Just wondering what other people think, in terms of playability and balance. My vote is the TIE SF.

Why? Because it is well made and even though there are obvious canonical mistakes the solidity of design more than makes up for them. Let's start with the lack of a crew slot. That pissed me off at first but after flying them for awhile now I realize how broken that would be. Rec Spec + Sensor Cluster means you always have two evades no matter what. Tailgunner on Backdraft? Get out you bully. No, the Y-Wing theory works for the SF because otherwise it'd be too powerful. And only two agility? I thought that was bunk too but again, I started flying them and I realized that an extra green (for free) would be too much. Six total health protected by three dice was rage inducing enough on the Defender when it got decent mods, can you imagine that on something that can take system and tech? Again, get out you bully! Even Light Frame is situational and priced at a premium and really requires Sensor Cluster to work. You're actually paying 4 points for that extra green. So again, balanced. If you want to run multiple SFs (and you should) then you can't really run them with all the toys and thus one has to choose wisely. Its not a JM5K where you can just pile on cards for next to nothing! Well, you can but then you're looking at 40 point aces! Lol. And now the title. Probably the best title you can ask for. Roll an extra red or get a second attack, for free? Seems kinda OP but when you realize that the SF needs some upgrades to really work the free title kinda makes sense and when one considers the not cheap cost of the ship itself it all starts to fall into place. If the title were even 1 point it would be invalid simply because the SF requires other cards to fly efficiently. The title is on the mark. Now the dial. We have access to all turns and banks, plus the best turn around move in the game. Doesn't matter that there is so much red because again certain cards eliminate those issues and in a variety of ways. Want to roll off a 1 turn? There is a tech card or two for that. Want attack mods through stress? Systems slot. You can have nice things with the SF, but you have to pay for them.

Not to fanboi the SF, but I really think this particular ship is quite balanced and for me at least is the best designed ship in the game right now. So what is your best designed ship and why?

And please no Jumpbashing. We all know people don't like it so let's not have any "well not the JM5K, haha!" replies please...

I love Tie Striker. I have no idea if it is well or bad designed, simply my taste. I was not hot about this prior to launch but...

- New game mechanic. AAs. Pre maneuver movement. Easy to understand, not easy to master. Not about combos... A simple rule explained in the upgrade card.

- 3 good unique pilots and 3 generics in a 15$ expansión.

- Quite large model and including moving parts.

- Not OP ship. Compare them with the abusive Fenn Rau. AA is much fun than Concord Dawn Protector. In my opinion.

There are many good expansions. Ironicaly the JM5K, despite its powerlevel problems, is among them. The ship is a PWT that cares about its arc in multiple ways. It can be build as blocker, alpha-striker, supporter and centerpiece. It does most of these things on a very high level which is a problem for the game, but in the right spot it would have been purely amazing.

I agree that the SF is pretty cool for the reasons you mentioned. Again different playstyles and a unique experience flying the ship.

Same goes for the ARC, actually.

Edit: Oh, and for something a bit older: The Lambda Shuttle. Ridiculously efficient frame, hilariously bad dial, a real challenge to leverage but very rewarding when mastered. It is a real shame it was relegated to Palp-duties for the most part recently, because Buzzsaw and Doom both are a lot more fun (for the youngsters: FCS/Gunner OGG and Vader OGP) than the Palp-caddy. Maybe Palp no longer being insultingly better will allow for some new Doom now. Probably not now that TIE Strikers and Bombers offer easier ships in that point range. Still a great ship!

I honestly can't pick just one. For rebels I like the ARC-170 and VCX. You can run them both definsively (Regen on an ARC with c3po, Kanaan in a VCX) or offensively (PTL Norra attk shuttle with titles and a turret on VCX)

I like the yv-666 for scum. It's an absolute powerhouse when combined with the awesome options of scum crew. However, it's not the most maneuverable ship though, so you have to fly it well to keep it alive long enough for it's damage output to matter. I know alot of people think it looks like a brown stapler, but I like its look, I guess I have bad taste!

For imps I like the original TIE fighter. I think that it's probably the best priced ship FFG has ever done. A full swarm or a mini swarm were a challenge to deal with also. I know they haven't seen alot of table time recently, but I believe that to be from a little bit of power creep as we get farther and farther away from wave 1 and not an inherent problem with the ship itself.

The ARC-170 is my personal favorite. I also like the TIE/sf. And, while the initial design was bad, I think the fixed TIE Advanced is really well done.

I love myself some T70. It captures the feel very well, and while it isn't exactly hot in the current meta, it remains my favorite ship to fly.

TAP. Since I play Epic, arc-dodging glass cannons don't survive well; the TAP flies like one but with the Title and Evade gets a little of the durability of the Defender while still feeling like a TIE/ln or Interceptor. Prockets are a nice bonus.

The one and only, original TIE Fighter. Iconic on every level.

Down to is lack of shields, potential to pop in one salvo, and Stormtrooper-esque accuracy. Perfectly captured set of actions, dial and cost.

TIE Defender (with x7 title)

ARC - 170

JM5K

The A-Wing. Been out forever but still viable. Granted it took some fixes to keep it that way but yeah, I fly A-Wings all the time.

Best-designed ship? Let me see . . . that means something that's balanced, has its own flavor, and is fun to fly. In that vein, I've got a couple:

• The TIE Striker. Adaptive Ailerons might not be the most elegant design work, but they give the ship a unique feel and make it great fun to fly.
• The A-Wing. I always say that it's one of the most balanced ships in the game (post Chardaan Refit). It's got the most elegant "fix cards" out there (simple from a rules perspective and with clear opportunity costs), it has a very distinct playstyle, and is a ton of fun to fly. Not sure if it can still hold up in the meta, but I'd blame that on other things being too powerful.
• The Protectorate Starfighter might just have to be on the list too, although it's low on the list. With Mindlink, I frickin' hate this thing. Concord Dawn is a little over-complicated for my tastes, but it does a great job of giving the ship its own distinct flare. Most importantly, though, is the fact that the Protectorate doesn't have the evade action (but it's still good). Having that possibility of four blanks, in my opinion, makes it a lot more fun to fly with and against.

Gozanti. That ship is so much fun. Deploying ships is great and you can either enhance quantity or quality of the deployed ships with the titles. You can squeeze it in a 100 point list.

I love TIE Fighters. They are just so thematic. And surprisingly robust despite no shields. "There's too many of them!". Having fun with Snap Shot these days. I wish they had Swarm like Armada and Howlrunner had her Armada ability but then they'd be unstoppable

The original Imperial shuttle.

They thought about making a bad dial. And they did it. All Kudos to them.

If the Jumpmaster had red right turns and no right sloop I would have voted for that as it would have the most interesting flying style and setups; as is it has no flaws and so fails.

The TIE Fighter.

Shadow Caster is probably my favourite design.

Shame half the pilots are bad.

TIE SF. With Pattern Analyzer it has one of the best dials, just needs to shed stress. With LWF it's close to 3 Agi. Rear arc. Tech+System. PS9 ace ('nuff said) and a PS7 ace with a great ability.

And boy is it a beauty!

TIE Fighter. Pretty much the standard against which everything else had been measured.

Just now, thespaceinvader said:

Shadow Caster is probably my favourite design.

Shame half the pilots are bad.

Really, you think? I've used all of them bar the generic and they've performed really well...

Yah.

I've run Sabine once or twice and she just doesn't measure up. Not having an EPT hurts too much.

I suspect the generic might be reasonable spammed (3 of them is 30 HP behind 2 green with an outstanding dial and massive arcs) but you don't get any build flexibility and it costs a fortune in actual money.

YV-666. Durable and flexible, so much to love about this ship, so many awesome ways to configure and load it out.

Brobots!

+Love the B & C double tap cannons and boost w/ free evade

+hot stats 3-3-4-4

+competitive but not too OP

+Just super fun to be boostin and sloopin and chuckin lots of HLC dice

-One of my least favorite models in the game

The VCX-100, hands down

Giant model that should probably be epic scale but wouldn't sell as well if it were, just slap that bad boy on a Large template with an extra stick

Bright, pastel colors all over the hull to really make it blend in with the more muted blues and greys of the ships from the films

Iconic, I C O N I C characters from the films some cartoon(?) in every pilot slot (yes I saw Rogue One, I know Chopper and Hera were there)

A veritable SLEW of upgrade options, way more than the boring, less popular "aluminum falcon" or the more comparable "slave one and done"

Decent dial, but not enough white sloops/k-turns/talon rolls

Wordy title that takes several readings and an FAQ clarification to use and utilize correctly, allowing for MORE TLT rolls in a round, something the game was dearly missing.

4 dice primary, not sure why every ship doesn't have one by now!

Oh shoot are we talking about our FAVORITE ship?

I hope I don't piss off any Rebels fans too badly.

I agree that it's probably the VCX. It works from 40pts all the way up to 70+ with the Phantom. It can be jouster or tank or arc-dodger, the pilots are all useful and sufficiently different... yeah, it's got to be a strong shout.

If not the VCX it might be the humble TIE Fighter. If they'd got that wrong the game would have been a wreck from the outset.

Imperial: Decimator,the 3 named pilots are useful and change the way its played. but the more i play with the sf, the more i like it. i dont particularly like the fo but im in love with Omega Leader.

Rebel: ARC and the new Tie

Scum: Jumpmaster

Now that you guys say that, I do really like the Ghost.

And the ARC. And I do like the Protectorate Starfighter.

And I really, really like A-Wings, despite their limitations.