Right? Autothrusters are (currently, but keeping a semi-open mind) my only interest in picking up a Star Viper. It's even worse because there are only two in the package. Now I have to buy multiples! Given that it is a small base ship, getting two copies of the card is pretty generous . . . Very much so. Still, I think I'm going to have to try and hit up the secondary market. Not really interested in that icky looking Star Viper.

Right? Autothrusters are (currently, but keeping a semi-open mind) my only interest in picking up a Star Viper. It's even worse because there are only two in the package. Now I have to buy multiples!

One thing that DOES help with this though is Fleet Officer. Fleet Officer is my new favorite card.

The official date is Wednesday, though it is out in some places already.

Picked mine up from MM this morning. That Decimator is big!

Generic X-Wings are pretty weak in comparison to some of the other generics, but most of the named are pretty good. I think the devs knew this, which is why they released so many new named ships with the Transport. I mean, why would you ever take a Red Squadron Pilot, when you can take Tarn Mison for the same points?

Nope.

To try and get this back on track... Is it strange that I could care less about the Decimator and that the only reason I want it is so that I can put a Fleet Officer on a shuttle? I can't wait for Fleet Officer. It is REALLY going to open up the Imperial design space.

Haha...I've done this. It was a choice between playing the remainder of a game I will almost certainly lose or eat pizza. I ate pizza. I was hungry.

There are 2 situations where I find certain ships must have certain upgrades. Other than that, I'm pretty flexible on upgrades 1. Named Phantoms must always have Veteran Instincts 2. A-wings and Interceptors must always have Push the Limit The problem with this line of thinking for any ship is you end up painting yourself into a design corner. If you ONLY run certain ships a certain way, your build and the way you play them becomes predictable. Not only that but you lose out of a lot of potential synergy. Instead of thinking, this ship needs this upgrade to function, try in what situations would upgrade x work on ship y. I LOVE running Royal Guard Pilots with Opportunist. It's one point more than a Sigma, with 3 more PS, better action bar, more reliable on defense and a MUCH better dial. It's tradeoff is that it's a bit more fragile. VI on a named Phantom is also situational in my opinion. Take Echo for example. VI on Echo is pretty useless against PS 1-5 and PS 9-12. It's only really useful against PS 6-7 and kind of useful against PS 8. But, how often do you see PS 6-8? How often do you see PS 6-8 on a repositional ship? Not to mention that the higher you go in PS on a Phantom, the higher the chance of your opponent being able to dictate where you decloak. Freeing up that EPT gives you more opportunities to take better ones. Outmaneuver on Echo is pretty nice. You could even put Decoy on Echo to swap PS with another ship on your team that has PS 9+. The problem with conventional wisdom is that it's conventional. Pretty much everyone thought that R2D2 crew was terrible. Then everyone found out that it isn't. It's good to try out crazy things. Sure a lot of the time you come up with nothing, but sometimes you come across something amazing. That's one reason I REALLY like Sable's posts. He's always trying out new, crazy and amazing things that no one tried because they're all stuck on the "one true way" of list design.

Colonel Vessery (35) Outmaneuver (3) Ion Cannon (3) Cluster Missiles (4) Omicron Group Pilot (21) Sensor Jammer (4) Weapons Engineer (3) ST-321 (3) Academy Pilot (12) Academy Pilot (12) Total: 100

I'm hoping that the Nova Squadron guys interview both Paul and Morgan soon. **hint, hint, nudge, nudge**

I'm curious, how many people complaining about the meta actually played at World's? How many played in Regionals/Nationals? The reason I'm asking is if you haven't played this year, the meta is going to be totally different next year anyway. So, why would it matter about who did/didn't bring a Falcon? Personally, I'll never play at that level of tournament. Just not interested. I like our local tournaments just fine. Our local meta is also totally different from Regionals/World's meta. In the last 4 months I've seen a Falcon about 3 times at a local tournament. I've played against a Falcon once in the last 6 months. Even after Paul's win, I doubt our local meta is going to change really. I DO foresee a lot of Decimators though as we have a lot of Imperial players around here...

Straight from the man himself: http://teamcovenant.com/hothie/2014/10/05/the-death-blossom/ http://teamcovenant.com/hothie/2014/10/13/the-evolving-shark-chapter-2-the-drunken-shark-opening/ http://teamcovenant.com/hothie/2014/10/22/evolving-the-shark-chapter-3-advanced-blocking-techniques/

A ship is only expensive if it doesn't make up its points. I also add an Ion cannon to that build. It turns Vessery into a monster. You see, the meta around here is mostly 3 ship builds. I'd say 95% of the time I'm playing a 3-ship build and Vessery kitted out like that eats 3 ship builds for breakfast. If he just ions one ship, they are out of the game for a turn and I know exactly where they'll be too. Here's the build I use: Colonel Vessery (35) Outmaneuver (3) Ion Cannon (3) Cluster Missiles (4) Omicron Group Pilot (21) Sensor Jammer (4) Weapons Engineer (3) ST-321 (3) Academy Pilot (12) Academy Pilot (12) Total: 100 View in Yet Another Squad Builder I haven't lost yet with it - not because I'm an awesome player (because I'm not) - but because it flys to my strengths and works really, REALLY well in our local 3-ship meta. Without Vessery kitted out like that, it would be far less successful.

Yeah, I don't think Proton Rockets are worth it on Defenders. Cluster Missles on Vessery on the other hand... I've one-shotted many a ship with Vessery, Outmaneuver and Cluster Missles.

The Defender is truly an amazing ship that doesn't get much credit, unfortunately. A lot of people complain about the dial, but the dial is pretty good - if you fly it like a Defender. The Defender just doesn't like to be used the way that most other ships in the game fly. They want to be far away from the ship they are shooting at most of the time. That way they can use their cannons most effectively. They are the best cannon platforms in the game, after-all. If a ship gets too close, it's time to get them out of dodge. But, they can still take a beating if they need to. I personally like Ion Cannons best on my Defenders. Ion a ship, they k-turn behind it where you can't get shot and you can just lay into them with your primary. Defenders are really, really good ships I just think it's going to take people a while to figure that out.

Some food for thought, so please don't take this the wrong way, but: Shouldn't the game stand on its own merits of playability regardless of who adorns the cards? Moreover, isn't it condescending to women to effectively be saying "Here, you're a girl and this card has a girl on it, so you'll buy it, right?" By the same token, isn't it sexist of a woman to say "This game has no women in it, so I'm not buying it." No. Consider why I disagree as your thought meal for the night. I honestly have no idea, but I'll throw something else out there. Take the utterly sexless game of Battletech, which is just giant robots (and occasionally tanks, planes, and infantry) firing things at each other. The mechs are... well, just robots with guns, and the sheets are utterly stark-plain and gender-free. More or less accessible/appealing to you as a woman gamer? Do the mechs and/or their record sheets and/or anything else about the game need something to make them more appealing to you as a woman gamer? Do they appeal at all? Are they, marketing wise, a turn off? Well, the mechs are controlled by pilots and the pilots are overwhelmingly male and when it is the token female she tends to be a sex object. I don't think this is a conversation worth having. You have no idea because you choose not to. I think you may be playing a different version of Battletech than I am.

Transport and CR-90 each have 3.

Remember when we used to talk about X-Wing on these forums? Those were good times.

Totally an Ion cannon. In this low ship meta, Ion cannons are pretty brutal. They are also excellent on Defenders. Ion a ship, then k-turn behind them for a range 1 attack where they can't fire back. If you Ion a ship, it's also easier for your Interceptors to bring their guns to bear and can help keep your Interceptors safe. Not to mention that you can Ion a ship, land a damage and use Brath's ability to flip a damage card.

To add to the "Interceptors aren't good against turrets" thingy, this is why: An Interceptor vs a turret you are entirely relying on luck. Sure, you can turtle every turn (which hurts your damage output) but all you need is to roll 3 blanks and your day is ruined. Interceptors main defense is to not get shot. Their second defense is their three green dice. Personally, I'd rather not get shot than have to rely on those evil green buggers. With a turret though, you will get shot and your luck will eventually run out.

I disagree with this entire paragraph.

The problem is that the chances of that happening is really, really small. Sure if it happens it's game-changing, but that doesn't happen that often. Rexler can crit with an ION cannon. He's the only one who can do that. Also, there's a higher chance of not needing a focus with an ION cannon. You don't need to max hits as much with it, you just need to get more hits than your opponent can possibly get defense. Also, an IONed ship is easier for Rexler to get around and helps to mitigate Rexler's one big problem. You see, Rexler has a relatively high PS so will be shooting before a lot of ships. If he uses his ability, he'll be spending his focus - which is the only defense he really has. That leaves him very vulnerable to return fire. If he IONS a ship and gets behind him he doesn't need to worry about spending that focus for defense. As an aside, my preferred Rexler build is Outmaneuver and ION cannon. Makes those follow-up shots on IONed ships REALLY hurt. Also, it's WAY cheaper than HLC & Predator.

Just some more thoughts on the Defender: I LOVE the HLC on Vessery. I prefer the Ion Cannon on the other Defenders, though. Makes it easier to set up kill shots. I don't like HLC on Rexler, 'cause HLC without a target lock is kind of a waste. With Vessery, he'll be consistently throwing 3-4 hits every shot. I'll probably use the HLC on Vessery forever unless the Mangler Cannon does what I think it does. But for most uses of Defenders I prefer the Ion Cannon 'cause it makes it so easy to set up a K-Turn and then unload into a ship's rear. As for Defender vs Phantom, Phantoms get all the love right now but Phantoms can only get worse. As people learn how to fly against Phantoms, their performance will suffer. (If you haven't read any of Doug Kinney's anti-Phantom posts over on TC you really should) But at the end of the day, the Defender is STILL the toughest small-based ship in the game whether you're used to flying against it or not. I do think they'll get a lot more play eventually and not just the named pilots. (Deltas are actually really, really good)