My friend loves his bloody B-wings.

3/4 of them in his lists.

I am so far having no luck counter acting them.

Any one can help me out here.

I seem to manage to get most of his shields down but by then I don't have the ships left to take out his hulls fast enough.

Tis getting frustrating.

Whats a Imp captain to do?

What are you flying?

Plasma Torpedo's or Advanced Homing missiles. They were designed to stop B-wings, especially the homing missiles.

1) Focus fire. B-wings are not actually that durable- They're only slightly more durable than X-wings (Integrated Astromech puts the X-wing ahead, if you're curious). Kill one b-wing first, then another, and another.

2) They are slow. They handle well in tight quarters, but they can't chase down an interceptor or boosting-large ship to save their life. Range 3 engagements with such ships are very unfavorable for the b-wings.

3) Don't joust* unless you've got the superior position. Pretty much the only ships that can joust with B-wings are Integrated Astromech X-wings, BTL-A4 Y-wings, Z-95s, and Tie Fighters**. Situations may change a tad (Range 3 head on engagements favor an agressor, for instance), but if you ever find yourself staring head on for more than a turn with anything other than the above ships, change tactics.

*Jousting is a series of repeated head-to-head engagements, if you've never come across the term. B-wings are very good at it.

**Disclaimer: While the Tie Fighter is the second most efficient jouster in the game, second only to the Rebel Z-95 (And that's only because of the PS difference), it's rather difficult to pull off such a joust due to their fragility and the importance of formation. Fortunately, Ties have an excellent dial and action bar, so they don't actually have to joust if they don't need to.

EDIT: The Loadout of the b-wings is important, though. Are we talking a control-build loaded with tacticians? A joust-focused build with Fire Control system? And what is the fourth ship in your friend's list? Biggs? A y-wing?

I agree that ordnance is pretty good vs. them. That and concentrating fire. Plasma Torpedoes will hurt B-wings and seem custom made to beat them. They are only 3 pts, too.

How many cheap ships do you own? Don't send your Tie Fighters straight at them. That's not a good idea. Split them up into groups and the ones he faces to joust, just have them peel off before you get in range.

Control can also help you mess up his formation. Anything Ion related works. Bombs are fun. Asteroid placement, as well. Don't let him concentrate all his ships at the same target is the idea. I'm thinking if you put most of them around the middle and fly your ships there. He will have to come for you, but force him to send it against you piecemeal.

A lot depends on what kind of list you want to run. I would think you would have to use hit and run tactics. Try to get in on his flanks and get in close at R1, then zip out again and turtle up for a turn. That maximizes your firepower and frustrates him. If you can force him to bump his stuff, that's all the better.

There is a video on YouTube called "The Rule of 11" that helps gauge if/when you are in shooting range. It can be effective when trying to bait B-wings. Stay just out of range with your target, and then bolt out of there while your flankers come in.

Obsidian squadron is really brutal to b-wings. So is Fel.

To echo what others have said, come at the formation of B-wings from different angles. B-wings are so slow (a few ace builds notwithstanding) that they need to be together to support each other. If you can, disengage with whichever of your elements the Bs go after, if you can't, at least make sure to get shots with your squad and concentrate fire so the B's target doesn't die in vain. At that point, the Bs will have killed something, you should have done equivalent damage. The Bs will then be out of position to attack you, and will probably have to pull a red turn to bring guns onto someone. At that point you should start building up an action advantage over time, which should see you through to victory.

As squark said, Tie-F in numbers (7+) can go head to head with B-Wings.

Or if you have a raider, you could go with 4 tempest with accuracy corrector and cluster missiles.

16+ hits versus 8 defense dices should net at least a B-wing and a half. Then the 4 tempest can evade every turn while they finish the remaining Bs.

B-Wings are very vulnerable to multiple low strength shots.

B-Wings are resilient ships capable of throwing lots of attack dice with a surprisingly nimble dial.

In the most general playing terms, you want to try and gang up on one at a time, reducing their numbers as quickly as possible. You also want to try and avoid their firing arcs where possible - this is the approach Imperials excel at with their fast dials and widespread access to Barrel Roll. Don't approach them head on - approach the B-Wings at an angle, then Barrel Roll to keep them in your firing arc while moving out of theirs. If you can get into range one at the same time, so much the better. Blocking ships to restrict their movement and deny them actions will also help, especially if you have numbers on your side.

Tailoring your list to specifically combat them obviously helps, but ideally you want to learn to beat them without relying on changing your list. And that means practicing positioning, blocking, how to avoid firing arcs and how to focus fire ships down, one at a time.

Lately my favourite anti-B has been Redline. Bs are slow enough to let you stay at R3 for a turn, and a plasma torpedo can take 4-5 shields off one of them in the first pass, while focused Bs only take a hit off Redline each. If they get close, boost past them and K-turn.

You'll need to pair him with a couple of other sub-PS8 ships to go really go to town on the now wounded B, though. TIE Fighters (Obsidians and the named ones if he likes Blues) and Advanceds with ATCs are very good at this.

You can park ships (especially large ones) in front of B-Wings and they'll simply be unable to K-Turn past you with their 2 k turns.

Mara Jade Decimator is particularly disgusting against B-Wings.

Mara Jade Decimator is particularly disgusting against B-Wings.

Not as disgusting as Palpatine Oicunn with Anti-Pursuit Lasers Ion Projector, though.

You can park ships (especially large ones) in front of B-Wings and they'll simply be unable to K-Turn past you with their 2 k turns.

Mara Jade Decimator is particularly disgusting against B-Wings.

Ruined my Panic Attack during a tourney. Decimator survived with one hull, before MOV change. I was salty. Yes, it works on Bs.

1) don't joust

2) no really don't go head to head.

Ships that can barrel roll and or boost can easily avoid the arcs of b-wings, even with the movement change a phantom is their nightmare.

Learn to attack them from the flanks they'll have a very hard time turning to respond.

Use ships with high attack like a defender with a hlc.

Or spam tie advanced with accuracy corrector and cluster missiles taking advantage of their low agility.

B-wings are slow and very predictable in their movements. Even their K-turn is so slow, it is easy to avoid. Don't play their game. Dodge, dip, duck, dive, and dodge. The Empire has superior dials and can easily out fly the B-wings. Remember, you don't have to shoot at them EVERY round. Sometimes it is in your best interest to shoot past them and set up a better shot the next round.

I quite enjoy running the good ol Jonnus brothers list

Two Tie Defenders with an HLC each and capt Jonnus giving 2 re-rolls per secondary attack

If he focuses Jonnus that fine as now you can abuse your white K-turns

3x Gamma Squadrons w/ cluster missiles and extra munitions

Captain Jonus equipped the same.

Win. Also this should help with some tlt spam

I quite enjoy running the good ol Jonnus brothers list

Two Tie Defenders with an HLC each and capt Jonnus giving 2 re-rolls per secondary attack

If he focuses Jonnus that fine as now you can abuse your white K-turns

This

I ran 2 Deltas with HLC and Jonnus with Determination and HU. Only list that gave me problems was an all A-wing build. Those little suckers were hard to hit and often stayed out of arch. I destroyed Brobots, Thuglife, Fat Han, and the like.

Personally I never quite figured why people love B-Wings so much. Yes they have a tighter K-Turn, can do sharp 1 turns, and high hull/shield points, BUT they have a lot of red maneuvers and with only one agility it's not that hard to take them out. If you roll at least 2 hits, then you're guaranteed to do damage. At least with X-Wings they also have high fire power, medium hull/shield (with the capability to regenerate shields/hull), and they have 2 agility so, (with a little luck), they're consistently harder to hit.

I quite enjoy running the good ol Jonnus brothers list

Two Tie Defenders with an HLC each and capt Jonnus giving 2 re-rolls per secondary attack

If he focuses Jonnus that fine as now you can abuse your white K-turns

This

I ran 2 Deltas with HLC and Jonnus with Determination and HU. Only list that gave me problems was an all A-wing build. Those little suckers were hard to hit and often stayed out of arch. I destroyed Brobots, Thuglife, Fat Han, and the like.

I thought about Delta Squadron + Adv. Homing Missile x3

But this sounds even better ^^

My friend loves his bloody B-wings.

3/4 of them in his lists.

Agreed, one question is "what's with them" and the other is "what's on them".

That said, as a rule, avoid going head to head. Even ships that can out-joust a B-wing can't do it by much, so are subject to the whim of the dice.

The B-wing is slow, but agile. It's surprisingly good in a knife fight. A big decider is who the pilots are - are they generics, or named ones?

The most cost-efficient way to take down a B-wing is many small attacks - This is why TIE fighters are good; not only are they good at jousting point for point, but unlike, say, and A-wing, the difference between 2 three-dice attacks and 3 two-dice attacks is much reduced because a B-wing rarely dodges stuff, and whilst they're agile enough to keep things in their arcs of fire, they're not great at dodging other peoples (where boost and fast maneuvers is generally better than barrel roll and slow ones).

There are other ways to replicate this, depending on what ships you have in your squads. Plasma Torpedos (for ships with torp slots) and Cluster Missiles (for ships with missile slots) are both designed to punish unmaneuvrable, heavily shielded ships, in the same way assault missiles and ion torpedos are designed to inconvenience swarms.

Equally, control - ion weapons and stress are good because B-wings can't reliably dodge things, so they tend to get hit by whatever you throw at them.

Ultimately, the suggestions above are good. Split up, hang back and then come in from multiple angles. You can afford to do this because he hasn't got the speed to force an early engagement against someone who doesn't want one, and (unless laden with heavy cannons and upgrades) you can afford to take the odd shot at range 3 if needs be.

What are you using in your squads?

Know their dial, block their K turns and throw as many red die at them as you can!

I love my Bs - after I flew a 4 B wing w/ FCS quite effectively for a while, one of the local players started to call me B-Hole (good job I wasnt flying A Wings)

Just to chime in with what has already been said above. Bs arent as tough as they are often made out to be. If you can separate the B Wings to prevent them focusing fire, I think you are halfway there. Anything that can throw a lot of dice, without taking the bucketful of dice that the Bs will throw in return, will probably do well. Arc dodgers can work but the low speed maneuver that Bs can pull can often catch arc dodgers by surprise. Cluster missiles/prockets are great, adv proton torpedoes will also do a number on Bs. New plasma torps are great (and cheap). Stresspedos get an honorable mention as stress can limit B wings effectively. Bs are also vulnerable to crits due to low hull points, so anything that can land crits through shields is a good deterrent. Hell, even retarded, boosting, fat turrets, obnoxious as they are, can outrun B wings and control the engagement. I wouldnt rate TLT spam lists particularly highly as Ys/Hwks arent fast enough to dictate range, though if given a chance they will land a lot of damage.

TIE swarms can work, but also tend to suffer red dice to the face. I think a good point Stone37 made was hit and run. Dont furball with Bs, the short K turn, BRoll and low speed turns are dangerous if well flown - plus Nera can ruin your day at any angle with the right setup. I never sweated facing Brobots as they want to engage you and tend to get close. I am interested to see what an XXXXZ list could do to a BBBBZ list, the speed difference alone could give the Xs an advantage.

Indeed.

Reminds me of Pirates of the Carribean:

The only rules that really matter are these: what a man can do and what a man can't do.

In this case:

What a B-wing Can Do

• Joust - if you and it do straight-line passes, K-turn, and repeat, it has a pretty good chance of beating you. Avoid a slow head-on pass for multiple turns.
• Knife Fight - With a speed 1 turn, a very short K-turn and barrel roll, it can dodge arcs and aim shots pretty well up close. Avoid extended furballs.
• Take Fire - with 8 hits needed to kill one, a lot of squads won't kill one in a single turn of shooting. Furthermore, because it's mostly shields, not green dice or critical-vulnerable hull, that toughness is reliable. Equally, things like Gunner, IG-88B or Bossk are expensive, popular and largely useless upgrades against a B-wing, because you rarely miss them.
• Manage without actions - One green die doesn't really need a focus token, and the inevitable fire control system provides dice modification in an extended brawl without needing actions. They don't really mind stress.

What a B-wing Can't Do

• Move Fast - With a speed 4 straight and speed 3 bank both red, it's going to be moving at speed 1-2 most of the time. If you want to deploy across the board split up and do cunning maneuvers before the two sides reach shooting range, you can - it's not fast enough to pounce, and if his squad is split up for some reason it'll take him far too long to move into formation.
• Deliver a heavy initial blow - obviously this is relative to cost. A heavy laser cannon hurts. The B-wing has torpedo slots. But other rebel fighters (especially Y-wings) pack a lot more ordnance slots for the same points and whilst a heavy laser cannon hit stings, there are relatively few ships it'll kill in one go once you're looking at the 30-point price range. Plus, the B-wing's favourite party piece, the Fire Control System, only works in subsequent rounds unless it's a /E with a gunner (but then that's getting really expensive)
• Avoid Getting Hit - Yes, all right, 5 shields means you can take a point of damage and not really mind. Unless it's triggering "If this attack hits" mechanics. Ion and Flechette weapons, Assault Missiles, Ruthlessness, Whisper's pilot ability: you name it, it's essentially a forgone conclusion that you'll get the bonus off an attack on a B-wing.
• Manage without shields - There are a few weapons out there which are designed to ignore shield tokens. Advanced Homing Missiles are cheap and lethal to B-wings in numbers, as are Proton Bombs.
• Take a Hail of Fire - Lots of 'small' attacks like a TIE/ln or Z-95 swarm or cluster missiles lose much less damage than they would against an agility 2 or 3 target, meaning they do 'over the odds' damage compared to the theoretical 'average' performance their points cost is based on.

I quite enjoy running the good ol Jonnus brothers list

Two Tie Defenders with an HLC each and capt Jonnus giving 2 re-rolls per secondary attack

If he focuses Jonnus that fine as now you can abuse your white K-turns

This

I ran 2 Deltas with HLC and Jonnus with Determination and HU. Only list that gave me problems was an all A-wing build. Those little suckers were hard to hit and often stayed out of arch. I destroyed Brobots, Thuglife, Fat Han, and the like.

I thought about Delta Squadron + Adv. Homing Missile x3

But this sounds even better ^^

Those missiles only fire once, while the HLC keeps bringing the pain.

There also is no clear first target here. Shoot at Jonus first, and the HLCs eat you alive while you attempt to eat through 7 points of hull (with Determination!) Shoot at the Delta's first, and Jonus keeps giving them rerolls.