Stealth bomber!

I decided I wanted to paint one of my favourites from X-Wing, the mighty K-Wing!

For a while I'd thought that I quite fancy a peculiar mat & gloss kind of look, so after a quick spray of black primer I just needed to paint some details in so that I didn't come across as utterly lazy.

I even stretched to painting the ordinance on the underside of the main wings and weathering the landing skids.

Will anyone ever see the underside?

You can see some of the mat/gloss variation here as well as the GW gemstone paint used on the cockpit canopies.

Red for left (port) and green for right (starboard.)

I thought I'd be brave and try out the glow effect that I've seen several other people doing recently on plasma weapons and such like. I'm quite happy with the results, but think maybe an additional layer of colour change in it will look better next time.

My first attempt at ,"plasma glow".

This is the second of my three K-Wings now custom painted, gotta decide on a scheme for the third one.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (episode III)

So I've been playing X-Wing for a little while now and still really enjoy the game. It does seem as though I am reverting to type - exactly the same list FOREVER!

My custom painted K-Wing.

I am very lucky that there is such a great X-Wing community at Athena games (where I work) and I get plenty of opportunity to try new lists and new builds but regardless of the effectiveness of any other lists I try - I love my "triple K" list of Miranda Doni (painted by Maverick Mini Studios) and two Warden squadron K-Wings and struggle to change to using anything different. I'd quite like to custom paint whatever ships I do decide on, maybe a golden HWK (think C3PO) and a black & grey ARC-Fighter.

I think (daydream?) about having a list using Miranda alongside an incarnation of the upcoming ARC-fighter and some yet to be determined ship (although I keep looking at the HWK.)

So in the mean time I'll stick to using this list. The 2 points spent on a seismic charge are the only thing I change from game to game.

A tried and tested favourite.

p.s. I'm always on the lookout for tips and ideas :p

The free Kings

So it's the Athena X-Wing store championship and although I didn't do as well as was expected of me, I found the day very rewarding!

Squadron leader's prepare for battle.

I used my (notorious) three K-Wing list, with a borrowed C-3PO and Tactician.

#1Miranda Doni
C-3PO
Twin laser turret

#2Warden squadron pilot
Tactician
Twin laser turret

#3 Warden squadron pilot
Jan Ors
Twin laser turret

I've had mixed results using them in the past but losing isn't a big problem for me and they suit my preferred play style of plodding along shooting!

Game 1
In at the deep end against a well practised player using an Outrider and an intimidating Ghost!
Right from first contact this went badly both ships were well equipped and flown with skill, scattering my formation early on with a turn 3 kill on Miranda. The Warden pilots found themselves separated and easy prey for the monstrous Ghost.

Game 2
I found myself facing another Ghost! This one accompanied by it's attack shuttle and a Z-95.
This went somewhat better for me as the Ghost (with its huge base) bumped into asteroids a couple of times allowing me to pounce upon the Z-95 and fall back slightly to ambush the Ghost. With a combination of luck and TLT perseverance I had managed to  get the Ghost reduced to a single hull point before the attack shuttle launched. Once the Ghost was engulfed in a fireball, the lone shuttle couldn't survive for long.
Also this game was featured on the Athena game's stream table.

Game 3
Here I met another wave 8 ship - The Inquisitors Tie, he was accompanied by a Tie advanced and a Tie interceptor, all well outfitted.
I've got to admit I 'thought' this one was going to be a win for me! However as the Tie's hurtled towards my lumbering K-Wings, the lead Tie fired it's Proton rockets with +3 for 5 dice which combined with a couple of buffs resulted in a devastating pass on the Rebels! The Tie fighters seemed to run circles round me (ironic?) and I found them impossible to hit with their wide array of skills and abilities, "Juke" being a new and unpleasant experience for me!

Game 4
Here I met one of the Athena regulars whom I haven't had a chance to play against yet.
I made an error early in the game here, Miranda lagged behind the formation and Chris' X-Wing and Z-95's descended upon her with an unrivaled fury! Chris utilised "Tracer threads" to great effect, their hit endowing target locks upon the attackers allies. The formation made one pass (that's all they needed) and reduced my squadron leader to a flaming wreck with ease. My two surviving ships then pulled themselves together and led the enemy formation on a trail of destruction through and around the obstacles. But right from the moment where they struck down Miranda, I was on the defensive and I did all I could just to destroy his X-Wing before being defeated.

Game 5
Looking across at SEVEN Tie fighters was rather unsettling, with more than twice my numbers I reckoned I  was going to be in trouble here.
My K's move along my right flank and the Tie swarm swung around and homed in on the rear ship (Miranda) - this is where the dice gods smiled upon me! I lost count of how many attack die came up blank, it seemed as though the Imperial pilots had been out on the beer the previous night. Although they were being flown well and in tight formation, they just kept on missing. Turn after turn this continued, with my K's managing to destroy an enemy fighter each turn until it became apparent that the I was winning this war of attrition.

Game 6
Here I met more wave 8 goodness in the form a Misthunter with the intriguing "tractor beam" (which I now want.)
Our squadrons both charged straight at each other and a pair of Kihraxz fighter's unleashed cluster missiles (I need to try these out too) to great effect bringing down a Warded pilot and causing a lot of damage to Miranda. Luckily I managed to Zapp a Z-95 in this pass and get into position on a couple of the other scum ships and thinned out his numbers somewhat.
We ended up with a single K-Wing and a single Kihraxz fighter on the table, both desperately trying to outmaneuver the other. Then I had a "use the the force, Luke" moment, but in this reality it was Dave saying "Slam, Shaun - SLAM!" (for the hundredth time.) I've always been very reluctant to "not shoot" but in this situation it enabled my lumbering K to outflank a more agile fighter and win the day.

So I ended up mid table with 3 wins and 2 loses, but more importantly a received my very own C-3PO crew card (top 32 prize) that I really need for my squadron and had some great games with some great players. I experienced a few new things to, notably SLAMming and being on the receiving end of the new tractor beam upgrade. This allows the attacker (with a successful hit) to move an enemy ship 1 forward or 1 barrel roll, which I thought was great (as I was bounced onto nearby asteroids) and is certainly something I'm going to invest in.

Thoughts for the day . . .

1. Cluster missiles are savage.
2. Use tractor beams, hilarity will ensue.
3. I learned that sometimes (just sometimes) it pays to maneuver.

Miranda Doni get's attacked by a solar farm!?

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (episode II)

So I've realised I love Star Wars and I've got my hands on the new force awakens core set, so what do I get next?

Well I've never been the most serious sort of gamer (or person) so I thought to myself "what looks like it'll be awesome?"

T70 X-Wing.
My first thoughts were that the T70 XWing looked better than original T65 - pretty forward thinking for an old, original trilogy fan? So that's what triggered my first decision to go with the new "Force Awakens" core set.

Having played a few games now, I've come to realise the T70 is a very capable all round ship, able to take the punishment dealt out to it as well as being able to hit others pretty hard (especially at close range).

A-Wing.
Then I thought about the A-Wing, it's a ship that appealed to me and I'd heard they were nimble little fighters, so I decided that two of those would be my next step.

With a little experience I have discovered the A-Wing is fast and agile, but lacks any real punch. Whilst I am able to lower their base points to a mere 15 using a Chardaan refit card, I feel they need a little something to help them survive an encounter with hostile forces.

K-Wing.
I knew absolutely nothing of this larger ship before buying it, I'd not seen one in action and of course being from the expanded universe, I hadn't seen one in any of the films either. But I'm thinking "look at the size of that thing! I need one".

Having flown this a few times now, I love it! The K-Wing is rather slow and cumbersome and it's maneuvere dial allows little in the way of fancy turns & rolls. But the thing is a flying tank, it can take a beating and especially when equipped with the twin laser turret upgrade it can pose a serious threat to enemy fighters.

So, what's next?
At the moment I'm thinking another T70 might be a good thing, 3 of them can easily make up 100 points and they seem like they are decent enough ships in game. But I've gotta say - K-Wings are my kinda lump! I'm certain I'll be getting 1 or 2 more of these and slowly but surely I'll be dodging asteroids and zapping bad guys with those turret mounted lasers ;)

The mighty K-Wing in action