Flying in my first escalation tournament today, and I was wondering if there were any ships that jump out as more efficient in the 60-90 point rounds than in the standard 100 point game.
For example, and I know this will get the forum going, I'm considering two knave squadron e-wings for the first round, and following that with wedge, r2-d2, and predator.
That feels like a decent 90 points to me.
Thoughts?
We have run many Escalation tournaments here in the KC Metro area, The Geekery is famous for it (people do get burned out on straight 100 point games). What I have found is that getting a big turret ship in early (doesn't matter if Falcon, Outrider, or Decimator and the building it up at the 90 point level can make for an EXTREME advantage in the later games. With the requirement that all builds at 60 points must contain at least 2 ships, the rate of BTS has dropped off considerably. Putting in Han w/determination and falcon title (48 pts) and the 12 point Z95, and then flesh out the Falcon at 90 points makes a big difference. and then at 90 points add another Z and flesh out the falcon for a total of 88 points and then add a ship at 120 and again at 150...... Hell, you can get a decent Outrider going for 48 points round 1.
Ah, I should have added, we house ruled no large base ships in the first round. You have to work for it.
One of the primary appeals of a Fat Turret has always been their effectiveness in the late game. The first round of escalation essentially starts you in the late game (60 points), so having a large turret is very effective, although it won't be very fat just yet.
This one works well, because the PL is already as fat as you'd want it to be, and makes short work of anyone who thought to bring Fel or Whisper into the first round.
Dash with the Title and HLC is very solid, even missing his recon specialist, Lone Wolf, etc., which can be added next round. On the other hand, Mangler will allow you to go ahead and add some more flavor, and is as strong as ever.
Anything with increased end-game durability is an excellent choice:
End-game choices that hit very hard and have some built-in toughness are great as well:
RAC and Han are great, but can be more difficult in round 1 due to their high cost requiring them to fly pretty bare. They excel in round 2, buffing up fully and adding another ship to the mini-swarm:
Of course, with less ships on the board, a mini-swarm becomes a good counter. You're less likely to lose that first ship in the first round of fire, preserving maximum damage. The next round, that damaged ship becomes the blocker:
Tougher (but smaller) mini-swarms are also potentially more effective as well, since there are less ships firing back at you, once again allowing that initial damage-soaker to survive to the next round:
The issue with any build that doesn't include a turret from the start, is that you'll never be able to introduce one later without seriously handicapping yourself. That's why you see so many 2-ship 60-point squads. The first round is your best (and possibly only) opportunity to get that "Fat" ship, even if he's a little light for that round. Obviously this doesn't have to be a turret ship, or even a large base ship, but if you want one of those at the 120 and 150-point levels, you'll need to grab it early.
On the other hand, knowing that you'll see lots of those gives you some freedom to try and counter. I've seen a guy do great at escalation with a-wings loaded with prockets/PTL/Autos. That hits big turrets pretty hard, and Tycho with VI/PTL/Autos/Prockets is just nasty.
Anyway, there are lots of builds that can do well; but whatever you decide to bring, you should ask yourself how it will fare vs a fat turret in rnd 1, and an even fatter turret in rnd 2 with support, because chances are you'll be seeing those squads.
Ah, I should have added, we house ruled no large base ships in the first round. You have to work for it.
Geez, wish I had seen that earlier. That makes a huge difference. 
This really simplifies things, imo; but a ship that isn't considered "efficient" in a normal dogfight, is even less efficient at lower point values. A ship that's essentially over-costed in a 100-point game, might be more acceptable at 150 points because that inefficiency has less impact on the overall list (I'm sure there's a mathematical term for this that escapes me atm). That inefficiency gets worse at lower point totals, where the impact is felt without anything to counter it, or dilute it.
A Knave x2 list would suffer from this pretty badly, imo. As would any other ship that's considered to be slightly over-costed or needing a fix, such as basic TIE Advanced, TIE Defenders, Scyks, and StarVipers. Even using "support" ships like Hwk's can be difficult, since their limitations are magnified at a lower points level. With less to "support", you end up relying on them for damage, and they don't excel in that role.
With a "no large base" limitation, I'd predict seeing a lot of Corran, Soontir, Whisper, or even Xizor. So, focusing on bringing a list to deal with them would be key.
I ran this today to my own escalation event:
http://xwing-builder.co.uk/view/274505/escal150
Starting off with offensive-geared Soontir (with Targeting CPU) at 34 points and just straight up Dark Curse for a 50/60 init bid.
Round 2: add Echo + VI + FCS + ACD + Rebel Captive
Round 3: Add firepower and utility in Sigma + Intel + FCS + Stygium
Round 4: Top it off with Royal Guard + PTL + AT + Stealth
I only lost 1 ship, on round 4 and it was Dark Curse.
A player tried your 2 E-Wing approach - he doesn't have a good track record yet in tournaments, having still won outside of them, but it didn't go very well for him in round 1 this time.
Here are his 4 escalation lists:
http://xwing-builder.co.uk/view/272269
http://xwing-builder.co.uk/view/272272
In lower point matches dice have a greater effect. If 2 or more of your attacks get completely canceled, you might as well fly off the table.
However with escalation there is a trick to underbid on the first match than when you move up to 90 add in more than 30 points of a ship.
Standard rules? Doomshuttle, fel HU, AT, PtL. Every 30 points add in a RGP with the same equipment as Fel. Last round didn't lose a single ship and took out leebo in a single round of firing. No big ships? Fel and a RGP not quite kitted out, next round just toss the doomshuttle in and the equipment the RGP needs.