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Episode 7: The Community That Made Us!
70 Plays1 year ago
A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Nick, Manny and Andrew are joined by Team USA’s very own Stephen Weiland! The quartet discusses sustaining interest in the game of X-Wing, Upsilons in extended, and the community that made us!
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Transcript
Introduction and New Player Discussion
00:00:02
Speaker
You are listening to the 312 Squadron podcast. My name is Andrew Kuba. My name is Nick Sperry. I'm Manuel. And I'm Steven. Excited to join you guys today. Hey, we're happy to have you. This week, we continue our discussion about being a new player in the game of X-Wing.
Windy City Trials Recap
00:00:18
Speaker
And we move Break It or Buy It to Extended. And we have a lot more to talk about, starting with the Windy City Trials. Nick did a great job.
00:00:27
Speaker
Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot Woot
00:00:54
Speaker
Yeah. Well, everybody but one coward was able to make it this specific coward. We will not. We will not. We will not call out by day, but however, his name does rhyme with Randy. I'll leave you on a figure out of the mystery. We're going to be.
00:01:09
Speaker
Because somebody decided not to bring out his 5t 70s, but it was a great event Yeah, it was probably I think it's like our fifth event that we've hosted at good games both now our second official event We had a world's invite to give away We'll talk about that but I just wanted to thank you guys for being there and everybody who watched and just another awesomely successful event I can I'm very fortunate that I get to
00:01:37
Speaker
I have to I'm a T.O. and, you know, running the stream and judging and everything in between. And somehow it wasn't stressful. Everybody had a good time and it just went very well.
Donuts and Dentistry Anecdotes
00:01:48
Speaker
So, yeah, we brought you donuts. And it was the turkey trot. Of course. No turkey was excellent. Yeah. Did you have a donut, Steven? I forgot about them, to be honest. I remember in the morning, it was just like donuts. That's going to be great later. And then like later arrived is like and then the donuts were were off the brain.
00:02:08
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. It's one of those things. It's just like kind of a window where it feels acceptable to have a donut. And I think once you get to a certain point, it's just like you just you just don't even think about it anymore. If you do have it, like if you guys ever had a donut, like there's no other food option available, but a donut you have it like four or five p.m. or six p.m. But it just was like, I'm eating this right now. It's like it's you know, who doesn't love donuts? But it's it's just it feels off to eat one so much later as an afterthought than when, you know, you have them for breakfast like most people do.
00:02:37
Speaker
I had one at noon. It was good for the blood sugar. Yeah, good for the dice. I'm not crazy about donuts, to be honest. I could. That's why you weren't invited. Yeah, I guess so. Yeah, I was going to. So when I was a little kid, I thought all adults got to eat donuts for breakfast every day. And then when I first started working, I realized I was 100 percent correct.
00:03:01
Speaker
My my first office had like donuts all the time. Even at my job now, people bring in like donuts and baked goods at like every day. It's it's ironic considering you work in the dental field. Man, there is so much sugar at my office. Like it's there are bowls of candy everywhere. And I've realized that like if you want to
00:03:27
Speaker
It's a candy-based economy that runs in my office on getting things done. I think there's a hubris that's like we know who the best dentists are.
00:03:42
Speaker
all caution to the wind, and we're going to just put as much sugar on our teeth as possible. Or we're doing it to stay like, hey, dentists, we support you. We are with our own bodies. We are going to make sure that you stay in business. Exactly. Like you create the problem, and then you sell the solution. That's right. That's just true capitalism. That is the truest form, absolutely.
Analyzing Winning Lists
00:04:02
Speaker
But I do want to make sure that we spend enough time talking about the important things, which is donuts and dentistry. And your teeth, yeah.
00:04:09
Speaker
I will. I will. We will. Real quick. I want to throw over to just the winner of the Windy City trials and giving Jared Mackard a proper shout out. And Stephen, I'm going to nominate you if you don't mind going to the roll better link I put in the notes. And after I read off Jared's list, if you can read off the second place list and call facts.
00:04:31
Speaker
Who brought an super interesting fun and off slightly off medalist room we're used to seeing But Jared who won his world's invite again? Congratulations. He brought Empire He brought battle of Yavin Vader in the tie advance who's of course six points He got Merrick steel with swarm tactics and passive sensors wondering why he brought that I'll get to in a second because the next two
00:04:54
Speaker
pilots, it starts to make a little bit more sense. You've got two bombers, Tomax Bren, with this is the build your own with saturation salvo barrage rockets and bomblet generator. Captain Jonas was saturation salvo barrage rockets and bomblet generator and Lieutenant Laurere with sensitive controls, lone wolf and targeting computer. The list has a lot going for it. However, one of the things that I talked to Jared about
00:05:18
Speaker
at the end of the stream when I had him on and I was interviewing him about his last game was the weakness of Jonas at I-4 and so he decided to address that by giving Merrick swarm tactics so that he can swarm him up to I-5 in initiative kill ships that would threaten him or at least trade shots at I-5 which is the sweet spot it seems these days. So it's a cool list. Do you guys have any thoughts on it? I thought it was pretty clever what he did with Merrick specifically.
00:05:45
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. It's always great to see the off medalists too. And I also did like the inclusion of LeRear for three points. It gave something for the opponents to go after, but did a really great job at hovering that board edge. And when I say go after, I mean every shot that's going to LeRear, that's not shots that are going into the bombers, which can be the meat and potatoes of this list.
00:06:13
Speaker
Yeah, speaking of meat and potatoes, you know, we're recording this right before Thanksgiving. So I hope you all had your meat and potatoes for Thanksgiving. That's probably the only time I'm going to make another meat and potatoes reference myself. It is a good analogy, though, for sure, for the list, because I definitely agree. So, yeah, Jared, congrats.
00:06:34
Speaker
Steven, what did you think of his list? And then feel free to follow up with cold faxes for certain. It doesn't look like I have access to to cold hard faxes list, but I mean, I know Jared's, but she's been going to so many of the store championships like, I mean, throughout the season. And I know like he and I talk on a pretty consistent basis and like really gave you a shout out, man. He said he's he's crediting the win partially to you. You can watch it back on the stream.
00:07:05
Speaker
Yeah, he was incredibly kind, but no, it was just one of those things where he really kind of fell in love with the Bombers. And I think it was just, and I think, I mean, whenever you have an opportunity to fly a list for an extended period of time, that you find the nuances to the list. And then it really puts you in a position to be successful in a tournament. And I mean, especially when you've got a field as deep as
00:07:34
Speaker
as the Turkey Trout Store Championship was. I mean, I think having that experience under his belt really made a big difference for him. So yeah, I was super gentle for him.
00:07:45
Speaker
Yeah, so the lists are unhidden. I don't know. I thought I hit it. I yeah, I had unhid them before, but they're now unhidden. And yeah, thanks for linking the list fortress link as well, Andrew. Appreciate it. All right. So and it was for see if I can. So Colfax and Jared played in the final
Local Championships and Community Reflections
00:08:02
Speaker
table and Colfax brought rebels, which is a classic matchup.
00:08:08
Speaker
Yeah, so looking at Colfax's list, he had Harrison Dula in the B-Wing with proton cannons, plasma torps, stabilized S-foils, the B-Sigs blabbing prototype and weapon systems officer.
00:08:23
Speaker
um battle of yavi new luke skywalker which feels like a mean staple just about ever grab a list and then jina moonsong also in the in the b wing so a couple of b wings in the list with fcs proton cannons plasma torps and stabilized s foils dutch vander with
00:08:40
Speaker
Doris Latour plasma torps are three astromech and vomit generator. He must have been listening to you guys last week because he knew it was like Dutch is going to be where it's at. And then and then a lone wolf with with Sabine in the in the tile and fighter. Yeah, so I remember looking like looking at the tables like, huh, like that's a different rebel list. So super excited to be wings. Not one to write. Yeah, too. So oversight.
00:09:07
Speaker
Um, so yeah. What did you say? What'd you say, Manny? It's a rare sight. Yeah. That's your one. It's your one line for the next 10 minutes. Oh yeah. Straight up. Um, but yeah, I was just, I mean, super excited to, I mean, to see some like, to see something different rebel wise. Um, I mean, Luke, I mean, Luke is the main staple, but the rest of those pieces, I mean, even a little bit of a wrinkle with, with lone wolf. Um, yeah. And.
00:09:31
Speaker
Now it's definitely one of those things where like, I mean, if you put them in, if you put them in position for success, like that list is going to hit hard. Um, it's called shield removal service. Right. Because all the plasma torpedoes and which couple of things I want to point out the pieces. Yeah. A couple of things I want to point out is the, the, with, with the foils, of course you can, you know, you could spend your lock to perform that bonus attack and.
00:09:55
Speaker
Both of them being able to fire plasma torpedoes and then especially with Hera specifically with weapon system officer, Blade Wing kind of awards that crew slot or gunner slot rather. You get to acquire a lock back to spend to do a proton cannon. So the Gita and Hera can basically double tap
00:10:18
Speaker
ridiculously powerful munitions. So if you light up bullseye on a medium or large base, that is pretty popular right now. I mean, it certainly removes more than just shields. Yeah. And then also, too, if she doesn't you get the extra lock from Dutch, if she doesn't use it at the end of turn, she can pass it to which is huge.
00:10:38
Speaker
Yeah, yep, Dutch is Dutch has always been a great support staple in a list. I think it's just finding a way for him to just be a little threatening as well, which dorsal turret gives him that extra turret coverage. Our three astromech gives him a little bit more for himself and bomb lets you know, we've seen what bombers can do.
00:10:57
Speaker
For four points. I mean, I certainly understand It's a little tough Dutch is like a three and a half point ship I think in people's eyes, but you know Colfax He won out through Swiss. He won every game of Swiss and yeah, you know, ultimately he was four and one So clearly he was able to make this work and it's games Yeah, and I think he fits so well in this list is because like if you're shooting a Dutch then you're ignoring a
00:11:20
Speaker
Hera, Luke and Gina to your to your detriment. Right. I was going to say the same thing. If you're not focusing down Hera and Gina, you know, Dutch, I'm not as worried about losing Dutch early in this list.
00:11:34
Speaker
Yeah, their list doesn't rely on Dutch, which is why Dutch, I think people criticize Dutch and don't want to build with him is because they try to build around him and then he dies in the second or third round, gets ionized or whatever and all falls apart. So yeah, no, absolutely. So you have to make a choice. You know, Gina and Dutch combined are only eight points.
00:11:54
Speaker
And then you still get, I think, good value with as you always do with Luke and then Hera. Hera is the I think her is up in the air. She has the initiative kill potential. She has the ability to do a lot of damage with spending the lock to do a double tap. She's just she's still in a B wing. That's that's, you know, compared to same ability in an A wing. People tend to lean into the one point cheaper for three agility, but less damage output. Yeah. But Hera A wing doesn't do damage. He almost never does. Right.
00:12:23
Speaker
Well, and I think Kara too is the high initiative, the double tap and the ability in her pilot ability to pass the target lock too. Yeah. Manny, what'd you think of this rebel list? Yeah, it's like unique list. I'm happy that two buildings are in there.
00:12:40
Speaker
Yeah, no, I don't have that much to say that hasn't already been said, just having that the Beewinds are actually playable or that people are just now starting to realize the potential. Yeah, absolutely. Storage Champs create a safe space, I think, for people to bring slightly off-meta lists and because of the sample size and the, you know,
00:13:02
Speaker
It's an environment where I think you can actually succeed and learn a lot about maybe some other options that are good versus if you were to go to a Gen Con or something. I think there's a little bit more pressure to list build a little bit differently just depending on what your goals are at the event, competitively versus what you can do at a store champ. So I think
00:13:23
Speaker
And Colfax loves B-Wings. It's his all time favorite ship. And he's always stuck to his guns. And I love that. If anyone knows how to fly B-Wings well, it's Colfax. And he's been putting them on the table since I've known him. Yeah.
00:13:36
Speaker
I was going to say though, our store championships, man, they feel like
Steven's Boba Fett List and Tournament Stories
00:13:40
Speaker
Gen Con. Dude, we rock it, man. I'm proud of us and I'm proud of just like the events. And yeah, I agree. I think there is kind of a competitive vibe that it's fun, but you know, it feels like there's a lot on the line and it's still just a store champ. But when you throw a world's invite in there as well, there's a little bit more.
00:13:57
Speaker
Yeah, Steve, Steve is one of them, but I'm sure you could get back me up when I look around at our store championships. I see actual champions like just all around. Well, for certain. And it's I mean, it's one of those things where in any given tournament, there's like, well, probably like half the field has a realistic chance of like of winning it. And that's seen. And I think that's a credit. And I mean, you know, when we traveled down to Gen Con, there's like, I mean, looking around the number of folks from the Chicago area that
00:14:26
Speaker
I mean, that had really good runs and made it to like several of them, which made it, made it to Sunday. I mean, not a surprise when you're going to a store championship and like just seeing really high quality play. Um, I mean, I mean, across the field. So now I feel really fortunate to have the caliber of players that we have just locally in the area that we get to practice and play against all the time. Yeah.
00:14:48
Speaker
Yeah, someday I'll be able to beat Stephen. I don't think I don't think I just whenever I play Stephen, you're my kryptonite man. I mean, you are. You're like, no, not today, my friend. I mean, I was glad that I that I traveled and they came back. It's like, oh, you want to start a championship? I'm like, like, good job, Nick. And then I had to prove it to you at GenCon that it didn't suck. I'm like, all right, like, like, look, Stephen, I promise. But I promise you it's better than me when we play each other to play GenCon. So I was I was hoping for it, but it
00:15:18
Speaker
Yeah, the pairings were, uh, the pairing said no. Yeah. It's just, yeah. Well, what a, what a time though. Seriously. Uh, man. I mean, our closest game was by one point. So I will never forget like, Hey, you never know games like that. I'm supposed to want to be in though. Well, cause when, when are you going to lose this? Like that's, I mean, you walk away, it's like that, like that was a great game of X-wing. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
00:15:42
Speaker
Yeah, but overall at this event, I mean, we had great turnout. This is one thing that I think is, I really want to emphasize, you know, something that during our announcements, they're going to give a day just, you know, hey, everybody, we have enough people for a world's invite. And this like round of applause right after saying that, you know, I just think that it's, for some folks, it's hard to make it out to an event that is deemed official, you know, at least under AMG's guidelines.
00:16:08
Speaker
Being able to blow past that by about six players is great. Yeah, absolutely. We're fortunate to be in that situation where we could pull players from all over. I will say, though, speaking of off medalists, Stephen, you flew a scum. Yes, let's talk about it. Quite a bit of scum, too, at our tournament, but. Yeah, I think there was three.
00:16:31
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, I don't think there's any F.O. There was there was like no first order. I'm looking through the list right now and there was a lot of empire. There is. I see your list, even I see some I see a couple of resistance. One separatist, which was of all things, double cemeteries, which is Tim, one of our local. Yeah, my only last day was against the same. Yeah.
00:16:56
Speaker
So talk about the list, Steven. I'm still very proud of you. You did the thing. We got to see it on stream. Yeah, it was one of those things where, I mean, yeah, when you reached out, I was like, hey, could you put together a Boba list? I was like, yeah, that's a done deal. And so it was one of those things where, I mean, when they did the last points adjustment and Boba stayed up at nine points and his load off got reduced. And it was one of those things where I didn't want to, like,
00:17:25
Speaker
I didn't want to find myself in a position of not having veteran tail gunner and not like both not having veteran tail gunner, not having a bomb on him. Cause Boba needs a bomb. Um, and so like when it put the math out, I was like, well, I can keep fearless and contraband and I G D D slides in perfectly. Um, and like having the adult, like having double tokens of Boba always feels, always feels quite good. Um, and.
00:17:53
Speaker
putting him next to the Mandalorian, which felt, uh, felt very, very thematic. Um, and no, there was, I think it was the stream match that you would have that I remember watching, uh, the person was like, the person had Mando in the list and it took Mando a long time to get into like, into the, the fight in that match. And, and then he wrecked face at the end and it was like,
00:18:16
Speaker
That feels like a great spot for Lone Wolf because if he's just off chilling on his own, he's going to get a lot of value out of that. I would say that throughout the day, for every five rounds, maybe one of them, he would be too close to a friend, but when you're only flying three ships, then it's not hard to get Randal to proc on him.
00:18:38
Speaker
Um, and then with the remaining five points, it's like, well, that feels like a man, a man who sized, um, hole. And with notorious. Yes. Yeah. So it was, yeah. So it was one of those things where it was like, well, like when I was trying to figure out like, well, what's going to be the right balance? Like I wanted to have in, uh, a gunner that would have that could take advantage of stress. And so like BT one felt like a good, like a good spot. Um, and I go ordinarily, like you usually want to have contraband on.
00:19:08
Speaker
Um, on like on, on the, uh, on the jump master, but it was like, well, that's not going to fit if I want the reroll droid and notorious all at the same time. So it was like, well, we're just gonna, we're gonna drop the, the point in the illicit slot to grab a dead man switch, which definitely came in handy in the stream. Um, and, uh, yeah, so like, it was, it was just, it was an absolute blast to fly. Um, and I know like when it was, uh,
00:19:36
Speaker
We had the chance to watch it earlier, like earlier in the week. Yeah. There was someone that had, yeah. So someone had a bench, like mentioned that it's just like Steven seems surprised. He wasn't to be honest. I really was. Cause I mean, Matt, Matt's an outstanding player. Cause he flew the same list. When you guys stream data at dungeon cat and went three wins in the draw. So finished in second place. So yeah, to be able to pull that out, I was super stoked and, um,
00:20:02
Speaker
Yeah. It's just, I mean, anytime I can get Boba on the table, it's like, it's going to be a, it's going to be a fun day.
Event Success and Community Support
00:20:07
Speaker
And I could tell you were having fun, Steven. Cause like, I mean, this is, this is no, this is no slight to you, but you were vocal the whole event. Like when you would like role play.
00:20:17
Speaker
When you get your re-rolls or something crazy would happen, we could tell that something exciting was happening with Boba or something related to Boba or whatever. I know that I've played at a few events with you. Maybe you certainly have had moments where you've kind of exclaimed or something, but I just felt like there was a lot more excitement around.
00:20:38
Speaker
around your games, which is which is awesome. I mean, like that night we would be streaming and, you know, we would hear something happen. We would both look up like we kind of like kind of wanted to know what happened, but like we were streaming, you know. So, yeah, I mean, it was great to put you on stream. And, you know, Boba is just such great content for a stream. I mean.
00:20:58
Speaker
Does the will he won't he will? Where will he go? Can he get into rage? Why? How many rerolls is within range of a reroll? And when he dies, he's worth nine points. It's just so many. It was definitely one of those things where like, I mean, the games that I won Boba lived in the games that I lost Boba died. Right. Because I think it was my round three match, which was which was trying to remember what was round three chance. He had two shots into my like the first round of engagement and he had rolled all blanks.
00:21:28
Speaker
um, on defense. And so I was like, well, there's half points. Um, so it's just like, um, it's like, well, this is, it was an upward climb to begin with. And then after that, I was like, well, uh, we're going to try real hard to keep it close to issue. And I mean, I felt fortunate because both my losses were like, um, I lost 21 15 both times. So it was like, it kept it close. And then, yeah, the last, like my last round match was, uh, assault and yeah, that one, that one felt real good. Cause it's like, I mean, probably average like three, three objective points around and.
00:21:56
Speaker
Which felt which felt fantastic is having all those larger medium base ships out there just like well We're gonna we're gonna be king of the hill for the ones that were near and so that was yeah Yeah, that was quite fun. Nice
00:22:08
Speaker
Yeah, Manny, remember a nice practice bow? I used to practice that Boba list against you for a while. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's why I was like, oh, wait, he's like, you're very good. Yeah, that's annoying as well. So good to new players in Chicago. He flies against them. It's like, OK, I want to introduce you to two weeks ago. He was playing as a new player and he was literally flying Darth Vader in.
00:22:31
Speaker
No wait no no I didn't even use the ability until like until I needed to demonstrate how abilities worked, but I was just but still though Let the record show It's like this a bad. This is how to fly Darth Vader. Yeah your opponent's soul
00:22:48
Speaker
No, no, I think my my take is with new players. If you want to demo a game with like, you know, you want to demo a game with like people that, you know, heroes that people recognize and villains that people recognize from Star Wars. Like so he he had Luke. Yeah, I had Vader. So screw you, man. It's a very one sided fight just based on the list alone, but OK. I mean, you should have like, I don't know, like Finn in the pods like people know Finn.
00:23:16
Speaker
I don't I don't own that. I've never owned the couch. Yeah. And also it's too expensive for always worth. He's trash. Just like his character. No, I mean, yeah, it's all right, Manny. You're late and you jump in with the hottest of spicy takes like bro. I hate my own faction. Yeah. I'm just I'm just in there to play the chassis, but I hate the faction. Yeah.
00:23:40
Speaker
and he even and you even don't show up you really are really you're really fortifying her that's all right i picked up the uh the five t70 list and ran with it yeah and you're pretty yeah did you see his game on did you see his game any on our stream he played i said it was on scott yeah i said i was unable to i only watched i believe the last game
00:24:01
Speaker
Or the second last game. Yeah, I think I remember you in the chat. Yeah. Yeah. No, Andrew did did a good job flying the T-70s. He played against a player that we all know will Scott in his Republic list and he did a good job of holding his own and beating him by two. I think it was by four points, three or four points. You know, it's good to hear. Yeah, because he and I kind of practiced like a day or two before and I'm happy I was able to contribute.
00:24:25
Speaker
No, you absolutely did. You are the sole reason why for everyone. Well, I honestly would say probably I went home and I changed a lot of my list based on what I discussed with Manny in our playtesting. So, yeah, I would say that some credit would definitely be given to Manny for the record that I had.
00:24:44
Speaker
And you had you had you had the Manny dice. So the experience of Manny's D-70 dice is hot reds from like the first like first like couple of rounds and then just like starting to fall apart like for a couple of shots that you want to land like how you couldn't kill an arc with 70 on one hole. It's like, oh, you look like I was going to I knew I ended up having I turned a range one shot into a range zero one by accidentally bumping the
00:25:13
Speaker
the arc when I move it. And honestly, I saw that when I was thinking about it, too. Maybe it's good. If your hands are shaking a lot because you're like nervous, probably just better to have the judge just move your ship for you if it's going to be that close. Yeah. Yeah. I remember distinctly seeing that and being like, oh, he just accidentally bumped it when he was picking up the ship and that it fit. But it's just, oh, no, it's fair. I think to just once you bump the ship, especially in tournament play, there's no way to prove that it would have fit otherwise.
00:25:43
Speaker
The rule is if you bump it, then it probably kind of means it bumped. Anything else about the tournament before we continue on here? Yeah, I'm I'm good with I had a great time. It was a lot of fun and I was happy to see so many different lists there, so many different good friends and people there. Steven, is there anything that you noticed about the the tournament that you wanted to point out?
00:26:06
Speaker
Yeah, just a couple of lasting thoughts. Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun. People genuinely had a good time from start to finish. They thought it was telling that
00:26:21
Speaker
I think for the most part, like everyone played all all their matches, which is which is always which is always great. And then I help Stephen. The prize support helps for sure with that. Yeah. And then I guess the last thing. So I noticed when I was on the stream, like it looked like you guys were wondering, like there was two two gentlemen that were kind of standing in front of the the the player camera. And those were those are two of my dearest friends on the on the planet. Like we we went we were in first place together. So so that was those were
00:26:51
Speaker
My friends were kids like Dom and Tom. So they they came out to to watch me play. And so it was. Yeah, I was super excited to have them there. And so if you're wondering, who are those guys like? Yeah. Yeah, they kept coming back. I was like, wow, these guys really are curious about X-Wing. They get back. Yeah. Yeah. Long, long time friends. So, yes. Very cool. Yes. It's first grade. So, yeah, it was so awesome to have them out. And Dominic could actually
00:27:15
Speaker
like was in town for the weekend because his brother Tom was always planning on coming and then he's like, Hey, I'm going to see Steven. It's like, you want to come? It's like, yeah, let's, let's check this out. And so yeah, they had, they had a blast as well. Like it was super fun for them to see, um, see games that they hadn't really been exposed to before, but they're like,
00:27:32
Speaker
Like if you say it's cool, then it's like we're down to come and check it out. So yeah, they had they had a really good time as well. So it's awesome. Yep. There there was a family that was wondering what we were doing. They were watching some of the games. So I showed them and told them like the basics of what it was. Yeah. Yeah. No, it's I think people are always shocked, like especially to play people, the magic of gathering and flesh and blood players who walk in and they're like, wait a minute.
00:27:54
Speaker
All these Star Wars players have taken over our store. One of my favorite things that we can do sometimes is like if you got to just a bar or a coffee house and start playing X-Wing, you will get a crowd around you like so quick and everyone wants to talk Star Wars with you because it's like immediately recognizable. And yeah, yeah, we like you always just have this crowd of people just watching. It's like one of the coolest things. Yeah, absolutely.
00:28:20
Speaker
Yeah, well, I thank you guys for the kind words about the events. And Stephen, I appreciate you making the effort to come out. Andrew, of course, I'm glad that Covid didn't stop you, that you were able to make it out of our friends. Well, we had a good time. Yeah, never stops Covid. Covid still exists. It seems to claim one one player for every Windy City trial.
00:28:43
Speaker
That's true. It's this time. It wasn't happens. It seems. Yeah. Yeah. Right. If somebody else's turn, I guess. But good news is everybody's OK. So whatever. That's that's that's good. I wanted to talk about something else that I think is really important to Xwing, besides just the store champs that we've been able to have is is price support. And, you know, the Etsy shops and the kind of the unsung heroes, the people who pretty much provide all of our gaming components that we know and love and that we have custom made for us and that we feature.
00:29:13
Speaker
on every table. And first of all, before we dive into this, I want to give a shout out to Strata Strike, who is partnering with us moving forward, including sponsoring our in-person events. So we'll drop a link in the description for the episode. You can click on that link and use coupon code 312Squadron. That's a capital S in Squadron. Everything else is lowercase in one word.
00:29:35
Speaker
for 15% off the whole store. Just wanted to thank Mark Yule at Strata Strike for being so generous with helping us with all of our previous event support and helping everybody in the community, him and all the other great Etsy shops and creators alike. What does it mean to you guys? Your acrylic templates, your tokens, your stickers, all these things. What's the connection for you all?
00:30:05
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I think first and foremost is that, I mean, all the Etsy shop owners that I've ever had the chance to like to interact with, I mean, they really care about the game. And like, and so it's, it's one of those things where, I mean, to have the chance to support the people that are supporting the game is huge. Um, and I think it's, it's also one of those things where like, when you put, I mean, whether it's templates or tokens, like where did you get those? It's like, Oh, like it came from, like it came from this shop and it's like, I would do like, I need to go check that out.
00:30:35
Speaker
Um, and I mean, it's also one of those things where, I mean, I mean, knowing that the amount of time and effort that goes into that, like there's just, I mean, for me, there's such a huge appreciation for folks that, I mean, really kind of take that on as a, I mean, I mean, as a small, as a small business, because there's, I mean, deadlines and like, um, and like production quality and all those things that, that are, that, that have to go into, like for someone to be able to use those is just, um,
00:31:05
Speaker
I mean, they really do go above and beyond to make the in-person experience. It adds just an aesthetic to the board that I think for a lot of players, it really does add to the enjoyment of the game. I was going to say, Steven, you make custom cards. And the first time that I met you, you handed me a bunch of just some of the coolest custom cards.
00:31:34
Speaker
I was flying Empire, so you hooked me up with some awesome double-sided Vader that had the Defender and the X1. But you have a whole bunch of other ones, so I thought that was awesome that you just have something to hand out from your store. Yeah, and for me, it's like I don't even have a shop. It's one of those things where having talked with some friends that have had Etsy shops is just like,
00:32:03
Speaker
like when I listen, that's like, Whoa, like that, that's that sounds stressful. And so it's like, for me, it's just like one of those things where I mean, I've got over the like over the span of the, the pandemic. Shane Mock, who's who did some really amazing online events out of Singapore, they connect me with his plastic card vendor, which is all my print solutions and they do I mean, really, really outstanding work. So it's like,
00:32:28
Speaker
Um, so you send the arts and they, like, they print it up. And, um, and so, I mean, for me, it's just like to have an opportunity because I mean, I can remember, I mean, the first tournament I ever went to, um, it was like Titan games in Villa park and, um, and like Dion was there. And I remember like the first time I met Dion and I remember like we were talking about corn horn, um,
00:32:53
Speaker
And I was like, yeah, I could love corn horns. Like, well, if you're gonna fly corn horn, like you need to have an FCS, like here's, here's an altered FCS. And I just remember like that feeling of like, like this is amazing. Um, and so to have an opportunity to, to, to pay that, to pay that forward is just, for me, it's, I mean, it's a blast. I've met so many amazing people, um, like through, I mean, through that. And so I think another, I mean, a big piece to that is like when folks bring, I mean,
00:33:22
Speaker
like Alt Art, whether it's cards or tokens, I mean, you really have an opportunity to, I mean, just to form a great friendship. So like when you cross paths again, it's like, that's the guy that, like, that's the guy that I met. Like whether it's, I mean, whether it's a convention or a store champ is, I mean, those things make a difference. And I know like, even now, like when I still get stuff, it's like, for me, it's like, there's just, there's an excitement because like, it reminds you that there's a really amazing community in that,
00:33:52
Speaker
We do such an amazing job of supporting one another and making sure that when you're going to an event, whether it's small or big, that it really does make a difference in what makes the X-Wing community as great as it is.
00:34:04
Speaker
Yeah, the community is is is carry this game on its back through the pandemic. I mean, I really don't even want to know what what X I mean, if we even have what an excellent would look like. I would be non-existent at what the game would look like right without the support. Yeah, no, I agree with him without the support of the Lord knows I'm doing it.
00:34:24
Speaker
the online X-wing for about two years. I mean, I really don't know what the game would have looked like with people getting back into it and staying with
New Player Experience and Custom Components
00:34:33
Speaker
it. And I certainly want to acknowledge that the community has did a big part holding things together during covid. When we had no events, there was no official prize support. There were no mentions.
00:34:44
Speaker
of future official events just because there were a lot of uncertainties and just having people that we trusted to turn to who, you know, day in, day out would put together leagues and put together tournaments and especially dealing with the Gold Squadron and, you know, basically having their own kind of world's championship online during COVID with hundreds of people from all over the place. I mean,
00:35:09
Speaker
Those are all things that I think are certainly reasons as to why we're here right now and why I think the game is, you know, continuing to move forward. Say what you will about what you feel about the direction of the game. I mean, we're here because of a lot of factors that I certainly want to acknowledge. And I think that's one of the bigger ones for sure. Yeah, I don't know if I go as far as to the game would be completely dead, but we don't know. But it's just it's was a big played a big role.
00:35:38
Speaker
And yeah, I mean, I remember when I first started playing X-Wing and having my cardboard, you know, templates and then seeing everybody had these cool like frosted templates and like these cool cases and these awesome template trays. And I'm like, immediately, I'm like, where'd you get that? I want one of my own. I'd like go out of like, I want Chicago theme colors, the fact that I got to pick all the colors. And there's just so many.
00:36:02
Speaker
great ways to unite through the game. And I certainly think prize support and unofficial components is one of the most exciting and coolest aspects of the game. Yeah. How about you? What's your experience? Oh, yeah. Honestly, it was for Etsy. I probably would not be in this game right now because I believe by the third week that I got into the game, I was already looking at Etsy and buying like
00:36:28
Speaker
$100 templates and, like, cases to hold all my stuff. I mean, I get compliments for my black and blue template sets. And it's just like a way to separate myself from the average player, I guess. Yeah. So, I mean, it's a cool way. Figure out, I guess, like, uniqueness, right? Yeah, exactly.
00:36:55
Speaker
Um, and like, and I love with custom cards, it's like a nice little exclusive gift, right? That you can look back on and, and just kind of remember like the tournaments and know that, yeah, uh, that I was a part of this and it's upon memory.
00:37:15
Speaker
Yeah, I just wanted to say that when I first got into X-Wing 2, I thought the alternate art cards were so cool. I remember I showed up my first game at Nick's place, and I had Countess Ryad, and then you just gave me her world's alt art card.
00:37:37
Speaker
because you said that you had an extra and you're like, oh, here's like, use this. And I was like, oh, my God, this is so cool. Like, I can't believe that I have, you know, I just started playing this game. Now I have this like cool alternate art card. I started jamming her into lists because I had the alternate art card. And now to with all and I had a three printer. So I was so excited to get to start printing stuff. I've been making dial covers because I feel like that's like the one thing that
00:38:05
Speaker
because everyone kind of has their own focus tokens and acrylic stuff. But so I wanted to something because X-Wing for me has kind of been like that Taylor Swift experience where when Swifties meet each other, they give each other the friendship race lists. And I love going to tournaments. And Steven, you know, you turned me on to that, too, where you get to just show up at a table when you meet your opponent like, hey, here's like a gift from from my shop. They usually have something in return or they have a sticker from from their city that they're in.
00:38:34
Speaker
in their store, which is so great. Um, or printing like token trays when I meet new players and as a way to organize all of the little cardboard components, because we, you know, when I first started showing up, it's always the card, all the cardboard in a Ziploc bag, you got to dump it out and spend 10 minutes organizing it. So just having something to organize it there is so helpful. And, you know, it's cool when you get to put your own spin on it.
00:38:57
Speaker
Uh, Nick, you gave me my first set of acrylic templates and I thought like, that's when I was like, Oh, now I'm like ready for tournaments. Like now I feel like I'm at a point where I'm a tournament player. Um, and of all the competitive games that I've played X-wing has had by far the best prize support. The fact that you just get prizes for showing up, I think is great. The, usually when I go to events, uh,
00:39:26
Speaker
When they have competitive, like a prize wall for tickets and even, you know, like worlds and stuff like that, whenever other games have prize wall for tickets, they're usually.
00:39:36
Speaker
You have to grind a lot, and kind of like a Chuck E. Cheese, all of the good stuff seems completely out of the price range of what you would be able to do to get it. And even at AdeptiCon, both Adepticons have been to, both GenCons have been to, the really cool prizes were completely affordable.
00:40:00
Speaker
getting the alternate like DICE's last gen con was so cool. It's like stuff like that that keeps me coming back. Grinding out tickets that to get the Inferno Squad templates when I was playing Empire List like I just thought that was like some of the coolest stuff. Will in our game, I gave him a dial cover. He gave me a range one ruler back and
00:40:24
Speaker
Uh, so it's that stuff like that, that one, I think it keeps players engaged, kept me engaged. I, I love hoarding X-wing components and prizes and the more unique they are, the better. Um, I love putting, you know, Steven's great, like plastic cards on the table. I like using all the alternate art cards over some of like the mainstream stuff.
00:40:43
Speaker
But if I have it, because I think it's just really cool to to personalize that stuff yourself. And then also I love sharing all facts at Dutch Fanderland and the R three one to ask her about his list, which is pretty fun seeing your your cards and people's lists. Yeah. And it's just cool to give something back. You know, just just that friendly gesture just makes that community come together even more, which I absolutely love. And then the raffles also help people stick around that not drop after like the two.
00:41:13
Speaker
Also, exactly. Man, we've been in so many games where people just hand paint chips and that are really cool and they bring them like to give to give away. Like that's the other thing, too, is what all the the store championships I've been to is everybody's been so generous, just, you know, even donating stuff for prizes, which has been really cool to see, too. Yeah. But so speaking of our experience and getting all these poems, especially when we were a new player,
00:41:41
Speaker
think we're ready to move on to the main topic of our experiences. We touched into a little bit last episode, but we're going to dive in a little deeper on our new player experiences, what some of the hardest parts about staying in the game have been, and why does it seem like there might be less new players at events, or if that's what's happening.
00:42:06
Speaker
So we can kick it off with the first topic. And I'd say just Manny, since we'll start with you last time, since you are the the newest player around us, even though I wouldn't consider you a new player. That's all right. I guys, I still consider myself an employer. Freaking noob. I wouldn't. And he flew. I mean, just this past week, he kicked my butt. So.
00:42:28
Speaker
I only fly one faction and one chassis. I'm a new player. That does not mean new player to me at all. There are so many great players that they just know how to fly that one faction so well. And I think that's a valid strategy next week. But getting back on topic, I guess I'm trying to prevent you from self-deprecating. What has been the hardest part about staying with the game for however long you've been in? OK, so I mean.
00:42:57
Speaker
Oh god, I don't go on a very long rant. No, no, no, no. It hasn't been hard at all. It hasn't been hard at all. I mean, like, because I was going to do like, I'm sorry. Like, it hasn't been hard at all just because of the community that I found. Honestly. Stay at it again. You completely broke up. I'm sorry. Yeah. It hasn't really been that hard just because I was able to assemble upon a community that is passionate about the game.
00:43:27
Speaker
And the community is probably the main reason why I keep coming back. I mean, if it wasn't for Nick and the whole 312 crew, I probably would not be playing this game as frequently as I currently am. So yeah, I guess the hardest part for new players is trying to find the community. I feel we can definitely do a better job at just trying to reach newer players at the whole outreach process.
00:43:57
Speaker
But, uh, yeah. What about like, you know, you know how that feel like when you started a new job and like all the excitement and like also the anxiety and you're learning a lot and, you know, getting to know your coworkers and kind of like, there's a little bit more of a freshness to you versus like.
00:44:17
Speaker
you know, fast forward a year or two years or however long you start to feel. Not only are you accustomed, but maybe you're feeling a little burnt out. So like after with how long you've been playing since you were were a brand new player to now, what do you think is what what is there anything that keeps you from.
00:44:34
Speaker
Is there anything, is there any sense of burnout or anything? Like, is it like meta related or is it just like because of life and you're balancing other things going on? Like if there were something that you would attribute to being a hard part about staying right now, what would that be? Uh, as of right now, it's definitely so. If I hear if a game wants passion for me, I also need to see some passion and some action from from the
00:45:03
Speaker
from the developers and I'm just kind of nervous right now that we haven't really had any official announcements a couple months and Just as a result like the lack of any updates like for points has just kind of Taken has just kind of put x we need a bit of a backseat. I mean I have really I've been
00:45:29
Speaker
Prioritories seen more like other hobbies like just climbing Programming well, it's not like I'm done with the game. It's just that it's now less prevalent in my life then Probably like let's say happy year ago So just like it's it needs to be it's I mean, it's a give-and-take, right? The fact that we haven't really heard anything it's the one thing that is
00:45:59
Speaker
Um, uh, that is the main reason why I'm not really excited to be playing right now, even though I still like playing, but it's all like, I jump out of bed, uh, having to play. Yeah, exactly. Groundhogs day. You guys seen groundhogs day with Bill Murray. Yep.
00:46:18
Speaker
Yeah. It's like, you know, it's like the little bedside, like, you know, Sunny and Cher, a little alarm going off. And instead of the hitting the alarm, it's just three arc, one seventies and hot solo. And every day you get up and it's three arc, one seventies. Yeah. You know, it's like, yeah, when you play with it as a store, you'll play against her with different things. But I think competitively, it certainly feels that way. Right. And like, again, I mean, this would be more tolerable if I knew that there was going to be
00:46:45
Speaker
Like there's a future date on when stuff is going to change. I was going to. You don't have that. So it was just like, well, then like, I don't know how long this is going to last. So like, hold on shut, like how long should I just keep up with it? I understand a lot of those points. I would say just to Nick. Yeah. Like a tweet would go a long way to be honest. Yeah. Just more communication from AMG in general. I think there's a lot of people that are feeling like for sure.
00:47:12
Speaker
I will say though, as a new resistance player, I feel like hopping out of bed, hitting that alarm, knowing there's going to be arcs in Han, bring it on, I'll feast on that all day. That's another important part about me is that I play the exact same thing over and over again. If you're willing to experiment, if you're willing to experiment, you'll have
00:47:38
Speaker
You'll be on the road for much longer than I am. That is a very important part. He's not pointed to illusion that Bill Murray has in the movie where he's kind of just so delusional about it. I was gonna say, Manny though, your time is here. The time of 5T70s is here. They're winning tournaments left and right. Oh, yeah. What do you think, Steven? What's something that...
00:48:01
Speaker
that you think you struggle with right now. I mean, you are very optimistic, very, I love being able, I feel like you don't, you don't talk me off a cliff per se, but when I'm feeling anxious about the way the game is, you certainly have an optimistic perspective. But if you were to say, you had to attribute something that maybe you feel has been a difficult or challenging aspect of keeping with X-wing, you know, what would you think it would be? I mean, I think it's, I guess, I mean, for the four of us, I think it's a little bit different. I think one of the things that,
00:48:31
Speaker
Man, when you were sharing some of the frustrations you have right now, in terms of communications, I mean, if Adepticon comes and goes, there's nothing new announcements of like, this is what we're going to get. Then, I mean, concern bells will certainly go off for me at that point. But I mean, I guess, looking from the perspective of a new player, and I know
00:49:00
Speaker
Like the two stores that I go to, I mean, so Fairy Game and Diners Grove on Mondays and Dungeon Cat on Thursdays. Like, especially on Mondays, like we do have some newer players. And like, not everyone is like, oh, I need to go to the tournament, I need to compete. And so like for them, it's like, for them is like, if they're excited about putting something on the table, then like supporting them in that.
00:49:28
Speaker
Um, and that like, that you don't, I mean, this, like, I mean, this past, like this past tournament, like for the windy city trials was like, I mean, you don't have to be like in try hard mode, like every tournament. Uh, so it's like, if there's something like, Hey, I want to put this thing on the table because I think it's going to be fun. Then like, like then leaning into that and, and especially with newer players is supporting them in that, that if there's, um, I know we have.
00:49:53
Speaker
One of our newer players Like she loves Harris Indula and wants to fire in the VCX and so like not be like, oh well She's not state like she's not available in standard play It's like if you want to find extended lists like like how about it? and really just in Encouraging that spark that if they enjoy playing the game That like if they wanted to pivot and it's like oh, I'm really interested in flying in tournaments now then
00:50:21
Speaker
Like then supporting that next step. But if it's just someone's like, Hey, like I want it, like I want to go to my local game store, um, on a weekday night and put in and move some plastic spaceships because like, I love these ships because it's star Wars. Um, then like really just, I mean, so supporting that. And I think, I mean, from, from the competitive standpoint, like it's always such a hard balance because, I mean, like for some players, if you see like, Oh, they're, they're on the console. Like I really want to get into tournament play.
00:50:52
Speaker
Um, is like, um, supporting them in that, but if it's a player that that's, that's not where they're at, then like, you know, I'm just going to take, I'm going to take a step back. They're like, I want to, um, like T like to teach and encourage, like they're like what it is that they're interested in flying. And if they want to take that next step, then supporting them, they want to take that next step, but it's, but it's hard. And, and I think that's always one of those things where like, I guess for me is like, I can remember when I first started playing is like, at first was like, oh, I just.
00:51:20
Speaker
I want to put the Star Wars Rebel ships on the table. Um, and then after a while it's like, Oh, like, like, if I want to win stuff, then I'd probably have to like, look, look at some different, look at some different ships. Um, but it would have been one of those things where like, if, when I first started, it's like, I just really want to put these ships on the table. And so like, if the experienced players at the store were like, no, well that's not competitive. Um,
00:51:44
Speaker
It's like they were like, oh, they encouraged me with what I wanted to fly. And then I kind of grew into, oh, I want to be a tournament player as well. And then learning what are the right support system when you're new and green. I mean, speaking of newer players, store champs are more likely to foster newer players for their events because those are the same stores that people have their local nights at, like you pointed out, the ones that you go to in the suburbs.
00:52:12
Speaker
But I've noticed what seems to be, I'm not at every single larger event, but it seems to be a dip in new players playing in the bigger, grand or national level events. I remember the first two LVOs I went to, there were people I would introduce myself to or would introduce themselves to me who were brand new. I had been playing for maybe a couple of months.
00:52:39
Speaker
And I think that maybe that level of intimidation is there when you're brand new and maybe you're not getting the kind of support or encouragement or just a community in general. So you feel like going to that competitive event or that big event where you have to travel or play with 50, 60 other people. I think now more than ever, they're probably feeling a little more intimidated because of how
00:53:05
Speaker
the game is now and how much it's changed. And I think they're jumping in at a time where it's a little bit more complicated and nuanced. And I'm curious what your guys' thoughts are on new players playing at competitive tournaments. Yeah. Oh, oh, I would say, yeah, I think that there there's definitely a level of intimidation on making that next step when you're playing competitively. I know for me, one of the biggest
00:53:32
Speaker
intimidating factors for the new game. It was not necessarily, like I didn't care about losing. Uh, I cared about looking foolish or also, uh, bumping, not understanding, you know, triggers, making rules violations. And I just wanted to make sure that I had the basics down first, before I wanted to like jump into a tournament. Because I know when it goes from like your store, casual rules,
00:54:02
Speaker
It's a lot more casual taking stuff back, forgetting maybe like Vader, his triggers. I mean, it's a very complicated game just with the way that things work, knowing that Vader has to do a scenario action before he does the other actions on the build-it-yourself Vader. Showing up at a tournament and then being like, oh, I'm going to focus and then claim the objective. And then being like, oh, you can't because of order of operation. You missed the trigger, stuff like that.
00:54:32
Speaker
making that next step to competitive, all of that, all that little stuff for me is what is like, we're the real intimidation is that. And I feel like for new players, that's I think going to be a lot. I feel a lot of new players would also feel that, too. So I guess, again, another thing that I mean, because extra championships, like I don't have to I don't have to travel to them, which means like I don't have to to pay like
00:55:00
Speaker
I mean, I don't have to worry about like transportation costs and hotel and lodging costs that like, if I can just stay like relatively close to home and still have a chance to like get a world's invite that like, I think that might be, I mean, some of the dip as to like, why, I mean, some of the larger conventions are typically had more players that like for some folks is like, Oh, like I can just stay at home and like save time and money and, um, as well, as well as like spouse points. Cause I mean, it's, it's also one of those things where it was like, Oh, like, um,
00:55:31
Speaker
Like, honey, I'm going to be gone all weekend. It's like, well, maybe not. Whereas it's like, I'm just going to go to the store down the roads. Like, that's that feels like more feasible and doable. And I mean, it is like because it's like the first year restore championships have provided like, oh, you can you can get a world's invite. I think a lot of people find like that. Like, well, I don't have to travel to do that anymore. So that's a good point. I mean, yeah, because that's a great point. It's
00:56:01
Speaker
expensive when you factor in travel, usually you have to stay in a hotel and then also the con, the conventions itself, minimum like 45 to $70 for a badge. You know, yeah. And all that. Less is Gen Con. I think, I think I spent, what was it, 130 or 150 or something on the, all the full weekend for Gen Con. Yeah, that's around that price, like 150. Right. So I mean, and that went up over last year too.
00:56:31
Speaker
So yeah, yeah, it did. That's definitely a barrier for brand new players. Probably. That's a lot of barriers for them. It's a lot of time about. And if you don't have a hotel by April, you're basically out of luck. It's true. But that's a good point. I mean, I think I think that, yeah, the fact that you don't have to go to large tournaments anymore to secure that invite, that you can do that from your local store championship has definitely impacted the attendance of the bigger events, for sure.
00:57:00
Speaker
And I say like for most newer players is like, I mean, going into the tournament, it's like, Oh, like this is going to be fun. And like, especially here's like, I mean, like, when you, like, especially if you've gone to a few of them, it's like, you figure out, well, like these are, like, these are some of the best player, like, I mean, some of the best players in all of that swing. And they're right here, like they're right here in my, in my backyard. I was like, I'm content just to hang out here until I feel like
00:57:25
Speaker
Like I have a more stable footing that like going to a convention would, would, would mean like, Oh, I have a, like I have a good chance of, of, of, of getting that world's invite or like, or even just, Oh, like I'm going to be able to get some, some of that extra sweet, sweet prize support. Um, where it's just like that, like that cost in time is that it feels worth it. But, um, I guess like, I mean, Nick, you had mentioned before that like, we're just, I feel like we're really spoiled here in the Chicago area that there's tournaments.
00:57:52
Speaker
And then you really do get to throw bubbles with some of the best players in the community. I will say one less barrier for entry to get into the tournaments is the new starter sets being able to have a somewhat playable competitive experience like right out of the box. I think if they keep continuing to release those for different factions, that will help a lot. Because when I first got into it, I started with only building lists with the ships I had.
00:58:21
Speaker
And that was really limiting. I didn't have anything that was competitive or meta, so I had to buy into something new. And then after that, then it was flying the theme lists and stuff were fun. But if I wanted to win, then I would have to start actually thinking about what is competitive. Yeah. Yeah. And of course, that's helped out pretty big with that. Yeah. Bigger's Cross and getting some more.
00:58:49
Speaker
You look for the other factions, please. Yeah, I don't. I don't want to. I do want to continue. This is a larger conversation. We're going to continue, but I do want to be mindful of of our time.
'Break It or Buy It' and Ship Meta Discussion
00:59:00
Speaker
We have one more segment. We can to begin power through here if you guys any if you have any final words, but we can otherwise continue that conversation in our next episode as well, which is the plan.
00:59:11
Speaker
So let's do a rapid fire break it or buy it. So break it or buy it. For those of you guys who are favorite segment, we like to take a chassis in the game for specific faction. Usually in this case, we're going to go into extended. We're going to pick the Upsilon shuttle to talk about. I laid out three pilots, but break it or buy it. What essentially what it is is you take one of these pilots for the chassis that we have laid out.
00:59:35
Speaker
And you pick if you would break it and change something fundamental about its style, its stats, its ability, the pilot's ability, or if you would buy it with everything being the same, but you could even change the price. So we have three pilots for the Upsilon shuttle, of course. This is a first order ship, one that I'm surprised that we never got reprinted through the existence of 2.0 even to now. It's just kind of something that
01:00:01
Speaker
Like the Lambda is not something that exists in a black box for some reason. I have Captain Cardinal, Lieutenant Dormitz and Major Strident as the three pilots. So I can have the three of you guys each do one if that's the way you want to do it. Steven, of course, being our guest, I can have him start. Steven, do you want to pick one of those three pilots to do? I do. So as I was looking at these Lieutenant Dormitz,
01:00:29
Speaker
feels like he can be quite good. So he's initiative two, and for the set of phase, after you replace other friendly small ships, can be placed anywhere in the play area at range zero to two of you. And if you surround him with four TIE FOs, so if you were to put Scorcher DT, Midnight Malaris, and Lieutenant Gaelic,
01:00:59
Speaker
All of a sudden it's like round ones, like, well, they're going to be in your face. That feels all kinds of good. Um, and like, and then he can just kind of trail in behind. And so it's like, if you're engaged with a bunch of tie fighters, it's like, well, you're going to have to deal with them. And then all of a sudden, like coming up, like coming up the next round is, uh, um, a four, like a four dice gun. Um, yeah, that feels, that feels all kinds of good.
01:01:21
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. A combination of like Mac pulse or cluster missiles and like ion, ion cannons, just like that's, that's a lot of firepower. And yeah, yeah, when I looked at that, it's like, I feel like there's a lot of fun, fun play mechanics that could happen with that. Even though he's like the most expensive of the three points. Yeah, eight points. But like, when you can surround him with, I mean, four TIE fighters that that can certainly do do some serious damage. That feels that feels quite
01:01:49
Speaker
like could be quite fun and potentially potentially good in the right hands. And why don't you, Stephen, really quick just read off there's the chassis stats for attack and the dial. Yeah, absolutely. Go by. Yeah. So Lieutenant Dormants is initiative two for dice for attack dice. One agility. So even one agility. Like I forgot that they had that. So that's quite good. Six all six shields.
01:02:15
Speaker
Yeah, the maneuver dial, it's got a zero stop, which feels pretty good. Like blue maneuvers are the one, one, two straight, two banks. The one banks and three banks are white. The two turns are white. And then the one turns and three turns are red. You know, historically it's, I mean, if you get behind it, then it's, I mean, bad news bears, but I mean, you got a bunch of other shit, like a bunch of other ships that you're going to have to engage.
01:02:44
Speaker
that you might be able to move them in a way that's less likely for that to happen. So yeah, that feels like it could be a really fun ship. Yeah, absolutely. All right. So Lieutenant Dormis at eight points right now with 20 loadout, would you break it or buy it? I mean, 20 loadout feels quite good. I mean, he's got three crew slots, two tech slots, two sensor slots, and a cannon upgrade. I don't know how often you would use the cannon upgrade.
01:03:14
Speaker
Um, and then a mod slot. So I mean, you could find a lot of, I mean, a lot of combinations across those. Um, and like a, a support ship that also like can punch you pretty hard in the face feels, feels pretty good. Let's say with the cannon, the, the ship ability is while you perform a cannon attack, you can roll an additional die. So I think ion cannon would be the one that can afford heavy, heavy laser. Yeah, but five. Um, yeah.
01:03:42
Speaker
I mean, yeah, if someone's yeah, someone will find a way to find a way. I mean, here's the thing, though. It does. It's a good control piece because you can guarantee a ship is not going to be in that bullseye. So it does. It's good board control, I guess. Just the threat of rolling a five die attack.
01:04:03
Speaker
It's pretty good. So what do you think? Would you make him would you make him cheaper or would you change his ability? That would be making him cheaper, is buying it, changing the ability or anything fundamental with a hard break. I mean, his pilot ability seems I mean, I mean, that's the thing is, I think is the most attractive about him. I mean, I guess it's hard to it's hard to gauge because I mean, we haven't seen one of these on the table in such a long time. If it's if eight points is the right is the right amount.
01:04:34
Speaker
But I don't know. I mean, I know for packs that they're going to have an extended tournament. So like fingers crossed that there might be an up like an up salon on the table because that would be all kinds of fun. I mean, I can remember back in 2.0 where
01:04:52
Speaker
Um, like double obsilons was quite, was, was quite good. And now you can put, I mean, one in four ships that can, that can hit quite hard and have good control pieces. Like that just feels, um, that feels all kinds of good. So you're going to keep him at eight, just going to buy it as is. I'm going to buy him as is. Um, I would definitely give it a shot. And, um, like, yeah, I'm going to keep him right, right where he's at.
01:05:19
Speaker
Cool. All right. Next up, Manny, you want to do Captain Cardinal or Major Strident? I will take Strident. All right. So his effect is while you coordinate or resolve the effect of one of your upgrades, you may treat friendly ships at range two to three as being at range zero or range one. All right. Oh, that's interesting.
01:05:46
Speaker
He has 13 loadout, he has seven points, and he is on I4. Okay, just taking a look at the effect again. I'm trying to think of what you'd be most taking advantage of with this. Yeah, same. So while you perform a white coordinate action, you can treat it as red. If you do, you may coordinate two additional ships of the same type. Each ship you coordinate must perform the same action, treating that as red, because I think the resolved effect would allow you to coordinate at range three.
01:06:17
Speaker
Um, and cause you're doing that, uh, cool. Yeah. Cause it says when you treat, when you do one of your resolve effect, one of your upgrades, you may treat it, uh, yeah, two to three being as range zero one. So you could coordinate from, um, farther. You could also do the sensor buoy suite and targeting synchronizer. So targeting synchronizer while a friendly ship at range one to two performs an attack against the target. You have locked that ship ignores the attack or the target lock attack requirement.
01:06:46
Speaker
Sensor Buoy Suite, before you place the two sensors beyond range two of any edge, before you engage, you can inquire a lock on a ship at range zero to one of a friendly sensor buoy. So you can also then extend the range of that from one to two to one to three, or from zero to three. So you can also give that a benefit to ships if they have ordinance but haven't taken a target lock.
01:07:15
Speaker
There's a lot of, it sounds like there's a lot of Wombo combo. That's a lot of stuff as well. The, there is a limit on it though is while a friendly non-limited ship at range zero to one performs a primary attack, that ship may reroll one blank result. And then if it does, the attack does not hit. You can flip the card.
01:07:34
Speaker
Um, and then on the backside it's perfected while you perform an attack. If the defender is in your bullseye, you must convert all eyeballs to, or all focus results to hit results and gain one stress token. Then if you have two or more stress, you suffer one damage. So that one though, requires a non limited ship, which means the generic, uh,
01:08:01
Speaker
And, um, I just don't know how many of those you're going to put in your list, but it does give rerolls to generics. Take it to all of them while any friendly it's a two to three. So maybe, is there an interesting swarm upside to.
01:08:17
Speaker
generics. Yeah, I mean, with generics, I, I, I would I don't even think about generics anymore. It was John Ham from Mad Men. I don't think about it at all. And the downside is if any of your generics miss, they lose that reroll ability because when it flips, it now has the new ability, which is not as good. Stephen, what would people run in there? Like, like, what are some some more popular upgrades that you could use Stride's ability with? Anything come to mind?
01:08:47
Speaker
Maybe we're all just a little perplexed, like I just definitely did see a lot of major strident. Like I'm trying to think you basically have to start with abilities that are two to three related range, two to three related. And then you could shift it to be zero to one or rather. Yeah. So it has a lot of enemy ship abilities, but not too much friendly ship ones, which is a lot for this ability like to do around it like it seems kind of silly, but sure, you could do that.
01:09:16
Speaker
Okay, so yeah, coordinating ability. It seems like that's what Stride wants to do is, you know, TLDR coordinate. So Manny, would you break or buy? Bro, I'm lost the sauce with this. Thirteen loadout. I'm going to throw it to Andrew. Throw this to Andrew.
01:09:36
Speaker
Copy my homework, but don't make it look like you're copying. We take Captain Cardinal. So yeah, I guess with Major Strident, I'm picking up a big swarm option with this guy. Because with Hux, it cares about having the same ship type. So I'm feeling like a lot of FO fighters or
01:10:02
Speaker
maybe even going like two bombers, three FO, but whatever it is, it's going to be more of a swarm variety. So I don't think the loadout, because if you're taking Hux is only three points, the targeting synchronizer is only three points, and the sensor buoy is only four points. And if this is a big coordinating ship, I don't think the loadout is the issue.
01:10:29
Speaker
I am going like maybe you could even do like I mean, Kylo whirlwind and nightfall on the on the whisper that could be. That's pleasant. Yeah. So I would honestly say definitely buy it for. Because so here's the crazy. So if you buy it for.
01:10:56
Speaker
Wait, buy an epsilon shuttle at 6 points? No, no, no. I mean at 6. Yeah, like you're a god for the podcast. I was like, where? You win this and I have it at 4. All epsilons. Five epsilons.
01:11:12
Speaker
at four. No, because it's the same ship type, too, if you have five Upsilon. No, I would I would buy at six points. And then you could you could even go the generic 709 Legion Ace and then use Malaris to with General Hawks. So then they get reroll. Oh, my God. That that's just me goofing. But no, I think I think you can go and F.O. Swarm. I would take it. I would buy at six points for sure.
01:11:41
Speaker
Not not for let the record show absolutely take it at four points I think everyone you would just see you would see major stride in and that is just absolute blasphemy If it was four points Yeah
01:12:01
Speaker
Doris is like all the Upsalans are four points. We're going to throw five of them down the bizarre. OK, let's just say only major stridens at four points. All the other Upsalans are at seven and eight. You would it would be the new Han. It would still be the new one. You would see you would see Upsalans on that new ship you got to handle.
01:12:18
Speaker
but no I would say six points is I think it would be it would be really you could do some cool ship combos at six points because there's there's a lot going on at four points so it neatly fits in with some of the the bombers
01:12:37
Speaker
Like some of the ones that like, like grudge at four points, even breach at five, if it was six, it makes it a little easier than to fit in that three points for Malaris and some of the cool, like the FOs that are all three points. So I think that one thing with the FO list building that's kind of awkward is that.
01:12:55
Speaker
everything is odd but some of the good ships are like even points so you get this weird it could be like a 19 or like a 21 point list i think six points if you made strident six and maybe like a generic six that would give you some of the options to build some different like loadouts within that i don't know what is how does everybody think no i i agree i mean that's fine i think we uh i think
01:13:21
Speaker
Yeah, six points. Why not? Captain Captain Cardinal is the last. Pilot Manny gets one more opportunity to copy some homework here. Go again. So let's do let's do Captain Cardinal at seven points with twelve loadout while you read his ability.
01:13:43
Speaker
All right, cool. Yeah, so the fact is, hopefully I'll a friendly ship at range one to two with lower initiative than you'd defend, so performs the attack. If you have at least a one charge, that ship may reroll one,
01:14:04
Speaker
Focus result. After an enemy ship at range 0-3 is destroyed, lose one charge. Yes, two charges not recurring in those of you. At home, we're wondering. Two charges, okay.
01:14:25
Speaker
Alright, I gotta be honest, I don't know anything about FO, so I don't think I can make an accurate judgment. No, that's fine. I can help you out. Based on the size of the ship alone, I'm not taking it. Jeez. Well, so it has to be lower initiative, so we're talking about i3 or below, which...
01:14:47
Speaker
Yeah, it was kind of brutal. Like you could get a mission of killed pretty easily. Muse is an I2. Oh, hello, Muse. I'm already in Muse meta. Not only is it a good band, but Muse might also, it could appear as in the FO. Maybe playing some Muse music. TN3465. I mean, there's just a lot of these FOs are I4 and above, though.
01:15:12
Speaker
Generics would have a field day. So as Andrew is clamoring for the generic meta, we could be entering one with Captain Cardinal Rush. Yes, I think the only the only F.O. ship that I can think of that's being initiated three or lower that that sees table is whirlwind. Rush. Rush is a good point, though. It starts off as an idea. And and you get rerolled. And then if you shoot rush, then he becomes an I-5 or an I-6. I mean, Avengers and I-3 as well.
01:15:42
Speaker
How exciting. Yeah. So, yeah, it's it's it's it's conditional. I just with that one conditional, it's your rerolling focus results. And as as you win, you get to do that. Yeah. So. It's it's kind of doing what it's it's working against what you want to be doing.
01:16:08
Speaker
I think I'm a step in for this one really quick. If that's cool, Manny, I have seven points at twelve load. I'm going to say break it, change the ability. You can reroll blank results and change it so that I force and below gets a reroll blank result. Keep it at the same price as seven points. I'd even drop the loadout down actually because that ability ends up being pretty good once you make those changes. I dropped the loadout to like eight or nine. So yeah.
01:16:39
Speaker
Yeah. What are your thoughts on Captain Cardinal? I mean, I think if we make all the changes that Nick has suggested, I think that's pretty good because then you can still fit General Hawks and sort of slap on some Jeterium power cells for him to live a little bit longer. Or even sensor buoys. Yeah. Because you're getting the target locks. And then if you do that with targeting synchronizer,
01:17:06
Speaker
Well, I probably don't need any targeting sync values, or just get the sensor buoys, and then you get to reroll. Yeah. Oh, oh. Well, would you say a friendly ship, or would you say each other friendly ship? Can he do it to himself? Oh, certainly. So it would be each other. Yeah.
01:17:28
Speaker
Yeah, each other friendly ship. It's a range one zero range one to two. Yeah, I would. Yeah, I would make it interesting, too, because I know I realize what I've done with changing this. I would make it so that only ships at range two could do this just to make it really weird for the hell of it. Not range one, but only ships are raised to judge calls. Oh, it's already a nightmare scenario.
01:17:55
Speaker
Because man, because you'd have to measure like, yeah, no, that's going to be a nightmare. Because like, it's like, oh, well, you're by a hair. You think I take out those range rulers, the clear range rulers. Yeah, let's let's whip out. It's all a part of the acrylic scheme to get more range or is printed the changes to Captain Cardinal. I'm much more privy to Captain Cub, after all.
01:18:22
Speaker
I'll leave it with that terrible joke. So guys, just a heads
Upcoming Events and Closing Remarks
01:18:27
Speaker
up. For those of you at home, clamoring for some more official events beyond store champs that are happening near you. PAX Unplugged is happening in December 1 through 3 when this comes out. This episode comes out. It'll just be a few days away. I know Steven will be there. So if you see Steven, say hi to him. It'd be great to see you all.
01:18:44
Speaker
Yeah. So that is there multiple events, including an extended store champ type event happening at PAX. And then Andrew and I will be at LVO, which is January 18 through 21st. If you see us there, say hello. It'll be a lot of fun. And Andrew, if you want to take us away with our with our outro here. Thank you, everyone, for listening to this episode. We want to thank Stratus Strike for partnering with us.
01:19:11
Speaker
You can buy a plethora of gaming components for X-Wing, like the wood template trays, objective tokens, and more. You can use the discount code 312Squadron for 15% off your purchase, which that's super nice. Be sure to follow us on Twitch to catch us live, including our final episode recording of the year, catch edited content on YouTube, like us on Facebook, and of course, jump into the conversation with us directly in our Discord server. Until next time, I'm Andrukuba. I'm Nick Sperry.
01:19:40
Speaker
I'm Steven Weiland. I'm Emmanuel. And have a happy Thanksgiving. Happy holidays, guys.