My son and I would like to start playing. So far we only have 2 core sets. He wants to get Slave I and the Millennium Falcon next, but I want to ensure the squads stay fairly even as we add pieces. Is there a rough equivalency that anyone can offer to explain which ships could/should be purchased together to keep things roughly balanced?

My son is a little young for the game technically, but he is quite bright. He struggles with squad building, but isn't terrible at playing games. He wants to play in a local tournament soon (I'm sure he'll go 0-fer, but he'll enjoy watching everyone else) and would likely play Empire in case that matters.

In short, what could we buy next for fun AND to keep the game balanced with a slight chance to have fun going 0-fer at his first tournament.

Thanks for your help.

BountyHunterH

go by the ship point values...

Where does such a list exist and do I compare base models or the top models of each?

To keep it even, points-wise, I'd buy in pairs. These ships are really close:

Slave I/Falcon

TIE Bomber/Y-wing

TIE Interceptor/A-wing

Lambda Shuttle/Hwk-290

I suppose the B-wing and the TIE Advanced are pretty similar too, since you'll only want the Advanced for Vader.

I'm more of a Rebel player, so I can't offer much help with what's easy to play for the Empire. For the Rebels, the Millenium Falcon + 2 X-wings is easier to play and strong. For the Empire, my favorite ships to play are the TIE Interceptors (they are mobile!) and the TIE Bombers (for the bombs - the Slave I has a bomb slot as well). I don't do very well with the Empire ships yet, though, which is why I try and refrain from giving advice on that front.

Thanks Red G. You list didn't overly surprise me based on what came out when, but I was a little surprised by the Lambda/Hwk comparison. I haven't read anything good on the HWK, but some people love the Lambda and others don't. I do see they are the last group on your list basically as well though.

Not questioning your thoughts (I did ask for them afterall), just seeking clarification.

The Lambda is much more equivalent to the B-wing. 3 attack dice, and 10 hp. Add HLC for 4 attack dice.

Other than that, i agree.

Tie Adv is kinda sucky, though Vader is plain fun.

The MF and Slave 1 sounds like a good plan for now.

Id follow that with the Lambda and the B-wing.

You guys seem to like big and powerful over small and nimble anyway.

My son certainly does, but it is dad's spending money that will be purchasing the pieces. He'll take what I buy and like it (did I just say that?)!

If he wants a Slave1 a good list he could play is

firespray

4 tie fighters

add named pilots/upgrades to get to 100

http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/

squad builder thats tablet friendly

Very cool, thanks.

How is your son at flying swarms and keeping ships in formation? You already have 4 TIE Fighters, you could either go:

A couple (2-4) TIE Fighter expansions for the new elite pilots

A couple TIE Interceptors

Imperial Aces for a few elite Interceptor pilots and two elite Interceptor ships

Have him practice flying box or diamond formations and keeping in formation at home before the tourney (and search YouTube for videos) with the above lists. I think when he gets the hang of swarms he'll have a blast with them. If you want 3-4 swarm list suggestions, PM me or just search here.

Both the Lambda and Hwk are support pieces, and both run a similar squad cost (nobody runs Hwks without a turret and very few players put many upgrades on a Lambda). I'd hold off on buying those two until you've amassed a larger fleet - those ships are supporters and without other dogfighters in the mix they won't help your squad much.

The B-wing has similar upgrade options to the Lambda, but the B-wing acts like an X-wing in play. They have quite a few differences, of course, but in terms of point costs you can often switch out an X for a B and vice-versa.

My first purchase after the Core was an A-wing and an Interceptor. They're the most fun ships, in my opinion, and both require you to learn to fly as they are hyper-mobile ships. So they're good for learning too (and as small expansions, they're not expensive).

obviously not skilled at posting yet, sorry

@ Red G - That certainly helps me understand your thought process better. I like what you said about the A-Wing and Interceptor (cheaper).

@Baphomet69 - My son struggles to always pick the correct direction to turn, so flying in formation is way beyond him. I would certainly help him, but that won't be a strong point of his anytime soon. It was helpful to see the suggestions though. I want to keep a decent fleet for us to use and have already told him he'll have to play the rebels some to understand how other ships work (that seemed to resonate with him a little, but he wasn't thrilled with the idea).

Re: the 'Large' ships;

I've been flying fighter lists since the game released. I've only flown Large ships a couple times, but for me at least, especially being used to small, nimble ships, there is a definite learning curve (above and beyond the higher price of the models).

I'm sure there will be others to come along and claim I must be feeble or something - entirely possibly true, by the way... But my opinion is that the Large ships are great, but I don't know that they are 'shallow end of the pool' choices. The starter sets have X's and TIEs for a reason. Step two should be Y's and Interceptors, IMHO.

Opinions is what I am seeking (as well as the logic), so please keep them coming.

@Baphomet69 - My son struggles to always pick the correct direction to turn, so flying in formation is way beyond him. I would certainly help him, but that won't be a strong point of his anytime soon. It was helpful to see the suggestions though. I want to keep a decent fleet for us to use and have already told him he'll have to play the rebels some to understand how other ships work (that seemed to resonate with him a little, but he wasn't thrilled with the idea).

Fair enough, though practice is the best teacher. Even if he just spends time setting up ships, planning moves and then executing... Though hearing myself say that, it's sounds like homework... ;p

Your suggestion about him learning how both sides fly is spot on! This game really nailed the 'different doctrine' thing.

My son struggles to always pick the correct direction to turn, so flying in formation is way beyond him.

Not sure if I can describe this correctly, or if it will help, but you could have him try this (if it's visualizing his turns that's troubling him and not tactics ).

When he picks a maneuver for a ship, hold the dial so the open slot is facing the same direction as the ship. Then rotate the bottom piece to select his maneuver (rather than holding the bottom and rotating the top), that way the arrows are always pointing in exactly the direction his ship will fly. I've seen this suggested multiple times for/by older, more experienced gamers who struggle with the same spatial reasoning.

On the ships-to-buy front, I'd say if he wants the Firespray-31 and YT-1300, those are balanced purchases to go with. As pointed out above, a Firespray and 4 TIEs plus upgrades builds a reasonable squad, and a YT plus two X-Wings is a very solid squad. In fact, they were some of my earliest purchases as well.

That was a GREAT suggestion on holding the maneuver dials. I'll have him try that tomorrow. Thanks for the tip.

Even though my suggestion does not mean balanced purchasing for both sides, but the Imperial Aces expansion gives out tons of useful cards for both the Empire and Republic.

The Imperial Aces expansion gives you 2 interceptors, that makes the purchasing in favor of the Empire.

That expansion gives you double copies of really useful upgrade cards that can be used for both sides (unlikes the rebel aces, in which all of the upgrade cards, except 2, are only for the republic).

The ones that can be useful for both sides are:

2x opportunist

2x push the limit

2x shield upgrade

2x hull upgrade

good 8 cards that can be used for both sides.

The cards that both sides can use but really only useful to the empire is:

2x targeting computer (the republic ships can use them, but it is a waste since they all already have targeting computer)

The Imperial aces only have 2 upgrade cards that are exclusive to the Empire (compared to the rebel ace's 8):

2x Royal Guard Upgrade

To balance it out, get a B-wing and Y-wing (or a different republic craft), and you'll expand the number of different upgrade cards available significantly.

edit: this thread is also similar to this topic. http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/107033-what-ship-do-i-buy-tomorrow/

Since you already have two core sets, picking up the Falcon and Slave-1 would open up a Falcon-X-X list on the one hand, and a Firespray + mini-swarm on the other. The only thing you might be missing out on is Howlrunner, but you'll live.

Since you already have two core sets, picking up the Falcon and Slave-1 would open up a Falcon-X-X list on the one hand, and a Firespray + mini-swarm on the other. The only thing you might be missing out on is Howlrunner, but you'll live.

Literally EVERYTHING I was going to say after reading the OP, Howlrunner aside included.

So include me in the lot that Falcon + Slave 1 is perfect to expand your collection with next.

go for the slave and falcon. they add a lot to the game, and will be fun with what you already have.

plus, the slave will be a good ship for a tourney. it is really forgiving because of its back fire arc, i.e. if you make a bad move you still have a shot most of the time.

Ditto on voting for Slave and Falcon.

Then I would consider a B wing and a TIE Interceptor for variety, and after that the X-wing and TIE fighter expansions to get the excellent named pilots from both.

Ditto on voting for Slave and Falcon.

Then I would consider a B wing and a TIE Interceptor for variety, and after that the X-wing and TIE fighter expansions to get the excellent named pilots from both.

And after that, two of everything. And after that, rehab for a very nasty space-faring addiction.

I just got my work buddy hooked on the sauce. I felt like I shared some of my crack with him and he came back the next day asking for more....