Hi everyone,

I'm brand new to the game. I played in my first demo last week and got hooked. I've also had some good friends introduce me to the game and met some cool people on twitter who are totally supportive. I'm more of a hobbyist than a gamer so being able to crack open a box and play is a new experience for me.

I'll be picking up my first two Force Awakens starters this week and after that I'm not sure where to go. I gravitate more towards the rebels (I like shields on the x-wings) and figured I'd get used to the game before trying anything scum related.

I've been told the game is very different then when it first appeared in terms of tactics and ship choice. Any advice of suggestions would be welcome. Money is a factor so I can't get too much to soon but am looking forward to growing my collection over time.

Cheers,

R.R.

Welcome! Honestly if you're just getting in it helps to have an idea what ships you liked from movies/shows. Let that be a focal point. Especially easy as hobbyist than someone who wants to be competitive. The basic T-70 or classic T-65 is a good start if you like those ships and you get stuff that compliments what is in your starter sets. Y-wings also compliment the Xwing in your starter with some different droids, and nice pilot skills. However if you like and A and B wings then Rebel Aces is another solid pickup. Want the Falcon, get it learn to fly the big ship early can be a challenge but rewarding at the same time.

If your love for the classic ships extends to the A-Wing and B-Wing, you'll find the Rebel Aces boxed set a really good jumping-off point for getting into the game. The A-Wing pilot Jake Farrell is one of the strongest rebel pilots available to-date, and while the B-Wings are not really tournament list viable, they're an awful lot of fun in casual play. Plus, the Aces box nets you the 'A-Wing Test Pilot' and 'Chadaaran Refit' cards that make A-Wings actually playable in the modern game. I ran a Wedge Antillies (X-Wing expansion pack), Keyan Farlandrer (Rebel Aces B-Wing), and Jake Farrell (Rebel Aces A-Wing) for my first proper list and it has definitely gotten me places!

The big wall you will hit early on is that Alliance ships lack for action efficiency – the ability to claim free actions on the cheap. Many imperial ships have such abilities, granting them free tokens when they do X, Y, or Z, and those things are pretty high up in the meta. Jake is a such a ship, which is why he's popular in Rebel Ace lists and as a partner to the Millenium Falcon, but he's very much alone in that regard. However, the couple of tricks that I know that create large action efficiency are the two things I've been running above that use Push the Limit:

Push the Limit

Once per round, after you perform an action, you may perform 1 free action shown in your title bar.

Then receive 1 stress token.

Wedge Antillies
BB-8, Push the Limit, Integrated Astromech

Reveal a green manoeuvre, claim a free barrell roll with BB-8, Push the Limit for a free extra action (usually focus), resume your usual turn and execute your green manoeuvre (thus clearing the stress you just gained from PtL), and then take your regular action in the action step (usually target lock). 3 actions, no stress, and a lot more positioning accuracy that X-Wings usually enjoy – plus Wedge with a target lock and focus is solid damage output on any day of the week.

Keyan Farlander

Push the Limit

Yeah, that's it. Keyan's ability is that he can spend a stress token when attacking to change his focus dice to hits. So again, Push the Limit is the card of champions here, which combos with Keyan's ability. Barrel roll into optimum position, Push into a target lock, then unleash all of your dice with TL and pretend-focus. Effectively 3 actions per turn when used right. I run this with Heavy Laser Cannon for the long range pounding, which you won't have access to that in a hurry, but it works in principle and everything else is a bonus. In the Rebel aces box you get the cards to add a crew slot plus Jan Ors into to the mix, as well, meaning that you can add yourself an evade token to add survivability to Keyan (or potentially anyone near him).

So basically, find yourself a Push the Limit or two, is my advice for playing Rebels

Luckily, Tycho Celchu from the A-Wing expansion pack (where PtL originally came from) is pretty playable too.

The original core set is well worth getting, better than a second Force Awakens set unless you really want lots of Tie/fos.

Otherwise, the others have given good advice. Are you only wanting rebels or do you want Imperials too?

Rebels: Falcon (or wait for Heroes of the Resistance to come out for the new version); Rebel Aces; Y-Wing; both X-Wing expansions; A-Wing; B-Wing. E-Wing is less essential. K-Wing once you're addicted followed by all the rest...

I'll second the original core set; a much more viable purchase than a 2nd force awakens core set.

First off, you get Biggs darklighter in the original core set, which despite his age is still the cornerstone of many a rebel squadron.

The second thing of value you get is r2-d2, which fits extremely well on pretty much any ship with an astromech slot.

Reject extremist terrorism and join the imperial navy, help us keep the peace and enforce the law.

I'll back up the movement to get an original core set instead of two of the same, as more options is always better, and although nobody likes to talk about them, Academy TIEs - at 12 points - are one of the best little ships in the game.

When I first got into the hobby (on $20 a week) I bought the core set and very rapidly ordered Rebel Aces and Imperial Aces. The best thing about those sets is that they give you the opportunity to field a full 100 pt squads with just the core set extra, allowing you to step onto the amazing tournament scene. As a fellow Rebel-Orieted player, here's my buying guide:

1. Original Core Set. Gives you one of the best pilots in the game (Biggs Darklighter) and R2-D2, plus some nice TIEs.

2. Rebel Aces + Imperial Aces. Besides the extra ships, these sets give you such staple cards as 2 x Push The Limit, Royal Guard TIE and the aforementioned A-wing upgrades.

3. E-wing. Corran Horn is outstanding, and when coupled with your PTL and R2-D2 upgrades from previous purchases becomes a monster on the field.

4. K-wing. Gives you the Twin Laser Turret and Miranda Doni for some serious firepower.

5. Anything Goes. By now you should have a great feel for the game (At less than $140) and an idea of what you want out of the game. I have a few tips on general purchases too:

1. While player skill is the largest factor in winning a game, people who can afford cards such as Emperor Palpatine (fro the $150 Raider) and the Ghost (For $80) have a real edge in most combat. Don't get me wrong, you can - and will - win against veteran players with the full retinue of ships, but its going to be hard at first until you build up the "critical card" collection necessary to compete these days. These cards include: Autothrusters, Push the Limit, Crack Shot and Emperor Palpatine, but there are many more.

2. There is no "best value" pack. Every single one is balanced towards good cards with the later waves having the more powerful cards while earlier waves have reliable, safer cards. With the exception of TIE fighters (and TIE/fo fighters), all packs come with at least 5 relevant, useful upgrades. Larger packs have more.

3. I strongly recommend the X-wing Companion Card Viewer for Google Chrome, as it allows you to hover over any card name o the FFG forums and have an image pop up of the card, allowing you to instantly know what people are talking about.

If possible rather than two ep 7 core get one of each available set

The OT core comes with the very powerful Biggs and r2d2 both of which Poe loves flying with

You can't go wrong with Falcon, either the new Rey or good ol' Han. This miniature can be in your living room becuase it's iconic enough and will help you explain the game (addiction) to non-gamers.

The Ghost expansion has two superfun ships to fly and cool pilots (https://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Rebel%20Alliance&d=v4!s!161:18,120,93:-1:-1:;160:18,120,159:-1:-1:;157:36,120,-1,-1,164,40:-1:-1:&sn=sabine%20fel)