X-Wing Youtube Page

Have you checked out our Youtube page? We try and upload a Vassal X-wing game at least once every 2 weeks, and we have some exciting games coming up!

Click here to go to our Youtube Channel!

Enjoy!

X-wing, St Leonards, 27/03/16, by Jay Whitbread

WARMAWING III - My first X-Wing tournament 19/03/2016

What is Warmawing? That's a good question, so I'll explain. The club I attend (1066 wargaming in St. Leonards, if you're ever in the vicinity) holds tournaments on Saturdays throughout the year and, to make things more viable, they usually double up so you get two systems running their
event on the same day.
Warmawing was the first of these, mixing Warmahordes and x-wing to spawn the event Warmawing. As you may have guessed, this was the third such event. So, now you know...

List building is never a strong area for me. I go with what looks fun, as opposed to what might be more competitive. On this occasion, I decided to
seek guidance from the Force, asking one of wisdom and insight for advice. I knew what ships I wanted to run, I'm a big fan of the TIE Fighter F/O.

It is agile and tricksy, looks cool and it has shields, so what's not to love? With assistance from my wise friend, I crafted a list I was content with, even getting my favourite pilot, Soontir Fel, into the mix. As we all know though, the Force has a will of its own and it threw me a curveball in the shape of...Wave 8 landing two days before the event! One shiny new ship later, my official list looked a bit like this:

Omega Squadron pilot - Crack Shot
Omega Leader - Juke, Comm Relay
Zeta Leader - Wired, Twin Ion Engine MkII
The Inquisitor - Opportunist, XX-23 S-Thread Tracers, TIE/V1, Stealth Device

So, first round was random and I was drawn on table 10 against a friendly lad running Dengar and Bossk. I knew I wanted the Inquisitor to be away from the brunt of battle, so he flew down the left flank whilst the three TIE F/O shot off down the right. First blood went to the Empire, with a range 3 shot slapping a shield off Dengar.

That's when my education started. Dengar shot back. All of a sudden, my plan of swarming the JumpMaster and hammering it enmasse was a poor plan. Yes, mistakes were made! Watching shields disappear on ships, only for them to regenerate is very disheartening when you see your own ships dropping like flies, yet this is what happened. The game ended as a white-wash, the Empire defeated. I scored zero points.

Not the start I washoping for.

Round two - I came up against another Imperial fleet, this one featuring Soontir Fel, Darth Vader and a shuttle carrying Palpatine. Lessons learned from the previous game meant I was more cautious with the Inquisitor and more focussed with the mini-swarm. The three TIE F/O buzzed down the right flank again,intent on the shuttle. All the time that was alive, the Force was with my opponent. The Inquisitor, in turn, started hunting Vader and was unlucky not to take him early on.

In the meantime, Fel was in position to cause some serious damage to the mini-swarm but fortune favours the brave, he failed to take any of them down and was blasted from the skies for his troubles. Vader started to ladle out the damage and, sure enough, ships died. So did the Lambda though, leaving Vader on his own. Time ran out and the result was a victory by 13 points.

Round three - I moved up the tables only to find myself facing one of 1066's very own Dark Lords of the Sith! Danny had a list built around one ideal: doleout the damage as quickly as possible. Carnor Jax, a Decimator and a TIE fighter presented me with a challenge and, sadly, I wasn't up to the task.

The Decimator sat there and pummeled the Inquisitor first, Danny being sure to eliminate the unknown threat first with a combination of Vader and a Gunner.Thankfully, this ended up granting me half points for the Decimator, the only points I would score in the game. Each ship was rapidly picked apart and the game ended well before time, Danny apologising for the righteous smack-down he had handed out.
For my part, I appreciated that but it wasn't necessary, I was grateful for the lesson.

Round four - Back down the tables I went, to face another 1066er. The Rebel scum was basing his list around a B Wing, with A wings in support. Both fleets advanced hard and then the shooting began.

An A Wing went down early but the Rebels were determined and soon took down the Inquisitor, luring him into a killing field and dispatching him in one round of shooting. A TIE F/O also fell but so did another A Wing.
The game timed out, with me scoring one point more! The narrowest of wins...

Final Round - Lost two, won two...I was happy with that result so far. My final challenge was another Rebel list, this one touting the all-new Ghost. I spent a lot of the game chasing it around the table. The Inquisitor managed to stay alive almost all game on this occasion, whilst a TIE F/O also joined
dead pile. Having dispatched his support ship, an A Wing, I had thought I was in with a chance only to find that he could deploy an attack shuttle! What devilry was this?!?

Thankfully, it died relatively quickly but it diverted shots away from the Ghost. As time dwindled, we were told to finish our current round, one last shot from the Omega Squadron pilot hit home on the Ghost, delivering a crit...I needed to get this thing to half points at least...the crit was a Direct Hit, the double damage doing enough to get me the points, granting me a two point victory!

What can I say about my first tournament?

I'm glad it was a "home" event, it made things a bit easier for me. Playing this showed me one thing, it doesn't matter how competitive you are, the people involved in x-wing are always so chilled out. The atmosphere was fantastic, inter-table laughter mid game is not something I am used to.

Given that I had played less than ten games of x-wing before the event, I felt a sense of achievement at finishing 14/26 and am looking forward to improving my game even more. 

40k Conquest St Neots Event 26/03/16

Hello again!

So this time it's back to our monthly 40K conquest event!

Last time we all drew factions out of a hat, and I was given Eldar, so I took Starbane. So how did it go!

So once again 6 players, all using different factions, so 3 rounds it was, no prizes so just for fun, and as normal here is my quick run down!

Off We Go!

Game 1

So up against Zarathar with Ork support!

I was able to control a lot of the command in this game, this dominance allowed me to control the board, but as always Chaos have many tricks at it was a very close run game.
I won 3-2 on planets in the end, but it could of swung either way.

Win via Planets

Game 2

This time I was up against Sicarius with Guard support.

Now I was a bit worried this game, he has a lot of high HQ units that my squishy Eldar could struggle against! But alias it didnt happen.
I found myself dominating command again, I either had 4 or all 5 planets under my control, this game was quick and brutal, I took the first 3 planets, and even with him dropping more expensive units, my cheaper little guys, were able to ping another damage to take them down! So 3 planets to 0 for me.

Win via Planets

Game 3

So up against Nids this time, Old One Eye with the Stalking Lictor.

Now last event it was us two on the final table, and history repeated itself here!

Now this game started with me once again going for command domination, but with that Lictor around it was harder for me to control as many planets, instead for most of this game command was very equal. The difference? I was popping out a lot of cheaper 1 or 2 drops, while he was struggling to get much of a decent board presence, he did manage to take a planet but I was able to take the 3 I needed. As most of his draws were not good enough units or not units at all, after the first 2 turns, command turned mine very quickly, I was able to get at least 2 hammers on near enough every planet, and the Stalking Lictor found himself very useless quickly.

Win via Planets

So a local 1st place for me! As always it's a great bunch of casual players and it was a very enjoyable evening! And we are continuing to keep this up once a month, which is great!

Once again we did the random draw... this time I got Nids! So Nids next time!

X-wing Store Championship Northampton 20/03/16

Off to Northampton I went, I had my scum list all packed in till 5 minutes before I left... I changed to the Ghost, as I wanted to give it a try!

So my List for the Northampton Store Championships was

Hera, TLT, Nien, Intel, FCS
2x PS2 T-70s, R2, Integrated

So 14 players turned up for the day meaning 4 Swiss rounds!

Game 1
Han, Marksmenship, C3P0, Gunner, Title
2 x Rookies

Early game see's Hera bring up the left side and the T-70s head straight into the center, he turns all his ships in, but quickly has to turn Han away before he hits a rock, meaning the two rookies faced my entire force on their own! This saw one go down straight away, and another the turn after! This left Hera in a bad position and one T-70 damaged.

So as my ships turn around to hunt Han, a T70 goes down but not till a good few turns of shooting left Han heavily damaged, and it wasn't long till Han finally went down.

Win 100-25

The Turn Han goes down.

Game 2
3 x Contracted Scouts, Deadeye, R4, Plasma Torps, Extra Munitions, Guidance Chips.

The new dreaded wave 8 list!
I had one goal this game, and that was to sit in range 1!
Very quickly I was able to do that, dropping a Scout in the second shooting phase helped as well, I kept my ships at range 1 or out of his Arc the best I could, he did manage to get two torps off, and drop half the Ghost but was never able to actually drop a ship. One T-70 was on 1 hull left though!

Win 100-25

Pile up! There was a 3rd scout a second ago.

Game 3
Blue Bwing, FCS
Cracken, Swarm
Garvin, VI, R2D6
Dutch, Title, Targeting Astro, Autoblaster turret

This list can put out some accurate firepower which was scary for the Ghost, early turns saw the Bwing go down as well as a T70, and the other T70 going down quite quick, a few turns later Cracken went down. At this stage the Ghost was untouched, but he could destroy me quickly, but Dutch and Garvin got separated, letting me drop Garvin, before turning around and going for Dutch, he did get th Ghost down to below half, this was a close game, at one stage I thought it was game over, when it was just the Ghost vs three of his ships!

Win 100-75

Its all about to kick off!

Game 4 (Final)
IGA, Crack shot, FCS, Glitterstims, Title, Tractor Beam, HLC, Autothrusters
IGB, Crack shot, FCS, Glitterstims, Title, Tractor Beam, Mango, Autothrusters

So the final game! Up against fellow Cloud City Host Lee, this game started quite well for me, I was able to strip a IGs shields and then finish it off for a swap of a T70, he was able to whittle my Ghost down to half live, but the Ghosts firepower proved to much for the other IG and it went down. The game was played very much on my board edge with a lot of blocking and shots being denied to each other, as we both wanted the perfect shot! This make for a interesting Mosh pit!

Win 100-50

Early turns, IG finds itself in range 1, but only takes 1 point of damage.

So my first ever store championship win! The ghost is actually quite demanding to fly right, and in a couple of games I think I flew it quite well, and didn't make any mistakes with it, I think it may struggle vs aces, but I am yet to play it vs Aces, so we will see!

Store Plaque 

X-Wing Store Championship Chatteris 19/03/16

So my second store championships of the season. This time wave 8 being just released, it was going to be fun!
Now because I had already won the range ruler at MK, it was time to try new things!

Dengar, Pred, Gonk, R5-P8, Punishing One
Eval, HLC, k4, Outlaw Tech, 4-Lom

So a bit of new fun stuff! Lets see how the scum did, this was a 14 player event, so just four rounds!

Game 1
Vs
Dengar, Pred, Gonk, R5-P8, Punishing One
Cobra, PTL, Scum Stealth device
Black Sun Headhunter

In a interesting game, he cloaked Cobra, who then just disappeared in the first round of shooting! The headhunter lived longer then it should of, which caused Eval to take some real damage. After the headhunter was blown up by Eval, he had his Dengar chasing Eval, and completely ignored my Denger! His Dengar suffered a Injured Pilot just as Eval went down.

At this stage he had no shields banked on Gonk, while I still had 3, over the following turns, I was able to whittle him down.

Win 100-47

Game 2
Vs
Hera, Autoblaster turret, nien, FCS, Intel
Dash, Pred, Recon, HLC, Title

Dash found him self in a bad place, and was taken down in the 3rd round of shooting, Hera was able to deal with Eval, but then one on one Denger was able to rip up the Ghost over many turns, last turn he called the wrong move, planting himself on a rock, and allowing Dengar to finish the game in range 1.

Win 100-47

Game 3
Vs
Bossk, Engine, Gunner, Pred, Tactician, Outlaw tech
Boba, Pred, APL, Outlaw Tech, Seismic, Dampeners

Did game started quite even, both of us taking damage across all ships, my problem happened when Eval went down, while he still had both ships alive! Both were on half points by this point, and my Dengar just couldn't put any hurt on his ships, but the droid did! By the end of the game, I think R5-P8 did more damage to his ships then I did! But while on 5 hull he rolled at range 1 with bossk, crit, crit, hit, hit. I rolled 2 blanks and boom goes Dengar.

Lose 49-100

Game 4
Vs
Guri, Pred, Autothrusters
Palob, Ion Turret
Cartel Marauder x2

This game was brutal, Dengar staying in Arc most of the time, causing some real heavy damage to his scum ships! He got Eval and Dengar down to half live, but the HLC and Dengar shooting twice, plus R5-P8 was to much for his Scum ships! A cartel went down first turn, which was big, after that, I wasn't able to focus fire much, but once all his shps had 2ish Hull left each, they started to drop quickly.

Win 100-49

Overall I enjoyed Dengar, but do I stick with him for tomorrows Store Championships I am going to?Or do I try the Ghost out! To many options!

So I finished 3rd, which means I got a second range ruler and the shiny (and heavy) coin!

So a quick write up, as I have now got to choose what I am using for tomorrows event!

Cya next time!
Luke Fishy Townsend

05/03/16 X-Wing MK Store Championship

So my first X-wing Store championship of 2016.

Going into these championships I had one goal, to get the top 8 range ruler to add to my collection! I have three championships to do this!

So 46 players turned up after a couple of drop outs.

A quick run down, as this is turning into a busy month and I am not having much time for blogging!
I do have pictures, but my phone for some reason, won't let me upload them to the PC, so no pictures :(

My list I went with was

Dash, Pred, HLC, Title, Intel
2x Gold Squadrons, TLT

Not sure what to use under wave 7 currently, so I took this as it should be easy to fly and I used to run Dash all the time.

Game 1
Fel, PTL, TC Title, Autothrusters
Howlrunner, Crack Shot
3 x Black Pilots, Crack Shot

I made a big mistake this game, for some reason I parked dash in front of the ties! While Dash survived longer then he should of, in the end he went down as did the y-wings. I was able to knock off Howlrunner and a couple of ties.

Lose 49-100

Game 2
Yorr, Palp.

Fel, PTL, Title, Autothrusters, Stealth
Omega Leader, PTL, Comms Relay, Stealth

This was a game vs team make and fellow Fishy Wargaming blogger Kyle, we knew the loser of this would most likely already be out of the cut.
I used Dash to hit his ships in the corner where he stays, but I went in to sharp causing, Dash to have a couple of bad turns. Omega leader found himself battered by the Y-wings, and as Fel disengaged to get a better chance, all my ships destroyed the shuttle, to the lose of a Y-wing. When Fel came back in, he went up against Dash and the Y-wing over a few turns and end up being dropped in the end. I did lose half of Dash though!

Win 100-50

Game 3
Dutch, TLT, R2-P6, VI
Doni, TLT, tactician
Horton, TLT, R2

A game vs another one of my team mates, this time Ian. This was a funny game, the TLTs seem to do near enough nothing to each other, only Dash seemed to be able to lay down any real hurt. Doni finally went down as did one of my Y-wings, and then we just kept trading shot, but Dash's extra dice really helped to drop the rest of his ships, but Dash was heavily damaged by the end.

Win 100-50

So half way through the Swiss, being 2-1 wasn't great, knowing that the only way to make sure I got top 8 was to win all 3 of my next games!

Game 4
Poe, BB8, VI, Integrated
Dutch, TLT
Esege Tuketa, Recon, TLT

A game vs a good friend, with a very fun and interesting list. My plan was to drop the Kwing quickly, as it combo's well with Dutch. Poe and Dash had a couple of early shots at each other, with neither doing much, but Dash coming out better. Then I focused on the K-wing, which went down under the fire power, this game kept going till Dutch and one of my Y-wings went down, and then a shield-less dash and my Y-wing finished off Poe over a number of turns.

Win 100-50

Game 5
Corran, PTL, Shield, R2D2, FCS
Chewbacca, Engine, C3P0, Pred

So this game was vs Sam, another good guy, and we have played various times before, but don't think he has ever beaten me, but the games are always on a knifes edge!

This game saw Corran going through a debris field two turns running, which a action-less Corran, was being chased by Dash...it became a dead Corran.
Dash was heavily hurt by this point and spend most of the game staying away from Chewbacca. The Y-wings started hitting Chewbacca, but one went down.
Last turn of the game saw a 1 Hull Chewbacca at range 1 of a 2 hull Y-wing (who was out of arc!) and range 3 of a 2 hull Dash! Lucky for me, Dash killed off Chewbacca... If he didn't Sam would of took that game! Wow it was close!

Win 100-50

Game 6
Fel, PTL, Stealth, Autothrusters, Title
Whisper, VI, ACD, FCS
Yorr.

I made many mistakes this game, I was able to drop Whisper with TLT's and also drop the shuttle, but when Dash went down early, the TLTs just couldn't put enough damage on Fel.

Lose 63-100

I was gutted losing this game, as with that I thought quite a bad MOV, I was out of the running. So packed up I did, and got ready to leave....

And rankings were called.... I was 8th! I made it in by 21 MOV!!

So a quick bit of food and unpack and I was off again for top 8!
Now I got my range ruler, so I was quite happy.. but I couldn't get my head back into gaming mode, and it showed...

Top 8
Vader, VI, Title, ATC
Whisper, VI, FCS, ACD
Shuttle, Palp

So a quick run down.... I lost quite badly, this game was recorded so I wont say much, but I didn't fly well at all, I did drop Vader but that was it.

Good day, but a long day!
The guy (David) I lost to in the top 8 went on to win the event! Go David!

I have two more championships at the end of the month!!

Luke Fishy Townsend