I love the B-Wing. The 'oddball' ship of the rebel fleet. Or the 'ugly duckling', depending who you ask

However, the 3 main things that I feel could be addressed are the following;

EDIT: Just to preface, I haven't learned to use Strange Eons or downloaded the plugins yet, so these are just Photoshop drafts to get the idea across. So formatting/text sizing etc may vary from official cards since I had to eyeball everything.


1) Survivability

1 agility can be tough. Especially when it's your main ace.

Even ONE round of focused attacks can lay your 37-40 point investment to waste. But the 'solution' exists already in epic play... the reinforce action. An evade token that lasts the entire round; only in *this* case (see card below), with the stipulation that you haven't already taken a hammering; once you're into your hull points, you lose the benefit.

2) Offensive output

Don't get me wrong, 3 attack dice is nice, but it's becoming increasingly common - pretty much *standard* at this point. Yet lore-wise, the B-Wing is a heavy assault fighter; it *should* outshine an X-Wing and similar craft in this department – when flown as intended. But I think everyone would agree, giving it a base stat of 4 attack would be heavy-handed,especially considering the cost implications... B-Wing aces are already too expensive.

So thinking about this, I tried to come up with an ability that would reward you for aggressive flying, as the B-Wing was intended for (see below). As I said, I haven't play-tested these yet, so maybe the maneuvers here are too limiting ( maybe 2-speed maneuvers should be the trigger? ) - but an effect *similar* this would make the ship more thematic AND give it a little bit of added punch over a standard 3 dice attack. Provided you have access to a token; and Advanced Sensors will even trigger it with a K-Turn. Though this wouldn’t be a problem for Keyan Farlander , who doesn’t mind getting the stress.

3) Cost

Ten Numb. Keyan Farlander. Ibtisam.

All aces with interesting (and in the case of Ten Numb, devastating) abilities. But they all share a common problem... with the possible exception of Nera Dantels, they are too expensive for their estimated lifespan to be worth taking the majority of the time. The main reason for this, I believe, is the 1 agility stat. On a generic, you don't mind as much, but when your main ace is a 1 agility ship and gets caught by more than 1 attack... you keep rolling that blank or focus (which is now useless to you because you probably maximised your offence) - it can be *rough*.

Since the only B-Wing ever likely to use torpedoes is Nera Dantels, thanks to an awesome and fun ability, the slots go unused for the most part on any other pilot. Since these slots were likely factored into the ship's base cost, why not rake back some of that untapped potential? At a -1 squad point cost (similar to Chardaan Refit for A-Wings), you sacrifice all ordinance capability for a small cost reduction - aimed primarily at helping the aces bring the cost down. You now have an ace that won't be quite as sore on your points budget OR go all in and combine this with Enhanced Deflectors and you have a lone ace that can stick around past the first engagement and not melt right away.

Now, I don't profess to be a game designer by any means and I have not play-tested any these yet (in terms of working out cost or tweaking the effect triggers). But these are just some proposed upgrades to boost the B-Wing's staying-power and make it a more unique ship, in terms of game mechanics and theme.


Let me know what you think; and if anyone has a chance to test any of this, I'd love to hear what the results were!

Accidentally posted the same card image twice; fixed it now!

Some good idea's, would be cool should they give it a helping hand, though if you take Enhanced Deflectors you couldn't take E2 unless the B-wing got a card like Royal Guard Tie title.

Only trouble is that if they have new B-wings and A-wings in the new Episode VIII that the old ones won't get a fix. Here's to getting that fix!

Cool! Some comments..

Reinforce token is problematic since the b-wing does not have a line dividing the fore and aft section. A bit odd if it would not work the same way as that wookie gunship thing. I would probably skip that card althogether and continue working on the other card ideas.

Perhaps you should consider limiting the fixes to higher PS b-wings (the ones that need it)?

4x BPS ; reconstructed chassis, knife fighter and an a-wing (or tie firghter with intel agent perhaps?) is quite the improvment over the alreaddy somewhat hated 4bz squad

Reinforce works fine, using the new spoiled rules card from the wookie ship.

I like all of the upgrades, i just dont like the name of "knife fighter". The costs probably need playtesting.

I see only two problem with the generics. Need a K-turn more than 2 due to large ship bases that entered the game. The second is debatable about having a white 3-bank.

I don't believe generics should get any additional capabilities than the ability to K-Turn except the outside chance of a white 3-Bank.

But you are dead-on about the Elite's need additional help. They have good abilities but their costs are so prohibitive in relation to their ability to exist on the board. I believe this is why we see more Miranda than Elite B-Wings even though both are AGI 1.

Have you considered another Refit that removes both torpedoes and also the cannon for maybe a reduction of -3 points?

BTW...I am one of those guys who has used Proton Torpedoes on Keyan.

Cannons are what makes it tough, I have yet to take any other ordnance on a B-wing, an extra hull and agility/re-enforce are a way to go, lose torps, lower cost and add re-enforce, though then you would most likely be using re-enforce almost constantly.
The B-wing does seem to fall out of the sky quicker than any other 1 agility ship that the Rebels have and it's supposed to be a tough as hard hitter.

For the firepower problem I would rather see an ability related to the cannon slot since that is the in game representation of their greater firepower. I had a custom card that was essentially the same as the TIE/D title... but then Imp Vets came out so I'm not so keen on pushing that particular set up (also rebels have an upcoming high power, low cost cannon with the C-roc). So that's a more delicate problem...

Love the Enhanced Deflectors modification. It might be a point under cost, using Isard as a reference point for costing. Maybe restrict it to activating only if you have one or fewer stress? Restricting evade tokens is both good balance and theme.

Not a fan of the Restructured Chassis though... Straight negative cost (or any negative cost) is just not something I like because it becomes too much of an auto-take, reducing ship flexibility :/ I'd rather see some kind of upgrade that makes torpedoes more appealing

Don't know how knife fight will work with a K-turn, you would have to adv sensor a focus token or pass one to a stressed B-wing.

NO TO CHARDAAN RETROFITS!!!!!!!!! Seriously, no, no, no, no! Restructured chasis needs to be thrown out the window. At least kill the cannon slot too if you are going to do that. What B-wings needs is a way to get a target lock after spending a focus from Dead-eye, sort of like the U-boats before all the nerfs.

We need to make <torpedo> and <missile> slots useful in the game, not try and throw them all away!

Bwing buffs? Ive got a bunch. Laptop is in the shop, however, so digging up the images is more of a pain than its worth.

But between Gyro Stabilization System, Integrated Weapons Platform, Heavy Framing, Strike Torpedoes, and Guidance Computer, the bwing gets options.

5 hours ago, SwordOwaR said:

Some good idea's, would be cool should they give it a helping hand, though if you take Enhanced Deflectors you couldn't take E2 unless the B-wing got a card like Royal Guard Tie title.

Only trouble is that if they have new B-wings and A-wings in the new Episode VIII that the old ones won't get a fix. Here's to getting that fix!

Being that the Resistance Transport Ship is made of of repurposed B-Wing parts I doubt we'll be seeing them in future movies... A-Wings we will though as shown with some of those leaked pictures with Mark Hamill and Prince Harry.

You know, I would be willing to get behind a variant of that Enhanced Deflectors card...

Enhanced Deflectors
Modification. B-wing only.

Action: Gain a forward-facing Re-enforce token.

(2pts)

This leaves the B-wing able to re-enforce... but only in the standard forward arc. Even there, though, this is the kind of advantage that could make one heck of a head-on jouster against swarms, TLT, and associated mass-fire lists.
This also encourages counterplay: Yes, it's better than an Evade, but it's also heavily limited in the arc it can protect. It'll laugh at a swarm, but struggle against an ace. Great fun!

I think a possible solution would be 2 different upgrade cards. These would be:

1. Taking up the cannon slot and both torpedo slots offering a 3 point squad value deduction for all ships PS5 and above

2. Taking up the torpedo slots only offering a 3 point deduction on any equipped cannon upgrade.

Means can reduce cost of elites without opening door to 5 generics in a list. Also means can decide whether want to run elites with a cannon with a deduction (Ten Numb and Mangler) or just take the 3 point deduction (such as Keyan who often won't run with a cannon).

Only real issue is that is leaves Nora out in the cold a little

7 minutes ago, J Viz said:

Taking up the cannon slot and both torpedo slots offering a 3 point squad value deduction for all ships PS5 and above

I don't like pilot skill based bonuses unless it is an elite pilot talent.

I would like to see some of the new fancy maneuvers applied to early releases. Tallon roll cannot just be for post RotJ ships if the Scurrrrg has it. B-wing could get some use out a 2-speed Tallon Roll. System slot maybe? Or if you want to make it more playable, a torpedo upgrade that says

"When you reveal a 2 hard turn maneuver, you may treat that maneuver as a red 2 tallon roll maneuver."

I totally agree that taking a bomber's torpedo slots isn't a good idea. Reinforce token I'd tie to the firing arc. That means that you either reinforce a whole lot of the ship or only the front section, but depending on whether you need survivabilty against intercepting flankers or for jousting, that makes a lot of sense.

On 3/21/2017 at 3:46 PM, GeneticDrift said:

Reinforce works fine, using the new spoiled rules card from the wookie ship.

How to you tell the difference between the front and rear without the 180 arc? Guess? That is just asking for issues.

The reinforce rules for small and large ships treat fore as in-arc, and aft as out of arc. The wookie gunship happens to have a 180 degree firing arc so it's basically the same as front and rear, but you could use the same rule set with any small or large based ship.

It could be a little weird though when a ship when a rear-facing auxilary/special arc reinforces the "Fore" section, but I doubt there will ever be a combination where that can happen.

6 hours ago, joeshmoe554 said:

The reinforce rules for small and large ships treat fore as in-arc, and aft as out of arc. The wookie gunship happens to have a 180 degree firing arc so it's basically the same as front and rear, but you could use the same rule set with any small or large based ship.

It could be a little weird though when a ship when a rear-facing auxilary/special arc reinforces the "Fore" section, but I doubt there will ever be a combination where that can happen.

Or any ship that can re-enforce a regular out-of-arc.

A specially made upgrade that allows only the forward arc could be pretty awesome, though - punishers, b-wings and their ilk would love it, and help bring good flying back into the game in the meantime.

Alternatively, instead of doing a reinforce token (problematic with the rules), you could give them a pseudo-reinforce token that is slightly weaker (to offset that it is free). Something like this:

Reinforced Deflectors: B-Wing only. Modification.: When defending, if you have 2 or more shield tokens, you may add 1 Evade result to your roll. This essentially gives them the Reinforce action, but for free, but it turns off when they are at half health. It would need to cost something, perhaps 2.

As for Knife fighter, I don't know if someone mentioned this, but half of the card says if you performed a K turn, you may add an Eye to your roll. Unless your the B-Wing that can spend stress as a Focus, this doesn't help. Also, when I think of them being Knife fighters, I think of their hard 1, rather than the straights. Maybe have it be:

Knife Fighter: Title: When performing a Hard 1 turn or a K-Turn, you may reroll any Eye results when attacking or defending.

These are just ideas. Thanks for sharing!

Why is a re-enforce action problematic, provided you specify the direction it must face?

Yes, please, Reinforce for B-Wings!

Problem with its elites is that they die before they can pay for their cost.
Even the smallest attacks usually land damage on the B-wing, and there is nothing you can do to avoid it. You don't have the agility, dial or tricks to keep Keyan, Ten, and pals alive, other than Biggs, neither a way to keep them at least consistently damaging the opponent for the few rounds before they die.
K-Wings have turrets, SLAM, and regen; Y-Wings have turrets and astromechs; ARCs have two arcs and ways to get evades or regen.
B-wings have nothing and they are supposed to be the Rebels' sturdiest starfighter.

B-wings are supposed to be the ultimate jousters. Dangerous cannons and strong shields. Nothing should outjoust a B-wing, not even a TIE Defender.

The base ideas seem interesting, though I don't think they are fully the right implementation..

The restructured chassis is interesting but imo does not do enough for survival and cost (which most of these imo dont do). I just don't know how much is to far.. lol.

Good luck though!