OK I am newbie and I love this game. having evacuated dreary and (Imho) dying warhammer 40k, mainly because of the expenditure in terms of money and time that is required by that game, I found X-wing and I am very very happy about it.

Now unto my question:

I am trying to get to grips with the game and I have made an initial batch of purchases. I still have no clue what the meta is like, so I thought I'd ask you guys what the main arcetypes are. I know there is something called a Tie Swarm and my mate mentioned that "Han Shoots first" was a very good list, but what other "lists" exist.?

If I am very stupid for posting this, please forgive and forget, it is my first post.

I found the best thing to do was just sit and brainstorm squad ideas that way you get to know all the pilots and upgrades better without missing some interesting ones just because you just went for the ultra competitive upgrades.

a good place to start is rebel lists is a XXBB build but find outwhat you prefer

Same here mate. I alsof started case I am fed up with Warhammer and this game is so much better and more fun to play. Also not having to paint is a plus in my book.

I learned about this game talking to friends, reading forums and watching batreps.

Hi,

Pretty new myself here but from what I have gleaned of these forums the last 2 weeks:

Rebels currently 'lean' towards B-Wings (with either advanced sensors or fire control systems) with added support (usually x-wings)

For Imperials the so-called 'swarm' seems to work 'best. 6 or 7 Tie Fighters with Howl Runner.

Play a few simple "starter" type games first. You will struggle to list build if you can't see the benifit of a cards/pilots ability in context.

Once you've played a few games you can look at abilities and actions and say "if I had this pilot I could have done blah in that situation.

With regards to lists I've got a 300 point game on the weekend and I'm fielding:

Tie Elite - 5 tie fighters with all named pilots 100 points

2x Firesprays (Slave1) 100 points

3 Tie interceptors (imperial Aces) 100 points

So as you can see I've got 3 totally different 100 point builds which I can play individually or combine when needed. There's no hard and fast rule to what you need but you'll have a better idea with a few games under your belt.

There's a thread on here with a list of the store championship winners. Go through that list and it pretty close to the meta.

Have a look at the 'turn zero' description that is on the news page.

Broadly speaking, lists can be sliced up by the number of ships in the squad and the type of fighters forming those lists.

Imperials:

Swarm:

The Imps have access to the cheapest (currently) fighter in the form of the Academy Pilot Tie Fighter. You can fit eight of these nippy little buggers in a standard 100 point squad, or else take fewer and pack in named pilots, more skilled squadron pilots and other upgrades. Howlrunner is a very common choice because she improves the pilots around her.

Expect 6-8 TIE fighters, with a fair chunk of them flying in a formation around Howlrunner, or 5-6 with named pilots like backstabber and mithel for the solos.

The key vulnerabilities of the TIE are (1) it doesn't actually have much firepower without bonuses of some kind and (2) whilst more agile than the X-wing it can't touch things like the A-wing, E-wing or Interceptor. Ultimately, you need to break up the formation with bombs, splash damage missiles, asteroids, or simply coming at them from all angles and pick them apart one by one. Let them concentrate numbers and they'll roll right over you.

Interceptor Flight:

More akin in numbers to the rebel fighter lists, 3-5 interceptors depending on the quality of pilot. Fragile as hell, but faster and harder to hit than their rebel counterparts. Unlike TIE fighters they have no shortage of firepower.

Flying mutually defensive formations (note that this means multiple groups covering each other's arses, not putting everyone in one 'blob' that can be outflanked) or defensive huddles of ships with turrets are the order of the day.

Big Ships:

Firesprays are essentially a big X-wing with tail guns. They're really hard to kill and should be treated with respect. A pair of firesprays with something, or three generic bounty hunters all work.

Lambdas are a different kettle of fish. Easy to hurt but able to take a pounding, it's hard to describe what they'll do because so much of their capability is tied up in variable crew, weapons and system upgrades. Properly gunned up they are scary as.

Rebels.

Fighters

Arguably less variation, you tend to see 3-4 rebel fighters. B-wings are very popular but all four types are perfectly useable. Note that the top tier rebel pilots tend to be better than their imperial equivalents - but they are massively more expensive due to the fighters they fly being better too; whilst Imperials can get mid-to-good pilot skill easily thanks to lots of named 2nd tier TIE pilots, Royal Guard, and Black Squadron having their elite pilot talent.

Han Shot First

Any number of variations on a theme, but essentially the millenium falcon with two outriders; either rookie x-wings to provide a seperate threat or HWK-260 shuttles to buff up the falcon. If the latter, kill the HWKs first as they're made of tinfoil.

I think the question you have to ask is 'Do I want to be a decent human being, or do I want to be an Imperial cog in an unfeeling warmachine where people don't even care?!' Anyways, on to my completely unbiased opinions.

The Heroes:

Wedge - Living, breathing arsenal. His ability strips down an enemy's defenses

Biggs - Flying like mad to save his friends - he can force your enemy to target him instead of juicier choices (and let's be honest, the Empire loves taking shots at weaker opponents)

Luke - The force is strong with this one (his connection defends him from the purest evil of the dark side)

These three alone have made for some pretty popular lists.

Supporting Cast:

Ywings - Slower, lumering beasts that can take torpedoes (which aren't well loved in the meta) and turrets (360 degree firing arc FTW!). Dutch hands out target lock, Horton rerolls attacks at long range!

Hwk - Cheaper Ywing with some good pilot options, and a turret placement. Roark boosts PS (which can let you get a ship in position a shot before the enemy snuffs out your flame in this ever raging turmoil of their Imperial darkness!), Kyle Katarn hands out Focus like it's candy (this is really great but usually needs some upgrades to make it work well so it's more expensive than it appears) and Jan takes the stress to let his buddies shoot more!

Other Weapons in your Toolbox

A-wing - A swift shift often used as a 'blocker' to deny your opponent actions. Can be upgraded nicely to do some serious flying. Is the cheapest Rebel gunboat at the moment. Arvel can block and still shoot his base-to-base enemy (which no one else can do) and Tycho can fly around still doing actions wit all the stress in the world (he's just so Zen it doesn't even matter)

B-Wings - If X-wings are the bread and butter, B-wings are the meatloaf. A little slower, but they pack a punch and can turn a 180 like no one else. Ibitsam has a reroll function if he has stress (makes him good for Push the Limit) and Ten Numb can force your opponent to eat crits (which is fantastic against evil Rebel squadrons that have defected because they're stupid poop heads).

Admittedly, I don't really own of fly any ships beyond that at this point, so I will leave the rest up to everyone else.

I think the question you have to ask is 'Do I want to be a decent human being, or do I want to be an Imperial cog in an unfeeling warmachine where people don't even care?

No. What you have to ask is: Are you a good pilot or are you a mediocre one who needs to hide behind shields?

I think the question you have to ask is 'Do I want to be a decent human being, or do I want to be an Imperial cog in an unfeeling warmachine where people don't even care?

No. What you have to ask is: Are you a good pilot or are you a mediocre one who needs to hide behind shields?

That is fantastic, I'm totally saving that :L

I think the question you have to ask is 'Do I want to be a decent human being, or do I want to be an Imperial cog in an unfeeling warmachine where people don't even care?

No. What you have to ask is: Are you a good pilot or are you a mediocre one who needs to hide behind shields?

Listen, just because your boss couldn't spring for the shields on the company TIE Fighter doesn't mean you're a better pilot. Hell, I bet he even makes you put cover pages on your TPS reports!

That's right, join the Rebels, where you don't have to put cover pages on your TPS reports, and everyone gets their own stapler!

One of the biggest things that helped me get started was finding a good squad builder. I'm currently using this one: http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/

It's really helpful because not only does it save you the hassle of ruffling through all your cards when trying to make a list, but it also has the stats and card text for everything released (and a fair bit unreleased) for this game. Reading over stuff on here will make sure you're never surprised by the text on an opponents card, and also lets you work out combos with stuff you don't have so you know what you need to buy.

I think the question you have to ask is 'Do I want to be a decent human being, or do I want to be an Imperial cog in an unfeeling warmachine where people don't even care?

No. What you have to ask is: Are you a good pilot or are you a mediocre one who needs to hide behind shields?

Listen, just because your boss couldn't spring for the shields on the company TIE Fighter doesn't mean you're a better pilot. Hell, I bet he even makes you put cover pages on your TPS reports!

That's right, join the Rebels, where you don't have to put cover pages on your TPS reports, and everyone gets their own stapler!

*Stapler envy*

Of course they won't spring for shields. Hell, they wouldn't even shell out for atmosphere inside the cockpit.

But a proper imperial pilot just has to suck it up and cope.

Or get a transfer to the toy soldiers in the royal guard.

Of course they won't spring for shields. Hell, they wouldn't even shell out for atmosphere inside the cockpit.

But a proper imperial pilot just has to suck it up and cope.

Or get a transfer to the toy soldiers in the royal guard.

Just don't suck it up too much, or you'll run out of air!

I think the question you have to ask is 'Do I want to be a decent human being, or do I want to be an Imperial cog in an unfeeling warmachine where people don't even care?

No. What you have to ask is: Are you a good pilot or are you a mediocre one who needs to hide behind shields?

Listen, just because your boss couldn't spring for the shields on the company TIE Fighter doesn't mean you're a better pilot. Hell, I bet he even makes you put cover pages on your TPS reports!

That's right, join the Rebels, where you don't have to put cover pages on your TPS reports, and everyone gets their own stapler!

HA! Staplers?!

Join the Empire, and you get your very own set of SHINY armor!

This awesome armor not only looks awesome , but also;

- Deflects laser blasts

- Improves accuracy while shooting

- Protects from bombardments such as rocks, ropes, and sticks

- Looks awesome!

Hoosteen, if I could hit the like button 10 times I would.

I'm a bit ashamed of asking (so I just jumped at the opportunity provided by this post) how does the Swarm exactly work?

I think the question you have to ask is 'Do I want to be a decent human being, or do I want to be an Imperial cog in an unfeeling warmachine where people don't even care?

No. What you have to ask is: Are you a good pilot or are you a mediocre one who needs to hide behind shields?

I NEED this on a t-shirt for tournaments.

I think the question you have to ask is 'Do I want to be a decent human being, or do I want to be an Imperial cog in an unfeeling warmachine where people don't even care?

No. What you have to ask is: Are you a good pilot or are you a mediocre one who needs to hide behind shields?

I've been thinking about making this a decal and putting it on the top fin of a shuttle.. lol.. I think it would be awesome as propaganda.. hahaha