In the '90s star wars rpg books info about the A wing it figured that Rebelion's best pilots were destined to A wings, superb machines but needed high skilled crews. And in x wing generic pilots are PS 1 or PS 3.

I would like to see another Rebel Aces Pack and, Royal Guard style, generic PS 6 A wing pilots, plus the SKILL icon ( like Green squadron ).

I have no problem with this, I don't play tournaments, so.in.my games there are PS 6 purple squadron pilots. But I would like to read your opinions. Perhaps the special title that allows another upgrade card should be too poweful, or.perhaps not. But I think that "the most dificult ship to fly" needs the option to mount high PS pilots

I have no problem with PS 6 Purple Squad generics. I guess my question would be, are they ever worth it? Maybe now that Scum has filled in some of the mid PS levels, there may be an anticipated matchup where the Greens just aren't high enough, the Unique A's are too pricey, and a mid-PS bid is worth it...? What do you price them at?

Perhaps PS 6 generics are excesive, but the Imperium can field PS 6 interceptors, Scum PS 5 Veteran M3s... and the highest ranking generics in the Rebel.side are PS 4. And A wings are not "powerful ships that relly on firepower and heavy shields" I would like to see those in the future.

I like the idea, PS 6 +/- 1 is fine, and am thinking about the time one might pick them over other options. Chardaan Protos are often proposed as blockers. So Purples would be (expensive) blockers if your opponent fields aces but can move last if they field mid to low PS. The points you save might help either to get Prockets into the list or get another A on the board. But what's a good cost? Maybe some proposed costs and 100 point lists might help you focus in on the 'right' PS and cost.

PS6 purples would become PS8s with PTL or second EPT of choice. Generic A's already have PS 1,3,5 the additions of 6 and 8 seems excessive considering the ship won't gain much more attacking first or moving later.

Having a mid-PS (6ish) generic A saves an EPT slot for something more interesting than VI.

As long as TIE Defenders get them too for more or less the same reason.

If you buy "veteran instints" you get a PS5. One less than RG interceptor, and you have consumed one slot. Can a Royal Guard gain PS 8? Why not the rebelion's finest?

I thought the Rebellion's finest flew X-Wings.

Anyway, 6 would be to high for a generic A considering ATP grants a free EPT.

PS8 RGI's buy VI for their position in movement and attacking. The Interceptor's Title is laughable compared to the A's. A single EPT at PS 8 is far stronger than Dual Modifications an RGI can take.

At PS6 Arvel would be even less considered in any equation. Gemmer would also be on thin ice.

But if the points match the costings then there's not much to debate about.

I just have a hard time imagining that there Rebels have Generic Pilots of equal skill to the likes of Tycho, Corran, and Luke. The Empire I can visualize, if I recall correctly the Emperor's personal body guards were hand picked for their Force Sensitivity.

ATP grants an additional EPT slot, but it doesn't grant a free EPT. But you may have meant that APT is free, so the slot is free. When costing a new pilot, an EPT slot is usually considered worth... 1 or 2 points? But if you costed a PS 6 A-Wing by adding 3 PS worth of cost over a Green, I think you'd still be in line with the designer consensus on the worth of the A.

If common costing formulas are followed, I can't see how a higher PS generic A-Wing would break anything. Whether it would find a niche to fill is to me the main question. And if there's a niche, then adjust fluff to justify it as you see fit.

I wanted a large PS boost for the A wings as their fix. Their abilities benefit from moving last. i still prefer it over the title we did get.p

Maybe PS 7 is a good place. so they can combo well with Veteran instincts but not guarantee top PS.

Since we did get A-Wing Test Pilot for zero points, I might prefer Purple Squadron to have an innate PS 5 or 6 so that it is neck and neck with a Royal Guard Pilot and both would have reasons for using VI. Getting 7 innate and hitting 9 with VI seems too high for a generic.

Of course, use whatever seems best to you. We're mainly talking homebrew here.

VI + Royal Guard can make a PS 7 generic. Same for VI + Shadow Squadron. The Rebels with R2-D6 can make a Grey Squadron pilot skill 6 for only 2 points.

But here is my question, what good will PS 6 or 7 generics do? The reason why PS 7 is so powerful is that they can be upgraded to PS 9. The middle row PS is not that great IMHO. They can be blocked by generics of 3 or less and shoot after PS 8 or higher. They get the worst of both worlds.

The RGI + VI is PS 8... you mathed wrong there.. carry on...

It is not only about metagame. Official West End books said that the highest skilled pilots flew As, and the limited number of As in action were limited by the number of veteran skilled pilots. So, IMHO, I would like to see high PS generics. Ps 3 is quite limited. And VI.is avaliable to any pilot with the Icon. PS 5 should be enought, but PS 3...not

i think the basis for 1/3 is the A-wing is relativly new to the rebellion and difficult to fly, meaning aces in other ships would still be relearning everything. (this is what i recall from wookiepedia and the books)

Imagine switching from a prop based fighter to a jet fighter or a sailboat to engine boat(?)

the basics are there, it still flies and shoots but all new controlls and that stuff.

kind of like the defender being flown by the best of the best but only being 1/3 as well

A-Wing pilots being of a higher caliber than average is represented perfectly well by the fact that:

- A-Wings are the only ship with access to an EPT at PS3 (most others start around 4-6, if they even get one at all)
- A-Wings are the only ship in the game that can equip 2 EPTs.

Generic A-Wing pilots being skills 1/3 makes sense, given that the A-Wing was notoriously difficult to fly and the Rebellion being unable to afford the luxury of time for their pilots to train on and familiarize themselves with their craft. The combination of those factors is a good reason why a pilot who would be better in any other craft receives a deduction of 1 or 2 PS, while retaining (and gaining!) an EPT slot to reflect their elite status.


As far as the Defender being 1/3 as well:
-TIE Series craft are very similar to each other. Going from a TIE Interceptor to a TIE Defender is less of a leap than, say, going from a T-16 or Z-95 to a T-65 X-Wing. Yet, for some reason, Rookie X-Wing Pilots have a higher PS than the lowest generic Defender.

-Even if the Defender is relatively new, the Empire would have the time, ability, and facilities to fully train their Defender jockeys on their new ship before being forced to throw them into combat - and these are pilots who already have professional military training, dozens of hours of flight time in TIEs, and have survived at least 20 combat missions in Interceptors. While the Rebellion had a near-constant shortage of skilled pilots, resulting in them likely being forced into combat without adequate practice and training with their advanced starfighters, the Empire had the luxury of being able to spend more time training their pilots, running simulations, war games, and the like, and would most certainly ensure that TIE Defender pilots were familiar with their craft (because both the advanced starfighter and the elite pilot are rare and expensive commodities that aren't to be thrown away trivially).


There is absolutely no reason why Defender generics shouldn't be 3/5 with an EPT for the 5 (and possibly the 3)...sadly, that isn't the only fluff interpretation problem with the ship. (and the problems are just as bad in Edge of the Empire/Age of Rebellion, where game balance doesn't matter and is entirely up to the GM! )


Apologies for the rant and tangent; I now return you to your thread about the coolest Rebel ship in the galaxy.