Pick off ships then book it out of there before they get range 1. Ideally you'd like to reduce their list to just bbb after the first engagement and make them work to engage you again. HLC with predator and range 3 seems ideal for fighting them as long as you work to never go range 1 and rarely go range 2 if you can help it. Getting shot by 3 bwings range 1 is terrifying.

Guri is pretty amazing against Blues. High enough PS to reposition, slow enough to not fly past them, enough fire power to take one out in a couple of turns, agile and tough enough to be able to endure a turn of shooting if things go bad, and gets a free focus that can be used for either offence or defence.

A collection of unfinished thoughts:

Separate the Bs in some way or get some kind of advantage. If you can split them up in some way and take them out without engaging the whole group, you can come out ahead. At the edge of range 3, you can force part of his squad to be out of range. If you can't do that, getting his b-wings split among different range bands may be the advantage you need.

With outriders/falcons/decimator/firespray, you can control range fairly well. Force them to make a bank first thing. If they are box/line formation, their arcs will be farther apart if they have to bank. If they are pinwheel formation, this isn't necessary. Ideally, get them behind your ship in chase. At the edge of range 3, you can get your shot while keeping part of their squad out of range. Carefully play the edge of the board if you need room and make sure you don't get cornered before you thin the herd a significant amount. Pull them near asteroids, possibly splitting them up.

With a comparable swarm/joust list, you can manipulate how you block enemy movement and engage. If you move after the b-wings, you can start a range 1 engagement in front of them, then k-turn the next. Their k-turn will be blocked, giving you a free shot on them. If you can, get a small horizontal distance between his group (with placement, banks, or barrel rolls) and yours. If you land near the edge of range 3, bank into his squad, so that you are straight in front of him, but he is 45 degrees off. Focus down any ships that might be blocking your next turn's k-turn. This can give you a slight edge.

You can also try to get into a better formation than him. If you can assure that you will start on the opposite corner of his list, leave a horizontal lane with asteroid placement in the center of the board. Move your ships in file (use barrel rolls or banks to do this) up the side of the board and then turn towards the center. This will give your formation a single wide line. If the b-wings are not suitably placed the same, they will be forced to turn into the center of the board and more likely split their fire across range bands.

If you have control, focus the damage, but spread the control if it is unlikely to get the killing damage. Ion from BTL-A4 y-wings can be fired at separate targets when necessary. As a rule of thumb, hit ion onto the b-wings with the (otherwise) best position for next turn. Don't bother to ion the guy who won't be able to k-turn or turn towards you anyways. Get the one whose ion will force him off into the distance and without a shot.

Dash works great against BBBBZ lists because of his ability to run right through asteroids that the swarm is forced to fly around.

I run Dash and Etan frequently and love their ability to disengage and then loop back to hit a long range.

So I played a game against a Rebel Swarm (BXXZZZ) with a Double IG squad. My opponent figured since he has so many ships he should keep them in formation and ignore that he's flying over asteroids. (As a side note, he rolls focus/blanks more often than hits or crits when hitting obstacles) So he ignores that there are even asteroids on the board, starts taking damage from them as well as starts to miss attacks due to landing on top of asteroids.

Now I think that he would have done okay had he ignored them only a few times but it started to affect his biggest advantage with a swarm (more attacks).

I wonder if a BBBBZ squad could spend a round or two sacrificing some shields/actions for more attacks against the enemy squad. Has anyone tried being that aggressive with a BBBBZ squad?

What's a typical BBBBZ build?

Seriously?

EDIT: Assuming serious, it's 4 Blues and a Bandit. No variations are possible.

You can't give him too much flak, OP said he was looking for tactics not lists and this thread has been 70% lists lol

What's a typical BBBBZ build?

Seriously?

EDIT: Assuming serious, it's 4 Blues and a Bandit. No variations are possible.

You can't give him too much flak, OP said he was looking for tactics not lists and this thread has been 70% lists lol

Here's the thing though. Tactics and Squads are pretty well connected to one another. You can only do so many variations of setup and maneuvering that would be considered good in any round of a game. Having a squad with stress, ions, rockets, Pilot Abilities, Elite Talents, etc. allows for more variance in your tactics other than just arc dodging and blocking.

What's a typical BBBBZ build?

Seriously?

EDIT: Assuming serious, it's 4 Blues and a Bandit. No variations are possible.

You can't give him too much flak, OP said he was looking for tactics not lists and this thread has been 70% lists lol

Here's the thing though. Tactics and Squads are pretty well connected to one another. You can only do so many variations of setup and maneuvering that would be considered good in any round of a game. Having a squad with stress, ions, rockets, Pilot Abilities, Elite Talents, etc. allows for more variance in your tactics other than just arc dodging and blocking.

Fair enough but there's plenty of tactics in game to discuss first. And subtle list variations are one thing vs the entirety different lists that people were suggesting. There's a ton of value to flying what you know. If you're prepping for a tournament and worried about a specific matchup you wouldn't take a list you've never played before just for that matchup.

What's a typical BBBBZ build?

Seriously?

EDIT: Assuming serious, it's 4 Blues and a Bandit. No variations are possible.

You can't give him too much flak, OP said he was looking for tactics not lists and this thread has been 70% lists lol

Here's the thing though. Tactics and Squads are pretty well connected to one another. You can only do so many variations of setup and maneuvering that would be considered good in any round of a game. Having a squad with stress, ions, rockets, Pilot Abilities, Elite Talents, etc. allows for more variance in your tactics other than just arc dodging and blocking.

Fair enough but there's plenty of tactics in game to discuss first. And subtle list variations are one thing vs the entirety different lists that people were suggesting. There's a ton of value to flying what you know. If you're prepping for a tournament and worried about a specific matchup you wouldn't take a list you've never played before just for that matchup.

Agreed. Change maybe a couple upgrades at most but stick to what you know.

I still don't get all the love for BBBBZ. There were plenty of 4 b lists in the past. Does adding that one Z really make THAT much difference??

I think 4 b's with fcs would be much deadlier IMO.

I still don't get all the love for BBBBZ. There were plenty of 4 b lists in the past. Does adding that one Z really make THAT much difference??

I think 4 b's with fcs would be much deadlier IMO.

It's all about gaming MoV and the 60 minute time limit. Otherwise yeah, FCS or E2 & Tactician or Advanced Sensors on all of them are better than the single Z 95.

I still don't get all the love for BBBBZ. There were plenty of 4 b lists in the past. Does adding that one Z really make THAT much difference??

I think 4 b's with fcs would be much deadlier IMO.

BBBBZ is apparently very good because of the point totals of each ship. Killing two b wings nets you 44 points. Killing two b wings with advanced sensors nets you 50 points, which in the nuanceless 2 super ship meta we have right now means a lot.

It's all about gaming MoV and the 60 minute time limit. Otherwise yeah, FCS or E2 & Tactician or Advanced Sensors on all of them are better than the single Z 95.

Of course, it goes without saying that if you are playing 75-minute rounds instead of 60, and willing to call an opponent for 'slow play'...

Then BBBBZ is pretty much junk. Without the MoV metagame they play, it's not that great a list.

But it does dominate in the 60-minute-round situations.