kazklar wrote:
empirejeff wrote:
Leave GOWK banned.
'nough Said
@ Jonny
I have to disagree with "shooters" being melee. All that is happening is you are Basing the figure, that is not melee. That is negating cover bonuses or Evade. Sure with all of the Evade out there shooters have to be more aggressive but nothing is wrong with keeping your mostly greater mobilers in and out of LOS while slowly pelting away at your enemies. Even more obvious is the special ability of melee. Melee gives you no option to attack at a range (excluding force powers or MR), while ranged characters defeating an adjacent, are allowed to shoot AT OTHER FIGURES.
I don't agree that it's this simple. For example, VAR is also a melee character, but people use him for his ranged option as much as as a melee figure. In fact, that's about the only reason people will run him. Yoda GM used correctly brings an excellent ranged option. Same with Vader Unleashed. Point is there are plenty of "melee" figures who find their way into squads because of their "ranged" options. Figures that can provide multiple roles to a squad are often valued higher than those occupying only one niche. It gives you the flexibility to compete in a tournament environement.
Melee or not isn't the only answer here. The best squads for a long time in this game have generally been some version of what we call "melee interference". They are squads that are flexible in nature, and can go toe to toe, but also protect their big shooter(s) in the back as well. It doesn't matter if the "melee interference" piece(s) are technically melee, if that is the role they play in the squad. Using beefy and/or quick shooters in some cases, can be a better choice, simply because of the additional flexibility they provide.
It also depends on faction. Luke's Snowspeeder is a tremendous melee interference figure because of it's speed, its DR, access to Evade to protect it from the opposing shooter, and flight. It can also be the primary shooter in a competely different squad, and it was used both ways this year at Gencon. But like the Han Scoundrel Cannon only squads in 2008 (no interefence), they failed to get it done in the end. Han only finished 4th in 08. The two speeder only's this year lost in the quarterfinals. There are reasons for this that are other than what I have discussed, but the point is still made here. The best of the best, tend to be those squads with options for interference and shooting. Pure melee and pure shooter can get darn close in many cases, and other than Gencon can win most LGS tournaments. They seem to always struggle at the top of the game however.
Many people say as Deri has said, that it's only melee that has other functions. Well I submit to you, the same is more or less true of shooters as well. The best of the best shooters, are those that synergize well with the other elements. Han Scoundrel is only great because of LEia and Obi. Han Smuggler only because of Reeikan and Leia. Boba BH only because of R2 and Bothans (he's the closest to the lone exception as well). Aurra Sing JH is great, because she is tough to take down at range, and gets really dangerous when you close in, particularly with force users. In the case of Deri's winning squad, not only was he using Han Smuggler, but he also employed the ERC - great because of Madine and Luke, and the additional overide for his map (train), Madine great because of the ERC and disruptive to remove evade. You get the point I think.
The best squads are always those that have flexbility, options and synergize well for the points. They include an interference element (Deri had Luke Commando, but also the ERC to function in this role), and they include some ranged options. They also include door control, but most often, the best of the best are those where the figures provide multiple roles and benefits to the squad.
And this post gives me a great idea for my next "Playing to Win" article. I also think this might make a nice discussion point for the Radio show. So expect to hear some more from me on the topic as I think it through further