Hoping to start playing again in 2020. Haven't played in about 5 years, so I need to re-learn the game. Trying to get my 14 year old to play, so if I can't make it out to the local gaming stores, at least I can get a few games in at home as I clear out the rust. My son is interested in Imperials, here's what I have from 1.0:

4x TIE fighters (starter set), TIE Defender, TIE Bomber, TIE Aggressor, TIE Advanced, Imperial Aces set

2.0 Conversion set

Looking for suggestions on what else to pick up to round those out, and any starter list suggestions. Thanks in advance.

So are you both going to play imperial?

I would suggest picking up a TIE interceptor, a Phantom, maybe a TIE striker or two and a reaper or Lambda shuttle

7 minutes ago, reqent said:

So are you both going to play imperial?

At some point I'd like to learn the Imperials, but those are going to be for him, I'm going to use Rebels.

11 minutes ago, Dr Moneypants said:

I would suggest picking up a TIE interceptor, a Phantom, maybe a TIE striker or two and a reaper or Lambda shuttle

I'll second most of these except the TIE Striker and the Reaper. Both are cool looking, interesting ships, but they aren't exactly strong right now. I'll also suggest a TIE/v1 (Inquisitor's TIE in 1st edition) and a Decimator.

Narrowing it down for money's sake, I'd say pick up the TIE Phantom and the Lambda first. Both are incredibly useful for list building.

So for imperials there are numerous archetypes to experiment with. So I would try and find out which strategies sound more interesting to him. With your collection he can run a triple aces list (not top tier but enough for him to get the idea) or a swarm list, or mini-swarm and ace.

I would definitely recommend a lambda because it has strong pilot options and can fit into multiple lists.

Points are changing in january so I wouldnt get too carried away.

Do you have a 2.0 starter? You need a damage deck and templates for 2.0.

So, I’m gonna give ya a hot take here: you already have everything you need to get in there and start mixing it up.

Look: if you’re rusty, there’s no shame in shaking that off and getting back into it. I did that myself back in April after a little more than a year away. What I found, though, was that it took me a while to find a new groove in 2.0. The ships feel and fly differently, and some of my old favorites weren’t favorites anymore. But other ships came to be new favorites, and in the end, I’m even more of a die-hard player now than I was in 1.0. But I definitely went through my collection after getting back in and culled a bunch of stuff that no longer appealed to me as much. (Though I’ve almost certainly bought as much additional different stuff since that time, so y’know.)

Others have pointed out that there’s a points change coming in January; there’s also a card & pilot pack coming in February. Both of those mean that the meta is shaking up, which means your best move for now (IMO) is to fly what you’ve got and start seeing what interests you. Point being—again—this is probably not the best moment to go hunting down a bunch of stuff. (Give it a week or a month and it will be again!)

I’ll echo the general interest in a Lambda, though. It’s not something you might use in every game, but it’s a solid toolbox for games where you want one. It’s also probably available for pretty cheap on the secondary market.

Vader and Soontir are probably the best pilots in the faction currently so you're in a good spot there.

the TIE Fighter pilots are all really good fun for new players.

Vader+four TIEs seems like a great place to start, and would be my reccommended Imperial starter but I also saw a new kid a while back having a lot of fun with Soontir and all the initiative-4 TIE pilots (inferno squad)

Imperials have probably the deepest pool of possibilities to play into. (Rebels next with the size of the factions, but Imperials is more varied and more critical to understand for full value).

Imp vs Imp would take me many many games to become tired of.

Most of the ships are extremely fun and different. (Except for the Tie Aggressor looool, though the gunboats and bombers also have a bit of a problem in their easiest and most efficient builds being rather boring. )

TIE PHANTOM AND LAMBDA are also my next pick suggestions.

For fun, the Decimator and Striker follow next.

The Tie Proto v1 has been used by many good players, but I distinctly do not like it.

The Reaper imo is bad, the dial and upgrades right now need help. (It needs white coordinate cheap).

Okay, if the core factions you're gonna play are the original two, grab the core set... has a few pilots for both that aren't in the conversion PLUS the extra TIE Fighters and the X-Wing. You may also wanna pick up the Epic Missions box to mix things up at home JUST in case things grow stale. Between what you have, what you'll get in the core, and the recommendations of what others have said, your son will have a LOT of solid options to choose from.

Eventually, you'll want to get a second damage deck just for convenience... and those are coming soon in faction specific themes! (they're also full sized cards)

14 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

4x TIE fighters (starter set), TIE Defender, TIE Bomber, TIE Aggressor, TIE Advanced, Imperial Aces set

your option are quite limited:

maybe.... to start you could try vader + miniswarm :

vader afrerburners/passive sensors 76 points

howlrunner 40

del meeko 30

academy pilot 23

syen marana/markmanship (31 points) OR wampa (30 points) if you want the first raw of mini swarm to have the same initiative that is more easy to manouver not renouncing to fire power! OR academy pilots (23 points) + sens on vader (5points) and change del meeko with mauler mithel (30 to 32 points) to manouver better cause of initiative values, to block better your enemy and punish him!

respectively 200 points/199 pints/197 points.

your actual alternative to this archetype is a double defender ace list.

to me to open your option, HAVING CONVERSION KIT, you should buy some 1.0 expantions:

now BEFORE point change i would suggest:

2 tie advanced v1

1 lambda

1 phantom

1 interceptor and 1 striker (only if you want to play imperial aces)

Once you get a 2.0 starter (which I think you should get for all the 2.0 parts), you’ll have 2 more Ties and another X-Wing.

This makes a Tie swarm viable. This is hard for a new player to play, however. If he’s really into imperials, I like the suggestions of Inferno Squad (I4 Tie Fighters) and an Ace (Soontir or Vader). Or he could play Soontir, Vader and one or two other ships to start. For new players, smaller ship count is usually better and any time you can get ships with the same initiative, they can then move in any order, which allows a new player to make more mistakes.

On the Rebel side, Wedge, Luke, and a third ship is a good place to start.

As far as what you should buy, I think just the starter is enough right now. Then you can buy ships you or he likes. Remember, there are new factions, so if you or he are into the prequel Clone Wars movies or the new Resistance/First Order movies, you may want to save your spending to buy into one or more of those factions once you’re back into the swing of things.

Thanks for all the good info.