I'd say one of each, if you can. They are all solid ships, and all have solid upgrades. If you have to pick some, I'd personally prioritize them in this order for a new player Phantom, Z95, E-Wing, Defender.

TIE Phantom looks very strong with its 4 attack dice and cloaking ability.

I would buy:

3 x Core Sets

1 X-Wing Expansion

1 Tie Fighter Expansion

1 Falcon

About $145 USD.

Gives you 3 powerful and diverse squads: 7 Tie Swarm, XXXX and Falcon + 2 X-Wings.

From there, play some games, figure out what type of play style you enjoy and buy additional ships that suit your style.

Don't worry about what people on the interent say are 'bad' ships as this game is won and lost by how well you spin your dials.

Most of all, enjoy!

What I think I might buy (please critique and recommend additional ships I should get):

2 Cores ($60)

1 Millennium Falcon ($20ish)

1 X-Wing Expansion ($15)

1 TIE Fighter Expansion ($15)

Total: $110

Possible Builds:

Rebel:

Chewie/Han + 2 Xs

3 Xs (the Wedge, Luke, Biggs build)

Empire:

5 TIEs (with one Howlrunner from the TIE Fighter Expansion)

Potential Additional Purchases:

Slave I (Firespray)

B-Wing Fighters

Ships I don't think I will get for now (read bad reviews about them elsewhere):

Y-Wing

Rebel Transport

Tantive IV (for regular play, I understand it's good for scenarios)

Lambda Shuttle

TIE Advanced (good for Vader but not much else)

HWK

You will have a good start with the list of purchases you made.

The tie swarm will be too light to be tournament able but any other Empire expansion (slave, bomber, interceptor, advanced) can help you fill out to get an actual swarm.

The Y-wing is a durable ship with an ion turret and it still has impact on the tournament scene.

The transport is not so useful but the x-wing escort that comes with it is. It's 4 new X-wing pilots with 4 new unique droids that are all over the new builds on the tournament scene.

Go with your initial purchase and have fun learning about squad building and maneuvering.

Mistakes will be made but this game is so much fun to win or lose at.

Which, if any, of the newer ships (Wave 4 on) should I get?

Honestly, all of them. The E-Wing comes with some great upgrades, even if you don't want to fly the ship. Z-95s will be go-to Rebel filler for the foreseeable future. Both the Defender and Phantom are breaking the mold on vassal with their maneuverability.

I agree with Wonderwaagh, shocking I know.

If your just doing wave 4 something like the following would be how I would roll,

2- Core 55.98

2- Phantoms 19.98

1- Defender 9.99

4 - Z95 39.96

2 - Ewing 19.98. (2 adv sensors totally worth it)

Total 145.89

Also just good for thought 2 core sets is much better then 1 for dice and it's a deal on the extra ships. Also something else to look at if your not picky ebay always has a lot of good lots might be worth checking there.

In fact I see right now for about 85 (includes shipping)

1 of each coreset, falcon, shuttle, slave and bomber.

Leaves you 65 for ships

Just a thought.

There is another auction for 120 that is the following,

Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Base Set (SWX01) - includes 2x TIE Fighters and 1x X-Wing

X-Wing Expansion (SWX02)

TIE Fighter Expansion (SWX03)

Y-Wing Expansion (SWX04)

TIE Advanced Expansion (SWX05)

Millennium Falcon Expansion (SWX06)

Slave I Expansion (SWX07)

A-Wing Expansion (SWX08)

TIE Interceptor Expansion (SWX09)

I would jump on this if I needed to start over. It gives you just about everything people on this thread are telling you to get minus the 2nd core set, but you still have some money left over.

Maybe its !e but I'm not sold on the core set x2 for this OP..

He wants versatility. Ties are not very versatile. They fit 1 role, swarm.

Personally, instead of the 2nd core I would replace it with another ship type or 2 for versatility. You can always add a core set down the line but I never thought 2 cores right off the bat is the best way to go. I also feel like imp aces for a newbie is over kill. Newbies don't typically fly 2 ceptors. Besides, soontir is more important IMO.

My opinion..

Core set - 30

Tie fighter expansion - 10

Xwing expansion - 10

Tie interceptor - 10

2x Bwing - 20

Ywing - 10

Slave 1 - 20

Falcon - 20

Lambda shuttle - 20

= 150

This, IMO, gives you supreme versatility in your collection. 6 ships each side with at least 3 tourney quality lists for both.

3 tie fighters

1 interceptor

1 slave-1

1 lambda shuttle

2 xwing

2 bwing

1 ywing

1 falcon

Considering I hate the swarm, I excluded 5+ Tie fighters.

With one Core set and one YT-1300, you could get an decent squad for rebels, and with one Firespay-31 and one imperial aces you could get the Imperial squad, but it's only the begining, you need more expansions and other core, greettings

Update:

Just got the following ships from a local store:

Core Set

Rebels:

Falcon

B-Wing

HWK-290 (was on sale)

Imperial:

Tydirium Shuttle

Slave I

What else should I get? I know I should get an X-Wing and a TIE Fighter Expansion pack. Maybe another core set. Anything else?

Also, what are some good lists for builds using the figures I just got?

Thanks.

Tie Phantom or Interceptor expansion and maybe a 2nd bwing.

I'm glad to see you didn't go for tie fighter and xwing swarm everyone suggests. There is so much more to the game then using those 2 ships.

I tend to diversify my collection and add a new ship instead of buying multiples of the same. At least until you have a specific list in mind that you would like to run.

What I think I might buy (please critique and recommend additional ships I should get):

2 Cores ($60)

1 Millennium Falcon ($20ish)

1 X-Wing Expansion ($15)

1 TIE Fighter Expansion ($15)

Total: $110

Possible Builds:

Rebel:

Chewie/Han + 2 Xs

3 Xs (the Wedge, Luke, Biggs build)

Empire:

5 TIEs (with one Howlrunner from the TIE Fighter Expansion)

Potential Additional Purchases:

Slave I (Firespray)

B-Wing Fighters

Ships I don't think I will get for now (read bad reviews about them elsewhere):

Y-Wing

Rebel Transport

Tantive IV (for regular play, I understand it's good for scenarios)

Lambda Shuttle

TIE Advanced (good for Vader but not much else)

HWK

I liked the general idea but looking back I see the Empire is still a bit weak. It is possible to run SIX TIE Fighters as a squadron but five really isn't enough as the upgrades you'd need to make 100 points are effective enough; you'll really need at least one "big" Imperial hitter. The Firespray ($20ish) is the oldest choice although Interceptors (expansion or Aces), a Defender, or a Phantom can also work to support a mini-swarm.

In your list of "not now" ships you have both of the rebel ships which can carry Ion Turrets. They may not be the most effective weapon at destroying other ships but that can help control other ships and act as a deterrent to some highly maneuverable ships on either side. The Lambda is one of the strange ships that can be hard to use but a monster when used effectively although that often takes support from other expansions.

Looking at Wave 4 the E-Wing is a little like a "super X-Wing" and the Z-95s are "light X-Wings." I'd expect to see Z-95s but I don't believe they will be the metagame shakers that the Phantom looks like it will be.

Update:

Just got the following ships from a local store:

Core Set

Rebels:

Falcon

B-Wing

HWK-290 (was on sale)

Imperial:

Tydirium Shuttle

Slave I

What else should I get? I know I should get an X-Wing and a TIE Fighter Expansion pack. Maybe another core set. Anything else?

Also, what are some good lists for builds using the figures I just got?

Thanks.

With your purchases you could make:

REBEL:

X+B+HWK

Falcon+X+B

Falcon+X+HWK

Falcon+B+HWK

ORS+X+B+HWK

EMPIRE:

Bounty Hunter+Shuttle+Tie fighters

You will be a little light on empire builds that get you to 100 points but you can work it out by having your next 2 purchases being Empire expansions. Any expansion will do.