X-Wing: Rebel Aces A-Wing Review
The announcement for Rebel Aces is hardly new news but I have avoided writing about it up until now. So lets take a look at what this sexy little fighter can do after it’s new paint job!
I wanted to give Wave 4 time to settle down and hope that FFG would show us a little more.
Luckily for me they obliged and we now have a good idea of the contend of the pack and obviously I will be looking at just the A-Wing in this post.
General opinion is that the A-Wing has the same problems as the TIE Advanced in that, even with its awesome dial, it just does not bring the punch to the table that justifies its points cost without loading it up with missiles. The Munition Failsafe from the Z-95 does help with the option to load up with a Missile as it lets you keep the card if you miss but for those who didn’t want to take missiles at all the 17 point PS1 Blocking Prototype Pilot was just a bit steep for most tastes.
The first step for FFG has been to address this issue with the Chardaan Refit Missile Card.
This is A-Wing only and takes up your Missile Slot for -2 points. (I am looking forward to the FAQ for if this is affected by the Munitions Failure Critical Hit as someone is bound to argue it. Auto win for your opponent being over points…)
This lets you have the PS1 A-Wing for 15 points which is a lot more manageable to fit in to a list and makes an excellent blocker.
I really like the option it opens up as if you are not planning on using a missile than why not save points.
The Chardaan A-Wing should compete well with the Z-95 as the filler of choice in Rebel lists as it is more survivable due to its extra evade dice and has a much better dial.
Another nice option that affected my thoughts on A-Wings is the Prototype Veteran Title Card.
Any A-Wing other than the Prototype Pilot can be a Prototype Veteran (makes sense doesn’t it…) gaining an Elite Pilot Talent on their upgrade bar. If you already have access to an EPT than you can take two as long as they are not the same.
All of this for the basement price of 0 Squad cost!
Some of the stuff I have been thinking about with this card are things like Push The Limit and Wingman on multiple A-Wings that will be Focus/Evading every round and clearing each others stress at the start of every combat phase, or Daredevil and Expert Handling on Tyco so you can Boost the Hard 1 and Barrel Roll for a stupidly fun ship to fly.
There are lost and lots of combinations that this card opens up and I like the idea of just going all out in one aspect but don’t let the 0 points cost fool you, the cost of a 2nd EPT will add up really quickly and untimely it is still on an A-Wing.
Before I look at the Two new A-Wing Pilots there is one last Card that I really want to talk about.
Proton Rockets are a new Missile that joins the Ion Pulse from Wave 3 as a 3 point Missile and at first glance it seems a bit dismissible. 2 Base attack at Range Band 1 that needs a Focus Token to fire. The important part is the body of the text that lets you add your agility to the attack up to a maximum of 3 additional dice so suddenly the A-Wing has a 5 Dice range one attack that only needs you to have a focus token to fire.
Given the Speed and Agility of the A-Wing it as not that hard to acquire a Target Lock on a target before you get in to Range Band 1 of it so you can set up a 5 Dice Target Lock and Focused attack with ease from a ship that can cost as little as 20 Points.
Five Prototype Pilots all with Proton Rockets is quite an intimidating prospect providing you can keep them all alive long enough to fire you 25 Dice volley!
Aces adds in 2 new Pilots, Gemmer Sojan and Jake Farrel, both of whom add some nice Pilot Abilities to the A-Wing.
Gemmer is the cheaper option at 22 points and comes in at Pilot Skill 5 and is crying out to get in to your opponents face and take advantage of the extra Agility it gives him.
I would be tempted to run him with Chardaan Refit, Prototype Veteran, Push the Limit for a 23 point ship that can get in close and stay there for a good amount of time. (Green Dice dependant…)
Jake Farrel on the other hand lends himself to outflying your opponent. Coming in at 24 points for Pilot Skill 7 I like the idea of running him as a Wingman for Tyco with Push the Limit as Jake can Focus and still Boost to keep pace with Tyco. Not too bad for 49 Points if you Stick Chandaar Refit on both but probably wants some more punch to the list so I would lean towards the rest of the squad being Tanky with a Bit of Punch. Maybe a Chewbacca with Falcon Title, C-3PO and Predator would work with that paring as if you are like me and find flying a Falcon Fairly boring, zooming around with two super manoeuvrable A-Wings could make it bearable.
Time to look at some other fun lists you can make with the A-Wings after Rebel Aces comes out.
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Tyco Can Be A Blast
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PilotsAdvertisement
Tycho Celchu (32)
A-Wing (26), A-Wing Test Pilot (0), Proton Rockets (3), Veteran Instincts (1), Swarm Tactics (2)
Green Squadron Pilot (24)
A-Wing (19), Proton Rockets (3), Swarm Tactics (2)
Green Squadron Pilot (24)
A-Wing (19), Proton Rockets (3), Swarm Tactics (2)
Prototype Pilot (20)
A-Wing (17), Proton Rockets (3)
100 points
This is a list I have been considering to counter the swing in the Meta toward high Pilot and Fat Falcons that use 3PO to have some extra sustain.
This list can get in to range 1 quickly, fire off 4 5 Dice Attacks that should be Target Locked and Focused and hopefully overwhelm the Falcons Evade + C-3PO combo. As I can’t be bothered with the Math 4 Hits from a target locked focussed attack is not unreasonable of which 2 will be cancelled by 3PO and Evade Token. That should let 2 hits through from the first Ship and then even if he rolls the natural evade for every other attack you should put 9 more damage on to him. So 11 Damage in one turn is not unreasonable and 1 shooting the falcon is a possibility All of this firing at Pilot Skill 10 so Han Shoots Last. (unless he has Veteran Instincts…)
Of course if you then have 4 A-Wings to dog fight the rest of his list with which may or may not work but it should be fun to fly 😉
Thanks for reading and if you enjoyed my take on Rebel Aces check out my Blog at The Dice Hate Me – Kris
One-Shoting the upcoming Decimator with ease sound like something you will be into? Then the post Aces A-Wing could be the Ship for you. What EPT Combos are you looking forward to and does Tyco now kick Fel’s Butt as the most slippery Ship in the game with PTL and Expert Handling on him? Let me know what you think, I try to comment on comments where I can so feel free to share your thoughts!
