Alright. I wanted to start a discussion about rebel strategy and deployment.

We know that Imperials need to concentrate firepower in order to take out X-wings. However, they also have enough ships that they have a reasonable potential to split their forces into two or three groups to perform flanking maneuvers.

What about the rebels? Are the rebels served well by keeping all their ships together?

Obviously, in some builds there are range requirements where some ships need to remain somewhat close together (Biggs, swarm tactics, etc). Beyond that, however, is it worth splitting off an X-wing or two, or is it better to concentrate your forces close together?

Consider a 4x X-Wing build. Assume no Biggs or Swarm Tactics. Perhaps Wedge+Luke+2x Rookies, or 4x Red Sqd pilots.

Would you keep all four together? This, of course, allows you to concentrate your fire as needed. However, it does make it easier for your opponent to concentrate their forces.

Would splitting into groups of 2x X-wings be of a benefit? Or, splitting a lone X-wing off?

Thoughts?

(Note: I realize that in Wave 2 there are assault missiles that are useful vs groups of ships close together. For now, disregard those for this discussion)

I guess i'll get firsties on this, Well I will be honest I play Empire alot, but since the Kessel run tounament is coming up, I have been interested in taking on a new Faction , Because I feel the Rebels have a competitive edge. I always think back to the Starter box to the begining of everyones X-wing minature game adventure. Remember the box came with one X-Wing and two TIE Fighters, to me that promotes that hey for every X-Wing it should be Taking out two TIE fighters. And I belive this true. Look at It this way, Rebel ships are verry upgradable. Expensive…But man you can outfit a Rebel ship for diferent play styles.

I'm thinking of running a tanky build list using three ships, Like, Luke , Biggs , and Dutch now you got all sorts of potential to make a tank list out of this build, I'll let you use your imagination on this.

I see more options to run different ops for the Rebels. and have lots and lots of potential, I myself would love to see some secrets of the trade of playing Rebels and tactics myself. as I see lots of love for the Empire lately, I think there needs to be be a tactics thread on the forums for each faction.

Thanks for the response, Grave.

I have (randomly) been mostly playing Imperials myself, and this time essentially randomly will be playing Rebels for the Kessel Run event (while my friend uses my Imperials). As such, I was simply curious if any more experienced players had a perspective on deployment and concentration of forces (or lack thereof).

Unfortuneately, I don't have specific game playing experience as Rebels, so all I can offer myself is theory.

The Imperials can have enough ships, and have enough speed/maneuverability, to split into multiple groups and still focus fire fairly well.

The Rebels seem to have a tougher time of it. Even without special abilities that require close range, in general it seems like they would most likely work best at least in pairs. A solo ship seems like it could get easily isolated, swarmed, and focused fired while the other friendly ships are too far to be effective. Any rebel ship by itself would need to be sturdy enough to handle being by itself. I would imagine, therefore, that it would be limited to Luke or a Y-wing with defensive upgrades (R2D2, R2-F2, etc) and an ion turret.

Still, conversely, the rebels need to be careful about getting jammed up by Academy TIEs and losing their actions. The closer their formation, the easier it is for Imperial TIEs to get in the way. That seems to be a common tactic by Imperial swarms, and something every rebel needs to watch out for and remain unpredictable in their maneuvers.

I've run a Wedge+Horton+Rookie squad for 8 consecutive games, and won the first 7. I call it "Pick Your Targets"

Wedge (R2 Astromech, Determination), Horton (R5 Astromech, Ion Cannon Turret, Proton Torpedoes x2), Rookie (R2-D2)

I always set up with Rookie straight down the middle and Horton going straight up one side of the field. I would place Wedge in between them, but his position usually varied because of asteroid placement. Sometimes he would be Horton's wingmate, but usually he was somewhere in between the other two. By essentially sticking to one half of the mat, I was able to keep my ships separate, yet close enough to swoop in and rescue anybody in trouble by pouncing on their attackers.

Interestingly, this formation kept Wedge alive for a long time. Most of my opponents gunned for Horton. Those that didn't usually had low-skilled TIEs that lined up across from Rookie, and were outflanked by my placement of Horton and Wedge even before either of us placed a maneuver dial.

I like this team because everybody can pretty much hold their own, so I don't have to worry about formations or anything. I just go out there and try to fly as unpredictably as I can to avoid being shot at. More often than not, the numbers "advantage" for the Empire works against them because I'll still have at least one of them in my sights. Usually Rookie flies out as bait so I can see what the opponent's play style is. In one game Rookie got scissored by two forces, but Wedge and Horton unleashed their torpedoes and saved Rookie from taking a lot of damage. The shields he lost were regained in short order by R2-D2.

It works even better against Rebel builds (which, incidentally, is what I was up against the entire Kessel Run event).

I play both sides fairly equally, depending on demand (ie. depending on what my opponent is playing). We haven't had any tournaments/competitions over here yet, so games are kinda casual. Naturally, there's no time limit involved, so it's really beating each other till we have no ships left.

regardless, I always go into the battle in a tight formation, usually a square, sometimes a L shape, depending on what I want to do and what ships are they. Then after the first pass, I'd see if I should split or stay depending on the situation. if there is enough room to move without collision, or the enemy has zoomed past you due to forward 4s, I'd try to maintain formation, maybe have everybody do a U turn or something. If not, normally I'd split, with the intention of meeting back up later, as rebels tend to have effect syngeries that you want to make use of (eg. biggs, dutch, garven)

Ywings are excellent in that it also serves as a rallying point for your squad, after they have split. This is mostly due to their 360 deg firing arc, and that they fly a lot slower than anything else, so you do not have much of a choice either. either way, if you are flying more than 1 Ywing, i would suggest you have both Ywings near each other, then have the Xwings buzz around trying to get targets within their firing arcs. Any problems, or if the fighting gets too fierce, meet up with the Ywings again, their ion cannons form a sort of protective "umbrella" that can deter or downright kill lone TIEs trying to chase you.

Also remember that none of the imperial forces have a forward 1 (unless they are ionized), and they will be zipping around the battlefield very quickly, so if you can, really try to focus all your fire on a single ship, else you may not have much good chances to take it out for the next few turns.