So I've been playing X-Wing for about two years now, and I honestly don't feel like I'm getting any better at it. In terms of maneuvering, I'm usually decent-- I wouldn't call anything I do particularly brilliant, but my spatial awareness is good enough now that I rarely bump my own ships or hit obstacles and I can usually line up good-to-great shots. The big problem I continually run into is the lists I fly: namely, that I'm godawful at creating viable squadrons. Either I set things up around situational abilities that never come into play, or my opponent brings some insane alpha-strike list that shreds my ships in the first exchange (the guy in my gaming group I play against most frequently has a real fondness for ordnance). Nine times out of ten I lose, and more often than not, I feel like I lost before the game even started. It's seriously disheartening, to the point where I've honestly started to hate playing.

Still, I want to give the game as much of an honest try as possible, and I've seen other players work wonders with the ships I've got. So rather than just quit in a huff, I'm throwing myself upon the mercy of the community to try and figure out how to turn my collection into something worthwhile.

This is what I'm working with:

T-65 X-Wings (x4) [Includes Rebel Transport]

T-70 X-Wings (x3) [Includes HotR]

YT-1300 (x2) [Includes HotR]

B-Wings (x2) [Includes Rebel Aces]

A-Wings (x2) [Includes Rebel Aces]

K-Wing (x1)

E-Wing (x1)

ARC-170 (x1)

Z-95 Headhunter (x1)

YT-2400 (x1)

I don't really do tournament play, so assume any usable upgrade cards are available to proxy. I've been putzing around with this stuff and so far haven't come up with much that a) doesn't go down in flames after two turns, and b) is actually fun to fly. Any and all help would be appreciated.

Assuming proxies are fine like you said, here are a couple lists when are fairly canonical in the current "world" meta and doing well...

Dashing Miranda - This might be tricky to fly at times. Use debris clouds, not asteroids. Slow roll Dash to store up focus tokens on Rey and keep him at range from Miranda to activate Lone Wolf. If they chase Miranda, it's best to just keep SLAMing away and batter them with Dash. If they chase Dash, it's not that bad if he goes down as long as Miranda has a favorable match-up against whomever is left from the opposing list.

Dash Rendar (36)
Lone Wolf (2)
Heavy Laser Cannon (7)
Rey (2)
Burnout SLAM (1)
Smuggling Compartment (0)
Outrider (5)

Miranda Doni (29)
Twin Laser Turret (6)
Extra Munitions (2)
Sabine Wren (2)
Ion Bombs (2)
Cluster Mines (4)
Advanced SLAM (2)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Girl Power - I flew a slightly different version of this (VI, Countermeasures and Inertial Dampeners), honestly before I knew it was a "thing", but it punches really hard and fast. You'll want to burn down your opponent so Norra is one-on-one against another ship for the end game, where she shines.

Rey (45)
Expertise (4)
Finn (5)
Kanan Jarrus (3)
Burnout SLAM (1)
Smuggling Compartment (0)
Millennium Falcon (TFA) (1)

Norra Wexley (29)
Push the Limit (3)
Tail Gunner (2)
R2-D2 (4)
Vectored Thrusters (2)
Alliance Overhaul (0)

Total: 99

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

If you're playing against a lot of ordinance, than something like countermeasures, or the black one title is great. I would recommend PS 9 POE with BB-8 and the title. Do a green maneuver, get to barrel roll and knock off a TL. You can also do PTL, take a focus, than boost and knock off a 2nd TL. That will severely hamper any alpha strike list's missiles and torps.

Fat Han and Jake. Do it. Boost in and out of arcs and say "screw you" to ordnance.

As @Biggsy_boy suggested above, something like this could put a hurt on an ordnance list. There are a lot of ways you could build out Poe, though.

Rey (45)
Adaptability (0)
Finn (5)
Kanan Jarrus (3)
Inertial Dampeners (1)
Smuggling Compartment (0)
Millennium Falcon (TFA) (1)

Poe Dameron (PS9) (33)
Push the Limit (3)
BB-8 (2)
Pattern Analyzer (2)
Autothrusters (2)
Black One (1)

Total: 98

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

no offence intended (and honestly I struggle with the same issue), it sounds like your issue is out guessing/planning/strategizing your opponent. In particular to the ordinance problem, fly Blackone title on something, have countermeasures on something, Use re-positioning Aces to avoid the big booms. With any situation, if you can get out of arc to avoid a missile, do so. If you are flying higher PS pilots you should be able to avoid the alpha strike by closing to Rng one with boost/BR or out of arc. You have a lot of potential with your collection, though if you are struggling against alpha-strike ordinance I would try and fly more ships not fewer. For example, 2x GSP (Title, wired, PTL, Autothrusters, Chardaan) And a BB8 or R5-P9 Poe, or and R2-D2 Horn, or a chewie (old) w/ gunner could do some work. The trick is to use the GSP's to go fast and block his ships, taking away TL actions.

2 hours ago, gennataos said:

As @Biggsy_boy suggested above, something like this could put a hurt on an ordnance list. There are a lot of ways you could build out Poe, though.

Rey (45)
Adaptability (0)
Finn (5)
Kanan Jarrus (3)
Inertial Dampeners (1)
Smuggling Compartment (0)
Millennium Falcon (TFA) (1)

Poe Dameron (PS9) (33)
Push the Limit (3)
BB-8 (2)
Pattern Analyzer (2)
Autothrusters (2)
Black One (1)

Total: 98

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

I like it. You could consider taking off pattern analyzer and putting expertise on Rey. She hits very hard and can focus for defense every turn.

16 hours ago, Biggsy_boy said:

I like it. You could consider taking off pattern analyzer and putting expertise on Rey. She hits very hard and can focus for defense every turn.

I've cooled on Expertise as of late. Stuff like Assaj and Rebel Captive have scared me off. Plus, I don't know if I'd want to lose the PtL + PA shenanigans on a green maneuver. You'd still get those on a BB-8 barrel roll, but you don't always execute those.

5 minutes ago, gennataos said:

I've cooled on Expertise as of late. Stuff like Assaj and Rebel Captive have scared me off. Plus, I don't know if I'd want to lose the PtL + PA shenanigans on a green maneuver. You'd still get those on a BB-8 barrel roll, but you don't always execute those.

For me, it depends on the ship. Dengar, Quickdraw, anything that really attacks twice, you can definitely get value for it. I like it on Rey just because of the the fact that you can focus strictly for defense. But I see what your saying, stress-bringers are a bad match. I don't see that many rebel captives. It's more Assaj, or people trying to run the stresshog. And it's more about arc dodging those ships.

What have you been running?

Some of the pilot abilities on these ships aren't very good, and Donne are really solid.

Is there a there you'd like to stick to? When I list build I like to step back and look at the whole picture. If I lose this what happens, can I still fly successfully? Are all my eggs in one basket? Is it too gimmicky? What is the master plan for the whole squad? Is something too big of a target?

Fill us in on what you have been using and I will try to assist from there.

Maybe you have to try and outbid & Out-PS your opponents. That way you can move last/shoot first. I'd start there. Remember, if you move first and are out of range, you won't be able to get a Target Lock, but he will once his ships move next--into range--so you want to deny him that, if possible.

The next thing I'd address is to build a list that can manipulate/mitigate the dice or number of dice. Think upgrades like Hotshot Copilot to remove focus, Opportunist to add Attack Dice, M9-G8 to force re-rolls, Operations Specialist to turn misses into extra focus tokens, or even Snap Shot to give you a "free" shot before they get to do actions & token up.

Another thing to consider is that most ordnance (missiles & torps) can't be fired at range 1. This isn't always possible but if you can close the gap when you're in their cross hairs, that's one thing. If you can barrel roll or boost out of their arc, that's the other. It is much easier to get out of a Range 1 arc than a R2 or R3 arc.

Also, rock placement matters. If you can draw them through the rocks, it is more likely that they'll clip or land on a rock, which is potential damage and/or shots they can't take. And of course they give you an extra green die if you're hiding behind one.

I do have to applaud you for not giving up on the game. Sometimes you need to step away from it for a couple of weeks, or switch to another game for a short stretch in order to come back with fresh eyes & a new perspective. Kudos to you.

One other thing: Do you ever review the game with your opponent? I've found that most players prefer to be challenged, rather than have their opponents be total pushovers, so more often than not they're open to helping a player improve. During clean-up is the easiest time to get them talking about what they thought was a tense moment for them, why they targeted a particular ship, why they did what they did, or what you could have done too.

Also, you need a cheap crew carrier, ideally with an EPT. I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with a list using what you have in your collection and I'm always a point or two above where I want you to be (maxing out at 99 points).

You need a HWK. The three named pilots have really good abilities: Roark Garnet changes one friendlie's PS within range 1-3 to 12! Kyle Katarn can throw Focus to his buddies, also R1-3 and Jan Ors will add one attack die to one wingmate @ R1-3.

A U-wing is nice too.

I just tested this out. It isn't too bad. Just keep Roark out of the way.

Wes Janson (29)
Opportunist (4)
M9-G8 (3)
Vectored Thrusters (2)

Shara Bey (28)
Snap Shot (2)
Weapons Engineer (3)
R7 Astromech (2)
Vectored Thrusters (2)
Alliance Overhaul (0)

Roark Garnet (19)
Autoblaster Turret (2)
Jan Ors (2)

Total: 98

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

On 5/31/2017 at 10:55 AM, Tug-thug said:

What have you been running?

Some of the pilot abilities on these ships aren't very good, and Donne are really solid.

Is there a there you'd like to stick to? When I list build I like to step back and look at the whole picture. If I lose this what happens, can I still fly successfully? Are all my eggs in one basket? Is it too gimmicky? What is the master plan for the whole squad? Is something too big of a target?

Fill us in on what you have been using and I will try to assist from there.

Generally I run three to four ships, at least two of which are aces. Typically, I try to fly at least one T-65 (which is a whole can of worms, I know, but it's my favorite ship and I'm stubborn), usually with a heavy emphasis on offense. I've had the most success (which isn't much, but still) with tag-and-bag lists based around Wes and Wedge, usually with either Biggs for cover or Esege Uketu with a Recon Specialist to farm Focus tokens. Unfortunately, these lists typically fall to focus-fire from a swarm or from my opponent spamming Cluster Missiles at them.

On 5/31/2017 at 0:25 PM, Force Majeure said:

Also, you need a cheap crew carrier, ideally with an EPT. I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with a list using what you have in your collection and I'm always a point or two above where I want you to be (maxing out at 99 points).

You need a HWK. The three named pilots have really good abilities: Roark Garnet changes one friendlie's PS within range 1-3 to 12! Kyle Katarn can throw Focus to his buddies, also R1-3 and Jan Ors will add one attack die to one wingmate @ R1-3.

A U-wing is nice too.

I'd never actually considered the HWK; usually I look at its dial and run for the hills. But then, crazy maneuverability isn't what it's built for, and the guys I usually fly against have gotten lots of mileage out of passenger ships. I believe I'll put that on my shopping list next time I hit the hobby store.

Try this one: https://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Rebel Alliance&d=v4!s!95:18,23,-1,74:14:3:;196:18,-1,148,203:39:15:&sn=Unnamed Squadron&obs=