So I'm trying to figure out which option give Biggs more survivability.

Biggs + R4-P6

Roark + ICT + Jan Ors Crew

This allows Biggs to take an evade rather than just a focus and R4-P6 prevents a blowout from a HLC in the opening volley

Compared to this

Biggs + R2-F2

Roark + ICT

If Biggs is likely to be shot at 4 or more times in the opening exchange then statistically I think R2-F2 rolls more evades especially when you usually have a focus up your sleeve.

I'm leaning towards the Jan version as once Biggs dies you still have the option of utilising Jan’s effect on other ships (like a BSP + FCS for example)

Does anyone have any suggestions or opinions?

Just admit Biggs is already dead before you start the game :-P

Id swear that he has died more times than the good ol AP Ties

I really thing R2-F2 is fine as is.

Too many more points spent on keeping him alive is reducing the effectiveness of the rest of your squad

Both builds should be similar for Biggs' survivability. I think R2F2 would have a slight edge since it can be used multiple times in a round. I think the Jan route is more reliable though. Like you said Jan can be used after Biggs bites it and doesn't give your opponent points until Roark bites it, which makes me lean more that way between those two options.

I really thing R2-F2 is fine as is.

Too many more points spent on keeping him alive is reducing the effectiveness of the rest of your squad

True throwing points away on Biggs is never Ideal but with Jan Ors Crew only costing 2 points and it remains in effect after Biggs meets his maker it seems like an interesting option to try out.

The most economical way to increase Biggs' survival is to enhance him through other ships. You're on the right track with Jan Ors- she helps him survive, but you don't lose her when Biggs goes. Garven Dreis is another good addition; he can throw Biggs a focus token after he shoots. Airen Cracken can also help Biggs out with extra actions.

Here's an interesting Keep Biggs Alive list:

Biggs w/ R2-F2

Garven w/ R2-D6, Vet Instincts

Airen Cracken

Blue Squadron Pilot w/ E2, Jan Ors

comes to 100 points.

There's a 3-point investment on Biggs from the R2F2, but he is really very tanky here. He'll have agility 3, a focus token and an evade token, through the extra action from Airen, the focus-evade conversion from Jan, a focus from Garven, and his own action.

It's a list built around keeping Biggs alive, but the nice thing is that most of the machinery for his survival is based on other ships. When Biggs finally goes down- and that should be after absorbing quite a lot of firepower, the rest of the squad should remain very resilient.

EM Emitter

I guess R4-D6 isn't bad when combating "the phantom menace". Though the odd interaction with crits is slightly unfortunate. The built in HLC defence is nice (though susceptible to TL producing crits).

Jan by herself is ok, but it is better when you can get a focus/evade stack on Biggs, but for that you need Kyle, or Garven.

Roark becomes pretty resilient with an evade as well, so helps to keep him around longer after Biggs faces his destiny.

The card combo with Biggs I can't wait to try out is Draw their Fire/Tactical Jammer on Chewy/Leebo, but I really like the idea of giving him evades too.

R2-F2 is bad. I haven't published numbers on it, but there are almost zero cases where it comes out ahead of Hull Upgrade or even Stealth device. The cases that it does come out ahead involve giving Biggs multiple actions so he can stack focus with R2-F2, but this still doesn't consider the point and opportunity cost.

R2-F2 is bad. I haven't published numbers on it, but there are almost zero cases where it comes out ahead of Hull Upgrade or even Stealth device. The cases that it does come out ahead involve giving Biggs multiple actions so he can stack focus with R2-F2, but this still doesn't consider the point and opportunity cost.

Another buzzkill of mathwing from majorjuggler, blerg!

I was thinking that with the extra actions and tokens that F2 might be worth it. I should look into it more thoroughly but I trust your math over my instinct.

If I put anything on Biggs, it'll be something cheap like a hull upgrade. His one and only job is to stay alive during the initial pass, so that I can really hurt the enemy squad long enough to keep going afterwards.

As such, I think points are better spent making sure your enemy ships are dead, rather than Biggs stays alive longer.

R2-F2 is bad. I haven't published numbers on it, but there are almost zero cases where it comes out ahead of Hull Upgrade or even Stealth device. The cases that it does come out ahead involve giving Biggs multiple actions so he can stack focus with R2-F2, but this still doesn't consider the point and opportunity cost.

Another buzzkill of mathwing from majorjuggler, blerg!

I was thinking that with the extra actions and tokens that F2 might be worth it. I should look into it more thoroughly but I trust your math over my instinct.

Edit: you could go all-out and make it 5 dice on defense with tactical jammer. And heck, throw a 2nd focus toss in there, plus Jan Ors crew to get an evade too :-P

R2-F2 is bad. I haven't published numbers on it, but there are almost zero cases where it comes out ahead of Hull Upgrade or even Stealth device. The cases that it does come out ahead involve giving Biggs multiple actions so he can stack focus with R2-F2, but this still doesn't consider the point and opportunity cost.

Could always have

Biggs + R2-F2 escorted by Graven

Would have thought that to be a decent combo?

Focus actin increases probability to 5/8 per die, or 10/8 for 2, a 1.25 expected evades, r2f2 increases your agi, so your expecting 3/8 on 3 dic.. Or 9/8, 1.125 expects evades. Considering 2 attacks, that's focus + no focus, 16/8 vs r2f2, 18/8. So, r2f2 comes out ahead slightly when under attack by multiple ships. Without action passing. (Note, that r2f2 is also more useful when flying against a swarm of academy it's than phantoms at rang 2, as the 4 attack can more easily overcome 3 agi than 2 attack)

As without added help, your either taking focus or activating r2f2. Of course, your committing to an extra 3 points on Biggs here. Another thing happens with focus and multiple attacks though, you're more likely to spend focus when it gives you a benefit, so you tend to be better off spending fewer points on Biggs. When Biggs is getting lots of incoming fire and can stack actions, r2f2 really starts to pull ahead.

If we commit to the 3 point investment, r5-p9 offers a belayed shield, which is like getting +1 evade, albeit after the fact - so, with the focus action, if we don't use the token, we still gain from it, and we can use our token for offense if recovering a shield is not needed, adding flexibility. This really pushes the value of r5-p9 convincingly above r2f2 especially in cases where were only taking 1-2 incoming shots and in cases where the opponents ships have higher attack values.

Well the combo to action stack a defensive Biggs is:

Cracken

Garven

Biggs + R2F2 + Stealth

Kyle + Jan Ors

Not a lot of firepower in the list, ok tank. I honestly do not think its worth it. When the combo is used, Biggs will be flying at Agility 4 with 2 focus and an evade.

And you get a chance to unlock achievements such as damaging an enemy ship with HWKs main gun at range 3.

Not necessarily practical, but R2F2 can be good if you can up your defense even higher. You could do: Biggs + R2F2 + Stealth Device + Sit behind a ship with Tactical Jammers + Range 3 = 6 (naked) defense dice

I think this buildout is a bit more efficient and overall tough though:

Biggs' Mustache

Biggs + Stealth Device

Chewie (Biggs' Mustache) + Jan Ors (crew) + C3P0 + PTL + Falcon Title + Tactical Jammers

20pts for Cracken or Flanker, etc

The key is to have Biggs tactically split enemy fire and survive until mid game, after that Chewie becomes extremely hard to take down. On your approach Biggs should have 5 defense dice plus an evade and/or a focus. That defense will dwindle once things get closer and into a furrball, but then it will also be harder to focus-fire on Biggs after the initial pass. In the end game Chewie can have up to 3 evades a turn, making him hard to take down unless the enemy still has a lot of ships.

I've used Biggs Chewie combos before to handle TINT/acedemy pilot mixes.

It works rather well.

Of course I feel I should add that i've not had biggs survive.

The idea is not to load up Biggs so much points since his job is to take it on the chin. His job is to protect the heavy hitters. He should not be the focus of the squad.

Always fly him behind the other ships so he can be range 3 of the enemy. Don't fly your squad directly at the opponent's squad. Try to find a bottleneck among the asteroids so that a tie swarm has a tough time staying in formation. Try to have your squad flank the other squad so that not all its ships can target Biggs all at once.

ANother thing is to fly him behind Chewbacca or Leebo with Tactical Jammer and Draw their Fire.