Is Ruthless Garbage?

tl;dr - No, but it’s not exactly a world beater.

I confess, I used to be like you, once before I took an arrow to the knee. I thought that Ruthless was the worst upgrade in the game, a bad joke played upon the players by the dev team. At the very least, it was clear evidence of the very well-known-and-definitely-a-real-thing anti-Empire bias exhibited by FFG (aside from those times when the Empire is dominant, which I can only assume are just momentary lapses in their ability to suppress the one faction that they want to produce product for but also not sell).

Then, I looked at Ruthless more. And I tried it a few times. And I realised that it’s perhaps not the worst upgrade. Not great, perhaps. But not the worst!

So how do we use Ruthless in such a way that our opponent does not ridicule us? How can we even, dare I be bold, win a game with Ruthless?

Match Review - 4 Ship FO vs. Fenn Boba Lando

Welcome to an On The Rocks Match Review! As usual, this game was played online using the X-Wing module for VASSAL, which you can learn more about here.

This was a casual game I played on VASSAL in late April 2019. I've been experimenting with a bunch of permutations of four ship First Order lists, swapping out ships and upgrades and figuring out what works, so my approach is still very unrefined. Consider that my excuse in advance for a myriad of misplays (incidentally, that's the name of my forthcoming X-Wing self help book).

Match Review - Triple Aethersprites vs. Sai Rexler Duchess

Welcome to an On The Rocks Match Review! As usual, this game was played online using the X-Wing module for VASSAL, which you can learn more about here.

This was a casual game I played on VASSAL in early April 2019. I hadn't tried the Aethersprites out yet so I thought I'd give them a whirl. Unlike other games, I didn't come into this one with a fully developed plan, so there's a fair amount of improvising to see in this one! Do try this at home (and don't try this at tournaments).

Match Review - Maul/Dooku/Grievous vs. Rebel Beef

Welcome to an On The Rocks Match Review! As usual, this game was played online using the X-Wing module for VASSAL, which you can learn more about here.

This was a recent match I played as part of the X-Wing Vassal League, a free-to-join league for online X-Wing play involving over hundreds players from around the world.

On BatReps

I don't love them.

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...

Okay, let me clarify. I don't love 5 minute summaries of tournament matches on podcast episodes, or two paragraph summaries of games with a random photo from the middle of the game showing that one time when everybody's ships bumped all at once.

Don't get me wrong, I think these are fun. I'm glad to see people sharing experiences they had playing this game. I enjoy hearing about bad beats or unexpected wins as much as the next guy. People can and should keep doing these!

But I won't be doing that here.

The best TIE Reaper isn't the one you've been using

The TIE Striker's bigger, chunkier brother, the TIE Reaper, offers an interesting option for a 3-die attacker to Imperial lists, as well as a crew carrier with a very different combat profile than the Lambda. If you've flown Imperial in Hyperspace, you've probably used the Reaper. If you're like many tournament players, you've probably been using Major Vermeil.

But is Vermeil really your best option?