Heyo! So I'm new to X-Wing (Like, I don't even own the starter kit yet. I was introduced to the game through a few matches over a while back and loved it, and since we have like no hobbyists here anymore I figured I'd finally get into this game)

Anyways 2 things, 1 of which actually pertains to this thread.

First Thing: Should I collect both Rebels and Empire miniatures and try to focus on playing both?

Second Thing
- So, I'll definitely be repainting my miniatures once I pick them up. I'll need to buy a new brush cause my detail brush is dead (RIP Detail Brush: 2013 - 2016, since that was the last time I used it) I'm also gonna pick up some more paints (I use GW) since I'm running low on colors that don't look silly.

-So since I'm pretty sure that collecting both Rebels and Empire is the way to go, I'd like to either paint them the same scheme or 2 different, contrasting themes ^^ Anyways, I'll post the ideas here, and I'll let you all decide what you want to see, cause I'm up for anything.

1.) A Junkyard Theme: Okay, so an idea would be to base my entire fleet (Both Rebels and Empire) around a junk theme, as if a group of smugglers / a small gang decided to repurpose a bunch of Empire/Rebel ships. So for the paintstyle here, I'd more than likely do a brown / black theme, with the gang's colors painted on in some small areas (and the painted on colors would look fresh and such, unlike the rest of the ship that would be scratched up / rusty like). And since the ships would be brown/black/metallic, I could probably do the paint as a bright color, such as orange.

2.) Steampunk Theme: So steampunk wouldn't work SUPER well because ya know, there aren't any gears and such on here (although if I can find some at a small enough scale this could be possible). And the color scheme would be brass / browns / etc. (Ya know, steampunky)

3.) Fire / Ice Squadrons: Alright, so the thought here would be to do one faction with reds / oranges / etc and maybe some black, while doing the other with blues / greys / maybe some white. I'd probably do the empire as Fire (or Flame) Squadron and the rebels as Ice (or Frost) Squadron.

4.) Greyscale Squads: So this is probably the most boring idea. Anyways, the idea here would be to simply give all the models a black prime, and then a metallic grey paint job and then a nuln oil wash (Black wash, Games Workshop paint line) and then do the squad colors on each squad (so blue for Empire and red for Rebels)

5.) SPHESS: So ya know what SPHESS (or space, if you're boring) is. (Or atleast I hope you do, since this is Star Wars we're talkin bout). Anyways, the idea would be to do camouflage that I dunno why they haven't done in the movies and stuff (probably cause it's boring) BUT ANYWAYS, the idea would be to paint the models completely black, and then add some slight color variations with blues / purples and then add in a bunch of small white dots to the models (to represent stars). This would essentially be their version of camouflage (sorta like we use our forest-like camouflage in the military). Anyways, if i do this, I dunno how to add in the white dots. I assume i'd just flick my brush and let the paint dots splatter on or somethin.

First of all there's actually 3 factions, Rebels, Empire and Scum (and Villany), and whether you want to focus on 1 or more factions is your own choice, but it can get quite expensive if you go all in

Second, as for the themes, I can see the junkyard and Fire/Ice them working quite well (although I'd go fire for rebels and Ice for Empire as thematically that would fit better), not a big fan of steampunk myself outside of a few odd exceptions, and greyscale sounds a bit boring.

Space (I refuse to call it SPHESS) is actually something that is done quite often on cloaking ships, in particular the TIE phantom, but also on several scum ships since they have an upgrade that allows ships to cloak, Usually they're painted midcloak with part of the ship painted normally and part of the ship as space. do a search for painted TIE phantoms and you'll see, it's probably the most common paintjob for that ship

WELCOME to the great addiction!

Like Mr Tough Guy said, this can get expensive if you try and collect all three factions but sometimes that third faction ship just "calls your name" loud enough and long enough that you have to get it.

Heyo people! The junkyard theme is actually the one that I was most interested in, so it's nice to see that's what has been suggested.

Also, I'll probably main collecting one faction, but I'd like to be able to play with a few more than just one. Also, I'm aware this kinda game can get expensive ^^ I remember playing Warhammer 40k and Warmachine (and Infinity... and ya know what, let's just not get into the wargames I've played XD)

This game has just always interested more for 2 big reasons. 1 - It feels alot easier to learn than the 3 games I did mention. 2 - it's Star Wars, so like, can't really go wrong there.

I'll probably focus on the Rebel Alliance for now (although I'll still pick up a few Empire things.) So what would be the recommended purchases for them? (besides the starter kit, obviously)

For painting or playing?

I recommend the Blue Core box over the Red if you're only getting one core. But get both eventually.
After that I'd go with the ARC, the Heroes of the Resistance (T-70 X-wing & M. Falcon), Rebel Aces (A-wing, B-wing), Ghost. That's about $130 right there.

Playing.
I already have quite a bit of things for painting.

And alright, thanks. I'll look at the stuff.

I like the Fire/Ice theme, but also the Steampunk. Both are not that common. For the space, the painting is exactly as you described. I have used a toothbrush to splatter the stars, it is better than a paintbrush for that – not to mention cheaper. Even if you don't paint your ships with a space camouflage, you can use the same technique to paint the bases. They look much better painted matching the ship tiles IMO.

And do not forget to tune your bases with extra weight and/or some anti-slip measures (silicone bumbers for example). Improves the play experience.

Alright! Thanks for the heads up.

I was thinking of doing the fire/ice theme as well, so I suppose it's a toss up between that and the junkyard-like theme.

As nice as steampunk would be, I'd need to find alot of smaller bits to use with that. (such as SMALL gears and such)

I'd also suggest keeping an eye on eBay. There are pretty regularly lots of 5-10 (or more) ships that you can pick up at an often steep discount over new boxes. 'S where I've picked up ships I'm more interested in painting than playing. They're more useful as a newer player, too, because you're not as likely to be worrying about duplicates.

So many great schemes people have come up with on these forums. If you're looking for inspiration but don't have time for a deep dive, Piscopas' excellent showcase threads organize things by ship: https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/245472-showcase-index/

That's a good thread, thanks for the link! Also, I'll keep an eye on ebay.

Alright, I've got the starter box. I'll be picking up a few more things tomorrow, although I just decided what I'll do for a paint job.

So I'll keep the factory-paint jobs and such, then add a few nicks and such (blaster shots and such) and then i'll go through and do light drybrushes of different browns and metallics (the first layer will probably be a dark metallic, slightly heavy drybrush) so that it looks like they ARE old Empire and Rebel (and scum) ships, but I'll also be adding a few yellow (or purple or another color, maybe even grey) stripes and the like to help show that they're all being used by one faction.

Also, once I start my project log tomorrow or Friday, my first post will contain the lore and such for my fleet (do we call them fleets in this game or something else, like groups / factions / etc) and will also be where I update all the pictures.

Picked up a few things so far.
1 Starter Set (The regular old Empire V Rebels one because the place didn't care the new one)
1 B Wing
1 A Wing
1 T70 X-Wing (the blue one. Got it cause I liked it and they didn't have a large rebels selection XD)

Then I got a few things for my father (Him and I will be playing together.)
1 Tie Interceptor
1 Tie Punisher (I mostly got this cause the model made me say wow when I saw it)
And he got himself a Tie Defender the other day.

So currently, for the game we've got this -

EMPIRE: 2 Tie Fighters, 1 Tie Interceptor, 1 Tie Punisher, 1 Tie Defender
REBELS: 1 X-Wing, 1 T70 X-Wing, 1 B Wing, 1 A Wing

I would recomend Z-95s

Personally, I love the Punisher (Deathrain in particular) but it's considered a sub par ship in "standard" 100 point play. But worry not, it pulls it's weight in missions. Speaking of, playing the missions is great when you want some variety.

We'll definitely be doing a mission or two tomorrow, and we did some test matches tonight (opening those miniatures is a pain)

I won 2 games, and he won 1 because of that Tie Interceptor. (I couldn't hit it XD)

Also, the Z-95 will be my next purchase (along with a few other things.)

Let me suggest a couple of things to you:

First off: if you are doing a junkyard theme, you should be really considering the yt-1300 or Heroes of the resistance expansion, Z-95 and ARC-130 expansion. All of them are also quite good out of the box. Also a Y-Wing screeeeeams junkyard.

For Empire I would personally suggest picking up a TIE of the Inquisitor and a TIE/FO expansion because both are very self-contained and a hell of a lot of fun to fly.

The spread you've got is pretty awesome. I'm a massive fan of the TIE Phantom, because it's such a weird ship to fly and because it's very expensive in terms of points - if you can't afford many ships, expensive ones cost less real-money-per-point. Defender is on my list for exactly that reason. As far as I can tell, there aren't any trap options - some ships & upgrades are better than others, but there's no ships you can't win with.

Theme-wise, my take has been that Imperial is one colour scheme with variations (mine are 'nam themed), rebs are a bit looser, each ship sticks to the squad colours but does their own thing with them (red/yellow/black for mine), and scum are where I get to do each ship as a complete individual. That gives me a nice variety of approaches, means I don't feel restrained by a theme.