Hi all

I just got the Rebel Squadrons 2 pack for Christmas, and while I feel like I know how to use the Arquitens and Phoenix Home, Ive been out of the Rebel squadron game for too long to know what to do with these new toys

What do you guys think about using each of these squadrons/aces? The VCX looks cool but seems pricey at first glance. Likewise the Pursuer seems a bit meh at first, but Ketsu is awesome...and pricey lol.

Thoughts?

I dig the expanded Rogue options. As for aces, Blount seems to want to be with a huge cloud of Z95s, while the others seem pretty good in any sort of list. I do love that Hera hands out rogue. Ketsu seems great esp since she has scatter, and Corran looks awesome. E-Wings in general feel very capable.

Yeah E wings look great! Im just trying to decide which role they should play. Probably shouldnt replace my X wings right? Hmmm...

At first glance it seems that E-Wings want stuff to engage it for them, like X-Wings, and then snipe away from safety. So many options!

Here are some thoughts:

Z-95: These probably need to swarm to be effective, but they're going to synergize well with your X-wings so that the escort ability pulls attacks away from the light-hulled Z-95. So I could see 3 Z-95, Bount and two X-wings as the beginnings of a fun primarily anti-squadron force.

E-Wing: The regular E-wings I'm more baffled with where I'd put them than Corran. Corran picks up Rogue, and his Counter-4 is buffed. I've been running mixed Rogue/non-Rogue lists going back into wave-2, and having your Rogues available as critical finishers, and a Sniping ace most of all is a great use of him. It might be that E-wings get spammed in lists to great effect, but my sense is that having some X-wings for escort to pull attacks from them and to keep point costs down would be a better mix. If you take a Jan+5X-wing spam list from wave 3/4, I think there's room to put an E-wing or two into that build. Its almost certain to increase your flexibility.

VCX Freighter: This comes down to how you value the two special abilities. I think Strategic is the most intriguing, but you're going to want to combine it with lists that depend upon objective tokens on the map. If you can create an absolutely nasty set of objectives and a surprising bid for second player, this ship could really shine. Relay is only worth a single squadron, but might help considerably with flexibile squadron placement. One squadron won't have to be in ship range, and tokens on squadron-1 ships suddenly become a surprise threat. I'm thinking a second player Sato list that's looking to maximize red range while sending the squadrons far out might be a good fit for the VCX.

Hera Syndulla/Ghost: She's solid, but pricey. The ability to make two generic squadrons Rogue adds to her flexibility. There's been some talk of two X-wings that then escort her, but she might work better in a list that has a good mix of generic squadrons that can make the two most useful squadrons Rogue. Again, its more about having a diversity of tools in the toolbox that can be picked for the situation at hand. That's a high value.

Lancer: My first thought was to look at my 4x A-wing, 2x YT2400 lists as a possible template. You lose hull and AS over a YT2400, but pick up that bomber die, so a list where you're picking off key enemy squads before turning to the enemy ships seems like a good place for them. There's also room in a BCC list to put a couple in at the end as finishers in the squadron phase, but which can also benefit from BCC at the appropriate moment. Honestly, I think they might be the toughest squadron in the list to figure out where I might put them. There's so much to like about the YT2400's hull.

Ketsu: The first think you're looking at here is how to get her special ability into play. The question will be whether you need X-wing escort to protect her and keep that ability functioning, or if you can get away with depending upon her scatter to hold up a couple of turns and trust that that will be enough for your ships to drop theirs. I'm at least going to try her for 3-4 games in a revision of my Madine list. She doesn't have to make the end of the game, but if I can get slowed enemy squads on turns-2 and 3, that might limit their attack dice against my ships just enough.

That's a good starting point. The rest is going to have to come from trying out ideas at the game table.