Ok so there are lots of threads about how good TIE Defenders and Phantoms are. But not so much traffic on the Z-95 and the E-Wing.

My questions are:-

Is a Z-95 swarm a good strategy? how would you kit one out? I only have the one Z-95, is it only worth flying it if it is part of a swarm? how do you keep them alive long enough to do some damage with them?

Is the E-wing over priced points wise? (its 2 hull value baffles me) how do you kit them out to get the most out of them? Is it all about Corran Horn? or do you fly them naked? Is it more about how they are flown?

Is it better to stick with X-wings, Y-wings and B-wings?

In the games I've seen, A-Wings, E-wings and Z-95's seem to get picked off because their lower hull value makes them tempting targets, thus they seem to die rather quickly. Maybe my opponent was flying them like X-wings, but he hit three of my TIE's with an assault missile and I still won fairly comfortably and I wasn't flying like a genius to say the least (one of my TIE's was killed by an asteroid) I don't think it was the dice gods either. To be clear I am not beating on them (not much anyway), I'm just not sure as to how to use them effectively.

I'm an Imperial player through and through, but I want to be able to give a few tips, we only play for fun and its better to have a closer game so any answers to any of the above questions will be greatly appreciated :-)

I play with the z95's on occasion and they are really weak even with shields they go down much faster than tie fighters, the unique pilots for the headhunter are pretty good especially Airen Cracken but keep away from traffic or they go pop fast.

I've gotten in the habit of entirely ignoring Z-95s (except to arc-dodge them) in favor of taking down any Falcons or Xs first. Even when flown in a swarm, without a Howlrunner effect (Etahn kind of works, but not as well) it's just not as good.

They are 12pts; you shouldn't be expecting them to last.

I'm still finding my feet with Z95s, it seems to be that the 'cheap masses' approach is best as for the cost of a tooled up x wing you can field three generics and if you can keep them in formation you're throwing 6 dice out at most ranges compared to that 3 off the x wing.

Comparing to TIE/ln you're pushing out the same hit dice but you're facing better mobility, obviously the trade off is that extra 'hit point'

Only recently i've got an e-wing and i'm struggling to find a reason to field it instead of say a B wing.

It is my completely unscientific belief that they seem to die quicker than TIE fighters... which is counter intuitive if you think about it. Glad I'm not going mad. Maybe its their dial?

Any ideas on the E-wing?

When i first unboxed the e wing i was sort of 'wow this is cool, why haven't i considered this before' (and the answer would be im not that into post GCW stuff)

Then i looked at the price of them for a 2 hull point ship and it made sense.

I might try them out a bit.

I've started using A wings to race around the table edge and try and 'hit and run' from the flank and rear. I can see e wings being a little more hard hitting at this and better at dodging about but i still feel A wings are a better option (two cheap ones) for doing that... more so with chardan refits.

I love my Headhunters, can't wait for the Most Wanted set to come out to get a few more. Since I catered my Rebel list towards a Smugglers Alliance fleet of older, obsolete units anyway, I've turned to the z95 as a viable X-wing alternative. You have to use at least two as a wing pair to get a decent effect, but they work as well as TIEs for blocking and damage. Add in a couple of assault missiles and you can make swarms scared; anytime you can dictate your opponent's movement you have an edge.