I'm a fairly new player and until last weekend, I had never played on the Rebel (scum) side. This weekend I got to play in a small 50 pt "casual" tournament (which I won! WOOT!) You had to make 2 lists, one Imperial, one Rebel and the winner of the coin toss got to pick which side they wanted to play. I ended up winning both games I played as a Rebel.

For those of you who have played longer or played in tournaments, do you ever play the opposing side? Would it help you understand how to defeat them better? The biggest thing I got out of it, was trying to figure the best way to take down a Tie Phantom, since I had never faced one before.

Anyways, let me know your thoughts on switching sides.

Drew

I play everything anyway. But I do think it is a very good idea to fly those very ships and combos that you yourself have difficulty with. I feel like you really learn a ships/combos weakness by playing them yourself.

I'd dare say that most of us play both sides. We may prefer one side or the other, associate with one more so then the other. But I think there's few people who only ever play one side.

You really kinda have to collect both sides to get all the upgrades so why only play with half your collection?

I have a collection of both factions but I do tend to play imperial 90-95% of the time. The times I have used rebels I have learnt plenty (about both factions-learning to overcome an enemy ship type definitely helps you when trying to protect it as your own ship next time out as well as knowing the limitations of the (unfamiliar) ships you are now flying). I honestly thought I'd use the rebels more from a "bored of playing the same (imperial) faction the whole time" point of view but I have to say my interest in flying imperial isn't even close to waning... Compliments to FFG for producing a game able to keep interest this high for this long (I'm probably enjoying my games more than ever tbh so the rebels may have to wait a while longer yet before they see higher usage).

Oh, this is a question about the game... moving along...

What is this "switching sides?" When I play I'm always on "my side" and it doesn't matter who's on the "other side." What ships I use will vary depending on mood and what I figure I'd do better with against what I expect to see on the other side.

If nothing else the easiest way to learn how to defeat a squadron you're having trouble against is to play it yourself and figure out how it works.

When I started, I told myself I'd be playing Imperials. This, I realize, was a fairly 40k influenced mindset where you pick one army that you most like and collect it. In x-wing, it is easier and cheaper to collect both sides and it is easy to get interested in playing lists of different styles from each side. So naturally I got 4 Rebel ships to build my own Rebel force that I took to tournaments. I still have more Imperials overall but that is mostly the nature of the Empire's style. I just buy a bit of everything now, scum to be included.

I try to get three of small ship and two of each large for upgrades and to play the which side. It really is not too terrible money wise.

Not sure if I am going to get Scum and Vill stuff at this point.

I play both sides. Usually, we randomize it in my group. It's good to get a taste for both, so you knew their strengths & weaknesses. Your good ideas when playing one side are the same things you watch out for when playing the other side.

I had bought everything initially, but went over a year and never played as Imperials, so I sold all my Imperials to my brother and just play Rebels now, although I like the Scum stuff coming out. I did buy a couple of Firesprays, and we traded a couple of upgrade cards to even things out a bit. I've been playing for almost two years now and have never played as Imperials. Saves storage room, too.

Well getting 1 of each ship means you can play both sides and getting ready for the S&V faction.

With the Core set up it is easy to get the Imperial and Rebel squadrons to play a standard game. S&V will be a little harder.

I originally bought packs in even so 1 rebel Ship and 1 Imperial ships, unless I thought it was imbalanced in power such as 2 Tie fighter and 1 X-wing. As I wanted to have enough that I can play a game with a friend using my stuff if needed. However after getting the Epic ships and with the 3rd faction coming out balance isn't as much of a concern. I figured I will be able to make two competitive 100 point standard list for either Rebels, Imperials, and S&V when they come out.

Thanks for your inputs. While I do have a bit of Rebels, I only have multiples in my X-Wings (I am planning on buying Rebel Aces soon though.) I'll start looking into Rebel lists and seeing what I can come up with.

Now I just need local group to test new lists against to see how it does. Maybe I can start a group here!

Seems odd to me to hear people say they only play one faction. It's like playing 1/2 the game. To say you can't afford it, save up!

I provide everything for my gaming group, so I play both sides frequently.

However, I usually play Rebels currently because most of my friends enjoy using the cloaking action with the phantom.

I bought into this game with the intention of only playing rebels and at that a 4 ship A wing squadron....

soon learned how unsatisfying (pre rebel aces) that was for a new player.

But having a core game gave me about 30 per cent of an imperial force so i got an interceptor and another TIe... you see where this is going.

Personally i'll happily play either faction, preference for imperials but i always let my house guest chose their side (unless its my weekly game with Sam where we play one of each) first which means i'm usually rebel by default.

But, in my group of friends were all live and tabletop RPG types and really into story and narrative so by mutual agreement we dont have 'same faction' battles. It just kills the story for us.

I realise in competitive play i'll have to deal with it but I want to run an event at some point where you turn up with a 100 point list for both factions and either choose amicably or dice off which one you will use in each game you play.

Mainly as i hope to run a narrative campaign event like 'battle of bestine' or something where each round is a scenario initself and while there will be overall highest scoring 'winners' its more about getting more rebel wins than imperial or vice versa each round.

I'm a hands-on learner. I have difficulty reading a book and understanding the information I need. With this in mind, playing the other side helps me understand the strengths and limitations or each ship.

Some fellas can look at an image of the ships manoeuvre dial and know what it can and can't do. I need to hold the dial in a game, want to do a straight 5 and realise .. it's a no-no.

I realise in competitive play i'll have to deal with it but I want to run an event at some point where you turn up with a 100 point list for both factions and either choose amicably or dice off which one you will use in each game you play.

This is what our Nifty Fifty tournament was based on, which brought about my question. Personally, what I would like to see is a mixed 100 pt tournament. B-Wings and Tie/Ins working together to combat "The Flood" (Halo) that is also flying Rebels and Imperials (That should make a good story line for the mixed fleets.)

I am an Imperial player through and through. While I can appreciate the draw to the Rebels and S&V, I'm not really interested in them. Not be a person who plays in tournaments, I like the challenge of making lists using only the cards that came with my ships. Honestly, I don't miss playing without the Rebel cards.

Must have been a pig running interceptors before you got PTL though with imp aces?

(Un)Luckily, I hopped on the bandwagon after Imperial Aces was released.

Must have been a pig running interceptors before you got PTL though with imp aces?

Nope, because I bought an A-Wing to get PTL for my regular interceptors.

I meant Royals.. as he was only going with imperial cards.

I recommend playing each ship, not just each side. Maximize each pilot with upgrades in a game with a friend to get the full feel, ignoring points, and then work on honing them down to an optimized tournament point list based on what is most effective and what you enjoy tactically. I also like to build a swarm of a ship type just to maximize my situational awareness of how often it's strenghts and weaknesses come out. The final optimization for me, isn't just upgrades for that ship, but pairing with other ships that can provide synergy. Enjoy!

I've played every ship i own excpet the e wing , the defender and the phantom

Got em for completeness... always better choices that are more 'star wars' to me to put in casual game lists.

I really should give them a go at some point.

When I started back in Wave 1, I read that Rebels were really challenging and people were calling Imperials OP. I decided to play Rebels primarily due to that reason. The problem was that when I started to get people into the game, they kept wanting to play Rebels! So, I took on Imperials. I turned out to be extremely happy with them! I love a bunch of Tie Fghters zipping around in every direction. I won a few tournaments and primarily played Imperials, even vs Imps since that happened in tournaments.

I took a year off and am playing with some different folk. I've not gone to a tournament and am more casual. My primary opponent loves Imperials, so I find myself playing Rebels a lot more. With all the new packs and such, it's pretty fun. I also am trying to get into X-wings and how to fly them. I dislike the idea that B-wings are superior and I like to think if you are smart with X-wings, you can do great. So, I'm trying out all the new X-wing pilots and such.

I think playing both helps a lot. I think it helps figure out your opponent's list.