I wish I started this blog five weeks ago when I started using my new squad but I was so reluctant to submit my first post. Over those five weeks I have played close to five games a week (only one last week) playing at my local store and on Vassal. To my surprise I’m currently W22/L3. Currently sitting at nine wins undefeated at my local and ten wins undefeated on vassal.

I think an honest analysis on why that is will better my own play style outside of this squad and further my goals to hit top table.

TLDR: Luke is way too efficient at current cost.

The New Squad

Let’s begin with my new squad.

BB-H Han Solo (82)

Trick Shot (2)

Luke Skywalker (26)

Leia Organa (2)

Ship total: 112 Half Points: 56 Threshold: 7 Braylen Stramm (47)

Ship total: 47 Half Points: 24 Threshold: 4 Blue Squadron Pilot (41)

Ship total: 41 Half Points: 21 Threshold: 4 Total: 200

As you can see from my last entry, I opted to get rid of the U-Wing supports in exchange for two B-wings. B-wings recently became Hyperspace legal and boy are they power houses! The added strength and manoeuvrability of the B-wings, especially Braylen, has become key to my set up and play style.

Han has now been forced to carry Leia (I don’t think he minds) and has dropped every upgrade except Trick Shot. The real talking point here is the addition of Luke gunner.

Recently we saw Jack Mooney’s Fat Han become a real hot topic within the community at large. There was a huge discussion on the interaction between Inertial Dampeners, Kanan, and R2 and we’ve seen a Hyperspace variant popping up without Kanan. Having played Luke gunner for a good two weeks prior to that, I’m surprised there was little discussion on what he was bringing to the table. Let’s check out what Luke does for my list for 26 points.

First off, +1 force. Great! A passive mod is always welcome, especially when you already have Han’s re-rolls. Bundle that with a target lock and you are looking at 2.779 hit results with three dice and 3.661 with four. That means, before my opponent rolls green dice, I have an 80% chance to roll three hits from three dice and a 97% chance to roll three from four! Nasty.



I said the odds are high, Han…

Second, spend one force to rotate your turret indicator at the START of Engagement Phase. As discussed on Imperial Propaganda Radio, Luke gunner in the current meta after Wave 3 release is filthy good. To able to rotate your arc with full map awareness is crippling to the amazing additions we received. This literally makes almost every Soontir, Poe, and Anakin player cringe instantly. I’ve found that it forces a lot of opponents to play more aggressively for mods.

The benefit of this has left most of my opponents say “Without Luke you wouldn’t have had a lot of those shots!” Paying attention to my play style over the last two week, I don’t think it’s that simple. Which brings me to my third point. Luke really opens up the dial and I think that’s one of the things my opponents forget to accomodate for before key engagements. I’m a sucker for the boost on the Falcon, even without engine upgrade. The free rotate means I can fly where I want (avoiding arcs/kill boxes/bumps/even intentionally bumping) without worrying about my arc. Simply put, without Luke, I wouldn’t have flown that direction. I love the psychological game in X-Wing and this is one great tool to mess with your opponent.

I counted four uses of Luke’s rotate over three games this week at my local. Exceptional flying/bumping from my opponents Guri in game one forced three rotates. My second game saw me only rotate my arc once after a Sloop in anticipation for a bank>boost next turn (leia was used, no ships in range of Han that turn). The rebels (Wedge, Lando, PR) went down fast after deciding to joust my B’s. Han had an easy lane through the middle of the board with no issues. My third game saw three Jedi (Obi, Mace, Luminara) buzz around my B’s whilst Han had easy shots with Reroll>Lock>Force.



Great kid! Don’t get cocky.

I don’t doubt any of my opponents’ ability to outfly me, I’m lucky enough to have some of the best players in Australia at my local to learn from. Ultimately, I think Luke definitely needs a bump back up. The array of benefits are worth the cost and then some. Maybe I’ve become too reliant on Luke now adding him to my squad, but I’ve found some amazing ways to optimise the above benefits rather than just using it for free rotates when I mess up. I’ve also found great success in flying ships with a purpose, rather than just jousting.

Next entry, I’ll cover my set up, turns before first engagement, and those B’s!

-Jim