So, a friend of mine is getting into X-Wing and hoping to compete in our local League.

But he's low on cash and could only afford the core set and two small ships. He settled for the formation described in title and I'm trying to help him get going.

With what he had, we came up with the following:

Luke Skywalker (28):

• Marksmanship (3)
• R2-D2 (4)

Total: 35 pts

Tycho Celchu (26):

• Push The Limit (3)
• Concussion Missiles (4)

Total: 33 pts

Jan Ors (25):

• Determination (1)
• Ion Cannon Turret (5)
• Intelligence Agent (1)

Total: 32 pts

All PS8, Luke and Tycho as resilient backbone, Jan as support.

Tycho flanks at R3 bolstered by Jan's extra dice. Luke's not afraid of rushing in to help with the alpha strike and hopefully drop an enemy ship. Jan hangs back and tries her best to control possible targets after the initial pass. Not a bad plan, I think. But with lots of room for improvement.

Now, for the hard part. All things considered, what would be his next step?

Please, do keep in mind a budget mentality. Rebel Aces and epic ships are out of question. And he most likely can only afford one ship for next month. I took it upon myself to help him as a challenge but I'm not a dedicated Rebel player, so I'm open to any suggestions.

The best ship for your buck, that could be a good sub for any of your current ships is the y wing. I like to run it like this because of its cost effectiveness.

Gold squad pilot (18)

Ion cannon turret (5)

R2 Astromech (1)

Total: 24

The beauty of this build is that it can take an absolute beating, but still be on the table. It has five hull and three shields. Adding the R2 Astromech will keep your ship away from prolonged stress because all 1 and 2 speed maneuvers are green. This makes it easy to stay right on the tail of a ship you just ioned and keep you away from stress. R5-D8 is a good mech to slap on this ship too. You have a great chance of regenerating a hull each round with his ability. As long as you aren't constantly being attacked by multiple ships, you have a good chance of keeping this one on the table for possibly the whole match. The best part is that all of these upgrades come in the y wing expansion. So that's all you need to buy.

I'd actually pick up a K-wing next if he can. That'll get him some TLT's which are decent with what he already has. He could then run something like tycho kyle and miranda which wouldn't be too bad.

I would save my money until I could afford rebel aces.

If not, then a B wing or K wing.

All directions point towards the K-Wing.

A fair suggestion, actually. Miranda is self-sufficient and there's TLTs. Lack of EPT cards to improve on choices hurts, but oh well...