I don't have many dupes, only the core ties and imp aces, so I tend to avoid anything more than a 4 ship build. Plus, what's the point of having all these badass pilots if you aren't using them?

Plus, what's the point of having all these badass pilots if you aren't using them?

Winning.

Variety, filler and cannon fodder.

some people are just a call sign, a fly-by shot of the pilots face and an explosion

I like the Empire being faceless and anonymous.

I also like putting a large number of minis on the mat.

That said, I will (once in a while) field Jonus and/or Howlrunner. (I'm not allergic to winning.)

I, generally, use a couple high PS pilots with scrubs when I play Empire. The reason why is that a TIE is a TIE is a TIE and they die soooooo easily. So there is a quantity > quality aspect to the lowly TIE.

I run a lot of Kath and a mini swarm with Howlrunner at 100 points.

I play lots of Rebs, so named pilots tend to show up often. It's just so hard not to take Wedge

I prefer named pilots as well, but sometimes a generic Imperial gets brought along.

That all said, a squad of named TIEs is probably a lot of fun.

I'd rather run Elites than 'cannon fodder' pilots too. Sometimes the abilities are worth it but mostly I prefer to fire early and take down some scrubs before they get to shoot back. TIE swarms aside, anytime I field 1 or 2 skill ships they get shot to smithereens before they get to do much useful. I much prefer to fly dressed to the 9s, my tricked out Red Baron, VI Turr Phenir and Vader. They chew rookie x-wings like bubble gum.

I'd rather run Elites than 'cannon fodder' pilots too. Sometimes the abilities are worth it but mostly I prefer to fire early and take down some scrubs before they get to shoot back. TIE swarms aside, anytime I field 1 or 2 skill ships they get shot to smithereens before they get to do much useful. I much prefer to fly dressed to the 9s, my tricked out Red Baron, VI Turr Phenir and Vader. They chew rookie x-wings like bubble gum.

Yeah. Just last night I flew a large rebel squad of no-names. My maneuvers were good, my dice were on fire, but the named pilots that my opponent was flying just tore me to shreds.

I tend to lean towards named pilots when playing as Rebels, because I like the feel of few elite pilots.. as shown in the movies.

And as for Empire it is reversed. It is all about generic pilots with one named pilot as a "leader".

But mostly I like higher PS more than lower PS.

As Stalin said "quantity has its own quality" something has to be said for swarms, they work and masses are effective.

I don't have many dupes, only the core ties and imp aces, so I tend to avoid anything more than a 4 ship build. Plus, what's the point of having all these badass pilots if you aren't using them?

Usually i use some generic pilots, as i always plays as empire against my fiancee (of course i get more ships). She doenst read the pilot skills so i usually choose generic pilots for her too (Rebel).

The game seems to be built around epic battles just like the movies, where the rebel player is more likely to take all named pilot vs the empire of 1 named pilot leading a faceless swarm of fodder. Rebs usually take an unnamed to fill out points, and just like a "red shirt" from Star Trek, are usually first to die.

It's too pretentious to play those named unique pilots.

I'd rather run Elites than 'cannon fodder' pilots too. Sometimes the abilities are worth it but mostly I prefer to fire early and take down some scrubs before they get to shoot back. TIE swarms aside, anytime I field 1 or 2 skill ships they get shot to smithereens before they get to do much useful. I much prefer to fly dressed to the 9s, my tricked out Red Baron, VI Turr Phenir and Vader. They chew rookie x-wings like bubble gum.

Yeah. Just last night I flew a large rebel squad of no-names. My maneuvers were good, my dice were on fire, but the named pilots that my opponent was flying just tore me to shreds.

That was a good game, I was almost sure your amount of dice would spell doom for my elites. I definitely prefer named pilots, especially when running rebels (although the occasional A-Wing or Z-95 can be great filler). When running Imperials I usually try to have a couple named pilots and some fillers, as TIEs are very good for that, and can be surprisingly effective, even at low skill levels.

Since I began playing (right before wave 2 came out) I've always liked elite rebel squads, and in wasn't until I started looking at tournament results and posts online about how 4, lower-skilled or semi-skilled rebel pilots seemed to be required to have competitive squads. I'm glad that FFG is attempting to shift the meta back to smaller, elite squads, who are now more effective with things like Predator and Hull Upgrades.

I prefer generics for the most part. I love the tactical side of things when it comes to blocking and getting out of arcs. Lists with 4-5pilots can accomplish so much more. That said, I also enjoy a good named pilot when they feel efficient. But they rarely do. They die too fast most of the time.

Your basic academy pilot is one of the most powerful units in the game, they are cheap so losing one won't cripple your game like losing wedge will, they get ignored for more threatening targets which can burn your opponent when they get in his six and blow him away.

Using named pilots is good but generics have their place if you build a list with synergy it'll serve you much better than one packed full of named pilots.

I like to imagine I'm that rookie x wing pilot lol

As Stalin said "quantity has its own quality" something has to be said for swarms, they work and masses are effective.

Some figures to bear in mind when quoting Stalin:

"...1 million imprisoned or exiled between 1927 to 1929; 9 to 11 million peasants forced off their lands and another 2 to 3 million peasants arrested or exiled in the mass collectivization program; 6 to 7 million killed by an artificial famine in 1932-1934; 1 million exiled from Moscow and Leningrad in 1935; 1 million executed during the ''Great Terror'' of 1937-1938; 4 to 6 million dispatched to forced labor camps; 10 to 12 million people forcibly relocated during World War II; and at least 1 million arrested for various “political crimes” from 1946 to 1953." (http://www.ibtimes.com/how-many-people-did-joseph-stalin-kill-1111789)

Yup, that's some good quantity right there. Why doesn't anyone have any good Hitler quotes?

Yeah. I like to pretend I'm the rookie too.

Or I like feeling like the generics are my own new squad.

Does anyone actually like playing generics? One thing I loved about this game was that generics were good and sometimes better than the named pilots.

Also flavor wise it just felt weird to have THAT certain pilot. I mean what if he dies? Or, why is Biggs flying against Defenders? Anyway, its all been said before.

I don't mind running Imperial lists with only 3-4 pilots, so Named pilots work fine for me. But generally I will take both named folks and generics. But I hate generics for expensive ships (Advanced, Interceptors, Defenders, Phantoms and the like) because I feel that if I'm gonna spend big on those ships, I may as well get high PS and cool abilities to keep them alive more often.

I only like to field high PS named pilots no matter which side I play!

Somebody asked for a Hitler quote! Remember, Hitler believed in gun control, nor local militia or police as per the quote below.

The book Hitler's Table Talk, 1941-1944: Secret Conversations records Hitler as having said the following sometime between February and September 1942:

"The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the supply of arms to the underdogs is a sine qua non for the overthrow of any sovereignty. So let's not have any native militia or native police."

Darth Vader/TIE Advanced + Concussion Missiles + Daredevil + Engine Upgrade

Soontir Fel/TIE Interceptor + Push the Limit

Turr Phennir/TIE Interceptor + Veteran Instincts + Stealth Device

This, or replace Vader with the following:

"Echo"/TIE Phantom + Tactician + Sensor Jammer + Veteran Instincts + Advanced Cloaking Device

All named pilots and able to take out most any “unnamed” list unless you know what you’re doing (or the Dice are forever in your favor).