So I just got into X-Wing Miniatures. I love the Imperial side, (although from a rookies perspective, it seems they aren't very good as your guys just die so fast)

i have the imperial Aces box, and three regular tie fighters. I know this isn't enough to get an effective list, and I didn't have a battle box, so i ordered another box set, boosting the number of ties i have to 5, with the imperial aces list box set (i also know that i needed to get the asteroids, and the upgrades cards in the box with all of the scenario pieces so it wasn't a wasted purchase)

My questions are these:

do i want need to spend 50.00 on a tie advanced to get Vader? i have searched like 5 pages of this forum and a few others and no one seems to use him. Fluff wise, i think it might be fun to have him, but it seems like he will cost quite a bit. Will FF ever re-release older models like slave one or the tie interceptor. It seems like all the best imperial stuff is impossible to get, and i dont really want to play games where im just going to get stomped because i cant get ahold of the older stuff.

What about slave 1? is it worth getting? He is kind of in the same case as the tie advanced? Super expensive and I'm not sure it's completely worth the cost at this point.

what would you all recommend to give me a decent grouping of stuff to build some interesting squadrons from and still have fun and engaging games. (i only mention this because so far i have played against the falcon and the ship that looks like the falcon, i think its a 2500, or something like that. but every time, he just can shoot me from anywhere and he just kills me) or i play against a TON of B wings, or i end up playing against a friend of mine that has some guy that lets him shoot twice in a turn on an A wing and take 2 actions, and he plays that with a couple of 12 point ships that look like x-wings but they aren't, and he plays an x-wing that can rebuild his shields, and everyone with range one HAS to shoot him before they can shoot at anything else. Its always a fun game, but most of the time i rarely can even take a few ships out before i just get decimated.

some options that have been listed for me were to buy a tie interceptor (40.00) a tie advanced (40-45) a lambda class shuttle (not for the shuttle, but for some of the cards) a tie phantom, a tie defender, but thats where the list ends.

What are the good upgrades, what are the good ships, and how do i get the right cards i use. If i have to spend 75-90 dollars on two small models i guess i will, i really love the game that much, but it will just take me a long time.

so there it is, help me out guys.

Ok, first off, FFG has stated that everything will be rereleased as needed, so older ships will come back.

This site has an excellent listing of every expansion and what they contain:

http://xwing-miniatures.wikia.com/wiki/X-Wing_Miniatures_Wiki

That being said, should you buy an Advanced? Not yet, Vader is great but the other pilots are bad. You can do without Vader, for now.

Slave 1 can be a beast and the upcoming Most Wanted expansion will contain cards to convert the Slave 1 to that faction with significant changes in how the ship plays. You might want to look into that, although it does mean dipping into another faction to play, not just for the upgrades.

But should it be your initial purchase? Probably not. It's most likely out of stock anyway for the next few months until the next production run arrives.

Get a regular TIE Interceptor expansion to unlock the other pilots, such as Soontir Fel.

Then start looking at the other TIE's.

Bombers can be astoundingly effective and quite cheap. Phantoms are the flavour of the month and likely to remain so for a while, while Defenders are deceptive workhorses that might not seem worth it but can be quite powerful.

Then there are the large based ships, the Shuttle and the Decimator. The latest is the newest shiny, and as such very popular (also because it has a turret which allows you to shoot all around you), the Shuttle is more dangerous than it sounds.

Look through MajorJuggler's thread for squad building tips and strategies.

You'll probably find yourself buying ships to get access to upgrade cards and talents that you want/need, unless the people you play with allow you to proxy them.

Don't ever pay more than the msrp for a unit. Even used. Eventually you will find someone with it in stock or a player willing to get rid of it cheap. I would suggest a bomber or two and a basic tie interceptor one pack for the other pilots.

The box set was a good purchase. I recommend this for starters:

Carnor Jax (from Imp. Aces) + Push the Limit (also from Imp. Aces)

Howlrunner (from regular TIE pack)

4x Academy Pilots (from regular TIE pack and/or box set)

That leaves a few points, which you can use to customize Carnor. Learn Arc-dodging and get Carnor to shoot without giving the opponent a chance to shoot back. Carnor can also work well against Outriders (the YT-2400), as it can get inside the Outrider's 1 range so that the Outrider is unable to shoot Carnor. The Howlrunner + Academy Pilots could help you hit Falcons with a swarm strategy.

Hope that helps.

Edit: In terms of acquiring more ships, I would say the above build could last you a while so you could hold off on getting more ships for now. You could look into trading the box set's extra X-Wing for some Imperial ship. If you were to purchase a new ship, I would suggest TIE Interceptor pack (Soontir Fel is usually better than Carnor Jax) or the TIE Phantom (much more complicated ship but plays similar to Soontir and Carnor in terms of arc-dodging style).

First welcome.

Second buy some defenders!

If you can find a firespray for retail price grab it, it's a solid ship with some nice upgrades no imperial should be without.

Wave six is about to provide interceptors a nice boost against turret ships so grab them now before they become hard to find, the imp aces is also a great buy.

Tie advanced will get a fix in the near future but right now it's not a great choice.

Imps are more fragile but we have superior movement so learning how to get behind the rebels is key, never go head to head with a rebel player instead attack his flanks and get in his six.

Welcome to the game.

Expansions are always being reprinted. You can check their status by going to the "upcoming" tab, and then select the "miniature" filter and it will show all the miniature statuses, even other games, and you can see how close reprints are to hitting store shelves. Although it does look like stuff is out of stock, it is best to be patient.

Tie Advanced: Vader is cool but all the other pilots are over costed so not tournament viable. This is the most frequent complaint about the tie advanced (FFG has hinted from Gencon that a fix is coming, but we don't know when that will be).

Firespray is a very versatile ship for Empire builds and important upgrade cards are also in this expansion. It too is hard to find but it will be reprinted.

A regular tie interceptor is a good expansion to get as well as the phantom and defender. You will have fun playing these. Don't discount the shuttle, it can be a hard ship to understand but it can be a good linch pin to any Empire squad for its point value.

You can check out various list information on MJ's pinned thread. You can also check out Team Covenant and their site for good blog posts and such.