I know X-Wing is a fast pace game of squad based combat, but is there room for support ships?

What about new repair or medic action that could be added, maybe allotting so many evade dice to a repair or heal ability, (roll them and obtain evade results equal to the aided ship’s hull+shield value)?

What about a medical shuttle that can remove crits from a ship within range, x number of times per game, or needs to roll evade dice to obtain a number of evade results to remove a crit?

What about a droid repair ship that can remove face down damage cards from another ship in range if it can roll so many evade results?

What about a command shuttle or ship that adds benefits to its squad?

Or two sided universal title cards that provide a bonuses to the whole squad until that squad leader is destroyed, then the card is flipped and a negative or reduced benefit is provided to the squad?

I just think that as much as X-Wing has going for it, there could be more.

What do you think? Is there any place in X-Wing for such a thing? Do you have something better? Let me know what you’ve been thinking.

Well, there already is support ships in the form of shuttles, HWKs, the Phantom 2, and the U-Wing. Most have pilot ability that benefit the squad rather than themselves and there are several upgrade cards (mostly crew) that are for buffing friendly ships.

While a form of healing sounds good on paper, the current version (personal regen) has been a divisive subject at best since the game started. Just ask around about Miranda's ability.

The best example of a support ship doing well these days is the Phantom 2, specificly Fenn Rau. He is relatively cheap, can protect other ships by blocking token use in an enemy ship's attack, can give actions to his teammates, and has some juicy slots (crew and astromech) for some additional team bonuses.

As Sabine said, there are quite a few support ship options, and I think they have a fun role in the game; I personally have four HWKs (I like repaints and mods) and frequently field them.

As far as ship repair goes, there is regen but I think anything stronger than that would drastically alter how fast-paced the game would be, to a detriment.

Support ships are difficult to design in the 100/6 format. 100 points and their current costing model (whatever that is) makes it really tricky to get right.

Too expensive (HWK, U-wing) and it'll never see the light of day competitively. Too cheap and you can fit in enough other elements that use that support to have way over the top squads.

Rebel Fenn, IMO, is priced just right. He's probably slightly undercosted for what he can do, but support ships need to be somewhat aggressively costed because they can't succeed by themselves.

It's just tricky to get that balance right.

existing support ships:
Rebels: HWK-290, Sheathipede, U-wing, Azituck

Imperial/First order: TIE Bomber Shuttle, Lambda, Upsilon

Scum: HWK-290, YV-666

there are also some combat ships (like the ARC-170) which have upgrade mixes andor pilots that can act in support roles.

I really would like to see a U-55 Loadlifter, from the Last Jedi. A cheap 0 attack support ship. That also had low agility and no shields. But lots of options for crew and tech to offer new tricks.

While the developers have supposdly said the 1 red die on the HWK was a mistake, I believe a zero red could work - effectively it would be a mini GR-75. Add in coordinate, and an upgrade (title) that allows the Cloaking ability from the movie of not directly targeting the ship unless found out - maybe, they can only be attacked by a ship with a target lock on them.

WED-15 Repair Droid. 2pts, fixes normal or critical hull damage.

Just play epic, you know it makes sense!

8 hours ago, mithril2098 said:

existing support ships:
Rebels: HWK-290, Sheathipede, U-wing, Azituck

Imperial/First order: TIE Bomber Shuttle, Lambda, Upsilon

Scum: HWK-290, YV-666

there are also some combat ships (like the ARC-170) which have upgrade mixes andor pilots that can act in support roles.

YV-666 takes up 1/3 of your squad quite fast actually, so that is not a benefit... on the other hand it does have 12 hitpoints without any upgrades so that makes it stick around long enough... and it packs a punch...

So is it a pure support? I mean I suppose that you aim for the 3 crew that it has, but what makes it different from the decimator then?

EDIT: Heavy Casual and Noob Alert btw!

Sheathipede is the best support ship in the game at the moment.

And it's a very good one.

1 hour ago, thespaceinvader said:

Sheathipede is the best support ship in the game at the moment.

And it's a very good one.

mostly because of cost. The HWK-290 is dramatically over-costed now just as a base chassis. I know we probably won't see it get any help in the foreseeable future. I think the title should be free at least. I'm curious if a -3 points reduction would make Jan Ors come back? Would she be balanced? Is the dial too junky for it be in a modern squad?

Then again, I'm over here building lists that start with "Jan Ors + Fenn + ___________"

I also have been a big fan of U-Wing + Rey

Support ships are neat, but they really require your other ships in the list to hit HARD as the offensive output can be pretty low.

2 hours ago, That Blasted Samophlange said:

I really would like to see a U-55 Loadlifter, from the Last Jedi. A cheap 0 attack support ship. That also had low agility and no shields. But lots of options for crew and tech to offer new tricks.

While the developers have supposdly said the 1 red die on the HWK was a mistake, I believe a zero red could work - effectively it would be a mini GR-75. Add in coordinate, and an upgrade (title) that allows the Cloaking ability from the movie of not directly targeting the ship unless found out - maybe, they can only be attacked by a ship with a target lock on them.

This idea is interesting and it could be fun, but a 0 attack ship would never see the table.

The main reason we still see Hwks is because of TLTs.

3 minutes ago, Wiredin said:

I also have been a big fan of U-Wing + Rey

Rey onboard the U wing of flying the Falcon?

Also which U wing pilot? When ever I think about using them, and I do a lot, the pilots just seem so underwhelming for their cost.

10 minutes ago, Purple Orc said:

Rey onboard the U wing of flying the Falcon?

Also which U wing pilot? When ever I think about using them, and I do a lot, the pilots just seem so underwhelming for their cost.

They are bad.

There's almost nothing a U Wing can do that an Auzituck can't do better.

2 minutes ago, thespaceinvader said:

They are bad.

There's almost nothing a U Wing can do that an Auzituck can't do better.

Basically they can block better. And that's about it. And when it comes to pure support, Sheathipede is so much more useful. AP-5, Fenn, and Ezra all are incredibly handy little ships.

2 hours ago, Purple Orc said:

Rey onboard the U wing of flying the Falcon?

Also which U wing pilot? When ever I think about using them, and I do a lot, the pilots just seem so underwhelming for their cost.

2 hours ago, thespaceinvader said:

They are bad.

There's almost nothing a U Wing can do that an Auzituck can't do better.

2 hours ago, viedit said:

Basically they can block better. And that's about it. And when it comes to pure support, Sheathipede is so much more useful. AP-5, Fenn, and Ezra all are incredibly handy little ships.

I do agree as a pure support ship the Sheath is the way to go... but check this out:

Rey (45)
Expertise (4)
Finn (5)
Kanan Jarrus (3)
Countermeasures (3)
Millennium Falcon (TFA) (1)

Cassian Andor (27)
Expert Handling (2)
Advanced Sensors (3)
Inspiring Recruit (1)
Kyle Katarn (3)
Experimental Interface (3)
Pivot Wing (0)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

I LOVE this list. I flew it quite a bit before the recent wave and overall a 50/50 w/l ratio with it. Its fun when people are concerned about that U-Wing staring at them. The jank goes as follows: Adv'Sensors a focus or TL,expert handling a BR, perform green move, gain 2 focus tokens when you clear the stress from Kyle. It makes the ship a lot harder to kill, more maneuverable, and push through more damage. It's great!

Will you win a regional with it? probably not. but it is not a bottom tier list.

4 hours ago, thespaceinvader said:

They are bad.

There's almost nothing a U Wing can do that an Auzituck can't do better.

I agree, but they do fill different roles. Contrary to what Mithril posted above, the Auzituck is not a support ship, it's a tank.

Lowhhrick has a support ability, but that doesn't make it a support ship any more than Manaroo makes JM5K a support ship.

Also, YV-666 is not a support ship.

You know what would be a good support ship?

U-55 loadlifter. Make it happen!

15 hours ago, mithril2098 said:

Scum: HWK-290, YV-666

Scum also has the Quadjumper as a dedicated support, and the Bumpmaster is an example of a combat ship fitted to support.

Adding more healing to the game means adding to how long each game takes, and adding value to the run away and camp points style of play. On both counts, I'd rather not see it show up in 100/6

3 hours ago, Sekac said:

I agree, but they do fill different roles. Contrary to what Mithril posted above, the Auzituck is not a support ship, it's a tank.

Lowhhrick has a support ability, but that doesn't make it a support ship any more than Manaroo makes JM5K a support ship.

Also, YV-666 is not a support ship.

The point is not that the Auzituck has its own role. I never said otherwise.

The point is that any support activities the U Wing can do the Auzituck can do better.

(And LOwhhrick very much IS a support ship, the fact that he can punch damage and survive as WELL notwithstanding).

I've been running Kyle/HWK, Lowhhrick/Auzituck, and Heff/Uwing... throw in some Selflessness, Jyn and Jan, crazy fun. (Tourney-worthy, prolly not but IDGAF)

6 minutes ago, thespaceinvader said:

The point is not that the Auzituck has its own role. I never said otherwise.

The point is that any support activities the U Wing can do the Auzituck can do better.

And I responded "I agree..."

I'm just saying on the conversation of support ships it is somewhat apples to oranges. We're comparing the capabilities of a support ship to those of a tank.

But you are 100% right that the reason the U-wing is so bad is that it's supposed to be a support ship, but is outclassed in every single way by a similarly priced ship--including its maximum supportive capacity. The only advantage the U-wing has is a system slot, and there is not a one of them that really help a support ship do support.

Lowhhrick absolutely is a support ship, but there many pilots who have support abilities on a typically non-support ship. Manaroo, Airen Cracken, Shara Bey, Dutch Vander, Lando Calrissian, Latts Razi (she's a pilot too, ya know!).

A support ship (IMO) is one where:

1) Every, or nearly every unique pilot has a support ability.

2) Has lacklustre offense--either because it only has 1-2 red dice (HWK, sheathipede, TIE bomber shuttle) or has a poor dial (U-wing, Lambda)

3) Overall, just wouldn't be worth taking in a one-ship list at (X) cost.