{"id":4645,"date":"2016-08-28T11:56:36","date_gmt":"2016-08-28T15:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/?p=4645"},"modified":"2021-02-17T17:28:53","modified_gmt":"2021-02-17T22:28:53","slug":"redcaps-august-x-wing-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/2016\/08\/redcaps-august-x-wing-tournament\/","title":{"rendered":"Redcap&#8217;s August X-Wing Tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-3661\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/rebel-alliance-icon.png\" alt=\"rebel-alliance-icon\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/rebel-alliance-icon.png 100w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/rebel-alliance-icon-60x60.png 60w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px\" \/>A\u00a0couple\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/pagegaming.com\/\">PAGE<\/a> people\u00a0made it to <a href=\"http:\/\/redcapscorner.com\/\">Redcap&#8217;s<\/a>\u00a0X-Wing Tournament yesterday. Fourteen ruggedly handsome rogues, conspicuously clean jackboots,\u00a0and marketably\u00a0bizarre aliens\u00a0came to fight in a\u00a0very enjoyable\u00a0event, with lots of interesting squadrons present.<\/p>\n<h2>Squadron<\/h2>\n<p>I took\u00a0my new Kyle&#8217;s Bees squadron (100 points):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/xwing-miniatures.wikia.com\/wiki\/Kyle_Katarn\">Kyle Katarn HWK-290<\/a> (21), <a href=\"http:\/\/xwing-miniatures.wikia.com\/wiki\/Blaster_Turret\">Blaster Turret<\/a> (4), <a href=\"http:\/\/xwing-miniatures.wikia.com\/wiki\/Recon_Specialist\">Recon Specialist<\/a> (3), <a href=\"http:\/\/xwing-miniatures.wikia.com\/wiki\/Moldy_Crow\">Moldy Crow<\/a> (3), <a href=\"http:\/\/xwing-miniatures.wikia.com\/wiki\/Hull_Upgrade\">Hull Upgrade<\/a> (3)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/xwing-miniatures.wikia.com\/wiki\/Blue_Squadron_Pilot\">Blue Squadron Pilot B-Wing<\/a> (22)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/xwing-miniatures.wikia.com\/wiki\/Blue_Squadron_Pilot\">Blue Squadron Pilot B-Wing<\/a> (22)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/xwing-miniatures.wikia.com\/wiki\/Blue_Squadron_Pilot\">Blue Squadron Pilot B-Wing<\/a> (22)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To be honest, the real goal here was just\u00a0that I wanted to fly some B-Wings and the HWK, probably my two favorite Star Wars ships,\u00a0after having spent a lot of time flying a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/2015\/12\/redcaps-x-mas-wing\/\">YT1300+Y-Wings<\/a>.\u00a0The justifying theory\u00a0though\u00a0is that the B-Wings are robust,\u00a0deliver a hard\u00a0punch, and have solid initial\u00a0maneuverability in a dogfight. They have barrel roll, 1-turns, and a 2-K, so they can fly. But they take a stress to use the moves, so they can&#8217;t really keep\u00a0it up and can use some assistance to not cripple themselves in doing so. Kyle provides that by flying around generating a focus token to give\u00a0a B-Wing each round, so they can barrel roll, stress, whatever, and still have a token to use. Meanwhile he also plunks away with the Blaster Turret, which\u00a0is a solid weapon. The HWK is also fairly\u00a0durable with its 2 Agility and the Hull Upgrade.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/b-wing.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4647\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/b-wing.png\" alt=\"b-wing\" width=\"500\" height=\"418\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/b-wing.png 500w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/b-wing-300x251.png 300w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/b-wing-60x50.png 60w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/kyle.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4649\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/kyle.png\" alt=\"kyle\" width=\"550\" height=\"499\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/kyle.png 550w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/kyle-300x272.png 300w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/kyle-60x54.png 60w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Battle<\/h2>\n<p>So went\u00a0the idea\u00a0anyway. I&#8217;d gotten in\u00a0one game with these against <a href=\"http:\/\/sarcophagi.blogspot.com\/\">Matt<\/a>\u00a0but had not previously flown this against anybody else. Instead I played some solo games to learn the B-Wings and prep for this\u00a0tournament. I actually enjoy that, and think it&#8217;s good practice. The trick is to choose which side you want to win and play it straight. For the other side you don&#8217;t set dials, instead responding reactively as ships\u00a0activate, being able to see ships&#8217;\u00a0positions from the previous moves and\u00a0with full knowledge of\u00a0the as yet unresolved opposing dials.\u00a0That&#8217;s a huge advantage and I usually lose&#8230; to myself.<\/p>\n<p>So it wasn&#8217;t clear how solid this B-Wing list was, because I kept beating it with a basic TIEs+Carnor swarm.\u00a0In addition, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tOuCbDkKIs4\">they say<\/a>:\u00a0&#8220;Look, <em>good against remotes is one thing<\/em>. Good against the living? That&#8217;s something else.&#8221; So I was expecting to get clobbered.<\/p>\n<h3>Round 1<\/h3>\n<p>First game, Ryan G came at me with two TIE Bombers, Scourge, and an Inquisitor. The Bombers and Scourge huddled up in a corner while the Inquisitor came from table center. I\u00a0started from the corner straight across from the Bombers but immediately flew\u00a0toward the center and the Inquisitor.\u00a0From Ryan&#8217;s perspective, he wanted to lure\u00a0me into going against the Inquisitor so the others could joust at me. I didn&#8217;t want to joust straight at the Bombers and their Concussion Missiles, so I took the bait.<\/p>\n<p>The Inquisitor though got overeager and came too fast. The Rebels\u00a0delivered their initial punch\u00a0and chased him back to\u00a0the Emperor. In return, the Bombers got in a good strike with their initial missile\u00a0volley. At this point I was worried, thinking about it in terms of the Bombers blowing away a ship a turn. Even with\u00a0Extra Munitions though, they could\u00a0only deliver\u00a0that punch twice, and only if they got a good shot. The B-Wings were able to turn inside them, take out Scourge in the process, and then whittle away at the Bombers with Kyle acting as bait but also doing his share of damage.<\/p>\n<p>Final outcome: Rebel victory, 100 to 44.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4646\" style=\"width: 540px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_123736.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4646\" class=\"size-large wp-image-4646\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_123736-1024x766.jpg\" alt=\"Hunting the Inquisitor.\" width=\"530\" height=\"396\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_123736-1024x766.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_123736-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_123736-768x574.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_123736-60x45.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 530px) 100vw, 530px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4646\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hunting the Inquisitor.<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>Round 2<\/h3>\n<p>Next up was Tony S, who literally lives down the street but we only manage to play at tournaments&#8230; He\u00a0<span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">brought what I considered a pretty scary\u00a0swarm of five Y-Wings with <\/span><a style=\"line-height: 1.5;\" href=\"http:\/\/xwing-miniatures.wikia.com\/wiki\/Autoblaster_Turret\">Autoblaster Turrets<\/a><span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">. I&#8217;m a big fan of Y-Wings so I\u00a0knew how durable they\u00a0are, and getting swarmed by that many Autoblasters\u00a0isn&#8217;t going to go well for anybody.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I started\u00a0in a corner and Tony basically arranged a line straight across from me. The only real strategic move I made was to\u00a0again cut toward the center before\u00a0engaging. I figured if I went straight at him I would definitely get wrapped\u00a0by the swarm, whereas if I ran\u00a0left the back of\u00a0his line would maybe be stuck\u00a0chasing me and out of turret range. I guess this sort of worked, but we still got stuck in a very\u00a0messy furball.<\/p>\n<p>From there the B-Wings&#8217; maneuverability let me\u00a0fly just well enough to never let all the Y-Wings get shots, so they could whittle down ships well but not eliminate\u00a0them outright. This was\u00a0a nail biter but leaning my way\u00a0heading toward the end of time, with one B-Wing splashed\u00a0versus two Y-Wings. Then, tragically, I got greedy with Kyle. With a hull point remaining,\u00a0I should have just boosted away with a 3-bank red move to get him totally clear of the mess. I really wanted another shot, however, and he was low on focus so that\u00a0stress would have been crippling to his continued\u00a0utility.\u00a0I thought I could get him just out of range of return fire with a 2-turn, but it came up just a millimeter or two\u00a0short and he got blasted away. That was a 34 point loss and suddenly Tony was up.\u00a0However, in the few\u00a0remaining turns, the B-Wings were able to concentrate fire on one more Y-Wing and take it down, swinging me back just ahead as\u00a0the game ended.<\/p>\n<p>Final result: B-Wings barely hold the sky, 60 to 56.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4659\" style=\"width: 540px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_135840.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4659\" class=\"wp-image-4659 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_135840-1024x766.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_20160827_135840\" width=\"530\" height=\"396\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_135840-1024x766.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_135840-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_135840-768x574.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_135840-60x45.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 530px) 100vw, 530px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4659\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Facing the gun line.<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>Round 3<\/h3>\n<p>In a return to a\u00a0tradition of ours, third round I faced Colin K and his Ghost + Tycho. I set up in a corner again and he put\u00a0the Ghost across from me and Tycho diagonally. Unreasonably scared of the Ghost, I ran\u00a0away from it and went\u00a0for Tycho.<\/p>\n<p>After that I\u00a0got sloppy. Frazzled from the very hard fought battle with Tony, I\u00a0made a bunch of basic mistakes. I managed to set up a solid barrage line against\u00a0Tycho on the first run at him. But then I completely misgauged a 1-turn, jamming up all my B-Wings and only giving one of them a second shot at Tycho instead of all three. \u00a0Then I just happened to be standing exactly where I couldn&#8217;t see the stress token on that same misgauged B-Wing, forgot about it, and put down another red move. Colin of course immediately pushed it\u00a0hard toward the board edge. Kyle got Tycho but\u00a0the Ghost and deployed Attack Shuttle moved\u00a0into close range\u00a0and took out a B-Wing.\u00a0Still not thinking\u00a0well, figuring I was losing another ship flying off the board, I basically\u00a0gave up at that point and made a useless\u00a0move on the remaining B-Wing.<\/p>\n<p>However, I was\u00a0wrong again, and the ship both stayed on the board and survived a blast from the Ghost! From there I rallied mentally. Kyle and a B-Wing went after the\u00a0Attack Shuttle, and Colin made his own mistake, forgetting to apply\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/xwing-miniatures.wikia.com\/wiki\/%22Zeb%22_Orrelios\">Zeb&#8217;s<\/a> ability to cancel a crit that turned out to be a Direct Hit splashing it.\u00a0The HWK then flew bait\u00a0in a successful guessing game staying\u00a0out of the Ghost&#8217;s primary arc and Autoblaster Turret range, while it and the two B-Wings did just enough long range shooting to drop the Ghost below half strength and score those\u00a0points.<\/p>\n<p>Final result: Old school Rebels\u00a0beat those cartoon Rebels 74 to 22.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4661\" style=\"width: 540px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_153722.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4661\" class=\"size-large wp-image-4661\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_153722-1024x766.jpg\" alt=\"Bombing run on Tycho.\" width=\"530\" height=\"396\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_153722-1024x766.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_153722-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_153722-768x574.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_153722-60x45.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 530px) 100vw, 530px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4661\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bombing run on Tycho.<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>Round 4<\/h3>\n<p>That\u00a0surprise victory\u00a0forced a 4th round, as there were now two\u00a0undefeated players. To finish\u00a0the day I had to fight at the top table against Zac C and his fearsome squadron:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/xwing-miniatures.wikia.com\/wiki\/Manaroo\">Manaroo<\/a> [<a href=\"http:\/\/xwing-miniatures.wikia.com\/wiki\/Attanni_Mindlink\">Attanni Mindlink<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/xwing-miniatures.wikia.com\/wiki\/K4_Security_Droid\">K4 Security Droid<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/xwing-miniatures.wikia.com\/wiki\/R5-P8\">R5-P8<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/xwing-miniatures.wikia.com\/wiki\/Punishing_One\">Punishing One<\/a>] (46)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/xwing-miniatures.wikia.com\/wiki\/Tansarii_Point_Veteran\">Tansarii Point Veteran<\/a> [<a href=\"http:\/\/xwing-miniatures.wikia.com\/wiki\/Attanni_Mindlink\">Attanni Mindlink<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/xwing-miniatures.wikia.com\/wiki\/%22Heavy_Scyk%22_Interceptor\">\u201cHeavy Scyk\u201d Interceptor<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/xwing-miniatures.wikia.com\/wiki\/Heavy_Laser_Cannon\">Heavy Laser Cannon<\/a>] (27)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/xwing-miniatures.wikia.com\/wiki\/Tansarii_Point_Veteran\">Tansarii Point Veteran<\/a> [<a href=\"http:\/\/xwing-miniatures.wikia.com\/wiki\/Attanni_Mindlink\">Attanni Mindlink<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/xwing-miniatures.wikia.com\/wiki\/%22Heavy_Scyk%22_Interceptor\">\u201cHeavy Scyk\u201d Interceptor<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/xwing-miniatures.wikia.com\/wiki\/Heavy_Laser_Cannon\">Heavy Laser Cannon<\/a>] (27)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Unfortunately this was just a bad matchup all around on my end: Totally spent\u00a0and unfocused from two hard &amp; close games, starving and not expecting to play a 4th game, and facing a much more experienced player, with a setup\u00a0I&#8217;d never considered\u00a0before, which\u00a0was easily capable of\u00a0downing one of my ships a turn.<\/p>\n<p>We more or less setup in opposite corners, and both started flying counter-clockwise around the board edges. I was hesitant to engage, but the Jumpmaster and Scyks split up a bit and I decided to swing in&#8212;sooner or later you have to fight! Unfortunately, I chose the wrong target. I went after the large ship, figuring that it&#8217;s not super robust, Manaroo passing tokens around was a problem, and it was closer. That just let the HLCs come in toward the rear of my squadron though, and I proceeded losing a ship\u00a0each turn until the fairly short game ended.<\/p>\n<p>Final result: Scum clobber Rebels, 100 to 0.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4665\" style=\"width: 540px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_164817.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4665\" class=\"size-large wp-image-4665\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_164817-1024x729.jpg\" alt=\"Blue Squadron swinging in.\" width=\"530\" height=\"377\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_164817-1024x729.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_164817-300x213.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_164817-768x547.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_164817-60x43.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 530px) 100vw, 530px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4665\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Blue Squadron swinging in.<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Outcomes<\/h2>\n<p>That total defeat dropped me to 5th place as\u00a0the players who won a third game in\u00a0Round 4 gained more points than I had.\u00a0But I had to be happy with making it to that point, flying\u00a0an untested list and not having played much this summer.<\/p>\n<p>Also, I beat Colin, and that&#8217;s obviously all that matters.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s also worth noting that this was the top scoring Rebels list:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Scum (Manaroo + 2x HLC Scyks)<\/li>\n<li>Imperial<\/li>\n<li>Scum<\/li>\n<li>Scum<\/li>\n<li>Rebel (Kyle + 3x B-Wings)<\/li>\n<li>Imperial (3x\u00a0Defenders)<\/li>\n<li>Rebel<\/li>\n<li>Rebel<\/li>\n<li>Rebel (Ghost + Tycho)<\/li>\n<li>Rebel (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/2015\/12\/redcaps-x-mas-wing\/\">Chewbacca + 2x Y-Wings<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Rebel (5x Autoblaster Turret\u00a0Y-Wings)<\/li>\n<li>Scum<\/li>\n<li>Imperial (Decimator + Firespray)<\/li>\n<li>Imperial (Inquisitor + Scourge + 2x Bombers)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>There was actually a notable amount of diversity present among the lists, which is cool to see. No spam squads or cluster\u00a0of net lists (though a few different ones at the top of the stack).\u00a0Instead we got just a couple\u00a0aces, one Triple Defender list, one\u00a0solitary Ghost, and just a couple Jumpmasters, while\u00a0a bunch of older ships reappeared&#8212;three squads had a YT1300, Y-Wings,\u00a0and so on.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4669\" style=\"width: 540px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_152959.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4669\" class=\"size-large wp-image-4669\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_152959-1024x766.jpg\" alt=\"Colin thinking about it too hard.\" width=\"530\" height=\"396\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_152959-1024x766.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_152959-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_152959-768x574.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_152959-60x45.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 530px) 100vw, 530px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4669\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Colin thinking about it too hard.<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>List Thoughts<\/h2>\n<p>Like I talked about for my previous <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/2015\/12\/redcaps-x-mas-wing\/\">tournament list<\/a>, I place a lot of priority in squad building on simplicity and durability. I actually keep the cards for\u00a0a slight variation on that\u00a0Chewie list handy so I can lend them out for new players to try. Newcomer Nick actually borrowed it and flew to 10th place here in his first games with more than the starter box. There&#8217;s just a lot to be said for\u00a0the basic\u00a0structure both lists share:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Durability: A bunch of shields\/hull points so you don&#8217;t have to fly perfect and never get tagged;<\/li>\n<li>Firepower: A\u00a0bucketful of\u00a0straightforward shooting;<\/li>\n<li>Ships: Enough ships to have options and robustness, not so many as to need fancy formation\u00a0flying;<\/li>\n<li>Trick: A single, simple special ability to augment that\u00a0durability and firepower.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Beyond\u00a0basic flying skills, the only\u00a0special ability I have to work with in this list\u00a0is Kyle&#8217;s focus management. I don&#8217;t have to remember Zeb&#8217;s infrequently used special ability, or debate spending\u00a0my Concussion Missiles, or anything like that.\u00a0A\u00a0more nuanced\u00a0list with a good pilot\u00a0can probably\u00a0tear this squad apart. But it&#8217;s relatively straightforward to fly, and targeted at beating\u00a0trickier setups\u00a0that aren&#8217;t\u00a0executed perfectly.<\/p>\n<p>One note about flying is that my standard\u00a0flight pattern with this list has been\u00a0to start from a corner, headed at a ~45 degree angle toward the center of the board. Theory is that lets me capitalize on the B-Wing&#8217;s\u00a0maneuverability, spinning\u00a0off to the left or the right or barrel rolling, and giving less maneuverable opponents a harder time coming at me through the asteroids. It&#8217;s quite a change from my Y-Wing list, which I generally literally fly in a box around the board edges.<\/p>\n<p>Also, a sidenote: One of my dials slipped. I had noticed earlier in the day that it has somehow become\u00a0very loose, and had seen\u00a0the window moving a bit a few times when I picked it up. Heading into the first attack on Manaroo, it absolutely had a bank selected. Flipping it up to reveal though, it was straight. It\u00a0didn&#8217;t affect that game, but would have been disastrous in other circumstances. I had not heard of that problem before. Definitely something\u00a0I&#8217;ll have to think about how to\u00a0fix and prevent.<\/p>\n<h2>Opposing Thoughts<\/h2>\n<p>I was glad to see TIE Bombers revitalized with the new Veterans box. I think they could be solid teamed up with\u00a0a screening force to keep opponents at some distance.<\/p>\n<p>The 5x Autoblaster Turret swarm is scary, though personally I&#8217;d probably drop one in order to put missiles or something on the ships. There&#8217;s not a huge difference between 4 vs 5 of them shooting, and in fact you&#8217;ll probably get the same number of shots on as you would otherwise, swarm\u00a0dogfight\u00a0dynamics being what they are. But having an opening\u00a0salvo to give at a distance\u00a0seems like it would be a useful addition.<\/p>\n<p>I haven&#8217;t\u00a0flown against a Ghost much, so it still catches me off guard. It seems big and scary and can definitely krump some ships with its firepower. But ultimately it&#8217;s\u00a0fairly easy\u00a0to whittle away. I was surprised here by how quickly it went down to half strength once I started really shooting at it. The Ghost doesn&#8217;t seem dramatically different in that regard from, say, a\u00a0YT1300: Packs a good punch, is pretty durable against small\u00a0jousters, but is quickly eaten up by concentrated heavy fire.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4670\" style=\"width: 540px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_165700.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4670\" class=\"size-large wp-image-4670\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_165700-1024x767.jpg\" alt=\"Attack on Manaroo.\" width=\"530\" height=\"397\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_165700-1024x767.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_165700-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_165700-768x575.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_20160827_165700-60x45.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 530px) 100vw, 530px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4670\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Attack on Manaroo.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The Manaroo list is pretty good.\u00a0I think it actually fits\u00a0into my basic list structure:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Durability:\u00a0The hull\/shield points aren&#8217;t high, but\u00a0agility is solid on all three ships;<\/li>\n<li>Firepower:\u00a0Each ship is regularly putting out 4 attack dice;<\/li>\n<li>Ships: Three\u00a0ships is very manageable to fly\u00a0but not overly brittle;<\/li>\n<li>Trick: Manaroo and the Attannii Mindlink\u00a0ensure all 3 ships are\u00a0equipped all the time with\u00a0focus and evade tokens.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>That\u00a0setup\u00a0seems a bit exotic and complex because of the number and variety of cards and pilots used, and relative rareness of some. But in practice it&#8217;s a single, simple, streamlined ability to execute: You just keep pumping out evade and focus tokens. In that way it&#8217;s like this\u00a0Kyle setup, which is built on\u00a0a bunch of card interactions but is very simple to play. The &#8220;1 trick&#8221; guideline isn&#8217;t about cards or the complexity of the squadron build, but simplicity and frequent use in play.<\/p>\n<p>That said, I&#8217;d love to have another go at it. If I&#8217;d focused\u00a0on\u00a0the Scyks first and hustled in to engage them inside their turret\u00a0range and\u00a0take at least one out early, the battle\u00a0could have gone very differently. Still tough, but hopefully not as lopsided.<\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>Next up on the X-Wing radar for me is that Saturday, December 10, I&#8217;ll\u00a0be\u00a0leading a 1-day narrative campaign at <a href=\"http:\/\/redcapscorner.com\/\">Redcap&#8217;s<\/a>. Though I don&#8217;t play\u00a0X-Wing particularly competitively (this is only my third\u00a0tournament), I&#8217;ve run and am\u00a0running a bunch of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/2015\/05\/narrative-tournament-design-in-tabletop-wargaming\/\">innovative narrative events<\/a> for 40k that have gone well, so hopefully this will be similarly fun. <a href=\"http:\/\/sarcophagi.blogspot.com\/\">Matt<\/a> and I have some crazy ideas, so I hope you&#8217;ll <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/events\/668815373282699\/\">join us<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A\u00a0couple\u00a0PAGE people\u00a0made it to Redcap&#8217;s\u00a0X-Wing Tournament yesterday. Fourteen ruggedly handsome rogues, conspicuously clean jackboots,\u00a0and marketably\u00a0bizarre aliens\u00a0came to fight in a\u00a0very enjoyable\u00a0event, with lots of interesting squadrons present. Squadron I took\u00a0my new Kyle&#8217;s Bees squadron (100 points): Kyle Katarn HWK-290 (21), Blaster Turret (4), Recon Specialist (3), Moldy Crow (3), Hull Upgrade (3) Blue Squadron Pilot &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/2016\/08\/redcaps-august-x-wing-tournament\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[409],"tags":[257,274,45,325,307],"class_list":["post-4645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-battle-reports","tag-featured","tag-miniatures","tag-redcaps","tag-tournament","tag-x-wing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4645"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4717,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4645\/revisions\/4717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}