Boy oh boy. More previews of the upcoming GR-75 and this time we get to see the brand spanking new X-Wing Pilots! 
And these guys are looking good. For the most part heh. Fans of Rogue Squadron will be happy to see some of the named guys from there finally making their appearance in X-wing. Personally, I can’t say I know them all that well, but hey, this time I did play a few of the games!
Starting off with them in order, lets look at Wes Janson. I like this guy. You get to shoot at people and use all your normally goodies. And if your target did not use theirs, or didn’t have to use them. BOOM!
Shame it’s gone now. He is a dangerous man, requiring your target to use it or lose it. And if its a target lock, well, gone now. Very nasty guy who really allows you to focus fire on your enemy. And definitely good if you want to prevent your enemies from using certain missiles.
Next we have Derek “Hobbie” Klivian. This guy is, ok. Not sure if I’d say hes good, but hes definately okay..
His ability is kind of situational, and requires you to use target locks more then you’d really like to, least in my opinion.
Focus is normally always 100 times better in the end, unless you really plan on using torpedos. Coupled with ‘Dutch’ he might be alright. Shame he can’t use Elite Pilot talents, cause Push the Limit would be great. But lets bring that back up a little later though, shall we?
Next is Tarn Mison, who might just be the lowest unique pilot there is skill wise. Don’t quote me on that.
Regardless, he’s a decent sudo anti missile/torpedo guy as well, gaining a free target lock whenever he’s targeted. Outside that I can’t say to much on him. Low skill and a sudo ok ability, he’s alright, but situational.
Last, but certainly not least everyone favorite pilot ever! PORKINS! Jek Tono Porkins! Yea, you know, the guy who died in New Hope!
Joking remarks aside, story wise this guy was a bad ass, and his pilot card keeps that up.
At skill 7 he’s a high marked man, and his ability is nothing to scoff at either. When he’s stressed he can immediately remove it then on a change hit, you take a damage.
Fantasy Flight mentions using the Droid R5-D8 to help aid him and using Push the Limit could add some massive fire power to him. All and all, Porkins is a mighty fine addition to the game and one nasty one at that too.
Now let’s look at the final bits shown. Flechette Torpedoes are pretty nice. 3 shots, regardless if you get any hits or damage in, the target becomes stressed if it has 4 or less hull.
Next we have a pair of droids here, R3-A2 and R2-D6. R3 is decent, forcing a stress on your enemy at the cost of a stress. Sadly, this only happens when you declare an attack and are in a enemys firing arc as well. So they’ll more than likely have some action on them.
But using this with say, Porkins or ‘Hobbie’, you can do some silliness and force your enemy to only do green maneuvers. R2-D6 is pretty nice, for 1 point you can gain an elite pilot ability? Remember, “Hobbie”? A tid bit safer than Expose, but a bit more situational. Little over cost in my opinion, but not to bad when used right.
All in all I’m looking forward for the GR-75, but not for the big ship, but for my beloved X-Wings.
Welcome to X-Wing, enjoy your stay. Checkout our sweet video un-boxing for the Wave 3 Ships, and be sure to read our other Star Wars Tactics Articles.
