Redlining it

I came up with this list more or less on my way home from my last tournament, wanting to both a) try Redline and see if everyone is right that the Punisher is now playable, and b) try a different Defender pilot.

Scourging Defender
Redline
 - FCS
 - Cluster Missiles
 - Concussion Missiles
Colonel Vessery
 - Juke
 - FCS
 - HLC
Scourge Skutu
 - Swarm Tactics
 - Stealth Device

The theory of it was that in the Activation phase Redline could go in and take two target locks, while Vessery could get Evade and Focus tokens when he activates, then use Swarm Tactics to get Vessery to fire first, giving him a choice of targets where he could use his ability to get a lock giving him three tokens. Did it work? Kind of...

I arrived at 4TK to the pleasing sight of it being really busy! There were 19 players for X-Wing, the biggest turnout I can remember there since their last Store Champs. Onto the games!

Game 1 - Lyndon Moss-Robbins
Redline
 - Proton Torpedoes
Rexler Brath
 - Juke
Whisper
 - Juke

So, nearly a mirror match to start with, and a poor start for me as I managed to put the Punisher on a rock in turn two. So no target locks and no firings, and my plan started to fall apart with my Redline taking a beating from both his Redline and Rexler. I did however have both Vessery and Scourge on Whisper, and took both his shields and one hull point. In the next turn I was able to get Redline off the rock but rolled a crit for doing so, which was a Fuel Leak. But importantly he was able to fire his Cluster Missiles and I got hits on both his Redline and Rexler. In return he took fire from Rexler, whose ability triggered the fuel leak, and Redline died. Vessery and Scourge forced Whisper to spend his evade, preventing him recloaking, and Whisper died in the next turn, however those were the only points I scored.

Game 2 - Chris Curry
Luke Skywalker
 - Supernatural Reflexes
 - R2-D2
Biggs Darklighter
 - Shield upgrade
 - R2 astromech
Wedge Antilles
 - Predator
 - R4 astromech

I've documented my previous problems in bringing down X-Wings, so I wasn't hugely pleased to see this list across the table. However, I did remember not to joust it this time! Chris set his X-Wings line astern to move across the table right to left, and for the first couple of turns they crept forward. Meanwhile I did something deliberately that I normally hate myself for doing accidentally, and split my force! Redline went swooping to my left and boosted round a rock to come in behind the X-Wings, with Scourge and Redline coming through the asteroids in the middle of the table. And remarkably this worked pretty well.

In the first turn of shooting Vessery and Scourge reduced Biggs to one hull, and Redline's cluster missiles picked shields off Wedge and Luke. Biggs died in the next turn and I could start to focus in on Wedge, Luke being out of my arcs. Over the next two turns I traded Scourge for Wedge, but this left Redline out of position so Vessery chased Luke all round the table, until Redline got back in the fight and the combined fire of both my ships brought Luke down.

Game 3 - Michael Maggs
Wedge Antilles
 - Servomotor S-Foils
 - Elusive
 - Chopper
Lt Blount
Sabine Wren
 - Shield Upgrade
 - Elusive
Arvel Crynyd
AP-5

I found this one a really tough matchup; with five named pilots all having abilities, I struggled to know which was the biggest threat to concentrate on. I went into it aiming to take out Sabine first, because I was mixing up her pilot ability with her crew ability and I didn't want to be under stress/ion control. I had one good move in the whole game, when Crynyd came shooting forward to block Redline, and when Redline moved I'd dialled in a slower move so that Redline stopped a couple of millimetres short of the A-wing. Cue Arvel losing two shields. However, under fire from five ships Redline melted pretty quickly. In the next turn, Vessery was able to take out Lt. Blount before he died, and Scourge took two hits, and was stressed; I wanted to unstress him so I could focus or evade, but misjudged my manoeuvre and went over some debris, and to add insult to injury I then rolled a crit and Scourge exploded. 

Game 4 - Neil Photay
Captain Jonus
 - Crack Shot
 - Barrage Rockets
Rexler Brath
 - Juke
2 x Scimitar Squadron
 - Barrage Rockets

So, onto the last game of the day and time for me to see what all the fuss has been about over barrage rockets. Neil had his bombers in formation with Rexler pulling away to act as a flanker. I jousted it initially and focused on one of the Scimitars, aiming to punch it out before it could return fire, but I could only reduce it down to 2 hull. At the cost of Scourge I took out both Scimitars, but it put me in a position where to get Redline on target I had to barrel roll him - and because for Punishers barrel rolls are red I then forgot to use his ability to take a target lock. If I'd remembered it, I'd have had cluster missile shots on both Jonus and Rexler, as it was I had to settle for a primary weapon shot on Jonus - which blanked out. A turn later, Vessery took a Panicked Pilot crit, which put him in a bad position next turn. And then he blanked out on his evade and died, closely followed by Redline.

So what can I take from this week's pasting? Well...

• Redline really is strong - as long as I remember to use his ability even after a red action...
• ... but I'm not convinced by concussion missiles, I only used them once all day
• Redline and Vessery is a good combination, and they both get good value out of FCS...
• ... but I'm on the fence about HLC on Vessery
• I didn't joust X-Wings...
• ... but I probably shouldn't have jousted the bombers either...

Also I must thank Paul Spurgeon for introducing me to LaunchBay Next!

All glory to the Emperor!