I have a small collection of the 1st edition stuff (although I haven't played it that much), and I'm thinking of taking the plunge and picking up some of the 2nd edition, but I only want to pick up one faction for now. What are the differences between the factions? I'm specifically trying to decide between scum and rebel (although it would be nice to know what the imperials are all about, too).

Rebels - help each other out by buffing each other. all about synergy

Empire - swarmy game breaking stuff.

Scum - degenerate combos that deal with stress and control pieces.

Resistance - super ships, FFG suggests 2-3 ship lists

First Order - super tie fighters that let others think they are playing the game

Republic - jedi

CIS - vulture swarm

15 minutes ago, Wiredin said:

Rebels - help each other out by buffing each other. all about synergy

Empire - swarmy game breaking stuff.

Scum - degenerate combos that deal with stress and control pieces.

Resistance - super ships, FFG suggests 2-3 ship lists

First Order - super tie fighters that let others think they are playing the game

Republic - jedi

CIS - vulture swarm

I would have sorted the game breaking stuff to scum. Double mods wherever you look, far too cheap control ships (Quadjumpers) that play Ping Pong with your list and sure.... combos that still scream 1.0.

The others seem accurate... only the one about FO I dont get? Can you explain?

Imperials also have an Ace category with Soontir, Vader, Whisper etc

Their aces are doing better in events than any of their swarms.

I think that CIS will end up being “the” swarm faction and Empire will end up being more ace wing knife fighting.

FO feels similar to Empire. Maybe a hair more towards burst/spike damage with pilots like QuickDraw or Commander Glitterstim and abilities like Fanatical.

I would say...

Rebel - synergy and benefitting each other

Empire - Fragile but Solid Aces and Ordnance

Scum - Combos and janky tricks

Resistance - Rebel skinned Aces

FO - All the Offense

CIS - swarm

Republic - Force

"You will feel it... the sensation that tells you that you have built a good scum squad. You will look at the list, picture yourself facing it and then a sensation will build at the back of your throat... like vomit and bile slowly crawling in an oozing puddle. Only then will you smile in satisfaction."

Dotswarlock

That basically sums it up. You don't have the crazy numbers or easy access high initiative of the Empire nor do you have the camaraderie and team play of the Rebels. Building a scum squad is about finding the right combo of ships that will steal enemy tokens, land them on asteroids or just mess with the enemy while a few hard hitters or elite pilots do some carnage. If you like the idea of your opponent squirming because they have no idea how to approach what you have built, then this is the faction for you

In all honesty, the differences are pretty abritrary and any faction can do anything

People say rebels are all about synergy, seemingly forgetting that Howlrunner/Jonus/Drea support their allies far more effectively (and that's not even getting into their coordinate options)

Really, you pick the faction whose ships look the most interesting to you

Only solid difference I can pin point is that Empire has heaps of unique manueverability options between Ailerons (TIE Striker, Reaper), reusable cloak (TIE Phantoms), SLAM while still shooting (Alpha Starwing) etc. They're my personal favorite when it comes to gameplay variety, just not so much aesthetic variety ?

Meanwhile, scum has unique access to the Quadjumper and its unique (und hilarious) ability

But otherwise, yeah it doesn't matter which you pick you can find basically any kind of ship in any faction

Whether or not those options are deemed competitive...well, that's on a ship-by-ship basis

34 minutes ago, Wiredin said:

Rebels - help each other out by buffing each other. all about synergy

You missed by taking damage intended for their squad mates... (Faction Identity: We Stand Together)

34 minutes ago, Wiredin said:

Empire - swarmy game breaking stuff.

Mutual support via concentrated fire, to the point of damaging squad mates at times... (Faction Identity: Your Suffering Fuels Me)

34 minutes ago, Wiredin said:

Scum - degenerate combos that deal with stress and control pieces.

Um, degenerate??? Up yours too. No.. Right now Scum is about control (likely what you deem degenerate, stress = control as well), getting in the opponent's face (suicidaly close if you're not a Mandalorian [Fearless is dumb on anything other than Mandos]), and swarming loose. (Faction Identity: think the mouse flipping off the cat about to eat it, mouse has a deadman's switch in its other hand)

34 minutes ago, Wiredin said:

Resistance - super ships, FFG suggests 2-3 ship lists

Maybe. The abilities we've seen so far lean that way, but 2 ship lists will likely die very painfully and swiftly even with those abilities. 3-5 mixed lists with a focus on not dying till after they've had the last shot, if you even get the first shot on them (******* Poe). (Faction Identity: I ain't goin' out that easy.)

34 minutes ago, Wiredin said:

First Order - super tie fighters that let others think they are playing the game

Masochistic Imps that are a bit more durable. (Faction Identity: My suffering makes me stronger.)

34 minutes ago, Wiredin said:

Republic - jedi

CIS - vulture swarm

To be determined. Right now both seem to be leaning towards 1 strong central "ace" supported by a mini swarm.

I'd say in general (like the biggest general you have seen!):

Rebels: Solid all-round ships, get action anvantage though other ships.

Win condition is setting up superior (1 on 1) jousts.

Empire: Ships that are on the end of the spectrum. Tie or VT. Ussually use one big force multiplyer to gain advantage.

Win condition is overwhelming amount of attacks one target a time, or win the late game with powerful aces.

Scum: Ships fall between the empire and rebels in stats. Use disruption of actions and placement to gain advantage. (Currently also have the easiest way of gaining additional actions, this might change due point cost in the future.)

Win condition is though small advantages in movement and/or disrupting.

This is only a vague representation of the factions.

I would also say that for someone just getting into the game, scum are probably the easiest to get into at a moderately competetive level at the moment because all of their 2nd edition releases so far are stellar (firespray, Lando falcon, fang fighter). Rebel and Empire still have good options, but scum has some strong stuff easily available.

Of course, this is all short term. FFG seems to be promoting an aggressive release schedule, so it shouldn't be hard to build a strong collection regardless of faction.

1 hour ago, Wiredin said:

Rebels - help each other out by buffing each other. all about synergy

Empire - swarmy game breaking stuff.

Scum - degenerate combos that deal with stress and control pieces.

Resistance - super ships, FFG suggests 2-3 ship lists

First Order - super tie fighters that let others think they are playing the game

Republic - jedi Clones

CIS - vulture swarm    

Small mistake, FTFY.

by the way, to continue the "rebel synergy" stuff I gotta say that the first order is blowing synergy out of the water with General Hux alone

this is kinda nutty, you're trading one action for THREE

sure, you stress your buddies, but you're looking at FOs and Silencers that have green turns. Provided they activate after the shuttle, that's not much of a drawback at all

Rebels: independently solid jousters who can help out each other.

Empire: numerical or maneuverable dominance.

Scum: upsetting the norm.

Resistance: Superaces

First Order: Control, in the sense of "you have no good choices"

40 minutes ago, ficklegreendice said:

by the way, to continue the "rebel synergy" stuff I gotta say that the first order is blowing synergy out of the water with General Hux alone

this is kinda nutty, you're trading one action for THREE

sure, you stress your buddies, but you're looking at FOs and Silencers that have green turns. Provided they activate after the shuttle, that's not much of a drawback at all

2 hours ago, beardxofxdeath said:

I would have sorted the game breaking stuff to scum. Double mods wherever you look, far too cheap control ships (Quadjumpers) that play Ping Pong with your list and sure.... combos that still scream 1.0.

The others seem accurate... only the one about FO I dont get? Can you explain?

@beardxofxdeath see above

Some factions are scrappy freedom fighters, some factions are fascists, some are criminals.

8 minutes ago, Hawkstrike said:

Some factions are scrappy freedom fighters, some factions are fascists, some are criminals.

All 3 of those depends on your point of view...

I just wanna say: stop counting out the Clones. People are generally more excited about he Jedi, sure, but most of the Clones’ abilities seem to buff friendlies flying in formation (within side arcs, particularly). A bunch of them in the V-19s and eventually V-Wings could prove to be a pretty bad*** miniswarm.

Just now, SpiderMana said:

I just wanna say: stop counting out the Clones. People are generally more excited about he Jedi, sure, but most of the Clones’ abilities seem to buff friendlies flying in formation (within side arcs, particularly). A bunch of them in the V-19s and eventually V-Wings could prove to be a pretty bad*** miniswarm.

I'm not. I can easily see a skilled clone pilot filling the "ace" part of my supposition of "ace" + mini swarm. Heck, the mini swarm part could be a group of Knights backing that specialist up. Depends on their abilities.

3 minutes ago, Hiemfire said:

I'm not. I can easily see a skilled clone pilot filling the "ace" part of my supposition of "ace" + mini swarm. Heck, the mini swarm part could be a group of Knights backing that specialist up. Depends on their abilities.

A couple of Jedi Knights supporting Odd Ball sounds amazing

1 hour ago, Hiemfire said:

All 3 of those depends on your point of view...

I didn't say which was which.

I would avoid Rebels for now. They are seriously underpowered and need some major fixes.

Scum on the other hand have some great pilots, are performing well in tournaments, and are a bit forgiving due to their high HP, token stacking and the decent number of green diceon their ships. Plus they hit hard, and have cheap ships that can shutdown entire lists.

18 hours ago, ficklegreendice said:

In all honesty, the differences are pretty abritrary and any faction can do anything

People say rebels are all about synergy, seemingly forgetting that Howlrunner/Jonus/Drea support their allies far more effectively (and that's not even getting into their coordinate options)

17 hours ago, ficklegreendice said:

by the way, to continue the "rebel synergy" stuff I gotta say that the first order is blowing synergy out of the water with General Hux alone

this is kinda nutty, you're trading one action for THREE

sure, you stress your buddies, but you're looking at FOs and Silencers that have green turns. Provided they activate after the shuttle, that's not much of a drawback at all

Eh, I disagree. While every faction can do most thing in some way, what it comes down to is how thy do it, how well they do it, how much it costs them and how much option they have. Want to fly a super maneuverable high initiative stand alone ace? In Empire, you get a catalog, in Rebels you get more or less nat-flex Luke or bust.

And about Rebel synergy: There is one thing that, at lest on paper, sets it apart form all other factions, namely the "synergy" part. All your examples are essentially "have one powerful ability and built your entire list around it". These have two mayor downsides: They are extremely restrictive for list-building and your linchpin-ship comes with a big fat kick-me sign on it's back. Rebel synergy is supposed about a multiple smaller ability that are supposed to work in tandem with each other, so that when you lose one your list gets weaker, but does not completely fall apart. I'm not saying this works perfectly, or that it is a highly competitive strategy, but it is something that sets rebels apart from the other factions.

2 hours ago, Porkchop Express said:

I would avoid Rebels for now. They are seriously underpowered and need some major fixes.

True but that doesn't mean they need to be avoided. Speaking as a new player who jumped in just after 2.0 started I picked the Rebels and don't regret it. I have had *fun* experimenting with my tiny force of two X-Wings and a Y-Wing. Admittedly the scene at my local shop isn't hyper competitive but I've faced a range of Scum, Imperial, and Rebel squads and held my own with my plucky Rebels.

18 hours ago, ficklegreendice said:

In all honesty, the differences are pretty abritrary and any faction can do anything

People say rebels are all about synergy, seemingly forgetting that Howlrunner/Jonus/Drea support their allies far more effectively (and that's not even getting into their coordinate options)

Really, you pick the faction whose ships look the most interesting to you

Only solid difference I can pin point is that Empire has heaps of unique manueverability options between Ailerons (TIE Striker, Reaper), reusable cloak (TIE Phantoms), SLAM while still shooting (Alpha Starwing) etc. They're my personal favorite when it comes to gameplay variety, just not so much aesthetic variety ?

Meanwhile, scum has unique access to the Quadjumper and its unique (und hilarious) ability

But otherwise, yeah it doesn't matter which you pick you can find basically any kind of ship in any faction

Whether or not those options are deemed competitive...well, that's on a ship-by-ship basis

Pretty much this. There is far less faction identity in this game overall than I would like, personally.

And if 1.0 is any indication, as 2.0 goes on I'm pretty sure the faction identity will only decrease, as opposed to increase :/

2 hours ago, Porkchop Express said:

I would avoid Rebels for now. They are seriously underpowered and need some major fixes.

Scum on the other hand have some great pilots, are performing well in tournaments, and are a bit forgiving due to their high HP, token stacking and the decent number of green diceon their ships. Plus they hit hard, and have cheap ships that can shutdown entire lists.

Meta's change. Points adjustments will be incoming.

Personally play the factions with your playstyle or like the background of. Every faction will have a hype and a low at some point. So I would put that at the bottom of my priority list.

12 minutes ago, PS10 said:

Meta's change. Points adjustments will be incoming.

Personally play the factions with your playstyle or like the background of. Every faction will have a hype and a low at some point. So I would put that at the bottom of my priority list.

Points reductions alone won't tix Rebels, unless they drop points enough that we can take an extra X or B wing, which probably then breaks Rebels.