
I
am eager to see the retrofitted ARC-170 join this game, especially since it adds
to the X-wing ship bloodline, but it was the R3 Astromech that most intrigued me from the Wave 9 teaser. The R3 Astromech has four main aspects attributing to its strength: it provides
protection against dice fails, it increases action economy, its generic, and (like
the FFG article said) it synergizes well with Rebel builds.
1) Protection
Against Dice Fails
Repositioning power has
always been the strongest aspect of X-wing Miniatures, but there is no point getting into the right position if the dice fail. This pitfall was overcome by
the basic blueprint of arc-dodging ships introduced with Imperial Aces. You
attach Push The Limit to a high PS Ace, in a ship fast enough to deal with the
stress tokens, and you now have enough action economy to reposition and prevent
dice failure.

X-wing w/ Wedge - 40 points
Predator
R2-D2
Engine
Upgrade
This X-wing gets repositioning power from an EU, but the lack of an evade action means
that you can't get much use out of Push the Limit, therefore requiring
expensive upgrades to protect against dice failure on both offense and defense.
This leads to a powerful, albeit expensive, Wedge that absolutely needs to be
protected by Biggs in order to make it to the late game, and with that you've already spent
65 squad points. So I experimented to see if I could find a cheaper
alternative that gave similar power. This led me to my creation of Stay on
Target Wedge.
X-wing w/ Wedge - 33 points
Stay
On Target
Targeting
Astromech
Integrated
Astromech

X-wing w/ Wedge - 35 points
Lone
Wolf
R3
Astromech
Vectored
Thrusters
We
now have a well-rounded Rebel Ace costing the same as Soontir Fel, but who
doesn't need to self stress. Wedge uses his PS 9 and barrel rolls to get behind enemies. He then attacks with 4 dice, rerolling a blank, and converting a focus
result into a precious evade token. We have successfully given Wedge repositioning,
protection against any dice fails, and a decent cost.
2) Gives
Action Economy
As
seen by my final Wedge build, the R3 Astromech and Vectored Thrusters were made
for each other. Together, these two upgrades provide cheap action economy to
ships that can't properly use PTL. This breathes new life into X-wing Aces, who
now have action economy that jives well with their ship. Wes Janson doesn't
mind as much if his attack misses, he generally wants to soften
targets for allies. Use him to strip enemy tokens, then take an evade to turtle up. Consider giving him Veteran Instincts to make more use of his barrel rolls, or equipping Juke for even more action denial. If you are in the market for something tankier, take Luke instead. His pilot ability synergizes well to make a more durable X-wing arc-dodging ace.


X-wing w/ Wes - 33 points
Adaptability
R3
Astromech
Vectored
Thrusters
X-wing w/ Luke - 34 points
Lone
Wolf
R3
Astromech
Vectored Thrusters
Another
great application of action economy is the E-wing. With R3 and the Fire
Control System, we have a Corran Horn that can barrel roll, target lock, and
evade. Moreover, Corran can use his double tap in a similar fashion to Miranda
Doni. He dives on his first attack, using R3 to get an evade, and FCS to get a
TL. Then, during the end phase, his pilot ability activates and he can hit hard
and dodge away next turn. Another thing to note is that R3's wording says you
assign an evade token, rather than perform a free evade action. This allows the possibility
of double evades and we can use R3 to replace R2-D2 + Sensor
Jammer on Etahn A'baht, a 5 point savings, with a freed systems slot.
E-wing w/ Corran - 39 points
Adaptability
Fire
Control System
R3
Astromech
E-wing w/ Etahn - 39 points
Push
The Limit
Fire
Control System
R3
Astromech
Lore Break

3) Generic
Droid

T-70 w/ Red Vet - 33 points
Juke
R3
Astromech
Comms
Relay
Integrated
Astromech
4) Rebel Ability Synergy

ARC w/ Norra - 34
Veteran
Instincts
R3
Astromech
Alliance
Refit
Vectored Thrusters
Vectored Thrusters

Y-wing w/ Horton - 32 points
Dorsal
Turret
R3
Astromech
BTL-A3
Title
Vectored
Thrusters
Conclusion
Whether
its offering alternative action economy or strong Rebel synergy,
there are many applications of the R3 Astromech. I hope that this
article gave you some new ideas and I wish you the best in your squad building. Happy Flying!
I really like some of the ideas you have shared here, and also the positive nature of this post. It's clear that the FFG boards are full of vitriol over R3, but I share your thoughts in that it does have use in the game.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your feedback, Jake. I'm glad you enjoyed the article. And yeah, there is a bit too much negativity online, even for a game with such a good community.
DeleteUnfortunately for the E-Wing section, only 1 evade token can be spent per combat. Example - Say you take an evade action (get a token) as your standard action, then on the roll you get an eyeball and take an evade token from R3 astromech. Only one of those evade tokens can be spent on an incoming attack, they cannot both be spent on the same attack.
ReplyDeleteTrue, but that should go without saying. E-wings always need to be flown with skill so they aren't getting attacked my swarms of ships. I crunched the numbers on the E-wing defense dice when I looked at R2-F2. (http://poorgreypilot.blogspot.com/2015/08/well-cmon-red-lets-go-deciding-which.html) Whether you spend two evades at once or one at time doesn't matter, it's going to die anyways if flown improperly. The case of taking double evade would be for when you have two enemy shots on you, otherwise you can focus and barrel roll. And if, who woulda thunk, Etahn has TOO much action economy, perhaps a better build would be: Juke, Sensor Jammer, R3.
DeleteI was wondering, what happens if you put Juke on Corran Horn with R3 and FCS. In diving the first attack, you get an evade token at the beginning of the modify dice phase. Can you then proceed to use Juke on the first and second attack? Or does Juke only come into play on the second attack. If it works on both you could potentially do enormous amounts of damage with a Juke and TL on the first attack and a Juke Focus TL on the double tap.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you asked that, someone had to point it out to me as well. Since R3's power gives you the evade token before enemy defense dice are modified, yes, you can use Juke on the first attack. So that is a great combo since your first attack still has a chance to hit, and if you don't lose the evade, at the end of the round you get to shoot at the enemy without an focus token. Awesome combo!
DeleteGreat article! 2 points feels like a tad too much though, considering you're sacrificing an attack dice.
DeleteR3's ability says once per round so I don't think you can get two evade tokens via R3 with Corran's double tap, unless I'm missing something?
Nevermind, I see you meant double evade as evade from Ewing's action bar and another from r3's ability!
DeleteWhile it would be cool to convert as many focus results as you wanted, yeah, R3 only does one per round. Sorry I didn't specify the double evade more clearly. Thanks for the feedback!
Delete