I have been doing my own processing for the upcoming release of Rebel Aces to the general public. I am super excited for the ship date (hopefully I will have aces in hand in a matter of weeks). That being said, the first list I am apt to try out in light of Aces will be the following:

Tycho w/ PTL, Outmaneuver, Test Pilot, Refit

Green Squadron w/ Predator, Refit

Green Squadron w/ Predator, Refit

Blue Squadron w/ HLC

Initiate the game in a diamond formation with Tycho in the lead. His goal is K turn behind the jousters. Green Squadrons can operate in pairs or independently since Predator gives them a "soft" PTL effect. Blue hangs in the back and covers the field with firepower four.

I also think this Han is going to be a pretty fearsome build:

Han w/ PTL, Katarn, C3PO, EU, Falcon Title

Season to Taste (Tarn and R7 + Bandint and ordnance, etc)

After turn one, Han is getting three actions, plus his faux target lock ability. Super slippery with EU and two evades with all the firepower advantages of focus and pilot ability!

Im up for giving this a try.

My initial 'get in' to xwing was my idea to have a three or four a wing squadron and leave it at that (yeah i know.... like i was ever going to 'leave it at that'), then i found out how fragile A wings are and reluctancly moved to XXA or XXAA

I think the refit is going to make A wings so much more reasonable. I've never put missiles on them so far as it just seems like a waste of points before munitions failsafe came out

Gadge, remember, A-Wings that use an evade token have essentially just matched an x-wing for durability, but they have 3 base defense dice. A green with PtL cost only 1 more point than a rookie X-Wing (or 1 point less with refit) and can choose to be either more durabile (Focus + evade) or more offensive (target lock + focus). If you really want to turn A-Wings into X-Wings you can use Test pilot, refit, expose, and PtL for 24 points. You're essentially paying 2 points for a better dial and better green dice on demand over the X.

As for the main squad, I'd probably drop the HLC on the blue to pickup test pilot and PtL on the 2 green squadrons. If you're going to go all in w/ A-Wings, might as well go ALL in

Good advice, i'll give it a try.

Endgame, my only issue with that option is that you end up losing on offense. The Bwing + HLC really makes an opponent's choices difficult. If they run and gun for it, they'll be eating some pretty good shots from offensive Awings. If they ignore it, then they have to deal with a big gun. In this list, I want them to bullseye the muscle, so the interceptors have a chance to get in close and behind. The Bwing has the toughness to hang in there for a few turns (especially if I slow play it in).

I like where your head is at. It reminds me of a triple Interceptor build.

My concern would be damage output. I get nervous as A Wings seem to go off the same grace as an Interceptor..ie Don't let them hit you. In the chance that they do hit you, it doesn't take much to bring them down.

However, having the A Wings as flankers can really disrupt a formation and force your opponent to deal with two different angles of attack, keeping him from either focus firing, or drawing a bead on your whole force.

In my most humble opinion, I'd do AA, with Tycho of course leading the charge into the Frizzle, and the B Wing sounds awesome. If you took out one of the A's, that gives you....20 points? Hmm....that's a hard one. Honestly......I'd try and do BBAA, and drop the HLC and do 2 B Wings....that's 47 to split between the two, so two Blue's, one with adv sensors?

I'd roll them in together one way, and swing the 2 A's around the other. Make them wingmen teams. Kind of thematic.

If that breaks the list, I feel like a Bandit with a missile and then upgrading the B Wing would be the way to go. I don't like leaving something like a small base alone on entry, as I would, as an Empire player, probably try to overrun the B wing and drop him quick, before breaking into a rat race with the A's, or as a lame move, send my whole force into the flank to meet the A's while the B Wing tries to catch up. If I could down the A's or hurt them before the B can join the fray, I'd be in good shape to rush the Cannon hundred year war style.

I know offense is going to be the problem with the A's. That's why I love Predator and Outmaneuver on them. Once Tycho gets behind, he can stay behind TIEs for a long time. Predator actually makes them so effective against TIEs and gives the greens the "soft" PTL effect. They can now boost, evade or focus without losing too much offense efficacy. Outmaneuver is scary on Tycho + PTL. Not only is he going to get rerolls and focus, now the enemy target is at -1 agility!

Starting formation is key. I would try to start in a diamond, so the Awings are presented first, racing in, while the Bwing comes in behind the screen blasting the lead elements of the enemy. I definitely wouldn't fly the Bwing without escort. If anything, I could deploy an Awing on a flank and then race him back to the main force before the enemy can effectively react. They have the speed to do that.

Endgame, my only issue with that option is that you end up losing on offense. The Bwing + HLC really makes an opponent's choices difficult. If they run and gun for it, they'll be eating some pretty good shots from offensive Awings. If they ignore it, then they have to deal with a big gun. In this list, I want them to bullseye the muscle, so the interceptors have a chance to get in close and behind. The Bwing has the toughness to hang in there for a few turns (especially if I slow play it in).

If you're going to isolate the B-Wing from the A-Wings, I'd consider potentially swapping things around for a Lone Wolf Luke. As it stands, If I were your opponent and you were running just the one HLC b-wing, I'd try to gun it down in a single turn and then deal with the A-Wings. Lone wolf Luke is extremely annoying to hit with the defensive rerolls along with converting one eyeball to an evade per attack. You'd lose some long range power from the HLC but gain more durability.

Maybe something like this?

Tycho, Test Pilot, Refit, PTL, outmaneuver

Green, Test Pilot, Refit, PTL, outmaneuver

Prototype

Luke, Lone Wolf, R3 A2.

This would give you a stress generator to help make your opponent more predictable to get the best use out of outmaneuver which you're adding to a second ship. You pickup a Prototype blocker that, when using Target Lock, will rack up hits ever so slightly better than a predator green while being cheaper.

If you want more offense, you could change luke to wedge, leaving you a point to use elsewhere. That would give you fairly comparable firepower to the HLC Blue with, IMO, still more durability and a much higher PS.