I have been really excited about rebel aces until I looked at the ships. My A-wing seldom gets used, and people just say out loud, don't bother with a B-wing. But that's what the set includes.

What are your thoughts about it and how do you plan on using it? Just curious!

Keyan Farlander (BWing) lets you remove a stress token and use it as a focus during your attack. That's pretty awesome. Tack on a Heavy Laser Cannon with Opportunity, and send Wes Janson along with Dutch Vander and you have a high chance of a 5-die Target Lock/Focus combo every round.

I haven't thought of any super awesome AWing stuff yet, but I'm wide open to ideas.

chardaan retrofits!!!! yay!!!

I love my a-wings as well (one of my favorite ships) and I harly use them.. sigh. With the retrofits i think I'll be fielding them alot more often. Thinking of a 6 a-wing list..

Charlatan Refit and Prototype Veteran both seem pretty strong, especially since the total cost of both cards is -2!!! That opens some possibilities,

Keep hitting me with your thoughts.

Jake+ refit+PTL+test pilot+ outmaneuver

Gemmer the same minus Outmanuver

Jake Farrel and Keylander are going to be stupid good.

keylander, PTL, HLC.

He's PS7, so should have plenty of movement options to get someone into his fire arc and stay out of enemies. PTL means he can target lock and barrel roll OR focus and always be able to activate his pilot ability in the combat phase. plus he's in a b wing, which is a solid ship. that setup is 39 points, but i think it'll be good in some 3 ship builds

awing stuff is allllll about the chardaan refit. 20 points for a PTL green squad. will be a solid cheap flanker.

I have been really excited about rebel aces until I looked at the ships. My A-wing seldom gets used, and people just say out loud, don't bother with a B-wing. But that's what the set includes.

What are your thoughts about it and how do you plan on using it? Just curious!

For one, half the point of the set is to rejuvenate the A-wing, it's getting lots of new toys that should bring it back into the spotlight...

And two, who has been telling you to not bother with B-wings? Because they have no clue what they're talking about.

I'm just curious as to who is saying "don't bother with a B-wing", and whether they mean 'don't bother re-releasing it with new cards, it's already so good' or 'don't bother getting a B-wing, nobody uses B-wings'.

The former insinuation is a fair assessment but more options are appreciated for a popular ship. The later suggests Osoling is overhearing the rants of crazy people who don't recognize a highly-competitive ship.

I've out off getting either ship in anticipation of aces.

Ok, so the folks at the local game shop are the b-wing naysayers. But, I've got some store credit, I'll be picking one up and trying it out. I kinda want one of each ship anyway. In the lists that I read, you never see folks using the b-wing. What is it under-represented? Do folks use it in your local meta?

Your local store's metagame is weird. The B-wing has been considered a very versatile high-damage workhorse of Rebel squadrons as soon as Wave 3 was released (took a while for people to figure out the HWK and the shuttle).

I recall at the last national tournament, the final game was played using 2 X-wings & 2 B-wings VS 2 X-wings and 2 B-wings. It's supplanted the Y-wing from many lists and I certainly see it come up a lot on this forum.

So, I just learned that Vassel exists. As soon as the kids get out of the pool, I will be investigating that and trying these things out. I'll add B-wings to my box directly. Now, if there were only more Z-95s to be found.

B wing is great, for 1 point more, you get a slightly more survivable ship than the X wing, but a much more predictable ship as far as life... Plus you get the BR, which is great, 1 speed turns, and the systems upgrade slot... Great stuff. Ibby is a great pilot even if her cost is slightly high, though with W4, I expect her to be popping up quite a bit now that the cost can either be helped by putting her in a stronger 3 ship build (w/ E wing) or the list filled out with Z-95s to keep the ship count up. Ten I'm not convinced is that great, but I can see more and more of a case being made for him (Etahn comes to mind... especially vs. high agility targets like those pesky phantoms and interceptors).

And then Keyan is going to be awesome, and oh so very versatile. You're almost better off putting something like Predator on him and using the dial to self stress since there's so much red... But I'm sure plenty of people will be putting PTL on him anyways, though imo it defeats his purpose a bit (you won't always want to BR, so you'll be TL+F in order to stress, so you can remove the stress via his ability, leaving a F for defense on a 1agi ship... not that great of a use imo).

And that's not touching on the A wings yet. The double EPT is going to be better than the -2 cost imo, but the -2 brings it inline since most good EPTs cost 2-3 points. I have been in the camp that A wings require PTL, but with the release of predator, I believe they can get away with that as a substitute, it's not perfect, but it might work to open up the dial abit. But now you can do so many things (including using Expose for an actual benefit... whether it's worth the 4 points is still debatable, but at least your expected damage increases) that you couldn't before. Still wondering how DTF + Determination interact, I'm not 100% sure the proper order.

Ok, so the folks at the local game shop are the b-wing naysayers. But, I've got some store credit, I'll be picking one up and trying it out. I kinda want one of each ship anyway. In the lists that I read, you never see folks using the b-wing. What is it under-represented? Do folks use it in your local meta?

B-wings are everywhere in most local metagames--in southwest Michigan, where I played until recently, there were literally 1-2 in every Rebel list for months. And I'm sure they'll be a huge proportion of Rebel points spent at Nationals and Worlds this year.

Basically, anywhere you would use a generic X-wing and an extra point, you can substitute a B-wing for a small gain in durability and a huge gain in positioning. If you have a few more extra points, you can add a Fire Control System or Advanced Sensors for action economy and sneaky maneuvering tricks, respectively.

Ok, so the folks at the local game shop are the b-wing naysayers. But, I've got some store credit, I'll be picking one up and trying it out. I kinda want one of each ship anyway. In the lists that I read, you never see folks using the b-wing. What is it under-represented? Do folks use it in your local meta?

Not sure what's up with your local meta, but it's generally accepted to be one of the strongest rebel ships. The generic pilots anyway, the named pilots are both pricey and situational in their abilities...

But anyway, with their dial(2-k turn, 1 and 2 hards) making them incredibly manueverable up close, their durability, firepower and customizability through the Systems Upgrade slot they're hard to beat.

And then Keyan is going to be awesome, and oh so very versatile. You're almost better off putting something like Predator on him and using the dial to self stress since there's so much red... But I'm sure plenty of people will be putting PTL on him anyways, though imo it defeats his purpose a bit (you won't always want to BR, so you'll be TL+F in order to stress, so you can remove the stress via his ability, leaving a F for defense on a 1agi ship... not that great of a use imo).

Opportunist, my friend... Opportunist.

And then Keyan is going to be awesome, and oh so very versatile. You're almost better off putting something like Predator on him and using the dial to self stress since there's so much red... But I'm sure plenty of people will be putting PTL on him anyways, though imo it defeats his purpose a bit (you won't always want to BR, so you'll be TL+F in order to stress, so you can remove the stress via his ability, leaving a F for defense on a 1agi ship... not that great of a use imo).

Opportunist, my friend... Opportunist.

Opportunist on Keyan just screams at the (smart) opponent to not spend his token, then you're left with a 3 dice (or 4 with HLC) and no "focus" to modify. I'm sure it'll get PLENTY of use like that, but I'm unsure that it'll be a competitive us of 33-40 points.

Green Squadron Pilot + Refit + Test Pilot + Outmaneuver + Predator = 23 points

I think this ship will see a lot of play in my squads. It is quite possibly the best flanker in the Rebel Alliance arsenal.

I plan to use massive amounts of A-wings with chardaan refit and various double EPT configurations

The B-wing half doesn't interest me much (why the B-wing anyway? they were already good) and I might sell off the extras so I can buy more prototype A-wing models and chardaan refits

Keyan with push the limit seems like the most generally cost effective setup for him

B-Wings are still and always going to be awesome. The B-Wing upgrades actually just add more options to ship that needed nothing. Granted the new crew and B-Wing pilot rock, but it wasn't the playerbase's priority.

A-Wings on the other hand.... oh boy! The A Wing will now be the cheapest rebel option for an EPT at 15 (with the refit). Additionally it'll be the only ship to have 2 EPTs. this opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Consider a list like this for example:

Look at this:

B-Wings are still and always going to be awesome. The B-Wing upgrades actually just add more options to ship that needed nothing. Granted the new crew and B-Wing pilot rock, but it wasn't the playerbase's priority.

A-Wings on the other hand.... oh boy! The A Wing will now be the cheapest rebel option for an EPT at 15 (with the refit). Additionally it'll be the only ship to have 2 EPTs. this opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Consider a list like this for example:

Look at this:

Green Squadron Pilot + A-Wing Test Pilot + Chardaan Refit + Push the Limit + Outmaneuver (23)

Green Squadron Pilot + A-Wing Test Pilot + Chardaan Refit + Push the Limit + Outmaneuver (23)

Etahn A'baht + Advanced Sensors (35)

Airen Cracken (19)

Plus we've got proton rockets that make their way into the game - which are awesome!

You can't have a EPT at 15. The prototype can't have the veteran. Ps is too low

Still the cheapest rebel option at 17. Black Squadron is still cheaper at 14, and Blount ties it at 17... But there's only 1 of him.

Also, if you put any faith in the idea of the Z-95 swarm, the Prototype swarm might be even better.

For 3 more points than a Bandit you get an extra evade dice, a better action bar, and a better dial (although the Z-95 has the advantage of a 1 straight).

I'm probably going to enter my first tournament post Rebel Aces, and I'm looking forward to the comments I'll get bringing an all A-Wing list. Even more so if I can actually win a game or two with them.

I'll probably run some all A wing lists once the aces pack comes out. Will be interesting I think it sure will be fast.