I notice that there are a lot of talented and beautiful ladies working for the Galactic Empire. No more Wookie-snugglin' for me, I'm flying for the Empire from now on...

More seriously, it seems like the Empire has a much better gender balance than Rebels, especially considering many of their top aces are female - including my favorite pilot, Whisper, which most consider to be a woman. So awesome! I really really like cards with portraits.

Ysanne looks like Rogue. Or Sookie Stackhouse.

Ruthelesness looks a little like Juno Eclipse.... which just makes me go ZOMG ZOMG will they do Force Unleashed stuff>!>!>!

Fleet Officer reminds me of Allison Haninghan and the bint from Ruthlessness could interrogate me all she wanted.

You realize there's a Trandoshan there, too, right? They might always work as a pair.

Not a fan of bob cuts, but hey that's awesome.

Now, the officer in ruthlessness... Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo boy... that's...

That's just naughty, folks.

Yeah, that expression. Not attractive at all. More terrifying and stay away from me psycho territory.

My friend Nat looks dead like Howlrunner.

Yeah, that expression. Not attractive at all. More terrifying and stay away from me psycho territory.

Which is oddly fitting.

Where were this pics from, the RPG? And did they show Echo or Whisper, both who are female?

haha, she's in 'it's complicated' phase at the moment

I'd put a pic up but i dont think its fair without her consent.

She's actually grown the bob cut out a lot now but when i met her she looked exactly like howlrunner does in that pic.

Where were this pics from, the RPG? And did they show Echo or Whisper, both who are female?

The Howlrunner pic is a card from the new Armada game. Someone snapped this at GenCon and the image has been circulating. I guess her squadron comes with the core set...?

I'd like to get a better print of the Howlrunner portrait to put on my X-Wing box. I play Howlrunner pretty regularly. I just love the expression and the bangs... Such a cool ace pilot!

I also hope we get portraits and/or backgrounds on Echo and Whisper at some point...

And hopefully we'll get more females aces for the Rebels too. I mean, the dudes with mustaches are funny and all, but I want to fly more bad@ss female pilots. Maybe S&V will have better options...

Shhwing! If she was a bounty hunter, she would be "Babe-a Fett." "If she was a Sith lord, she would be Darth Babe-r."

"Yeah, if she was a Rebel pilot, her ship would be a shh-wing!"

Its cool how her armada 'bonus' mirrors her xwing bonus. Clearly there must be some thought into 'swtiching between scales' going on here and continuity.

*swoon*

The actress that portrayed her in the Jedi Knight cutscenes is a knockout.

We've had this discussion a number of times. Last time, before Wave 5 was spoiled, the Reb's were ahead by 1 or 2 female cards.

I think with Wave 5 it puts the Empire ahead by like 1. So it's pretty evenly balanced.

We've had this discussion a number of times. Last time, before Wave 5 was spoiled, the Reb's were ahead by 1 or 2 female cards.

I think with Wave 5 it puts the Empire ahead by like 1. So it's pretty evenly balanced.

Fair enough, but I count named pilot as more interesting than supporting crew.

I think the Empire surely wins for female named pilots, right...? Howlrunner, Whisper (assumption), Kath Scarlet. Others...?

Are there any named Rebel pilots that are female?

I hope this trend isn't repeating the sad and stupid history of Lucas actively cutting female pilots out of the movies.

I think the Empire surely wins for female named pilots, right...?

No.

You have Howlrunner and Kath. We don't actually know the gender of either Phantom pilot. Echo has been referred to as both he and she in official articles. Whisper has never been refereed to with a gender based pronoun that I know of.

So Imperial side you have 2 pilots.

Rebel side, you have Jan Ors, Ibtisam and Nera Dantels, giving the Good Guys 3 lady pilots.

"Echo" is totes a chick bro.

No he's not, and here's the proof. For the record if I had to have a preference I'd prefer one of the Phantom pilots were female... But honestly I don't care.

From A New Imperial Protocol by Doug Kinny

Veteran Instincts gets “Whisper” up to a pilot skill value of “9,” further helping to ensure he will attack first, and Sensor Jammer will further increase his survivability.

Ctrl+f finds no instance of She.

In "Echo" by Neil Amswych in the section before Neil's part, written by someone at FFG you have this...

Today, guest writer Neil Amswych (“The Tusken Tactician”) takes a closer look at one of these pilots, “Echo,” and the ways that he may revolutionize how your games of X-Wing are fought and won.

Then Neil goes on to say this...

Because he uses the bank “2” template instead of the straight “2” template, he can decloak to any of six different locations, enabling him to end his maneuver at any of a dizzying array of ninety final possible locations.

Again the word She does not show up in that article.

Finally from Cloaked in Battle we have

and “Echo,” who must use the “2” bank template when he decloaks, has a pilot skill value of “6.”

And for the 3rd strike, again no instance of She.

There is in fact no article on the FFG page that I can find that refers to either Echo or Whisper as a she. There was one I remember seeing it, but it looks like FFG edited it. So clearly both Echo and Whisper are males, unless there's something out there I haven't seen or missed.

Edit: Even if Echo or Whisper were a woman, it would still only tie the Rebel's in named female pilots.

Yeah the FAQ.

So we have 1 FAQ vs 3 articles, with about 6+ references to Echo as a He.

There is in fact no article on the FFG page that I can find that refers to either Echo or Whisper as a she. There was one I remember seeing it, but it looks like FFG edited it. So clearly both Echo and Whisper are males, unless there's something out there I haven't seen or missed.

This really sucks...

The overall gender imbalance in X-Wing (and the original Star Wars movies) is totally lame.

This is one area that Warmachine / Hordes shines in - a lot of the best casters, solos, and units are ladies.

Hmmm

Fleet Officer - Good girl

Ruthlessness chick - Bad giiiirrrrrrlll

I like the fleet officer and I like the Ruthlessness chick, but which ones better, there's only one way to find out....FIGHT!!!!!

If you are a fan of Harry Hill you will get that very quickly lol

**** I know the Empire has a bit of a bad rep with employing women in the ranks but when they do, wow

The overall gender imbalance in X-Wing (and the original Star Wars movies) is totally lame.

I agree, but Lucas did break a few boundaries in regards to gender. Leia was not a typical female character for the time.

**** I know the Empire has a bit of a bad rep with employing women in the ranks but when they do, wow

Yeah, it's almost like you have to be attractive to get ahead in the Empire if your a woman...

There is in fact no article on the FFG page that I can find that refers to either Echo or Whisper as a she. There was one I remember seeing it, but it looks like FFG edited it. So clearly both Echo and Whisper are males, unless there's something out there I haven't seen or missed.

This really sucks...

The overall gender imbalance in X-Wing (and the original Star Wars movies) is totally lame.

This is one area that Warmachine / Hordes shines in - a lot of the best casters, solos, and units are ladies.

WTF does this matter? Maybe save your social justice crusade for something that isnt a fantasy game set far far away and long long ago.

"Echo" is totes a chick bro.

From the FFG FAQ which is official documentation right. Ergo she's got bresticles.

Mind blown! FFG/Star Wars the first pro transgender gaming system.

FFG/Star Wars the first pro transgender gaming system.

Either the FAQ is typo, or else "Echo" and "Whisper" are actually code names used by who ever happens to be flying those ships.