X-Wing

[Porkins]

Shuttle with a Venoc Viper swarm!

[NecroBlade]

Originally Posted by stubobj

There's a Store Championship near me at the end of this month that Im really thinking about going. Ive played less than 10 games so Im mainly going just for the chance to play some games and have fun. However, Id still like to be some what competitive and not be a complete push over.

Before my first tournament, I had played maybe 4 games of X-Wing against other people. I got 2nd. Since then, over 5 tournaments, my record is 20-5, winning one and never finishing lower than 4th. Figure out what you like to fly, get good at flying it, and you can beat anything. (Yes, even the Phantom. Don't listen to ParaGoombaSlayer. )

[rym]

Agreed with NecroBlade.

Playing what you like is more important than playing what is "supposed to win" or playing "the meta", at least in my opinion. I could jump on the bandwagon here locally and play the FatHan Falcon build, or some variation thereof, and I might win, who knows? But I don't really care for the Falcon in the first place - and it's not my cup of tea. No matter how many times I might win with it, it just wouldn't be the same as flying the ship(s) I'd wished I'd flown in the first place. No where near the same satisfaction, for me anyway.

So fly what you like, and like what you fly.

[Porkins]

A few games in now, and we are finding that the Imperials always win. Since I have 5 TIE's and a TIE Advanced, it's basically a TIE Swarm every game. Wedge always dies almost instantly. Any tips for playing X-Wings (and 1 Y-Wing)?

[MegaSilver]

Originally Posted by Porkins

A few games in now, and we are finding that the Imperials always win. Since I have 5 TIE's and a TIE Advanced, it's basically a TIE Swarm every game. Wedge always dies almost instantly. Any tips for playing X-Wings (and 1 Y-Wing)?

Yeah, TIE Swarm was super strong in the early meta.

In all honesty, Wave 4 took away the TIE Swarm's power for the most part, though it shows from time to time.

Here is an index thread to help you out in starting: https://community.fantasyflightgames...-useful-links/

In particular, look up Paul Heaver's Strategy Guides in the link I provided on how X-Wings can beat a TIE Swarm. A couple of those articles were written during that time period of the meta. Basically, at that time it required finesse to outmaneuver the TIE Swarm and minimize the number of attacks the X-Wings took each turn. In a way, it still does. Hope that helps.

[Arch-vile]

Fighting a TIE Swarm is tough. I have not yet played against a swarm in a tournament, but in home games with my uncle, Biggs has worked well. Fly your fleet in a pinwheel or box formation and keep Biggs in the back, hopefully at range 3 so he gets +1 evade die. Your other ships should be at range 2 so the opponent's ships don't get +1 evade die. Stick R2-F2 on Biggs to further boost defense or R2-D2 to regenerate shields (R2-D2 isn't the best when you're flying against a swarm, though, since Biggs will die fairly quickly). Once Biggs is about to die, fly him away - don't worry about getting a shot off, just keep him alive, so next turn he can K-turn and reenter the fight. This forces your opponent to spread his fire and not concentrate on one ship. Garven isn't a bad pairing with Biggs, so Biggs gets an extra focus token for defense.

Also, it's not always a great idea to spend lots of points on a flashy pilot like Wedge - especially against a swarm of low-pilot skill ships. Wedge has a great ability but it is expensive and makes him a priority target. Ask yourself how many times you got to use Wedge's ability. Maybe downgrading him to a Rookie pilot and spending points on defensive upgrades or even another ship might be better.

A dense asteroid field forces the swarm to break formation. In that link that Mega posted, read the Turn Zero guide to asteroid placement. It makes a huge difference. (There are a lot of Heroscapers on the FFG forums, by the way; it's a great place to read strategy articles and keep up with the current meta. It's probably a bit overwhelming if you've only bought Wave 1 stuff thus far, though.)

[Porkins]

What about Wave 4 neutered the TIE Swarm's effectiveness? Upgrades or new ships?

[MegaSilver]

Originally Posted by Porkins

What about Wave 4 neutered the TIE Swarm's effectiveness? Upgrades or new ships?

Phantoms are hard on swarms if they are flown well. Arc dodge all over the place better than TIE Interceptors (again, if flown well). You'd have to block their movements or try to cover a large area with your arcs to pin it down.

Also, the Z-95s give the Rebels a swarm unit themselves, so they can have more numbers on their side. You can work on your build to see if you can squeak out 12 points so that you can add a Z-95 in, if you want.

[Matthias Maccabeus]

Next tourney that I'm going to, I'm going to run this:

OGP w Tactician x2 x 4

That's right 4 shuttles all with 2 tacticians on board. The hope is I stress the crap out of them in the first volley or 2 so it takes them just as long to turn around as it does the shuttles!

Now I just have to find 6 more tacticians....

[MegaSilver]

EDIT: Whoops, double post!

[MegaSilver]

Originally Posted by Matthias Maccabeus

Next tourney that I'm going to, I'm going to run this:

OGP w Tactician x2 x 4

That's right 4 shuttles all with 2 tacticians on board. The hope is I stress the crap out of them in the first volley or 2 so it takes them just as long to turn around as it does the shuttles!

Now I just have to find 6 more tacticians....

Ebay!

(That list sounds fantastic, by the way.)

[Sir Yeshua]

Hey guys, I just got the core set and was wondering where/when are good places/times to find more ships on sale? I just can't see myself paying $10-12 for a single ship.