Hi I am fairly new to x wing. I have played a few games against my hubby but haven't been able to beat him. He normally flies a swarm of tie fighters with darth vader. I currently own
X wing X2
A wing X2
T 70 X2
B wing x1
Y wing x1
Hwk x1
Headhunter x1
E wing x1
Could you give me some ideas on what to use against him. I'm fond of ptl and r2d2. Any tactics will also be appreciated, thank you.
Poe VI R2D2 Integrated Astro
Tycho PTL VI Refit and Auto thrusters
Wedge Predator BB-8 Integrated astro.
cut off the head of the snake and watch the body flail.
a/k/a kill vader first.
Edited by Panic 217Brill I will try this tomorrow against him. Tycho is the one which can take actions while stressed? Thanks for the advice I haven't thought about taking vader out first. Will definitely try this.
Yes he is that one. moving and shooting at PS 10 Tycho and Poe will be able to do some work to Vader after he moves. only one who he'll get to see is Wedge but with BB8 you should be able to avoid most of his Tie blockers granted the dial doesn't have much green, but should have enough to alleviate some of the stress that would come with not getting blocked by tie swarms.
Does he fly a main block and then Vader flanking? If so, then look like you are going to go for the main block, but then go for Vader and any other flanker he has.
If he flies all together, then he flies them trying to "joust" you. That's where you go at each other straight and try to kill each other. If that's the case, you have two tactics to take. You either try to out joust him by taking things like B-wings and X-wings, or you out flank him.
Yea tends to fly them altogether, to start with anyway. Then he moves vader away from the fight if he has taken high damage. My last game I got vader down to 1 hit left and took out his tie fighter pilot skill 5 (sorry not good with names yet) but by this time I was left with one ship left to his 3. I have some learning to so with moving as I crashed twice :-( which really ruined me.
I am fairly new, so I do not think I could help you with squad building. I would take down Vader first. Cut off one of his legs, then just lean on him.
Edited by EctoPilotI feel like people are helping enough already and just want to say your post is awesome. Take him down!
I don't know about a beginner flying the HWK. That's not an easy job. I'd probably replace the Kyle with a B-wing until you get the hang of flying the ships without running into anything.
Just based on the thread title, PM me your address and I'll get some of my buddies together...
In all seriousness, if he swarms them all together Assault Missiles are your friend. If you can punch 1 damage through on to a ship, then everyone at Range 1 takes a hit. Worst-case he spreads out his TIEs to avoid splash damage making them easy pickings for your ships. Blount with Assault Missiles is a dirty, dirty trick if he swarms. I would go with this:
Poe with R5-P9, Veteran Instincts, and Autothrusters.
Blount with Assault Missiles
Tarn Mison with R7
Prototype Pilot with Refit
Poe always Focuses to take advantage of his ability and to regen a shield every turn. Blount does his dirty shenanigans. Tarn is darn well impossible to hit with 2 Attack ships with R7. The Prototype Pilot blocks and is annoying.
Very defensive. Annoying as possible. Just focus-fire on one ship at a time and watch the swarm collapse. If Howlrunner is there, she dies first.
Edited by Darth ChuckI don't know about a beginner flying the HWK. That's not an easy job. I'd probably replace the Kyle with a B-wing until you get the hang of flying the ships without running into anything.
I understand your point and agree but if she can manage it I think it's a good combo. Poe is a soft target if deprive of actions. Kyle gives a good option to help him out. I have also looked at using Garven Dreis to feed him tokens but I am struggling to find a good load out that works.
As a modification to my previous list, you can ditch the A-Wing and Tarn to add Wedge with R2-D2, Veteran Instincts, and Engine Upgrade and add Predator to Blount. This makes Blount a bit more useful and gives you two PS 10+ pilots with Boost. That and Wedge just eats TIEs for breakfast. Doubly so if they have 2 Hull after the Assault Missile shot.
I would probably suggest the following based on what I see in your list. I'll be suggesting cards you may not have, but perhaps your husband will allow you to use them anyway. 
Poe Dameron with R5-P9, Veteran Instincts, Weapons Guidance, and Shield Upgrade.
A Poe that has been suggested before, this is your Vader hunter. AT PS 10 he's moving after Vader goes, can see where the Dark Lord has flown, and can Boost to line up better shots. Be forewarned though, Poe likes his Focus token, especially with the shield regen he gets, so only Boost when Poe doesn't look like he's taking a lot of shots or when he's got full shields to help protect him. The reason I disagree with Autothrusters is because you're not facing turrets and you'll have an additional evade die whenever people are shooting at you from range 3 anyway. Go after Vader from the start and just try to kill him all the time, just don't pass up a better shot if one presents itself. Again, Poe loves his Focus, so only use Boost and Weapons Guidance if it means you're going to kill him or you're not taking other shots.
Jake Farrell with Push the Limit, Outmaneuver, A-Wing Test Pilot, Chardaan Refit, and Stealth Device.
TIE fighters' glaring weakness is the 2 die attack. A quick and nimble ship like the A-Wing with it's 3 evade dice can go a long way towards rendering most of those attacks moot. A lot may suggest Autothrusters, but this may not be the best modification to get on this, as you're not facing turrets and when you are being shot at range 3 you'll have 4 evade dice against 2 attack dice.
Gold Squadron Y-Wing with Twin Laser Turret, R2-D2.
This is your TIE killer. While TIEs have their 3 evade dice, they only have 3 health (hull + shields). The Y-Wing fires twice each round in a 360 arc, and has a pretty good chance of putting 2 hits on a TIE each turn. As you've mentioned higher pilot skills, he's running some named pilots, but they still only have 3 hull.
The Y-Wing is your center. Line up on the far edge of the board opposite corner from him, keeping a little space between your ships. Attempt to force him to come through the asteroids at you, this will break up his swarm as he avoids the rocks. Keep your Y-Wing close to the edge of the board, it limits his ability to get within Range 1 of your turret because he'll be afraid of running off the edge. Keep the Y-Wing in front so that on the initial approach, Poe can cover the Y-Wing and the Y-Wing can cover Poe. Use Jake to kill TIEs, especially those that dive into Range 1 of the Y-Wing. Don't overpursue Vader with Poe, but Poe does need to stay on the edges of the fight in order to not get blocked. When you find your other two ships getting pulled away from the edge, bring the Y-Wing in to kill more TIEs and keep regenerating.
I would probably suggest the following based on what I see in your list. I'll be suggesting cards you may not have, but perhaps your husband will allow you to use them anyway.
Poe Dameron with R5-P9, Veteran Instincts, Weapons Guidance, and Shield Upgrade.
A Poe that has been suggested before, this is your Vader hunter. AT PS 10 he's moving after Vader goes, can see where the Dark Lord has flown, and can Boost to line up better shots. Be forewarned though, Poe likes his Focus token, especially with the shield regen he gets, so only Boost when Poe doesn't look like he's taking a lot of shots or when he's got full shields to help protect him. The reason I disagree with Autothrusters is because you're not facing turrets and you'll have an additional evade die whenever people are shooting at you from range 3 anyway. Go after Vader from the start and just try to kill him all the time, just don't pass up a better shot if one presents itself. Again, Poe loves his Focus, so only use Boost and Weapons Guidance if it means you're going to kill him or you're not taking other shots.
Jake Farrell with Push the Limit, Outmaneuver, A-Wing Test Pilot, Chardaan Refit, and Stealth Device.
TIE fighters' glaring weakness is the 2 die attack. A quick and nimble ship like the A-Wing with it's 3 evade dice can go a long way towards rendering most of those attacks moot. A lot may suggest Autothrusters, but this may not be the best modification to get on this, as you're not facing turrets and when you are being shot at range 3 you'll have 4 evade dice against 2 attack dice.
Gold Squadron Y-Wing with Twin Laser Turret, R2-D2.
This is your TIE killer. While TIEs have their 3 evade dice, they only have 3 health (hull + shields). The Y-Wing fires twice each round in a 360 arc, and has a pretty good chance of putting 2 hits on a TIE each turn. As you've mentioned higher pilot skills, he's running some named pilots, but they still only have 3 hull.
The Y-Wing is your center. Line up on the far edge of the board opposite corner from him, keeping a little space between your ships. Attempt to force him to come through the asteroids at you, this will break up his swarm as he avoids the rocks. Keep your Y-Wing close to the edge of the board, it limits his ability to get within Range 1 of your turret because he'll be afraid of running off the edge. Keep the Y-Wing in front so that on the initial approach, Poe can cover the Y-Wing and the Y-Wing can cover Poe. Use Jake to kill TIEs, especially those that dive into Range 1 of the Y-Wing. Don't overpursue Vader with Poe, but Poe does need to stay on the edges of the fight in order to not get blocked. When you find your other two ships getting pulled away from the edge, bring the Y-Wing in to kill more TIEs and keep regenerating.
Also it would be a good idea to read through the "flight school" links in MajorJuggler's "Index of Useful Links". You'll be flying literal circles around him in no time!
https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/126226-index-of-useful-links/
Edited by ThirdStormtrooperOnTheLeftI would buy one more Z-wing and go for a 5 ship list. You'll have lot of hull to chew through, giving you time to rip the TIEs to shreds and then focus on Vader.
Alternatively, how about:
Blue Squadron Pilot [Fire-Control System] (24)
Gold Squadron Pilot [bTL-A4 Y-Wing, R3-A2, Twin Laser Turret] (26)
Rookie Pilot [R2 Astromech, Integrated Astromech] (22)
Blue Squadron Novice [R2-D2, Integrated Astromech] (28)