Hangar Bay 709 - Lets Fly X-Wings Again!

I was playing a game of X-Wing at my local FLGS last Tuesday like I do every week when one of the players mentioned that FFG dropped the article on Saws Renegades, the newest rebel expansion coming soon to The X-Wing Miniatures game. We all stopped playing for a little bit as we broke it down. lets just say we were all more than excited about this expansion because it does in fact (in theory anyway) bring the T-65 X-Wing back to the competitive table as well as at the same time offering some fixes to the not so played U-Wing.

Saws Renagades Expansion Pack preview

Lets break this down a little.

First of all, can we take a moment to appreciate the new color scheme here. another key point coming from a few sources is that apparently the X-Wings S-Foils are hinged.

There are two key elements that make this expansion so good and here they are:

First of all we have the T-65 Modification Servomotor S-foils, it eats up the mod slot but makes the T-65 a versatile ship granting it a boost and green 2 banks on one side and Barrel rolls and 3 speed Talon Rolls on the other. all for a whopping 0 points. lets talk about value.

Now the bread and butter of this

The Renegade Refit. Not only does it take up the Torpedo slot, which is rarely used but it also costs -2 points, gives a SECOND modification slot (allowing you to take Servomotor S-foils aside another modification) I would be fine if they left it there but lets keep going, why not... This card also makes your EPT cost one less. Okay, I'm down. lets see what we can do with this.

Sticking to existing pilots for now lets take Wes Janson and give him these upgrades. now lets give him Veteran instincts FOR FREE. so now you have a PS10 ace that can strip tokens for 27 points. 

Lets take this a little further. Lets add Flight Assist Astromech for one point and give the second mod slot to Integrated Astromech

We are now at 28 points for a PS10 ace that can strip tokens and take a hit and get out of the way. That's less than the cost of taking Wes by himself.

If you haven't noticed the Renegade Refit also fits on the U-Wing. lets take a look at possibilities with this, still keeping with existing pilots...

Alright I know this is 36 points of Jank but hey this article is all about brewing. You can thank one of  the local players for my appreciation of Heff. He has been doing well with the pilot and this just adds to his build. He has been using Leebo for the boost but with Renagade Refit it opens up for Ion Projector and Engine Upgrade while allowing us to fill the Leebo slot with something like Boshek.

Alright, Wes and Heff seem to fit together so far and we are at 64 points. lets see how we can fill the other 36 points and make this into something tangible.

While we are on the tangent lets add another T-65 X-Wing... How about this:

This actually comes in at 94 points. But will give you an idea what you can do with these upgrades. If you want you could swap the FAA for R2-D2 and still have a 3 point bid for Wes.

Another interesting point is that you can fit Five Rookie Pilots in T-65s with Servomotors, Renegade Refit, FAA and Integrated Astromech in a single list. That is a good bit of firepower.

Now lets take a look at some new pilots. First of all we have Kullbee Sperado:

This pilot is interesting because it interacts directly with Servomotor S-Foils. Lets see what we can do with her:

This is a pretty decent build for 28 points. or if you want to go 26 points you could always swap PTL for Veterans Instincts. Gives you plenty of opportunities to open and close your foils and Flight Assist helps give you insight of what way you want them.

And for the U-Wing we we have Benthic Two Tubes:

My first thought is his ability to pass off Focus tokens works well with Recon Specialists so lets take a moment to build off that.

Sitting at 37 Points, this U-wing can Psudo Mindlink, Kanan helps insure he is not stressed, and countermeasures will shed those pesky target locks from those Harpoon carriers.

Well I hope you enjoyed my brewing session with Wave XIV's Saws Renagades and heres to seeing X-wings in the game X-Wing. Happy Flying!