I have a ship-heavy list, with just 45 points left for squadrons. Which of the following should I bring?

• 4 A-wings
• Han Solo + YT-2400
• some other combination?

If you're otherwise bringing no other squadrons, I'd vote for the 4 A-Wings. That's 1 extra deployment compared to the alternative, which is important when going low squadrons.

If you can find room for some more squadron points, I'd recommend 4 YT-2400s or a Jan Ors + 3 X-Wing cinder block.

4 A's

depends on the fleet. Cause you could make an argument for 2 Bs and a 1300

depends on the fleet. Cause you could make an argument for 2 Bs and a 1300

But you really need that extra deployment with ship heavy fleets. Makes a world of difference.

depends on the fleet.

4-a wings, the counter 2 is handy...

In my opinion this is an absolute minimum number of fighters and against a squadron heavy list, you'll be wishing for more.

I agree with the chorus of 4 A-Wings. I also think that if you can squeeze just 13 more points off of your main fleet, a switch to Jan and 3 X-Wings would be great though.

If you show us your list we can advise you better, but for 45 points, 4 A-Wings would be good

A-wings man...the counter 2 is where it's at.

Last time I used A-Wings, I never got to use Counter once... I didn't have the blue-dice load to chew through the positioning advanced (or blocking Bombers) around Dengar, and they just ignored me to attempt to shoot at ships...

Last time I used A-Wings, I never got to use Counter once... I didn't have the blue-dice load to chew through the positioning advanced (or blocking Bombers) around Dengar, and they just ignored me to attempt to shoot at ships...

That is definitely an issue with A-Wings in the current Intel meta and why I don't feel mainlining them in a balanced fleet is a great idea (they work great as a harassment element attached to a Jan Ors X-Wing brick or YT-2400s though). However in this case with only 45 points to spare, they seemed like the better option than the alternative of only 2 squadrons.

Appreciate the feedback very much! I decided I wanted to try maximizing Ackbar by trying the following:

Assault Frigate MkII B w/ Admiral Ackbar, Electronic counter measures

Assault Frigate MkII B w/ Electronic Countermeasures

Assault Frigate MkII B w/ Electronic Countermeasures

Assault Frigate MkII B w/ Electronic Countermeasures

45 points left

Seems like it could be very strong. Han is tempting for that 5th activation, but I would be very squadron lite...

Hehe, Han isnt a ship activation, he can just activate before any ships. First player still activates a ship once han has finished.

I used to believe he was an extra activation. Twas glorious.

How much is the upgrade from type B to type A for the double anti fighter dice? Will be more effective against large numbers of squadrons.

An idea:

Take out an AF and get bid. Make two punch harder--the first two in gunline. Want less of a bid, then add boosted coms to akbar's ship. Want no bid and max out then add Flight controllers, or Ruthless Strategists depending on your local meta. Theses fighter are good enough to deal with most enemy squadrons lists, three activate themselves with one going first, and can dish up good ship hits if your opponent goes light in squadrons like you where thinking.

AF IIB

Akbar

ECM

AF IIB

EMC

X-17

AF IIB

ECM

X-17

Han

YT-2400

YT-2400

2x X-wings

Jan

390 points

For 45 points I would run my favorite little multi purpose attack wing: 2 y wings, 1 x wing and a HWK. Gives you the two extra deployments and can do some heavy lifting against ships.

4 a wings is also a sensible choice at the points. But most bomber lists will just blast past and hit your ships, so I would do the same with your fighters ( hence my focus on Y wings)

Either choice is going to get eaten by a squad heavy list and is unlikely to stop or delay such a list.

Xindell has it right in suggesting 13 more points for 3 x wings and JO. This little squad can't be ignored as it dishes out a fair amount of pain, but is right difficult to kill with all those braces. It's also a nice little bomber list if you go against a ship only list....

If you have a free neb b hanging around, sticking yavaris in there makes any fighters so much more...... fun......

Just seen your list, four fish are going to be relatively predictable and people will aim for the front of your line. I would suggest no more than 3 Assault frigates ( I've always kept my list to two fish). A good replacement for an Akbar list is a CR90a with TLRC and comes in at 51 points which gives you 28 more points for fighters ( I would replace two of the fish with two CR90a) which gives you an extra 56 points for fighters and upgrades on the fish.

Last time I used A-Wings, I never got to use Counter once... I didn't have the blue-dice load to chew through the positioning advanced (or blocking Bombers) around Dengar, and they just ignored me to attempt to shoot at ships...

That is definitely an issue with A-Wings in the current Intel meta and why I don't feel mainlining them in a balanced fleet is a great idea (they work great as a harassment element attached to a Jan Ors X-Wing brick or YT-2400s though). However in this case with only 45 points to spare, they seemed like the better option than the alternative of only 2 squadrons.

I'm more towards the 2 Ys, X-Wing, HWK-290... at that point... And play the game right back

Last time I used A-Wings, I never got to use Counter once... I didn't have the blue-dice load to chew through the positioning advanced (or blocking Bombers) around Dengar, and they just ignored me to attempt to shoot at ships...

That is definitely an issue with A-Wings in the current Intel meta and why I don't feel mainlining them in a balanced fleet is a great idea (they work great as a harassment element attached to a Jan Ors X-Wing brick or YT-2400s though). However in this case with only 45 points to spare, they seemed like the better option than the alternative of only 2 squadrons.

I'm more towards the 2 Ys, X-Wing, HWK-290... at that point... And play the game right back

My main concern there is if the fleet is leaning hard on anti-ship firepower (all the Assault Frigates), his primary concern will be bombers coming for his ships, which Y-Wings and the HWK can't do much about. I'm not exactly super stoked about a 4 Assault Frigate Ackbar Conga Line snoozefest fleet either, though, so I feel like the basic premise needs some reworking beyond just the squadron composition.

Last time I used A-Wings, I never got to use Counter once... I didn't have the blue-dice load to chew through the positioning advanced (or blocking Bombers) around Dengar, and they just ignored me to attempt to shoot at ships...

That is definitely an issue with A-Wings in the current Intel meta and why I don't feel mainlining them in a balanced fleet is a great idea (they work great as a harassment element attached to a Jan Ors X-Wing brick or YT-2400s though). However in this case with only 45 points to spare, they seemed like the better option than the alternative of only 2 squadrons.

I'm more towards the 2 Ys, X-Wing, HWK-290... at that point... And play the game right back

My main concern there is if the fleet is leaning hard on anti-ship firepower (all the Assault Frigates), his primary concern will be bombers coming for his ships, which Y-Wings and the HWK can't do much about. I'm not exactly super stoked about a 4 Assault Frigate Ackbar Conga Line snoozefest fleet either, though, so I feel like the basic premise needs some reworking beyond just the squadron composition.

I completely agree with that... But I will admit, I hadn't seen the list... Just the assumption that there was only 45pts left with a blankness.

I feel like there's also a point where you need to go... "I've got 45 points and I'm expecting Rhymerballs and Intel. Nothing I can do will be effective whatsoever against the fighter-or-bomber cover, so I might as well just throw some bomber dice..." and that's where YYXH can be of some use.

I recognize that some folks aren't a fan of spamming one ship type, and that Ackbar + multiply guppies is used very often. But just because it's been done by someone else (or by many), doesn't mean that I have ever tried it before. I have no plans to run the four ships in a conga line- they can too easily get blocked up and start running into each other. But the bottom line is, guppies are the Rebel's best ship, point for point. Ackbar just makes them better, and running four of them means you are throwing a ton of extra dice. Definitely worth a try, in my opinion.

A list like this definitely has a problem against bomber-heavy squads. Maybe the best thing to do is, as suggested above, drop one frigate for more fighter support + a CR90A. I will have to do some thinking.... I appreciate everyone's help!

Ok, next squadron question: which is a better use of points?

YT-2400 x4

or

Jan Ors + 3 X-wings?

Jan and the X-wings cost fewer points and will likely live longer, but require orders to be effective....

Ok, next squadron question: which is a better use of points?

YT-2400 x4

or

Jan Ors + 3 X-wings?

Jan and the X-wings cost fewer points and will likely live longer, but require orders to be effective....

You pretty much hit it on the head. If you've got the squadron commands to give out from time to time, Jan and X-Wings. If not, YT-2400s.

The Jan Ors brick can tank for a longer time than you'd think, but it's mostly a punching bag without well-timed squadron commands.

I am now thinking about the following:

Assault Frigate MkII B w/ Ackbar, gunnery team, ECM, XI7 turbolasers

Assault Frigate MkII B w/ gunnery team, ECM, XI7 turbolasers

CR90 A w/ turbolaser reroute circuits

CR90 A w/ turbolaser reroute circuits

Do I add Jan + 3 X-wings and expanded hangers on one Assault Frigate or do I use 4 Yt-2400s?

Do I drop the gunnery teams to upgrade the ships to As instead?