"The Girl I've Heard So Much About" - Introducing 'Super Miranda'

I had my introduction for this article scuppered by a rare black hole in the lore of the Star Wars Universe, which can usually be relied upon to supply any number of inane facts about even the most obscure of bit part characters.  For instance: did you know that "Hobbie" Klivian was a classmate of Wedge Antilles in the Imperial Academy?  That the elite Z-95 pilot N'Dru Suhlak was trained by Porkins and Wes Janson?  That Soontir Fel married Wedge's sister then joined the Alliance, then rejoined the Empire, then created his own Empire... yadda yadda yadda.

There might be the fate of an entire galaxy at stake in the Star Wars universe, but you'd never know from the way that virtually every character we meet is either related to, or a friend of, everybody else - you wouldn't need Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon to get from Carnor Jax to Breylann Stramm!

Just to prove this to myself I did the trail... it turns out you only need five degrees of separation.  Carnor Jax served as a Royal Guard to Emperor Palpatine, who was the Sith master of Anakin Skywalker, who was the father of Princess Leia Organa, who was stationed at Echo Base on Hoth with Adon Fox, who led Blade Squadron with Breylan Stramm as his #2.  Easy!

So anyway, somewhere in this interwoven web of relationships with everyone getting all up in each other's business there turns out to be a complete black hole of information about Miranda Doni.  All that the all-knowing font of wisdom Wookiepedia seems to have on Miranda is a description of the art from her X-Wing pilot card - she flies a K-Wing, at some point she flew that K-Wing over a forest, and she destroyed a TIE Fighter that was following her. That's your lot!

Which is a shame, not just because it forced me to ad-lib this opening to my blog about not having an opening to my blog, but because she's probably the single most important pilot in the Rebellion right now.

Help Us, Miranda Doni, You're Our Only Hope

Miranda Doni has been a stalwart choice for Rebel pilots ever since Wave 7 debuted the K-Wing but at the recent World Championships she emerged in a new and more powerful form, heavily loaded with ordnance.  No longer content to just sit on the sidelines and chip away with her Twin Laser Turret, the Miranda Doni that Kevin Leintz flew to the final of the World Championships was ready to take centre stage and carry the whole galaxy on her shoulders.

Teaming up for some 'girl power' with Sabine Wren this is Miranda costing a hefty 52 points and loaded for war, and it's the version that took Kevin to success at Worlds and also, coincidentally, ended my run in the Top 16 of a Regionals Championship last weekend.  I can't lay claim to this great bit of analysis, but a commentor on Reddit asked the question why Dash Rendar isn't being played very much at the moment and a fellow Redditor, Maert, suggested that it's because Miranda is competing for the same space in Rebel player's lists and that she's better at it.  I think that's pretty much right.

So has 'Super Dash' been usurped by 'Super Miranda'?

Although Dash Rendar's movement abilities are extremely powerful his attack patterns are actually quite predictable and one-dimensional.  He's always going to look to stay at long range, try and get behind you, hide behind rocks, run from a fight.  Although this makes him a formidable foe it's also his undoing against better pilots, and because his build is so specific once you learn how to beat Dash you're going to be able to do it time and time again.

Miranda Doni, on the other hand, threatens in so many different ways that she presents a much more difficult problem to unpick.  Yes, she can stay at range and pick away with her Twin Laser Turret, much the way Dash does. and yes she can duck and run for cover with her Advanced SLAM action much the way Dash can barrel roll and boost through asteroids.  But that's far from the only trick up Miranda's sleeve, as she can launch devastating four & five dice Homing Missile attacks at anyone caught in her front arc, or drop her Ion Bombs and Connor Nets in dozens of potential locations each turn thanks to the Advanced SLAM upgrade.

The example shows how flexible Miranda's bombing runs are.  Here she drops her Connor Net in front of Soontir Fel after performing a SLAM, but she could just have easily dropped an Ion bomb behind her initial start point, or a Connor Net behind her after that first maneuver had been completed.

Connor Nets and Ion Bombs help Miranda to control her enemies as well as damage them, with Ion tokens making their next moves predictable.  This is part of the reason why she's been played so successfully with Corran Horn as her wingman, setting up ionised targets for Corran to sweep in pummel with his 'double tap' ability.  They're also a huge reason why Miranda Doni has become popular here and now, at this moment of TIE Defender resurgence thanks to their /x7 title, because Miranda loves to hunt Defender pilots down.  Not only do the bombs provide a way of ensuring you deal damage to the TIE Defender through all their defences, but an ionised TIE Defender drifts forwards helplessly instead of K-turning with abandon and supported by Evade tokens.  The anti-Defender loadout doesn't stop there, either, with Homing Missiles removing the Defender's ability to use that Evade token and are especially dangerous when Miranda Doni is firing them as she can spend a shield token to hurl an extra dice in her attack.

So, unlike Dash Rendar, Miranda is as much (or more) of a threat when you engage her head-on as she is when she's ducking and diving with her turret at the edge of range 3, and though her Twin Laser Turret has a 'dead zone' at range one like Dash's Heavy Laser Cannon does it's covered by Miranda's primary turret weapon.  And whichever way she chooses to fight you she can either thread her way through your forces dropping bombs as she goes, or leave them in her wake as you try to chase her down.

Oh, and did I mention she regenerates her shields to outlast Dash Rendar into the endgame?  Yeah, she does that too.

The Girl You Love To Hate

This 'Super Miranda', if you want to coin that phrase, is a formidable opponent - one that summarily despatched me from the Regional Championships - but she's an opponent I find hard to hate.

Look at the things that make her great and it's a checklist of game mechanics that were underutilised and people were crying out to use.  Not just Missiles & Torpedoes outside of Contracted Scouts, but Bombs... BOMBS, for crying out loud!  And not just any bombs, but ION bombs - Miranda is actively using Ion tokens to control the board and defeat opponents!

Ion Bombs came second at Worlds.  How bonkers is that?!?

Looking back even a short period of time and this whole scenario seemed utterly implausible.  Miranda and her fellow regenerating Rebels were driven out of the metagame by Contracted Scouts but since they've left and TIE Defenders have surged into the metagame it took somebody like Miranda Doni and the spacious bomb bays of her K-Wing to rise to the challenge of punching through the Empire's new high-tech terrors.

"We're the heavy hitters. When you need a command bridge leveled or a convoy of tanks wiped out, the K-wings get the call." - Miranda Doni

While I've come to loathe playing against 'Super Dash' I can't really complain about 'Super Miranda'.  Something about Dash always felt a bit cheap, as he leaned on the crutch of Push The Limit and that extra power of the geometry of repositioning with a large base ship.  It always felt like you were fighting an uphill battle against his abuse of game mechanics, and as he steadfastly refused to stand up and fight the games against Dash were always hard work as you tried to corral him into a corner.  Win or lose I've rarely (ever?) enjoyed a game against Dash and he's probably the one pilot I hate to see across the table more than any other.

Miranda, by contrast, with her huge range of potential attack vectors, makes for a much more interesting opponent.  She has so many options at her disposal that 'Super Miranda' is something of a pilot's pilot, I feel, really rewarding skillful flying and demanding superb tactical awareness to use her to her fullest. 

Flying against Miranda Doni is also hugely skill-testing - every turn you're facing Miranda you have to plan around the many places she could go, the many areas of the board that she could drop her bombs.  By the time you've managed to work all that out you've then got to try and worry about actually getting shots on her, and did you forget that if you stumble in front of her she'll pummel you with missiles?  Did you plan far enough ahead to avoid your ship flying off the table when it got ionised?  (plot twist: I didn't and it cost me the game)

Han?  Rey?  Dash?  Luke?  Poe?   They may have the glory, the medals and the fame but in dark times for the Rebellion it's Miranda Doni who is guiding the way.  And while she continues to provide such interesting and skillful encounters then long may she reign!

Upgrade Spotlight - Hotshot Co-Pilot

I can't speak for anybody else, but so far I'm finding Heroes of the Resistance a major disappointment.  I was so excited for this pack and what it brought to the table for the Rebels, but the reality seems to be that it is falling short.  I think pretty much every group around the world will have put a version of Rey onto the table to test, but the feedback I'm getting is that she's generally not working out.  Alongside Rey we've got a very poor Chewbacca and an unusual new Han Solo that I think it will take a while for people to really work out.  In the T-70 corner there are some amazing pilot cards, but the rise of TIE Defenders in tournaments mean that even the new T-70 pilots are still a little outclassed in a dogfight.

So where a couple of months ago I thought we would be looking at A New Hope for the Rebllion in all-new Rey/Poe tournament winning squad, instead the Rebellion has turned out to be a variation on the old hope - Corran/Miranda.

Away from all the frantic testing around the new Rebel pilot cards in Heroes of the Resistance, though, something that I had initially ignored has caught my eye: I'm learning to really appreciate the Hotshot Co-Pilot.

What Hotshot Co-Pilot does is it forces your opponent to spend his Focus token against you at the first opportunity.  If you have a high Pilot Skill this means that you're likely to be firing first and thus removing his Focus in defense.  

It's a slightly confusing card, rules-wise, with players finding an array of niche cases of "but what if I do X do you have to spend a Focus then?" but in 99% of circumstances and situations the use if quite clear - when they come to their dice modification step they have to spend a Focus.  It doesn't matter if they've got any eyeball results on their dice on not, it doesn't even matter if they HAVE dice or not, the dice modification step gives an opportunity to spend Focus to turn all eyeball results into hits/evades so they have to spend it.  

The immediate advantages of this are not so clear, and certainly didn't seem worth 4pts to me, so I wasn't really looking at Hotshot Co-Pilot very closely.

EDIT: I missed this first time around, so you may have too - Hotshot Co-Pilot only triggers when you are attacking with a PRIMARY weapon.  So it's no good on TLT K-Wings or the like.

Hotshot Co-Pilot Wins The Day

The list that first made me pay attention to Hotshot Co-Pilot was the one played by Doug Howe to win the Regional in Omaha a couple of weeks ago, which featured a new spin on the classic pairing of Decimator and TIE Phantom.

• Rear Admiral Chiraneau (Decimator) - Gunner, Hotshot Co-Pilot, Engine Upgrade, Veteran Instincts

• Echo (TIE Phantom) - Agent Kallus, Fire-Control System, Advanced Cloaking Device, Veteran Instincts

Instead of the usual Chiraneau/Whisper we saw the less fashionable Echo behind the controls of the TIE Phantom, but most interesting to me was the use of Hotshot Co-Pilot in one of the Decimator's precious crew slots, in particular it seemed to be replacing the stalwart Decimator crew Rebel Captive.  I get the relationship between Gunner and Hotshot Co-Pilot: you fire once to burn their Focus token hoping that they'll avoid the damage, then fire again once the Focus token is gone and push for maximum damage against their depleted defences.  It's a good way of pushing more damage through but for a combined 9pts it felt far too expensive.  Replacing the defensive crew of Rebel Captive with Hotshot Co-Pilot to deal more damage seemed very reckless.

Then I had the 'mind blown' moment.  Hotshot Co-Pilot isn't just helping you push more damage through with Gunner, it's also damage prevention that effectively cancels 25% of incoming damage by ensuring people firing at you don't have a Focus token to spend on their attack!  In fact, when I ran the numbers, it turned out that removing a focus from your opponent before they attack is roughly as good as using C-3P0 crew to ensure you get an Evade result, and even better at range 1!

This cast Hotshot Co-Pilot in a different light - it's virtually a dual-threat upgrade that both helped you push damage through with Gunner but also contributed to your defense.  

The second 'epiphany' moment came when I realised that Gunner gave you the option to fire at a second target and remove Focus from that as well!  The twin upgrades of Gunner & Hotshot Co-Pilot combine to provide either extra damage (by hitting the same target twice) or maximise defenses (by stripping Focus from two different opponents), as the situation demands.  What was more, you didn't have to save that defensive bonus for shot coming into the Decimator, you could use Hotshot Co-Pilot almost like a shield to protect other ships in your list!  To use the above squad in the example if Echo found himself in a bad spot then Chiraneau could provide suppressing fire onto two ships that would be about to unload on the Phantom, helping to keep him alive. 

Compared to the C-3PO that players are happy to pay 3pts for on the Millenium Falcon the defensive benefit of Hotshot Co-Pilot could be significantly more, and it can be thrown out to cover your other ships!

Hotshot Han

This list I'm trying out brings me back full circle to where I started the blog, because after Rey has proven a disappointment I wanted to give the new 'old' Han Solo pilot ability a run out (partially inspired by the success of Jack Mooney's Han/Jake list at the World Championships).  

I think this Han Solo pilot ability is potentially extremely powerful, but I also think that it will take players some time to really figure it out.  Every time you bring Han Solo to the table your opponent has to worry about where you're going to set up, and will likely to have to change away from their usual plan.  Getting 'turn 0' wrong by deploying your ships or asteroids in the wrong place can be almost impossible to correct once the game is underway, and Han Solo gives your opponent the opportunity to screw up their deployment whether you ultimately decided to deploy Han right across the table or not!  I wanted to experiment with that, but also give Hotshot Co-Pilot a runout at the same time.

• Han Solo (HotR) - Lone Wolf, Hotshot Co-Pilot, Luke Skywalker, Millenium Falcon (Evade), Engine Upgrade (64)

• Poe Dameron (Core) - Adaptability, R5-P9, Autothrusters (36)

Trying to field the fattest possible Han Solo meant scraping the barrel to fit Poe Dameron in as cheaply as I could but it just about worked.  The reason I went for Poe as a partner is twofold:

1. If Han is going to deploy across the table he will need backup that can get to him quickly - with a 4 straight and a Boost action Poe fits the bill for this.
2. It was a good test of Hotshot Co-Pilot's 'shielding' effect.  Poe Dameron can be a lethal endgame threat with his regeneration, but these days he tends to get brutally focused down before he ever gets there.  With Han both disrupting my opponent's setup and able to steal Focus from anybody planning to fire at Poe, he could be just the trick to help Poe get to the end of the game.

It's going to take a bunch of games to learn the various kinks in the new Han Solo, but the first couple of games we've played definitely proved the defensive value of Hotshot Co-Pilot, although it also showed that the dual nature of the upgrade would take some getting used to.  It's very tempting to get locked into stripping Focus from two ships every turn but that doesn't tend to deal very much damage, so there's going to be a balance that needs to be struck and it seems like Han really needs to work closely with Poe to focus down the same targets.

B is for Bossk

• IG-88B (Aggressor) - Lone Wolf, Fire Control System, Mangler Cannon, Glitterstim, IG-2000, Autothrusters (48)

• Bossk (YV-666) - Veteran Instincts, Mangler Cannon, IG-88D, Dengar, Hotshot Co-Pilot, Engine Upgrade (52)

This Scum list follows a similar template but takes advantage of the unique ability of IG-88D crew to bring a 'gunner' effect onto Bossk's YV-666 for just a single point!  Sitting up at PS9 Bossk functions as overwatch artillery for the list, with Hotshot Co-Pilot functioning to help push critical hits through with his Mangler Cannon, reduce incoming damage from one or more targets, or shield his Aggressor partner if the opponent chooses to chase them instead.

This list is entirely untested but shows how Hotshot Co-Pilot can fit into some creative lists.  After some games I'll get a feel for which ship my opponents are targeting first, I assume it will be Bossk but if players feel they have better chance against the Aggressor then I can make it tougher to kill be replacing Fire Control System and Glitterstim with a Sensor Jammer.  Turning hits down to eyeballs with Sensor Jammer can be very profitable if Hotshot Copilot is already stripping focus from them!

EDIT: just as I'd missed that Hotshot Co-Pilot only works with Primary weapons, so I'd not realised that my IGG-88/Bossk plan is a little compromised by this.  It's not 'dead',it just means Bossk won't be able to strip Focus from two different targets as his cannon shot won't trigger Hotshot Co-Pilot.  That's not so bad, and seeing as I've paid a bargain 1pt for my 'Gunner' I'll take a bit of loss in power!

 

There's various loadouts to choose from, so the two Mangler Cannons could be a Tractor Beam on Bossk and a Heavy Laser Cannon on IG-88B, for instance.  That would maximise your damage when used in concert, but doesn't play particularly to Bossk's pilot ability the way Mangler Cannon does.

The Weaknesses

So throughout this blog I've talked about the strength of Hotshot Co-Pilot, particularly on defense, but let's recognise that it's not always going to work like that.  Any time your opponent takes a Target Lock action instead of a Focus then it does nothing.  Any time they've got multiple Focus tokens, or can regenerate them with something like Overlocked R4, it does nothing.  In a field stocked with Attani Mindlink, Manaroo and Dengaroo lists the value of Hotshot Co-Pilot is a lot less certain.

I'm not putting my Gold Standard 'this is a great upgrade' seal of approval onto Hotshot Co-Pilot just yet, but I'm going to continue exploring just how much it can contribute to both defense and offense in a single slot, particularly in conjunction with Gunner abilities.  For an upgrade that I'd originally discounted I'm very interested to see how it actually performs.

Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking? - Mindlink Revisited

A couple of blogs ago I wrote about Attani Mindlink seemed to be gaining some followers and was possibly on the brink of becoming 'the next big thing'.  Since then we've seen a proliferation of different squads around the world, all taking advantage of the incredible action economy that Attani Mindlink provides.

A month down the line I'd like to highlight some of the recent developments in Mindlinks as players around the world explore different routes to victory, because what's becoming clear is that Attani Mindlink really is taking off in a big way...

Control Mindlink or "HWKlink"

(Andrew Pattison - UK Nationals, Jesper Hills - World Championships, Winner - Regional Hamburg)

Let's start here, with what is basically the list that I discussed last time around.  This has cropped up in various similar configurations around the world but has perhaps been most notably played by players from the 186th Squadron podcast, including former UK Champ Jesper Hills who took this list to the World Championships.

• Manaroo (37) - Attani Mindlink, K4 Security Droid, Plasma Torpedo, Unhinged Astromech, Guidance Chips, Feedback Array
• Fenn Rau (32) - Attani Mindlink, Concorde Dawn Protector, Autothrusters
• Palob Godalhi (27) - Attani Mindlink, Autoblaster Turret, Cloaking Device, Stygium Particle Accelerator

The basic points cost for Manaroo and Palob are so low that you've got a lot of leeway for upgrades and the specifics of how you field the list, especially in Palob's turret options (everything from Autoblaster Turret to Twin Laser Turret is viable) and the crew slots on both Manaroo and the HWK.  At Worlds Jesper Hills opted for Autoblaster Turret and a big initiative bid (which is important in mirror matches to time whose Manaroo/Palob effects happen last), and neither really worked out for him.

A slightly different version of the archetype is this one, which won a Regional Championship in Hamburg a couple of weekends ago:

• Fenn Rau (32) - Attani Mindlink, Autothrusters, Concord Dawn Protector
• Palob (31) - Attani Mindlink, Twin Laser Turret, Cloaking Device, Stygium Particle Generator
• Manaroo (36)- Attani Mindlink, Plasma Torpedoes, Extra Munitions, R4 Agromech, 4-LOM, Guidance Chips

Same ships, different upgrades.  I call all these variations 'control Mindlink' because only Fenn Rau is really dedicated to dealing damage while Manaroo and Palob are more interested in controlling the action economy both players have available to modify their dice, and where their ships can go on the board to be safe from Palob's token-stripping shenanigans.

Fangaroo

(Ben Lee - World Championships Top 8)

If the 'HWKlink' list is primarily about control then the polar opposite of that is 'Fangaroo', which brings huge offensive output against anything foolish enough to drop into range one of Fenn Rau and Old Teroch.  The 'Fangaroo' squad was one of the first lists to appear when Wave 9 was spoiled and was extensively tested online by players using Vassal, before ultimately being discarded.  Those players were usually testing with Fearlessness or Push The Limit as their EPT slots, but Ben Lee of the 186th squadron saw the Mindlinks that the rest of his group were using and grabbed them with both hands.  Ultimately those Mindlinks carried him into the Top-8 of Worlds!

• Fenn Rau (32) - Attani Mindlink, Autothrusters, Concord Dawn Protector
• Old Teroch (30) - Attani Mindlink, Autothrusters, Concord Dawn Protector
• Manaroo (34) - Attani Mindlink, K4 Security Droid, Unhinged Astromech, Feedback Array

This is the scum equivalent of the 'Palp Aces' lists of the past with Manaroo scooting around providing Focus & Target Locks to her buddies, much as the Lambda Shuttle did for the Imperials with Palpatine aboard, while Teroch and Fenn focus fire to eliminate targets. Nobody wants to find themselves at Range 1 of these buddies and even a TIE Defender is likely to explode in a single turn of fire after Old Teroch has stripped their tokens and Fenn Rau has opened up with five fully modified attack dice!

Big Tank Mindlink

(Garret Jost - World Championships 6-2 record)

The list that Garret Jost played to a 6-2 record at Worlds  (missing out on Top-16 on MOV) was different again, as Garret sank over half his points into the tractor-beaming Shadowcaster of Ketsu Onyo.  With that much in one place he then had to find two budget ships to carry his Mindlinks - a Protectorate Fighter and a Scyk with a cannon - to create a list that was dedicated to pushing out damage.

• Ketsu Onyo (51) - Veteran Instincts, Engine Upgrade, Dengar, Glitterstim, Shadow Caster
• Tansarri Point Vet (24) - Attani Mindlink, Heavy Scyk, Mangler Cannon
• Concord Dawn Ace (25) - Attani Mindlink, Concord Dawn Protector

This list is one of the rare 'hybrid' Attani Mindlink lists where not every ship is sharing the Mindlink, as Ketsu herself has Veteran Instincts.  As such it's a good example of much removing a Mindlink from your list can hurt the synergies - it's not removing 1/3rd of the power Attani Mindlink (1 of 3 Focus Tokens) it's actually removing 1/2 of the power (1 of 2 extra Focus tokens on top of the one you'd get from a Focus action anyway).  That's one of the weaknesses of any Attani Mindlink list - once they start losing ships on the table, the benefits of the Mindlinks starts to decline quite rapidly.

Ketsu is a tough centrepiece for Garret's list, and anything that she hits will get tractored thanks to either her ability or the title, and then the flimsy fighters can sweep in and smash it up.  Garrett obviously had a great reason to play Ketsu at PS9 with Veteran Instincts, but I would be very tempted to switch that for a third Attani Mindlink and let the synergies flow.  At PS7 with focus from Mindlink and rerolls from Dengar then Ketsu Onyo could rely on her offense being reliable at all times, leaving her action free to Evade every turn.  

Paratanni

(Maciej Paracszcak Top-8 Regional Poland, Winner Regional Leiden)

'Paratanni', named after its originator Maciej Paracszcak, is a squad that first came to my attention when it began being discussed in the comments under my last Attani Mindlink article, and since then I've seen it pop up in a few places.  Maciej himself played it to Top 8 in his Regional, it won the Regional in Leiden (Holland), and the venerable Majorjuggler (of Listjuggler fame) has picked it up as a strong contender for his next squad.

• Asajj Ventress (40) - Attani Mindlink, Latts Razzi
• Fenn Rau (32) - Attani Mindlink, Concord Dawn Protector, Autothrusters
• Manaroo (28) - Attani Mindlink

What Paratanni does, more than anything else, is demonstrate that all you really need is Attani Mindlink to build a strong list.  Where Garret Jost spent 51pts on his Ketsu Onyo at Worlds this list brings Asajj Ventress in at just 40pts with very little loss in power.  This means that, compared to the sacrifices that Garret had to make in his list, Maciej can bring in the full Fenn Rau from Ben Lee's 'Fangaroo' as a partner, and Manaroo with just Attani Mindlink is one of the most efficient ways to spend those sorts of points.  

With just 8pts spent on upgrades (3 of which are Attani Mindlink!) Maciej has managed to squeeze an awful lot of ship into his list, without really sacrificing on action economy or hitting power too badly.

Despite only costing 40pts Asajj Ventress can prove incredibly tough and tanky.  It's entirely possible that she will roll up into combat with two Focus tokens (donated by Mindlink & Manaroo), an Evade token from her own action, and a stress token on a nearby ship that she can spend for another evade thanks to Latts Razzi.  Asajj may only have two green dice but can easily shrug off some huge attacks.  She makes a hard target to kill, but if you ignore her then she will happily crawl over the back of you handing out stress tokens, making it harder to chase Fenn or Manaroo.

Bobatanni
(uh... me!)

Bobatanni is the brainchild of yours truly, although in truth it's been heavily influenced by discussing Paratanni extensively with Maciej.  My list began with the synergy between Boba Fett getting free rerolls from his ability and free Focus tokens from Attani Mindlink, making his dice very reliable.  I originally built something with /x7 TIE Defenders in mind, using Boba Fett and N'Dru Suhlak with Homing Missiles, backed by Manaroo... a structure probably very similar to Garret Jost's list with a 50pt centrepiece requiring some compromises in his support team.

When I saw Paratanni I realised I could scrape a lot of the extra toys off Boba Fett to upgrade N'Dru Suhlak to Fenn Rau, and 'Bobatanni' was born. 

• Boba Fett (41) - Attani Mindlink, 4-LOM, Slave I
• Fenn Rau (31) - Attani Mindlink, Autothrusters
• Manaroo (28) - Attani Mindlink 

The final change I made was to remove Concord Dawn Protector title from Fenn Rau to add 4-LOM to Boba Fett.  When I sat down to compare Boba Fett to Asajj Ventress I came to the conclusion that Asajj was almost certainly better, in a direct 40pts vs 40pts comparison - Bobatanni was nice because I got to use Boba Fett again, but ultimately Asajj was just better, with her movable arc and stress-dealing.  But, if I could leverage the Firespray's empty crew slot to add more damage output then there would be a reason to use Boba Fett.

This table shows what you buy with Boba Fett over Asajj - more damage output thanks to 4-LOM, especially at Range 1 with Boba Fett's rerolls.  Is it enough to make Bobatanni better than Paratanni?  Well in our minds here in my playgroup all we can come up with is "it's probably a playstyle thing".  Boba is admittedly harder to leverage in a game as you can't move his arc, but when he does get 'guns-on' he's capable of doing a lot more than Asajj, especially against targets laden with tokens, and his rerolls certainly help him survive in a dog-eat-dog world.  And, before you ask, we don't feel we lose much by taking the title off Fenn Rau - certainly less than we gain by adding firepower to Boba Fett with 4-LOM.

Bumplink

(Runner Up - Omaha Regional)

I thought that the above lists more or less covered most of the options available with Attani Mindlink (controlling, aggressive, tanky) but then I saw the results of the Omaha Regional and the frankly disgusting list that came 2nd there.  

Look out, he's a hugger!

• Contracted Scout (33) - Attanni Mindlink, Intelligence Agent, R4 Agromech, Feedback Array, Anti-Pursuit Lasers
• Contracted Scout (34) - Attanni Mindlink, Intelligence Agent, R5-P8, Feedback Array, Anti-Pursuit Lasers
• Contracted Scout (33) - Attanni Mindlink, Plasma Torpedoes, Intelligence Agent, R4 Agromech, Black Market Slicer Tools, Guidance Chips

Triple Jumpmasters are back, with two of them featuring disgusting close range bumping technology like Anti-Pursuit Lasers, Intelligence Agent and Feedback Array. 

This list is like a Boa Constrictor and once it gets close and lands a bump it can just strangle the life out of your ships.  Tight-turning big bases and barrel rolls to ensure they bump again (knowing where you're going with Intelligence Agent) and the list just gradually squeezes tighter and tighter with little turret shots supporting the damage from Anti-Pursuit Lasers and Feedback Array.  It's not even really clear how many ships would ever be able to escape once the Jumpmasters have closed range and made those first bumps.

I've not played with or against this list yet, and frankly I'm pretty sure I don't WANT to play against it, but it's another demonstration of just how versatile Attani Mindlink is.   

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Mindlinks

You can see the evolution of the ideas through these lists, from the controlling HWKlink to the aggressive Fangaroos who share the Manaroo/K4 combo, onto the tanky Ketsu Onyo of Garret Jost to the stripped down basics of Paratanni/Bobatanni, before finally coming around full circle to a heavy controlling list with the Bumplink that did well in Omaha.  All these lists are very different but they're all finding success, and the connecting factor across them all is Attani Mindlink, which for just 3 points in your squad provides some incredible action economy, particularly when combined with somebody like Manaroo or Palob. 

If you've got any other new & exciting uses for Mindlink I'd love to hear about them, and together we can build a bright new Attani future for the Scum & Villainy faction!

Do a Barrel Roll!

This is going to be a very brief blog because there's not really a whole lot to say and I plan on not outstaying my welcome.

Vectored Thrusters and Turrets.  It's a thing.  Try it.

If you think of all the turrets that are around they're either short-ranged bubbles like Autoblaster Turret, Dorsal Turret etc, or they've got that 'donut' you don't want people to get into.  And when you think of the sorts of ships that get turret slots they don't really have much in the way of maneuvering options - Y-Wings, K-Wings, HWKs etc don't go in for arc dodging very much.

Without Vectored Thrusters your Autoblaster Turret's 'bubble' is easy to avoid.

Vectored Thrusters fills this niche very nicely.  Whether it's with Autoblaster Turret on Kavil to make your deadly bubble nearly 3 times larger with barrel rolls, or whether it's Twin Laser Turret on Miranda Doni to keep your enemies at arms length or dodge out of arcs... Vectored Thrusters on turrets is a thing.  Your turreted ships don't care about where their arcs are - they don't need to boost around 45 degrees to get a shot they just need to manage their range to targets and go where opponents can't shoot at them.  Vectored Thrusters is very good at that.

Vectored Thrusters more than doubles the area you can threaten, even with just a Range 1 turret!

• Kavil (Y-Wing) - Veteran Instincts, Autoblaster Turret, Vectored Thrusters (29pts for a PS9 Soontir Fel killer)

• Miranda Doni (K-Wing) - Twin Laser Turret, C-3PO, Vectored Thrusters (40pts for a regenerating Twin Laser Turret that can barrel roll out of range 1 or SLAM away in an emergency)

That is all.  You can go now.  I told you it would be brief!

Attani Mindlink - The Next Big Thing?

Pacific Rim was a shitty movie.

I know that Guillermo Del Toro has a lot of enthusiastic fans who think the director can do no wrong, especially among the science fiction guys who consider him to be 'one of us' but I'm afraid that when it comes to Pacific Rim I have to call bullshit.  Hellboy was great and Pan's Labyrinth is a masterpiece, but I'm not having elite two-hundred feet tall mechs defending the earth from an extra-dimensional invasion by utilising the ultimate power of a good right hook.  

For those fortunate souls who haven't yet seen Pacific Rim: the premise is that giant alien monsters are emerging from the sea and the best response that all of earth's scientists and military minds can come up with are:

1) build a wall around the ocean.  That's a wall.  Around the ocean.  All of the ocean.  And the same moviegoers who think Donald Trump is a barking lunatic for wanting to build a wall along the whole of the US/Mexico border are perfectly happy to suspend disbelief about building a wall AROUND THE ENTIRE OCEAN.

2) if the wall doesn't work we'll just punch the monsters in the face.  It's a weird macho John Wayne revival where even the biggest problem humanity has ever faced can be solved by just smashing a bottle over Godzilla's head and sliding him along the bar in a saloon.

Seriously, it's like Gullermo Del Toro watched some of the trashiest mechwar anime's and just decided "yeah that's what I want to spend $190m dollars remaking in a really dark, confusing and loud way".   Plot?  Nah.  Character development?  Nah.  Fight scenes where you can see what's happening?  Nah.  It was just dark and noisy.  I actually saw Pacific Rim in IMAX and the only thing I got out of that movie experience was a pounding headache. 

Anyway, this blog isn't intended to mark a change in direction to becoming a movie reviews website.  I'm bringing up Pacific Rim because one of the many, MANY, things about it that made no sense at all is that pilots of these huge mechanical battle robots have to be able to form a psychic link in order to drive them, with one pilot controlling the left side of the mech and the other controlling the right side.  Not just any two people can get in and drive these mechs either, by the way, instead the survival of the human race depends on finding people with these incredible psychic connections who can pilot the mechs.  Its a really deep bond that's very rare to find, so the Americans have a pair of brothers driving their mech, for instance, while the Australians have a father & son partnership.  

And if you don't have that sort of close family bond with somebody then you just have to hit each other with sticks for thirty seconds, after which you're apparently good to go.

Pacific Rim, everyone..

Anyway, finally getting around to X-Wing I want to talk about Attani Mindlink, which is basically an Elite Pilot Talent that mimics the same psychic connection between pilots that makes Pacific Rim the incredible cinematic masterpiece that it is.  Attani Mindlink arrived in the Punishing One expansion in Wave 8 but because everyone has been so distracted by what Deadeye can do in Contracted Scouts, or what Lone Wolf can do in Dengaroo, I think the potential of Attani Mindlink has kind of gone under the radar a little.

The promise of what Attani Mindlink can deliver plays right to the core of many successful X-Wing strategies - it's action economy in the same sort of way as Push The Limit.  If any one of your ships takes a Focus action then everybody gets a Focus token, meaning they're free to do something else as well with their own action.  The downside is that any stress gets shared about as well so you have to be careful a]to avoid planning red maneuvers for multiple ships in the same turn but the payoff of that action economy is more than worth it.

I first ran into Attani Mindlink in competitive use just before the UK National Championships, with it appearing under the control of innovative local player Dan Sellen.  Dan had used Attani Mindlink as the glue to hold together a squad of relatively unfashionable ships - a Y-Wing, a HWK-290 and a StarViper.  Setting my elite TIE Swarm down across the table from this squad I had all but assumed the win was in the bag before a dial had even been placed in anger... a HWK and a StarViper?  Puh-lease, this is easy meat.  I did win that game due to Dan placing his StarViper in a bad spot on the initial engagement so I could kill Guri before she ever fired, but even after that great start the rough time I had chasing down his two remaining ships did enough to teach me that there was lot more to his squad than met the eye.

• Kavil (Y-Wing) - Attani Mindlink, Dorsal Turret, Unhinged Astromech Plasma Torpedoes, Guidance Chips (32pts)

• Palob Godalhi (HWK-290) - Attani Mindlink, Twin Laser Turret, 4-LOM, Cloaking Device, Stygium Particle Accelerator (32pts)

• Guri (StarViper) - Attani Mindlink, Virago, Fire Control System, Autothrusters (36pts)

As well taking Focus actions Dan gets extra use of Attani Mindlink from either Palob or Guri's pilot abilities, giving him a ton of freedom about being able to take a lot of other actions instead/as well.  It means Guri is free to boost or barrel roll, or that Kavil can take a Target Lock for his torpedoes and still focus the dice up.  I've met Dan's squad again a couple of times outside of tournaments, not playing my TIE Swarm it must be said,  and been well schooled each time so I've developed a healthy respect for the list and the action economy of Attani Mindlink.  

Since seeing what Dan has been able to do with Attani Mindlink is has long been on my list of things I wanted to try out, especially with the Protectorate Fighter coming in Wave 9.  This is what I put onto the table when I got the chance...

• Kavil (Y-Wing) - Attani Mindlink, Dorsal Turret, Unhinged Astromech Plasma Torpedoes, Guidance Chips (32pts)

• Fenn Rau (Protectorate Starfighter) - Attani Mindlink, Concord Dawn Protector, Stealth Device (33pts)

• Guri (StarViper) - Attani Mindlink, Virago, Fire Control System, Black Market Slicer Tools (35pts)

I replaced Palob Godalhi, with the brand new threat of Fenn Rau.  The intention of this list is to try and get in close and be as aggressive as possible, which suits me.  Fenn Rau, Guri and Kavil (with his Dorsal Turret) all get bonuses for being at Range 1 so get in close and just roll as many red dice as possible and punish the opponent.  

I immediately found it a powerful list but also an interesting one to play with as you have to plan ahead quite carefully to manage the best times to pull those red maneuvers and give everyone stress.  I opted for Stealth Device over Autothrusters primarily because there's not really much synergy between Autothrusters and Fenn Rau's desire to get right in the face of the opponent and found that extra green dice consistently useful considering how that I could get a couple of Focus tokens onto Fenn if need be.

It was a real blast to play, getting into point blank range and hurling all those red dice at your opponent, and when they were rolling back and I had five green dice and a free Evade?  I felt pretty safe.  Although I won most of my games with this list I did feel, though, that it was a step below the really great squads.  When Kavil found himself a long way from the fight he could take a long time to get back, especially to range 2 for the Dorsal Turret, and the limitations of Guri's dial were a little too much once I started getting stress every turn from Asajj Ventress in her Shadow Caster.

And then I saw the lists that were published for the UK Team Championship.

The UKTC (to shorten it) is going to be held 9th October 2016 and sees players forming teams of three players who each bring a team from one of the three factions.  One very interesting wrinkle about how the UKTC is organised is that they've required players to submit their lists in advance and then made them all public knowledge ahead of the event.  And this is what the former UK National Champion Jesper Hills is bringing to the table...

• Fenn Rau (Protectorate Starfighter) - Attani Mindlink, Concord Dawn Protector, Autothrusters (32pts)

• Manaroo (Jumpmaster 5000)- Attani Mindlink, Plasma Torpedoes, Unhinged Astromech, K4 Security Droid, Black Market Slicer Tools, Guidance Chips (36pts)

• Palob Godalhi (HWK-290) - Attani Mindlink, Blaster Turret, Dengar, Cloaking Device (30pts)

Basically this is my squad list, but better, and really demonstrates that I'd taken Dan's original squad list in the wrong direction when I dropped Palob instead of Guri.  The Plasma Torpedo I had on Kavil reappears on Manaroo, and with her larger base and Barrel Roll action she answers the problem I had with Kavil getting separated from the fight because she's much faster.  She also carries the Black Market Slicer Tools that I placed on Guri.  The Dorsal Turret on Kavil moves over onto Palob in the form of a Blaster Turret, and Palob's ability to steal a Focus stands in for the extra Focus that Guri can gain at range 1.  

You can see all the ingredients that I had in my list except that they're moved around a bit and probably work that little bit better.  Manaroo and Palob both have abilities that work nicely with Attani Mindlink (you may not have realised that when Manaroo moves her Focus tokens at the start of combat it will trigger Attani Mindlink to give her a focus back) and they also disrupt the opponent's plans in ways that my Kavil/Guri list doesn't.

I'm going to be giving Jesper's version a try in the near future and will be paying close attention to how well he does with it in the UK Team Championship next weekend.  Attani Mindlink has the promise to be an excellent upgrade and if Attani Mindlink has got the attention of a player of Jesper's calibre when he could have played the likes of other Scum options like Dengaroo or Triple Jumps, or that of fellow 186th Squadron member and Yavin Open winner Andrew Pattison who had good success at UK Nats with the last iteration of this Mindlink list, then maybe it's going to herald the dawn of a brave new world!

Pacific Rim is still a shitty film, though.

Guest Blog: One Fantastic Community: One Fantastic Title

This blog is called Stay on the Leader and for me the leader I’ve been trying to hang onto the coat tails of is Tom Reed.  The Reed family already have a former UK National Champion in their ranks with father, Craig, and after a fantastic 2016 they can now also count the Italian National Champion among their number.  To date this year Tom has bagged no less than 5 Store Championship titles, 3 Regional Championships, won the Kashyyyk Open and now the Italian National Championships as well.  His Worlds ticket is booked and one more title is firmly in his sights at the end next month.

That makes me very pleased to be able to hand over the reins of this blog to special guest columnist Tom and let him share his globe-trotting ‘X-Wing Italiano’ experience with you…

(Full Pairings, Results and some Squad Lists from the Italian National Championships can be found at http://nerdando.com/report-x-wing-national-event-2016/)

One Fantastic Community: One Fantastic Title

This past weekend myself and a small team of Brits took our second trip to Italy - this time we were over for the Italian Nationals.  On our first trip, for the Kashyyyk Open, Wave 8 had arrived in Italy only hours before the first games kicked off which gave us a big advantage as we’d been able to play the new ships for weeks ahead of the event.  Triple Jumps has been massive in the UK and against the understandably underprepared Italians it hit like a train.  That advantage of extra practice with Wave 8 meant we actually ended up making the final game of the Kashyyyk Open an all-Reed affair between myself and my brother Scott!

Although we had taken their Open slot on the first visit we were warmly welcomed by the Italian players and invited back for their National Championships.  This time around, with the element of Jumpmaster surprise well and truly gone, we expected a really tough weekend in Italy. The gaming scene over there is very well developed, with a huge Warhammer and 40K scene, and X-Wing has been growing steadily.  We certainly didn't expect to have such an easy time of it. 

The trip started Friday morning with a 2 hour drive to Liverpool for a flight over to Pisa.  I hate flying.  As in: hands-on-the-seat-in-front-window-down-white-face-ignore-the-cabin-crew, really, really hate flying - but I thought it would be worth it.  With that ordeal over, and a great pizza in Modena on Friday night, I could drop into X-Wing mode for Saturday. 

Seeing this at the airport... maybe a good omen?

The first experience that morning set the theme of the weekend: breakfast in the hotel was the first chance to re-encounter some of the Italian players and the welcome was fantastic. Our Italian hosts could not have been more welcoming. The X-Wing was great, but it was their warmth and generosity which justified every cent penny spent to get there.  

Arriving at the venue this happened again and again - handshakes and, erm, kisses on both cheeks from the guys we had met at the System Open and loads of the ETC guys.  But once greetings were exchanged and stories swapped, we settled down for the serious stuff.

Yes, It Was Jumpmasters

I had got on the Triple Jumpmasters bandwagon early which gave me the chance to tinker with the list during the gap between Store Champs and Regionals. The R4 Agromech nerf changed things a bit but I've been flying my current list for a good long while now and had a lot of success with it despite the nerf.  The only change I made was a decision to drop the list from 99 to 98 points.  As events were to prove, this was a good move:

• Contracted scout - Plasma torp - Extra munitions  - Overclocked R4 - Deadeye - 4 Lom - Guidance Chips (33)

• Contracted scout -  Proton torp  - Extra munitions - Overclocked  R4 - Deadeye - Boba Fett - Guidance Chips (34) 

• Contracted scout - Plasma Torp - Adaptability - K4 Security droid - Guidance chips (31)

Early in the season I'd experimented with a pure "Bumpmaster" designed to block other Jumpmasters and prevent them for getting their torpedoes away.  Over time I'd decided that it was better to use one of the Jumps as a potential blocker which could also get actions in even when banging up against other Jumps and still provide a torp threat, which is where the K4 Security Droid version came from.  Adaptability lets me drop my PS to ensure I can bump and the K4-Security Droid gives me a target lock to fire now that I’m not using Deadeye.  Critically, a 2 point initiative bid put me ahead of most other Jumpmaster lists. 

The raiding party of Brits are ready to go!
(L-R) Nick Barker, Rob Derbyshire, Scott Reed, Tom Reed, Craig Reed

Round 1 vs Maurizio Cignoni 

Not the start I wanted: Carnor Jax and the Inquisitor in the same list, with a Tie blocker to top it off.  The game started well and the initial engagement went to plan so within 3 or 4 turns the Tie had met its end.  But that was where the good stuff ended.  Out-flown, out-thought and a 100 – 12 loss.  If nothing else, this confirmed my view of the Italian scene - it's highly competitive with a bunch of skilful players.  Maurizio managed a turn where he dropped Jax into the only spot I had not blocked and followed it with a 3 Turn to sit next to all my ships.  Maurizio deserved the game right there and all credit to him.  

So far, so not worth 800 miles in the air.  By the end of the game, I knew I was up against it for the rest of the day...

Loss: 12-100 (0 Wins, 1 Loss)

Round 2 vs Daniele Prejano

Probably the nicest opponent you could ever hope for, this guy had presented the Reed family with a light up engine Soontir Fel when we visited last time - it's pretty cool - and it was a pleasure to share a game with him.  Unfortunately for Daniele this was a mirror match where his U-boats were set up to kill aces and mine were designed to kill his. With the initiative advantage I could bump his ships and I set up the initial engage where I was firing 3 torpedoes to Daniele's 1. That tells the story of the game, which I closed out by only losing my single torpedo Jumpmaster.  Back in the room!

Win 100 – 31 (1 Win, 1 Loss)

Round 3 vs Rob "Bob Dee" Darbyshire 

Well it had to happen - two of the travelling contingent meeting each other. With all 5 of us travelling Brits on 1-1, there was a good chance of facing one of our own and it happened to Bob and I.

Bob was also running Triple Jumps and the game was similar to my second round in the sense I had initiative and made it count.  I managed to control range on the first exchange and came out better. The dice were fairly unpleasant to Bob which made the gap bigger than it should have been, but I was glad of the MOV as due to a poor game 1 I was playing catch up.

 Win 100 – 16 (2 Wins, 1 Loss)

Interlude - The Heat
I think it was about this point that the phenomenal heat of the day was really taking its toll. You know it's hot when you see an Italian sweating - those guys normally wear their padded gilets in 27 degree heat but were very much in t-shirt and shorts mode for Nationals.  Our travelling party of Brits were taking turns to do trips to the shop fridge to get armfuls of cold water bottles!  We were dropping about half a litre of water every hour.  There's a lot of (slightly overstated) advice about food and hydration offered to tourney players, but this time it was bang on.  I've known some heat in my time but to stay mentally focussed in the unavoidable heat was tough.

 Round 4 vs Adriano Grassi

With the prevalence of Jumpmasters this was to be my only test against a mini Crack Swarm.  Adriano wasn’t running with any PS 1 academy pilots, but this bunch came with a fully tooled up Tomax Bren whose missiles scared me – not as scary as a plane ride, but still scary.  Spacing out the rocks during asteroid placement and splitting my ships allowed me to approach from three different angles and make use of the available space and this was a game where I was careful to ensure I had actions.  In the end I did manage to get the block I needed, resulting in Tomax dying without firing a missile.  This was decisive and allowed the turrets to mop up with everything in close proximity whilst bumping Adriano’s Ties out of their actions.

Win 100 – 32 (3 Wins, 1 Loss)

Round 5 vs Simone Provenzano 

Another Palp Aces list like the one I faced in the first round, but this time Darth Vader was standing in for Carnor Jax and Simone’s shuttle was equipped with an Engine Upgrade which Simone was carrying to counter any escaping Manaroos.  The asteroid placement again helped out here and meant the left half the board was very obstructed with two clear firing/ moving lanes. I stalled by self-bumping until the shuttle committed down my left flank before racing for those lanes and closing the space off. Again, the blocks paid off and Vader’s lack of Autothrusters really told as even my 2 dice turret shots chipped him down.  On the other side of the board Simone’s attack dice abandoned him leaving me with a good win against a skilful player. 

Win 100 – 0 (4 Wins, 1 Loss)

Round 6 vs Tony Petriconi 

Of all the round 6 draws I didn’t want (just behind having to duel it out with a family member) was this matchup.  Tony and I had been exchanging regular messages about the game and Jumpmaster options since I was over there for the System Open, so the prospect of knocking out a good friend wasn’t a nice feeling but something that’s part of the game. Again, this was a Triple Jump mirror match in which the choice to drop a point to 98 came good and, again, I milked the initiative advantage for a decisive edge.

Win 100 – 34 (5 Wins, 1 Loss)

Interlude: Tourney Dinner.  Really?
After the games on day 1, we had ourselves an X-Wing first and an absolutely stunning event.  That night, most of the competitors in Nationals sat down for a group meal put on at the sports complex we had been playing at. This was stunning - two courses of pasta and some amazing meat, cheese and bread malarkey, all accompanied by plenty of sparkling red wine. Three of our UK team hadn't managed to make cut and didn’t need to be sharp in the morning, so let’s just say they “took full advantage of the hospitality”.  

It really goes without saying that it was good; we were eating in Italy, where serving a bad meal will see the chef and his family exiled, but to see X-Wingers from all over the country come together like this to eat and drink together was a special thing.  It was very similar to the camaraderie we enjoy in our friendly domestic scene, with the teams mixing, sharing a drink or two and demonstrating what a fantastic community we have.  It is often said that the community sells the game, and it was a genuine delight to see that this isn't limited to the UK. 

I genuinely wonder if the way the game is designed contributes to this - the cards are open, the dials remain hidden only for a few moments and the players often have to work together to move ships. 

Day 2: Ship Gets Serious

With 80 players in Italian Nationals there was a cut to top 16.  I'd spotted a lot of Dengaroo, Party Bus and Triple Jump builds in the cut which gave me some confidence - I'd had a lot of experience against those builds and thought I could at least approach the games with a tested plan.

Top 16 vs Marco Peloni 

Potentially my best performance of the weekend: a starter against Dengaroo.  I managed to get some good range control and force the early expenditure of counter measures.  With that gone the Plasma Torpedoes made the dent that the Proton Torpedo needed to remove the Punishing One title with Boba Fett, which probably secured the game. 

Win 100 – 48 

Top 8 vs Roberto Savino 

This was the scariest moment since my loss in Game 1 on Saturday, for a number of reasons: Defenders are tough, Palpatine is always bad news and there was, weirdly, a bomber shuttle carrying Rebel Captive.  Roberto had also beaten my Dad by 4 points in Round 6 to qualify so I knew he was handy!  I knew that if I could get through the game, I could approach the rest of the builds in the event with confidence.

This was an extremely strange build that on first look shouldn’t work, but it really did. Tomax Bren with Rebel Captive, Hull Upgrade and Crack Shot became more of a problem then I expected. With a bit of much-needed luck I landed Blinded Pilot and Direct Hit criticals which later put me in the driving seat, leaving 2 Jumpmasters to get torpedoes off at the Defender and eventually secure the win. It was a tricky match which proved that peculiar, but good, builds can go a long way even in a meta heavy environment. 

Win 100 – 64

Top 4 vs Alessandro Marmorini 

Every player who wins a major event has some luck along the way and mine came here.  This was another Triple Jumps match and the first I didn’t automatically get initiative against.  Luckily the dice gods smiled on me and gave me the single hit I needed to choose initiative and go first.  Unfortunately it went wrong very quickly for Alessandro, who I think was trying something new that didn’t quite go to plan: a barrel roll towards me left one of his ships millimetres inside range three of two missile boats and effectively handing me the game right there.  However he reacted like a champ and was an absolute joy fly against.

Alessandro’s one of the big characters of the lively Italian scene and it was a privilege to play him.

Win 100 – 0

Ah. I made the final. That's good. 

Final vs Dante Stefanucci 

Another Dengaroo build from Dante, this time without Recon Specialist but with torps on both Manaroo and Dengar, which made for a matchup I was fairly happy with.  Steaming up the left side of the board after stalling twice I made Manaroo turn back along her board edge, and that meant that when the initial combat took place with Dengar she was within range two and Lone Wolf could not trigger.  Again the Plasma Torpedoes did the leg work for a Proton Torpedo and I used Boba to strip the vital title.  After initially looking fairly behind in the match up, the lack of title and my positioning  won out and Dengar was removed, leaving far too much for Manaroo to do on her own...

And I'm the National Champion of Italy!  It's been a really good year for me, but to take a National event is amazing. It was super hot in there, which perhaps explains why my eyes got so sweaty at that moment.  

Probably. 

Win 100 – 33

As well as the all-important trophy for winning the National Championships I've been spoiled by my Italian hosts on both visits, who had arranged custom-painted ships to be added to the prizes for both the Kashyyyk Open and the Nationals.  I think you'll agree that they all look fantastic, and if anybody ever manages to prise the Jumpmasters from my hands then I look forward to getting them onto the table as soon as possible!

A Galaxy Not So Far, Far Away

With the ETC, cheap flights into Europe, the prospect of more System Opens and a European Championship  it looks like the larger European community is going to get more and more chances to meet and play, and I couldn’t recommend it more.  If you can spare the time and the money (and I reckon this 4 day trip cost about £250 including flights, hotel room and car hire), then please, get out to a foreign National Championship.  There's the chance to make a holiday of it or just enjoy a weekend with the lads.  The experiences we’ve shared and friends we have made go to strengthen the X-Wing ethos that is the same - but different - in countries hundreds of miles apart.

All in all, massive thanks to my travelling buddies, my opponents and, most of all, to the wonderfully inclusive, friendly, funny, talented Italian community!  And their chefs. 

Now, let me settle down to prepare for some Intercontinental X-Wing at Worlds!