[Scotty]

May I suggest Draw Their Fire instead of Wired on a couple of those Blacks?  You could double up each on Wingman and Draw Their Fire.  Since Rage gives you effectively target lock on whatever you shoot anyway, Wired isn't a big help except on defense (which is where this list is obviously not focused anyway).  Youngster remains a primary target, so anything you can do to keep hits off of him will prolong the longevity of the entire list.  Wingman takes care of some stress (obviously not all, and you could probably swap to Crack Shot if you wanted more immediate offense), and you can either pop Rage every other turn on the whole formation, or every turn on the two with Draw Their Fire and every other turn on the two with Wingman, but be restricted to green maneuvers throughout.

[General Battuta]

I'm really feeling Crack Shot here...you've got your Rage guaranteeing hits, so the ability to cancel evades is giving you *more* hits.

But I dunno, it'd be super cool to see Draw Their Fire in play.

[Scourge of Ages]

A friend just got this game, and I'm learning it like right now. Any advice on how to thoroughly destroy my opponents?

[Lepanto]

Lose, lose more, lose in new and interesting ways against all the crazy meta lists that players with years more experience have to throw at you.

And maybe, eventually, win. Haven't gotten there yet myself.

[General Battuta]

A friend just got this game, and I'm learning it like right now. Any advice on how to thoroughly destroy my opponents?

Focus a lot, don't bump into other ships or asteroids.

[Scourge of Ages]

Focus a lot, don't bump into other ships or asteroids.

Focus does seem to be super useful, though evade saved my bacon just enough to take out an x-wing before getting vaped. And I've seen enough collisions in just our learning game to get that

[Black Wolf]

A friend just got this game, and I'm learning it like right now. Any advice on how to thoroughly destroy my opponents?

Always pick a target and try to focus your fire on that one target. Can't always do it with every ship every turn, but the worst thing to do is to get a ship close to death, and then get distracted by a different target.

[Mammothtank]

How good is this game? I was going to purchase some models for this game but my local store that sells stuff like this closed down last year.

[Scotty]

It's very good.

[Mammothtank]

It was thinking of getting into wh40k after playing a small game of it for the first time but its common knowledge their prices are absurd. So I looked at a few other games like this, Heavy Gear, Battletech and several others.

[Scotty]

BattleTech is 100% my ****, but X-wing has a significantly (by orders of magnitude) larger playerbase.

[Mammothtank]

I went with my friend to check out the hobbystore before it closed down and they had some sort of special edition Atlas there on sale. But I didn't have any cash on me.

I've been interested in getting into Heavy Gear but apparently right now the rules suck.

[0rph3u5]

Lose, lose more, lose in new

Seconded...

Practice your special reasoning. Remember that the faces of the dice (its not just the symbols that are different). Avoid the arc, so you don't get hit, pilot. If you opponent is not a total social idiot during the game, stay a while and discuss the game - let them point out your mistakes and admit when you didn't know what to do - they might be suprisingly helpful.

Also play a list that you know have a known drawback once in a while (see my "Youngster is Outraged" list a few posts back), not all experience is transferable between lists but a lot is.

It was thinking of getting into wh40k after playing a small game of it for the first time but its common knowledge their prices are absurd. So I looked at a few other games like this, Heavy Gear, Battletech and several others.

A friend of my brothers once said "40k is like the McDonalds of tabletop wargaming. You will get it everywhere at a consistent quality but it doesn't mean it is good in any way". 40k used to be the "entry game" into the hobby but it is fair to say that is has been disposed by X-Wing, which has a broader player-base and rules that don't require you to carry a dictonary with at all times.

First make up your mind what kind of scale you want to play on (= model count) and then check out a system based on that. X-Wing has the advantage of low model count (2-8), it is reasonably fast paced and of mild complexity but there are other games which might suit you wishes more: e.g. Corvus Belli's Infinity has been my love for last years because it has a nice blend of scale (skirmish, 10-20 models) and complexity (too much for some) along with reaction-mechanics that don't allow for a dull moment.

[Black Wolf]

You have inspired me, Scotty.

League night tonight, going for:
Wes Janson with VI, R7-T1 and Integrated Astromech.
Wedge Antilles, Opportunist, R2-D2 and IA.
Gold Squadron Pilot, R3-A2, TLT, Extra Munitions, Bomb Loadout, Seismic Charge.

May swap the droids around, originally Wedge had Expert handling, so R2 D2 made more sense, but now R7-T1 might be better, let him get in to range 1 and roll 5 target locked dice.

In any case, I'll resort back with my results.

[General Battuta]

Don't play Warhammer, don't give Games Workshop money, they're an awful company making an awful game with awful conduct towards their players.

[Mammothtank]

Too late. I bought a Battle for Macragge set that I never finished when I was younger.

[Black Wolf]

You have inspired me, Scotty.

League night tonight, going for:
Wes Janson with VI, R7-T1 and Integrated Astromech.
Wedge Antilles, Opportunist, R2-D2 and IA.
Gold Squadron Pilot, R3-A2, TLT, Extra Munitions, Bomb Loadout, Seismic Charge.

May swap the droids around, originally Wedge had Expert handling, so R2 D2 made more sense, but now R7-T1 might be better, let him get in to range 1 and roll 5 target locked dice.

In any case, I'll resort back with my results.

Forgot to report on this.

It went... ok, but kind of poorly. I did end up swapping the droids around, so Wes had IA and Wedge had R7-T1. I think that that was the right call, but it kind of failed out on me. I don't rmember all the details, so no full batreps, but this is basically what went down.

First game was against a twin falcon list, VI Han with Gunner, and Chewie with something or other. I don't precisely remember, but a pair of heavy 3 dice turrets (especially with possibly the only ship in the entire store that night that out PSed my Janson)is not what my list wanted, but the player was kind of new so I thought I had a shot. I set up in the corner and slow rolled to start off, drawing him into the roids which I had deliberately placed pretty close together on my side. I knew Han was a priority target, and got a bit lucky by getting him stressed fairly early on at range 3 - eventually I managed to lay enough stress on Han to ensure he wouldn't get any more actions for the rest of the game. Then I got super lucky when my opponent landed him on a few roids here and there - he ended up not shooting with Han twice and taking damage both times, and Chewie once (but no damage).

With him not shooting much, and positioning myself on the wrong side of asteroids, I managed to kill his Han at about the halfway mark, then put two stress on Chewie before he killed my Stresshog. Then, I made the mistake of leaving Janson within range 1 of Chewie - he rolled 4 natural hits and Janson blanked out, and, having not fully regenerated his hits from the battle with Han, was wiped out. With just Wedge on the board vs a not quite full heqlth Chewie, I thought I was more or less done for, but suddenly my dice woke up, and his fell asleep, and we had a few turns of Wedge chasing Chewie around the board, plinking off shields and hull at a decent clip. Wedges ability started to make a difference, and I eventually got Chewie down to 4 hull, but wedge was on fumes, down to one hull and IA. I was in with a chance!

Time is called, we're halfway through the last round. Chewie moves and target locks me, giving me a chance to trigger opportunist. I move Wedge into Chewie's arc at range 2. I could have taken the 4 dice shot, but I know I need Chewie dead before he shoots, or Wedge will probably die, so I seize my opportunity and trigger R7-T1 to target lock and boost into Range 1. I now have 5 Target Locked red dice (3 from Wedge + R1 bonus + Opportunist), and he has no green dice to roll. I need four hits. I roll my five dice... 1 hit. ****. Not to worry, I have a target lock! I reroll 4 dice... 1 hit. Two puny hits get through, Chewie shrugs it off, and shoots back, rolls 3 natural hits and a crit, and my dice blank out on me. Game loss.

Quite a frustrating one, actually, because I'd forgotten Wedges ability a time or two, I'd forgotten IA on Janson and I'd completely forgotten to use the bombs on the Stresshog. As tight as it ended up, I think one more round of shooting with Janson could have made the difference. I chalk it up as a learning experience and move on.

Game two was against a kitted out VI Gunner FCS Whisper and a miniswarm with Howlrunner, Epsilon Leader and Backstabber (I think). He sets up with his swarm in one corner and Whisper in the other, I decide I'm going to joust with the swarm and then try to deal with the phantom. This time, I'm determined to remember all my abilities, and although it starts off badly for me, with no kills in the first round of combat, it gets better quickly. Epsilon leader is down by the end of the second, Howrunner goes down next to a well placed Seismic charge. But then whisper gets involved, and things start to go wrong. Janson takes a big hit from Whisper and has to run off behind a roid to heal up, but I fail to get the tight K turn I wanted to execute with Wedge to work, and he just barely bumps Janson, leaving him stressed and facing the wrong way. Worse yet, the stresshog is also out of position, so I have no shots this round. Its ugly, with Backstabber hurting the stresshog pretty badly, but Wedge gets lucky and takes only one hit from Whisper, avoding gunner. With no  option to K turn, I opt to take Wedge out of the fight for a couple of turns to throw off his decision making - it works, and Wedge avoids taking fire this round, but the stresshog isn't so lucky, dropping its last bomb to good effect (taking health off the Phantom and Backstabber), but getting PS killed by backstabber before he can shoot at the Phantom

Next turn, Wes finally gets back into the action, taking out the depleted backstabber while Wedge clears his stress. But the Phantom has arc dodged too well, and he gets a massive shot off at Janson, wiping him out despite the regenned shields and remembering IA - it was brutal. Ultimately, it was Wedge Vs. the phantom, with I think two turns of manoeuvring through roids where nobody had a shot then one final round, again past time, where I had a shot on him and he'd chosen to focus rather than cloak. Wedge fires, with three red dice vs hisone green, and... one hit, one crit. He blanks out, loses a shield and draws the crit... I'm on the edge of my seat - a direct hit wins me the game. But it's not a direct hit. He survives on one hull with a crit, shoots at wedge, gets one damage through and Wedge survives. I get a modified loss on points.

Last round, I draw my brother. He has 2 PS5 Khiraxs with Predator and two TLT Y Wings, without the title. We set up, and get into it, essentially jousting down one side of the board. It quickly becomes a slaughter. He's rolling in quickly, so we're in combat by round two, and by round 5, we're both down to one ship - my Stresshog (which has already dropped both bombs) vs one of his Y Wings. It was one of the nastiest displays of dice lopsidedness I've ever seen - just about every red rolled a hit (or was rerolled or otherwise modified into a hit), and just about every green failed. Janson and Wedge took out a Khiraxz early on, but then Janson went down almost immediately to the two Y Wings and the other Khiraxz. The second Khiraxzwent, then Wedge, and then he made a critical error and put one of his Y Wings on a rock. Prior to that, it'd been my stresshog vs his 2 TLT Y Wings, and I was toast. But his mistake meant he took a hit going on and coming off, and I got to shoot him with all three shots from the Hog. Down he went, and it was one on one in no time. Complete carnage.

The last few rounds were more or less me following him and keeping us both stressed, while he plinked away at me with his TLT. Then I made my error, misreading his intent and getting him out of arc. He gets me down to two hull. Final round, I get him back in arc and kill him, but since its PS2 vs PS2, the simultaneous attack rule kicked in, and he got to shoot back. First TLT shot, two hits, I lose a hull. Second TLT shot. One hit. I have one veade die. And evade wins me the game, a blank and we end it on a 100 all tie. In my heart of hearts, I was hoping for a blank, because the entire game up to this point had taken bout 25 minutes, and I thought a 100 all draw in <30 minutes was, well, hilarious. But, it wasn't to be. I roll the one evade I need and survive, winning 100-70, my only win for the night.

Overall, there was lots to like about the list. Any time I get to fly T-65s I enjoy it, and it was fun to fly at a high PS for a change. The bombs on the Stresshog were definitely worth it (I'm considerfing trying to find some points for proton bombs, but that becomes one hell of a pricey Stresshog at 33 points (with Extra Munitions)). And the synergy between Wedge with R7-T1, Opportunist and Janson with VI is fantastic. But when I walked out on Monday night, I didn't think this list was for me. Without more arc dodging or better damage mitigation, high priced X Wings are just too vulnerable to those big king hits. It's weird - essentially 6 HP behind 2 dice seems fine, but I think I lost X-Wings too cheaply in every game. I might still be able to find a place for Wedge, possibly with Expert Handling and R2-D2, but only if I can pair him up with some ships that'll stay alive for awhile. Still, all my games were close, and I could very well have come away with a very different attitude had a few small things gone my way, or I'd remembered to use all my abilities in the first game, and the outcome had been different. At the very least, it was fun and somewhat competetive, if not quite top tier.

[Scotty]

Flew my XXX list (with VI and a 98 point bid) at a 50-person Store Championship today.  Ended up going 4-2 with one modified win, and took 14th overall.

That modified win was in the 3rd game, and ended up being probably the most intense finish to a game of X-wing I have ever played.  I was down to Wes Jansen, one hull point, Integrated Astromech already used.  One point left to give, period.  Opposing me, Omega Leader, one hull point left.  Omega Leader had a target lock on Jansen.  Jansen had a target lock and a focus.

The final turn, time is called just before the combat phase starts.  We end up in range 1, lined up exactly.  The perfect joust.  I'm PS 10, I shoot first.  Hit, hit, blank, blank.  I curse under my breath.  Defense dice roll.  Evade, evade, blank.  No damage.  Jansen strips the target lock.  It's all down to this.  He shoots.  Hit, hit, focus.  ****.  Two hits coming my way.  Everyone standing around the table (a good dozen) stops talking.

I roll the dice.

Evade, focus.  I triumphantly tilt the focus to an evade result, and the crowd goes wild.  Jansen was 32 points.  Omega Leader was 26.  With initiative bids, I win by 7 points.

[0rph3u5]

New FAQ - and it is the first time I need an english native speaker to translate a ruling to me, which concerns the Omega Leader ruleing (which then turned out just to be complicated and not confusing)

The ruleing on R3-A2 in regards to TLT is nice (Triple-Stress-Hog-Y-Wing, we hardly knew you ) just as the Tractor Beam+Ruthlessness one

[Scotty]

R3-A2 is explicit.  It's when you declare the target.  TLTs were FAQ'd a while back to work like Cluster Missiles: two attacks, skip the second declare target step.