X-Wing Ship Parade: E-Wing & YT-2400
The X-wing Ship Parade is back, this time with a couple of holdovers from the Legends era.
X-Wing Ship Parade is an ongoing review of the ships in our hobby, showing them off at their best and most iconic. As always, all cards referenced can be found at Yet Another X-Wing Squad Builder.
YT-2400
Role: big bully
With a ton of options and arguably even more survivability than the YT-1300, the 2400 has some interesting ways to build it- and many more ways to build it wrong. The Outrider title has the potential to be either your best friend or worst enemy, but the stronger builds center on it. Some lackluster pilot cards have caused most of the attention to coalesce around Dash Rendar. The most famous build is sometimes called the “donut of doom” or, more simply, Super Dash. While somewhat vulnerable to boosting aces, Dash can handily murder most other targets while keeping himself rather safe. The inherent barrel roll and high value of Focus tokens on a two-agi ship, combined with the crew slot to give more tokens, make him hard to kill; a Heavy Laser Cannon on a turret (thanks to the Outrider title) is plenty of firepower. The “donut” is the range one opening, which a player has to protect with boost (Engine Upgrade), barrel roll, and wingmen. Push the Limit grants the needed maneuverability to power this, which informs the choice of crew: Kyle Katarn gives even more action economy (triple actions) but Kanan Jarrus opens up the dial.
E-WING
Role: Space Superiority Fighter
Billed as the best of both the A- and X-Wings, the E-Wing features great stats, a solid dial, a loaded upgrade bar… and a points cost to match. Taking even one E-Wing puts a severe cap on what else can go in the squad, and the ship begs for upgrades to help it carry its weight. This becomes a problem for most E-Wing pilots. Low PS ships are vulnerable to arc dodging and alpha strikes, both of which are agonizing for a ship that consumes so many of your points. Of course, this doesn’t really apply if you have a high PS and a wicked pilot ability to boot…
Representative list: Super Dash and Corran-boy!
Dash Rendar: Outrider, Heavy Laser Cannon, Push the Limit, Engine Upgrade, Kyle Katarn
Corran Horn: R2-D2, Veteran Instincts, Fire Control System
Yes, yes, another two-ship list. What can I say? For almost a year this list was a terror, and it still has much to recommend it. More importantly for our purposes, it shows off the two pilots that represent almost the entire population of E-Wings and YT-2400s that get to the tabletop.
Super Dash was explained in this article, but here’s the summary: with boost and barrel roll on a large-based ship, not to mention a pilot ability that makes a mockery of obstacles, Dash has tremendous mobility even when he sticks to greens. That means he can support Push, and as we talked about before, Push is a game-defining card. Dash adds a trick because that crew slot gets you Kyle, pushing Dash into that coveted triple-action territory so few pilots can reach. That mobility allows you to field the Outrider-HLC combo. Even though HLCs can’t crit, four dice on a turret is a brutal onslaught to have to withstand turn after turn, especially if those attacks are double-modified and ignore range bonuses. The trick, of course, is keeping your enemies out of the range 1 “donut hole”: because the heavy laser cannon can’t shoot at range 1, and the Outrider title disallows primary weapon attacks, Dash can’t attack foes who get within range one of him. That’s why the mobility is so valuable: besides allowing Dash to dodge some arcs, it also keeps foes out of the “donut hole”, allowing the HLC to do its job.
Paging Dr. Venn…
Super Dash vs Fat Han
It’s worth comparing Super Dash to Fat Han for a bit, both because they’re exemplars of the two-ship archetype and because they have some rather distinct differences. Offensively, Fat Han’s gameplan is to use action-independent rerolls to burn out an enemy’s defenses, then sneak damage through on the reattack. Dash is more direct: he throws more reds than you have greens, and uses actions to make the dice stick. Dash has a higher ceiling than Han, especially at range 3; Han, of course, is not helpless at range 1. Dash can cover more ground, but his lower PS keeps him from abusing mid-to-high aces the way Han can. Finally, Dash is better at fighting swarms.
Han’s evade action + C-3PO allows him to avoid two damage a turn straight-up, which is very effective against single enemies. That means most ships are hoping to punch through one damage a turn, and with Han’s offense being so reliable going the other way, Han wins those duels because he has more health. However, if Han has to suffer through multiple attacks, he gets in to trouble, because he’s defending against attacks, two, three, four (etc.) with naught but his single agility die. Against swarms, Dash is more adept at outflying them: his PS is as useful (as we discussed in my earlier article, PS is binary: if you’re higher, how much higher is irrelevant), and Dash can also barrel roll and avoid obstacles. And if he does get caught, that extra native agility die– and his preference for staying at range three for a third agi die his foes don’t get– gives him a big edge over Han.
Dash does have a gaping vulnerability, though: that range 1 donut. While Han says, “Sure, boost into range 1 and give me another die, and dig your own grave while you’re at it”, Dash is left helpless on his own. Enemies that are higher PS than him and can flit into range one– like Soontir or Jake– can give him fits.
Hey, what’s that sound? It sounds like entrance music…
So dreamy!
Back to Dash & Corran
Despite being the Star Wars EU’s greatest Gary Stu, Corran Horn can fly with us any time. Yes, he’s expensive, more fragile than you think, and surprisingly tricky to fly. He’s also capable of bonkers burst damage and incredible one-on-one dueling. Paired with R2-D2 to take advantage of the hit-and-run nature of his ability, Corran is terrific at peeling enemies off of Dash. His ability functions much like Gunner does on a large ship: after his initial attack, he uses FCS to pick up a target lock, then gets a second attack in the End Phase after everyone’s tokens are burnt out. The key factor, though, is that he gets this bonus attack whether his first strike hit or missed– meaning he has the potential to deal eight damage in a single round. No single enemy wants to be stuck jousting with this guy, but he’s maneuverable enough (especially at PS10) that he can force the issue.
He’s vulnerable to alpha strikes, however; in ordnance-heavy environments, use him with care. Everyone else is fair game.
Dash and Corran, much like Han and Jake, are two great tastes that taste great together. Dash can apply constant pressure, hitting with heavy attacks and picking off ship after ship. Enemies that get close, or are tough enough to take the hits, are blown away by Corran, who then disengages to regenerate while Dash covers for him.
What’s especially astounding about these two is that no other pilots on their hulls see much table time. Their ships have such distinct limitations that only their top aces are worth fielding. But those top aces are *so* strong that they act to prohibit any buffs to their ships. The last thing we need is a stronger Dash or Corran!
~Share your stories of Dash or Corran glory in the comments below.
ChahDresh is an amateur writer and an even more amateurish X-Wing player.
