Star Wars X-Wing Academy: Pushing the Limit with BB-8
It’s time to go to class Rebel pilots. This awesome BB-8 lesson is from one of our commentators. Check it out!
In my previous article I talked about using Poe Dameron. He’s a beast for sure but one reader pointed out something I totally overlooked: BB-8 and Push The Limit are bonkers. Here’s the quote from the reader:
via Matt Cornforth, in the BoLS Comments
fun fact; if you PTL after your free barrel roll action, you gain stress, which would then be lost as you perform your green manoeuvre allowing you to perform a third action in the perform action step. Seemed a bit cheesy when it was used against me, but RAW I can’t fault it.
At first glance, I was thinking “No way. That can’t be right.” So I checked all the relevant cards. Here they are for you to see them as well:
To fully understand how this works you need to also understand how the movement and actions section is outlined from the rules. The relevant section is on page 6 4 but here’s a pic from the old rules* for quick reference:
Okay – so if you’re having trouble following along here is what happens during the Activation Phase:
Step 1 – Poe Activates and the player reveals a Green Maneuver.
- BB-8 triggers: “When you reveal a Green Maneuver, you may preform a free Barrel Roll Action”
- Push the limit may now trigger because you just preformed an Action: “Once per round, after you perform an Action, you may perform a free action shown in your action bar. Then receive a stress token.”
Step 2 – You now set the template and continue as normal.
Step 3 – Perform your revealed Green Maneuver.
Step 4 – Check Pilot Stress – You just performed a Green Maneuver therefor you can remove one stress token from your ship.
Step 5 – Clean Up – clear templates and dials
Step 6 – Perform Action – you’re now free to perform an additional action.
Just to clarify – on page 8 of the rules “each ship may perform one action immediately after moving” and on page 9 “a ship cannot perform the same action more than once…even when the action is a free action.”
I also checked the FAQ for any clarification and there wasn’t anything contradictory to any of the above actions. (If you DO find something let us know in the comments and leave a page number!)
So YES – Poe Dameron gets to perform 3 actions with this load-out. I’m expecting to see a lot more BB-8’s and Push The Limit combos pop-up in the Rebel Population. The main reason this works so well is because the T-70 X-Wing has a built in Boost.
This works on any Rebel fighters that have an Astromech Droid and an Elite Pilot Talent slot. This really narrows down the field to X-Wings and E-Wings. No Y-Wing can do this because none of the Y-Wing pilots have an Elite Pilot Slot…yet. You could do a similar thing with the B-Wing pilots who have an Elite Pilot skill. Advanced Sensors + Engine Upgrade + Push The Limit. However, you’re still ‘only’ getting 2 actions. The T-70 X-Wing is just plain BETTER at it because it gets a 3rd action and you can use the Modification slot for a different upgrade.
Keep in mind you could also wait until after your actual Perform Action step to use Push the Limit if you wanted to get in a slightly different spot. You just wouldn’t clear the stress token. Regardless, it still works out to 3 different actions a turn!
So thanks again to all you X-Wing Aces out there and to ‘Matt Cornforth’ for letting us know – Fly Casual!
What other crazy combos are you aware of that can give a ship 3 actions? Does the Empire or Scum & Villainy have any nasty action economy tricks? Let us know in the comments below!
*I used the pic from the old rules because it outlines the steps in a more concise manner – the fundamental rules did not change.
