I won a second ARC-170 at a tourney over the weekend and have started theory-crafting a double ARC list. Any thoughts on this one? Norra is typical Norra, I love stress Biggs and Thane is Mr. Action Efficiency. I thought about Jyn in place of Tail Gunner on Thane, but figured he'd never hit anything from his rear arc without it.

Biggs Darklighter (25)
R3-A2 (2)
Integrated Astromech (0)

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

Thane Kyrell (26)
Tail Gunner (2)
R7-T1 (3)
Vectored Thrusters (2)
Alliance Overhaul (0)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Why R3-A2 on Biggs instead of R4-D6?

BB8 + Finn on thane. Let him get those 4 dice full mod attacks while Biggs is alive. Then they can shoot at him and leave Norra for last (which is what you want), or shoot at Norra and let Thane keep whaling on them.

10 minutes ago, BlackOne said:

Why R3-A2 on Biggs instead of R4-D6?

@BlackOne - A couple reasons:

1. In all of the times I've flown Biggs, he's received more than 2 hits only a handful of times. I'm sure in the long run, over many games, it'd keep him alive longer, but I haven't see that bear out in the games I've played
2. I love to deal out that initial stress. Most ships won't be able to turn behind my formation with stress. It limits maneuvers for everyone and denies actions for some.
3. I feel R4-D6 is thrown on most Biggs builds because it's as cheap as you can get and might provide some benefit. I'd rather spend a point to virtually guarantee a benefit.

14 minutes ago, wurms said:

BB8 + Finn on thane. Let him get those 4 dice full mod attacks while Biggs is alive. Then they can shoot at him and leave Norra for last (which is what you want), or shoot at Norra and let Thane keep whaling on them.

@wurms - Hmm...that's interesting. I'd really love the idea if Finn wasn't only the primary arc. The problem I see is that the ARCs would just keep flying, never turning around, so Finn would only help on the first couple rounds of combat. Am I missing something there?

Wait. Finn is primary weapon, not arc. Hmm. Okay, now I'm seeing it.

Edit - I see it, but that seems awfully expensive for only getting part of the benefit of Finn.

16 minutes ago, gennataos said:

@wurms - Hmm...that's interesting. I'd really love the idea if Finn wasn't only the primary arc. The problem I see is that the ARCs would just keep flying, never turning around, so Finn would only help on the first couple rounds of combat. Am I missing something there?

Wait. Finn is primary weapon, not arc. Hmm. Okay, now I'm seeing it.

Edit - I see it, but that seems awfully expensive for only getting part of the benefit of Finn.

Getting 4 dice full mod shots in the early game, sets up an easier endgame. And Finn is useful in every match against every ship. And dont forget BB8, you move after jumpmasters, so you can avoid blocks, and adjust your arc before moving, keeping Thane's action alive.

As with everything, there are advantages and disadvantages.

I love throwing a plasma torpedo and guidance chips on Thane for the initial alpha strike. I flew the exact same Norra build, Biggs with R4-D6 and Thane with Plasma, Tail Gunner, M9-G8, Title and Guidance Chips during Regionals.

Versions I've flown:

(didn't list Alliance Overhaul on any since it's an auto-include)

Zombie Arcs

Norra w/ PTL, R5-P9, Recon Spec

Thane w/ Jan Ors, R2-D2, Plasma Torps, Guidance Chips

Biggs w/ R3-A2, Integrated

This one goes all in on regen, with Jan allowing Biggs an evade to maybe last a little longer. Thane can usually get that plasma off while Biggs is taking heat. Disadvantage is the bulk of the offense is in Norra's hands and if she goes down Thane has a hard time cleaning things up.

Other good combos:

Norra + Stress Braylen: Braylen is like a stress Y that can put out some decent damage in both directions.

Norra + Shara w/ M9-G8 and Weapons Engineer: Shara with that astromech and crew can do a lot of cool offensive and defensive modification work, along with giving Norra those target locks she needs.

- Flavor Norra in each to your liking. Tail gunner if you want the offense, Rec Spec or Kyle for action efficiency, etc.

If you ever get a third I also really like this one:

Norra w/ VI + Rec Spec + R5-P9

Shara w/ Trick Shot + M9-G8 + Weapons Engineer

Braylen w/ R3-A2 and choice of crew: Ezra for offense, Kyle for actions, or Baze for a possible chance to spread more stress.

Until/Unless Biggs gets nerfed, I'm going to keep rolling primarily with double-ARCs + Biggs. My latest abomination is below. I've beat a few Imperial lists and got curb-stomped by Paratanni once. I really do like it and want to keep flying it. I think this version is built a lot towards winning on points at the end of the game, of which I'm not a fan...I don't like going to time every game. I've considered putting GC on Biggs and Rey on Shara for extra offensive punch to speed games along.

Norra Wexley (29)
Wired (1)
Ezra Bridger (3)
R3-A2 (2)
Alliance Overhaul (0)

Biggs Darklighter (25)
Proton Torpedoes (4)
R4-D6 (1)
Integrated Astromech (0)

Shara Bey (28)
Draw Their Fire (1)
Jan Ors (2)
R2-D2 (4)
Alliance Overhaul (0)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

I have had a lot of fun while placing in local tournaments playing this:

ARC-ARC-BIGGSY - 100 points

Norra Wexley (40)
ARC-170 (29), BB-8 (2), Plasma Torpedoes (3), Push the Limit (3), Kyle Katarn (3), Alliance Overhaul (0)

Shara Bey (34)
ARC-170 (28), R2-D2 (4), Adaptability (0), Jan Ors (2), Alliance Overhaul (0)

Biggs Darklighter (26)
X-Wing (25), R4-D6 (1), Integrated Astromech (0)

I played my latest build against a Vader/Omicron/Ryad list Friday. The shuttle had Rebel Captive on it, which was fairly wasted against my list, since Norra shoots first. The shuttle went down hard early while Vader and Ryad struggled to any damage which stuck. We were playing really slow and chatting with each other and others around us and would have went to time had not my opponent not conceded after Vader almost went down. The defensive combo kept my whole list alive with full health ARCs at the end and 2 hull remaining on Biggs in the end. I probably could have kept more damage off Biggs, but I was impatient about turning him around and was just shy of range 1 with Shara at one point.

I continue to like the list. It's a pain in the *** to put through damage against which sticks, but is kind of "meh" to fly.

Been having a hard time against PS9 aces and turreted ships, I find that having to fly in formation due to Biggs can be a real handicap, and he does little to nothing against ordnance. I'm swapping out biggs/2nd arc for Dash, it just seems like the logical choice.

3 minutes ago, NoShieldsAllGuts said:

Been having a hard time against PS9 aces and turreted ships, I find that having to fly in formation due to Biggs can be a real handicap, and he does little to nothing against ordnance. I'm swapping out biggs/2nd arc for Dash, it just seems like the logical choice.

I'm looking forward to facing some ordnance to see how my list fairs.

Cluster missiles are really strong against it. I have PTSD from Bossk.

9 hours ago, NoShieldsAllGuts said:

Cluster missiles are really strong against it. I have PTSD from Bossk.

Hmm...yeah, I could see that being a nightmare.