Rebellions are Built on Hope
With FAQ 4.3.2 taking out the big bad lists for all but Rebels, there seems to have been an emergence of a new hope for those dedicated to flying ships of The Resistance.
Within one weekend of FAQ 4.3.2 being enforced, Paul Heaver won the Naboo System Open with a Rebel list. I’m a fan of the FAQ, it feels a little like this
As though the Spirit of Rebellion has been slowly but surely swelling and then the damm has been broken and Dodonna is now telling us all about the ventilation shaft.
With my third post where I readied myself for the busy Regionals season (you can find it here), Blair Bunke somehow read it and responded. Yeah, little old me with Blair Bunke commenting on my blog, who would have thunk? Anyway, he recommmended that I give his Rebel swarm a try. Bunke’s swarm won the Idaho Regional in December 2016 and was as follows:
the list is as follows:
Altogether, that’s
- 2 x Z95s Bandit Squadron Pilot (Thread Tracers + Guidance Chips)
- 2 x B-Wings Blue Squadron Pilot (FCS)
- Y-Wing Gold Squadron Pilot (R3-A2, TLT, BTL-A4)
100 points
It’s actually a lot of fun, if not massively mental taxing. I even considered taking something similar to Yavin this year but felt I had more experience with Fangaroo.
Speaking of Yavin, again it was pre-FAQ, but one surprising list made it to the final. From the top 8 cut, seven of these were Scum, the one Rebel list was Cal Jones’
99 points
You can hear Cal talking about the list on episode 24 of the 186th Squadron podcast here.
It’s worth having a look at the synergy between Hera and Navigator.
Cal’s summary on the podcast was as follows
I dial in a one straight green, because it’s a straight, I can navigate to any straight. Because it’s a green, I can use Hera’s ability
This allows Cal to change direction after seeing where his opponent has moved to. Effectively, with Hera, Navigator, Engine Upgrade and Ahsoka’s ability, he can arc dodge even at the beginning of the combat phase. Bonkers.
What about C-3PO on the Ghost, without the any green dice, what would be the point in that? Well, why not keep yourself at range three, and hug the rocks. There’s no reason why you wouldn’t slow roll with this build, not forgetting the evade action. With Accuracy corrector, Cal says
‘I’ve turned the dice off’
I’m sure you’ve played against an opponent who may well personify the dice, telling you, ‘They hate me’ or ‘They just weren’t going my way’ my personal favourite:
Well, that’s just my luck. The dice gods weren’t with me.
I don’t even know where to begin with unpicking this. Seriously. The inanimate objects that you just so happen to roll to decide a win or a loss are so important that you just so happen to play recklessly and either forget or make sub-optimal decision with modifiers for them. They don’t hate you because they have no concept of hate (or even a concept of what a concept is). They didn’t get upset with you on the last roll because you favoured another dice. Variance is variance.
I feel I probably need to stop before I alienate anybody still reading this.
Where was I? Ah yes, hope. A new hope. Well, How about Heaver winning another massive tournament with a Rebel build? You can watch the final of Naboo here:
The list is as follows:
100 points
The big question really is: would Heaver have taken a risk with this build without the impact that the FAQ has had upon the meta? I don’t think so.
But wait…
The meta-game was already somewhat unpredictable, but now it seems that anything goes. There was a Quarter One Kit at Warboar, Bromley on March 18th won by John Kane and yet another Rebel list.
100 points
This I really like and it’s got me thinking about the analysis and evaluation of a list. What do you classify as your support ship or your big hitter? Why?
When I began blogging my experiences of the game and how I approach list building (Have a look at my article Under Construction) , I looked at Paul Heaver’s Turn Zero series and his article It Is The Future You See, where he explores the ‘post-Scum’ meta game and his three archetypes of ships: turrets, jousters and arc-dodgers. His thoughts at the time were:
Few lists are composed solely of ships belonging all to the same pillar. Usually, the best lists balance synergies between mixed ship types.
It seems that this has had a big impact on how I build lists, almost thinking of them as puzzle pieces and trying to see where/how they all fit.
This has been my head for the last few weeks, what is it that makes a ship indispensable within a list and what would you trade to make it better? What would you trade to make it your own? Are those changes for the benefit of having a more efficient list (whatever that might mean) or are you simply putting the changes in because you are a special snowflake or because you want to use your new toys? My Misthunter has still yet to find its way onto a playmat…
If, like me, you have tried to think about the most efficient use of points within Rebel builds (or you have rouble reading my nonsenical diagram above), you can’t go far wrong with Blair’s Incomprehensive List of Best Rebel Options at Certain Prices.
Captain Rex in a Tie Fighter seems like an excellent use of 14 points. Not only do you gain a good blocker but the Suppressive Fire condition is awfully tempting. It is still a Tie Fighter and has awful fire power.
What About the Ahsoka build (VI, Captured Tie, Sabine’s Masterpiece, BMST and Intelligence Agent) from Cal’s list? That’s 22 points on a Tie Fighter, but the ability is pretty damn awesome.
David Sutcliffe posted a piece about his Phoenix Squadron
- Ahsoka Tano — Snap Shot (19)
- Sabine Wren — Snap Shot, Sabine’s Masterpiece, Operations Specialist (21)
- Green Squadron A-Wing — Snap Shot, Crack Shot, Chardaan Refit, A-Wing Test Pilot (20)
- Green Squadron A-Wing — Snap Shot, Crack Shot, Chardaan Refit, A-Wing Test Pilot (20)
- Green Squadron A-Wing — Snap Shot, Crack Shot, Chardaan Refit, A-Wing Test Pilot (20)
I was really taken with this, but have adapted Ahsoka to take Vi and Captured Tie. I’m calling it Sabine’s Snap Chat Crew .It’s a mini-swarm that’s a lot of fun to play but the trade of Autothrusters for Snapshot in a meta where TLT is already re-emerging is a bold move.
I’ve been thinking about Swarm Leader and Jess Pava. I know Ian Courtney has explored the card and believes it a risk, but I really want to give it a go (some mistakes you just have to make for yourself).
So if I decide I’m going to make Swarm Leader work and I’m looking at Rebels, my best bet is Jess Pava. My problem is still Autothrusters — is it too risky not to take it?
If I throw caution to the wind (there is no wind in space) and take Jess without Autothrusters, she’s 29 points
Well, if I then take A-Wings to support her, they’re 20 points when kitted correctly, but Snap/Crack A-Wings with Autothrusters would be 22 points. The thing is, I’ve already lost the card on Jess, so what if I go for the area control of Snapshot and stick two of these in
That takes my total to 69 points, and here is where it becomes a bit like lego again. I have 31 points to play with. My options are as follows
- 2x Z-95 Headhunter Bandit Squadron Pilot with Thread Tracers and Guidance Chips (26 points — so room for two sets of Autothrusters)
- Stress-hog (26 points)
- Captain Rex and one Z-95 Headhunter Bandit Squadron Pilot with Thread Tracers and Guidance Chips (27 points)
- 1x Z-95 Headhunter Bandit Squadron Pilot with Thread Tracers and Guidance Chips and 1x 2x Z-95 Headhunter Bandit Squadron Pilot with Concussion Missiles and Guidance Chips (29 points)
or this
The standard Braylen build of Gunner, R3-A2 and Alliance Overhaul comes in at 32 points. I just can’t make it work. The arc has a slightly better dial with just that little bit more green and an extra shield. With Gunner, you have the potential to double stress. If I can’t afford Gunner, Baze seems the next best thing.
So there we go — 99 points :
Making it all fit is hard.
