Why do you enjoy playing Rebels?

• For me its some combination of the following:
  • X-Wings, B-Wings, A-Wings, VCX, and YT-1300 all feel simple & solid .
  • Dial and action decisions appear meaningful every round and clearly impact future rounds
  • Mobility is partially available to most ships but not the main capability and usually constrained in some way
  • Lots of ships have at least a couple shields
  • Most lists go into a game thinking about how to "trade" damage. Not how to avoid damage entirely.
  • The named character's like Luke, Braylen, Hera, Han etc. all feel impactful without going overboard and work on a thematic level
  • Many of the ships and pilots feel useful at cost without any additional upgrades across init levels and chassis
  • All the ships look cool and are kinda colorful
  • My favorite Rebel lists feel "planted" and "weighty". More so than any other faction.
  • There is a clarity to Rebel faction gameplay that I think is underappreciated.
  • Its so much more than just the new player faction.
    
• After testing Hyperspace ETA lists extensively for a couple weeks these two lists have reminded me of why I enjoy X-Wing to begin with:
  • Luke + Hera Chopper + 2x Proton Rocket A-Wings
  • Luke + Braylen + A-Wing + A-Wing + A-Wing
    
• A-Wings
  • Roll + Boost with that dial lets you set up & delay engages nicely
  • Paired with just Predator or Proton Rockets an RZ1A starts to "feel" relevant to the board state
  • Both as a blocker and as a offensive threat
  • As with Tie v1s the option to Focus Boost is excellent
  • While fast/highly mobile its dial choices and engagement strategy feels deliberate
  • And....the ship is easily the best looking in all of Star Wars
  • Jake does ridiculously useful things but the generic Phoenix pilots are my favorite A-Wing pilots
    
• B-Wings
  • Slow rolling knife fighters
  • The generic Blues & Blades are fun to mix into lists even with the T-65s more competitive prices
  • Braylen always delivers both defensively and offensively
  • Its nice to have an i4 piece that can occupy a lane or flank on its own and consistently threaten
  • Braylen is still vulnerable to getting out maneuvered.
  • He goes where he goes and has to think very carefully about lane positioning & stress round to round
    
• X-Wings
  • Everything about the T-65 becomes more interesting the more I play it.
  • S-Foils allows boost or roll adjustments leading up to engagements.
  • Occasionally the boost sets up arc coverage or blocks that wouldn't have been possible otherwise.
  • Its also really helpful for chasing down opponents or setting up locks
  • They have enough HP to set up locks and see the pay off
  • Able to go slow or fast depending on the situation. So much more than a 1 forward to victory ship.
  • Luke is one of my favorite pilots in 2.0. Super durable, consistent offense, useful without upgrades. 61 pts gets you a "complete" ship.
    
• VCX
  • Hits like a hammer
  • Is vulnerable to focus fire
  • Occupies space super well
  • Moves extremely fast and is a capable flanking element
  • Able to K-Turn!! Massively useful for a forward arc 4-dice ship.
  • Re-Enforce to manage multiple 2 dice shots
  • Hera's ability is unbelievably useful at i5 paired with Chopper Crew
    • 1 forward, 2 forward, 2 bank
    • 1 hard turn, 3 hard turn, 4 k turn & focus
    • 4 white forwards and 3 white banks on big base to get to spots
  • Like other Rebel ships it doesn't really need any upgrades to do its job
  • I never really watched the show this came from but still enjoy the ship

Shared some of these thoughts before but felt like re-stating Rebels are really cool.

Its hard to say exactly what it is about Rebels that is so interesting but its something that no other faction really is able to replicate besides maybe FO.

Its also one of the factions that I find myself going back to after testing new things that don't quite have the same vibe.

Blog Version (exact same post): https://fort-hyperspace.blogspot.com/2020/12/ramble-11-rebels-are-cool_18.html

Thank you for this. Have a cold one on me.

58 minutes ago, LUZ_TAK said:

Thank you for this. Have a cold one on me.

Thats actually a pretty good way of summarizing my thoughts here.

The Rebel Faction is basically a cold one.

I agree with pretty much all of this! When 2.0 was first dropped I was on the rebel train but couldn’t quite get excited for anything. Now after working my way threw all of the factions I’m basically back we’re I started with rebels but with much more appreciation for the ships and how they operate. Favourite list so far is wedge Luke ap5 with torps. Something satisfying about 2 double modded torpedoes screaming into something. Doesn’t win every game but still fun to play regardless of a win or a loss

I got out of Rebels when I jumped to 2.0. At the time I planned to limit how many factions I played, I didn’t fancy rebuying updated models, and I just didn’t feel as much connection to the faction itself—in part because I skipped the Rebels show.

I’ve since succumbed to the siren song of sweet, updated plastic crack. Also checked the show out. Rebels is tight. I shouldn’t have prejudged its revamp of Rebel history, nor its ripple effects in the X-Wing faction.

The Rebels now strike me as a combined-arms and secret jank faction. They have a solid core of sensible options, but also a LOT of wacky combo potential. Almost reminds me of Scum as it was coming up in 1.0, before the power curve went all the way to 11.

I think you nailed the core of the rebel faction. I fly almost exclusively rebels and they feel fun and thematic. I build lists that I call a swiss army knife where they don't over commit to an archetype and have pretty neutral matchups across the board. I feel that only rebels can really do this and it puts the game in your hands when flying. My favorite right now is any 5 ship salad, but in particular it's ABXYZ.

I really appreciate the variety. The chasses all feel so different from each other. Most of the empire ships have a certain TIE fighter-y feel even when they have different specializations.

And for me it ties into the feelings and design aesthetic of the original trilogy, Rogue 1, and Rebels source material.

The best thing I enjoy about playing Rebels is that is gives something for my main love, the FO, to trounce.

But seriously, I have tried a few times to play Rebels and Resistance to a lesser extent, but I just can’t get into them. I think it’s because I like Silencer/Interceptor style flying and Rebels doesn’t offer that to me. Cheers for the post BoomOwl, given me somethings to try out.

On 12/12/2020 at 11:04 AM, Boom Owl said:

[Rebel Love]

So my enthusiasm for the Rebellion has recently spiked due to a couple of factors.

First, the recent points buffs to a lot of the basic ships, most importantly the X-Wing, has lessened up the listbuilding pressure a bit, and it’s usually enough to get that extra ship in. Which often makes all the difference.

Second, I have discovered that the damage sharing and repair/regeneration mechanics (Selfless, Biggs Darklighter, R5 Astromech, R2 Astromech) are quite a bit more useful than I had previously recognized. Using these elements has revolutionized my Rebel play.

So I’m on-board with the Alliance these days. They’re a solid, gritty bunch of effective (if not particularly flashy) starfighters. But your list left out one of their best: the UT-60D. U-Wings are a consistent threat with unique maneuvering options, fantastic time on target and excellent survivability. Definitely one of my favorite ships!

It's a bit of a sleeper pick, but I think the rebel faction can really use the attack shuttle.

It's cheap enough to fit into a 5-ship salad, or as a cheap 4th option in a 4-ship where the other three are pretty powerful.

You can load it out to suit yourself, but I prefer ion cannon Zeb/ Leia carrier Zeb.

The Zeb Build is a solid piece that does a little bit of everything:

You can deal damage with the three dice primary, you can stafe with the ion cannon for control, or you could deny actions and go for a block.

Other builds are Hera with maybe a talent, to go with other high-initiative pilots in a alpha strike list

You can go for sabine, who has a plethora of good build options. (She managed to solo 4 vultures and a sith infiltrator once)

All in all, it's a ship that really characterizes my vision of the rebel faction: solid, customizable, versatile, and it plays well with others.

It rewards you for playing it right, but it's weak defensive stats mean it can be very unforgiving if you make a mistake. Even so, it's cheap enough that losing it doesn't mean the game is over.

15 minutes ago, Roller of blanks said:

It rewards you for playing it right, but it's weak defensive stats mean it can be very unforgiving if you make a mistake. Even so, it's cheap enough that losing it doesn't mean the game is over.

I feel like this sums up the entire rebel faction. As a while I think the rebels are a faction that are very easy to be good with because of their strong abilities and synergies, but incredibly difficult to be great with because of their weak defensive stats and minimal aces.

The best rebel lists aren't game breaking, but good versatile lists that are practiced over and over. That's why I love the faction so much.

50 minutes ago, Roller of blanks said:

It's a bit of a sleeper pick, but I think the rebel faction can really use the attack shuttle.

100% agree. Zeb used to be that 3 die filler for me until, X-wings dropped to his price. I still think Hera is a steal, and Sabine is probably always worth her points.

23 minutes ago, 5050Saint said:

100% agree. Zeb used to be that 3 die filler for me until, X-wings dropped to his price. I still think Hera is a steal, and Sabine is probably always worth her points.

ATTACK shuttle

59 minutes ago, Amc879 said:

I feel like this sums up the entire rebel faction. As a while I think the rebels are a faction that are very easy to be good with because of their strong abilities and synergies, but incredibly difficult to be great with because of their weak defensive stats and minimal aces.

Weak defensive stats? I thought rebels big chunky hulls and shields made it a forgiving faction for new players, a faction that could afford some mistakes and not crash in flames.

5 minutes ago, LUZ_TAK said:

Weak defensive stats? I thought rebels big chunky hulls and shields made it a forgiving faction for new players, a faction that could afford some mistakes and not crash in flames.

Yeah they have a really high floor with the big health pool. But a low ceiling because of the low green dice. Great for new players. But I think the ceiling is what scares off a lot of the top their players.

9 minutes ago, Boom Owl said:

ATTACK shuttle

attack SHUTTLE

Just now, 5050Saint said:

attack SHUTTLE

A T T A C K S H U T T L E

23 minutes ago, LUZ_TAK said:

Weak defensive stats? I thought rebels big chunky hulls and shields made it a forgiving faction for new players, a faction that could afford some mistakes and not crash in flames.

I think this is potentially misconception outside of very brief moments where Kanan/Inert Han and Super Cheap Leia were available.

"Most" rebel ships go where your dial tells them to go. At least in Hyperspace it is a faction that largely depends on making movement and action decisions with incomplete information (excluding Han).

This does not make the rebel faction bad just makes its decision trees less free form with more involvement required from the player.

Empire, Republic, FO (mainly Kylo), and Scum (mainly Boba) are arguably more new player friendly given how loose they are with mobility, high initiative, and passive modification.

Basically hull and shields do not automatically equate to forgiving. It does sometimes equate to needing to understand how to trade damage effectively and make the most of more limited mobility.

The differences between the worlds 2019 Rebel list and Empire list kind of highlights this and are still mostly relevant today.

29 minutes ago, Boom Owl said:

I think this is potentially misconception outside of very brief moments where Kanan/Inert Han and Super Cheap Leia were available.

"Most" rebel ships go where your dial tells them to go. At least in Hyperspace it is a faction that largely depends on making movement and action decisions with incomplete information (excluding Han).

This does not make the rebel faction bad just makes its decision trees less free form with more involvement required from the player.

Empire, Republic, FO (mainly Kylo), and Scum (mainly Boba) are arguably more new player friendly given how loose they are with mobility, high initiative, and passive modification.

Basically hull and shields do not automatically equate to forgiving. It does in Hyperspace Rebels case equate to needing to understand how to trade damage effectively and make the most of more limited mobility.

The differences between the worlds 2019 Rebel list and Empire list kind of highlights this.

Thank you. I feel less of a noob now (not that my skills at the game are good to begin with).

X-wings are among the most satisfying shios to play. They can go where you want them to go, but there are trade-offs for almost every decision you make with them. Tough enough to take a hit, dodgy enough to avoid damage, punchy enough to threaten most ships, fast enough to get where they need to go, slow enough to stay there. You just don't get everything on the same turn, so there's really interesting decision making involved.

On 12/12/2020 at 9:42 AM, Boom Owl said:

I never really watched the show

On 12/12/2020 at 1:05 PM, CoffeeMinion said:

I skipped the Rebels show

Not judging and I do understand but you really really should watch it in spite of the art style and occasional bouts of juvenile behavior from the lead (he does get better).

Seriously the Season 2 finale is my favorite Star Wars. Full stop. Beats everything Mando, Rogue One, Solo, etc. all put together. I wouldn't say it's strictly better than ANH or ESB but I enjoyed it more.

First season drags a bit but picks up toward the end when Tarkin shows up. By the end of S1 it has fantastic moments. By the end of S2 it has some of the best moments in all of Star Wars. By the end of S3 it's scientifically impossible to stop watching.

Extra bonus: It will make you want to play as Rebels more.

12 hours ago, LUZ_TAK said:

Weak defensive stats? I thought rebels big chunky hulls and shields made it a forgiving faction for new players, a faction that could afford some mistakes and not crash in flames.

They're good at taking a long time to die. They're bad at not taking any damage.

They will take damage. Fortunately, they can take a lot of it.

12 hours ago, Biophysical said:

X-wings are among the most satisfying shios to play. They can go where you want them to go, but there are trade-offs for almost every decision you make with them. Tough enough to take a hit, dodgy enough to avoid damage, punchy enough to threaten most ships, fast enough to get where they need to go, slow enough to stay there. You just don't get everything on the same turn, so there's really interesting decision making involved.

Do you think the list you posted about from your hyperspace trial still has legs? The wedge, thane, Luke and Jake

1 hour ago, ClassicalMoser said:

Seriously the Season 2 finale is my favorite Star Wars. Full stop. Beats everything Mando, Rogue One, Solo, etc. all put together. I wouldn't say it's strictly better than ANH or ESB but I enjoyed it more.

First season drags a bit but picks up toward the end when Tarkin shows up. By the end of S1 it has fantastic moments. By the end of S2 it has some of the best moments in all of Star Wars. By the end of S3 it's scientifically impossible to stop watching.

I either agree or am agreement-adjacent as I move deeper into Season 3. It is super solid. It also seems to achieve the Herculean feat of fully integrating the Prequels with the OT—which might’ve sold me on it quicker if I’d gone in realizing that was a primary aim.

I’m not at the end yet, but it leaves me wondering why these characters didn’t end up being a bigger influence in the OT and beyond since they’re so capable. I mean they are the A-Team, right down to the bespoke ride. Only way they wouldn’t be movers and shakers on the front lines is if they end up dead or in middle management...

30 minutes ago, CoffeeMinion said:

I either agree or am agreement-adjacent as I move deeper into Season 3. It is super solid. It also seems to achieve the Herculean feat of fully integrating the Prequels with the OT—which might’ve sold me on it quicker if I’d gone in realizing that was a primary aim.

I’m not at the end yet, but it leaves me wondering why these characters didn’t end up being a bigger influence in the OT and beyond since they’re so capable. I mean they are the A-Team, right down to the bespoke ride. Only way they wouldn’t be movers and shakers on the front lines is if they end up dead or in middle management...

Well, I won’t spoil everything for ya, but Rogue One has a couple of Easter Eggs, like General Syndulla being summoned on the intercom at the Yavin base, and Chopper visible on the landing pad. The Ghost definitely can be seen participating in the Battle of Scarif. Hera also features prominently in the story of the (excellent) Star Wars: Squadrons game which released recently, and that takes place some time after Endor, so they’re trying to weave Rebels deeper into the continuity for sure.

I really like Rebels as a faction, with its cross ship synergies and unique ways to deal with stress.

My only problem with it is, that other factions can usually fit their combos on one ship, making losing a piece not that impactful. For Rebels losing Dutch means less action economy. They are solid. Fun.

I'm just waiting to see what the Resistance B-Wing will be like. Because that with access to Tech like Pattern Analyser will be interesting.

Rebels are solid, with "Aces" having simple abilities and being quite straightforward. I really lack a true Ace in the faction, who could reposition after movement. The best so far is Jake at I4 and maybe Sabine at I3. But that initiative...