If you are not impressed by Keyan, you haven't used him with advanced sensors yet. It makes him a close quarters combat master and very accurate with his firepower. Being able to 1 hard turn after turn with the appropriate barrel rolls will help deal with getting left behind, like the opportunist/hlc version does.

I actually have had a lot of luck with Keyan so far, as well as the 2 A-wing pilots. Chaardaan refit is an autotake unless yo uuse missiles which I kinda don't like (autotakes are always bad no matter the game system). I run Keyan+autoblaster+BW/2+advancedsensors+C3PO. It works for me.

He has loads of potential, but the learning curve with him will minimize what he will be able to do until people learn his usefulness.

Secondly, sounds like all you were just lining up and jousting over and over. This is not a good general strategy in X-Wing. Generally in fact when I hear people talk about the initial pass and all that, I think you could be flying better, as the game should not have to devolve into pass after pass.

In almost any game, jousting will favor one side or the other. I love when I know I have a mathematical advantage and my opponent accepts the joust anyway.

Which is exactly why the game should hardly ever devolve into both sides just making pass after pass, yet so many people describe their game as such.

I've been running him with VI and advance sensors. Advance sensors is great on a b wing already and it gets pretty abusive with keyan. I've played three games with him and ran him with wedge and they've performed exceptionally. Actually I haven't lost a ship yet, but my foes weren't necessarily bringing their best scariest lists either.

I have to say that overall, I am not THAT impressed with Rebel Aces as a whole.

Sounds eerily like the general reaction to Imperial Aces . . .

I have to say that overall, I am not THAT impressed with Rebel Aces as a whole.

Sounds eerily like the general reaction to Imperial Aces . . .

Although for rebel aces that was sort of the idea right? Make a wings playable and b wings more diverse. Not necessarily better

I love that with each expansion there still isn't a sure fire ZOMG ship/pilot (apart from fat han, but lets not devolve into a moan about C3PO).

I tried farlander with opportunist and HLC, along wes and 2 a wings with chardaan refits. Did alright, though only got to use opportunist once, which 1 shotted back stabber (I had a target lock and was stressed but rolled a natural 5 hits, typical right?).

B wings are tanks, 8 hit points with agility 1, they're gonna take damage when shot, yet you aren't relying on green dice as much as on an A wing or any class of TIE.

I much prefer 15 point A wings over 12 point headhunters (probably as I'm primarily an imperial player and most rebel ships feel too slow to me), lying smack bang inbetween a tie and an interceptor (cost wise anyway).

Farlander is basically a slightly better Ibitsam, thats all. You still need to be able to get the most out of a B wing's dial, and plan your moves properly. No point k turning for a stress so you can shoot with a 'focus' if your opponent's ships all get out of the way.

I have to say that overall, I am not THAT impressed with Rebel Aces as a whole. I will preface my next statements by stating I did buy 2 sets of Rebel Aces, and will buy two more... because I love X-Wing and HAVE to have them! Intervention anyone?

You are doing fine, no need for an intervention.

Problem one, your expectations. Nothing about him makes him tougher than the average B-Wing (which aren't all that tough to begin with), that's not his thing. You said you were consistently getting 4 hits; that's his thing. You just need to build around him better.

So that is why almost everyone fields B-Wings over Rookies, because they aren't tough?

As an Imperial player I beg to differ, those B's can take a pounding and still bring the pain.

I dunno last game I played I dealt eight damage to a b-wing in one turn, it's tough but not indestructible.

I have to say that overall, I am not THAT impressed with Rebel Aces as a whole. I will preface my next statements by stating I did buy 2 sets of Rebel Aces, and will buy two more... because I love X-Wing and HAVE to have them! Intervention anyone?

Yes, there are great model repaints in there, which I love. Yes, there are great cards there in Chardaan Refit and Proton Rockets. But these cards were more like 'fix' cards then anything else, trying to fix ships that needed help as opposed to bringing the rest of the game up with it. I would argue the best cards in the set are the Enhanced Scopes and Kyle Katarn cards. ES on a Shuttle with APL is just amusing to me!

The pilots there are all OK, not great, just okay... The A-Wing pilots are good, save for the fact that they are in A-Wings... which, even after the 2 point drop, aren't great ships. Good ships, yes, but not great. They may start to fill the role of filler ships like the Bandit, but in a game of only 100 points, ever point counts, and I still feel the Z will win that battle over the A for a filler ship.

The B-Wings are better, but only because they are in B-Wings and they are in far superior ships. I really do like Nera's ability, but she is also a trap ship where points fall into. You end up spending so many points on torpedoes and munitions failsafe that she turns out to be a 30+ ship. Good, for what she does, but not blown away by her. Keyan is also like that, good, but not great. It is important to note that you can spend that stress on attacks, even if you do not roll focus on the dice. Please remember to do that so you do not have a stressed ship all the time. If Keyan could use that for both offence and defense it might be worth it, but...meh. It's ok.

I think this post pretty much is why I think Rebel Aces is a great expansion. IT DOESN'T BREAK THE GAME! It's all just.....good ships. Nothing great. Nothing that breaks the game. Just more options and some nifty pilots. More variety. More things to try out. More general X-wing fun without 20 threads a day about how broken something is.

I use my A-wings to finish off the ships the B-wings maul but don't quite kill. Also proton rockets on an A-wing are vewy vewy nice.

I'd also add that, while the chaardaan is an autotake as I had mentioned, it does make A-wings much more viable (as does proton rockets really). I like the new pilots. I frakking love the B-wing paint job. So yeah, while underwhelmed by the equipment cards, it's a nice package overall.

I dunno last game I played I dealt eight damage to a b-wing in one turn, it's tough but not indestructible.

Never said they were.

We played a 35-point, 5 player FFA furball sunday afternoon and I took Farlander with B-Wing E/2, Jan Ors, and Advanced Sensors. I was facing an Outer Rim Smuggler with Recon Specialist, Jan Ors, and a hull upgrade, Wedge Antilles with some upgrades, and two decked out Jake Farrels, one with PTL and VI, the other with Outmaneuver and VI. I was the last man standing after the Jakes tag-teamed Wedge and I chased the Falcon into them. The falcon and A-wings never really did any damage to me (2 dice focused shot against my 1 dice + evade defense) while I was plinking the falcon for 1-2 damage per turn (my 3 dice focused shot against his 1-dice + evade defense) and taking opportunistic shots against A's as I saw them.

Like others said, just put a juicer target out there first so your opponent has to choose. Wedge and Wes both come to mind.

I have loved loaded up Dantels with Deadeye, 2x APTs, and Recon Spec. It's an almost guaranteed 5 hits each round for two rounds if you can stay in range. Very fun to unload on phantoms and see them still drop even with two or three evades.

Anyone putting gunner and FCS on their Bs? I really like this combo on Whisper.

Anyone putting gunner and FCS on their Bs? I really like this combo on Whisper.

This is one point more expensive than a heavy laser cannon. I would take the HLC every time.

Im actually quite a big fan of him.

Though, i suppose I haven't tried him without C3PO and/or a supporting Jan Ors crew.

With Adv Sensors and PTL, he is certainly a great dog fighter. Idk if id run him without all all of those upgrades, though. And im not sure if putting HLC on him is worth it, unless in a 2 ship squad or something.

I wasn't impressed with him. I kept rolling 4 hits/crits and a blank, so I spent my stress for nothing. What a ripoff!

I wasn't impressed with him. I kept rolling 4 hits/crits and a blank, so I spent my stress for nothing. What a ripoff!

At least he's in a decent ship though not like steele in the advanced.

I wouldn't mind seeing a best of with Keyan in an X and Maarek in a Defender. (or missile boat).

i ran him with biggs to no avail, but let me tell you about the keyan/HLC jan/ion cannon combo i ran.

both ships are so slow that keeping keyan in range of the hwk isn't a big deal, and rolling 5 dice HLC shots with target lock AND stress made for 3 straight attacks of 5 hits. the icing on the cake was jan ioning a fully loaded interceptor into nothing. he never even fired.

i will remark that after a week of keyan, i've noticed he excels in 2 places: when he's at a higher pilot skill than everyone else, and when he's flying against imperials. the rebels have too many anti-keyan options. the imperials just have to hope they can focus him down.

that will likely change with the decimator.

that will likely change with the decimator.

Will it? If he keeps popping those five hit rolls, he only needs three shots and a Direct Hit to clear a Decimator on his own. You will have at least another ship to shoot at the Decimator, likely 2+ more ships. And if you have Biggs, there is no way for that turret to avoid him if you keep them together. But, depending on the Decimator's escorts, Keyan could definitely fold early. Likely AFTER his first roll of 4-5 damage on the Decimator, but possibly still early.

I took my Rebel Aces out for a spin last night and had good luck with it.

Luck, as in: rolling five hits on five dice from a Proton Rocket - which put a world of hurt on a shuttle, which was then finished off by my B-Wing, all in the same round, before that poor OGP got a chance to shoot back.

In the second game, I flew Keyan and Nera. Initially I flew pretty crappily, not yet having internalized the best sequence of actions, and forgetting to take off the stress token rather than the focus token when adjusting attack dice. That mistakenly left Keyan with stress and without focus on the defensive side, and unable to do a red maneuver in the next turn. Oops.

So, I will chime in with the rest of the folks here saying don't expect magic from any particular item in this game, and certainly not before you've internalized how that particular item is best played.