So, I've seen the biggs/jan plus meatshield x-wings minimal fighter build, but I'm curious about other applications of X wings. I've tried searching it a lot, but it's hard not to just get links to X wing vs Armada discussions. I've been thinking about trying out lists with a medium or large fighter group, and I don't want to waste the core set X wings, so that's why I ask about it.

X-wings are one of the best fighters in the game. I don't really recommend them without at least Jan but that's only because having a double brace makes their already solid durability even better.

So yes, they were perfectly fine, I highly recommend.

Edit: I should clarify the jan thing. they work fine without jan, but they're better with jan. cr90's work fine without TRC's, but TRC's are probably the best way to build them, same idea.

Edit Edit: The reason you see biggs mentioned so often with them(imo) is because of the nonsense that was going on with Galient haven. I suspect now his value is going to drop dramatically since you can't toss off insane damage with him. That's not to say he's not effective, but he's not the powerhouse he was before. I'm sure I'll edit this a 3rd time, probably adding something about hats.

Luke is a great option if you're flying aces, with or without Biggs/Jan.

Rogue Squadron is fine as Squadron filler.

Regular X-wings are still useful without Biggs/Jan. 10 X-wings for 130 points is a bargain of dice and health. 7 X-wings with Jan and Biggs is 129 points, more manageable with squadron commands and the benefits gained are a lot more valuable than 1 less X-wing on the table. You can have your X-wing cake and eat it too.

Imperial aces eat them alive.

X-Wings are good as part of a machine with a plan, but they're not good when spammed without a purpose.* Escort in particular is wasted points unless you're Escorting something of value. Bare minimum should be Jan, who has a lot of synergy with X-Wings. If you want to use X-Wings as part of a fighter group, then they work well for Escorting Z-95s, who like being able to hide behind the beefier X-Wings and enjoy using the durable X-Wings to trigger Swarm. If you want to use them as part of a bomber group, then they're happy to Escort Y-Wings, B-Wings, or Scurggs to get the job done. They're also good for guarding key aces like Ten Numb or Norra that can cause a lot of trouble (for example, Jan acting as a blood bank for X-Wings guarding Ten Numb will give even Sloane aces pause if you're around the right other buff sources, like Toryn Farr and/or Yavaris).

All the X-Wing aces are good but it really depends on what you want them to do. Luke improves the bomber element, Wedge improves the fighter element (and isn't a bad bomber either, with one black die), and Biggs buffs the "meat shield" element. You can use them all or none or something in-between depending on your fleet.

*Seriously, they're pretty bad bombers without a Bomber Command Center around, especially for the cost, and they're decent fighters but if fighters are all you want, then A-Wings are probably better. If you just want something that's all-around decent at everything and you want to spam that, then I'd recommend spamming YT-2400s.

2 hours ago, dominosfleet said:

Edit Edit: The reason you see biggs mentioned so often with them(imo) is because of the nonsense that was going on with Galient haven. I suspect now his value is going to drop dramatically since you can't toss off insane damage with him. That's not to say he's not effective, but he's not the powerhouse he was before.

I have no idea what this comment is about. Gallant Haven reduces damage from attacks. If you transfer Damage from Wedge to Luke using Biggs, Gallant Haven does not reduce the damage going to Luke to zero. Biggs damage transfer doesn’t count as damage from an attack. Gallant Haven’s errata does not affect Biggs in any way.

The Rieeken/Biggs interaction nerf does.

As for the original poster:

Generic Xwings with buffs are lackluster, but still fairly solid. Jan gives them a lot of extra health. Biggs allows for more to stay alive longer even though you take the same overall damage. Norra makes heir bomber work a little better.

So try Jan, Biggs, Norra, and 6 Xs near a flotilla with Toryn and/or BCC.

3 hours ago, Church14 said:

I have no idea what this comment is about. Gallant Haven reduces damage from attacks. If you transfer Damage from Wedge to Luke using Biggs, Gallant Haven does not reduce the damage going to Luke to zero. Biggs damage transfer doesn’t count as damage from an attack. Gallant Haven’s errata does not affect Biggs in any way.

QFT.

GH pre-nerf reduced damage from an attack by 1. Biggs reduces damage from an attack by 1 and chooses another squadron to suffer 1 damage --not actually dealing damage from the attack. Because the damage to the second squadron is not an attack, it is not impacted by GH, either pre- or post-FAQ.

Biggs was utterly unnecessary to a successful GH aces build even before the FAQ. If anything, he's more useful now to protect your lynchpin X-wing from the single damage that will trickle through the GH bubble.

X-Wing is the best generic starfighter in the game. For the Rebels, certainly. In general maybe TIE/Ds may be better but they cost more.

Not as good generically as the 2400 and if you just need a pure escort, the 1300 is usually a better choice unless the speed is a problem.

3 hours ago, Norell said:

X-Wing is the best generic starfighter in the game. For the Rebels, certainly. In general maybe TIE/Ds may be better but they cost more.

I’d rarher say A-Wing as speed 5 give you opportunity to attack from safety. 3 blue + counter 2 antisquad usually produce more damage against squadrons then X-Wing 4 dice. And one black antiship is more stable then one red.

Awings can be killed in one shot by a fair amount of other squadron's whereas that extra hit point on the Xwing makes all the difference, and that's before all of the shenanigans with Jan/Biggs

9 hours ago, Snipafist said:

X-Wings are good as part of a machine with a plan, but they're not good when spammed without a purpose.* Escort in particular is wasted points unless you're Escorting something of value. Bare minimum should be Jan, who has a lot of synergy with X-Wings. If you want to use X-Wings as part of a fighter group, then they work well for Escorting Z-95s, who like being able to hide behind the beefier X-Wings and enjoy using the durable X-Wings to trigger Swarm. If you want to use them as part of a bomber group, then they're happy to Escort Y-Wings, B-Wings, or Scurggs to get the job done. They're also good for guarding key aces like Ten Numb or Norra that can cause a lot of trouble (for example, Jan acting as a blood bank for X-Wings guarding Ten Numb will give even Sloane aces pause if you're around the right other buff sources, like Toryn Farr and/or Yavaris).

All the X-Wing aces are good but it really depends on what you want them to do. Luke improves the bomber element, Wedge improves the fighter element (and isn't a bad bomber either, with one black die), and Biggs buffs the "meat shield" element. You can use them all or none or something in-between depending on your fleet.

*Seriously, they're pretty bad bombers without a Bomber Command Center around, especially for the cost, and they're decent fighters but if fighters are all you want, then A-Wings are probably better. If you just want something that's all-around decent at everything and you want to spam that, then I'd recommend spamming YT-2400s.

A-wing swarm is where the fun is...I typically try to max out the little buggers and just go around erasing things with counter.

X-wings I found work as how people before have mentioned.

Basically I agree a lot with what @Snipafist said (it's like we write a blog together haha!). Grabbing a few to Escort important friends is really nice, and with Toryn their squadron attack has effectively a coin flip of killing a basic TIE fighter. They're very good fighters, and not terrible bombers. Whenever I'm running squadrons, 2 x-wings and Jan are a standard starting component. If you have the command ability, Biggs/x/x/Jan is a great 64 points of staying alive,

Wedge/Dutch combo well, potentially with Hera or Yavaris. Wedge is super fun especially when you one-shot kill Shara. And Luke under Dodonna is Satan himself.

Buttttt I wouldn't go spamming them. Biggs/Luke/a regular one and 2 more (for a total of 3 x-wings) and Jan is most of what I would use. If you hit an opponent with a lot of squads, they and your regular squadrons can fight them well enough. But if you run into a Squadronless opponent, welllllll...

Xs are my second favorite squadron (right behind Bs, bit of a Yavaris junky). Have to echo everyone with ye ole Jan combo and Biggs makes things even more annoying by shunting damage to keep your squadrons around to lend their crucial dice

Imo BCC is basically a must, though. World of difference against ships

If you only toyrn, I'd actually go yt1300s (rerolls on EVERYTHING!) assuming you've accounted for their speed. More health, effective same dice as unsupported xs, 75% chance of antiship damage, and rerollable counter