Up next in our little series will be the rebel fighters. In this article I will be discussing the fighters and how to use them along with their carriers. I Have decided to devote a separate article to the Aces so they will not be included in this article.

Rebels have 4 different Types of Fighters, each filling a different role:

X-wing: all purpose fighter/bomber

A-wing: Interceptor

B-wing: heavy assault fighter/bomber

Y-wing: Bomber

Each of these also come with an elite pilot variant who have an additional ability (x-wings have 2):

Wedge Antilles: X-wing

Luke Skywalker: X-wing

Tycho Clechu: A-wing

Keyan Farlander: B-wing

"Dutch" Vander: Y-wing

Note: Rebel fighters strength comes in there versatility. unlike Imp fighters which are generally really good at 1 thing, rebel fighters are almost all capable of doing anything (except the y-wing which is just a specialized bomber)

X-Wing:

X-wings are the Swiss army knife of the rebel fleet capable of performing any task necessary, when in doubt an x-wing will get it done.

At a cost of 13 points an X-wing Squadron has 5 hit points, 4 Blue anti-squadron dice and 1 Red Battery armament and a maximum speed of 3.

X-wings also have the keywords, Escort and Bomber

Using X-wings:

X-wings will primarily be used as Escorts to protect more valuable allies such as Keyan Farlander but are proficient at anything.

Escort: Using X-wings as an escort is very simple...Put it next to the Squad you don't want to die.

For more advanced players the x-wing's Escort ability can be used to divide enemy fire and keep all of your squadrons alive longer. This is achieved by using another squad to engage several enemy fighters (A-wings are a good choice for this) then you bring X-wings to the edge of the engagement zone were they engage 1 or 2 enemies at a time each and force the opponents squadrons to fire at several different targets instead of focus firing on 1.

For those of you that think x-wings are dead ^this^ is how x-wings are going to remain in a nitch and continue to be effective.

Bomber: the nice thing about X-wings is that after the Squad battle is over they are able to do significant damage to Capital ships and the bomber ability allows them to resolve crits which is huge, especially when using General Dodonna or the Precision Strike Objective

A-Wings:

my personal favorite Fighter from the rebels (mostly because I am an imperial player and they feel much more like the tie's then the other rebels) A-wings are Fast and Great at bringing down enemy Fighters.

At a cost of 11 points A-wings are Fastest Fighter in the rebel arsenal with a speed of 5, they have 4 hull, 3 Blue Anti-squad dice and 1 black die battery armament. They also have the Keyword Counter with a value of 2.

Using A-wings: A-wings are interceptors by design and use their speed to engage and destroy enemy fighters before the can close on the main force.

A-wings are REALLY good at killing ties, their 3 dice attack plus counter will consistently kill 1 tie fighter a turn (well just under 1 per turn)and their speed makes them the only rebel ship that can actively hunt imperial fighters, us that speed and chase them down. The great thing about a-wings is that after the fighter engagement is done they still have expected damage against ships of .75 per attack, do not be afraid to use them as fast bombers.

B-wings:

B-wings are interesting, think of them like Juggernauts in call of duty, unstoppable but slow as molasses. These are the rebels most effective Area denial weapon.

B-wings ring in as the most expensive and the slowest Squadron in the game currently costing a whooping 14 points and having a speed of 2 but bringing a reasonable 3 blue dice anti-squad armament and an amazing Battery armament of 1 Blue AND 1 Black!!! all while still having 5 hull points. They also have the Bomber Keyword.

Using B-wings: when you bring a group of b-wings they will probably be the most dangerous thing on the battle field, likely capable of throwing dice equal to a victory's front arc, but they are SLOOOOOW, slower then The Victory-class in fact this makes them harder to use effectively then other fighters.

Generally with B-wings you want to place them at a point of interest or use them as a deterrent to flanking your primary force (these generally are effective against GSD Hunters) but sometimes you will want to make sure to do a ton of damage with them, this requires moving them to were your opponent is going and sitting right in front of the target ship. using a-wings in tandem with B-wings is an excellent idea so that the A-wings can speed ahead and engage the enemy fighters leaving the b-wings free to make an attack run on the capital ships.

It Has been mentioned that the best way to use b-wings is an escort to your capital ships, close range gun extensions of them per-say who's purpose is to deter the enemy and punish enemy ships for getting close.

Y-Wings:

Y-wings are the rebels only dedicated bomber and are the cheapest rebel Fighter costing 10 points. The have a speed of 3, 2 Blue anti-squad dice and 1 Black Battery Armament, They also have the most hit points in the game with a value of 6!! They also have the keywords Bomber and Heavy.

Using Y-wings: When you bring Y-wings you are probably going to want to have a very solid fighter screen that can either distract the enemy while they do there job or are capable of destroying the enemy allowing you squadron superiority.

Using Squadrons in general:

Squadrons are going to be used in 3 different roles for a fleet, Screen, Superiority,and bomber.

Screen: A screen will be the most common use of squadrons and a fighter screen generally consist of less then 50 points of fighters, and purpose is to delay enemy bombers from attacking friendly ships.

This is best achieved with 3-5 a-wings placed in a fan in front of your main force. They should engage the enemy fighters early but stay away from heavy aa from ships. Remember when you are using a screen it is not important to kill the enemy just prevent them from attacking your ships, as such it is not important to attack, let your counter attacks do the job.

Superiority: A Squadron superiority list generally will have 60-70 points of fighters that are meant to kill enemy fighters and is usually supported by a carrier.

This is usually achieved using a-wings and x-wings along with the ace pilots Wedge and dutch and requires Squadron commands to be successful, You will find yavaris using wedge and dutch to double type high priority targets to be an effective and common combo.

When you are using a superiority build you likely want to engage enemy fighter on the second round and kill them as fast as possible, generally you will want a carrier to escort them and this carrier should be taking squadron commands exclusively for at least the first 3 turns to give your fighters the edge and fire power they need to win. after Squad superiority is achieved this fighters will assist the capitals in destroying enemy ships.

Bomber: The third type of fighter group is a bomber list. This generally refers to having maxed out fighters (100 points) and its primary purpose is to destroy enemy capital ships. these list are supported by a carrier and sometimes even 2 and are the main focus of the fleet in general.

This is a mixture of all fighters with x-wings and a-wings playing an air superiority role like in the superiority list, but then there should be dedicated bombers in the form of y-wings and b-wings whose sole purpose is to attack the enemy capital ships.

When using a bomber group it is crucial to engage the enemy fighters as soon as possible with your fighters (A-wings and X-wings) to give your Bombers (B-Wings And Y-Wings) freedom to make attack runs on the enemy ships. This means that the fighters should be engaged on turn 2 and then your bombers should start attacking by turn 3, hopefully your fighters win their engagement so they can join the bombers by turn 4 but it is not crucial that they win as long as your bombers are unmolested. This list should be supported by a carrier and that carrier needs to take squadron commands every turn except in extreme circumstances.

Carrier: Squadrons rely on their Carrier to win so it is crucial to understand how to use your carrier effectively.

The Rebels have 2 ships that can be used as carriers, The Assault Frigate Mk2 B and the Nebulan-b Escort Frigate.

Assault Frigate mk2:

The Assault frigate is the best carrier available to the rebel Alliance capable of taking expanded hanger bays giving it a maximum squadron value of 4. The Mk2 is plenty fast to keep pace with all rebel fighters save for the speedy A-wing and provides a strong amount of firepower to make any ship think twice about coming near.

Load outs:

a fully loaded mk2 carrier will look something like this...

This load out comes to about 107 points and allows the Mk2 to activate 4 fighters a turn(expanded hanger bay), and then toggles (Adar Tallon) one of them allowing him to either shoot or move a second time. Flight controllers also adds extra dice to the attacks of any fighters that it activates and Gallant Haven protects the fighters from some damage as long as they are near the mk2. Advance projectors is there to make sure you stay alive.

Using the Gallant Haven(assuming a bomber type list):

setup: you are going to want to set up with at least 4 fighter squads (these will be your fighters not your bombers) set up next to it, keep in mind objectives and enemy placement. I recommend starting at speed 2.

opening(turns 1-2): First turn take a navigate token for emergency, don't be afraid of the enemy you want to close with them, you probably want to be angle to cut across there line of travel around turn 3. Keep your fighters close and turn 2 either activate them for an alpha strike on the enemy fighters or bank a squad token if enemy fighters are still to far away. move your bombers in the squadron phase on an intercept course for the enemy ships but keep them well clear of any enemy fighters.

Middle game(turns 3-4): now your fighters should be engaged and your carrier needs to stay close to reduce damage with Haven, and at this point you need you dials (all 3) set to squadron commands, SPAM THOSE SQUAD COMMANDS! activate any key fighters to tip the engagement in your favor and activate your bombers which should be in a place to start throwing dice at there lead ships, Focus Fire, Use all of your squadrons and ships to shoot at 1 target

Late game(turns 5-6): By now the squadron engagement should be done and you can focus all of your attention on bombing the crud out of enemy ships, continue taking all of the squadron commands!! (it might be a good idea to put 1 engineering command in here somewhere but I recommend squad commands) use your bombers as long range missiles and throw everything you got at destroying the enemy.

Nebulon-b Escort Frigate:

I classify the nebulan-b as a light carrier (because of the squadron value of 2) and generally you need at least 2 light carriers to make an effective bomber list but 1 light carrier will probably suffice for a superiority list.

Load outs:

the load out that is best for your light carrier is...

I think that concludes my fighter article. Thanks for reading and remember YOU are my Editors. Comments, corrections and suggestions are welcome.

I will continue to review these articles and try to keep them up to date.

note: I was unable to Hyperlink anything today for some reason, I will fix that as soon as possible

The rest of my articles can be found on my main thread

Lets Talk Tactics The complete Guide

reserved

Here are a couple of additional points:

1 - Ywings are the lowest cost per hit point squadron in the game. They are cheap and can take an enormous beating. Using an Xwing to "escort" a Ywing means your opponent is shooting at your higher value ship first... So bring them without a direct escort, and use them as bait. The alpha strike of imperial fighters is unlikely to kill two ywings. Then you use a squadron command to send in Xwings to split their forces, and / or use an anti squadron shot from the Neb B and/or use flight directors to increase the ywings anti squadron attacks.

Given the expense of the rebel fighters, ywings are a wonderful addition to your fleet.

Oh, and you are deranged if you bring Bwings but not Dutch. He is like two points more, +1 hp, +2 brace, lockdown,+1 speed all for the loss of a single blue die from the antiship battery.

2-xwing: thi ship will come into its own when wave 2 comes out as an escort for Jan Ors. It is also has the lowest cost per attack die of all Rebel fighters.

the extra blue die is enormous, since it almost always leads to positive results (have to hit acc + blank black die for it to not do anything) and doubling damage either through guaranteed hits or accuracy away braces

dutch is fine, but he is nowhere near a B-wing i.t.o anti-ship and you'd bring him for a different reason (anti-squadron most like)

First off, I'll say that I'm not the biggest fan of just using fighter squadrons as simply their "intended" role. I've had as much success with an A-Wing picking at a ship's shields as I've had destroying TIES. It might be better to have different sections for the different uses of these fighters.

Second, the X-Wing Aces are both designed to focus on the two different aspects of X-Wings. This can be either focus towards Anti-Squadron with Wedge and Anti-Ship with Luke. Lastly, This goes hand-in-hand with the statement about discussing the relative battlefield roles compared to the classical roles.

Wave 2's YT-1300 might eclipse the Y-Wing because of that extra hull point and Counter 1. Absolutely love those tar pits for squadrons. Would be nice to get a preview some day for Wave 2.

First off, I'll say that I'm not the biggest fan of just using fighter squadrons as simply their "intended" role. I've had as much success with an A-Wing picking at a ship's shields as I've had destroying TIES. It might be better to have different sections for the different uses of these fighters.

Second, the X-Wing Aces are both designed to focus on the two different aspects of X-Wings. This can be either focus towards Anti-Squadron with Wedge and Anti-Ship with Luke. Lastly, This goes hand-in-hand with the statement about discussing the relative battlefield roles compared to the classical roles.

Wave 2's YT-1300 might eclipse the Y-Wing because of that extra hull point and Counter 1. Absolutely love those tar pits for squadrons. Would be nice to get a preview some day for Wave 2.

not for anti-ship duty they won't

they hit like tie fighters

First off, I'll say that I'm not the biggest fan of just using fighter squadrons as simply their "intended" role. I've had as much success with an A-Wing picking at a ship's shields as I've had destroying TIES. It might be better to have different sections for the different uses of these fighters.

Second, the X-Wing Aces are both designed to focus on the two different aspects of X-Wings. This can be either focus towards Anti-Squadron with Wedge and Anti-Ship with Luke. Lastly, This goes hand-in-hand with the statement about discussing the relative battlefield roles compared to the classical roles.

Wave 2's YT-1300 might eclipse the Y-Wing because of that extra hull point and Counter 1. Absolutely love those tar pits for squadrons. Would be nice to get a preview some day for Wave 2.

I understand your points and many will be incorporated into the article it just takes more time...

And I will not be mentioning anything from wave 2 yet.

Great strategy guide! You really nailed the interaction between the various fighter roles and the fleet as a whole. Some additional points on generics:

As noted by the OP, A-wings are a spectacular squadron that embodies the flavor of the rebel fleet - fast, hard-hitting, and cheap enough to tie up the enemy in a costly engagement. Their stellar speed of 5 lets them threaten huge swathes of the playing field and Counter 2 plus 4 hull makes them a ship your opponent doesn't want to shoot but has to. At 11 points that kind of aggravation is a steal. Their anti-squadron attack is a bit weak but still provides enough dice to deal damage to enemy squadrons without drawing the same level of hate as interceptors.

Y-wings struggle to find there way into my lists. In abstract I can recognize their usefulness (high health! Danger to ships!) but in practice I look at them and think that for an extra point I can get the much more versatile A-wing who, while unable to resolve crits, can still put a decent amount of hurt on enemy ships while threatening squadrons. The combination of Heavy and a measly 2-dice anti-squadron gun means they're limited to either threatening ships or drawing squadron fire and if I'm looking to draw fire I'd rather have something that can hit back with more reliability. En masse they might be more effective but at the 300 point level it's just a hard sell.

I'll agree that B-wings are most certainly a huge ship deterrent and if your opponent lets them in range, they'll pay dearly for their mistake. The trick of course, is getting them there Swarms of b-wings won't likely become a reality since for a point cheaper you get the much more versatile x-wing that can dish it out pretty reliably, but 2 squadrons is certainly a viable late-game threat. I would argue that they're not nearly as much of an anti-squadron ship, simply because you can do the same thing (or better) with an a-wing. The 3-dice rating just means they can make headway against ties and other tar-pit units. Use to season a squadron superiority list and you'll see them do well.

X-wings though, x-wings I would bring in almost every situation. They are 13 points of mean, hard-hitting squadron goodness that can hold their own against any generic squadron and have the weight of fire to bring down most uniques. There's nothing scarier than seeing a squadron of x-wings bearing down on your fragile ties or your expensive Vader. A-wings might have the speed, and y-wings might have the hull, but x-wings have the hull, the guns, AND that pretty "bomber" keyword to threaten just about everything on the board. Unless I'm running barebones interference (aka a 3-4 a-wing screen), I reach for x-wings first. As one of two generic squadrons with 4 anti-squadron dice, they are a force to be reckoned with and anyone who underestimates that level of firepower on a 5 hull ship is in for a rude awakening.

Look forward to seeing the rest of your analysis!

*Edited for grammar and spelling

I feel discussion of starfighters in a vacuum isn't very useful unless you suggests some effective squadron builds and ship strategies to support them.

The number of points you spend on starfighters significantly affects your list and hence your matchups, and eventually your deployment and movement; Gallant Haven plays differently Yavaris and Warlord. To win the fighter battle you must also support your fighters with anti-squadron firepower, which will whittle down your available anti-ship firepower. How many turns of Squadron Command are you prepared to plan in advance?

I find it much more useful to begin with the end in mind when you build starfighter lists: Do you want to dominate the battlespace completely? This must be accomplished in 2 turns for starfighters to have an effect on capitals in the game.

You are correct sir, I will be going over squad lists and how to use capitals to support your squads effectively, I haven't gotten to most of the in depth use of them yet. I will probably add/change some information about each of the squadren as well.




Also due to the amount of information that should at least be mentioned for squadrens I will devote a seperate article to the named pilots in order to keep this one manageable.

Realistically you should also be planning your fighter points around what ships are supporting them.

I feel discussion of starfighters in a vacuum isn't very useful unless you suggests some effective squadron builds and ship strategies to support them.

Obviously there's a broader view to all of these guides, but there's always two ways to approach these questions: the particular or the holistic. This is the particular, ground->up, way, which is perfectly legitimate.

Good so far clon, reserving further comments until you finish.

I feel discussion of starfighters in a vacuum isn't very useful unless you suggests some effective squadron builds and ship strategies to support them.

The number of points you spend on starfighters significantly affects your list and hence your matchups, and eventually your deployment and movement; Gallant Haven plays differently Yavaris and Warlord. To win the fighter battle you must also support your fighters with anti-squadron firepower, which will whittle down your available anti-ship firepower. How many turns of Squadron Command are you prepared to plan in advance?

I find it much more useful to begin with the end in mind when you build starfighter lists: Do you want to dominate the battlespace completely? This must be accomplished in 2 turns for starfighters to have an effect on capitals in the game.

That's an interesting point about "dominating the battlespace". A decisive squadron run during the right turn can certainly swing things for a squadron heavy list, though I'm curious about the 2 turn limitation.

Do you mean that if you're squad is tied up for more than two turns it's ineffective against ships?

In my (admittedly) limited experience X-Wings are stellar in their dual role.

They pack a hefty punch vs squadrons and are mean enough to be a decent threat vs ships, especially in mid-late game when (some/all/lots of) shields are down.

Y-wings can really benefit from flight controllers (a 50% bonus). You'd still want some other fighters for squadron pinning, but the Ys have their role.

When using the Squadrons as bombers be sure to place them close enough to be JUST inside their range to a ship. Good placement means you can get 4 in range, in front of a medium ship. The reason is that it will allow the squadrons to attack the same ship next round, or even rounds afterwards without resorting to a squadron command to make them move and shoot.

Tactics for squadrons are heavily dependent on objectives, and your opponent. Creating a screen against bombers or intercepting them, then other ships, and finally, strikes against opposing ships. The last part usually can only be accomplish after the opposing fighters are removed and cannot engage.

Since most other squadrons use multiple blue dice (and accuracy) against other starfighters. The Defensive tokens generally will be only useful against ships not fighters.

Escort on X-Wings actually doesn't do anything. Why? Because 90% of the time, the best target to shoot at IS the X-Wings! They're the most powerful in fighter-on-fighter combat, and aren't bad bombers.

I've grown a little wary of the A-Wing. I love it, but after several uses I see that Speed 5 is it's actual main asset, not counter. Counter is cute, but you're only ever really getting two off vs those superior Imperial fighter swarms. And due to 3 blue dice instead of 4, you're very unlikely to kill TIEs and TIE/Ints in one shot, while X-Wings can and do often.

Y-Wings are solid due to being so cheap.

B-Wings are ultra-specialized, and I don't think they should be used much. Speed 2 is just too slow.

As for the heroes...

Wedge seems like overkill. Luke is OK, but through shield hits require him to really get out there early. Dutch is fantastic as he can neutralize enemy squadrons or dogfight surprisingly well, and really survive. Keyan hits like a god, but again, is a B-Wing. And Tycho is probably the best of the lot: He's a durable A-Wing who can go and leave engagement to engage others. The ultimate interceptor.

I had a lot of faith in B-Wings even before a squadron of four in a recent game tore open the forward hull of a VSD and let the Yavaris fire into the holes they made.

I'm a little surprised this wasn't mentioned, but B-Wings work well as capital ship escorts. A way to look at fighters is as extensions of the capital ship activating them, and B-Wings are very much the floating gun turrets that are adequate shooting star fighters (X-Wings and TIE/LN are the only ones better) and absolutely devastating against capital ships. Better if they are escorting your capital ships you are choosing the speed, so B-Wings won't have to chase them down.

When I take them I go all the way and take four. Whether to take X-Wings to escort them or A-Wings to lock down enemy fighters early is the question I haven't been able to answer myself yet. I feel B-Wings are so good at their job I would pick them every time for fleet bombing roles over Y-Wings, choosing the latter only when a Y-Wing's range to "jump" at a target is valued (Like chasing GSDs). I find I would rather compromise for the B-Wing's lack of speed than the Y-Wing's lack of firepower in this role.

B-wings aren't really great anti-squadron. They have the dice, sure, but they're 14 points which is a massive asking price for 3 dice making them very points inefficient for that role. They're not helpless, but I wouldn't take them for it by any stretch of the imagination

I like the idea of them as escorts

personally, I've been thinking of them as imperial repellent. VSDs and GSDs detest them, and they give rebel capital ships access to insane close-range punch that they simply can't get otherwise.

They've been great for adding teeth to a trio of Nebs, which pack basically all of their offense in red dice and are bristling with enough anti-squadron armaments to make ties wet themselves and keep the Bs free to bombard ships

Escort on X-Wings actually doesn't do anything. Why? Because 90% of the time, the best target to shoot at IS the X-Wings! They're the most powerful in fighter-on-fighter combat, and aren't bad bombers.

Truer words have never been spoken.

"Not so fast Tie Swarm! You're in range of my X-wings and while you might want to target my cheap, poorly armed y-wings, who don't pose a real threat to your ties, instead you MUST target....my most expensive and useful squadron instead! Mwahahaha!!!"

It feels a little like being a Bond villain. If B-wings were faster then it might make sense to escort them but for now all it seems to do is split targeting priority (which can still be useful, just a touch more situational).

Just out of curiosity, how am I able to attack X-Wing squadrons with my TIE Fighter Squadrons. Do they need the counter ability or am I just reading the card wrong?

Just out of curiosity, how am I able to attack X-Wing squadrons with my TIE Fighter Squadrons. Do they need the counter ability or am I just reading the card wrong?

See this post for an explanation of the counter and escort keywords

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/175540-howlrunner-and-counter/?p=1646997

I was thinking of an idea to let fighters move up to half their movement (rounded down) and still attack without a squadron command. It would make more sense, at least to me.