A friend recently said that Imperials are easier and better than rebels so I took up the challenge and switched over to rebels. Below is my most recent iteration. I'm open to suggestions on things to change. Also, what are opinions on this fleets' most dangerous matchups? I'm thinking that a TCR90 fleet would be pretty bad or maybe a multiple ISD fleet with Tie support..

Missions: Advanced Gunnery, Hyperspace Assault, Minefields

106 MC 80 Command Cruiser

006 XI-7 Turbolasers

004 Leading Shots

005 Expanded Hangar Bays

007 Electronic Countermeasures

003 Flight Coordination Team

007 Toryn Farr

020 General Dodonna

057 Nebulon-B Escort Frigate

005 Yavaris

007 Raymus Antilles

003 Flight Coordination Team

018 GR-75 Medium Transports

002 Bright Hope

008 Bpmber Command Center

003 Leia Organa

021 Nym

020 Keyan Farlander

019 Jan Orrs

070 5 B-Wings

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391 Total

Look up the card, flight commander.

Also you will want to drop a bwing for a hwk290. Spare intel is important. And consider an escort to protect em.

Bear in mind, toryn doesnt help the ship she is on.

The first thing that popped out to me is the lack of an escort for Jan. She needs an x wing or three to keep enemy fighters from focusing her down.

I would suggest dropping 2 of the B's for 2 X-wings to run escort. With Jan's tokens, they are quite durable. You may even want to consider YT-1300's as they are the same speed as B's, cost the same as an X-wing, have more hull (7), counter 1 and are themselves, escorts.

Yes. 6 Bs is a lot. YT1300s are great with Bs for the reasons above, but Xs are also bombers and that extra speed means they can jump to help out any straggler Bs. And since they are bombers, you may even consider changing out 3 and turning that MC80 into the independence. Others have also suggested using boosted comms instead of EHB with independence because of how far out they get flung

You dont necessarily NEED escorts. its a myth. Jans braces will protect them well from the first assault, and then Toryn plus 6 B's, Yavaris and double AA fire from Yav and MC80 will destroy the enemy squadrons, and then you dont need intel anymore, as there are no enemy squadrons left to gift heavy.... hwks have counter 2, use it.

Interestingly, independance is no longer needed as FCT is good enough.

The escorts are for Jan. Her ability is only useful when other squadrons are being attacked. Your Intel units benefit from escorts, but they synergize much better with Jan. Jan with YT1300s is a major pain for fighter forces, especially if you can use those to lock them down (their slow speed makes that hard, but FCTs or Independence w/boosted comms can work wonders with those).

Why does Jan need to live? Why can Jan not be the one to die? This is what I never understand.

When she doesn't die first, your list lasts longer and is more effective because of her Intel abilities. She can die, just not first

When she doesn't die first, your list lasts longer and is more effective because of her Intel abilities. She can die, just not first

Why not? For the enemy to kill her they must engage multiple squads with the bwings.

Jan is only dangerous as long as there are enemy squads. If her threat brings the enemy to her door where they can be engaged with ease, what is Jans purpose?

I like lots of what you're doing. Leia on the transport as anti-slicer protection = really good. Toryn is pretty potent with all of the B-wings, and again necessary. I think that Raymus is almost never needed on Yavaris. The enemy will target Yavaris early and you'll want it where it can do damage anyway. So you're talking 2 good double taps. Fighter Commander is going to be a great upgrade in this kind of list (and even moreso with Independence) because you can fling your B-wings out there and then roll up with them. The old standby was Veteran Captain, since you could bank a squadron token on turn-1 and then use VC to get a second, and that was usually what you got before Yavaris died.

I'm not a huge fan of XI7 in builds like this. Sure, in an ideal world, you hit the hull zone with your bombers and then he cannot redirect off. If he's got any sense at all, your opponent will redirect at least a couple of B-wing shots. If your opponent ends the game with all of his shields depleted, then there's probably something inefficient about the inclusion of XI7. Of course, if you can consistently get him with some of his shields still up, then I'll humbly bow to including the upgrade.

My own build of this type runs a bit differently, but I can see what you're trying to do here and I really like it. Toryn on the MC80 means you want it a bit closer, which means you aren't using Independence to fling squads around great distances. That's cool. I appreciate that. One thing I try to do in my own version is maximize Toryn by running generic squads. So there are 10 squads. That's also a great way to approach the problem of aces, since you'll generally trade unit for unit and then be left with at least something left over at probably an advantage on points.

Thanks for posting. I think I may try a few of the ideas that you've got different from me and see what I like.

When she doesn't die first, your list lasts longer and is more effective because of her Intel abilities. She can die, just not first

Why not? For the enemy to kill her they must engage multiple squads with the bwings.

Jan is only dangerous as long as there are enemy squads. If her threat brings the enemy to her door where they can be engaged with ease, what is Jans purpose?

True, and then you'll spend a turn or two trying to eliminate those fighters with your bombers, which are attacks better spent on a ship. The sooner you take out your opponent's ship, the better, which is what Jan (and HWKs) allows them to do when your opponent has a fighter screen.

Either your opponent will have a paltry screen and the escorts won't matter, or they are coming out in force and you're going to want those escorts because their ability combined with Jan make your force a whole lot tougher and more resilient.

OK, so people are suggesting the following:

* drop the XI-7 Turbolasers

Formerly I had XX-9 Turbolasers which synergize better with Dodonna. I put XI-7s on to try them out. I don't view either option as completely necessary but if all goes to plan my ship is firing to finish ships off ... not weaken them.

* swap Raymus Antilles for a Flight Commander

I'll give Flight Commander a go. This'll add 4 points to my bid. I will explain why I had Antilles though. The extra squadron token synergizes very well with Yavaris and maximizes my rerolls. So, its not just an extra squadron (which can double tap) its the extra damage from the reroll(s) as well. Now, I could save squadron tokens. But that really is only a single use boost ... maybe that's enough, maybe not. Also, consider Antilles with Leia. If she changes the Yavaris' dial in an emergency I immediately get the corresponding token ... so that's 5 points of engineering or 2 speed. Again, tokens can do the same but do not quite offer the versatility of being there on demand. Maybe he's overkill? I don't know, I'll have to play more games to find out. Anyway, I'll give Flight Commander a try. Getting to move 2 squadrons into place and then activating them would be nice.

* swap a B-Wing (or 2) for YT-1300's and/or X-Wings

I've considered this option. I can't decide which is better, the Xs or YT-1300s. Both provide great options. I'd probably go with a YT-1300 mainly because they are rarely seen. I'm loath to lose a B-Wing though due to the loss in Battery fire power.

* try Independence on the MC-80?

My previous build had Independence and 4 YT-1300's. I had intended to throw the YTs forward to tie up opposing squadrons while the Bs crept up. The problem I found was that I pay 8 pts for Independence and planned to use it once. That's a pretty steep cost IMO ... at least when spent on YT-1300s ... maybe using it on B-Wings would be better. Next, YT-1300s are not the best against ships. Granted, I do have Toryn Farr which helps a great deal ... but for one more point I could get a B-Wing with Bomber and a black Battery die. If I go back to using it I could drop the XI-7s to pay for it and lose 2 pts of bid.

I successfully used Independence and Bs during wave 2. Each game I only used the title once but each time it was at a critical point and probably made the difference between a win and a loss. I wouldn't waste points on a turbolaser or ion upgrade on the MC80--you want to keep it away from the fight. Your bombers are your main source of damage output. This type of list isn't designed to support the 80 in a battle wagon role and that's ok.

I successfully used Independence and Bs during wave 2. Each game I only used the title once but each time it was at a critical point and probably made the difference between a win and a loss. I wouldn't waste points on a turbolaser or ion upgrade on the MC80--you want to keep it away from the fight. Your bombers are your main source of damage output. This type of list isn't designed to support the 80 in a battle wagon role and that's ok.

But now we have Fighter Coordination Teams, what is your opinion on Independence?

I successfully used Independence and Bs during wave 2. Each game I only used the title once but each time it was at a critical point and probably made the difference between a win and a loss. I wouldn't waste points on a turbolaser or ion upgrade on the MC80--you want to keep it away from the fight. Your bombers are your main source of damage output. This type of list isn't designed to support the 80 in a battle wagon role and that's ok.

But now we have Fighter Coordination Teams, what is your opinion on Independence?

I think it's still relevant. I use boosted coms and keep Ind far away from the action. FCT only works up to medium range.

I successfully used Independence and Bs during wave 2. Each game I only used the title once but each time it was at a critical point and probably made the difference between a win and a loss. I wouldn't waste points on a turbolaser or ion upgrade on the MC80--you want to keep it away from the fight. Your bombers are your main source of damage output. This type of list isn't designed to support the 80 in a battle wagon role and that's ok.

But now we have Fighter Coordination Teams, what is your opinion on Independence?

I think it's still relevant. I use boosted coms and keep Ind far away from the action. FCT only works up to medium range.

True, but its medium after moving, which is about the same range. And if you add Flight Commander, then its even better.

I hadnt considered the option of keeping Independance wide of the fight. That makes a difference.

I use Indy and FCT together. You can fling the B-wings with Indy and FCT other squads, which helps keep them all together a bit better. If you do need a speed 5+ movement on a later turn, the combination can also help generate that. On the whole, I think experience with all of the new upgrades and their combinations is still settling on what is going to work the best.