I'm still a fairly new player, but I've been doing a lot of research on strategy and whatnot. I've started a pretty decent collection of ships by buying one of everything. I'll expand from there once I figure out what I want next.

I've put together a couple lists using what I have.

For the Rebels, I wanted a good balance of firepower and survivability. I'm thinking of running these as a formation with Biggs as a meat shield, but I might break the A-wing off and use it as a flanker.

As far as your Imperial list, missiles are a one time use thing. They work best when you have some assurance you will hit. Once you dump your missiles, you have 2 ships that roll 2 attack dice and 1 ship that rolls 3. Vader can take 2 actions, which definitely helps with the lack of attack dice, but you might want to bolster the offense a bit. I would go something like:

Krassix Trelix + Heavy Laser Cannon + Gunner (48)

Scimitar Squadron Pilot + Assault Missiles (21)

Darth Vader + Swarm Tactics (31)

Vader helps you get your Missiles off before anyone else can attack. Krassix has great synergy with the Heavy Laser Cannon and Gunner. 4 dice at range 3 with no defense bonus is great, especially if you can re-roll a die. If you still miss you can try again with your primary weapon. Once your missiles are off, you are still a little deficient on offense, but not as bad off. I wanted to keep the same ships for you rather than just make a whole new list, haha.

I just don't trust a list so heavy on one time use things without something there to help ensure they will hit.

Issues with List 1:

APTs are very difficult to use, and come with a high point-cost.
Ibtisam in general is too fragile a ship for what she's wearing here, even behind a Biggs shield. I'd rather give her a HLC than an Ion + APT. For that matter, I'd rather fill her Systems Slot and her EPT slot than any other upgrades.

Give her a way to stress herself to maximize her passive ability (PTL, Daredevil, or Opportunist). Give her free target locks from FCS, or hypermobility from Advanced Sensors.

R2-D2 + Shield Upgrade falls hard to focus-fire. Biggs is a pilot who is always focus-fired, unless you fly him as a flanker. Better to give him external survivability (i.e. folks that can help him from the side, like Luke + DTF + R2-D2, or Garven/Kyle).

I do not mind your GSP build, though. Assaults help you against a Swarm list, which this list would otherwise have major problems with. Maybe less the Stealth Device.

Still though, pretty good for some early lists!

If you put ordnance on a Firespray an interesting combo is Deadeye and Recon Specialist. Deadeye lets you spend a Focus where you'd need a Target Lock and Recon Specialist can give you two Focus tokens.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone! I think I considered each of these ideas when I was putting my list together, but decided against them or couldn't get them to fit into the 100 point limit. I just don't have enough experience to know better.

I still plan on testing my original lists, but here's what my new lists look like.

I've found a supremely effective build for Ibtisam is the followng:

Ibti + Elusiveness + Sensor Jammer

This makes her an utter tank. When your enemy shoots at you, first you change a hit to an eye. Great. If they don't have a focus token, they just lost a hit. Next, if they still have any significant damage showing you engage Elusiveness and force them to reroll a die and you get a stress token. I should note that neither the hit you changed nor the hit you rerolled can be rerolled again, so TL doesn't help them. So, now you've reduced damage by 1.5 from this attack. So, you have a stress token. When you roll your agility die, you can reroll it if it's not an Evade result.

When I ran her with effective blockers, she cancelled a full 8 hits against her during a game from the above. It was... brutal. Plus, none of that requires she use her action, so you can focus/TL/barrel roll without sacrificing defense. And at 34 points, you have a lot more points to play with.

Is this insanity, or does it have a real chance of success?

http://xwing-builder.co.uk/view/111982/echo-boomer#view=full

And am I correct in assuming that homing missiles allows you to use target lock to reroll your dice?

Here is what will happen if you try to run that. Rhymer will get to shoot one missile, probably a homing missile, and then every opponent ship will light him up and destroy him. You will NEVER be able to use all those extra missiles/torpedoes/bombs. Any single shot secondary weapon should be used sparingly. If you load too many up on a single ship, that ship becomes a giant target. In that build, you have 27 points tied up in ordnance. You will watch as 22 of those points get vaporized while still being on the ship as it gets destroyed. 27 points can buy two tie fighters. Lists that depend on ordnance like that tend to fail.

So, the loaded bomber and Echo sucked as bad as everyone predicted. I was able to get a bomb and missile off before it died and Echo didn't last too long after that.

Here's a new scenario:

"Single small base ship. 35 points. You can use any legal upgrades, and... two modifications, and... take as many elite pilot upgrades as you wish (even if you don't have the "medal" in your bar).

Scenario for Gauntlet Run - Feral the Hutt has been scouring the wreckage of the many battles that you have fought the last few months. He has found derelict ships and sometimes even live pilots. You have all been nursed back to health. You are told that you can now go free... But there is a catch (when isn't there when dealing with the Hutts). Only one of you gets to fly off. You will all battle in a space arena for his and his high paying customers amusement. No worries, there are bombs on your ships and if you try to fly away without engaging... BOOM!!! FYI, there is something off, odd even, in your mind and your ships. Somehow you have learned a few new moves. When asked, the Hutt just gives you one of those disgusting belly laughs. Also, don't get his Rancor up."

The Gauntlet is the free-for-all we do at the end of our league.

Here's what I'm thinking:

Sigma Squadron Pilot (Phantom)

Advanced Cloaking Device

Stygium Particle Accelerator

Recon Specialist

Veteran Instincts

I was able to play-test this ship tonight. I played against a 100 point list with Echo and two Sigmas. Against cloaked Phantoms, I could usually get a shot through. I never got a good shot at an uncloaked Phantom: it was range three or I rolled poorly. When I was getting shot at by the Sigmas, I was nearly invincible. Echo tore me apart, especially once I bumped another ship and lost my ability to use Recon Specialist.

I had fun and learned a lot for tomorrow night.

I would drop the Ion on Ibtisam. B-wings are your heavy-hitters in any rebel list, and you shouldn't limit them to only one damage per turn.