Welcome to Rogue Squadron, pilot! In this series, we will be looking at the ships you can fly in Atomic Mass Games X-Wing miniatures game. We’ll take a look at a chassis and what makes it unique along with some upgrades and squadron combos. Strap in and get ready to fly.

Lock S-Foils in Attack Position

This is a unique ship release. One ship but four factions’ worth of pilots. It makes wrapping your head around the ship difficult but I like the efficiency. The Z-95, HWK, Y-Wing, could have all used that style of release.

The ship itself, upgrades and pilot aside, is a beast. Eleven overall health backed up by two defense die make it a tough ship to take down, especially in scenario play. The only other large base with two defense die are Jumpmasters (which are cheaper in squad points, have a crap dial and two base attack die) and YT-2400 (which aren’t Standard legal).

With no turn around, front and rear arcs, a stop maneuver, and red hard 3 turns it feels a lot like a Lambda. But the lack of a speed 1 straight maneuver feels weird. The dial wonkiness is improved by the Swivel Wings configuration. Stopping and rotating makes up for your lack of S-loops, K-turns, or T-rolls. It is very similar to the U-Wings Pivot Wings but with a very imporant distinction. You must flip the card if you rotate your ship and can only flip it back by executing a different maneuver. This prevents the Gauntlet from turning into a turret if you have stress shenanigans.

Beyond the configuration, the ship has access to a few other unique upgrades. The ship has two titles, Nightbrother, available to Rebels and Scum, and Gauntlet, available to Republic and Separatist. Both titles cost a Modification slot but add a Crew slot. This, in combination with the other unique upgrade, Drop-Seat Bay (which takes a Modification and Payload slot) gives the Gauntlet fighter access to an unprecedented four crew slots. Now, pilots won’t have enough loadout points to ever fill four crew slots, it does raise some interesting possibilities.

Red Five Standing By

How many Gauntlets do you need? You’re going to pay 7 to 8 squad points for this ship, which is a major portion of your squad. Are the pilots worth it? That’s even harder to judge than normal, considering how many different factions you can take this ship in. The chassis itself does feel like it will pull its own weight. But I can’t imagine a scenario where you’d want to fly two of them, so you’ll only want to buy one of these ships.

So how do these pilots work out?

Rebels

Chopper (7 pts) (I2)

Pilot Ability – At the start of the Engagement Phase, each enemy ship at range 0 gains 2 jam tokens.

He has the same ability on the VCX-100.
With the Gauntlet’s stop ability he has a better chance to trigger it.
Having access to multiple focus mods will help make use of that focus result.
You want Chopper in the middle of the action

Loadout Points – 18

Configuration, Crew, Gunner, Modification, Modification, Payload, Title.
18 Loadout ain’t bad but you aren’t plopping on four crew that are really worth it.
Veteran Tailer Gunner and payloads are worth considering for Chopper since you want him in the middle of the action in order to toss out free jams.

Loadout #1 – “Droids Can’t Die” (18/18)

Role: Board Control
Configuration- Swivel Wings (0)
Crew- K-2S0 (6)
Gunner- Skilled Bombardier (2)
Modification- None (0)
~~Modification- Nightbrother~~
Payload- Cluster Mines (5)
Title- Nightbrother (0)
- Crew- C-3P0 (5)

This Chopper wants to go right at the enemy. First round, he’ll move early enough he should get all his actions. If he can afford to go slowly enough to take a blue, he can K-2S0 for a stress and calculate, then clear the stress. Then with C-3P0, he can get another two calculate tokens. That gives him three to play with for offense, defense and using Threepio’s ability for bonus evades. While rolling two defense die, guessing one evade has good odds of triggering it. This makes him a tough nut to crack, even if he doesn’t throw out some jam tokens at the enemy. Cluster Mines are available to be thrown out the following round to punish anyone trying to get away from you.

Loadout #2 – “Chopper Jams the Road” (18/18) (Extended)

Role: Board Control
Configuration- Swivel Wings (0)
Crew- Sabine Wren (3)
Gunner- Skilled Bombardier (2)
Modification- Ablative Plating (4)
Modification- Nightbrother
Payload- Thermal Detonator (5)
Title- Nightbrother (0)
- Crew- Hera Syndulla (4)

Made this before the points update and Sabine (crew) got banned. Still a fun theme so I left it here.

Chopper is out for a lovely drive with his mom and sister. Then someone cuts him off, he flies into a road rage and from then on just hogs the road, trying to get other spaceships to crash into him or dropping explosive devices onto them. You know, typical <insert your city> driver behavior. With Thermal Detonators and Skilled Bombardier, Chopper has a wide area in which to deploy explosives. Sabine shores up the potential wasted bomb by having tokens to throw onto enemy targets even if they manage to roll a blank. As she has four tokens, and you have four bomb charges, you’ll get to use all of them if you can hit someone every time. Ablative Plating gives Chopper some insurance should he roll damage from one of his own bombs, especially if you use Hera to stop two rounds in a row right when you drop bombs.

If you’d rather, switching Ablative Plating for Delayed Fuses and Hera into Leia gives you similar functionality with extra squad support.

Ezra Bridger (7 pts) (I3)

Pilot Ability – While you defend or perform an attack, if you are stressed, you may spend 1 to change up to 2 of your Focus results to Hit or Evade results.

He has the same ability as all his other incarnations.
With a three attack, he has more opportunities to make use of ability offensively than in the TIE Fighter.
The Gauntlet gives him more opportunities to end up stressed to make use of his ability, between red stop maneuvers, red reinforces and red coordinates.

Loadout Points – 16

Configuration, Crew, Force, Gunner, Illicit, Missile, Modification, Modification, Payload, Talent, Title.
Wow, he has a lot more upgrade options than Chopper.

Loadout #1 – “Fly Her Apart Then!” (16/16)

Role: Versatility
Configuration- Swivel Wings (0)
Crew- K-260 (6)
Force- None (0)
Gunner- None (0)
Illicit- None (0)
Missile- None (0)
Modification- Drop-Seat Bay (1)
- Crew- Hera Syndulla (4)
- Crew- Chopper (1)
~~Modification- Nightbrother~~
~~Payload- Drop-Seat Bay~~
Title- Nightbrother (0)
- Crew- Chewbacca (3)

When the situation gets serious, sometimes you have to push your ship to the limits. Ezra and friends are going to do just that here. But in exchange, he will effectively become immune to stress. Hera lets him keep taking red maneuvers, despite having lots of stress. The first time, there isn’t even a consequence. Chopper allows him to keep taking actions as well. Chewbacca is there to repair the worst damage cards you might flip up from using Chopper. And finally, K-2S0 is there to double down. Once you have a ton of stress, you might as well just have more and a calculate token too. On top of everything, you have Nightbrother to give you an evade or focus every other turn.

Scum

Rook Kast (7pts) (I3)

Pilot Ability – Before you engage, you may gain 1 strain token. While you perform a primary attack, if you are strained, you may change 1 of your blank or Focus results to a Hit result.

Almost a free hit in every attack. Very nice.
Can be used every time you attack, so if you have VTG and can fire front and back, you can use it on both.
At I3, there’s a fair chance you won’t gain the strain until after your opponent has already shot that round.

Loadout Points – 18

Configuration, Crew, Gunner, Illicit, Modification, Payload, Talent.
This guy has a very limited selection of upgrade slots, compared to most of the other pilots.
No title and only one Modification slot feels extra mean to him. Not that there’s a great double mod slot combo you’d want to take.

Loadout #1 – “Pack Hunter” (18/18)

Role: Squad Support/Assault
Configuration- Swivel Wings (0)
Crew- Greef Karga (6)
Gunner- Veteran Tail Gunner (3)
Illicit- Deadman’s Switch (2)
Modification- Mandalorian Optics (5)
Payload- None (0)
Talent- Cutthroat (2)

Rook here can serve two roles. First, he’s superoffensive by nature. With Mandalorian Optics, he gets even more punch. But that also frees him up to Coordinate his squad, and using Greef Karga, get double the bang, allowing one ship to get two actions worth from one coordinate. Cutthroat gives you a chance to recover your Optics charges.

Loadout #2 – “Hunter Killer” (18/18)

Role: Assault
Configuration- Swivel Wings (0)
Crew- Kuill (4)
Gunner- Veteran Tail Gunner (3)
Illicit- Deadman’s Switch (2)
Modification- Mandalorian Optics (5)
Payload- None (0)
Talent- Trickshot (4)

A similar build to the first, but without the squad support aspect. This one is all about dishing out damage, with Kuill aboard for repair work. This Rook can go right into a fight, prepared to take a bunch of hits. He’ll dish out a fair amount in return, with Trickshot, his ability and VTG he could throw a lot of effective dice.

Maul (9pts) (I5)

Pilot Ability – While you perform a Coordinate action, if you choose a ship with an initiative lower than yours, you may spend 1 Force. If you do, treat the action as white and you may coordinate 1 additional friendly ship with an initiative lower than yours; each friendly ship you coordinate this way gains 1 strain token.

Maul is more expensive than the most other Gauntlet pilots but his load out helps.
His ability makes for a great support piece.
Three Force is a great addition for any pilot.

Loadout Points – 20

Configuration, Crew, Force, Gunner, Illicit, Missile, Modification, Payload, Talent, Title.
This is the full range of upgrades. And with 20 loadout points he can actually make good use of them.

Loadout #1 – “Maul’s Puppets” (20/20)

Role: Squad Support
Configuration- Swivel Wings (0)
Crew- Savage Opress (10)
Force- None (0)
Gunner- None (0)
Illicit- None (0)
Missile- None (0)
Modification- Drop-seat Bay (1)
- Crew- The Mandalorian (2)
- Crew- The Child (7)
~~Modification- Nightbrother (0)~~
Payload- None (0)
Talent- None (0)
Title- Nightbrother (0)

This Maul is going all in on his ability. If you coordinate ships in your front arc, you can coordinate two of the, as a white action. They will then gain strain, which Opress can then trigger and give them a Focus. Double actions for two ships. That would cost you three Force, fortunately, you have six! While you can’t recover natively, you’ll still get to recover. Either you’re getting shot at, and The Child is netting you one, or you’re not and Mando is giving you one.

Imperial

Captain Hark (7 pts) (I3)

Pilot Ability – After you reveal a 0 maneuver, if you are equipped with Swivel Wings (Down), you must execute a 1 bank sideslip maneuver of the same difficulty instead. After you execute that maneuver, you must flip Swivel Wings (Down).

Side slipping large base ship!
You do lose access to the ability to rotate when you stop.
You technically can still use the stop maneuver, if you can find a way to shed your stress after sideslipping, as you can stop when your wings are Up.

Loadout Points – 15

Configuration, Crew, Gunner, Modification, Payload, Talent.
This guy has a very limited selection of upgrade slots, compared to most of the other pilots.
No title for either of the Imperials but you can still get extra crew through the Drop Seat bay.
He is a Mandalorian so you can use those unique upgrades.

Loadout #1 – “Ruthless Hunter” (15/15)

Role: Attack
Configuration- Swivel Wings (0)
Crew- 7th Sister (9)
Gunner- None
Modification- Mandalorian Optics (5)
Payload- None (0)
Talent- Ruthless (1)

Hark has one thing going for him, and that’s his unique sideslips. That helps keep his nose pointed where he wants. Best to lean into that and magnify his offensive potential. Mandalorian Optics and 7th Sister means he can get dice mods when when getting no actions after sideslipping or other red maneuver. Ruthless ups the odds of scoring perfect hits even further.

Gar Saxon (8 pts) (I3)

Pilot Ability – While a friendly unit at range 0-2 performs a primary attack, if the attacker is in the defender’s Rear Arc, you may spend 1 Charge. If you do, the attacker rolls 1 additional die.

Bonus attack die to any ally shooting into a target’s rear arc has potential.
Combine that with Outmaneuver on the squadmates for some good oomph.
He is 8 points though and you’ll have to work to earn those points. Getting shots into a targets rear arc can be tricky.

Loadout Points – 18

Configuration, Crew, Gunner, Modification, Payload, Talent, Torpedo.
Not much different from Hark except the addition of a torpedo slot.

Loadout #1 – “Surround Your Prey” (18/18)

Role: Support
Configuration- Swivel Wings (0)
Crew- Minister Tua (4)
Gunner- None (0)
Modification- Drop-Seat Bay (1)
- Tactical Officer (3)
- Cienna Ree (4)
~~Payload- None (0)~~
Talent- Disciplined (2)
Torpedo- Ion Torpedo (4)

This Saxon is looking to support his squad and help them surround and pummel a target. With Cienna Ree and Tactical Officer, he can coordinate whichever ally has the best chance to get behind an enemy, allowing them to rotate after a boost/barrel roll. His Ion Torpedo, not a slot you typically think of filling on these ships, helps put a target into a vulnerable position. Minister Tua provides Saxon some protection once he starts to take fire, and he will since eight points will be very tempting for your opponent.

Loadout #2 – “Our Moment of Triumph” (16/18)

Role: Attack
Configuration- Swivel Wings (0)
Crew- Grand Moff Tarkin (4)
Gunner- Veteran Tail Gunner (3)
Modification- Mandalorian Optics (5)
Payload- None (0)
Talent- Trickshot (4)
Torpedo- None (0)

Mandalorian Optics and Grand Moff Tarkin both trigger in the system phase. This makes for a perfect combo for Gar. Gain a free lock with optics, then let the rest of the squad get a lock too. If he can pull off a range 1 shot, through a rock, into a target’s rear arc, he can roll six attack dice. Unlikely to happen, but between his ability and Trickshot, he has a fair shot at rolling at least one extra die. VTG is your typical fair for these ships, adding the potential for double shots. And Ion Bombs give him some potential to set up a rear arc attack by ionning someone.

Separatist

Pre Vizsla (7 pts) (I3)

Pilot Ability – While you perform an attack, if the defender’s initiative is equal to or greater than yours, you may spend 2 Charges to roll 1 additional die.

Extra attack dice are always nice.
His ability is nice and straight forward, no arcs or dials to compare, just initiative which can’t change.
It can only be used every other turn which makes it not overpowered.
Also, it does not specify primary so can he used with missiles.

Loadout Points – 18

Configuration, Crew, Gunner, Missile, Modification, Payload, Talent.
As the faction with the least crew options, gaining access to a multi-crew carrier isn’t as exciting.

Loadout #1 – “Eat Protons” (18/18)

Role: Attack
Configuration- Swivel Wings (0)
Crew- Jango Fett (3)
Gunner- Boba Fett (2)
Missile- Proton Rockets (8)
Modification- Mandalorian Optics (5)
Payload- None (0)
Talent- Marksmanship (1)

There’s nothing fancy about this build. You have Mandalorian Optics and Boba Fett to help you get double modded shots off. You also have the threat of a six die proton rocket attack if anyone is stupid enough to end up in your bullseye arc.

Bo-Katan (7 pts) (I4)

Pilot Ability – Before a friendly ship at range 0-2 activates, you may spend 1 Charge. If you do, that ship may gain 1 strain token to remove 1 non-stress red or orange token.

This is an odd ability that sounds great at first glance but then looks bad when you start to think about it, and finally comes around to sorta okay in the end.
It can not be used to remove stress, which would be great but it can remove: Weapons Disabled, Tractor, Jam, Locks, Deplete.
Locks sound best to remove but that requires the enemy locking you, and then not using it when they shoot you, which probably meant they rolled natural hits.
Weapons Disabled has potential if you pair Bo up with an ordnance carrier. They can reload but still get to fire that round.

Loadout Points – 20

Configuration, Crew, Gunner, Missile, Missile, Modification, Modification, Payload, Talent, Title.
A fair few more upgrades than Vizsla has access too.
Bo can use double missile upgrades, though I’m not sure she’d want too.

Loadout #1 – “Drop All the Things” (20/20)

Role: Confusion
Configuration- Swivel Wings (0)
Crew- Death Watch Commandoes (7)
Gunner- Ursa Wren (4)
Missile- Discord Missile (4)
Missile- None (0)
~~Modification- None (0)~~
Modification- None (0)
Payload- DRK-1 Probe Droids (5)
Talent- Marksmanship (1)
Title- Gauntlet (0)

This is just kind of a ridiculous idea. Due to her high loadout value and wide array of upgrades, Bo-Katan can deploy five different remotes to the field: Discord Missiles, 2x Death Watch Commandoes, 2x DRK-1 Probe Droids. That is a lot of remotes to move around and mess with your opponent. Deploying the Discord Missiles will be the hardest part, as she does not have access to the Calculate action. But with Ursa, she can get one if she finds a lone ship at range three and locks them, or using DRK long range lock.