Hello fellow pilots,

I think I'm in need of some advice for my new Rebel list idea.

Basically, I wanted to make use of the new "Swarm Leader" card.

While I'm at it, I'd like to make use of those evades I need on the wingmen with Juke. That means I have to fire first with the wingmen, then with the swarm leader.

My choice for the wingmen, obviously, is Green Squadron pilots. Even with an eventual use of VI, I'm capped to PS5. Which means my Leader has to bas PS 5 max also, and have an EpT (or can take R2-D6).
So I'm choosing between Tarn Mison, Jess Pava, Red Veteran, Hobbie and Chewbacca.
I know Chewbacca is a good choice, but I don't like turrets, so let's forget about the furry one.
Tarn Mison with R2-D6 feels like I'm wasting his pilot ability; Hobbie doesn't feel right since I'm not going for a stress-based list.
So my choice goes to Jess, since her ability makes her way better than Red Vet (and she allows me to not take VI for the wingmen), but I note she will have to stay in formation with the A-wings.


Now, the base of my list goes :

- Jess Pava, R2-D6, Swarm Leader (29 pts)
- GSP#1, Juke, Chardaan (19 pts)
- GSP#2, Juke, CHardaan (19 pts)

That makes 67pts, and I have a lot of trouble finding how to use the 33 pts I have left.

First choice is do I take an other GSP? So that I can use Swarm Leader a little more longer if the enemy targets my wingmen.The problem is, even with some more options on the ships, I will find myself with some points left, but not enough for a fifth ship.
Or do I protect that base with good old Biggs?
Or, third option, taking a totally different ship to flank, or to add some control over the field?


Then comes the question of the loadout of Jess and the Awings.
Do I need to take AT for everybody? (Seems a little useless if I go for Biggs)
What EpT do I add to the GSPs ? Crack Shot is a classic that I like, but I'm also looking on Cool Hand, that would allow a nice K-turn in formation with the leader then a fully charged SL shot (using CH to get Evades).

Please feel free to comment and answer some of my numerous questions, or to propose a different way to go, if you find one interesting.

I think you need an Ace to take some attention away from Jess. 33 points leaves you at budget rebel levels of Ace-ness. Perhaps some sort of Cassian build? Though I think I would look at the ARC, perhaps Thane w/ R2D2, AO, and C3PO. Its someone you don't want to shoot early in the game since it leaves the Swarm Leader Jess to do her thing, but it sets up a TL+F attack from Thane. Meanwhile, you don't want to leave him till the end either. There might be a better option than C3PO though.

How about a tlt kwing with advanced slam

Wes might be a good idea for getting rid of focus tokens for those Jukes to definitely work. That or someone with Hot Shot Co-pilot. Wes with R3-A2 is a menace, and can't be ignored.

Wes might be a good idea for getting rid of focus tokens for those Jukes to definitely work. That or someone with Hot Shot Co-pilot. Wes with R3-A2 is a menace, and can't be ignored.

Big fan of Wes. Also Wedge with BB8, adaptibility, and IA for 31

Also you should add Prototype pilot title for your two A-Wings and give them Adaptability.

I had just posted my thoughts on this exact list a couple of days ago:

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/238831-theorycrafting-rebel-swarm-leader/

I think a low PS U-wing would fit the bill. I've tried Wedge before and found him to be pretty squishy, whereas a U-wing provides better bulk and defense in the form of blocking.

Wes might be a good idea for getting rid of focus tokens for those Jukes to definitely work. That or someone with Hot Shot Co-pilot. Wes with R3-A2 is a menace, and can't be ignored.

Big fan of Wes. Also Wedge with BB8, adaptibility, and IA for 31

Also you should add Prototype pilot title for your two A-Wings and give them Adaptability.

Adaptability makes no sense at all on that list. I don't need to go over PS3 to make the combo work, the triple U-boats were nerfed (so there is no special threat at PS3) and it would deny my the possibility of moving my formation in any order, which is great, especially when you have different dials on your ships.

I'm more interested in Crack Shot for more offense on the wingmen, or Cool Hand, in the case I need to K-turn with my formation.

I had just posted my thoughts on this exact list a couple of days ago:

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/238831-theorycrafting-rebel-swarm-leader/

I think a low PS U-wing would fit the bill. I've tried Wedge before and found him to be pretty squishy, whereas a U-wing provides better bulk and defense in the form of blocking.

Missed that thread, nice idea with the U-wing (but I don't own one for now, so I will have to find something else). Happy to see someone else is thinking that way !

I'm not sure about Snap Shot; I like the Snap + Juke combo, but I don't think I applies well to formation flying with a T70. Did you think about Cool Hand?

Missed that thread, nice idea with the U-wing (but I don't own one for now, so I will have to find something else). Happy to see someone else is thinking that way !

I'm not sure about Snap Shot; I like the Snap + Juke combo, but I don't think I applies well to formation flying with a T70. Did you think about Cool Hand?

I see your point with Snap Shot and think it only gets reliable value with the blocker in my list, since you'll know better where the opponent will be. Taking out Snap for Cool Hand gives you 2 points you can spend on Pattern Analyzer for Jess, letting all 3 of those ships k-turn with actions, which would be awesome for sure.

At 29 points and no U-wing, there's argument to be made for Braylen with Stressbot and Tactician, which is also a nice PS3, but, in reference to my other post, I believe another Evade user has a lot of value.

Definitely put Trickshot on the A-wings if you don't have the points for Crackshot. I also agree that Adaptability is unneeded.

I've played two casual games with the following:

Jess Pava with R2-D6, Swarm Leader, Pattern Analyzer and Integrated

3x Green Squadron with Snap Shot, Juke, and Authothrusters.

As for formation flying, I found it relatively easy to adapt the Finger Four formation for the squad. Openings typically start off with everyone in range 1, with the intention of blocking with one, giving range one shots for the others. If you do need to break away, you can typically stay in groups of two, giving Jess at least one reroll. And it's pretty easy to reform up. Jess is surprisingly tanky, so I wouldn't worry too much about drawing fire away from her. So long as they ignore the A's and go after her she'll be tough to take down.

I've also thought about switching out the load-out on one of the Green's to include Wingman, making Jess basically immune to stress on red maneuvers. Have yet to test it out though.

At 29 points and no U-wing, there's argument to be made for Braylen with Stressbot and Tactician, which is also a nice PS3, but, in reference to my other post, I believe another Evade user has a lot of value.

I also do think we need another Evade user; the U-wing seems to be the most reasonable choice; I just have to wait a little before mine makes its way to my collection. Won't be long

I've played two casual games with the following:

Jess Pava with R2-D6, Swarm Leader, Pattern Analyzer and Integrated

3x Green Squadron with Snap Shot, Juke, and Authothrusters.

As for formation flying, I found it relatively easy to adapt the Finger Four formation for the squad. Openings typically start off with everyone in range 1, with the intention of blocking with one, giving range one shots for the others. If you do need to break away, you can typically stay in groups of two, giving Jess at least one reroll. And it's pretty easy to reform up. Jess is surprisingly tanky, so I wouldn't worry too much about drawing fire away from her. So long as they ignore the A's and go after her she'll be tough to take down.

I've also thought about switching out the load-out on one of the Green's to include Wingman, making Jess basically immune to stress on red maneuvers. Have yet to test it out though.

I don't think I would be able to fly correctly a Finger Four formation, especially setting up blocks, without using the boost action - and you need that evade to get Swarm Leader kicking in. Maybe I just have to try and practice

As for Wingman, I don't think it's that useful, as Jess still receives rerolls from formation flying, stressed or not.

Thnaks for sharing your experience with your list !

To be completely honest, it is the only time I've ever tried the finger four, so I may have horribly butchered it I definitely did find myself boosting a lot on the approach. If you need to boost for the block, you can always evade with two A's, and you'll likely still have at least 1 evade for swarm leader (still a four dice fully modded attack, against something that you've hopefully stripped a focus from). You bring up a good point though, that the A's suffer from limited action economy. You have to have a lot of patience with naked red dice to fly the list.

That's also a good point about wingman, I was mostly considering it when theorycrafting ways to keep the financial cost of the list down in case I ever wanted to bring it to a tournament. It's not so much for enabling actions as it is to keep the ships in formation after the k-turn, since the T-70 only has green straight maneuvers in common with the A's, and often you'll want to 2- turn or 2- bank out of the red maneuvers.

If you're looking to spend 33 points for rebels you could take a look at Jake with PTL, VI, AT's and Prockets. Much arc dodging fun

Could do 3xJuke/SnapShot GSPs along with Jess. It's hilarious and lots of fun. Those 2-attack A-Wings become terrifying in a hurry, and they can donate their evades after they Juke.

I find it fun that you have the same idea. I posted this in the original thread the day Swarm Leader was spoiled. It has a lot of the same stuff you have, but some slight tweaks.

I was thinking imperial initially, but now I saw something and I think it may be what's needed here:

Jess Pava — T-70 X-Wing 25
R2-D6 1
Swarm Leader 3
Integrated Astromech 0
Ship Total: 29

Green Squadron Pilot — A-Wing 19
Juke 2
Chardaan Refit -2
A Score to Settle 0
A-Wing Test Pilot 0
Ship Total: 19

Green Squadron Pilot — A-Wing 19
Juke 2
Chardaan Refit -2
Crack Shot 1
A-Wing Test Pilot 0
Ship Total: 20

Wes Janson — X-Wing 29
Veteran Instincts 1
R3 Astromech 2
Integrated Astromech 0
Ship Total: 32

Formation flying, and focused targeting on this makes for big trouble for the opponent. Wes strips focus, then the As with their evade tokens can Juke through a couple of shots before Jess takes their evades and throws another big shot at the enemy. R3 allows Wes to possibly contribute as well if he doesn't get shot at. I think the combo with Juke and a lower (or same) PS shooting maximizes the effectiveness of those evade tokens.

I've since changed it to put Trick Shot on instead of Score to Settle, as it ended up hurting more times than helping me. Ironically, R3 procs about 40% of the time, meaning that I can still get big Swarm Leader shots even if someone does need their evade for defense. I've flown it about 12 times on Vassal and gone 6/6. Not sure if that's bad piloting, or bad matchups or what. Maybe it's just not my play style. Still, it has been fun to fly. And getting those massive 5 hit shots in with Jess is always fun too.

Here's some feedback on my game of yesterday night :

Since I have not U-wing (for nom) or ARC (prelogy doesn't exist, you know^^), I tried something fun and a little different, adding a blocker.

The list was this one :

Green Squadron Pilot (22) x 2 A-Wing (19), A-Wing Test Pilot (0), Chardaan Refit (-2), Cool Hand (1), Autothrusters (2), Juke (2)

Arvel Crynyd (25) A-Wing (23), A-Wing Test Pilot (0), Chardaan Refit (-2), Autothrusters (2), Intimidation (2)

Jess Pava (31) T-70 X-Wing (25), R2-D6 (1), Autothrusters (2), Swarm Leader (3)

And it worked like a charm !

I began in pinwheel formation with Jess and Arvel in front. First turn, 4 forward with Jess and GSPs, while Arvel already gone with 5 forward.
2nd turn, as my opponent was expectingly breaking to try and fire missiles, I projected Arvel a little more forward, setting and getting a good block on my main menace. With GSPs and Jess firing on the same target (blocked with 1 less green die from Arvel), it when to pieces easily
The next turn, I went 3K with the GSP and T-roll with Jess, using Cool Hand to get the evades, while Arvel began his turn with a 1 hard, so that he was at R1 of Jess, giving her a third reroll to compensate the lack of focus this turn. Second turn of fire, second enemy down; the rest of the game from this point was fairly easy for me, even if from that point I didn't manage to get more good blocks with Arvel (I will have to practice that a lot!).

I had a good matchup since the enemy team was jousting and quite easy to block on the first round of fire, and I think this helped me a lot. But still, Swarm Leader and Juke A-wings is, IMO, a quite effective combo !

I've played these lists once each:

Jess w/ R2-D6, Swarm leader, AT

3x GSP w/juke, snap shot, title, refit, AT

This was a Vassal game vs Dash/Miranda, and it murdered Miranda in 2 turns of shooting. I got lucky with a good block and an already wounded Mirnada in 3 arcs with 2 evades. 6 hit/crits!

For a live home game last night, I swapped AT for Integrated on Jess and one A-wing for: Zeb (Attack Shuttle) w/ ICT, Rey crew. He checks a lot of boxes (PS3, evade action, 3 Att), and provided a very valuable control element (great for setting up snap shots) and another target to draw fire from Jess. I won vs Zuckuss, 2 cannon scyks and a BTL ion Y-wing.

I used a GSP Juke/Snap Shot list last night and it got absolutely torn apart, probably largely because of rolling double blanks on snap shot nearly every time. Even if it's a bonus attack there is something frustrating about rolling unmodified dice

I think you'll want to play Greens with Juke and Snap Shot. They end up at 21 points w/ Refit. You fly them in close hoping to block or fire off Snap Shots, then you can eat the evade token for Swarm Leader before they take a regular shot and not really worry about it so much.

Cassian with Jan Ors, Rey, Fcs, Expertise or some other Ept.

Jan Ors generates another evade for Jess from Rey's stash of focus, you will be focusing the entire time and Cassian's ability can help with any extra stress. Cassian shoots first and peels some tokens if needed for Jess to hit the point home.