Out to Lunch
Hello
PGP fans! After today I will
be taking the rest of the month off. I am helping my Dad film and edit a documentary
for our family's history and that will be taking up a lot of my free time.
But don't worry because I am planning on restarting X-wing articles in January.
I have gotten into a good groove of once a week and will continue to publish my
analyses every Monday morning. Over this last year I've received lots of great
feedback and encouragement for my writing and so I want to thank everyone who
has read and commented. You are the ones that truly bring the Poor Grey Pilot
to life. If you have an idea for an topic you would like me to look at, be sure
to let me know in the comments below.
The Dorsal Turret

The
first thing I want to discuss is the fact that this turret has special
circumstances, just like all other turret upgrades. I hope that players don't
look at this and think: "Oh no, another weird turret. When can we just get
a normal 2/3 attack, 1-3 range turret with no gimmicks?" If this is what
you are waiting for then you will be waiting a long time. That turret was
already introduced in Wave 2 as the 'natural primary turret'. The fact behind
the Turret Upgrade is this: it is meant to be a unique mechanic and bring new
things to the table, just like any other upgrade slot. A primary-style
Turret Upgrade would only bring a boring repeat of the natural primary turret and
take away from the uniqueness of both of these game aspects. If a natural
primary turret is what you are looking for then you are in luck because there
are many ships with it: the Falcon, the YT-2200, the K-wing, the Punishing One,
and the Decimator.
With that being said, the Dorsal Turret brings another unique turret mechanic to the X-wing game. And I am not going to lie: it was this
upgrade, not all the characters, that sold me on wanting the Ghost
Expansion. I just hope that I can portray the why well
enough that you can understand my joy and will want to try out this upgrade as
well.
First and foremost, it is a cheap upgrade. The DT becomes the second cheapest turret option, just like how Plasma Torpedoes became the second cheapest torpedo. You can always find room for a Dorsal Turret, unlike the Ion or Twin
Laser Turret. Second, it carries the same Range 1 deterrent as a natural
primary turret. Enemies will be more averse to get into Range 1 of your ship
because it gives both players a bonus. Third, it doesn't have the same range
limitation as the Autoblaster. When I was practicing and competing with my Hot
Shot Blaster this last month, it was quite eye-opening to see how much
area you cover with a Range 2 turret. The HSB is an expensive one-shot
item because it gives ships like the Headhunter and Viper a huge range of
attack! And this leads me to point four; the Dorsal Turret gets the same amount
of attack at Range 1 as a HSB but is permanent. Sure, you
only have 2 attack dice at Range 2 but that is an exchange I would make any day.
The
fifth and most important feature of the Dorsal Turret is that it is a
better version of the Blaster Turret. You don't have to waste a focus token just to fire. This
means you are free to chose whatever upgrades you want, rather than being forced to chose only upgrades that give you dice modification. The Dorsal Turret is more efficient and
reliable than the Blaster Turret and it even costs 1 squad point fewer.
The
DT also has a wide reach of influence because it can benefit all but one of
the ships with the turret upgrade slot. The Y-wing, both Rebel and Scum,
now has a new turret to mix up the strategy of Range 2 board control. The Hawk
can get into the middle of a battle and dish out good punishment without needing
a focus battery. And the Ghost and the Attack Shuttle benefit greatly because it gives these Jousting ships some defense against Arc-Dodgers. Interestingly, the only ship that doesn't benefit from the Dorsal
Turret is the K-wing since its natural primary turret can already do everything
the upgrade can.
Apart
from filling a needed niche and benefiting many ships in the game, the Dorsal
Turret also has good synergy when paired with certain pilots. Let's take a look
at a few of my favorites.
Pilot Combos
Kavil

I
mentioned the Hot Shot before and it applies here as well. As long as you point Kavil in the right direction, he has a limitless
supply of Hot Shots at his disposal. We also get a crazy-cheap attack of 4 dice at
Range 1. This is cheaper than any Falcon and requires only a little work on your part,
unlike a Eaden Stress combo. The Dorsal Turret really frees up this pilot and
lets him shine.
Coming
from a different angle, we actually can have some fun with the new Wired EPT. Give
Kavil the Wired ability and your Y-wing can use its red moves to self-stress.
Once you are stressed you can reroll eyeballs when attacking and defending. If
you equip an Unhinged Astromech then you can switch between using the red 4
forward and green 3 turns for a surprisingly fast and cheap Y-wing Ace.
Tank Kavil - 33 points
Determination
Dorsal
Turret
Salvaged
Astromech
Hull
Upgrade
Speed Kavil - 29 points
Wired
Dorsal
Turret
Unhinged
Astromech
Horton

Both those problems are fixed with the Dorsal Turret. You don't need to
spend a focus to fire and that lets Horton use the token to modify shots at Range 1.
Moreover, he can use the focus and his ability to consistently give 2
hit results when firing at Range 2.

Another
possibility is taking R5-P9. I put a lot of emphasis in articles about having good dice modification but, honestly, sometimes even modifying actions can fail you. Maybe you roll all blanks on offense and defense and can't use your focus token. Normally it would just disappear at the end of the round but P9 can use it to give you a shield recharge. While I would never take R2-D2 on a Y-wing, I feel it is a good combo to take R5-P9 (there is a reason the art shows P9 on a Y-wing). Taking a Dorsal Turret instead of a Blaster Turret makes sure that Horton can get his focus and R5-P9 makes sure you get the maximum value out of the token.
Mobile Horton - 31 points
Dorsal
Turret
R7-T1
Recharge Horton - 31 points
Dorsal
Turret
R5-P9
Dutch
Vander

But
Dutch also pairs well with other droids. You can try using the R7 Astromech. Not needing a focus for a Blaster Turret means that Dutch can take Target Lock actions for his ability. That way you give
yourself a defensive TL and an offensive one for an ally. Or you could
take an R5 Astromech with a hull upgrade. This creates a hearty support Y-wing that can give dice modification to allies, give out good attack of its own, and take a lot of hits from the enemy.
Tank Dutch - 30 points
-
Dorsal Turret
-
R5 Astromech
-
Hull Upgrade
Defensive Dutch - 28 points
-
Dorsal Turret
-
R7 Astromech
Conclusion
There
are many other possibilities out there for the use of the Dorsal Turret. Perhaps
you will want to run a ship a DT alongside Jan Ors in the Moldy Crow. And for those of you who have tried the AIS B-wing,
this is another Range 2 turret that you can use the Advanced Strafe against. I
don't expect the upgrade will make as big of meta splash as the Twin Laser
Turret but I am sure the niche will help many players in their squad building.
So what are your plans on using the Dorsal Turret? Let me know in the comments
below.
Before
I go I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas. I hope that you can remember
the true Spirit of the Season as well as have stockings brim full of blister
packs! See you in January. PGP out.
Horton Slam works beautiful with TLT
ReplyDeleteHorton Salm does work wonderfully with a TLT and I love to fly that build. However, I've found that a TLT/RT-71 combo leaves Horton very vulnerable to enemy Aces like Vader since you have to boost first and hope they can't catch up and move into the Range 1 blindspot. I only run that the combo if I have an Intelligence Agent in my squad as well. In my own practicing of the Dorsal Turret I've found that I enjoy the safety net at Range 1 more than the loss of Range 3. It all just depends on what you like to fly. :)
DeleteI've been running the following config: Kavil, VI, Dorsal Turret, EU, Unhinged Astromech, Proton Bombs, Extra Munitions, 40pts. Makes him very agile and deadly at Range 1. Pair him with 3 low PS Khiraxz or 5 Pirate Z95s.
ReplyDelete