X-Wing: We Can Be Heroes
Heroes of the Resistance is due out later this year and it’s perfect for New Players – It’s list time!
Hey BoLS Readers! AdamHarry here and I wanted to talk about the new Heroes of the Resistance expansion pack coming soon. But let me explain why: I’ve got a friend that is interested in X-Wing. We were watching The Force Awakens and I mentioned this expansion was due out by the end of the year. He asked me if I could build him a list with the two ships and I say sure, why not!
Now, I have access to all the other cards and I’m happy to lend them out to my friend for games so I sat down and started poking at the ships and the teasers. It’s not much to go on but I thought it could be fun none-the-less.
This was pretty much all I had to go on…
Now, because I wanted him to be able to play with just the ships right out of the box my list building had quite a few ship limits. But, I’d don’t mind lending him the cards for his first few games at least (that how you get new players interested, you see). So our ship options are pretty much limited to the X-Wing T-70 and the Falcon. It could have been worse! Both of those ships are great for beginners and can help them learn the basics – plus those are both two ships that are instant classics, imho!
I wanted to design a list with a goals of:
- Being a good list for a new player to run
- Covers a wide range of mechanics and play styles
- Limited to two ships in the box
- Wouldn’t take me all night to number crunch
- Was a list I wouldn’t feel too bad losing to after I stop throwing games to
make him hookedboost his confidence.
Anyways here’s the list I put together –
A New Hero Approaches – 100 Points
Poe Dameron (ps 9 version) – T-70 X-Wing – 43 Points
- Black One
- BB-8
- Sensor Cluster
- Push the Limit
- Autothrusters
Rey – YT-1300 – 57 Points
- Milliennium Falcon (Segnor’s Loop Title)
- Weteran Instincts
- Kanan Jarrus
- Kyle Katarn
- Engine Upgrade
Let’s talk Poe first because he’s the coolest guy in the galaxy. Look – Poe is just a good Ace, I don’t know how else to say it. He’s a popular ship locally and there is good reason – he’s darn hard to pin down. This build is pretty much what I would expect to see on him. Poe + BB-8 + PTL is just one of the hardest ships to get off your tail. He’s a great arc dodger and the extra stuff is just icing on the cake. I thought about swapping Autothrusters out for Vectored Engines, but BB-8 has barrel rolls covered.
I wanted to teach my friend about arc-dodgers and the importance of maneuverability. I learned to play X-Wing with Dash in the Doughnut of Doom and I still try to fly Aces the same way (which is why I’ve been forcing myself to use small ships…) I want my friend to learn to fly small ships well before he moves on to other things like…
The Millennium Falcon! Because of Rey’s ability, I didn’t want to create a “Fat Han” clone – although you could. I wanted to make something that was easier to fly and more forgiving. Kyle + Kanan is just a stupid good combo for stress clearing. And with Rey’s ability the free focus means any thing not-a-blank will probably be a hit. Plus it’s the Falcon so you GOTTA take Engine Upgrade. Rey’s Falcon should be simple and forgiving to fly but still rewarding for lining up shots in arc. The S-Loop Falcon title will help with that goal.
Now down the line, I’ll probably help him swap upgrades out and we can experiment with Torpedoes and Missiles but for now I just want my friend to enjoy flying around with two awesome Aces. With both of them going high on the PS scale he can play a bit more reactive so he won’t have to play as much at first. Will this list win your next local tournament? Probably not. But it’s good for getting a friend in the game and learning about flying two different styles of ship – which is all part of my plan to get him hook on glitterstim build my local X-Wing Community with one more player!
If you had a friend who wanted to play, what would you recommend to them besides the core set?
