I'm still quite new to this game and I've got my first tournament in a month so I'm trying to get together an effective list that I can get to grips with and cut out any rookie mistakes before the tournament. My plan is simple, Wedge and one of the rookies will be striking at PS9, one pilot I've often struggled against is Whisper, hopefully with 2 ships shooting at PS9, one against only 1 agility, I should have a chance of taking a chunk out of him before he cloaks, even with VI at 98 points I hope I have a good chance of getting initiative.

Has anyone else had experience with a list like this? Is swarm tactics the best upgrade to take for this style list or would the points be better spent elsewhere?

Wedge + Swarm Tactics (31)

Biggs (25)

Rookie (21)

Rookie (21)

It's a decent list, main thing will be trying to split fire on Biggs so he doesn't go down too quickly and then spreading your firing arcs to cover a larger area than normal formation flying would allow when fighting phantoms.

I ran this list at most tournaments last year. Its a great list but... After wave 4 when the meta shifted it is just not great any more. I was winning most tournaments with that list before. Phantoms will dance around you and pick you off quicker then you think. Fat han with his bandits is an issue if you dont focus him down quickly. So for local tourney I would say it is still good for any thing competitive like store championships I would say you may want to look at different list pr at least test it in your area. I was able to beat the 2013 national champion with that list at 2014 regional though.

Glad to hear it has done well, this will be a store championship, I'm obviously not expecting to win but want to do my best, and knowing that my list is solid will help. I am worried about phantoms and will have to focus on getting them in my arc, it still surprises me sometimes just how agile they can be.

One thing that just occurred to me is I could get a HWK 290, Rebel Operative with an Ion Turret for the same price as a rookie, would swapping one or both rookies be a good idea? With the turret it would have the same chance of landing a hit as a rookie at range 2, but limited to 1 damage... but has the obvious advantage of letting me to control where the enemy ship ends up next turn and has 360 line of sight and similar survivability. I should have 2 games tonight so will see if I can borrow a HWK 290 to try both lists.

It's a solid list. 12 attack dice and 20 HP. Against anything but a named phantom, you want to focus down the biggest target first. Against a phantom, you want to spread out your firing arcs as much as possible to cover the most area possible and swarm tactics the ship that has a shot on the phantom.

Used the original list for both games tonight, think will forget about the Ion HWK for now... first game I faced a tooled up Whisper and Howlrunner mini-swarm (3 academy ties). First of all I made a big mistake, I second guessed myself and didn't deploy where I originally planned, instead I ended up avoiding a straight joust and got picked apart fairly easily. My opponent afterwards said that I would have easily taken down his ties had I deployed where I originally planned, and it would come down to Whisper vs the survivors.

2nd game I faced a decimator with a smaller howl swarm. The decimator was run with Rear Admiral Chiraneau, Ysanne Isand, Experimental Interface and Expose. Meaning he was getting 4 attack dice on me, with focus and an evade and able to turn one focus into a crit at range 1-2. I focused all my fire on him and took him out in 3 rounds of shooting (before he got his third shot back) At this point everyone was still alive (biggs was a bit battered but hanging in there) and it was easy to down the 3 ties.

I definitely need to work on my squadron flying skills, there were a couple of collisions in both games but just need to practice this list to death until the tournament

I would suggest swapping a Rookie for a Tala and using the saved points to upgrade the other Rookie to a better X-wing.

Dials are pretty compatible. And you're more likely to have more shots hit.

People like to bash X-wings these days, but they are solid ships. You have to fly them well and learn to support each other. There was someone on these forums who suggested I look at a German Championship game (well, that's what they suggested searching on: x-wing german championship) that had two great players. I believe the Rebel player had your exact list (or close to it). You have to focus on the Phantom as soon as possible. The X-wings have the firepower and Wedge shoots first. You have the ability to take out a Phantom fast. The approach was important. Many people fly in formations all the time. This guy started out that way, but then had two go forward and two bank to the side. The firing arc between those 4 ships was impressive and there was no way for the Phantom to approach without getting shot at. I think he was able to take him out in one turn.

If you are able to cover your 6 with your ships, then you can deal with Phantoms. Just work in teams. It will be particularly effective with Wedge giving out his PS rating to someone else.

I say it's a great list and if you want to learn the game, it's a great list to fly. Will you be snookered by good players? Yes, but isn't that how you learn?

While I really like the X-Wing if you're taking Rookies with no Astromechs or upgrades I suggest you consider taking:

Cracken + Swarm (21) --- Gives you 3 ships attacking at PS9 or 2 pairs at PS9 and PS8.

Cracken + Squad Leader (21) --- Allows your 2 of your X-Wings to F+TL.

i have had good luck with

Wedge w/Swarm

Biggs

Blue

Blue

100 even. it is great if you keep to the edge of the map you can see where the Phatoms are caoming from.

Good Luck!