X-Wing – First Game Against a non-5yr old

by | Feb 22, 2016

In preparing for the upcoming X-Wing tournament I went out on a limb and asked for a game against one of the locals through our local X-Wing group.  My schedule never let me go to the gatherings that happen every two weeks so I had yet to actually play against an opponent who knew the full rules.

It was quite a different experience as one would expect.

Anyways, I only had time to play one game because I think we actually played longer than regulation would normally allow but we didn't care as it was quite fun and intense.

The list I used was as follows

  • Colonel Vessery - Lone Wolf, Heavy Laser Cannon (HLC), Stealth Device
  • Zeta Leader - Wired
  • Zeta Squadron Pilot
  • Zeta Squadron Pilot
and the list he used was

  • Soontir Fel - Push the Limit, Royal Guard TIE, Autothrusters, Stealth Device
  • Zeta Squadron Pilot
  • Zeta Squadron Pilot
  • Zeta Squadron Pilot
  • Zeta Squadron Pilot
Lots of evade dice on both sides but the I figured the HLC on my side should give me the advantage when shooting at his TIE F/Os.

We both brought asteroids to the field and deployed them in a cluster in the center.  My Zeta Squadron and Zeta Leader were deployed in the center with Vessery off to the left.  His Zeta Squadron was deployed as a group of 4 opposite of my Zeta Squadron and Soontir was deployed in to my right away from everyone.

The game escalated very quickly as by my turn 2 my forces had engaged his 4 TIE F/Os in the asteroid with Soontir hanging out on the wings.  First blood came to me as the Zeta Leader and Vessery concentrated fire on one of the TIE F/Os.  After that it became a tense game of cat and mouse between everyone as I tried to get Soontir in Vessery's sights while he tried to avoid that.  All the while our F/Os were circling each other in the asteroids trying to get shots at whoever they could.

I actually had two good rounds of shooting against Soontir scoring 4 hits with Vessery in both rounds but he rolled really well (a lot of focus results both times and flipped them to evades) but after that I couldn't get him back in my sights.  Zeta Leader unfortunately crashed into an asteroid as I misjudged one of his turns (one of my opponent's TIEs did the same earlier).  Soontir eventually took over and was able to arc-dodge and blow up Vessery (he could have survived that particular round of shooting but he suffered a Direct Hit critical) and then my last TIE.  By the end though he had only Soontir and one TIE F/O sitting on 1 hull point.

Fun game and really showcased my need to get some more games in before I am tournament ready.

Things I learned
  • It's easier to predict where an older player will go with their ships.  I had a few turns where I was able to block some of his ships and avoid getting blocked myself.  Very important for Vessery so he can get his focus action in combination with the target locks everyone else was providing.
  • Soontir Fel is really hard to target and when you do, you better hope he doesn't get focus results.  The interceptor's maneuverability is insane and I kind of want to buy a pair for my own fleet (next to the Defender it's my other favourite Imperial fighter to fly in TIE Fighter)
  • Vessery's HLC was quite good and with target lock and focus he basically guarantees 3-4 hits on whoever he is shooting at.  No crits, but that's ok against most things not on a large base.
  • Lone Wolf was hard to trigger with 3 extra ships around.  Might drop it for Veteran Instincts instead or I just need to learn to fly Vessery on the outside more.  I took it for the defensive re-roll more than the offensive re-roll.
  • Wired didn't work too well this game but that's because I didn't roll many focus results with Zeta Leader.  For 1 point it does synergize really well with Zeta Leader and I'm not sure any other 1 point Elite Pilot talent would be as worthwhile.
I don't think I'd change anything in the list aside from maybe changing the Zeta Squadron pilots for Darth Vader with Juke (and if I get a TIE x1 title I can add Fire Control System) and replacing Lone Wolf on Vessery with something else.  So the new list might become
  • Colonel Vessery - Veteran Instincts, Heavy Laser Cannon (HLC), Stealth Device
  • Darth Vader - Juke (possibly with TIE x1, Fire Control System)
  • Zeta Leader - Wired, Weapons Guidance
I could also replace Zeta Leader with Omega Ace - Push the Limit or Omega Leader - Juke (and give Darth Vader Lone Wolf as I only have 1 Juke card).  Only 3 ships but if they are the right 3, that's all I should need.

One thing I have to keep in mind when building my lists is that I probably wont' have to face a large ship and 4 or 5 small ships.  When Penny and I play it's usually 5-8 ships a side as she likes using as many of her Rebels as she can so I'm always expecting to have to fight huge squadrons.  Making a list with less than 4 ships never seems enough.