X-Wing Wookiee Strategy

^With some emphasis on combating Separatists.

With the impending release of Wave 3 and the Separatist faction, we can soon discover the answer to one of the most pressing questions from the Star Wars universe:



These sage words from Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi are full of depth that can be explored.

Rebel Wookiees in Extended

(Hyperspace readers feel free to skip hyperspace jump ahead)

The logical place to start with this question is with Kashyyyk Defenders in the iconic Auzituck Gunship. Droids attacking the Wookiee home planet of Kashyyyk, is the Defense force up to the challenge?

The Auzituck Gunship, (similar to Dengar in my earlier blog) fails to live up to the levels of degeneracy its 1st edition predecessor was ubiquitous for, and hence has suffered from very little table time. Almost as though FFG wanted to nerf them into the ground. Huh. [Puts tinfoil hat away]

It looks like a solid enough chassis, 3 attack dice, plenty of health, 180 degree arc which is basically a turret . But compared to similar options in the Rebel repertoire, the B-Wing, the U-Wing, the only thing the Auzituck Gunship really has going for it, is its 180 degree firing arc, which makes up for its difficulty turning around with no K-turns (or S-loops or T-rolls). So no net gain there.

The larger firing arc is however a good counter to General Grievous. -> Yes it also has the Reinforce action, but that isn’t very impactful on this ship. After reinforcing, the offense is anemic and without it providing another support mechanic, the opponent should simply ignore it til later. Against 2 attack dice (like Vulture Droids), a reinforce token simply won’t have any effect a lot of the time. [citation required]

And pointswise, the Kashyyyk Defender (46 points) is more expensive than both the cheapest B-Wing (41 points) and the cheapest U-Wing (43 points). At these points, it’s hard to pick the Auzituck. And while less direct comparisons, I’d prefer an ARC-170, a Y-Wing or an X-Wing. This is a really tough sell!

It could fill a very small niche in the Leia Organa carrier options.

(Apart from Leia, there isn’t too much else you’d want to put in that crew slot) It’s a small ship (unlike U-Wing), has 3 attack dice (unlike Sheathipede) and has 8 health (unlike Attack Shuttle). Leia is pretty cool with the red 0-stop maneuver …. but I’m clutching at straws here!!

Okay, onto the named pilots, starting with Lowhhrick (After a friendly ship at range 0-1 becomes the defender, you may spend 1 reinforce token. If you do, that ship gains 1 evade token.)

F

Type F in the comments to pay respects

While he’s not the same as in first edition, he can still save others from death. Selfless is a pretty good card ( it is afterall, THE Wookiee card ), and Biggs Darklighter is a nasty partner in crime. There is probably something degenerate involving Lowhhrick out there. But nobody really wants to find it, and I don’t blame them. Now Wulfwarro (While you perform a primary attack, if you are damaged, you may roll 1 additional attack die.) is a bit more interesting as a decent offensive piece. Once set up, he can throw 4 attack dice every turn . A few different ideas for him:

Note : “A ship is damaged while it has at least one damage card.” – Rules Reference v1.0.2 pg. 8

As a strong independent pilot, don’t need no… . You can try bait out a couple of shots early to turn on his ability, and then bring in other ships to mess with the opponent’s targeting priority and draw fire away from him. Magva Yarro crew seems like an alright option here, double down on benefits from being shot at, or even better have some opponents decline to shoot you at all! Saw Gerrera crew could also be used to help turn on his ability, as well as provide offensive punch. Lone Wolf is a good option, if you want to fly him as a … well … lone wolf.

. You can try bait out a couple of shots early to turn on his ability, and then bring in other ships to mess with the opponent’s targeting priority and draw fire away from him. crew seems like an alright option here, double down on benefits from being shot at, or even better have some opponents decline to shoot you at all! crew could also be used to help turn on his ability, as well as provide offensive punch. is a good option, if you want to fly him as a … well … lone wolf. Add a bit of punch to a Selfless / Biggs squad. Wulfwarro can use Selfless to take a few damage early and turn on his ability, then be protected by Biggs and other Selfless carriers.

/ squad. Wulfwarro can use Selfless to take a few damage early and turn on his ability, then be protected by Biggs and other Selfless carriers. Hull Upgrade is a good upgrade on him, as it will extend the time he has his ability active, and at 1 agility is quite cheap (3 points).

is a good upgrade on him, as it will extend the time he has his ability active, and at 1 agility is quite cheap (3 points). Find a way to make him take a damage card under shields to turn on his ability. (Go on. Kylo me. I dare ya…) My quick flick through the cards and after thinking about it, I couldn’t find a way to easily do this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if something were to come out (if it’s not already there).

Finally, away from the Wookiee-centric Auzituck Gunship, onto the most famous wookiee in the universe…



No, not his lesser-known son Lumpy (sorry not sorry)

Chewbacca, the iconic Millenium Falcon Modified YT-1300 Light Freighter co pilot. Following the January points update the Rebel YT-1300s are pretty solid. Chewie is cheaper alternative to the more powerful Han Solo and Lando Calrissian and is generally solid. He is probably best kept light, for a larger points investment it would be better to take one of the higher initiative pilots. Not really a whole lot to write about, he’s solid if you want to fly that style (large base with a turret).

His pilot ability isn’t one to build a squad around, but super handy for avoiding nasty surprises from the damage deck. Proton Torpedoes are very common and good at dealing crits, and with Hyena-class Droid Bombers attacking in Wave 4 quite possibly packing them, Chewie is well prepared. Chewie crew does a similar job, and you can even assign him to crew on a Auzituck! [insert Wookiee sounds]

It’s hard not to mention Leia Organa when talking about rebels, especially when there are already crew slots available. He would be a good Leia carrier for supporting other fighters in the squad. As a turreted ship, Chewie doesn’t need to do red moves very much (if at all). And Leia on board is thematic, so bonus points?! As for the Talent slot, hard to look past Trick Shot, gold on turreted ships.

Note: Trick Shot value might plummet after the release of Wave 3 and Autothruster Gas Clouds. What we know of their rules so far (but from a preview article, so not necessarily a reliable source):

“When a gas cloud obstructs an attack, not only does the defender roll one additional defense die, they may also change up to one blank to an evade.” FFG Power and Profit article, 18 January 2019

If these obstacles become the new hotness, non-obstructed attacks looks like a better strategy than obstructed Trick Shot attacks.

Chewbacca (73)

Trick Shot (2), Leia Organa (2) – Total: 77

Wulfwarro (56)

Selfless (3), Magva Yarro (6), “Zeb” Orrelios – Total: 68

Lowhhrick (52)

Selfless (3) – Total: 55

Total: 200

Wulfwarro and Lowhhrick can fly together and Selfless-ly defend each other to force split damage. Target Lowhhrick, have to deal with a reinforce and Selfless on Wulfwarro, target Wulfwarro and have to deal with Lowhhrick’s ability and Selfless again. Forcing tough targeting is a good strategy. Wulfwarro also has the Wookiee knock-off Lasat “Zeb” Orrelios crew on board, as Wulfwarro is likely to have the bigger punch in range 0 exchanges.

Chewbacca is fairly light with Trick Shot and Leia Organa, both upgrades almost too good to go without, Leia good here for 0-stop shenanigans on the Auzitucks.

Coming up with a sample squad to put here was quite tricky, because I don’t really have much interest in flying these ships together. The pieces all look good enough, but the squad doesn’t quite feel right, to me. I can think of other Extended squads with Auzitucks or with Chewie separately that I’d be keen to try out, just not together with nothing else.

Rebel Wookiees in Hyperspace

It appears with the wooden construction of the Auzituck Gunships, they aren’t fast enough to make the jump into Hyperspace, so there are less options for the Wookiees.

So looking for Wookiee cards in the smaller card pool, you come across this beauty.

There is a Wookiee on the card.

Veteran Wookiee Turret Gunner is pretty hot right now with both it and Turret upgrades receiving a points decrease in January. The humble Gray Squadron Y-Wing loaded out with Ion Cannon Turret and Wookiee Turret Gunner is a mere 41 points for a double-tapping tough little ship. Feels very cheap and points efficient. And yes, the Wookiee Turret Gunner allows a second attack out of the forward firing arc after the primary attack when the turret arc is facing forward.

These should be especially nasty against Vulture Droids with the double-tap being very effective at damaging low agility ships. Ion from the turret bonus attack also messes with Grappling Struts on the Vulture Droids.

Note the “After you reveal your dial” on the Open side.

When a ship is ioned it “skips its Reveal Dial step”. With no dial being revealed, an ioned Vulture Droid is unable to skip its Execute Maneuver step, and it will simply drift away from the obstacle it was standing on.

Chewbacca (73)

Trick Shot (2), Leia Organa (2) – Total: 77

Gray Squadron Bomber (31)

Ion Cannon Turret (4), Veteran Turret Gunner (6) – Total: 41

Gray Squadron Bomber (31)

Ion Cannon Turret (4), Veteran Turret Gunner (6) – Total: 41

Gray Squadron Bomber (31)

Ion Cannon Turret (4), Veteran Turret Gunner (6) – Total: 41

Total: 200

Taken the same Chewbacca build as for the above Extended squad. (coincidence, nothing else from the Extended card pool jumped out to put on him) Leia Organa: really good. Trick Shot: really good.

And that Chewbacca build happens to fit exactly with 3 of the Ion Turret, Wookiee Gunner, Gray Squadron Bombers. Counting to 200 achieved .

Resistance Wookiees Chewbacca in Hyperspace/Extended

Unfortunately, it looks like Chewie was the only Wookiee to survive the 30 year gap post Return of the Jedi, and old man Chewbacca is one angry Wookiee (he did lose the subtitle of “The Mighty” as well as all his Wookiee comrades) and is now very protective of his friends.

Both iterations (Pilot and Crew) of Chewbacca in Resistance trigger their special abilities off of damage or destruction of friendly ships. Hence Chewie flying the Scavenged YT-1300 wants to be paired with lots of friendly ships, and Chewie crew wants to be paired with lots of friendly hull points.

Chewbacca (72)

– Total: 72

Blue Squadron Recruit (32)

– Total: 32

Blue Squadron Recruit (32)

– Total: 32

Blue Squadron Recruit (32)

– Total: 32

Blue Squadron Recruit (32)

– Total: 32

Total: 200

Now this is my kind of squad! I started playing around with Chewie builds, and RZ-2 A-Wings are the obvious pair for maximizing his pilot ability (cheapest Resistance ship and have the happy ability of sometimes exploding instantly!), and … Hey look! This fits.

Done .

Chewie and 3 A-Wings is a bit more interesting with some of the cool Resistance crew options and/or fun tricks on the A-Wings. C-3PO, Rose and Rey are all really good options (though probably not all at once).

RZ-2 A-Wings are the big little new hotness with Resistance, nice and cheap, have excellent time on target with the rear arc, double Talent slots on most pilots and cool Limited Pilots. Can tool up 3 of them to personal flavor and go as wingmates to Chewie.

A cheap T-70 X-Wing could be another choice for a Chewie wingmate. T-70 is a bit tankier than an A-Wing, which is good in general but has less reliable Chewie ability activations. To get good mileage out of Chewie’s ability I would say 3 wingmates is the minimum.

As for Chewbacca crew, he should be pretty good withholding the droid attack, as crits will be pretty good against the shieldless Vulture Droids. The 2 options for equipping Chewie crew are the Scavenged YT-1300 or the MG-100 StarFortress. Either way, you’ll probably want a StarFortress or 2 in the squad to keep his charges active with their masses of hull points. There is however tough competition in the crew slot with Rose and C-3PO, so Chewie may end up forced out the airlock.

Wookiee Turret Gunners can also go on StarFortresses in one of their TWO Gunner slots. Double-tap, again, is pretty decent.

Wookiees in other Factions

Scum – have their own Chewbacca crew. Nothing much note worthy to write about, which is fine, because Chewie is too much of the good guy to really be Scum. He’s good at fixing those pesky faceup damage cards, similar to the Rebel counterparts (he was a Rebel the whole time) Scum also have a strong use for Wookiee Turret Gunner both on Y-Wings like Rebels, but also Scurrg H-6 Bombers, in particular with Drea Renthal for modified double-taps. Empire – don’t want to not mention the Empire, but they aren’t really involved in the Wookiee discussion. Maybe, MAYBE, TIE Aggressors with Wookiee Turret Gunners might be worth a try. Maybe.

Maybe not.

Republic – No news on any Wookiees for the Republic, or their concerned Jedi friends, Masters Yoda and Ki-Adi-Mundi. One day they will likely come. But today is not that day.

Remember, if you don’t want your arms pulled out of their sockets: Let the Wookiee win

-Nathan

Note: I started off intending to either have a picture or define each and every card I referred to, but that became quite crowded, quite quickly with offhand comments about different cards. I imagine most readers will already know what the cards do, or they can be looked up on YASB 2.0, the X-Wing Second Edition Wiki, numerous other sources, or the Official FFG App (was VERY tempted to link that to an Error 404 or something).

And yes, I basically took a prequel meme, and made a whole blog with actual content about it.