I am wondering these days what people are playing, why and provide go to list in a pitch,

I enjoy imps very much these days,

Reason the swarm is why I started and the Intercepter is the reason I fell in love with them more,

(It helps my wife plays Han and Chewie, so the rebels are not collecting dust in my house.)

2 Black Squad with Vet Ins (30)

1 Royal Guard (22)

2 Shuttles with Ion (48)

Imperials. They are much more about speed and maneuver, which I have always preferred over brute strength.

Rebels. Gotta love the durability and reliability. They are very well rounded and have so many options.

Take this lightly because I just have a few games against my kids, but the more I play rebels the better I like them. The main reason is the Ion turrets. I am getting a Y-wng and the HWK both with Ion turrets. both these can do slow turn maneuvers while the ties try to hit them over and over. Both are durable enough to survive while my X-Wings come in from a flank and mop up.

This may change as I face more skilled/varied competition. But for now that is where I am leaning.

Imperials - purely financial - had to pick a side a stick with it.

I have never played a game as Imperial. Since I supply for everyone else in my group, I let everyone else choose what faction they want to play. They always pick Imperial, so I always pick Rebel.

I've always played Imperials, because I'm not a terrorist.

I prefer rebel scum of course. Though I was surprised at how much I enjoyed playing the imperials the first time i tried them. I think it's more fun to design a rebel list but I actually have more fun running an imperial swarm, those ties are just so agile. Might be why I'm a A wing fan boy since they released em.

FFG did a great job with balancing the two sides while keeping them different (in general terms, not going into a discussion about huge/epic ships and how the imps don't even have an option yet while the rebels have 2 already, slightly skewed in my opinion).

I play Imperial mostly since imps are mostly outnumbered at my LGS, for standard play, in epic play I plan on playing rebels cuz I enjoy flying "Mama Bear" (my nickname for the shuttle). it won't be to hard for me making the switch since secretly I'm a rebel player in disguise, I play mostly big tanky ships instead of the fast and agile ships.

As for my go to list, Two bounty hunters with gunner and a shuttle with Vader.

Right now I primarily play Imperials. I really enjoy the skill required to fly those fragile ships, especially non-swarm Interceptors. I like the synergy that the Rebels get; however, and may start playing them some more. (gotta spy on those terrorists and find the best way to beat them. )

Imperials for general play, their insistence on random dice rolls and maneuvering does create some highly entertaining games. Also, it is a more showy way to flaunt your skills. Nobody thinks very much of rebel players, but the moment you pull out that 3 small ship high PS imperial list, or that 8 TIE list, and kick ass with it while putting up a darn good airshow, people know that you are of a certain caliber.

Rebels for tournament play / that off chance that I'm mugged in a dark alleyway and challenged to a Star Wars Xwing Miniatures game for my life. They are too reliable and even if you completely flub your dice rolls, you still have TL+F to get that string of 3 hits, you still have 5 or more hp and would be alive, you still have so much more raw power at your disposal

ive always played the galactic empire cause Darth Brovader is the boss and yeah i like the sounds of the tie fighters this HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAWWWW. and the fast movement dials i have acces to ;P.

I play 50-50 both because of my gaming companions, but I'd prefer to play Imps.

I have played Imps almost exclusively for the past 6 months. I love Interceptors, Shuttles and Firesprays. I am in the process of changing to Rebels for a while now though. Time for a change.

I'm an Imperial Navy fan, so anything standard equipment for the Navy. And since my dice rolls are crap, this usually means TIE Swarms so it matters less when I loose a fighter to fickle evasion dice.

I'm hoping the new heavy fighters give the Empire some reliable lists outside of the TIE Swarm. I've had too many embarrassing failures with expensive 3HP Interceptors and never-hitting bombers to feel safe taking those lists into tournament play.

I play both. I have a small group of friends I play with mostly and we tend to switch sides every other week.

But if I were to show up at a LGS I'd most likely break out my rebel ships first.

Rebels, because when I play casual my opponents usually want to play Imperials and in casual I prefer playing Imps vs Rebels.

Imperials. They are bad***ed and unforgiving. Just like myself. Every time I roll 6 blanks on Soontir from a three hit Falcon shot I go home and hold my hand in the water heater until I pass out from the pain.

But seriously, I really feel that the rebels have so many ways to mitigate bad rolls that it's just training wheels. I'd be totally cool with not having Astromechs, and an abundance of shielded ships, and tons of named characters that have incredible team synergizing skills if they just gave us bigger guns. The phantom's 4 dice will be nice, but I still think it's going to be YT bait.

Imperials, because we have Soontir Fel

But also I enjoy the maneuverability, and it feels like more of a challenge to me over playing Rebels. Imps have no 360 shooting abilities and in my first games with the core set Luke an R2 used to always beat me.

Imperials, although given my record so far, it's still a work in progress.

For the Glory of the Empire! Only babies and sissies play Rebels.

Seriously, Rebels are so BooOOoring Forgiving Mode I can't really get myself into playing as them. Except the A-wing. And the Hawk. And Horton; love that dude. Horton should get a PS Boost when Soontir is on the table.

I like both! hard to keep track. besides, it's refreshing. I think I would get bored if I only play one side.

I'm Imperial fan at heart though.

When a friend come over I let him choose side to keep things fair.

Imperials, for two main reasons.

First, I really like their emphasis on maneuvering and skill over the "just cruise around and take a beating" rebel style. It feels like real dogfighting.

Secondly, TIE Fighter was one of those Pillars of Childhood games I owned when I was younger. There are so many games that allow you to be a Rebel, and they were all awesome. Rebel Assault I and II, all the Rogue Squadron games, Shadows of the Empire… all great. But the engaging skill, mission complexity and flavor of TIE Fighter was tremendous. From the scream of the engines behind you to the various ship and mission types, from the trusted deck officer to flying wingman for Vader himself, all those things and more left an indelible mark on my childhood. Victory to the Empire!

(also, that's why having Maarek Stele be one of the most rubbish named pilots in the game stings so much…)

During casual play I enjoy playing both sides and learning the nuances of each faction. I do very well with both factions and normally will fly the squad I just beat to see if I could win with it. Not only does this help me learn my list's weaknesses, but it helps my friends learn the strength of theirs.

Tournaments I fly Rebel Alliance craft only and always with at least one X-wing because it is my favorite craft. Also, I just love it when the Rebellion is victorious over the dark forces of the Empire.

Rebels. I like pretending to be a good guy.

My go to in a pinch is Chewie. He's so versatile and well rounded, tanky to boot. He's done some amazing things, like chain forcing action denying collisions with Boba Fett, swatting TIES all while my fighters flank up on the Fett. He can wade right into the enemy front and either stall them or just belt off side shots from range 1. I know he's said to be cheap, but he fills so many roles that I can fill the list with whoever I'm in the mood for.

Recently did a turret train with Dutch on Chewie's exhaust trail. Was a nice one-two.

ABXY, whatever, after my Wookiee. Also growl on his turn for immersion.