First tries at list building (Alliance)

By Cpt ObVus, in X-Wing Squad Lists

So here’s my first try at a Rebel list. My Rebel collection consists of the Falcon, two T65 X-Wings, a B-Wing, and a Y-Wing right now. If possible, I was hoping that I could fit both Luke and Han into a list; I feel like they can both do good work, and hopefully Evaan can move in close for a kill with those Advanced Torpedoes. Any suggestions are welcome, as always... including suggestions on which Rebel units to buy next (I’m thinking Ghost, Saw’s Rebels, and an A-Wing?).

First Try

(62) Luke Skywalker [T-65 X-wing]
(8) R2-D2
(0) Servomotor S-foils
Points: 70

(80) Han Solo [Modified YT-1300 Light Freighter]
(4) Chewbacca
(3) Millennium Falcon
Points: 87

(35) Evaan Verlaine [BTL-A4 Y-wing]
(2) Expert Handling
(6) Adv. Proton Torpedoes
Points: 43

Total points: 200

New Squadron

(80) Han Solo [Modified YT-1300 Light Freighter]
(8) Agile Gunner
Points: 88

(62) Luke Skywalker [T-65 X-wing]
(0) Servomotor S-foils
Points: 62

(48) Ten Numb [A/SF-01 B-wing]
(2) Stabilized S-Foils
Points: 50

Total points: 200

Agile gunner is considered lame and over priced but for a new player may be nice. For guaranteed shots...

New Squadron

(80) Han Solo [Modified YT-1300 Light Freighter]
(10) R2-D2
(26) Luke Skywalker
(4) Shield Upgrade
Points: 120

(40) Blue Squadron Escort [T-65 X-wing]
(0) Servomotor S-foils
Points: 40

(40) Blue Squadron Escort [T-65 X-wing]
(0) Servomotor S-foils
Points: 40

Total points: 200

I mentioned this squad back in your first thread, and with the stuff you now own, there's wiggle room.

Modified YT-1300 Light Freighter - •Han Solo - 99
•Han Solo - Scoundrel for Hire (80)
Selfless (3)
•Lando Calrissian (2)
•Chewbacca (4)
Engine Upgrade (7)
Millennium Falcon (3)

T-65 X-wing - •Luke Skywalker - 84
•Luke Skywalker - Red Five (62)
Proton Torpedoes (13)
•R2-D2 (8)
Instinctive Aim (1)
Servomotor S-foils (Open) (0)

Total: 183/200

You can drop the Proton Torpedoes from Luke, and the Engine Upgrade from the Falcon, and have 37 points to work with. Drop Selfless, and you have 40 - that's enough for at least a strong generic or a low-Initiative pilot, I would think.

For next stuff, and A-Wing and Saws are both decent.

  • The named A-Wing pilots are both solid little filler pieces which can plug the gaps if more expensive ships don't quite fit.
  • Saws adds a 3rd X-Wing (the pilots are reasonable but not exceptional), and the U-Wing is handy, particularly with Leia crew... Leia crew is *great* in a 4 ship list, a bunch of X-Wings and B-Wings able to take advantage turning the red moves white.
  • Ghost... has some nice crew in it (keep in mind, it's really easy to proxy upgrades, particularly if you've got a home printer), but unless you really love Rebels and just want to fly the Ghost, it can kinda wait.

//

  • I always love to see an R2-D2 Luke. Classic build, still works good.
    • Personally, I pretty much always R2-D2, but using a generic R2 isn't bad, nor is using R5 or R5-P8. Since Luke has the force, it's a lot easier for him than some other pilot to spare an action to repair a card (repairing a face-down card removes it).
    • In the right list, Torpedoes are also excellent on Luke. Depends on how much else you're fitting into the list. Here, with an expensive Falcon also in the mix,
  • Han and Lando are both great pilots for the Millenium Falcon (and Leia, but I'm presuming you don't have Hotshots and Aces, and it's not super important to run out and get it). Both essentially get two actions a turn.
    • For Lando, the best upgrade is Nien Nunb. Makes it a lot easier for him to get those bonus actions.
    • For Han, R2-D2 is great if you can afford him, and aren't running him elsewhere. Other great upgrades include Engine Upgrade (Lando doesn't need it, since he usually does blue moves anyhow), and anything to give Han the Force. Leia isn't super common on Han, but she'd be decent in a 3-ship list (particularly if you've squeezed in a B-Wing). Ironically, Chewie doesn't really help Han a tonne. It's not bad, but not really that great.
  • Evaan Verlaine, as much as I love her from the comics... kind of isn't that good. Her pilot ability isn't strong, and while she's not that expensive, you'd do as well with a generic, by and large.
    • Cripes, this is Yavin survivors, with pretty much their exact configurations... I find it very hard to say no.
      • That said... I'd swap Expert Handling for R4 Astromech. They're both the same price, and nearly the same effect.
        • Expert Handling is great if you're going to barrel roll a lot. Someone like Norra who wants to stay at Range 1 more than anything probably wants to Barrel Roll more, and would do quite well with Expert Handling.
        • R4 Astromech adds some more flexibility with other stressful things you do. Evaan in particular wants to Focus or Lock a lot of the time, to either use her pilot ability, or to take a lock for those Torpedoes, or maybe even Reload. Barrel Rolls don't seem quite as high in the priority list, so I'd go R4.
        • It's really a case-by-case basis.
    • For the Y-Wing more broadly, Dutch with Torpedoes is great. He grabs a lock, and someone else gets a lock, and everybody's got a lot of Target Locks. Standard build is to run Proton Torpedoes, but that probably could be Ion Torpedoes or maybe Advanced Proton Torpedoes. I kind of prefer the longer range torpedoes, since a single 2-dice gun can be really pathetic at range 3, but not too bad at Range 1 (TIEs have weight-of-fire). Plus, the longer-range Torpedoes all have two charges.
    • Norra and Horton are OK, but a bit niche.
      • Norra is a massive tank at Range 1, but she often doesn't really compel folks to attack her at Range 1, and she's not super fast or great at sticking to Range 1. Slap an Ion Cannon Turret on her, and just get into the thick of things. No one will want to attack her, and she'll have free reign. Don't overload her, or try to overinvest in her tankiness, since it's not hard for folks to just ignore her.
      • Horton would work best in a 4 or 5 ship list, particularly if he's got a Turret and Veteran Turret Gunner.
    • Alternately, anyone with an Ion Cannon Turret is going to be pretty reasonable. Good health, solid close-range attacks. Nothing that's going to revolutionize the world, but a good-enough ship.
  • A B-Wing probably also fits, depending on how everyone else is loaded out.
    • Braylen is the best, but he probably doesn't fit cleanly without getting rid of other upgrades.
    • Ten is solid, particularly with S-Foils (feel free to Proxy. No one will care)
    • Generics are still fine, if that's all that will fit. Keep them trim. Plain, or maybe with Crack Shot. They don't need any more than that.

//

So... a few options:

  • Dutch Vander Variant:
    • Dutch Vander (Proton Torpedoes) 53
      • This torpedo could be cut down for any other torpedo (Ion, Plasma, Advanced), to get more points in the rest of the list.
    • Luke (R5 Astromech) 66 - sacrilege, but with Dutch potentially passing Luke a Lock, Luke will *really* be able to use R5 freely
    • Han Solo (-) 80 - Honestly, Han probably works fine without upgrades.
  • Battle of Yavin Variant:
    • Luke (R2-D2) 70
    • Han Solo (Millenium Falcon) 83
    • Evaan Verlaine (Selfless, R4 Astromech, Advanced Proton Torpedoes) 46
      • OK. So this Evaan is probably not great... but... maybe it works. Luke and Han are both solid ships in the late game, and Evaan... not as much. By doubling down on her pilot ability to help protect Luke or Han more, that might help either of them get there. I dunno... probably doesn't work as well as just running a Ion Torpedo Dutch, but dang it. This is the list of the three folks flying away at the end of Star Wars. Like, when it comes down to it, that's half the point of the game.
  • B-Wing Variant:
    • Luke (R2-D2) 70
    • Han Solo (Leia) 87
    • Blade Squadron Pilot (Crack Shot) 43
  • Double X-Wing Variant:
    • Luke (R2-D2) 70
    • Han Solo (Engine Upgrade) 87
    • Red Squadron Veteran (Crack Shot) 42
      • Overall, pretty similar, but Han probably moves better (large base Boost is amazing), and the X-Wing is a faster ship than a B-Wing.
      • Double X? Dubbilex!
      • latest?cb=20120421114740
      • tumblr_ppzutc9BRs1rvm5qqo3_500.jpg

Edited by theBitterFig
1 hour ago, theBitterFig said:
  • Evaan Verlaine, as much as I love her from the comics... kind of isn't that good. Her pilot ability isn't strong, and while she's not that expensive, you'd do as well with a generic, by and large.
    • Cripes, this is Yavin survivors, with pretty much their exact configurations...
  • Battle of Yavin Variant:
    • Luke (R2-D2) 70
    • Han Solo (Millenium Falcon) 83
    • Evaan Verlaine (Selfless, R4 Astromech, Advanced Proton Torpedoes) 46
      • OK. So this Evaan is probably not great... but... maybe it works.

      • ... snip...
      • Double X? Dubbilex!
      • latest?cb=20120421114740
      • tumblr_ppzutc9BRs1rvm5qqo3_500.jpg

Forgive the multiple snips here. Believe me, I read the whole thing, and will probably read it five more times.

First off, any friend of Superman is a friend of mine as well. Unless maybe it’s that new Superman from the films, he’s kind of a ****.

Now, as to the Survivors of Yavin: Yeah, I don’t *usually* do that sort of thing, but I—quite accidentally—found that my first purchases after the Core Set gave me 2 T65s, a Y-Wing, and a Falcon. I intended to just get a few fundamentally solid Alliance fighters to support the Falcon, but when I put them together and looked at them on the shelf, I chuckled and said, “OK, Survivors of Yavin it is!” and that had to be the first list.

Then I realized there was no way I was gonna fit Evaan, Han, Wedge AND Luke in there. Someone had to go. It obviously couldn’t be Luke or Han, and I figured Evaan gave me a little more room for upgrades, plus I could increase the number of different ships I could see in action if I included the Y-Wing.

This is also why Chewie is in the list. It’s not that I found his ability that exciting. It’s that he needs to get his medal, and I’m gonna give it to him.

I’m also not terribly excited by Evaan’s ability, but I figured she couldn’t be THAT bad. First couple of games it’s likely we’ll forget half the cards and play them all wrong anyway, so it’s fine.

I DO appreciate the lists and in-depth analysis from everyone; it will help me tighten this list up, and, when it’s time to get serious, give me a good starting place for a really decent list.

EDIT: I actually DO have Hotshots & Aces, if that helps you help me in the future. :)

Edited by Cpt ObVus