Star Wars X-Wing: Crack (Shot) Kills
It’s time to take a look at an X-Wing card: Crack Shot!
Hello again BoLS Readers and X-Wing Aces, AdamHarry here with so more X-Wing musing. I was chatting with a friend the other day about how great X-Wing is and he was telling me about a new-old school list that he faced at a recent tournament that beat him out for first (he got second). The list was a pretty “meat-and-potatoes” TIE Fighter Swarm list – this is something we’ve covered a lot. But what got my attention was the fact that it used a card that is oft overlooked: Crack Shot.
This card seems really simple – and it is! When you’re shooting at a ship inside your arc you can discard “Crack Shot” to cancel 1 of the defender’s evade results. And it’s just 1 point. So why don’t we see this more often? Well it takes up an Elite Pilot Talent slot which I, personally, like to save for things like Push the Limit, Predator or Expose…or Marksman…or well, really ANY other card. I would overlook this card because it’s a “one-and-done” type of card. But I what I often don’t take into account (and why I would skip over these types of cards) is that most games are won (or lost) in one or two pivotal turns.
But then I started experimenting with Glitterstim and that got me thinking – in a mind altering kind of way – why these “one-and-done” cards are actually GOOD.
- Points Efficiency – If you’re spending a ton of points on upgrades you could be limiting yourself in just having more bodies on the board. And yes, sometimes quantity is it’s own quality. Especially in the world of TIE swarms… which I’ll get to.
- Maximizing Damage or Defensive Potential – Sometimes all it takes is that one extra hit or that one last evade to keep you in the game. These “one-and-done” cards tip those pivotal rolls in your favor.
- Momentum Shifts – This relates to the point above, but when you can shift those odds with a big swing in one turn it can really take the wind out of your opponents sails. And when that happens early smart flying will help you stay in the lead and get you a win.
If you think about the typical course of a game, how many actual rounds of shooting are you getting? If an X-Wing game is decided in 5-6 turns how effective is it to have an ability that might help you shoot 3 times at a target vs something that helps you finish a target in 1? Basically what is the point of playing the “long game” if your opponent is all-but-dead by turn 3?
Yes, I’m talking about Alpha-Strike lists. These one-and-done cards are perfect for the Alpha-Strike. And yes, it doesn’t always pan out. But that’s why we play a game with dice!
So back to Crack Shot and TIE Swarms. I think it would be best if I throw the list out there and let you take a look before we continue:
The List: Crack Kills – 100 points
“Howlrunner” – TIE Fighter – 22 points
- Crack Shot
- Stealth Device
Omega Squadron Pilot – TIE/fo Fighter – 18
- Crack Shot
Black Squadron Pilot – TIE Fighter – 15
- Crack Shot
Black Squadron Pilot – TIE Fighter – 15
- Crack Shot
Black Squadron Pilot – TIE Fighter – 15
- Crack Shot
Black Squadron Pilot – TIE Fighter – 15
- Crack Shot
As I mentioned – it’s a very “meat and potatoes” list. Nothing fancy here. But if we look at this list as a whole we can see what makes it so deadly. Each TIE is kicking out 2 dice and you can get a re-roll from Howlrunner. That’s nothing special but if you drop in Crack Shot you’re suddenly upping the damage potential into scary territory. Think about this: You’re canceling 6 of your opponents evade dice. By pure statistics that is very BAD for them. Especially if you’re one of those slow moving ships with only 1 evade die to begin with (looking at you Y-Wings and B-Wings!)
But what about X-Wings? Well, statistically, the evade dice only has a 3/8 chance of landing on evade. With an focus, you’re pushing that up to a 5/8 chance. X-Wings are rolling 2 dice and only have around a 75% chance to roll ONE evade on those two dice. If you drop a Crack Shot on that one evade, they no longer get to evade at ALL.
Conversely the attack die has a 4/8 or 50% chance to roll a damage dealing effect – that goes up to 6/8 with a focus. If you’re just playing equal attack vs equal defense, defense should lose the majority of those dice offs. Couple that with the re-roll from Howlrunner and those two dice you’re throwing out per ship are suddenly very accurate.
This is simply taking advantage of the weight of the dice and crushing your opponents. In the TIE vs X-Wing example you should have 3 TIEs be able to reliably kill off an X-Wing a turn. You’ve got 6 TIEs and most of the time you opponent can’t fit more that 3 X-Wings in a list. If you go based on that, theoretically on the “alpha strike” turn you should kill 2 X-Wings no problem. Now you’ll probably loose a TIE or two in the exchange, but so what? Now it’s 4 to 1 and the Odds are NOT in your opponents favor. This goes back to that momentum shift. You’ve just gutted that list and it’s only the end of turn 2!
“What about the 4 TLT Y-Wing list?!” Great question! This list is going to give that list a problem. Again, looking at the numbers of dice and damage lets compare:
TIE Swarm
- 19 HPS
- 12 Attack Dice
- 19 Defense Dice
Y-Wing TLT
- 32 HPS
- 32 Attack Dice (using TLT) – only 8 Potential damage per turn
- 4 Defense Dice
Okay – now we’re making a lot of assumptions. Lets just say that we’re all in the same range bands moving forward with every TIE. Those TIEs are in range 1 of Howlrunner and the Y-Wings are only using the TLTs. No one is using focus or Target Locks. I’m just taking averages. And we will assume that each side is focus-firing the same target until it’s dead. And don’t forget ALL the TIES shoot first because they are PS 4 or better…
Turn 1 – nothing happens, moving in range
Turn 2 – Range 3 fire happens *math* – 1 Y-Wing dies (thus cutting damage down to 6 potential damage per turn) and 1 TIE dies, 1 TIE is badly crippled. Damage drop to 10 attack per turn
Turn 3 – Range 2 fire happens *math* 1 Y-Wing dies ( damage drop to 4 per turn) and 1 TIE dies (the damaged one) and 1 more is damage. Damaged drop to 8 attack per turn.
Turn 4 – Range 1 fire happens – TIE damage goes up to 12 dice – *math* 1 Y-Wing dies (damage drop to 2 per turn) and 1 TIE dies due to previous damage. Damage drop to 6 per turn (but bumped to 9 per turn due to range 1).
Turn 5 – Range 1 – 1 Y-Wing dies. Game over.
Is this a terrible example? Yes, but hopefully I’m getting the point across. The pivotal turns are 2 and 3. At which point the TIEs would use Crack shot to cancel out those random evades the Y-Wings might roll. It’s also silly that you’d use TLT on every turn, but work with me here! Then again that’s the beauty of the swarm. Just because you kill 1 TIE the damage drop off isn’t as bad as when you kill a Y-Wing. Every loss of the Y-Wings matters. While a dead TIE or two doesn’t really hurt the swarm.
In a real game this won’t work out quite the same as on paper. After all, that’s what makes X-Wing so great: you actually have to PLAY and use maneuvers and tactics! It’s GREAT! There are also dice involved and they can be a cruel mistress…
I hope this gets you thinking more about those “one-and-done” cards and you give them a shot in your games of X-Wing. I know I certainly want to re-evaluate them under the lens of this new perspective. You don’t always get to use Predator or Push the Limit every turn. Sometimes you just need to take a bit of the “luck” out of the equation to make it work. Sometimes it only takes ONE-shot…Just ask Luke.
What do you think X-Wing Aces? Are there any other cards you think are overlooked? Let us know in the comments below!
