Veteran of 1.0 from wave 1. Haven't played in a long time and haven't bought into 2nd ed. just yet. Been playing around with rebel lists that are viable with just Core and Conversion kit using only wave 1 and came up with this:

Thane Kyrell w/ Swarm Tactics, Hull Upgrade and S-foils (56)

3x Blue Squadron Escort w/ Shield Upgrade and S-foils (47)

The idea being that Thane can boost a Blue to init 5 and get some damage through which he can then flip to crit. With 3 Xs in support I'd be hoping to put a few damage cards out there for him. I'd probably fly him in behind them.

I think I'd be short 1 S-foils to make this work though. Comes in at 197/200. If I had another shield upgrade I'd throw that on Thane to make 198.

Having not flown anything in 2nd ed. yet I've no idea if it would be viable. Any thoughts?

Cheers!

Thane likes shooting last on your side but he tends to get focused down.

I feel like I kinda want named pilots more than hull/shield upgrades. The higher initiative and pilot abilities would help, IMHO. Like Wedge (Crack Shot or Predator), Thane (Swarm Tactics), Biggs (naked except for that mustache), and either Garven or Jek with Crack Shot, or a Red Vet with Swarm Tactics (Thane Swarms Vet Swarms Biggs).

I see what you're saying there. I was going with the logic of keeping the 3x blues alive for longer to dish out the damage.

What about:

Thane Kyrell w/ Swarm Tactics, S-foils, Shield Upgrade (57)

Wedge w/ Swarm Tactics, S-foils, Shield Upgrade (61)

2x Blue Squad Escorts (82)

200/200

Swarm both blues so all shots at I5 or I6. Everyone shoots before Thane who then flips a crit. Would require a lot of formation flying to be effective.

Alternatively:

Thane Kyrell w/ Swarm Tactics, S-foils (51)

Wedge w/ Pred, S-foils (54)

Garven w/ Crack Shot (48) (Could argue for Composure here?)

Red Vet w/ Swarm Tactics, S-foils (46)

199/200

Having not played yet I don't know how good Biggs is. Is he really that good in 2.0?

Biggs is still very solid, as he can suck a crit or a hit away from a friend, spreading damage around. He isn't as game breaking as he was, but is still quite good.

4 hours ago, Lanthal said:

I see what you're saying there. I was going with the logic of keeping the 3x blues alive for longer to dish out the damage.

What about:

Thane Kyrell w/ Swarm Tactics, S-foils, Shield Upgrade (57)

Wedge w/ Swarm Tactics, S-foils, Shield Upgrade (61)

2x Blue Squad Escorts (82)

200/200

Swarm both blues so all shots at I5 or I6. Everyone shoots before Thane who then flips a crit. Would require a lot of formation flying to be effective.

Alternatively:

Thane Kyrell w/ Swarm Tactics, S-foils (51)

Wedge w/ Pred, S-foils (54)

Garven w/ Crack Shot (48) (Could argue for Composure here?)

Red Vet w/ Swarm Tactics, S-foils (46)

199/200

Having not played yet I don't know how good Biggs is. Is he really that good in 2.0?

I would fly that first list as two wing pairs, ace and generic, then run with whichever element is being targeted while the other flanks.

17 hours ago, Lanthal said:

Having not played yet I don't know how good Biggs is. Is he really that good in 2.0?

So what Biggs does is to transfer a hit or crit away from a valuable ship every time that ship gets attacked. So let's presume Thane is the ship you care most about keeping alive. With a Shield Upgrade, that prevents one hit or crit of damage to Thane, once during the entire game. With Biggs, you "prevent" one hit or crit to Thane every time Thane gets attacked. He's also flexible, and can protect Wedge or anyone else for that matter. There's a cost, however, in that Wedge has to eat that damage himself. Sometimes, that doesn't matter, since Biggs either has to be targeted first, or else your opponent will have their damage split, and split damage is worse than concentrated damage. There may be a benefit to having the 4th ship remain a cheap Blue, however.

• Maybe:
  • Thane (Swarm, Hull), Wedge (Swarm), Biggs, Blue
• Alternately:
  • Thane (Swarm), Wedge (Swarm), Biggs, Red Vet (Selfless) Selfless is like a mini-Biggs, but works only on crit results. This also weakens an opponent who decides to target Biggs first, since any crits can be taken by the Red Vet, so they can't fully focus down Biggs.

A lot of this is theoretical, too. But I just remember from 1e that going for hull and shield upgrades on generics usually was worse than taking named pilots.