Last weekend I took Kylo in the Silencer for a trip to Eclectic Games in Reading, went 3-1, had a lot of fun and fell a bit in love with the ship, but I don’t want to rest on one build and think I found the ship. I’m pretty sure last weeks build is kinda optimal, but you got to try things to find out what they can do right?

So we’ve had a movie drop, it’s been watched twice, I do rather like it. But as it’s only been a few days I’ll try and keep it as spoiler free as I can.

So this weekends visit to The Game Shop in Aldershot see’s a different Kylo flying with some different friends. It’s more thematic and I think overall could be a more sensible list. It’ll using more of the new upgrades that FFG have been kind enough with to see if some previously lesser used ships may have had life breathed into them.

Since it first arrived with us the TIE FO has been pretty much one ship. Omega Leader. The Phrase “Omega Leader is a Dick” is one not used nearly often in the game we play, and it is used all the time. Meg has been a cheap and cheerful option for Imperial lists since she first arrived and if she’s one on one in the end game everyone except a Poe Dameron in Black One is in for a rough ride. But she’s not coming to play, we know what she can do.

Instead two other TIE FOs are stepping up and seeing what they can do. After a midweek game with Martyn Chivers on Vassal conversations would have about improving his list with the new upgrades and it got me thinking about what I could do with a couple supporting Kylo.

The two in question are Omega Ace and Zeta Leader. Both are natural PS7s but I’ll be bumping them up to PS9 with Veteran Instincts so the list is all at the same Pilot skill. Importantly it also elevates them past the standard PS of many of the most stable ships in the competitive scene. Dash, Miranda, Omega Leader, and Vessery all tend to come in at PS 7 and 8, so being sure to move after them and fire before them is a useful trick. Sure it won’t help against the likes of Nym, Vader, RAC and others but they’re not going to be in every match up.

Comm Relay has long been the TIE FOs go to tech slot but with these two I’m hoping to be a bit more aggressive. Which means Advanced Optics are coming into play, they’re a bit cheaper, plus they can used to push through a bunch more damage.

They’re both going to have Twin Ion Engines to help with their maneuverability, so essentially they’re the same ships, just with different abilities.

Omega Ace is going to be especially important to the list as he has an inbuilt crit mechanic, which should be useful when trying to trigger I’ll Show You the Dark Side.

Coming in at 24 points a piece the pair are well worth the investment for their potential damage out put, and three ships is sometimes very much better than 2…

Which brings us to Kylo Ren. Again he’s going to weigh in at a hefty 47 points. That’s a lot for a small base ship, but last week he proved his worth, so it’s only fair to let him try again. This weeks build is:

Push the Limit

First Order Vanguard

Autothrusters

Fire control System

Threat Tracker

I love this concept, not sure how good it is, but I love the concept…

Or that’s the theory anyway. There are plenty of other factors that can affect the scenario, but this is the basics of what Threat Tracker can do, and the Silencer is the ship to take it on. If it could go on a Star Viper then my world might explode as a result of my unbridled joy.

It’s a totally different style of flying and leaves Kylo open to being blocked which Advanced Sensors all but negates, but it does look kind of fun so I’m looking forward to trying it out. Plus it’s all thematically First Order.

The First Porger (95) (there was a prize on the day for Porg pun names… I won…. and was the only one who bothered…)

Kylo Ren “Omega Ace” “Zeta Leader” Push the Limit Veteran Instincts Veteran Instincts Threat Tracker Advanced Optics Advanced Optics Autothrusters Twin Ion Engine Twin Ion Engine Fire Control System

With 14 players and 4 rounds I’d have enough game time to get used to a different Kylo build. The Advanced Sensors option from last week is dead easy to fly where as threat tracker is a fair bit trickier as movement is significantly less forgiving, but it feels cooler.

My first game was against Steve Burton, formerly of the Aldershot Womprats, formerly of the of Woking’s Zombie Squadorn, now of Basingstokes of Firestorm Squadron. Steve likes different colour T-Shirts. Along with 2 of his squad mates Steve’s list is the “Firestorm Special”. Created by Dan Fluett this thing is a total pain to fly against. On paper it doesn’t look anything particularly special but it’s a pain in the arse on the table. The boys from Basingstoke like their bombs. They’re flying slight list variants but this gives the idea:

The Firestorm Special (99)

Captain Nym Ten Numb Veteran Instincts Veteran Instincts Trajectory Simulator Trajectory Simulator Havoc B-Wing/E2 Extra Munitions Extra Munitions Genius Sabine Wren Harpoon Missiles Mangler Cannon Proton Bombs Proton Bombs Thermal Detonators Twin Laser Turret Long Range Scanners

It throws bombs out and shoots things. You can’t make a mistake against it, especially with a small amount of health. You can’t get behind it cause they can still spit bombs out that way, so it’s a but tricky. We danced around for a bit and Kylo was lightning fast, and I tried to split his ships up but the damage was done and a quick 100-0 later my start to the day was bad and Steve’s was good.

List Lesson: HARD COUNTERS ARE A PROBLEM

Game two was against Tom Forstner of Zombie Squadron, no bombs here, just infinite harpoons… At least there’s no auto damage coming my way. (Tom’s list here)

The mistake I made here was forgetting how to use Threat Tracker properly, and that perpetual mistake of trusting green dice… Kylo can go one on one with anything, but multiple firing arcs is an issue, and Tom is pretty handy at X-Wing. The FO’s died superquickly, Mr Ren kept going some but because of the Slam I couldn’t land the finishing blow on any of his NUs. I finished on one health, after firing 5 harpoons from his three available (bloody re-load) Kylo eventually bit the harpoon. Tom’s list is really good, and he flies it well. Another 100-0 loss.

List Lesson: THREAT TRACKER DOESN’T REALLY WORK WHEN 4 SHIPS ARE TARGETING YOU.

Next up Kelly Marsh With her pink and purple Ketsu and 2 TLT Y-Wing list. Kelly has been flying this for months, and I know if I get things wrong the combination of Ketsu’s ability and the Shadowcaster title will make any of my ships Twin Laser Turret fodder. I traded the FOs for Ketsu which left Kylo and two TLTs to play, and threat tracker came into its own. The FCS allowed me to do consistent damage or avoid taking it entirely, as the Silencer bullied the Y-Wings. 100-48 win, and hopefully avoiding the wooden spoon.

List Lesson: KYLO IS A BULLY, THREAT TRACKER IS SUPER FUN/FRUSTRATING.

The final game was against another Firestorm Special. This time flown by Jason Barton, I love playing games with Jason, we always give each other a good game. Lee Donovan resident TO really enjoys taking the piss out of both of us so he came to watch. The game was defined by a couple of lucky moments. Firstly Nyms TLT taking on Kylo through a rock, allowing me to take just one point of damage and showing him the Darkside with the Damaged Cockpit Crit, then Kylo immediately rolling 2 hits and a crit in response and making the Scurrg PS0.

The Second was spending the Silencer title to re-roll all of Kylo’s evade dice and rolling three natural evades to avoid Kylo taking a crit from Nym. Which was another pretty cool moment of luck!

When it came down to the B-Wing vs the Silencer one on one, with all the bombs gone it was a fight in my favour. Another 100-48 win.

List Lesson: SOMETIMES LUCKY TRUMPS GOOD.

The day was won by George Barker with a couple of T70s and a Sheathipede. The Firestorm Bomb lists whilst being a massive pain in the neck for me and a couple of others ended up coming in 8th, 9th and 11th… with me sitting at 10th, 2-2 wasn’t terrible, but I am well aware that a couple of lucky dice rolls is all that kept it from being 1-3.

The biggest lesson for me was that I don’t know how to fly TIE FOs. I don’t really like them very much, in the hands of the right pilot they can be incredibly effective but I don’t enjoy them enough to persevere with them, and I’m not convinced Kylo is actually all that good. He’s a lot of fun, but a lot of points. Kinda wish I had two Silencers (or the budget for a second one at the moment) cause I think these upgrades on Blackout with the Advanced Sensors Kylo could be even more fun.

Next weekend is probably the final tournament of the year at Ibuywargames and I’m not sure what to fly, and with Regional and Open Series approaching that is quite frustrating. The Meta is a way off settling. Good/better/best mean very little right now because everyone is trying out all kinds of things, so fly what you think is cool and enjoy it.

NEXT TIME: 2017s LAST TOURNAMENT

Head over to the 186th Tournament Calendar to find local Tournaments.