AscentStudios

I'd be willing to go half-sies with someone on this.

I'd be down. I don't have these yet.

PM comin' atcha!

DisruptiveConduct came over last night to show off his E-Wing prize from the release tournament last week, and it's pretty cool. He didn't fully abuse the Astromech + Systems upgrade combo, but it flies a lot like the love child of an X-Wing and a TIE Fighter. The dial was not as good as I expected it to be, but its aces are so ridiculously good it's no biggie...

Just flew the Vette as a broadside ship (Weapon Engineer, 3 x Quad Laser Batteries, Gunnery Team, Tactician, Engineering Team, etc.) last night in an Epic Team game and it cleaned house. I would never use this thing with less than full Hardpoints however - you need the 4 guns far more often when you engage, especially if you're swarmed. I was surprised how often ships were out of the range of my Quads, and can certainly see the value of the Turbolaser upgrade, as it lets you snipe at big ships with no range penalties from turn 1, which is great considering the speed these things practically move.

I was flying this as an Imperial Tantive to balance the game out a bit (so no crewmember Han - sadface), and my escort were the 2 TIE Bomber aces which were invaluable. Jonus flew with Wingman, Proton Torps and Munitions Failsafe, while Rhymer carried Push the Limit, Advanced Proton Torps, regular Proton Torps, and Munitions Failsafe; Rhymer laid a big hit on the front section of the 'Vette with the APTs, and Jonus ended up finishing her with a K-Turn followed by a Proton torp up the tailpipe. Jonus was definitely the hero of the game, surviving with just one Hull and having killed the Tantive, Wedge, and Kyle Katarn over the course of the game.

I love that Epic has totally mixed up the strategy of the game. Flying Huge Ships is a completely different skill set, and it's made the Torpedo upgrade and slower gunships like the Y-Wing and Bomber so much better. Now, with Reinforce in the mix, you'd be crazy to just load up with regular TIEs and hope for weight of numbers to carry you through...those 4+ attack dice hits and anything that crits are essential to dealing with the huge ships.

You could seal a mini using Future but I wouldn't use the wash. Reason being that it sinks to the low points, and you need the high points sealed the most since that's where you make the most physical contact with the model.

I switch out the acrylic paint with Higgins Black Ink when I am going for a black line wash. The color saturation is much better in my opinion.

Seconded on the Higgins. I just went to a Blick store, and got the stuff to make Les Bursley's Magic Washes - costs a little more but I greatly prefer it over Future Floor Wax-based washes. I've made the basic Soft Body black, and my own Dirty Metal mix (30 drops black, 5 of sepia per oz) and it works a treat on my Dropzone Commander army. Check it:

http://www.awesomepaintjob.com/index.cfm/resources.recipes

Looks like the Greater Good may not be super-bros with every race, anymore. Say what you want about Unbound, but if that lets them make an Allies Matrix that's actually sensible, it will be worth the trouble...

That diagram of manuvers hurts my brain.

You know what else hurts your brain? My GR-75, when I FLY STRAIGHT INTO IT.

I think having Unbound and Battleforged options is great - it further reduces the ghettoization of a big part of the player base (Apoc, Escalation, casual players who don't give an F) and gives GW an opportunity, alongside a cleanup of the Allies matrix, to create a more structured format in Battleforged that appeals to another important constituency (tournament players, store players, casual players who do give an F). This shoot-for-the-middle approach was pretty much guaranteeing no one was happy.

I'm not saying GW won't screw that opportunity up, but it may end up letting the audience self-select what kind of 40k they want to play, and give each group what they want. Though I'm sure unbound vs. battleforged is "balanced" with something like army bonuses, chances are very high that nearly everwhere, players will either agree to play one way or the other.

Phantom is up (with a dial!): http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=4795

It's pretty much what I expected...which is to say, really hard to hem in, but still a ship you want to duel with at Range 3 while flanking the hell out of the other guy...much like a fancy Interceptor. With 5 AG at Range 3, or behind asteroids, and a pretty solid dial, I think this little guy can be pretty slippery. Especially "Echo" who is like a super Lt. Lorrir from Imperial Aces...

Check the possible movement diagram just for decloaking + barrel roll...that's pretty mindblowing!

Hey folks,

I'm looking for 2 sets of Plague Drone wings (the fly-style wings) to finish off some Nurgle Daemon Princes. I am also looking (again) for a Leman Russ Exterminator Turret.

I have heaps of crap to trade.

Thanks!

Yeah I'm definitely excited about that combo too and will probably be trying it out next week. He and Hobbie with ol' Stressbot (I can't keep all those garbage cans straight).

Stressbot is fan-fricking-tastic in a Y-Wing with Ion Cannon - attack, stress them, then hope for an Ion, GG. Seriously, you're gonna see even *more* Ion-Turret Y's with this guy around.

So I ran Tarn Mison + R7 astromech in my list today, and he was everything I hoped he would be. As a low PS X-Wing pilot, most peeps ignored him unless they didn't have a shot at Chewie or the Y-Wing, so it nearly always went "they attack - I TL - they roll - I burn TL to force them to reroll all hits and focus - they roll worse - I evade what remains." Seriously, Tarn took minimal damage in each of the two games I played with him, and is solid enough with that comboI will probably pull Biggs from my standard list and put in Tarn + R7 instead.

I just wish they had spoiled the dial :(

Yeah - aside from saying "it has more green than a B-Wing" (is that really possible to have more Red than a B-Wing?) it was a bit of a bummer. Maybe TPTB decided showing everything was a bit much...

E-Wing Preview is up, and oh my, is it a doozy: http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=4783

I already am gonna be rocking a 25 point ship - Tarn Mison + R7 Astromech:

+ = LURVS

There's also some really nasty tricks you can pull with combining the Astromech + Systems upgrades: Advanced Sensors + R7-T1 + Outmaneuver is a no brainer...

+ +

Take your action, use your TL + Boost move, then K-Turn and blast your target from the back, inflicting -1 AG and still being able to reroll any dice you want. Gross.

Both named pilots are frickin' awesome as well. I just wish Imperials had a team player worth a damn live long enough to actually be a named pilot...

Try as I might, I just can't fall in love with the Firespray. I've run mostly Bounty Hunters and also given Kath and Trellix a go, but just never feel like I'm getting the same bang for my buck that an Interceptor Ace with points to spare, 3-4 TIE Fighters, or all kinds of other random combinations can give. And now with Defenders and Phantoms coming along for 25-30+ points a pop, I just don't feel like I'll ever find room for a Firespray in one of my lists again.

Make no mistake - I think the Firespray can be a tough ship to run. For me, who may well just not be that good at this game, the Firespray excels in that it allows me to have a bad run of dice or make a single mistake without instantly costing me a ship. Its offense is good, its defense is good, and it can pack cannons, missiles, torpedoes (with the Slave I title), and it has the closest approximation to a turret the Imperials get. Maybe I'm overestimating its value vs. a heavily upgraded Interceptor, as I'm historically allergic to dumping 5-10 points in upgrades into any ship that can get taken out in a single shot, but I want to make this swiss army knife of a ship work. I really do think that without a Rebel Captive or Fettigator, a single Firespray is pretty big liability in an Imperial list. Right now, though, I think it's the closest thing Imperials have to a board control ship...and I'm tired of getting rolled by Chewbacca Falcons :)

@Munkie - Digging the idea of Farlander + Advanced Torps very much. Expensive as all hell, but if you toss on Deadeye instead of PTL, you can be making crazy maneuvers (1-Turns, 4 forwards, 2 K's) to gather your stress and get into point blank range for a surprise torpedo up the exhaust port quite easily. Granted, it's not as applicable as PTL during the rest of the game, but if you're willing to fly crazy, I don't think a B necessarily needs PTL in order to get stress....

@AscentStudios, I've been pondering Hobbie more to see if I could come up with something. I'm liking him with the new R3-A2 because the combo all works in one turn and doesn't require a baby-sitter.

 

1) Move

2) TL whomever you'd like

3) Declare your shot, take a stress, deal a stress

4) Use your TL and burn the stress away

Nice. That's a very direct way to use him (I still think the EPS astromech + PTL is also solid), but I struggle because I really like R3-A2 on an Ion Turret Y-Wing. Once you line up your target and shoot he immediately suffers stress, then, if he's hit he also gets Ioned...nasty lockdown from a single 25 pt ship. The combination of Ion + Stress is why Kath Scarlet with a Rebel Captive and Ion Cannon rocks so hard...she's totally able to cripple those outflanking fast ships with a combination of multiple stress tokens and/or Ion, then finish them off with the butt cannon as needed.

I'm eager to try out my new "Scarlet Sabers" list now...

46 - Scarlet with Expert Handling, Ion Cannon, Rebel Captive

27 - Saber Squad with Push the Limit, Hull Upgrade

27 - Saber Squad with Push the Limit, Hull Upgrade

Crazy maneuverability plus the ability to lay stress and ion on all those Rebels that now have a big old stress boner should give me some room to abuse. Barrel rolling Firespray is a tough ship to catch...

I think the next list I'll try will be:

 

35: Keyan Farlander w/ PtL, Advanced Sensors

29: Dutch Vander w/ Ion Cannon, R2 astromech

21: Rookie

15: Prototype Pilot w/ a bottle of Chardaanay

 

The focus here is extremely efficient shooters. With both Farlander and the rookie having (essentially) a focus and TL every turn, they should be able to start causing problems for people really quickly. Dutch handles flankers and the prototype pilot runs some interference. Looks like fun.

I ran up against a Farlander list (we have no qualms about proxying in our weekly games) and he's just brutal. This list would get even nastier by swapping out the Rookie and Prototype for 3 Bandit Headhunters...gives you the bodies and a bit more firepower with slightly-less-than-X-Wing dials.

My new Rebel list once the Rebel Transport and Tantive IV drop...

52: Chewbacca with Expert Handling, Gunner, C-3PO

25: Biggs

23: Tarn Mison

While this list is light on firepower for a Rebel fleet, it's tough as nails. Chewie is really tough to get a bead on, and with a Gunner he doesn't really have to worry about stress very much. C-3PO is hands down my favorite crew on a YT - with only one AG die, you can guess 0 Evades and *always* get an Evade (if you get none, you get +1 Evade; if you roll an Evade, well, you can keep it). Beats the Falcon title if you've got the space for the crew on your ship. Biggs, as usual, just prowls around at Range 3 waiting to die. Tarn is a fair trade for a Rookie (+1 PS plus his neat little ability) or a Red (same price, -1 PS but has an ability). Should be fun.

I didn't bring Biggs and boy did I regret it. I wasn't trying to build a super competitive list so much as try out some of the new shenanigans. Also, wedge wasn't particularly interested in being super competitive either. Lotsa blanks. He managed to land one hit before he died. Still not giving up on him, though.

Interesting. I've been more compelled to give Wedge Predator (reroll 1 attack dice, or 2 if PS2 or lower) as I think he's good enough at one-shotting 3 Hull ships already...and I also tend to roll really crappy :)

I also tried a green a-wing with PTL, VI, test pilot (duh), and refit. He was fine but nothing to write home about. I'll be trying the 15 point A-wing next time.

I've been doing similar stuff with my Greens, which I adore, but I think they're better if you abuse the double-EPS shenanagins a bit more, since they're the only ships that can thus far. PTL + Outmaneuver, or PTL + Adrenaline Rush let you do some pretty fun stuff for the same price as an plain-jane X-wing. I ran against a Jake Farrell A-Wing with all the fixin's + PTL and Outmaneuver...the only thing that locked him down was a Kath Scarlet Firespray with Rebel Captive and Ion Cannon :)

I'm gonna try Wedge with Outmaneuver. It may turn other pilots into him, but it turns him into the God of Murder.

/agree. I'd say setting him up that way makes Wedge a giant target (as if he weren't already), but then he never flies without the Rebellion's greatest martyr, Biggs...so Wedge will probably be able to pull off his little trick once. After that, Biggs will either be dead, or Wedge will be out of formation, then it's goodbye Red-2 :)

I'm taking some newly printed out TIE Defender dials out for a test run tonight. Definitely interested to see how they fare.

My thoughts:

Wow. That dial is a little surprising (red 2 turns?) but there's a lot of possibilities there. Interesting also that all the ship's straight maneuvers are green - looks like they intend for it to be a fast mover like a jet, strafing then coming around via the white K-Turn to make another attack. Engine Upgrade and Push the Limit will make these things crazy fast. Interesting thing I'm hearing about the Defender is it's about as durable as a Firespray, thanks to the dial and +1 AG, which is always what I expected for the points - a Large ship on a small base.

Pilots are a little meh (kinda sad, as I was hoping for someone actually good or team oriented to fly a ship that's not made out of tissue paper) - the PS8 guy could be good backed by a TIE swarm, as he can blow focus to make regular damage crits (even against Chewie!)...but it's too bad there's no way for Imperials to pass focus around like the Rebels.

Outmaneuver may be the superstar cards of that set, since lets nearly any fast ship become Wedge. I've been running Tetran Cowall (Imperial Aces pilot who can freely choose his K-Turns) with Outmaneuver and it's very rare he can't line up a 4 dice shot that also knocks out an enemy defense die. I had him harassing Chewbacca last game and he really put the wookie on the ropes. Mauler Mithel with Outmaneuver is similarly awesome - at Range 1, he's a 20 pt. Wedge. I'd say this upgrade is the first legitimate contender to Push the Limit on the Interceptor in my book.

Predator has a lot of really interesting possibilities for strong shooting ships - Wedge will love it (as will most XWing and BWing pilots); Chewie can use it to turn himself into a mini-Han Solo without having to spring for a Gunner, particularly against hordes; and Trellix on the Firespray is gonna easily get passed over by a Fett or Scarlett with this upgrade.

Hey folks!

Easy trade here today. I've overordered recently, and ended up with an extra X-Wing HWK-90 blister. I'd like to trade for any of the following:

Y-Wing (doesn't need to be NIB, but I would need all tokens and cards)

B-Wing dial and Dagger Squadron base chit

TIE Interceptor Avenger Squadron card + base chit x 2

R2 Astromech card

Stealth Device card

Advanced Sensors card

Dropzone Commander Scourge Invader-A light dropship blister (2 Invaders)

Dropzone Commander Scourge Tormentor heavy tanks

Dropzone Commander Scourge Razorworms

Dropzone Commander terrain (10mm buildings, basically)

The Resistance: Coup

Thanks folks!

"All you have to do to continue using the models you already is spend $100!"

Trust me, I'm not happy about it. But the rules are still "official" so you don't have to just toss your models, either.

Someone is entirely within their rights to decline a game based on the army you are using (except at a tournament or other event, in which case declining equivlates to forfeiting the game.) Would you give the same "it's in the rules therefore you HAVE to play against it" rationale for someone coming up against Seer/Screamerstar in a casual game? I don't think that's particularly plausible. People can choose to play against- or not play against- whatever they want, and a lot of people still don't particularly care for Forge World because of their amazingly poor rules writing. (Yes, even compared to GW.)

Now, play nice. There's a difference between telling someone they have to play a game they don't think will be fun, and telling them you're able to use the models that have the official stamp of approval. You know the difference. My point is that an opponent can no longer roundly say "you can't use that," as it used to be prior to the stamp. That's why the stamp's there.

I will also point out that until very, very recently, Games Workshop itself did not allow you to play with Forge World rules at any of their events, which hardly lends the "FW has always been totally normal and legit" argument a whole lot of credence.

I never once said FW has always been totally normal and legit. At all. In fact, quite the contrary in my previous post as I point to the reason the stamp is there in the first place. So let's stick to what the discussion is actually saying, please.

Most of the time I can agree with this. It's hard to say the griffon is a crazy option coming out of forgeworld really. Hell just pull the points from the 5th ed book. In this case it's less about forgeworld rules than GW just flat out taking a unit away.

Agree. More importantly, we have a "40k Approved" stamp in FW stuff for a reason. That's why they have it there - to end the (IMO) idiotic two tier level of officiality that's an artifact of old editions(after all, special characters used to need opponent's permission to use as well, and that's long since gone). Whatever your preference, someone spends money on a model with approved rules from the mothership, you don't really get to tell them they can't use their toys. Just like I can't tell someone they can't play with a Wraithknight or Imperial Knight cause I personally think it's unfair, or the rules are broken, or whatever.

So when does the book actually come out? And are Griffons still "legal" if the are not in the codex? Griffons are some data slate now or supplement? Thx.

They are not in the codex, but they are still legal - you just need to use the Forge World (copy and pasted) rules for them from here: http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Warhammer-40000/Imperial_Armour_Books/IMPERIAL_ARMOUR_VOLUME_ONE_SECOND_EDITION_IMPERIAL_GUARD.html

If someone tells you can't use them because they're FW models, kindly remind them of the Approved for 40k stamp. Then threaten to hit them with the book :)