hey guys,

so whenever a rebel list pops up, it seems it always was Biggs in it (almost, Gencon finals I believe had two Ghosts and a Y), to the point where Biggs seem to be the lynchpin that makes the faction viable

this is particularly the case for my new favorite, the ARC-170, which is so frail and slow that I couldn't possibly field it without everyone's favorite meatshield

but what I've been noticing, independently of Biggs making ARCs viable, is that he makes them really freaking strong to the point that I'm winning exchanges I thought I'd have no business winning due to the inefficiency of the ships involved, particularly v Rau and Defenders

(and dengaroo to a lesser extent)

the reason is actually pretty simple. The ARC-170 at range 1 is completely invincible because you have to hit the Biggs at range 2

pictured below: the safest an ARC has ever been

sorry for flipping you off it wasn't intentional

the simple range skew seems to throw mathwing out the blooming window, to the point where I'm winning games almost entirely on the opening exchange rather than after the first pass (when the aux arcs come into play) like I expect

and it isn't like this is anything new. Biggs has been around since the core set and he's been basically the Rebellion's greatest pilot ability in the eras between the scourge of fat han. No other pilot in the game can control your opponent like Biggs does

which begs the question, is Biggs the reason FFG is seemingly walking on egg-shells with the rebellion? Is his ability the reason why the release of the pretty obviously crazy inquisitor and torp scout were greenlit but the ARC itself has shipped with some...questionably effective pilot abilities?

obviously, this isn't to say the inclusion of Biggs by himself is enough for rebels to crawl out of the competitive hole they seem to have fallen into (apart from the brief spark of biggs + wes + corran), but it is something to consider.

I, for one, would love it if they introduced more "alternative Biggs" that don't force your opponent directly but rather offered incentives to shoot them. For example, a pilot ability that was inverse Xizor (i.e "Draw Their Fire" that also applied to hit results) or a Kanan ability that only worked on other friendlies

problem was you'd stack the crap out of them with Biggs

let it be known I love Biggs for allowing me to play the way that I do, and I don't think he's a case of "OMG t-65 op NERF NERF" at all. It's just his ability can be a real skew, and it's interesting to consider the gameplay implications of it

Well, don't charge headlong into your formation seems like the first idea.

Well, don't charge headlong into your formation seems like the first idea.

that's just the thing, though

you see the ARC, a 9 health 1 agility clunker that's been defunct for decades, and you've got your top of the line literally top tier jouster in the Defender

your first instinct is definitely not "oh ****! these guys will kick my ass!"

i usually have something in my list to shut biggs up because hes so common.

My current imperial "tournament list" is 2 LRS + Crackshot homer bombers, 1 with proton bombs 1 with thermals (**** points), and a Lone Wolf/SD/x7 Ryad. Bombers almost always pick off one ship, even Soontir, immediately and from then on i just do as much as i can with them while keeping Ryad out of the picture. Even if its a 2on1, if i took out the heavy hitter, its in Ryad's favor.

You're right, though.

IMO, the presence of Biggs was a self-fulfilling prophecy. He makes otherwise feeble Rebel ships viable, but drains the 25+ points you have to spend on him from your list. Thus, Rebels have not dominated the meta in a while.

He is insanely cheap.

Is there any better way to spend 26 points than Biggs with IA and R4?

Only downside is his PS. I'd argue that for the points the chassis isn't even that bad (T-65) and you're still throwing 3 or 4 red dice after (well, usually).

Works better in a 4 or more ship list in my opinion. Daunting for your opponent to focus on one who isn't even a priority and then have all those ships left unscathed.

I've put him with two other X-Wings and a token Gemmer, or a handful of Headhunters. Did quite well with them.

But he's just so cheap though. And that moustache.

i usually have something in my list to shut biggs up because hes so common.

My current imperial "tournament list" is 2 LRS + Crackshot homer bombers, 1 with proton bombs 1 with thermals (**** points), and a Lone Wolf/SD/x7 Ryad. Bombers almost always pick off one ship, even Soontir, immediately and from then on i just do as much as i can with them while keeping Ryad out of the picture. Even if its a 2on1, if i took out the heavy hitter, its in Ryad's favor.

wish more people used bombs

they're so fun!

there are a few non-bombs in Wave 9, though, that will work right through Biggs. We got debris clouds and a lot of pilot abilities that, annoyingly, seem designed to make ARC lovers like me really really irritated

Ventress on PTL Norra just isn't fair, for example

and don't get me started on Ol' Terry. **** Ol' Terry. I need that focus to modify my ability, you dirty old man! Quit staring at my aux arc!!!!

You're right, though.

IMO, the presence of Biggs was a self-fulfilling prophecy. He makes otherwise feeble Rebel ships viable, but drains the 25+ points you have to spend on him from your list. Thus, Rebels have not dominated the meta in a while.

well that, and Biggs sometimes just explodes in two torps instead of 3 which leaves more than enough for the scouts to ruin the rest of your list

havn't played him against OCr4 scouts, though. Lack of pro-torps means they have to get pretty lucky to crit through r4-d6

oh the build used to be 2 proton bombs. Ive had it vaporize vessery in the past because 1 of the faceups did double damage (or roll extra damage). I had to drop 1 to thermals because i swapped my non-bomber out for the LW Ryad build and she was sliiiiightly too expensive.

i could dump EM but wtf would you do that for...ive had games where they actually survived for that 2nd homer shot (usually because i didnt even spend the initial TL so i just 5K'd and fired again) and that was the reason i won in the end.

i wish i could use bombs more but most ships with it are either not that great (punisher), destined to a completely different role (miranda), too clunky (large ships), or just sit in this odd place of great but not great (bombers)

Dfire's a pretty great bomber, with the funny distinction of always just being a great 4-dice platform with LRS and homing missiles

other than that, imo the most competitive bomber is Miranda. She works as a late game regenerator just by virtue of TLT, and she has a high enough PS to abuse seismics/thermals

but, of course, when I run miranda I also run Biggs

can't help it, the attention he generates just sets up opponents for some horrible positioning that you can then exploit with said bombs

ive always had terrible luck using Miranda as a bomber. She draws attention as it is because people know if they dont focus her she will eat their face late game. If i try to use her for bombs it puts her in places i dont like her being in and she gets shot a LOT as a result.

Dfire is cool but his ability doesnt work for "bombs" they work for "mines" since bombs would tag him too (lol autocrit yourself that sounds like a good idea right). i love clusters for the luls but clusters/proxies suck balls and conners are highly situational since they disable more than damage.

ive always had terrible luck using Miranda as a bomber. She draws attention as it is because people know if they dont focus her she will eat their face late game. If i try to use her for bombs it puts her in places i dont like her being in and she gets shot a LOT as a result.

Dfire is cool but his ability doesnt work for "bombs" they work for "mines" since bombs would tag him too (lol autocrit yourself that sounds like a good idea right). i love clusters for the luls but clusters/proxies suck balls and conners are highly situational since they disable more than damage.

Miranda does draw attention, hence Biggs

as for Dfire, "mines" don't actually exist in game terms. They're bombs you drop on an ACTION. This relevant because the "mines" suck (dice rolls; avoid them) but conners is stupidly devastating

that's auto-damage, action step denial AND double ion

everyone from Fel to Solo despises nets. Large bases especially don't seem to take a lot of damage, but the auto-ion really **** over their positioning and the action step denial shutting off EU for the turn only screws them harder

Do you think k-turning early on with an Arc-170 carrying Sabine crew, extra munitions and a bomb would work well?

You'd basically have your butt covered by the aft-arc gun, and be ableto fire as you drop bombs on a pursuing enemy.

ner, just pass em and drop bombs on the way out

in the 15 or so games with double ARCs + Biggs, I've k-turned exactly twice

the first time I've regretted and the second didn't even matter because the game was won on that turn by the ARC that didn't k-turn

auxiliary arc basically eliminates the need for K-turns outside of Braylen, who may or may not want to flip around to chase enemies with r3-a2

problem is he's almost always double-stressed with r3-a2 after the first round, so k-turning is almost never an option

Those arcs are making me want to pay a competent person to magnetize my ships.

Those arcs are making me want to pay a competent person to magnetize my ships.

literally what I did

if you fly more than one ARC or K (or any combination thereof), magnetization is basically mandatory

nothing kills game flow like having to keep popping ships off pegs when they get closer than a large base distance from one another

The potential for running into Biggs in an opposing list is one of the few times I'll pack an assault missile into my list. Or basically anything that has a splash effect, but mostly assault missiles.

Ruthlessness.

I get a lot of flak for usually having a ship with ruthlessness around until i face a biggs player.

Ruthlessness.

I get a lot of flak for usually having a ship with ruthlessness around until i face a biggs player.

Yeah, Vessery TIE/D with Ruthlessness makes people flying Biggs angry. Especially if you're hitting him with a no-damage tractor beam that suddenly starts doing damage to other people.

also great against people that use highly agile imperial ships paired with the few imperial clunkers (bomber, uncloaked phantom, punisher, large ships) and stay near it for some reason.

Killed the Inquis once without ever shooting him lol. Vessery did 2 damage to him one turn, my TIE blocked his movement next turn which apparently didnt push him out of range1 before the bump so i killed him lol. I was hitting a decimator...with a tractorbeam...because ruthlessness lol

I find it ironic that an Imperial only EPT is often most effective against other Imperials.

i find it odd that the "uboat counter" in wave9 is a scum only ship....

My brother (who happens to be one of the only avaible people in my area for a game of xwing) loves biggs. He has used him since he got into the game (which was two years ago). His staple list that he has flown since that time is this.

Biggs

R4-D6

IA (added when released)

Blue Sq Pilot X2

Adv. Sen.

Bandit Sq Pilot X2

100 Points

Like the ARC the Bwing is a slow ship with high health (just doesn't have the aux arc). And like fickle does with his ARCs he shoves them all in your face. Once Biggs goes down he usually has a good ship or tow of yours off the board. Then the Adv Sen kick in for the Bs (who can become end game monsters)

What fickle showed has always been my problem with biggs. You have a ship dead in your sights but utoh gotta break yourself to shoot the doofus behind him. I don't have a problem with biggs but he is a useless character in the movies and I really wish they would have made his ability work ONLY if he is the closest to attacker. Just makes a lot more common sense but cest la vie.

Honestly bigg's ability i wish was just a title for xwings in general.

Theyre an escort ship. Maybe make it not as demanding as Biggs (suffer unsaved damage ala DTF, only multiple times and not just crits) and not work for other Xwings.

Until i saw Biggs i always had that complaint that there was no escort feature in this game. xwings generally escort bwings, corvettes, frigates, or whatever larger and less agile ship you can think of. Yet in xwing, only biggs does that.

Armada litterally puts Biggs' ability on all xwings and TIE Adv, which im not really a fan of because you cant remove it. I dont want Vader with Escort lol...i want him ESCORTED because hes mean, not the first thing shot at.

Armada litterally puts Biggs' ability on all xwings and TIE Adv, which im not really a fan of because you cant remove it. I dont want Vader with Escort lol...i want him ESCORTED because hes mean, not the first thing shot at.

Do YOU want to be the one that tells Vader he can't handle the situation? He's killed people for less.