Is the extra blue dice worth it on the B-wing at the cost of more points, less speed, and less armor?

I still think the B-Wing will have its use even though for a tool it is limited in its ability for the first half of the game. It is more of a Rook and it will have a more important role if it flys next to a Capital that can support it. In the Late game it can potentially do serious damage along side your Capital.

But for most of the time I would go with X-Wings or Y-Wings for my Bomber abilities.

B-Wings:

Pros:

+1 Blue Anti-squadron

+1 Blue Anti-ship

Doesn't have heavy (not sure that this is actually a pro)

Y-Wing:

Pros:

+1 hull

+1 Speed

4 points cheaper

They seem fairly balanced against each other, though i prefer Y-Wings because they are the cheapest squadrons rebels have access to.

I think B-wings will have a hard time outside of builds made to make them work. But I think that they'll have a powerful place with the right hands. Put it with enough A-wings and other antifighter ships to keep it from getting tied up and it hits with a ton of strength for its points. But it's a risk as it can't even keep up with a 2 speed star Destroyer. But a single good movement block by a ship with a good squadron value could absolutely murder a star Destroyer. Imagine 4B-wings getting attacks two turns in a row. Thats 16 attack dice from squadrons. With a strong chance to get 12 hits or so.

Doesn't have heavy (not sure that this is actually a pro)

Note that Heavy doesn't allow you to move or attack Cap Ships when engaged; it just removes your blocking abilities.

And I know I'd rather have the opponent shooting my fighter-bombers than my capital ship.

I think for B-wings to really prove their points you'll need to be using squadron enhancing cards like Yavaris and Adar Tallon. Anything that let's them get another shot off against a capitol ship is really going to shine. 3 B-wings (at 42 points) plus the above comes in at 57pts and throws 12 dice (6 blue, 6 black) if targeting a capital ship. 6 Y's only throw 6 black dice and total 60pts. While I think Y-wings are more versatile due to speed and additional hull; I think B-wings will wreck face against an imperial player who decides to go light on squadrons. My first take on them is that if you're going to go B-wing heavy you'll need to build a list that emphasizes squadrons as a viable source of damage and not just a "I'll take some shots if they come up" source of damage. But until we have Wave 1 in our greedy little hands who knows!

Distance 2 on the bwings is going to hurt. A victory can literally outrun them, as speed 2 on the maneuvering tool is about an inch further than distance 2 for squadrons. After the initial assault, they will have a hard time getting attacks in on even the slowest ships.

Distance 2 on the bwings is going to hurt. A victory can literally outrun them, as speed 2 on the maneuvering tool is about an inch further than distance 2 for squadrons. After the initial assault, they will have a hard time getting attacks in on even the slowest ships.

If you can get the squadron in front of the ship (doable with Aldor, and possibly the Hyperspace Assault objective) so the ship overlaps when it moves, you can keep up with it that way (by always placing the squadrons in front).

The speed advantage of a SD also only applies if the cap flies straight, even one click on the maneouver-tool lets the B-wing keep up. So while outrunning is possible, I dont expect to see it all too often, especially as moving straight out often may be disadvantageous as you make it easier for other caps to flank you. Biggest difficulty I see is to protect them from other fighters and to keep alive till they can do something meaningful.

Keeping up only helps if you have a ship up close to order them to move and fire as well right? Else all they do is keep up. Assuming they don't manage to park in front because of their limited speed.

The B Wing having an extra dice doesn't just give it raw damage output- it also gives it the ability to attack with a black dice from inside obstacles while avoiding anything but base-to-base engagement. It could be handy in some missions/ situations. My regular imperial opponent likes to use the space station to supplement his repairs, at least if he gets to place it; booby trapping it with a pair of B-Wings might dissuade him from this.

In any case, I'm thinking the B Wings and their escorts will be ambushers- sitting on objectives or the flight path of a recon sweep.

I don't think we'll have B-Wing-heavy lists anytime soon. For me It's a support weapon.

Y-wing on the other hand is cheap. Rebels have expensive squadrons and using Y-wings is the only way to get big starfighter wing. I can easely imagine starfighter-heavy lists with lots of them.

I got the impression that B-Wings are flying turrets. You precede your capital ships with them, pound enemy fighters that get too close, and if they live long enough to see some capital ships they unload their weaponry on them. The reason they don't have heavy is to trap enemy squadrons and shred them apart. Y-Wings can't do that, and you don't want Y-Wings doing that anyway.

To use some Homeworld Analogies here Y-Wings are your attack bombers. B-Wings are your defenders.

X-Wings might be better at killing enemy starfighters and escorting, well, everything... but they lack in anti-capital hitting power. The red die is just too unpredictable for that. Blue is always going to give you some kind of result, and black die give you crits with your hits. They are the best bombers on the Rebel side In wave 1 for that reason, as well as being the only wave 1 bomber with 2 attack die.

Don't have your B-Wings chase VSDs. Instead, have them fly parallel to your Nebulons, picking up whatever the fighter guns miss and contributing the capital-ship hurt that the Nebulon is going to be lacking.

Flying the flank of your Neb B into distance 1 of enemy ships doesnt sound ideal though?

But why this stats in the first place?

The B-Wing is slower, heavier armoured and shielded, less agile and better armed.

The Y-Wing was originally a heavy fighter that is much better suited for dogfights but however is lighter armed and shielded.

In the PC game I think the B-Wing was actually just a tad faster and more maneuverable as well. It was an all around improvement. Not for the game on the other had...having a B-Wing be better in every way eliminates the need to buy a Y-Wing.......

The Wikia page lists the B-Wing as slower and less agile though....

The Y-Wing sucked in fighter combat because it was so slow while the B-Wing, was a better anti-fighter ship. Tie Avengers would eat both for breakfast and the hardest battles I did was with a B-Wing against some Tie Avengers.

only one way to find out: slap it on the table

I'm pretty sure Y-wings will be more "generalist" (as generalist as a dedicated bomber can be , but at least Dutch is flexible ) while B-wings will be something to build round (gallant haven, anyone?)

I think FFG is sticking to the way B-wings are portrayed in X-Wing.

Slow but just nasty to fight.

I'm looking forward to having Gallant Haven flanked by Yavaris, 4 B-wings, and an X-Wing escort, all flying directly at the nearest VSD. Its likely to be a bloodbath, but if you can get those B's in range -- whammo.

I think FFG is sticking to the way B-wings are portrayed in X-Wing.

Slow but just nasty to fight.

if they did, B-wings would have six health and four blue anti-squadron dice

There are a couple of distinctive things about the bwing, as highlighted above.

To me, the bwing is the natural partner to the neb b escort frigate, as they can lock down enemy bombers.

Basically, I expect to fly 3 bwings + neb b escort + Yavaris straight at the opponent, while using other ships to flank. This will force your opponent to either bring their fighters into range of you neb b, or turn away to avoid your ship. Either way, you win.

Another way to think of the neb b is as a 14 point upgrade to slow moving Rebel ships.

True, or 7 Health as B-Wing has much hardier shields and hulls than Y-Wing.

Speed 91 for B and 80 for Y
Hull 60 for B and 40 for Y
Shields 125 SBD for B and 75 for Y

The Y-wing lost less speed when it's weapons and shields were powered up though. At combat speed like 70 for the Y and 67 for the B if I remember right.

You can also use them as movement deterrent. You find an enemy ship approaching your preferred arc, so during the squadron phase, you place a few of them directly in the path of the direction you *don't* want it to go. The other bombers are a threat, but not compared to most capital ships. But B-Wings, with two bomber dice a piece, makes for a hard decision.

That being said, I'm also not that fond of them, but that's because I prefer more specialized. Basically, given the point cost, I see them in the same way I see X-Wings, but where X-Wings are better at dealing with squadrons, B-Wings are better at dealing with ships.

Distance 2 on the bwings is going to hurt. A victory can literally outrun them, as speed 2 on the maneuvering tool is about an inch further than distance 2 for squadrons. After the initial assault, they will have a hard time getting attacks in on even the slowest ships.

If you can get the squadron in front of the ship (doable with Aldor, and possibly the Hyperspace Assault objective) so the ship overlaps when it moves, you can keep up with it that way (by always placing the squadrons in front).

Since you're moving them every round, they'll never be able to attack without a squadron command, which requires a ship dangerously close to whatever it is you're attacking (which is really a problem that all fighters have right now with regards to attacking ships.) And if your target is a gladiator (or, in a mirror match, any of the rebel ships, really), then the b-wings are going to eat his space dust after the first volley They just aren't fast enough to get back in front of the ship to force another overlap.

I'm not saying you're wrong, of course . . . that's just my theory until we have a chance to try them

B-wings in front. Nebulon B following behind. Absolute murder.