Going to a tournament on Saturday. Haven't had too much luck recently, so am thinking of going back to basics:

Wedge

Biggs

Red Squadron x 2

Possibly switching one of the Reds to a Rookie and giving Biggs an R7 to keep him pesky for longer. Alternatively:

Dagger, Advanced Sensors x2

Red Squadron x 2

I was also considering:

Dagger, Ion Cannon, E2, Tactican x 2

Green Squadron, Chardaan, Push the Limit x 2

..but think I might be better served sticking with the 3 attack ships over the A-Wings. Any thoughts?

I like 4 X-wings, but I do fear that the fighter is just terminally out-classed at this point. If you've got the Rebel Transport, I'd swap in Tarn Mison for one of the Red Squadron pilots. He's one lower on the PS for the same points, but has a cool ability and still makes it past the PS2 instant Predator death trap.

Yeah, I feel the same about X-Wings to be honest - no movement shenanigans means you have to fly them with care. 12 red dice is pretty effective, though.

Tarn's an option - if I could free up a single extra point in the first list to give him the R7, it would be a given.

Edit: D'oh - of course I can give Tarn the R7, by dropping the remaining Red to a Rookie. Fail!

Sadly, I agree with Penguin. There is really very little reason to take a generic X wing anymore, except for in the RARE occasion that you have 21 points, and no way to shave a point anywhere else. If you have 22, you're better off with a Blue, if you have 23, you're better off with Tarn, if you have 24, you're better off with 2 Bandits (or even a Blue w/ FCS).

The ONE exception to this is as a droid platform. Only the Y, X, and E wings have a droid slot. The Y wing is overcosted without a turret, which puts its real starting place at 23 points, and the E wing is also overcosted (per MJ, whether I agree or not is not the point right here) at 27 points. So while the X can be overcosted at 21, it's at least the cheapest of the three options if you want to add a stress bot droid to your list. Since you know... no other droid is really worth taking as an add on to your list (if you have R7-T1 or R2D2 or something, it's to compliment your pilot, whereas R3-A2 is the only droid that can be added to the list, and then needs a ship to be placed on).

As an incorrigible formation flier, I do wonder if there's a minor adaptation to make to Biggs strategy. We tend to see him hanging back in a tight formation, but if you instead assign him to a high value target like Wedge and set them apart from the lower skill pilots, you could encourage your opponents to take on the cheap ships first and get more out of Wedge. This might just be old news to everyone else since I don't get to fly Rebels as often, but this would help against the more maneuverable ships and I'm finding that I make the most important tactical decisions (read: mistakes) when dealing with spread out starting positions. One friend in particular always confuses the hell out of me by spreading four ships across his edge of the board.

Indeed, you don't need to fly ships in formation unless you're trying to benefit from synergies like Howlrunner, Swarm Tactics or maximising Biggs protection.

Biggs is essentially a Wedge meat shield in this list; the Reds can benefit from the limited protection he offers as well, or they can do their own thing. Depends on the circumstances, and what I'm flying against.

I like 4 X-Wings for good old fashion clean fun. Competitively though, the game is well beyond this build (the 4 ship Rebel build).

Named Phantoms are a nightmare for this list, Fat Han will out maneuver it and kill you from out of arc, and when Wave 5 drops, PTL Dash will do the same.

If this is just for fun, take it and love it, but if it is for a competitive event you may have some issues.

I hope that helps.

I think the X-Wing still has a place, just not as the basis for a list. Tarn and Wedge are still strong, and one Rook or Red in a squad gives a durable and flexible fighter.

With the diversity in the field these days however, I'm not sure I like too much of any one ship, TIE swarm excluded. If you are going to a tourney, you don't know what you'll get each round, and need some answers. More diverse ships can provide that. That said ship diversity and list focus are different, and you'll probably still want the latter.

I love four X-wings lists. Feels very Star Wars-y to me (especially against a TIE swarm). Go for it!

I love four X-wings lists. Feels very Star Wars-y to me (especially against a TIE swarm). Go for it!

I agree, but I fear that the others might be right that the XXXX-list is obsolete. But I'd like to hear from people who believe there are flying tactics that can take on the Fat and Phantom lists.

Phantom is worst. XXXX vs Falcon is ok.

Just have high PS and movement options and maybe some extra help.

or XXX Roark.

As an incorrigible formation flier, I do wonder if there's a minor adaptation to make to Biggs strategy. We tend to see him hanging back in a tight formation, but if you instead assign him to a high value target like Wedge and set them apart from the lower skill pilots, you could encourage your opponents to take on the cheap ships first and get more out of Wedge. This might just be old news to everyone else since I don't get to fly Rebels as often, but this would help against the more maneuverable ships and I'm finding that I make the most important tactical decisions (read: mistakes) when dealing with spread out starting positions. One friend in particular always confuses the hell out of me by spreading four ships across his edge of the board.

Honestly, using Biggs as a solo flanker is viable.

He swoops in, peels some of the damage (but not all), and then goes away, potentially to heal.

The strongest use of his ability isn't necessarily that he dies first, but that he prevents the opponents from concentrating their fire.

Phantom is worst. XXXX vs Falcon is ok.

Just have high PS and movement options and maybe some extra help.

or XXX Roark.

12 attack dice vs Falcon helps.

I'm not convinced that Phantoms are necessarily a huge problem for an XXXX squadron. OK, X-Wing's have no native movement actions, but that just means you have to be smart with your deployment and movement.

Your opponent has an extremely agile (yet fragile) flanker. i.e. it's at it's most effective when arc-dodging and avoiding your line of sight. What's the easiest way to negate that advantage? Deny the flank. So you deploy along a board edge - that means the enemy can only come at you either head on (which they don't want to do) or from one side. Now you know their angle of approach. Stagger your formation as you move forward, then as your opponent approaches, bank to face them - and make sure your first shots count.

edit: of course, all that sounds great in theory, but no plan survives contact with the enemy etc.

edit 2: switching the Reds to Rookies and giving Wedge Swarm Tactics and Biggs an R7 Astromech might help optimise the list a little, as well.

If you went for the AB squad then Blues with HLCs are an option. Two of them on the board can put out a lot of damage and influence your opponents tactics.

I used XXXX in a recent tournament.

I got ripped to pieces by phantoms and interceptors. Han didn't stand a chance though.

Very rock paper scissors spock lizard, but fun to fly none the less.

I love four X-wings lists. Feels very Star Wars-y to me (especially against a TIE swarm). Go for it!

I agree, but I fear that the others might be right that the XXXX-list is obsolete. But I'd like to hear from people who believe there are flying tactics that can take on the Fat and Phantom lists.

Put asteroids in the center and stick to a corner. It limits avenues of approach and helps make phantom straffing runs predictable. Kinda like putting your back to the wall.

Winners don't use biggs.

This PSA comes to you from the Wheaton's law foundation, remember "don't be a ****".

I didn't use Biggs.

Wished I had by the end!

Well, I took the four X's, and they did me proud. Reports of their demise may have been greatly exaggerated.

Well, I took the four X's, and they did me proud. Reports of their demise may have been greatly exaggerated.

Where's the batrep?

Unfortunately, I didn't take any notes, but I had a really fun day with a great bunch of players. 22 in the competition, 5 games played, most were really closely fought (although I did take a real whuppin' from a Whisper/Soontir Fel/Doomshuttle list which finished 2nd overall). One game literally went right down to the wire - one dice roll could have lost it two turns running before time expired!

The eventual winning list was 3 Y-Wings and an X-Wing, although I'm not sure exactly what the build was!

Unfortunately, I didn't take any notes, but I had a really fun day with a great bunch of players. 22 in the competition, 5 games played, most were really closely fought (although I did take a real whuppin' from a Whisper/Soontir Fel/Doomshuttle list which finished 2nd overall). One game literally went right down to the wire - one dice roll could have lost it two turns running before time expired!

The eventual winning list was 3 Y-Wings and an X-Wing, although I'm not sure exactly what the build was!

My first tournament a few months ago had that same list come in second against when I was playing my XXXZ build. I had just gotten my rebel transport and showed up to my FLGS expecting to test some of my new X-Wing pilots and droids with casual play...low and behold there was a tournament!

So I ran with Luke + VI + R3-P9, Hobbie with R3-A2, Tarn with R7, and a Tala. I'm fairly inexperienced at this point with flying these ships but I just loved having at least 3 X-wings... I really enjoyed having Hobbie and Tarn, and I'm really looking forward to flying with them again. I think X-Wings are still a core ship that should be considered in most lists if the points allow, but you have to use what's special about them...some of the pilots have amazing abilities, especially with certain droids.

I don't have rebel aces yet, but I'd love to run XXXA at some point. Still a solid amount of guns but a few more points to work with on your other X-Wings.