X-Wing: The Y-Wing Strikes Back!
Has Scum and Villainy finally made the Y-Wing a force to be awakened? The Awakening is here!
Hello again BoLS Readers! AdamHarry back again with another X-Wing article. I’ll try to keep this one short and the puns on the light side…Okay, I’m done now. Seriously! I want to take a look at the humble Y-Wing, a ship that hasn’t been cool since Vader came from behind and shot down Davish “Pops” Krail, aka Gold 5, aka Vader victim #3 in the Battle of Yavin.
So long Pops, we barely knew ye!
Before Wave 6 Y-Wings were considered beefy, but sluggish. With no maneuvers like barrel roll or boost on the ship these ships fly in a fairly predicable manner. The Ion Cannon Turret and/or the two torpedo slots were really the only reasons that people would even consider flying them. But once you loaded all those upgrades on them they became quite pricey for the points. Many players would often pass up the Y-Wing for a more nimble fighter or one that could do more damage. With 2 attack on the primary and the Ion-cannon being a bit gimmicky, the ship just didn’t seem to do enough damage.
Funny how all that can change with a change of title.
“Okay, sure AdamHarry – thats nice. But so what? What does this even do?” Good question! This, basically, lets you get two attacks in one turn using a Y-Wing’s primary and secondary weapons. Suddenly those Y-Wings are throwing out 4+ dice vs just 2 (or 3 if you’re close) dice a turn. Not convinced yet? Well, lets look at some options:
The Autoblaster Turret isn’t bad. It’s cheap as two points and you’re firing 2 dice that can’t be canceled by defense dice which is pretty nice. But it’s only range 1. I think we can do better so put this one on the back burner.
The Blaster Turret is double the points for increased range and an extra damage die. We’re also getting to bypass the Attack(focus) requirement thanks to the title card as well. But you know what? I feel like the trusty old Ion Cannon Turret might just be what the doctor ordered. Think about it with me for a moment: The Y-Wings are beefy and slow. But once they get you in their sights those Ion Tokens will cause some issues.
I’m slow, but so are you!
This is starting to look decent. Now how do we up the ante? How do make sure those attacks are going to land. I think we need some targeting assistance. Lets call in the Droids!
Ever wonder why the droid unit on the model is yellow?
So your action is to focus (which is pretty flexible action already). And when you shoot with the secondary weapon you’ll have focus OR Target Lock to use to ensure that the Ion Token sticks. Dirty. Dirty. Dirty. Some would say “Scummy” even.
Well that is nice and all but surely that’s going to limit the number of ships you’ll be able to throw down. Hmm…Good point. Lets take a look at a build I saw at my local Star Wars Store Championships when I was doing research for my “Getting Started: An X-Wing Primer” article.
Well now that clocks in at… 25 points. Wait. WHAT?! 25 points! 18+2+5=25. Holy Guacamole! You could run 4 of those things at 100 pts… 4 tough, but predictable Y-Wings that shut down your movement and can do some serious focus-fire damage. Ouch. You could technically do the same thing with Gold Squad Pilots for the rebels You CANNOT run this combo as a Rebel player (sorry Pops, you’re still dead). The reason is the Scum and Villainy faction has access to a new type of Droid – the Salvaged Astromechs. This upgrade actually replaces the standard Astromech upgrade. Those “Icons” are in fact different – You have been warned!
Scum and Villainy has opened up some options for the Y-Wing. And that was just the basic pilot! I didn’t even bring up the more veteran pilots and their abilities. What crazy combos can you think of? Let us know in the comments below!
Thanks to the guys at the Store Championships who let me take a look at their lists and ask questions. It was really helpful. I didn’t see a single Tie Swarm list, but I think 4 Y-Wings would have done alright vs that many Ties. He probably could have at least gone for the draw tie against them. Huh? Huh?! I’m sorry. AdamHarry OUT.
