My squadron: Wedge w/Squad Leader, R5-D8

Luke w/Swarm Tactics, R2-F2

Biggs w/R2-D2, shield upgrade

Opponents: Vader w/Squad Leader, Concussion Missiles

Dark Curse

Black Squadron w/Expose x2

Obsidian Squadron

Ok, so a mate and I have only just started getting into X Wing and as such are just playing around with the Wave 1 ships at the moment (but we have our shopping lists for future purchases ready! The addiction has begun...). I'm loving the rebels, especially a red squadron themed list. The best thing about the list for me is that it forces me to learn very quickly how to move as a close knitted squadron to get the most out of the lists synergy. Due to the close ranges required for squad leader, swarm tactics and Biggs pilot ability I tend to keep all three ships within R1 of each other which as you can imagine can cause some headaches in the activation phase!

For the game we played with these lists my opponent deployed the two black squadron on his right flank angled in while Vader, dark curse and the obsidian squadron on his left flank also angled slightly in. I deployed all three of the x wings in a line with wedge nearest the centre then Luke then Biggs on my right flank angled towards the centre.

First activation was fairly simple, the 2 black squadron moved forwards as fast as they good while Vader and his mixed escort moved forwards more slowly, hoping for me to move into their line of sight. I happily obliged with all of my ships formation flying in. Vader fired first at Wedge, only for Biggs to intercept the shots on his 3 shields, losing 2. At this point it was Wedge who hammered Vader down with 2 hits and a crit only for my mate to roll 0 evades or focus results! So Vader was down to 2 hull and Luke and Biggs (thanks to Swarm Tactics) were going before all of his Ties, of which only 1 could still shoot as one was out of arc. Needless to say, Vader died on turn 1.

Turn 2 Vader's former escorts turned towards the centre of the table to prevent colliding with the x wings as did the two blacks on the other flank to get shots off. I banked into the centre to keep everything in arc as well as regenerate a shield on Biggs before annihilating Dark Curse and damaging one of the Black Squadrons with the combined fire of the 3 x wings. In return Biggs lost another shield...

With 2.5 ships left on the field for the imps I broke formation, confident that I could handle the damage if it came my way. Wedge followed the lone obsidian tie, easily taking him down while Luke and Biggs went for the risky K turn (matched by the two black ties for a face off) and cleaned off the damaged tie with long range pot shots while Biggs lost another shield to the return fire of the black squadron.

Wedge pulled a tight right to try and get himself back in the game but it was ultimately unnecessary as Luke and Biggs crawled forwards on a slow 1 while the tie tried to get round to put eyes on Wedge rather than try and take down Biggs who by this point was back on full hull and 2 shields. Both opened up on the black turning him into so much space dust.

All in all I'm really happy with the red squadron list but having only played it against wave 1 ships I don't know how it will fare against things like Slave 1, fat Han or defenders/phantoms. With Biggs soaking the damage early on and regenerating shields mid game helps keep Luke and wedge out of the worst of the hurt until at least a couple of turns in to make the most of their offensive abilities without having to worry about saving focus tokens for defensive actions. Plus the R5-D8 on wedge means that even if he does need to split from the pack at some point he can take up to 4 points of damage (2 shield, 2 hull) and stay in the game. I'll give it a couple more outings and hopefully put it through a local tournament in the next couple of months and see how I get on but I'm pretty hopeful!

P.S. Loving the game haha.

Welcome to the game.

Tight formations definitely have their drawbacks when you fly against other things -- namely, Phantoms and Assault missiles. Phantoms are hard to get arc on especially if you're flying against Whisper and Echo. People will sometimes fly more spread out in order to catch the Phatom when it decloaks or to try and block the decloak.

Anyways, welcome to the game! Wait until you fly some B-wings with Advanced Sensors or when you Ion someone with your Y-wing from its turret. It's going to rock your world.

Thanks bud. I've actually not managed to get a game in since this one haha.

I've got 2 y-wings waiting in my case for just that moment

Luckily the guy I play most regularly against is in the same boat as me in that we're still playing around with the early wave ships so no Phantom yet but I'm sure I'll meet one soon haha.

Seriously though, welcome to the game!

I think what you're doing is quite fun, experiencing the game from the perspective of Wave 1. You could even buy into subsequent waves gradually, learning to use each wave of ships effectively before advancing to the next. Flying into range 1 of each other without bumping is an important skill, one that is best learned with the abilities that came out in wave 1. You will make a better all-around player with it.

Yep. Just started as well. Got a couple of extra fighters just to fill things out, but trying to keep it simple. And by simple, I mean Vader flew off the map in match two. *Facepalm* Sithspit, this is harder than it looks on YouTube.
And even more fun.

Flying into range 1 of each other without bumping is an important skill, one that is best learned with the abilities that came out in wave 1. You will make a better all-around player with it.

I'm also figuring out that you really, REALLY need to pay attention to pilot values. That move you picked may not be so good depending on your order you go in when you are getting crowded.