Well maybe "needs" is a bit of a stretch, because the 2 named pilots for the E-wing are AWESOME - however it's the generics I have a problem with. I've only ever seen someone take a knave squadron pilot one time and it was more-less as a joke. And a Blackmoon squadron? I'd argue it's the single pilot card that hasn't ever been taken by anyone on Earth.

I'm not much of a math-winger, so it's hard to say exactly what is wrong with these guys. I mean, they hit hard, they are agile, have a good dial, and have cool actions available to them, but they are easily destroyed. Reminds me of the Interceptor. Except for the 11 point increase in price! I get that they have shields, effectively letting them take 2 more hits than an interceptor, but I'm just not feeling that as something I'd ever want to take.

Maybe if there was an EPT that gave a boost to all allied ships of the same ship-type... That would be bananas.

But maybe I'm wrong. Do you agree with me? Do the generic E-Wing pilots feel overcosted?

Do the generic E-Wing pilots feel overcosted?

Yes, by about 3 points.

E-wings and TIE Advanced were the only two ships that had zero of their generic pilots played at Worlds 2014.

Pretty sure that you're not alone in that sentiment. Generic E-Wings have been largely panned since they were revealed IIRC. There's just not much room for a PS1 generic that costs more than 20 points, because you can't count on them surviving long enough to shoot.

That said, it's such a niche ship that I've never been bothered by it. Corran is one of the best ships in the game, and it's his ability paired with the EPT that makes him truly strong, but these aren't really iconic ships that I want to see on the table.

I get the feeling it was priced more so that you couldn't take 4 of them at once than for any actual relationship to it's stat line. Which is frustrating, to be honest.

Well the first thing I'm guessing is that eventually there will be a mod that allows ps 3 and ps4 generic pilots to gain an EPT slot. Zero point cost.

It would completely work.

The E wing with its genetics is a little trickier.

Make it 5 points cheaper, add a cannon slot or 2 and a crew slot and of course an EPT.

... ok ok ... not funny ...

I have two of them and wish that I could field them both in non-generic form. As it is, I take Corran with R2D2 and he has lasted in all my games. The ability to attack twice every other round has come in handy. That said, I wish they were a few points less, though I think they are that high so like Punning said you don't take 4 of them. Because lets be honest, 4 wold would kick a lot of ass- they wouldn't destroy everything mind you- with relative ease.

I made good use of the Blackmoon Squadron Pilot at Gencon, placing in 8th on Thursday. I ran it with FCS and R3-A2. The logic behind it was that R3-A2 (coupled with Roark) was a great anti-phantom ship, while the FCS allowed me to have a TL, giving me the option of barrel rolling or evading for defense without sacrificing offense.

I tried replacing those 33 points with Wedge w/ VI + R3-A2 + EU (I swapped a few other things around such as Dagger -> Blue to get the extra 3 points) at the Canadian nationals, but it fell flat, and made me wish I had kept my Blackmoon as it was quite a bit better.

While I respect MJ's work, I will point out once again that it only takes into account pure jousting efficiency. One of the great things about the generic E wings is it's dial and end game survivability, not to mention it's customization. I think the Blackmoon is actually a better ship than the Knave and should be used more often. You can easily add a few points to it, and then have a decent ship at PS3. I feel like this is a waste on a PS1 because it will always shoot last in the end game. If done on Etahn or Corran, they're primary targets and easily surpass 40 points.

Just don't send the E wing head on expecting it to joust anything. Make use of it's speed, dial, actions, and upgrades... and balance it well with cost. If you put R2-D2 on a blackmoon, think hard before putting FCS on it as well. If you're going to run a Knave w/ AdvS, wouldn't you rather just have 2 prototypes?

It's a fine balance, but they definitely can be played effectively. I highly suggest making use of the astromech slot as they're the best ship for it imo.

by about 3 points.

I really think FFG over valued the stat line on both the E and the Defender.

If you love E-Wings, Corran Horn is kind of your best bet right now, which is kind of a bummer because that guy costs 40+ points after you kit him out properly. Etahn isn't that great where he doesn't actually add damage to your attacks and everything worth attacking in the early game has shields.

I foresee FFG releasing a buff for the generic E-Wings and TIE Defenders like they did for the A-Wing and TIE Adv, but not before 2016. Wave 4 is still too fresh on the market to get people excited to pay more money for E-Wing/Defender 1.5. They also need to wait so that they can blame the generics poor performance on the evolving metagame passing them by, and say that the buffs are to bring the ships back up to speed, instead of having to admit that they were non-viable from the beginning.

Fans of the generic E-Wing and Defender are just going to have to have patience.

For fun! I have on several occasions taken 3 Blackmoon, r2, and Advance Sensors.

It's can be fun, I call it Blackmoon Son!!

It's done reasonably well, but you have to fly them like Interceptors, no jousting!. Skim in and take your shots then zip around and arc dodge. The advanced sensors allows you to avoid shots, the key is to always avoid shots if you can. If you don't you will lose.

I'd argue it's the single pilot card that hasn't ever been taken by anyone on Earth.

Fel's Wrath

Ok ... Carron Horn IS a killer already.

...

Actually he is the most lethal rebel piloting a snubfighter.

...

Carron is even able to blast Whisper ... just add VI.

...

Yes, generics suck somewhat - but can you boost them while leaving Horn untouched? Can you?

I'd argue it's the single pilot card that hasn't ever been taken by anyone on Earth.

Fel's Wrath

There wasn't much creativity left for Soontirs' wingman after creating Soontir himself ....

My gut says that E-wings should be sort of rare. I much prefer E-Wings to be underpowered when compared to say the X-wing than the other way around.

If anything I wish the Defenders were more like E-wings. The TIE Defender is the most advanced TIE as ship that is pretty much reserved for Aces, but I almost always fly it in the generic form since the Named Defenders aren't that great. So I never get to fly the Defender Ace.

Truth be told (and I am thrilled about the buff the TIE Advanced is getting) I was never really that disapointed in the TIE Advanced for the same reason. Sure the ship itself wasn't that great, but Vader was AWESOME (especially a few wave releases ago) And let's be honest I spent most of my life calling the TIE Advanced - Darth Vader's TIE Fighter. I was fine that no one else ever flew it.

If anything I am annoyed that the X-wing has been out stripped by the highly upgradeable B and E-wings. And it isn't cheap enough to compete with A-wings. The game is called X-Wing I think we should see more of this iconic ship in the game.

While I respect MJ's work, I will point out once again that it only takes into account pure jousting efficiency.

Well, the jousting numbers and corresponding required efficiency numbers (in this case an astronomical 156% for the generic!) are very useful, but that's not the only thing. I run total cost predictions based on combat effectiveness predictions based on the dial and upgrade bar. For the E-wing to come about in-line with the B-wing in overall cost progression, a fair cost for the PS1 Knave would almost certainly be 24 points.

You are paying a huge tax (about 6 points at PS1) over its raw dice/stats value to get the upgrade bar and dial, so you need to use the system / droid slot to justify buying the ship at all.

I'd argue it's the single pilot card that hasn't ever been taken by anyone on Earth.

Fel's Wrath

Not true! Over a year ago some guys at my house played a 2v2, and the other side took Fel's Wrath!

Of course, I killed him in the first firing round at PS6, and dealt him a crit that said to ignore his pilot ability, so..... yeah...

but can you boost them while leaving Horn untouched?

Sure you can do something like R2-D6 which only gives a EPT to a ship that doesn't already have it. In this case it could be only used on a ship with a PS5 or less.

I think the E-wing fix is simple: A free Astromech.

I ran 2xBlackmoons with FCS and R2 astro and 3xBandits in a local tournament just before The Canadian Nationals and felt they held up really well. I really like the model and really wanted to try out the generics to see if it could work. Having the options for astromechs and systems gives them lots of customization to play around with.

Remember that Blackmoon was a trap set for Rogue Squadron by imperials, and you'll do fine.

The Defender and E-wing are my 2 favorite ships in all of star wars, and I very much wish they had a Significant role in this game. Give the awesomeness of the E-wing's action bar, a 1 point title that gave it some sort of free action ability would be quite nice. I'm not saying that's the only or best buff, just that it would let the E-wing do more of what it does best, at a cost more in line with its performance.

I'd argue it's the single pilot card that hasn't ever been taken by anyone on Earth.

Fel's Wrath

There wasn't much creativity left for Soontirs' wingman after creating Soontir himself ....

Our imperial counsel game vs bohrdumb showcased kagi fels wrath and night beast and a tempest prockets pre fix. Fels wrath didn't die Rofl.

I'd actually say that soontirs ability is kind of obvious in a way. Not that creative. But effective.

An Astromech that has synergy with barrel roll would be ideal.

Gyroscoping RG-4: Cost 4

After performing an action, you may perform a free barrel roll, then gain a stress token. This action CAN be performed even after performing a normal barrel roll action.

An Astromech that has synergy with barrel roll would be ideal.

Gyroscoping RG-4: Cost 4

After performing an action, you may perform a free barrel roll, then gain a stress token. This action CAN be performed even after performing a normal barrel roll action.

I don't know if that would work well. Repositioning ability isn't as useful on low-PS pilots, so this is only really going to be good on Corran. And all other astromech-capable high-PS pilots, some of which don't really need help (wedge).

Adding cost to the E-Wing is a hard sell, to start with. A fix would have to either reduce cost, or drastically increase ability at little or no cost, and would ideally be targeted to generics only.

A good way to accomplish that is through a title that is restricted to E-wings with PS4 or lower. With a title, you could do a cost reduction, upgrade discount, or add an ability of some other kind to increase effectiveness.

In my experience, advanced sensors are a huge force multiplier for E-Wings, just as they are for their B-Wing predecessors - perhaps even more so because of their better dial.

That said, the generics rarely find their way into my squadrons because the named pilots offer a huge upgrade of their GREAT abilities and the presence of an EPT for a relatively small increase in point cost.

Do the generic E-Wing pilots feel overcosted?

Yes, by about 3 points.

E-wings and TIE Advanced were the only two ships that had zero of their generic pilots played at Worlds 2014.

As I said before Generics are not necessarily about the point cost but can you build more than one? A Damage sponge E-wing with R2-D2 regenerating shields is a great build for an E-wing but you can only have one R2-D2 so only 1 E-wing.

Lets take a look at some of the best generics.

You got green squadron with PTL, (and to help with the cost chardaan refits)

You got Delta squadron Defenders with HLCs.

The Black Squadron with Swarm tactics help out the Academy pilots a lot.

Lets not forget about the Wave 3 favorite Blue squadron with advanced sensors.

The strength behind generics is not the low pilot skill for blocking (although it helps) or the lower point cost as there is only a 9 point spread between the lowest to highest skilled ship (excluding the YT-1300). It is the fact after you build a good ship you can make another one exactly like that. You can't field another Biggs or Echo, but you can take plenty of PTL Greens and a couple of HLC Defenders.