With the recent addition of the B-Wing/E2 modification card, B-Wings gained the ability to add a crew slot, at the cost of one point and their modification slot. An interesting ability, but as B-Wings are relatively costly and solid ships already, adding this utility has largely been considered an interesting but ultimately undesirable decision. There is much to be said for this point of view. However, I wanted to explore all the possible crew one could use to upgrade a B-Wing with and see if I could determine an interesting use for them.
This is a list of all crew that could possibly be added to a B-Wing at the moment (and have any game effect):
- Intel Agent
- Nien Nunb
- Dash Rendar
- Han Solo
- Jan Ors
- Leebo
- Mercenary Copilot
- Saboteur
- Tactician
- C-3P0
- Kyle Katarn
- Lando Calrissian
- Navigator
- Recon Specialist
- Weapons Engineer
- Chewbacca
- Flight Instructor
- Leia Organa
- R2D2
- Gunner
- Luke Skywalker
Intelligence Agent can either be a novelty or a powerful card, depending on one's list and the opponent's list. Intel Agent excels in those times when one moves before the enemy and has the ability to change their final position. The more radically a ship can use actions to move and the more such ships available, the stronger the card is, as one can react to the opponent before they move, to either block or line up an excellent shot.
To that end, Keyan Farlander finds a place. Keyan has an EPT, allowing him to use Push The Limit to take two actions for the price of a stress. Keyan's ability allows him to spend a stress as a focus on the attack, greatly increasing his offensive power and eliminating the largest problem with Push The Limit. Adding to this is Enhanced Scopes. Now, Keyan will move first, see where an enemy is going to go, then may barrel roll to react to the opponent before they even get to move. This prevents him from being blocked, which would negate his ability to use PTL. Not bad for 35 points.
Keyan Farlander (29)
Push the Limit (3)
Enhanced Scopes (1)
Intelligence Agent (1)
B-Wing/E2 (1)
Nien Nunb is an interested and potent card for 1 point, plus the point for the E2 modification. The B-Wing natively has 1 and 2 forward as green maneuvers. The 3 forward is a white maneuver, now also becoming green. The biggest advantage, however, is the 4 forward being red natively, now becoming a green. This suddenly makes the B-Wing a very fast ship.
This is added to Nera Dantels. With her ability to fire torpedoes outside of her arc coupled now with the ability to race passed the enemy ships while clearing stress, she may move well beyond her victims after the first round of shooting. She should gain a TL after her first, initial attack. As she moves clear, she can focus for her attack, then lob a proton torpedo out the cockpit. This attack would be rolling 4 dice, plus a reroll and focus, and the ability to turn one eye to a crit. FCS would then give her another TL potentially for use next turn with the second torpedo. Even after expending ordnance, she could easily remain a threat, with FCS and Lone Wolf. This potent Nera clocks in at 40 points, which is costly, but the return on those points can be immense if flown well.
Nera Dantels (26)
Lone Wolf (2)
Fire-Control System (2)
Proton Torpedoes (4)
Proton Torpedoes (4)
Nien Nunb (1)
B-Wing/E2 (1)
Dash Rendar is an interesting card. Most people focus on the first part of his ability, being able to shoot while on an asteroid. However, as the craft will still take the asteroid damage and lose its action, this is often considered sub-optimal. But not enough attention is payed to the latter half of his ability, that attacks may never be obstructed. This is a rather potent effect, but one that needs the correct craft to exploit it.
That brings us to the a Blue Squadron B-Wing with Advanced Sensors. Able to move up to an asteroid, use it for cover, then barrel roll out of its way before moving the next round, this nimble craft excels in tight obstacle fields. With HLC, the opponent won't get a range 3 defense die bonus either, so there is no way to hide from the full fury of the attack. With Dash, this means that the Blue's own shot won't be obstructed, and if the situation calls for it, advanced sensors to act, then hit an asteroid intentionally for a shot it's opponent won't expect. This build clocks in at 35 points. Costly, but deadly.
Blue Squadron Pilot (22)
Advanced Sensors (3)
Heavy Laser Cannon (7)
Dash Rendar (2)
B-Wing/E2 (1)
Han Solo crew is a card few people have experimented much with, but it is an extremely powerful card. It may not seem like it, but when one runs the numbers, it's one of the best offensive cards in the game. This is because he lets one cheat on the attack by retroactively saying 'No, I had a focus all along!'
Here, Nera Dantels has an FCS, so ever shot she takes gives her a TL. So she can move and attack the first round, getting a TL. Next round, since she doesn't care about arc, she can move to the best possible place and focus. Then she can use the focus token to fire a Proton Torpedo and roll the attack. After the dice are rolled, Han can then decide whether focusing or rerolling would be best for that particular attack. As Proton Torpedoes turn an eye into a crit, this will probably be TL, but Nera could well roll 4 eyes. Even after the Torpedoes are gone, she can still use her action to barrel roll, then modify her attack as she feels best with her FCS provided Target Locks. Nera in this configuration costs 40 points.
Nera Dantels (26)
Deadeye (1)
Fire-Control System (2)
Proton Torpedoes (4)
Proton Torpedoes (4)
Han Solo (2)
B-Wing/E2 (1)
Ibtisam has always been rather difficult to kill. Her ability gives her rerolls on her defense dice when she had a stress token, which means she can absorb a lot more damage than a B-Wing should. With Sensor Jammer, she can force ever attacker to change one hit to an eye. That die cannot be rerolled. If the opponent has no way to do this, that hit is lost. Even if the attack can, this usually means spending a focus token, removing it for use on defense. With elusiveness, she can further reroll one attack die against her, gaining a stress, which allows her ability to kick in as above. Now, Jan Ors joins Ibti, allowing her to evade for her action.
Best when paired with a ship that can hand out offensive actions, when she is defensive, she can cancel 4 hits in a single attack, all with 1 Agility. 1 from Elusiveness, 1 from Sensor Jammer, 1 from Evade token, and 1 from her Agility. At 37 points, it's a B-Wing that just won't die.
Ibtisam (28)
Elusiveness (2)
Sensor Jammer (4)
Jan Ors (2)
B-Wing/E2 (1)
Leebo is a difficult crew to use, but he has his place. Boost for 2 points (plus one for crew modification) at the cost of an ion token. Now, with a B-Wing, ion is often undesirable. However, adding boost to ship can make it very, very effective at escaping. Keyan can clear stress as long as he has a shot.
One quandary regarding Advanced Sensors was clarified in a recent ruling. If Advanced Sensors is used to activate Leebo before the dial is revealed, the ship gets a stress token. However, because the ship has a dial assigned to it this turn, the Ion Token doesn't take effect until next turn.
This means that Keyan can use Advanced Sensors to activate Leebo to boost, then activate PTL to barrel roll. The stress then gets used on the attack. While Keyan is now ioned, he is not stressed and can act next turn. Further, is should be pointed out that all ion tokens are removed when a ship is ioned. So against enemies with ion weaponry, Keyan can self Ion without worry.
It's not ideal, but it can be used in a squad that just can't find the extra point for Engine Upgrade. Still, the loadout is 38 points and can do some serious damage.
Keyan Farlander (29)
Push the Limit (3)
Advanced Sensors (3)
"Leebo" (2)
B-Wing/E2 (1)
Ten Numb got an interesting boost in power with the most recent FAQ. It used to be that his crit could not be canceled by dice, but tokens and other abilities would remove it. This made his power decent, but not great. The ruling has changed. Now, 3P0 and Evade Tokens and the like count as dice results. This means there is currently no way to prevent the crit from getting through, barring modification of the crit result itself. A crit could be rerolled, for instance. That is where Mercenary Co-Pilot comes in. At range 3, Ten Numb can now change one hit to a crit. Because this happens after the enemy gets to modify attack dice, as long as one hit remains, that crit is going to land. Further, Ten Numb can use Lone Wolf to reroll a blank on his attack, as well as all defense. This build would excel at staying in the back, sniping while the rest of the fleet moved into close contact. Not a bad build for 36 points.
Ten Numb (31)
Lone Wolf (2)
Mercenary Copilot (2)
B-Wing/E2 (1)
Saboteur is an interesting card, but one that is rarely used. It is one of the few effects that can get crits through hard targets, like Chewy or Leebo with Determination. For all that, though, it's not the greatest. It's limited to Range 1 and only has a 50% chance of working, and the crit may be irrelevant. Still, it can also be powerful. It's one of the few ways a ship can be destroyed during the Activation Phase for instance.
We turn then to trust Keyan Farlander. Keyan often doesn't need all his actions. He can TL, then Push The Limit to get the stressed used on the attack, but rarely has a third good action save Barrel Roll. Here, he can move and activate Saboteur, then Push The Limit to TL. As B-Wing excel at staying of range 1 to enemy craft, he has a good chance to have the ability to Sabotage the enemy. Keyan is this configuration comes to 35 points.
Keyan Farlander (29)
Push the Limit (3)
Saboteur (2)
B-Wing/E2 (1)
Tactician is a brilliant card. When attacking at Range 2, the target gets a stress token. Excellent. This can force the enemy into green maneuvers, making them far more predictable, or can shut down ships that already have a stress. Add Sensor Jammer, and a Dagger Squadron pilot becomes a serious threat. Now, the enemy is forced to spend a focus token on the attack or lose a hit. In this case, the Dagger no longer has to worry about the enemy using the focus token on defense, making any ship attacking that target more likely to deal damage, and more of it. Coversely, against lower PS ships, the Dagger can attempt to force the enemy to spend a focus token on defense and thereby lose a hit when shooting the Dagger. At 31 points, this combination can be brutally effective.
Dagger Squadron Pilot (24)
Sensor Jammer (4)
Tactician (2)
B-Wing/E2 (1)
Ibti has always been difficult to kill. Her natural ability can vastly increase her offense and defense when she is stressed as she can reroll one die on all attack and defense rolls. Elusiveness can be used to force the enemy to reroll on attack die (which cannot be rerolled again), potentially stripping the enemy of a hit, but thereby giving Ibti a stress, which then triggers her ability as discussed above. Further, Sensor Jammer allows her to turn one hit into an eye on all attacks. This die cannot be rerolled either. Now, C3P0 joins the fray, meaning that she can guess how many evades she will roll on 1 defense die. If she is right, she gets another result.
All told, Ibti can cancel FOUR hits in a single attack with one agility. One from Elusiveness, one from Sensor Jammer, one from 3P0 guessing zero, then one from that die being rerolled into an evade result. She rapidly becomes one of the most defensive and difficult to kill ships in the game. All without spending a single action on defense, which means she still has modified attacks. At 38 points, she can last under withering fire.
Ibtisam (28)
Elusiveness (2)
Sensor Jammer (4)
C-3PO (3)
B-Wing/E2 (1)
Kyle Katarn will allow a ship to gain a focus token any time a stress token is removed. Keyan's ability to remove a stress token on any attack (as well as using it to modify his attack!) will trigger this. Thus, when Keyan attacks, he trades a stress for a focus token. Now, a B-Wing doesn't necessarily need a focus token for defense, though it can help.
The bigger coup comes when a support ship has the Jan Ors crew. Now, when Keyan attacks, he may spend the stress on the attack. This will give him a free focus token. Then Jan Ors can turn that focus token into an Evade token, giving Keyan a free evade result every turn. This makes him pretty survivable for 36 points.
Keyan Farlander (29)
Push the Limit (3)
Kyle Katarn (3)
B-Wing/E2 (1)
As discussed with 3P0, Ibti is a great tank. She can withstand incredible amounts of fire and can frustrate enemies far more than Fat Han or Fat Chewy. Instead of 3P0, another crew for the same cost can make her even more tanky, though it's a gamble. Lando.
Lando allows her to, as an action, roll two defense dice. Every eye gives her a focus and every evade gives her an evade token. This may give her two focus tokens, which will help her attack and defense under concentrated fire. Or it could give her 2 evade tokens.
Granted, it occasionally gives her nothing. It's a gamble. But when lady luck sings, Ibti can absorb 5 damage from a single attack (Elusiveness, Sensor Jammer, Agility and 2 Evade tokens). She also clocks in at 38 points in this configuration.
Ibtisam (28)
Elusiveness (2)
Sensor Jammer (4)
Lando Calrissian (3)
B-Wing/E2 (1)
There is much talk about nimble ships. Being able to react to your opponent can be critical, saving a ship from destruction or catching an enemy. Being able to be out of an enemy arc while having them in it is absolutely critical. And few rival Keyan Farlander in this configuration.
First, Stay On Target allows the ship to change the baring of a maneuver, but not the speed. This is done when the dial is revealed. The cost is that the resulting maneuver, even if further changed, is red. Added to this is Navigator. Now, Navigator allows one to change the speed of a dial but not the baring. Combined with Stay on Target, this means that, as long as a 2 speed maneuver of any baring is revealed, Keyan can change the dial to any setting before moving. That maneuver is red, which gives him a stress.
Now, this ability is already strong. But added to this is Advanced Sensors. This means that Keyan can act before moving. This might be a TL. As he can spend a stress to turn all eyes into hits, this TL will effectively give him the TL/Focus combination every turn. But it's not the only option. Because this also lets Keyan barrel roll before moving. Thus, Keyan can Barrel Roll, giving him 5 possible starting positions before then picking any maneuver on his dial and moving there.
The flexibility this gives him is incredible. Against any enemy with lower PS, Keyan will be hard pressed not to outmaneuver them. For 38 points, he is highly maneuverable as well as extremely good at attacking.
Keyan Farlander (29)
Stay On Target (2)
Advanced Sensors (3)
Navigator (3)
B-Wing/E2 (1)
Nera Dantels has an interesting ability. Not necessarily the most competitive ability, as she rapidly becomes expensive, but she can be a serious threat in casual games. She may fire torpedoes outside of her firing arc. Deadeye allows her to use a focus token instead of a TL to launch a torpedo, which allows her to launch an attack against ships she doesn't have a TL on.
FCS conversely gives her a TL after every attack on the defender. Added to this is a Proton Torpedo. 4 attack dice and can turn one Eye result into a Crit result. Her heavy punch comes from the Advanced Proton Torpedo. This 5 dice attack can turn 3 blanks into eyes. Finally, Recon Specialist allows her, when taking a focus action, to gain 2 focus tokens instead of one.
Here's how it works. Nera moves into attack range and shoots an enemy. She then acquires target lock. Next round, she moves, but doesn't care about arc. She takes a focus action, getting 2 focus tokens. If her prey is at range 2-3, she launches a Proton Torpedo at them. She does so by spending a focus token, giving her a focus token and a TL for use on the attack. With 4 dice, that's highly likely to result in some damage.
If, however, she is at range 1 of her victim, she launches the Advanced Proton Torpedo. She spends a focus token to launch the torpedo, leaving her with TL and Focus. 3 blanks turn to eyes, additional blanks are rerolled with the TL, and the focus token turns all eyes to hits. It is as close to guaranteed 5 hits as is possible in this game. But she clocks in at 43 points, so that incredible offense is costly.
Nera Dantels (26)
Deadeye (1)
Fire-Control System (2)
Proton Torpedoes (4)
Advanced Proton Torpedoes (6)
Recon Specialist (3)
B-Wing/E2 (1)
Weapons Engineer has always been a potent card. As a target lock will persist if not used, gaining two in one turn can be quite the advantage. This allows a ship to threaten two different ships at any given time and confuse the enemy with the which ship to target. As FCS now gives two TLs, the Dagger can switch targets. Or, if the target is killed, gain a TL on a nearby enemy. Inexpensive (nothing a B-Wing does is ever cheap) and effective at 30 points.
Dagger Squadron Pilot (24)
Fire-Control System (2)
Weapons Engineer (3)
B-Wing/E2 (1)
Extremely difficult to kill Ibti comes in a number of flavors. Plain Halibut is her without a crew, just Sensor Jammer and Elusiveness. Add 3P0 and she's more of a Golden Trout. A bit more flavorful but still interesting. Lando is instead more of a Blackened Snapper, with more variation and flavor but not necessarily as filling. Here, however, is a hearty Salmon.
Chewbacca crew card is quite potent. It can cancel a damage card to not only get rid of that damage, but gain a shield back. This discarded damage can be a crit, including the dreaded Direct Hit. Further, if the target suffers two crits, the first one can be discarded, then a shield is recovered to catch the second crit. In this way, it is theoretically possible to cancel 4 damage, though this is a rare case. Most likely Chewy will absorb 2 damage. This effectively gives Ibtisam 10 HP, 9 of which against which crits don't matter. A point more expensive at 39 points, this version of Ibti is quite sturdy.
Ibtisam (28)
Elusiveness (2)
Sensor Jammer (4)
Chewbacca (4)
B-Wing/E2 (1)
Flight Instructor is a rarely used card. It allows a ship to reroll a defense die if it is an eye result. If the attacker is PS 2 or lower, the defender may reroll a blank result instead. This allows a B-Wing to survive concentrated fire far more regularly than one might expect, though best against lower PS opponents. Here, Keyan sports Sensor Jammer, which could help him absorb even more fire or strip the enemy of precious defensive focus tokens. Push The Limit allows him to barrel roll and TL before spending the stress on the attack as a focus. He can arc dodge and yet still keep up withering fire while surviving longer than he should. Pricy at 41 points, but may well remain on the board longer than an enemy would hope for.
Keyan Farlander (29)
Push the Limit (3)
Sensor Jammer (4)
Flight Instructor (4)
B-Wing/E2 (1)
Leia is a potent cart, but one primarily relegated to Epic Play where she has a far more impressive impact. Still, in the right squad, she can entirely foil an enemy. This is because she may be discarded to treat the red maneuvers of all of her allied ships as white moves for this turn. This could be the B-Wing plus 5 Z-95s K-Turning and still gaining actions, or it could Y-Wings and B-Wings moving in strange and unexpected ways.
It will take planning, but as long as she is on the field, her enemies must plan for far more potential situations and may make mistakes because of it. At 29 points, Leia could change the course of the battle and save the Rebellion.
Blue Squadron Pilot (22)
Fire-Control System (2)
Leia Organa (4)
B-Wing/E2 (1)
Ibtisam pairs very well with defensive cards. Against a small number of attackers, she can easily limit damage against her to 1 a round. In this case, R2D2 crew becomes an incredible boon to her. When Ibti finally loses her shields, which may take some time, R2D2 may regenerate one shield for her. This comes at a cost. If she has any face-down damage cards, she will have to roll, potentially flipping one face up and suffering the results. Still, if she can keep her enemies from inflicting too much damage, she could well last many rounds recovering the shields. It will take skill and luck, but she could well stymie the enemies ability to destroy her for 39 points.
Ibtisam (28)
Elusiveness (2)
Sensor Jammer (4)
R2-D2 (Crew) (4)
B-Wing/E2 (1)
FCS and Gunner have an interesting interaction. This combination is known as the 'Buzzsaw' and was originally developed for use in the Alabaster Space Cow. The Lambda shuttle was the first ship that could take both a crew slot and a systems upgrade, though it was then joined by the Phantom and now the B-Wing.
After every attack, FCS gives the attacker a Target Lock. If the initial attack does not succeed, the ship may take an additional primary weapon attack. Here's how this breaks down:
- The ship attacks
- The attack is resolved as normal
- The attacker gets TL
- If the attack hits, end here. Otherwise continue.
- Attacker gets a second attack.
- Attacker spends TL gained in step 3.
- Attack 2 is resolved.
- Attacker gets TL again.
This can force an enemy to spend focus on the first attack, suffering a modified attack again with no defensive modification. Or it can mean that the defender chooses not to modify the defense and therefore suffers damage that otherwise they would have canceled. Either way, it's a powerful combination and one that can burn down enemy ships rapidly, all for 32 points.
Dagger Squadron Pilot (24)
Fire-Control System (2)
Gunner (5)
B-Wing/E2 (1)
We all know a player who is seemingly cursed by the dice gods. Someone who is capable of rolling 5 attack dice with TL and Focus and will do zero damage. The following build seeks to do everything possible to counter luck at all stages and do heavy damage. It elevates the Buzzsaw explored above to strange and terrifying heights.
Keyan Farlander is able to spend stress on the attack to turn all eyes to hits. If the enemy does not have a focus token or evade token, Keyan may suffer one stress from Opportunist to roll an additional attack die. FCS allows him to get a TL after every attack. And Luke Skywalker allows him attack after a miss and to turn one eye into a hit during that attack. Here's the breakdown.
- Keyan declares a target
- If target does not have a focus or evade token, Keyan gets a stress and an extra attack die
- Keyan rolls attack. He spends stress, if any, on the attack which is then resolved
- A TL is acquired on the attacker
- If the attack missed, Luke Skywalker activates
- If the target does not have a focus or evade, Keyan gets a stress and an extra attack die
- Keyan spends the TL acquired in step 4
- Keyan spends the stress acquired in step 6 if any
- If Keyan did not have a stress, Luke Skywalker changes an eye to a hit
- Attack is finally resolved
- Keyan gets another TL, just to be a jerk
This means Keyan is rolling 3-5 dice on both attacks, potentially with TL and Stress (as a Focus), all ending the turn without stress. If this chain does not inflict damage on an enemy, any enemy, nothing short of an autoblaster with accuracy corrector will. This is an insane level of damage output, but costs a ridiculous 43 points. Slap on an HLC to bring the total to 50 if sadistic.
Keyan Farlander (29)
Opportunist (4)
Fire-Control System (2)
Luke Skywalker (7)
B-Wing/E2 (1)
Conclusion:
Crew bring a large amount of variety to the B-Wing, but at a cost. Adding a crew slot costs a point for the opportunity to spend yet more points. The B-Wing is not a cheap ship to start with. Still, crew can add a panoply of utility and can change how the B-Wing acts on the battlefield. It is always important to keep in mind that acting in ways counter to how the enemy expects is often the key to victory. Much of the crew advantage can thus be found.
It should be noted that the above is not an exhaustive list. There are certainly combinations I was blind to or would work better and each new crew added to the game that Rebels can take will further add potential. We are often blinded by the dependable and the known, settling upon the standard builds both because they work well and because they are familiar. Never forget that there is more possible lists than will ever be played due to the number of possible card combinations.
