So, I just started X-Wing (As in, I'l have my first match tomorrow) and I couldent decide what faction to start so I picked up the Core Set and 3 extra X-Wings to make a simple list of 4 X-Wings to play against my friend who plays Empire and I'm already considering jumping faction to Scum.. Why? Because I saw the Mining Guild Tie expansion thats comming soonish and I love the looks of it. And it seems like Scum gets a few Rebel ships too (Atleast in first edition)

So.. How are Scum in second editon? Is it a good idea for a new player to play scum? I realy like the Imperial ships but went rebels cus my opponent I'l play most of the time runs Empire so I dident want to go Empire aswell..

No reason not to go Scum other than the fact you can't use your existing/core set ships. But if you like Empire, I'd say follow your heart ... it could be the Imperial civil wars post Endor (old EU) or a training exercise.

The Empire has a bunch of realy cool ships, I realy like The TIE variants aspecialy..

Scum arguably has the most options, if you don't have stuff from 1st ed to convert. Fangs can be fun aces, Lando's Falcon is cool and the escape craft can coordinate. Boba Fett is also top tier right now.

Empire is good too, but most of their best stuff comes out of the conversion kit.

Rebels are tricky. When their lists work their great, but they aren't getting to the top tables as often right now.

Honestly though I'd say play what you think is cool. I like Rebels so that is what I fly. I have not quite found what works for me yet, but I have fun.

Hippie Moosen's point about needing or not needing a conversion kit is a good one.

I think all the factions have cool ships, Though I aspecialy like the Empire style ships (Maybe First Order will get some cool stuff eventualy..) So I realy struggle with deciding on a faction.. I ended up picking Rebels for now, But plan to expand out of them once I realy decide on faction.

idk, I personally like Empire has the wider range of cool/fun to fly ships that are more distinguished from one another than any other faction

For example, a Y and a Z are fairly similar other than health values and upgrade slots

But a Stryker and a Reaper? WORLD of difference

Or how about a Stryker v an Interceptor v a TIE Fighter?

The empire has a very strong distinction between ships because they're the faction that has most embraced ship-specific abilities (advanced ailerons, stygium array, Alpha-class starwing configs etc.) that best distinguish their ships from one another and the rest of the game.

Of course, scum is fun too but imo to a much more limited degree. Huge fan of the Moldy Crow (one per list), Quadjumper (generally one per list, unless you spam), Fang fighter (generally one per list due to being elite), Boba (unique pilot...) etc. but it's harder to mix and match them effectively in my experience. Generally, my scum lists are variations of specific pilots + their builds mix and matched together

Do not forget CIS and Republic are on the way.

Depends on ur long term strategy is. im a scum player but have played x-wing since wave 1. scum has some really strong unique pilots and its got many options for squad types (2 large ships, 3-4 ship aces and even swarms now it had Drea). Its a little misleading to say one faction is better than the other because every faction has strong squads and the game is evolving which means things will change as new waves are released. Right now rebels is a little lagging behind both imperials scum. FO, Resistance and the two new clone wars factions are all going to be powrful in their own way and one strategy could be to jump into the newer factions as you will be up to date right away as things are released.

it not a bad idea to borrow ships from friends until u know what u like. I own mostly rebels and imperials but have bought the scum ships i like from 1.0 already. 2.0 has changed the power levels of many ships across the board but for scum Boba Fett has moved to top power bracket, Fang Fighters esp Fen Rau is really strong but also 4-Lom, scum falcon, Guri and Palob give scum players a nice selection of powerful unique pilots

Imperials is really good in 2.0 right now too. Bombers, defenders, phantom, lambda Shuttle (esp Lt. Sai) and plenty of swarmy and mini swarm options. Ordnance is way better in 2.0 so Unique Punisher pilots are really good and vader 2.0 is strong. Iv missed some top imperial ships (remember im a scum player) but you get the idea. lots of options with imperials too. Really depends what u like to play.

Scum is a great choice. tbh you might end up having to buy the rebel conversion lit to get the Hwk-290 title Moldy Crow. FFG have cleverly placed some upgrades in certain kits so although scum get the Hwk-290 pilots and dials in the kit they miss out on Moldy Crow which is only in rebel kit. Same for imperials who miss the 0-0-0 crew card which is only in scum kit.

1 hour ago, ficklegreendice said:

The  emp  ire has a very strong distinction between ships be  cause they  're the faction that has most embraced ship-specific abilities 

1 hour ago, ficklegreendice said:

Generally   , my scum lists are va  riations of specific pilo  ts    

This is kinda interesting. What I’m kinda getting here is Empire is distinguished by its ships, while scum is distinguished by its pilots. There are exceptions, of course, (Soontir, fang fighter), and in x-wing they can’t be separated mechanically, but in general, for Empire you are looking at ships and the pilot ability is icing, for scum you are looking at pilot ability and the chassis is the icing.

Now look at brown bomber’s post below yours

55 minutes ago, Da_Brown_Bomber said:

but  f  or scum Boba Fett ha  s moved to top power bracket, Fang Fighters esp Fen Rau is really strong but also 4-Lom, scum falcon, Guri a  n  d Pa   lob    gi  ve  scum players a nice selection of powerful unique pilots   

55 minutes ago, Da_Brown_Bomber said:

Imperials    is real  ly good in 2.0 right now too. Bombers, defenders, phantom, lambda Shuttle (esp Lt. Sai) and plenty of swarmy and mini swarm o  ptio  ns  .   

Talking about scum, the emphasis is on the pilots, talking about Imps it is on the ships. With some stand out exceptions noted.

That is really very thematic. Imps are faceless hordes with good tech, even when individuals, scum are a motley lot of talented individuals.

So what is/should be rebels? Good upgrades would fir thematically, they customize their ships to get the best performance for the group, but that sounds dangerous for the game, runaway upgrades was a big problem in 1st.

13 minutes ago, Forgottenlore said:

scum are a motley lot of talented individuals

Surrounded by cannon fodder... A few key pilots and a bunch of no-gos =/ a well made faction...

Join the Empire, you and your friend can combine your forces to bring justice and order to The Galaxy!!!

3 hours ago, Hippie Moosen said:

Scum arguably has the most options, if you don't have stuff from 1st ed to convert. Fangs can be fun aces, Lando's Falcon is cool and the escape craft can coordinate. Boba Fett is also top tier right now.

3 hours ago, TheHumanHydra said:

Hippie Moosen's point about needing or not needing a conversion kit is a good one.

Scum are CLEARLY going to be the best faction for someone who isn't converting an older collection.

Fang + Firespray + Lando's Falcon is a lot better than TIE Fighter/TIE Advanced x1/TIE Reaper or X-Wing/Y-Wing/Saw's U-Wing

//

Rebels aren't in a great place. X-Wing is their best ship, though, so they're not too far off if not converting a collection.

I think Empire has a lot of great stuff, possibly the best stuff. A lot of it is a total blast to fly. It's all conversion kit stuff . Phantoms (probably one of the most fun ships to play) and Punishers are the core Meta ships. I love TIE Defenders and Lambda Shuttles. TIE Interceptors are pretty good, in their way. Strikers can move fast and hit hard. Bombers are wicked cheap and quite solid with Barrage Rockets or Jendon Backup.

But non-Conversion Empire? TIE Advanced x1? Other than Vader, meh. It's all way overpriced compared to the X-Wing, and harder to use effectively. TIE Fighter Swarm is in a pretty solid place, with the Inferno Squadron backing up Howlrunner, but TIE Swarm isn't a list for everyone. Reaper is solid, but the best crew for it (Darth Vader, Admiral Sloane) are conversion-kit crew.

Scum? HWK and 4-LOM and Kavil and Jakku Gunrunners are good, and Guri is pretty sweet, but Boba and Fenn and the escape craft and Han Falcon are probably all top-10 ships.

8 minutes ago, theBitterFig said:

Scum are CLEARLY going to be the best faction for someone who isn't converting an older collection.

Fang + Firespray + Lando's Falcon is a lot better than TIE Fighter/TIE Advanced x1/TIE Reaper or X-Wing/Y-Wing/Saw's U-Wing

//

Rebels aren't in a great place. X-Wing is their best ship, though, so they're not too far off if not converting a collection.

I think Empire has a lot of great stuff, possibly the best stuff. A lot of it is a total blast to fly. It's all conversion kit stuff . Phantoms (probably one of the most fun ships to play) and Punishers are the core Meta ships. I love TIE Defenders and Lambda Shuttles. TIE Interceptors are pretty good, in their way. Strikers can move fast and hit hard. Bombers are wicked cheap and quite solid with Barrage Rockets or Jendon Backup.

But non-Conversion Empire? TIE Advanced x1? Other than Vader, meh. It's all way overpriced compared to the X-Wing, and harder to use effectively. TIE Fighter Swarm is in a pretty solid place, with the Inferno Squadron backing up Howlrunner, but TIE Swarm isn't a list for everyone. Reaper is solid, but the best crew for it (Darth Vader, Admiral Sloane) are conversion-kit crew.

Scum? HWK and 4-LOM and Kavil and Jakku Gunrunners are good, and Guri is pretty sweet, but Boba and Fenn and the escape craft and Han Falcon are probably all top-10 ships.

forgot Kavil. load him out with Dorsal Turret, R4 Astromech, Han Solo Gunner and Proton Torps and you have one of the hardest hitting scum ships.

imperials get some really strong crew including Vader, Admiral Sloane and Palpatine.

rebels best pilot is Luke. their crew and gunner options still a little thin but i expect that will change in another wave or two.

1 hour ago, theBitterFig said:

Scum are CLEARLY going to be the best faction for someone who isn't converting an older collection. 

Fang + Firespray + Lando's Falcon is a lot better than TIE Fighter/TIE Advanced x1/TIE Reaper or X-Wing/Y-Wing/Saw's U-Wing

So you're only thinking a few months ahead? I assume he intends to be playing for years, giving advice on what the current meta (such as it is) is, is not really going to help him decide what to play going forward.

24 minutes ago, Forgottenlore said:

So you're only thinking a few months ahead? I assume he intends to be playing for years, giving advice on what the current meta (such as it is) is, is not really going to help him decide what to play going forward.

But recall: the OP said [1] they thought the Mining TIEs were really cool [2] weren't super into Rebels other than as variety for playing against an Imperial player [3] asked how Scum were as a faction *right now.*

So yeah, I think my advice is fairly accurate, within context. The scope of my recommendation is that for factions picked up without conversion kits, Scum is simply stronger. They've got an Ace ship, a solid and mobile medium base, a large-base turret, a cheap support ship, and will be getting two different kinds of swarm ships in the next two waves. For total variety, they've got the most going for them. No other faction can come close to Scum's variety without getting into conversion kits (which really, was the extent of my actual recommendation).

Note I also said two true things. First that Rebels are in a weak place. Second that Empire has a lot of really fun stuff--in the conversion kits. Scum with only new expansions can get like half of the best stuff Scum has to offer. Empire with only new expansions can get like a 10th.

Will that change over time? Sure. Or if you get conversion kits.

But Scum, currently, is both strong, and strong without converting old 1e materials.

//

As to playing *for years* that's a total crapshoot. It's impossible to guess where the factions will be in two years time. Just look back at 1e. Every faction had a lot of ups and downs, and took turns as the worst faction.

None has the release schedule for whats coming so there is a large amount of guesswork required here.

one consideration other than expense of conversion kits is what individual ships you might want to play the squads you like.

Assuming money is important to you it might be worth listing down the actual type and number of ships you think you will need and total cost involved.

1 hour ago, theBitterFig said:

a cheap  support  ship  

What is the Scum support ship that isn't requiring the conversion kit to field? Did I miss something in wave 1? Right now the only support ship that I can recall that doesn't require the conversion kit is the U-Wing from the Saw's Partisans pack.

31 minutes ago, Hiemfire said:

What is the Scum support ship that isn't requiring the conversion kit to field? Did I miss something in wave 1? Right now the only support ship that I can recall that doesn't require the conversion kit is the U-Wing from the Saw's Partisans pack.

Escape Craft from the Falcon box. Toss Tactical Officer on there, for white coordinates at 24-28 points. Lando is Init 4 (so decently high), and with a Focus token he can have focus/reroll attacks, and at Range 1 that packs a punch.

The dial on the Escape Craft is Lambda-like, but it's dirt cheap Coordinates.

//

Reaper isn't a bad support for Empire, it just could be better with Vader or Sloane. It functions out of the box.

1 minute ago, theBitterFig said:

Escape Craft from the Falcon box. Toss Tactical Officer on there, for white coordinates at 24-28 points. Lando is Init 4 (so decently high), and with a Focus token he can have focus/reroll attacks, and at Range 1 that packs a punch.

The dial on the Escape Craft is Lambda-like, but it's dirt cheap Coordinates.

//

Reaper isn't a bad support for Empire, it just could be better with Vader or Sloane. It functions out of the box.

Okay, brain fart on my part about the escape craft. Cheapest costing support ship in the game and well worth the points, if not the out of pocket unless you plan on running the Falcon. Reaper and U-Wing (Saw's Partisans) are both pretty good options right now for someone starting into their factions. Sad their sets are still only on the old version's page when they come fully ready for the new version of the game.

Thanks for all the replies I realy like ships from all factions so deciding what one to become my main is realy hard.. xD I think I want to stick to only 2.0 ships for now and not worry about the conversion kits.

Once you go Scum, you'll never go numb!

So.. I'm considering Scum and Villainy for the cool Mining Guild TIEs and a few mixed ships, First Order for the slightly better TIE ships, Or Empire for all the possability in TIE variants.. I have figured out that I realy like the TIE ships, They are easily the coolest ships..

Anyone that can pick a single faction and stick to just it has both my utter respect and deepest confusion.

On 11/18/2018 at 4:30 AM, Merellin said:

And it seems like Scum gets a few Rebel ships too (Atleast in first edition)

Yep, they still get HWK, Z-95, Y-Wing, YT-1300

http://xwing-miniatures-second-edition.wikia.com/wiki/X-Wing_Miniatures:_Second_Edition_Wiki