I have my first Escalation tournament this weekend and am struggling to get to grips with a solid foundation for a rebel list.

My first attempt ended up as 5 X-wings starting at 60 points with the hard hitting combo of Wedge + Wes (w/VI) and building from there.Main concern with this is the maneuverability and agility if, as I expect, I come up against a Phantom list.

Second attempt is based around Corran and a.n.other - considered Tarn for extra attacking oomph, Gray Squadron (w/Ion turret) to combat phantoms, Blount (w/assault missiles) for an anti swarm option and finally Cracken to buff with his ability and wingman (could work nicely if Corran takes PTL).

Would be really helpful to get the views of the community as to what you believe is a good foundation or indeed any insight into list you've had success with.

Seems to me like this format favours the pesky Imps and am really interested to see which faction is dominant on the day!

I've played one Escalation game with a friend of mine and I found the 60 point level the hardest (went with Wes and Wedge vs Han). I think the best strategy with our Rebels is to add a 30 point ship at every level, and if you have any upgrade combinations that you want (Wes + VI and Wedge + Opportunist) you want to have them as early as possible, so shoot for getting them into your 90 point list.

I think the E-Wing is a tough ship to get into Escalation without either having it in your base list, or sticking it at the end, just because it's a lot of points and a lot of potential upgrades, and in Escalation it could be a third of your list by itself. Etahn's ability is really nice though.

I suppose 5 Z-95s at 60 Points would be good for cheese, and certainly give the Imps going the Swarm route a headache (but that's not my style).

I think the key to winning an escalation event is to not over complicate things. Keep it simple, stupid. This past Saturday I took second place at a local tournament with the following list:

58 points:

22 Blue Squadron Pilot

7 Heavy Laser Cannon

22 Blue Squadron Pilot

7 Heavy Laser Cannon

89 points:

25 Biggs Darklighter

22 Blue Squadron Pilot

7 Heavy Laser Cannon

3 Advanced Sensors

22 Blue Squadron Pilot

7 Heavy Laser Cannon

3 Advanced Sensors

120 points:

29 Wedge Antilles

2 Swarm Tactics

25 Biggs Darklighter

22 Blue Squadron Pilot

7 Heavy Laser Cannon

3 Advanced Sensors

22 Blue Squadron Pilot

7 Heavy Laser Cannon

3 Advanced Sensors

150 points

29 Wedge Antilles

2 Swarm Tactics

28 Luke Skywalker

2 Swarm Tactics

25 Biggs Darklighter

22 Blue Squadron Pilot

7 Heavy Laser Cannon

3 Advanced Sensors

22 Blue Squadron Pilot

7 Heavy Laser Cannon

3 Advanced Sensors

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The first round was the only one I lost, mostly due to bad dice. In retrospect I could have used the exact same final list, but adjusted the earlier ones to have Wedge and a BSP shooting together at PS9 for a much stronger 60 point increment. That having been said, I won my second match by deftly maneuvering both B-Wings out of firing arcs with barrel rolls at crucial moments, so I don't regret my decision at all.

Hello! Welcome to the Compendium
Glad to see another Escalator rising to the top!

Feel free to click that link for a thread in which I've been attempting to collect all of the threads on this format, particularly with the fleet discussions.

Something that I've noticed across all of the builds that I've seen is that the 60 point games tends to have a fair bit of lee-way in its buildspace, with the 90 and 150 point games usually solidifying at 1-3 points of initiative buy.

Another thing that I cannot stress enough about Escalation is that you want some upgrades to be added to ships in later waves. This really smooths out your curves, and lets you field ships that don't cost 30 points a piece.

I've narrowed down in my own mind 2 potential lists and would really appreciate a critical eye being cast on them;

So my first option (which I fear I've been blinded by my determination to get Corran in!!);

Wave 1 (60)

• Corran Horn w/ FCS (37)
• Airen Cracken w/ Concussion Missiles (23)

Wave 2 (89)

• Corran Horn w/ FCS (37)
• Airen Cracken w/ Concussion Missiles (23)
• Wedge Antilles (29)

Wave 3 (120)

• Corran Horn w/ FCS & Marksmanship (40)
• Airen Cracken w/ Concussion Missiles (23)
• Wedge Antilles w/ Predator (29)
• Tarn Mison w/ R7 (25)

Wave 4 (150)

• Corran Horn w/ FCS & Marksmanship (40)
• Airen Cracken w/ Concussion Missiles (23)
• Wedge Antilles w/ Predator (29)
• Tarn Mison w/ R7 (25)
• Wes Janson w/ VI (30)

Any glaring weaknesses?