Hi guys,

I've been playing X-Wing for a while but haven't managed to get too many games in overall. I'm hoping I can get some feedback on a list I'm planning on taking - I don't expect to win a lot but I'm hoping to get some ideas on the best way to make use of the ships.

Wedge

Expose (or Swarm Tactics)

Biggs

R2-D2 (possibly remove this to add something to Wedge)

Keyan Farlander

Stay on Target

Advanced Sensors

B-Wing\E2

Navigator

I could swap Expose out from Wedge and give him Swarm Tactics so he could pass that on to Biggs and Keyan (maybe Biggs would survive longer if he got to fire early as well). I'd like to use him but I'm aware that he's a bit vulnerable as it is.

Biggs I don't want to spend too much on but I thought being able to recover a shield every turn *may* make a difference if I'm using him properly. On the other hand it adds 4 points to a ship and restricts what is essentially a laser sponge from doing any fancy moves to escape.

Keyan has a loadout that's bloody expensive but with Stay on Target and Navigator along with the B-Wing mobility I'm thinking that he should be able to out manoeuver most opponents. This'd work better with Swarm Tactics as he'd be operating at PS9 so he could alter his movement after virtually everyone else has moved to either get out of fire arcs or position himself better.

I'd considered an A-Wing instead of Biggs - Gemma can be amazingly annoying at close range with a stealth device and a rocket. The only problem with that is that there's nothing protecting Keyan and Wedge from being annihilated in short order. At least with Biggs they'd have time to take out a ship or two before he gets shot to pieces.

Any tips or guidance would be gratefully accepted.

It's pretty solid, but there are two big things that I would change: R2-D2 and Expose.

R2-D2 is a great droid, but not on Biggs. The probability of R2 keeping Biggs alive an extra round or two is not enough to offset the added points cost and the predictability (he has to do a green maneuver to regen shields, which prevents him from shooting off away from the battle to force the enemy to split fire). Put R2-D2 on Wedge instead -- it makes him a serious late-game threat and helps protect that big point investment. You want Biggs to be as cheap as possible.

Then there's Expose, which is . . . bad. Really bad. It costs four points. It costs an action. It costs an agility. That added attack die statistically adds pretty much the same damage as a focus or target lock on three dice would, which means that you're getting taxed four points, a defense die, and the ability to spend a focus token on defense for . . . nothing. If you want four attack dice, look at Opportunist (from Imperial Aces -- although that would probably go better on Keyan, since he shoots later and can clear the stress gained from it on his attack).

Aside from that, though, it's a solid list. I really like the Farlander + Navigator + SoT combo, especially with Advanced Sensors.

R2-D2 is a great droid, but not on Biggs. The probability of R2 keeping Biggs alive an extra round or two...

Yeah. I've found that it's sometimes effective to talk about Biggs this way: think about what happens if you're up against a list that can deal at least 3 damage to Biggs each turn. On Turn 1, Biggs starts with 5 hit points and takes 3 damage, leaving 2 hull. On Turn 2, Biggs gets a shield back, and then takes 3 more damage and dies. In that case, you spent 4 points on R2-D2 and restricted your movement for round 2, but it didn't change the outcome at all.

Then there's Expose... That added attack die statistically adds pretty much the same damage as a focus or target lock on three dice would,

It's actually a bit less damage than a focus token or a target lock would contribute, except for a couple of weird corner cases.