Nordics 2018 - After action report part 2, THRAWN 2-SHIP OF DOOM

Before I start with the list, I have to tell a fun story from X-wing. It's Armada-related, I promise!

You know that Armada command dials you place your selected command in the little opening on the wheel? X-wing is completely the opposite. The opening in the wheel is for your thumb, while the actual maneuver is on the top.

Try to guess how hard it's to unlearn what you have learned? That's right, very difficult. So I keep checking and rechecking to make sure I haven't goofed up. 

But then, in my 5th game against a Norwegian called Leif, I DID goof up.

I was going to go 3 ahead, but put that command down in the "gap". So when I revealed the dial i had to do a right 1-bank with Wedge instead, which turned out to be the PERFECT maneuver lol!

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Enough X-wing.

Here is the list:

It's pretty close to the one I ran at SC in Østersund a few weeks ago.

Changes include swapping Gamma for Valen, bc I felt more anti-squad would be needed, especially against nasty rebelses/generics and counter nonsense. Turned out to be a GREAT swap - Valen did so much good work, while my bombers mostly miss anyway :-P

I took out Expanded Hangars. With more experience, I didn't really need them anymore. If u go back and read my original reasoning for adding them, that still holds true. But they are no longer essential, so out they went.

This had the added benefit of increasing my bid to 7 (from 4). Not a huge difference, but knowing the Nordic meta (whatever that means) I was pretty sure I'd get first at least 3 out of 4. 

For a little while I had DCaps on the Quasar, and it was a great little addition. However, it pushed me back to 396, and wasn't really essential, just nice to have. Also, it made me more aggro with the Quasar, which isn't a good idea. So ditching it was for the better.

Objectives got an overhaul. With 7 pts bid and good idea what list MIGHT outbid me, I went the route of CRIS, PIC and SP. So basically I gave up on scoring for objectives that make me safer and give pts (CRIS) or more firepower (PIC). 

Don't be fooled by CRIS... those dust coulds will make ur life miserable, and I will get points. Not very many maybe 50-60, but its still a nice bonus. And your chance of scoring pts is very small indeed. PIC is deadly when combined with heavy squads and the ISD front arc. It becomes like a 3rd ship u can't get away from or kill.

Finally I did swap out my beloved XI7 for some Quads. I love XI7. They give me the ability to drill through shields, should my bombers be otherwise engaged. It doesn't trigger often, but when it does it can be game changing.

However, so can QBT. And man did they prove handy. Although I don't think I got a single extra blue die, the Quads had an incredible impact on several games, making enemy ships slow down rather than risk the extra dice. One. Blue. Dice. Guys, sometimes you just have to accept that and eat it, rather than slow down and die!

Name: NORDICS Thrawn 2-ship
Faction: Imperial
Commander: Grand Admiral Thrawn

Assault: Close-Range Intel Scan
Defense: Planetary Ion Cannon
Navigation: Superior Positions

Imperial II (120)
• Grand Admiral Thrawn (32)
• Governor Pryce (7)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Electronic Countermeasures (7)
• Leading Shots (4)
• Quad Battery Turrets (5)
• Avenger (5)
= 187 Points

Quasar Fire I (54)
• Captain Brunson (5)
• Flight Controllers (6)
• Boosted Comms (4)
• Squall (3)
= 72 Points

Squadrons:
• Colonel Jendon (20)
• Maarek Stele (21)
• TIE Defender Squadron (16)
• Dengar (20)
• Mauler Mithel (15)
• Tempest Squadron (13)
• Captain Jonus (16)
• Valen Rudor (13)
= 134 Points

Total Points: 393

Full credits to Brobafett for giving me the idea to run Thrawn 2-ship. He just showed me the concept a while back and BOOM was I in love.

I made some modifications myself, but the more I play, the close I come to Broba's list lol. ATM the only difference is me having PIC and I have only 1 Defender, Tempest and Valen vs his 2 Defenders and Black.

It's not the "perfect" list or any kind of OP or anything, but its a good, strong list. And in skilled hands it has the potential to be really good. It's also different than the norm and just plain FUN to fly.

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This was not, however, the list I was really going to fly... that list was this Raddus list. Do you remember Mats from the SC? They guy I almost played (again), until someone called out the correct scoring rules for being tabled and having a higher MoV?

He told me he was running pretty much the same list as in Østersund. So that sealed it. In that hopes we'd meet, i brought pretty much the same list myself!

Without further ado, here is what I almost flew at Nordics:

Name: NORDICS Raddus
Faction: Rebel
Commander: Admiral Raddus

Assault: Most Wanted
Defense: Planetary Ion Cannon
Navigation: Solar Corona

MC75 Ordnance Cruiser (100)
• Strategic Adviser (4)
• Ordnance Experts (4)
• Electronic Countermeasures (7)
• Assault Proton Torpedoes (5)
• External Racks (3)
• Profundity (7)
= 130 Points

Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette (36)
• Ordnance Experts (4)
• External Racks (3)
= 43 Points

MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63)
• Ordnance Experts (4)
• Assault Proton Torpedoes (5)
• H9 Turbolasers (8)
• Admonition (8)
= 88 Points

CR90 Corvette A (44)
• Admiral Raddus (26)
• Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)
• Jaina's Light (2)
= 79 Points

GR-75 Medium Transports (18)
• Slicer Tools (7)
• Bright Hope (2)
= 27 Points

GR-75 Medium Transports (18)
• Slicer Tools (7)
• Quantum Storm (1)
= 26 Points

Squadrons:
= 0 Points

Total Points: 393

I also had a couple of other lists up for consideration: Ackbar AC + high activation, Rieekan AC + high activation, Rieekan MSU + Rogues, and more. I'll share some of them with you later, because they turned out all right, but I didn't have time to practice enoguh with any of them.