Welcome to Rogue Squadron, pilot! In this series we will be looking at different squadrons you can fly in Fantasy Flight Games X-Wing miniatures game. We give you the squad, what expansion pack all of the upgrades come from and then give you the low down on how best to fly it. Strap in and get ready to fly…
All Wings Report In
VT-49 Decimator “Captain Oicunn” (Decimator Expansion) (50 pts) (PS 4)
After executing a maneuver, each enemy ship you are touching suffers 1 damage
- Crew x2- Emperor Palpatine (Imperial Raider Expansion): Once per round, you may change a friendly ship’s die result to any other die result. That die result cannot be modified again.
2x TIE Interceptor “Royal Guard Pilot” (Imperial Aces Expansion) (25 pts) (PS 6)
None
- Elite Pilot Talent- Crack Shot (Kihraxz/Hound’s Tooth Expansions): When attacking a ship inside your firing arc, you may discard this card to cancel 1 of the defender’s Evade results.
- Modification– Autothrusters (StarViper Expansions): When defending, if you are beyond Range 2 or outside the attacker’s firing arc, you may change 1 of your blank results to an Evade result. You can equip this card only if you have the Boost action icon.
Lock S-Foils in Attack Position
This list started a little different. Originally I wanted to have some Royal Guard Interceptors escorting the Emperor in a shuttle. If you did that, you could take three Royal Guard Pilots but only have five points for upgrades. That means not all could take autothrusters. Plus I only have two red painted Interceptors and the whole point was the Royal Guard escorting the Emperor.
So I went with a Decimator, more spacious for the Emperor to travel in after all, and only two escorts. This gives them both a few upgrades and Palp’s transport a bit more heft. Plus a turret, which is nothing to sneeze at.
Your opponent has to make a decision between firing on the Decimator, which even with zero agility will take a few rounds to die, and Interceptors, which with Autothrusters and Palpatine can be quite slippery. If they gang up on the Decimator, you have a chance to get in behind and take out their important ships with the Interceptors. That’s ideal for you. If they go after the Interceptors, split them up and make them chase you.
Oicunn wants to run right at your opponent and slam into ships as much as possible. He doesn’t care about actions that much so don’t be afraid to fly over rocks in order to get a collision. You collide once, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to do it again the next turn. For every round you don’t collide, you get an action so it’s win/win.
Flank with the Interceptors. The best part of Palpatine is the lack of a range limit. You can split your forces across the board to go after the most advantageous target. For every turn your opponent fires on the Decimator, use Palpatine to turn a blank into a crit on one of your attacks. That’s a great time to use Crack Shot and force that crit through.
This list won’t last long against a swarm, it doesn’t have tremendous firepower. But you’ll also have greater opportunity to use Oicunn’s ability in a swarm.
I’ve flown it against a few two-ship Dash builds and it does quite well. Two ships don’t have the firepower to take a Decimator down very fast. And you’re getting one more attack then they are.
Variations
This build has about six points you can play with. One fun variation is to drop Crack Shot and add an Ion Projector to Oicunn. That way, if someone every bumps into you head on, you can ionize them (using Palpatine if necessary). Next turn, you bump them for a damage and they bump into you again to be re-ionized. You remain that way until they die. With so few ships on the board it can be hard to make this happen with anyone who knows how to fly their ships, which is why I went with Crack Shot, but if it does it’s hilarious.
Intimidation on Oicunn is also fun. Same issue as Ion Projector in that it might never get used but if you can bump, do a damage and then make it easier for your Interceptors to shoot at that ship it can be a good way of bringing a tough ship down quickly.
You could also spent those six points on Push the Limit on the two Royal Guards. PTL is never a bad thing on an Interceptor. You trade the protection of autothrusters for double actions. It will all depend on what you are up against which would be more useful. At PS 6 you have a fair chance of moving after many other pilots and PTL is great for arc dodging, since you can boost and barrel roll if necessary. But against turrets, which are very common, autothrusters are more valuable.
Wayne Basta
Latest posts by Wayne Basta (see all)
- X-Wing Tier List – Rebels - May 10, 2023
You’ve hit close to my go-to build when I’m playing at my FLGS; Oicunn w/ intimidation and two interceptor escorts. I swap around the interceptor pilots and ship modifications around a bit, but that’s the core. Its fun to fly when you have no idea where to go with your ships other than ‘towards enemy.’
These articles have been great fun for me to try at my FLGS. So thanks and keep it up!