First of all - apologies for the delay in any new articles. I have been putting stuff together for articles and hopefully will find a more regular drumbeat again.

I have previously discussed what possible additions might be available to X-Wing going forward since the end of official support, and where XWA might take the game. The recent additions of the Scum, Resistance and First Order standard loadouts are adding some great options to squad building. But I’m still left wanting…some of them are possible memes but still.

At the end of each month we play something besides standard, such as Resistance Racers or Aces High.

The mad scientist Chiew and I had been throwing ideas around using ships already released and think we’ve come up with something fun to add in to the mix. Now these are just Standard Loadouts - because creating new ships, new pilots and new abilities requires a huge amount of testing which we just can’t do for what is essentially a meme game night.

But even SL’s require a little bit of thought when considering the price points, theme and interactions with the rest of the faction.

If there was going to be broad theme to this as a pack it would be, “Unlikely Allies” and I think you’ll see why - have a look at what we’ve cooked up for the end of the month below…

Captain Nym

So we’ll kick it off with what I think is Chiew’s favourite - since he only plays Republic.This was one that was discussed previously and Nym in his bomber from Star Wars Starfighter is one of the ships that can readily make the transition into the Republic. Thematically, Nym is something of an incidental hero as he’s out for revenge.

Having recently played around with Nym for Scum and Villainy, Chiew and I decided the main focus should be his bombing ability though had to be cautious of compounding any issues if paired with Goji.

So we decided to retain his original ability, with access to a couple of bomb options. “Genius” makes things interesting when paired with the revised title, but prevents him from abusing those bomb drops. - especially since he doesn’t have any option to reload them. For 5 squad points he’s equal in cost to his scum variant, and we’ll see how he plays out at that price point.

Moralo Eval

Another one that translates directly across with user ability and ship, Moralo seems like a really obvious inclusion for the Separatists, with his compatriots in crime Cad Bane and Obi-Wan under cover as “Rako Hardeen” as they make their way to try and kidnap Chancellor Palpatine. We decided to take Cad’s abilities from his ships since the standard crew ability doesn’t really work - though thematically needed something for Obi/Rako - so it’s a variation that thematically works as he isn’t trying to help the Separatists kill people.

Especially his friends...

Rounded out with Enduring and False Transponder codes to help him briefly evade authorities and being wiped from the table - we figured that costing him at 6 points like his Scum equivalent would be a fair starting point though suspect he could go up to 7 after some play through courtesy of the Rako/Obi ability - howeve that does constraint some of other options in your list if you want to use him that way.

Doctor Aphra

Oh Aphra is one of my favourites. Thematically having her working for the Empire - and more specifically for Darth Vader - just sparks joy in me. Aphra honestly just needs the money and the crew she ends up with courtesy of her employer is a bit tenuous. The Decimator is the platform that conventionally has the upgrade slots that allows us to get the whole crew of Vader, and the murder droids 000 and BT-1.

The loadout on YV-666 version of Aphra is pretty significant which helps us rationalise those updgrades and still include Feedback Array (since bumping is bound to occur), and still feel comfortable to offer her at 6 points.

Iden Versio

Drawing from Battlefront II we get to Iden Versio, who having defected from the Empire routinely pilots a T-65, with her first mission defending Naboo from the Empire’s Contingency plan which had began with Operation Cinder.

Chiew and I didn’t really want to over-cook this one. We wanted Iden in the X-Wing because it thematically makes sense and so we took her Battle of Yavin ability, threw in Heroic because a) I confused it with Hopeful, and b) I think it works. She’s fighting in the Rebellion and eventually is involved in fighting the First Order with the Resistance.

So she crosses that bridge for me thematically as the factions evolve and she finds herself no longer fighting Imperials but the First Order and their proxies like the Jinata Security forces. At 5 points she’s not exactly a bargain X-Wing but with her ability, Plasma Torpedoes and the Locked S-foils giving her access to boost I think she is worth the effort.

Leema Kai

Ah yes the aforementioned Jinata Security that Iden engages is of course lead by none other than Leema Kai piloting a modified N1 starfighter in Battlefront II. Initially looked at the Mandalorian SL for guidance however giving Leema access to slam would be problematic with the pilot ability - so that was a no go.

In the end the decision was made that Leema is geared for a showdown with Iden, but the attack output of the N1 is somewhat unimpressive and so Plasma Torpedoes address that, and seismics are added as it was canonically correct in the game.

The astromech selection was initially considered to be R3 which is a staple of Leema in the BTL-A4 Y-Wing however was walked back, so R4 was added to differentiate from Mando further but doesn’t enhance Fullt Throttle.Cutthroat was chosen because the N1 lacks a reload, but also as a rubber band effect to keep Leema reasonably combat effective when her support is dwindling.

Jinata Security Officers

And here we are with the actual Jinata Security Officers.

Look for First Order there was a bit of debate about what ship would that be without adding anything new? There is the brief appearance of a TIE Brute in a Disney ride, but what does it add to their toolbox besides another ship that needs careful arc management to stay effective? Ultimately we decided that it was possibly too much revision to make work.

Instead we looked at those insidious collaborators - former Imps that helped form the First Order. And having worked on Leema Kai, these guys seemed obvious. Choosing for limited pilots with a diluted version of Dace Bonearm’s ability - which combined with Ion Cannon Turrets makes them a control piece that isn’t going to shake the meta to the ground but is missing from (our) FO meta.

At 3 points these guys are fighting for position with some other excellent options, though they bring reasonable amount of chonkiness to FO that can’t be ignored by an opponent. Looking forward to running a Xi shuttle to boost them while the rest of the list looks to flank.

Poe Dameron

Not gonna lie…pretty happy with this one. And thematically rounds out our Unlikely Allies with Finn helping Poe escape the First Order (for selfish purposes sure) but also concludes our timeline of pilots here.

There was some debate about pilot ability, and initially it was Trigger-Happy Flyboy Poe’s ability however it just spiked the price point up and was then competing with Resistance Commander Poe for price. So we looked at Finn’s proposed ability which was too long and Chiew worked out an order that thematically works by splitting it.

Poe and Finn are trying to escape and they’re being shot at a lot requiring Finn to shoot down incoming missiles. If he takes his eyes off the prize they’ll be shot down (as is evident in the film). However working together they can get things done.

At 4 points they are going to require very careful play, getting flanked is almost certain death and conversely going in too hard for the kill is going to leave them potentially vulnerable trying to shake stacking deplete tokens in an SF.

Conclusion

We’ll provide an update on how we go with these SL’s when they hit the table and see what people think. I’m keen to see what people come up with list-wise and to see what interactions we didn’t consider - though in Chiew I trust.

Also a big thanks to Ando and Travis who put up with us talking about these in the wrong chat almost the whole time.

As always stay salty!

- Barry