X-Wing: Protectorate Starfighter Preview
This Fang-fighter has one mean bite to match it’s bark – Come see what FFG has planned for this dogfighter!
The Protectorate Starfight has shown up on our radar before. We took a good look at the Ace Fenn Rau already but now Fantasy Flight Games has shown us a closer look at some of the rest of the cards in the pack. Lets dive in, shall we:
via Fantasy Flight Games
Here is Fenn – I’m starting with Rau just for completeness sake. The Pilot ability is really mean especially when coupled with the title card…
Now for the rest of the pilots:
The two generic pilots are both solid. This ship is very comparable to the TIE Interceptor – if you like flying arc-dodgy ships both of these are solid choices for the Scum faction.
Kad Solus is an interesting ship. We haven’t gotten a good look at the dial but generating extra focus seems like an interesting mechanic. Normally, you’d lose your action if you used a red maneuver but in Kad’s case, you’re getting two focus so no real loss in action economy…sort of. On the flip side, Kad will now have a focus to use offensively and defensively. Combine that with the Title card and get in a ships face to watch them squirm!
Old Teroch is a meta breaker. This ship wants to fly up close and get in your face – much like the rest of the Protectorate Starfighters. Is your opponent running a lot of ships with Deadeye to skip out on Target Locking? Well just force them to drop all focus tokens – now they have to rely on TL to get those missiles/torpedo shots off. Are you dealing with a super slippery ship with a healthy evade option? Well now you can just force them to discard it. Running this ship in a list with Palob Godalhi could be really frustrating for an opponent because now they have to rely on straight dice rolls…and we know how that can pan out.
The last card I want to show case is the new EPT card Fearless:
Fearlessness, INDEED! This card is mean in combination with the title and the right pilot. This will allow you to fly straight at an enemy ship with any of the Starfighters with an EPT and be a problem. The Protectorate Starfighter will generate an auto evade and an auto hit result in addition to the dice you’re rolling. With Fenn that could be a brutal and points efficient way to get those extra hits. It’s cheaper than Expose and easier to pull off than Outmaneuver. It’s also in contention vs Predator as well – at most you’re getting two re-rolls vs 1 auto hit, but you have to meet the requirement.
I’m already seeing a few combos that jump out at me and I’m sure there are plenty more. But here’s one for each of the unique pilots to get your started:
Kad Solus – “I See You” 34 points
- Concord Dawn Protector
- Stay on Target
- Advanced Proton Torpedoes
- Guidance Chips
Stay on Target works so well with Kad’s pilot ability converting any speed maneuver into a red one to trigger the double focus. Why would you want that double focus? So you can shoot Advanced Proton Torpedoes and get a guaranteed 3 hits and 1 crit! Even if you roll all blanks, you can flip 3 results to focus results. You can then flip those to hits via a focus token and don’t forget you have a 3 dice primary, that means Guidance Chips is an extra CRIT not just a hit. Oh and you still have a focus token to spend on the defensive side of the plate AND you’ll get a free evade result thanks to the title.
Old Teroch – “Gotcha” 33 Points
- Concord Dawn Protector
- Opportunist
- Autothrusters
Old Teroch screams Opportunist at me – this is a natural fit! Autothrusters will help you avoid damage on the way in and once you’re in, you are ALL in! You’re tossing out 5 dice at range 1 now vs a ship with no evade or focus to help. And if they survive and fire back, you’ll have an auto evade to help mitigate that return fire. That’s a trade I’d be willing to take for at least one round.
Fenn Rau – The 1-Hit Wonder Mk II – 36 points
- Fearlessness
- Advanced Proton Torpedoes
- Concord Dawn Protector
- Guidance Chips
My first version had Marksmanship – I’ve swapped that out for Fearless just for the sheer volume of dice you’ll be tossing out now. If you can time it right (just Target Lock the turn before and remember to Focus on the turn you’re going in for the kill-shot) You’ll force 4 hits and a crit every time, with the possibility of 2 more hits or crits depending on your dice roll. How? Well Fearlessness, just like Fenn’s pilot ability, doesn’t say it has to be a primary weapon attack… That’s going to be a fairly reliable 5-7 damage hit from one ship for that one magical turn.
But just because the Torpedoes are spent, don’t think this ship has lost it’s bite. If you make the mistake of getting in range 1 of it again, it will still kick out 5 dice plus 1 hit (3 base, 1 for range, 1 for Fenn’s ability plus 1 hit from Fearlessness). And don’t forget…His ability also works on defense. Yeah, I’ll take my chances with 4 agility dice and an auto evade at range 1…
I wasn’t 100% sold on this ship at first. It’s similar to the TIE Interceptor in an arc-dodgey kind of way…But it also wants to get right up close and in your face. It’s not amazingly tough to take out with 4 hull, but you know what, I think this ship will make you work your tail off for those 4 points of damage. I don’t know how this ship will shape-up in the long term tournament meta, but really I don’t care right now. This ship will hit HARD and looks like it will be a ton of fun to fly. I feel like this will be the best ship ever to pair with my “Come At Me Bro” Sweater I got from my buddy Zack:
The patterns…they mess with the eyes!
