Good evening... well, it's evening here. As some of you know, I will be covering the metagame of Star Wars Miniatures. Now, what is metagame? Here's a description I got from a local website:

Metagame, literally "a game outside the game," is a prediction of how others will make decisions in a game based on their personality or their previous decisions. A metagame can exist in any game in which the opposition is human or portrays some sort of artificial intelligence and the competitors make choices. Metagaming is taking advantage of the metagame for purposes of winning more often.

With a description handed to you, here is the squad that I will be covering this week:

NOM BOMB

For those who play competitive, I'm sure you've seen this squad floating around at your FLGS tournaments. They can do damage when you let them.

So, what can they use? Here's a list:

Nom Anor
Prince Xizor
BoShek
Aqualish Assassin
Ayy Vida
Bith Black Sun Vigo
Gran Raider
Dannik Jericho
Defel Spy
Garindan
Zam Wesell
Ithorian Scout
Nikto Gunner on Desert Skiff (with Doglith Masquer)
Weequay Leader (with Doglith Masquer)
Ewok or Ugnaught Demolitionist (with Doglith Masquer)
HK-47
Boba Fett, Bounty Hunter
etc.
etc.
etc.

The list is too long for me to list, but you get the idea.

So, here is a squad that I will be testing:

Nom Anor (34)
Boba Fett, Bounty Hunter (62)
Garindan (12)
Mistryl Shadow Guard (24)
Vornskr (27)
Gran Raider x8 (32)
Yuuzhan Vong Warrior (8 )

Now, the Doglith Masquer will be given to the Yuuzhan Vong Warrior (I'd use two more Gran Raiders, but only had 8 in my disposal), and I believe I have a solid squad.

Now, here's a few pros and con pointers to show you what to expect from a squad like this:

+ 14 activations is very healthy, usually giving you more activations than the opponent
+ Super Stealth ownz
+ With the exception of Boba, everyone is a bomb
+ Jedi-killing Vornskr will be great help
+ Flamethrower from Boba will help activate bombs if the opponent isn't setting off the Self-Destruct 20
+Distintigration of enemies is always nice

- Flamethrower, grenades and missiles will be something that the Gran Raiders need to dodge from the enemy
- Need to stay in cover for super-stealth
- Depa Bilaba and Admiral Ackbar exist in this game, as well as Talon Karrde and Nym

Now, the negatives aren't all that bad after you get around them. If you're having problems with enemies killing your Gran Raiders off via flamethrower, then keep your Gran Raiders apart from each other. Staying in cover should not be a problem, even with the Endor map. The last one depends on your metagame. I don't see those very often for where I play, but perhaps they run rampant in your metagame.

Well, here's what happened after taking this squad to a tournament:

Round 1: Me vs. Dr. Republic

No offense to him, but his squad wasn't built the best. He was using the CS Anakin Skywalker with Obi-Wan Kenobi, JM alongside IG-88 BH, 4-LOM BH, and a few clone trooper characters from Clone Strike. Truthfully, I just sent in the Gran Raiders a few at a time, let them blow up, then let Boba finish the job.

1-0

Round 2: Me vs. Elder Dr. Republic

This squad was a bit better, as it consisted of Jedi Weapon Master and a Boba Fett, Bounty Hunter. However, the map was Rancor Pit, so I was able to get my Gran Raiders adjascent to his characters, blowing stuff up and finishing the job with Boba.

2-0

Round 3: Me vs. abhorson

That's right, it was abhorson for round three. Sadly, I played my squad wrong by clustering my Gran Raiders (no one's perfect), and he got a pot shot at blowing them all up. Then, before I knew it, it was his jedis versus my Boba and Nom. You can easily guess that I lost that one.

2-1

Round 4: Me vs. Bane

From the start, I could already tell that I was in trouble, considering that this guy had Nym, Bane and Jango, BH on his team. Nym alone jammed my Gran Raiders' Self-Destruct 20, so I thought it was over. However, it was Boba that saved the day as I rolled a natural 20 on Nym, disintegrating his one and only chance for a win. After that, I caught his Bane in a corner and surrounded it with Gran Raiders, while Boba handled Jango. After the dust cleared, it was my squad who stood strong in the end.

3-1

I placed 2nd place in that tournament, only losing to abhorson. However, I didn't feel bad, as he is amongst the best in the world. Haven't really beaten him yet, but someday I hope to. Also, I got a Darth Sidious, Champion of the Sith, so that's going straight up for trade.

After the experience with the Nom Bomb squad, I found out that it is very powerful, but requires much skill to wield. You must keep your bombs away from each other, but cluster them around a big beast like Darth Bane. Also, don't let Nom Anor die at all costs. He should be the last piece to fall, as he is the heart of your squad. Now, I know that this is all common sense, but that's all there really is to it.

How would I rate this squad in the metagame? Well, it is part of the metagame indeed, so a high rating it will recieve. I will be rating it out of 5, 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest. I give the Nom Bomb squad a 4.6/5. Not bad. Not bad at all. Now, will I ever use this squad again? Yep. Someday.