Love me some A-wings and B-wings. That being said, pilot options upon conversion are decidedly limited, with each ship fielding only two options for pilot abilities.

My assumption is that they will be rereleased sooner rather than later. My hope is that each will come with four new pilots, for a total of six each, giving them the same number of options as Y-wings. I admit I'll be a little disappointed if they wind up with only four unique pilots, because both are beloved as original trilogy ships, behind only the Falcon, X, and Y as iconic Rebel vessels.

So, assuming we get four new pilots for each... what would you like to see?

Here are mine. Keep in mind that these are only my wish lists, and just some thoughts on what might be fun to see A-wing and B-wing pilots do.

A-WING

1) Hera Syndulla.

Her initiative score and pilot ability combined with that crazy good dial would give the A-wing the sort of power ace it is currently lacking. My worry here is that it might actually be too good, but the hope is that being shackled to a 2-die primary would keep her from being too bonkers good, and like Guri there would still be the worry of I6 aces rendering her dial switching moot.

2) Tycho Celchu , Initiative 5: You may execute red maneuvers and perform [boost] and [focus] actions while stressed.

I'd really like to see a pair of I5 aces in the A-wing pack and Tycho is a bit of an icon. I doubt his ability remains the same from 1e; a slight dialing down seems to be in order. The above seems to me to be a reasonable translation of his ability to 2e without allowing him to completely ignore stress as he did in 1e. [Edit: Changed permitted action from barrel roll to focus because people have rightly pointed out that the Resistance A-wing will probably have access to Primed Thrusters, and Tycho's ability needs to set him apart from those nerds.]

3) Ahsoka Tano : 2 Force tokens; Initiative 5; At the start of the Engagement Phase, you may spend 1 [Force]. If you do, another friendly ship at R0-1 may perform a free action.

I admit that this one seems unlikely, but I have to say I'd very much like to see her in 2e as another Force-user option (which, as a side benefit, would also give the devs an excuse to release more much-needed Force talents). While she would undoubtedly be very expensive for such a light chassis, a Supernatural Reflexes A-wing sounds like just all of the fun--so much more so if she showed up at I5 somehow instead of Tycho or Hera. That being said, if they do release her as an A-wing pilot (doesn't seem likely), I wouldn't be surprised if they dropped her to I4, or even I3, simply because of how strong a Supernatural A-wing would be.

4) Shara Bey?

There are several options to choose from, some of which already exist as Rebel pilots. If we're given a pair of I5 aces and an I3 Force-using support, another I4 option with a stand-alone ability would be welcome. Given the lack of punch the A-wing currently has, I'd lean towards an offensive ability. The First Order's Longshot is solid without being super overpowering (an extra offensive die at Range 3); a similar kind of situational offense, maybe tied to bullseye (which wouldn't be broken at I4), would work nicely. My dream A-wing pilot is, of course, Wedge Antilles , but I'm not delusional enough to think it might actually happen.

B-WING

1) Hera Syndulla (again).

Her ability would be great on an A-wing. It wouldn't be quite as good on a B, but given the amount of red on that dial, it would give her A LOT of different places to go on a ship that can punch... but she stresses herself to get there. If I had to pick one, I'd want her on an A-wing, but she'd be a solid option in a B.

2) Ibtisam.

This one isn't super exciting to me because her ability is random, but I expect it to happen because she was a B-winger in 1e and she still exists as a pilot in 2e. That being said, my hope for her is that she is only 1, or maaaybe 2, points more expensive than the Blade Squadron Veteran; as long as she's priced so that you're not giving up much to get her ability, she'd be a reasonable budget option for a B-wing.

3) Nera Dantels. Initiative 3: You may treat V [ cannon] upgrades as [forward 180 arc].

There's no way we'd see her show up with a 360 firing arc, widening her arc for secondary weapons is feasible. More room for torpedoes might be a bit much, but cannons seem like a good candidate without breaking the game: . (Note - I am not familiar with Nera Dantels outside the context of X-wing, so I don't know if her source material is heavy on torpedoes or something.)

4) Gina Moonsong. I3 or 4 (?): While a friendly ship at range 0-2 defends or performs an attack, it may spend your locks as if their own.

This is a strong support ability that existed in 1e, and a similar ability exists in 2e with Esege (K-wing). It would make sense given some of Gina's source material, as pointed out by some lovely people in this thread.

With Ten and Braylen, and presumably Ibtisam on the way, it looks like dealing with stress will be a theme amongst B-wingers (though I hope not exclusively so). I'm not sure where else to go with it for a hypothetical future pilot--one already spends like a focus token, one gives rerolls. (Edit - I left out Keyan because his ability went to Ten Numb, so I'm assuming he won't be appearing in 2e.)

I will say that the B-wing is a platform that might be able to do without multiple, or even any, I5 pilots, and I think it might be good for the game to keep I5 from being ubiquitous. I wouldn't be surprised or even disappointed if the B didn't have any pilots above I4, so long as the pilots bring useful abilities that are worth taking in 2e.

EDITED - I would like to open this up to more than just pilot/pilot ability speculation! What upgrades would you like to see? For example, I remember people kicking around an idea for B-wings gaining a Reinforce-like effect against attacks coming from inside their front arc, and it's just an idea I like a lot, especially since they lost one of their shields in the translation to 2e; others have mentioned the lost access to the Crew slot for B's, or double talents for A's.

What are your thoughts?

13 minutes ago, nexttwelveexits said:

1) Hera Syndulla. Her initiative score and pilot ability combined with that crazy good dial would give the A-wing the sort of power ace it is currently lacking. My worry here is that it might actually be too good, but the hope is that being shackled to a 2-die primary would keep her from being too bonkers good, and like Guri there would still be the worry of I6 aces rendering her dial switching moot. 

13 minutes ago, nexttwelveexits said:

1) Hera Syndulla (again). Her ability would be great on an A-wing. It wouldn't be quite as good on a B, but given the amount of red on that dial, it would give her A LOT of different places to go on a ship that can punch... but she stresses herself to get there. If I had to pick one, I'd want her on an A-wing, but she'd be a solid option in a B.   

I say yes to more Hera. I think she'd likely be best on the A-Wing, though it would be cool if they ever added her to the X-Wing as Green Leader. If they add her to the B-Wing hopefully it they add in a Blade Wing prototype title or configuration to go with her.

15 minutes ago, nexttwelveexits said:

2) Tycho Celchu. I'd really like to see a pair of I5 aces in the A-wing pack and Tycho is a bit of an icon. I doubt his ability remains the same from 1e, so maybe a slight dialing down is in order: You may perform red maneuvers and [boost] or [barrel roll] actions while stressed . This would be a reasonable translation of his ability without allowing him to completely ignore stress as he did in 1e.

Definitely want to see Tycho again, if they want to tone down his ability really all they need to do is put a number to the number of Stress Tokens he can ignore similar to how the Resistance Falcon can ignore up to 2 so that it can do its Segnor's loop + a rotate or boost.

16 minutes ago, nexttwelveexits said:

3) Ahsoka Tano. I admit that this one seems unlikely, but man I'd really like to see her in 2e as another Force-using option (which would also give the devs an excuse to release more much-needed Force talents). I see her as: 2 Force tokens; Initiative 3; At the start of the Engagement Phase, you may spend 1 [Force]. If you do, another friendly ship at R0-1 may perform a free action.

We lost her as a pilot for the Tie Fighter so hopefully she will be added to the Rebels in general. If not, I guess the Republic will have her at least piloting the Delta 7 or the Eta 2 if not both.

18 minutes ago, nexttwelveexits said:

2) Ibtisam. I'm frankly not thrilled about this one but I see it happening as he was a B-winger in 1e and his pilot ability would bring decent utility on a B. I just hate the randomness of it. If he's an inexpensive Blade Veteran upgrade (1, maaaybe 2 pts more than generic), he'd be worth a look.

I'd be fine with getting Ibtisam back in the B-Wing, though it might be nice if they instead put her boyfriend in there or the both of them there with complimenting abilities. Of course they are both legends characters now too.

19 minutes ago, nexttwelveexits said:

3) Nera Dantels. I seriously doubt she'd show up with her 1e ability. However, widening her arc for secondary weapons might be worthwhile. For example: You may treat \/ [cannon] upgrades as [forward 180 arc].

It would be nice if she showed up, in general and so you could fly another couple that being her and Biggs.

You did miss the important pilot for the B-Wing though, that being Keyan Farlander. I know some might not want him back due to being legends but come on he comes from the game that this miniature game is based on, he should be here flying something. Also, we will likely see Shara Bey put onto the A-Wing considering she flew one at Endor and there has been a push for new canon pilots.

I think when they get around to a B-Wing expansion, using Blade Squadron named pilots may be the way to go. I can see Hera but I honestly don't expect Ibitsam at this point as she wasn't in the CK.

I hope we get a couple of configurations for the B-wing, which I kind of want more than specific pilots. A b-wing prototype configuration and one that gives a crew slot (like we had in 1st edition) would both be neat. I also hope some way to take advantage of two cannon slots comes around at some point.

A-wing pilots, I would very much like to see Tycho again but I'm not holding my breath, again because I think he would have been in the CK if he was going to be in second. I think we'll get plenty of Ahsoka as a pilot in the GR faction. At the very least, she might be in the Delta-7, and I'd be surprised if we didn't eventually get the Twilight. I think she's more likely to be crew for Rebels if she shows for the faction.

Hera would be fantastic both in the B-Wing and A-Wing because of her ability (and the Y-wing, and the X-wing, but as those are already released then I doubt that will ever come about). I don't know that she would keep that ability on those platforms, though. It really might be too good on at least some of those.

While they are better known for other appearances, Wedge and Hobbie both flew A-wings for Pheonix Squadron. I'd say it's possible but maybe not likely. Wedge's ability would make for a strong ability on the less-inherently-offensive a-wing and would give the chassis a solid I6. Since Hobbie wasn't released on the T65, bringing him back into the game would be nice. I'd hope his ability would change a bit, maybe still working around locks but not what it was in 1st. Sabine also flew an W-wing alongside Pheonix but I honestly don't want that, though her ability would be good there. Maybe some other members of Phoenix would be fine, even the ones who didn't actually fly a-wings (that sort of thing has happened before).

On Ibitsam and Tycho, it's possible that they weren't happy with their abilities and that's why they weren't' included in second. Maybe it is just a matter of them finding the right ability for them to include them. Maybe their lack of inclusion in the CK doesn't actually imply that they're unlikely to be in second, but that's my impression for now at least.

I would also very much like to see Keyan again as well, but not sure it will happen.

21 minutes ago, nexttwelveexits said:

Ibtisam. I'm frankly not thrilled about this one but I see it happening as he was a B-winger in 1e and his pilot ability would bring decent utility

Ibtisam is a she.

I think you've actually missed out the two most likely candidates for each ship:

Gina Moonsong in the B-Wing and Shara Bey in the A-Wing.

Gina is the main character of the Blade Squadron webcomics, and therefore one of only a handful of canon B-Wing pilots. She also has the most Star Wars name ever. Shara Bey is another Green Squadron pilot during the Battle of Endor, and a main character in the Shattered Empire comics. She's Poe Dameron's mother and arguably has the most page or screen time of any A-Wing pilot in canon other than Hera.

I really hope Tycho is back in some form. I just can't bring myself to be fussed about Hera in either ship, though. I don't like reusing the same pilots across multiple ships, and I'm only advocating for Shara because her main ship is the A-Wing, and the ARC is full of 'second choice' pilots anyway.

Getting Keyan back would be amazing. Maarek's in the game, no reason Keyan should be left out.

4 minutes ago, GuacCousteau said:

Ibtisam is a she.

I think you've actually missed out the two most likely candidates for each ship:

Gina Moonsong in the B-Wing and Shara Bey in the A-Wing.

Already fixed Ibtisam after the first response made me realize my mistake.

I'm not aware of many non-movie pilots, so I'm happy to hear that there are plenty of options to choose from that would give us MOAR A/B PILOTS!!

Shara's ability on an A would be... OK, if she has friends to feed her tokens. The A spends more time being stressed than the ARC, so it wouldn't be as easy to pull off.

What pilot ability might be thematic for Gina Moonsong ?

Hera and Shara in A-Wings yes please.

3 minutes ago, nexttwelveexits said:

Already fixed Ibtisam after the first response made me realize my mistake.

Sorry, I'd had the editor open for a while before hitting send.

I'll leave the link for reference for anyone curious about where FFG got her from originally.

4 minutes ago, nexttwelveexits said:

Shara's ability on an A  would be... OK, if she has friends to feed her tokens. The A spends more time being stressed than the ARC, so it wouldn't be as easy to pull off.

To be honest, I think Shara's ability on an A-Wing would be pretty terrible. I'm not the biggest fan of it on the ARC, for that matter, but at least there she lets you roll 4 dice - much more valuable than 3 because no ship has natively higher agility than 3 - and has access to upgrades like Saw and R3 which give her more mods and some appropriate action economy.

Spending a lock for 3 dice and no chance of any mods outside a separate support ship would be bad, especially when it makes even the overpriced concussion missiles look attractive by comparison.

So Shara might have to be one of the few pilots who gets a different ability even within the same faction, or she's going to need a new talent specifically designed for her.

Themey abilities seem tricky to figure out on the B-Wing, and I'm struggling to remember the details of the Blade Squadron stories. I do seem to remember that she and Braylen Stramm destroy the Devastator by linking targeting data, so maybe an ability that lets her turn a blank to an eye when attacking a locked ship, or something similar? Or maybe something that lets her remove stress from a friendly at range 0-1 after a certain maneuver type to give her a wingman vibe?

10 minutes ago, GuacCousteau said:

Themey abilities seem tricky to figure out on the B-Wing, and I'm struggling to remember the details of the Blade Squadron stories. I do seem to remember that she and Braylen Stramm destroy the Devastator by linking targeting data, so maybe an ability that lets her turn a blank to an eye when attacking a locked ship, or something similar? Or maybe something that lets her remove stress from a friendly at range 0-1 after a certain maneuver type to give her a wingman vibe?

The only advantage a smaller starting die pool has for Shara is that you're less likely to roll multiple blanks and therefore more likely to not need your lock for rerolls. But that's not really better.

Hmm. Linking targeting data, a la Esege: a friendly ship at Range 0-1 (or 2?) may spend your lock as if it was their own? Seems wingmatey (and might make Shara Bey worthwhile at the same time)

3 minutes ago, nexttwelveexits said:

The only advantage a smaller starting die pool has for Shara is that you're less likely to roll multiple blanks and therefore more likely to not need your lock for rerolls. But that's not really better.

The key thing to remember - and something I actually forgot myself earlier - is that Shara doesn't just make you roll more dice, she adds a focus result.

With no way to get that focus token the same turn, the benefit of her ability on an A-Wing is severely limited, even if you are less likely to need the lock.

4 minutes ago, nexttwelveexits said:

Hmm. Linking targeting data, a la Esege: a friendly ship at R0-1 may spend your lock as if it was their own? Seems wingmatey (and might make Shara Bey worthwhile at the  same  time) 

Ironically, that was actually Shara's ability in 1e, and was good for supporting 1e Norra who gave her ability to 2e Shara.

Thinking about it, Gina's a bit of a hothead.

Something involving stress or self stress for offence is probably more her style. Only problem with that is that the current named B-Wing pilots are already operating in the space of using stress as an advantage, and the B-Wing is one of the worst platforms for a Rage style ability that gives you great benefits but double stresses you. So it's difficult to work something up for Gina where she might actually want to stress herself.

40 minutes ago, GuacCousteau said:

Getting Keyan back would be amazing. Maarek's in the game, no reason Keyan should be left out.

And then give Scum Ace Azameen so we have all three protags from the games in each of the original 3 factions. Not to mention you could then fly the Azameen family together in scum whereas if he was a Rebel you couldn't.

7 minutes ago, Animewarsdude said:

And then give Scum Ace Azameen so we have all three protags from the games in each of the original 3 factions. Not to mention you could then fly the Azameen family together in scum whereas if he was a Rebel you couldn't.

I've struggled on Ace being Scum or Rebel. He really could be either but I think he fits in Rebels slightly better.

1 hour ago, nexttwelveexits said:

Hmm. Linking targeting data, a la Esege: a friendly ship at Range 0-1 (or 2?) may spend your lock as if it was their own? Seems wingmatey (and might make Shara Bey worthwhile at the same time)

Ive been hoping her ability makes a comeback somewhere or other for that exact reason. Doing it with a pair of A-Wings would make it worth her ability not being quite as viable on the ARC.

I want to also be able to talk about upgrades you'd like to see for A-wings and B-wings. People have mentioned B-wing/E2 and A-wing Test Pilot, but I for one would like to see more cannon options for B's and cheap missile options for A's to help them work as light missile carriers.

1 hour ago, CaptainIxidor said:

I've struggled on Ace being Scum or Rebel. He really could be either but I think he fits in Rebels slightly better.

I never played that one. However, when I first read up on the characters, it struck me that Ace should be a Rebel pilot (maybe in a new YT-1300 expansion), while Antan could somehow end up with the Empire.

9 minutes ago, nexttwelveexits said:

I want to also be able to talk about upgrades you'd like to see for A-wings and B-wings. People have mentioned B-wing/E2 and A-wing Test Pilot, but I for one would like to see more cannon options for B's and cheap missile options for A's to help them work as light missile carriers.

What about a configuration to treat it more like its off the rack model seen in Rebels instead of the stripped down interceptor seen in ROTJ? Would it be worth it to have a worse dial/less blues to or losing their ship ability to get a 3 dice attack?

57 minutes ago, nexttwelveexits said:

I want to also be able to talk about upgrades you'd like to see for A-wings and B-wings. People have mentioned B-wing/E2 and A-wing Test Pilot, but I for one would like to see more cannon options for B's and cheap missile options for A's to help them work as light missile carriers.

Another missile that’s focus-required instead of TL would help the lower initiative pilots.

7 minutes ago, SpiderMana said:

Another missile that’s focus-required instead of TL would help the lower initiative pilots.

Allow them to equip Barrage missiles but not two different types of missiles.

But yeah, another focus missile would be good to have. Prockets were the go to on a-wings, especially low PS, in first. In second, the bullseye restriction makes them so unappealing.

I'd really like to see a pair of configuration options for each of these ships:

Give the A-wing an early configuration with a bit more firepower and less maneuverability and one that's more interceptory

For the B-wing I'd love to see a stress based on something like gyroscopic control system: you can perform barrel rolls even while stressed. and a second one that gives it more cannon utility or a gunner/crew slot back.

3 minutes ago, MockingBird ME said:

I'd really like to see a pair of configuration options for each of these ships:

Give the A-wing an early configuration with a bit more firepower and less maneuverability and one that's more interceptory

For the B-wing I'd love to see a stress based on something like gyroscopic control system: you can perform barrel rolls even while stressed. and a second one that gives it more cannon utility or a gunner/crew slot back.

Would LOVE to see the B wing model move around and rotate freely as well as give it an actual configuration card that affects it when in certain rotational positions

I think there will definitely be new pilots and upgrades with all of the new expansions of the old ships, they will want to give us a reason to buy them (after all 2.0 is FFG's money grab).

I'd like the Bwing to have a gunner slot for sure (like the ship has in Canon), but it looks like they won't do that. I'm also intrigued why they dropped a Torps slot and gave it a second cannon slot, makes me think it will get a cannon upgrade that needs both slots; maybe a HLC that can use the whole of the front arc.

Pilot wise I'd love to see Dantels back, she was my 2nd favourite 1.0 pilot (behind Corran), and (while they will have to change how she works) maybe she could have a secondary (including cannon) dual turret.

• Both B-Wings and A-Wings would benefit greatly from Init 5 pilots. A B-Wing with HLC at Init 5 would be a great large/medium base hunter. A-Wing has potential as a pocket ace. Jake isn't too bad currently, since he can Boost or Barrel Roll each turn and get a focus without stress, but being Init 4 is limiting.
• I feel like the general capabilities of these ships are generally pretty right, but they just need more pilots.
  • I'd love for a few A-Wings to have conditional abilities to get an extra attack die. One of the spoiled Resistance A-Wings has the coolest one: he rolls one fewer green die and one extra red die while stressed on Init 5. I'm almost kinda mad the Rebel A-Wing can't get that ability.
  • Hera would of course be great in either A or B. Initiative 5 and dial-changing is potent. Maybe too potent. Swapping from either 2-hard or the 5-straight on an A-Wing, or among the many red moves of a B-Wing...
  • I know one A-Wing should be Tycho, but I don't know if I want his ability to remain the same. That'll just be a Resistance A-Wing with Primed Thrusters, which isn't bad, but every Resistance ship will get it. That'd be kind of a let-down to me. Reinventing Tycho's ability seems nice to me.
  • Shara Bey would be a cool pilot to get, but her ARC ability on an A-Wing seems... meh. Well... she can ride along side a Jake Farrel, and he can be tossing her a Focus action, then she can Lock and Boost... Maybe that's not too bad, but I bet it'd be harder to work out the on-table geometry in a real game. Seems good on paper, but still.
  • To update another old A-Wing pilot: Gemmer Sojan . At the start of the Engagement Phase, if you are at Range 0-1 of at least one enemy ship, you may perform an Evade action. It'd be sweet to get Rebels in on that tasty Juke action.
• I understand the desire for Crew or Gunners (if there were any Gunners who worked on Front-arc only ships...) on B-Wings, but I feel like they could easily fall into their 1e points trap issues. B-Wings could do a lot of potent stuff, once loaded with crew and talents and systems and so forth, but have 8 HP behind 1 green, and often won't get their points back.
  • I regret that I never got to put Thrust Corrector B-Wings on the table back in 1e. Thrust Corrector and Linked Battery on a B-Wing seemed like a really potent sleeper squad. I think the math would work out pretty good for them against something like the 5 X-Wing swarms towards the end of the edition.
  • I can't think of anything actually worthwhile for a B-6 Prototype with the massive composite Beam Cannon. My 1e version started at 2 red dice, but you could store and build energy by taking a special action which also gave you a stress. Each energy spent would add 2 red dice to the attack, and 1 green die to the defender. So 4 red vs +1 green, 6 red vs +2 green, 8 red vs +3 green. Maybe that could have worked in 1e, but in 2e, it'll be too easy to coordinate a Focus/Lock to this B-Wing, and toss 8 dice into the face of someone, and green-dice modifiers aren't remotely potent enough to keep up. It'd probably have to be Bullseye-only, and even then it's probably too powerful to include. However, if the B-6 Prototype is only just a 1e Heavy Laser Cannon, it's like, not "epic" enough to bother with.
    • Maybe I did have a thought. Bullseye only weapon, 4 dice, and if it hits, assign a "Composite Beam" condition to the defender. The condition would drop off if the B-6 doesn't attack them in a round, and allows the B-6 to roll an extra 2 dice with their special cannon. Hard to pull off (bullseye on the same target two turns in a row?), but when you do, it'll feel worth it.
    • That'd also be a sweet A-Wing pilot ability. Assign a condition to the defender, and when you attack them again, you roll an extra attack die. That'd be a lot of fun on an Init 5 A-Wing.

Personally I'd love to see Hera on both of these ships. As for upgrades, I want them to do something to represent that awesome linked battery shot, that Hera's B-wing prototype could do. We had Linked Battery as a cannon upgrade in 1.0 and that did the job ok, but now that Linked Battery is the name of the Upsilons ability, who knows what they'd call it. also the B-wing should get a "Blade Wing" title

honestly, for the "Prototype B-6" title, i'd go relatively simple.

exchange the Sensor slot for a gunner slot, and gains a variant of the 'Linked battery" off the upsilon shuttle, where any Cannon installed gets extra dice. would obviously be a little different.. perhaps instead of one it gets two, but has to use the bullseye arc, or something.

leave the composite beam weapon as something only the B-wing can do, without filling up a cannon card with a "B-wing only" limit.

alternately, do the above special, but replace one cannon with the gunner instead of the sensors. whichever would be less likely to unbalance things.

13 hours ago, mithril2098 said:

honestly, for the "Prototype B-6" title, i'd go relatively simple.

exchange the Sensor slot for a gunner slot, and gains a variant of the 'Linked battery" off the upsilon shuttle, where any Cannon installed gets extra dice. would obviously be a little different.. perhaps instead of one it gets two, but has to use the bullseye arc, or something.

leave the composite beam weapon as something only the B-wing can do, without filling up a cannon card with a "B-wing only" limit.

alternately, do the above special, but replace one cannon with the gunner instead of the sensors. whichever would be less likely to unbalance things.

They could do the composite beam sort of like old school Proton Rocket but instead of being speed based it costs shields. Yes, that means that you can smack something really hard but at the cost of making yourself easier to kill and likely only being able to fire off one giant attack.