X-Wing Ship Review: Guns for Hire

[@vincentrecto7299]

I really look forward to your reviews. These really are the most professional and best quality X-Wing reviews I can find!

[@thecardboarddungeon8770]

Thank you!

[@michaelriley1118]

Totally agree!

[@Xenostars]

Hear, hear! Best reviews in the business.

[@Kjuik44]

I couldn't agree more!

[@IRMentat]

Easily the best xwing content creator for ship coverage. Glad to see these ships get some love, they suffered from Vader syndrome as playable units.

[@thecardboarddungeon8770]

Thank you.

[@paolodebonis781]

Glad to see more reviews!

[@partiallyaturkeyguy7080]

those imperial gunships chasing viktor hel may have also been used by the republic in clone wars

[@pizzabob23]

The ships in the background of the artwork were used by the galactic republic and empire during the clone war they were used for police transport on courasant but in rebels their basically normal gunship.

[@kyle857]

I think both of the paint jobs are much better than the original versions.

[@thecardboarddungeon8770]

Fair enough. The color schemes are fine, I'm mostly surprised at the lack of the kind of detailing we've seen on some recent ships.

[@blackasp001]

The two craft pictured on the card are Patrol Transports that first appeared in the latter half of season 5 of the Clone Wars

[@RottenMechGaming]

Great overview, I think the harpoons are going to be fun

[@matthmtf2584]

Man, i love ur reviews, pls do some more epic ships videos

[@atheistbiker]

I flew a 95pt list using Dengar and Thweek, and just wrecked ppl. With the large initiative bid, I can give away initiative every time, and matching Thweek to the highest PS, thereby moving last every time, and having massive reposition ability. They chase Dengar, and Thweek chews them up from behind.

[@thecardboarddungeon8770]

What was your build?

[@atheistbiker]

Dengar(57) [Dengar(33), Engine Upgrade(4), Push The Limit(3), K4 Security Droid(3), Glitterstim(2), Punishing One(12)] Thweek(38) [Thweek(28), Advanced Proton Torpedoes(6), Fire Control System(2), Virago(1), Pulsed Ray Shield(2), Ion Discharger(2), StarViper Mk. II(-3)]

[@atheistbiker]

I changed the Pulsed Ray combo to Autothrusters and Scavenger Crane (to re-load the APTs!), which works even better.

[@zomboidkiller]

For Thweek, there are a few ships that don't have an EPT at all, like the K-Wing and Ghost. So mixing their abilities with EPT might be what they're trying to stop from happening like Lightning reflexes and Hera's ability.

[@thecardboarddungeon8770]

That's true, although the K-Wing also has Slam, a turret primary and the ability to carry bombs and crew, while the Ghost has an attack value of 4 and the capability to make a turret attack after the combat round. Thweek doesn't get any of that. Would just having Miranda Doni's ability plus an Elite slot be too powerful? I suppose if you brought Thweek with Expose, you could roll 5 attack dice. You might get one attack like that off in a game before Thweek got destroyed.

[@zomboidkiller]

The Cardboard Dungeon So the Ghost doesn't have barrel role just because it has 4 attack dice and the K-Wing doesn't have a better dial because it has Miranda if we all used that logic. I have no idea what FFG's R&D department are thinking. Just pointing out an example of an EPT that can't go on large ships and that would work well with Hera's ability.

[@joshestes6427]

How about Miranda? Regen with Autothrusters and even sensor jammer. Add the ept and you have some crazy options.

[@thecardboarddungeon8770]

That would be a pretty nasty Thweek for sure.

[@samdenomme5431]

You could use captain justero with a scurrg bomber with proton bombs because they do automatic criticals

[@jackal-bu8it]

Great review Pat. I feel the same about this expansion. I’m not in a hurry to buy it, just kind of meh. Although Captain J caught my eye and got me thinking of some lists with quad jumpers or feedback Z’s. Put "snapshot" on him and you could get a ship off the board quick. It would take some work setting though. My friend swears Thweek is great and has a lot of success with him plus Fenn and Jumpmaster or Bumpmaster. But I lovingly call Thweek, "Thweak". Keep up the great work and quality.

[@thecardboarddungeon8770]

Thanks! Yeah, I wanted to like Thweek because his ability is fun, but he isn't worth the points even with the -3 title. Base cost of 25 points for a pilot skill 4 ship with 5 health, no Elite slot and no ability. To make him actually playable you probably need to spend at least 30 points and then you still don't have an Elite upgrade and you don't know what ability or PS he's going to have from match to match.

[@JB-ym4up]

The Cardboard Dungeon with a initiative bid you can always move last with thweek.

[@Hal-ug2jr]

Great to see more of your reviews. I love flying Talonbane, however it's a squishy ship with only 2 agility. You could give him EU and Autothrusters for more survivability, but is that playing against his pilot ability for range one? Also, I thought I read in a few places that putting Stealth Device on anything below 3 agility is a waste as the math doesn't work and you will most often lose it the first time you defend. Nonetheless, I want to find a way to make him work with this new expansion, at least Pulse Ray Shields gives him some regen ability, however limiting.

[@thecardboarddungeon8770]

Talonbane likes to be at range 3 for his ability to work defensively, so Autothrusters is useful. And with turrets still popular, he can get into range 1 but stay out of their arc to benefit from autothrusters against them.

[@IRMentat]

Feedback array could be an interesting support ship with jostero.

[@thecardboarddungeon8770]

That's true. Anything to trigger Jostero's ability. A Feedback Array Z-95 who's sole purpose is to get close and trigger Jostero's extra attack would be annoying.

[@Vatani77]

Yay was waiting for this video for a while :)

[@andrewsigrist9981]

You mentioned that we should keep the two "fixes" in mind when reviewing the other product in the expansion, but you seemed to forget that when you moved on to the star viper reviews. Thweek isnt a 28 point pilot, he's a 25 point pilot with a banked barrel roll which, if you've ever used Lieutenant Lorrir is amazing. One other thing that makes Thweek interesting is that you can basically guarantee that he moves last by taking a large initiative bid. This means that it doesnt matter how high your opponent's PS is, they could have VI on a PS9 and you still move after them.

[@thecardboarddungeon8770]

Ha! You're absolutely right - it did slip my mind to take the -3 points into consideration when talking about Thweek. However, I do have to point out that the necessity to make a large initiative bid to guarantee that Thweek moves last does basically put those points right back into him. And you still have a pilot that's at least 1/4 of our squadron with no ability and no Elite upgrade. I agree that Thweek is interesting, and probably fun to play.

[@andrewsigrist9981]

Personally, I would make the initiative bid work for more than just Thweek if I were going that route. I would run in an aces list with Fen Rau and maybe the Kimogila ace so all of my ships benefit from the initiative bid. That said, I'm not sure that anyone is thinking about Thweek correctly. Forget about building around him, consider that he is just 25 points... Think about the other ships that are just 25 points... Kad Solus? A post nerf Contracted Scout? A Gand Findsman? I think both his unpredictability and his versatility are strengths in his favor. Also consider that Dalan Oberos is only 27 points. Sure he's only PS8 with VI but still, he is the repositioning king. I think if they would have made him a PS 7 (so he could get to 9 with VI) he would have been overpowered.

[@thecardboarddungeon8770]

You make good points. I'm still skeptical about Thweek's viability even as a high PS with a big initiative bid. I think that in high-level competitive play you'd need Virago and Advanced Sensors at minimum to be able to avoid being blocked, and if you're utilizing the MkII barrel rolls for position advantage you'll be taking shots with no modification much of the time. We'll see if Guns for Hire helps either of these ships in he post-FAQ meta pretty soon, with regionals season starting up in the near future.

[@andrewsigrist9981]

I completely agree. I think Thweek may be a bit over rated, but I honestly have no idea what the post nerf meta is going to be! My guess is that Aces see a small resurgence just for nostalgic purposes, but I dont think bombs have been nerfed enough, so they'll be squashed fairly quickly.

[@IRMentat]

The title makes counting cost on the new star vipers different. -3 on base cost as its auto-include.

[@thecardboarddungeon8770]

That's true.

[@JB-ym4up]

Harpoon missile is better than assault missile and homing missile and 1 point less. Not a big fan of game design choices like that.

[@thecardboarddungeon8770]

I think that there will always be things that will make older things obsolete in any game with frequent expansion updates. It's impossible to keep every single pilot, upgrade, etc. relevant.

[@psbrown711]

I think you're right about how FFG is being cautious about Thweek

[@thecardboarddungeon8770]

I guess I'd rather they err on the side of caution than release something like the Jumpmaster again.

[@psbrown711]

The Cardboard Dungeon totally agree man, drastic but totally warranted on the jumpmaster. Erratas sometimes make some people upset and I think that's what they're trying avoid. That and less work for them in the long run.

[@newtpondskipper]

I agree that Guri is still far and away the best ship for the Starviper. Really love the both of these ships and have had a good deal of success with the new upgrade titles. Starviper was what got me into Scum but wasn't something I flew as it was disappointing. Might see more play now that the FAQ nerfs hurt mindlink and punishing one.

[@thecardboarddungeon8770]

The StarViper title is a lot of fun to play around with. The tournament I played last night was won by a list of Guri/Theek/Fenn Rau, which I played in the final round. That extra mobility with the banking barrel rolls is crazy. Even with an ion token from Pulsed Ray Shields they can end up in a huge number of positions. Guri was impossible to kill. I think the loadout he had was both titles, sensor jammer, pulsed ray shield, ion dischargers and fearlessness and she did some work. She ended the match with two hull and a shield, and I took her shield off three or four times. Guri is great with pulsed ray shields and ion dischargers because she wants to get into range one of enemy ships for her ability anyway. I destroyed Fenn Rau in an early combat round (I think it was either the first or second round of shooting) but I couldn't kill either of his StarVipers. The survivability on them is amazing with pulsed ray shields and the new title.

[@newtpondskipper]

With the latest FAQ nerfing mindlink I am experimenting with new builds for Guri. She is still by far my favorite ship to fly. My go to build is Autothrusters both titles, Advanced Sensors and Inertial Dampers. I am really interested in seeing what the PRS can do.

[@zanemingus1111]

How did you get the Starviper's wings to fold like that?

[@thecardboarddungeon8770]

One of the wings was breaking off, so I decided to mod it into a "wings folded" position. I broke them all off, filed down the edges a bit and glued them into the new position. It wasn't hard and I think it looks cool (and it's better than having a broken wing).

[@zanemingus1111]

Good job! It looks really cool!

[@adamheeley285]

I know you are busy but I just got into this game and coudnt find my answer anywhere else and you seem to know a lot about it. I have the millenium flacon and the card that gives it a slam ability. It says that after I use SLAM i have to get rid of the card. So does that mean that I can only use SLAM once per game?

[@thecardboarddungeon8770]

Yep. X-Wing has several one-time use upgrades. They're meant to be used at the perfect time for maximum effectiveness. Crack Shot and Glitterstim are a couple of other examples of these single-use cards that are good enough to see regular play in tournaments.

[@adamheeley285]

Wow thanks for the reply, you have a great channel dude. Best x wing reviews out there. You made me think twice about buying the tie aggressor because of how its making the classes less unique. i got the phantom instead. cheers

[@lukejohnson3612]

Could you do Phantom II as soon as it comes out cuz I rely on you to review new ships because u aren't very biased

[@thecardboarddungeon8770]

+Luke Johnson I'll do what I can. My top priority for the next wave personally is the TIE Silencer. It'll be the first ship I buy for sure. After that, the Phantom II and Gunboat will be my next purchases.

[@austintrier8754]

Just buy it for 15 at least you will get some new upgrades with it if it’s not

[@KKL914]

I like flying scum, so I was excited for this expansion. However I have seen some games using the vaksai title and I am concerned it is too powerful. 4 vaksai ps 5 can have guidance chips, munitions failsafe, deadeye and any 3pt or less missle. Definitely think the fact the card reduces point costs is an issue.

[@thecardboarddungeon8770]

My only thought is that with all of the high pilot skill alpha strike lists that are popular, it's entirely possible that one or even two of those Khiraxz will get destroyed before they even get a chance to attack. Triple TIE Defenders have a strong chance of erasing one in a single round of combat, and multiple Harpoon or Cruise Missile carriers might get one and a half (or two if the rolls are good) before the Vaksai can attack. The issue with the Khiraxz is survivability. Two defense dice in front of five health isn't great, and if you don't have survivability modifications like Autothrusters or Stealth Device to mitigate attacks they can die quick.

[@KKL914]

The Cardboard Dungeon that is a good point, most of the heavy hitting lists I know of are not very maneuverable. I don't think it would be too difficult for them to get set up for missles. Even if one got destroyed 3 ion or cruise missiles could immobilize the entire squad or destroy it's heavy hitter. I saw them flown with cruise missiles against an ace list and the aces could not outfly them forever, kihraxz has a decent dial. (Wish title gave boost barrel roll + normal mod slot) We will see I suppose. I commend you for your content, it is very professional and enjoyable.

[@CollectionTHX1138]

This review was a little different conversational instead of scripted. conversational takes longer to listen to but scripted probably takes longer to produce ; either way great info SV M.II is sort of like Echo Decloacking using the 2 turns instead of straights I like the card artwork I do like the way the Khiraxz mini looks FFG is running out of unique abilities which is amazing. these do seem thematic the abilities can be situation and a bit confusing but a good synergy between that and the upgrades imho Dalan’s is interesting but I see what you mean by low PS for point cost. what is FFG really thinking? ; They’re trying to do Scum interesting things but situational which I guess is thematic to Scum

[@thecardboarddungeon8770]

I think that Dalan probably had to be capped at PS6 because if he could get to 9 or 10 the capability to use advanced sensors to barrel roll before moving and then potentially use his ability would give him a huge advantage. He'd be incredibly hard for lower PS ships to ever even get into their firing arcs. Although it does seem like they're not following this rule of thumb with the upcoming Kylo Ren TIE silencer. PS9, Advanced Sensors, Barrel Roll and Boost, AND Elite and Tech slots is going to make that an incredibly hard to predict ship.

[@thecardboarddungeon8770]

Yes, scripting takes a lot longer, probably doubles the time it takes to make a video, and I think they come out sounding, well, scripted sometimes. I've gone back and forth between scripting and ad-libbing, and don't really prefer one over the other. Mostly it depends on how much free time I have to focus on getting a video done. Even when I'm not scripting the videos aren't truly ad-libbed; I spend a lot of time thinking about what I want to say about each card before recording.

[@CollectionTHX1138]

Great insight. I still say FFG should give you swag under the table for selling more product not necessarily to have to review. or have you design a card like world champs get to do ;

[@Hal-ug2jr]

Hey Pat, it shows. You put a lot of thought into these and that is appreciated, you have great insight and perspective on how it will affect the meta or competition, and how upgrades can be used. I truly value your opinion. Others just read the card text, I can do that myself. Keep up the great work.

[@thecardboarddungeon8770]

Thanks

[@death2all79zx]

Thank you.

[@TheFinest509]

Why do you sound so depressed? 😂