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Got into x-wing recently, had to have my HWK as I played the code out of the Dark Forces game.

Of course, the game is picking up pretty well at my FLGS. Yet, as normal, someones gotta spoil the fun.

I've looked over whats available for the game, and this howlrunner tie spam is nonsense. It would seem if a player doesn't have some assault missiles (I think) then it's a long, up hill battle against this.

Are there any other combos I should be aware of out there, that are considered as they would be in other tabletop games as the "cheese" builds?

That's pretty much the only cheese DS list, the Han Shoots First (Falcon, Han, Gunner, Marksmanship) is a very strong LS list to watch out for, but perhaps is slightly short of cheese.

As for TIE spam? It has always been, and remains, a very strong list. TIEs are actually deliberately over costed, so imagine if FFG hadn't play tested thoroughly and turned them out at 10 points a piece?! (Which, IIRC, is what they should be)

We sort of have a gentleman's agreement not to play it at my club unless were practicing for a competition, but the best advice I can offer is to use one of your ships to deliberately disrupt the formation and cost your opponent as many lost actions as possible, the weakness in a TIE swarm is more about how it is flown, rather than anything in the list, and with 6 or more ships to try and fly in close formation, it is quite easy to force your opponent into flying errors, and just try and be ready to capitalise on them when they happen.

I looked at the han thing, doesn't seem so bad TBH.

Yea, I know tie spam is an issue, and of course the only guy who does it at our FLGS pretty much owns 2+ of every ship, including rebels. Just how he is.

Oh and the formation maneuvers thing I grasped pretty fast, though honestly no one really want's to be in the middle of that mess.

B-Wings with Advanced Sensors can do a lot of damage to a swarm list.

With only 1 def it will get hit hard, but has the HP's to soak a fair amount of damage. But the real power is in the AdvSen upgrade. It lets you really do a lot to get out of the arc of the other ships, but keep them in your arc. B's with AdvSens and Engine Upgrades are quite possibly the most nimble ship in the game. Can barrel roll or boost then move, which really opens a ton of options for where you end up and where you are pointing.

I'd recommend the following post if you want to find out more. It was written by the current world champ who used a XXBB list to beat the Holwrunner swarm to win worlds.

http://teamcovenant.com/pheaver/2013/11/17/playing-as-or-against-my-worlds-list/

Thank you for the information.

As it stands, I was trying to gather information about the game, so I could answer questions about it. I'm well aware fluff-wise, lotsa ties is the imperial thing. Translates to dice spam and stuff.

One ship is never the best answer to the issue though. Some players here favor bringing a single assault missile, others focus on using turrets, in fact the only issue was the nub using tie spam against "just started that day" new players. Against others, he doesn't use it. Kinda a bastard.

One important thing for beating TIE spam is always use asteroids. If the TIE spam player asks if you can just save time and leave them out don't even think about agreeing. Asteroids break up movement and make it a lot harder for the swarm to avoid collisions, and can even get you some free damage occasionally.

Aw hell I didn't even think about that. He asked, I was impartial to having asteroids since it was basically my 3rd game. What a dick.

 juraigamer wrote:
Aw hell I didn't even think about that. He asked, I was impartial to having asteroids since it was basically my 3rd game. What a dick.

anyone running tie spam and asking to not use asteroids is pretty lame in my book

Well, to be fair some people just like a nice simple open-space fight and might not realize how much swarm lists benefit from it. I wouldn't jump straight to calling your opponent TFG if they don't want asteroids (unless they've got a prior history of TFG behavior), I'd just make sure there are asteroids on the table every game from now on.

Totally. Even if you and/or your opponent don't realize how open boards benefit swarms, you are missing a very fun and immersing part of the game. Half the fun is zipping around all those obstructions in a game of hide and seek.

Also, don't allow a swarm player (any player, but especially swarms) to move one ship using the template and then move adjacent ships to the same positions around the first. This is incorrect and allows collisions to be avoided (two adjacent ships cannot perform the same bank or turn without collisions).

Some buddies and I are thinking of hitting a local tournament, and there's a lot of good advice in this thread.

Thanks for the tips!

 Scott-S6 wrote:
Also, don't allow a swarm player (any player, but especially swarms) to move one ship using the template and then move adjacent ships to the same positions around the first. This is incorrect and allows collisions to be avoided (two adjacent ships cannot perform the same bank or turn without collisions).

ive been guilty of this, had no idea