So I was thinking about running double Rebel Regen, an ARC and an X, for a casual game, and had just enough points for the traditional Biggs, and decided to give the great moustache of Tatooine a chance. As I thought about the team and the formation I would fly a thought struck, what if I don't let the enemy shoot Biggs for a time? So the idea was fly Biggs just out of range of the regenerating ships, and let them get a little shot up. Then run in with Biggs and cover them for a turn or two so they can heal, then evacuate Biggs again, rinse and repeat until Biggs is dead. I don't know if it's insane or brilliant. Sorry to bother you guys with this, I hardly ever fly Biggs, so I don't know the techniques too well. Most of the ones I've killed just stay in formation and serve as an annoying HP wall between my real target and I.

Grammar edit

Not that I'm an expert, but you seem to have grasped advanced tactics with Biggs.

If it helps the list was:

Nora: Overhaul, R2-D2, Tail Gunner, PTL

Wedge (don't say a word it's for fun and he makes me happy): Expertise, R5-P9, Integrated

Biggs: R4-D6, Integrated

This is how Paul Heaver used Biggs waaaay back when. Instead of throwing him into the fight immediately he would hang back and come in when mose needed.

This is how Paul Heaver used Biggs waaaay back when. Instead of throwing him into the fight immediately he would hang back and come in when mose needed.

I feel like if it was a Heaver tactic it can't be a terrible plan.

Although this is really old school there may have been a time you'd fly someone like Luke w/ R2D2 and Draw Their Fire next to Biggs so Luke could pull of any criticals that would have landed on Biggs and have them hit a regenerating shield instead and extending Bigg's life. What you're asking is essentially a variation on that.

This is how Paul Heaver used Biggs waaaay back when. Instead of throwing him into the fight immediately he would hang back and come in when mose needed.

I feel like if it was a Heaver tactic it can't be a terrible plan.

I would say... be careful. You have two rather fragile ships there. Neither can move very well. Honestly, considering the damage output of modern lists, i'd say don't actually do this. You could just straight up lose Wedge on the first turn of combat cause he has no tokens. Given that 3 X7s seem to be a benchmark of sorts, they easily have the firepower to one-turn Wedge. The meta seems to be going back to an initial joust, at least in my experience, and since Xs and ARCs are literally the actual worst at jousting, you reallllllllllly want Biggs in there. It also enables Norra to use her ability offensively and get a huge damage spike from Wedge and Norra, possibly even down a Defender.

This is how Paul Heaver used Biggs waaaay back when. Instead of throwing him into the fight immediately he would hang back and come in when mose needed.

I feel like if it was a Heaver tactic it can't be a terrible plan.

I would say... be careful. You have two rather fragile ships there. Neither can move very well. Honestly, considering the damage output of modern lists, i'd say don't actually do this. You could just straight up lose Wedge on the first turn of combat cause he has no tokens. Given that 3 X7s seem to be a benchmark of sorts, they easily have the firepower to one-turn Wedge. The meta seems to be going back to an initial joust, at least in my experience, and since Xs and ARCs are literally the actual worst at jousting, you reallllllllllly want Biggs in there. It also enables Norra to use her ability offensively and get a huge damage spike from Wedge and Norra, possibly even down a Defender.

This is how Paul Heaver used Biggs waaaay back when. Instead of throwing him into the fight immediately he would hang back and come in when mose needed.

I feel like if it was a Heaver tactic it can't be a terrible plan.

I would say... be careful. You have two rather fragile ships there. Neither can move very well. Honestly, considering the damage output of modern lists, i'd say don't actually do this. You could just straight up lose Wedge on the first turn of combat cause he has no tokens. Given that 3 X7s seem to be a benchmark of sorts, they easily have the firepower to one-turn Wedge. The meta seems to be going back to an initial joust, at least in my experience, and since Xs and ARCs are literally the actual worst at jousting, you reallllllllllly want Biggs in there. It also enables Norra to use her ability offensively and get a huge damage spike from Wedge and Norra, possibly even down a Defender.

It's a great strategy. Only question is how well you can pull it off. You need not only to keep Biggs from being shot, but also keep your regen ships from being instantly focused down -- it can be tricky.

If it helps the list was:

Nora: Overhaul, R2-D2, Tail Gunner, PTL

Wedge (don't say a word it's for fun and he makes me happy): Expertise, R5-P9, Integrated

Biggs: R4-D6, Integrated

Well I am thinking the white 4 is going to be an important trick, and then trying to split the fire between the two aces by covering one at a time with Biggs, making the other one a more enticing target while the one heals. I used a similar trick with a Corran, Wedge, and Kyle list once. The hard part is not getting tailed out of the initial joust, which I'm hoping will only be a huge issue with Tie Defenders. Arcs could be trouble too, but less so.

This is how Paul Heaver used Biggs waaaay back when. Instead of throwing him into the fight immediately he would hang back and come in when mose needed.

I feel like if it was a Heaver tactic it can't be a terrible plan.

I would say... be careful. You have two rather fragile ships there. Neither can move very well. Honestly, considering the damage output of modern lists, i'd say don't actually do this. You could just straight up lose Wedge on the first turn of combat cause he has no tokens. Given that 3 X7s seem to be a benchmark of sorts, they easily have the firepower to one-turn Wedge. The meta seems to be going back to an initial joust, at least in my experience, and since Xs and ARCs are literally the actual worst at jousting, you reallllllllllly want Biggs in there. It also enables Norra to use her ability offensively and get a huge damage spike from Wedge and Norra, possibly even down a Defender.

Umm quick question though, why does Wedge not have any tokens? He should have the focus in that joust. Play a conservative early game if the joust looks unfavorable, which it likely would.

I worded that wrong, but what i meant was: Just a focus token really isn't enough anymore. Norra gets away with "just" a focus and TL because she converts both into a confirmed hit or evade + any focus results already rolled. The mark of viability is the ability to be stacked with mods, and for cheap. That's why Defenders are so popular, is because they get free evade tokens at -2 points.

Expertise helps, but the more ships on the other side of the table, the less that one defensive focus is doing. And, unlike X7s, losing Wedge is half your offensive firepower, instead of a third.

Don't NOT use Wedge though. Seriously, somebody needs to use ol' Wedge and it might as well be you. More power to you if you win.

You dont wamt yo expose either to the entire enemy squad

But if one or two simply cant shoot biggs and have to split fire on a regen ship, now that is all good

This is how Paul Heaver used Biggs waaaay back when. Instead of throwing him into the fight immediately he would hang back and come in when mose needed.

I feel like if it was a Heaver tactic it can't be a terrible plan.

People tend to think of Biggs as extra health to add to another ship. If you do that though all you're doing is changing the order in which your ships die. That's a useful ability in its own right but is only a fragment of his true power. Biggs can outright prevent focus fire if played correctly.

The better solution is to position Biggs so that he's only in arc of some of the enemy list, instead of the entire enemy list.

So what I'm hearing is try to force a few shots at Biggs, but not all of them, and tag the regenerators in and out to keep them alive.

more like formation fly in such a way that Biggs clips some arcs but not all

you're going to want the re-generators in range of him though

Alright I will report back how this goes then. Perhaps this will become a trend.

I don't know if it's insane or brilliant.

Brilliant if you can pull it off. Insane otherwise. So it's probably both.

Alright I will report back how this goes then. Perhaps this will become a trend.

As has already been pointed out, it's been known for a while this is ideally how you use Biggs. Regardless of whatever other tricks your list has, the very basic strategy in X-wing is to focus one ship down then move to the next; barring lucky crits a ship with 1 hull left is just as dangerous as one at full health so removing a ship, even if it's 'overkill', is typically always he best call to make when presented with a choice of targets. That's where Biggs' real power comes from, forcing your opponent to not be able to concentrate fire on a single target and take it off the table. He's still just an X-wing and if your opponent's entire list is forced to shoot him he's just going to go down in the first engagement and he's only bought your main pieces a single turn. If on the other hand you force your opponent into a situation where only some of their list can shoot Biggs(easiest example, as you close for the initial engagement leave Biggs towards the back, so ideally in that first exchange Biggs is Range 3 of some enemies and out of range for others) and you force some of your opponents damage on to ships that can ideally just regenerate those losses. This is pretty much Biggs 101.

Being aware of Rule of 11 and some luck in foreseeing enemy moves helps a lot, too

This is how I would have foreseen Bigg's is SUPPOSED to be played. That said good on you for playing Wedge despite Wedge not actually living up to Wedge in the EU

This is how I would have foreseen Bigg's is SUPPOSED to be played. That said good on you for playing Wedge despite Wedge not actually living up to Wedge in the EU

Wedge is one of my mainstays, no props necessary give him a chance he's really fun.

As others have said, I wouldn't keep him back entirely. You don't want the possibility of one of your regen ships to go down or take significant hull damage on the first pass. If possible, force split fire for as many rounds as possible.

I would often keep Biggs in for the first 2 passes, and if he survives, disengage and bring him back when needed. Normally after 2 passes, you should be able to do good damage to your opponent where it's OK to not keep him around and you can regen away.