Hello, I'm new at this game and I wonder what makes B-Wing so good?

It's has only 1 agility die and 3 attack. So it is just better to have more shield than more dice?

Hello, I'm new to this game and I wonder what makes B-Wing so good?

It's has only 1 agility dice and 3 attack. So it is just better to have more shield than more dice?

You can roll 5 defense dice and roll all blanks. You must (in most cases) burn down the shields/hull.

Look at it this way: compared to an X-wing the B-wing has +3 HP but -1 agility. Assuming you have focus available half the time a green die has a 50% chance of stopping a hit. That means that you have to roll the X-wing's extra green die six times* before it will break even. And how often do your X-wings get shot at 7+ times before they die? Then on top of the raw numbers the B-wing has a much greater percentage of its HP in crit-immune shields, and doesn't suffer as badly from bad dice. To really benefit from high agility you need to have at least 3 green dice to start with, and then stack stealth devices/evade actions/defensive focus/etc so that you're rolling multiple evades every turn and quickly making up for and then exceeding the raw HP of a B-wing.

Of course the main reason B-wings are great isn't their toughness, it's advanced sensors combined with an excellent slow-speed dial once you negate most of the drawback of red maneuvers. It's a ship with good firepower and enough defense to get the job done, and amazing maneuverability. Of course it also costs 25 points each...

*Technically a bit more, since sometimes a single die (or bonus dice from range/asteroids) is enough to evade all damage and the X-wing's extra die doesn't matter.

Don't listen to defeatists who say they give up as soon as a B-Wing shows up on the table! B-Wings are great ships, but so is everything else! The misanthropes likely refer to the B-Wing as some Galaxy-busting super-unit (it isn't) becuase it's points-efficient, very modifiable, and there are a lot, probably more than average, of upgrade-combos that suit the ship and work well. Personally, I love the ability to hoist a Heavy Laser Cannon onto these babies, but you do have to pay the points for it.

The B's also tough and has a pretty straight-forward role in the battle so is fairly forgiving to use. However, the game's extraordinarily well balanced; some ships are almost custom-made to chew up and spit out low defence fighters like The B, and you can make an inexhaustible number of fun and competitive lists with nerry a B-Wing in sight.

I've never been able to field BWings well - what's the trick? I've tried with Heavy Laser Cannons and the enemy Ties just get in close where I can't use it. As for the good slow speed manoeuvrability - it's all red! Even if your advanced sensors get you around that one turn, they won't the next, so what do you do?

I've never been able to field BWings well - what's the trick? I've tried with Heavy Laser Cannons and the enemy Ties just get in close where I can't use it.

Which is fine. At range 1 you're attacking with four dice anyway, except now you can get crits. The point of the HLC is to make sure there's nowhere to run from the B-wing's firepower, a B-wing with advanced sensors and HLC can k-turn as you try to disengage and nail you with four dice + focus at range 3. And of course in the initial range 2-3 pass a HLC can be the difference between a dead ship that doesn't shoot back and a wounded ship that's still in the fight.

As for the good slow speed manoeuvrability - it's all red! Even if your advanced sensors get you around that one turn, they won't the next, so what do you do?

The idea is that you use advanced sensors to barrel roll out of a block or take a pre-red focus, and then do the red maneuver in a situation where a green next turn is acceptable. Usually you'll find that after a well-timed k-turn a straight/bank will be sufficient, and then next turn when you need to do something more dramatic your stress is gone.

Obviously it's not 100% perfect, but nothing in this game is entirely without drawbacks. You just have to get used to the sequence of red-green-red-green in a close-range knife fight.

Thanks for the advice iPeregrine, I'll give them another go. My problem with the HLC was that people deliberately get into close range where they could easily stay out of my arc, so the points were wasted. If, with a BWing, using your actions for positioning is so critical, does that mean having high pilot skill ones is mroe important than with other ships?

My problem with the HLC was that people deliberately get into close range where they could easily stay out of my arc, so the points were wasted.

This is where advanced sensors is such a great upgrade. You get reactive movement against lower-PS ships, and you can freely use your k-turns and 1-turns to make sure the focused HLC is pointed where it covers a large area of the table that your opponent is likely to fly into. Don't forget that a barrel roll followed by a 1-turn in the opposite direction leaves your ship in almost the exact same spot it started in, but with a 90* facing change. With the ability to effectively stop in place and make short-distance k-turns it's hard to stay close on a B-wing without overshooting and flying into a HLC shot.

If, with a BWing, using your actions for positioning is so critical, does that mean having high pilot skill ones is mroe important than with other ships?

Yes. Dagger squadron B-wings with advanced sensors are amazing for this reason. The only drawback is that B-wing lists are often short on points for the PS upgrade because a basic blue + advanced sensors is already 25 points, so you're often forced to settle for PS 2 and make your best guess about where your opponent will go.

Thanks for the advice, I really want to try it out now!

A tip on the B-wing, use it as a close ranged fighter. K-turn the hell out of it, dont be afraid to stress if this allows you to smack in that 4 dice damage.

In my experience I would not upgrade a blue. Keep it nice and cheap so you can get the most hitpoints/dice out of it. Give a dagger the complementary advanced sensors or the fire control systems, because of its higher pilot skill you can get more often in line of sight due to moving and barrel rolling later than other ships.

Also B-wings and Biggs are/should be bro's. They compliment each other well.