After playing a bit with Richard Hsu's winning Regionals list I toyed around with some other builds running the pretty cool Wedge (+R2, DtF and Shield) + Biggs combo.

So far this is what I came up with:

Wes Janson (29)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Flechette Torpedoes (2)
R3-A2 (2)

Wedge Antilles (29)
Draw Their Fire (1)
R2-D2 (4)
Shield Upgrade (4)

Biggs Darklighter (25)
R5-P9 (3)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Haven't had time to play it yet, but at least on paper it looks like a ton of fun.

The plan is to obviously stay close together and fly in formation as long as possible. If Biggs got hurt too much he breaks out of formation and tries to reggen via R5-P9.

I added Wes to the list to give it a bit more hitting power and to make some points free for R5-P9.

On paper the combo of a Flechette Torpedo and R3-A2 sounds pretty nice actually, especially on a PS10 ship it should be able to cripple stuff like Aggressors and Squints.

Lacking the Ion Turret is a bit of a bummer, but you can't have it all I guess

Concerning obstacles I'd probably take the big asteroid and two more. Not really seeing much potential for debris clouds here ...

Maybe even just the 3 smallest asteroids, but imo the X-Wings don't move that badly in a asteroid field ...

Opinios and critique on the list would be great!

I'm especially interested in opinios about R5-P9. So far I've never played it before, simply because I never been in the situation of having more than 2 astromech slots in my crew

I've been a huge fan of XXX lists for a long time and I'm excited to see other XXX builds! Here's my iteration which I've managed to get at least 30+ games in on:

Wedge Antilles (29)

Predator (3)

R2-D2 (4)

Wes Janson (29)

Veteran Instincts (1)

R3-A2 (2)

Luke Skywalker (28)

Veteran Instincts (1)

R5-P9 (3)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

While Biggs is a great inclusion to your squad, I feel like his overall value is decreased when he's only defending 2 ships. Also, Biggs' strategy relies on you being dependent on formation flying in order to focus fire and protect the squadron. Also, your regeneration strategy seems pretty roundabout letting Biggs and Wedge soak up fire, but Biggs is most likely to go down faster than he can regenerate, especially if you plan on spending the focus token to regenerate shields rather than modify your attacks.

The list I posted above grants Luke, who has an already native defensive ability that allows you to save your tokens to spend with R5-P9. Wedge with Predator makes him a murdering machine, still with R2-D2 for regeneration. Wes is already setup similarly to yours, as he's a key player to keeping your squad's offensive capability up as well as decreasing your opponent's offensive ability. Also, Wes and Luke having VI grants them the PS bid over Han and Soontir, which could be essential to blasting them before they get their chance to shoot.

The way this list differs is that you can fly them as a cohesive unit where their synergies are extremely powerful, yet they are each their own wolf that can do major damage when the others are off engaging other targets or are shot down. They aren't limited to Biggs' bubble and Wedge will have an EPT that will stay relevant even if the other two are not near by or gunned down.

As for obstacles, I'd recommend various debris clouds instead of rocks so you can fly through them and gain stress and still shoot when landing on them. But obstacles' negative effects on your opponents will amplify Wedge, Wes and Luke more than an asteroid could since a stressed enemy will be much easier and predictable to hunt than an enemy that just lands or flies through rocks.

I love Biggs, but again, ideal like his ability is worth more when he's defending 3 or more ships, or defending a turret.

Thanks a lot for the very in-depth answer, really helpful!

Yeah I just did a quick math and came to a similar conclusion about Biggs, so I guess you're right about changing him for something else.

Your list looks nice, I may give it a try. One thing I dislike a bit though is the high PS on Luke in combination with R5P9. Seems like neither you use his focus on offense or not, it's probably always the wrong choice. Not a big problem I guess, just something that came to my mind.

I build a similar list to yours a while ago, replacing your Luke with Ten Numb:

Wedge Antilles (29)
Predator (3)

Wes Janson (29)
Veteran Instincts (1)
R3-A2 (2)

Ten Numb (31)
Veteran Instincts (1)
"Mangler" Cannon (4)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

But again, not really having time to test it out leaves me with speculation if it's good or not

Not having R2D2 in the list is quite a bummer for example.

Since you played your list for quite some games though, which matchups would you consider hard for this list ... and which easy? I'm very curious about your opinion on this

Luke is an oddball. The VI on him makes the use of the focus token tricky, but what I've ended up doing was not use R5-P9 until I absolutely needed to. Rather than prepare for an attack by saving a focus token while shields were up, I'd spend it on offense in hopes to wither down any opposing ship and potentially destroying it before it shoots back and damages Luke for me to spend the token. What is also nice about R5 compared to R2-D2 is that Luke's ability is so defensive and R5's regen ability relies more on opportunity rather than R2's restricted green movements to regen, so you can make a hard turn or longer bank, take the focus and regen if you can since you've most likely disengaged.

Bcause of this, Luke is by far the hardest to kill. Move first, shoot first, green dice modifier and opportunistic regeneration. In my competitive games, Wedge and Wes usually die and Luke brings it home. PS10 on Luke and Wes is also fantastic since you see those cocky Soontir players scramble when they can't get a bead on where they'll end up since he'll be moving before your X-Wings.

As for matchups, I ran XXX along the gauntlet of meta builds:

Vs. Fat Falcons : 50/50 - You gotta get the jump on the turret first, unless Corran or the posse of Z's present themselves accordingly, the turret wins the attrition game since its throwing 3 dice at all ranges. Usually Wedge puts the nail in the coffin while Wes strips potential focus/evade tokens.

Vs. Dash/Corran : 50/50 - Catching Dash sent that IG of a deal, especially a PtL Dash, since his movements are pretty predictable with Kyle Katarn. He is capable of outmaneuvering you and wrecking you hard if you can't get guns on him either. And like I said, dealing with Corran comes after you get the fatty off the table, unless an extremely juicy opportunity presents itself.

Vs. BroBots : 75/25 - Hounding down a PtL IG tears this list apart. Usually the Advanced Sensors and PtL into a green maneuver, but Wes slaps them with a stress token to shut down Adv. Sensors and strips their evade or focus token (usually go for focus to make their defensive rolls and gunner ability suck) while Wedge and Luke gun it down. However, it is possible that with the right amount of focus fire, you can and will be gunned down quickly.

Vs. BBBBZ : 25/75 - Bad matchup. You have the potential of gunning down a single B-Wing in a turn with the right amount of luck and focus fire, but that would take 4 turns for you to gun their list down while they're throwing 6 more red dice at you. Target prioritization against them is also bad since focusing one down leaves the rest unchecked, while spreading your fire leaves more guns on the table. They are also capable of severely blocking you and catching you in a firing arc net that will wreck the boys. Still, if you're witty enough, you'll pull through it.

Vs. Soontir/RAC : 50/50 - Much like Falcon builds, you gotta take the fatty down first. It's pretty easy with a 0 agility ship, but Rebel Captive will ruin Luke and Wedge, which is why you need to send Wes in to soak up the stress and give some back to good ol' RAC. Soontir can also be dealt with especially with Wes and Wedge, removing his evade token and reducing his agility just ruins his day. And if he was foolish enough to PtL, double stress him for an easy kill. You also have to be careful that RAC doesn't get into range 1 and pummel your guys, and Soontir is very sneaky. He can catch even Luke after a K-Turn and put the nail in your coffin then.

Vs. Other 4-ship Rebels/Defenders: 90/10 - These are mostly good matchups because you can tear through 4-ships like tender meat and outbid Defenders on PS to kill the, or reduce their offensive power significantly. Stress is your enemy though, so be wary of Tactician B's since you're most likely to be followed up by an Ion from a Y, effectively killing whoever lands in that trap.

You can actually keep Luke and Wes in my list the same and just change Wedge to Ten Numb. Your offensive power and gameplan becomes slightly better but you lose your regen ability and extra green die, however, you still maintain Luke's insane survivability and regen PLUS making all your ships PS10 giving Soontir players heart attacks.