When I had the pleasure of meeting Alex Davy at the European Championships he asked me what I was flying, I said Boba Guri, he looked at me with a wry grin and said “You know that’s probably going to be a bit good to be considered a hipster list soon…”

Since then several people have been keen to point out that my Hipster tagline is probably not going to last long into 2.0 (Looking at you Messers Birt and Pone). Tom Duncan pointed out that I should probably re-name my blog something like “Don’t Park at Range One” as that is where most of the list I fly are designed to be. It’s a cool name and as much as changing it would be nice it’s not really an option.

So the name is staying, and the ethos of “fly what you love” is very much staying. It just so happens that what I love looks like it might be “a little” stronger than it was in the past. Despite basically everything in the game being new there is literally nothing out there I want to fly as much as Boba and Guri. The incredible alt art Cards commissioned by Julian Hood have done nothing but make me more excited for this pairing. Even my love of Fenn Rau (which is big) doesn’t give him a shot at breaking into that partnership.

So fortuitously I have no need of the Rebel or Imperial Faction packs, and I basically only need to buy a Scum Falcon to go with my Scum Update Pack and core set and I have everything I could need! (The only ship from either of those faction that I really want to try out is the E-wing. That dial is so freaking cool.)

I’ve had a fair few questions about what the build I am going to fly in 2.0 is and I’ve had a fair few ideas to match. The build I’m going for isn’t a secret at all, I’ve been talking about it on and off a lot, but one of the things I enjoy the most is list building and in the blog writing about why I’ve chosen what I have chosen.

In 2.0 I am expecting ship builds to regularly have 4 or more ships in them, so running a two ship build is not without its risks. The game is going to be very different and the competitive environment is going to (initially at least) be far more diverse than we have been used to. There’s more to “worry about” when you write your lists, so why worry? Just fly what you want!

We’re going to start with the ship I am most strongly associated with, and the pilot that I have put on the table more times than I can remember. (Just as well I keep a record, eh?)

Boba Fett

Boba in 2.0 is identical in terms of ability, he does exactly the same as he used to, but as a flying experience he is dramatically different. Firstly the medium base: one of the things that made Boba strong in 1.0 was the speed he moved at, and the ease with which you could crash into one of your opponents ships and trigger his ability while not taking shots from that ship at the same time. That has all changed. The medium base makes him slower, even with a built in boost, and means an intentional crash is that bit harder to engineer.

Secondly his dial, three Talon Rolls get a big thumbs up, so does the three forward being green, sorry blue, and the addition of the hard one. However this has come at the cost of his hard 3. Anyone who has flown against the Firespray knows how useful that hard 3 can be for jumping over ships and keeping the rear arc on your opponent. Losing it is a big loss, as is losing the hundreds of games worth of experience of knowing exactly where your ship will end up as a result of any given move.

So Upgrades. Fearlessness was my default Elite Pilot Talent on Boba in 1.0 and it transfers across to Fearless in 2.0. Not adding the hit is a bit sad as it it only triggering from the front arc, and it is technically half a point more expensive, but you bet I’m putting it on him. The way I like to fly the game hasn’t changed an it is still the perfect talent on Boba.

Next up the illicit, Glitterstim, where have you gone! NOOOOOOOO! The ugrade that cost a mere 2 points and made Boba an utter tank in 1.0 has been stolen from me. While we’re at it so has my beloved Dengar crew, no more re-rolls for days. So the mission became to find a way of trying to emulate Boba the tank from 1.0 in 2.0. (No illicit by the way, points add up too fast!)

But before we can tackle that issue we need to look at the title. In 1.0 you had the choice of Slave 1 (the add a torpedo title) and Andrasta (the add a bomb title), neither of which are terrible exciting. In 2.0 Andrasta is great if you’re flying Emon (who is seriously good in 2.0) Slave 1 is a bit meh, cause if you need to change your dial you’re probably flying wrong. But fortuitously we have a third option: Marauder. Kath Scarlett’s ship. I will very much miss the old Kath, but she will always be a part of my list thanks to this title being by far the best title available for the Spray.

Marauder gives a re-roll out of the rear arc (always useful) and a gunner slot (OMG USEFUL). Initially I was drawn to 0-0-0, cause he is ridiculously good and his natural fit BT-1, both of whom are exceptional value and I expect to see a lot of them around, if 0-0-0 isn’t one of the first cards to get re-pointed I’ll be surprised. But I have moved away from them because:

Your opponent has choice over whether you get the calculate or not.

A single calculate isn’t going to save your neck against a swarm.

Turning a hit to a crit is good but with 2 ships survival has to be the priority.

So that left me in a pickle, until I saw Michael Manners suggesting something on Facebook. Han Solo gunner and a perceptive co-pilot. After getting over my “that’s not remotely in the fluff” rage, I fell in love with this idea (thanks Manners) as it essentially gives Boba mini glitterstim EVERY turn you need it, and you can do it in addition to a boost or target lock if you really have to it to. Well, I guess that is those two slots filled.

My final upgrade card on Boba is the Seismic bomb, it makes THAT noise in Attack of the Clones, and ties in well with my love of Seismic Trops from 1.0. It’s the least important upgrade on the ship and the first that I will drop if needed. But that is my Boba, I’m sure plenty of other people have come up with something similar, but I already have a pretty deep affection for him.

Guri

Beyond Poe, beyond A-Wings, even beyond Kath and Boba: Guri stole my heart in 1.0.

She became my favourite ship hands down, and in 2.0 she too has gone through some changes:

Her dial, she has gained blue two banks, making her dial that little bit more forgiving.

She now calculates as an action, well, she is basically a robot after all, and I think calculate is a pretty characterful addition to the game, but she can still get a free focus.

She has gone up to I5 from PS5, basically the equivalent of PS8. With no ways to amend Initiative that is a significant bump.

I’m 70/30 in favour of her initiative boost. Having got used to flying her at PS5 I know how devastating she is as an ace against lower PS ships, but I also know how effective she is as a blocker against higher PS ships, of which there are now significantly less, so for me it is a double edged sword. Pretty sure I’ll adjust.

So looking at her build, no Intensity, probably my favourite EPT from 1.0, and no equivalent of it. So I’ve had to look elsewhere and the answer I have come to is Outmanoeuvre. In a world where dice mods are harder to come by the ability to simply remove a green dice is incredible and it is pointed accordingly. Debris Gambit is a viable alternative to this if I’m looking to try and make her that little more tanky, but with only two ships I need to make her damage output consistent.

Virago title is no longer needed to add a system slot, but we take it for the two post combat boosts (yet to really be useful but you never know!) a second modification slot and more importantly a free shield! It’s really expensive but so good.

The system I’m taking is Fire Control System. Against lists with a lot of small ships it’s not that useful, but that re-roll has already proved useful in games with ships I need to hunt down and I expect it to continue to do so. Advanced Sensors is the alternative to this one, but it’s very expensive and you can’t chain actions off it.

There are two modification slots and I am definitely putting Afterburners in one of them, those two charges are vital for positional play in my mind and nothing will convince me otherwise. The second one I am leaving blank, if I was to fill it then a shield upgrade would be the option of choice but that would put the list on 200 points, something I want to avoid. So that is my build. As it stands 192 points.

The reason for the bid is two fold. Against other PS5 ships I want the option of either moving second so that Guri can dodge, but also of moving first, so that Boba can shoot first and get Han Solo triggering, especially useful against a swarm with Howlrunner in there.

How Do I Expect It to Fly?

My standard deployment is 1.0 was to bait/joust with Boba then engineer a flank with Guri. Boba would generally get burned down relatively early while Guri would then become a high cost super mobile end game ship. My ideal rock deployment had the big rocks on my side of the board on the range two line to give Boba as much room to manoeuvre rock free as possible.

This changes in 2.0. Both Boba and Guri are incredibly mobile ships now, where as before it was just Guri. The changes to the Firespray dial and base size mean that it can weave through rocks with considerably more ease than it could previously. Tactically that’s going to be a much more sensible way to fly too. If you look at the ease with which Trajectory Simulator is going to be incorporated into various lists then flying straight at things is not an option. Since that upgrade arrived in 1.0 the Rule of 11 became somewhat redundant for jousting, those of us who enjoyed that style of play had to adjust our playstyle to counteract those lists, and it always meant that the game was weighted in favour of the opponent.

Factor in that with an abundance of multi-ship lists coming into the game a straight engage is Bobacide, 4 or 5 ship Rebel builds, 7 ship Imperial builds will tear Boba apart in a straight engagement. Angled approaches are far harder to engineer than a straight forward joust, I guess (shockingly) that whole “Fly Better” mantra might be a thing. Guess four forward boost has been retired as a default opening move.

Guri changes too, she’s lost the big hitting combo of Fire Control System, Advanced Proton Torps and Scavenger Crane which made her such an incredible finisher in 1.0, she’s lost the survivablity she got from her Intensity fueled token stack of Focus and Evade and Autothrusters. However she remains a phenomenal blocker against higher Initiative ships and and incredible arc Dodger against lower ones. The trick with Guri will be using here in two distinct modes.

The Knife Fighter. Get in close, keep the dial free (not stressed) rely on the Fire Control System and Guri’s free focus to hit/avoid damage. Having her and Boba at the same initiative makes this easier than it was in 1.0 as you can unpack their moves in the best order for you on any given turn. The Sniper. Sit at range, and use her mobility to keep arc on things while not being in arc of them. This is where the chain actions are going to be important. The one and two banks combined with the bendy barrel roll should mean she can control range very well, while dodging arcs.

Learning which of these options is the correct option at the correct time is going to be the biggest learning curve. Generally ships with bombs are bad to be at range one off, you don’t want to be behind any ship with a proximity mine in the systems phase. Then again if Guri gives a I6 ace room to get an angle on her then she will drop fast, so she’ll have to keep pressure on them to either bump or make a wrong move.

Rock wise I’m still undecided what to do. A cluster in the middle looks like it should suit provided there’s enough room left between them for Boba to weave and wriggle. Against different lists though there will be different deployments to aim for, which personally I’m pretty excited about as it means a greater variety of engagements to work around and therefore a greater diversity of gaming experience.

So that is my list at the start of 2.0, and why I’ve taken what I’ve taken. Obviously as new things get released and I get more table time with it then it is highly likely to evolve. It’ll take some serious flying on my part because I’ll have to answer Initiative 6 issues (Soontir and Vader are terrifying), being blocked by hordes of lower initiative ships and probably being out gunned in most of the games I play, but who cares? They’re the ships I love the most, and I get to fly them, if not exactly the same as they flew in 1.0, in a similar manner.

For release weekend I’m playing in two events, both of which will put my list to the test. Ibuywargames and Firestorm Cards have wisely decided for their events not to clash so there should be a strong local presence at both with some quality players on show. I guess I’ll be able to see if my hours of table time with bendy barrel rolls in 1.0 pay off in 2.

Next Time: LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

If you’re looking for X-Wing events to head to then there are worse places to look than the 186th Tournament Calendar.