I will! ...when I get that card and can use it. What set does it come with?
E-Wing and TIE Defender.
Allow me to explain my tactics a little more here. Those Torpedoes (and Ion Missiles) are going off the moment someone comes into range 3 of all my ships. Basically, the one I pick to go after anyway. Both X-Wings target lock, both use their Torpedoes (to stop that pesky extra evade dice at R3 from rolling) and Blount smacks on that Ion drift/damage. If the ship is still there the following turn, all three ships can (because of the drift) easily predict where it will be and team up to finish it off. Once those are gone the 'need' for a target lock isn't quite as dire and I would be free to use Marksmanship all day with Luke and Wedge for when he's attacking ships outside of their firing arc and doesn't need a Focus. I also feel like R2F2 is more appropriate than Focus for when I'm being attacked and have no ships within my firing arc (more dice=better chance of the result you want?). I know that my models are burdened with upgrades at this point due to my lack of ships and desire to play out at a store, but how are you going to use all your upgrades all the time ever?
Since I don't have any other ships, the suggested list you posted - while useful and effective - doesn't get me in the shop playing, it gets me in the shop spending more money. I do like the list and think that I may just nab up another Z-95 one day (likely with the Most Wanted pack), but not before I get a Millennium Falcon (and likely a Y-Wing) no matter how awesome the possibilities. My love of Star Wars is too strong for me to choose functionality over 'cool' like I do with 40k :laugh:
All absolutely fair enough! I will, however, just comment on the concept of the list - which is totally fine and viable, I'm just going to throw some words around and you can tell me how much you agree!
So, your squadron is PS9, PS8 and PS6. That's great, it means you're always shooting before generics, and aren't THAT vulnerable to being blocked because you're small based ships, so easier to maneuver. However 6 on Blount is not THAT impressive. For 1pt you can whack Veteran Instincts on him for PS8, meaning you can choose to shoot first with him or Luke at certain targets (Rebel Captive, for example). It also means he'll have to be very unlucky to get tapped out before he uses his Ions (multiple enemy PS9s - unlikely).
At Range 3 you will put out 8 unmodified (you spent the Target Lock and can't take Focus without Push The Limit) red dice, which with the Torpedo special rule means you should be getting 3 hits and 2 crits or so. Plus the 1 dmg from Blount. Assuming a non-large Imperial target (3 green dice) with a focus, you're probably going to kill a 3hp ship outright. However the dice are notoriously fickle, so YMMV. However if we take that as a baseline, what you might actually want to do is shoot the Ions at something else, or save them for a later turn, because you're not taking them for the 1 dmg, you're taking them for the control they offer. So, generally, the upshot is that unless you're targeting a Large Ship, you want to pop your Torps at one thing, and your Ions at another. You can then open up at Rng 1 with Luke and Wedge (potentially with MM) on the Ion guy next turn without being worried about overkill, and Blount can perhaps finish off the guy who took the R3 torps, which is where having 2x PS8s is nice, because you can decide who shoots what as you get the results in.
So your ideal matchup is something like a Slave 1 + 1 Escort fighter. The problem is when your opponent is running 7 TIEs! Now obviously you can't answer everything with a single list, but bear in mind that you get progressively weaker the more enemy ships there are. That's just something you have to bear in mind, and the reason I suggested an extra ship, because over the course of a full game then an additional Z-95 will roll more red dice than 2x sets of Protons - ditto an A-Wing (15pts). It's why a lot of people avoid Ordnance as being overcosted.
I think you've made a great list from the models you have - I really only have two things to contribute, which is A. Don't be afraid to print out copies of cards you don't have, such as Modifications or Astromechs or Pilot Skills, and B. Play lots of games, and expect to lose horribly for about the first 10 of them! You will hit rocks. Hit your own ships. Forget actions. Forget Upgrades. Fly into enemy ships. Repeat during every turn "I am getting better, I am getting better..." and save up for some more ships so you have options ASAP! Don't worry at all about winning. I got crushed so many times in my first week of playing (a non-stop week, playing at least 3 games per day for 7-8 days).
In your(s and Tawa's) clearly superior knowledge of this game, how would you make these three ships usable for me until I pick up a YT-1300 and can flesh the list out with models instead of upgrades? I'm down for switching R2 to Wedge cuz that makes good sense, but after that I'm a bit lost without trying to add more ships to the mix.
If you're happy to print stuff off to proxy while you're building your collection (and every player should be fine with that, or be able to lend you what you need) then just play with upgrades and whathaveyou, to be honest. Wedge is easily one of the top two X-Wing pilots (Wes and Biggs are also good) and Blount is fine for what you want to do. You can also insert Cracken to give Luke an extra action if you want, allowing you to both Target Lock and Focus to make the most of those missiles, or even just the basic attacks. Otherwise just pad it out with shield and hull upgrades etc. The rule of thumb is to increase the defence of offensively minded pilots (like Wedge) and increase the offense of defensively minded pilots (like Luke) so your opponent has to choose between two equally killy, equally survivable guys instead of a survivable guy who does no damage, and a glass cannon.
As a bonus, what would it look like to include a YT-1300 in with these ships? I have been musing that Lando with Nien and the Falcon title would be pretty sweet to have running close to another ship for the Action buff Lando bestows (which is in turn buffed by Nien). I like cascading benefits, but know they aren't always usable in-game.
My 1300 literally arrived in the post today, I have no experience using it I'm afraid, plus I'm something of an Imperial player... Han Solo + Luke Skywalker is an extremely good answer to things like Interceptors, by just being able to bull through enough dice until the squint makes a bad roll and takes some hits. The only downside of Lando is that if you want to get the most mileage out of the card, you've got to stick to green maneuvers, and the Falcon doesn't actually have *that* much green on it's dial. I'd keep it fairly cheap, and use it with two Rookies if it's going to be your next purchase. Alternatively, run it expensive with a single Wedge.
