List time! Here is an idea for a carrier-based, fighter-oriented list:

AF MkII B (@72) + Gallant Haven (@8) + Garm Bel Iblis (@25)

Neb B Escort (@57) + Yavaris (@5)

10 X-Wing Squadrons (@130) - actually, I would mix in some bombers and aces, but I don't know their costs

Total: 297 points

With the two capital ships, you could command 5 squadrons per turn (7 if both ships have squadron tokens, too). Garm Bel Iblis would give you the squadron tokens you need for your first big offensive. The Assault Frigate MkII protects your slow bombers until they get in close. Meanwhile, the Nebulon B holds back (providing long-range firepower) and unleashes longer range fighters. This list could field up to 133 points of fighters, which is probably at the upper end of reasonable.

Jaina's Light is a great little utility ability that you can easily toss on a ship if you have 2 points left over.

And it would completely kick ass in the Navigational Hazards objective (where when a ship overlaps an asteroid and takes a damage the opposing player gets a victory point), since it ignores overlapping obstacles!

So who thinks taking at least one Vic II is going to be important for Imperials, given that a CR90b has more firepower than a Vic I or Gladiator at medium range? This is certainly making me rethink the three Vic I list idea. Also I think engine techs and Demolisher is going to be a great combo for a gladiator.

Will also be interesting to try rebel fleets without an assault frigate, to see if you can dance around your opponent and use your fighters to the maximum.

Maybe two Neb-B Escorts, two CR90a, Mon Mothma, and then 120 points for fighters and upgrades.

I think they've just handed the Rebels some great anti-bomber goodies and they would be crazy not to use them.

Quite, but then I wonder how common bombers are going to be in Imperial lists. Their ships are more expensive on the whole, and bombers can't stop other fighters from attacking so they have to be used very offensively, cutting down on defense from the nasty Rebel fighters.

Jaina's Light is a great little utility ability that you can easily toss on a ship if you have 2 points left over.

And it would completely kick ass in the Navigational Hazards objective (where when a ship overlaps an asteroid and takes a damage the opposing player gets a victory point), since it ignores overlapping obstacles!

Game isn't even out yet and already the Rebels have a do what ever they want ship

They finally get a game where they can smack Rebels around with capships and Imperial players still aren't satisfied.

Come ON now.

All I keep thinking at this point is that 300 points will just not be enought to play with all of the toys in the game.

Right now it looks like 200-ish points for cap ships, 20-30 for an admiral and around 75 points in fighters will be what you get. I've been planning on a purchase one of everything approach to wave 1 and there is now way to get all of it on the table at 300 points.

So who thinks taking at least one Vic II is going to be important for Imperials, given that a CR90b has more firepower than a Vic I or Gladiator at medium range? This is certainly making me rethink the three Vic I list idea.

Will also be interesting to try rebel fleets without an assault frigate, to see if you can dance around your opponent and use your fighters to the maximum.

Maybe two Neb-B Escorts, two CR90a, Mon Mothma, and then 120 points for fighters and upgrades.

I think they've just handed the Rebels some great anti-bomber goodies and they would be crazy not to use them.

Quite, but then I wonder how common bombers are going to be in Imperial lists. Their ships are more expensive on the whole, and bombers can't stop other fighters from attacking so they have to be used very offensively, cutting down on defense from the nasty Rebel fighters.

I know I wanna try and run 1 or 2 squadrons my self. Now instead of boom and zoom I'm thinking holding them back and using them as a force multiplier when I pounce on ships with the Gladiator SD. the GSD grinds down the target the bombers move in to help finish off. Bombers are still gonna be good for the Imperials just now we gotta be more careful with them.

They finally get a game where they can smack Rebels around with capships and Imperial players still aren't satisfied.

Come ON now.

I didn't say I wasn't satisfied just saying the Rebels got a lot of cool stuff. Corvette still go's boom regardless if Leia is on board or not.

All I keep thinking at this point is that 300 points will just not be enought to play with all of the toys in the game.

Right now it looks like 200-ish points for cap ships, 20-30 for an admiral and around 75 points in fighters will be what you get. I've been planning on a purchase one of everything approach to wave 1 and there is now way to get all of it on the table at 300 points.

Not being able to field everything is the point of playing at 300 points. It very much demonstrates where good list contruction comes in.

All I keep thinking at this point is that 300 points will just not be enought to play with all of the toys in the game.

Right now it looks like 200-ish points for cap ships, 20-30 for an admiral and around 75 points in fighters will be what you get. I've been planning on a purchase one of everything approach to wave 1 and there is now way to get all of it on the table at 300 points.

Well playing around with Fabs Fleet gen shows we can squeeze everything into a fleet but your gonna have to do some big trade offs. I won't be surprised if the fleet points go up by 100 but then it might be too much

Another list:

AF MkII A @81 pts + Garm Bel Iblis (or Mon Mothma) @25 pts

AF MkII A @81 pts

CR90B @39 pts + Tantive IV @3 pts + Leia @3 pts + Raymus Antilles @7 pts

3 X-Wing Squadrons @39 pts

Luke Skywalker X-Wing Squadron @20 pts

Total: 298 pts

The Tantive IV shepherds the two big Assault Frigate MkII's, so that you are never stuck with the wrong action. The MkII's lay down some devastating long-range broadsides. ?????? Profit.

Another list:

AF MkII A @81 pts + Garm Bel Iblis (or Mon Mothma) @25 pts

AF MkII A @81 pts

CR90B @39 pts + Tantive IV @3 pts + Leia @3 pts + Raymus Antilles @7 pts

3 X-Wing Squadrons @39 pts

Luke Skywalker X-Wing Squadron @20 pts

Total: 298 pts

The Tantive IV shepherds the two big Assault Frigate MkII's, so that you are never stuck with the wrong action. The MkII's lay down some devastating long-range broadsides. ?????? Profit.

I always like how the rebels assume all the Imperials are gonna have is just one Victory

First ship gone will be the Corvette by combined Gladiators and Tie Bombers. Then AS IIA with Mon Mothma on it. or Maybe I'll just combined all my fire into that one first so you auto lose since Mon Mothma is your Admiral

Either way interesting list, might have to try it when I'm feeling like being a rebel. Although at this rate I might start Rebel and work my way over to Imperial. I have always liked using fast ships to cross the T on a enemy ships rear.

Im really liking the idea of this fleet:

Vic II + Tarkin + Enhanced Armaments 130

Vic I + Expanded Launchers + XX-9-Turbolasers 91

Howlrunner 16

6 Tie fighters 48

285 leaving a great deal of room to adjust the fighter composition.

Basic formation would be Vic II leading with the Vic coming along slightly behind and to the side the rebels will likely come down to broadside the Vic II. Fighter swarm split basically even between the 2 ships. The goal is to throw a large number of dice into the front arc of the enemy lead ship and make every effort to keep him the front arc of the Vic I at black die range.

That should readily melt any ship that doesnt turn away.

One aspect I really like about this list is I can pull concentrate fire commands while getting the concentrate fire token from Tarkin. If I get really pummeled I can always just start taking engineering tokens from tarkin to rotate some shields around until I can get engineering tokens to pass through the command stack.

I will definitely be looking forward to playing both factions though because Imps will be brute force approach while the Rebels look like they are all about combos and finesse in glass cannon ships.

Rebels look like they are all about combos and finesse in glass cannon ships.

[266] 7x CR90b

[34] misc. fighters

combos are too easy to break unless you can manage serious redundancy.

I'm thinking Corvette swarms will actually be fairly viable, as long as you bunch them up real tight so the enemy VSDs can't attack out of two different arcs. They cost about half a Vic 2 and have about half the fire power. So two Corvettes are slightly more expensive than a single Vic 2, have 4 red & 2 blue dice, compared to 3 red & 3 blue. 10 Hull compared to 8 Hull, (Shields are harder to compare). They also have excellent anti-squadron capability, barely have a use for squadrons.

I'm also wondering how Paragon works. Does it always add the black dice, even if your at Long Range? Or does it only give the opportunity to add a black die, if the ship is within close range.

Also Adar Tallon. It says you can toggle the activation slider of 1 squadron activated with the ships squadron command. Does that mean he benefits a squadron that has already activated, allowing it to be re-activated? Or does he allow the squadron he activates to count as not activated after it has finished its move and attack?

Bombers are still gonna be good for the Imperials just now we gotta be more careful with them.

Oh very. Don't forget that both Victories come with squadron 3, and both Gladiators get squadron 2. In many respects the Imperials can support their fighters better than the Rebels can. In comparison Rebel lists will have to pay for ships with good squadron levels, but I'm guessing that's because they have better fighters to begin with.

Looking at how fragile rebel ships are, I had a somewhat crazy idea for an Imperial list:

Vic I + Motti (97)

Vic I (73)

Vic I (73)

GSD I (56)

Total= 299

No secondary weapons, no screening fighters, just a large number of tanky ships with superior firepower. Keep taking repair orders and laugh as you never die. You almost certainly will be able to get in close range of your enemy because with four ships you will control a huge portion of the game board, and this list throws out a ton of black dice. Alternatively:

Vic I + Tarkin (108)

Vic I (73)

GSD I (56)

GSD I (56)

Total= 291

The only thing that makes me wonder about these lists is just how deadly fighters are going to end up being. Guess we'll find out in two weeks. Also you could get really screwed over by the objective for that game. Sadly you can't make them GSD IIs while taking Tarkin, but with four ships it really makes his ability shine.

I'm thinking Corvette swarms will actually be fairly viable

Especially if you just keep using the concentrate fire order. This has the added benefit of eating up your opponents defensive tokens on tons of small attacks where they won't be nearly as effective.

I'm thinking Corvette swarms will actually be fairly viable, as long as you bunch them up real tight so the enemy VSDs can't attack out of two different arcs. They cost about half a Vic 2 and have about half the fire power. So two Corvettes are slightly more expensive than a single Vic 2, have 4 red & 2 blue dice, compared to 3 red & 3 blue. 10 Hull compared to 8 Hull, (Shields are harder to compare). They also have excellent anti-squadron capability, barely have a use for squadrons.

I'm also wondering how Paragon works. Does it always add the black dice, even if your at Long Range? Or does it only give the opportunity to add a black die, if the ship is within close range.

Also Adar Tallon. It says you can toggle the activation slider of 1 squadron activated with the ships squadron command. Does that mean he benefits a squadron that has already activated, allowing it to be re-activated? Or does he allow the squadron he activates to count as not activated after it has finished its move and attack?

Paragon gives you a black die and that die is just like any other die in that its only useful if target is within that range.

Adar Tallon is able to let you basically reset a squadrons activation marker after you used that squadron with the squadron command. So then you can use the squadron again during the squadron phase. He costs 10 points if i remember correctly so isnt terribly cost effective unless used with an expensive squadron like Luke. Why pay 10 for him when you can pay slightly more and get another xwing squadron for example.

I'm also wondering how Paragon works. Does it always add the black dice, even if your at Long Range? Or does it only give the opportunity to add a black die, if the ship is within close range.

Also Adar Tallon. It says you can toggle the activation slider of 1 squadron activated with the ships squadron command. Does that mean he benefits a squadron that has already activated, allowing it to be re-activated? Or does he allow the squadron he activates to count as not activated after it has finished its move and attack?

I think the black dice from Paragon will only work at range 1. It's a risk vs reward upgrade.

Let's say it's the blue toggle to activate on fighters. You activate a fighter that is engaged. It is now toggled to the red tab. You rigger Adar's ability. The fighter now changes the red tab back to a blue tab. Activate the fighter again. Activation ends, flip blue tab to red tab. End activation.

I'm also wondering how Paragon works. Does it always add the black dice, even if your at Long Range? Or does it only give the opportunity to add a black die, if the ship is within close range.

I interpret it to mean always adding a black die, regardless of range.

Paragon gives you a black die and that die is just like any other die in that its only useful if target is within that range.

I think the black dice from Paragon will only work at range 1. It's a risk vs reward upgrade.

I interpret it to mean always adding a black die, regardless of range.

And here-in lies the confusion!

Adar Tallon is able to let you basically reset a squadrons activation marker after you used that squadron with the squadron command. So then you can use the squadron again during the squadron phase. He costs 10 points if i remember correctly so isnt terribly cost effective unless used with an expensive squadron like Luke. Why pay 10 for him when you can pay slightly more and get another xwing squadron for example.

Let's say it's the blue toggle to activate on fighters. You activate a fighter that is engaged. It is now toggled to the red tab. You rigger Adar's ability. The fighter now changes the red tab back to a blue tab. Activate the fighter again. Activation ends, flip blue tab to red tab. End activation.

That's what I was thinking. It kind of adds a down side to Tallon, as your ship needs to be within Medium Range of your fighter after a different ship used the Squadron command to activate it, to activate with Tallons ship (2nd total activation). For some-one like Luke who can ignore shields this is an out-and-out amazing ability, but it needs a ton of set up to make it work and make it worth while.

Maybe I'm just going too literal on the language of the card, but to me the ability reads that I can add a black die to my attack pool to any second attack on the same target. Like some sort of overkill ability.

Maybe I'm just going too literal on the language of the card, but to me the ability reads that I can add a black die to my attack pool to any second attack on the same target. Like some sort of overkill ability.

It is 5 points, and paying five points for half a black dice (since you only get it on the second attack) is way overpriced. Enhanced Armament is 10 points for 2 Red Dice (and typically longer range is more expensive, as demonstrated by being the only change on Vic 2 over the Vic 1), which can be used one per each attack (if you can volley left at one target and right at another one).

It seems to me the only way Paragon is worth its points is if you can add the Black Dice to every attack (that qualifies, being the second attack on the same turn against a single target).

Also, look at the difference in wording between Paragon.

Enhanced armament says "increase your side battery armament by 1 red die" very clear on what that means

Paragon states that your attack pool (which is calculated by comparing your battery dice with the range to the target) has a black die added to it. As its added after the range check, I beleive the black die can be added at short, medium and long range

Okay, I think I have it all in the wiki now. H/t to Bodha for lending a hand.

I'm still a bit annoyed by not knowing what to call the crew-individual type of upgrade card, with this icon:

There are a ton of them in the game, including Intel Officer and Leia Organa , but are they 'officers', or do they have some other designation?

Grrr.