Rogue Review- V-19 Torrent

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

The named V-19 pilots finally came down in price with the last points update, and most were added back to Hyperspace, so I decided it was time to take a look at the venerable Torrent. Personally, not one of my favorite ships, but it sees a lot of play from Republic players. Primarily because of its price, or more specifically the Gold Squadron Trooper’s price. This is the Republic’s spammable ship.

Cheap but surprisingly resilient with five health, the V-19 works best as bait, serving to draw fire away from your valuable Jedi. With missiles coming down in price there is a potential secondary role as an ordinance carrier.

Red Five Standing By

The V-19 comes out of the box with five unique pilots and two generics. Most of these pilots were disregarded as not worth considering before a major points reduction.  How do these pilots compare now?

1. Oddball (I5)– After you fully execute a red maneuver or perform a red action, if there is an enemy ship in your Bullseye, you may acquire a lock on that ship.
   1. Oh, Oddball. FFG keeps trying to make you happen by dropping you into every single non-Jedi Republic ship.
   2. Ironically, despite how derided he and the V-19 named pilots are, this is one of the better platforms for him. It has multiple red maneuvers so more opportunity to trigger his ability.
   3. A good Synchronized Console carrier due to his ability and being I5, he has good odds of acquiring a Lock to pass down the chain for some ordinance.
2. Kickback (I4)– After you perform a Barrel Roll action, you may perform a red Lock action.
   1. Nothing too exciting with this ability but it is one of the most straightforward; it’s just adding Barrel Roll linked to Lock.
   2. Best independent Torrent as his ability does not aid allies and at I4, arc dodging has potential as a strategy. Having the choice between an offensive or defensive action after barrel rolling gives him lots of options.
3. Axe (I3)– After you defend or perform an attack, you may choose a friendly ship at range 1-2 in your Side Arcs. If you do, transfer 1 green token to that ship.
   1. Resource management can be nice. If he has a token that goes unused he can offer it to a friend.
   2. A worse version of Garven. Shares a token only if he doesn’t use it and the ally is in a very specific spot. But it is not limited to Focus. Survive an attack with an evade intact, pass it on to someone else whose likely to get shot.
4. Swoop (I3)- After a friendly small or medium ship fully executes a speed 3-4 maneuver, if it is at range 0-1, it may perform a red Boost action.
   1. Boosts for everyone! This is a fun ability if nothing else. He can give anyone a boost which is a rarity in 2.0.
   2. Boosting ARC and LAAT’s. Medium boost can go places. Doesn’t work on large ships but as of this writing there are no large ships even on the horizon for Republic.
   3. The range restriction can be limiting, as they need to end their movement within range one of Swoop. But at least it works on himself and doesn’t have any of the side-arc nonsense.
   4. Works well in a swarm of Blue Squadron Protectors. He moves first to ensure they are all within range 1 of him after they move. Then everyone can boost which they normally could not do.
   5. The absolute biggest negative for Swoop is the speed 3-4 maneuver restriction. For the V-19 itself, that limits his ability to triggering off of a 3 or 4 straight only. That almost makes him worthless on himself.
5. Tucker (I2)- After a friendly ship at range 1-2 performs an attack against an enemy ship in your Forward Arc, you may perform a Focus action.
   1. He’s in an odd place. At I2, more times than not, his action was going to have been a Focus already. Gaining a Lock action would have been phenomenal.
   2. Does give him the potential for double mods though, so that’s not nothing.
6. Blue Squadron Protector (I3)– None
   1. Previously, these were fairly worthless due to the high premium you had to pay for them. It’s amazing the difference one point can make.
   2. Now for only two points over a Gold, you get a Dedicated BSP.
7. Gold Squadron Trooper (I2)- None
   1. The gold standard V-19. Nothing fancy about these, they’re just cheap.

All Wings Report In

What’s the ideal number of V-19’s to buy? Two or Four. They come in packs of two and you can fly up to eight of them but that isn’t something you’re likely to do. I’ll present a few six Torrent lists below but in most cases, you’re using them as filler. Two to four make for a good mini-swarm to add to a bunch of lists. 

Synchronized Cluster (Extended)

• Oddball (V-19)
  • Synchronized Console
  • Cluster Missile
• Axe (V-19)
  • Synchronized Console
  • Cluster Missile
• Swoop (V-19)
  • Synchronized Console
  • Cluster Missile
• 3x Blue Squadron Protector (V-19)
  • Dedicated
  • Synchronized Console
  • Cluster Missile

Oddball has a place! This list is all about getting a single lock and then unleashing twelve attacks from that single lock. Being I5, Oddball has the best chance of getting that lock. And he also has potential to get it even after the whole swarm takes a red T-roll or K-turn. Or everyone red boosting thanks to Swoop. Now, you still need to get a Bullseye with clunky I5 but it’s worth it when you do. No one gets rerolls but that’s still a lot of damage potential.

Jedi Protectors (Hyperspace)

• Obi-wan Kenobi (Aethersprite)
  • CLT
• Ahsoka (Aethersprite)
  • CLT
• Luminara Unduli (Aethersprite)
  • CLT
• 2x Blue Squadron Protectors (V-19)
  • Dedicated

This is a basic example of the dual Blue Squadron Protectors with Dedicated combo. You fly the two V-19 spread out to provide maximum side arc coverage for your Jedi. Then your opponent either fires on the bait or your Jedi get a reroll. And with Luminara in there as well, they also might get to mod the attack dice. This list is Hyperspace legal but you can come up with lots of variations on it with Jedi of your choice, either remaining Hyperspace or Extended. If you go Extended, and prefer  Delta-7B you can only get two Jedi but the idea remains the same.

Plo’s Swooping Bros (Hyperspace)

• Swoop (V-19)
  • Synchronized Console
• Wolffe (ARC-170)
  • Seventh Fleet Gunner
  • R4-P Astromech
  • Synchronized Console
• Jag (ARC-170)
  • Seventh Fleet Gunner
  • R4-P Astromech
  • Synchronized Console
• Plo-Koon (Aethersprite)
  • CLT

This list exists solely to try to make something out of Swoop. It’s a fun idea, giving allies who can’t boost a boost. It will be tricky to maneuver this group but for an initial engagement, or a fleeing disengagement, since Swoop moves first, you can get your two ARC’s a boost off of any speed three maneuver. That includes the red hard 3’s, thanks to R4-P. The two ARC’s are your heavy hitters with their Seventh Fleet Gunners. They can also use that to pump up Swoop to a three die attack. Jag gets locks fairly easily which he can pass along to Swoop as well or to Wolffe and Plo to use the next round. Plo hangs around to pull off Weapons Disabled from the ARC’s when they recharge Seventh Fleet. Or to be an annoying I5 Jedi, whichever is more beneficial.

Kickback the Lock (Extended)

• Kickback (V-19)
  • Mag-Pulse Warhead
  • Synchronized Console
• Tucker (V-19)
  • Concussion Missile
  • Synchronized Console
• 3x Red Squadron Bomber (BTL-B Y-Wing)
  • Proton Torpedo
  • Synchronized Console

This is similar in idea to the six V-19 missile swarm but instead of six missiles, you have three Y-wings with proton torpedoes. Which can be reloaded. Kickback has the best chance of getting a lock between being I4 and having the option to barrel roll first. Then he can pass the lock down the chain if needed.  His Mag-Pulse warhead can screw up a lower init enemy that hasn’t shot yet. Then the three Y-wings unload heavy proton barrage. Tucker is an alternative source of lock if the Y-wings need it or he can fire his concussion double modded using his ability.

Republic Misfits (Extended)

• Kickback (V-19)
  • Mag-Pulse Warhead/Concussion Missile
• Anakin Skywalker (N-1)
  • Fire Control System/Passive Sensors
  • Proton Torpedo
• Mace Windu (Aethersprite)
  • R4 Astromech
  • CLT
• Matchstick (BTL-B Y-Wing)
  • Dorsal Turret
  • C1-10P
  • Clone Commander Cody

This is a mix of I4 pilots that can each operate independently. Kickback is one of the few V-19’s that can do that, as his ability doesn’t affect or depend on anyone else and is moderately useful. If he’s got Mag-Pulse he’s firing early to jam. If he has Concussion, he’s firing last to flip some damage cards after the other ships in the squad put some on. Then, you have Anakin bouncing around being slippery with his ability in an N-1, ready with a heavy punch of a proton torpedo. Mace is a typical Aethersprite Jedi. You could exchange FCS and Proton off Anakin if you prefer Delta-7B on Mace. Matchstick rounds out the group with some frustrating abilities. With Chopper he can evade for early defense, and give himself a reroll in the process. Then, he can pass out jam tokens to enemies if they’re close. If they’re not, he jams himself but doesn’t care if he’s stressed, he’s still getting rerolls. He always shoots first in order for Cody to pass out strain if he missed.