice. I've got to spend my focus to stay alive... But I decide to keep it for the attack. The result is both Kylo explode and we're in for a final salvo!

Final Salvo: 7 vs 7

Steve wins the final salvo and I lose my first game 100-100!
This was one of my best games in a long time. Partly because Steve is probably the best opponent you can wish for; and also because of the flying and how the game went with why enjoy so much this list. A single mistake with Vader cost me the game, but a perfect move with Kylo gave me another chance. A great risk-reward list!




After playing against Steve, who was following us in his car... Who do I get paired with? Rich who drove me there!
Rich is playing a 5X list which looks quite frightening!

Who would have guessed: my Tie Fighter didn't even get a shot before exploding!

My plan is to get the cruise missile from Vader early on, and try to get an X-Wing out, without giving him the opportunity to put too much damage initially on my aces. For this, I sacrifice my Tie Fighter to block Rich's flight astromechs' ability so I can guess exactly where he will be. This works well and while the sacrificial lamb explodes before flying, I get an X-Wing out of the board even before that with a fully modified cruise missile from Vader and a fully modified range 3 shot from Kylo!

First round of shooting and an X-Wing and a Tie Fighter will be gone!

I've put my aces in a position where Rich has now to choose who to chase on the next round. He decides to go for Vader who will then only serve as bait until he finally dies from too many red dice..
In the end, Kylo doesn't manage to finish the last 2 X-Wing, and I win by 60-50.




Third game, and I can, at last, play someone I don't play on a regular basis!
Chris is flying QD with countdown and 2 Nu with harpoons. We played each other in last year's similar event and outflew me entirely with his RAC list. It's time for a revenge!

I decide to put Kylo more or less facing Chris' list, while Vader will get behind. A nice BR+ boost from Kylo means I get straight into range one of the Nus, avoiding the harpoons and his QD bumps on Kylo. This means I've got a 4 dice cruise missile from Vader on a token-less QD who can't return fire as she has no-one in sight! (I think my Tie Fighter already died while I was getting in position!).
I only get 2 shields off, but that's a good start. From there, it's quite easy to play with Kylo and make sure he arc-dodges the Nu. It's still a very tense game as a single mistake could easily cost me the game! In the end, Kylo is badly hurt, but still alive and a damage Countdown and Nu are also still on the board. I win on points (can't remember how many exactly). A very good and tense game (and I'm happy no harpoons were shot!).


For the last game, I'm paired against Pete who flies a really interesting list with VI BB8-Poe, Lowhrick with Saw (and another new crew) and Jess with M9-G8.

Pete decides to castle in his corner, but that gives me the opportunity for a 5 dice cruise missile on token-less ships (as they all bumped), except Poe who had a focus from before. So, what do I do? I choose to launch it on Poe... for 1 shield off. The return fire at range 3 also removes one shield from Vader! Not a good start.
I think this was my first mistake and I kept at it through the whole game: target priority. I should have gone for Lowhrick and then kept at the same target until I could remove it from the board. Instead, I ended damaging all ships, killing none..
Did I mention how Kylo can be so good when well flown, but dies quickly in case of mistakes? I misjudged a move and got greedy: instead of making sure of a bump on Lowhrick - or even of flying past - with a boost before my move, I decided on a TL). I missed the bump by less than a mm, putting Kylo in range 1 of a M9-G8-ed/Saw-ed Lowhrick. It didn't go well!
I did manage to Kylo a PS0 on Poe a bit later, but it was too little too late and I lost my two ships in the same round of shooting! Loss 0-100.


In the end, I finished 2-2, with possibly one of my worst mov in a long time.
Still, I had a fantastic day. No single turret or bomb during the whole day! Plenty of fun games with impressive flying (and huge mistakes); full of surprises: a perfect day of X-Wing!
And did I mention spending time with a bunch of great friends?

Europeans Championships - or the pleasure to be a mid-table player

This is not going to be a real battle report from my games during the Europeans (I don't remember enough of the games to do a proper report), nor a thorough analysis of the current meta or anything really interesting like that... Only some quick words about three days in Birmingham for my first participation to the UK Games Expo and FFG Europeans Championship(s).


I'll start by the most important: what this week-end was really about: meeting old and new friends and having a great time together! A big thank you to everyone who bumped into me and had some time for a chat; and a special shout out to the members of the Vagabond Squadron (even the ones who couldn't make it: we missed you!).

Friday: X-Wing Day 1a

Only because the Saturday was full when I tried to book, I ended up with Day 1 on the Friday. (Funnily enough, it seems that it was the other way around later on).

I came in with a list I hadn't played before in this form: a fully kitted Kylo Ren in his Silencer, with two Wingmen: a Rho boat with harpoons and deadeye, and a Nu with a mangler, LRS and Linked Battery.

Again, I can't propose a full battle report: it's all a blur now (I should have written this just after the fact, but I spent too much time recently buying and modding hot wheels cars.. but that's another topic/game!).

Still, what I do remember:

I was totally out of the game for the first round. Clearly, I didn't know (yet?) how to fly my list and my opponent outflew me the whole game. He was flying QD, Inq and a shuttle and I didn't even manage to get half points on the shuttle! 0-100 loss...

For the second round, I was hoping for an easy game which would give me some time to get to grips with my list... I got paired with The Jack Mooney and his Ghost / Fenn list. Oh, well! It was actually a very nice game. I think my engagement was quite good, but Jack totally outflew me (again!) on a couple of moves (one from the Ghost, one from Fenn), which I didn't see coming. I still managed to get (just!) half points on the Ghost.

From there on, being already 0-2, I was planning to play for a while, drop early (probably at my next loss) and get some time to visit the expo...
It didn't go to plan as I managed - don't ask me how! - to win the next 5 games.
Those games really are a blur, but I do remember one which was as close and fun a game as you can get in X-Wing. My opponent was flying Vader with cruise, QD with harpoons and a rho (I think). He got some damage early on on Kylo. And I manage to put Kylo just on a debris, getting a stress, rolling a crit - which was a double hit, of course - which put him on 1 hull. And he would have to go through the debris again next round as the stress meant no Advanced Sensors shenanigans. We spent the rest of the game exchanging fire, but he couldn't get another one through on Kylo. One of the latest round, I attacked his QD (who was by then on one hull) with one of my boat. I rolled 3 hits - against a QD with no tokens; only to realise that he had the harpoon condition and my Kylo was in range 1. If I killed QD, Kylo would have been taken by the blast and my opponent clearly would have won on points. A game which I should have lost on a stupid mistake... Only for him to roll 3 natural evades!!! Saving his QD and my Kylo! In the end, we had to go to final salvo (I only had 1 more dice than him), and I won the roll! I've already forgotten most of the specifics of this game, but I will remember the suspense, the fun and both our laughs for a long time!
For my last game, again I wasn't impressed with my pairing; I had to play against one of my very best X-Wing mate: fellow member of Vagabond and famous X-Wing dad: Rich Greenaway. As much as it's always a pleasure to play with him; it meant that one of us was going to kick the other one out of the cut... Rich was flying his beautiful XXXXZ list (no-one knows where he got the inspiration for this list from!). He flew it very well and managed to create a perfect kill box for Kylo. But to do so, had to k-turn most of his ships, meaning he was relying on his natural dice... which failed him.

I was therefore through the cut (with the worst MOV possible). What was really extraordinary is that, apart for the Ghost-Fenn list, I didn't face ANY turret through all the other games! And those games ended up being really close, super fun and what I like the most about X-Wing!

Steve: "Look at me: I can win hands down... literally!"

Saturday: Imperial Assault Day 1

It may seems that I was slightly unprepared for X-Wing (playing a list I hadn't trained on),
but it's nothing in comparison with how casual I came in for the IA tournament! Basically, I hadn't had a game for about a year, didn't know the maps (I had only played once on two of the maps - with my daughter, and didn't get the chance to try the last one!).
Shamelessly, I netlisted the world champion winning list which was quite similar to the merc-hunter list I used to play.

Also, after 7 games of X-Wing on Friday, I was a bit tired before we even started.
Again, I don't remember most of the games, only some anecdotes.

First game, I got paired with Alistair Scott. He was playing a Vader / riot / eJets list. Not really the easy first round I was hoping for! Even if he said so (as the true gentleman Alistair is), I don't think I made it hard for him and I lost by a mile!

First round: Alistair

I don't really remember the other games.

I know I played against a Bossk list. My opponent also had Hired Guns. When he spotted my Greedo, he told me he didn't understand why people liked it so much. Greedo is, for me, the best character of the game: he is so much fun to play and can - sometimes - be so good! I tried to explain this to my opponent before the game started, but didn't really manage to convince him that a miniature that always let you shoot first can be really that good. So... I decided to do my best to make Greedo really work for this game. I played him very aggressively, and managed to put a lot of damage on Bossk with a focused Greedo and some cards (denying him his shot from "slow on the draw" by a nice placement). A bit later, my Greedo got killed (by Vinto I think), and finished his Bossk (who hadn't even activated yet!)  with his parting shot. Voilà! My 4 points stupid Greedo had just removed his 8 points central piece before he could use it. A good demonstration of why Greedo is so good and fun to play...

During another games, my opponent and I made so many mistakes it was just ridiculous. It was a crate mission (we had to bring crates back to a spot in our deployment zone). He took 2 crates on his Jedi Luke where a character is only allowed one so could only score one; and I managed to bring Greedo next to a crate, then use Gideon and Opportunistic to bring him back before realising I had forgotten to grab the crate! I think I won this one, but it was really messy!

My last game was against Joshua. The last time we played together was at my first tournament, the Kirton Regionals quite some time ago. I had won this one right from the start with Jedi Luke. Joshua payed me back with my own coin: I parked figures at the bottom of the map, thinking there was no line of sight from the top... And I was wrong: his rangers definitively had line of sight. He managed to kill one pirate and C3po before the game even properly start...

In the end, I managed 3-3, ranking 33 (just about missing the nice prize for Top 32), which was way better than I was hoping for! And I had a great time: fun games and plenty of opportunity to catchup with friends and meet new players.

OK, I came a bit unprepared, but Matt was way ahead of me there: I'm not sure he remembered what the dials were for!

Sunday: X-Wing Day 2 (but so little of it!) / Expo

On Saturday evening, Steve and I were joking about the fact that, having made the cut, I was going to have to face meta lists... And maybe even the one I really hate the most: Nym-Miranda.
As a mid-table player, I don't usually make the cut. The only time this year was at Cardiff Regionals (with two defenders and a boat), where I lost my first game post-cut against Nym-Miranda (with the combo vomit-genius still active then). It's a list I don't really enjoy playing against (not only because I usually lose, but also it can't compare in fun with any of the lists I had played against on Friday).

So, what was waiting for me for my first game on Sunday: Nym-Miranda! And, even if I won, what was going to be my second game of the day??? Nym-Miranda...
The only reason I didn't drop right there, was that I didn't feel I could do that after having eliminated Rich on Friday.
I decided I was going to take some risks right from the start and would finish the game quickly either way. And it sort of worked: I lost before the games for the Hyperspace had even started!
Still, there was no way to join in this one, so that gave me the opportunity to visit the Expo and try some new games...

In the end, this week-end was a blast thanks to all the friends I had the chance to spend time with! And the new players I met.

Also, I realised how (at the moment: it may change with X-Wing 2.0), we - the mid-table players - are lucky: we can play fun games with fun lists and plenty of variety... and leave to the top players the bane of Ghost-Fenn, Nym-Miranda and indestructible rebels ships...

The reason for my newly passion for hot wheels cars had a stand at the expo!

X-wing February Event 2018 @ Excelsior

It's February and time for another X-Wing tournament in Excelsior!

After playing Vess, Ryad and a Rho boat at Cardiff, and QD, Ryad and a Palp shuttle at January's tournament, I decide to try out the Deci again. And I'm pairing RAC with... Ryad (can you guess my favourite ship?)

I decide to put Determination on the Deci, just in case of a mirror match. Ryad is here at her best with LW and SD:

The Countess and the Admiral

Rear Admiral Chiraneau [Determination, Emperor Palpatine, Kylo Ren, Engine Upgrade] (62)

Countess Ryad [Lone Wolf, TIE/x7, Stealth Device] (37)

Game 1: Nicola

Nicola is flying an interesting list with Hera with Navigator and TLT + Accuracy Corrector and EU + docked attack shuttle (Zeb); and Ezra in his Sheathipede shuttle with VI gunner and stress bot.

Initially, this looked like a good match-up for me. But I'm playing way too cautiously with Ryad, who just ran away, not getting a shot in and I take too long to get into range 1 with the Deci. I also choose to PS0 Hera instead of blinded pilot her at the beginning, just because I'm worried that, if she moves after Ryad in the end game, her shenanigans (basically choosing any maneuver post my own move + a boost!) would be too much for the countess.

My red dice, even with RAC ability and palping a crit just don't put enough damage on a ghost with evade at range 2-3. And Nicola is flying the Ghost very well; she seems to know what she's doing :)

Right from the start, I'm not sure my positioning is the best.

Then, I mess up. My deci was nearly gone anyway, but I did manage to forget I don't have a hard one. Which means that I fly the Deci out of the board: well done Fix! (at least, I killed Ezra before...)

Yes, my next choice is really a bad one here :) You would do a hard 2, wouldn't you?

So it's down to a still very healthy Hera with her docked shuttle against an untouched Ryad.

But the countess moves last now, which completely negates Hera ability. And I still got the beautiful combo of LW, SD, always with focus and evade. Ryad manages to kill off the ghost, while only losing her shields (and maybe one hull when the attack shuttle pops out from the downed Ghost). Unfortunately, time is called before Ryad can finish Zeb...

Win: 81-62




Game 2: Rich G.

Rich is still focused on his pet project: trying to make Swarm Leader works :)
But in doing so, he brings one of the ships Kilo hates: Chewie (old school).
So he's got Chewie with swarm leader, Evade title, Maul and Ray; Ezra is tagging along in his Sheathipede shuttle with PTL and Lando on board to get evades (and enabling Maul in the list); and a wookie PS1 with Jan Ors and Courier Droid.

Rich is singing the imperial march

The engagement is exactly what I was aiming for. RAC bumps on Chewie who has no shots. Ryad and the Deci focus on Ezra, taking him out of the board (can't remember if he dies first round of combat or just beg of second round), while the Deci is only loosing a couple of shields.

Second round of shooting, the deci gets behind Rich's ships, negating Swarm Leader ability for Chewie. But I then make the mistake that will cost me the game. I know I've been playing too cautiously with Ryad last game... so, instead of getting some space with her, I run into a bump nicely done by Rich. Which means a range one from Chewie with 5 dice thanks to the wookie evade. The only evade I get comes from Palp... That leaves the Countess on 2 hull, with no Sealth Device anymore!

The Countess is not happy about my flying!

Then, I'm trying to focus on the wookie (who stayed alive way longer than he should have been allowed to) while Chewie do some repositionning. I then get a very nice place where I've got both the Deci and Ryad, shooting at the wookie at range 2 and range 1 respectively, while the only shot will be from Chewie at range 2, on a fully token-ed Ryad. But Chewie gets an extra dice from the wookie evade and gets the 4 hits... And Ryad blanks out her 3 dice. Even with Palp and an evade, she gets 2 hits and is burnt down.

RAC manages to finish the wookie (who, somehow survived!) and get half points on Chewie (maybe 3 hull left?) before dying.

Loss: (not sure about the score : ~ 75-100)

Game 3: Lian
I don't remember the full list from Lian, but from memory, he's got:

Ezra in his Sheathipede shuttle with Stress Bot, Sabine and Snap Shot

Nym with bomblet generator, TS, Genius, Harpoons and Extra munitions and autoblaster (plus probably some more stuff there).

And a beautifully (see pic below!) Crimson Specialist with (I think) thermals and ordnance silo.

Fantastic work here from Lian (proving that it takes 2 rebels bombers to make a nice looking one!)

Initial placement

There's a couple of things that worries me in Lian's list: obvisouly, the bombs (especially on Ryad - and the TS + Nym ability really restrain the space available!) and the harpoon missiles (especially on RAC). So I approach quite carefully.

The Admiral and the Countess go their own way but, already, I don't like this bomblet

I've got to eat the bomblet here (Palp for blank, still lose 2 shields with Sabine)

I've been circling around to get RAC on Nym, hopefully without eating an harpoon (still getting within a millimeter of a bomblet).

From the picture above, I move RAC bank 3. Then, I've got a choice: either boost (to make sure that I won't be in arc and range for a harpoon) or, take a big risk and Kylo a PS0 on her, betting that Nym is doing either a small bank of a forward move and won't get me in arc (at least without needing a BR, so without TL).

I take the risk and Kylo a PS0.

This is where the game was decided! Nym went 2-bank and RAC is just out of arc

Nym goes 2-bank, TL RAC, but doesn't have a shot! RAC, with Palp help puts a PS0 on Nym, and already, quite some damage!

Ryad is still running away, but RAC (again with Palp support) PS-kills Nym quickly enough.

Ryad has turned around, maybe she's actually going to do something??

Once Nym is dead, RAC manages to bump on either of the two ships to only get fired once per round and RAC's ability + Palp puts damage through, quickly killing Ezra.

By the time Ryad is back in the fight, there's only the bomber left... With no ordnance left!

Win: 100-31

Game 4: Jon

Jon is flying a Wookie Liberator, with Expertise, Vectored Thrusters, Tactician and Gunner;

"Dutch Vander" is in his Y-Wing, with Conner Net + extra munition, Ion Turrer and the title; and Flight Assist Astromech.

The last ship is (of course!!) a Sheathipede shuttle: Fenn Rau with VI, hotshot co-pilot and flight assist astromech.

RAC is charging the wookie, while Ryad is trying to lure the other two

I try to make Jon split his forces, between RAC and Ryad. Which seems to work (even if Fenn is going to have some really lucky shots from his rear arc, dealing two damages to RAC each time :)

I think here the wookie is getting some blinded...

Ryad doesn't get shot at, but is going to eat a Net next round

 RAc is putting a lot of damage on the wookie, but both ships have to reposition themselves...

Now, Jon is obvisouly focussing fire on the Deci! Again, Ryad is not helping enough!

Jon brings back all his canons onto the Deci who manages to kill the wookie and put some damage on the Y-Wing before going down. He also had time to Kylo a PS0 crit on Fenn, even if he didn't manage to put the crit through before dying.

Ryad comes back to hunt the Y-Wing and the shuttle. The positioning makes Fenn a better target and Ryad pushes the PS0 crit through. But time is short and Fenn ability means it's difficult to kill him quickly. Ryad herself isn't too afraid of any shots from Fenn or the Y-Wing: she's still got Sealth Device, LW and is always tokened up! (and is only missing a shield).
Time is called on the round. I have to BR Ryad on a conner net to get arc on Fenn. And the range 1 unmodified shot finally manages to put the last hit through!!

Last roll of dice for the victory!

Win: 65-62

Game 5: Dave

Dave is flying a very interesting (and scary) list with two Ghosts (and, guess what? A docked Sheathipede shuttle!):

Lothal Rebel with FCS, Tactician, Ray and AP-5 docked

Lothal Rebel with FCS, Leebo, Zeb and Synced Turret

Dave puts both his ghosts on his left side of the board and I set up Ryad facing them, while the Deci is on my left. I go very quickly first round with the Deci, and slow roll with Ryad.

As expected, Dave goes for the Decimator and I manage exactly the engagement I wanted: Deci bumps into the first ghost, to get shot only by the other one and Ryad is flanking. Perfect!

Until Dave reminds me that the Ghost I bumped into has got Zeb on board!!!!!!

Oh dear!

The Deci takes a real beating from both primary of the Ghosts, with already plenty of nasty crits (including taking a stress for white manoeuver and major hull breach!!), while I only removed some shields on one of the ghost).

Honestly, I nearly shook Dave's hand right after the first round of combat. I didn't see how I could come back from that! (and I was expected by the wife and daughter for a movie just after the tournament...). But, hey, we're here to play X-Wing, let's see if I can at least take one of the ghost down!

Dave has called it and block my hard 3 so I can't get away from yet another range 1 shot from the Ghost
At least, the other one hasn't got a shot!

RAC is double stress from Tactician and Crits. He barely survives the second round of shooting and goes down just after.

Ryad, in between a damaged Ghost and a nearly full health one!

Ok, it's time for Ryad to shine again. She just have to kill two ghosts!

On the plus side, the first one is badly damaged, moves after her and can't shoot from the back. That helps! And she manages to kill him quickly enough. Still, she loses a shield from an attack from the other Ghost which, more importantly, means she loses Sealth Device.

But with Lone Wolf (which helped here A LOT!), she manages to kill the ghost (maybe loosing some shields, but I can't remember). Time is called before she can finish AP-5.

This was one hell of a game, which started so badly I nearly gave it up and was won by the Countess who was unbelievable and solo-ed two Ghosts!

Win: 85-62

This tournament was a lot of fun, where every game was incredibly close (just a look at the scores tells the story here). I finished 4-1, but with probably less MOV than most of the 3-2!

I had a great time flying the Deci again.. I was just a bit rusty with it and made some stupid mistakes, but some nice flying as well!

Also, Determination didn't trigger at all during the full day, even after taking crits after crits all day long! So VI may still be the better choice (maybe except against another RAC).

I played only against rebels lists (which I like: Rebel vs Imp is so much more thematic :)).

And: all my opponents lists had a Sheathipede shuttle!!

It looks like this shuttle is becoming more and more popular!

Again, thanks Rich for organising such great events! And congrats to Andy for the win!

X-Wing - Happy New year! (Excelsior, Bristol)

Just the week-end after the Cardiff Regional, Rich is proposing the first X-Wing event of the year in Excelsior and I'm looking forward to some fun games.

I don't want to play the same list as for the Regionals, but still want to keep Ryad. I decide to get Palp on his shuttle (he's still good, even after his nerf), and Anthony let me borrow his Quickdraw (I haven't bought, nor played with a Tie-SF so far!).

I decide to make Ryad super tanky and the list I come up with is:

PALP AND THE LADIES (100)

“Quickdraw” (34)

Special Forces TIE (29), Veteran Instincts (1), Fire-Control System (2), Lightweight Frame (2)

Countess Ryad (37)
TIE Defender (34), Lone Wolf (2), TIE/x7 (-2), Stealth Device (3)

Omicron Group Pilot (29)
Lambda-Class Shuttle (21), Collision Detector (0), Emperor Palpatine (8)

Game 1: Paul
Autocorrect & autoblaster PS10 Nym with bomblets
Thweek (copy Ryad's ability)
PTL Fenn & title

I know Nym is the main danger for my list (which relies massively on defensive mods and dice). So he's my priority right from the start. I need to get him down quickly.
I put the shuttle on my left and QD center right. Nym is positioned on the side of Ryad which I don't like. It's my first game with this list (actually, first game at all with QD); and I don't have it worked out yet. So I move straight with Ryad and QD, thinking about trying to get behind with Ryad while QD puts some damage (even at the price of loosing her shields).

Imperials ladies facing some scums

But on the second turn, I double-think myself and, instead of going straight (afraid of getting into the range 1 bubble of Nym), I bank in with Ryad, while Fenn finds a nice block on QD.

Oh, oh: Ryad is not (yet) in the range 1 auto damage bubble...

This doesn't go too bad as it gives me a chance to put damage into Nym (but, not enough; as we will see!). If I remember well, Thweek unmodified shot doesn't do anything.
But now, Ryad should go away from the auto damage... Instead, I commit further, thinking I should be able to kill this pesky 1 agility ship easily...

Ryad is really in bad shape now. Thweek and Nym aren't fairing well either

A couple of turns later, Ryad has eaten a bomblet with Genius (at least, it's now off Nym), QD has done some damage on both Thweek and Nym, but, even with the help of Ryad and the shuttle, not enough to kill Nym.

The shuttle managed some nice blocks on the 2 ships chasing her, to keep the Emperor alive!

At the end of game, Ryad has been blown by the autoblaster. Nym is still alive (on 2 hulls I think, with 2 crits that just didn't do anything - original damage deck). Thweek is limping and the shuttle is on half points.

Loss: 0-51



Game 2: Rich G. (best TO ever!)
Rich is playing XXXXZ, all with the new Flight Assist astromech.

Rich creates a big line with all his ships to make sure I've got nowhere to hide.

Wow! That's a lot of guns pointing at my troops!

I dial in a stop for the shuttle, a 3 forward with QD and 5 foward with Ryad. What I'm thinking is that I'll k-turn the 5fwd with Ryad, so I can 3 k-turn here after and get her in line with the shuttle.
But Rich goes way too fast with his X-Wings and I'm already in range with Ryad, so decide to keep the straight. QD removes 1 shield and acquires a Targel Lock. Ryad doesn't do anything, but she also manage to get attacked by 4X and a Z at range 3, for no damage at all! Rich dice weren't bad at all, but range 3 with Sealth Device is 5 greens; with Focus, Evade, Lone Wolf and Palp on the defense, Ryad is SO tanky!


Next turn, Rich goes for the shuttle and block my k-turn with Ryad.

Ryad isn't going anywhere and the shuttle is in for a beating!

The shuttle is going to get a real beating.
But QD ends-up range 1 of the damaged X with focus and TL:

Everyone loves a range 1 shot with TL and focus!

This X-Wing is the first casualty of the battle.
Then, Rich creates a nice kill-zone on QD who explodes.. not without having dealt loads of damage (some doubles shots from front and back: beautiful)!
Then, it's a full health Ryad, still with her stealth device who can finish the last X-Wings and the Z.

Win: 100-63


Game 3: Philip
Philip is playing a really fun list: Thweek, Talonbane and Dalan Oberos.

I keep Ryad far away from the fight at the beginning (maybe too much away, actually), while QD engages and tries do deal loads of damage.

Ryad and the shuttle are just there to boost QD confidence... from far back!

And QD really gets loads of damage out (again, one beautiful 2 shots front and back, both range 1, doubles as I lost a shield!). I get harpooned as I forgot about Dalan Oberos ability (which give him the TL).

QD is still alone.. but gets a nice and doubled double-range 1 shots (so, 4 shots in a round :))

When QD goes down, both Thweek and Talonbane are badly damaged (Thweek on 2 and Talonbane on 1). Things are looking good, but Ryad manages to miss a range 1 attack (unmodified) on Talonbane (who is on 1 hulll and only one green dice due to a crit). Which means that Talonbane can regen 1 shield, and things are now looking grim. Next round though, the shuttle and Ryad kill both Thweek and Talonbane.
But the shuttle has taken some beating. Dalan kills the shuttle, but gets 3 stress for it (k-turn once, then uses Contraband to k-turn again. Ryad just gets behind to finish the game.

Win: 100-67


Game 4: Rich C.
Rich is playing Backdraft and Vader with missiles and Omega Leader (with juke,relay,SD).

I don't have any pictures of the game.
From memory, I wanted to focus fire on OL before loosing a ship, as I know she'll be really bad in the end game; she can also damage Ryad as she negates all the tokens and Lone Wolf.

But the engagement gives me an opportunity to really get in a perfect position with QD against Vader and backdraft. I only lose one or two shields to remove Vader (2 range 1 shots from QD and a last shot from the shuttle).

Still, Omega Leader seems unkillable. I forget about the harpoon on Backdraft and eat it on QD who goes down, but is avenged by Ryad shortly after.
Then Omega Leader is pursuing the shuttle, with Ryad just behind. Palp not being blocked by OL lock on Ryad means I manage to get some damage through and finally kill the Tie FO.
I've got Ryad and half a shuttle left.

Win 100-43



Game 5: Chris
Chris is really a great player to play against and always bring fun lists on the table.
He's playing Ryad, but with Tie-D and TB, and 2 alpha star wings: Lt Karsabi with title+HLC and wired) and another one with Jamming beam, title, advanced slam.


Going in, the Tractor Beam is what I'm really afraid of. I decide again to leave Ryad away and go in with the shuttle (not much afraid of a TB) and QD.

Not sure sacrificing the shuttle was the right choice of engagement...

This game is SO close and tense: it was a blast. It also was the end of the day and Chris and I made plenty of mistakes. I forgot FCS on QD and blanked out on next attack on the Lt. Karsabi, who escaped with 1 hull left to slam away (making me chase him way too long with Ryad and QD to finish him off). I also forgot about TB and kept my Palp for an evade on the shuttle... Only to see TB removing my only dice and not getting any use of Palp this round.
And Chris forgot to use Tractor Beam in the last two rounds... which may have changed the issue of the game.
But I also made some nice moves with QD, managing to get range 1 shots from the back on Ryad, while being out of arc a couple of times; and Chris flew very well and didn't fall in the trap of focussing on QD, he went for the shuttle and then straight for Ryad. But, even without Palp, Ryad is really tanky with the tokens, SD and LW. Lone wolf being in this case the real winner of the game!
I ended up winning on points with QD and Ryad alive, while Chris had his Ryad and the boat alive.
Qd was undamaged, but both my and Chris' Ryad were on 1 hull, both surviving miraculously range 1 attacks on the last round.

I don't remember the end score, but it was a couple of points...




As a last word, those games were just all so close and tense; with brilliant flying around, it was SO fun. This is exactly what I like in X-Wing and I enjoyed it immensely. My opponents were all real gentlemen, really committed to the games, but still with a flying casual attitude.
The event was perfectly ran by Rich (as usual)!

Post-nerf Palp is really less powerful, that's a given. But he still works and is actually more fun! Instead of passively waiting for the time you'll need him; you have to make a choice. Therefore, it's more tense and way more fun than before!


Special Congrats to Tim who won the first tournament of the year!

Congrats Tim!!!

Welsh Regionals - Firestorm Games - Cardiff

Despite a lot of discussions and list-theorizing online, I didn't get a lot of opportunities to practice before the Regionals.
A couple of games on Vassal, with a list mainly built to counter the very popular at the time PS10/PS11 alpha strike: Poe & Dash.
I even painted my Dash to be used during the event:

Poe / Dash, ready to flight!

But I had second thoughts just before packing my stuff as I did realise my experience of flying Poe and Dash was close to nil, and I wasn't sure I was going to actually enjoy myself if I took it (which is my main goal in going to an event!!).
Also, I watched a couple of streams of other Regionals and saw players using exactly the same build which put me off.
So, back to the drawing board, days (or hours) before the event. I even considered a list with Nym / Miranda and the new trajectory, plenty of bombs and TLTs and harpoons... But I wasn't sure it'd be really that good (boy, was I wrong!) or that it'd fit my style of play (probably more true).

I ended up with three lists: one per faction:
Poe / Dash
Bossk / Assaj
2 Tie-Def and a boat

Eennie Meenie Miney...

In the end, I packed the Tie-Defenders on the night before. But nearly reverted back to Poe / Dash on the morning!

The list I took is as follow:

Rho Squadron Veteran (26)

Alpha-class Star Wing (21), Deadeye (1), Harpoon Missiles (4), Long Range Scanners (0)

Colonel Vessery (38)
TIE Defender (35), Expertise (4), TIE/x7 (-2), Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)

Countess Ryad (36)
TIE Defender (34), Push the Limit (3), TIE/x7 (-2), Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)

I flew a lot the Tie-Defenders during their time of glory (with a Palp shuttle) and wanted to try the new toy (I literally took the ship out of his plastic covers when packing!).


Just a quick word on the venue and the event: it's a great venue, really fantastic for this sort of events; the tournament itself was very well organised and ran smoothly from an early morning to the end of the night. The event was very popular (~ 130 players I think?) and it was great to see all the local friends, but also some from quite far away!

So, now, for the battle report itself...


Game 1: Seb Brady
Everyone knows Seb, but just in case you don't, you're missing out! 😋
He is one of those players who are always a pleasure to discuss and play with.
Last time we played each other was during the Nationals in August 2016, but we both had so much fun that we remembered it well. Funnily enough, at the time, I was flying Defenders and Seb was flying Y-Wings. (not the same lists, but still...).
This time, he was flying 3 Y-Wings with bombs and Ion Turret with the title; and AP-5 (I think?).
This is obviously a bad match-up for Seb as my 3 agility ships with focus and evade are not that likely to get ionised and really couldn't care less about a 2 dice attack... Also, my boat's harpoons will really hurt the Y-Wings. I'm mostly worried about the bombs, but there are only 3 of them...
The engagement doesn't go well for the Rebels. I think I only got one Def and the boat ionised each once during the whole game. Seb's last Y-Wings manages to kill the boat to get some points in.
My red dice were really good (Seb tried to roll them, but without as good a result 😋); still, I always had TL+expertise or TL+focus if I needed them.

One of the Y-Wing is going to pop quickly thanks to the harpoons

Win: 100-26



Game 2: Rob Taylor
Rob is flying a nice build with Poe and Chewie. Poe has got BB-8 and the title (for loads of TL removing. Chewie has got CM and Expertise (with the traditional C3PO).

I put the Rho in the middle, my Tie-Defenders on my right, facing Chewie. He sets his Poe on the other side. I slow roll the Rho while the Defenders are catching up to chase Chewie who is sliding along his edge towards Poe. Poe starts by slow moving straight, before accelerating (still straight) in order to get behind me. I'm not too fussed about that, as I'm thinking I can catch Chewie before Poe really joins the fight.

First round of combat, Chewie  bank in while Poe is still too far and I get all my guns on Chewie including the harpoon. Rob pops CM (which is the obvious move!) and removes the TL from the Rho. But I still have the TL from Ryad - and so get one for Vessery as well. That's a lot of red dice with TL+focus and the Rho fires a harpoon anyway thanks to Deadeye.
Next turns, I follow Chewie and fire away until he dies. Meanwhile, Poe is now in the game and kills the Rho.
Still, it's then two undamaged defenders chasing Poe...
Win: 100-26


Game 3: Rich Greenaway
Rich is a great friend who organizes the best fun tournament in Bristol and who came with the whole family. He's just a great guy! I'm sorry that we have to face each other: one of us will have to lose (and also, I'm just a slightly bit afraid of his list! 😋).
He is flying 4 Nu: 2 with harpoons and 2 with HLC and all have Long Range.

He sets up on his right. I put my boat facing his entire squad, while Vessery and Ryad are on my right. He won't be able to bank in without going through an asteroid. So Rich goes straight (and Long Range Vess and Ryad) while my Rho hard turn away to slow play and get past the asteroid and the Tie-Defenders race forward.

The next turn, he still have to go forward if he doesn't want to break formation through the rock, and My Rho bank back in, while the Tie-Def do the same (they already are mid-board).

The Tie-Def haven't moved yet: they are going to bank in while the boats are still going straight

Then his four Nus hard 2 towards the Def and I can reach range 1 and avoid some arcs thanks to a 5 forward with Ryad and a 3 bank with Vess. With my Tie-Defenders range 1 and the harpoon from my Rho, that's 12 red dice, all fully modified... which kills his Nu before his turn to shoot. Vessery loses his shields in exchange. Then it's time for the Tie-Defenders to 4-K behind the remaining Nus which don't like having 2 Tie-Defenders on their trail with fully modified attacks and melt away quickly.
My Rho survives on 1 hull!
Win: 100-0

Game 4 : Calum
Calum is playing the list of the day: Nym with bombs and the 5-forward launch, with Miranda with Sabine, more bombs. All with TLTs and harpoons...
Facing this list, I'm not really sure what to do. I want to try and kill Nym fast and hope I'll have enough firepower to still deal with regen-Miranda. My thinking is that, eve if I don't, I'll have at least killed something...

Vessery and Ryad will cover the right, staying enough apart, while the Rho will bank towards the asteroid in the middle, to keep Miranda from shooting her harpoons, while having arc on Nym

So I end up trying to create a killbox on Nym, while keeping my guys apart to mitigate the bombs impact. It works quite well: Miranda is still away and Nym has to barrel-roll away to avoid having all my guns on her. Still, Vessery and the Rho both have a shot..
But before the combat, Vessery has got to eat a proton bomb (at least, he is the only one, thanks to having kept my ships apart). He gets a Major Explosion. For which I roll a hit. And then, instead of removing one shield, I misplay and draw a crit card: Direct Hit. Vess is dead before the game starts! (we only realised the misplay at the end of the game. Calum was really sorry about it, but it was entirely my own fault for forgetting my shields, just because I had a damage!).
After that, it's really is an uphill battle. I manage to get Nym down to 1 hull, but can't finish him.
At one point, Calum manages to let go 3 bombs on my 2 remaining ships!!

Loss: 0-100


Game 5: 100-0 Lee Garett
Lee brings a very interesting build with an Intensity Poe, a very annoying hotshot Fenn and an aggresive Lowrhick with Maul and Ezra.

I'm quite confortable jousting this list. Lee starts by turning away before coming back straight at me in formation. The initial engagement is not specifically good for any of us, even if my harpoons remove some shields from Lowrhick.

Ryad and Vess are going to rush in Range 1

I guess that his Lowhrick is going to go for the block and bank 3 towards my Defenders and I take the chance of a 5-K with Ryad (thanks to her ability), and a 3 bank for Vess. It works perfectly: Ryad ends up just behind a Lowrhick who has reinforced the front. Vess is also range 1, but in the front. Lee manages to get his Poe Range 1 of Vess, but Fenn bumps.
Poe rolls something like 2 hits / 2 crits without mods! I'm starting to get worried for Vess! But my green dice step up to the challenge: 3 natural evades and the evade token: safe!!
I hesitate a long time on the kill priority there, but decide to go for Lowhrick.
Vess and Ryad kill Lowrhick  and the harpoon gives a damage to all the ships!!
Before dying, Lowrhick has removed all Vess shields and put a damage in (this time, I roll three blanks). My Rho range 1 gives a crit to Fenn (who lost his shield from the harpoon) : direct hit!
Next round, Fenn goes down to a 1 hull Vessery.
Then it's Poe against the full list. I mess up a BR which would have blocked Poe, but still get the kill in the end.
My dice were probably above average overall during the game, but it's also all the tokens! TL+focus and evades!
Win: 100-0


Game 6: David Hammond
David is playing two Tie Agressor (Double Edge with Ability and Unguided Rockets and TLTs; and a Onyx with TLT) and quickdraw with VI, harpoons, advanced optics. All have LWF.
For the set-up, David chooses to put his Agressors closer to me than Quick Draw.
I manage to get really quickly in range 1 of the Tie Agressor with the Defenders, in order to negate the TLT shots and deal loads of damage from my fully modified dice (it didn't help that David's greens failed him).



Meanwhile, QD is a bit far away and shooting at the boat (which I had parked behind a rock initially, which helped mitigate damage).
The first Tie went quickly and then I had my boat running away / slamming, trying to keep him alive to occupy QD while my Defenders chase the last Tie. At some point, David misread my moves and Slooped QD in a position where he didn't get any shots; he then had to reposition which gave me some time alone to finish this last Tie.
It was then 2 undamaged Tie Defenders against a full health Quick Draw...

Win: 100-26

That's it: I'm finishing the swiss on 5-1 and end up 7th, making the cut for the first time!
I must say I was as surprised as happy! (Special thanks here to Alex and Steve who had to wait as we shared a car to come in!!)

I spent all the time between Round 6 and the Top 16 game praying not to have to face another Nym / Miranda list! But it didn't work 😄



Top 16: Ronan Eales
His list is very similar to the one Calum was using in my 4th game. The proton bombs were replaced by others to get some initiative bid.
I'm thinking of trying the same approach I did with Calum (but, hopefully this time, not to lose a ship too early). But I just mess it up completely!
I put my Rho in the middle and Vess and Ryad on the right.

At this point, I've not fully messed up yet and I still have a chance (I think)

Then, I think about slamming the Rho to get either a bump or range 1 and avoiding any vomited bomb, so I dial in a 3 foward and I launch Ryad and Vess in the midst of it as well.
But, I doubt myself when choosing the Rho action; I'm now thinking he's never going to come back to launch the harpoon, so I might as well keep him there, and focus. Plain stupid!
Not only the Rho is perfectly placed for Nym and Miranda to launch harpoons on him, but Nym can launch a bomb which hits both him and Ryad! If I had slamed as planned initially, the bomb would only have hit Ryad. So before I even fire, my Rho is gone, Ryad is double-stressed and damaged...

Game's over!

Vessery will try his best, getting Miranda to 2 hull (last damage being a crit, I was hoping for something really good, but ended up with the one giving a stress). And died heroically!

Loss: 0-100





To conclude this battle report, a great thanks to all my opponents for really good games and to the organiser for a great event! Many, many thanks also to the Vagabond Squadron and the loads of time spent joking together about the game and other stuffs while still trying to come up with fun lists! (and yet another thanks to Steve for driving me in and out - even if later than planned :))
It was a fun day of playing X-Wing; and chatting with great friends; and making new ones!