Every time there is a new release announcement, it seems there is a thread about how the other side is going to suffer in competition. And how many times has FFG proved wrong the naysayers? I say this: Be excited about new cards and don't get upset when a card releases that makes something else seem worse, or that Rebels have more crew or that Empire can always have more ships or whatever your problem is. We've gotten this far, through 3, nearly 4 Waves and several special releases, and the game is still great fun, and is balanced. Yes, they may release a card that gives the opposite side a great counter to your favorite list. Go to a tournament, and see how many people at that tournament played that card. There are a few lists that come up quite often, for example TIE Swarms, Han Shoots First, XXBB, 4X, Triple Firesprays, Interceptor wings, but we still see mixed squads on both sides (which will increase with the next wave). Every player finds a list that best suits how they want to play, and then they perfect the cards and strategy with that list through repeated play with other various squad compositions. The game is balanced and fun, and will continue to be so.

There may be some backfire on this thread about how I am wrong, but I really feel like the designers have gotten it right thus far. There are admittedly some cards that have fallen out of the competitive scene, but there are no cards or lists that are infallible, and neither faction has nor ever will have a clear advantage over the other. You have no reason to think that the game is swinging to favor one faction or list strategy. The factions are asymmetrical strategically, but both have strengths and weaknesses. The factions are equal now, and will remain equal through Wave 4, Wave 5, Rebel Aces, Imperial Huge Ships, and whatever else that this great game has in store for us.

Don't complain, just have fun!

I feel as though most people see an upgrade card or ship that has an ability they want to play with. That ships they want to play with usually resides on the other side then their preference. So instead of switching to try out the ship or upgrade, people complain that Rebels don't have this or Imperials don't have that. If you find yourself looking to the other side all the time wishing you had those abilities, perhaps your fighting for the wrong side.

I always felt the game was balanced. For the most part.

But along with that, they really did a good job to capture the essence that is star wars.

I mean imperials are strength in numbers. They fly weak ships with no shields, and are easy to kill, but it's their power in numbers.

The rebels don't have the man power or resources the empire does, so they have to user ships that have shields. They don't have the numbers the Empire has. Just good pilots and some luck.

The way I see it when they are releasing a new ship it really seems like ffg asks themselves "how does this fit in the star wars universe "

"How will we replicate that in this game "

I think it's a safe bet that there is some star wars geeks amongst their staff who like a lot of us here, like the game to keep with its lore.

I'll admit, I did find it strange that they released two rebel huge ships, and no imperial, but whatever their reasons we know what is comin next, so just hang in there.

We will get two new ships. I'm sure we will get cards like Grand Moff Tarkin, maybe another vader. Maybe we will see thrawn ( never read the eu books, but he does sound cool)

As for the ships and their synergy. It only makes sense that the rebels would have the better synergy. Seeing as they have less pilots they have to make best when out numbered. They are more team work oriented, where as the empire is just pure strength in numbers, with some ace pilots that can really maneuver their craft

I feel as though most people see an upgrade card or ship that has an ability they want to play with. That ships they want to play with usually resides on the other side then their preference. So instead of switching to try out the ship or upgrade, people complain that Rebels don't have this or Imperials don't have that. If you find yourself looking to the other side all the time wishing you had those abilities, perhaps your fighting for the wrong side.

Part of the silliness you're describing here is that far more people than I ever would have expected are adopting identities as "Imperial players" or "Rebel players" rather than X-wing Miniatures players. If you voluntarily cut yourself off from half of the content in the game, I guess I can understand how it would be frustrating to see the other side getting new toys, but… the solution seems pretty obvious.

I think the gnashing of teeth and flailing of arms is due in part to the B-wing. It is already a great ship in this game. You can't go to a tourney and not see it in over half the rebel lists. Once Rebel Aces is out, it will have even more options. So it doesn't make sense from an outside view that a ship that really didn't need any more "help", is getting more "help". This, while we have ships that need help!

Another factor is the large amount of Rebel only cards we are going to have. But I have faith in FFG that they will maintain balance, like the Force.

I feel as though most people see an upgrade card or ship that has an ability they want to play with. That ships they want to play with usually resides on the other side then their preference. So instead of switching to try out the ship or upgrade, people complain that Rebels don't have this or Imperials don't have that. If you find yourself looking to the other side all the time wishing you had those abilities, perhaps your fighting for the wrong side.

Part of the silliness you're describing here is that far more people than I ever would have expected are adopting identities as "Imperial players" or "Rebel players" rather than X-wing Miniatures players. If you voluntarily cut yourself off from half of the content in the game, I guess I can understand how it would be frustrating to see the other side getting new toys, but… the solution seems pretty obvious.

I don't see as many people declaring themselves Rebel Players as I do Imperial. Not to say there are not people whom primarily only play Rebel they just seem less vocal about it. The best part is you can dig back in the forums and find people claiming the game is over because of the Boba Fett and Navigator combination.

Mos Eisley Spaceport Fantasy Flight forums: You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy hysteria and hyperbole. We must be cautious.

I'm pretty sure this was the first draft of the script.

Rebels have been getting the majority of love lately.

However - a TIE swarm is still a monster.

Part of the silliness you're describing here is that far more people than I ever would have expected are adopting identities as "Imperial players" or "Rebel players" rather than X-wing Miniatures players. If you voluntarily cut yourself off from half of the content in the game, I guess I can understand how it would be frustrating to see the other side getting new toys, but… the solution seems pretty obvious.

Solution is obvious but not easy. For many this is a few times a month hobby and while cheaper than other options it's still expensive to maintain full fleets of both sides. Many also "pair up" with friends and share both sides, again, to make it a cheaper option. Add in the joblessness and the economy over the last few years and the suddenly EXTREME rate of release and it's little wonder why people choose a side...add in a little fandom and some gamesmanshiping to keep conversations and competition lively and often humorous and it...just...works.

For the glory of the empire!

If there's one thing I've learned in life it's that with anything even remotely popular, there will instantaneously emerge a group of people talking about how said thing is already ruined.

I always say it: stop theorizing and start playing! A lot of combos sound really cool on paper, but then don't work out to be gamebreaking. (It's almost like FFG playtests the game!)

As for the whole factions thing...well, I started off as a solely Rebel player, just to save money (did not want to buy four more TIEs). But I never felt like "NOOOOO THE NEW IMP SHIPS WILL BREAK THE GAME!" More like "aw, bugger! I have to learn to fly against that?!" And now...I might just have to start flying Imps a bit, to try out cloaking and bombs (two things I doubt the Rebels will ever see...).

I think a lot of it is that we're seeing a notable uptick in the power level of special abilities on unique pilots. You cannot compare something like Rexlar and something like Winged Gundark and not be absolutely astonished. Night Beast started as our only bonus free action, with a free focus action as long as he didn't start the turn stressed and got a green. Now we've got pilots like Jake and R7-T1 that are almost automatic bonus actions. Kath could stress a ship as a consolation prize for not landing a crit, R3-A2 just hands it out at will. Even Fel sees his ability one-upped by Farlander, as the latter removes the stress completely.

People are shocked by the power level of new pilots because the power level of the new pilots is unarguably higher. That shift happened to start in a cycle that saw 80% of new releases going to the Rebels, so a lot of that astonishment morphed into "FFG hates Imperials" perception. But while I don't think the Phantom and Defender balance all the new toys the Rebels have gotten all on their own (especially because the Rebels get their own very nice Wave 4 toys), I think it's impossible to look at those two and think the power boost is anything but universal.

So I think the OP is both right and wrong. Most especially because the trend shows that FFG actually HAS screwed up the balance in a number of ways, most especially in the extreme tax pilots pay for their PS. That's started to reverse, to try and make elite pilots more competitive - it started tentatively with Imperial Aces, and then kicked into overdrive with the Transport, Tantive, Wave 4, and Rebel Aces.

I do wish we could stop getting these sorts of posts, though. Just because they haven't broken the game before doesn't mean they can't miss something - the Star Wars LCG just implemented their first restriction to fix a combo that was so obviously broken something like 90% of players were running it. But even if past performance was proof of future, the X-wing design team has turned over like 3 times since the initial release. There's been a lot of evolution in the names in the credits, and just because Team A didn't screw it up too badly doesn't mean Team C can't.

"Play it and see" is a perfectly valid response. "Blindly trust FFG" isn't, really.

Maybe it's a Warhammer mentality. Miniature wargamers have been trained to choose a side and stick with it.

Part of the silliness you're describing here is that far more people than I ever would have expected are adopting identities as "Imperial players" or "Rebel players" rather than X-wing Miniatures players. If you voluntarily cut yourself off from half of the content in the game, I guess I can understand how it would be frustrating to see the other side getting new toys, but… the solution seems pretty obvious.

And this is spot on. Most people who are not invested in one side fail to see the conspiracies. The one absolute you can take from all the pre-release speculation is that almost everything on either extreme is completely wrong. The nutjobs said the Firespray would be over-priced crap, it isn't. They said the shuttle was so cheap, it would break the game; it hasn't. Cheap A-Wings, B-Wings with crew, and Phantoms won't either. Go ahead. Put more points on your 2-attack As or 1 agility Bs, and the world will adapt to fight Phantoms. Nothing is broken, little buckaroos.

I feel as though most people see an upgrade card or ship that has an ability they want to play with. That ships they want to play with usually resides on the other side then their preference. So instead of switching to try out the ship or upgrade, people complain that Rebels don't have this or Imperials don't have that. If you find yourself looking to the other side all the time wishing you had those abilities, perhaps your fighting for the wrong side.

Part of the silliness you're describing here is that far more people than I ever would have expected are adopting identities as "Imperial players" or "Rebel players" rather than X-wing Miniatures players. If you voluntarily cut yourself off from half of the content in the game, I guess I can understand how it would be frustrating to see the other side getting new toys, but… the solution seems pretty obvious.

I... don't agree with this sentiment. The solution to a mismatch in variety between the two sides should not be "then go play the other side." While yes, complaining that you can't fly R2 units with your ships as the Empire is silly, doing so for the lack of unique characters, upgrades or huge ships for the Empire is not. Those upgrades and ships add a ton of variety for builds and are incredibly fun to play with. And in my opinion, both sides should be just as much fun to play with. There is nothing wrong with both sides having unique things, but they should both have the same amount of unique things to play with. Not for gameplay balance, but because it's fun.

Part of the silliness you're describing here is that far more people than I ever would have expected are adopting identities as "Imperial players" or "Rebel players" rather than X-wing Miniatures players. If you voluntarily cut yourself off from half of the content in the game, I guess I can understand how it would be frustrating to see the other side getting new toys, but… the solution seems pretty obvious.

I... don't agree with this sentiment. The solution to a mismatch in variety between the two sides should not be "then go play the other side." While yes, complaining that you can't fly R2 units with your ships as the Empire is silly, doing so for the lack of unique characters, upgrades or huge ships for the Empire is not. Those upgrades and ships add a ton of variety for builds and are incredibly fun to play with. And in my opinion, both sides should be just as much fun to play with. There is nothing wrong with both sides having unique things, but they should both have the same amount of unique things to play with. Not for gameplay balance, but because it's fun.

That's not what I meant, though. I think there are two things going on: the first is that there's currently a lack of parity in releases, which is unfortunate (because everyone likes to get new stuff) but probably temporary and doesn't imply problems with game balance in any case. The second is that I see a lot of posts implying that Rebels are better, or more interesting, or more varied, or simply more fun, and I think that's… I don't know, grass-greener-ism?

So it's not a matter of "if you don't like the Empire, go play Rebels"; it's that the belief that the Empire is constantly getting the short end of the stick runs contrary to the evidence, and so does the idea that there's only a single competitive kind of Imperial list. And it's much easier to see that evidence if you take a step back from being an Imperial-only booster and look at the game from a broader perspective.

Great thoughts all around. Thanks, guys.

As an Imperial player (not exclusively, but I enjoy them more), I must admit I have felt things become slightly unbalanced lately. Right or wrong, it stems from the perceived attention that rebels have been receiving lately. They get shields on all ships, there are now tons of droids and rebel only crew members, 2 capital ships, and rebel aces on the way that improves an already awesome ship.

To rub salt in the wound, rebels can now play swarms. It seems like the original designers made Howlrunner and every designer since has been trying to give the rebels more options to counter it. I'd like to see the same for the Empire (something to counter the Falcon or turrets in general).

Who knows what the next announcement could contain though.

(something to counter the Falcon or turrets in general).

Outmaneuver is great against Falcons and turret ships in general.

Maybe it's a Warhammer mentality. Miniature wargamers have been trained to choose a side and stick with it.

It may be Warhammer mentality in more ways than just that. Now, I may have been hysteric and hyperbolic at the time (I was a teenager), but it did seem like with each new army book, the game became a little more broken in favor of the most recently released material.

To rub salt in the wound, rebels can now play swarms.

Let's wait and see if this actually develops. It takes a lot more than a 12-point ship to make a swarm work, and I think the Z-95 is going to lack the tools to be an effective swarm ship.

Considering the game is based on very divided factions ( being empire vs rebels ) I don't see how it is shocking at all people identify as rebels or imperials over just X wing players. The very mentality of the factions breeds competition and side picking.

Though don't get me wrong both sides can be fun to play, and I more greatly enjoy rebel v imps over mirror matches they make more story line sense and are just more enjoyable all around. I just see why people pick and identify sides in the game.

Like I, myself, consider myself to be Empire. Though I play some rebels ( not very much at all ) I run A's and B's ( So oddly enough I like the rebel aces pack a lot as it buffs the two rebel ships I enjoy the most. )

I don't think any new release is end of the world but I mean you have to admit, the rebels are getting a lot of love recently and as an avid empire player, I really want to get my big ships. I played an empire game vs Rebs with a Reb huge, at first it felt rough, but ended up a very enjoyable, tense game. So I can't wait to get some Huge on Huge action going and yes it does urk me we haven't even had an announcement yet. It isn't I repeat, is not, the end of the world just a bother to me at this point.

mmh, ever since my swarm got pummeled in Imdaar alpha and I got to play the rebels in a competitive environment it feels like the Empire isn't necessarily better, just that the rebels are easier . Rebel ships typically have more resiliency to them and with the exception of the A-Wing and the HWK, have access to really powerful upgrade cards to augment their already solid abilities. Meanwhile TIEs run either as tricked out interceptors or in swarms where the hope of their superior numbers can overcome how mundane they are individually.

Even with the introduction of the TIE/D and Phantom the Empire still needs more skill to play since now these are capable, but expesnive, fighters. Beaching a Phantom on a rock is throwing away 20+ points, and using cloaking effectively is the key to actually using this fighter. The TIE/D will need practice before it can be used correctly because flying it like any other ship in the game is going to lead to too many stressed moves and a dead fighter.

I think part of the problem with Rebel Aces (and it's perception) is that many saw Imperial Aces as a 'fix' to the TIE Interceptor to make it playable. While I think that's only partially true, it's still an expansion. Was the X-Wing put into the Rebel Transport to make it more playable? Why is there backlash against Rebel Aces, but not the X-Wing in the transport? IMO the droids and pilots from the GR75 box are going to be more impactful in the long run then Rebel Aces, and we should stop looking at reprints as purely 'fixes' and expecting them to make all of the past imbalances go away.