So with the release of Wave 7, we got some really cool new toys to play with! I’m talking about the new K-Wing for you dirty Rebels, and the TIE Punisher for all those aspiring Imperial Admirals out there. Both of them come with the ability to carry a TON of ordnance into battle with the new Extra Munitions upgrade. This upgrade takes away a Torpedo slot, but gives you a new token to place on all your other ordnance – effectively doubling your load out for only 2 squad points. Both ships also come with some very fun looking pilots, my favorite of which is Deathrain. Deathrain’s ability allows him to use his front movement guide to deploy his bomb tokens, and then he gets a free barrel roll to escape the blast. This makes him a bit unpredictable, as he can barrel roll before revealing his dial and be able to be a bit more reactive in his movements.

The K-Wing also sports a turret which will make it a bit more versatile especially when being pursued by someone. Combine this with the new Twin Laser Turret and you have a fairly potent weapon outside of all the ordnance you carry.  The K-Wing also has a new SLAM Action – allowing the ship to do a second movement of the same speed by sacrificing their attack – which will allow the pilot to potentially escape a bad position, or get into position to line up a bomb run or shot for the next turn. With the SLAM Action also occurring after ordnance is dropped, the K-Wing can drop bombs in front of an enemy formation and then escape behind them (TIE Swarms… you’ve been warned). The K-Wing model itself is really cool (the Rebels got the better looking ship for sure) – almost reminiscent of old WWII bombers with the large wings, and the ordnance slung underneath, not to mention the ball turret for shooting down pesky fighters.

The biggest thing I am looking forward to with playing these two ships (have been far too busy at work to get any good games in yet) is being able to use all these bombs and the new Cluster Mines to control the board, and put a bit of a damper on some of those large base ships such has Han or all the Decimators that are  prevalent still, especially in our local metagame. I don’t think they are going to be a hard counter to turret ships which are a big complaint a lot of players still have, but they should give players a few more ways to deal with them. By controlling where those ships can position themselves, they will require the players using large turret ships to pilot them around the tokens they drop on top of whatever obstacles the players have brought to the game. Both of these heavy bombing platforms will also prove to be very useful in Epic format games, where just a few of these can carry enough ordnance to ruin the day of any Tantive or Raider the enemy decides to field. The one downside to these ships is you are going to be committing a fair amount of squad points into them, and they will surely be priority targets for your opponent requiring a bit of clever maneuvering and escort ships.

Below are a couple of lists that I have built – but I have not played either one yet. The Rebel list may not work at all – I really don’t have a lot of experience with the Rebel ships, but both are built around the new bombers for those looking for a starting point with them.

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One of the first builds I plan on trying out will probably look like this:
“Deathrain” (26) (TIE Punisher)
    Extra Munitions (2)
    Assault Missiles (5)
    Advanced Homing Missiles (3)
    Conner Net (4)
    Cluster Mines (4)
    Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)
“Howlrunner” (18) (TIE Fighter)
Academy Pilot (12) (TIE Fighter)
Academy Pilot (12) (TIE Fighter)
Academy Pilot (12) (TIE Fighter)
Total: 99 points.

There are a lot of points tied up in the Punisher, however I think having the mini-swarm moving along the outside the map, and working on flanking or setting up some shots at ships that are already focused on the Punisher should prove effective. The mini-swarm can also help with board control along with all the bomb and mine tokens that will come into play – forcing the opponent to either fly into the swarm becoming blocked, or forced into trying to navigate through obstacles and losing actions as they hit rocks and debris. I may also try dropping the Assault Missiles and adding a bit more to Howlrunner to help her survivability a bit.

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This is something I think I may try with the K-Wing:
Miranda Doni (29) (K-Wing)
    Blaster Turret (4)
    Extra Munitions (2)
    Assault Missiles (5)
    Bombardier (1)
    Cluster Mines (4)
    Proximity Mines (3)
Jake Farrell (24) (A-Wing)
    Lone Wolf (2)
    Chardaan Refit (-2)
    Autothrusters (2)
Bandit Squadron Pilot (12) (Z-95)
Bandit Squadron Pilot (12) (Z-95)
Total: 98 points.

This build follows a bit of the same logic – The K-Wing controls the board by dropping bombs and dictating where the enemy can go. Jake will run around and utilize Lone Wolf to get good shots at anyone he can flank or get alone, while the 2 Bandits are used as harassment and/or blocking ships. The thing I like about Miranda is the ability to use your shield tokens to modify your attack dice, or lowering your attack value to regenerate shields. I think it will be interesting to see how effective something along those lines will help with the ships survivability. I am afraid this list may lack the hitting power needed to be super useful, but with Jake having autothrusters, he should be able to get a few kills before he goes down assuming the enemy is going to go after your K-Wing first. You can also substitute more Bandits in to take Jake’s spot and give them a few upgrades to make up the point difference.

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So, there you have a bit about the new ships that Wave 7 has to offer for players looking for something new to use – or just break out those bomb and mine tokens! Again, I have not gotten to play the new ships yet, and everything above is just what I have come up with on paper. If anyone has played the lists above or know of something that works, throw it in the comments and let me know! I will probably post up something about them once I try them out (hopefully soon…).