Choosing your squadron complement is a tricky affair. You want to get squadrons that are going to help you destroy enemy ships, and protect your ships from enemy squadrons, and you want a balance that is more effective than that of your opponents.

So, how do you figure on doing that?

Roughly what share of your points do you think you need to invest in squadrons to be optimally effective, and how do you balance out the different squadrons' capabilities?

My fighter complement is not there to destroy enemy ships, but to destroy enemy fighters and bombers. Attacking ships is extra. About fifty fifty interceptors and tie fighters, with Howlrunner and Soontir.

My fighter complement is not there to destroy enemy ships, but to destroy enemy fighters and bombers. Attacking ships is extra. About fifty fifty interceptors and tie fighters, with Howlrunner and Soontir.

What he said. Always Howlrunner. Always more TIEs than INTs. Soontir...only if I've points to spare.

I don't believe there is a right answer to this. Depending on your opponent's list make-up there could be any number of efficient solutions. What I don't agree with is the need to take lots of anti-squadron squadrons. That said, I know a list run that way can work fine, but it's certainly not mandatory.

Depends on your own lists ability to control fighters, what your intentions are, and what level of enemy fighter capability you expect to see. My last Imperial list only had 4 Tie Interceptors. But my 2 Gladiator-IIs chewed through the enemy fighters to actually leave me on top despite being outnumbered 2-1. Either case, I agree there is no generic answer to this solution as each game can be very different.

Enough to slow them down so my Assault Frigates or Escort Frigates can shread them with their 2 blue dice.

Xwings perform well against both enemy types

Ergo spam xwings

Awings fill a similar niche

Take at least 3 bwings when flying Nebs to cover from short range foes, then round out with As (faster for engaging enemy anti squadron and cheaper for more bodies despite the expensive Bwings)

Apart from spammed generalists I build to cover weaknesses (bwings for long range NEB's and rhymer for short range destroyers)

In my area, I'm seeing the disappearance of X-Wings.

People are taking B-wings, but aside from Hyperspace Assault objective games, they've been fairly useless. The A-wing is a favorite, and I just got schooled in how awesome it actually is (because I forgot to have a Gladiator II in my list). Y-wings are also seeing some flight time.

On the Imperial side, I've been talking a mix of bombers and fighters, with heavier emphasis on the former. However, I think I need to hold off on them on the smaller games (220 this week and the next).

I like to bring about 50-60 points of air superiority, usually sonter fel, mithil and 2 advanced. After that I add bombers to taste.

If I'm going more ship heavy I will bring as little as 30 points of tie fighters though

A-Wings.....for DAYS!

My make up of squadrons doesn't incorporate science but pleases me aesthetically.

My make up isn't designed for a specific role (Ship/Squadron destruction) but flexible enough to not be worthless when required to fill either.

Primarily an Imperial Commander, my favorite formation is this: TIE Advanced, 7xTIEs, TIE Bomber, Major Rhymer (TIE Bomber)...93pts?

The Advanced's job is to pull the heat of my TIEs and/or add a Black die vs Ships. No need to get more Escort cuz one is all I require in the 3-4 turns I'll need it.

Rhymers role is obvious. I added another bomber to satisfy my OCD and aversion to including a single RARE unit for the sole purpose of its special ability. Seven TIEs cuz cheap Squadrons mean more squadrons, means more dice thrown...Seven because it will satisfy even pairs for deploying my opponent. Ten sqdrns = five deployments after my first Ship placement.

Ugh! Sorry for being so long. Not super science on the surface.

The biggest factor, to me, is your ship makeup. If you take squadrons that are good at killing other squadrons, you don't need to invest in ships that have 2 dice anti-fighter stats.

If you're already investing in those ships, you might consider Corellian Corvette's path of tying them up till your flack frigates get in range...so minimal fighters, but tough ones.

As for general design philosophy beyond the ship/squadron interactions, my thoughts are this:

Your list is better suited with a mix of everything...this allows you to engage people in an actual fight of skill and tactics. The main reason is probably prevalent due to people liking to write off squadrons: they only fight other squadrons. Squadrons don't really give you points or win games in the context of the ship battle. So I should just focus on fighting and killing ships, and make the token gesture in case someone has squadrons that can be a pain.

My view to counter this is to make sure you have bombers. Why? As I stated above, whats the point in squadrons if all they do is fight stuff that "doesn't matter"...make it matter. Bomber's threaten them and force them to play as such. If they don't have ANY fighters then you get squads that can freely threaten him with heavy damage: each blue die is a 50/50 chance of damage that he can't do much against with tokens. Black bomber (or even red with X-Wings) die are killer in decent numbers.

What this does, is gives you a purpose for your squadrons..protect the bombers. It also forces your opponent to worry about said bombers. What this creates is an actual battle that matters, like the ship one, instead of mimicking Warhammer 40k non-objective games of pushing dudes into a pile till all are dead.

And this point is probably the main crux for most people without realizing it. Who cares if your pile of fighters can kill my pile of fighters? If bombers are involved it turns the fight into something that actually matters. This is easier for Rebels with X-Wings...but Y's and B's are much heavier hitters so running them might give you some purpose.

Don't judge me since I only got the fighter packs a few days ago.

All this while, my sister has never used any of the core X-wings against my ships so my core TIE-Fis are there to lock them down and to keep them as far away as possible from my ships lest my sister has some funny ideas up her head there.

All A-Wings, all the time. Full throttle. Imperials need to balance a bit more it seem.

My fighter complement is not there to destroy enemy ships, but to destroy enemy fighters and bombers. Attacking ships is extra. About fifty fifty interceptors and tie fighters, with Howlrunner and Soontir.

This is how I ran my fighters in my last game and then... my opponent brought no squadrons. Soontir and Howlrunner spent the game doing strafing runs on Nebulon B's.

And this point is probably the main crux for most people without realizing it. Who cares if your pile of fighters can kill my pile of fighters? If bombers are involved it turns the fight into something that actually matters. This is easier for Rebels with X-Wings...but Y's and B's are much heavier hitters so running them might give you some purpose.

you care, because squadron kills award you points that are factored in to determine who wins the game

the only time no one cares is when one side's cap ships get completely wiped, which is exceedingly rare in 6 rounds

not to mention you don't need dedicated bombers to do serious damage to the opponent's ships. Xs, As and even enough fighters will murder a ship, especially if said ship is either slow or carries 1 die anti-squadron or both

the key advantage I've found in dedicated bombers is either the range (Rhymer for imperials, which lets bombers with a squadron command fling black dice further than the range ruler) or the sheer excessive force (B-wings essentially giving you a super VSD to compensate for rebel ships general lack of close range prowess)

Personally, I reckon A-wing just fit the bill perfectly for Rebels. 3 Blue dice + counter is great. Only problem is they die fairly easily with just 4 hp. They even roll a black dice which is a 75% chance of a hit against capitals as I count it.

In order to add to survivability, I tend to use X-wing squadrons to carefully place them and use the escort rule to stop concentrating fire on my A-wings.

I also love Tycho I'll happily zip him into a group 2-3 TIEs early, and burn scatter / Brace as needed to survive. Counter them dishes out damage to them, and next turn if possible I can Yvaris and clean out 3 squadrons..... (3 dice on squadron A as I zip in, 2 dice on A, B, C as counters, 3 dice on B + C in my first activation next turn due to Yvaris).

My cheaper squadron build is currently:

2 x A-wing

2 x X-wing

Tycho Celchu

Total: 64 points.

As a carrier I use Yavris - Neb B Escort and nothing else to keep it cheap.

Playing rebels, i tend to go heavy with Y-wings for that short range anti-ship ability the rebel ships lack. X-wings for multi-role and escorting, and A-wings for intercepting RHymer bombs

2 a-wings, 3-4 X-wings and as many Y-wings as i can have.

I really am not confidant in being able to use the B-wings effectively because of their slow speed unless you have an objective that moves ships closer.

And this point is probably the main crux for most people without realizing it. Who cares if your pile of fighters can kill my pile of fighters? If bombers are involved it turns the fight into something that actually matters. This is easier for Rebels with X-Wings...but Y's and B's are much heavier hitters so running them might give you some purpose.

you care, because squadron kills award you points that are factored in to determine who wins the game

the only time no one cares is when one side's cap ships get completely wiped, which is exceedingly rare in 6 rounds

not to mention you don't need dedicated bombers to do serious damage to the opponent's ships. Xs, As and even enough fighters will murder a ship, especially if said ship is either slow or carries 1 die anti-squadron or both

the key advantage I've found in dedicated bombers is either the range (Rhymer for imperials, which lets bombers with a squadron command fling black dice further than the range ruler) or the sheer excessive force (B-wings essentially giving you a super VSD to compensate for rebel ships general lack of close range prowess)

Most of my games end in a sweep...so maybe that's skewing my thinking.

However, I still think my points explain how people tend to view squadrons. If you don't have bombers to threaten ships, then the only thing your fighters do is pile in...there's no real need to worry about screening positions and such like that. No worrying about intercepting enemy bombers with your A's or Squints.

If you embrace the combined-arms of squadron combat it makes for a better game imo...and a more effective fleet as far as i'm concerned.