If there is already a thread on this can someone point me to it?

I'm curious as to why the B-wing has only a "1" agility and why has FFG not given us an upgrade card giving this ship the firepower seen in Rebels?

I guess from my point of view tgis thing should at minimum have an agility value of "2" if not really a "3". I mean the quad boost engines and the way we see it dance in ROTJ and Rebels really makes this game piece seem way dumbed down to me in the realms of agility.

The One flown by Hera was a prototype. It had increased firepower with his multi-laser configuration, and probably better agility. However, the power relay disrupted its hyperdrive system and were prone to failures.

The 'retail' version adjusted the power relay to a more stable setting, but had to sacrifice firepower and agility in the process.

Hey, you asked.

I do kinda want them to give the B-Wing a Mod similar to the Defender that allows it to gain an evade or +1 Agility if you Barrel Roll.

5 minutes ago, Jehan Menasis said:

The One flown by Hera was a prototype. It had increased firepower with his multi-laser configuration, and probably better agility. However, the power relay disrupted its hyperdrive system and were prone to failures.

The 'retail' version adjusted the power relay to a more stable setting, but had to sacrifice firepower and agility in the process.

Hey, you asked.

Ok I can see sacraficing firepower but I don't get the agility of a "1"...to me that just doesn't make sense.

3 minutes ago, Sonikgav said:

I do kinda want them to give the B-Wing a Mod that allows it to gain an evade or +1 Agility if you Barrel Roll.

Agreed. That would great.

A cheap 3Atk ship with 3Agi and 8HP and some action efficiency would warp the game. Gameplay > fluff.

Besides, the B-wing in the game was designed more along the lines of the one shown in the old flight-sim games; slow, but fairly nimble, with decent firepower and some alternate attack options (cannon, ordnance), plus some fancy tech thrown in (systems slot).

The Rebels one is a like the test car in the showroom; it's packed with every fancy gizmo and add-on imaginable. It goes like the clappers, stops on a dime, and make you coffee in the morning. You never get that car, though, because it's not really for sale. It's the show piece that belongs to the dealer, and likely needs constant maintenance. You get the reliable, regular base production model, or maybe a model above. The one that does 0-60 in 10-point-eventually, has a tape deck, and tends to lose the back end in wet weather. That's your B-wing.

34 minutes ago, cannj12 said:

Ok I can see sacraficing firepower but I don't get the agility of a "1"...to me that just doesn't make sense.

They had to replace the multi-laser array system with six proton torpedo launcher bays, in order to give it a comparable punch against capital ships. The proton launchers were less power demanding -which aided with its power problems- but unfortunately, also much heavier, hence the loss of agility.

You know, I can pass all night long giving technical answers for a fictional fantasy universe...

7 minutes ago, NakedDex said:

A cheap 3Atk ship with 3Agi and 8HP and some action efficiency would warp the game. Gameplay > fluff.

Besides, the B-wing in the game was designed more along the lines of the one shown in the old flight-sim games; slow, but fairly nimble, with decent firepower and some alternate attack options (cannon, ordnance), plus some fancy tech thrown in (systems slot).

The Rebels one is a like the test car in the showroom; it's packed with every fancy gizmo and add-on imaginable. It goes like the clappers, stops on a dime, and make you coffee in the morning. You never get that car, though, because it's not really for sale. It's the show piece that belongs to the dealer, and likely needs constant maintenance. You get the reliable, regular base production model, or maybe a model above. The one that does 0-60 in 10-point-eventually, has a tape deck, and tends to lose the back end in wet weather. That's your B-wing.

Fair enough. Id still say a mod that removes the Cannon for an X7 type upgrade to increase the B-Wings agility during a Barrel Roll (seriously, look at its silhouette, it should be hard to hit when spinning). Maybe the drop the Torpedo instead since Nera might benefit too much.

Quite frankly because the B wing in this game came out before that episode of Rebels.

14 minutes ago, Sonikgav said:

Fair enough. Id still say a mod that removes the Cannon for an X7 type upgrade to increase the B-Wings agility during a Barrel Roll (seriously, look at its silhouette, it should be hard to hit when spinning). Maybe the drop the Torpedo instead since Nera might benefit too much.

If gaining a free evade from a barrel roll is going to break the B-wing, removing torps to hit Nera is going to be the least of your problems. Nera's still at PS 6, or 8 with VI, but she's one of the few ships left that can enjoys Deadeye. Perhaps maybe remove the cannon and 1 torp slot.

23 minutes ago, Warlon said:

Quite frankly because the B wing in this game came out before that episode of Rebels.

Ok, Then lets have a prototype and have some fun with it. :-)

45 minutes ago, NakedDex said:

A cheap 3Atk ship with 3Agi and 8HP and some action efficiency would warp the game. Gameplay > fluff.

Besides, the B-wing in the game was designed more along the lines of the one shown in the old flight-sim games; slow, but fairly nimble, with decent firepower and some alternate attack options

Ok, so give it 3Atk and 3Agi and reduce the HP to 4. If sacrificing the weapons laser array why make it an 8HP? The ships profile from a headon dogfight should be just as hard to hit as the Protectorate and it has a 3Agi. Just my opinion but I just feel the B-wing got the short end of the stick on Agility.

Hmm... I can see this working. Strip it of a hull and a shield, remove a torp and the system upgrade. Give it more agility with two unique cards: Blade Wing Prototype and Focused Beam Cannon. After using the cannon, either stress the HELL out of the pilot or give it 2 or 3 ion tokens, but that cannon needs to hit HARD

The B-wing was one of the few ships in the Star Wars universe that I have genuine fondness for going back decades. In fact, half the reason I'm still with the game is down to B-wings (long story). I'd love to see some kind of buff for it to make it relevant again, as much as anyone. However, while they do need some help in the meta, giving them something that boosts their agility won't fix their inherent issues in the current state of the game. If 2Agi was a solid stat, the /sf wouldn't have been confined to the junk drawer until LWF dropped, and there wouldn't be several million threads on this forum dedicated to figuring out how the X-wing can survive a joust, or anything for that matter.
Similarly, outright overpowering it, even for a single ship, won't help either. You put a 3-3-3-5 ship on the table that doesn't cost 45+ points, and you'll have entirely warped the game; not just for the game as it stands then, but for all future design around it. Creating a monster we all have to live with indefinitely in a game just to suit a tv show plotline just isn't good design.

You talking about this one? That's not the B-wing , that's the B-wing Prototype . Much like the how the TIE Adv Prototype is not the TIE Advanced.

I can see this being in another wave (surprised they went with a Wookie gunship over this).

Stats; Firepower 2 , Agility 1 , Hull 2 , Shields 4 .

Actions; focus, target lock barrel-roll

upgrades; <cannon> <crew> <torpedo> <torpedo>

starting pilot skill 2 , starting points. 17

Add in a 10 point B-wing Prototype Only cannon.

• Expermental Superlaser (unique)

Firepower 2

Range 1

B-wing Prototype only

Discard this card to make this attack. If this attack hits cancel all results and deal 6 face up damage to the defender.

<cannon> 10 points.

4 minutes ago, NakedDex said:

Similarly, outright overpowering it, even for a single ship, won't help either. You put a 3-3-3-5 ship on the table that doesn't cost 45+ points, and you'll have entirely warped the game; not just for the game as it stands then, but for all future design around it. Creating a monster we all have to live with indefinitely in a game just to suit a tv show plotline just isn't good design.

No, I would make it a 3-3-3-1 or a 3-3-2-2.

It doesn't matter that you have an HP of 8 if you can't dodge incoming fire. Cut shields and give her some agility and maybe its just the right balance to make her a better ship.

11 minutes ago, NakedDex said:

... Creating a monster we all have to live with indefinitely in a game just to suit a tv show plotline just isn't good design.

To slay a monster sometimes you need to be a monster

1 minute ago, Marinealver said:

To slay a monster sometimes you need to be a monster

Fair point.

18 minutes ago, Marinealver said:

To slay a monster sometimes you need to be a monster

Oh trust me, I was very much thinking of that when I typed it.

The problem with creating a monster to slay a monster is that it's the pure definition of power creep. And, to stay on a theme, "that way dragons do lie".

Agility is sometimes a reference to how flexible the handling of a ship is, usually in addition to how their silhouette is and etc - B-Wings have never been portrayed as highly maneuverable in the conventional sense. The gyroscope cockpit makes them very difficult to learn how to handle, and their frames aren't very flexible for their size. Hera is a very good pilot, she makes a ship as large and ungainly as the Ghost dance - yet the Ghost retains 0 AGI, even though it's probably done some more interesting moves than the Blade Wing prototype did. In fact, in FFG's Age of Rebellion RPG, B-Wings have a handling value (which provides bonuses or penalties to piloting checks) of -1, worse than the 0 rating of a Y-Wing (and the worst out of the core 4 Rebel fighters). While I'm sure LFL doesn't nitpick too hard on the stats for particular games, they do set the precedent and guidelines for the material that appears - B-Wings aren't that agile. In the clip shown above from Rebels, the B-Wing doesn't seem particularly maneuverable or fast - it's just a small target for those big guns on the Imperial Light Cruisers and may even be tanking hits on the shields based on how shots explode before it.

Which brings us to the second and more important point mechanics > fluff. The B-Wing helps further set the standard for an archetype/style of rebel ships as High HP, low AGI tanks which often pack high firepower, as seen first with Ys and continuing with ARCs and Auzitucks.

16 minutes ago, UnitOmega said:

Agility is sometimes a reference to how flexible the handling of a ship is, usually in addition to how their silhouette is and etc - B-Wings have never been portrayed as highly maneuverable in the conventional sense. The gyroscope cockpit makes them very difficult to learn how to handle, and their frames aren't very flexible for their size. Hera is a very good pilot, she makes a ship as large and ungainly as the Ghost dance - yet the Ghost retains 0 AGI, even though it's probably done some more interesting moves than the Blade Wing prototype did. In fact, in FFG's Age of Rebellion RPG, B-Wings have a handling value (which provides bonuses or penalties to piloting checks) of -1, worse than the 0 rating of a Y-Wing (and the worst out of the core 4 Rebel fighters). While I'm sure LFL doesn't nitpick too hard on the stats for particular games, they do set the precedent and guidelines for the material that appears - B-Wings aren't that agile. In the clip shown above from Rebels, the B-Wing doesn't seem particularly maneuverable or fast - it's just a small target for those big guns on the Imperial Light Cruisers and may even be tanking hits on the shields based on how shots explode before it.

Which brings us to the second and more important point mechanics > fluff. The B-Wing helps further set the standard for an archetype/style of rebel ships as High HP, low AGI tanks which often pack high firepower, as seen first with Ys and continuing with ARCs and Auzitucks.

But surely the Dial has more to do with how a ship handles than the agility?

If so the B-Wing is being punished twice for its 'poor handling'. Hell the Defender is built as a straight line fighter. It goes straight, turns around and comes straight back yet it warrants 3ag AND a free Evade action? At least give the B-Wing the free Evade. Its not a huge fix, but its something.

7 hours ago, Warlon said:

Quite frankly because the B wing in this game came out before that episode of Rebels.

So what you're saying is that the being needs a canon upgrade?

There ya go

3 minutes ago, RufusDaMan said:

There ya go

For the record, Quarrie states in the Episode that his Blade wing HAS torpedoes.

1 minute ago, That Blasted Samophlange said:

For the record, Quarrie states in the Episode that his Blade wing HAS torpedoes.

You can't have the cake and eat it too

I think an upgrade that adds a second cannon slot, and that lets you suffer a damage to fire both at the same time would be a better idea. Doesn't help with maneuverability, but ups the firepower and fits thematically as Hera firing the gun burned out the hyperdrive.