Hey guys! This is my first post. I just got into X-Wing this past month. My friend is a little more into than I am, and also has more money to spend on ships. He's come up with this brutal build:

Enemy Scum Build: Kath Scarlet and her Binayre Pirates, modified

1x Firespray w/ Kath Scarlet (S&V) - Opportunist, K4 Security Droid, and Inertial Dampeners

1x HWK-290 w/ Palob Godalhi - Moldy Crow, Crack Shot, Blaster Turret, and Outlaw Tech

2x Z95 Headhunters w/ Binayre Pirates

I can't help but feel like this build is a little unfair, but that might just be because I keep losing! He always keeps the Firespray facing away from the battle so as to get an additional attack die, and uses opportunist as often as possible to get *another* attack die. If I’m in range 1, that means I’d be rolling against six attack dice.

This Palob Godalhi combo is also very frustrating – he almost always has multiple focus tokens on hand, since he can steal mine, get one after taking a red maneuver, and keep them from turn to turn. This allows him to use the Blaster Turret on most turns. Combining that with Crack Shot and the ability to take target locks makes him a force of destruction. Then the Binayre pirates give my friend more two firing arcs to play with.

Nothing has worked yet after 4 games. Here are the two builds I have tried:

Build 1 -

1x T-70 X-Wing w/ Poe Dameron - R5-X3, Shield Upgrade, and Expose.

1x YT-1300 w/ Han Solo - Stealth Device, Chewbacca, and Luke Skywalker.

Build 2 -

2x PS2 T-70 X-Wings, one with R5-X3, and the other with Targeting Astromech

1x PS2 B-Wing, naked

1x PS1 YT-1300, naked

I also tried another build with 2x A-Wings with missiles of some kind, and 1x X-Wing with Ello Asty… beyond that I don’t remember the details for that failed build.

I'm looking for a solid Rebel Build to defeat this scum build. My rebel fleet is as follows:

1x Force Awakens Core Set

1x Rebel Aces Expansion Pack

1x A-Wing Expansion Pack

1x T-70 Expansion Pack

1x YT-1300 Expansion Pack

I’m willing to get a few more ships a month or so from now when I have money to spare, but I feel like I should be able to defeat the enemy scum build with what I have. I’d appreciate your advice!

Welcome to X wing!

First of all, I would sguest getting an original core set, because it has one great pilot, Biggs Darklighter. Biggs can act as the meatshield of any team with a yt-1300. He can draw aggro, and let the falcon get a couple shots off.

Whenever you run han, you want to use engine upgrade to help get out of the enemy arcs, the falcon title is good but will only block one of the hits and can be stolen by Palob. Another upgrade that is not used as much is expert handling, gives the falcon a hand in losing those enemy target locks. The core set comes with many great cards that will give you a variety as opposed to a handful that are only selective from certain expansions. Core sets are a great way to start off and figure out the way you are headed in this game.

A wings love push the limit and wired is a good choice for that extra stress that will easily be shed next round, for more room in your list, I suggest chardaan refit. The a wings will excel at getting out of arc of kath if flown correctly.

The B Wing is in a Similar Boat as the falcon, it's low agility will be torn up by kath, another reason for biggs and other upgrades from original core set.

The x wings will do better at jousting with the enemy, but against a 5-6 die attack, they won't survive as long as regeneration poe, basically poe with an Astromech giving regen, such as R2D2 from the core set.

I highly suggest you get the original core set before anything else, I know most of the other expansions look more fun than the x wing and tie fighters but they won't give you the same foundation for the game.

And believe me, I'm not actually a salesperson trying to sell you this, I just have experienced finding an obscure card that was perfect and made an option by the core set to thow the enemy off guard.

First of all, if you are flying rebels against Palob, you're default action should be target lock so that he cannot steal anything. Alternatively, if you have 4 or more ship in your squad - go ahead and focus----losing 1 isn't going to stop the rest of your squad from destroying him.

Secondly, Palob is quite squishy. Focussing your fire from the outset against him will remove him from the board fairly quick. He should always be your first priority target, unless your opponent gives you some easy early game shots on the z-95s (for example, if they range too far ahead of his other ships).

Thirdly, if Kath is trying to get back-arc shots, she will be flying somewhat predictably. Try to guess where he wants to put his firespray in order to get shots. Then imagine where you might put your own ships to avoid her firing arc. 5 or so attack dice means very little if there are no targets in her arc. This is especially easy when she has used opportunist already, since once she becomes stressed, she will want to use a green move to clear that stress, and there are only 4 green moves on the Firespray's dial...

Now as to lists, I realize you have a limited selection, but some of your upgrade choices are not very useful.

For example, Expose is a horribly bad card. Do yourself a favour and burn it! The biggest waste of 4 points in the game and the result of misguided game design.

Also, stealth device is not very useful on a ship that has low agility to begin with. Its also of questionable value on ships that cannot take more than one action per turn (in other words, over 90% of ships in the game).

It looks like you have access to some upgrades not on your list. Is your friend willing to share some cards? Stealth device and Expose are both in the Firespray expansion and you don't have that listed.

If this is the case, perhaps you have access to predator? It is one of the better EPTs in the game. If you do, here's a list that is not too hard to fly and should give you a good shot at beating your opponent:

Han Solo w/ predator, gunner, chewbacca, falcon title & engine upgrade = 63

Poe w/ push the limit, BB-8 & integrated astromech = 36

99

So the key here is to protect Poe from Kath. Han can take a hit or two from Kath, but Poe would prefer not to. You will want to lure your opponent's attention with the big YV-1300 and then bring Poe in on the flank. Ideally, you want both of your ships to shoot at Palob and take him out, especially since his ability is detrimental to Poe. If you bring Han into range 1 of Palob and are able to focus with both ships, its likely he will try to steal Poe's focus token, not realizing how devestating a range 1 shot from Han with all of his modifications can be.

Use BB-8 + push the limit to get lots of actions. When Poe has a green move on the dial, you can do your free barrel roll, then use push the limit to get a second action (your choice of what Poe can use). Then, the green move from your dial immediately clears the stress token from using push the limit. Now Poe can take his regular action, thus allowing a total of 3. Don't do this all the time though or you become very predictable! Even so, it can be really handy sometimes!

Ideally, you are looking to have one of your ships alive after destroying Palob and the pair of z-95's. Once you are in a 1v1 against Kath, its actually not hard to win. Your ships can both boost and have higher Pilot Skill, so you can use these to your advantage to get shots and deny return fire through clever positioning. It takes practice to get use to, but once you figure it out, your opponent will become disillusioned with his list

I agree with Yoda man on both getting the red starter set and the new blue set for basically the same reasons. Not to mention you get 2 sets of dice. Also welcome to x-wing. Remember the golden rule though, fly casual.

It does seem your on the right track on your ideas. My advice is to ask more questions here and if you haven't maybe start watching some batreps on youtube and listen to some podcasts as well for ideas, For now that is my 1/2 cent

OK, that should be a fairly easy win.

Han - Engine Upgrade, Luke Skywalker, Title *Lone Wolf EPT if you can get it from your friend.*

Two Green Sqd A-wings with Chardaan Refit and Push the Limit.

(If you can get access to two Autothruster cards for your awings, drop Luke down to a Gunner to accommodate)

98 points

Use three of the largest obstacles you can, preferably asteroids as opposed to debris. When it comes to placing them, place them within range 1.5 of each other in the centre. This should make it difficult for his ships to move through.

His PS1 Pirates will need to be placed first. If he/she places them in a corner, then place your Green Sqd in the opposite, facing his board edge. It is highly like that Palob is going to be there too. If he places in the middle, pick a side to deploy, potentially the one that has the easiest access to the two bank two turns in.

Han needs to be placed either on the opposite side to your A-Wings if unopposed or he can be placed next to your A wings but facing along your own board edge.

The idea to either force his fleet to split or to drag his forces through the asteroid field, potentially damaging him or forcing him to go around.

Han should have the mind set of long, swooping moves which put you past their arcs, use the boost from your engine upgrade if needed and ideally you want to stay around range 2 - 3. Abuse your 360 firing arc. If boosting won't get you out of all arcs or reduce you down to only one person shooting at you, take the evade action. This stops Kath from using Opportunists against you and if it is one of the head hunters shooting at you, even if they roll two hits you have already evaded one before you roll. Also, Palob cannot use the Blaster Turret outside of Range 1-2 so you are safe. Plus, Crackshot is a one use only card and you have to be in his firing arc for it to work.

Your Green Sqd should be flankers. Using their five forwards and boost you should be able to swoop right past them. Push the limit as needed to either double token (focus/evade) or to reposition and token. This may restrict you to your two speed turns but that won't be a problem.

Your main target is going to be Palob. As others have said, he doesn't actually last long. Four hull and a Shield, protected by two evade dice actually melts really easily. If you could engineer Han and your A wings to shoot him in a single turn, just ensure to focus/target lock with the A wings and then have Han target lock as well. You will lose a token but then he is going to lose Palob in return.

With Palob out of the way, your tokens are safe and Kath will never be able to use her 4 point EPT again. If she does manage it, remember she takes a stress for it and then will most likely be doing a green move to clear. Just be mindful of that and remember that the only green moves on a Firespray dial are the 1 bank, 1 and 2 forward. That's it. If your friend really wants to fire Kath's rear guns then it is likely going to be away from you.

Your A wings, with boost should be able to stay in the side arc of the Firespray or get in it's way to stop her from using her actions. Just delay her long enough for Han do to his thing on the Bandits.

Han should then clean up the Pirates easily. With your massive base/dial and boost, then Pirates will never be able to take a shot at you, if they do, it will most likely only be one of them and like I said, an evade token will seriously hinder their damage output.

After that, the Firespray is toast, especially if you were taking pot shots as and when. I would recommend bugging out and fighting Kath at range 3 where possible. Focus/Evade with the A wings and arc dodging/evade with the Falcon will quickly see your friend learn the hard way why Firesprays are just not very useful.

Hope this helps. Let us know how it goes!

Thanks for the advice so far, everyone! I need some time to properly process and mull over all your suggestions and strategies before commenting on them directly.

I should have added that I have imperial ships as well: 1x Firespray, 1x Imperial Aces, and the Ties from the TFA Core Set, of course. I wanted to be able to play casual matches against my brother and one of my other friends who do not have the game.

Getting the original core set is eventually on my agenda... probably next month when I've got money I'll be going against this scum-loving friend before then, but I'm willing to proxy cards if need be since we're casual.

What do you think of adding two generic A-Wings with Stealth Device, Chaardan Retrofit, and Push the Limit? Those seem like two ships that would be very hard to catch. It seems to me that augmenting a ship's natural strengths might be a better general strategy than trying to fix their weaknesses (ie. adding a shield upgrade or missiles).

What do you think of adding two generic A-Wings with Stealth Device, Chaardan Retrofit, and Push the Limit? Those seem like two ships that would be very hard to catch. It seems to me that augmenting a ship's natural strengths might be a better general strategy than trying to fix their weaknesses (ie. adding a shield upgrade or missiles).

There's nothing wrong with a-wings per se, but I thought your goal was to defeat this scum list? Having a couple 'hard to catch' ships dancing around the board is find and dandy, but since they lack firepower, you won't be able to really hammer your opponent and take out Palob quickly. I mean, your opponent is running a hard-hitting list that abuses Palob's ability to enhance his firepower. Palob is obviously the key to his list's success. You want ships that can hit HARD right back, and obliterate Palob fast. Once Palob is out of the equation, his list becomes far less effective.

A-wings might be good against other types of lists, but they don't give you the tools you need to dismantle this list. Now you could equip them with missiles to take out Palob faster, but then you run into x-wing's age-old ordnance issue: trying to fire missiles at PS 3 against a ship that has higher Pilot Skill can be very problematic. Its something you can definitely explore when you are more experienced and confident in your flying abilities, but since you are a newer player, I suggest flying a list that is easy to use and easy to understand its strengths and weaknesses so you can make more informed decisions (in terms of your maneuver and action choices).

The list I suggested above gives you what you need, imho, considering your experience and current collection with minimal proxies (just the predator card).

Use BB-8 + push the limit to get lots of actions. When Poe has a green move on the dial, you can do your free barrel roll, then use push the limit to get a second action (your choice of what Poe can use). Then, the green move from your dial immediately clears the stress token from using push the limit. Now Poe can take his regular action, thus allowing a total of 3. Don't do this all the time though or you become very predictable! Even so, it can be really handy sometimes!

I'm wrapping my head around that right now - let's say I'm stressed from my last maneuver, then I reveal a green manuever. First of all, does the green reveal remove the stress token *before* I move? I'm under the impression that I can only use BB-8's barrel roll before I move my ship. Would I be able to use bb8's roll in that situation, or does the stress token only go away after i move my ship?

Use BB-8 + push the limit to get lots of actions. When Poe has a green move on the dial, you can do your free barrel roll, then use push the limit to get a second action (your choice of what Poe can use). Then, the green move from your dial immediately clears the stress token from using push the limit. Now Poe can take his regular action, thus allowing a total of 3. Don't do this all the time though or you become very predictable! Even so, it can be really handy sometimes!

I'm wrapping my head around that right now - let's say I'm stressed from my last maneuver, then I reveal a green manuever. First of all, does the green reveal remove the stress token *before* I move? I'm under the impression that I can only use BB-8's barrel roll before I move my ship. Would I be able to use bb8's roll in that situation, or does the stress token only go away after i move my ship?

No, if you are already stressed, you cannot use BB-8. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense to keep Poe stress free as much as possible. In other words, you want to use Push the Limit PRIMARILY with BB-8 to clear the stress immediately. There may be a few times where you are forced to use push the limit on your normal action (which will leave you stressed for that turn), but if you can keep that to a minimum, you will be able to fly Poe a little less predictably.

Its something that a little practice will go a long way towards getting comfortable with it.