My girlfriend and I are new to X-Wing, and we play quite regularly with each other. Each time we play we randomly select Imperials or Rebels to control, however the Rebels have a dismal record so far at just one win in eight games. The first two games were close (just a couple of hit points left), but that was when we only had a few ships. With our current collection it seems like the Imperials are landsliding victories in 100-point games.

It is my opinion that playing as Imperials is more forgiving due to their manoeuvre dials and sheer number of dice. The TIE Fighter pilots in particular seem to have spectacular abilities for their cost (just from the core set!).

I'm looking for tips to help us improve our Rebel game. Here is what I have:

2x Core sets

1x E-wing

1x B-Wing (Aces)

1x A-Wing (Aces)

1x HWK

1x Decimator

1x Defender

1x Phantom

1x Bomber

Waiting for delivery:

1x Y-wing

1x YT-2400

1x X-Wing

1x Lambda

We are particularly poor at flying B-Wings and coordinating Rebel ships in general due to the differences in their dials. Our latest game was a narrow Rebel win, however the B-wing uselessly spent the entire game dodging asteroids and flying almost off the edge of the table trying to get an arc!

Any help would be appreciated!

Practice, practice, practice. A TIE fighter expansion is a must, to get Howlrunner, if you like running Imperials. The differences between the dials are advantages I use when I run Rebels. I've found that trying to master multiple dials in a single list has been most useful in learning to maneuver.

Imperials are more forgiving, prepare to get flamed for that comment rookie

Truth is with shields rebels have the edge when people start they have higher hit points, higher fire power, some of the best named pilots.

Using imps just flat out takes more skill, it's far less forgiving of mistakes and one bad defence roll can lose you a ship.

Give us a few examples of the lists she's using and well give you some advice.

If you can get a millennium falcon expansion the Engine upgrades will help you with the large ship movement.

I could probably tell you more if you gave me some lists you were playing!

Imperials are more forgiving, prepare to get flamed for that comment rookie

Truth is with shields rebels have the edge when people start they have higher hit points, higher fire power, some of the best named pilots.

Using imps just flat out takes more skill, it's far less forgiving of mistakes and one bad defence roll can lose you a ship.

Give us a few examples of the lists she's using and well give you some advice.

That's very true, but back when we were starting to play X-Wing we experienced the same thing. Everybody knows that until wave 3 came out nd even until the Phantom came, Tie Fighter Swarms were incredibly powerful.

If he tells us that he is using X-Wings with ordnance and other unneeded stuff and she flies a lot of low cost Ties then we have our explanation...

Try this when your third X-Wing arrives.

Corran Horn

-Marksmanship

-Fire Control System

Wedge Antilles

-Predator

Biggs Darklighter

-Hull Upgrade

You can drop the hull upgrade if you want to put something else on one of your ships. The list is straightforward, relying on brutal attacks from Wedge and Corran to kill almost anything in one round. Or to kill two things, if you're lucky. Start like this:

C

W B

Depending on maneuvers, Biggs might slam into Corran. That's fine as long as Biggs stays within range 1 of the other two, because he will be dying heroically to buy time for your star pilots to deal with any real problems. The dials are almost exactly the same on these ships so formations are easy. Phantoms could be a problem but without Veteran Instincts it will die very quickly if caught with it's cloak down, and Corran might be able to smash through it's agility with his double tap.

I played this list with success against better players than myself (one bomber group and one trio of Interceptors accompanied by Vader), so I think it's pretty noob friendly.

We are particularly poor at flying B-Wings and coordinating Rebel ships in general due to the differences in their dials. Our latest game was a narrow Rebel win, however the B-wing uselessly spent the entire game dodging asteroids and flying almost off the edge of the table trying to get an arc!

Any help would be appreciated!

Advanced Sensors are your friend with the B-Wing, especially when combined with the Barrel Roll action (and Keyan). Don't be too afraid of the red manuevers (especially with Keyan). It's dial looks a little unorthodox, but once you get used to it, it can pull some manuevers that will blow your mind.

Imperial Fighters are more agile, but more fragile.

Looking at what you've got, two threats jump out at me:

1. It's possible to engage a TIE phantom with just heavy fighters, but it's not easy. If you find the phantom is the big threat, then consider making that HWK Roark Garnet. Give another pilot Swarm Tactics and you should find a lot of your fleet getting shots off before the Phantom can cloak again
2. For a TIE swarm - howlrunner is nasty, and killable, but ultimately the force is beatable - the key is getting as many kills as possible before they can fire. Also, consider holding focus tokens for defence - they're good against multiple attackers as the odds of one or more "eyes" not coming up when rolling evades against many 2-dice attackers is low.

Biggs is and always will be good, but to use him effectively you need something scary under his defensive escort. Wedge is always good.

You are not playing your B-wing properly from the sounds of it. With advanced sensors, they are top tier dog fighters. Are you focus firing on her ships? Hockeyzombie's list sounds like it can ge the job done.

You are not playing your B-wing properly from the sounds of it. With advanced sensors, they are top tier dog fighters. Are you focus firing on her ships? Hockeyzombie's list sounds like it can ge the job done.

I agree-It does sound like you're not flying the B-wings correctly if they aren't working for you. You need to realise how each ship likes to be flown. The B-wing, not unlike the defender, does not like to get embroiled in a tight twisty chasing scenario (unlike the interceptors and a-wings who love it) as many of their turns are stressful (and they have a relatively limited number of green manoeuvres to then clear said stress in further rounds). Instead defenders/B's like jousting (head-on closure with koiogran turning once you have flown past your foes). Once you realise the way a ship likes to be flown (and more importantly how it doesn't like to be) you'll find the ships you once maligned will suddenly start doing the business for you, and the B-wings will be top of that list, trust me...

Thanks for the feedback thus far. I agree that our manipulation of the B-Wing leaves a lot to be desired. Usually it tries to stay at range 2, but the Imperial player will just fly TIEs into its face and focus it down. An example of a list we used is follows:

(X-wing) Luke Skywalker

(X-wing) Biggs Darklighter

(HWK-90) Roark Garnet

+Blaster Turrent

+Tactician

(B-wing) Blue Squadron Pilot

It was an asteroid heavy game, so the HWK did surprisingly well and the B-wing performed terribly. Luke was the all-star of the Rebel team, racking up the most damage. Biggs did well until he got focussed by 2 TIES at range 1. The Phantom parked up behind the HWK and killed it in one round.

And all becomes clear your gf is using the tie phantom a very strong ship that is lethal in skilled hand, your build is not well made to counter a phantom at all.

While your learning ask her not to use that ship, once your better acquainted with x-wing and how ships move let her use it again.

The B-wing has a lot of red on its dial, but with Advanced Sensors that becomes far less of a problem. You should have a copy in your E-wing pack, IIRC.

For Blaster Turrets, I'm not really a fan of a naked BT. Put a Recon Specialist and Moldy Crow on, though, and you can both fire it and use a Focus to modify the attack (and probably have Focus for defense as well). If you don't want to spend the points on all that, I'd say just go with an Ion Cannon Turret.

As for the E-wings, Corran Horn with R2-D2 and Marksmanship, or for more points add a Fire Control System as well, can be an absolutely deadly fighter. Take Evade when you don't have a shot, and Marksmanship when you do. It modifies all your attacks that round, and the first attack will get you a Target Lock from your FCS to modify the second attack if you make it (giving you both rerolls and a Marksmanship super-Focus for the second attack). 3 Shields with a lot of green on the dial and R2-D2 makes it very hard to kill him if you don't focus fire on him in a single round. After a round of double-tapping, just do greens and get shields back while taking Evade actions.

You could do a list like this:

Blue Squadron Pilot [22]

Advanced Sensors [3]

25 total

Corran Horn [35]

Fire-Control System [2]

Marksmanship [3]

R2-D2 [4]

44 total

Kyle Katarn [21]

Moldy Crow [3]

Recon Specialist [3]

Blaster Turret [4]

31 total

100 points exactly. The B-wing is a hard-hitting knife fighter able to take actions before doing Red maneuvers, while Kyle stacks Focus from the first turn on and hands them out as needed, while also powering his own Blaster Turret shots. Meanwhile Corran does his thing and murders stuff while also being super tanky (Kyle hands him a Focus on top of his Evades if you think he's going to get shot at a bunch).

For starters, you might want to take the Phantom off the table. It completely changes the game in ways that could make it hard for newer players to beat. Maybe just get used to the game without the Phantom, and then add it when it's more of an even fight.

I think getting the X-wing blister will help. Isn't that the one with Wedge? He can just destroy the Imperials with high PS and lowering their evade dice by one.

If you remove the Phantom, I'd look at 3 X-wings and the Y-wing w/ Ion Turret to try out. It's a great list and should do well.

Of course, you don't have to take out the Phantom, but you might see more balance until you guys pick up the game moves more.

I'm guessing that some of the problem is that the person playing Imperials is putting down 4 Tie Fighters with each list. The ability of the Imperials to have cheap filler ships was a major advantage until...

*drumroll*

...The arrival of the Z-95 Headhunter, whose point costs were on par with Tie Fighters.

Buy a couple of them and watch things get easier for the Rebels. It REALLY frees you up to create interesting lists with more than 4 ships on the rebel side.

It must be a relief for both of you to having trouble with the Rebel ships!

Statistically, the Tie Fighters and Tie Bomber that would form the core of your Imperial fleet are a much better value than the Rebel ships you have. You're not crazy.

The B-Wing really is a tricky beast to move. It's incredibly powerful, and definitely can rack up kills, but it takes practice. Call it a "high skill floor, high skill ceiling" ship. My recommendation is to set up an obstacle course and fly the B-Wing through it.* Also: the heavy Laser Cannon on the B-Wing is terrifying.

One other thought: While you are learning, fly as many Rebels of a single type as you can fit in a list. Trying to keep your head around 4 different dials can be daunting. So maybe a list with 2 X-Wings and an E-Wing would help mitigate the problem. I threw this together as an example- using only stuff I think you have:

Etahn A'baht — E-Wing 32

Wingman 2

Fire-Control System 2

R7 Astromech 2

Luke Skywalker — X-Wing 28

Predator 3

Biggs Darklighter — X-Wing 25

R2-D2 4

Good luck and good flying!

*I created a mission for this, to help people learn to fly ships. Find it

here:http://tools.fantasyflightgames.com/xwing/htmlpreview/1048/

I have to say that Blue Squadron B-wings are perhaps the most reliable and all around useful generics that the rebels can field. Once you come to grips with their dial, they're also a blast to play.

I'm just on a rebel break for a very long time because I had a game on friday where my maneuvers brought my entire Jake farrel + 3 Blue B-wing squad (Farrel focused, 2 Blues target locked) into range 2 of a Fringer with no defensive tokens and I was rewarded with 2 total damage.

I do sometimes feel that the largely number of imperial green dice seem to grant them a much more impressive defense, but remember that the green dice has a much lower chance of rolling evades than rebel's 3 reds have of rolling damage. Poor spikes in rolling red can severely penalize low agility rebels because the damage they deal can quickly fall behind the damage they take, but poor spikes in rolling green can lose an imperial player an entire starship (and are much more likely to happen).

Thanks for all the advice. My X-wing, YT-2400 and Y-wing packs arrived yesterday so we played another game last night - we flipped a coin and I ended up playing Rebels again. Here are the lists we used:

(E-wing) Corran Horn

+ Fire control system

+ Marksmanship

(X-wing) Wedge Antilles

+ Predator

(X-wing) Biggs Darklighter

+ R5-D8

VS

(TIE Fighter) Black Squadron Pilot

(TIE Fighter) Night Beast

(TIE Fighter) Dark Curse

(TIE Fighter) Mauler Mithel

+ Outmanoeuvre

(TIE Bomber) Major Rhymer

+ Seismic Charges

+ Proton Rockets

+ Proton Torpedos

I purposely loaded the Bomber with ordnance and chose Black Squdron Pilot to avoid adding another dangerous Imperial ship. This game was much closer - Imperials won with Night Beast being the last ship flying with 2 HP remaining.

Wedge and Corran were incredibly deadly - taking out Mauler Mithel and Dark Curse in a single round once they were in position. Biggs was a fantastic tank - I was able to discard 3 or more damage cards using R5-D8 with some skilful flying. The TIE Bomber was a major pain - it kept dealing damage while avoiding or soaking return fire. I wanted Mauler out of the game quickly (before he can close to range 1 behind me for 5 attack dice!) so I focussed him, however it allowed the other TIES to flank Corran and take him out quickly.

Even though this 2 hour game was very close in the end, I feel like the Imperials had the upper hand still. At least 3 damage dealt to the Imps were due to my girlfriend misjudging distances and landing them on asteroids. She also had a few unlucky rolls where mine were consistently good. Lastly, and most importantly, we purposely designed the Imp team to have a limit of 5 ships to give the Rebels a chance; I can't help but feel that it would have been a quicker win with more TIEs or with Howlrunner (which I don't have yet).

There are a few other ideas presented in this thread that I will try. The problem as I see it is that the Rebels don't deal with obstacles nearly as well as the Imperials. Using just an ounce of sense, the Imperial player can limit line of sight to their ships or keep the Rebels at range 3 when defending, then closing quickly to range 1 (usually on a flank) for an attack.

Glad it was a much closer fight! Hope it was fun.

While one can say that the Imperials had some bad luck, I do want to point out that green dice are inferior to red dice. The red have 3 hits and 1 crit on them, while the green dice have 3 evades only. So, without any modifiers, Rebels have an advantage.

Might I suggest that the Rebels take a 4 ship list? You will have to go with more generics, but I think they will do better. How I found Rebels work best is when they cover each other's backs. I like to fly them in pairs.....or if with a Y-wing in the mix...just try to cover your rears. If you go with more generics, you will have lower PS skill and it will be harder to avoid the arc dodging Tie Fighters. So, you have to have a partner covering your rear. This way, no matter who dodges behind someone, you will get a shot at them. Having more ships lets you do this. It will help because the Rebels will have more shots to fire each round, which is always in their favor. Next, it will be harder for the Imperials to blast through all the hull and shield of another ship. So, while it will be harder to get them in your firing arcs, it will teach you to play smart and use some of the natural advantages of the Rebels.

I will say that a first pass with the Rebels can be a brutal thing. Lots of red dice w/ TL or Focus can put a hurt on some Tie Fighters. I find Howlrunner to be a bad investment. If the Imperials fly in formation to get her benefit, it's even easier for the 4 X-wings to get the enemy in their firing arc. You will be able to whittle them down or take Howlrunner out fast. She's a lot of points with a big bullseye on her ship.

I'd recommend using a Y-wing with Ion Turret. Once you start tagging those evasive Tie Fighters, you will know where they will be. It won't be too hard to set up a shot on one. All you got to do is tag one a turn, and then have a X-wing or two pounce on it. If you go with Dutch Vander, then you will do well. He can give out a TL to the same target to another X-wing. This makes them much deadlier. They can Focus and get a free TL from Dutch. They can also do a K-turn and get a free TL for that round of shooting, too. This makes the X-wing a bit more agile when fighting the Tie Fighting swarm.

If I may be so bold, I'd suggest a list:

Wedge w/ R2 Astromech

Dutch w/ Ion Turret

2 x Rookie Pilots

It's not sexy with all the bells and whistles, but it's effective. It plays to Rebel strength and has synergy. Wedge is better with an EPT, but if he isn't bad without one. A free TL combined with a Focus on his part can ruin a Tie Fighter a turn. You can also use the other two X-wings to cover his back when things get hairy. It's also a good list to learn on.

As for the Imperials, the ship you really need to watch out for is Backstabber. He can sit outside of your firing arcs and get that extra attack die. If the Imperials fly straight at you in formation now, they will probably stop that vs 4 ships. You will start to see two formations approach you at different speeds. If there is Backstabber in one, you aim for that one. Move in fast and kill as many as quick as you can. Then peel off and get the other group.

Hope this helps!

There are a few other ideas presented in this thread that I will try. The problem as I see it is that the Rebels don't deal with obstacles nearly as well as the Imperials. Using just an ounce of sense, the Imperial player can limit line of sight to their ships or keep the Rebels at range 3 when defending, then closing quickly to range 1 (usually on a flank) for an attack.

Now that you have the YT-2400, why don't you try loading up Dash Rendar with lots of upgrades, and backing him up with, say, two generic pilots? Playing with a turret gave me my first string of dominant victories and in this particular case the obstacles will bother you less.

There are a few other ideas presented in this thread that I will try. The problem as I see it is that the Rebels don't deal with obstacles nearly as well as the Imperials. Using just an ounce of sense, the Imperial player can limit line of sight to their ships or keep the Rebels at range 3 when defending, then closing quickly to range 1 (usually on a flank) for an attack.

Advanced Sensor B-wings

Also E-wings if you want to try E'athn. FCS is too integral for Corran's ability to be worth it, imo.

Your post reminds me of another that I read a while back where the people were playing with 12 asteroids (instead of 6) in a 3-by-3' area, particularly because of this comment:

however the B-wing uselessly spent the entire game dodging asteroids

It was an asteroid heavy game

I'm probably wrong (and I mean no offense) but I have to make sure, are you playing with the standard 6 asteroids or more?

We were playing with five asteroids arranged in the centre of the battlespace like this:

X X

X

X X

Part of the problem was that the 'battlespace' was our dining room table, which is obviously longer than it is wide. It has never felt like ships have been in danger of going off the sides of the table, but perhaps it has an effect. Our battles often have the two squads start at opposite ends, facing each other. The asteroids are there to prevent a massive joust/furball in the centre, forcing ships to break off into smaller groups.

When I play on my living room table (most of the time!), I try to block off a 3x3 space. A lot of interesting things happen in a confined area.