This is my rendition

Total Squad Points: 100

Pilot: Biggs Darklighter
X-Wing
Upgrades:
R2-F2

Pilot: Wedge Antillies
X-Wing
Upgrades:
Swarm Tactics

Proton Torpedoes

Pilot: "Dutch" Vander
Y-Wing
Upgrades:
Ion Cannon Turret

Proton Torpedoes 2x

I feel like this is less dependant on wedge and give a little more kick. What do you guys think? I am also thinking about moving one torp from Dutch to Biggs.

atmsalad said:

I say why not? If you have Biggs trailing in the back to force your opponents to attack him at range 3, he'll be perfectly lined up for a Proton Torpedo shot. Especially since "Dutch" can give him the target lock, allowing him to keep R2-F2 working hard. Good thinking. Looks like a fun squad.

LaughingTree said:

Welcome to the game! Glad you and your son can play together. Mine's a little too young yet, but his time will come…>:) Hope to see you at either Gencon or Worlds.

You should move one torp from Dutch to Biggs, as you'll likely use Dutch's torp first combat round, then Ion Cannon after that. Looks scary. Glad I didn't face it! :)

atmsalad said:

That. Is a lot of torpedoes! I like seeing Dutch get some play. Any time you can get an extra action in is a good time in my book. Play it! See how it runs! Keeping Dutch alive is very important, so you may want to  keep a healing droid on hand in case you find you need some defensive balance. I really like the idea of Dutch shooting first. Tell us how it works out.

hothie said:

I agree.  I've had a great deal of success with a similar squad and spreading the torpedoes out is your best bet.  You are paying 5pts for the Ion Cannons and if you are spending two rounds launching torpedoes with Dutch you are getting less rounds of Ion for your points.  And frankly Y-wings can't keep much in their sights, especially Dutch since you don't want to give up his action as it allows you double the benefit from a normal action.

Biggs is a huge benefit in Rebel vs Imp match-ups and the torpedoes will keep the Rebel vs Rebel match on the even. 

 Thanks for the feed back guys, so far it is working beautifully! So far I have played only 5 tie squads with it, but I plan to expand the testing soon. Lets talk tactics with this squad. My initial thoughts have been to go for big guns like vader, but after giving it more thought and play testing, i believe it can be more advantageous to even the playing field by puting the hurt on howlrunner and some no names as apposed to vader or maarik in an effort to even the playing field. Any thoughts?

atmsalad said:

I think what you are thinking is the right move.  Vader is just harder to kill then Howlrunner or any other TiE.  Three torpedoes might be able to do him in, but its doubtful you'd get all in on him in one round due to his later movement.  And even then probably not worth it.  You get good odds with 2 torpedoes against a TiE so go after the named pilots such as Howlrunner, Backstabber, Mauler, and even Dark Curse (the torpedoes ability still works on him) or no names if you must.  Your goal needs to be to down a TiE at RNG 3 where their return fire does nothing.  It usually takes at least 2 rounds for Biggs with R2-F2 to eat it, so your goal is to get three rounds of shooting in before they get two.  If you can kill a TiE a round, at least, then by the time Biggs goes down you are still in a pretty good spot.  Save Vader for later.  If he's stressed, get an Ion Cannon on him.  You can put him out of the fight for awhile.

 I played this at a small tournament last saturday, only 3 other people showed up. First game I played a 4 reb build and I mopped up. He spread his guys out while I kept mine together and was able to take his guys out one by one. In the end none of my guys had shields left, but I was able to destroy his entire squad. The second and final game I played a 5 imp squad that I made for my friend. This was a brutal game and it came down to the wire, that would have to be the only game I have played where I wish I had R2-D2 on dutch. We ended with him having a full Vader and a wounded black squad pilot, and I had a badly wounded dutch and a full health wedge left. I had two awful play mistakes that really through me for a loop. If those hadnt happened, then the game would even have been close.

Great report and follow up conversation.

Hothie, you mention videos in your initial post.  Where can I watch these videos?

Also, looks like you only played one 7 TIE squad and that it was close, correct?  Do you happen to know how that squad faired overall in terms of win/loss record?

BTW, I'm tonythetoyman on Bloomilk and WOTC and SWMGamers… cool to see several folks from there are taking up the game here.

The videos are here:

http://www.justin.tv/fantasyflightgames/b/339144489

http://www.justin.tv/fantasyflightgames/b/339219178

I don't know how Thomas (7 TIEs) fared after playing me, but our game was very close.

Hmmm… can't seem to get them to work for some reason.  Do you happen to have any stills (I'm especially curious to see how you set up at the beginning of the game)?  I'll try on another computer tomorrow at work in case that has something to do with why I can't see the vids. 

Unfortunately it looks like the videos are no longer there. The FFG channel no longer exists, either. It was apparently just a temporary thing.

Crud, sorry about that. I'll try to explain my opening maneuver:

I set up 3 Academy Pilots and Howlrunner in a square. Then I set up Vader on the left side facing the square, and Obsidian on the right side facing the square. (Got lots of strange looks when people saw me facing my ships inwards.)

           A     A

  V       H    A        O

Then move the AP's straight 4, next move the Obsidian 3 turn, then move howlrunner straight 4, then move vader 3 turn, so after the first maneuver, it look like this:

    A     A

    H     A

    V      O

Going through asteroids is much easier 2-wide than it is 3-wide. Also the AP's are close enough to vader to get Swarm tactics, and everyone is within 1 of Howlrunner to get her ability and swarm tactics. It was quite effective, and apparently it worked against Imperials and the only rebel squad I faced.

Sorry you can't watch the videos. It must have been temporary.

So are these videos gone forever or are they located somewhere else?  Would be a shame if we could never see them.