Welcome to Rogue Squadron, pilot! In this series, we will be looking at the ships you can fly in Fantasy Flight 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
Before the U-Wing, the LAAT was my go-to ship for use for a small RPG group. Small but big enough for the whole group. Plenty of guns, so everyone had something to do in a fight. Unfortunately, Clone Wars era ships weren’t a thing in X-wing back then but we have them now. So how well do these atmospheric transports translate to the fast and furious game of X-wing?
The LAAT, as you would expect, is the Republic’s first dual crew carrier. But more than that, it is also a dual gunner and dual missile carrier. This allows it many combinations that just aren’t possible elsewhere. These upgrade slots, plus all of the new crew/gunners added in the pack itself, make it an excellent transport and support platform. However, what makes it a truly excellent support ship is the chassis ability itself.
Fire Convergence is an excellent support ability for any squad. All the LAAT has to do it point its arc in the right direction and it provides two rerolls for someone. Perfect for aiding Jedi that spent their actions repositioning. There are limitations though. It costs a charge, of which the ship has two, to use so it’s not going to help a swarm list. It only recovers one charge a round so it can only buff two ships every other round. Second, it can not buff mobile arc attacks. This mainly means the LAAT can’t buff its own primary attack but this also applies to Y-wing turrets.
Now, while it can’t buff its own primary, it can buff any secondary attacks it makes with its missiles. And as it has two missile slots, this makes it an option for a Multi-Missile Pod. This 180 degree arc will overlap some with the bowtie arc whether it’s facing forward or to the side providing the LAAT it’s reroll effect. But this works with any missiles you decide to take. Barrage Rockets are an excellent choice as they only require a Focus to use and you can get rerolls from Fire Convergence.
Red Five Standing By
The LAAT comes out of the box with three quality unique pilots and only a single generic. All of the named pilots are well costed in comparison to the generic, only going up by a total of four points. How do these pilots compare?
- Hawk (I4)– At the start of the End Phase, each friendly ship at range 0-1 that has a revealed maneuver of speed 3-5 may gain 1 strain token to perform a Boost or Barrel Roll action.
- Hawk won’t help you arc dodge anyone, but maneuvering during the end phase shouldn’t be overlooked. It’s slightly worse than during the System phase like the Eta-2 or Moff Jerrjerrod can do, as your opponent can plan their maneuvers based on where you go. But for setting your dials, it makes little difference.
- The strain they gain is a minor cost as you are free to dial in a blue maneuver and immediately clear it. Though, as the LAAT only has two blues, Hawk himself will have trouble clearing it.
- 0-1 range limitation is the biggest problem for this ability. That’s a small bubble, even on a medium ship. Because all ship’s using the ability, and Hawk, start within range 1 of each other, that automatically limits the area you could potentially barrel roll or boost in.
- The additional requirement of dialed maneuver of speed 3-5 just feels an unnecessary limitation. Especially on Hawk himself, as that is limits to only four potential maneuvers he could have taken, as two of his 3’s are red.
- Warthog (I3)– After you or a friendly non-limited ship at range 0-2 are destroyed during the Engagement Phase, that ship is not removed until the end of that phase.
- Fel’s Wrath lives again! But for Republic. And the ability is shared with the squad. So, it’s, you know, actually good.
- Warthog is a perfect escort for a swarm list.
- Hound (I2)- After a friendly ship in your Mobile arc gains a deplete or strain token, if you have no tokens of that type, you may transfer that token to yourself.
- At only one point more than the 212th, Hound’s a good bargain.
- Great support ability to shield your allies from inopportune Strain or Depletes. Especially great against an opponent running Suppressive Gunner.
- A Dedicated wingmate can give Hound a reroll and then, if he isn’t going to get shot again, take the strain cost for his buddy.
- 212th Battalion Pilot (I2)- None
- These wouldn’t make a great spam list, aside from the 10 health each, as their chassis ability would be useless.
- Cheapest way to get a support ship into a Republic list.
All Wings Report In
What’s the ideal number of LAAT’s to buy? One. The squad buffing potential from multiple of them sound like they would be nice, but since they can’t buff themselves and two naked would be half of your list, unless you play Epic, you won’t find yourself putting more than one on the table.
- Warthog (LAAT)
- Cluster Missile
- C-3P0
- Synchronized Console
- Wolfpack
- 4x Blue Squadron Protector
- Dedicated
- Synchronized Console
- Cluster Missile
This list will get to fire its missiles. You opponent fires on anyone, even if they kill their target, Wolfpack will let them get a Lock. They can share that lock with the whole list and then the whole list can fire. And then fire again if they are not at range 3. C-3P0 is there to encourage your opponent to focus on the V-19’s before Warthog or at least give him some resistance to being focus fired.
If you prefer mass to synergy, you can drop most of the upgrades, downgrade to Golds and add another V-19.
- Hawk (LAAT)
- Clone Commander Rex
- Anakin Skywalker (N-1)
- Juke
- Padme Amidala (N-1)
- Juke
- Luminara Unduli (Aethersprite)
- Calibrated Laser Targeting
With Hawk’s help, your three maneuverable pilots can all dance around the board. They are already maneuverable, but if they end near Hawk, they can reposition before the next round. This can help them gain some distance so the N-1’s can continue to take speed 3+ maneuvers to get their free evade. As this is another one of the far too many clauses on Hawk’s ability, the N-1’s are the perfect companion. Juke with Padme and Luminara can be effective in getting those measly two die attacks to matter.
- Warthog (LAAT)
- Barrage Rockets
- Wolf Pack
- 2x 212th Battalion Pilot (LAAT)
- Barrage Rocket
- Seventh Fleet Gunner
You probably don’t want to buy three LAAT’s, but if you do, they can make a beef squad. Warthog will keep them all alive through the end of a round. He’ll fire twice with Ghost Company, each shot enhanced by the Seventh Fleet Gunners on the 212th. If he misses, then Cody strains those targets giving the 212th a stronger barrage rocket attack.
- Hound (LAAT)
- Wolfpack
- Clone Commander Cody
- Yoda
- Anakin Skywalker (Eta-2 Actis)
- Ion Cannon
- Patience
- Crackshot
- Obi-wan Kenobi (Eta-2 Actis)
- Ion Cannon
- Patience
- Crackshot
Patience is a great way for Jedi to recover those oh so valuable Force. But that pesky deplete token is annoying, especially on the two forward arc shots from an Eta-2. But, with Hound flying escort, he can soak up that deplete for one of the Jedi. Then Yoda’s there to help them with more Force management. This will make Hound a target, but that’s okay too. Because this allows the Jedi to swing around and cause havoc unmolested.
Wayne Basta
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