Been playing some games using proxy in place for some rebel ace pilots and upgrades.

For example, Tycho with test pilot, daredevil, and push the limit is pretty crazy he can do a 225 degree turn which Echo can't do.

Had this used against me and in the one game he was very hard to get shots on.

I've been drawing a bit of a blank myself lately when list building, and threw this together using rebel aces.

Farlander

Hlc

Opportunist

Advanced sensors

Biggs

Hull upgrade

Wes

This had some pretty good results for my first two games, though I lost my second one.

The first game was against another three ship rebel build and won without taking any loses.

The second was a tie swarm, though I lost he only had two ships left.

Had one dice rolled differently the game may have ended differently.

(with 4 ties left Wes shoots does two dmg, farlander follows up and with 5 dice rolls 2 hits 3 blanks.,then he died because of that one tie)

I thought for a 3 ship build this seemed pretty strong

So I played around with the list builder and came up with this

Wedge

Stay on target

Farlander

Hlc

PtL

EU

EU

Blue Squadron

Fcs.

Now I know it's a lot of points on one bwing and the idea is keep the blue in front, which still leaves you with a highly mobile bwing hopefully able to dodge arcs.

Use his stress to focus

And then there is wedge who nobody likes usually to see across from them with an upgrade that increases his mobility to either keep on someone or get out of the way, and can also deal with Phantoms.

Another idea

Jake

Outmaneuver

Proton rockets

Test pilot

Push the limit

Farlander

Push the limit

Hlc

Biggs

Hull upgrade

Idea here I'm thinking is keep biggs with farlander.

Send the awing to flank.

Opponent has to choose which to go for. If he goes towards the X,b, he has the a coming up from behind, and if he goes for the a then he still has to deal with biggs and farlander.

I haven't tried these two yet but hopefully in the next week or two.

Had anyone tried something like this?

How did you find it if so?

So back to my original point is, will we see some strong three ship come back?

Imo it seems that three ship builds were not as popular as it once was once upon a time ago.

Thoughts?

Edit

Just notice the title of this thread says population and was suppose to be popular.

That's what I get doing this in my smart phone after 12 beer at 2 am lol)

Sad truth is 3 ship lists can't afford to lose a ship as much as a larger list, but will lose a ship.that's the sad tough part of lust building right now, so many expensive ships and great pilot abilities, but you need to field enough to survive

Keyan is such a solid pilot I don't doubt that he might make 3 small ship Rebel lists possible. With all the new ships, pilots, and upgrades, some of the old squad building concepts are changing, such as "more ships instead of more upgrades". Phantoms and C3P0 and whatnot are creating lots of new scenarios, and in general, you fly against less swarms than before, and if you do, you are likely flying a pilot that can handle that list. That being said, what will make the difference is the amount of flexibility your squad provides. More boosts and barrel rolls and decloaks mean more chances to out play your opponent and not rely on dice as much. Biggs certainly is a pilot that lets you out play people as well.

Just some random rambling thoughts

That's why I like having biggs in there or something else and use for fodder, as in make my opponent attack it instead of something else.

But with high ps you can lay on some hurt hopefully early game and if you lose biggs he is down ships as well, making it harder for him to kill your heavy hitters.

And I do agree that three ships tends to leave you at a disadvantage one you lose a ship.

But still I wonder if we may see some again

I was running Wedge Wes and Biggs for a while. I find that yes, while the list is overall fairly vulnerable, the hurt that Wes and Wedge can put out before the enemy can shut them down can be decisive. Essentially you are on a time limit though, to do as much damage as possible before Biggs falls.

Keyan can't hurt 3 ship viability, but I still don't think it's going to be viable compared to 4 ships.

I normally don't like using X-wing generics, but this list looks like the most terrifying 4-ship rebel build I have seen yet:

Keyan + Veteran Instincts + Advanced Sensors

Biggs

2x Rookie Pilot

Once heading into combat, Keyan pulls a red maneuver every turn, activating Advanced Sensors first to grab a Target Lock. so he has TL + F on every attack every round. Even better, he can ram into people to prevent them from shooting him, while still retaining his double action.

Biggs stays in back and keeps the aggro off the other 3 cannons.

Edit

Just notice the title of this thread says population and was suppose to be popular.

That's what I get doing this in my smart phone after 12 beer at 2 am lol)

If you didnt point that out i would not have noticed

I think 3 ship bulids are population agian . I find i have more luck with them any way.

Because most Rebel ships are rather heavy on the point cost I find 3 ship builds to be rather common. Especially if they are flying the falcon.

Edit

Just notice the title of this thread says population and was suppose to be popular.

That's what I get doing this in my smart phone after 12 beer at 2 am lol)

If you didnt point that out i would not have noticed

I think 3 ship bulids are population agian . I find i have more luck with them any way.

See, I don't think 3 rebels is enough to be considered a population.

As far as 3 ship builds, I'm not a fan. They're too temperamental. One ship rolling poorly can swing the game drastically, and I just don't trust my dice to be kind. I'd rather give them a chance to average out (or shame me repeatedly--whatever the case may be).

That said, I think Farlander will be a good candidate for 3 ship builds. With Adv Sensors and Stay on Target his whole dial becomes red and he still gets to do an action. He'll be pretty slippery indeed.

I like Jake Farrell a lot too, but I don't think he fits in well with a 3-ship build. He's got to have proton rockets so he can hope to even the odds pretty early. But after that, he just doesn't have the dice to bring ships down fast enough.

I always equip my a-wings with out maneuver, it helps mitigate the low dice issue somewhat.

I'm liking this one:

Wedge + Predator

Corran + PtL

Biggs + Hull Upgrade

thoughts?

I always equip my a-wings with out maneuver, it helps mitigate the low dice issue somewhat.

Kind of balances it out.

That's why in one of the builds I lists I have Jake with proton rockets with outmaneuver.

That initial strike will hurt and if he's ignored after that he'll become a pain.

If my opponent decides to chase him then he has farlander on the other side.

I think we will see some pretty strong three ship builds again

Yes if you lose one your at a disadvantage, but since they usually have a good high ps, they can hopefully decrease the amount of return fire.

Plus if they are maneuverable enough to dodge arcs can be quite troublesome late game even after losing a ship

Biggs is always nice cause he keeps the MVPs alive

As I mentioned I did alright against a tie swarm and was a close game.

I know I can beat it with what I had, so if three ships can do well against 7 that's alright in my books

I was running Wedge Wes and Biggs for a while. I find that yes, while the list is overall fairly vulnerable, the hurt that Wes and Wedge can put out before the enemy can shut them down can be decisive. Essentially you are on a time limit though, to do as much damage as possible before Biggs falls.

I used to run that, but ended up swapping out Biggs for Luke. You're vulnerable even with Biggs, why not add an extra high PS Opportunist? He can also actually add late game survivability.

Wedge + R2 and Opportunist

Wes + VI

Luke + Opportunist and R2D2.

Try it and I promise you won't be disappointed.

I've been theorycrafting about a B-Wing version of this as well, but haven't actually put the ships on the table:

Wes + Predator

Farlander + Opportunist and Advanced Sensors

Ibitsam + Opportunist

I was running Wedge Wes and Biggs for a while. I find that yes, while the list is overall fairly vulnerable, the hurt that Wes and Wedge can put out before the enemy can shut them down can be decisive. Essentially you are on a time limit though, to do as much damage as possible before Biggs falls.

A friend runs a VI Wes to strip the defense, Opportunist Wedge to lay the hurt on and a recon spec Katarn to make sure Wedge is focused and TLed when he fires. Tough build..but fragile.

I found that Wes (VI), Wedge, and Biggs work very well until the dice go cold. I have been running a 4-ship variation with great success against Phantoms+mini swarm and Fat/Dual Falcons.

#stressbotV2.2

Wes+VI+ R3-A2 (32)

Wedge. (29)

Biggs+R2-D6+ Determination (27)

Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)

I know it is not a 3-ship list, but it is a competitive one that uses the strengths of the three named pilots and exploits your opponent's ability to choose things for himself. This list can lose, horribly, when the dice fail, so I'm not going to say that it is the most perfect build of all time. However, when the dice are mild-to-hot this list becomes pretty savage.

Edit: A survivable 3-ship is difficult with only 2 Defense dice per ship but after Experimental Interface is released, Biggs+EI+R2-F2 (31) will help dodge a few more shots than usual.

When EI does get released I cannot wait to try

#StressbotForever

Wes+VI+ R3-A2 (32)

Wedge+Opportunist+R2-D2 (37)

Biggs+EI+R2-F2 (31)

That's why I try not to rely on dice.

I've been playing imperials a lot lately, and really like their movement and arc dodging.

Which is why I went with engine upgrade on the bwing in one of my builds.

To be able to boost and barrel roll to get out of the way increases it's survival rate, and wedge with stay on target, same idea.

If I can move, not get shot at, yet keep the pressure on my opponent will be in a bad position day, well that's the idea.

Always easier said than done

Looks like a lot of fun, can't wait to try this

and no one comments on my list. Is it that horrible?

I'm thinking to run Kyle Katarn in the HWK, Farlander in the B-Wing, and Jake Farrel in the A-Wing. I'm not a Rebel player but I think that'll have some nice synergy.

I'm liking this one:

Wedge + Predator

Corran + PtL

Biggs + Hull Upgrade

thoughts?

Considering Corran's ability of attacking twice, I think he would be better served by FCS or predator to help modify his follow up attacks.

Maybe consider R5 astro on Biggs to negate ship crits in addition to the hull upgrade.

I'm liking this one:

Wedge + Predator

Corran + PtL

Biggs + Hull Upgrade

thoughts?

Keyan can't hurt 3 ship viability, but I still don't think it's going to be viable compared to 4 ships.

I normally don't like using X-wing generics, but this list looks like the most terrifying 4-ship rebel build I have seen yet:

Keyan + Veteran Instincts + Advanced Sensors

Biggs

2x Rookie Pilot

Once heading into combat, Keyan pulls a red maneuver every turn, activating Advanced Sensors first to grab a Target Lock. so he has TL + F on every attack every round. Even better, he can ram into people to prevent them from shooting him, while still retaining his double action.

Biggs stays in back and keeps the aggro off the other 3 cannons.

Can Keyan spend the stress even if he doesn't roll an eye? If he can't then this isn't that good, if he can then this will be the next list I run. Good work!

He can. Technically, he's spending it to modify zero eye icons.

He can. Technically, he's spending it to modify zero eye icons.

Correct, he can always spend the stress even when rolling zero dice, i.e. with blinded pilot.

Woah. That makes him one of the most maneuverable ships in the game. I would probably try to put him in a 4-5 ship rebel build though.

Keyan AS

Goldie IT

Rookie

2 bandits

Hits pretty hard, tons of bonking and ioning board control.

He can. Technically, he's spending it to modify zero eye icons.

Correct, he can always spend the stress even when rolling zero dice, i.e. with blinded pilot.

Is this definitive? I know I'm going to get challenged.