Hi everyone,

I'm fairly new to X-Wing. I've been playing for a few months now and am starting to come up with some more complex or "tricky" list combinations. While I'm trying to think of something new or different I never know where to start. So I wanted to see how some of you think about building squads. So far I have come up with 3 main schools of thought and my question is, what do you think about when building a new list to fly?

1) Build a list that can generally compete with mostly everything my opponent brings to the table. (hopefully the dice are hot)

2) Build a list I know by heart and can control all aspects of without a doubt (and hope its not to predictable)

3) Build a list that no one will see coming and rely on the surprise factor.

Let me know what you think!

Fly Casual,

PolishSnowman

That seems like a tall order!

I usually decide on what ship I most want to fly and then build a list around that. Either using multiples of the same ship or picking other ones that compliment it.

Some things I consider:

Offense---ideally, the list should have at least 9/10 attack dice (not counting range 1). Having less than that can still work, but you have to know going into a match that your list is a bit light in the firepower department (having something to make up for that, such as increased durability is a good idea).

Defense----how are my ships going to survive? There are generally three ways of keeping your ships alive: arc-dodging so they don't get hit; having lots of hull/shields so they don't die as quickly as your opponent's ships; and overwhelming firepower (usually at high pilot skill so you can achieve kills before the enemy gets to shoot). Regeneration is also a thing that rebels have, but that kind of goes along with high hull/shields (the soon-to-be released Comm Relay is going to be the Imperial equivalent, however).

Weaknesses---what types of enemy ships are going to be a problem? Its important to include things in your list to help you deal with your worst matchups. Because otherwise, you can lose those games even if you are a better player.

I'd say those are the main things I consider as I build a list...

Thanks for the advice! So far I have just been trying a variations of different combos of ships on the board. I've chosen to start with the rebel faction and slowly build that one up first. So I don't have a ton of the different elite pilot skill cards or other add ons. Slowly building on the faction and moving on to thers.

I'd recommend building a list with stuff you are familiar and comfortable with, so that you know how to fly it well. Then, try a few tweaks or add-ons, to see if you can make it more competitive. I'm not much of a rebel player myself, but some good builds can be found here.

Do you have a center piece / tip of the spear ship that you like to use? I've been watching some tournament play videos. I'm experimenting with the E-Wing w. Corran Horn. I've tried him out with X-Wing wingmen. Did OK against a Tie Swarm that had Tie Phantom w. Whisper.

I'm also trying our a few different Scum configurations with the YV-666 (Hound's Tooth) and the Kirhaxz Fighter with Talonbane Cobra. It's an expensive squad build, but still tweaking it.

All 3 valid options. I think #2 is probably the most important no matter what you fly, though. Knowing an average list really well is better than flying a "top tier" list without any experience. Then the next step s figuring out how your opponents are going to fly their lists.

I started with something simple, in terms of no fancy piloting tricks, but that was still known to be a solid build. It was Scum Y-wing Ions, and it was offensive enough that I could win games, only had a couple of 'tricks' to remember, and was pretty competitive. It was the build I learned the basics of the game with, and once I get over toying with all these fancy Rebel synergies, I'll likely go back to (and probably use at tourneys).

As far as surprise went; people kept forgetting the Ions and the free target locks after the Primary attack, so it got that going for it!

As a fellow newbie, I'm with ObiWonka. #2 is your priority. Against people who've been playing regularly for more than a few months it's unlikely you'll really surprise them, as most efficient builds seem to be fairly common across communities. The local meta might swing more towards a certain style, perhaps, but I've yet to shock anyone I play with with a unique build. Yet.

But you can certainly still get the drop on people if you can mess with their play style by throwing in an unexpected tactic. No-one expects the Spanish Inquisition!