So I was thinking about all the niffty new weapons and ways to dish out stress(Flechette Torps, Tactician, etc) which got me thinking about all the pilots who due to their pilot abilities actually like(or don't care about)stress. So of course I instantly thought of Soontir Fel and then Keyan Farlander, but then I started counting up the pilots on each side. Is it just me or does the Rebellion have more "stressed" pilots? They have(unless I am missing one) 4 pilots that love stress(or at least don't care) Tycho, Ibtisam, Keyan, and Porkins. The Empire has 2 pilots(again unless I am missing some) with stress related abilities, and 1 of them is only good for taking stress from someone else.(Soontir and Yorr) I guess technically Kath Scarlet can potentially give out stress as part of her ability(if you roll a crit and if they roll an evade against it), but you really can't count that now that any rebel with a astromech slot can take R3-A2 and give stress to any target regardless of how you or your oppent rolls. I am not sure if there are any more stress related cards or abilitys that I am forgetting, but my question is this, Do you think that things are fine as is or should the Empire(and I guess scum too for that matter) get more pilots that enjoy getting stressed? Or am I missing something?

Overall Imperial ships are more vulnerable to double stress and more impacted by the loss of actions than Rebels are. It seems like Rebels tend to have more options available to them than Imperials do, having more powers that do cool things with stress doesn't really come as a surprise. Between the astromechs and the large number of rebel only crew and two fighters with systems slots, two lists with the same types of ships can end up pretty different.

I think one of the reasons that there are a lot of Imperial lists with Phantoms out there is because cloaking is one of the few things that are uniquely Imperial. The Z-95 and now the Chaardan refit have made swarms something that both sides have. At least until wave 6, Imperials still have bombs as something unique to their side but Rebels having a monopoly on turrets was kind of a better deal.

You did miss Rebel Captive as a stress related card that is limited to the Empire.

The empire needs more synergistic options and ways with dealing with stress. Yes.

More options are better.

Stop shoehorning me into archetypical configurations and strategy by flight tactic versus strategy by synergy.

FFG has stated that the sides will not be mirrors of each other so that rules out the option of more Imperial pilots to be like the Rebel pilots.

Thematically, the Rebels are used to "going it alone" in my opinion, whereas the Empire is built on unit cohesion. Both of which make sense that the Rebels are better at managing stress on an individual pilot basis.

Overall Imperial ships are more vulnerable to double stress and more impacted by the loss of actions than Rebels are.

I had meant to add that Imperial ships also tend to have better actions available and have dials better suited for shedding stress. A lot of the Rebel 's greater tolerance for losing actions comes from their higher hit points, lower susceptibility to crits due to shields, and abilities that can give tokens to squadmates.

I think things are where they should be now. I don't think that pilots that make use of stress are 'needed' in order to balance the factions. It's definitely handy to have, but it can also be a double-edged sword.

What I mean by that is this example from my first tournament a few weeks ago: My opponent was moving to flank some of my X-Wings with Soontir Fel, but one of my X-Wings maneuvered differently than he expected...that X-wing Was Hobbie with R3-A2 and Flechette Torpedoes. As normal, Soontir used Push the Limit for his extra actions, so he had that one stress token. Needless to say Hobbie dished out two more stress to Soontir which caused him to be a sitting duck for my floating Tala in the next round.

People use Soontir, Keyan, and other pilots that like stress for synergistic purposes, but it also leaves them more vulnerable to stress inducing attacks. I think the only exception here is Tycho...and against certain lists he could prove that much more useful.

Both sides have adequate access to Flechette Torpedoes and Tactician. Like you mentioned, the Imperials have Kath and the Rebels have R3-A2...both require specific circumstances or have drawbacks that you have to make work, which is brilliant. They can be amazing cards if used right, but I don't think they don't give one faction an advantage over the other... I think the Scum faction will be just fine out of the gates with Flechette Torpedoes and Tactician.

Part of me hopes the new Scum Kath has some type of stress inducing ability again so I can continue to use Tactician on the Firespray... I love that aux firing arc.

*Edit* I also wanted to throw Eaden Vrill's name into the ring of pilots that can capitalize on stressed opponents. I'm looking forward to flying him...

The Empire can also field 16-point Wingman BSP TIES, and the Rebels need to use the 19-point Wingman / Chaardan A-Wings. Instant stress management.

Imperials also have rebel captive, which is great.

Thematically, the Rebels are used to "going it alone" in my opinion, whereas the Empire is built on unit cohesion.

Doesn't that mean that the empire should get all the synergistic abilities while the rebels get abilities that buff themselves?

I think things are where they should be now. I don't think that pilots that make use of stress are 'needed' in order to balance the factions. It's definitely handy to have, but it can also be a double-edged sword.

What I mean by that is this example from my first tournament a few weeks ago: My opponent was moving to flank some of my X-Wings with Soontir Fel, but one of my X-Wings maneuvered differently than he expected...that X-wing Was Hobbie with R3-A2 and Flechette Torpedoes. As normal, Soontir used Push the Limit for his extra actions, so he had that one stress token. Needless to say Hobbie dished out two more stress to Soontir which caused him to be a sitting duck for my floating Tala in the next round.

People use Soontir, Keyan, and other pilots that like stress for synergistic purposes, but it also leaves them more vulnerable to stress inducing attacks. I think the only exception here is Tycho...and against certain lists he could prove that much more useful.

Both sides have adequate access to Flechette Torpedoes and Tactician. Like you mentioned, the Imperials have Kath and the Rebels have R3-A2...both require specific circumstances or have drawbacks that you have to make work, which is brilliant. They can be amazing cards if used right, but I don't think they don't give one faction an advantage over the other... I think the Scum faction will be just fine out of the gates with Flechette Torpedoes and Tactician.

Part of me hopes the new Scum Kath has some type of stress inducing ability again so I can continue to use Tactician on the Firespray... I love that aux firing arc.

*Edit* I also wanted to throw Eaden Vrill's name into the ring of pilots that can capitalize on stressed opponents. I'm looking forward to flying him...

The thing about R3-A2 is that there are a lot of options on where to throw him. Three types of ships that can carry him, one of which can also mount an ion turret. The most expensive of these ships is still cheaper than Kath. Imperials only have a single option for dealing stress with small base ships and that is to use flechettes (which require purchasing rebel ships).

Phantoms and Interceptors are both very vulnerable to stress. Only the A-Wing even comes close to being as vulnerable to stress. Keyan Farlander could give two ***** about being double stressed as long as he has a shot at someone. He needs to be triple stressed to lose an action and even then losing and action is inconvenient because actions aren't what he depends on to surivve.

So I was thinking about all the niffty new weapons and ways to dish out stress(Flechette Torps, Tactician, etc) which got me thinking about all the pilots who due to their pilot abilities actually like(or don't care about)stress. So of course I instantly thought of Soontir Fel and then Keyan Farlander, but then I started counting up the pilots on each side. Is it just me or does the Rebellion have more "stressed" pilots? They have(unless I am missing one) 4 pilots that love stress(or at least don't care) Tycho, Ibtisam, Keyan, and Porkins. The Empire has 2 pilots(again unless I am missing some) with stress related abilities, and 1 of them is only good for taking stress from someone else.(Soontir and Yorr)

I think the thing you forget here is that Porkins and Ibtisam aren't very good. Tycho is now ok, but just ok thanks to rebel aces. And Keyan is solid but extremely expensive.

Phantoms and Interceptors are both very vulnerable to stress. Only the A-Wing even comes close to being as vulnerable to stress. Keyan Farlander could give two ***** about being double stressed as long as he has a shot at someone. He needs to be triple stressed to lose an action and even then losing and action is inconvenient because actions aren't what he depends on to surivve.

I dunno. Double stressing Keyan means he isn't going to do a hard 1 or 2k next turn, and needs to do a green to get rid of the stress, which he doesn't have a lot of. B-wings are extremely dependent on their red maneuvers in a dog fight.

FFG has stated that the sides will not be mirrors of each other so that rules out the option of more Imperial pilots to be like the Rebel pilots.

Thematically, the Rebels are used to "going it alone" in my opinion, whereas the Empire is built on unit cohesion. Both of which make sense that the Rebels are better at managing stress on an individual pilot basis.

Thematically that makes no sense. The side with the training, drilling, and discipline should be the one that is better able to deal with stress.

Rebellions are stressfull the rebel poilts need to know how to deal with it

Imperials have Yorr, the ultimate stress sponge.

Thematically, the Rebels are used to "going it alone" in my opinion, whereas the Empire is built on unit cohesion.

Doesn't that mean that the empire should get all the synergistic abilities while the rebels get abilities that buff themselves?

Imperial still has a number of stress dealers, from Rebel Captive to the wave 5 Mara Jade & Dauntless title. Not to mention they also have action negation with Dark Curse and Canor Jax. And if Flechete cannons come out as stress givers (which is likely) then the Imperials will have just as much stress givers as Rebels with stress torpedoes.

Thematically, the Rebels are used to "going it alone" in my opinion, whereas the Empire is built on unit cohesion.

Doesn't that mean that the empire should get all the synergistic abilities while the rebels get abilities that buff themselves?

This is the one thing that's always bugged me about X-wing. I think they got the two faction's themes completely wrong in that respect.

You are forgetting the TIE Defender pilots, with the exception of Rexler, don't care about stress - their maneurbility is good even without the reds on thier dial; access to the canon slot means access to secondaries that don't require an action to fire

The loss of focus and roll is hard but considering that straigh 5 is green, you can get out of a pinch if actions are critical to your defence

'Hobbie' not good enough for you people? He would be very upset to have been forgotten.

And never forget the stressimator

Rebel captive+Mara jade+tactician on a decimator, yay for causing tons of stress.

Or it's cousin, the decistress,

Gunner + double tactician, engine upgrade and expert handling if you got the pilot... Boost or barrel into range two and blammo 4 stress maximum to an in arc ship.

Hmm defenders with stress cannons heh yes please.

Thematically, the Rebels are used to "going it alone" in my opinion, whereas the Empire is built on unit cohesion.

Doesn't that mean that the empire should get all the synergistic abilities while the rebels get abilities that buff themselves?

This is the one thing that's always bugged me about X-wing. I think they got the two faction's themes completely wrong in that respect.

I think Howlrunner is rather a cohesive ship. Come to think of it that pilot is the best cohesive ship in the game.

This might be true, but she's very exceptional in Empire fleet.

Rebels have lot more of cohesive pilots like Kyle, Biggs, "Dutch", Lando, Ian Ors, Roark, Airen, Etahn.

Empire have Howlrunner and Jendon

Jonus looks extremly situational, and Yorr is outclassed by cheaper and not unique tie wingmen.

I believe it is very clear that both the FFG and the X-wing public in general and possible new players like most of the rebels.

Proof of this is just to make a comparison with what has been released so far (eg - rebel aces x imperial aces). Two pilots with excellent skills on the side of the empire were crippled due to poor implementation.

Kir Kanos - The cost to place an EPT for him?

Lorrir - I think also lack an EPT or text best ability.

And this kind of thing to FFG does not go back to correct.

Besides the fact that we see the cards that come with each package aces. The imperial aces comes with cards that fit well all factions yet. Already the rebel aces ... comes with almost exclusive cards for the rebels.

enhanced scopes - ??????

proton rockets - ???????

So it is logical that the best skills and habilities to go where there is more financial return.

It is a fact for me is open wide.

I agree that Kanos and Lorrir (and even Fel's Wrath) don't hit the table because they lack EPT slots, Lorrir might see play time without an EPT if his ability didn't give stress.

I think you are wrong about the the Proton Rockets and Enhanced Scopes. The TIE Advanced is the ship that gets the most out of Proton Rockets. Proton Rockets get the biggest bang for the buck being taken by ships with 3 agility and 2 attack. That narrows it down to the Advanced and the A-Wing. An A-Wing that takes Proton Rockets misses out on the -2 point Chaardan Refit upgrade making Proton Rockets essentially cost 5 points. That leaves the TIE Advanced as the only 2 attack, 3 agility ship in the game that can pick up Proton Rockets for only 3 points.

Enhanced Sensors work really well on Shuttles, letting you use them as blockers and not worry about then getting blocked. I would think that they work well on low PS Phantoms as well. You guarantee that nothing is going to be able to block its decloak or maneuver.