I just purchased the X-Wing Core Set and I love it. I'm wondering now what to pick up next. What are the best lists I can make without a large investment? I'm okay with any sort of list, any faction, and ideally would like to make at least one "Big Ship" list and one "Swarm" list (am I getting the terminology correct?)
Any help would be awesome!
I would get a decimator and an inteceptor and cobble together a deci plus tie swarm or deci soontir list as best you can with the cards you have available.
2 boxes of Most Wanted will get you a pretty good, low cost list
For big ship lists, a proper "Fat han" requires cards from the Tantive, which is a huge model that is pretty expensive. if you dont want to proxy cards, I'd suggest a Super Dash YT2400 (possibly with the upcoming Kwing Miranda, if you cant wait for the mysterius Xwing fix that will inevitably come with the Episode 7 movie tie-ins) for your big ship list. For swarm, you already have 2 ties... buying a tie expansion will give you howlrunner, but where you go from there is up to you.
Hi and welcome to an awesome game! 
Here's my advice. Pick a faction and follow these simple steps:
1. Buy whatever big ship you fancy. Bear in mind that the Firespray is in both the Imperial and Scum factions.
2a. If it's Rebels or Empire, buy a 2nd core set.
2b. If it's Scum, buy a Most Wanted pack.
(Those give you the best value for money ships, and the second set of dice in a core set is definitely worth getting)
3a. For Rebels, buy some Z95s or a Z-95 plus another expansion of your choice.
3b. For Empire, buy the TIE Fighter expansion plus another small ship of your choice.
3b. For the Scum, if you plan to also play Rebels, buy any two of the following: Z-95, Y-Wing and HWK expansion. If not, buy from that list or get a StarViper or Scyk.
That will give you one big ships and 4 small ships. Enough for a lot of different squadrons.
Oops. Nearly forgot...
4. Go here - http://xwing-builder.co.uk/build- and enter the expansions you have bought, then start playing with and saving different combinations...
vs
Edited by voidstateThe easiest and quickest way to an easy swarm build and a good big ship build for you would be to buy another core, a tie expansion, and the yt-2400. That would give you five ties for your swarm build, and the most flexible large base ship with two X's alongside for your large base build. Buying an X-wing expansion would be nice for the named pilots it comes with, but isn't imperative for casual play. Also, perhaps an interceptor to fly alongside your swarm would really put some more punch in that list.
Edited by Jturn314Hi and welcome to an awesome game!
Here's my advice. Pick a faction and follow these simple steps:
1. Buy whatever big ship you fancy. Bear in mind that the Firespray is in both the Imperial and Scum factions.
2a. If it's Rebels or Empire, buy a 2nd core set.
2b. If it's Scum, buy a Most Wanted pack.
(Those give you the best value for money ships, and the second set of dice in a core set is definitely worth getting)
3a. For Rebels, buy some Z95s or a Z-95 plus another expansion of your choice.
3b. For Empire, buy the TIE Fighter expansion plus another small ship of your choice.
3b. For the Scum, if you plan to also play Rebels, buy any two of the following: Z-95, Y-Wing and HWK expansion. If not, buy from that list or get a StarViper or Scyk.
That will give you one big ships and 4 small ships. Enough for a lot of different squadrons.
Oops. Nearly forgot...
4. Go here - http://xwing-builder.co.uk/build- and enter the expansions you have bought, then start playing with and saving different combinations...
vs
The Most Wanted pack looks like the most fun. Are they competitive? Also, they look tiny - is that simply in comparison to the size of the box?
I might buy another core set anyway for the second set of dice. I'll probably eventually try to play all three factions. StarViper looks awesome though!
The easiest and quickest way to an easy swarm build and a good big ship build for you would be to buy another core, a tie expansion, and the yt-2400. That would give you five ties for your swarm build, and the most flexible large base ship with two X's alongside for your large base build. Buying an X-wing expansion would be nice for the named pilots it comes with, but isn't imperative for casual play. Also, perhaps an interceptor to fly alongside your swarm would really put some more punch in that list.
When you say a TIE Expansion, you mean TIE Fighter, right? And a lot of people have suggested Interceptor - I assume they mean TIE Interceptor, and not the M3-A Interceptor?
I'd actually recommend against Tie Fighter spam. They're great, but they're bloody difficult to pilot (so many ships, so many dials, so many self blocks....ARGH)
Personal recommendation:
Swarm: 3 B-wings
Slap on the Fire Control system they come with, dig out either Luke or Biggs; have fun.
Big Ship: YT-2400
pair it with B-wings, or a B and an X; whatever floats your boat
B-wings are slow bastards, but they're far more forgiving (and far less rage inducing) than ties (stupid green dice 
). They're also surprisingly dependable and flexible, letting you customize for efficiency (just run em naked, they're great!), damage (Fire control), control (ion cannon or tactician, though you'll need Rebel Aces), or even arc-dodger of all things (you'll need aces for Keyan Farlander), and can be slapped in basically any list that has room.
The Yt-2400 is just good **** fun.
Edited by ficklegreendice
When you say a TIE Expansion, you mean TIE Fighter, right? And a lot of people have suggested Interceptor - I assume they mean TIE Interceptor, and not the M3-A Interceptor?
Yup. The TIE Fighter expansion comes with some different pilots than what are included with the core set.
If someone is recommending you buy an Interceptor, they are most definitely talking about the TIE Interceptor. Anyone who would recommend buying the M3A (for something other than its upgrade cards) is not a real friend,
I'm agree with Fickle, I think the most cost effective list that will be fairly competitive is probably the Outrider and a Pair of B-Wings. You can either buy the YT-2400, B-Wing Expansion, and either a second B-Wing Expansion or get Rebel Aces (I'd get Rebel Aces as it gets you an A-Wing for not much more).
This list doesn't doesn't use any upgrades that don't come in the expansion that I mentioned. If you buy 2 B-Wing expansions instead of Rebel Aces, you can downgrade the Daggers to Blue squad pilots but give them Fire Control System upgrades. Two B-Wings and Dash make a solid squad that can be tweaked to your preferences as you get more upgrades.
I would look at wave 7 and see if anything interests you. Everyone is going to be flying their new toys soon and you could start there and then work backwards to build your collection.
If you fly imperials you'll want an interceptor and autothrusters(star viper) plus a decimator.
Scum ig88 and boba or the houndstooth that is coming out now you need a scum box.
Rebels dash and corran probably your cheapest option. E-wing, falcon and yt2400. You need the falcon for the engine upgrade.
Look at some lists online and pick a couple favorites and then see what you need to buy. Your probably looking at another $100 just to get something competitive on the table.
I would look at wave 7 and see if anything interests you. Everyone is going to be flying their new toys soon and you could start there and then work backwards to build your collection.
If you fly imperials you'll want an interceptor and autothrusters(star viper) plus a decimator.
Scum ig88 and boba or the houndstooth that is coming out now you need a scum box.
Rebels dash and corran probably your cheapest option. E-wing, falcon and yt2400. You need the falcon for the engine upgrade.
Look at some lists online and pick a couple favorites and then see what you need to buy. Your probably looking at another $100 just to get something competitive on the table.
The whole of Wave 7 is pretty sweet. The K-Wing and Kihraxz are awesome, the TIE Punisher looks really cool, and the Hound's Tooth is really unique. Wave 8 looks to be even cooler! Ghost, Mist Hunter, the Punishing One? Plus the new TIE Advanced. Man, I worry I'm going to be spending a lot of money on this...
Of the recommendations you made, the Rebels sound most fun. The YT-2400, Falcon, and E-Wing are all really cool ships. And I guess there are some good upgrades in there for the K-Wing, down the road? Miranda Doni seems really compelling to build a list around. Are there any upgrades that interact with her ability?
But then we go to Scum and the IG-88 is awesome. The Firespray is awesome. The Hound's Tooth upgrade is awesome (though the expansion doesn't come with the Z-95, so I'd need to buy that).
The Interceptor and Decimator both look really fun to pilot. The Interceptor's lack of shields is interesting, and the Decimator's 12 Hull is a little silly.
In short, I think I'll be spending a little bit 