So, I've been playing around with a few 3 ship Rebel lists recently. You're all aware of the usual configurations and combinations, I'm sure - Wes, Wedge, Luke, Biggs, Ibitsam, in various combinations.

As always, I've been having good games and bad games. Taking down a ship or two in the opening exchange and reducing return fire is vital, especially given the fragility of X-Wings in general.

But anther key point in getting the best out of this list is mobility. Getting out of your opponents firing arc while keeping them in yours isn't the easiest job in the world for X-Wings at a base level, even less so when you're often quite heavily outnumbered.

My original squad was:

Wes Janson - Veteran Instincts, R5-P9

Wedge - PtL, R2-F2

Luke - R2D2

1 win, 1 loss, but the droids were not amazing - I was barely getting any utility from them in either game. For the third game I dropped the droids and tried opportunist out, but once Wes died (and he died quickly), it became pretty redundant.

So the next time around, I switched things around a bit. K-turns were being used frequently to keep targets in arc or reposition, and this was costing me vital actions. What could I change? I considered passing around a few Adrenaline Rush cards to help a second turn of jousting, but eventually settled on:

Wes Janson - Veteran Instincts

Wedge - PtL, Engine Upgrade

Ibitisam - PtL, Advanced Sensors

Again, 1-1, but a big difference in performance. Ibitisam was crazily maneuverable and can really get the most out of PtL. Wedge was immense as a finisher, and boost helped a lot. But Wes really wasn't contributing again; he died quickly first game and struggled to make an impact in the second. And it was all down to (lack of) maneuverability.

So, being the tinkering little busybody I am, I wondered what I could change once again. And this is what I'm thinking:

Wedge - PtL, Engine Upgrade, R2

Ibitisam - PtL, Advanced Sensors

Tycho Celchu - PtL

Essentially, with only three possible targets on the board, I want them to be as maneuverable as possible, as hard to pin down as possible and capable of getting into good positions each and every turn. Wes couldn't keep up with Wedge and Ibisitam; could Tycho manage it? I'd be dropping one attack and one hull, but is Tycho tricky enough to be able to stay in the fight for longer?

For what it's worth, so far in all the games above I've been facing two Academy TIES and three PtL Interceptors. Facing the same list every time doesn't really give me a well-rounded idea of how balanced my own list is or how effective each ship can really be, but there's an event coming up this weekend which could be an acid test. Any thoughts or commentaries?

3 ship high PS rebels are fun to play in casual games. I dont see them fare well in tournaments though. I also think when wave 4 hits the meta will be 5-6 ship builds for the rebs

Three ship lists definitely have a tournament place. You just have to change the way you think about flying. I took first in our AIA event which featured 19 competitors from across Michigan. A pilot can't fly three ships with the same theory that he would with 7, 6 or even 4. With three aces, it's a different ball game and you have to rely on the board and your piloting skills more than anything else to see them through.

In a test environment, facing the same list is beneficial for you as you try new things. I wouldn't worry about that. Fighting an empire squad like that will give you a good tast of a variety of abilities: fragile ships, high maneuverability, decent firepower, etc.

Don't give up on Wes too soon. You mentioned frequently that he was unable to keep up with the others and would get destroyed first, but maybe that is because of "how" you flew your squadron. I say this because Wes is no less able to keep up with Ibtisam or Wedge. In fact, because of the stress factors, it's more likely the other way around. I find that it is generally easy to keep him alive by deploying in a refused flank on either side of the board. Ibtisam will fly closest to the center and Wes on the edge to keep him far away from the interlocking sectors of fire. This also causes your opponent to change his course (often through asteroids) in order to properly meet your threat from the port or starboard side. This deployment also forces your opponent to put more priority on the B-wing, which is where you want it early on. As long as you can make it to the third or fourth turn, where formations break, you are golden. I say all this because on the forums there is a lot of talk of "this list didn't work because it went 1-1 or it was stomped." Most of the time, it's not the list's fault but how we think about using the list. That needs to change. I've had tremendous success with the Wes, Wedge, Ibtisam Opportunist combo. Try my suggestions and practice the dogfight phase after first contact, that's where a three ship list is the strongest and the swarm the weakest.

In terms of your most recent list, I think you are making it easy for the opponent to pick his targets. Wedge is the most obvious and without Wes and Opportunist Ibtisam will probably not be able to carry the game on his own. As your opponent, my priority would be Wedge, Ibtisam then Tycho, because I know I will likely be able to avoid Tycho's worst until the end game. Tycho will also require the most calories to bring down because of the A-wing's slipperiness.

Take it for what it's worth. Just friendly advice.

Thanks for the thoughts Red Winter, much appreciated. I do love list tinkering and I will persevere with the list, I'm really just airing thoughts here. Refused flank is a good idea, and getting to set up after your opponent helps take ships out of the game for a turn or two.

My main thought behind the third iteration was movement options. High PS + the ability to boost/barrel roll/use advance sensors is extremely good, and it's one thing I've really took away from watching PtL interceptors in action. You can't shoot what you can't see.

And that's kind of what I mean by Wes "not being able to keep up with the others", and what I was trying to counter by introducing Tycho into the mix. Not that he couldn't fly as fast, but that with just the standard X-Wing dial at his disposal, he can become predictable. Wedge + boost is good. He has the option of moving rapidly across the board, moving out of arc, or into range one. Ibitisam and Advanced Sensors can barrel roll then move, move then barrel roll - she's not a Phantom, but she's hard to block down and can usually find a way to get into or out of arc. Tycho brings that kind of movement flexibility to the table - albeit at the expense of firepower.

Naked Wes has had his good points. He effectively neutered a TIE bomber by stripping target locks as soon as they were taken. He shoots first, with the typical result of stripping defence and giving his team mates easy kills. But without the movement shenanigans, his high PS feels somewhat wasted - at least, it does against what I've been facing so far. It's not easy manuevering against PtL Interceptors, and he might come into his own against larger and slower targets. But from what I've learned from the three ship builds so far, it almost feels as though I need those movement shenanigans. But you're right - Wes is a priority target; if he's not in the list, that priority shifts. Ideally you want EVERY ship in a three-ship list to be a priority target - divide and conquer.

One thing's for sure - EU Wedge and AS Ibitisam are certainly much more fun to fly!