Tournament Report

Games of Berkeley
Berkeley CA
23-Jan-2016

Number of Players: 10

I return triumphant. I have just won my first official X-Wing event. I remembered to take some pictures and battle summaries this time. But first how I'll share how it began...

It started in a dream. I was brought before a dark imposing throne where a wretched evil creature sat. I knew the creature. It was Emperor Palpatine. He looked me over.

"You play Scum. *evil cackle* Weak and sad. You have no place among the Sith!"

"Hey you geriatric prick! I've gotten some wins..." I replied defensively.

"Ohhhh my apologies. Was it Bro-Bots are TLT Thug spam?" His eyes twinkled with amusement.

"Neither." Mumbling now. "Some different builds..." I trailed off weakly.

The creature on the throne cackled with laughter. "I'm sure they were quite... competitive."

I looked down. The creature knew. I couldn't lie to it. Its power was undeniable.

It said in a booming voice "Take my apprentice and myself into the field of battle. You will taste real power and become one with the dark side!"

"No! I'm committed. I'm working on a Kavil list! I, uh... " I stammered unsure of where to go.

"I'm sure you are." it cooed "If you want to lose all season I'm sure they will interview you at Worlds. What was it like taking the weirdest list in the tournament? You did so well not to place last." It laughed again.

I dropped to my knees "I must... fly... casual." My hands hit the floor "cannot give in... to... evil...."

Palpatine laughed for an eternity. Finally it rose and looked at me directly.

"I see potential in you. But you must go to the dark side. You must take Darth Vader and myself and two other very strong Imperial pilots. You must practice. With those things the dark side will give you victory. A shiny medal. A river of plastic extra munitions tokens. Endless alternative art Gunner cards!" It roared triumphant.

Weakly from the floor I raised an arm

"Okay Palpatine. I give in. I will do these things. I must taste victory."

It smiled, eyes obscured by its cloak. "Good. Gooooood." It began to laugh again and I slipped into unconsciousness.

That is exactly how it happened.

My list

100 pts representing my take on the now quite well known "Palpmobile" list. 

Note: I did not manage to remember to take pictures after every single round, I only started with picture once the action was heating up and pictures were usually taken after the round was done. 

Round 1

Result: Win (69 vs 40)

My opponents name was named Greg. His list was: 

Captain Yorr w/ Emperor Palpatine

Darth Vader w/ Veteran Instincts, Title, Advanced Targeting Computer and Engine Upgrade

Omega Leader w/ Comms Relay, Stealth Device and Juke

Nearly a mirror match and my hardest game of the tournament. Round 3 saw Yorr with 2 crits sitting at only 3 hull remaining. I was completely untouched at that point and feeling saucy. 

Round 4 I managed to take Yorr out. A victory! Now only I would use the dark side... But he was far from out. My Omega Leader was down to 2 hull. But so was his

Round 5 had me make a bad move with my Omega Leader and I lost him. I also did no damage that round. 

Round 6 I managed to tap into the dark side and avoid any damage on Vader while Wampa did 2 hits on his Vader, 1 of them critical. A direct hit! Woo!

Round 7 had his Vader be extra slippery and he went and stayed out of arc keeping himself alive with 1 hull remaining. No damage this round. 

Round 8 had Vader continuing to slip away. My Omicron Pilot got mad and took out his Omega Leader. The game ended and Vader had slipped through my fingers... 

Round 2

Result: Win (100 vs 14)

My opponents name was named Chase. He was the awesome TO of the tournament. His list was: 

Boba Fett w/ Veteran Instincts, Tactician, Glitterstim, Seismic Charges and Engine Upgrade

Moralo Eval w/ Bossk, Gunner, Tactician and Heavy Laser Cannon

It was so good to play against Scum. Big ships as well! Loved seeing it on the table. I'd also like to mention that the mine was used and it did score a point of damage on Omega Leader and Vader. Sadly it also got Moralo. Boba don't have no friends! 

The pain started early on Round 2 with me putting a few points of damage on Boba and in return he got 1 on Wampa from Moralo and Wampa returned the favor putting a point on Moralo.

 Round 3 continued the damage trading. Moralo did a point on Vader. Boba did 2 to the Omicron. Vader retaliated with 1 point back on Moralo. 

Round 4 saw Wampa being hit for another point. 1 hull remaining. So he knocked another shield off Moralo. Boba gottagged hard and lost the rest of his shields. 

Round 5 saw the death of Wampa. 1 hit on Omega Leader from Moralo. 1 hit and 1 crit to Moralo from Vader. Also 1 hit and 1 crit on Boba. Both his big ships were dripping with damage and I was now safe from his arcs. 

Round 6 sealed the deal as Boba was taken out with a double Direct Hit! You could just imagine him punching the hyperspace button to get out of there so he could fight again another day. No damage in reply this round. 

Round 7 finished it up with Vader rolling 4 dice at range 1 into Moralo and scoring 2 hit and 2 crits. It was all over.

Round 3

Result: Win (100 vs 26)

My final opponents name was named Jon. His list was: 

Whisper w/ Veteran Instincts, Agent Kallus, Fire Control System and Advanced Cloaking Device

Soontir Fel w/ Royal Guard TIE, Push the Limit, Targeting Computer and Autothrusters

Omega Leader w/ Veteran Instincts and Comm Relay

He and I bantered a bit and it was a tremendously fun game. 

First blood went to me in Round 3 (after much positioning) with Darth doing a point to his Omega Leader. Wampa scored a point on Soontir. His Whisper and Omega both hit my Omega Leader for 1 each. So close to dead...

Round 4 saw Soontir blowing up Omega Leader with 3 crits on his end and all blanks on mine! Ahhhhh! Wampa got mad and did another point to Soontir. My shuttle got mad and blew up his Omega leader in reply. Woo! Whisper decided to take up real estate sales and landed gently on a nearby asteroid. No damage though. 

Round 5 Whisper decides the market isn't doing so hot in rock sales and she fly away. Unfortunately a pebble hit her windshield and she takes a damage. Vader, pissed at seeing Omega Leader, ruined Soontir and blows him to pieces. No return damage. 

Round 6 was all positioning. Shuttle hits a rock and doesn't get damaged. No damage this round. 

Round 7 sealed the deal with Vader once again blowing Whisper apart. 

I won the whole event which represents my first official X-Wing tournament win. Which is awesome. Its a shame it wasn't with Scum but someday. In the meantime though I know who I really owe my victory to...

Tournament Report

Randy's House of Games
Sacramento CA
17-Jan-2016

This was an event I attended with another local player to a location neither one of us had ever been to. Our understanding was that it was going to be mostly newer players and so both of us resolved to take something other than our usual tournament style lists in order to have a slower pace of game and go a little easier on the newer folks as it were. On arrival it was about 70% new player and the rest had some or extensive experience. My travelling companion decided to play his regular tournament list consisting of Miranda, a TLT Y-Wing, a Stresshog, and a Z-95. He is practicing quite a bit with this build in order to prep for the more challenging store tournaments. I, on the other hand, rather than take Bro-bots decided to play something a bit more fun which was.

Latts Razzi w/ Weapons Engineer, K4 Security Droid and Tactical Jammer
x2 Syndicate Thugs w/ Twin Laser Turret
Binayre Pirate

This list is 100 pts as a bid isn't needed for it. You use the YV-666 in a support roll passing out target locks which get used to make sure your TLTs do what they need to do. It's slow but consistent damage and overall is a pretty tanky list. The downside is it can be difficult to insure damage output from Latts and to get use of the Jammer you have to fly in a somewhat awkward formation. But it did see uses, especially in the last two games.

Round 1

x3 Trandoshan Slavers w/ Feedback Array and Tactician

Result: Loss (50 vs 60)

Not only was the list completely out of left field from what I was used to but there were 2 people (out of 18) at the event running it. So crazy! I also flew against the better of the two pilots (based on standings at the end of Round 3) as he knew precisely how to keep them able to cover each other and mostly managed to keep at least 2 able to fire at all times. I managed to burn down one and do significant damage to the other but I didn't have what it took to come out ahead. Good pilot who made very few mistakes with a very strange list. Was happy to see him at the top tables towards the end of the event.

Round 2

x4 TIE/fo (Omega Ace, Epsilon Leader, x2 Omega Squadron Pilot with lots of upgrades)

Result: Win (100 vs 20)

Here was one of the aforementioned new players who seemed to already have had a hard game previous and wasn't at his best from a flying perspective. It was a short game with him taking 6 HP off of Latts and a couple HP scattered elsewhere. He admitted to me after the game that he usually flew something else and that this list was a last minute change of mind before his first tournament (tournament jitters!) and I let him know that I completely sympathized. I have done that to myself a few times and it has NEVER worked out for me either. We talked lists for a while and I wished him luck.

Round 3

Miranda Doni w/ Twin Laser Turret and C-3PO
Gold Squadron Pilot w/ BTL-A4 Title, R3-A2 and Twin Laser Turret
Gold Squadron Pilot w/ Twin Laser Turret
Bandit Squadron Pilot

Result: Loss (12 vs 100)

Of course I got paired up with the person I came with. We had done this exact match up before and at least I didn't repeat my same mistakes this time around. But the outcome was known before the models were put into deployment zones. He had an amazing turn dishing out 8 to Latts in a single round. So you know what kind of game this was. I got Miranda down to half, the shields off the Y-Wings and I did manage to exact revenge on the Bandit Squadron Pilot who thinks he is Poe Dameron and rolls nothing but crits like its his job by shooting him to one HP and watching him blow himself up on rock. With a crit. Justice is served. :)

Cool Stuff I Saw: I saw some nicely painted models on a few tables which was always welcome. I also saw a Scum list trying to make Talonbane and a Black Sun Ace with Bodyguard work which is not something I ever thought of. So props to him. Might have worked better with Graz the Hunter...

Conclusion: This was a fun event and it was cool to see a different local meta and meet some great new X-Wing players. Thanks to the people running the event and to the venue for hosting it.

Okay I can't let it go. Here is a list that doesn't work and is a terrible idea. Never run it and please forgive me for making it but my brain wouldn't let me rest until I did.

Graz the Hunter w/ Stealth Device
Black Sun Ace w/ Bodyguard
Syndicate Thug with Twin Laser Turret and Unhinged Astromech
Spice Runner with Twin Laser Turret

Okay I'm done now. Just a note; until the new ships are released for Scum I will be playing Imperials as I cannot afford the handicap against the cutthroats I'm expecting to engage in combat with.

M3-A Interceptor Review

This is part one of a series where I'm going to break down all the available options for Scum and give my thoughts on them. I'm going to begin with the M3-A "Scyk" Interceptor.

M3-A Interceptor Pilots

Cartel Spacer [14]
Tansarii Point Veteran [17]
Laetin A'shera [18]
Serissu [20]



As you can see that despite sharing a name and an action bar with other interceptors it does not get the same dial. It is missing the 3-turns, the distinctive 5 straight and has half the green as compared to the other interceptor dials. It does get 1 banks but that is no trade for the manuevers it loses. I think that its safe to say that it may not be ideal in this role.

But I tend to think of it as more of a psuedo TIE fighter myself and when you compare the dials you can start to see what I mean.



While still missing the 3 turns and the straight 5 its core is nearly identical even maintaining the same green maneuvers. Also I feel that the 5 K-turn is very welcome on a jouster including this one so I see that as a plus over the TIE dial. The TIE/Scyk comparison is where the points start to make sense. If you take a basic Academy TIE and compare it to the Cartel Spacer its cost matches up. If you call the dial a wash the Cartel Spacer gets: +1 Pilot Skill, Target Lock, and exchanges a Hull for a Shield. To me that is worth the 2 points. Its not the height of efficiency that an Academy TIE is but its not over costed in my opinion.

I don't feel the same way about the Tansarii Point Veteran as I do about the Cartel Spacer. 3 points buys you +3 Pilot Skill and an Elite Pilot Talent. To me that isn't great value especially if you consider that a Black Squadron Pilot gets +2 Pilot Skill and an Elite Pilot Talent for 14 points and I would much rather have that then be forced to pay a 1 point premium for extra pilot skill I don't really need or want. I consider this ship to be 1 point over costed.

Laetin A'shera is interesting. Pilot skill 6 is a weird place for any pilot to be. Lofty above the rabble (but 5 would be as well) but below most of the aces which start to come around at Pilot Skill 7. But for only 1 point over the Tansarii Point Veteran combined with her pilot ability I consider it fair. Her pilot ability is just okay because it really requires investing in a Stealth Device which makes her 21 points which is just too much for a defensive 2 attack die ship. Also she lacks an Elite Pilot Talent which is just too much to overcome. She desperately wants Lone Wolf or Juke and she can never have it. Without more survivability she should never be taken.

Serissu is Pilot Skill 8 and has one of the few squad buffs available for Scum. I have heard him called the anti-Howlrunner and it sort of rings true. Especially consider that both are unaffected by their own pilot abilities. Except defense dice are less powerful than attack dice. So he is a downgrade especially if you consider that Howlrunner comes in at 18 pts. He costs 2 more and has nothing to show for it except Target Lock. So as far as I'm concerned he is over costed by 2 pts. That doesn't make him a non-starter but considering that he operating outside the usual style of Scum I have yet to find a way to make him fit.

So we have one potentially viable option; the Cartel Spacer. Theoretically it could be used as a low cost heavy weapon (Heavy "Scyk" Title + Flechette Cannon) which would bring its points cost to 17. Seems high to me for a control oriented psuedo TIE fighter that then can't really be used as a blocker. For 14 pts you can get the base model and try to use it as a blocker. However it is actually hurt by its Pilot Skill of 2 in that case and compared to the bargain which is the Z-95 it doesn't seem to have role there either. Which leaves the M3-A without a home in most lists.

Lastly the Title card and lack of an illicit slot is a source of much contention. While theoretically good as it adds a choice of missile, torpedo, or cannon the only real option in the current meta is the cannon. As the Title is +2 points and the cheapest cannon is +2 points it simply costs too much to be effective in its role. In the future with the release of the Tractor Beam or Guidance Chips this could change. I haven't figured out why it didn't come with an illicit slot as it would make sense both thematically and in the game itself.

The breakdown is; the M3-A dial prevents it from competing against other interceptors because of its dial. It may be a cost effective swarm option though the Z-95 also being available makes it a much less viable choice. It is hurt by its title which costs points and its lack of an illicit slot. I've seen fixes proposed online and my favorite one's involve either a new title or a modification which opens up new slots. I hope that they release some new content for this ship in the future as I look forward to having it as an option in my lists.

Future Speak: I am adding this section because the Tractor Beam was recently spoiled and I've seen some discussion about using the M3-A as a low cost control piece. I don't believe that the new Tractor Beam makes any of the M3-A pilots viable but there might be something there and I'm reluctant to entirely dismiss it outright. I feel that there needs to be a lot of play testing and experimentation on all fronts and I feel safe saying that the Tractor Beam will change X-Wing forever. Moving on...

Help Me Obi-Wan!

I've been asked by a commenter here at Rolling Blanks to provide some assistance with Kath. As they didn't specify the Imperial or Scum versions I will do both:

Imperial Kath

Kath with Calculation, Mangler Cannon, Tactician and Engine Upgrade (48)

This build insure's that she is doing what she does best which is hand out stress as much as possible. Calculation opens the possibility of adding more stress from the rear arc and I feel that as long as you can stay in Range 2 you should be reliably passing two stress per attack to your targets. Fun! Note that this build leaves you enough points for a mini swarm to accompany her.

Scum Kath

Kath with Daredevil, Gunner and Engine Upgrade (50)

This build is all about mobility. You want as many opportunities to keep that rear arc on your enemies and Boost or having the opportunity to do a 1 turn as an action does just that. Gunner helps insure that all those dice do something. You could also add Glitterstim or Hot Shot Blaster you had the points and were so inclined.

That's all for now. See us next time as we pick apart the Kihraxz Fighter!

A Return from the Dead

Over half a year has passed and I've decided to resurrect my blog and bring it new life and direction. I am slightly better at the game now and feel like I have a better idea of why something works and why it doesn't. Rather then content that isn't very useful like before the blog will now focus on three things;

1) My thoughts and learning on the Scum faction of the X-Wing miniatures game by Fantasy Flight Games. I feel like the Rebel and Imperial factions get plenty of discussion but the same is not true about the Scum faction and as they are my main force I wish to rectify that a bit.

2) My progress in the game of upgrading from complete scrub to scruffy nerf herder.

3) My repaints of the models.

I think with that focus in mind I can add some value to the community. This will not update on a regular basis as the releases and meta shifts are slower that week to week but I will certainly not let it lapse the way I did again. I feel like I have learned a lot and I really want to bring that knowledge to the forefront.

Currently the Scum faction's top table meta sits somewhere like:

Bro-Bots.
x2 IG-88 w/ Heavy Laser Cannon, Autothrusters, Title Card, and other stuff
(3rd place finish at Worlds 2015)

Twin Laser Thugs (if that's not an original name, let me know)
x4 Syndicate Thugs w/ Twin Laser Turret and Unhinged Astromech
(7th place finish at Worlds 2015)

You don't see a different Scum list until 21'st place and it's a variant of Twin Laser Thugs replacing the Unhinged with R4 Agromechs (for a more defensive build) and dropping a Thug for a Cartel Marauder with Feedback Array. Which is an interesting choice and probably says more about the person's local meta than anything else. It would be a place my brain would go if I were dealing with a lot of high pilot skill arc-dodgers like Whisper.

I bring this up because I want to show the stagnation in list design for Scum. Which as near as I can tell has a couple causes; firstly we are the newest faction with the least number of pilots of and ships to choose from. FFG is doing the best they can at catch up by dropping two Scum releases at a time instead of just one which is really appreciated. The second reason is because Scum isn't Rebel or Imperials and thusly is less popular and harder to pin down quickly. Allow me to explain that last part.

What I mean by hard to pin down is that is Rebels have a theme which currently is regeneration. They have many options and builds which allow them to return back to fighting condition (or never leave it) and that gives them a theme to build off of. Imperial's have ace pilots. They have more aces than anyone else to pick from and with those come some AoE buff abilities like Howlrunner and Jonus. Scum isn't either of those things and trying to play them or build them like that isn't going to be fruitful.

So what is Scum then? They are a toolbox of stuff to pick from. They require that you pick and pull each piece as needed with the understanding that it must stand alone and succeed in its individual role. A list, in my opinion, should try to have ways to deal with all of the following:

1) Arc dodgers like Soontir Fel and Whisper
2) Poe Dameron/Stressbot
3) Swarms
4) Fat Han/Fat Dash/Chiraneau and friend

In Rebel and Imperial lists you have some clear options. Like playing a counter list (swarm counters stressbot, etc) or playing one of the main archetypes well. Obviously Scum doesn't have this option, but it isn't without tools to work with.

Arc dodgers - In a real sense we only have three tools which are reliable against these threats which are defined by their high agility, high pilot skill, and ability to stay out of arc. The tools available to us are:

A high PS pilot in a decent ship (honestly only Talonbane or Xizor)
Mux
Autoblaster
Feedback Array

Arc Dodgers: The goal is shoot first before they can. Talonbane can with VI. Xizor can with VI and a point bid. You need to build your entire list around them but both can seal the deal. Mux is much harder to use but is multi-purpose and a distinct threat. The ability to turn someone you don't like into Pilot Skill 0 is very powerful. Unfortunately he is in a HWK-290. Autoblaster is okay, if you can make a Y-Wing or a HWK-290 chassis work for you. I've had only mixed success in my own games. Feedback Array is another weird one. If you can get any part of your ship in range 1 and don't mind the downside, a guaranteed point of damage might be just what you need.

Stressbot: Swarms are the direct counter to this. But if you can't or won't run a swarm than I would strongly recommend you build lists of 4 or more ships and don't put all your eggs in one basket (like a Bossk) so that you are easily shut down. The nice thing about Talonbane is that his ability is still relevant even if he is stressed. Though his maneuvering goes right out the window.  Xizor's ability works too but he needs his action(s) in order to get the most out of the Starviper, arguably Scum's only arc dodger, and losing it makes him pretty tough to use. Guri could overcome it a bit better but as she is only Pilot Skill 5, she should not be having lists build around her.

Swarms: Consistent damage. Things like Twin Laser Turret come in handy here. Also having a blocker can help break up formations. These are tough matchups for any build and is still the efficiency standard in which many lists are judged and tested against. A swarm list placed 13th at Worlds 2015 so it's still a thing.

Fat-Whoever: A control element is often the easiest way to bring down a big ship. Stress or ions. We don't have much in the way of either but we are not devoid of options. Usually a tough match up for me as we don't have explicit shutdown tech.

So an example variant of a list I've been playing a lot of:

Talonbane Cobra w/ Veteran Instincts, Glitterstim and Engine Upgrade (35)
Torkhil Mux w/ Ion Cannon Turret, Intelligence Agent and Moldy Crow (28)
Syndicate Thug w/ Twin Laser Turret and Unhinged Astromech (25)
Binayre Pirate (12)

100 pts

My reasoning behind the list is as follows:

Talonbane plays an important role in both being an efficient jouster as well as being able to shut down threats like Fel, Whisper, Vader, or Poe. He shoots before all of them and can have an explosive Range 1 burst turn with Glitterstim backing him up. But he is still a jouster and so its important to remember that his movement is predictable and he is not as robust as even a T-65 X-wing in either dial or stat line though his pilot ability does go a long way in making him worth taking.

Mux is a threat to whatever single threat you want to manage. This is a very control oriented build that wants to stay in range 2 as much as possible. It can drop an change an enemy pilot of Pilot Skill 0, look at a dial, and potentially drop an ion token down on something every turn it can stay at range. The downside is that Mux has a giant taget painted on his ship which is a HWK-290 with all the downsides associated with that chassis. He needs protection and other threats to draw attention away from him.

The Syndicate Thug with Twin Laser Turret and Unhinged Astromech is a staple in Scum lists. 25 pts gets you a reliable 2 damage per turn output on a tough to kill chassis as long as you stay out on the fringes of the battle. A Y-Wing might be tough but it can be burned down by anyone dedicated enough to put a decent ship on that duty for a turn or two.

Binayre Pirate is a blocker pure and simple and is another ship at 12 points. I feel a list should try to have at least four ships and while it is not a superstar it is an average star which is often ignored by my opponent allowing it to do its job of being a pest.

As I said before it is a mixed bag of different ships all of which require practice and expertise. But it also demands the same from people you play. I feel it is crucial to practice as much as possible just to make sure you have a complete understanding of all the moving pieces.

I will close by saying it feels good to be back and I hope I can provide some insight into Scum and help in some way to make them both more competitive as choice and more popular as well. Have fun and fly casual.