Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-27029853-20170703223814/@comment-454133-20171028065609

So thanks to buying used ships from local players to help them out through hard times, and then getting a 2nd Guns for Hire, I've realized I'm the proud owner of 4 K-Fighters and 5 Starvipers. What to do...

I decided to fly 4 Mod-Crazy Crack Kihraxz Fighters.

3x Black Sun Ace with Vaksai + Crack Shot + XX-23 S-Thread Tracers +  Munitions Failsafe +   Vectored Thrusters + Inertial Dampeners

Viktor Hel with Vaksai + Lightning Reflexes + XX-23 S-Thread Tracers + Munitions Failsafe + Vectored Thrusters + Stealth Device + Inertial Dampeners

The fun thing is that's 25 upgrades, yet everything but Stealth Device was either 1 point or free to equip. ^_^

I fought:

"Double Edge" with Deadeye + Synced Turret + Unguided Rockets + Lightweight Frame

Zeta Specialist with Collision Detector + Weapons Guidance + Special Ops Training + Lightweight Frame

"Whisper" + Tactician + FCS + Predator + Advanced Cloaking Device

I played 3 rounds against a player who was learning to use his new TIE Phantom. During the first game he forgot to decloak at the start of the round and we let it slide so he could shoot, and later he also forgot to re-cloak, use tactician, and gain a focus after attacking. And I get it, remembering all those upgrades is hard! We played another game to let him practice more, and I held him to it when he forgot to decloak. I won both games, though he put up a tougher fight in the second one. He was definitely learning fast. I did have to explain how the TIE/sf title worked though -- you don't fire twice out the front (he said he's been playing it wrong all this time). But for the most part he was on top of the rules and doing well.

We talked about his options; he didn't have VI so I suggested putting Intensity on Whisper. I also suggested maybe using Ruthlessness on his TIE/sf since I was flying a swarm, and it would work for both the front and rear shot. He spent some time rebuilding while I watched other games, including a RAC + Kylo crew and standard-equipment Vader vs a K-Wing & ARC. The other game was funny: full Guns for Hire vs Guns for Hire, and it was awesome. Thweek on one side stole Talonbane's ability, and the other Thweek stole Viktor's ability. Both were terrifying monsters. :D

My opponent came back with this fleet, and I was rightfully concerned about the upcoming challenge:

"Quickdraw" with Ruthlessness + FCS + Sensor Cluster + Special Ops Training + LWF

"Whisper" with  Intensity +   FCS + ACD + Tactician

Omega Squadron Pilot

(little fuzzy on some of the details but this should be pretty close)

I figured Whisper was going to be pretty effective with Intensity, and Quickdraw would be able to Ruthlessness my squad on front arc attacks, rear arc attacks, and counterattacks (which could be front + rear). I would need to be careful.

Obviously I shouldn't fly in a swarm, that would be foolish, so I flew in a loose swarm anyway. My reasoning was that I struggle to keep ships out of range 1 of each other when I'm moving in for the kill or in the middle of a furball, and I'd rather know that I won't be on both sides of quickdraw when the murder starts. I put one Black Sun on the leftish side of the board, just on the left of an asteroid. On the right side of that asteroid I clustered my other ships. He'd placed Whisper on the center of the board (I had my cluster facing him), and he placed Quickdraw on the left (my left), facing my lone black sun, alongside the Omega squad pilot.

First round we both slid forward ~3 speed each. Next round I shot my lone ship ahead in a 3 bank, and then barrel rolled in hopes I'd bump Quickdraw, while the other 3 moved in to unload on on Whisper. I hoped that Whisper would be a dead target quickly, and would hurt less than would Quickdraw + Ruthlessness. This turned out reasonably well, though I failed to remember my crack shots and didn't roll great anyway -- stripped 2 shields. Whisper hadn't decloaked, and Quickdraw had bumped with no targets. I think the Omega attacked me and that's it. Decent first round.

Next round Whisper wanted to decloak to fight, but was penned in by obstacles on either side so he had to launch forward 2. This was unfortunate because his maneuver was a k-turn that then drove him through an asteroid, which dealt a damage. By luck he was barely off of it and so would get to attack. I k-turned two of my fighters (choosing long distance to keep them out of murder range of Quickdraw), while I banked Viktor in to meet Quickdraw and keep him busy. Unfortunately I was in range 1 of the other Black Sun in the area (who had turned inward too, to cover some bump range). Quickdraw did a lot of damage to Viktor and that Black Sun, thanks to his initial attack and the counterattack when the k-turned black suns shot him. I spent those two ships' crack shots to finish off quickdraw.

I'd lost Viktor to senseless murder, and I think the Black Sun by him died the same round or a following round. That said, with Quickdraw dead I was feeling optimistic. Whisper now had to plow through an asteroid, had 2 stress (1 from the k-turn and one from shooting Viktor), and was down to 1 life. Whisper cleared a stress and got through the asteroid unharmed, but was just waiting for a tap to finish him; unfortunately that tap didn't land, and he survived to cloak next round. Despite that, I was able to still finish him with some good shooting. The Omega pilot followed soon after (or maybe a bit before that?), as it didn't have a lot of defense or bite.

I like the fleet my opponent assembled (at least Whisper and Quickdraw). I was lucky he bumped and didn't get an early shot with Quickdraw, and I was lucky he had so much asteroid trouble. Had Whisper and Quickdraw gotten better situations in those first two combat rounds, they could have easily cleaned me out.

I had fun with a K-Fighter swarm. They're a bit delicate, but decent swarmers and Viktor is excellent. I think they'll make great Epic-play swarm ships too, much like the TIE Interceptors I've flown in the past. I'm also optimistic about Starvipers in that role. I'll have to see what I can do with them.

I had considered putting Expose on Viktor to see how well that would work, but I was shocked to discover it's 4 squad points not 3 (and wouldn't fit in the fleet). What a wildly overcosted card. :(