3 more combos I like the look of (Imperial Edition):

 

"We may be reprehensible space Nazis, but you can't deny: We've got style."

A special Imperial edition of interesting combos. Again these are not tested combos, simply interesting things (to me) I've theory-crafted:

ISB Jingoist + Notorious:

Note: You do need to take a Deadman's Switch to be able to equip Notorious on the ISB Jingoist. 

I think it's a neat little build. You get a ship that can hand out strain in multiple ways, and gets a reroll shooting at a strained opponent. Keep him out of R1 of your ships during the opening engagement:

ISB Jingoist w/ Notorious, Deadman's Switch.

Is the Jingoist better than a 3-cost Alpha Squadron pilot with Disciplined/Enduring/Predator? Irrelevant (but also probably not).

Valen Rudor + Squad Leader:

Empire has a distinct lack of cheap ships with coordinate. Luckily their is a 3-cost TIE/ln with 8-points of loadout and a Talent slot to equip Squad Leader. You are limited to Valen's actions (focus, evade, BR) for the coordinate. Valen can focus/evade, and save his coordinate for the engagement phase if he or someone at R1 is likely to get shot at. Alternatively, you can just use him like a regular coordinator by sitting back, and giving an ally a focus token at PS3:

Valen w/ Squad Leader.

Pair him with someone who is action hungry:

Maarek w/ Marksman, FCS, Mag Pulse, Afterburners, Hull.
-AND / OR-
Sabacc w/ Predator, Shield, Targeting Computer.

This one may just be my bias, as I've always felt Valen's pilot ability was underrated. 

Mandalorian Optics + Grand Moff Tarkin:

This is a simple combo: in the system phase, you lock an enemy with Mandalorian Optics, then trigger Tarkin to have your whole squad gain locks on the target. This pairing has to be taken on the new Gauntlet Fighter, but you do have two decent pilot choices: Captain Hark, or Gar Saxon depending on whether you can spare a point:

Captain Hark w/ Ruthless, Tarkin, MOptics, VTG, Seismic, Config.

-OR-

Gar Saxon w/ Ruthless, Ion Torps, Tarkin, MOptics, VTG, ProtonB, Config.

I think I like the cheaper Hark, but can also see the appeal of Gar. Pair them with some TIE/x1s and you're all good to ruin someone's day:

Goran w/ Enduring, Shield, Config.

Captain Hark w/ Ruthless, Tarkin, MOptics, VTG, Seismic, Config.

Zertik w/ Ruthless, Tracers.

TempestSP w/ Hull.
TempestSP w/ Hull.

3 interesting combos I like the look of:

Yep that's a combo alright.

I should stress these are not combos I have tried, rather they are just interesting interactions I like the look of and have added to my long list of things to try out.

Vizier, Hark, and Ciena:

Vizier lets you coordinate when you use your Ailerons, but you skip your action step. Hark gives you a focus action when you fully execute a red move (spoiler alert: the reaper has a ton!). I think Hark should be stapled to all reapers henceforth. 

The problem with the Reaper as a support ship is it's 3-dice go to waste if it coordinates. This lets you (white) coordinate and focus in the same turn to still have reliable shots with Vizier. 

Ciena is an upgrade I've been meaning to try out in scenarios to boost manoeuvrability, and this seems like the perfect ship to put her on to take advantage of Vizier's coordinates:

Vizier w/ Ciena, Hark, Shield.

Corus, Commander Poe, and Swarm Tactics:

Corus Kapellim: Known jerk.

This is a fairly obvious one. Corus steals a green token from an enemy at range 0-1, which is huge. It's a two action swing in your favour. Unlike Palob though, he does this when he engages at PS1 instead of doing it at the start of engagement (so likely spent by then). Enter Commander Poe with Swarm Tactics:

Poe pumps Corus up to PS6 to steal that token before your opponent can spend it (or will cause opponents to not focus/calculate). There's a lot of different builds you could do with these two. As an example you could have something like this:

Commander Poe w/ Swarm, Crackshot, R6D8, JamB, Servos.

Corus w/ IonT, R4 astro, ProtonB, Engine.

You get a decent Poe with Crackshot and a soft reroll to deal some damage. At 7HP with agility 2 He's decently tanky, and can become a squirrelly support ship if he gets focused early. Corus has an ion turret to increase his arc, and generally mess with your opponent's ability to do objectives. He can go fast and boost in with a free calculate, and possibly a lock from Poe's ability. Alternatively you could go with the Wartime config on Corus and take advantage of Targeting Synchronizer to setup some ordnance plays:

Commander Poe w/ Swarm, Ion Torps, Target Synch, Servos.

Corus w/ Adv Proton Torps, Ion Torps, Config.

Corus uses target synch to shoot his ion missiles. If he hits Poe just does a normal shot, if he misses, Poe can shoot an ion torp at the enemy. Next turn Corus rolls up and unloads his advanced protons at R1. He even has the reload action if you want to try and repeat it.

You have plenty of interesting options with these two, including switching to the 7-cost Poe to gain some Proton Torpedoes.

TN-3465, Static, and Autoblasters:

What combo could Static and TN-3465 make? Well it's more TN-3465 and the cannon slot Static brings (the only cannon slot in the First Order at the moment!). Static can bring autoblasters to combo with TN-3465's ability to easily generate crits:

It's no secret that autoblasters are really good in scenario play, since you're more likely to be able to flank opponents. This is especially true if you can combine it with an ability to easily generate crits like Malice, Marksman, or Greedo (Static has a talent slot for Marksmanship). For 6 squad-points you can slot these two ships into your First Order squad:

Static w/ Crackshot, Marksman, Autoblasters.

TN-3465 w/ Hull. 

I like the look of this combo, as it's made up of two ships I'd consider to be solid on their own. Even if you don't get any flank shots with Static (unlikely in scenario play), the ability to go up to 3 or 4 attack dice in bullseye is still very useful. Is this static better than just taking an ion cannon and predator? That's not the point! 

TN-3465 just makes your heavy hitters more consistent, and the damage he takes is less detrimental now that half points only matter in chance encounter. Losing a health on a 5HP TIE isn't a big deal if you do it in the right circumstances (trust me, I've played plenty of ruthless Soontir).

Conclusion:

As always X-wing is filled with lots of interesting little interactions to try out. If only I had the time to try them all!

Second 2.5 Tournament Batrep

"Ready to kick arse... after tea and a bickie"

The List:

This was a modified version of my previous rebel beef squadron, which leans more heavily into an alpha-strike strategy, at the expense of ships, and Cracken's combo with Ten Numb. I didn't have much actual practice with the list (foreshadowing!). Usually I'd at least spend time the night before an event dry-running some opening moves, but I've been a little time poor lately, so I was going in blind! The list was:

Wedge w/ Marksman, Proton Torps, R3 astro, Hull, Config.

Ten Numb w/ FCS, Proton Torps, Ion Cannon, Jamming Beam, Config.

Ibitsam w/ Ursa, VTG.

AP5 w/ R4 astro, K2SO.

Derek w/ Config.

My thinking was since games are only ~6 turns, frontloading accurate, high-damage shots is more impactful than defensive strategies. With fewer turns, the 'timer' on low agility, high HP ships is also more forgiving. The basic engine of the list is:

1. K2SO gives someone doing a blue move a focus (usually Wedge or Ibitsam).
2. AP5 coordinates a focus to Wedge. 
3. Ibitsam takes a focus.
4. Ten Numb rolls and links a red lock.
5. Wedge uses R3 to lock an enemy, and also a friendly to trigger Ursa. This gives Ibitsam a lock (at PS6!).
6. Profit!

After all this, you end up with 2x double-modded Proton Torpedo shots (wedge's at -1 agility), and a double-modded 3-dice primary shot. Hobbie is on objective duty, and Ten Numb can operate independently too if needed, since he can generate his own double mods to bully PS1-3 ships.

The Matches:

Round 1: Assault at the Satellite Array against Republic:

Anakin w/ Instinctive Aim, Predictive, PRockets, CLT.

Obi-Wan w/ Instinctive Aim, Compassion, PRockets, CLT.

Barriss w/ Instinctive Aim, Concussions, CLT.

Handmaiden w/ Ion Torps, Passive.

Handmaiden w/ Ion Torps, Passive.

My turn 0 & 1 were ok, but this game began the tournament spanning trend of Wedge whiffing double-modded Proton Torpedo shots. This was a close game with me winning at time with a 1pt difference (10-9). We were both a little annoyed with the way the game ended, as the next turn was going to be the make-or-break turn. Nothing died, though I forgot AP5's calculate on the last turn, and as a result a Handmaiden lived on 1HP. Ten Numb lived on 2HP after absorbing a frankly silly number of shot throughout the game. - Win 10-9, with 5 turns played.

Round 2: Salvage Mission against Scum:

Boba w/ Marksman, Autoblaster, Maul, Greedo, Cybernetics, Seismic, Slave 1 Title.

Manaroo w/ EH, Jamming, R5-P8, Over Mod, Title.

Kad w/ Hull.

Ahhav.

My lack of practice hurt me this game. on my approach I missed out on grabbing a box early, which had me at a disadvantage all game. Luckily my opponent was also having engagement issues, with Boba spending the first 2 turns flying over rocks, which gave me a couple of Boba-free turns to engage Kad and Manaroo (Derek and Ahhav were off on the other side grabbing boxes and plinking at each other). As I had initiative, I decided to commit to Manaroo, rather than Kad (so Ten Numb could shoot a Proton Torpedo). Again Wedge's double-modded proton betrayed me with a measly 1 damage to Manaroo, after which Ten Numb followed Wedge's example and also whiffed resulting in another damage and no Ion shot. My alpha-strike was more of a beta-strike.

Manaroo and Ibitsam both died 2 turns later, with Ten Numb dead the turn after. Wedge did slightly redeem himself by 1-shotting Kad on the second last turn with his second Proton Torpedo, but by then it was too little too late. - Loss 15-19, with 5 turns played.

Round 3: Scramble the Transmission against Imperials:

Goran w/ Elusive, Shield, Config.

Turr w/ Crackshot, Shield, Config.

Nash w/ Elusive, Shield, Config.

Zertik w/ Afterburners.

AlphaSP w/ Elusive, Config.

Night Beast.

My memory of this one is a bit hazy. I do remember R3 on Wedge was clutch allowing me to mitigate Goran's ability to strip TLs. Wedge and AP5 went down the left side, with Ibitsam down the middle (still within R3 of wedge), and Hobbie and Ten Numb down the right side. AP5 absorbed an ungodly amount of fire, and limped away with 2HP, while Hobbie died turn 2 to Night Beast and Turr's combined fire. This made my objective game harder, and Ten Numb had to disengage from glorious combat to cap objectives like a commoner. My opponent made one major mistake, forgetting that Nash had a Loose Stabilizer with only 1HP, so he proceeded to turn and die. Goran did send AP5 to droid heaven, but with Nash dead Wedge was free to kill Zertik. The final turn saw Night Beast and Turr die to Ten Numb and Wedge. - Win 26-17, with 6 turns played.

"Fear me!"

Round 4: Chance Engagement against First Order (Vonreg, Blackout, Malarus, Static, Rivas) - Loss

Vonreg w/ Deadeye, Daredevil, Pattern Analyser, Shield, Hull.

Blackout w/ Trick Shot, Pattern Analyser, Sensor Scramblers.

Malarus w/ Clusters.

Static w/ Elusive, Ion Cannon.

Rivas.

This was another nail-biter of a game, but my approach let me down a bit here. Ibitsam came in slightly too fast, taking R3 fire from everyone except Rivas. Some hot reds and an unlucky crit chain had Ibitsam on 1HP with a console fire. In exchange Ibitsam stripped Blackout's shields. Rivas also lost a shield to Wedge's sub-par Protons. Turn 3 saw Ibitsam die to Malarus, Ten Numb got ionised by static, but his return fire dropped static to 1HP. Blackout used sensitive controls to roll and cut across the middle of the map, boosting to try and bug out. Unfortunately he was met with Wedge's double-modded Protons, but it was Wedge's smoko break, so he left a blank to roll his ciggy. Luckily where Wedge let me down, the damage deck was there to help, and kindly produced a direct hit to cut Blackout's reign of terror short.

The dogfight continued with Ten Numb spending several turns ionised before dying. AP5 again absorbed a silly amount of shots. Wedge and Vonreg faced off at R1, and stripped each other's shields. I continued to revert to 2.0 rules, deliberately planting Wedge on a debris to get a R1 shot on static only to be informed you can no longer shoot on debris (Whoops!). The game ended with me gambling on killing Vonreg. My 1HP Wedge and healthy AP5 trapped the 3HP Major and tired to finish him off. Wedge was double-modded, so he obviously whiffed his reds and only pushed 1 damage through, but AP5 (the god that he is) pushed another hit through at R1 (unmodded!). Wedge died to Vonreg's return fire, and I got one more attempt at the Baron the next turn with AP5's butt cannon into a jammed Vonreg, but it wasn't meant to be. Vonreg got the 1 evade required. - Loss 14-16, with 9 turns played.

Round 5: Salvage Mission against Scum (bossk, manaroo, some z95s) - Win 

Bossk w/ Trickshot, Ahsoka, Qi'ra, Greedo, Deadman's, Hull, Title.

Manaroo w/ EH, Autoblaster, AgileG, Title.

Proach w/ Outmanoeuvre, Marg Sabl, Precision Ion Engines

Kaa’to w/ Fearless, Tracers, Failsafe.

N'dru .

Nashtah Pup.

This was the the game I player on the Fearless Gundark's stream, so rather than explaining what occured, I'll just link the clip: My round 5 game - Win 26-2, with 5 turns played.

Post-Tournament Thoughts:

My lack of any practice with this list let me down a bit. Tactically I'm an experienced enough player to manage decisions in the fights. I generally just need to dry-run a couple of openings and approaches the night before to sort out the strategy. It was particularly noticeable against manoeuvrable lists (Rounds 1, 3, & 4), which could quickly reposition to take advantage of my sloppy approaches. Also messing up my opening and failing to get an easy box in Round 2 likely cost me 1-3 VPs. 

I think the list is really good, and only needs a minor tweak...

List Improvements:

"Did someone say hope?"

The simplest change to improve the list, would be to drop K2SO + R4 astro, and take Leia crew. K2SO was ok, but throughout the tournament I was having issues getting Ten Numb back into the fight after the first pass. Leia would assist both him and Wedge in turning around, and getting their second volley of Proton torpedoes off. I think this change 'completes' this version of the list for me:

Wedge w/ Marksman, Proton Torps, R3 astro, Hull, Config.

Ten Numb w/ FCS, Proton Torps, Ion Cannon, Jamming Beam, Config.

Ibitsam w/ Ursa, VTG.

AP5 w/ Leia.

Derek w/ Config.

A more extreme change came when discussing Rebel lists with one of the regulars at the tournament. He was running a Wedge, Leia Falcon (with bistan + ursa), Jake, and Hobbie list. We were discussing a mashup of our two lists to compensate for each of our weaknesses (his being having only 4 ships, and mine being my damage dealer getting locked down). We arrived at something like this to test out:

Chewie w/ Hopeful, Bistan, Ursa, Baze, Title.

Wedge w/ Marksman, Proton Torps, R3 astro, Hull, Config.

AP5 w/ Leia.

Derek w/ Config.

Blount.

Again we've got the Wedge R3 + Ursa combo going, except chewie is a lot more resistant to being ionised, and can double-tap more reliably than Ibitsam with VTG. Chewie is just generally more resilient with his access to the evade action (+title), and his ability to mitigate crits. Also he has AP5 to coordinate boosts at PS1 for some escape and blocking potential. The addition of a 5th ship will make the objective game easier too.

Conclusion:

Overall I had a lot of fun at this event. All my opponents were friendly and good sports. The objective games are still new enough to me that I find them interesting.