watcher4242

Apr 13, 20218 min read

Custom Ship Pack: Clone Z-95 Headhunter

Here comes another Headhunter!

Today's ship is the Clone variant of the Z-95 Headhunter, one of the most long-lasting and common ships in galactic history!

So let's get stuck in!

The Lore:

The original Z-95-AF4 Headhunter was first introduced long before the Clone Wars, so by the time of the conflict the Headhunter was considered outdated. However, its dependability and ruggedness meant that the Republic considered updating, modifying and using it for the second half of the war, replacing the more complex V-19 Torrent, alongside ships like the ARC-170 and later V-Wing.

Unlike its predecessor Z-95s, the Clone Headhunter was slightly larger, had fewer but more powerful engines and packed a pair of torpedo tubes instead of holding missiles. All of these added up to make this a light and manoeuvrable starfighter that could also pack a punch against capital ships.

The Overall Design:

For this ship itself, I decided to make it feel like a slightly more manoeuvrable version of the Z-95, and also try to bridge the gap a little more between the X-Wing and original Z-95, with this and the ARC-170 feeling more like offshoots before remerging to make the T-65 X-Wing.

For the pilots and upgrades, I decided to build this pack around the clones close bond to each other and how well they work as a team, following their trusted commander's orders. This ended up with a lot of the pilot abilities affecting the pilot and generics but not other named pilots. This is especially useful as the Z-95 is a cheap swarm ship and fielding them will normally end up with you having five or more ships unless it's a filler ship in a list.

The Stats:

I decided to stick close to the Z-95's stat line, only increasing the hull value by one and decreasing its shields by one, making it technically worse than the original. This ended up with the Clone Z-95 Headhunter having the following stat line:

Front: 2

Agility: 2

Hull: 3

Shields: 1

I was certain this ship was unshielded for a long time, but in my final checks found out that it has been said in a few sources that it is shielded, which meant I had to completely redo all my pilot cards last minute!

The Dial:

I again stuck close to the original Z-95, only removing its speed three K-Turn and replacing it with a pair of Talon Rolls, making it slightly closer to the T-65 X-Wings dial.

The Actions:

Surprise, surprise, I stuck close to the original Z-95! Making its red barrel roll white to show the more manoeuvrable nature of this variant of the Z-95.

The Ship Ability:

This ship ability affects the price of the ships weirdly as I'd say it costs more and more, the higher a pilots initiative value .e clone pilots constantly rolling their ships like it's nothing, making this variant much more manoeuvrable than its predecessor or even the X-Wing. To show this I decided to give it an ability that allowed the clone pilots to red barrel roll before they reveal a white or blue manoeuvre, letting them slightly reposition themselves before they move. This makes them a little more like ace fighters than most swarm ships.

I only let them do it before executing a white or blue manoeuvre as in theory you could purposely stress yourself before executing a red manoeuvre, letting you drastically change the direction of your movement.

This ship ability affects the price of the ship's weirdly as I'd say it costs more and more, the higher a pilots initiative value is.

The Upgrades:

One last time! I stuck close to the original Z-95! Changing out the missile slot for a torpedo slot. Making this a very light ship upgrade wise, but as a flimsy swarm ship, it makes a lot of sense as you don't want to put too many expensive upgrades on them.

The Pilots:

"Hawk":

One of the 501st's best pilots, Hawk was with Anakin throughout the Clone Wars, normally piloting a LAAT/i transporting Anakin personally to combat zones. We have already seen Hawk in X-Wing, in the LAAT/i, with a sort of meh ability, letting him boost or roll allies during the end phase. However, as we all know from the Virago title, boosting during the end phase isn't always the best. I decided to stick close to his LAAT/i ability, helping his allies to boost if they are going fast. This happens after they execute a manoeuvre, letting them get into position faster. This is especially useful for himself when combined with his pre-movement barrel roll, making him about 32-35 points.

"Killer":

Killer is actually linked to another card I made and posted the day before this article, Engle, a Clone Y-Wing pilot who flew with Killer during a mission, with Killer providing covering fire while Engle bombarded ships. Killer's ability helps him protect his brothers and especially Engle, as enemies have to choose between shooting a more dangerous target like the double torpedo shooting Engle or shooting weak little Z-95 who would otherwise get off a free shot, which is always a massive bonus!

Points wise I'd say he's about 29-33 points, as his bonus attack is relatively easy to counter and it's rare that a generic would be a higher priority than him.

"Warthog":

Oh, my beloved Warthog, my current favourite pilot in the game, and I tried to do him justice here as well. As tempting as it was to just give him the same pilot ability as his LAAT/i pilot ability, I decided to modify it to be both weaker and stronger. This new ability lets him repair his damaged allies after they should have been destroyed, to show his habit of getting stuck in scenarios where he should have died, but held out long enough for Plo Koon to save his life. Although it's technically able to resurrect a ship indefinitely, it only works once every two rounds, and if you are more heavily damaged, the ship will still go down. Because of this, I'd say he's about 26-30 points.

"Shooter":

An old legends comic pilot, Shooter was a member of the 501st who sacrificed himself to save the day by crashing into the reactor core of a Separatist capital ship. I decided to help show his final sacrifice in his ability, by letting him collide with enemy ships and still perform actions unless that ship gains a strain token. This makes him a headstrong pilot that can more easily risk the chaos of swarm lists (an especially useful ability when flying with Z-95s against Vulture Droids), this is massively helped by the ship ability and low initiative, letting him reposition to purposely collide, which can be made even deadlier with Intimidation. Points wise I'd say he's definitely the cheapest of the named pilots at about 25-27 points.

The Generics:

We have a choice of three different generics today. I'm normally against having more than two generic pilots as you'll find one will otherwise get ignored, but with this I tried to follow the T-70 X-Wing's example, giving you a non-talent generic, a low initiative talent generic, and a high initiative talent generic.

Firstly we have the 501st Legion Ace, as one of the most experienced legions, it makes sense for the 501st to have some of the best pilots in the Republic. However, this high initiative value and talent comes at a cost, making it about 29-32 points, as you can theoretically have six of these pilots in a list, each with a decent talent.

Next, we have Plo Koons battalion, the 104th Battalion Escort, this is the discount version of the 501st's aces, giving you a cheap talent holder at about 25-26 points.

Lastly, we have the grunts, the Coruscant Reserves Pilot, these are the clones who have been sitting waiting for the war to reach the core worlds, so they have had little combat time, or are Shinies. This makes them roughly 23-24 points, keeping them in the same points cost as the generic TIEs and other Z-95s.

The Upgrades:

Brotherhood:

This is a sort of faction-specific talent card, as the Republic are the only faction with multiple clone pilots. This upgrade shows the comradery between the clones, with them all protecting each other flying side by side. This works better and better the more clones you have with this upgrade, as it lets more clones reroll their dice each round. I'd make it probably 2-4 points, letting this be a must include in a lot of swarm ships like the Blue Squadron Protector and 501st Legion Ace.

Bred For War:

Another clone specific upgrade, Bred For War shows how the clones are naturally able to deal with the stresses of battle a lot better than most organics. This upgrade would be about 3-4 points as being able to flip that blinded pilot damage without wasting your action or being able to execute red manoeuvres is very helpful.

Fly Through The Chaos:

The perfect upgrade for swarm ships like the Z-95, Flying Through The Chaos is for the pilot who is used to the tight and panicky situations of massive space battles, where skill has no factor in your survival, and luck is king. I'd say this is about 4-6 points and would be especially useful on Shooter, Arvel Crynydor any ship that could take Intimidation as well.

Overcharged Torpedoes:

I see these as the sort of torpedoes that can rip through capital ships but will struggle to even hit smaller more manurable ships. I did this by giving it a stupid amount of attack dice, but letting the defender roll just as many dice, with even one agility ships getting to roll three defence dice at range two, and six at range three. I'd say it's roughly about 9-13 points, because of its power but situational strength.

Guidance Chips:

Named after a first edition upgrade, but completely different in design. Guidance Chips allow your torpedoes or missiles to more easily hit an enemy ship by forcing them to reroll of their defence dice, which is especially nasty with how unreliable defence dice can be at the best of times. Points wise this is about a 2-3 points.