Hey everyone. I'm new to the game (less than two months), but have been able to play in one tournament and about to play in another. I got some help putting together a basic list with the few ships I have, that looks something like this:

Biggs (Xwing)

Corran (Ewing) + R2-D2 + FCS + Marksmanship

Gold Squadron (Ywing) + Ion Cannon Turret + Proton Torpedoes + Proton Torpedoes

I know I don't have a super competitive list or anything, but this is all I have on the rebel side right now. My main issue I have in flying it is that I don't know if I'm using Biggs correctly. I typically have them in a 3 ship formation, and Biggs will typically go down by turn 2 with little impact on the game. I've been tempted to cut him and one of the Torpedoes and replace him with Luke piloting the X-wing, but I don't know. I'm still figuring this game out, so any real advice on how to be most effective with Biggs would be great!

Welcome to the game! So IMHO Biggs works better with more ships. He is not expensive, but he isn't cheap considering what you can get if you cut him. Right now all he can really protect is the Y-wing because they have similar dials, and Corran's strength is his speed and the fact that your build lets him survive on his own. I would cut one of the Proton's and go with Luke. Chances are everyone will gun for Corran at the beginning of the game, so use that to your advantage. But again. just my two cents.

Biggs can be very helpful if used correctly and providing your opponent doesn't get supper lucky on rolls or you have really bad ones. I run 3 X-Wings

Luke with Veteran instincts and R2-D2

Wedge with Expose, R5-D8 and Experimental Interface

Biggs with R5-P9

always focus with Biggs every turn, If u don't have to use it for defense R5-P9 will repair 1 shield every turn with the focus token. If Biggs stays alive for at least 4 to 5 turns I'm pretty much guaranteed Luke and Wedge are going to decimate whatever I'm fighting. if Biggs dies early its a lot more work.

for your situation I would just drop a Proton torpedo and give Biggs an R5-P9 that repairs him, the longer he stays alive the greater your chance for success. I would probably also use Expose with Corran rather than Marksmanship . This switch will keep your squad point cost the same.

Working with the above theme of three X-Wings, if you put Draw Their Fire on Luke instead of Veteran Instincts, he can take a critical hit away from Wedge or Biggs, using a shield he can replenish with R2-D2.

Yeah, R5 P9 is a great astromech to equip Biggs. But the one that gives you Agi+1 as an Action is not a bad option

The idea with Biggs is that you want to use his ability not just to protect your other ships, but to force bad shots on your opponent and to split their fire whenever possible. Your ideal first round of combat would be one where Corran and the Gold are range 2 of your target, while Biggs is Range 3 from all the enemies. In addition, if you can set it up so that Biggs is range 1 of his allies but some of the enemies don't have arc on Biggs, you can force your opponent to spread their damage across your ships. Flying Biggs really well is tricky, but if you can pull it off, he can exert a huge amount of control over your opponent.

As for upgrades, I think keeping him low-cost is a good idea. But if you want, you could try R7-T1 to give him some ability to dodge arcs and block enemies when he needs to.

Biggs is best kept bare bones, maybe with a hull upgrade if you have 3 points left over. Astromechs are generally a bad idea, because if your opponent is on the ball he will die to a round or two of shooting- But that round where your other ships are unmolested can be all you need. He doesn't work so well with Corran, though, because Corran prefers hit and run tactics while flies in formation.

I want to try Biggs with R5-P9 and shield upgrade with a Kyle Katarn HWK with Jan Ors. With 2 Focus or a mix with evade, it could keep Biggs alive for a long time. I'm trying to look for the best heavy hitter to go with that.

I liked R4-D6 for 1 point on Biggs when phantoms and HLC Dash were common. Against manglers it is not as reliable of a defense. But but I agree with the earlier posters that you should not sink a lot of extra points into a ship you know is going to be the primary target.

I'm going to echo the above sentiments that spending points on Biggs is generally a bad idea. Not saying that you should run him naked all the time, because I think the occasional upgrade could be justified depending on the rest of the list, but in general keep him bare bones since he will die, and usually early.

The best you can hope for with Biggs is as mentioned, to force your opponent to split their fire, allowing all of your ships to live perhaps one or two turns longer. For example, on the initial approach, try to line up Biggs so that he is farthest away from your opponents, and hopefully, some of your opponent's ships cannot even target him (out of range or out of arc are ideal). The rest of your opponent's ships have no choice but to target him, so in theory, if roughly half your opponent's shots go into Biggs, and the other half into your other ships, nothing will die that first turn, and then next turn, perhaps you can even avoid some firing arcs or again limit how many enemies can shoot at any one of your ships so that again Biggs might stay on the board with 1 or 2 hull. This situation is absolutely ideal for you, because then in the third turn, your opponent will have to shoot at Biggs to finish him and its very likely that you will have done serious damage in that time (especially if you were able to focus fire all of your attacks on one of his ships at a time).

I agree with blade_mercurial. The mistake that people tend to make with Biggs is assuming that he's just going to die off, and put the whole squadron on full offense to take advantage of the fact that the opponent isn't shooting at the most important ship(s). His real power is in forcing your opponent to split his fire. Ideally, on the first round, your opponent's nearest ships will have a bad shot at Biggs (Range 3 and/or through an asteroid) while his farthest ships will have poor shots (Range 3) only on your other ships, forcing him to split his fire. The result of that split fire is that you have more time with three ships on the board; and three ships means three shots, even if one of those ships is at one hull.

So: fly Biggs in a way that forces your opponent to split fire in the opening volley. Then, once he starts bleeding, have him shoot off if you can (generally with a hard 3 turn or a K-turn); your then has to either chase down the less-valuable, damaged ship and ignore the rest of your squadron OR face the rest of your squadron and let Biggs stay alive and be a nuisance. It's a lose-lose situation.

And, as stated above, keep Biggs free from upgrades. You want to keep him alive, but you know that he's likely to die off quickly -- don't waste points on a suicide ship, just as you wouldn't load a doomshuttle down with an HLC, FCS, and Gunner. R4-D6 is decent on him, but that's about it. R2-F2 is tempting, but he's expensive and sucks up an action, so you're really not much better off on defense in the end.

Super helpful stuff here. Thanks everyone. I'm definitely still learning!

Also, if you're fighting Biggs, plan to shoot him first so all he is is a meatshield. Your worst nightmare is when he is doing as discussed, making you shoot him sometimes but surviving long enough to split your fire for 2/3/4 rounds.

2nding calls for spending as few points as possible on Biggs, which includes R4-D6

HLCs are about 50% responsible for X-wings almost never seeing play in my area (Luke can deal, Tarn was designed to deal) because against Aggressors and Dashes and stuff they drop about as easily as 12 point ties. With R4-D6, it takes a whole other shot to kill you, which gives you the chance to actually shoot and really wastes the time of the two elite ships in your opponent's lists.

For one point, it's a steal of an insurance policy.