This list can't be good, can it? It started as an intellectual exercise. A 22 point ship, same cost as a Missile Gunboat. Run 4x and a Z-95, or 3x and something equivalent to a Quickdraw. A Flight Assist Astromech X-Wing is probably pretty solid. Wedge and 3 X-Wings all with FAA can probably wreck a good amount of stuff, just through lots of 3-dice attacks. However, I've been fascinated by a BTL-A4 Dorsal Turret Y-Wing for so long. It just seems like it'd be so much firepower at close range. Two 3-dice attacks at Range 1. That's a free Cluster Missiles. Firepower dramatically drops as the range increases, however. But a pair of 2-dice attacks at Range 2 probably isn't too bad.

Anyhow, there's no realistic way, I think, that these guys could reliably bypass range 2-3 and get into the faces of a Gunboat. If they could, well, they've got a total of 18 red dice between them.

I think this Wedge build is probably a strong way to spend 31 points, however. If only he could take Lightweight Frame, too.

97 points

Gold Squadron Pilot (22) x 3 Y-Wing (18), BTL-A4 Y-Wing (0), Flight-Assist Astromech (1), Dorsal Turret (3)

Wedge Antilles (31) X-Wing (29), Flight-Assist Astromech (1), Veteran Instincts (1), Integrated Astromech (0)

4 hours ago, theBitterFig said:

Anyhow, there's no realistic way, I think, that these guys could reliably bypass range 2-3 and get into the faces of a Gunboat. If they could, well, they've got a total of 18 red dice between them.

I've wondered about it myself. On the one hand, if you're relying on range 1 for damage, an autoblaster turret is arguably better (and cheaper) but massed 2-dice attacks isn't worthless, especially against the agility 1 ships you see a lot of.

A big problems are that:

1. the Flight Assist Astromech is actually pretty badly suited to 'in your face' tactics because whilst it's a free boost or barrel roll (an awesome deal for 1 point, and doubly so on the moves-like-a-cow Y-wing) the one thing it doesn't let you do is boost from range 3 into range 2, or range 2 into range 1. If you can set up a somewhat shonky off-axis approach and then boost/turn in at the last minute, it could work.
2. Rebel Y-wings lack Elite upgrades and R4 Agromechs or Overlocked R4s - whilst 2 3-dice attacks are pretty brutal, they're not actually delivering that much firepower without modification on both attacks - meaning in practice you probably have less punch than 2 12-point TIE fighters flying side-by-side.

If I was going to try and make Flight Assist Y-wings work, I'd probably look to the following thoughts:

• You can field a Gold Squadron Pilot with BTL-A4 Y-wing, Flight Assist Astromech, and an Ion Cannon Turret in a four-off squad fairly easily. Ion fire is a good antidote to the Mirandas, Nyms and Norra Wexleys of the world, and the limit to their manoeuvrability combined with your flight assist shenanigans means the manoeuvring battle should be in favour of the Y-wings.
• If you have spare points, consider Bomb Loadout and mines. A Flight Assist Astromech Y-wing is not an Advanced SLAM K-wing, but it's surprisingly close - pull your manoeuvre, execute a free boost or barrel roll, and then in your perform action step you can spend an action to lay cluster mines, connor nets or proximity mines.
• If you have a 4-ship list, there may be an argument for having one or more seismic torpedoes in your squad - being able to clear an unexpected path (and possibly blat your opponent for the odd point of damage) might cause a serious shift in the balance of the game if it allows you to change an obstructed range 2 shot (2 red dice versus 2 green dice, twice) to an unobstructed range 1 shot (3 red dice versus 1 green dice, twice).