The last two articles on the X-34 explored the potential of the Landspeeder as a transport and what heroes to use it with. Now we’re going to focus on the X-34 as a fighting vehicle. This article will talk about how to outfit your speeder and how to pilot it into combat. Hopefully, it’ll help you blow things up and not get blown up in return. We’ll also list some piloting rules of thumb, and list some ways to build the Landspeeder.

Attacking with the X-34

The Landspeeder, fully kitted, has “a big gun.” Well, it’s actually a bunch of little guns firing together with the Arsenal 3 keyword. The Hardpoint upgrade will be the foundation of your attack.

Hardpoints

You can choose between two hardpoint upgrades: the Mark II Blaster and the M-45 Ion Blaster.

Mark II Blaster: 4 black dice with range 1-3. This is your “rotary cannon” – a great all around weapon. Unfortunately it costs 4 more points than the actual AT-RT Rotary Cannon and throws one less attack die. Woops. Despite being costed high for what it does, the majority of your Landspeeder builds will take this weapon.

M-45 Ion Blaster: 1b 4w with range 1-4, exhausts. Compare to Bistan from the Pathfinders. The M-45 is specialized to attack vehicles, and the Impact 1 and Ion 1 synergizes with the Rocket Launcher. Given the long range, there’s a strong chance to fully ionize an armored vehicle with a last-first attack. You’ll be shooting a bunch of white dice, so the average damage drops by about 1 point. You’ll only gain 1 die over using the Mark II, so the damage ceiling while using Arsenal isn’t that much higher, either, but more dice means more chances to roll crits.



If you feel as though you have enough Impact in your list, I would stick with the Mark 2 Blaster over the M-45, but the M-45 does shred vehicles, and when you stack it with the Rocket Launcher, it has Ion 1 that is likely to stick thanks to Impact 3 and a large dice pool.

When combined with some careful planning, the M-45 equipped Landspeeder stands a good chance to fully ionize a vehicle. This video will show you how to do it:

Passengers

A-300 Rifle Gunner: 9 points, 2 white at Range 1-3. My opinion on this upgrade is mixed. One view is that it’s a Pathfinder gun for 9 points, which is a pretty good deal. On the other hand, if you’re shooting a target at Range 2 inside your firing arc, it becomes full blown redundant with the Driver’s DH-17 pistol if you’ve taken the Rocket Gunner. If you’re looking to save points, you can cut him, since he is only adding 3/4ths of a hit on average. Otherwise I would keep him because it boosts the ceiling of the Landspeeder’s aimed attacks at Range 3. It’s delicious when the white dice from the A-300 Gunner have paint on the initial roll, and you can spend your aim token on blank dice with better quality.

RPS-6 Rocket Gunner: 36 points, “rainbow” dice at Range 2-4. The Launcher adds a Speeder Bike’s worth of dice to your attack pool and Impact 2, giving you some flexibility against armor. The dice pool is rather low, weaker than an AT-RT laser for roughly the same points, especially since the platform it’s on doesn’t have Surge: Crit, and no Blast or Sharpshooter to help it break heavy cover. Not a brilliant gun on its own, but very good when adding its dice to an Arsenal 3 attack. It becomes the basis of attacks made outside your firing arc if your hardpoint is off target.



Driver’s DH-17 Blaster: The driver shoots the same weapon used by Fleet Troopers. Its use is purely incidental, given its short range, but it’s another weapon to add to Arsenal 3. The important thing is to remember to use it, especially if you’re shooting targets close to you out of arc.

Defending and Surviving

Most of the Landspeeder’s defense and survivability is in the piloting. The first skill to master is accounting for the distance of the compulsory move. This is just short of 9 inches, taking the speed 2 move and the base size of the Landspeeder into account, or one and a half range bands. If you can reasonably predict how many enemy units will be in range of you at the end of the compulsory move, then you can avoid engaging too much of your opponent’s army at the same time.



Also, if you have the option, hide the Landspeeder behind line of sight blocking terrain as long as possible. Despite the presence of native Cover and Armor, the Landspeeder can be somewhat fragile given its weak save. Engaging multiple enemy units at full strength can be suicidal for any Rebel unit, and the Landspeeder is no exception.

Staying alive is important for another reason: The Landspeeder gets stronger the later the game goes because it is a multi-wound unit. As enemy units are depleted by attrition, they’ll have a tougher time penetrating the Landspeeder’s static defenses.

Valuable Upgrades:

Outer Rim Speeder Jockey: Adds Cover 1 to the Landspeeder’s natural cover, making it far less susceptible to chip damage from DLT weapons, especially the DLT-19 Stormtrooper, which has historically shut down Rebel armor. Practically stapled to the Landspeeder because of the substantial durability increase.

HQ Uplink: You’ll want a face-up order token on your landspeeder most of the time, and Uplink is the best way to get it on turns where you play those low-pip cards that only target 1 unit. Integral to any last-first strategy with the Landspeeder when running command hands that don’t include Ambush. It also increases the value of the Recover action in conjunction with the M-45 Ion Blaster.

R5 Astromech: Not attached to the Landspeeder, the R5 Astromech is a personnel upgrade for your corps troopers that allows you to repair vehicles or remove ion tokens and damage tokens. I’ve found them integral to keeping the Landspeeder functional. I think running two is an ideal number. Try to reserve one charge to pull a vehicle damage token rather than restoring health.

There is a risk that the Landspeeder may run away from your trooper squads and leave the Astromechs behind. If you stick to only doing compulsory moves, this should not be an issue. Remember that range for the Repair action is measured from any friendly mini in the unit to the Landspeeder, so use cohesion to maintain range.



“But what if they ignore the Landspeeder?” That is entirely possible, and beneficial for you. It also rarely happens since the Landspeeder is an expensive, fragile investment. If you hang it out there, it’s going to get shot.

Piloting Rules of Thumb

Keep a face up order token on your Landspeeder, if possible. Stay out of line of sight as long as possible, and attack from the flank. Compulsory move, aim, shoot. Recover instead of aiming if necessary. Keep the hardpoint on target. Remember that only one part of one mini needs to be in the front firing arc for an enemy squad to be a valid target. Remember you have Arsenal 3. Check and double check what weapons can hit the target. After your compulsory move turn 1, if it’s possible to move again to get a shot, don’t. You’ll get there with your next compulsory move anyway. Remember that you can displace with your compulsory move.

Landspeeder Builds

“Generalist”

Outer Rim Speeder Jockey, Mark 2 Blaster, Rocket Gunner, A-300 (optional)

This Landspeeder is likely the most common build you’ll see around, clocking in at 155 without the A-300. With all guns blazing it averages slightly higher than 5 hits. It is meant to be a reaper of souls against targets out of cover, so go hit those enemy trooper units from the flanks.

“Budget”

Outer Rim Speeder Jockey, Mark 2 Blaster, A-300

The Generalist build’s little brother, it drops the 36 point Rocket Gunner for a substantial discount, yet still averages 4 hits. More likely to be seen in double Landspeeder lists (yes, they exist).

“Anti-Armor”

Ryder Azadi, M-45 Ion Blaster, Rocket Gunner, A-300, HQ Uplink

Like the title suggests, this Landspeeder is specialized to take on enemy armor. It also has the potential to freeze a vehicle with the M-45 Ion Blaster, demonstrated above. It also features Ryder Azadi, and this is one of the only places I think Ryder really has merit over the Outer Rim Jockey. Ryder can exhaust to slow down the Landspeeder’s compulsory move, allowing you to hold the Landspeeder back longer than usual. Stacking Ryder, Uplink and the M-45 together maximizes the recover action. Unfortunately, losing the Jockey makes the Landspeeder vulnerable to DLTs again.

So, that brings Ground Sliding to a close! It’s my hope that after reading these articles on the Landspeeder that you’ll get inspired to put it on the table and try it out. If you haven’t already, make sure you take a look at Part 1 and Part 2 of this series. If you enjoyed this post, I’d be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks!