With all the talk about builds with lots of interaction between ships, pilot abilities and upgrades, are there any simple builds that are still competitive?

Ex. 8 Academy Swarm or Howlrunner Swarm

4 tlt ywings

BBBBZ

XXBZZZ

4BZ can still do work.

Doesn't get much simpler than swarmy lists. Just point the business end of your ships at the enemy and roll away. It does become difficult to manage though after a course of a tournament. Flying that many ships can drain you mentally.

There is nothing simple about tie swarm

Lack of upgrades has nothing next to how difficult it is to keep 7-8 ships from blunder ing about the table

Yep, swarms are hard to fly thus not much popularity.

double-actioning-barrel-boosting aces and (i'm not even mentioning boosting or BR-boosting PWTs!) turrets are much much easier.

squad building is a part of the game, it isn't simple that's why it's FUN.

There is nothing simple about tie swarm

Lack of upgrades has nothing next to how difficult it is to keep 7-8 ships from blunder ing about the table

I completely agree. Having only 2 or 3 ships to focus on, even if they have a bit more in terms of actions are far easier to keep your head around.

Actions are steps, where each maneuver requires spacial planning. Doing that 7/8 times a turn really wears you down.

I have had a ton of fun with XXXXZ with IA and R2s or 5 kihraxz fighters.

I was more pointing out what the OP was asking. Flying a swarm is difficult, but there isn't a whole lot of pilot interactions or upgrade cards you have to keep track of. Usually its stay in range 1 of Howlrunner is the most you have to manage.

Probably the easiest to fly list that's really quite good is 4 TLT.

One new guy around here flies 4 TLT.

A two ship build is also easy. Kenkirk palp isard lone wolf engine upgrade, Vader or Soontir

My vote though is 5 khirafjdksbsk. They're fun and lots of firepower. You just have to really learn how to block.

Every game simple plan.

Block

Point

Shoot.

Joust if needed.

In that order. Notice block is first. Not shoot.

4 scum thugs, tlt, unhinged; increase difficulty by adding title

very good, very effective list. (not a ton of fun for either player, but it gets the job done)

I guess for simple + competitive, my best advice would be: don't mix and match ships, and take upgrades that provide clear guidance on what actions to take.

Example 1: BBBBZ and XXXXZ are arguably simpler to fly than XXBBZ.

Example 2: Chewbacca with Predator, Title, Gunner, and C3P0, although having lots of upgrades, is arguably somewhat easier to fly because you follow a set pattern: try to move out of arc, take Evade as action, attack again if you miss, and so on.

4 TLT Ys really is your best bet atm, probably.

4 tlt ywings

BBBBZ

XXBZZZ

"thunderstruck" x4 Tempest pilot Cluster missiles title Accuracy Correctors

"ACDC" x4 Tempest title AC and 16 point tie fighter (Dark Curse gives it its name)

"Motorboat" as im now calling it.

naked Bomber + Naked Crystaline Void Strepsicerotini (same family as bison)

calling it motorboat because "BLLLL" just ROLLS OFF THE TONGUE a bit rougher.

46 health to chew through you might need to do some research on "What happens if i run out of damage cards in my deck?"

[...] squad building is a part of the game, it isn't simple that's why it's FUN.

There's a lot of reasons why Star Wars: X-Wing is fun. Deck/Squad building is one of them.

But there are many who would like just to play the game without all the Squad Building. I for one enjoy lists like MJ's which isn't lacking for upgrades or synergies; I just pick a squad and go, I don't have to put them together myself. I'd rather be sitting across the table going 'pew, pew' than spending that same time building squads.

Perhaps enough for all.

Basic tie swarms and cracksot variants thereof are very dangerous.

That said you need a head for formation flying and completeing game turns rather quickly to keep up at tornament level on their timers

Still 5 Kiurhajksd.

A Z swarm is much less headache inducing than a Tie swarm.

Hard to get simpler than a TLT spam.

Id love to try 5 Kirhaxz, unfortunately, we only have three at the moment.

Now BBBBZ I can do! I'll take a look at that for the weekend.

I build more lists than most guys can shake a stick at! But when it comes to a tourney list, flying is my bread and butter and synergies get lost as I get mentally fatigued! I can handle figuring out flight paths much easier!

Thanks for the ideas!

Rexler Brath (37)
Push the Limit (3)
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)
TIE/x7 (-2)

Colonel Vessery (35)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Tractor Beam (1)
TIE/D (0)

Academy Pilot (12)

Academy Pilot (12)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Five TIE Fighters of any variety. No more, no less. Mix and match as you like.

Since the advent of the Gozanti pilots, the permutations for 5 standard TIE are delightful.

Five is a 'swarm' but with each ship at 20 points, and the variety of pilots, you can fly it as a tight 'Howlrunner Swarm' or a loose 'atomic' pattern where someone is always coming at you from somewhere. The latter is harder to fly.

I loved a 5-ship rebel swarm too - 2 A-Wings, 2 Z-95 and whatever else you want.

I had fun playing with 4 T70 with Integrated Astromech and R2 unit. Simple, good maneuvrability, fair resiliance, enough firepower. I have yet to try it in a tournament, but i think it could do well. I'll eventually do it, but there is so many thing I want to try and I prefer team that can pull many tricks.

I guess for simple + competitive, my best advice would be: don't mix and match ships, and take upgrades that provide clear guidance on what actions to take.

A sub-factor of that, and even more important imo, is "don't mix and match PS"

It also goes straight to the earlier comments about flying fewer ships to minimize mental stress. Things are so much simpler when you can move your components in any order you choose.

I'd heartily second the recommendation of Thunderstruck or 4 Cluster Missile Tempests. Accuracy Corrector Advanced are pretty easy to fly (Although they can only go slow by combining barrel roll and a 1-bank, which can be infuriating when you need to control engagement range). Getting the innitial approach right can be a challenge, though.

Cluster Tempests are really hard. you need to block with less ships, and they can be focused down. We used that a lot, and it was super duper tricky. Not easy.