X-Wing: “Follower Build-a-List” Battle Report for 8-17-17

In the third installment of our weekly Facebook “Follower Build-a-List” segment, we are finally flying some Scum!

Every week, we ask our social media followers to suggest one ship each until a squad is built.  Then, I fly whatever you guys came up with at my FLGS in a tournament and report back on how it performed.  This creates an interactive component with our social media followers (you control the content!) and (hopefully) makes me a better player overall by learning to improvise with what I’ve been given.

The Facebook post goes up every Tuesday, the video breakdown goes up on or about Wednesday, and the blog post goes up over the weekend just in time to start the process all over again.

Make sure you are following our Facebook so you can get in on the fun!

THE LIST

Now, if you look at the “Follower Build-a-List” rules, you’ll note that I own most, not all, of Scum.  However, the people have spoken and it was time for me to acquire an expansion which I somehow did not already own:

That’s right!  We are getting a little Scummy!  This week, we built our first Scum list and it’s also our first two ship list.

The 100 point list is as follows:

Mike Warren returned for his third week in a row (100% participation!  Gold star!) with a 58 point Jumpmaster 5000 build that shouldn’t surprise anyone:

• “Dengar” – 33
• Punishing One – 12
• Expertise – 4
• Plasma Torpedoes – 3
• Extra Munitions – 2
• Guidance Chips – 0
• K4 Security Droid – 3
• Unhinged Astromech – 1

Credit: Ready to Role

With no nerf in sight: if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.

Next, Keith Holt returned for the second week in a row.  Originally, Keith had set me up with a sweet N’dru Suhlak build, but he ended up switching it up to better fit the list with this 42 point Wave 11 wrecking ball that is the Scurgg H-6 Bomber:

• “Captain Nym” – 30
• Veteran Instincts – 1
• Guidance Chips – 0
• Cruise Missles – 3
• Havoc – 0
• “Genius” – 0
• Bomblet Generator – 3
• Autoblaster Turret – 2
• Accuracy Corrector – 3

I thought this was a miniatures game?  I have only two ships but 17 cards!

 

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Strengths:

• Meta List
  • DenNym… NymGar… whatever you want to call it… is one of the most popular lists in the meta right now.  It’s a tried-and-true contender.
• Alpha Strike
  • High Pilot Skill
    • We have a 10 and a 9.  We should be dodging arcs, controlling range, dropping bombs on people’s faces, and shooting first.
  • Threat at all ranges
    • You don’t want to be within Range 1 of either of these ships.  Nym has Autoblaster Turret and Bomblets.  Dengar attacks twice-per-turn with a 4 dice primary attack.
    • You also don’t want to be at Range 2-3 of either of these ships.  Nym has a 5 dice Cruise Missle and Dengar has two volleys of Plasma Torpedoes.
• Automatic Damage
  • Nym can land two unblockable hits at range one with the Autoblaster Turret/Accuracy Corrector combo.

• 360* arcs
  • Dengar has a primary weapon turret at all ranges.
  • Nym has a secondary weapon turret at range 1.
• Extra Attacks
  • Dengar.  Ever heard of him?
  • Free Bomblet every turn.

 

Weaknesses:

• No “bid.”  The squad total is exactly 100 points so if we are met with similar pilot skills then there is a good chance that we may not get to shoot first.
• Rebel Fortress lists are a hard-counter to Alpha Strike lists and it just so happens to also be one of the most popular lists in the meta.
• Reliance on target locks.

 

RESULTS

Round One vs. Intensity Poe / Lone Wolf Dash:

This is not what I wanted to start off against.  My missles and torpedoes require a target lock to fire and I’m spending extra points on a crew member to get free target locks. A one point title disrupts all of that.  I also literally just played against a similar list last week.

He won the roll and gave me initiative, so Dengar will move and shoot before Poe.  That means Poe always gets to remove Dengar’s target lock.  I set up in the middle of the map and he set up off the left side.  I slow rolled to see where he was going.  Dash went off on his own and Poe turned into me so I eagerly met Poe with my full alpha strike.  Poe shook it off like nothing and took 3 of Nym’s shields.  Dengar was somehow in range of Heavy Laser Cannon and lost a few shields without being able to use his pilot ability to counterattack.

Okay, let’s try getting closer.  Dash took a hard turn and barrel rolled into range of Nym. Autoblaster Turret did an automatic 2 shields to Poe.  Nym… died?

With half of my squad dead and only two shields missing on Poe this game was over in five minutes.  Dengar tried his best to get behind or block Poe several times and start picking away at Dash.

Poe eventually flew way into the corner of the map and I was able to use Dengar’s higher pilot skill to always be in the donut of Dash’s cannon.  Dash began to take hull damage but by that point Poe had returned and I was finally caught in the cannon’s range just as time was called.

29-100 Loss.

 

Round Two vs. the mirror (Den / Nym):

It wasn’t a true mirror match.  His Dengar had, of course, Countermeasures.  Seriously? Whether you play Rebels or Scum, you need the YT-2400 expansion or Shadow Caster expansion, both of which are routinely on sale for about 30% off at Book Depository. Imperials cannot get the Countermeasures upgrade without buying an out-of-faction ship.  His Nym had Twin Laser Turret instead of Autoblaster Turret.

My plan was to kill Nym because, as I had learned last round, he is squishier and I did not want to trigger any Dengar counterattacks.

My opponent was not fond of photos during the tournament so I was only able to take this one:

On this turn, his Nym was in range of both of my ships so I was able to pluck a few shields off of him.

He had a 98 point bid, so he had given me initiative.  On the next turn, I used that to my advantage and blocked his Dengar onto the asteroid with my Dengar.  That made his Nym bump into his Dengar.  That allowed my Nym to barrel roll into range one of his Nym.

As we played Ring Around the Rosie on that small asteroid in the center of the map, his Nym died a fiery death.  My Nym, who was half-dead, flew away while my healthy Dengar spent the remainder of the match hunting down his Dengar.

100-0 Win!

 

Round Three vs. 2x TLT Thugs / Asajj:

Speaking of the Shadow Caster, I had never flown against Asajj before and boy was I in for a surprise.  A 10 hp ship with an evade action is a tough nut to crack.

My plan was to fly in and hit the Shadow Caster hard to try and score some MOV and maybe even kill the thing before it can start piling on stress tokens.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to take any photographs because the match was over before it began. That thing is fast.

Dengar took 8 damage and died to TLT shots on turn 2.  Maybe I should just fly one ship lists because it seems like I lose a ship within the first 5 minutes of every match.  Nym spent the rest of the game helplessly executing small turns with 4 stress tokens on him.

25-100 Loss.

At 1-2, I came in 15/23.

 

TAKEAWAY

The ship I flew the worst was Nym.  The Autoblaster Turret automatic damage combo is cute, but I think for one point more I’d rather have the Twin Laser Turret.  Too many times my Nym was without a shot as nobody was in his firing arc and they were too far away to use his turret.  I also only used the Cruise Missles and the Bomblet Generator once.  There is just too much target lock hate and nobody flies aces anymore.  I would have been better off just flying a couple of Z-95s with Cruise Missles instead.

Regarding Dengar, I only used the Plasma Torpedoes once in the entire tournament, and it was at the end of the round two slaughter, so it did not impact the game in any way. Again, there is just too much target lock hate with the advent of Cruise Missles.  The special ability of the Plasma Torpedoes did nothing because after the hit the target was left without any shields.

My proposed changes:

• Nym (+1):
  • -2 Autoblaster Turret
  • -3 Accuracy Corrector
  • -3 Bomblet Generator
  • -0 “Genius”
  • +6 Twin Laser Turret
  • +3 R5-P8 to try and make him less of a target

If you like the Autoblaster Turret, you can instead cut the Accuracy Corrector and run another Systems upgrade like Advanced Sensors.

• Dengar (-1):
  • -2 Extra Munitions
  • -3 Plasma Torpedoes
  • +4 Proton Torpedoes

Instead of Proton Torpedoes, you can also keep the Plasma Torpedoes for a one point bid. Scavenger Crane and Countermeasures is also an option.

 

WRAP UP

Thank you to Mike and Keith for the list and, if you were too slow, be sure to shoot first at the Facebook cantina on Tuesday where we start the fun all over again!

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