Slightly more complicated give every ship an energy rating. What this rating is how much energy, in this case dice, you can allocate to specific things.

Example a tie fighter has 2 attack and 3 evade dice. If humble TIE was given a power rating of 5 it would power all its systems. Allocating 2 dice to attack, 3 to defense. These are very simple fighters, they do one thing.

Example 2: The X-wing has an attack of 3, agility of 2, and shields of 2. Give this craft a power rating of 5 and if can have an agility of 2, attack of 1 and recover 2 shields if depleted.

The ratings we see on a card are the maximum value.

Now power rating wise, it would need to be figured out, but a mechanic like this could breath some new life into the game. Actions are done as normal, upgrade cards will work as normal - r2-d2 will still recover a shield up to the maximum value leaving that ship he is on to allocate dice to other things.

The downsides are, beside figuring out power ratings for each ship, finding s good way yo represent allocated dice to weapons, etc. probably more tokens. Using the above x-wing recharging its shields, I would do a token that has a number value both agility and attack. If the value is lower, in this case 1 attack because of recharging two shields, you put a 1 red token on the ship to denote lessened attack value.

Another possible downside point is this could make a dogfight last longer. Ships with shields could take a lot more damage.

Another option: hull value could also determine your power available. Having if do double duty could work, however, this gives potentially fewer dice to allocate. Resulting in for a TIE fighter, the evade action being very important. Hull upgrade gets a boost of this is the case.

Having to worry about allocating power harkens back to the old x-wing and TIE fighter computer games.

Secondary weapons become very important as their attack values and effects are powerful. Think of them as having their own dedicated power plant. As many have limitations, the extra point cost could be the limiting factor. However, you could put a limiter that cannons require all your ships energy to fire. So that means no recharging shields or evading.

Attacks at range 1 and 3 still roll these bonus dice regardless of where you put your energy. Think of it as, at range 1, you fire partially charged lasers and range 3 you have time to transfer minor energy to evade.

Even more muddling, cannons could require you to put complete energy equal to the attack value. This would require a careful setup with them. If the hull = energy was used, certain cannons could not be used on certain ships. Heavy laser cannons become the domain of large ships, or maybe a defender with hull upgrade.

This is by far a perfect idea, but it could make things interesting. It is something I'm going to experiment with.

I like the general thought behind it of adjusting energy distrubution. However it would complicate the rather good working streamlined process of the current game play. Also i think it would require a complete rebalancing of every ship in the game, thus creating a completely new game. Even if you let several of the current mechanics of the game in it, the power and options of offense and defence is havily changed. Moreover you descriptions dont really take movement into it which was one of the basic energy distrubution values in the computer games (basically attack/defense/speed) as well as quite some ships dont even have shields.

I like the idea of having a "pool" of energy. Warmachine does this well with the Focus/Fury mechanic, which can be used to boost offense, defense, cast spells, make additional attacks, ect. For X-wing, each ship could have a base stat, but have a pool of dice that could be distributed up to a maximum stat. Ties, for example, could be a base of 1 attack, 2 defense, with 2 dice to distribute to attack or defense. Xwings would be 2 attack, 1 defense, and so on.

If I'm reading this right I'd possibly have a power rating of 12 on the decimator which I could put purely into attack dice?

No, you are limited to the attack value. That value is the upper limit.

I like the idea and it may be a great basis for a 2.0 game but I don't think this one would work for it. Your point about dog fights taking longer would be correct as it would make shield management crucial but it would also screw the Empire hard. Point values for ties would have to be cut to like 2/3 or 1/2. You'd need to use them as the disposable fighters they are and they would have to outnumber the rebels at least 2 to 1 or get slaughtered.

Which is why I used the original thought of 5 energy for a TIE fighter. The humble TIE has a reactor as it were that powers its systems to full effect, no more, no less. Add a shield upgrade and it could juggle things around. Of the hull value was the energy as well, an x-wing could go all attack, but not be able to recharge shields or get green dice.

Manoeuvring, which was always the empire strength, would be even more important. I did toy with the idea that you only get green dice when you do a green manoeuvre. Strain, when removed reduces the pool by one.