I need a winning combo. I fly Rebel, and have two X-Wings, Z-95s, A-wings, B-wings, and a single E-wing and Y-wing.

My requirements is that it must kill big ships and tie swarms equally well.

Most of the squads i've come up with to match these requirements have been variations with Wedge, Blount, Bandit, and then some varied ship. It's been A-wings, Y-wings, another X-wing, but i just get chewed up and i'm frustrated.

My best ship is usually Wedge with outmaneuver, adv. proton torps, and R2-D2. He's fine. He's always the last to go if i lose. Blount is the second to last to die, i match him with Ion Pulse missiles always, with a variation on his talent, usually push the limit or wingman. On A-wing builds i give it Proton rockets. and the last z-95 is usually just cannon fodder.

I'm running out of ideas. When i lose, i lose to big ships and tie swarms, OR builds with turrets. Since i have no big ships or ties, and the only turreted ship is my Y-wing, i need a creative solution to beat out the opposition.

EDIT: Also, the creative solution cannot be "buy big ships", or really to buy anything. I need to make things count with what i have.

unfortunately playing to win by scenario of fleet style does require buy in, generally speaking , ion on the y wing with dutch, wedge in x wing, two z95 with failsafe and ion torps. Then tool rest to please, fly smart, this list won our store local, inadvertently he was going to run an almost naked b wing and suggested heavily against it and take the two z95 to fill a negation and block role,

Two rookie b-wings, wedge, Biggs. Might be a good start. Time limited for true responce

thanks for the response mates. Here's 2 squads i've tossed around in my noggin that the simulations support.

1. Wedge, outmaneuver, r2-d2; Cracken; Numb, push the limit, adv. proton torps, autoblaster. Seems quite powerful, a few simulated games responded very favorably. Good against swarms, good against big ships.

2.Wedge,Outmaneuver, adv. proton toprs, r2-d2; Blount, push the limit, ion pulse missiles; Horton, Flechette torps(just to fill some points), ion cannon turret, r2-f2. The turret basically unlocks a "who cares where the Y-wing goes" mentality, which really frees up some mental faculties for the rest of the ships. Simulated games showed the Y-wing tanking everything and letting the other ships live just a little bit longer.

Your squad suggestions seem solid. I'll see what the sims have to say about them. By sims, i basically mean i'm going to take the squad and pit it against a Tie Swarm build that wrecked me, and a big ship build that wrecked me. Maneuvers mean little here, it's basically just if these ships go head to head, what's the percentage chance that i'll kill them at various ranges, with various effects, and in how many turns will it take to win on average. If the numbers are generally positive, i'll back it up against a live game in tabletop simulator, which both of these squads have done.

Here's something i'm mulling over. I call it Ice Cold.

Keyan with PTL, flechette torps, autoblaster, munitions failsafe, advanced sensors

Airen Cracken with wingman, ion pulse missiles, and munitions failsafe

tycho with PTL and prockets.

It had been occuring to me that more and more people are designing super stressful squads. I wanted to make a squad that can chew those stress tokens and spit that back out at the enemy. Tycho literally could not give less of a crap about stress tokens. The A-wing has ample green maneuvers, and with PTL he can still make 2 actions a turn, every single time, then perform a decent move and get rid of that stress if he wants to do a k-turn. He's not held down by stress whatsoever. The prockets are also a solid 5 damage, which is fantastic against big ships.

Keyan loves to get stress. Pair this with PTL too and you can focus and target lock/barrel roll, get the stress, then use it the next attack with the target lock if you got it, use the focus on the defense, and then do it again next round. Perform a red and then use that the next phase so if need be you can do another one next maneuver phase. Keyan is given a stress, which no smart enemy would ever do? Whatevs, he just advanced sensors an action anyways, then immediately gets rid of that stress and rains fire on whoever did it to him. Stress = free attack focus. The icing on the incredibly iced cake? If he has multiple stress tokens(3 or more, because he can ditch 2 per turn, one from a green maneuver and one from an attack), and cant get rid of them fast enough, then just advanced sensor an action because thats unaffected by stress, then reduce that stress count by two with subsequent attack/move. BOOM.

Halfway through editing this post, i realized someone way, way better than biggs was available. Airen Cracken. He hands out actions like candy, and when paired with wingman, it makes sure nobody will ever be stressed. Ever. And if, lo and behold, a stressful squad isn't used? Well, the action economy here is fierce and he has ion missiles for big ships, and the failsafe just in case cause i had a point left.

PLUS, Feyan has flechette torps, which even if they miss, it'll still do return stress, and he keeps them with the failsafe. If he hits, wonderful, he just did damage and a stress token. If he doesnt, wonderful, he just did a stress token and he can do it again.

Thoughts? The real concern i have is that, yes, as a group they are cool as a goddamn cucumber, but physically, 2/3 of the squadron is really, really weak. I predict a lot of tanking will have to be done by the B-wing to be successful, and some fantastic maneuvering by the A-Wing as well to keep it alive.

You can always try swarm, or at least rebel version of it. Lots of dice rolling , lots of crits falling

100 points

PILOTS

Etahn A’baht (32)

Blue Squadron Pilot (22) x 2

Bandit Squadron Pilot (12) x 2

Or BBXXZ, with 2 points left for upgrades

I find etahn is a lynch pin and great but once he's popped its mostly over when he is what you build around, a bbbbz list is a standard go to list but going based on your ships I stick by my suggestion

Etahn A'baht, push the limit, hull upgrade, 38
Biggs , 25
Wedge, R2-D2, Shield Upgrade, 37
Total 100

Dutch Vander, Ion Turret, r2-mech, 29
Biggs , 25
Wedge, R2-D2, 33
Tala squad, 13
Total 100


Some variation of Biggs, Ethan and Ten Numb could also be cool.

More strategizing.

All designated by Constellation names.

Aries Squadron: Wedge, Outmaneuver, R2-D2; Ten Numb, PTL, Adv. Proton Torps, Autoblaster; Airen Cracken

Taurus Squadron: Wedge, Outmaneuver, R2-D2; Bandit Squadron x2; Corran Horn, Marksmanship, FCS

Gemini Squadron: Corran Horn, Marksmanship, FCS, R2-D2; Bandit Squadron x2; Hortan Salm, Ion Cannon Turret, R2

Cancer Squadron: Wedge, Outmaneuver, Adv. Proton Torps, R2-D2; Lt. Blount, PTL, Ion Pulse missiles; Horton Salm, Flechette torps, ion cannon turret, R2-F2

Leo Squadron: Horton Salm, Adv. Proton torps, Flechette torps, ion cannon turret, R2, failsafe; Lt. Blount, Outmaneuver, Ion Pulse; Bandit Squadron, Ion Pulso, failsafe; Rookie Pilot

Libra Squadron: Horton Salm, Adv. Proton Torps, Ion cannon turret, R2, Failsafe; Ten numb, flechette torps, autoblaster, failsafe; Lt. Blount, Outmaneuver, ion pulse missiles

Scorpio Squadron: Tycho Celchu, PTL, Prockets, A-wing title, Marksmanship; Lt. Blount, Decoy, Ion Pulse missiles; Wedge, Outmaneuver, Adv. Proton torps, R2-D2, failsafe

Sagittarius Squadron: Dutch Vander, Ion cannon turret; Blue Squadron, Ion cannon, Blue Squadron, Autoblaster; Lt. Blount, Ion Pulse missiles

Capricorn Squadron: Bandit Squadron, Ion pulse missiles; Bandit Squadron; Prototype pilot, chaardan refit x2; Rookie pilot x2(basically rebel swarm with what i have)

Aquarius Squadron: Gold Squadron, Ion cannon turret, R2; Blue Squadron x2, Etahn A'baht

Pisces Squadron: Dutch Vander, Ion cannon turret, R2-F2; Wedge, Outmaneuver, R2-D2; Bandit Squadron, Ion pulse missiles, failsafe x2

I have high hopes for some. Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, Sagittarius, Gemini and Taurus all look like solid builds. Aries has a good track record. Leo, Libra, and Scorpio are all older theories that i figured i'd toss out there. Capricorn has the advantage of a shitload of ships, 6 to be exact, which is very comparable to tie swarm numbers, PLUS they have shields and more actions. Aquarius was an attempt to get close to dat BBBB build with the most powerful ships i had. Sagittarius was an attempt to get close to the potent BBBBZ build. All the rest were specific attempts to block certain metas.

Ooh, and a swarm list.

blue squadron x2, prototype pilot w/ chaardan refit x2, tala sqaudron x2. I have high hopes for this list too. Imo its roughly equivalent to a 8 z-95 list because the HP total is the same, and only a 2 attack dice loss, which is made up for with the additional A-wing maneuverability both figuratively, literally, and then literally again, B-wing tank-ness, and additional actions.

Try Blue x 2 (equip one with Flechette Torps & Munitions Failsafe and the other with Advanced Sensors), Gold w/ Ion Turret & R2; 2 x Bandit; leaving a 1-point initiative bid.

They're all PS 2 for ease of maneuvering, you have good firepower and durability, plus you have control elements in the Flechette Torps and Ion Turret.

I've had a lot of luck with a very similar list.

Doubt you have the cards for this but:

100 Points

Some ideas...

1 - 99 points

Green (PTL, Autothrusters, Chardaan)

Luke (Lone Wolf, R5-P9)

Corran (PTL, FCS, R2-D2)

2 - 99 points

Ten Numb (Predator, Advanced Sensors)

Etahn (PTL, Advanced Sensors, R2-D2)

Green (PTL, Chardaan)

3 - 100 points

Dagger (Advanced Sensors)

Ten Numb (Predator)

Etahn (PTL, R2-D2)

4 - 100 points

Keyan (PTL)

Ten Numb (Mangler Cannon)

Wedge (R2-D2)

5 - 100 points

Tala (Hull)

Luke (Lone Wolf, R5-P9, Shield Upgrade)

Corran (PTL, FCS, R2-D2, Hull Upgrade)

Admat, you are forgetting that a good 70% of the upgrades you suggested do not come in the expansions i have.

Either way, i think i'm starting to settle on my swarm list. It dismantled a fully equipped 4-ship squad of M3-As without a single hull point lost. The size means most of them will be safe from control elements like ion and stress because you couldnt stress them fast enough to get more than half at a time. It also helped that i rolled near flawlessly and he rolled the worst i've ever seen someone roll. Still, he, like me, split his forces in half in two teams. He however could of course only focus 2 ships with unimpressive damage at a time, I could focus the same two ships AND a b-wing, which really pushes weak ships over the edge. the first round of exchange, he lost an M3 when i target locked all my ships on it and just opened fire, with only my Zs getting mildly scratched. and if i lose the As and Zs, the Bs have enough damage and HP to potentially carry the rest of the way against a significantly weakened force.

Rookie-R2-D2

Rookie-Proton, munitions

Blue-Ion

Blue-flechette cannon

Thats a 100

M3a arent a good comparison, you want to fight a firespray primary list or standard swarm or fat builds

Hmm. Corran, R2-D2, Marksmanship, FCS; Biggs, R7-T1; Bandit squadron; bandit squadron, cluster missiles

took down a BBBBZ with relative ease. A variant replaces Biggs with Horton Salm with an R2 and an ion cannon turret, but then biggs cant protect corran or the missile Z. But then i can hand out control ions like candy. I also lose the cluster missiles.

Well that was a terrible decision.

I figuratively came in last place with the build above. 72nd out of 77, but only because i got a bye on the last game.

Nobody use that build.

Hey, don't feel too bad. Taking out a BBBBZ list is something to feel proud of. It's one of the deadliest and most easy to fly list, so if you destroy it you deserve some kudos.

Corran with Marksmanship is pretty good if you can really capitalise on that double-tap, but I'd probably drop Biggs for a a B-Wing or two more Z-95s if you feel like forking out for them.

Or hell, could modify the Corran, Grey and two Tala Sq. Pilots list to fit your current ships as follows:

Corran Horn (35)

+ Marksmanship (3)

+ Fire Control System (2)

+ R2-D2 (4)

+ Flechette Torpedoes (2)

+ Munitions Failsafe (1)

Grey Squadron Pilot (20)

+ R2 Astromech (1)

+ Ion Cannon Turret (5)

Tala Squadron Pilot (13)

Tala Squadron Pilot (13)

Total: 99 points

Use the Y-Wing and Z-95s in formation for the most part, breaking it to block with the Zs. Use the Ion Cannon Turret to control your enemy's more deadly ships and use Corran separate as a flanker and damage dealer. With Marksmanship and FCS you'll be able to fire the Flechette Torpedoes using the target lock from your first attack plus the Marksmanship bonus that applies to all attacks made that phase for some nasty damage and a stress against anything with 4 or lower hull.

2 Rookie X Wings, 2 Blue Squadron B Wings each with a Heavy Laser Cannon. It's called Blue Lightning, used to be a staple Rebel squad before FFG broke the game with the Phantom and wave 5. I imagine it should do well considering BBBB(Z) builds are on the rise.

Or Biggs

2x Dagger Squadron, 2x advanced sensors (might have to borrow/ebay one)

1x Rookie X wing

A Paul Heaver list.

I'd be tempted to replace the HLCs with Mango Cannons now. Having played against the M3-A + Mango recently, those extra crits can be brutal, especially considering there's no 'donut hole' problem with it.

When a B Wing is at range 1, it can't fire its HLC but it'll still get 4 attack dice from its primary for range 1.

Et'han + VI + Sensor Jammes

Rookie Pilots x3

This list is more designed to kill Decorators, but I think it will do well against a Falcon or a TIE Swarm. Both of those lists are vulnerable to crits.

But it is important to remember how you fly a list is way more important than the list you the list you brought.

For fighting the falcon, STAY IN FORMATION, Have all you ships attack the falcon or stay out of its range. You will be throwing 4 three attack dice attacks against its 1. The Falcon's 8 hull actually work against it when it comes to crits. It just means that it will live longer after being critted so those crits will hurt it more.

The TIE Swarm can be harder to counter. If it is a Howelrunner Swarm try to take the fight into the rocks, you opponent will have to choose between breaking up his formation or flying through asteroids. With Et'han, if you fly things right, will result in every hit on a TIE giving it a crit. If a TIE get's a really nasty one, like say reducing its attack to 1 dice, you may consider letting it live and sending the rest of your firepower into another TIE. But remember a lot of crits are meaningless, so leave your options open. You want to be able to concentrate fire if the crits don't come out to bad.