I didn't know where else to put this thread, sorry.

Is it me or is an A-Wing about as useful as a spoiler on your star destroyer? I mean for two more points i can have an X-Wing which is all round better, more squadron attacks, hull, and bomber. Also the A-Wing is pants once you've knocked out the enemy fighters because it can't spend the black crit's!

My point is, is it worth it? Especially when objectives focus around your ships.

First off this would fit great in the normal thread

Secondly a-wings have a couple of advantages that make them FAR superior to x-wings at anti-squad fighting

1: counter

this allows them to shoot back every time they are fired upon especially helpful against a tie "swarm" that has a lot of ships and happens to be really good at killing x-wings

2:speed

they are the only rebel ship that can keep up with ANY of the EMPIRE fighters

A-Wings can be a good first intercept for a tie swarm. Get the swarm to stop short, move your escorted bombers in closer to your ship targets, then leapfrog over the tie squads. Or use the A-Wings to bypass the entire swarm and go after slower targets (bombers). Remember, there's only 6 rounds, assuming you don't get locked down in an engagement the entire game, that's 12 extra "distances" that the a-wing can move than the x-wings. That's a much more mobile force, which should never be a bad thing.

Once bombers are introduced A-Wings will be one hot little ship. Its speed will get your A-Wing engaged with your opponent's squadron way faster than they want, see Tie Bomber Rhymers, and when you engage Counter will be amazing.

The little A-Wing does not have Bomber and is not as tough as the other Rebel ships, but it has its place set in a Rebel fleet. Even more so than a Y-Wing. (B-Wing and Y-Wing are fighting for the same slot and the B-Wing does not have Heavy.)

Counter 2 is going to be ridiculous. It really puts the A-wings on another level over the X-wing of anti-fighter capability.

Look at this scenario:

You activate your A-wing squadron and attack one of two Tie squadrons you are engaged with. Your A-wing squadron gets two hits out of the 3 anti-squad dice against that squadron. Then the Tie squadrons activate and attack you back in turn. First squadron fires, 2 hits. You Counter attack with 2 die. You land 1 hit and finish off that first Tie fighter squadron. Now all of a sudden that second Tie Fighter squad does not get to proxy swarm. It then attacks you. Lands 2 hits to finish off your A-wing squad. However, you still get to counter-attack. You roll 2 hits and leave the Tie Fighter squad with only 1 remaining hit point.

You lost your A-wing squadron, but in one activation they have attacked 3 times destroying a Tie squadron and severely crippling another. An X-wing squadron at best can destroy one Tie squadron a turn. A single A-wing squadron could theoretically (if the die Gods grace you) land 10 hits or more on enemy squadrons in a single round. Also, they aren't worthless against capital ships either with 1 black die.

Tie Interceptors will be even crazier.

A-Wing will be inferior to the TIE/int s because they get counter, and swarm.

A-Wing will be inferior to the TIE/int s because they get counter, and swarm.

On a 1 : 1 basis, yes. The Interceptor (TIE-Int) will almost always beat the A-Wing.

The 2 types of squadrons serve different tactical purposes in their fleets. A-wing squadrons are the only Rebel squadrons with the speed to catch up to and Engage the faster Imperial fighters. They only need to delay the Imperials long enough for the other Rebel squadrons to get to their objectives.

TIE/Int's are good anti-fighter squadrons in their own right: they look like the Empire's best fighter for killing other squadrons.

Rebs will be trying to use A's to lock down the Imp Fighters they see as the greatest threat. While the A's await back-up, they will kill as many Imps as they can.

TIE/Ints are not just a delaying tactic: they will excel at killing whichever Rebel fighter they attack. Based on what they can do, it looks like it will be well worth the points to trade 3 squadrons of TIE's in order to add 2 squadrons of Ints

Don't forget that once the 6x3 games start, the extra 2 speed might be absolutely amazing.

And then you put Howlrunner with the Interceptors....

And then you put Howlrunner with the Interceptors....

If that isn't an Alpha Target to hit first chance you get I do not know what is then.

A-Wings on paper is not the way to look at it, they will have their use for sure. Let's get them on the table and see what they do.

I wish instead of more tie fighters, they had more interceptors in the fighter box. Buying at least two for sure.

With their Counter ability A-wings provide a great fighter screen. You can put them in position during squadron movement and don't have to worry about only moving or shooting. Also that black dice on ship attack is great. Sure they don't have the bomber ability, but the black dice is really nasty.

Compared to an A-wing, a TIE Interceptor has 1 fewer hull. It also has a blue dice against ships instead of a black dice. Yes, an Interceptor is going to be a better anti-fighter ship. I imagine that the 1 hull doesn't counteract the extra attack dice and swarm, but an Interceptor is pretty worthless against ships.

The only role I really relish for the A-wing will be anti-bomber duty. TIE Bombers will be pretty fast, only the A can keep up with it, and Rhymer will extend that range out even more, meaning you will need to be able to react quicker to prevent a long range Bomber strike on our Rebel ships. So, I can see using the A as a CAP (Combat Air Patrol), setting up a picket at long range to engage Bombers.

As far as screening our Bombers, be they X Y or B, I can see that in scenarios where the Impys leave their Bombers at home. Advance quickly to knock out a TIE or two, keep the others engaged, and allow the others to close in on Impy ships. Of course, the A-wings will go down pretty quickly, but hopefully they buy a round or two for the Bombers to do some damage, before the X or Bs become engaged with the TIEs themselves.

Speaking of our Bomber squads, I'm still not ready to buy into the B-wings over Y-wings as an auto-choice. Maps go up to 3x6, meaning fighters will need all the speed they can get, and suddenly it becomes a little more apparent why the Y-wing still hasn't been retired from Rebel service. Fast as an X, tougher than any other snub fighter out there, and second only to the slower Bs when it comes time to actually engage a Star Destroyer. Plus, I'm looking forward to Dutch engaging a TIE. Between Dutch and another Y-wing, I can still see Gold Squad handling a TIE a turn, and freeing up the other guys to mop up the rest of the TIEs.

A-Wings will die to the TIE/Int, but the A-Wing will be useful at doing something Imperial players know all-to-well, entanglement!

I plan to use my A's as sacrificies, screaming them ahead into a wall of TIEs and tangle up that defensive fighter screen, allowing an extra turn (or two, if super lucky) for my squadrons to unload at a capital ship. Especially with the squadron synergy incoming (Yvaris, Adar Tallon, etc) and the sweet new squadrons/heroes, should be good fun.

Thought i'd chime in with my 2 cents.

Messing around in the vassal module with fighters rolling dice etc. A-wings performed admirably against the anticipated tie bomber slingshot. I assumed the bombers got their shot off, and then the a-wings were there to intercept after that. 2 a-wings vs 4 bombers. After 3-4 rounds it was 1 almost full health a-wing and no bombers left. an 11-36 point trade isn't bad at all.

And then you put Howlrunner with the Interceptors....

^^ This right here. A 5 blue dices on an attack plus swarm gives a reroll. Nasty Nasty.

In my opinion, A-Wings are *definitely* competitive with the X-wing.

Sure, the A-wing can't crit, but it still has a 75% chance of dealing damage with it's anti-ship black dice and has the same expected damage output as the X-wing.

And the 2 point cost difference is huge. It means you can field NINE A-wings in a 300 pt game, that's a fierce advantage over the X-wing in my opinion.

5 speed means the A-wing is going to be hopping over all sorts of TIE screens and with proper squadron command timing could do heavy anti-ship damage at range 6.

The Counter ability also synergizes excellently with the Gallant Haven title.

Phandy, you forget the A-Wing does not have Bomber....

so A-Wing vs ships
50% of doing 1 Hit

X-Wing
25% of doing 1 Hit
12% of doing 2 Hits
12% of Accuracy Hit
25% of doing 1 Hit plus a Crit

You're right that A-wings don't have bomber but IIRC black dice has 4 hit sides and 2 hit+crit sides.

Since A-wings don't have bomber, it ignores the crit which means it effectively rolls a dice with 6 hits.

A-wings have a black anti ship dice.......so squadron command zone 5, and bombs away? seems like a great set up to drop some front shields as you roll one at a time so they wont really brace it. maybe 3-4 a-wings drop a shield zone and then your ship is all like, "focus all fire power on that super star destroyer" and you cripple it. almost an 11pt once per game roll a black dice per enemy ship. if they don't get dealt with, its a big problem.

I think the Interceptor is undercosted. 4 Attack + Counter 2 + Swarm is brutal. Once the imperials have a cheap way to put down a decent Squadron command, (Lookin' at your Imperial Escort Carrier), the Rebels won't be able to field fighters, they're just going to melt.

I think the Interceptor is undercosted. 4 Attack + Counter 2 + Swarm is brutal. Once the imperials have a cheap way to put down a decent Squadron command, (Lookin' at your Imperial Escort Carrier), the Rebels won't be able to field fighters, they're just going to melt.

Recall how Xwings have a nasty habit or one shotting TIE Fighters? Still possible against interceptors.

When I did up the points the Interceptors cost one more point each. But that was with my calculations.