I’m back! After a hectic couple of weeks, and a handful of games and x-wing purchases, here I am early to work with some time to type. Can someone turn off the snow machine now?

So I finally got my hands on a CR90 recently, which meant a fun entrance into Epic play. (Photos will hit Facebook soon) I was far from prepared for the difference between standard level play and Epic, and for those of you who have yet to take the plunge, be warned: the game is drastically different. Let me hit a few major points.

Decimators hate Epic

You heard that right. Despite their rightful place in standard games as the falcon of the empire, Decimators can’t hold their own weight in epic games, at least not with standard builds.

Why? Decimators succeed in smaller games due to the difficulty of chewing through all their hull, but in Epic games, it’s relatively simple to just focus down the evade-less giant and kill it in one turn with superior firepower. In Epic, longevity comes more from evade dice than from hull, and any list can bring the kind of volume fire to hose a Decimator quickly. If you plan to bring one, Kenkirk is probably your safest bet.

Lambda shuttles love Epic

By contrast, the Deci’s unloved little brother adores Epic play. With a larger field, and an abundance of targets, the Lambda’s largest weaknesses are somewhat mitigated. Something to consider: you can fit 10 Lambda’s with Heavy Laser Cannon in an epic list. That kind of firepower will even scare a CR90 – 40 attack dice with no defense dice available. Any empire player building an Epic list should consider putting one or more of these beauties in.

Fat CR90’s are brutal

Don’t get me wrong, the CR90 is already a damn scary ship, but add in three more guns and a stunning array of crew upgrades, and this thing isn’t just a powerhouse – it’s an intimidating piece your opponent will try to stay away from. Raymus Antilles threatens to pin down Decimators and TIEs, and Han plus Weapons Engineer helps keep your guns firing on full power.

In addition, once the Imperial Raider is released, the CR90 will gain access to Ion Cannons. Ion is a lot stronger in Epic (as I’ll mention below), and the range spread in these is a little nicer than on either quad lasers or turbolasers, keeping your guns firing. The downside is that, like turbolasers, these will cost 2 energy to fire – very difficult to keep firing turn after turn.

Ion is massively important

Forget everything you think you know about Ion weapons and think of this: huge ships rely on their energy floor to stay consistent every turn. Every ion token on a huge ship reduces it’s energy output for the next turn, reducing it’s effectiveness or paralyzing it completely.

Huge ships also have difficulty avoiding ANYTHING, making it very easy to land your ion hits consistently and keep the ship’s guns and abilities offline.

On top of this, strategic placement of unit groupings is very important in Epic play. Breaking up those groups or showing them down via ion can give you the upper hand, even if you sacrifice a ship to do it.

AOE attacks are stronger than ever

Ion torpedoes are the biggest case here, but bombs also make a huge appearance here, often in tandem. A single Y-wing can stop up an entire TIE swarm and drop a bomb during it’s next turn, knowing exactly where the swarm will be. Is it a risk? Absolutely, your Y-wing is pretty likely to die. Is it worth it? If you land your ion torpedo, it will always be worth it. Stopping a TIE swarm in it’s tracks gives the rest of your squad time to focus on other threats while the ties helplessly drift out of range.

Well that’s all for now folks! Until next time, play more games!