X-Wing: Black One Standing By
Fantasy Flight Games shows off new upgrades for the X-Wing T-70 in the Heroes of the Resistance Pack!
The Heroes of the Resistance Pack is packed full of awesome stuff for the rebels out there. We’ve already tossed out some thematic list ideas and taken a closer look at the Millennium Falcon 1/2 of this release. Now we’re going to rush head long into the new cards revealed for the T-70 X-Wing!
Just for the sake of completeness, let’s start with Poe Dameron’s new card:
He’s 2 more points than his PS 8 skill counter-part, but for those two points you get a pilot that is at the very top-tier when it comes to Aces because no other pilot has an innate 10 pilot skill. If you were taking the PS 8 version and putting Veteran Instincts on him to get to a 10 you would have to sacrifice your Elite Pilot Slot. Now you can gamble a bit more and try out other things like Push the Limit + BB-8…which I’m sure we’re going to be seeing a lot more of with this expansion. But let’s get on to the “new” stuff and leave that debate for the comments section.
First up, We’ve finally got a good look at the new Title Card:
That’s a pretty solid ability as far as utilities go. Dropping an enemy Target Lock from your ship or a friendly can really cut down the damage potential. There are a few ships out there that rely on having Target Locks for their abilities to trigger so this is a solid counter to those ships. Not to mention all those pesky Torpedoes and Missiles that need one to fire…
And sense we’re looking at upgrades lets just keep it moving and check out the new Primed Thrusters card:
Finally, a tech card I can see being used a LOT. Primed Thrusters allows you to basically ignore some of that stress to pull off boosts or barrel rolls. There aren’t a ton of ships with a tech slot but I can see this one being added to most of them!
This is another one that will have all you stress hogs out there breathing a little easier. And because I know not everyone is a super ace here is the chart so you can see how that helps:
So basically, you get to Preform an Action (like say a Boost, Barrel Roll, Target Lock, Focus, or Evade) and THEN apply a stress token from a red maneuver. That might not seem like much but it’s a fantastic way to line up a shot with an S-Loop or K-Turn (which are typically Red) and still get an action. That is going to come in SUPER handy for quite a few builds I’m sure!
Snap shot is a new Elite Pilot talent that comes with the expansion. I’m not 100% sure I like this card, to be honest, but it’s basically a free 2 dice shot. Keep in mind that the “cannot attack again this phase” happens in the maneuver phase not in the standard Attack phase…Although I guess you could technically use it during the Attack phase because it’s an “Attack:” ability. I’d like to see some more clarification on this card because it says that “You cannot Modify your attack dice” but does that apply to your target? Can they force a re-roll or something if they have that ability? I’m not quite sure how that is going to work out. Time to hit the books!
The last upgrade from this preview is the new Astromech Droid M9-G8:
So this is such a unique card I can’t help but like it. I love that it allows you to Target Lock friendly ships! Why? Because the thought of Locking onto a Friendly is just so devious. Even if you don’t plan on firing at them, I think it’s hilarious. Also I can see it combining with Weapons Engineer for some additional Shenanigans. Notice you don’t even have to SPEND the lock. You just have to have it on a target – and there are no other range restrictions either! That means you can Lock a friend at the start of the game and give them an added re-roll for the rest of the match (as long as you’re both alive). That’s pretty sweet! And it works defensively too by forcing your opponent to re-roll successful hits. I really like this little droid!
On To The (other) Pilots!
I’ll go ahead and run down the pilots in ascending order of Pilot Skills. First up the Blue Squadron Novice:
It’s the basic pilot and it’s a reprint. Not much else to say about this one besides that it’s also included.
Slightly better version for 2 more points – still not a new card (also a re-print) but it’s included in the box so I’m adding it here.
Jess Pava is a new pilot from the Expansion and she’s got a sweet ability! Jess is really the ultimate Wingman Wingwoman Wingperson Wingmate(?). There are quite a few other Pilots that like to fly close to friends (Biggs, I’m looking at you) and she benefits for each and every one of them. I can see her being a great addition just for the consistent damage output she can bring to the table.
“Snap” Wexley is here and he’s got what basically amounts to a free boost action. It’s also nice that it’s an optional boost as well – some times you DON’T need to gun it at all times. I can see “Snap” making an excellent Arc Dodger. Slap a Vectored Thruster on him for the option to Barrel Roll and you’ve got one more Ace that will be tricky to pin down.
And last but certainly not least on this list is Nien Nunb who is returning to Star Wars X-Wing from his crew member status to full on pilot duties. He was a great crew member who allowed all your straight ahead moves to become green because he’s cool under pressure. Now that same cool attitude is translating into the ability to ditch stress when you need it the least! I really like that combined with Pattern Analyzer above because you can really ditch/ignore stress like crazy. Also note there is no “once per turn” restriction on that either. Push the Limit anyone?
I’m liking what I’m seeing here for the T-70 X-Wing. I can see building a “Black Squad” list out of these cards really easily based on the Force Awakens Starkiller Base Assault. But I’ll save that for another time. Until then if you want to read even more good stuff you can do with these new cards GO READ THE FULL ARTICLE FROM FFG HERE. It’s a really good read and will hopefully get your mind working in a new direction.
Heroes of the Resistance Expansion Pack $39.95
Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, and the heroes of The Force Awakens fight for freedom with the Heroes of the Resistance Expansion Pack for X-Wing™. Featuring new sculpts for the Millennium Falcon and Poe Dameron’s black-and-orange T-70 X-wing, Heroes of the Resistance also expands your fleet with three unique X-wing pilots, as well as new versions of Han Solo and Chewbacca. Meanwhile, the pack’s eighteen upgrades introduce new elite pilot talents, Tech upgrades, and unique Title upgrades for both the Millennium Falcon and Black One.
Finn: “…We’ll the Force!”
Han: “That’s not now the Force Works…”
