Anti-Ship

• The B-Wing and the Scurrg stand head and shoulders above everything else in terms of ship damage. Nothing else is even close.
• Y-Wings, A-Wings, and YT-2400s form the next block of anti-ship attackers.

You are missing X-wings in there. They are better than A-wings vs ships since they actually get to resolve crit effects.

Yes and no.

They get to resolve a crit effect (assuming no shields), but they also have a higher chance to just straight up miss (3/8 vs. 2/8). The reason I go with raw average damage is that it's definitely a direct comparison between each ship that is meaningful and doesn't require additional assumptions (how often are shields down, how often does speed 3 leave you out of range vs. speed 5, etc.).

That doesn't really matter. Average damage is identical (0.75) and while X-wings miss a bit more often, when they do hit they may do more damage. Average damage is what is important here, and they are identical in that regard. But since X-wings may resolve crit effects and A-wings may not, mathematically they are better than A-wings vs ships (though not for their point cost).

I wonder if they would put out all the wave 1 fighters in a new pack that has some of them with rouge.

I would think so, if this follows the track from the X-wing game. I'm curious to see if they go with new pilots (there's not a lot of "canon" pilots left, unless you go with pilots like Porkins who, although loved by fans, aren't as skilled as the existing aces we have--maybe Lando for a less-expensive Falcon ?), or if we get updated versions of some of the pilots with some of the new skills (Wedge from ROTJ, for example?).

I'll hold off commenting on TFA for the time being, except to say POOOOOOOOOOOOEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Great analysis, thanks for that, confirms my gut feeling in much more detail!

For be the biggest issue is still the lack of an optimised rebel carrier. Imps can get one the ISD can take expanded hangers/long range coms/flight controllers and wolff to get the perfect 6 fighter combo.

At the moment rebs can't match that.

We can do a space whale where it's Coms OR Hangers with a Raymus so you can shoot off 4 squadrons with flight controllers but with those long slow arks of movement you will struggle without enhanced coms which makes it a hard choice.

Or you can go an MC80 which can have the hangers/coms + raymus but can't have flight controllers...

Factoring in also that that Imp can have the 2 order dial name making it more flexible and that Wolff works on one squadron every turn regardless of order and I reckon the generic squadron game is too **** unbalanced in favour of imps at the moment. I'll stick with rogues so that my ships can stay ship killers (thanks Akbar!)

One possibility that makes A-wings superior too is the idea of a non alpha strike,,, Sounds wierd but it works on the proviso that you just fly up to them with normal squadron rules, they get to shoot you but you will counter and get to shoot later. Im not sure if its a terrible idea, haven't used it yet, it's just rattling around the boiler. Figure if I had 6-8 a-wings I should be able to use the speed to engage single enemy squadrons, maximising counter opportunities and basically forcing a squadron command to counter using Intel. I'd tie in a few YT-2400's to activate afterwards and finish off damaged enemies or go for the snipe on the intel character...

Ideally you want a mix of squadrons. Xwing and yt2400s are great for piling on damage but when that tie fighter only has 1 hit point left you don't need 4 attack dice - an awing or b will do. Likewise escort is amazing for rescuing other fighters on low health - typically bs or as. Also you may be wanting to play to a specific mission I.e. Bwings + contested outpost or cover off any deficit from your ship composition. Rogues for example are a great squadron option for the cr90 swarm that struggles with squadron commands.

How many yt24s do you run in your ackbr and mothma lists? I feel like I want to control the deployment as ackbar and typically want at least 6 squadrons.

I like 4 in my current setup. 2 extra deploys, 24 hull, 16 attack dice at speed-4. Not too shabby.

How many yt24s do you run in your ackbr and mothma lists? I feel like I want to control the deployment as ackbar and typically want at least 6 squadrons.

4 is the magic # for me

enough to stall out 2 ships worth of deployment, and just seems to work well in general

before 4 Yt-2400s I had 4 Bs (1 Keyan) also doing lots of work back in Wave 1

Guys, this doesn't make any sense to me: Shouldn't your opponent also have around a minimum of 4 squadrons too? So, really, what that means is you're trading 2pairs of squadron placements for 2 squadron placements.

Now, I've played some silly people who simply place all their ships down first, but those aren't the people i need to prepare to beat.

This is why I've gone with 6. I find usually people are willing to fit 4 or 5. but 6 starts to be a hefty investment, and that gives me a single ship placement over them.

trade 2 pairs of squadrons, then last pair trades for one of their ships.

(If you're ok with placing all your squadrons next to your first ship.)

If we're talking YTs, that's 32 points right there, a little steep..

Lo, is that the sound of the meta shifting?

How many yt24s do you run in your ackbr and mothma lists? I feel like I want to control the deployment as ackbar and typically want at least 6 squadrons.

I like 4 in my current setup. 2 extra deploys, 24 hull, 16 attack dice at speed-4. Not too shabby.

How many yt24s do you run in your ackbr and mothma lists? I feel like I want to control the deployment as ackbar and typically want at least 6 squadrons.

4 is the magic # for me

enough to stall out 2 ships worth of deployment, and just seems to work well in general

before 4 Yt-2400s I had 4 Bs (1 Keyan) also doing lots of work back in Wave 1

Guys, this doesn't make any sense to me: Shouldn't your opponent also have around a minimum of 4 squadrons too? So, really, what that means is you're trading 2pairs of squadron placements for 2 squadron placements.

Now, I've played some silly people who simply place all their ships down first, but those aren't the people i need to prepare to beat.

This is why I've gone with 6. I find usually people are willing to fit 4 or 5. but 6 starts to be a hefty investment, and that gives me a single ship placement over them.

trade 2 pairs of squadrons, then last pair trades for one of their ships.

(If you're ok with placing all your squadrons next to your first ship.)

not really; still running into pure ship spam

just less gladiators

How many yt24s do you run in your ackbr and mothma lists? I feel like I want to control the deployment as ackbar and typically want at least 6 squadrons.

I like 4 in my current setup. 2 extra deploys, 24 hull, 16 attack dice at speed-4. Not too shabby.

How many yt24s do you run in your ackbr and mothma lists? I feel like I want to control the deployment as ackbar and typically want at least 6 squadrons.

4 is the magic # for me

enough to stall out 2 ships worth of deployment, and just seems to work well in general

before 4 Yt-2400s I had 4 Bs (1 Keyan) also doing lots of work back in Wave 1

Guys, this doesn't make any sense to me: Shouldn't your opponent also have around a minimum of 4 squadrons too? So, really, what that means is you're trading 2pairs of squadron placements for 2 squadron placements.

Now, I've played some silly people who simply place all their ships down first, but those aren't the people i need to prepare to beat.

This is why I've gone with 6. I find usually people are willing to fit 4 or 5. but 6 starts to be a hefty investment, and that gives me a single ship placement over them.

trade 2 pairs of squadrons, then last pair trades for one of their ships.

(If you're ok with placing all your squadrons next to your first ship.)

not really; still running into pure ship spam

just less gladiators

I'm still seeing small token fighter screens (3-4 squadrons). It makes my 9-14 squadron lists giddy.

I mean, er, "Hurray for list diversity!"

Ideally you want a mix of squadrons. Xwing and yt2400s are great for piling on damage but when that tie fighter only has 1 hit point left you don't need 4 attack dice - an awing or b will do. Likewise escort is amazing for rescuing other fighters on low health - typically bs or as . Also you may be wanting to play to a specific mission I.e. Bwings + contested outpost or cover off any deficit from your ship composition. Rogues for example are a great squadron option for the cr90 swarm that struggles with squadron commands.

I strongly disagree with this because my personal experience indicates you shouldn't be flying squadrons with massively different speeds. At most, I want a differential of 1, which if we focus on the Rebels means I will run YT-2400s with my A-Wings but otherwise would prefer all A-Wings (also, A-Wings don't want to be escorted because that blocks counter).

I also wouldn't be running Bs with anything other than X-Wings (though now I might take YT-1300s instead).

The advantage/disadvantage of escort is that you can't "turn it off". Even when all my A-Wings are at full health, that X-Wing I was stalling to make sure keeps up dies first, and no counter happens.

TL;DR - The A-Wing stands alone.

Ideally you want a mix of squadrons. Xwing and yt2400s are great for piling on damage but when that tie fighter only has 1 hit point left you don't need 4 attack dice - an awing or b will do. Likewise escort is amazing for rescuing other fighters on low health - typically bs or as . Also you may be wanting to play to a specific mission I.e. Bwings + contested outpost or cover off any deficit from your ship composition. Rogues for example are a great squadron option for the cr90 swarm that struggles with squadron commands.

I strongly disagree with this because my personal experience indicates you shouldn't be flying squadrons with massively different speeds. At most, I want a differential of 1, which if we focus on the Rebels means I will run YT-2400s with my A-Wings but otherwise would prefer all A-Wings (also, A-Wings don't want to be escorted because that blocks counter).

I also wouldn't be running Bs with anything other than X-Wings (though now I might take YT-1300s instead).

The advantage/disadvantage of escort is that you can't "turn it off". Even when all my A-Wings are at full health, that X-Wing I was stalling to make sure keeps up dies first, and no counter happens.

TL;DR - The A-Wing stands alone.

I think I agree, though for me it has more to do with how Intel changes things and less with the speed of the squadrons. In Wave I, I'd take a mix of A's with speed 3 squads (X's or Y's, or both, depending on what the squadron fleet was supposed to do), with the A's charging in first to pin down the majority of the enemy squadrons, holding them in place and softening them up with counters while the rest of the squadrons closed.

Now that we have Intel , this strategy seems remarkably pointless. "Pinning down" squadrons doesn't work unless the Intel squadron can be destroyed, and charging into a cloud of squadrons that can freely move (and therefore either focus-fire down individual squadrons or ignore them (and their counter ) entirely and move on to the next thing) is asking for trouble. If I have space superiority fighters (A's, X's, 2400s, Interceptors, Aggressors), I want as many of them to attack at the same time as possible, to maximize the damage I can do while they're in the enemy's Intel bubble, so sending them in piece-meal is counter-productive. If I have a bombing core with some anti-squadron fighters for protection, I also want them together to maximize the damage they can do on the defensive, before they move on with Intel .

That said, flying A's and B's together (speed differential of 3) is definitely a challenge, and not something I particularly enjoy (or feel enjoys a whole lot of synergy).

I'm still seeing small token fighter screens (3-4 squadrons). It makes my 9-14 squadron lists giddy.

I mean, er, "Hurray for list diversity!"

list diversity is great

and yt-2400 are great because they're quite diverse

they devour dedicated bombers and provide decent anti-ship support without taking away from your ability to spam navigate around destroyers

ofc, if you're dedicating yourself to squadrons then you shouldn't be investing in Rogue . While X-wings are worse in just about every way, they're also 3 points cheaper and, with 5 dice out of FC, they'll shred enemy squadrons more effectively. As, of course, are freaking 5 points cheaper and fast; easily worth it if you have the squadron support to dedicate to them

I'm actualy starting to think the X-wing is pretty good with the introduction of wave two. The escort ability was pretty redundant in wave 1 as most of the other rebel squadrons could look after themselves. Even the Y-wing was tougher and cheaper than the X-wing. With the new squadrons suddenly there are some potential options for the X-wing. Teaming up with Han Solo is a good example as they can help to keep the Falcon alive for longer and allow Han to make the most of his blue and black anti squadron dice.

the problem is that the named pilots just cost SOOO much. Falcon + an X is like 39 points. I can get a CR for that.

Ideally you want a mix of squadrons. Xwing and yt2400s are great for piling on damage but when that tie fighter only has 1 hit point left you don't need 4 attack dice - an awing or b will do. Likewise escort is amazing for rescuing other fighters on low health - typically bs or as . Also you may be wanting to play to a specific mission I.e. Bwings + contested outpost or cover off any deficit from your ship composition. Rogues for example are a great squadron option for the cr90 swarm that struggles with squadron commands.

I strongly disagree with this because my personal experience indicates you shouldn't be flying squadrons with massively different speeds. At most, I want a differential of 1, which if we focus on the Rebels means I will run YT-2400s with my A-Wings but otherwise would prefer all A-Wings (also, A-Wings don't want to be escorted because that blocks counter).

I also wouldn't be running Bs with anything other than X-Wings (though now I might take YT-1300s instead).

The advantage/disadvantage of escort is that you can't "turn it off". Even when all my A-Wings are at full health, that X-Wing I was stalling to make sure keeps up dies first, and no counter happens.

TL;DR - The A-Wing stands alone.

I love running A-Wings and B-Wings in tandem. The A-Wings can early intercept and the B-Wings can make their runs or assist.

People seems to forget that the most popular faction (Imperials) is an up in your face faction. This makes the B-Wing an easy to use unit.

the problem is that the named pilots just cost SOOO much. Falcon + an X is like 39 points. I can get a CR for that.

Or, we can go with Han Solo who can destabilize turns and plans due to his activation preference.

Both are great choices as long as you know their ups and downs

the problem is that the named pilots just cost SOOO much. Falcon + an X is like 39 points. I can get a CR for that.

Yes but the CR isn't designed to deal with enemy squadrons. Han Solo and an X-wing squadron (or two) perform a completely different role in a fleet than a corvette.

the problem is that the named pilots just cost SOOO much. Falcon + an X is like 39 points. I can get a CR for that.

Sure, go right ahead. Add to your list, a ship that has to get into the medium range, get 1-5 shots in the game in total (out of 12) and has very little staying power.

Or, we can go with Han Solo who can destabilize turns and plans due to his activation preference.

Both are great choices as long as you know their ups and downs

the problem is that the named pilots just cost SOOO much. Falcon + an X is like 39 points. I can get a CR for that.

Yes but the CR isn't designed to deal with enemy squadrons. Han Solo and an X-wing squadron (or two) perform a completely different role in a fleet than a corvette.

Both points are correct, of course: Han + X = same cost as a ship, and will be far more effective vs. squadrons than said ship.

Whether I want one over the other comes down to what I feel my list needs/lacks. If I have a dual-carrier list with lots of squadrons, but just the two ships, subbing Han and an X-wing for a CR-90B gives me a small ship to deploy first (and maybe put a Commander on), help with activation order, the ability to run certain objectives (Intel Sweep?), and maybe opens up avenues for new fleet-support upgrades (Raymus + Tantive ?). If I still have a lot of squadrons in the list, taking the CR-90 at the cost of just two squads may open up more strategic options overall, and while anti-squadron firepower will be reduced overall, as long as there's a net-positive to be had in the trade-off there's reason to consider it. On the flip side, ship-heavy lists with a small fighter screen will probably gain less from taking a single CR-90B over versatile squadrons like Han and an X-wing (unless the fleet is committed to going fast all the time, and those squadrons don't fit the fleet profile, perhaps?).

As far as squadron-countering in isolation, I think the more apt comparison (if we're comparing named vs. unnamed pilots) is taking Han over two generic X-wings (26 points). Same speed (3), 4 vs. 8 anti-squadron dice ( BB BB vs. 8 B ), 7 vs. 10 total hull, 1 vs. 2 activations (and half vs. whole deployment), two non- Bomber anti-ship dice ( B B ) vs. two Bomber anti-ship dice ( RR ), Grit and Rogue vs. double- Escort , plus Han's special ability and defense tokens ( Brace - Brace ). Oh, and two squadrons vs. one (since sometimes having "more" just means something ).

In a straight-up dogfight, the two X-wings are probably the best play (two targets instead of one, more anti-squadron firepower, more hull, can be in two places at once, can spread Escort around while they're attacking if you have more important squadrons to protect). Han offers the superior tactical advantage. Other than being in two places at once, Han offers far more tactical options than a pair of X-wings. As a super- Rogue , he can use his expensive Rogue ability without having to wait until after generic enemy squadrons have already done damage in the squadron phase, which is a huge plus. His anti-squadron fire + Grit combo, previewed in the Rogues and Villains article, is fantastic for getting out of dangerous spots (and into positions where he can be a real pain next activation). In fleets with Adar , he can get two uses in a single round (plus his activation first-thing at the start of the next round), four if Yavaris is in play. That's 6-8 anti-ship dice, or 12-16 anti-squadron dice in a short span, all while moving to and shooting at priority targets if fully using Grit (or supported by an Intel ship). Protect him in an Escort bubble of X-wings...

So yeah... I like Han. Even if he's over-priced, which I don't necessarily dispute. Although if you compare Han to a generic YT-2400, which as a Rogue anti-squadron killer seems the most apt comparison to me (four anti-squadron dice, speed 4, 6 hull, one anti-ship die, non- Bomber , Rogue ), I think he's pretty fairly priced. For 10 more points, you lose 1 speed; you gain 1 hull, convert two blue anti-squadron dice to blacks, add a blue anti-ship die, gain Grit , add two Brace tokens, and gain the super- Rogue ability. Detract 2 points for the loss of 1 speed, add 1 point for Han's upgrades to his attack dice and hull, add another point or two for Grit and another three points for the two Brace tokens, and that's a squadron worth 6-7 points more than the YT-2400 (depending on how much you value Grit ). From there, it comes down to whether you think Han's special ability is worth 3-4 points. If activating first means you get that last remaining damage in before an ISD fires, then it's totally worth it. And so is Han.

I do feel like Rieekan has something to offer named heroes as well, by improving their staying power. The unique X-wing heroes especially, Wedge and Luke, could use a survivability boost, as their Escort makes them a magnet for focus-fire in a post- Intel world.