I've been messing around with Strange Eons and found myself thinking of Polearm Aquadron from the Wraith Squadron books, who, before they got their official squadron name, were known as Blue Squadron while in training under Crespin. I'll be the first to admit that I know jack about point costing so please know I've already raised the white/I-got-it-wrong flag on that score. Also, sorry the images are huge. Not sure why it's doing that.

Polearm Squadron

Dorset Konnair flew with then-Blue 9 Tetengo Noor down the ravine on Folor with Kell and Runt, hence the ability based on close quarters flying with an X-wing.

Tetengo Noor died at Selaggis in the battle to destroy SSD Iron Fist. At the end of the battle he discovered Warlord Zsinj's 'Second Death,' a cloaked ship that blew up and, in the process, consumed him. That's why he 'discovers' cloaked ships in exchange for a detriment.

Todra Mayn became captain of Polearm Squadron after General Crespin granted the training squadron active status. He worked closely with Rogue Squadron.

General Crespin, along with Myn Donos, destroyed an enemy fighter by forcing it via his own targeting into Donos' field of fire. I particularly like his ability because it feels true to that moment and makes a flanking A-wing a good support ship.

some very interesting pilot abilities.

the cards look very nice as well

These are awesome!

I hope FFG keeps releasing more pilots for each ship (though X-wings, TIEs and the aces have enough for now). It would add more longevity to the game without having to dip into obscure EU ships (just obscure EU pilots )

Noor seems really specialized. He'd never be taken unless it was certain the opponent was going to take Phantoms. I know people feel they are unbalanced, but I still doubt they are, at least not enough to craft a rocket-guided silver bullet to deal with them.

Mayn is three points more than a Green Squadron pilot with A-Wing test pilot and Squadron leader?

I'd up Kornair to Range 1-2 or even 1-3. Having to stick at Howlrunner range will severely impair the A-wing's advantage (maneuverability), making a Rookie Pilot far more tempting.

I love them all. I'd totally print them out and play them if I could. Great art too. Where did you get it?

The abilities are really unique and look fun. Though, some perhaps a little niche. They look like great choices for casual play though.

Your points seem fine, you just followed the exact model of the existing A-wings.

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I disagree with changing the Range on Kornair: Let's say you fly Kornair with 3 X-wings. Totally easy. Besides, it just makes it so much more flavorful. I would want to see more Rebel ships with limited range anyway. I think too many of them have very wide synergistic capabilities.

I think Mayn could go down in cost by 1 point: "Squad Leader" does cost an action. I think its a good comparison with Mayn PS7+EPT at 23 and Noor and Arvel.

As for Noor, I think its also a bit too specific. How about: If the defending ship you(Noor) attack would roll 4 or more agility dice, you may take a stress token and have it roll 2 instead.

I love your attention/balance to detail in NOT giving Noor and the others below him an EPT. Love it.

Your biggest problem is giving out abilities that are way too situational. If you look at what unique pilots are successful you'll notice that all of them have abilities that are consistently useful: Wedge always shoots you better, Howlrunner always buffs a few ships, etc. Yours, on the other hand, are often going to be blank text.

Polearm Squadron

There is no possible situation where you will ever use this ship. A green squadron pilot with veteran instincts costs the same but has an extra point of PS. The only way anyone would even consider using it without an EPT is if it costs 19 points or less, and you'd have to take it down to at least 18 to make it competitive.

Dorset Konnair

Perfect example of what I said about situational abilities. You have to take a specific kind of ship and satisfy a very restrictive range limit, and when you do finally meet those conditions you get an incredibly weak bonus. You need to make the condition easier (range 1 of any friendly ship would be much better) and/or make the bonus bigger (free actions, extra firepower, stress removal, etc) to justify all that work.

Tetengo Noor

Again, way too situational. If your opponent didn't bring a phantom it's a blank card, and even when they do his ability isn't all that impressive unless you're setting up a focus + TL proton rocket shot. Plus, there's the difficulty in getting into range 1 of a higher-PS (the only kind worth taking) phantom in the first place. If you're going to have such a situational ability it needs to be a game-changing one when it works. Taking a stress token to remove a cloak token ( without giving the ship a decloak move) would be much more relevant and fit the fluff of having him discover a ship for everyone else to shoot.

Todra Mayn

Not completely terrible, but not very good either. Squad leader isn't a great EPT, and all you've got here is squad leader with a range nerf. If you want to keep the theme of being a leader remove the action requirement and have it trigger a free action when you do something appropriate (green maneuver, when attacking, etc).

General Crespin

This one is still situational, but at least it has an interesting payoff to justify it. I'm not sure about having a PS 8 a-wing ace limited to a situational support ability, but at least it's something that could be interesting to play around with. But maybe it should go to a lower-PS pilot (perhaps replacing the awful PS boost rule) and give Crespin something like "any ship targeted by your attack reduces their agility by 1 against attacks from other ships this round".

Your biggest problem is giving out abilities that are way too situational. If you look at what unique pilots are successful you'll notice that all of them have abilities that are consistently useful: Wedge always shoots you better, Howlrunner always buffs a few ships, etc. Yours, on the other hand, are often going to be blank text.

Polearm Squadron

There is no possible situation where you will ever use this ship. A green squadron pilot with veteran instincts costs the same but has an extra point of PS. The only way anyone would even consider using it without an EPT is if it costs 19 points or less, and you'd have to take it down to at least 18 to make it competitive.

Dorset Konnair

Perfect example of what I said about situational abilities. You have to take a specific kind of ship and satisfy a very restrictive range limit, and when you do finally meet those conditions you get an incredibly weak bonus. You need to make the condition easier (range 1 of any friendly ship would be much better) and/or make the bonus bigger (free actions, extra firepower, stress removal, etc) to justify all that work.

Tetengo Noor

Again, way too situational. If your opponent didn't bring a phantom it's a blank card, and even when they do his ability isn't all that impressive unless you're setting up a focus + TL proton rocket shot. Plus, there's the difficulty in getting into range 1 of a higher-PS (the only kind worth taking) phantom in the first place. If you're going to have such a situational ability it needs to be a game-changing one when it works. Taking a stress token to remove a cloak token ( without giving the ship a decloak move) would be much more relevant and fit the fluff of having him discover a ship for everyone else to shoot.

Todra Mayn

Not completely terrible, but not very good either. Squad leader isn't a great EPT, and all you've got here is squad leader with a range nerf. If you want to keep the theme of being a leader remove the action requirement and have it trigger a free action when you do something appropriate (green maneuver, when attacking, etc).

General Crespin

This one is still situational, but at least it has an interesting payoff to justify it. I'm not sure about having a PS 8 a-wing ace limited to a situational support ability, but at least it's something that could be interesting to play around with. But maybe it should go to a lower-PS pilot (perhaps replacing the awful PS boost rule) and give Crespin something like "any ship targeted by your attack reduces their agility by 1 against attacks from other ships this round".

Howlrunner and Biggs are among the best of ships. Most people who balance and try to make the best things have no balance.

However, I do agree with iPeregrine on some things:

The Polearm Squad can't go down to 18, because that would be basically 1 pt more than the basic prototype at PS1. That would be equivalent of getting +3PS for 1pt.

- Giving it an EPT would simply make it too similar to the Green Squadron. I think its fine at 19 pts and PS4 no EPT. Yes the Green with Vet is 1 PS higher but it also does cost 1 more point.

- This one is a hard one to solve, as there isn't a whole lot more design space here. a PS5 generic with no EPT a bit awkward too. And same as the Green realistically. I think the best option is to leave it as is.

- It easily has a place. For one point less and comparable PS, i think its a fine ship. Can also use 2 EPTs via the A-wing Test Pilot. Something the Green won't be able to do if it takes a Vet Instincts as one.

I agree that Kornair could use a more powerful effect, but I'd keep the range. Say, a free action or a stress removal.

- Adding a red dice just makes it really feel like another X-wing. Again, fly with 3Xs? its great.

- This is a nice list restriction because many lists use X-wings. And its still viable with just 1 X wing, you just have to be good at flying. And A-wings are nimble.

For Noor I would just say as I did above: "When you(Noor) attack, if the defending ship would roll 4 or more agility dice, you may take a stress token and have it roll 2 instead." It will play largely the same, but slightly better.

I agree with iPeregrine for Mayn . You could be a little more creative here. But I like your caution.

I disagree with IPeregrine on Crespin . I think this is an interesting ability that makes for creative flying and list building. Also, I think iPeregrine's is far too powerful and also a bit clunky.

Howlrunner and Biggs are among the best of ships. Most people who balance and try to make the best things have no balance.

Ok, so let's consider Dutch, a pilot most people consider decent but not top-tier. The condition is very easy to satisfy (taking a TL action on a ship that has little need for defensive focus) and the reward is significant (a free action for another ship). This means that if you invest the extra points to take Dutch instead of a generic y-wing you can be pretty confident that you'll get a lot of benefit from those points.

Can also use 2 EPTs via the A-wing Test Pilot. Something the Green won't be able to do if it takes a Vet Instincts as one.

I'm kind of confused here. The proposed polearm a-wing doesn't have an EPT, so you only get one EPT with the test pilot card, the same as a GSP with VI.

And PS 4 with no EPT for 19 points is not a very appealing deal. Generally an EPT is worth more than a point of PS, and if you're going for a PS bid you're probably better off with PS 5 for 20 points than PS 4 for 19 points. It could at least theoretically see some use in rare situations, unlike the 20 point/PS 4/no EPT version, but I don't think it would be very popular.

- This is a nice list restriction because many lists use X-wings. And its still viable with just 1 X wing, you just have to be good at flying. And A-wings are nimble.

But it just doesn't make sense, either in fluff or mechanics. Rules-wise it would be the only card in the game that requires you to take a specific kind of ship, which would make it frustrating when you want to use it in a list that doesn't have room for an x-wing. And fluff-wise it doesn't make any sense at all, what is it about the x-wing specifically that makes this pilot so good at formation flying? If he's some kind of formation specialist shouldn't it work with ANY wingman, not just one specific type of ship?

For Noor I would just say as I did above: "When you(Noor) attack, if the defending ship would roll 4 or more agility dice, you may take a stress token and have it roll 2 instead." It will play largely the same, but slightly better.

Except this becomes really awkward when dealing with ships that aren't phantoms. For example, a TIE interceptor with a stealth device will roll fewer green dice than a TIE interceptor without a stealth device, even though the stealth device is only contributing one green die. A ship that specializes in shutting off stealth upgrades should negate the stealth bonus, not reduce the ship's base agility as a penalty for taking a stealth upgrade.

I disagree with IPeregrine on Crespin . I think this is an interesting ability that makes for creative flying and list building. Also, I think iPeregrine's is far too powerful and also a bit clunky.

I think you're just not analyzing it carefully enough. This ability is just squad leader with a longer range at the expense of only giving one type of free action. You take an action, another ship gets to use a target lock. It's weak for all the usual reasons that squad leader is weak, and it's pretty disappointing for a PS 8 pilot that is supposed to be a top-tier ace.

And yeah, mine is probably not ideal, but it's just something I came up with while writing the post to give some inspiration. You want something that gets a "WOW" reaction, not a subtle variant on a mediocre EPT.

I have to concur with iPeregrine and his analysis of the abilities of these cards. I run A-Wings constantly in my lists, I love them dearly, but I think your cards are still outclassed by the characters we already have.

Polearm (20) vs. Green (19):

I did a simple exercise with these and I think it might prove my problem with the Polearm Squad. Here you go:

Green (19) with Refit (-2), Prototype Title (0), PtL (3), and VI (1) is 21 points total. That gives you two actions at PS5.

Polearm (20) with Rifit (-2), Prototype Title (0), and PtL (3) is 21 points. Still two actions but at PS4.

So with all the stuff you can slather on A-Wings the Polearm sadly just isn't worth it.

Dorset (22)

This one is really hard because I don't usually take X-Wings, I prefer B-Wings as a companion to A-Wings. Even with additional upgrades this guy gets really expensive quickly. Especially when you look at the Green A-Wing build I listed above which moves at PS5 and gets two actions for one point less. Here is my suggestion, instead of having the him gain +1PS from his proximity to an X-Wing what about making it contingent on just having an X-wing in the same squad. Also, +1PS doesn't really mean anything as the area around 5-6 isn't really crowded with pilots. I might push it to +2 or look for some other bonus stat.

Tetengo (23)

Soooooooo, this one is really hard. Between the Pilot Skill (PS6), price, and ability I can't really ever see taking this guy. Instead why not just make it so any enemy within range 1 can't add additional dice to their defensive rolls (this includes dice at range 3, cloaking, and Stealth Devices). Even then this ability is really situational.

Todra (24)

Frankly Cracken does this better and cheaper without sacrificing an action to do it. Not sure how to make this one better but right now it isn't great.

Crespin (25)

This is a simple fix, make it so that any friendly ship with in range 2-3 can use his target lock, full stop. You might have to bump his cost up a bit but that would make him worthwhile.

The one thing I might also suggest is changing Polearm Squadron from a unit to a title. One of the things that I always wish FFG would have added for the A-Wing was the advanced version that allows the laser cannons to swivel to point backwards like they do in the X-Wing books. Basically, add a title that would allow the A-Wing to have a rear firing arc like the Firespray. Add in a sticker with the little dotted lines to the back of the stand. I would love to have that and I think it would add a ridiculous amount of flexibility to the humble A-Wing.

My Two cents.

The one thing I might also suggest is changing Polearm Squadron from a unit to a title. One of the things that I always wish FFG would have added for the A-Wing was the advanced version that allows the laser cannons to swivel to point backwards like they do in the X-Wing books. Basically, add a title that would allow the A-Wing to have a rear firing arc like the Firespray. Add in a sticker with the little dotted lines to the back of the stand. I would love to have that and I think it would add a ridiculous amount of flexibility to the humble A-Wing.

I'm not sure the entirety of Polearm had the swivel-mounts, but Crespin's A-wing did, and I believe he's the only known pilot to have gotten a kill like that, and it's not a bad ability as a pilot trait.

Here's an interesting idea: make the generic one PS 2, no EPT, 17 points. It seems like a free upgrade over the prototype at first glance, but you have to remember that one of the best things about the prototype is being able to block at PS 1. So would you rather have higher PS to shoot earlier, or lower PS to block better?

I hope FFG take note of this post, I really want to play this A-wings, thanks for the job and the search, greettings.

The backwards swiveling guns would be an amazing thing for A-wings. . . you could reallllly take advantage of that 5 straight green + boost with that! I wouldn't mind it even being on just one pilot as his special ability.

I'm not dipping into the ability dithering pool, but I would always pick Konnair strictly so I could lay that card on the table. The Wraith Squadron cover is one of my favorite images for the A-wing.