I just obtained x-wing this last week and played my first two games last night and today. I obtained a bunch of ships, and have had fun playing, but now I would like to learn how to succeed as the imperials.

I played my first 100pt game with the two tie interceptors from the imperial aces box, then the decimator. My opponent had the millennial falcon with an a-wing and a b-wing. Turn 2 one interceptor died, turn 3 the next one died. The decimator was crushed about 3 turns later. The falcon had full shields, the b-wing had full shields, and I managed to down the a-wing.

Today, I built a squad consisting of darth vader tie advanced, a single interceptor, and two tie fighters. My opponent (different one from last night) had the same rebel build, just with different pilots/options. I managed to keep my tie interceptor alive this time till later in the game, and vader flew like a champ, but I lost both of my tie fighters. My interceptor took 2 damage, and vader was facing multiple shots with a target lock on him. Again my opponent had a fully shielded falcon, fully shielded b-wing, and his a-wing was limping along with one last health. At that point, things felt totally unbalanced.

How can an imperial team succeed against such strong shields and hull strengths?

Looking to learn more about the imperial side of the game. I am brand new, and my opponents were brand new too. Pretty sure we were following the rules correctly.

Can you tell us *exactly* what upgrades and pilots you were using? For example, the TIE Interceptor fares waaaaaay better against turrets if it has Autothrusters. Darth Vader pretty much needs TIE/x1 and Advanced Target Computer to be a real threat. Etc. etc.

Imperials generally succeed against Rebels through three basic tactics:

• Be aggressive.
• Focus your fire on one target at a time.
• Position yourself so you can shoot them but they can't shoot back at you.

That last one is, unfortunately, not really possible against turrets, but you still should have been able to take out at least one of your opponent's ships in the scenarios you describe.

The other question, of course, is one of your skill as a player. Were you landing on asteroids much? Were you bumping your ships into each other and losing actions? Were you remembering to take actions every turn and use them well? Were you barrel rolling or boosting unnecessarily when a Focus token would have benefited you more? Etc. Etc.

The key to interceptors and Vader is to have the right upgrades and fly to stay out of arc.

If you have Push The Limit and Stealth device, you can equip that on the interceptors with a Royal Tie Guard Title and add a shield, hull, or Targeting computer to help them survive. The Bwing is predictable and can be outflanked. It can't shoot if you are not in arc. Vader with an Engine Upgrade makes him more maneuverable.

Also check the forums for a link to squad building and other info and tutorials. It helps a lot if you start learning how ships move and anticipate where they will go.

So, just a couple quick pointers: Those TIE Fighters and Interceptors live on their defense dice, which means that you should always, always have tokens (Focus or Evade, or both with Push the Limit as an upgrade) to spend to modify their defense dice. Second, you know the Falcon can shoot 360 degrees, so it should be your first target, so focus fire it down. This is actually a good universal topic - always focus your fire. You can also "arc-dodge" with the TIE Interceptors by exploiting their maneuverability and, if you equip Push the Limit (Which you should really try), then you can use the combination of boost + barrel roll to get out of the firing arcs of the A-Wing and the B-Wing so that only the Falcon can fire at you at once, giving you vastly increased odds.

As for the Decimator, if you have access to Engine Upgrade, you should equip it to the Decimator and use that to boost out of the arcs of the A-wings and B-wings - again, arc-dodging.

Another part of beating them is simply recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of some of the Rebel craft. A-Wings can be really tricky thanks to their evasiveness. You might attempt to focus it down only to have every single shot that you take be completely evaded. The problem with this is that you're not really affecting their damage output per turn, but you're sure to lose a ship or two. In many cases, A-Wings tend to be pincer craft. I know they seem dangerous on their own, with their pilot abilities, but they tend to lose some utility without other craft to help them; an 'anvil' to their 'hammer', so to speak.

High PS tends to help Imperials a lot because (at least in earlier waves) Imperials had more repositioning options on average. Many of their craft were capable of boosting, barrel rolling, or both.

For the love of god don't joust. Instead, when setting up the board, try to make sure most asteroids are either in the middle, or slightly on your side of the field. If you engage the rebels in the middle of the board, then the asteroids will be taking up their prime real estate for turning back into the fight. You'll be able to handle much better than they will in tight spaces. Use them.

Imps win through superior numbers, generally. There are some good players with access to the necessary cards to build really good small squads, but imps really shine with lots of cheap TIE fighters. Biggest problem is flying them all in a decent formation, without constantly running into each other, or the enemy, or asteroids, ect... Most imperial ships aren't tough enough to last long 1vs1 with Rebel ships, so you need more of them, or upgrades that will let you dance around the enemy firing arcs. Go with more, cheaper ships, because getting more shots off per round will start to pay off eventually, and use the TIE's superior speed an movement dial to get out of firing arcs/range. I'm by no means an expert, these are just things I've noticed in the few games I've played.

If you can bring the EPT 'Outmaneuver' it can go a long way towards downing those sturdy rebel ships. Many of them only have 1-2 agility. Especially the Falcon, which tends to use C-3P0 to increase its lifespan. Hint hint, if Outmaneuver reduces Falcon's agility, it can't use 3P0 at all (it's not rolling evade dice). They also tend to be easy to outmaneuver, because the player flying it is rarely thinking about their forward arc. But Y-Wings, B-Wings, and the YT-1500 all go down much faster when they don't get to roll evades.

Another good EPT is Veteran Instincts. With it you can get a PS 8 Interceptor for 23 points (Royal Guard Pilot + Veteran Instincts).

My opponent had the millennial falcon

Kylo Ren must have been flying it.

Some people may disagree with me on this one, but do not get up close and personal with a B-wing, unless you severely outnumber it. As my LGS will tell you after today, they LOVE knife-fighting. Take advantage of its lone defense die by staying the heck away from it.

Just stay out of it's arc (B-wings), the interceptors are the best arc dodgers, and Vader comes next with a Engine upgrade. if you can take out the A wing quick like the other 2 can be nasty, but they can be dealt with. As was mentioned.. FOCUS fire.. shoot one until it is dead, dead, dead..

All ships can be defeated, just takes time, skill, and lots of practice. That said, Rebels are kind of easy to fly as they joust well. Imperials are dancers and do well by moving around. I also like to formation fly my TIE fighters, Interceptors too, unless I need to spread my unit out and split up my opponent, or come at him from another angle..

It's really hard to give any general advice any more. Both Rebels and Imperials have many options that suit different playstyles, as well as options to shut opposing play styles down.

In the first match, the mix of ships you and your opponent were flying seem fairly equivalent, with the B-Wing somewhat the odd man out (the Falcon and the Decimator being turrets and the Interceptors and A-Wing being flankers/dodgers). Without knowing how you flew, it's hard to say what went wrong for you.

Just stay out of it's arc (B-wings), the interceptors are the best arc dodgers, and Vader comes next with a Engine upgrade. if you can take out the A wing quick like the other 2 can be nasty, but they can be dealt with. As was mentioned.. FOCUS fire.. shoot one until it is dead, dead, dead..

^This is the most important thing right there. Don't share out your damage - be dogged and disciplined about whichever ship you decide is your special target.

Short answer: git gud!

Imps have better dials so learning how to fly is crucial but it'll take you some time to learn rebels are much more forgiving thanks to their shields.

Using the right upgrades helps survivability immensely, interceptors with Autothrusters from the star viper expansion and a stealth device and push the limit ept are very difficult for turrets to hit.

You said you tried Vader but was that the basic one or did you proxy the upgrades from the raider expansion? Tie advanced without the fixes they got recently are terrible.

A good decimator build is the rear admiral as your ace, rebel captive so the first ship that shoots you gets stressed, isard will extend the ships life span once shields are gone and moff jer let's you sacrifice crew including himself to ignore a really bad crit, take predator ept for the reroll and engine upgrade to make it harder to shoot you.

And focus one ship at a time don't spread your damage.

Give it time. Two games isn't enough to even begin to get comfortable with the game and the squad you're flying.

So far, no one has really mentioned target priority. Learning to identify what enemy ships are biggest threats and what are easiest to destroy is useful and comes with experience.

Have a plan before the match begins as to which enemy ship you want to destroy first. However, you have to remain flexible: if your opponent puts another ship into a bad position and you have a chance of killing it or at least crippling it, by all means take the opportunity.

For example: you say you faced a falcon, a-wing and b-wing. The a-wing has only 2 shields and 2 hull, but that's protected by 3 agility and possibly more defenses depending on upgrades. Such a ship can only be easily destroyed by focus fire (all your ships hitting it in the same turn) or blocking it to deny actions. The b-wing has 5 shields, 3 hull and only 1 agility. Its dial is also poor relative to the other ships, so it cannot really avoid your firing arcs easily. There are very few upgrades that can boost its defensive capability effectively, so its an excellent first choice target since it has good firepower but relative to the others, is easy to destroy. The falcon is the hardest to kill quickly because of its 8 hull + 5 shields. It also has a very good dial and can be difficult to pin down. The best strategy for dealing with it is to block with one ship to deny actions and then hit it with your remaining ships. Scoring a nasty crit is also nice for diminishing its effectiveness.

So against a list like that, I would plan to go for the b-wing first. I would change my plan only if my opponent's opening kept the b-wing far back behind the other ships. I would then go after the other ship that looked easiest to get focussed shots on, based on relative positioning, although I would keep my eye out for baiting (for example, if the a-wing moves in like its going to attack, but then kites allowing the other rebel ships to get behind my ships....bad situation!)

Learning what to target first and how to maximize your damage against it takes time and practice though. There are lots of different ships in this game now, so familiarizing yourself with their strengths and weaknesses requires a little research. Learning all dials is a good idea too, because nothing is worse than being taken by a surprise enemy move you didn't realize they could do.

Hope that helps and good luck!

The other question, of course, is one of your skill as a player. Were you landing on asteroids much? Were you bumping your ships into each other and losing actions? Were you remembering to take actions every turn and use them well? Were you barrel rolling or boosting unnecessarily when a Focus token would have benefited you more? Etc. Etc.

Yeah, my pilot skill is that of someone who has played the game twice so far. I don't expect to be good yet, and I am willing to pay my dues. No asteroid crashes but I did crash vader once into my interceptor and bumped my tie fighters once because I forgot one of them moved before the other.

The key to interceptors and Vader is to have the right upgrades and fly to stay out of arc.

If you have Push The Limit and Stealth device, you can equip that on the interceptors with a Royal Tie Guard Title and add a shield, hull, or Targeting computer to help them survive. The Bwing is predictable and can be outflanked. It can't shoot if you are not in arc. Vader with an Engine Upgrade makes him more maneuverable.

Also check the forums for a link to squad building and other info and tutorials. It helps a lot if you start learning how ships move and anticipate where they will go.

Yeah, I think the reason that my Vader and interceptor was still alive was that I would move, then use barrel rolls (like 2 or 3 at times due to Vaders two action ability plus a card that gave him an extra barrel roll) as well as boosts on the interceptor. I had Push the Limits on the interceptor, and it was really fun to be able to get out of the enemies firing arc while keeping them in mine. I wasn't always successful in doing this, however, when it worked, it was definitely rewarding.

Imps win through superior numbers, generally. There are some good players with access to the necessary cards to build really good small squads, but imps really shine with lots of cheap TIE fighters. Biggest problem is flying them all in a decent formation, without constantly running into each other, or the enemy, or asteroids, ect... Most imperial ships aren't tough enough to last long 1vs1 with Rebel ships, so you need more of them, or upgrades that will let you dance around the enemy firing arcs. Go with more, cheaper ships, because getting more shots off per round will start to pay off eventually, and use the TIE's superior speed an movement dial to get out of firing arcs/range. I'm by no means an expert, these are just things I've noticed in the few games I've played.

As a new player, it seems limiting that the general strategy of an entire faction in the game requires a swarm approach. I guess theme wise, it makes sense, so I am good with it in that regard. At the same time, it seems that the number of points spent on each side should maintain balance in the game, but maybe I am mistaken there. I assumed that you could pick your ships, then your modification cards, and both sides would be equally balanced, which does not seem to be the case.

Just stay out of it's arc (B-wings), the interceptors are the best arc dodgers, and Vader comes next with a Engine upgrade. if you can take out the A wing quick like the other 2 can be nasty, but they can be dealt with. As was mentioned.. FOCUS fire.. shoot one until it is dead, dead, dead..

All ships can be defeated, just takes time, skill, and lots of practice. That said, Rebels are kind of easy to fly as they joust well. Imperials are dancers and do well by moving around. I also like to formation fly my TIE fighters, Interceptors too, unless I need to spread my unit out and split up my opponent, or come at him from another angle..

Yeah, it seems that what I experienced was the difference between rebels being better at jousting and imperials better at maneuvering, and I attempted to play them with the jousting approach.

It was funny in the first game when my opponent realized he had destroyed half of my points on turn 3 without him even taking a scratch, he thought we must have been playing wrong because that felt so unbalanced that he started searching through the rulebook looking for ways in which we were making mistakes.

Here's the list I'm currently working on. Unfortunately, it requires the imperial assault carrier expansion, but it's a cool looking ship, with two TIEs, and some really good pilot cards.

Youngster with Marksmanship

Wampa

Chaser

Obsidian Squadron pilot X 4

Total: 98 points/seven ships

Keep Youngster within range 3 of your ships, and let them use marksmanship for their action, which really benefits Wampa. If any ships are within range 1 of chaser, and use a focus instead of marksmanship, chaser can get that focus assigned to him. The trick is to keep everyone loosely together, so the ability synergy can be maximized. The other nice thing, is at 98 points, you will usually come in under your opponents point total, giving you the option to go first. I don't know how this list will pan out over time, but it's a fun list to play.

The key to interceptors and Vader is to have the right upgrades and fly to stay out of arc.

If you have Push The Limit and Stealth device, you can equip that on the interceptors with a Royal Tie Guard Title and add a shield, hull, or Targeting computer to help them survive. The Bwing is predictable and can be outflanked. It can't shoot if you are not in arc. Vader with an Engine Upgrade makes him more maneuverable.

Also check the forums for a link to squad building and other info and tutorials. It helps a lot if you start learning how ships move and anticipate where they will go.

Yeah, I think the reason that my Vader and interceptor was still alive was that I would move, then use barrel rolls (like 2 or 3 at times due to Vaders two action ability plus a card that gave him an extra barrel roll) as well as boosts on the interceptor. I had Push the Limits on the interceptor, and it was really fun to be able to get out of the enemies firing arc while keeping them in mine. I wasn't always successful in doing this, however, when it worked, it was definitely rewarding.

Keep in mind that a ship may only perform any single action ONCE. No matter how many actions it has or what upgrades it has (unless there is a card that specifically says you can do it more than once per turn, but I don't believe such an action card exists).

So if I am reading you right, if you have Expert Handling on Vader, you get ONE barrel roll after moving per turn. Not two or three. If you have engine upgrade (or boost native such as an interceptor) then you can boost once (even if you have push the limit, but then you can boost and barrel roll once each in any order).

Short answer: git gud!

Imps have better dials so learning how to fly is crucial but it'll take you some time to learn rebels are much more forgiving thanks to their shields.

Using the right upgrades helps survivability immensely, interceptors with Autothrusters from the star viper expansion and a stealth device and push the limit ept are very difficult for turrets to hit.

You said you tried Vader but was that the basic one or did you proxy the upgrades from the raider expansion? Tie advanced without the fixes they got recently are terrible.

A good decimator build is the rear admiral as your ace, rebel captive so the first ship that shoots you gets stressed, isard will extend the ships life span once shields are gone and moff jer let's you sacrifice crew including himself to ignore a really bad crit, take predator ept for the reroll and engine upgrade to make it harder to shoot you.

And focus one ship at a time don't spread your damage.

Yeah, I'm interested in gettin gud enough to give my friends who are of a similar skill level as I am a challenge when they choose rebels and I choose imperials. I also want to be able to hang in there when I play at a FLGS and not get destroyed on turn 3.

I used the basic vader from the tie advanced individual package, plus a single card that let me perform an additional barrel roll, and take a stress if it's not on your pilot actions (which it was) and then remove a target lock (which I used a couple of times).

The key to interceptors and Vader is to have the right upgrades and fly to stay out of arc.

If you have Push The Limit and Stealth device, you can equip that on the interceptors with a Royal Tie Guard Title and add a shield, hull, or Targeting computer to help them survive. The Bwing is predictable and can be outflanked. It can't shoot if you are not in arc. Vader with an Engine Upgrade makes him more maneuverable.

Also check the forums for a link to squad building and other info and tutorials. It helps a lot if you start learning how ships move and anticipate where they will go.

Yeah, I think the reason that my Vader and interceptor was still alive was that I would move, then use barrel rolls (like 2 or 3 at times due to Vaders two action ability plus a card that gave him an extra barrel roll) as well as boosts on the interceptor. I had Push the Limits on the interceptor, and it was really fun to be able to get out of the enemies firing arc while keeping them in mine. I wasn't always successful in doing this, however, when it worked, it was definitely rewarding.

Keep in mind that a ship may only perform any single action ONCE. No matter how many actions it has or what upgrades it has (unless there is a card that specifically says you can do it more than once per turn, but I don't believe such an action card exists).

So if I am reading you right, if you have Expert Handling on Vader, you get ONE barrel roll after moving per turn. Not two or three. If you have engine upgrade (or boost native such as an interceptor) then you can boost once (even if you have push the limit, but then you can boost and barrel roll once each in any order).

Oh, then that makes Vader much less maneuverable. Yeah, I was doing multiple barrel rolls. Thanks for the rule clarification.

Something to also keep in mind, though you can't change your dials once the activation phase has begun, you can look at face down dials at any time. Until you get into the habit of remembering where everyone has gone, you might want to check the dials of other close by pilots after executing a maneuver (and probably before your action) so you don't accidentally boost or barrel roll in the way. While eyeballing your maneuvers, keep in mind that the unit of distance in this game is a ship's base length. So, if a TIE takes a 3 straight maneuver, the distance traveled will be 3 ship bases, and his final resting location will essentially be the 4th ship base away from where he started. For a large ship, they have a base length that is essentially two base lengths wide. So a Small ship flying 3 straight, and a Large ship flying 2 straight, will both cover the same amount of ground in terms of how far forward their farthest edge travels.

You may also want to arrange all your pilot cards in order from lowest to highest skill from left to right, and set the dials on the cards rather than next to the ships. This will help you keep things straight in your head.

So, just a couple quick pointers: Those TIE Fighters and Interceptors live on their defense dice, which means that you should always, always have tokens (Focus or Evade, or both with Push the Limit as an upgrade) to spend to modify their defense dice. Second, you know the Falcon can shoot 360 degrees, so it should be your first target, so focus fire it down. This is actually a good universal topic - always focus your fire. You can also "arc-dodge" with the TIE Interceptors by exploiting their maneuverability and, if you equip Push the Limit (Which you should really try), then you can use the combination of boost + barrel roll to get out of the firing arcs of the A-Wing and the B-Wing so that only the Falcon can fire at you at once, giving you vastly increased odds.

As for the Decimator, if you have access to Engine Upgrade, you should equip it to the Decimator and use that to boost out of the arcs of the A-wings and B-wings - again, arc-dodging.

Ok, I can see how taking evade and focus tokens can help the ships without shields helps when you are rolling 3 green dice at the 1 to 2 defending distances and 4 at the 3 distance. It may not be the action I want to take in the moment, but when I end up in my opponents firing arc, it seems like that's what I want to use, then use my maneuverability to get out of there next turn.