So, have a tournament tomorrow and bringing Poe with Autothrusters and either R2-D2 or R5-P9 for the regeneration... Both seem good, I tend toward R5-P9 myself because it is not dependent on a Green maneuver, but if I get hit by a stress bot or blocked, etc... Opinions?

... but if I get hit by a stress bot or blocked, etc... Opinions?

If you're worried about those things, I'd say R2-D2 is the way to go. What does the rest of your squad look like? Lots of ships? Few ships? Will Poe be the center of fire, or do you plan to flank more? I could see all of these things affecting your decision. For example, if you've got a beefy line of B-wings, you could let them joust with the enemy while Poe flanks. In this situation, R5-P9 may be better since you're likely not taking as much fire. If Poe is supported by A-wings, he'll probably be taking the heat as the A-wings swoop around, so R2-D2 may be better in case of stress/blocking.

I'm inclined to say R5-P9, it's the only way I fly him because of his slow green turns. If he gets hit with stress, then I just bolt with him, take a white maneuver to get out of range (or at least range three) then clear it and start recuperating. If the opponent gives chase then that leaves them open for the rest of your list to chew them up from the other side.

In my experience R2-D2 locks you into slow 1-banks when you want to turn which leaves you with basically the same option to bolt out and recover later. Where this fails though is that once you're out there you are still locked into those slow banks while the now clear R5Poe could take any white maneuver once out of range which helps stay out of range while recuperating.

Agree with Budgernaught... It depends on Poe's role within the squad. I'm currently running Poe, Miranda and two Z's. In my list Poe is public enemy number one so I'm running him with R2. This leaves me the option to use boost where possible if I can safely get out of arcs but also means I can still regenerate shields if my opponent is trying to block. Also leaves you the option to actually spend that focus when you roll three eyes (either on attack, or more likely on defence... You'd be surprised how often you don't roll blanks when running Autothrusters!).

I wound up running with Eaden Vrill and a Grey Squadron Stresshog... Did fairly well. Went with the R5-P9 card and VI... Not sure it would have REALLY made much of a difference honestly, I guess there were a few times I was able to do maneuvers other than Green, but since Focus is more or less my default action with him, I was almost always going to have it around.

Will say that I did NOT face any other Stress/control type lists, so no real need to worry about it and the one swarm(ish) list I faced I was flown by an absolute expert and it really mattered very little... The Red K-Turn was his last move trying to at least take one of the TIEs with him on the way out and of course the dice were cold :-)

I am in line with Nitrobenz here, I always run him with R5-P9. Focus is so critical for Poe that I try my best not to get blocked and it usually works out. Maneuverability is key in this game, and being locked into green manuevers on an X-Wing dial is just death. I far prefer the ability to regen my shields with 2 and 3 point turns, or 4 point straights, that allow me to either clear trouble or get back into the fight quickly.

I will never understand the argument for R5-P9 over R2, maybe its just my play style but with PtL on Poe being stuck to green maneuvers and having to boost to get into position is not terrible by any means but whatever.

I will never understand the argument for R5-P9 over R2, maybe its just my play style but with PtL on Poe being stuck to green maneuvers and having to boost to get into position is not terrible by any means but whatever.

It's all about avoiding being predictable. R2D2 limits you to green maneuvers which means you can be blocked fairly easily.

R5-P9 frees you up to do anything short of a K turn or Talon and still get your shield back. Much more difficult to block.

I will never understand the argument for R5-P9 over R2, maybe its just my play style but with PtL on Poe being stuck to green maneuvers and having to boost to get into position is not terrible by any means but whatever.

It's all about avoiding being predictable. R2D2 limits you to green maneuvers which means you can be blocked fairly easily.

R5-P9 frees you up to do anything short of a K turn or Talon and still get your shield back. Much more difficult to block.

In a vacuum, yes I would agree that R5 makes you less predictable. Once you throw in obstacles and other ships then not so much. Your moves are going to be limited by what else is going on around you. With R2 if you're blocked whislt executing a green maneuver you still get the shield back. If you get blocked running R5 you lose the opportunity to take the focus in the first place. I flew Poe and R2 tonight and used him to bump and set up shots on an attacker three times. That's three shields I wouldn't have got back running R5. As iblamedice says though I think it depends on your play style but I don't think there's anything intrinsically wrong running either of them!

I have run him with both and have found R2D2 better. It allows you to keep your action open if you need to boost to get into range 1 or out of arc. Using the green straight 2 with a banked boost allows you to get away from the fight quickly to get some regenned shields if things go awry.

I will never understand the argument for R5-P9 over R2, maybe its just my play style but with PtL on Poe being stuck to green maneuvers and having to boost to get into position is not terrible by any means but whatever.

What if you don't want to run PTL? I fly Poe with VI a lot since it helps with those pesky aces. However there are more EPTs out there. If you run R2... you're going to be pretty slow while you're trying to regen.

In a vacuum, yes I would agree that R5 makes you less predictable. Once you throw in obstacles and other ships then not so much. Your moves are going to be limited by what else is going on around you. With R2 if you're blocked whislt executing a green maneuver you still get the shield back. If you get blocked running R5 you lose the opportunity to take the focus in the first place. I flew Poe and R2 tonight and used him to bump and set up shots on an attacker three times. That's three shields I wouldn't have got back running R5. As iblamedice says though I think it depends on your play style but I don't think there's anything intrinsically wrong running either of them!

I think I lost you there. You used him to bump and set up shots on an attacker three times. I can only imagine that you were purposely running Poe into a blocker that was already there in order to maintain shot arc, so you were using green maneuvers to regen shields, but not getting any actions out of it, presumably to fire at someone else who was also not moving out of your arc while you do this. That seems pretty situational, but you're right, in that instance, R2 would be better. Play style.

I have run him with both and have found R2D2 better. It allows you to keep your action open if you need to boost to get into range 1 or out of arc. Using the green straight 2 with a banked boost allows you to get away from the fight quickly to get some regenned shields if things go awry.

I don't see that as getting away from a fight except in a low amount of positions. In fact, I can really only see it if you've just passed each other in a joust. If your enemy is actually behind you, you're pretty screwed, because if all you're doing is green maneuvers it's pretty easy to keep someone in arc just by flying to where they were. Lord help you if they have a higher PS and boost.

These are only my opinions of course, based on my playstyle. I didn't win Worlds though so....

All this according to your own style of course is why I said I'm inclined to use R5-P9. Another major factor for me is good choice of squadmates, in particular I like Kyle Katarn for the obvious synergy. Kyle stays at range 3 of the target to ping away with TLT while Poe is at range 1-2, doing whatever he wants (including that stunning Talon-roll) and still regens a shield every turn thanks to Kyle.

Not to hijack the thread, but nitro, do you mind going over to the Poe, Jake, and ??? topic and explain how you keep Kyle alive more than 2 rounds after initial contact? I thought this combo with Jake in the mix would have been awesome, but I can't keep Kyle alive long enough for it to matter.

I've not played Poe much myself, but I've had a lot of experience playing against (and killing) him. For what it's worth I find the R2D2 version to be much more annoying to kill than the R5P9 version. With R5P9 Poe you're vulnerable to blockers and stressers, both of which are fairly common in the current meta. R2D2 gives you a measure of protection against Poe's two biggest weaknesses, whilst R5P9 compounds those weaknesses.

Not to hijack the thread, but nitro, do you mind going over to the Poe, Jake, and ??? topic and explain how you keep Kyle alive more than 2 rounds after initial contact? I thought this combo with Jake in the mix would have been awesome, but I can't keep Kyle alive long enough for it to matter.

Happy to oblige

As far as the stressor lists go I do have to admit that I don't see a lot of those in my local meta (myself and one friend are the only ones who try it regularly) but even in those cases I find that Poe's green maneuvers are not enough to get away unless it's a joust situation (where you just fly straight past). If it's a serious stress list then they're going to put down at least two stress and I'm not willing to fly Poe on greens for two turns in a row while he's still in reach of enemy ships because that means time for them to come back around and he's taking more damage than he can regen each turn. My solution then (for either R5 or R2) is to just not let then get that stress shot on Poe, easier said than done of course.

What if you don't want to run PTL?

Pretty much this; the best astromech for Poe is on that works with his elite pilot talent. If you've taken Push The Limit, your dial is nailed to the green bit - so R2-D2 (or BB-8) is best.

If you've taken something not needing actions (Predator, Lone Wolf or Veteran Instincts) then R5-P9.