The first of two posts this bank holiday weekend, and it’s a team event in preparation for the UK Team Championships (UKTC) that are coming in October. The event is being hosted by Zombie Squadron and supported by Ibuywargames.

After the European Team Championships I have a developed a real taste for team X-Wing, the format is far simpler here than it is in the ETC but still takes some thinking through.

Each team is made up of three players, each player must use a different faction. No unique cards can be used in multiple lists, so Boba could only feature as a Scum or Imperial variant, not both.

Lists add together to give a cumulative initiative bid for deciding match ups. The team with the lowest points score chooses to select the first match up or the second match up. If they pick the first match up then the opposing team gets to decide the second (and therefore the third) so both options are really strong depending on what you bring and what you are playing. Once pairings are decided it then becomes a normal game of X-Wing just with a cumulative score at the end of the round.

Zombie Squadron has produced three teams for the event, I am in one with David Robinson (Imperials) and Graham Gibbon (Scum) which means that I am playing with rebels. Unlike the format of the ETC where throwing one list under the bus so that the other 5 might benefit resources are slightly more limited here, the luxury of a specialist list like my Corran and Poe build could well be liability in this format, it is very, very good against some things but against certain things it is really going to struggle.

Which leaves me with choices to make:

Nym: I’m not really a fan, brilliant against some thing (me generally) but decidedly average against others

Dash: I’m so bored of seeing YT-2400’s on the table at the moment, I’m not going to bring another one

FSR, FSR2: I want to enjoy my games at the event, and give my opponent a chance at enjoying them too

Miranda: I’m just not good enough with K-Wings. For all the power of Miranda I still find her one of the trickiest ships to play with in the game

A-Wing Crackswarm: So very tempted to get these out again, I love the list, but right now there is just too much in the game that will make them cry

Rey: There a “one or two” incidents in the past where I “might” have said how frustrating I find her…

After weighing up what would suit and what takes on all comers well I’ve decided to go for a Falcon option. It’s not something I’ve flown in competition before but I have flown against, and lost to it plenty of times. But I’m not going with Rey, I just can’t quite stomach flying her after all the runs ins I’ve had over the last few months, and how frustrating I’ve found her. I am well aware how good she is, especially with her standard build, but I’m just not going to fly her! Sure I’m probably cutting off my nose to spite my face but…

I’ve decided to go for Han, the young variety.

Because he’s Han.

Personally I think that’s justification enough.

Looking at the build I’ve gone for I think he should be very interesting in the current meta. At PS11 with an engine upgrade ships like Nym are not going to find it so easy to pin him down and just put damage onto him. His crew combination is designed to strip tokens then deliver a big hit to defenseless ships.

Young Han Jan Ors Millennium Falcon (original) Moldy Crow Veteran Instincts Veteran Instincts Luke Skywalker Nein Numb Hot Shot Co-Pilot Ion Cannon Turret Engine Upgrade Vectored Thrusters

For the wingman I’ve gone for a support option rather than another fighting ship. 37 points is quite a lot to mess around with. Keeping the high pilot skill across the list was something I wanted to do and Jan pushes the damage output that Han can deliver up significantly.

I simply won’t use a Twin Laser Turret, I have an intense dislike for the card and whilst I accept it is brilliant, I just don’t find it fun (for either me or my opponent). The Ion Cannon Turret is a strong option in the current meta, especially with some high profile one agility ships around. The Falcon is considerably faster than an HWK so putting Nein crew on should help it keep up a bit and give more options when clearing stress. Veteran Instincts and Vectored Thrusters also give the ship the option to dodge arcs to an extent.

In an ideal world Jan sets them up, Han knocks them down, in an ideal world.

Graham is using a scum classic which he has flown for months, triple Contracted scouts is always a solid list to have in the armoury for an event like this.

Contracted Scouts Contracted Scouts Contracted Scouts Attanni Mindlink Attanni Mindlink Attanni Mindlink Plasma Torpedoes Plasma Torpedoes Plasma Torpedoes R4 Agromech R4 Agromech R4 Agromech Extra Munitions Extra Munitions Extra Munitions Guidance Chips Guidance Chips Guidance Chips

And David is taking Imperials that can nuke things off the table before they get to shoot. Potentially 10 damage from two ships in an alpha strike is similar to the Imperial list I ran into last week with the Kihraxz, I know how hard it can hit so hopefully it will threaten anyone who puts themselves in front of it.

Darth Vader The Inquisitor Quickdraw Veteran Instincts Veteran Intincts Fire Control System Cruise Missile Autothrusters Cruise Missiles Advanced Targetting Computer Tie V1 Pattern Analyser Tie X1 Guidance Chips Guidance Chips Special Ops Training Veteran Instincts

I’m not going to dress it up at. I am god awful at flying YT-1300s. I mean, really really bad. I don’t know why but when I fly against people using them I find them ridiculously hard to kill, but when I fly them they die faster than a light Syk jousting Fenn Rau.

We played 4 game today and had a bye, the other guys pulled their weight for the team and I contributed 4 loses. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy flying it, I’m just really bad at flying it. Admittedly I did run into a fair few turrets which do make the one agility of the Falcon as effective as the agility zero Decimator, but I think my lack of understanding the ship and it’s woeful action economy didn’t help my performance.

It’s kind of similar to when I first started with the sprays, some very similar issues due to the wave the ship comes from, however I just can’t be bothered to mess around with it enough to make it do what I want it to do!

However I did have one most excellent game, during out bye Graham and I had a little game, I pulled out the Protectorates and they went into a mindlink off with his jumps. There was shooting and dice rolling and arc dodging and it was a stark reminder to me of what I totally love about these ships and this game.

I’m not sure Graham enjoyed it quite as much as I did, cause Fangs really don’t like dying! In a Nym free meta they’d be my first choice list without hesitation, but alas the Fenn Rau “Nerf” exists. I am very tempted to see if I can learn how to handle him with them because they are so much fun to fly.

I think I probably have to accept that I am now a scum player who dabbles in rebels rather than a rebel player who dabbles in scum… As for Imperials well, no.

The format of the event was an interesting one because it doesn’t really reflect the Meta as people can’t just take what they want. However it is fair to say that Nym, Dengar, RAC, Dash and Miranda were all obviously popular choice.

Pete Wood, Tom Duncan and Alex Birt of the 186th won the event with an impressive display, only losing one round and finishing top on MOV. Well played guys!

A two hour drive to my bed for the night, where I sit typing up the last of this post. It’s off to Evesham in the morning. One, down, two to go.

NEXT TIME: NATIONALS PRACTICE BEGINS

If you want to find local tournaments to go to head over to the 186th Tournament Calendar to see what’s going on locally.