Hello….Geeks!

If you thought saying goodbye to Party-Girl Manaroo (and hello to modestly-dressed-but-still-good-looking Manaroo) was drama enough, we’ve now got X-Wing Wave 11 coming down the pipe!

Auzituck Wookiee Gunship

No…I didn’t spell “wookiee” wrong, you spelled it wrong! Look it up! or, look at the Wookiee Commandos double crew card down below.

UPDATE:

So, now that the abilities are out, I’m still not sure how to use this ship the best. Offensively, you should not be relying on this ship to do damage. However, if you treat it as a platform for specific effects, I think it can be a lot more effective. The PS5 (haha…good luck spelling, or even saying the names off-hand) might be good with Tactician and Selflessness to help keep Biggs or Rex alive. I’m not sold on the PS7 pilot; 4 attack dice is great, but when you’re almost half dead and can’t target lock? Sure, you can load up with Pred and Recon Spec for lots-o-mods, but now you’re at 36 points. No thanks, too many puntos for me. If I’m going to use jank, I might as well use a firespray or HWK shuttle ;). If only there was a way to get a free reinforce action on these guys.

/update

Hmmm…there’s quite a few Rebel ships in that low, agility, 8-10 HP range now. Y-Wing, K-Wing, U-Wing, ARC-170. The Auzituck is a bit different as it has a firing arc configuration similar to the YV-666 (albeit on a small base) and dual crew slots. The lack of a Target Lock action might limit it offensively, especially since the PS1 is going to be a quarter of your list.

However, this ship seems like it can be a great survivable disruptor. Tactician seems right at home with the 180 arc and the inclusion of Intimidation doesn’t seem to be an accident, either. 180 arcs are difficult to escape, even for arc dodgers, so anything that negatively affects targets for being in arc (Outmaneuver, Hot Shot Co-Pilot, Tactician) will work well. Sabine crew might even find a home here as well. Question is, is a 30+ point disruptor that can’t reroll it’s attack dice worth it?

The dual crew card for Wookiee Commandos…meh…I guess it’s good if you’re constantly Reinforcing, but what good is surviving if you can’t do damage? I’d love to see some of these pilot abilities; if they’re amazing, then I suppose having a good EPT, using Wookiee Commandos, then Reinforcing every action could maximize your opportunities for those abilities to trigger. Speaking of Reinforce…it works slightly differently than it does on Epic Ships:

So, if you Reinforce, you have to declare which section of the ship to brace. Heh, good thing there’s a handy line drawn down the middle of the base. If the closest point of the attacking ship is within the Auzituck’s arc, it’s considered to be attacking the Fore Section. Out of arc, it’s attacking the Aft section. It’s a bit strange, as an attacker you could potentially have the Aft section of the Auzituck’s base in your arc, but if you’re at an odd angle and the closest point of your ship is in the Auzituck’s arc, you’re attacking the Fore section.

The timing here is a bit tricky, as I believe the older rules say it adds 1 evade to your roll. I’m assuming the timing is the same, but with cards like C-3PO and Juke out there, it’s important to be 100% clear when this happens.

Fluff-wise, it took some heavy Googling to find some of those pilot names. Looking at the spread from FFG, I thought one of the pilots might have been Lowbacca, but it looked like it ended in a ‘K’ so that didn’t seem right. Then I found Lowhhrick and that seemed to fit much better. Wullffwarro is the only Wookiee name that fit the bill for the second one, so it’s gotta be him. Another interesting note…apparently this ship is made out of wood and glue? Haha…ok…guess those Wookiee Engineers have some fantastic binding agents!

TIE Aggressor

Uh oh, more name overlap, incoming! Watch out IG-88, you’re not the only Aggressor in town!

Woah…Imperial TLT?!? Unthinkable!!!!! And a point cheaper than a Y-Wing, to boot! Thug Life is always a solid list so I’m sure someone is going to do an Imperial version with Lightweight Frame instead of Unhinged Astromech. The dial seems pretty important here, but based on seeing a green 2-bank in the spread, this ship can probably fly circles around Y-Wings and HWK’s. While it doesn’t have the ability to take support crew and the pilots are a mystery , the TIE Aggressor seems to fulfill the same offensive function as turret-equipped Y-Wings and HWK’s. These pilots seem pretty awesome, as well, especially LT Kestal. I can already see the squad building gears turning trying to get that ability to trigger consistently.

This ship has two missile slots, but I’m wondering how appropriate it is to use them, especially over a TIE Bomber or Punisher. When it comes to ordnance strikes, it seems like the other two options might better choices. I will say, however, being able to launch a Homing Missile at something, then run away and TLT it to death are Miranda Doni-style shenanigans; not to be discounted. The two missile slots seem to be justified by the inclusion of Unguided Rockets, which takes up both slots and requires a focus to fire. Additionally, not even Guidance Chimps Chips can do anything about rolling blanks, as you can only change focus results by spending a token. Interestingly enough, Unguided Rockets can be fired turn after turn, so in a way, it’s a roundabout method of getting a ship from two attack dice to three. Still…I think I’d rather just TLT with this ship, but the rockets might be of slight value on Bombers or Punishers.

I have absolutely no idea what Intensity does, but using it probably causes you to flip it down, forcing you to spend a focus or evade to flip it back up. Haha…don’t know what else to say about that. Hope it’s good! Oooo Dang…Intensity is a great way of improving a ship’s action economy that isn’t stress related.

Speaking of Y-Wings, Drea Renthal is one of my favorites. I usually kit her out with a Plasma Torp, Guidance, Unhinged Astro, BTL-A4 Title, and Dorsal Turret for 29 points. With her ability, I just need to Target Lock once and I can, potentially, have it until she dies. With this new Synced Turret, Drea won’t have to spend her lock as many times (which means fewer stress tokens) so I’m excited to try her out. If you could find a way to get a Target Lock on the Attack Shuttle (aka Phantom) the turret could be potent as well, but might require too much effort and too many points.

Onyx Squadron was an elite unit that usually flew TIE Defenders, but were also known to use TIE Aggressors, or TIE/AG’s, on occasion. I could see players flying Aggressors and Defenders together, as the turret would help cover X7’s if they couldn’t get something in arc. Fluff-friendly game mechanics always make me happy.

Scurgg H-6 Bomber (aka the Havoc)

Those of you who’ve played the Star Wars Starfighter games or Star Wars Galaxies might recognize this next X-Wing Wave 11 ship.

I’ve never played it, though I have heard of it. The Scurrg has already found its way into Star Wars Armada so it’s not a big surprise to see it here. Similar to the Jumpmaster 5000, this ship has a stacked upgrade bar and can be built in a variety of different ways. The Havoc title expands these options a bit further by swapping your crew slot for the Salvaged Astromech and System slots. Also, it appears the PS8 pilot, Captain Nym, is available as both a Scum and a Rebel pilot, albeit with different abilities, but this increases the customization even further.

By having a pair of Bomb slots, as well as single Torpedo and Crew slots, you can get some good bomb combos. Sabine, Extra Munitions, and your bombs of choice has always proven effective on Miranda Doni. Unlike K-Wings, however, the EPT slot is opened up for these ships so you can use upgrades like Lightning Reflexes or Adrenaline Rush to drop bombs in key positions. No one is going to anticipate you dropping a Conner Net after doing a Tallon Roll, or even doing a Barrel Roll and dropping using Experimental Interface. And hey, there’s always our favorite 0 point droid, Genius 😉 There are also appears to be a new type of bomb as well as something to do with mines as a System upgrade, so who knows what we’ll get out of that.

As a gunship, the Scurrg seems to have the least utility. Still, with 3 attack dice and a Turret slot, it can provide a threat that your opponents can’t ignore. Running the PS1 with Dengar and an Autoblaster Turret will run you 29 points. It’s hard to know how effective this would be without the dial, but considering that it has a 4 forward and 3 Tallon Roll, I think it is safe to say it will be reasonably maneuverable. With the Barrel Roll action you can go for blocks; anyone who avoids it will either need to spend actions for repositioning or risk taking the unblockable turret damage.

Taking a second look at the semi-spoiled upgrade cards, it looks like the System upgrade does something with your bombs during the “Place Forces Step.” Pre-emptive mines? Upgrade swapping ala Vizago from the C-ROC? The missile card (likely Cruise Missiles) has something to do with rolling dice and the speed of your maneuver. No idea what Cad Bane, the new R4, or the Bomb card do, but hey, guess you should check back on the regular to find out 😉

Guns For Hire: Kihraxz and Starviper Expansion

Woah…out of nowhere, FFG drops this on us!!

UPDATE

Oh man, so that Harpoon Missile looks pretty interesting, especially versus lists that like staying in tight formation, especially since the missile still does full damage.

However…Captain Jostero…I mean, it’s an effective ability. But I’m getting real tired of these “out of combat phase” attacks. This ability is pretty potent paired with bomb attacks, but once you start adding pilots like Dengar and Quickdraw it gets ridiculous. I mean, say if Quickdraw hits a Cluster Mine (who knows if QD/Josty attacks first) but you can have two complete resolved attacks before the action phase occurs…c’mon. At the very least, it’s confusing and disrupts years of muscle memory.

/UPDATE

Dude, look at those titles! Triple Mods on a K-Fighter and 3 point discount on Vipers? Daaaaaaaaang. Kihraxz fighters have always been decent, but just like X-Wings, decent doesn’t fly in this game. Now, with this new pilot, they’ve gained a great Swiss-Army Knife utility. Double Reposition Arc-Dodger, Ordnance Carrier, Stress Control, Regen, Blocker; this ship can almost do it all now. Pulsed Ray Shield can be especially useful as it can grant this Ship the 1-Forward maneuver that it normally can’t perform. Look at that title closely, as it doesn’t reduce the cost of your modifications, it reduces the cost of all your upgrades. So, for 23 points, you can get a PS5 Ship that can have Crack Shot, S-Thread Tracers, Black Market Slicer Tools, and Guidance Chips.

Now, the other ship in this pack, the Viper Mk II is CONFIRMED PROOF of a BSG and Star Wars CrossOver that I KNEW was gonna happen and I’ve been saying to all you f***ing losers and–wait…what?

oh…STARviper mk II…

I…uh…ahem…

The Starviper was one of X-Wings deepest tragedies. It’s so much fun to fly and can actually do some serious damage if flown right, but good luck flying it right. Xizor requires you fly in formation with a fleet of scrubs and Guri’s PS is just too low. Now, a 3-point discount softens the blow a little bit, as well as Lieutenant Lorrir-esque shenanigans (hah, remember that guy?). The pilot abilities are a mystery on these new ships and the PS is lower than I was hoping for, so I’m not as excited as I’d like to be. Even with the discount, I don’t think I’d ever spend 24 points on a Black Sun Enforcer with Autothrusters when I could spend those points on a TLT Y-Wing instead. I’m sure we’re getting some PS5 generics with EPTs (similar to Glaive Squadrons) so maybe we can make use of the new title on these guys. If you look close at the pilot chits and condition cards in the preview article, you can see the name of one of these pilots, but I can’t quite make it out. It’s interesting, though, that this pilot seems to be directly tied to 2 different condition cards.

Well, that’s basically all we can see from this preview. I’m sure as the day gets closer, we’ll learn a little bit more about these ships!

Random Trivia:

Now that we’re in X-Wing Wave 11, I decided to look up some random trivia about the game, just for the sake of curiosity.

Ships

X-Wing Miniatures has 54 usable ships (a ship counts multiple times if it appears in multiple factions). This is counting Epic ships, but we will not be counting them for these other stats.

49 of those ships are eligible for standard tournament play.

Rebels have the most options, having access to a total of 18 small and large based ships. Scum has the least, at a total of 15.

Scum has the most large based ships, for a total of 5. Rebels and Imperials are tied for a total of 4.

Rebels have the most cross-faction ships (Z-95, HWK, TIE, Y-Wing, Scurrg)

Rebels have the most ships that can attack outside of their firing arcs without upgrades (K-Wing, YT-2400, YT-1300). Only 5 ships in the game have this ability (Decimator, Jumpmaster 5000).

Only 2 ships have a primary attack value of 1 (Rebel and Scum HWK-290).

20 ships have a primary attack value of 2 (7 Rebel, 8 Imperial, 5 Scum)

24 ships have a primary attack value of 3 (9 Rebel, 6 Imperial, 9 Scum)

3 ships have a primary attack value of 4 (VCX-100, TIE Phantom, Upsilon-Class Shuttle).

13 ships have TIE in the name (counting the Rebel TIE)

9 ships have Wing in the name (counting Scum Y-Wing)

The TIE Fighter chassis has been released the most times. However, since we’re counting the Rebel TIE as a separate ship, the Imperial TIE, X-Wing, and T-70 are tied for number of releases.

The Scum Firespray-31 and HWK-290 are the only ships released without a model.

Pilots

X-Wing Miniatures has 252 pilots available for standard tournament play. 170 Uniques, 82 generics.

Imperials have the most pilots, clocking in at 97. Rebels was close behind with 89, Scum at 66.

Rebels have the most unique pilots, for a total of 65. 62 for Imperials, 43 for Scum.

Imperials have the most generic pilots at 35. Rebels at 24, Scum at 23.

The TIE Interceptor has the most generic pilots (Alpha, Avenger, Saber, Royal Guard).

The Imperial TIE Fighter has the most unique pilots at 10. If you count Rebels, it also has the most unique pilots overall (14). If you count generics, it has the most total pilots of any ship in the game (17).

The TIE Interceptor, YT-1300, and T-70 X-Wing are tied for number of pilots with EPT slots (6). Technically, with R2-D6, the T-70 gains 3 additional options for a total of 9 (but that’s cheating =P)

There are 4 ships that do not have generic pilots (ARC-170, Attack Shuttle, Rebel TIE, Aggressor aka IG-88)

Haha, I could go on and on, but let’s leave it at this. Some of this information was surprising to me (252 pilots?!?!? geeeeeeeez!!!!) and I’d love to keep delving into this, but hey, we’re here for Wave 11!

Check back often when updates drop!!!