Just wanted to get a general feeling from the community on this. Which ship expansions do you feel provide the best value when buying multiple copies and not bought just to acquire more copies of the upgrade cards?

Bonus points for stating recommended quantity of each ship. I haven't been playing very long, but I would imagine many would suggest Z-95s and TIE Fighters for swarms. I've also seen players suggesting up to 3 Lambda Shuttles but I'm not sure why exactly.

So here's mine:

1) TIE Fighter (5+)

2) Z-95 Headhunter (3+)

3) Imperial Aces (2)

4) Rebel Aces (2)

5) - no idea -

Aces are good, but the ship's original blister has good utility as well. As far as uses for multiples of a ship the most ubiquitous are probably: TIE Fighters, B's, A's, X's, TIE Ints (probably in that order in this meta as well). The last few waves have seemed to really put a premium on unique pilots and high PS. That means that multiples of any ship are less necessary in the current meta. However, past trends have shown that certain low PS generics are desirable in certain climates.

1) Tie defender

2) Tie interceptor

3) Tie fighter

4) Tie Advanced

5) more of all the above

Definitely agree with the top 2 - not so much on the Aces packs.

2 A wings and 2 B-wings is plenty for most lists, and combining the aces pack with an original blister of each gives you the full scope of the pilots and upgrades

Going strictly off the cards in the expansion:

1) Lambda - AMAZING set of crew cards, HLC, and Adv. Sensors

2) Slave 1 - VI, Gunner, Stealth, HLC, Ion Cannon, and bombs

3) Imperial Aces - Hull and PTL cards

4) Defender - Predator is the best all-around EPT in the game

5) Tie Fighter - Swarm Tactics and Determination

Going strictly off the cards in the expansion:

1) Lambda - AMAZING set of crew cards, HLC, and Adv. Sensors

2) Slave 1 - VI, Gunner, Stealth, HLC, Ion Cannon, and bombs

3) Imperial Aces - Hull and PTL cards

4) Defender - Predator is the best all-around EPT in the game

5) Tie Fighter - Swarm Tactics and Determination

I believe the OP specifically said for the ships not the upgrade cards.

Going strictly off the cards in the expansion:

1) Lambda - AMAZING set of crew cards, HLC, and Adv. Sensors

2) Slave 1 - VI, Gunner, Stealth, HLC, Ion Cannon, and bombs

3) Imperial Aces - Hull and PTL cards

4) Defender - Predator is the best all-around EPT in the game

5) Tie Fighter - Swarm Tactics and Determination

that's the opposite of what he was asking for.

my list of ships to buy multiples of-

1) TF - good value out of the core and useful everywhere.

2) B-wing

3) X wing

4) Int

5) A-wing

X - 2/3 is probably good enough, though many people end up with more between core sets and the transport.

Y - 1 would work for most, i'd recommend 2

Z - I have 2, but 3 is a good number that fits well in alot of lists.

hwk - 1

E - 1

A -2

B -2 (or 1 base and 1 rebel aces to give you 2 ea of the A/B). there a number of lists with 3+ B and A, I think for most medium level players 2 is enough.

TF - minimum 4, 5-8 are useful. again, how many coresets you end up getting drives this. so many places a mini-swarm is a great fit. minimum 1 TF expansion

Int - 2 or 1+ Imp aces. most useful pilot is Soontir, rare to see more than 2 Ints in a list.

Adv - 1 for vader, for now. the raider will see this number go up.

bomber - kind of a go big or go home. don't work great in singles, but decently in 3+ numbers. Other than Jonus maybe. so 1? or 3?

Phantom - 1

Defender - 1 (some will argue more, but generally 1 will suffice)

large ships - unless you fall in love with one (like the lambda) I don't see much reason to get more than 1.

Bang for your buck, 2 is a good number for most ships. If a specific list grabs someone and goes above these numbers, then sure there's a reason. but for the most part I don't see the value in buying tons of ships that won't get played.

Haven't seen it much recently, but used to be when a wave came out it was...how many can you put into 100 pts? that's what ended up people with 5 hwks. that's just silly. If you are a top-level player who experiements with tons of lists all the time, then sure....but that's not what this is for is it?

and of course Scum changes things.

Never once bought a ship for a card, absolutely won't do it. First purchase was 2 core sets.

My only duel expansion purchases are:

1. Firesprays ( I didn't like the fact it came with a "slave 1" paint job, it made no sense to play Kath in a "cannon" ship, just me though)

2 Rebel Aces - I really wanted more blood stripe interceptors to match the card art. I already owned an interceptor that I had "blood striped".

3. B-wing - both repainted as blue daggers to match artwork. Have only ever played them as blue daggers.

4. Not a real one yet as I've only pre-order one copy of most wanted but I know I'll need another, purely to run my twin firespray Kath and Boba list.

As you can tell, I've bought multiples for individual pilot paint jobs. My x-wings are painted Wedge, Biggs and no paint job, to be used as rookie or red squadron. Again, I've never played them as anything else.

Kinda helps that I'm and imperial player 99% of the time.

I think "value" can be quite subjective.

Honestly I think there's few ships that are only worth having 1 of.

Myself I own 1 of each large ship, but for the small ships here's the ones I think you'd be fine with only having one of each.

1 HWK

1 Tie Advanced

1 E-Wing

1 Defender

1 Phantom

1 Starviper

1 of each large ship

Other than those, I think you really want at least 2 of each small ship, if not more.

Honestly I think there's few ships that are only worth having 1 of.

I wanted to give more weight than a "like" to almost everything you said.

...for the small ships here's the ones I think you'd be fine with only having one of each.

1 HWK

1 Tie Advanced

1 E-Wing

1 Defender

1 Phantom

1 Starviper

1 of each large ship

Other than those, I think you really want at least 2 of each small ship, if not more.

I think it's a good idea to own two Firesprays, and I also think multiple TIE Advanced is going to be a big thing as soon as the Raider's available. (There will be lots of good double-Advanced lists, and you could feasibly run four of them.) But other than that, your list is spot-on.

1) Z-95 - the rebel swarm ship you can only get through this expansion - it's obviously a must have.

2)Slave 1 - Multiple reasons - most lists can fit 2, some lists fit 3. Also (prior to scum) the only way to get a Stealth Device. After Scum, you'll have even more options with this ship, since it's getting new stuff.

3)Millenium Falcon - Only way to get a Engine Upgrade - double falcon lists are crazy.

4)TIE Interceptor - The only place to get the cheap "Alpha Squadron Pilot" since Imperials Aces didn't include it. Can be a great ship for smaller swarms with heavy firepower.

5) TIE Defender - It's not that I usually want to run multiple Defenders, but this comes with both Predator and Outmaneuver, both of which are excellent upgrades and useful in multiples for many builds.

Honorable mentions are both Aces packs - however since they tend to come with enough stuff to field multiple versions of themselves they didn't make my top 5.

Also the core game is probably my #1, but since it is NOT by definition, an expansion, I couldn't include it. Core game is easily the first thing you should get multiples of.

Honestly I think there's few ships that are only worth having 1 of.

I wanted to give more weight than a "like" to almost everything you said.

...for the small ships here's the ones I think you'd be fine with only having one of each.

1 HWK

1 Tie Advanced

1 E-Wing

1 Defender

1 Phantom

1 Starviper

1 of each large ship

Other than those, I think you really want at least 2 of each small ship, if not more.

I think it's a good idea to own two Firesprays, and I also think multiple TIE Advanced is going to be a big thing as soon as the Raider's available. (There will be lots of good double-Advanced lists, and you could feasibly run four of them.) But other than that, your list is spot-on.

Yeah but an Advanced comes WITH the raider. So if you only have 1 advanced pack now, you'll have 2 when the raider comes out so no need to buy a 2nd Advanced pack, which would give you 3. Well, less need I should say.

6 HWKs. If you're in range 1 you're rolling double the amount of attack dice.

1) Lambda is excellent to own two copies of, especially if you have friends and both of your lists include Rebel Captive or Darth Vader. Not to mention cannons, other crew cards and systems galore.

2) Slave-1 comes with bombs, bombs, more bombs, cannons, crew and stealth device, bar-none one of the upcoming necessary upgrades for Interceptors.

3) Millenium Falcon. Engine Upgrade, Veteran Instincts, ridiculous Falcon itself, decent crew upgrades and some munitions.

4) Imperial Aces. Mmmm, Push the Limit. Carnor Jax, and that Royal Guard TIE.

5) Tie between Z-95 and TIE Fighter. Excellent ships for filler material, Airen Cracken offers excellent synergy for a squad with only ~20 points available, and then for the Imperials Howlrunner and multiple Black Squadrons.

Honorable mention: Starviper multiples for dem Autothrusters.

Going strictly off the cards in the expansion:

1) Lambda - AMAZING set of crew cards, HLC, and Adv. Sensors

2) Slave 1 - VI, Gunner, Stealth, HLC, Ion Cannon, and bombs

3) Imperial Aces - Hull and PTL cards

4) Defender - Predator is the best all-around EPT in the game

5) Tie Fighter - Swarm Tactics and Determination

I believe the OP specifically said for the ships not the upgrade cards.

So he did. I stand by my list though. I think the value of the ship AND the upgrades make these all worth having more than one. I'd probably move the Lambda down (or possibly out) of the list though.

Nobody's mentioned Aggressors? I think you want 2 of those for obvious reasons .... IG-2000.

None....

1) Rebel Corvette

2) Rebel Transport

3) Imperial Raider

4) Dice Pack

5) Dice App

I think it's a good idea to own two Firesprays

I do too, or even 3 for that matter. But a 2nd or 3rd is more of a "luxury"

and I also think multiple TIE Advanced is going to be a big thing as soon as the Raider's available.

Yes but like Crabbok points out you get a 2nd one with the Raider, and as much as I'm looking forward to it, not everyone will get one. So if you have 1, and get the Raider you're good to go. If you don't get it then more than 1 really isn't all that useful.

TIE Bomber (5) Because they're my go-to.

Core Set (4) Screw the semantics.

TIE Interceptor (3)

Slave I (2)

Z-95 (2)

(TIE Defender (2))

I like to be able to run a squad full of anything, particularly my favourites ships, so for me definitely two Firesprays and three Interceptors (one basic and one Aces). That's just based on the ships I like though, not an objective assessment of which ships are useful in a tournament squad.

Up until Wave V I bought 100pt worth of all small fighters (so doesn't include HWK), but I can't afford to keep doing that, plus as the ships are all from the EU now I'm not nearly as interested. I'm getting 3 Star Vipers though, cos it's sexy as hell! Also, I think a squad of three Star Thrusters could be pretty decent.

I think the TIE Fighter is probably the only ship that is so obviously suited to flying in multiples though, anything else can be flown just as well with a totally mixed squad. A TIE Fighter can be used on its own too, of course, but it's so good in a swarm.

bomber - kind of a go big or go home. don't work great in singles, but decently in 3+ numbers. Other than Jonus maybe. so 1? or 3?

I wanted to put this as my #5 but was unsure. I bought 3 TIE Bombers because I've always loved the look of them, but I have yet to field more than one at a time.

TIE Fighters (3+, plus two core sets)

Z-95 Headhunters (3+)

Rebel Aces (2)

B-Wing (2)

A-Wing (2)

Coming soon at the #3 slot: TIE Advanced (3)

Core Sets (3): for TIEs and X's; in conjunction with one expac of each you have what you need

Z-95 (5+): Rebel Swarm, could get away with just three for many lists

Scyk (5+): Scum swarm

B-Wing (4 or 3+Aces): Yes

Imp Aces (2+): I am biased, cheapest way to make a squint list (especially since CSI was slashing its price almost twice a month)

A-Wing (3+Aces x2): Chardaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan swarm

I have a few of most expansions but the one I own the most of is probably the TIE L/n. I have 8 for Epic battles; not 8 expansions since I have a couple of core games.