5 Ship Rebels - New Player 1st Build

By John Rainbow, in X-Wing Squad Lists

So for my first build with Rebels I'm thinking:

Blue B-wing + fire control system

Blue B-wing

Gold Y-wing + ion turret & R2 astromech

Prototype A-wing + Chardaan refit

Prototype A-wing + Chardaan refit

As for alternates I was thinking of maybe Wedge instead of the A's and then fire control on both the B's but I like the idea of the 5 ship build. Any thoughts or switch arounds for mods, equipment, etc? Thanks in advance!

As without rockets and generic pilots are very weak. They will be ignored and your B wings will be punished till anhilation. Perhaps buy a named A well loaded. Or no As and buy 2 z95

Edited by Hexdot

Hmmm. Thanks for the input. I actually don't own any Z's at the moment though :(

My thinking was that a named A still dies just as quickly without significant upgrades that I don't think I have the points for. Do you think Wedge would be a better idea then? The way I see it the A's still have more shields/hull than a single A or X and can still be quite annoying. Maybe I'm wrong though. I haven't played enough to back this idea up with evidence...

I have to disagree with Hexdot. Generic A-wings are generally the way to go- Jake Farrel's the only named A-wing who isn't overpriced*. Prototype Pilots are great blockers, although I wouldn't take more than 2 as triple z-95s is when the headhunter really comes into it's own. Green squadron pilots are also decent, but really need outmaneuver to be effective, so they can be hard on the wallet.

My Take on your list

-B-wings with Fire Control System are solid. I'd try to fit two in if I can.

-Y-wings without the BTL-A4 title lack offense, and don't have enough control potential without R3-A2 to apply stress in addition to that ion token. If you cut that and give the b-wing fire control system, that gives you 22 points left, which could be a third b-wing or an X-wing with R2 astromech. The former is probably a better choice by the numbers, but the asymmetry would bug me, and you may not have a third b-wing

*Jake, however, is awesome, although you might not have the cards you need yet to make him work to his full potential- he generally needs Outmanuver+Push the Limit+A-wing Test Pilot+Autothrusters, although I suppose you could use Veteran Instincts instead of Push the Limit since his action economy is already pretty good.

It's not 5 ships, but here goes :

Dagger (Fire-Control System)

Gray (R5 Astromech, Ion Cannon Turret, Engine Upgrade)

Green (Push the Limit, Autothrusters, Chardaan) x 2

100 points

Or this 5-ship list:

Blue (FCS) x2

Gold (Blaster Turret)

Prototype (Chardaan) x2

100 points

Edited by admat

3 blues and 2 protos (with refit) is not a bad idea. You have 4 points left to fit FCS on two of the b-wings. I agree with Squark about a-wings: the protos are actually decent. Your opponent wants to shoot at the b-wings, so its not hard to get them in close blocking or taking range 1 shots where they can actually do some okay damage. And once behind your opponent, they have little difficulty staying close taking range 1 shots or shooting ahead for a key block when you want to focus fire with your b-wings. I think the reason they work well with b-wings is because the b's can't move fast, so by limiting your opponent's movement options (by blocking escape paths) the a-wings keep the enemy in your b-wing sights for longer and b-wings love to joust in a small area (FCS helps their damage output too).

Prototype action preference is evade when in doubt (although at range 3 of enemies, focus is better). Only target lock if absolutely no one is going to shoot at them and boost if you really really need the reposition.

Edited by blade_mercurial

Yes, a solid argument. I retire my words against the two basic As. I don't like the idea of PS1 superb agile ships...but it works, I was wrong

Yes, a solid argument. I retire my words against the two basic As. I don't like the idea of PS1 superb agile ships...but it works, I was wrong

To be fair, Prototype pilots don't fly anything like a traditional arc dodger, so I can understand where you were coming from. But at 15 points, they're still cheap enough to block effectively, and the better dial and action bar give them a lot more durability and mobility than the z-95. They don't work well as the bulk of a list, but as an inexpensive distraction, they work much better than a pair of z-95s (Once you have 3 Z-95s the extra points start to add up, though)

My Take on your list

-B-wings with Fire Control System are solid. I'd try to fit two in if I can.

-Y-wings without the BTL-A4 title lack offense, and don't have enough control potential without R3-A2 to apply stress in addition to that ion token. If you cut that and give the b-wing fire control system, that gives you 22 points left, which could be a third b-wing or an X-wing with R2 astromech. The former is probably a better choice by the numbers, but the asymmetry would bug me, and you may not have a third b-wing

22 remaining points can get you Gemmer, the ps 5 A-wing pilot. toss on refit to free up 2 points and toss an autothrusters on him. this makes him great against turret ships in range 1

I fly more A-wings than any other ship and i found that having a solid Tycho build gets rid of most of the riff raff that will chew up the blues

Y-wings I don't generally like they move slow and the only turret worth it for them is the ion turret, with 24 points free i would toss in 2 green squadron pilots with refit or 2 protos with refit to get more points for the blues