I was trying to think of a list using Jan Ors and a VCX-100 because the idea that you could roll six attack dice at range one with the VCX seemed like a good way to kill anything. I tinkered for awhile and came up with a Jan Ors, Lothal Rebel, Red Squadron pilot list. Then I got the idea that I wanted to add Biggs to be a body guard for Jan Ors. I didn't know where to shave points to fit him in. I started to think that Jan Ors is always going to be kept as far away from the front lines as possible (staying within range 3 of friendlies). So I decided to ditch the turret. I couldn't find any list in the forums that had a turret-less Jan Ors because of her disgusting 1 attack primary but here's my list and my theory behind it.

Jan Ors-HWK-290 (25)

Chewbacca (4)

(29) Total

Lothal Rebel-VCX-100 (35)

Fire-Control System (2)

Kanan Jarrus (3)

Kyle Katarn (3)

(43) Total

Biggs Darklighter-X-Wing (25)

R2-D6 (1)

Wingman (2)

Integrated Astromech (0)

(28) Total

The theory for the rebel is pretty self explanatory and that he goes and fights the front lines with target locks and focus tokens while Jan takes the stress to give the extra attack dice to add to the fury. Biggs/wingman and Rebel/Kanan are there to ensure Jan can use her ability each round. The problem with Jan is obviously her silly one attack primary and that she would normally be a sitting squishy duck with no turret. My idea is that if the opponent has decided to leave the Ghost alone to go after Jan for easy pickings they would need to destroy Biggs first who Jan could use her ability on to roll at least 4 attack dice while he plays body guard. Also leaving the natural 4 attack Rebel to cause trouble un-opposed. If the opponent decides to take on the Rebel to start its a lot of beef to chew through while Jan's ability adds to it and leaves the 3 attack Biggs and the ferocious 1 attack Jan to take shots from the flanks and to hopefully finish off wounded leftovers (Realistically the dice have a humorous way of rolling in this game so I could completely see Jans 1 attack dice hitting more than the Rebel's 5 or 6 Jan assisted attack). This is my theory and list. I welcome any feed back even if you think its a terrible idea (which it very well may be).

Chewbacca is on Jan to make her less squishy if need be but he could be removed and Biggs could be down graded to Red Squadron pilot if this proves ridiculous and a turret is needed on Jan.

Well... you'll certainly bait the player to go one way or another. I'm not a very experienced player but my intuition suggests that if the opponent goes after the jan/biggs combo, or the bcx, punish them severely for it with the group he didn't go for. I.e. if he goes for the vcx, get aggressive with bigs and jan.

Why is it all in italics?

The HWK is designed such that it needs a turret to fight: its primary exists only to prevent it from being unable to attack and it lacks the maneuverability to get any real use out of it.

Your Jan is 29 points. A 29 point ship contributing no offense is pretty hard to justify, especially when you're loading upgrades onto it. That Chewbacca could buy you at least an Autoblaster or a Dorsal.

I'd recommend taking Chewbacca off and putting either Ion Cannon Turret or Twin Laser Turret on. Looks to me like Twin Laser Turret would probably serve you better in this squad. You can free up the points by replacing R2-D6 and Wingman with R4-D6, an astromech that'll shield Biggs from Alpha Strike attacks.

That'll free up enough points to reconfigure your VCX to Kanan Jarrus with Fire Control System and Recon Specialist, which will synergise more strongly with Biggs.

Why is it all in italics?

I knew something didn't look right.

I couldn't decided between Chewbacca or a dorsal turret but the dorsal turret is only range 1-2 and I was thinking keeping Jan as far away as possible so it might not be used anyway.

The theory for wingman was in case The VCX drifted a little too far from Jan for Kanan to trigger, since the movement of the HWK is so limited she could still do a white maneuver and be able to use her ability on Biggs. Without her ability she's a total waste because of the whole no turret idea. I basically envision running up the edge of the map with Jan and Biggs, if the rebel becomes #1 priority she can do the white 2 hard turn and at least shoot her BB gun while using her ability to make the VCX more potent. The idea is that I want the VCX to be the #1 priority and I was hoping that people would think twice about committing to wiping her out because they'd have to go through a 4 attack X-wing first. The idea of leaving a full health ghost for last didn't seem appealing.

I didn't think much about an alpha strike being able to smoke Biggs right off the map, Leaving me with an almost useless Jan and bare bones VCX to fight the rest of the match probably wouldn't end well. R4-D6 would probably be a better idea. I could at least add the twin laser turret to Jan if I switched to R4-D6 and dropped Chewbacca.

While there is definitely a reason why you don't see turret-less hwks flying around, try it and see how it goes. You will either see first hand why everyone thinks it is bad OR just maybe you'll have discovered a new secret slickhawk build. Not likely but hey, theory crafting only gets you so far. Eventually the plastic has to hit the table.