Below is a collected list of thoughts and ideas about how different ships and pilots shine.There is no genuine process by which to pick and choose what is the best advice, so I'm gathering various opinions. Take them as you please.

Also, this link has a great write up over on BBG:

http://boardgamegeek...random-writeups

Rebels

A-wing:

Prototype excels as a blocker being the only small base PS1 rebel (and also very maneuverable).

Green excels w/ PTL as the only generic w/ an EPT for the rebels. It also makes it a great flanker, missile platform, and closer.

Tycho is a much more expensive green, with the added benefit of PS8. He is a better flanker, missile platform, and closer, but you pay a huge price for that. (Khyros)

Arvel is perhaps the BEST blocker in the game. At 23 points he is a PS6 w/ boost AND can target ships touching him! He moves at the perfect time to be a thorn to high level PSs and boost makes it easy to correct his direction. Late in the game he becomes an even bigger pain in the butt because of his ability. (Stone37)

B-wing:

Blue: A more maneuverable but slower Rookie. And more customizable, though hopefully that'll change with the new droids. Excels as a main force dogfighter.

Dagger: See above. Even better with AdvS than the blue since more people have moved before it has.

Ibby: First chance to build the hypermobile B wing, the ultimate dog fighter. Is also the most defensive B wing, and thus a good use of sensor jammer

Ten: Lethal against high agility ships, and otherwise the same as the blue/dagger . (Khyros)

X-wing:

Rookie: Jack of all trades. Not as good as an A wing as a flanker, not as maneuverable as a B wing in a dog fight, not as durable as a Y wing. But pretty decent at all of the above.
Red: See above.

Biggs: Either the best or worst use of 2 points over the Red (+1ps + ability). If you have high priority targets, he's great, otherwise he's just another X wing that the opponent will want to take out anyways.

Garven: Often underused X wing, weak to action denial, and not as useful as other action share methods.

Luke: Great closer, especially with R2D2. Opponents will often ignore Luke to begin with due to his ability making him ~50% more durable than other X wings.

Wedge: Target #1 on most lists. Almost requires Biggs for that reason. Does well with ST or PTL+R2. (Khyros)

Y-wing:

Gold: Arguably the best ion cannon turret platform. While not as maneuverable as the X wing, the turret makes up for that. Great way to mess with the opponents strategy, but at the cost of attack power.

Dutch: Great way to get more damage out of your Y wings (well, sorta). Not as easy to block as Garven due to the turret. However, normally you want your ion cannon turret shooting last, and PS6 is rather high.

Salm: A good torpedo platform, really needs a focus to go with his attacks though.

(Khyros)

Greys are good when you want to use them for torpedoes. PS 4 shoots before 2 and with ordinance you need to get those shots off. (AtomicFryingPan)

Hwk 290:

Rebel Op: Cheapest ion platform. Dial is basically only missing a K turn when compared to the Y wing (not actually true, but close enough). It is not quite as survivable, but can take a crew, which allows for different customization than the Y wing.

Roark: Cheaper than a Gray and provides a PS12 boost. This is the reason no one should ever take a Gray. His ability makes him much more useful as a ICT platform. Fly him like a conservative Y wing.

(Khyros)

Kyle: Kyle is very useful as well, coming in at 31 points (same as most Jan set ups) to set him up still gives you enough to run 3 Red squadron Xs, that alone is a massive amount of dice going down with extra focus going around.

Jan: I would say its because of Jan that I fell in love with HWKs in the first place. There really is nothing like seeing your opponents face drop when they have to face 4-5 dice on a constant basis when she is paired up with any amount of X or Bs.

(Hujoe Bigs)

YT-1300:

ORS: Great blocker. Best use of APL. The 2 attack dice really hurts it when compared against the others, but when compared to a Y wing, it's not that big of a deal anymore.

Chewy: Crit immune 360 tank. Make sure you take out the interceptors before he goes down

Lando: More useful than people give him credit for, but for 2 more points, you can have Han, which puts him at a bad place

Han: Ultimate mark of consistency, especially with a gunner. (Khyros)

Imperials

TIE Fighter:

Academy Pilot - ONLY 12 points!!! Sure they are lack luster on attack, But they can be pretty hard to hit if you evade, but when you hit them they die pretty fast. Their greatest ability is in the swarm (see Howelrunner) most other shortcomings can be overcome with numbers. Finally they have only a PS of 1. Though this is usually a disadvantage, this can be made up for with swarm tactics, but they also make the best blockers in the game, simply because of the numbers you can field them in.

Obsidian Squadron - for 1 point you get a +2 PS. This is a great deal, Having a swarm of TIEs that go before your opponents slowest ships is awesome.

Black Squadron - not as good as a deal from 1 point only gets you 1 more PS. You do get the Elite Pilot upgrade, but I don't use it much on these guys.

Night Beast - at 15 points he is the cheapest named pilot in the game. His ability is basically a poor man's PtL and you never acquire. Every time I do a green I get a focus. DEAL. You don't get stress, so you can always do that K-turn when you want to. Possibly the most underrated pilot in the game.

Winged Gundark - That Extra Crit is not bad. The fact that it only happens at range 1 isn't as bad as you might think, since TIEs don't do much hitting anyway except at range 1.

Backstabber - at 16 points he is still pretty cheap. His extra dice gives TIEs just what they need. Lot's of people like to use him as a flanker, so he can get those flank shots, but good flankers need the boost action at least and EU are a little too expensive to put on him. I like him in my swarm. After the initial approach things always turn into a mess anyway. He is going to get those flank shots.

Dark Curse - also at 16 points he is often overlooked in favor of backstabber. And where Backstabber is a more offensive ship, Dark Curse is very defensive. His three agility can make him very hard to hit if you can't use focus or TL. The problem is a ship that you can't kill that is only worth 16 points and isn't that much of a threat can be easily ignored.

Mauler Mithel - 17 points, high pilot skill, elite talent, and a great ability. He is often called the poor man's TIE Interceptor. He is a great hitter for your TIE Swarm

Howelrunner - 18 points, possibly one of the most useful pilots in the game. She buffs all the ships around him, making him great as the center of a TIE Swarm. Since her ability is about helping others her defensive abilities are really useful.

In short all TIEs are pretty cheap, and though their Fire Power can be a little clack luster especially at long ranges, they work together well and make great swarms.

TIE Advanced:

TIE Interceptor

Alpha Squadron: Wastes its high manoeuvrability (Interceptor's greatest strength) a bit since it goes first and can't see what opponents are doing. Damage is good if you can survive the shot, but you're fragile and shoot last
Avenger Squadron: Pays a couple points to overcome above weaknesses only against other low PS opponents
Saber Squadron: Pays 1 point of 1 more PS and gains an EPS, which you can use to place on PTL, which is very powerful on interceptors, as it maximizes their mobility, and the stress is more easily removed than on other ships. Still hurt by low PS, but not as much as the above ships
Fel's Wrath: Loses EPS, effect is seen as poor by most of the community
Turr Phennir: High PS pairs well with both his effect and his ship. Can be very unpredictable. Fragile as all interceptors, but very impressive mobility can help overcome this, and he also gains the very valuable EPS. Requires more thought to use than most pilots. (AgentV)



Soontir Fel: Ability seems weak when first seen, but since he can take PtL as an EPS, the synergy between his ability and the upgrade is extremely potent, especially since his can remove stress easily in an Interceptor. Highest base PS in the game proves very useful on a craft that depends on being so mobile. Effect and mobility help minimize the major weakness of how fragile he is. Similar to Turr, using him to maximum effect requires more thought than with other pilots.

TIE Bomber

Lamba Shuttle (aka Space Cow):

Firespray:

Hard hitting hard to kill, lots of upgrade potential. A current favorite at tournaments in my area. I find the best upgrade to give them is a gunner. I hardly ever take a Firespray without one.

Bounty Hunter - Basic Low Pilot skill cheap option. Gives you just about everything you want on a Firespray for a discount price. Of course the PS is low. The other disadvantage is that it does not have an elite pilot upgrade.

Krassis Trelix - At first he was my favorite, He makes the HLC even better, (an maybe worth its points). Unfortunately a gunner is cheaper and usually buffs your offense more than a HLC. With a 3 attack dice, I don't usually see the need to put any missiles or torpedoes on a firespray, so Krassis ends up being less useful. Combining him with Jonus can be useful.

Kath Scarlet - For many people she is the most popular Firespray pilot. Its not so much her ability or even her PS, but the fact that you can give her an Elite Pilot upgrade. A couple of favorites are Ventran Instincts, or Expert Handling. Those large bases, make the barrel roll sooooo good, and their is something about that rear firing arc so I have many times been able to not only get out of an opponent's firing arc, but also put them in my rear arc.

Boba Fett - when the Firespray first came out I was so disappointing in his ability. I turns out I usually know if I want to turn right or left, even with the navigator he just didn't seem that great. But I love him as a pilot, simply for his Pilot Skill and Elite Upgrade. As I mentioned above, barrel rolling firesprays are the bomb. And if you have a barrel roll, then going last is a really big deal. Boba Fett is the only high point pilot that I take despite not liking his pilot ability.
(Hrathen)

A wing:
Prototype excels as a blocker being the only small base PS1 rebel (and also very maneuverable).

Green excels w/ PTL as the only generic w/ an EPT for the rebels. It also makes it a great flanker, missile platform, and closer

Arvel doesn't excel.

Tycho is a much more expensive green, with the added benefit of PS8. He is a better flanker, missile platform, and closer, but you pay a huge price for that.

B wing:

Blue: A more maneuverable but slower Rookie. And more customizable, though hopefully that'll change with the new droids. Excels as a main force dogfighter

Dagger: See above. Even better with AdvS than the blue since more people have moved before it has.

Ibby: First chance to build the hypermobile B wing, the ultimate dog fighter. Is also the most defensive B wing, and thus a good use of sensor jammer

Ten: Lethal against high agility ships, and otherwise the same as the blue/dagger

X wing:

Rookie: Jack of all trades. Not as good as an A wing as a flanker, not as maneuverable as a B wing in a dog fight, not as durable as a Y wing. But pretty decent at all of the above.

Red: See above.

Biggs: Either the best or worst use of 2 points over the Red (+1ps + ability). If you have high priority targets, he's great, otherwise he's just another X wing that the opponent will want to take out anyways.

Garven: Often underused X wing, weak to action denial, and not as useful as other action share methods.

Luke: Great closer, especially with R2D2. Opponents will often ignore Luke to begin with due to his ability making him ~50% more durable than other X wings.

Wedge: Target #1 on most lists. Almost requires Biggs for that reason. Does well with ST or PTL+R2.

Y Wing:

Gold: Arguably the best ion cannon turret platform. While not as maneuverable as the X wing, the turret makes up for that. Great way to mess with the opponents strategy, but at the cost of attack power.

Gray: No reason to ever take it. See HWK.

Dutch: Great way to get more damage out of your Y wings (well, sorta). Not as easy to block as Garven due to the turret. However, normally you want your ion cannon turret shooting last, and PS6 is rather high.

Salm: A good missile platform, really needs a focus to go with his attacks though. And PT are kinda meh.

HWK:

Rebel Op: Cheapest ion platform. Dial is basically only missing a K turn when compared to the Y wing (not actually true, but close enough). It is not quite as survivable, but can take a crew, which allows for different customization than the Y wing.

Roark: Cheaper than a Gray and provides a PS12 boost. This is the reason no one should ever take a Gray. His ability makes him much more useful as a ICT platform. Fly him like a conservative Y wing.

Kyle: Useless. Regardless of what people say. He's a gimmick that costs wayy too many points.

Jan: Useless. Regardless of what people say. She's a gimmick that costs wayy too many points.

YT:

ORS: Great blocker. Best use of APL. The 2 attack dice really hurts it when compared against the others, but when compared to a Y wing, it's not that big of a deal anymore.

Chewy: Crit immune 360 tank. Make sure you take out the interceptors before he goes down

Lando: More useful than people give him credit for, but for 2 more points, you can have Han, which puts him at a bad place

Han: Ultimate mark of consistency, especially with a gunner.

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1102225/bunch-of-random-writeups

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1102225/bunch-of-random-writeups

Do you mind if I pull some of that over here, and paste it in?

I love the A-wing, but it obviously has its limitations, so I thought before I could really sink my teeth into becoming the herald of the A-wings, I need to have a better handle on how different ships' roles come into play.

My thought is to turn this thread into a handy little resource to help people see various interactions between ships, including things like best uprades, combinations, etc.

(Also note - I only really play Rebel, so you facist Imperials will have to speak up for yourselves!)

Rebels

A-wing:

Arvel doesn't excel.

Whaaaaa!?

Arvel is perhaps the BEST blocker in the game. At 23 points he is a PS6 w/ boost AND can target ships touching him! He moves at the perfect time to be a thorn to high level PSs and boost makes it easy to correct his direction. Late in the game he becomes an even bigger pain in the butt because of his ability.

I love the A-wing, but it obviously has its limitations, so I thought before I could really sink my teeth into becoming the herald of the A-wings, I need to have a better handle on how different ships' roles come into play.

My thought is to turn this thread into a handy little resource to help people see various interactions between ships, including things like best uprades, combinations, etc.

(Also note - I only really play Rebel, so you facist Imperials will have to speak up for yourselves!)

Rebels

A-wing:

Arvel doesn't excel.

Whaaaaa!?

Arvel is perhaps the BEST blocker in the game. At 23 points he is a PS6 w/ boost AND can target ships touching him! He moves at the perfect time to be a thorn to high level PSs and boost makes it easy to correct his direction. Late in the game he becomes an even bigger pain in the butt because of his ability.

I wasn't posting my particular opinion, just what someone else suggested.

I love the A-wing, but it obviously has its limitations, so I thought before I could really sink my teeth into becoming the herald of the A-wings, I need to have a better handle on how different ships' roles come into play.

My thought is to turn this thread into a handy little resource to help people see various interactions between ships, including things like best uprades, combinations, etc.

(Also note - I only really play Rebel, so you facist Imperials will have to speak up for yourselves!)

Rebels

A-wing:

Arvel doesn't excel.

Whaaaaa!?

Arvel is perhaps the BEST blocker in the game. At 23 points he is a PS6 w/ boost AND can target ships touching him! He moves at the perfect time to be a thorn to high level PSs and boost makes it easy to correct his direction. Late in the game he becomes an even bigger pain in the butt because of his ability.

I wasn't posting my particular opinion, just what someone else suggested.

If you don't agree with it, then why repost it?

FFG has done a great job of insuring that every ship and pilot has a use and function. It's a balanced game and well play tested. I often wish people would ask "what am I missing?" rather than declaring a ship or pilot worthless. I have learned so much from keeping an open mind and reading the opinions of others. There are some great ideas floating around.

I love the A-wing, but it obviously has its limitations, so I thought before I could really sink my teeth into becoming the herald of the A-wings, I need to have a better handle on how different ships' roles come into play.

My thought is to turn this thread into a handy little resource to help people see various interactions between ships, including things like best uprades, combinations, etc.

(Also note - I only really play Rebel, so you facist Imperials will have to speak up for yourselves!)

Rebels

A-wing:

Arvel doesn't excel.

Whaaaaa!?

Arvel is perhaps the BEST blocker in the game. At 23 points he is a PS6 w/ boost AND can target ships touching him! He moves at the perfect time to be a thorn to high level PSs and boost makes it easy to correct his direction. Late in the game he becomes an even bigger pain in the butt because of his ability.

I wasn't posting my particular opinion, just what someone else suggested.

If you don't agree with it, then why repost it?

FFG has done a great job of insuring that every ship and pilot has a use and function. It's a balanced game and well play tested. I often wish people would ask "what am I missing?" rather than declaring a ship or pilot worthless. I have learned so much from keeping an open mind and reading the opinions of others. There are some great ideas floating around.

My thought for the thread is to gather some diverse opinions on places where people see pilots excelling. At the moment, I've only reposted two people - so we have plenty of time to work out the good and the bad.

Greys are good when you want to use them for torpedoes. PS 4 shoots before 2 and with ordinance you need to get those shots off.

I've yet to play a game where I thought that I got my points worth out of Arvel. If I want a mid-PS A wing I'll use a GSP w/ VI for 20 points and PS5 instead of 23 points for PS6 with Arvel. Which means his ability costs 2 points. And more often than not, it'll be others blocking him, so he'll get action denied. If the A wing ever comes out with a Mark 2 title card, granting them a systems upgrade, then he will start making some sense, being that you could put AdvS on him and either boost then maneuver, or focus and maneuver.

As for Grays, I suppose that's true, I have a hard time putting ordnance on a Y wing though. If I put it instead of the cannon, I feel like it's a one trick pony, and I would have been better off with the A wing + missile than Y + torp. If I put it with a ICT, I'm now looking at a 29 point ship, and that's rather expensive for a generic. But I suppose that could be a use for them.

I will just go through the TIEs

Academy Pilot - ONLY 12 points!!! Sure they are lack luster on attack, But they can be pretty hard to hit if you evade, but when you hit them they die pretty fast. Their greatest ability is in the swarm (see Howelrunner) most other shortcomings can be overcome with numbers. Finally they have only a PS of 1. Though this is usually a disadvantage, this can be made up for with swarm tactics, but they also make the best blockers in the game, simply because of the numbers you can field them in.

Obsidian Squadron - for 1 point you get a +2 PS. This is a great deal, Having a swarm of TIEs that go before your opponents slowest ships is awesome.

Black Squadron - not as good as a deal from 1 point only gets you 1 more PS. You do get the Elite Pilot upgrade, but I don't use it much on these guys.

Night Beast - at 15 points he is the cheapest named pilot in the game. His ability is basically a poor man's PtL and you never acquire. Every time I do a green I get a focus. DEAL. You don't get stress, so you can always do that K-turn when you want to. Possibly the most underrated pilot in the game.

Winged Gundark - That Extra Crit is not bad. The fact that it only happens at range 1 isn't as bad as you might think, since TIEs don't do much hitting anyway except at range 1.

Backstabber - at 16 points he is still pretty cheap. His extra dice gives TIEs just what they need. Lot's of people like to use him as a flanker, so he can get those flank shots, but good flankers need the boost action at least and EU are a little too expensive to put on him. I like him in my swarm. After the initial approach things always turn into a mess anyway. He is going to get those flank shots.

Dark Curse - also at 16 points he is often overlooked in favor of backstabber. And where Backstabber is a more offensive ship, Dark Curse is very defensive. His three agility can make him very hard to hit if you can't use focus or TL. The problem is a ship that you can't kill that is only worth 16 points and isn't that much of a threat can be easily ignored.

Mauler Mithel - 17 points, high pilot skill, elite talent, and a great ability. He is often called the poor man's TIE Interceptor. He is a great hitter for your TIE Swarm

Howelrunner - 18 points, possibly one of the most useful pilots in the game. She buffs all the ships around her, making her great as the center of a TIE Swarm. Since her ability is about helping others her defensive abilities are really useful.

In short all TIEs are pretty cheap, and though their Fire Power can be a little clack luster especially at long ranges, they work together well and make great swarms.

Obsidian Squadron - not as good as a deal from 1 point only gets you 1 more PS. You do get the Elite Pilot upgrade, but I don't use it much on these guys.

I think you meant Black here. The Black Ties are fantastic for who they should be playing with: Vader. They move before Vader, and then take their one action. Vader can then give them a second action (basically the Black takes a token on its turn, then barrel rolls on Vader's turn or take another token). The EPT can be deadly in this set up. I plan on putting Opportunist on a Black (when Hell freezes over and we finally get the Aces) in the near future. With Vader hitting the target first, Black has a very good chance of a follow up shot with no tokens on the defending ship. PS 4 is a nice place to be as well, as the trend seems to still be Rebel players fielding PS 2s in an attempt to squeeze in one more ship.

Firespray- hard hitting hard to kill, lots of upgrade potential. A current favorite at tournaments in my area. I find the best upgrade to give them is a gunner. I hardly ever take a Firespray without one.

Bounty Hunter - Basic Low Pilot skill cheap option. Gives you just about everything you want on a Firespray for a discount price. Of course the PS is low. The other disadvantage is that it does not have an elite pilot upgrade.

Krassis Trelix - At first he was my favorite, He makes the HLC even better, (an maybe worth its points). Unfortunately a gunner is cheaper and usually buffs your offense more than a HLC. With a 3 attack dice, I don't usually see the need to put any missiles or torpedoes on a firespray, so Krassis ends up being less useful. Combining him with Jonus can be useful.

Kath Scarlet - For many people she is the most popular Firespray pilot. Its not so much her ability or even her PS, but the fact that you can give her an Elite Pilot upgrade. A couple of favorites are Ventran Instincts, or Expert Handling. Those large bases, make the barrel roll sooooo good, and their is something about that rear firing arc so I have many times been able to not only get out of an opponent's firing arc, but also put them in my rear arc.

Boba Fett - when the Firespray first came out I was so disappointing in his ability. I turns out I usually know if I want to turn right or left, even with the navigator he just didn't seem that great. But I love him as a pilot, simply for his Pilot Skill and Elite Upgrade. As I mentioned above, barrel rolling firesprays are the bomb. And if you have a barrel roll, then going last is a really big deal. Boba Fett is the only high point pilot that I take despite not liking his pilot ability.

Obsidian Squadron - not as good as a deal from 1 point only gets you 1 more PS. You do get the Elite Pilot upgrade, but I don't use it much on these guys.

I think you meant Black here. The Black Ties are fantastic for who they should be playing with: Vader. They move before Vader, and then take their one action. Vader can then give them a second action (basically the Black takes a token on its turn, then barrel rolls on Vader's turn or take another token). The EPT can be deadly in this set up. I plan on putting Opportunist on a Black (when Hell freezes over and we finally get the Aces) in the near future. With Vader hitting the target first, Black has a very good chance of a follow up shot with no tokens on the defending ship. PS 4 is a nice place to be as well, as the trend seems to still be Rebel players fielding PS 2s in an attempt to squeeze in one more ship.

You are right about my typo. I have fixed it.

Most of what you say about Black TIEs works for just about any TIE. They all move before Vader and Shoot after him. And there are other TIEs (TIEs with really great special abilites) who can get elite upgrades.

I can see why some people might like putting elite upgrades on Nameless TIEs, but for me the 3 points on a 14 points ship is over 20% of its cost. I don't really like spamming any upgrades, especially on cheap TIEs.

I would argue about Jan. I have her in a 3 ship list. She has ion and nien numb.partners to Biggs and wedge. Biggs has R2-D2 and a shield upgrade. Wedge has marksmanship and a shield upgrade. Works ok. Only play it in friendlies so far but it holds its own. Wedge + Jan + marksmanship = lots of pain

Salm: A good missile platform, really needs a focus to go with his attacks though. And PT are kinda meh.

(Khyros)

I just want to point out (clearly) that Salm Cannot take missiles. He can only take torpedoes. Hence his ability goes perfectly with them (PT) - as you get a free Focus to a crit, and you get to re-roll the blanks you get.

Great list to read through, but your explanation of Howlrunner really threw me off. Just edit it up so you aren't constantly switching between using him and her to describe the pilot. It's not a big deal but why not make it perfect.

I would argue about Jan. I have her in a 3 ship list. She has ion and nien numb.partners to Biggs and wedge. Biggs has R2-D2 and a shield upgrade. Wedge has marksmanship and a shield upgrade. Works ok. Only play it in friendlies so far but it holds its own. Wedge + Jan + marksmanship = lots of pain

I would switch marksmanship out for PtL on Wedge and give him r2d2 instead of Biggs. Biggs will die first anyway and r2d2 feels like a waste especially if Biggs gets focused in the beginning. Marksmanship is great and all but getting a TL+Focus is a better setup with Wedge rolling at least 4 dice for attacks.

Ten is more than a Dagger as he also has the Elite Pilot skill and the second highest PS in the game. If you want to make a ship that can dance this is your Hypermobile B-Wing going off at PS 8 instead of PS 6. Usually not a lot of unknowns left when he goes.

HWK:

Rebel Op: Cheapest ion platform. Dial is basically only missing a K turn when compared to the Y wing (not actually true, but close enough). It is not quite as survivable, but can take a crew, which allows for different customization than the Y wing.

Roark: Cheaper than a Gray and provides a PS12 boost. This is the reason no one should ever take a Gray. His ability makes him much more useful as a ICT platform. Fly him like a conservative Y wing.

Kyle: Useless. Regardless of what people say. He's a gimmick that costs wayy too many points.

Jan: Useless. Regardless of what people say. She's a gimmick that costs wayy too many points.

• Blue Squadron Pilot (22) + Heavy Laser Cannon (7)
• Blue Squadron Pilot (22) + Heavy Laser Cannon (7)
• Rookie Pilot (21)
• Rookie Pilot (21)

Now think about this alternative:

• Jan Ors (25) + Ion Cannon Turret (5) + Nien Nunb (1)
• Blue Squadron Pilot (22) + Fire Control System (2)
• Blue Squadron Pilot (22) + Fire Control System (2)
• Rookie Pilot (21)

Jan isn't for every list, and you do have to build around her a bit, but she's definitely not an overpriced gimmick. For an extra 7 points, relative to a Gold Squadron Pilot + Ion Cannon Turret, you get something that's better than an HLC. I really can't believe more people don't like her.

I as well have flown well with Jan. She's harder to use than most ships, but can be very powerful.

Arvel I don't think is much of a blocker due to his high PS (yes, I realise the paradoxical effect there)

As for Interceptors:

Alpha Squadron: Wastes its high manoeuvrability (Interceptor's greatest strength) a bit since it goes first and can't see what opponents are doing. Damage is good if you can survive the shot, but you're fragile and shoot last

Avenger Squadron: Pays a couple points to overcome above weaknesses only against other low PS opponents

Saber Squadron: Pays 1 point of 1 more PS and gains an EPS, which you can use to place on PTL, which is very powerful on interceptors, as it maximizes their mobility, and the stress is more easily removed than on other ships. Still hurt by low PS, but not as much as the above ships

Fel's Wrath: Loses EPS, effect is seen as poor by most of the community

Turr Phennir: High PS pairs well with both his effect and his ship. Can be very unpredictable. Fragile as all interceptors, but very impressive mobility can help overcome this, and he also gains the very valuable EPS. Requires more thought to use than most pilots.

Soontir Fel: Ability seems weak when first seen, but since he can take PtL as an EPS, the synergy between his ability and the upgrade is extremely potent, especially since his can remove stress easily in an Interceptor. Highest base PS in the game proves very useful on a craft that depends on being so mobile. Effect and mobility help minimize the major weakness of how fragile he is. Similar to Turr, using him to maximum effect requires more thought than with other pilots.

I don't feel comfortable talking about Aces pilots until I've seen them in action.

Hwk 290:

Rebel Op: Cheapest ion platform. Dial is basically only missing a K turn when compared to the Y wing (not actually true, but close enough). It is not quite as survivable, but can take a crew, which allows for different customization than the Y wing.

Roark: Cheaper than a Gray and provides a PS12 boost. This is the reason no one should ever take a Gray. His ability makes him much more useful as a ICT platform. Fly him like a conservative Y wing.

Kyle: Useless. Regardless of what people say. He's a gimmick that costs wayy too many points.

Jan: Useless. Regardless of what people say. She's a gimmick that costs wayy too many points. (Khyros)

I HIGHLY disagree with Jan and Kyle being useless. Heck I would say its because of Jan that I fell in love with HWKs in the first place. There really is nothing like seeing your opponents face drop when they have to face 4-5 dice on a constant basis when she is paired up with any amount of X or Bs. Kyle is very useful as well, coming in at 31 points (same as most Jan set ups) to set him up still gives you enough to run 3 Red squadron Xs, that alone is a massive amount of dice going down with extra focus going around. When people say the HWK is useless, I smile because I have a hard time not including one into my lists.

Kyle: Useless. Regardless of what people say. He's a gimmick that costs wayy too many points.

Jan: Useless. Regardless of what people say. She's a gimmick that costs wayy too many points. (Khyros)

I HIGHLY disagree with Jan and Kyle being useless. Heck I would say its because of Jan that I fell in love with HWKs in the first place. There really is nothing like seeing your opponents face drop when they have to face 4-5 dice on a constant basis when she is paired up with any amount of X or Bs. Kyle is very useful as well, coming in at 31 points (same as most Jan set ups) to set him up still gives you enough to run 3 Red squadron Xs, that alone is a massive amount of dice going down with extra focus going around. When people say the HWK is useless, I smile because I have a hard time not including one into my lists.

Agreed. Talk of a ship being useless doesn't help anybody and is just inserting an opinion where a fact should be. Even if it is hard to squeeze a ship into a 100 point list, consider that not everyone plays tourney style. I've been playing for near 2 years and have only started using 100 point lists in the past few months.

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1102225/bunch-of-random-writeups

Do you mind if I pull some of that over here, and paste it in?

sure go ahead

I disagree with Turr Phennir needing VI to be successful. PS7 outruns most targets these days and good piloting will keep him out of higher PS predators. Even if you're under their sights, PTL will offer you additional maneuverability, Evade and Focus actions to keep him alive.

In fact, I'm pretty convinced by now that there's no better upgrade for any level Interceptor who has Elite Pilot Skills than Push the Limit. It's almost as if that card was built specifically for squints.