Why I'm Excited for Third Quarter!

So while building a list for the upcoming tournament, I pondered my anti-swarm predicament. All of the lists I built have tremendous alpha strikes, and most of them have good defenses too. But only one, the second-to-last one I was considering running, has dedicated anti-swarm capabilities. This could be me imagining the amount of swarm playtime we'll see there, but it's still a valid consideration, one that Imperial pilots may soon have to face when the Z-95s release.

Then I hit on something amazing while digging through the squadron builder, which shows the text for all cards that have been spoiled, as well as fully released ones. Sure, we can't take them yet in legal play, but I can still plan a list...

So what am I so excited about?


The Rebel Aces Expansion Pack. Yeah, sure, it looks ok compared to the Imperial version, but I struck upon what I consider to be list gold. I'll spoil my secret for all of you...

Rebel Aces Anti-Swarm Alpha [100]

• Keyan Farlander + Opportunist + Heavy Laser Cannon + Fire Control System
• Green Squadron Pilot + A-wing Test Pilot + Push the Limit + Veteran Instincts + Munitions Failsafe + Assault Missiles
• Green Squadron Pilot + A-wing Test Pilot + Push the Limit + Veteran Instincts + Munitions Failsafe + Assault Missiles

The A-wing builds allow for a guaranteed massive hit against swarms of anything, especially shield-less TIEs of all sorts. Munitions Failsafe ensures that, should the initial attack fail, the next round should see a second try; in effect, the AoE from the Assault Missiles is not wasted. Plus, the modification is only 1 point each that would probably not be spent elsewhere, so even if both shots go off without a hitch, the points aren't really wasted either. Veteran Instincts brings the low Green Squadron Pilots to an average 5 skill, which conveniently places it before all non-named TIEs (with the exception of the Royal Guard Pilot, who is expensive enough to not be often seen in swarms anyways), giving the A-wings a chance to pop TIEs before they get a shot back. Push the Limit is useful in setting up the attack run, and in grabbing that important Focus token on the turn you fire the missiles, helping to score more hits.

Keyan Farlander provides some much-needed muscle to the list, and can--with luck--pop some elite pilots before they can become too much of a thorn in your side. His Fire-Control System paired with the Heavy Laser Cannon ensures good follow-up shots on heavy targets like TIE Bombers, TIE Advanced, and Large ships. His pilot ability meshes perfectly with Opportunist; he gets into range of a juicy target who forgets to (or cannot, through stress or other actions) Evade or Focus with his Heavy Laser Cannons and no stress, and pops Opportunist to get a fifth attack die. His pilot ability then allows a 75% chance per die to score a hit (on the die are three hits, a crit which must become a hit, and two Focus symbols which are converted into further hits). On five attack dice, that's 3.75 hits, good odds. This becomes around 4.7 hits if he has and uses a target lock too (just spend the stress token after the target lock reroll, making sure that you only pick up blank results for the reroll). Range 1 primary weapon attacks are viable with this as well, also getting five attack dice, which conveniently don't need to convert crits into hits...

The only problem with Keyan is that many TIE swarms won't have many turns where they're not covered with a focus or evade token, and with no way to remove them (like Wes) you won't get as many opportunities to use Opportunist as you'd like. You'll end up saving it for turns in which you can force the TIEs to make a red maneuver. Additionally, the Fire-Control System has limited use vs. ships that pop after one good shot; if you're comfortable not having the target lock constantly, you can drop it for a set of Flechette Torpedoes to force juicy targets to remove stress. You can also drop both Munitions Failsafes with the Fire-Control system to get the four points necessary for Keyan to get a Shield Upgrade, a powerful modification on a ship with five shields already.

You can combat the Opportunist problem with a variant I just thought of; Janson is 29 pts., the same as one of the A-wings...sure, you'll have more limited anti-swarm capabilities, but it would make the list better able to defeat hard targets that it may come up against (like Firesprays or the odd TIE Advanced). Dropping the Fire-Control System gives you two points to beef up Wes with an elite pilot talent and/or astromech.

I'm really happy with these two lists, and can't wait for the expansion to drop. As soon as they're available for preorder, I'll be getting one...maybe even two (primarily for the ships, at that point...).

EDIT:
Yes, I realize that this can be done more cheaply with Z-95s instead of A-wings...the speed and defenses of the A-wing prioritize it, in my opinion, since they'll be more effective long-term than the Z-95s. With a higher pilot skill than all of the non-unique TIEs, the A-wing's missiles will also pop them before they get a chance to fire, something that the Z-95s lack (being simultaneous with, or behind, some of the TIEs they'll fight). A-wings, being faster, also can get into an advantageous position far better than Z-95s will.

I'd consider Lt. Blount for his ability, especially since it means that any Stealth Devices are removed even if zero damage happens. However, he'd be an expensive one-trick pony, since the turn after he launches the missile he'll most likely die to an immense counter-attack, since the Zeds cannot maneuver well-enough to vacate firing zones after dropping his load. Also, you cannot use Munitions Failsafe with him due to the card's wording; it triggers off an attack hitting, and Blount always counts as hitting, even if he does zero damage. I personally don't like those tradeoffs. Still, he'd allow for Biggs...

A list with Blount [99]

• Keyan Farlander [same as above] (can drop FCS for Hull Upgrades, bringing points to 100)
• Lieutenant Blount + Push the Limit + Assault Missiles
• Biggs Darklighter + R2-F2 + Shield Upgrade

I still don't care for it...

EDIT THE SECOND:
Immediately after posting the above edit, I thought of something...the upgraded Z-95 has a pilot skill on par with roughly 1/3 of non-unique TIE pilots, and above the rest (save again for the Royal Guard Pilot), giving it good odds of going first. It also has a points cost cheap enough to do something crazy...

Farlander's Tala Squadron [99]

• Keyan Farlander [same as above] (can drop FCS for Hull Upgrades, bringing points to 100)
• Tala Squadron Pilot + Munitions Failsafe + Assault Missiles
• Tala Squadron Pilot + Munitions Failsafe + Assault Missiles
• Tala Squadron Pilot + Munitions Failsafe + Assault Missiles

Sure, the Tala Squadron blokes will die like flies, but smart playing will allow these guys to bust their loads before dying horribly, and if they can do it all at the same time against well-picked targets...how fast can you say "DEAD TIE SWARM"? I may have just found a reason to buy more than two Z-95s...

Another variant, with probably a bit less awesome than the above, but with a lot more lulz:
Biggs is Stuck with Tala Squadron:

• Tala Squadron Pilot + Munitions Failsafe + Assault Missiles
• Tala Squadron Pilot + Munitions Failsafe + Assault Missiles
• Tala Squadron Pilot + Munitions Failsafe + Assault Missiles
• Tala Squadron Pilot + Munitions Failsafe + Assault Missiles
• Biggs Darklighter + R2-F2

Dropping them all to Bandit Squadron Pilots allows them to all take Munitions Failsafes (though I doubt they'll be alive long enough to use it if they don't kill everything on the first volley), or for Biggs to take a Shield Upgrade...