X-Wing: BoShek & Wave 10
Wave 10 for X-Wing is arriving and BoShek is making his debut – come take a look at this tricksy co-pilot!
This Thursday (Jan 26, 2017) is the street date for Wave 10 for Star Wars: X-Wing. With it’s release we’re finally getting the Quadjumper, Sabine’s TIE and the Upsilon Shuttle. We’ve written quite a bit about each of these ships already. However, one of the cards coming with this wave is BoShek which was based on suggestion from Paul Heaver, the three time World Champ.
Paul Heaver said this card is based on that scene in “The Princess Bride” where it’s a battle of wits.
“Both you and your opponent know what the best move is for each of your ships, but also know that the other person knows, so maybe that isn’t the best move anymore.”
Well, the designers took his vague idea for something that involved “bluffing and dial manipulation” and came up with BoShek’s ability.
“When a ship you are touching activates, you may look at it’s chosen maneuver. If you do, its owner must rotate the dial to an adjacent maneuver. The ship can reveal and execute that maneuver even while stressed.”
…Say what now?
Okay, let’s break this down sentence by sentence and we can figure out what makes this one tick (and why it’s so much fun to use).
“When a ship you are touching activates, you may look at it’s chosen maneuver.”
So, for starters, this only applies to ships you are touching with the ship BoShek is riding in. Those ships, by the way, can be Rebel, Imperial or Scum – BoShek rides with anyone with a crew slot. Also note the key word “may” in the sentence – you don’t have to look. That’s important for later.
“If you do, its owner must rotate the dial to an adjacent maneuver.”
Backing-up, if you (the player who’s ship with BoShek is touching another ship that has activated) decide to look at the dial, the owning player must choose an adjacent maneuver to execute. Still with me because this ability just got interesting. No where does it say that this only works on enemy ships – this includes friendly ships. On top of that the player who’s activating the touched ship MUST rotate to an adjacent dial.
Think about your typical dial for a moment. Here’s a couple for use to use as examples:
Notice anything funny about the high-speed maneuvers? For the fastest maneuver you can execute, adjacent to them is a 1 speed maneuver. And it’s not even a straight 1 ahead! It’s a left turn! Think about how messed up someone’s day is if they have to opt for a left turn or bank instead of that 4 or 5 K-turn. Conversely, think if they were trying to make a slow speed turn but now had to opt for some crazy K-turn instead!
BoShek messed with the dial in some pretty fun ways and we’re not even to the best part yet:
“The ship can reveal and execute that maneuver even while stressed.”
This ability just went from interesting to very interesting! Now this sentence was probably added because normally that could prevent people from executing those K-Turns if stressed causing some weird loop and messing up the game. But, because it’s part of BoShek’s ability, it allows for even more shenanigans. How? Well, because now you an give yourself a K-Turn when you need it – even while stressed!
In this example from FFG, Sabine Wren in the Phantom has bumped into Nien Nunb’s X-Wing. This allows Nien to change the dial from a 4 white ahead to a 4 K-Turn, thus keeping the Fang Fighter in it’s arc. That wouldn’t have been possible without the assist from BoShek.
This is just one example as well – can you imagine forcing your opponent to fly off the edge of the map because you blocked with a ship with BoShek in it effectively? I can! Now that’s cooking with gas!
If you’re looking for some more tips on how to run BoShek you can read Paul Heaver’s tips directly from FFG right HERE. It’s a really good read to learn what the intentions were behind BoShek and there are plenty of things to glean off that article.
You’ve still got plenty of time to come up with some tricky lists of your own – Wave 10 is scheduled to go live on Thursday! I hope you put in your pre-order already…BoShek is available in the Quadjumper Expansion Pack.
Quadjumper Expansion Pack $14.95
First appearing in The Force Awakens, the quadjumper arrives to X-Wing™ as a Scum and Villainy ship, full of new maneuvers and dirty tricks. In addition to its pre-painted quadjumper miniature, the Quadjumper Expansion Pack allows you to militarize this typically unarmed ship with four Scum pilots and eight upgrades. These include new crew members, illicit technologies, and a modification that grants extra versatility to your tractor beam tokens. Finally, a unique elite pilot talent and associated condition help your elite pilots pay back their debts against those who have done them wrong.
BoShek might not be in every competitive list, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying competitively!
