Surprise! I’m not dead, but just ending a 2 month hiatus from the game! After going 2-3-Drop in Spacejam Sydney (same pattern of close but deserved loss, followed by wacky variance heart-breaking loss, followed by bad decisions and apathy towards the game), I decided to take a break from the game until any interesting developments would pique my interest. The Wave 8 announcement was all that I needed, considering that the Prequel Era is my favorite of the Star Wars Expanded Universe eras, even if Revenge of the Sith is the only Star Wars prequel that I actually enjoy. 2 ships from the late days of the Republic, an I6 Jango Firespray, and the Imperial TIE/SF, the TIE/rb, look to expand the game immensely with new mechanics and depth, even if a great deal of reading is required.
But this blog is about First Order, and the next First Order ship, the Xi-class Light Shuttle won’t be released until the rest of Wave 7 happens to drop. Fortunately enough, new points have dropped, mainly decreasing the costs on underutilized pieces (low init versions of “Ace”y ships, lesser used pilots) and increasing the costs on a few over-represented pilots but mainly spammed pieces that seemed too good compared to relevant options (Passive Sensors are now 4 and 6 pts for I5 and I6 respectively so as to revert it to the planned “low-init munition carriers can be useful”, Crackshot is 2 pt so Marksmanship or Predator actually mean something in spam lists, etc.). For First Order, these are mainly good things, but there are a few increases:
- Seinar Jaemus Engineers (I1 Silencers) dropped 3 pts, down to 48. This means that you can fit 3 + Avenger/Holo/a 4th Seinar Jaemus. From games I either played in or spectated, all of these are viable options. Personally, I believe that the Holo option is strongest just because I5 double mods with the self-nerf being tossed somewhere irrelevant. Also a bonus, in case IRL X-Wing becomes a thing again in the States: the World’s art and dial covers for the I1 Silencers look really nice, even better than the Gencon Epsilon Cadets.
- Special Forces Gunner dropped 1 pt to result in a 9pt pricetag. Combined with the 1 pt drop on LeHuse, this means a net 2 pt discount on him (i.e., free Fanatical or free Proud Tradition [I prefer the latter on LeHuse[) and a net 1 pt increase on Quickdraw (more or less a wash on the good option). A Passive Sensor Gunner Zeta Survivor’s cost is thereby 2 pt cheaper than before, although Passive Sensor Zeta’s prefer missiles, and Cluster Missiles came down to 4 pt.
- Proton Rockets dropped to 6pt, Adv. Proton Torpedoes dropped to 5 pt, and Plasma Torpedoes dropped to 8 pt. All of these are very good munitions for Kylo if you’re into giving him munitions, and if your game sense with Blackout is strong enough, he can equip them to great effect as well. 6pt rockets are tempting to put on the 48 pt Jims, especially when one of them is blocking the target of the rocket-wielding one.
- Major Stridan dropped to 61 pt and Tavson went up to 64 pt Edit afterwards: Tavson was 64 pt last points change. I can’t remember old point values apparently. Stridan is more useable, especially with Hux and significantly cheaper TIE/ba’s. I’m not sure if he’s worth it simply because Tavson is still a very affordable option with low offensive variance. Captain Cardinal dropped to 62 pt, but his ability is still not all that good.
- 41 pt FO Provacateurs, 48 pt Ember, 53 pt Holo, and 55 pt Vonreg. Massive cuts on the generics and 2 pt decreases on the aces are not insignificant. Edit afterwards: Holo dropped only 1 pt down to 53 pt. Provacateurs can be spammed three times with Kylo, though I’m not sure that’s their best application. Cheaper aces mean more bid/toys with Kylo.
I have been collecting screenshots of my games trying to thaw out and get back into the swing of things, but I haven’t posted any batreps mainly because I feel that I am incredibly rusty. My game sense, openings, and follow ups all leave much to be desired. As a means of forcing myself to fly more skillfully, I do plan on attending an online kit tournament run by the P.T.L. (Prototype Toronto League), so if you see some First Order scrub getting annihilated on stream this Sunday, that’s probably me. I haven’t been flying Super Kylo at all since my return, given that the Kylo part isn’t very skill demanding in most cases but the not-Kylo part of the list demands perfect engagements, disengagements, and range control. That being said, Super Kylo + Daredevil Vonreg + Rivas can now bid 16 pt, and the exact 2 ship Spacejam list I flew can now bid deeper by 2 pt.
So what have I been flying? Mostly some bad experiments, a few good ones, and few I’m unsure of yet. All of them utilize the new point possibilities, although the list I feel most confident about could drop 1 minor upgrade and have been legal last point system. I won’t be flying it this Sunday, but the fact that this fits in Hyperspace makes me happy:
Kylo Ren (76)
Instinctive Aim (1)
Advanced Optics (4)
Plasma Torpedoes (8)
Ship total: 89 Half Points: 45 Threshold: 3
Major Vonreg (55)
Daredevil (2)
Ship total: 57 Half Points: 29 Threshold: 2
“Holo” (53)
Ship total: 53 Half Points: 27 Threshold: 2
Total: 199
View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0: https://raithos.github.io/?f=First%20Order&d=v8ZhZ200Z236X73W186W234WY381X117WWWY382XWWW&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron&obs=
Kylo 2BA is already very good in Hyperspace thanks to its versatility, reacting abilities, and disengaging options. Now that you can give Kylo the diet torpedo (which in most cases, hits as hard as a normal Proton Torpedo and has a higher max out probability on 1 force 1 focus optics than Proton Torpedoes), bidding against the enemy I6’s seems irrelevant with that sort of area denial. It’s sad to see Outmaneuver get ditched to make room for this, but +1 shield off Kylo’s target and Kylo getting optics against later-moving I5’s and I6’s, as well as for when Holo tosses him a focus after he double repositions, to maintain full mods have been doing some Hyperspace work. I wouldn’t fly it in extended though, given the existence of many pieces that bidless Vonreg isn’t a fan of.
I’m out today, but I will be in soon. Tourney rep with screenshots Sunday(ish)!
Screaming into the Void 