Banning Biggs is silly. Biggs by no means is unbalanced in any way whatsoever. Any buff that is applied could simply have a restriction to allowing Biggs to equip if the designers thought it was to powerful for him.

And the problem with the X-wing isn't that it's bad, the problem with the X-wing is that it's mediocre in a game where if you don't take the most optimizable list possible, you are at a disadvantage.

It would be easy enough to make a title PS-restricted (Royal Guard TIE and Virago both are). PS6+ requires biggs to equip R2-D6 and Adaptability (increasing the cost of the card by a point plus his astromech slot - stopping him taking R4-D6), PS7+ requires biggs to equip R2-D6 and Veteran Instincts (increasing the cost of the card by two points plus his astromech slot), PS8+ stops him taking it at all.

Since the pilots people most bemoan not being able to use are Luke, Wedge & Wes, PS8+ would make sense for a "Rebellion Ace" or "Rogue Leader" title card. Garven Dreis would still be able to take it with R2-D6 and Veteran Instincts, but in his case this is actually a good pairing with his ability (since he wants to shoot and spend his focus token early) as opposed to just an annoying extra cost for Biggs, whilst Porkins can get by with just putting Adaptability in his Elite upgrade.

Secondly, a putative X-wing buff is only a massive problem for biggs if it's making him tougher. Since he is almost inevitably the first guy killed, a slight increase in firepower, or manoeuvrability, is less of an issue.

I went with 2 points mostly to keep the Targeting Astromech still relevant. Also, an X-Wing with this and Integrated Astromech would pull quite a bit ahead of a B-Wing, considering it only costs 1 point more, so I feel it's pretty fair. Oh, and of course, since it can be used on more than just the X-Wing (Namely, the ARC-170), I wouldn't want it to be too cheap. Can you imagine Norra Wexley with this astromech and Finn? "Oh, I'm just going to add a blank result with Finn, then turn it into a hit with Guidance Astromech. Then I'll spend my target lock to add an eyeball result, and then spend my focus that I had from PtL to convert it into a hit." Terrifying. Having flown Norra with Finn in a few different builds, the thought scares me of having her be such a monster at 38 points, not needing Shara or some other support to help modify Finn's blank.

Ye the Arc-170 was the something I thought of later which could be problematic - but then my second thought was that the ARC-170 pilots we see most of at the moment are already tied to astromechs - Norra with R2-D2 (occasionally I've seen people propose BB-8 for the action economy but I've never see it in a competetive list) and Braylen has R3-A2. Alternatively, it could always be resticted to x-wing (and maybe e-wing only).

I've heard that now the x-wing has IA, it's jousting value is more or less equivilent to the B-wing anyway. My target would be to boost it to the point of getting it onto the table regularly rather than tieing it to another ship that also barely sees competetive play, if the B-wing needs a bit of a buff as well so be it, maybe that can also be addressed further down the road.

Pilot skill 6+ for an elite X-Wing buff would be ideal for me, letting Dreis (Red Leader!) take it. I also think movement buffs will have a minor impact on biggs - either he is with less manoeuvrable ships and has to stay with them, or he just keeps up with the rest of his squad.

It's also tough to make a buff for a ship that has Biggs and Wedge as pilots; increase it's defence and Biggs becomes a bigger nightmare, increase it's offence and Wedge becomes arguably too strong. It's similar to the Soontir issue with the Interceptors: how do you buff the Int without making Fel overpowered, but give the other aces a decent shot at table time?

Just ban Biggs and buff the **** T-65, already. If Wedge ends up a little imbalanced, so be it. The end result could bring multiple T-65 pilots into play again and maybe it could get a little deserved time up top of the meta if Wedge was hot stuff. Fans of Bigg's mustache can keep playing him in casual games.

...Take a look at the hwk-290...

Every time I look at the HWK-290, I realize the only errata that would help it would be an entire new dial.

Banning Biggs is silly. Biggs by no means is unbalanced in any way whatsoever. Any buff that is applied could simply have a restriction to allowing Biggs to equip if the designers thought it was to powerful for him. And the problem with the X-wing isn't that it's bad, the problem with the X-wing is that it's mediocre in a game where if you don't take the most optimizable list possible, you are at a disadvantage.

Adding Except Biggs Darklighter to possibly every future modification, astromech, EPT (thanks R2-D6) or x-wing title upgrade that they decide to put out is what is silly. Biggs is the elephant in the room when it comes to discussion of the X-Wing and overall Rebel cards like astromechs. Getting rid of that elephant would open up a lot more options for the developers. I've also made it known before that I find that pilot ability as anti-fun, but that's a side conversation that doesn't need to be hashed out in this thread.

If they make a fix for the X-wing (and I'm sure they will), they just have to balance it right. Make it something that wouldn't matter to Biggs.

Well, that's just putting the logic in the illogical, if you ask me. I disagree with the need for any additional buff to the T-65 for I love to fly them and do quite well. As background, I don't fly Biggs at range one of my X's beyond the first turn, when I want him in a list for iconic sake, the few times I fly him, I don't like his game mechanic.

For the with the tears from the T-65 whiners comes the illogical, and when they dry, there the problem lies: Biggs crazy ability.

I've also hear cries from time to time from E-Wing lovers, but those cries are logical in some ways. However, Horn gets to double-tap, but then everyone know he's going to be ineffective the next round. A tough ship to face? Sure. But while he is great, all can understand the logic and play fine with him on the table. However, he makes any buff to the other E-Wing pilots very difficult indeed, as Horn could go from great to a monster.

Biggs, on the other hand, effects all of your pilots minds, and makes them unable to make simple choices. His power is far more than the Emperor's in my humble opinion. The small nerf in the Fall FAQ did little to alter his mind control powers. His ability is crazy illogical. But as with Horn, any buff to the T-65 will run up against making the mind controlling, illogical Biggs into more of a broken mind controlling pilot.

Is the X-Wing slow? No, because 4 straight is the second fastest maneuver in the game. Is it slow compared to the TIE? Yes. Because A TIE FIGHTER IS FASTER THAN AN X-WING.

Is it maneuverable? Yeah, fairly. Can it do a 1 turn? No. But a TIE Fighter can, because A TIE FIGHTER IS MORE MANEUVERABLE THAN AN X-WING.

A case could be made that, in most EU sources (and some movie-related sources like the famous Speed Chart) the TIE was close enough in speed to the X-Wing to not deserve such a difference - they could have been the same speed with the TIE having an extra Green Straight that the X-wing didn't have, and it would have been equally "fluff-consistent" and possibly more so.

Similarly, the TIE's fragile hull never made it into the board game - with it having the same hull strength as the X-wing and B-wing.

So, the X-wing is arguably nerfed in this game, and the TIE Fighter buffed by comparison.

Dunno, man, I'm watching the Battle of Yavin at the moment, and it doesn't seem to take much more to kill an X-Wing than a TIE Fighter. The deflector shields seem to take a bit, so maybe a fatal shot just loses an engine or a stabilizer, and then boom. Down they go.

Dunno, man, I'm watching the Battle of Yavin at the moment, and it doesn't seem to take much more to kill an X-Wing than a TIE Fighter. The deflector shields seem to take a bit, so maybe a fatal shot just loses an engine or a stabilizer, and then boom. Down they go.

Yeah, but the scenes in the movies are always going to favour cinematic effect over "realism". A ship explodes when the storyline needs it to, and and it doesn't explode when the story needs it to survive.

New idea.... I haven't read the whole thread, so sue me.

Torpedo - 0

your upgrade bar gains the torpedo slot

torpedoes cost -4 to equip

after completing a white or green maneuver you may acquire a target lock

Xwing Only - your ship may not have the tech upgrade slot

A) Gives a torpedo buff to the X-Wing which is fluffy and fun

B) gives an additional buff to the offensive capabilities of the X-Wing

Look, giving X-wings a bump is good, but giving them fully modified shots all the time for 0 pts, no stress, etc. is kinda over the top.

Banning Biggs is silly. Biggs by no means is unbalanced in any way whatsoever. Any buff that is applied could simply have a restriction to allowing Biggs to equip if the designers thought it was to powerful for him.

And the problem with the X-wing isn't that it's bad, the problem with the X-wing is that it's mediocre in a game where if you don't take the most optimizable list possible, you are at a disadvantage.

It would be easy enough to make a title PS-restricted (Royal Guard TIE and Virago both are). PS6+ requires biggs to equip R2-D6 and Adaptability (increasing the cost of the card by a point plus his astromech slot - stopping him taking R4-D6), PS7+ requires biggs to equip R2-D6 and Veteran Instincts (increasing the cost of the card by two points plus his astromech slot), PS8+ stops him taking it at all.

Since the pilots people most bemoan not being able to use are Luke, Wedge & Wes, PS8+ would make sense for a "Rebellion Ace" or "Rogue Leader" title card. Garven Dreis would still be able to take it with R2-D6 and Veteran Instincts, but in his case this is actually a good pairing with his ability (since he wants to shoot and spend his focus token early) as opposed to just an annoying extra cost for Biggs, whilst Porkins can get by with just putting Adaptability in his Elite upgrade.

Secondly, a putative X-wing buff is only a massive problem for biggs if it's making him tougher. Since he is almost inevitably the first guy killed, a slight increase in firepower, or manoeuvrability, is less of an issue.

Just wanted to point out that adaptability doesn't take effect until the game starts so it has no bearing on your PS when you equip upgrades. VI does but not Adaptability.

Look, giving X-wings a bump is good, but giving them fully modified shots all the time for 0 pts, no stress, etc. is kinda over the top.

Not when it's on a 5/6HP platform behind 2 greens and no repositioning. When all you can do is fly straight at the enemy and hope your 2 green dice hold up, then you'd better hope that you hit like a freight train.

Look, giving X-wings a bump is good, but giving them fully modified shots all the time for 0 pts, no stress, etc. is kinda over the top.

Not when it's on a 5/6HP platform behind 2 greens and no repositioning. When all you can do is fly straight at the enemy and hope your 2 green dice hold up, then you'd better hope that you hit like a freight train.

Really? Now throw on a Targeting Astromech.

If you have anything else on the board that passes Focus that's going to be silly.

Look, giving X-wings a bump is good, but giving them fully modified shots all the time for 0 pts, no stress, etc. is kinda over the top.

Not when it's on a 5/6HP platform behind 2 greens and no repositioning. When all you can do is fly straight at the enemy and hope your 2 green dice hold up, then you'd better hope that you hit like a freight train.

Really? Now throw on a Targeting Astromech.

If you have anything else on the board that passes Focus that's going to be silly.

and x7 defenders with palp insurance already are not?

Look, giving X-wings a bump is good, but giving them fully modified shots all the time for 0 pts, no stress, etc. is kinda over the top.

Not when it's on a 5/6HP platform behind 2 greens and no repositioning. When all you can do is fly straight at the enemy and hope your 2 green dice hold up, then you'd better hope that you hit like a freight train.

Really? Now throw on a Targeting Astromech.

If you have anything else on the board that passes Focus that's going to be silly.

and x7 defenders with palp insurance already are not?

x7 makes them more tanky, not harder hitting.

Palp works on one roll a turn, not each ships attack.

So..yeah, they are not as bad as the proposed change.

Really? Now throw on a Targeting Astromech.

If you have anything else on the board that passes Focus that's going to be silly.

Sure, but the state of the game is silly ships dominating the Meta. TLTs will still burn X Wings out of the sky, Palp Aces will still never get caught in their arcs and have a stack of tokens and dice mods for when they do, etc.

If you've got no repositioning ability, no evasive actions, a crappy dial, no way to stack tokens and only 2 green dice then, as I said, you'd better hit like a goddamn truck, and currently X Wings don't.

Just wanted to point out that adaptability doesn't take effect until the game starts so it has no bearing on your PS when you equip upgrades. VI does but not Adaptability.

Fair point. then even PS6+ as a requirement for a title will cost Biggs two extra points plus preventing him taking R4-D6. That's a non-trivial cost increase compared to attaching the same title to Luke or Wedge.

I reviewed the long sorted history of the tears of the T-65 on this forum as well as two other notable ones and it seems the one term that kept rising to the top of word searches is Biggs. I think I might now know what to do, if my eyes will focus on the keyboard as theyre now shot, haha.

1) FAQ Biggs so his other-worldly-mind-control only works while protecting other T-65s; no protection to other ships. This makes better sense and pushes the idea of flying X-Wings flying in squadrons stronger.

2) Give the T-65 a Title card to carry a Torpedo at 0 cost.

Now, where's my tea?

1) FAQ Biggs so his other-worldly-mind-control only works while protecting other T-65s; no protection to other ships. This makes better sense and pushes the idea of flying X-Wings flying in squadrons stronger.

this is kinda utterly stupid considering all it does is artificially limit the squads you can create, all for the sake of buffing a single ship that can be fixed in various different ways so as not to overpower this specific pilot

and it makes no sense that the only ship an X-wing would escort would be itself, considering its role in Ep IV

What about this:

title Card X-Wing T65 only

Guidance chips can be used on primary weapon attacks

Cost 0 or 1.

It makes a torpedo more effective for its 1 shot.

Makes the primary fully effective for the game.

Thereby giving you a reason to take torps, because guidance chips does not eat up the slot for IA or Vectored thrusters so the durability stays the same and you improve the attack value

On 1/11/2017 at 1:50 PM, clanofwolves said:

Well, that's just putting the logic in the illogical, if you ask me. I disagree with the need for any additional buff to the T-65 for I love to fly them and do quite well. As background, I don't fly Biggs at range one of my X's beyond the first turn, when I want him in a list for iconic sake, the few times I fly him, I don't like his game mechanic.

For the with the tears from the T-65 whiners comes the illogical, and when they dry, there the problem lies: Biggs crazy ability.

I've also hear cries from time to time from E-Wing lovers, but those cries are logical in some ways. However, Horn gets to double-tap, but then everyone know he's going to be ineffective the next round. A tough ship to face? Sure. But while he is great, all can understand the logic and play fine with him on the table. However, he makes any buff to the other E-Wing pilots very difficult indeed, as Horn could go from great to a monster.

Biggs, on the other hand, effects all of your pilots minds, and makes them unable to make simple choices. His power is far more than the Emperor's in my humble opinion. The small nerf in the Fall FAQ did little to alter his mind control powers. His ability is crazy illogical. But as with Horn, any buff to the T-65 will run up against making the mind controlling, illogical Biggs into more of a broken mind controlling pilot.

"Well I don't think theres a problem, so there isn't one! Regardless of your experiences and opinions, because I havent had any problems, no matter how uncommon my experiences may be in general, there isn't a problem! In fact, there never was!"

On January 11, 2017 at 6:04 PM, That One Guy said:

Dunno, man, I'm watching the Battle of Yavin at the moment, and it doesn't seem to take much more to kill an X-Wing than a TIE Fighter. The deflector shields seem to take a bit, so maybe a fatal shot just loses an engine or a stabilizer, and then boom. Down they go.

If you look at the various ways Red Squadron blows up you will see that the ships seemed to have taken a lot of punishment before they finally buy it. Porkins seems to have taken a few hits before a crit ruined his flying. The guys in the trench blow up due to direct hits. Garven is chased down by Vader and takes a crit to his engines. Luke takes a hit that gave home a crit that R2 was able to flip down (that darn stabilizer breaking loose). I guess it's a different version of R2 that Luke was flying.

anyway, yeah X-wings were not portrayed as super tough, they blew up pretty easy, especially with the help of the deadly repeating Auto-cannon-like guns on the TIEs based on the DS. Perhaps Black Squadron TIEs need a title that causes their crits to not be cancelled or something.

General Merrick will have the COORDINATE action in addition to an EPT slot.

nah, Merrick will generate evade results when attacked by enemies in arc

because countdown knew what was up

34 minutes ago, ficklegreendice said:

nah, Merrick will generate evade results when attacked by enemies in arc

because countdown knew what was up

3 hours ago, ficklegreendice said:

nah, Merrick will generate evade results when attacked by enemies in arc

because countdown knew what was up

Yeah but X-Wings suck at getting more maneuverable(re: everything else) ships in arc.

Merrick struck me more as this:

You know, when he cleared a squadronmate's six of that TIE Striker. It's easier to get another ship in your arc when they're not going after you.

On 1/11/2017 at 8:19 PM, kris40k said:

Really? Now throw on a Targeting Astromech.

If you have anything else on the board that passes Focus that's going to be silly.

The T-65 only has the 1 red, so Targeting Astromech doesn't do as much as you'd like.