Hey all!

My local game store is doing an Original Trilogy only league, featuring only ships from the OT (and banning Rey in the Falcon due to power level).

I'm thinking of two lists, and am hoping for feedback on both.

Vader's Bombers

TIE Bomber: · Major Rhymer (26)
Snap Shot (2)
Lightweight Frame (2)
TIE Shuttle (0)
Tactician (2)
TIE Advanced: · Darth Vader (29)
Juke (2)
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)
TIE/x1 (0)
Advanced Targeting Computer (1)
TIE Bomber: · Tomax Bren (24)
Crack Shot (1)
Extra Munitions (2)
Homing Missiles (5)
Seismic Charges (2)
Guidance Chips (0)
-- TOTAL ------- 99/100p. --

This list has a damage dealer in Tomax, a good old Vader, and Rhymer as a control element.

Triple X-Wings

X-Wing: · Wes Janson (29)
Adaptability (Increase) (0)
· R3-A2 (2)
Integrated Astromech (0)
X-Wing: · Wedge Antilles (29)
Expertise (4)
· R2-D2 (4)
Integrated Astromech (0)
X-Wing: · "Hobbie" Klivian (25)
Proton Torpedoes (4)
Targeting Astromech (2)
Guidance Chips (0)
-- TOTAL ------- 99/100p. --

This could also trade Expertise and R2 for a BB-8 PTL Wedge, for repositioning and more actions. And then either leave a large bid, or go with a different ship in place of Hobbie. Maybe an M9-G8 Tarn Mison?

Thanks in advance for the feedback.

Rebel side, be aware that Hobbie is a much lower priority target, despite his best impression of a TIE Defender. Imperials will be gunning for Wedge and Janson, likely Wedge first. Biggs works in this trio, I faced a Biggs, Wedge, Janson in the finals of an original trilogy.

Your Imperial list looks very gimmicky and fragile. That said, people are either going to get surprised by Rheimer and die horribly or you have a good area denial setup. You might find low PS pilots a bigger threat here. I'm also not so fond of Juke on Vader. It looks you into a focus/evade almost every round or you sacrifice some of your shot. Predator, Intensity are both stronger choices if you can squeeze them in.

Hmm. Intensity may be the better choice then, since it's the same amount of points. And it is such a beautiful EPT.

My Imperial list is gimmicmy, but honestly, I like gimmicks, so it's fine. We need to be able to field either Imperials or Rebels day of, and the Imperial lists I tend to favour are all built of non OT ships. So, it's either gimmicks, Tie swarms which I dislike, or Interceptors, which are more fragile than I like. Or I could do Double Firespray maybe? Fettigator and Cluster Missile Kath?

As for the Rebels, Biggs is good, but I'm not the best at formation flying. I'd also worry that he doesn't provide the offense that he could need. I think I mentioned Tarn with M9 as a budget endgame ace, but if Biggs is better and allows me to save Wedge or Wes for the endgame, then I might have to practice flying the Most Hated Pilot (tm).

Biggs is better, but if he's not your thing and you're not a formation flyer, then I get your choice. I like four ship Rebel builds, but I hate flying Biggs. I acknowledge he's better, and I can fly formation, but I do find he leashes my particular style a bit.

Tarn with M9 is likely better for Wedge and Janson than Hobbie is, but between the two, fly what you like. I haven't triggered Hobbie much in practice. Another option is moving R3A2 to a Ywing with BTL-A4. Gives you a better control ship and frees up Janson's dial a bit.

For the X-Wings, I think you're missing a ship. Getting more attack dice and HP to the table is probably better than the upgrades, particularly on a squishy enough ship like an X-Wing. Wedge with 3x Rookie Pilot leaves 8 points for upgrades; BB-8 + Expertise + R3-A2 on a Rookie, or Expertise + R2-D2 on Wedge, or Lone Wolf and get the stressbot back in there. Wes with R3-A2 and 2x Rookie gives 27 points, which is enough for a standard 26pt Biggs, a Hobbie without the Torpedo, or Tarn with R7 Astromech plus R2 or R5 Astromechs on the Rookies for IA. The biggest problem with a three X-Wing list is that they're almost always heavily upgraded, and you could get a 4th ship instead.

For the Vader's Bombers, I kinda think the same thing. A pair of cheaper bombers would probably get almost as much of the work done, and could open up space for a 4th ship, and maybe a Missile on Vader. Giving Darth Guidance Chips and a missile would be 35-37 points (Cruise, Cluster, or Homing) if you still went with Juke+ATC, and then fly three Scimitar Squadron Pilots with Long Range Scanners and one missile each. If you really want Crack Shot, taking 2x Gamma Squadron Veterans with LRS and choice of missile (Assault can even work here if you fear Biggs, since LRS allows you to focus, and Crack Shot can push a hit through for the area effect), and fly something like Wampa to fill out the points.

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I had pretty good results (2nd of 8) with the following, but we had different rule set which didn't allow upgrades from expansions without Original Trilogy ships, except fixes (like Integrated Astromech, Guidance Chips or Extra Munitions). As a result, crew (no Recon Specialist, Tactician) and EPT (no Predator, Lone Wolf) options were severely limited:

Blue Squadron Pilot (22)

Blue Squadron Pilot (22)

Rookie Pilot (21) + R3-A2 (2) + IA (0)

Luke Skywalker (28) + R2-D2 (4) + Draw Their Fire (1) + IA (0)

I based it off of 3x Rookie + same-but-Shield Upgrade Luke, which was a top-4 in 2013, but used the points from dropping SU for IA to upgrade two Rookies to B-Wings, and add a droid to the 3rd. Lost to 62-100 to Biggs + Nera Dantels + Keyan (I got out-diced, but he had heavy dice mods and torpedoes, so I wasn't just being unlucky), went 100-0 against Biggs+Han, and only lost 1 B-Wing to a janky 5-ship TIE Swarm.

I think I'd try this for Rebels:

100 points

PILOTS

Jake Farrell (29)
A-Wing (24), A-Wing Test Pilot (0), Chardaan Refit (-2), Push the Limit (3), Autothrusters (2), Intensity (2)

Tycho Celchu (30)
A-Wing (26), A-Wing Test Pilot (0), Chardaan Refit (-2), Rage (1), Autothrusters (2), Push the Limit (3)

Luke Skywalker (41)
X-Wing (28), R2-D2 (4), Plasma Torpedoes (3), Expertise (4), Vectored Thrusters (2)

You'll have excellent maneuverability and action economy from your A-Wings while Luke can do a green move and barrel roll every turn while still having modified offense and defense. Probably have to use the A-Wings to block for each other against Vader, Soontir, and Han while Luke tanks some damage. This list should do well against swarms though.

For the Empire, assuming there are no restrictions on crew members, I'd try this maybe:

100 points

PILOTS

Darth Vader (36)
TIE Advanced (29), TIE/x1 (0), Intensity (2), Engine Upgrade (4), Advanced Targeting Computer (1)

Omicron Group Pilot (31)
Lambda-Class Shuttle (21), Electronic Baffle (1), Emperor Palpatine (8), Tactical Jammer (1)

Tomax Bren (33)
TIE Bomber (24), TIE Shuttle (0), Crack Shot (1), Lightweight Frame (2), Kylo Ren (3), Rebel Captive (3)

You'll have great action economy and push crits with Vader while you use the Omicron to block and use Tomax as must kill threat that is also annoying to shoot at. You can use Palpatine to help push crits for Kylo or you can use him in combination with Lightweight Frame to keep Tomax alive longer. I chose Baffle over Collision Detector or FCS (if you drop Jammer) so you could stand some chance of turning around or if you had a favorable blocking position you could keep revealing speed 0.