Hello,

This is my first post here. A friend got X-Wing for Christmas and I've really enjoyed playing it with him. I'm considering buying in, and I'd like some input as to whether any of the starting builds my research has led me to you'd consider advisable.

Unfortunately, I really can't spend a great deal, but I know I would like to try playing in-store if I do buy in. For this reason, I'm looking for a list that minimizes the number of purchases while being not embarrassing (I don't mean tournament-winning) if I take it to a store. I have a couple ideas:

Omega Leader + Comm Relay + Juke (26)

Zeta Leader + Wired (21)

Whisper + Fire Control System + Advanced Cloaking Device (38)

Epsilon Squadron Pilot (15)

This list features the ship I find the most appealing, the TIE Phantom, and requires only two purchases outside of the TFA core set. However, I'm concerned that Whisper won't be viable in-store without Veteran Instincts, which would require the purchase of a ship I don't intend to use (and I assume the store won't allow proxying. Is card-trading common?). Or there's this:

Duchess + Adaptive Ailerons + Lightweight Frame (25)

Omega Leader + Comm Relay + Juke (26)

Zeta Leader + Wired (21)

Epsilon Squadron Pilot (15)

Omega Leader + Comm Relay + Juke (26)

Zeta Leader + Wired (21)

After some more research and thinking, I've come up with a few lists that would require only three ships outside the Core Set. I'm wondering which is better:

A) 2 TIE/fos + Fighter + Phantom

“Omega Leader” (21)

8 / 2 / 3 / 3 / 1

Juke (2)

Comm Relay (3)

“Whisper” (32)

7+2 / 4 / 2 / 2 / 2

Veteran Instincts (1)

Fire-Control System (2)

Advanced Cloaking Device (4)

“Zeta Leader” (20)

7 / 2 / 3 / 3 / 1

Wired (1)

Weapons Guidance (2)

Academy Pilot (12)

1 / 2 / 3 / 3 / 0

(100)

Requires one TFA Core Set, one Sabine’s TIE, one TIE/fo, one TIE Phantom, and an Academy Pilot card borrowed from my friend. Veteran Instincts comes from Sabine's TIE, which provides the TIE/In model.

“Duchess” (23)

8+2 / 3 / 2 / 4 / 0

Adaptive Ailerons (0)

Veteran Instincts (1)

Lightweight Frame (2)

“Omega Ace” (20)

7 / 2 / 3 / 3 / 1

Swarm Leader (3)

“Zeta Leader” (20)

7 / 2 / 3 / 3 / 1

Wired (1)

Weapons Guidance (2)

Epsilon Squadron Pilot (15)

1 / 2 / 3 / 3 / 1

Academy Pilot (12)

1 / 2 / 3 / 3 / 0

(99)

Requires one TFA Core Set, one Sabine’s TIE, TIE/fo, one TIE Striker, and a borrowed Academy Pilot card. Veteran's Instincts is from Sabine's TIE, as above. This list can be built a couple different ways, for example, using Omega Leader + Juke + Comm Relay over Omega Ace + Swarm Leader, dropping Zeta Leader's Weapons Guidance.

C) 2 TIE/fos + 2 Interceptors

Carnor Jax (26)

8 / 3 / 3 / 3 / 1

Royal Guard TIE (0)

Push the Limit (3)

Autothrusters (2)

Shield Upgrade (4)

Tetran Cowall (24)

7 / 3 / 3 / 3 / 1

Royal Guard TIE (0)

Push the Limit (3)

Autothrusters (2)

Shield Upgrade (4)

Zeta Squadron Pilot (16)

3 / 2 / 3 / 3 / 1

Zeta Squadron Pilot (16)

3 / 2 / 3 / 3 / 1

(100)

Requires one TFA Core Set, one Imperial Aces, and one Starviper. I don't like that this involves buying a useless ship model, but it's the only source of Autothrusters, which, along with Push the Limit, Veteran Instincts, and a couple others, seems to be integral to many of the things you might want to do in this game. As such, I guess this is the most 'future-oriented' list.

D) 2 Aggressors

IG-88B (36)

6 / 3 / 3 / 4 / 4

IG-2000 (0)

Accuracy Corrector (3)

“Mangler” Cannon (4) or Autoblaster (5)

Proximity Mines (3)

Inertial Dampeners (1)

Autothrusters (2)

IG-88C (36)

6 / 3 / 3 / 4 / 4

IG-2000 (0)

Accuracy Corrector (3)

“Mangler” Cannon (4) or Autoblaster (5)

Proximity Mines (3)

Inertial Dampeners (1)

Autothrusters (2)

(98 or 100)

Requires two IG-2000s and one Starviper (and one Core Set for the game equipment). Okay, this one I found online somewhere. This involves several useless models (the Starviper plus all those from the Core Set!), but I've heard Brobots is a thing, though this may not be optimal.

So, which one or two of these lists would be least embarrassing to show up with at a local, but fairly competitive, tournament? Is there anything else you'd suggest, or any tweaks you'd make?

Thanks for any input you can provide!

^{Unless the store group you intend play with is highly competitive, I would say buy the ships you expect to be fun for you and Proxy a few upgrades. Buying and trading upgrade cards does happen, especially with guys who buy 2-3 copies of a ship cuz they want to run multiples. For competitiveness, Whisper will really need Vet Inst. though. If you want to the least expensive buy in to be competitive it would be (1) Defender and (1) Imp. Veterans. You may not have all the upgrade cards to tweak it, but you could easily put together Vessery, Ryad, Deathfire. Of course everyone is running defenders right now. Just food for thought}

You can get individual upgrades on eBay. But before you start buying expansions just for the upgrades, make sure the store doesn't allow proxying.

If it's not a tournament, it shouldn't matter.

BroBots is super competitive, and even if your starting loadout for them isn't your favourite, it provides a solid chasis to build off of.

As mentioned above, the Defenders and Veterans are just great purchases. But if you're worried about a useless Tie Bomber, toss a Tie Shuttle in with a Tactician and a Systems Officer. Super useful support ship.

Don't worry about proxying, pretty much everyone allows it. If they don't let you use them for casual play, they're being elitist boneheaded idiots, and you probably want to see if another playgroup is available. Though, yah, they may not allow proxies for tournaments, and that's pretty standard.

I also know someone who just flies two Tie F/OS and two Special Forces ties to great effect. Because most lists can be competitive, so long as you can fly them well.

TL;DR buy the ships that you think are coolest. I never had VI on my Phantom's at first and it was still fine. Instead of flying an ace, just fly a Stygium Particle Accelerator generic, and use then to block. There are ways to use the ships that you like, regardless of how many other upgrades you have.

I second the Imp Vets. Has some great cards and pilots. Even the Bomber is useful. I like Gamma Sq Vets with Crackshot, Homming Missiles, and Long Range Scanners. A pair of them can tear up almost any ship.

Definitely also get the FO expasion. Omega Leader is an absolute beast.

Other than that it is up to personal preference. Hard to go wrong really.

With VI being a promo and a lot of players having many copies, if you make friends they would probably give you one. I would

Thanks for the input, everyone, and why, thank you, Moneyinvolved.

Yeah, I've spoken to my friend and we will definitely allow proxies for our home games. It's the store I'm worried about, as there is a $500.00 cash prize for the highest-ranking player every 20 weeks, so I assume it's pretty competitive.

Imperial Veterans seems interesting. How's this list (unfortunately, I would have to use the Proton Torpedoes in the Core Set over the Homing Missiles suggested)?

2 TIE/fos + Bomber + Defender

Countess Ryad (34)

5 / 3 / 3 / 3 / 3

TIE/x7 (-2)

Gamma Squadron Veteran (19)

5 / 2 / 2 / 6 / 0

Crack Shot (1)

Proton Torpedoes (4)

Long-Range Scanners (0)

“Omega Leader” (21)

8 / 2 / 3 / 3 / 1

Juke (2)

Comm Relay (3)

“Zeta Ace” (18)

5 / 2 / 3 / 3 / 1

(100)

Just toying with only what comes in Defender and Imp Vet. Not quite what I run, but I have other upgrades available. I think it could play with practice though!

Imp vet & Defender/only cards available in the sets (100)

Colonel Vessery (36) - TIE Defender

TIE/D (0), Tractor Beam (1)

Countess Ryad (32) - TIE Defender

TIE/x7 (-2)

Tomax Bren (32) - TIE Bomber

Crack Shot (1), Proximity Mines (3), Proton Torpedoes (4), Long-Range Scanners (0)

I would totally put wired on zeta in the above list!!

Well, the first thing that pops to mind is 3 firesprays, but that's to X-wing what a brick is to a sword...

Imperial veterans is fantastic, but if you pair it with Imperial aces it becomes truly great. Just from those two sets and the original core set:

Ryad (33)

Crack Shot

TIE/x7

2 x Royal Guard Pilots (27)

Push The Limit

Targeting Computer

Academy Pilot (12)

Total: 99 pts.

This is a glass cannon list, but a pretty good one at that. The Academy pilot blocks enemy ships, the Royal Guards "joust" and Ryad is your end-game person.

Thanks for the further suggestions! The Aces suggestion got me thinking about some Aces + /fo + Core lists, which seemed pretty interesting, if, I've heard, fragile. There were multiple, radically different combinations to try (two Int aces + /fo generics, two /fo aces + Int generics, one each of each), which would be good for replayability. My friend owns Imperial Veterans already, so buying Aces would lead to more possible combinations for casual play. And, if I really took to tournament play, just one Autoviper would allow me to improve the quality of my list dramatically.

(I'm really attracted to the /fo because of how it provides a 'complete' good ship in one package, as well as improving the contents of my core set. Seems like about the most efficient second purchase a beginner could make for this game.)

Thanks for the further suggestions! The Aces suggestion got me thinking about some Aces + /fo + Core lists, which seemed pretty interesting, if, I've heard, fragile. There were multiple, radically different combinations to try (two Int aces + /fo generics, two /fo aces + Int generics, one each of each), which would be good for replayability. My friend owns Imperial Veterans already, so buying Aces would lead to more possible combinations for casual play. And, if I really took to tournament play, just one Autoviper would allow me to improve the quality of my list dramatically.

(I'm really attracted to the /fo because of how it provides a 'complete' good ship in one package, as well as improving the contents of my core set. Seems like about the most efficient second purchase a beginner could make for this game.)

Welcome to the game!

Yeah - the TIE/fo is a beautiful little ship. Omega Leader comes all ready to go out of the pack, but even other TIE/fo Aces are already kitted out correctly between that and the (new) core set:

• Zeta Leader, Wired, Weapons Guidance

A touch cheaper than Omega Leader - less tricksy but more shooty. Whilst Omega Leader specialises in landing hits on someone despite green dice and tokens, Zeta Leader is all about doing massive amounts of damage to agility 0 and agility 1 targets - things like the Ghost or Falcon, which take 1-2 damage from Omega Leader and say "and your point is?"

With ZL, declare your target, take a stress token, roll 3-4 attack dice (depending on range) and then spend the focus to turn a blank to a hit and reroll the focus result. It's not far off a focus/target locked 3-dice primary ship, with PS7 and a seriously good dial, which is bloody amazing for one point less than a generic T-70 X-wing.

OL and ZL are a nice pairing, in fact.

Plus, there are quite a few other good aces in the packs. Epsilon Leader is nice (but better leading generics). Epsilon Ace is an incredibly good ship for annoying PS9-10 aces and will get even better once Targeting Synchroniser comes out (I believe it's in the Upsilon).

Omega Ace can be good, but needs a lot of upgrades to make him work. Primarily, he needs the means to get a target lock and focus in one turn, but Swarm Leader probably has some mileage in it.

Thanks for that breakdown!

I'm hopefully going to make my first purchases Saturday and play with my friend. Then, if I'm brave enough, on Tuesday I may go to the store to get squashed. Should be fun!

Just a little update to say I ended up going with the TFA Core Set and Imperial Aces to start. I really appreciate everyone's input even though I went with a different option in the end. In time, I'm interested in getting the Starviper for Autothrusters, and I think I'd like to make a Scum list using it to economize the purchase (even though the ship's not the best. Here's hoping for a Scum Aces!). Eventually, I'm hoping to figure out/find a use for the U-Wing, because it would provide the Stealth Devices for the Interceptors and the Sensor Jammer for Guri!

Here's my current list:

Carnor Jax (26)

8 / 3 / 3 / 3 / 0+1

Royal Guard TIE (0)

Push the Limit (3)

Shield Upgrade (4)

Targeting Computer (2)

Tetran Cowall (24)

7 / 3 / 3 / 3 / 0+1

Royal Guard TIE (0)

Push the Limit (3)

Shield Upgrade (4)

Targeting Computer (2)

Zeta Squadron Pilot (16)

3 / 2 / 3 / 3 / 1

Zeta Squadron Pilot (16)

3 / 2 / 3 / 3 / 1

(100)

Tetran might become Turr Phennir, because my brother bought the TIE Interceptor and I think will only be using Fel. There's a nice, intuitive upgrade path for me here: the Targeting Computers become Autothrusters, then the Shield Upgrades become Stealth Devices, and the generics maybe become Omega Ace. Thanks, Astech, for getting me thinking about the Interceptors! Not the most newbie-friendly, I've read, but they'll make me learn!

Thanks for the input, everyone, and why, thank you, Moneyinvolved.

Yeah, I've spoken to my friend and we will definitely allow proxies for our home games. It's the store I'm worried about, as there is a $500.00 cash prize for the highest-ranking player every 20 weeks, so I assume it's pretty competitive.

Imperial Veterans seems interesting. How's this list (unfortunately, I would have to use the Proton Torpedoes in the Core Set over the Homing Missiles suggested)?

2 TIE/fos + Bomber + Defender

Countess Ryad (34)

5 / 3 / 3 / 3 / 3

TIE/x7 (-2)

Gamma Squadron Veteran (19)

5 / 2 / 2 / 6 / 0

Crack Shot (1)

Proton Torpedoes (4)

Long-Range Scanners (0)

“Omega Leader” (21)

8 / 2 / 3 / 3 / 1

Juke (2)

Comm Relay (3)

“Zeta Ace” (18)

5 / 2 / 3 / 3 / 1

(100)

Or Scimitar Squadron Pilot and upgrade Zeta Ace to a Wired Zeta Leader.

That is very solid list after few tweaks:

Ryad

-I would throw a Trickshot if you can buy one cheap, but its cool as it is too, X7 defender is always a beast

Gamma squadron vet

Crackshot

-Proton Torpedos

+Homing Missles

Long Range Scanners

Missles will do much more with LRS as you can TL on the first round then add a Focus later and then fire those with both TL+Focus+Crack (note homings dont require you to spend TL, and you can get them ultra cheap in $$)

Omega Leader

- no changes here, very solid ship

-Zeta Squadron

+Epsilon Squadron

It wont do you any good (PS3 vs PS1 is irrelevant) and you need this one point for missles, plus it can block better.

Thanks!