I apologize if this comes off as a straight 'what should I buy thread' , but here goes. I am a casual player with just myself, and my 16 yr old daughter, and I also use the excellent varients made such as the automated ai, and the co op scenario that was made...(sorry, don't have the links, at work right now). I usually purchase one imperial ship for every rebel ship to keep the sides somewhat even. This is what I currently have:

1 original core

1 TFA core

1 x-wing, 1 y-wing, 1 a-wing, and 1 b-wing

1 tie, 1 interceptor, 1 bomber, and 1 advanced

I'm thinking of picking up a few more of the small ships I don't have yet, but I'm also thinking of The Falcon, but wondering what to offset it with...I like the Slave1, but have heard negative things about it. Also like the Rebel Transport, but again, what to offset that with...(maybe the Shuttle?). Or maybe the rebel and imperial aces packs.

Ugh....I keep finding myself going back and forth on decisions, so I thought to ask for opinions, as they would be greatly appreciated.

Hi
Dont forget you Scum ships
After getting the Falcon look at a Decimator

I generally buy for my group, so i get all three factions.

My rule is 100 points of each ship naked. (With exception of ships that you KNOW you'll only want one of, like the falcon)...

Buy it all

the simplest way there is

Falcon and decimator.

Or a very popular one is to get the Starviper actually. Since it comes with Autothrusters and gives you a good fight against the Falcon's turret.

And play the scum starviper next to the imperial ships.

We do this casually and its really fun and not broken.

Also Guri is a hit for the ladies. She's a really powerful pilot that's a lot of fun and improves a player's skill by making them think about Range 1.

For big ships, on the Imp side you're looking at the VT-49 and the Shuttle, Slave 1 has some good upgrade cards but the ship it's self can be kinda meh.

Another good one is "ask your daughter" Keep her engaged.

BUY_ALL_THE_SHIPS
spam lists make you think one-sided.

having "toolbox" squads that have a tool for every situation are much more fun.

Some good Rebel/Imperial pairings, in my opinion:
K-Wing and TIE Punisher

E-Wing and TIE Defender (although then you'll want to get the upcoming Imperial Veterans pack to make your Defenders more fun)
Z-95 and TIE Advanced Prototype (no idea if this is a good pair, actually)

I assume you're not playing Scum at all, but some good combinations come from those expansions.
Most Wanted and Y-Wing/HWK-290/Slave I
Starviper and Imperial Aces
YV-666 and Lambda Shuttle

I look forward to playing this game with my daughters, too!

If you're just playing for fun, look online for upgrades and proxy them.

I don't recommend the Rebel Transport at first because it's designed for the Epic Format. I'd recommend the TFA X wing and TIE Fighter, the Falcon is fun, the Decimator is like the Falcon but being an EU ship not from the movies, I wouldn't jump there first. Buy the Slave 1. It's fun and iconic and cab certainly be used to great effect with practice.

I generally buy for my group, so i get all three factions.

My rule is 100 points of each ship naked. (With exception of ships that you KNOW you'll only want one of, like the falcon)...

You make me feel not so bad about my collection.

I'd suggest getting the Aces packs (and eventually Imperial Veterans). Gives you lots of new options for the ships you already have. Can't go wrong with T-70/FO-Fighter and Decimator/Falcon either. If you do decide to get the Falcon, you'll probably need a Starviper for the Autothruster cards, unless you like to proxy.

Slave-1 has sort of been adandoned as an Imperial ship; it fits much better with Scum, where it has better pilots and access to more upgrades. However, if you get the Starviper for the 'thrusters and the Slave-1 one for your Imperials, and already have a Rebel Y-Wing, Most Wanted will give you a very decent collection of Scum ships.

I'd say that you are probably looking at buying more Imperial than Rebel, just due to the fact that there are a lot of cheap Imperial ships. I'd say go for lots of whatever generics you like: Tie Fighter, Tie FO, or Tie Interceptors.

I would advise against the Tie Phantom for a while. It really changes the game and would introduce it later. It can be really frustrating to play against and I say get used to the regular game without it.

Big turreted ships are also something you might want to hold off on for a little bit. Not as long, but if you have something that can boost outside of firing arcs, but still fire at you, it can be annoying. This is especially true if you don't have a lot of ships on the other side and are limited to what you can use.

If you want to play more than 100 pt deathmatch, then the Transport can be fun. Use the scenarios that comes with it to play X-wing in a new and interesting way. I highly recommend the scenarios and various missions as it's a fun way to play the game.

I also highly recommend proxying cards if you are just playing for fun.

based on what you have now, I think the Aces packs would be good. also maybe 1 more Tie, having 4 is nice.

I generally buy for my group, so i get all three factions.

My rule is 100 points of each ship naked. (With exception of ships that you KNOW you'll only want one of, like the falcon)...

You make me feel not so bad about my collection.

JBR7 makes me feel bad about my collection.

If I had more monies I'd actually have more ships.

I'm the guy who likes to host detailed narrative campaigns, with the odd huge epic battle that lasts several games sessions.

Sad thing is until i get a few ducks in a row my ability to do this will be limited.

Thanks so much for so many helpful replies. I may be leaning toward the Falcon/VT-49 pairing right now. Looking at the contents of the Decimator, my daughter is a big fan of the Mara Jade character, and seeing her as a crew member card is a huge plus.

I actually have the intention of collecting them all, just kinda getting them piece by piece right now; and eventually moving into the epic ships down the line. My daughter has a special interest in the TantiveIV as well for certain specific reasons. Being a huge SW fan myself, and being able to talk my wife into naming our daughter Jaina from the EU books, naturally she has strong interests when she sees that character's name. So seeing a title card in the TantiveIV gave her a huge smile.

I don't have a decimator yet, but that seems like a good choice. That's really cool that your Wife/Daughter are fans to!

Respect.

My kids are too young for x-wing yet, a fact that pains me every time I think about it. Literally, by the way. Every time.

Looking at your current collection i'll also suggest a second of each core. Why you ask?

Templates. Dice

Sure.

X-wings and TIE Fighters. Ok, yeah, I get it. T-65s are weak right now. Proxy integrated astro.

TIE Swarms never go out of fashion, and the new x-wings and TIES are very nice indeed.

Lastly, matching and seperate damage decks. Try not to share a deck, and try not to always have different. This resolves that.

Someone MUST POST IT

Falcon and decimator.

Or a very popular one is to get the Starviper actually. Since it comes with Autothrusters and gives you a good fight against the Falcon's turret.

And play the scum starviper next to the imperial ships.

We do this casually and its really fun and not broken.

Also Guri is a hit for the ladies. She's a really powerful pilot that's a lot of fun and improves a player's skill by making them think about Range 1.

All of this is true except the OP said he has no Scum ships so there really isn't a reason to focus on that at the moment.

When people are strictly casual players you really should put your resources into purchasing the specific ships that you are going to use and proxy the upgrades that you don't have or don't have enough of. You should be able to print some decent copies on your computer and printer especially if you use a thicker card stock.

To the OP: I would definitely pick up a Decimator over Slave One if you aren't playing Scum. If you decide to take the plunge at some point (and I would, Scum can be a blast to play) then the Firespray becomes a very solid purchase option. Boba is better in Scum than with the Empire.

List os what I think are good parallels in power they bring to the table for future purchases:

Falcon ---- Decimator
Ewing ----- Defender
Imperial Vets ---- Rebel Vets
Tie FO ----- Z-95
GR Transport----- Gozanti
Kwing ------ Tie Punisher
Yt - 2400 ------ Tie Phantom
Hwk-290 ------ Imperial Shuttle

Think of also buying a Star Viper for Autothrusters, and possibly "Most wanted" for the BTL upgrade. (Further down the line)
And don't really ever buy the Slave 1 unless you plan on playing Scum.

Someone MUST POST IT

OMG too true, same with Aramada

Tie FO ----- Z-95

One thing that I think needs reinforcing though. Unless you and your daughter plan to attend tournaments - and if you do, good for you, if not, hey good for you too - I prefer narrative myself. Don't worry too much about the cards, title cards like the BTL upgrades, TIE/D, X1 etc.. just proxy.

Tie FO ----- Z-95

(GIF)

The most obvious match would be the Tie-fighter but he already has one of those packs so I went with the closet thing to.