For some time, I've complained that the Romulans are terribad in Attack Wing. I already don't like that that D'deridex class is FAAAR underpowered compared to its canon. For the longest time, all I wanted was three D'deridex warbirds, but I found that I couldn't seem to win with two.
A buddy won the first Attack Wing OP,
the Donimion War, with Romulans. He was extremely successful at using the 'sensor echo' action to avoid being shot, while also taking advantage of several Muon tokens. It was like he was playing with his opponents, and we all hated him for it. But he did prove me wrong in the most irrefutable way.
Sadly, that didn't mean anything for me. I didn't realize how effective sensor echo was until I was playing a game of X-Wing (go figure) and my TIE fighters had to take advantage of 'barrel rolls' (the same thing, different game). It was then that I realized how effective Romulans can be with their Federation-like resilience and amazing mobility. If only we had something that could put out some firepower...
Enter the Reman Scimitar!!!
This malicious beast of war was designed by Shinzon, clone of Picard, and built by Reman slaves to exact vengeance on the empire that tortured and forgot them. It was so powerful, in fact, that two Romulan warbirds AND the Enterprise-E could not defeat it! That's a beast for sure!
In game terms, it definitely fills any weakness in the Romulan fleet. Its firepower of 6 make it the most powerful there and one of the most powerful in the entire game (Klingons and Dominion have that covered). The agility of 2 is refreshing on a battleship like this and definitely the trademark stat of the faction, making their reliance on cloaking that much more prevalent. A hull of 7 and 4 shields mean that this baby can take some damage before finally going down. The best part, even beyond the upgrades, is that this ship has a rear firing arc! That is something that no other Romulan ship has!!! Awesome!!!!!
Included is also Shinzon. My buddy used Captain Picard on his Khazara in the first couple of scenarios during the Dominion war and we made fun of him, saying that he was only getting away with it because there was a clone in the movies. As it turns out, Wizkids would have that covered too! With a captain skill of 9 and a Kirk-like ability to take many expensive elite talents, he definitely has his value. But I don't care about that as much as just having a ship with
real stats...
My fleet
This is following the 90 point format of the current OP tournaments, and also following the
suggested format for tournament fleet builds.
- Scimitar, Reman Warbird 38 (6, 2, 7, 4, after attack, take aux to keep cloak token green)
- Salatrel 3 (5, choose 1 faction to be skill 10 during combat phase against)
- Counter Attack 3 (if damaged in front, free attack against shooter)
- Secondary Shields 6 (3 extra shield tokens to replenish through game)
- IRW Valdore, Valdore Class 30 (4, 2, 6, 3, +1 attack if green maneuvre)
- Donatra 4 (friendly ships within range 1 get +1 attack)
- All Forward Disruptor Banks 4 (disable for +1 attack)
- Romulan Pilot 2 (discard to place scan token and perform green maneuvre free)
The idea behind this fleet is simple- get the Scimitar in range to crush somebody. As Donatra keeps range with the Scimitar, she makes its firepower even more effective. With Salatrel's ability to shoot first AND get the counter-attack (hopefully with that bonus), that could make the Scimitar twice as effective. That upgrade really comes into its own with a ship as resilient and maneuverable as that Romulan battleship. Adding those additional shield tokens keeps that ship around just a bit longer, which allows it to cloak longer and survive longer, dishing out damage the whole way.
I didn't make the Scimitar more than 50 points, as per those restrictions above. If I could, I would have to add torpedoes to take advantage of that rear firing arc.
I also have a few ideas for other fleets, but this is the one I'm focused on at the moment. I can't wait to see what it can do (the one game I played was unfair and saw this fleet mop up two B'rels quickly...).
You can also play around with this awesome army-builder program for Attack Wing. It's called STAW Builder and can be found
here. This program even allows you to print out your fleet lists on Wizkids approved tournament sheets! Give it a go and all credit to the developer, Dracos Software. I don't think Lone Wolf could have done it better...
Let me know what you guys think and happy gaming!
