So I've been skimming through forum posts a lot and I keep coming to the same thing: People are of the opinion that being the "First Player" is very important. Myself, I'm a little skeptical. I play a Rebel fleet (2 Corvs, 1 AF2, 3-4 A-wings) and in all my winning games I've chosen to go second. Forcing my opponent to choose from my objectives and then weather the pain and suffering of foolishly choosing Advanced Gunnery or Firing Lanes has worked out incredibly well for me.

Has anyone else preferred to be second player? Am I some kind of strange anomaly or mutant? I'm curious.

I love going first in certain situations. I like being last in first out for ships like the Nebulon-B, the CR90, and the Gladiator. It can also be important when you are facing off against those ships as well.

Being first let's me get my squadrons to deal they damage and attacks first so there is less retaliation. They also get to set up how the engagement will take place which is important

Yeah the squadron alpha strike is a big pain to deal with especially if they have speed 5 A wings, Rhymer Range Bombers or Interceptors.

Second player can also be a great advantage for a ship based alpha strike, sometimes they HAVE to move into your range and let you get the first shot off if they actually want to engage you.

It's really up to personal preference and skill level, ffg has done a great job balancing the game and Weather you prefer 1st or 2nd player really just boils down to playstyle, granted some ships/list prefer one over the other but it is never an autowin

I like short listing the missions, so second player is my preference.

Subject to me changing my mind, playing a different strategy or learning more than I have so far.

At higher points values it matters less- the actions of a single ship are generally less pivotal. Of course a ship built to take advantage of being first player can still cause a lot of havoc.

I quite like being second player- it's fairly easy to predict where the heavier Imperial ships are going to end up so I often get the first shot at long range.

If I'm Rebels, then I don't mind deploying first - I'll just stick down a Corvette and if I want it somewhere else, it soon will be. It doesn't give much away. If I'm Imperials, I really like deploying second as I want to put that VSD down as late in the process as possible. So faction is a factor for me.

Rebels seem better equipped to deal with going second having generally longer range guns and faster ships at this point in time. That being said objective selection will be crucial for a tournament environment so an imperial player may still want to take second to avoid having to deal with a hyperspace assault of superior positioning mission.

What I am actually quite interested by is the 'meta' that will develop around missions. Imagine that certain missions become common selections and force archetypes emerge to suit these. You then have the opportunity to develop a contrasting strategy focussed on missions that the popular archetypes will struggle with. It may not be the best force on paper - but if you can wrong foot or confuse an opponent that is often enough to get an edge.

I really like the interaction between initiative and mission selection. I expect it will help keep the game fresh.

I used to perfer to go first but honestly, after roughly 20 or so games, i dont care. I build to 300pts and let my opponents decide. i am confident in my list and ability enough to where if i go second, they have to pick between 3 really cruddy scenarios for them. if i go first, i can pick a scenario like advanced gunnery and get great effect from it.

The choice of first or second really is dictated by your fleet build. I tend to favor being player 2, but that's just me as I tend to play tanky, hitty builds as opposed to fast strike builds where going first is better.

It also depends on who I am playing. I fly Imps, and if I am going against a Rebel player with multiple small ships, I will choose to go second. I don't want to play his objectives. If I'm flying against another Imp player, I'll usually go first to get the Alpha Strike capability.

I haven't found a real liking to either. I like second player because I know that my squad is built to win all three of my objectives, but I just played as first player and Hammered a RSF. I will say that first player is at a much larger disadvantage not just because of the objective, but moving first lets the second player react to you, which can be really good for them late game.

I'll add my hat to the "it depends on your build" ring. Empire running a Demolisher or Squadrons? Being first players lets me get off that crucial alpha strike. Planning to win the war of attrition with Rebel long range exchanges? I'd rather let my opponent move into engagement first and force the chase.

I'll add my hat to the "it depends on your build" ring. Empire running a Demolisher or Squadrons? Being first players lets me get off that crucial alpha strike. Planning to win the war of attrition with Rebel long range exchanges? I'd rather let my opponent move into engagement first and force the chase.

and also give you a super VSD, or a space station to camp, or mine-fields to hem them in...

I think it's worth emphasizing that winning the initiative bid lets you choose whether to go first or second. Some people talk as if the bid is all about getting to go first. As some have pointed out, going second also has advantages. The bid puts both in your hands if you want them. I'm not sure it is even supposed to be clear-cut that one is better than the other.

General rule of thumb: If flying against Space Superiority builds, you want to go first; if flying mainly ships, you want to go second.

So far, if I have more ship activations I like to be first, if not I don’t mind. Being first and having more activations makes getting dual arc shots on a single target, and setting up what look like daring hit and runs really very easy (last ship moves into close range front arc of a victory, then activates first next turn, shoots with both arcs, and then zips out of the front arc to safety).