To preface, I haven't been playing X-wing for too terribly long. However, I stumbled on a list that has performed rather well in casual play, and I wanted the forum's opinion on the list's potential for a tournament setting.

Green Squadron Pilot w/ A-Wing Test Pilot, Chardaan Refit, Decoy & Swarm Tactics (21 pts)

2x Blue Squadron Pilot w/ Advanced Sensors (25 pts per ship)

Roark Garnet w/ Blaster Turret, Recon Specialist, Moldy Crow (29 pts)

Ideally, the A-wing flies in loose formation w/ the B-wings, with Roark trailing behind or to the side. When Combat phase hits, Roark gives the A-wing PS12, who then passes it to the B-wings via Swarm Tactics and Decoy. The B-wings then use their firepower to destroy whatever the highest priority target is, be it Howlrunner leading a Tie Swarm or a heavily upgraded Falcon.

Any suggestions on better upgrades, especially for Roark, would be greatly appreciated.

Seems fine for what the idea is, so you could probably run it regardless of what I have to say

Just have to say that I like Swarm Tactics but I loathe needing to keep my squad in formation rather than just having the option to. This list's gimmick (Roark --> Green --> lol wall of PS 12 shooters) depends on formation flying, and could be very one note to play with or against. Personally, I'd stick to just a Swarm Ship + Roark and toss the gimmicky Green Squadron but that's more preference than anything concrete.

*I do love me some Airen Cracken + Swarm, and it'll give you the choice of two PS 12s or a PS 12 and two PS 8s. Plus, Airen's action granting stacks pretty well with your basic rebels, giving you some very reliable access to TL + Focus on your low PS ships (Roark included, funnily enough). Now, Airen is more vulnerable than the Green but this specific Green is basically worthless without Roark while Airen can still operate effectively without him.

Anyway, for the upgrade question, Blaster Roark is easily the weak link of the list but sadly I don't think there's much in the HWK upgrade arsenal that can alleviate that. You could swap Moldy Blaster Roark for Ion Roark to give more control and potentially keep enemy ships off of him (also making it far easier to set up the unwieldy combo).

For the remaining 2 points, Jan Ors could help keep him alive a bit longer

Alternatively, you can dumb down the Bs to FCS bearers and use the 2 points saved to slap Chewbacca on Roark

The problem with Ion Roark is that the list is going to be light on damage. The 3 red dice for the blaster turret are an attractive fix, but just remember that it's an incredibly situational 3 red dice despite the benefits on a turret unless you're set on taking the Moldy Crow title which makes Roark a very juicey and very squishy target.

I love lists with nice tricks but I also think Craken would be a beter choice or maby Horton

Roark Garnet (19)
Ion Cannon Turret (5)

Blue Squadron Pilot (22)

Blue Squadron Pilot (22)

Horton Salm (25)
Flechette Torpedoes (2)
Flechette Torpedoes (2)
R2-D6 (1)
Swarm Tactics (2)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

or Wedge could also be fun 1 at 12 and 2 at 9

Roark Garnet (19)
Ion Cannon Turret (5)

Blue Squadron Pilot (22)

Blue Squadron Pilot (22)

Wedge Antilles (29)
Swam tactics (2)

Played against something like this today. My opponent was running Roark, some type of B-wing and Wes (x-wing) with all the ability to give both the x-wing and b-wing the PS12 trick. I was running the following:

Echo w/ ACD, Adv. Sensors, Recon Specialist, Veteran Instincts

Soontir Fel w/ PtL, Stealth Device, Hull upgrade, Royal guard Tie

Dark Curse w/ Engine upgrade

After he pulled the trick to shoot Soontir of the table, Roark became priority. Took him out pretty well. At one point, it was his three ships against Echo. He won in the end, but the B-wing had a one or two hull points left. Moral of the story, this is something that might work every now and then, but, once people figure out that Roark is the center of the strategy, he will be taken out quickly.

I like this list especially against phantoms (Remember that you can bump Roark up too with this build to shoot a flanker) However I think your build is good until you lose a B-wing then you may be in trouble. a suggestion is to drop the Advanced sensors and turn your green squadron into Jake Farrel, and he may draw some fire away from your Bs

My list is pretty similar but is:

Roark, Ion turret, Jan Ors, Moldy Crow (get 3ish focus on Roark and then you can switch to evade if he is taking fire it makes him a real damage soak).

Airen Cracken with Swarm tactics (important for bouncing ps 12 back to Roark versus Phantoms and boosting the B's).

2x Blue Squadron with Advanced Sensors.

Cracken gives this list some amazing tactics like bumping with focused B's and then barrel rolling out of arc, or into a position to shoot, maximising damage with Focus/TL, or giving the an evade if they will take lot of fire).

I tend to find that Roark is target number 1 and that tends to keep the B's around a bit longer. Cracken is more squishy than I would Iike, but I can't really afford a hull upgrade. Giving him the evade can help him though.

It was my variation of the Spanish National Champ list. I just don't like FCS on B's and I'm much better at flying AS B's. The problem I found is that I would often suffer from analysis paralysis due to the sheer number of options that Cracken could give me. I think you need to play the list to death precisely because it is so versatile.

Moral of the story, this is something that might work every now and then, but, once people figure out that Roark is the center of the strategy, he will be taken out quickly.

With this in mind, any ideas as to how to make Roark a less appetizing target? Originally I thought arming him with a turret would do enough, especially when title gives him near limitless focus for both offense and defense.

Moral of the story, this is something that might work every now and then, but, once people figure out that Roark is the center of the strategy, he will be taken out quickly.

With this in mind, any ideas as to how to make Roark a less appetizing target? Originally I thought arming him with a turret would do enough, especially when title gives him near limitless focus for both offense and defense.

With the PS bouncing idea you have, it's basically impossible. The whole gimmick hinges 100% on Roark's ability and the HWK simply doesn't have enough shield/hull points, speed/manueverability, nor upgrade options to push it into difficult to kill territory. Having Luke's pilot ability through a giant stock of focus for green dice helps, but Luke himself isn't invincible (see my forum handle ).

Trading the Green for Airen will help, since Airen is himself a fairly high priority target and can keep the list chugging if Roark gets taken out.

Apart from presenting other juicey targets to shoot at (or flying impleccably well), you have essentially one option (hint: he sports a killer 'Stache)

Decoy + Swarm Tactics seems a little redundant, then again I don't know exactly how it works. So I'll just take a look at the readings of the upgrade cards.

Now I think I see what you are trying to do. You are trying to get Roark to give 2 ships skill 12 at the combat phase mainly the 2 B-wings.

Now I may be reading this wrong but Swarm tactics makes the other ship equal your Pilot skill while decoy swaps the pilot skill. So if you use swarm tactics it will equal the green squadron pilot skill for the entire phase. If green then uses test-pilot decoy the green pilot now goes down to 2 and the swarm tactics as well. even if you used swarm tactics first because the card is based upon a variable not a fixed standard.

Now if you can you might want to put decoy on another ship or remove swarm tactics for VI. Swarm tactics alone is enough to give 2 ships Roark boosted pilot skill. Decoy just allows to swap out pilot skills.

Decoy + Swarm Tactics seems a little redundant...

Now I think I see what you are trying to do. You are trying to get Roark to give 2 ships skill 12 at the combat phase mainly the 2 B-wings.

Now I may be reading this wrong but Swarm tactics makes the other ship equal your Pilot skill while decoy swaps the pilot skill. So if you use swarm tactics it will equal the green squadron pilot skill for the entire phase. If green then uses test-pilot decoy the green pilot now goes down to 2 and the swarm tactics as well. even if you used swarm tactics first because the card is based upon a variable not a fixed standard.

I believe the gimmick works since the rulebook says something about the controlling player chosing the order in which to resolve effects if they trigger at the same time. Roark, Swarm, and Decoy all trigger at the start of combat so he can resolve them whatever order he likes, but probably Roark (Ps 12 A-wing) --> A-wing Swarm (PS 12 B-wing) --> A-wing Decoy (PS 12 B-wing # 2, PS 2 A-wing)

I do agree that it seems redundant, though

EDIT: actually, reading it over I think you're correct. The wording on Swarm Tactics implies a continuous effect, so bumping the A's PS down to 2 would probaby affect the B benefiting from tactics regardless of the order it resolves in

Decoy + Swarm Tactics seems a little redundant, then again I don't know exactly how it works. So I'll just take a look at the readings of the upgrade cards.

Now I think I see what you are trying to do. You are trying to get Roark to give 2 ships skill 12 at the combat phase mainly the 2 B-wings.

Now I may be reading this wrong but Swarm tactics makes the other ship equal your Pilot skill while decoy swaps the pilot skill. So if you use swarm tactics it will equal the green squadron pilot skill for the entire phase. If green then uses test-pilot decoy the green pilot now goes down to 2 and the swarm tactics as well. even if you used swarm tactics first because the card is based upon a variable not a fixed standard.

Now if you can you might want to put decoy on another ship or remove swarm tactics for VI. Swarm tactics alone is enough to give 2 ships Roark boosted pilot skill. Decoy just allows to swap out pilot skills.

Ah. I guess I didn't read into the cards enough to realize this. That's what I get for thinking I'd found something clever. Thing is, I really do like B-wings. Their combination of durability, firepower, flexible load-out and close-quarters maneuverability (in addition to their unique visual aesthetic) really sings to me. But high PS B-wings get expensive really fast, especially once you pile on the upgrades. I thought of this list as a low-budget solution to get high PS on some truly dangerous ships.

I've been floating a similar build for awhile. It even made it to Worlds I think but it just seems so light on damage in the end unless Roark is sporting blaster and the escorts are 2 bs.

Ah. I guess I didn't read into the cards enough to realize this. That's what I get for thinking I'd found something clever. Thing is, I really do like B-wings. Their combination of durability, firepower, flexible load-out and close-quarters maneuverability (in addition to their unique visual aesthetic) really sings to me. But high PS B-wings get expensive really fast, especially once you pile on the upgrades. I thought of this list as a low-budget solution to get high PS on some truly dangerous ships.

This is the very reason I love Airen so much. Airen + Swarm turns an accompanying 3 Attack ship into what is essentially a super expensive character (PS 8 with focus + target lock makes even Rookie Pilots frightening). Airen + Roark will give you a PS 8 and PS 12 B-wing to fool around with.

You do pay for it through a Headhunter that costs as much as a rookie pilot, but one shouldn't forget that he's also in an attack capable ship and sports a PS 8 (as opposed to just seeing him as a bunch of upgrades)

From what I've seen, though, I think people tend to get a little excessive on character B-wing upgrades, especially because Opprotunist looks really appealing on Keyan and Ibs (also dat Cannon slot and Crew modification...). I try not to run mine beyond a "reasonable" (considering their base cost anyway) 32/33, which is just Adv Sensors and V.I for Keyan if you want a high PS, hard-hitting, surprisingly manueverable (if you have a target every turn, your dial basically has no red manuevers ) independent B-wing and just trigger his ability with Red Manuevers.

Ibs is probably not what you're looking for (PS 6) but she seems fun with Elusiveness and FCS or Advanced Sensors.

Hmm... Definitely something to think about. Thanks for all your suggestions! Now that I see that Decoy and Swarm Tactics don't work quite like I thought, I'm leaning much more towards Cracken as my fourth as opposed to the Green Squadron Pilot. Not sure if I like the Blaster or Ion Turret more, but that'll probably just come with experimentation. Once again, thanks!

I like the underlying premise to the list. Personally, I've had more luck with this build:

Jan Ors: Decoy, Blaster Turret, Kyle crew

Blue: Advanced sensors

Blue: Advanced sensors

Prototype: refit

Points: 99

In my experience, it is not always important for all your ships to have high PS, but being able to get high PS when you need it is crucial. Roark's ability is great and it beats all PS bids. However, it can be overkill. This Jan build allows you to give PS 8 to the blue with the best shot lined up as well as super charging the attack. The stress she gains helps give her the focus she needs to fire through Kyle without needing an action (so can't be blocked and opens her action up to modify attack).

I've also enjoyed using Squad Leader instead of Decoy on Jan to allow Blues to turtle up.

Blue Squadron Pilot — B-Wing 22
Advanced Sensors 3

Nera Dantels — B-Wing 26
Swarm Tactics 2
Advanced Sensors 3

Roark Garnet — HWK-290 19
Ion Cannon Turret 5

Green Squadron Pilot — A-Wing 19
Decoy 2
Chardaan Refit -2
Veteran Instincts 1
A-Wing Test Pilot 0

-----

Try giving this a shot. As long as Roark is within range of the A-Wing, the A is the PS bridge. And should they blitz Roark you're still shooting at PS 5. (which could mean a fair bit; or nothing at all.)

TOORS mentioned that a list like this would be very good vs. a phantom (I assume because you can catch one while its decloaked), but what about other common matchups, like swarms or Falcon lists?

When I played against this today, I did what I could to stay away from the PS12 trick. If it appeared I would be in the fire arc of one of the before mentioned ships, I just stayed cloaked. Only when I was sure I would be out of their fire arc did I de cloak.

I'm not sure how it would run against other type builds, but it seems like it would be good in the right hands.

With this in mind, any ideas as to how to make Roark a less appetizing target? Originally I thought arming him with a turret would do enough, especially when title gives him near limitless focus for both offense and defense.

I think leave him. Yeah, giving PS 12 to your B-Wings is a big party of your strategy, but AS B-Wings are really solid ships and don't need baby sitting. Use Roark to kill Phantoms and after that it really doesn't matter if he dies.

If you really want see if you can squeeze Biggs in there but I don't think it's necessary.

Honestly, if you are using a HWK without Moldy Crow you are doing it wrong. I used to be of the mindset that it was too expensive and only good with Recon Spec and a Blaster Turret. But after playing with it, I found that it's greatest ability is being able to use another different action and still have more focus than every other ship on the table. It does wonders for it's survivability all on it's own. But really comes into it's own with engine, or Squad Leader, or even the humble TL. It also means you don't die horribly if you bump and lose actions. The clock that it puts on your opponent can have interesting effects, sometimes forcing them to close faster than they would like.

Sure it is fun to have 10 focus tokens, but you really don't need that many, 3 is more than enough (unless you are running a Blaster Turret).

I really wish I could run Jan crew on Jan HWK.

The latest iteration of my Roark list looks like this :

Roark + Nien Nunb + EU + ICT

Green Squadron A + CR + AWTP + VI + PtL

2x Blue Squadron B + AS

100 pts

The speed that you get with NN on the HWK (green 4), plus the EU, makes the HWK able to keep up with the A. If you can get those two behind the opponent, in the same time as you use the Bs to draw the opponent's squad to you, it's lots of fun.

[edit: fixed horrible grammar]

I think about similiar squadron for my first tourney and has such idea about saving Roark: Biggs with R7 (I can TL to most dangerous enemy) and evade from Jan Ors (free action from Cracken):

Roark Garnet — HWK-290 19

Blaster Turret 4

Jan Ors 2

Moldy Crow 3

Biggs Darklighter — X-Wing 25

R7 Astromech 2

Blue Squadron Pilot — B-Wing 22

Fire-Control System 2

Airen Cracken — Z-95 Headhunter 19

Swarm Tactics 2

But really comes into it's own with engine

This. So much this. If I had to choose between engines and Moldy Crow, I would go for the engines, but honestly that's just part of my play style. Chewbacca is another good upgrade, making the HWK have the evade dice of an X-Wing and (nearly) the health of a Y-Wing. I also personally think the the Ion Turret is better than the Blaster Turret. It has less maximum damage (1 instead of 3), but it has the same chance on dealing any damage, doesn't cost any focus to use, and helps control the battlefield.

Now on Roark, having all those upgrades bumps him up to 32 points, which is understandably too many points for a lot of players.