Named Pilots- Wedge Antilles

This post regarding Named Pilots is part of a larger article regarding Wave 1 listbuilding- the rest of the posts n this series will be available in the coming weeks as I'm revealing a post or two per day on the various topics in that larger article. For more info, click the "Ship List Articles" tab at the top of the page or simply click here.

Card: Wedge Antilles (X-Wing) 29 Pts.
Card Text: When attacking, reduce the defender's agility value by 1 (to a minimum of 0).
Ability is an Action?: No.
Excels at: Attacking.
Quick Take: Wedge is expensive but boasts the highest pilot ranking on the Rebel side along with a special ability that helps his offensive output outcome. As many Imperial players will attempt to remove Wedge early from the game, it’s advisable to equip him with a droid to help him stay in the game longer. Any droid can help Wedge stay alive, but perhaps the best options for the average player would be R2-F2, R5-D8, or R2-D2. See their entries for more details.
Elite Skills/ Upgrades: Wedge with Swarm Tactics is a good combo as is Squad Leader. Both of these skills play off Wedge’s high pilot skills. If a player plans on having Wedge on a flank and too far away to effectively use Swarm Tactics or Squad Leader, the rest of the Elite Talents can all help keep him alive, but honestly, I don't know that you'd need them. A lone, roving Wedge is probably better served by a droid.

As Wedge is such a bullet magnet, many people will team him up with Biggs Darklighter to a nearly automatic degree. If you equip Wedge with a droid that requires an action (R2-F2, etc.), consider flying him with Garven Dreis or Dutch Vander as they convey Focus and Target Locks respectively which should help mitigate the loss of Wedge's Action to trigger the droid's ability. Some creative use of Swarm Tactics on either of those pilots along with some available targets of opportunity and Wedge can even benefit from either of those tokens in his shooting phase. Crazy.

Elite Pilot Skills- Swarm Tactics

This post regarding Elite Pilot Skills is part of a larger article regarding Wave 1 listbuilding- the rest of the posts n this series will be available in the coming weeks as I'm revealing a post or two per day on the various topics in that larger article. For more info, click the "Ship List Articles" tab at the top of the page or simply click here.

Swarm Tactics (2)
Card Text: At the start of the Combat Phase, choose 1 ship at Range 1. Until the end of this phase, treat the chosen ship as if it’s pilot skill were equal to your pilot skill.
Usage in Game: To boost a ship/ pilot’s Pilot Rank to get some shots off earlier than he’d normally fire.
Action?: No.

It’s still kind of amazing to me that Swarm Tactics isn’t a “dotted” card, doesn’t require an Action, and is such a low-points card. Regardless of what faction you play, this is a card you should have on your best pilots, full stop. The ability to have a low Pilot Rank ship resolve its combat at a higher step is massive in this game and with the only real limitation being the target ship having to be within Range 1? Oh well.

Swarm Tactics isn’t without it’s more complicated applications either- it has been confirmed in the FAQ that multiple Swarm Tactics upgrades “chain” together. For example, Vader with Swarm Tactics flanked with two Black Squadron Pilots, one of whom has Swarm Tactics, effectively bestows Swarm Tactics to all three ships, and yes, all three ships resolve combat at Pilot Rank 9. Nasty Imperial players could use this chaining ability to create high Pilot Rank “bubbles” that move about as needed bestowing the higher Pilot Rank to ships who need it most. It would take some fairly precise moving and maneuvering, but imagine the previous example of Vader and the 2 Black Squadron Pilots, but now imagine they all possess Swarm Tactics and the wingmen are spread to the limits of Range 1 from Vader. That’s a pretty big area of Pilot Rank 9 effect.

While this bubble trick doesn’t work as well with Rebels, Swarm Tactics is still quite useful, even if you don't deploy in one big pile in the middle. Pair Luke with Swarm Tactics with a Rookie Pilot following closely enough behind to be within Range 1 of him, and you’ve got one heckuva 1-2 punch that’ll drop just about anyone but Vader before they have a chance to really react.

Core Sets- SOLD OUT?

A long time friend of mine in real life recently emailed me about not being able to find a Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Core Set with his usual online retailers and the sellers on Amazon were selling than more than MSRP!  

Basically, he wanted to know what was up with that? 

To my knowledge, FFG has not released any official information on re-prints, second runs, or any other synonymous term for making more Core Sets. 

They will, of course. Make more Core Sets, I mean. You have to have a Core Set to play as it gives you the necessary movement and range templates and your damage deck. Unless there's going to be a Wave 2 Core Set (unlikely as there's nothing indicating that on their main X-Wing products page), they're gonna have to make some more. 

This is purely conjecture on my part, but I'd assume there's going to be more Core Sets released when Wave 2 drops, which again, still doesn't have a firm date set, only sometime in early 2013 (probably between February and April). 

So why was there a shortage of the game component that is absolutely necessary to play? 

Again, I've never heard or read anything official on the topic, but my guess would be: 
1) The game was more popular than FFG thought it'd be
2) Players bought more Cores than FFG thought they would. 

Buying mutliple core sets was more economical for people who wanted to build both Rebel and Imperial squadrons and wanted more TIEs and X-Wings. I don't know if FFG finalized pricing late in the game on this, but it didn't take people long at all to figure out that a $40 Core Set with 2 TIEs, 1 X-Wing and a set of dice was cheaper than buying 3 Expansions and a set of dice. I myself own two, but I know people who bought three copies of the Core Set. 

So if you're looking to get into X-Wing before Wave 2, check around at your local FLGS and Target stores if you're in the States. Target doesn't carry the Expansions from what I understand, but they do have Core Sets. As of the time of this writing, Target.com has them in stock and they're still $40. 

As for whether or not you still should pick up 2 Core Sets with Wave 2 looming on the horizon, I don't know. If you plan on building forces consisting of X-Wings and TIEs even after/ alongside the Wave 2 stuff, then yeah- it's still a better deal, although you should still buy one Expansion so you have all the cards at your disposal- some are exclusive to the Expansions and you must have all of them if you play in a tournament (yes- you need a copy of each card as it appears in your lists). If you dream of only running the Falcon and A-Wings, Interceptors, and Slave I maybe not so much. It's only a good deal if you plan on using the minis, otherwise you'd be better off just buying what you want and an extra set of dice. 

Secondary Weapon Systems- Ion Cannon Turret

This post regarding Secondary Weapon Systems is part of a larger article regarding Wave 1 listbuilding- the rest of the posts n this series will be available in the coming weeks as I'm revealing a post or two per day on the various topics in that larger article. For more info, click the "Ship List Articles" tab at the top of the page or simply click here.

Ion Cannon Turret (5)
Attack Dice: 3
Range: 1-2
Card Text: Attack 1 ship (even a ship outside your firing arc). If this attack hits the target ship, the ship suffers 1 damage and receives 1 Ion Token. Then cancel all dice results.
Usage: First, understand how this works- if you score at least one hit (e.g. you roll more hit/ crit explosion symbols than your opponent can cancel with wavy arrow Evade symbols), they get an Ion Token and one damage (regardless of how many hits actually got through the Evades rolled, Evade Action, or shields). If they get an Ion Token, they don’t use a movement dial next turn, instead they move forward 1, which is considered to be a white move for these purposes (note they can still do Actions and can attack and defend as normal). Second, realize that a TIE with an Evade token is not very likely to be ionized- this isn’t some spam cannon- you do still need to be intelligent with your target selections. Third, you’re only going to do 1 hit worth of damage when you successfully use the Ion Cannon Turret, regardless of what you roll, so be smart about that too. 

Admittedly, with only having a 2 Attack primary weapon, it’s usually going to be better for a Y-Wing to fire the Ion, but not if you can get into Range 1 and fire primary which of course nets you 3 dice without a hit limiter.


All that said, many people, me included, really don’t consider fielding a Y-Wing without an Ion Cannon Turret as they tend to mitigate the poor manueverability of the Y-Wing. It’s also great for catching people off guard as many players look at movement and manuevering with a keen eye on the firing arcs of their opponent’s ships. Having a 360 degree arc of fire will catch veteran and new players off-guard a like, often several times per game (at least in my experience).

Bear in mind too, even though it's not some sort of missile or torpedo, the Ion Cannon Turret is a Secondary Weapon System. As such, you do not get an extra attack die firing from Range 1, but conversely, your opponent does not get an extra defense die if you're attacking him from Range 3!

EDIT: Recall that the Ion Cannon Turret has a Range of 1-2 so the above doesn't really apply to the ICT. The no extra Defense die portion of the discussion is the result of me getting that rule wrong for a long time, so I kind of go overboard mentioning it any chance I get.

The takeaway here is the discussion is correct, but it doesn't apply to ICTs.

Elite Pilot Skills- Marksmanship

This post regarding Elite Pilot Skills is part of a larger article regarding Wave 1 listbuilding- the rest of the posts n this series will be available in the coming weeks as I'm revealing a post or two per day on the various topics in that larger article. For more info, click the "Ship List Articles" tab at the top of the page or simply click here.

Marksmanship (3)
Card Text: When attacking this round, you may change one of your <eyeball> results to a <crit> and all of your other <eyeball> results to <hits>.
Usage in game: Similar to Focus, but automatically bestows a Crit result instead of just hits.
Action?: Yes

At a glance, this is basically paying 3 points for a Focus Action, but one of the eyeballs you rolled becomes a crit instead of just a hit. This is fairly significant in and of itself as crits can be pretty nasty and of course, often have an ongoing effect that really screws up the victim’s day. All that said, bear in mind that if you’re shooting at somebody who still has shields, this ability will do absolutely nothing for you a Focus wouldn’t as crits have no different effect than hits on shields.

Digging deeper, the use I see for Marksmanship is stacking with a Target Lock, where you can re-roll the results you want, regardless of what they are. Of course, as Marksmanship is an action, you’d need to have the TL from a previous round. If you’ve got one though, you could use Marksmanship with Proton Torpedoes and you’re practically assured of registering all hits and at least one crit. It’d also go nicely with Concussion Missiles as Marksmanship switches <eyeball> results and Concussion Missiles already has a built-in rule to change a <blank> result to a hit. Again though, kind of a waste on ships with shields left.

The thing that jumps out at me is you need kind of a lot of variables to be in conjunction contextually for this to work well enough to 1) make you take it over the more versatile Focus Action and 2) feel like you got your points worth. This is one of those cards I look at and wonder if it’s true value isn’t more apparent once Wave 2 has dropped. Otherwise, unless you’re just so much better at movement/ maneuvering than your opponent that you find yourself behind him all the time and wish you had a Focus action with more pop, I can’t see actually paying for Marksmanship over the free and available to every ship Focus.

That said, a case could be make for giving Skywalker Marksmanship as his special ability is kind of a Focus-lite that only works on defense.

Secondary Weapon Systems- Proton Torpedoes

This post regarding Secondary Weapon Systems is part of a larger article regarding Wave 1 listbuilding- the rest of the posts n this series will be available in the coming weeks as I'm revealing a post or two per day on the various topics in that larger article. For more info, click the "Ship List Articles" tab at the top of the page or simply click here.

Proton Torpeodes (4)
Attack Dice: 4
Range: 2-3
Card Text: Spend your Target Lock and discard this card to perform this attack. You may change one of your <eyeball> results to a <crit>.
Usage: Doesn’t dovetail quite as nicely with Focusing as Concussion Missiles, but the built-in, one-die Focus to get a crit is a nice touch especially since you don't always have the luxury of waiting around a for another turn to pick up a Focus token to use along with the (pre-existing) Target Lock.

There’s a lot of debate (mostly anecdotal evidence vs. statistical math) on whether or not PTs are worth it. Here’s my take- if you value having a 4-dice attack at Range 3 (again- that the victim does not receive an extra Defense die for), then you should take some PTs. If you don’t, then you probably don’t need to bother.


I think the main reason so many people disregard PTs is because so many people use X-Wings, and X-Wings can get a 4 attack dice attack just by getting into Range 1 (which happens a lot because TIE fighters like to get into close combat), so you kind of look at PTs and say, “Why would I pay 4 points for that (not to mention it's a one-shot deal)?” Couple on the fact that everyone takes Ion Cannon Turrets on their Y-Wings (effectively giving them an Attack 3*) and you see why PTs don’t get much love- there’s just not much use for them in the Wave 1 stuff. If FFG had made them a Missile rather than a Torpedo (the symbols, I’m talking about here), I think they’d see more use, but as it is, contextually they don’t provide enough of a benefit for the points cost.

TL;DR- they aren't a bad card, but the only ships that can take them right now don't really need them.

That said, there is one pilot that I think not only do you always give PTs, but maybe the double load accessible only by a Y-Wing- Horton Salm. Salm has a special ability that dovetails so nicely with PTs, it’d be unfair if it wasn't so expensive. For the particulars on that, check out the article on Horton Salm.

*For dice rolling purposes, of course. Not for damage. 

Elite Pilot Skills- Expert Handling

This post regarding Elite Pilot Talents is part of a larger article regarding Wave 1 listbuilding- the rest of the posts n this series will be available in the coming weeks as I'm revealing a post or two per day on the various topics in that larger article. For more info, click the "Ship List Articles" tab at the top of the page or simply click here. 

Expert Handling (2)
Card Text: Action: Perform a free barrel roll Action. If you do not have the barrel roll Action icon, receive 1 Stress Token. You may then remove 1 enemy Target Lock from your ship.
Usage in game: Primarily to give an X-Wing the Barrel Roll ability or to give an Imperial fighter the ability to shed pesky Target Locks.
Action?: Yes. Using Expert Handling requires the use of an action.

A Rebel ship suddenly able to Barrel Roll has the potential to disrupt a lot of Imperial player’s plans because it’s just so unexpected and goes against how they’ve learned to play the game. It does require an action, but so does regular Barrel Roll, so you’re really not giving anything up there.

On the Imperial side, I’d be unlikely to pay for something I already get in the cost of the ship, but that’s me- your mileage may vary. Shedding TLs is nice, but I don’t know that it’s worth 2 points. Perhaps on ships like Vader who has two actions or Howlrunner and her nice Area-of-Effect buff as they're also juicy targets for TLs. Or if you want to make Dark Curse just damn near unhittable...

Secondary Weapon Systems- Concussion Missiles

This post regarding Secondary Weapon Systems is part of a larger article regarding Wave 1 listbuilding- the rest of the posts n this series will be available in the coming weeks as I'm revealing a post or two per day on the various topics in that larger article. For more info, click the "Ship List Articles" tab at the top of the page or simply click here.

Concussion Missiles (4)
Attack Dice: 4
Range: 2-3
Card Text: Spend your Target Lock and discard this card to perform this attack. You may change 1 of your blank results to a <hit>.
Usage: This is the missile most folks choose to use. Again, I think the decision should be contextual, but this is the missile the internet loves. In any case, it is a good one; no debating that. The ability to change a blank to a hit ensures at least one hit with a Focused Concussion Missile shot, and that shouldn’t be disregarded. They also give 4 attack dice at Range 3 which is great, especially for the players with TIE Advanced who often find themselves around the edges of a battle rather than in the thick of it.

Elite Pilot Skills- Determination

This post regarding Elite Pilot Skills is part of a larger article regarding Wave 1 listbuilding- the rest of the posts n this series will be available in the coming weeks as I'm revealing a post or two per day on the various topics in that larger article. For more info, click the "Ship List Articles" tab at the top of the page or simply click here.

Determination (1)
Card Text: When you are dealt a face up card with the Pilot trait, discard it immediately without resolving its effects.
Usage in game: This card is pretty specific in its usage, but as it only costs 1 point, it’s still not a bad deal.
Action?: No.

First, the face up card referenced in the card text is, in plain speak, a Critical Damage result. If you haven’t noticed, there’s only one crit marked on the standard attack die although there are several pilots with special abilities that allow them to bestow crits in various ways. In any case, should you be unlucky enough to be the recipient of a crit, if the result is a Pilot damage trait (8 out of 33 total Damage cards), it goes away like it never happened. Is that statistically likely to happen? No. Is it worth 1 point to totally ruin your opponent's day if it does? Maybe. I have been known to throw it on the random pilot from time to time in situations like that.

Secondary Weapon Systems- Cluster Missiles

This post regarding Secondary Weapon Systems is part of a larger article regarding Wave 1 listbuilding- the rest of the posts n this series will be available in the coming weeks as I'm revealing a post or two per day on the various topics in that larger article. For more info, click the "Ship List Articles" tab at the top of the page or simply click here.

Cluster Missiles (4)
Attack Dice: 3
Range: 1-2
Card Text: Spend your Target Lock and discard this card to perform this attack twice.
Usage: Effectively, you’re making two attacks at the same target with this card. This means that Focusing a Cluster Missile attack will only affect one of the two “ salvos” (ditto for someone trying to Focus their defense rolls), but that Marksmanship affects both “ salvos.” Generally, most folks opt for Concussion Missiles over Clusters, but I think both have their value. Clusters have the potential to generate more hits on targets with low Agility like Y-Wings. Against anything higher, the benefit of rolling six dice is lessened to a certain degree, especially against ships who can Evade as an Action.

Elite Pilot Skills- Squad Leader

This post regarding Elite Pilot Skills is part of a larger article regarding Wave 1 listbuilding- the rest of the posts n this series will be available in the coming weeks as I'm revealing a post or two per day on the various topics in that larger article. For more info, click the "Ship List Articles" tab at the top of the page or simply click here.

Squad Leader (2)
Card Text: Choose a ship at Range 1-2 with a lower Pilot Rank than you. That ship may immediately perform a free action.
Usage in game: Ideally this card is given to a high ranking Pilot so as many ships as possible can benefit. Giving it to a Black Squadron TIE only really works if he’s surrounded by Academy TIEs, for example.
Action?: Yes. To use the Squad Leader Talent, it requires an action.
NOTE: This Elite Talent is dotted (is unique and cannot be replicated in squadron list).

There are two things you want to note right off the bat when it comes to Squad Leader- first, what a "free action" is, and secondly, this card effectively takes an Action from one ship and gives it to another as Squad Leader is itself, an Action.

The "free action" is simply a standard action available to you that doesn't count against the normal one action per round rule and takes place during a different part of the turn than the "Perform Action" step. As you're declaring this second free Action, you can't perform the same action again- it has to be a different Action than the one you have likely already declared. The cool thing though is since the timing is different, you can declare a free action if you've hit an asteroid or collided with somebody (dig the FAQ on this bit and the rulebook, specifically the Perform Action steps).

The giving away an Action so somebody else can have a free Action is fairly easy to get your head around, as is the obvious best Pilot to take this Elite Pilot Talent- Vader.

Squad Leader on the Rebel side only works on Wedge or Luke as they're the only pilots who can take Elite Pilot Talents. It works particularly well on a ship flying near Garven Dreis or Dutch Vander as those ships can give away Focuses and Target Locks respectively which often can mitigate the loss of the Action due to triggering Squad Leader. Just keep in mind, both of those pilots give their tokens away after they use them, so the recipient won’t get full use of those tokens if they’re at a higher Pilot Rank than Dreis or Vander (which they probably will be)*. Better than nothing, but don’t rely on it like it’s going to be the same as a Rebel Vader or something.

On the Imperial side, this card works best on Vader as again, it’s basically one ship trading it’s action to give another ship an action otherwise. With Vader having two actions, he can use Squad Leader and still have one action of his own to use. It can be decent on a TIE that's there more for support than offense though like Howlrunner for instance.

*Note that in the interest of full disclosure, this can be mitigated somewhat with Swarm Tactics.

Name Change

So dig this- the domain I was going to use for this blog was purchased literally a day before I got paid last week. I kid you not. I was even double-checking myself based on the images I'd tagged with the unpurchased domain name, but soon found that yes indeed, somebody else had registered the domain I was hoping to use. 

So if you're confused, don't be. It's not you, it's me. 

Here's the upside- TheMetalBikini.com, a nod of course to Leia's slave girl outfit, is going to provide the same awesome information and commentary as before. It's just going to be a little looser and hopefully, funnier than it would have been. Having had a full weekend to weigh my options regarding domain names, I've decided to take this thing in a little less clinical (and to be honest, less professional) direction and have a little fun with it along the way.

So if you see some references here and there to some other site besides TheMetalBikini.com, well, my bad y'all. I hope to have them all cleaned up pretty soon, but I have to leave a few lying about as a few folks have already favorited/ bookmarked this joint. Fair warning though, I'm only going to let this old original blogger.com address thing go on until the end of the week then I'm switching it to something more in line with the new domain name. 

Hopefully y'all still dig it. 

Holla!

Cid