What would bring more RZ-1 A-Wings to the table?

Because RZ2s are just better and still not enough more expensive to make the difference.

Broadly speaking.

1 hour ago, thespaceinvader said:

Because RZ2s are just better and still not enough more expensive to make the difference.

Broadly speaking.

It's a bit of an unfair comparison though since RZ2s are not available to the Rebel Alliance. Nerfing the RZ2 will do nothing to help the RZ1.

I agree on the points though, the RZ1 could do with some adjustments.

Old and busted.

New hotness.

7 minutes ago, Lyynark said:

It's a bit of an unfair comparison though since RZ2s are not available to the Rebel Alliance. Nerfing the RZ2 will do nothing to help the RZ1.

This. And having said that:

1 hour ago, drail14me said:

What would bring more RZ-1 A-Wings to the table?

A lack of Rebel Beef.

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I agree on the points though, the RZ1 could do with some adjustments.

Philosophically speaking, this is getting to be a tired response. It is not FFG's job to force people to use different ships by rotating the points schedule. If you don't want to see Rebel Beef, but do want to see A-Wings, take them out, put them on a peg, put them on a table, and voila, problem solved.

That said, I've seen a decent amount of Jake Farrell. He's a solid support ship/pocket ace.

Meanwhile, there aren't many good talents for Rebel A-Wings. Resistance can get good mileage out of Heroic and Trick Shot (well... maybe that's too expensive now)... Rebels have pretty much only Crack Shot. Meanwhile, B-Wings have been so cotdam good that they've crowded out a lot of other Rebel ships.

Rebel As require too much nuance next to pushing beef up the table

Jake is REAL good, though. Fast, nippy, and action efficient (and supportive!) Who could ask for anything more!?

I've seen more Jake and Arvel lately. I'm starting to think Jake is a bit of a sleeper that has been overshadowed by the beef. He is very nimble and has a great support ability for a low cost.

I am interested to see if the upcoming Snap Shot release will do anything for the generics. It was very big on A-Wings in 1.0, but a lot has changed, so we’ll see.

Arvel with intimidation is fun. His play style of diving in for the bump is dangerous, but oh so fun when it works. I usually also slap Predator on him for some rerolls.

Jake has a nice ability that allows three actions for him, and one for a friend, if properly positioned. It is a little sad he’s not i5, but I think he still has some good tricks as a flanker/support.

There is still the hope that the rumored card packs will give the RZ-1 more pilots, with hopefully more varied play options.

2 hours ago, drail14me said:

What would bring more RZ-1 A-Wings to the table?

No high initiative aces.

Generics aren't cheap enough/don't fill a niche that Rebels are crying out for.

Arvel is highly situational.

Jake needs space to provide any benefit.

Can explode in a stiff breeze.

Solve some of these issues, and the RZ-1 will start appearing in greater numbers.

I’m sure every person who considers running a Rebel A-Wing has their own reasons for not doing that if they decide to leave them at home.

For me, A-Wings are hands down my favorite OT era fighter (TIE Interceptor is close behind thanks to TIE Fighter). When I got back into X-Wing and saw how stunning the Resistance A-Wing model is compared to the old blob, it single handedly made me drop Rebels as a primary faction and fly Resistance.

TL;DR: Resistance A-Wing looks better and made me stop running Rebels.

Essentially it’s the same reason you don’t really see many TIE Interceptors other than Soontir Fel... they’re a fragile ship that really wants high initiative to take advantage of the double repositioning for arc-dodging purposes.

An i5 or i6 Ace would likely bring RZ-1 A-Wings to the tabletop on a much more regular basis!

Ace Dogbert nailed it nicely.

From the perspective of "Tactics are derived from Technology" Rebels have durable, hard hitting, but relatively non-maneuverable ships.

Those qualities promote the "Rebel Beef" team where you have a team that flies in tight formation and approaches whatever the opponent offers to wipe them off the board FAST and FIRST.

And -a A-Wings are NOT durable, nor hard hitting and only kinda maneuverable.

Putting an A-Wing in THAT team is suicidal. Because either that A-Wing flys out front and gets wiped out or you try to fly that A-Wing to flank the opponent who DOESN'T fly in a tight formation and that A-Wing finds itself outnumbered and outgunned and alone while your sledgehammer team is badly nerfed so that the A-Wing can lark about uselessly on the board.

The RZ-2 also has the ability to rotate it's arc to the aft so the RZ-2 can at least draw agro and lead a chase engagement without being defenseless, while the rest of the team flanks the unfortunate fool chasing the -2.

What do do?

- Reduce the cost of RZ-1's? Maybe? If Rebel players could field a 6 A-Wing team kinda like the CIS droid swarms, that might make them viable. But RZ-1's aren't being sold. So you'd have to put together at team with existing stock. (Although my local FLGS is still selling Rebel Aces kits from V1 with 13 available).

- There ares whisperings about publishing A-Wing pilots for the -1 and putting an I5 or I6 pilot who could mount proton rockets, with the possibility of a better than average chance of delivering that one big punch before getting wiped out would make an A-Wing a viable option for inclusion on a Rebel Beef team.

I’ve had a great time flying A-Wings locally. I’ve had the most success flying them next to Sense Luke, to include taking second at a hyperspace trial after going undefeated in Swiss.

The Phoenix Squadron Pilot with Intimidation is the best blocker in the game.

I’ve also had fun running Outmaneuver and Predator Green Squadies as flankers. Finding ways to push damage through is always going to be expensive, but I’m very much looking forward to Snap Shot.

The best advice I can give anyone is learn to block, and how to capitalize on a block. You’re not going to to get value with any of non-Jake pilots unless you can block well.

I guess I’m the only person who prefers the RZ-1 mode over the RZ-2. The RZ-2 looks like someone just stepped on an RZ-1 and it didn’t bother to fix it. It’s too big, I want my A-Wings to be all nimbly bimbly crotch rockets, not a space corevette. They do bring interesting mechanics to the game though, and I definitely bought five of them. So I don’t hate them that much.

I expect the A-Wing 2nd Ed release in Wave 6. What I’d like to see for the Rebel A-Wing

1. About a 3 point reduction maybe 4 for the I1

2. Add a Modification slot

3. Release some new pilots with the card pack release.

1 hour ago, DexterOnone said:

Essentially it’s the same reason you don’t really see many TIE Interceptors other than Soontir Fel... they’re a fragile ship that really wants high initiative to take advantage of the double repositioning for arc-dodging purposes.

An i5 or i6 Ace would likely bring RZ-1 A-Wings to the tabletop on a much more regular basis!

Having flown against some TIE interceptors a few times lately (4 Alphas + Sloan on Sai twice, 4 Alphas and a Vader Vermiel), I honestly don't know why they aren't more seen. They can position well (Focus plus Autothrusters is better at low init), and hit quite hard. Seems like they live and die by variance somewhat, but then they'll put a fistfull of 4-dice attacks into something, and it kind of works out in the end.

A-Wings, however... are 2 red dice ships.

A-Wings need one thing: Cheaper Missiles.

They're really very good pocket ships/filler as it stands, they're just short on options. Currently there's two archetypes:

• Blocker Phoenix
• Pocket Jake/Arvel

If each single-slot lock-based missile were exactly 2 points cheaper, they would have a lot more options for situational punch/control at the cost of defensive focus. It would also make Torrents, Aggressors, Vultures, Hyenas, Punishers, YTs, Ks, and (non-barrage ew) TIE Bombers much better as well. In other words, it would be a good change for everything in the game and it's baffling that the devs still haven't figured that out.

Had a list of Wedge, Luke, Thane and Jake, all naked.

Jake made it shine, producing Focus for Wedge, blocking the I5 and esp 6, with his 5+boost easily swishing where he just was needed most.

45 minutes ago, Phelan Boots said:

I guess I’m the only person who prefers the RZ-1 mode over the RZ-2.

No you're not. I also prefer the look of the RZ-1 to the -2. But I also prefer the design of the T-65 well over the T-70 too.

3 more points gets me roughly the same ship but with a force token. Tie advanced V1, if I want to fly ships like that I just go to empire for the better ship.

50 minutes ago, theBitterFig said:

Having flown against some TIE interceptors a few times lately (4 Alphas + Sloan on Sai twice, 4 Alphas and a Vader Vermiel), I honestly don't know why they aren't more seen. They can position well (Focus plus Autothrusters is better at low init), and hit quite hard. Seems like they live and die by variance somewhat, but then they'll put a fistfull of 4-dice attacks into something, and it kind of works out in the end.

A-Wings, however... are 2 red dice ships.

Because Planetary Sentinels are the same price, and less prone to being victims of green dice.

That is the answer. The I1 costs too many points for such a fragile ship prone to popping so easily, though can be brutal when dice are average or better during the initial engage.

My dice tend to be well below average in that initial engage.

1 hour ago, Phelan Boots said:

I’ve had a great time flying A-Wings locally. I’ve had the most success flying them next to Sense Luke, to include taking second at a hyperspace trial after going undefeated in Swiss.

The Phoenix Squadron Pilot with Intimidation is the best blocker in the game.

I’ve also had fun running Outmaneuver and Predator Green Squadies as flankers. Finding ways to push damage through is always going to be expensive, but I’m very much looking forward to Snap Shot.

The best advice I can give anyone is learn to block, and how to capitalize on a block. You’re not going to to get value with any of non-Jake pilots unless you can block well.

I guess I’m the only person who prefers the RZ-1 mode over the RZ-2. The RZ-2 looks like someone just stepped on an RZ-1 and it didn’t bother to fix it. It’s too big, I want my A-Wings to be all nimbly bimbly crotch rockets, not a space corevette. They do bring interesting mechanics to the game though, and I definitely bought five of them. So I don’t hate them that much.

Can intimidation stack? if you block with two?

3 minutes ago, AngryAlbatross said:

Can intimidation stack? if you block with two?

Yes.

35 minutes ago, millertime059 said:

Because Planetary Sentinels are the same price, and less prone to being victims of green dice.

That is the answer. The I1 costs too many points for such a fragile ship prone to popping so easily, though can be brutal when dice are average or better during the initial engage.

My dice tend to be well below average in that initial engage.

One thing which works out well about an Interceptor is it's capacity to go slow when it wants. Strikers can't really slow it down too well.

I also think another thing holding Interceptors back is you can only convert 2 Alphas out of a conversion kit, and interceptors are probably the single most expensive chassis to get conversion components from on the secondary market (~$20 on eBay). Strikers have 3, and have been re-released in 2e.

A-wing blocking is not a bad use of them, and the generics can deal plink damage quite well.