Reducing astromechs by -2 would be great if it applied to uniques (the most used ones), if there were more 2 point droids, or more droids in general.

Right now there are 3

R2 1 and 2 green

R5 Repair Damage

R7 Target Lock Reroll defense

I'm sure we will see more from FFG, but having those for free right now on X-wings along with +1 Hull would be huge. It really helps the low ps X-wing and non named pilots. In my opinion the named pilots of X-wings are fine

Of those R2 is the best by a clear margin. R5 has less application on a ship that has only 3 hull, 2 green dice and goes pop very quickly (better on Y Wings).

R7 is great if you are Tarn, or an E Wing with FCS. X Wings gets 1 action (of a possible 2); if an X Wing target locks it is likely to use it on an offensive shot rather than hang onto the lock in case one particular ship gets to shoot back. Too situational IMO to be a real benefit on the X, but could be useful against 2 ship builds.

Id agree that getting R2 and a free hull for +1 point, beats the current setup by 4 points (which is what the same costs normally). Restricting more hull upgrades is not the worst payoff, but makes your idea more complex than it needs to be.

More astromechs would increase the viability of the idea and rebels as a whole. However restricting your fix to non uniques means that Luke couldnt take R2-D2 for example, one of the most iconic match ups in the game - not sure how you think this improves the X Wing. I know you think that the named pilots are fine, but they are only better off than the generics because of their abilities. The named pilots suffer from cost issues too, just not as noticeably.

Keeping the idea and making it a blanket -2 for all droids, means that you dont penalize people who want to fly Luke like in the movies.

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Part of the issue is this is a dog fighting game. So every ship needs to be able to dog fight, or at least support a dog fight. It is kind of funny that the two things that the B-wing has that are used the least, its two torpedo slots and cannon upgrade slot are the things that are the most iconic-ly B-wing for me.

Look at how the B-wing is built in Armada, it is going to suck it up in fighter on fighter combat, but it is the single most scary fighter when it comes to attacking ships.

Calling this solely a dog fighting games isn't quite accurate in my opinion so I can't fully agree. Yes 100 point dog fighting is a big part of the game and the most often discussed play style. But several ships come with scenarios; Fantasy Flight released Mission Control meant to create your own scenarios; Fantasy Flight released Epic play and is coming out with more ships yet.

Just looking at the breadth of play available to us I don't see how you could balance all ships in all play styles perfectly. Perhaps some ships are fighters and others support, good; but also perhaps some are better suited for some missions and others not, some are better suited for Epic play and not for dog fighting, etc... Variety! Point balance could be a general rule but not a finely tuned method of dog fighting analysis. In an Epic game or a mission to flee the scene X-Wings cross the board faster; how many points is that worth?

We are not happy because everyone is looking at merge values is a little box of 3'x3' play in a 100 point match. But X-Wing can be more than that.

Beware the trap of buffing and fixing ships. Buff the X-Wing just a little wrong and you'll need to buff the TIE Fighter, you'll end up fixing fixes that fixed your last fix and be required (for tournaments at least) to buy Star Vipers when you actually want to play TIE Interceptors or a CR-90 when you want to field the YT-1300.

P.S. Yes I think the B-Wing should have been a weaker dog fighter and more of an assault fighter; in that regard some may consider it broken since it is a better fighter and more balanced than other rebel fighters.

Of those R2 is the best by a clear margin. R5 has less application on a ship that has only 3 hull, 2 green dice and goes pop very quickly (better on Y Wings).

R7 is great if you are Tarn, or an E Wing with FCS. X Wings gets 1 action (of a possible 2); if an X Wing target locks it is likely to use it on an offensive shot rather than hang onto the lock in case one particular ship gets to shoot back. Too situational IMO to be a real benefit on the X, but could be useful against 2 ship builds.

Id agree that getting R2 and a free hull for +1 point, beats the current setup by 4 points (which is what the same costs normally). Restricting more hull upgrades is not the worst payoff, but makes your idea more complex than it needs to be.

More astromechs would increase the viability of the idea and rebels as a whole. However restricting your fix to non uniques means that Luke couldnt take R2-D2 for example, one of the most iconic match ups in the game - not sure how you think this improves the X Wing. I know you think that the named pilots are fine, but they are only better off than the generics because of their abilities. The named pilots suffer from cost issues too, just not as noticeably.

Keeping the idea and making it a blanket -2 for all droids, means that you dont penalize people who want to fly Luke like in the movies.

Interesting, I'm fine with it, but I think most people will go ape wild, if wedge and corran and biggs can have an R2-D2 for 2 points cheaper than they currently are.

People can fly luke like the movies, but they have to pay for it. Plus they are still getting 1 hull for 1 point.

I am looking forward to the future and larger games. It will be interesting to see if we ever progress to ships that are truly support ships. Ships that can provide shield or hull repair. Large ships with Tractor beams. Ships that could move asteroids!!! OMG! Definitely targetted toward Epic play more than dogfight (and probably stuck in Armada... nothing against Armada, but I really like X-Wing). Still... I would like to see shenanigans happening on the field... and how it would completely change how some things could be run. I doubt it would affect the meta too much, because a dogfight is still a dogfight and support usually is more important in extended fights, but it would be exciting to see.

Maybe we would start to see some team tournaments come into play where these lists might start to surface. Who knows... but support ships would be fun!

Lorewise the X-wing is superlatively good. It's also worth noting it's the one ship that hasn't shown in SWR, so it looks like the new canon'll make a big thing of it too.

The problem is this need often does not arize as many matches turn into up close brawls.

not against marathon fatties

anyway the X-wing's problem really isn't the B-wing. While the Blue > the Rookie is almost every conceivable manner, pilots such as Wedge, Luke, and Biggs etc. offered utility that the B-wing could never even touch and led to effective lists such as Biggs walks the dogs, while also sporting a dial that helped the elite but sometimes fragile pilots sweep in from the flank

Way I see it, the X-wing's main problem now is large ships with asstons of health and craptons of damage coupled with the X-wing's lack of maneuverability/the rather stupid turret advantage. Against these hyper modified 3/4 dice attacks, my experience is that they go down in flames at the same rate as Ties (2 attacks per pop) before barely even scratching the paint off the 10+ health. Whereas previously Wedge was a monster that could wreck small ships before they could shoot at him, he's now a bowtied bundle of free points for the opponent

The fattie menace is what led me to limit my X-wings to 3 very specific pilots in Luke/Tarn/Biggs, with R4-d6 being essential on Biggs (R7 might as well be stapled to tarn) because they're the only ones who last long enough to have an impact that even comes close to how much you paid for them.

Now, whereas an X-wing might survive if it gets lucky with green dice (hah), the B-wing will always soak 8 damage without even needing to get lucky on its one agility. This reliability plus the flexibility offered by barrel-roll and a healthy variety of upgrade slots is what makes it a far more preferable generic.

All of the above is why my caveman fix to the Xwing would be to slap on native boost. Boost really stacks well with the X-wings range of 3 maneuvers and the straight 4, helping it sweep in from the side all the better More than that, though, it'd be able to equip auto-thrusters

You won't out gun it, and you sure as hell don't have it beat on HP, but if you can make the most of your agility and screw with it's offense you might come out on top.