X-Wing: Autothrusters have arrived!

Alright boys, we're back in business.

When it comes to X-Wing, one of my favorite things to do is to fly my elite Interceptor list.  I've done very well with the list over the last couple of years, but the one hard counter it has are turrets.  Thankfully, that all changed yesterday and players will have to pay close attention to how they're playing their game instead of just flying around randomly and rolling dice.  That's one of the reasons why I despise lists like Fat Han with Gunner and all that crap.  What skill is there in flying something that re-rolls after re-rolls and doesn't need to worry about actions, damage negation or positioning?  No matter, times has changed and Interceptors are now back in style.

First, let's examine the card:

A mainstay for all Interceptors.

Elite Interceptor pilots like Soontir Fel and Turr Phennir were already incredibly slippery when flown correctly, but now this makes them even harder to take down.  Let's look at the first part of this card:  When defending, if you are beyond Range 2.. you may change 1 of your blank results into a evade result.

Playing in Range 3 is one of the Interceptor's chief abilities due to their speed and Boost/Barrel Roll actions.  You can easily take shots from Range 3 by giving yourself a slow approach, or getting in close and then using your 4K, 4-green or 5-straight to get yourself out of enemy fire.  Since you have outrageous speed, you easily change a bad engagement by just bailing yourself out of it.  If you boost, you can add even greater distance between you and your opponent.  Remember that when you boost left or right, you add greater distance between you and your opponent compared to a single 1-straight.

The second part of this card: ..or outside the attacker's firing arc.. is just something that every Interceptor pilot knows instinctively.  Why?  Because for a ship that's relatively high in price and sporting only 3 hull points base, you need to be avoiding damage completely in order to be successful.  This is the one reason why turreted ships gave Interceptors such a difficult time.  It negated their greatest strength on the battlefield:  Which is being able to do damage while negating damage in return.  With the introduction of this card, this forces the opposing player to think about their positioning or risk a free Evade.  For the Interceptor player, this helps reinforce two principles they lived and died from for years:  Speed and negation.

Personally, I'm very happy about the pricing of the card as well.  At 2 points and not 3, this makes the player think hard if he wants a guaranteed +1 HP from Hull Upgrade, a Shield for 4, or a chance at negating damage completely with Stealth Device.

Now you finally have a use.

One of the major problems with the Imperial Aces release was that all the upgrades available to the elite Interceptors were pricey.  When you factor in price of the ship, price of the pilot, one viable upgrade at 3-4 points, you don't really want another one if you have to pay for it.  Now, with Autothrusters being priced lower than Hull Upgrade, it looks to be quite an attractive option.  For me, I always take Stealth Device on my Interceptors because I see damage negation as stronger than taking damage.  Sure, dice will fail you sometimes, and God knows I've lost Fel more than Range 3 throwing 5 evades than I have at Range 1 taking 4 to the dome.  I plan on running him with SD and Autos for sure now.

So what will my list look like now for my Elite 3?  Here's what I plan on doing for my first run through:

789
Soontir Fel — TIE Interceptor
Push the Limit
Stealth Device
Autothrusters
Royal Guard TIE
 
Carnor Jax — TIE Interceptor
Push the Limit
Stealth Device
 
Turr Phennir — TIE Interceptor
Push the Limit
Stealth Device
Autothrusters
Royal Guard TIE

My other 789 variation (or rather 998) will have the same thing at 100 points, but Turr will be running Veteran Instincts so Jax can take Autothrusters as well.

You see, I can only put Autothrusters on either Jax or Turr, but I think Turr is a better candidate because of his extreme maneuverability.  His elite pilot skill allows him to play with both of the Autothruster's demands much more than Carnor Jax's ability to shut down Focus and Evade.  Sounds about right.