Hey all, my search-fu must be weak, because I'll bet this question has been asked (but 'rebel' and 'uboat' together gain no results).
Anyway, I do like my rebels, but I wonder what people have found to work well. It would be preferable if it wasn't too one-dimensional, scissors-paper-rock isn't my game, I like balanced lists 
RoV
First thing that comes to mind is 5 awing crack swarm. Reasons are as follows.
Positioning: get yourself out of those firing arcs!
Pilot skill: with Adaptability, your ps is 4 so you move last and shoot first.
Crackshot: 5 ships with Crack can take a large ship off the board in one turn. This happened to my Dash twice at Chicago hoth.
Math!: uboats do a pretty consistent 4 dmg per shot. You have 3 greens and 4 hit points. If you evade as an action, you won't be one shotted by a single missle. Even if all greens blank out, spend your evade and you'll be left at 1 hp. Forcing him to take a second shot, unless one hit was a double dmg crit.
This squad requires finesse flying. Another option is to just tank it with BBBBZ. This squad has massive hit points, so even if you blank out on that 1 green die, he still has to shoot twice to clear a bwing off. Imagine if you get 1 evade out of those 2 shots though. Now he has to shoot a 3rd time to finish that b. That's 1/2 of his missles to clear 1/5 of your squad.
Another tanky thing you can do is the ghost with reinforced deflectors. Eat up all those missles, then whittle them down with tlt. Kanon Jarrus as pilot to weaken those incoming missles. You'll only take 3 hits at most, then regenerate one back! Suddenly, those missles are only doing 2 dmg a turn, they're just as week as they're primaries! And a Uboat shooting a primary is as week as a kitten. Plenty of options in the rebels for you to defend against the Uboat horde. Keep in mind, uboats aren't nearly as op as everyone thinks they are. You just gotta learn how to go at em. Goodluck!
R4-D6 and R7 offer some more limited protection. Reroll their hits into misses or possibly cancel 1 out of 4 hits. These are cheap 1 and 2 point upgrades. R7 comes with the E-wing, and R4-D6 comes with the Rebel Transport.
Wes Janson can remove 1 Focus token from his target after he performs an attack. No focus=no torpedo.
Edited by VulfImagine if you get 1 evade out of those 2 shots though. Now he has to shoot a 3rd time to finish that b. That's 1/2 of his missles to clear 1/5 of your squad.
Ir he just uses the 2 die primary to finish off the last one health and saves the missile for another ship 
. Still leaves a lit to chew through and a lot of damage going back, but havent spent half your missiles at least
Include Biggs with R4-D6 in your list and you are good to go for the most part. Expect to lose him earlier than usual, but be guaranteed that he takes at least 3 torps to kill. Build your list in a way that in that time window you have a realistic chance to get rid of one Boat.
How would triple-K fare?...
...something like fighting a big fire with a little fire?
Could SLAM-ing close the gap fast enough?
How would triple-K fare?...
...something like fighting a big fire with a little fire?
Could SLAM-ing close the gap fast enough?
Difficult matchup, since two torps are exactly enough to kill one K-Wing. You can build a list with Homing Missile Guardians to out-PS the Boats, but that won't fare well against almost anything else.
Biggs can take at least 2 torp hits to kill.
Isn't it guaranteed to be three? First shot with a Plasma Torp, gets four hits. Biggs cancels 2 one way or another and is on three hull points. Then a Proton Torp, gets three hits and a crit. Biggs cancels at least one hit and spends IA on the crit.
Well I guess its not guaranteed since additional crits and more Proton Torps (although I rarely see that) throw it off, but you can be pretty sure.
Wes Janson.
How would triple-K fare?...
...something like fighting a big fire with a little fire?
Could SLAM-ing close the gap fast enough?
SLAM can help you get some good blocks, but obviously at the cost of being able to shoot. If you've got control elements in your list -- i.e. stress or bombs -- those blocks can definitely let you come out ahead in that matchup.
Basically, if you stop them from getting all their torps off, that means they're wasting points; and that means they're going to lose.
Wes Janson.
Wes Janson and Biggs form a decent anti U-Boat core that also messes with Imp Aces decently. Biggs with R4-D6/IA and Wes with VI/BB-8/IA still leaves 44 points. Corran Horn with some combination of upgrades (PTL+FCS+R7, VI+FCS+R2-D2) fills that nicely, but there are other options.
Tala and Airen Cracken with Homing Missiles+GC, or one with Concussions and give VI/Crackshot to Airen, gives you a slow but servicable 4-ship list. Miranda Doni with TLT, C3P0, Seismics, and EM gives you a solid regen late-game finisher that will be difficult to down after Biggs has done his job. A Prototype Pilot A-Wing and a Stresshog would be an interesting way to control both U-Boat torp fire AND Aces (strip a token with Wes, lay stress with the hog, block with the A-Wing, see how long Biggs can survive), but I'm not fond of Stresshogs. A Lothal Rebel with Chopper, Hera, FCS, Dorsal turret, and Tac Jammer might let Biggs survive even longer.
Wes Janson (29)
Adaptability (0)
R4-D6 (1)
Integrated Astromech (0)
Lieutenant Blount (17)
Adaptability (0)
Assault Missiles (5)
Guidance Chips (0)
Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)
Concussion Missiles (4)
Guidance Chips (0)
Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)
Concussion Missiles (4)
Guidance Chips (0)
Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)
Concussion Missiles (4)
Guidance Chips (0)
Total: 100
Biggs can take at least 2 torp hits to kill.
Isn't it guaranteed to be three? First shot with a Plasma Torp, gets four hits. Biggs cancels 2 one way or another and is on three hull points. Then a Proton Torp, gets three hits and a crit. Biggs cancels at least one hit and spends IA on the crit.
Well I guess its not guaranteed since additional crits and more Proton Torps (although I rarely see that) throw it off, but you can be pretty sure.
It's tricky because crits don't count towards the cancellations. If you're hit by, say, two hits and a crit, R4-D6 can't cancel anything.
I've been wondering about using Draw Their Fire on another ship flying with Biggs to syphon off the crits that could otherwise cause a two-hit kill.
VI Janson with some kind of reposition ability (R7-T1 and Integrated or Engine Upgrade). His pilot ability is tailor made to stop U-Boats from shooting, and, with the reposition and PS-10, he's got a chance against aces as well.
Biggs with R4-D6 and Integrated. 26 points to ensure Wes survives at least one, probably two salvos of torps.
Wes Janson (29)
Veteran Instincts (1)
R7-T1 (3)
Integrated Astromech (0)
Biggs Darklighter (25)
R4-D6 (1)
Integrated Astromech (0)
That's the core of a decent anti U-boat list IMO, and you have 41 points still to play with. That's enough for all sorts of options (Some options would be: Fat Wedge, Corran,some munition Zs, a gray or higher Stresshog, or Kanan/Rec Spec if you really want to mess with U-Boats), but those two guarantee (short of funky crit mechanics) that you should at least get to shoot at them twice with your entire list. It's up to your flying and dice after that.
Difficult matchup, since two torps are exactly enough to kill one K-Wing. You can build a list with Homing Missile Guardians to out-PS the Boats, but that won't fare well against almost anything else.
4 shields, 5 hull has a good change of needing three torpedoes to kill, unless you're unlucky with crits.
I think K-Wings can be a strong choice against Contracted Scouts, but like you say those builds aren't really well suited to tackling other lists. The TLT Tactician build might work, as you can double stress multiple Scouts and so deny their second volley of torpedoes for a while (and make the S-loop less appealing an option), but the turret still does a decent job against 1 Agility K-Wings. It's quite unlikely that all three K's are going to get a second shot in if they're PS 2, and your firepower drops off pretty notably at that point.
Based on the outcomes of Yavin, not much. Dash/Ghost is the most common rebel list to make the top 32, just 3 times.
I'd think about trying Wes and 3 Juke/Crack Green Squadrons, as a hammer to hit JMs with, but you have to get good with it in order to control the approach well enough to kill the one Wes hits without the other two murdering you. In theory I think it ought to be good though.
Difficult matchup, since two torps are exactly enough to kill one K-Wing. You can build a list with Homing Missile Guardians to out-PS the Boats, but that won't fare well against almost anything else.
4 shields, 5 hull has a good change of needing three torpedoes to kill, unless you're unlucky with crits.
I think K-Wings can be a strong choice against Contracted Scouts, but like you say those builds aren't really well suited to tackling other lists. The TLT Tactician build might work, as you can double stress multiple Scouts and so deny their second volley of torpedoes for a while (and make the S-loop less appealing an option), but the turret still does a decent job against 1 Agility K-Wings. It's quite unlikely that all three K's are going to get a second shot in if they're PS 2, and your firepower drops off pretty notably at that point.
Oh, you are right! I for some reason thought they would have 4/4.
Wes Janson is good but can only disable one U-boat per turn. Might be enough though. If you can kill a U-boat with its torpedoes still in the tubes you are doing well.
Rebel Regen is strong against most opponents but it will be a struggle against U-boats since multiple torpedoes will chew through Poe or Red Ace's defenses faster than they can regen. If you run Biggs alongside to eat a few early torpedo hits, you stand a good chance of pulling it off. With R4-D6, Biggs will normally take 3 torpedoes to kill maning they will not have enough to finish off both T70s. Run Autothrusters and the T70s will be well protected against turrets and against torpedo shots at Range 3.
Prototype Pilots with Chardan refit are only 15 points, have insane maneuverability and are PS1 so can easily block U-boats. If you block, they lose their Actions (and hence Odrnance shots). You can buy 2 for less than the cost of a U-boat which means you can still include something heavy to hit them with.
You could try to out-alpha-strike them with Ordnance of your own. Rebels cannot match the action economy of a U-boat on a single ship but with well chosen synergy, you can actually build something fairly scary. Try the following:
“Dutch” Vander (32)
Y-Wing (23), R5-P9 (3), Proton Torpedoes (4), Extra Munitions (2), Guidance Chips (0)
Garven Dreis (31)
X-Wing (26), R2-D6 (1), Integrated Astromech (0), Draw Their Fire (1), Plasma Torpedoes (3)
Esege (37)
K-wing (28), Recon Specialist (3), Proton Torpedoes (4), Extra Munitions (2), Guidance Chips (0)
100 Points
All ships are PS6 meaning you can move and fire in any order you want.
Normally I would would move Dutch last, take a target lock and share it with Esege. Garvin can take his own target lock (more on this later). Esege Focuses gaining 2 tokens thanks to Rec Spec.
In the firing phase, Garvin shoots first in order to maximise the shield damage of the plasma torps. If he needs a Focus (or even if he doesn't) he takes one from Esege and after spending it, transfers it to Dutch.
Dutch fires next. If he needs a Focus token (unlikely since Protorps will automatically flip 1 Focus result for you) he can either spend his own or save it and spend Esege's.
Esege fires last and again, will only need to spend a Focus token if he rolls 2 or more Focus results.
Ideally, at the end of the first round of firing, you will have dished out 12 red dice (well modified) and hopefully have 1 or 2 Focus tokens left over for defense. If Dutch loses any shields and still has his Focus token at the end, he can spend it on R5-P9 to regain a shield.
Repeat on the second turn of firing except this time, Garvin should Focus since he will be out of Ordnance so he may as well maximise his ability to share with Dutch. He should probably stay close to maximise Focus sharing and also to protect against the odd critical hit with DTF.
Optionally, drop Garvin to a plain R2 Astromech and use the extra point to give Esege Homing Missiles for busting aces.
With 3 well modified Ordnance shots firing at PS6, you should be able to erase a U-boat before it fires in the opening engagement. 2 Torpedo shots from the survivors will need to be very lucky to kill either a Y-wing or a K-wing, especially as Garvin can use DTF to suck off any crits. If Garvin dies after he has fired his torpedoes, it is not the end of the world.
Not sure how this list would do against other lists. Palp Aces would probably be a tough matchup although Homing Missiles on Esege would help a bit here.
Rebel Regen is strong against most opponents but it will be a struggle against U-boats since multiple torpedoes will chew through Poe or Red Ace's defenses faster than they can regen. If you run Biggs alongside to eat a few early torpedo hits, you stand a good chance of pulling it off. With R4-D6, Biggs will normally take 3 torpedoes to kill maning they will not have enough to finish off both T70s. Run Autothrusters and the T70s will be well protected against turrets and against torpedo shots at Range 3.
If you can get Red Ace at range 3 of single Jumpmaster early on the enemy may make a mistake and launch / waste a torp. Biggs can quite often work very well by not taking the early damage. This lets the shield regen kick in quite nicely.
If you can get Red Ace at range 3 of single Jumpmaster early on the enemy may make a mistake and launch / waste a torp. Biggs can quite often work very well by not taking the early damage. This lets the shield regen kick in quite nicely.
Edited by Karhedron
Check out this thread, especially the last couple pages of discussion:
https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/221901-biggs-corran-and-wes-win-utah/
I got run over by a Rebel three ship build in a kit tournament last night, Biggs Wes Keyan. Wes stripping tokens is huge, and biggs with the droid that lets him only take two regular hits, and then Keyan with opportunist and munitions.
Against scouts, Wes strips a token, and the other two have a chance of not being able to take out Biggs. If you focus fire, you could kill the one without a token, because Keyan will be throwing a 5 dice torpedo back at them. Honestly, Wes Janson is as close to a hard counter as the Scouts have right now.
blocking will hard counter a scout just as bad as wes janson
the little prototype pilot has been a sterling addition to rebel squads since rebel aces, and it's even more valuable now that there are large base action-dependent ships to annoy the crap out of
I agree. 2 Refit Prototypes with Autothrusters will wreak havoc with U-boats while being extremely resilient to them and costing about as much as 1 U-boat. They need to be used with care though as blocking is a skill that needs learning rather than a point-n-click ability like Wes or Carnor.
The other thing to remember is that Scouts have a front-arc skill zone for their torpedoes that covers Ranges 2-3. If you can either get in their faces or keep out of arc, you will also have a very effective counter. Some ships will find this easier than others (anyone PS4+ with a repositioning move) but simply practicing the Rule of 11 will get you a long way.