How highly do u rate the A-wing? will it make competitive tournament squads?

its got the manouvering ability of a tie fighter but can be equipt with missiles and can take one extra point of damage (2 shields+2 hull+boost action)

what will its role be in the rebel teams after wave2? hit and run? cleanup crew on damaged ships?

17pts (prototype pilot, skill1) , 23pts (arvel, skill6) and 26pts (tycho, skill8) plus missiles is a fair chunk of pts.

Its possible to play 5 A-Wings in the same squad. This would match the tie-fighters agility but also their limited attack strength so not sure if it would work. Thoughts?

26 + 2 = 28pts (tych + swarm tactics)

17 + 17 + 17 + 17 (4x prototype pilot) = 40+28 = 68pt

96pts + missiles one one ship rounds out ur squad at 100pts.

has anyone tested the A-wing much? i only have one and have played it in two separate scenarios, both times it was teamed up with the Falcon vs 5 tie fighters. Rebels were 1-1.

I wasn't real thrilled with the A-wing to be honest, but yesterday I watched two A-wings take down 2 TIE interceptors then help finish off Slave 1. They seemed effective enough!

As an Imperial player, A-Wings with Assault Missiles seriously scare me! I have seen them in action during the KRTs and they are super fast and maneuverable and the missile options are just plain deadly!

yeah giving them missiles is double edged as now u have spent 4-5pts making ur A-Wing both more deadly but also worthe more points in a tournament, much like the dilemma with playing vader as an imperial player. i can maybe see a single or perhaps 2 A-wings serving as an alpha strike team versus their top pilot. i mean getting off missiles follwed up in the same turn by a target tocked x-wing attack must be some good right?

I feel they will be way better depending on the player's maneuvering skills. Being so agile, they seem to be best at getting into range one, taking a 3 die shot, then getting out next turn, staying out of firing arcs. I'm planning on using them as pure support. Also, an x-wing start into an a-wing follow up at range one might be enough to take out hall a tie to a tie a turn. I do not like the idea of a-wings in rebel vs rebel though.

Tycho + Push the Limit will probably be a popular combination, but I'm not sure if that's a replacement for Wedge or a replacement for Biggs in the standard 4 X-wing build. I would expect PTL, Engine Upgrades, and Interceptors make Wedge a less attractive choice, so maybe it'd replace him, but frankly, it looks like more fun than it does an effective build… he's going to outmaneuver anything imperial without Push the Limit, but he's not going to stand up to much focus, especially against Interceptors.

I think Y-wings might become more attractive though, with Dutch painting targets for more agile A-wings to torpedo… I guess we'll see.

From my own observations, they are pretty fragile. Don't ask me why. They have the same agility as the TIE family, but can take 4 damage instead of the usual 3. But somehow they just don't hold up.

Now it may have been that the people playing them rushed straight in. Like Doma0997 said, you've gotta use their agility and maneuverability to your advantage. With the boost action I think the winning tactic is to cut across the enemies' flight path at an angle, then angle towards them with Boost to try to nick an opponent with your firing arc, but stay out of more of your opponents' arcs. It's easier to accomplish with Barrel Roll, I know, but the best defense is to not be a target, and people just rush in like these things are X-wings or Y-wings, which can take a few hits.

The other possiblity is that they seem weak because they were up against TIE interceptors, which have 3 for their primary weapon value. Still, this shouldn't be any worse than a TIE fighter up against an X-wing.

I'm excited to try them out and see how they handle because all those green maneuvers just look delicious! I agree that it will be fun just to play around with them some more, which is when their true potential will be revealed.

In the Kessel tournament, the Falcon was lost very soon, so there only two A-wing vs the Slave 1 and the two Interceptors, at the end the A-wings win the match, so I think is very competitive piece, and I have the chance to play it, and I like because it's a cheap Ship, compare with the other three ships, greettings.

Parakitor said:

Maybe it's because you are used to Rebel ships having a certain degree of durability, and since these have to be treated more like TIE fighters, they did were not used properly?

magadizer said:

yeah i agree. although the A-wing is conflicted between taking an offensive action (target lock/focus) or evade so maybe its being used more for attack and as a result is getting more damage than the ties?

The_Brown_Bomber said:

That could definitely be it. Like I said, I haven't played them. I've just seen them get blown up a whole bunch. Still, I admit that it's been 2 or 3 matches -- a very small sample size, so I am sure their worth will come through. It's nice to have a Rebel with the Evade action.

Parakitor said:

not just that, the "quality" of attacks have risen considerably with the wave 2 stuff, so if you were previously able to one-shot TIEs already, Awings are just TIEs with that +1 hp on them only, hence you feeling that they are rather fragile. things like Ywings and Xwings are less likely to get one-shotted mostly because they have a lot more hp

The A-wings have exceptional maneuverability and the evade action for a reason, right? If at all possible, put them where they can't be fired at. Otherwise, consider using the evade action.

Of course, that is true for TIE fighters too.

magadizer said:

evasive action has been called 'pseudo-shield' because it saves your bacon automaticcaly stopping one one hit every round. Its quite likely because its so new the tactics with the A-Wing have not been fully realised. Clearly if u r drawing fire with it or getting i close combat situations u r not going to last verfy long with that 'fragile' 2pts of hull. because it cant have droids on board its always going to be more fragile that the X-Wings anyway. Seems like the best way to use it would be to hit and run and stay at medium or long range picking off prime targets with its missiles. I like them, im just not sure how they will impact on the competitive rebel builds you will see most people playing at tournaments. For example: If its a decision between using an A-Wing or a Y-Wing in a rebel squad i think most people would opt for the Y-Wing.

I agree -- I will usually reach for the Y-wing before the A-wing, except on days where I just want to switch it up.

People often mention that these 'fragile' ships should be used as "hit and run" craft. Exactly how do you envision this working? More often than not, a round in which you are doing the hitting is also a round in which you will be hit. Am I missing something? I mean, I know you can try to use boost or barrel roll to try to get out of firing arcs. Is that what you're referring to?

Parakitor said:

Tycho is the olny pilot that has a decent ability, performing actions with a stress token seems decent but at 27pts you pay for it. The cheapest A-wing is 17pts - still kinda expensive for a 1 skill pilot but i can see how hed be useful for blocking other name pilots. Id love to see a pilot skill that reduces the cost of other pilots flying the same class of ship. This bending of the rules would likely open up the squad building options and free up enough points to play multiple A-Wings without sacrificing too much.

Good point, I hadn't taken Pilot Ability into account. Good ol' Arvel Crynyd has a high liklihood of hit-and-run success because he could attack a ship touching his base, but they can't hit him. Okay, between him and Tycho I'm a bit more excited to run some A-wings.

Parakitor said:

hmm, id initially written off Arvel's ability as it seems quite situational. i think ud have to take some big risks to get him in close to use that, id much rather have + attack dice from outside their firing arc because his ability might as well read "kamakazi pilot who likes to get in close to the enemy before he explodes". lol but seriously i think one of these two pilots might see play as a support craft in name pilot rebel builds, possibly in a team that uses one of each ship: X-wing, Y-wing & A-wing although it seems bad to run any less than two X-Wings in any rebel build. Future expansions might make this more viable tho, who knows.

from personal experience

i first ran 2 prototype pilots with 2x homing missles and wedge and biggs together in a list, the list failed miserably because the a wings were killed off before getting to really be useful due to low pilot skills

i have since changed my list to tycho and arvel with 2 rookie pilots with a homing missle and a cluster missles and had success vs both imperial and rebel lists.. the higher pilot skill level on the a wings allows them to be more evasive in terms of when to use your boost to get out of firing arcs as most or at least half of your opponents ships will have moved before they have

i'm still going to experiment a bit i think.. i'd like to run a named x wing and drop either tycho or arvel for a green pilot or prototype pilot

executor said:

just played a 2x 75pt matches with:

Wedge/protons/expert handling + Tycho/push the limit/concussion missiles

versus

Howlrunner, Turr Fennir/Determination, Dark Curse, Black Squadron Pilot

The Empire won both matches but the 1st rnd was close due to Tycho destroying howlrunner in his first attack with missiles.

What i leant?

1) Push the limit on Tycho was very good, amazing actually.

2) An A-Wing with missiles is scary, sure they need to get lucky but if they do… ouch!

Tycho is pretty cool but i've been quickly discovering that he's not worth the 3 addtional points (6 with push the limit) over Arvel.. Tycho only really shines when he has push the limit. If you're bringing at least 1 A-wing to your list; it seems that you are almost required to bring some form of missle to make the most of your points to elminate an enemy ship or two in the first wave of attacks and give you the advantage. and 34 points for Tycho + missles + push the limit is one hell of an expensive investment for a ship that has a base attack of 2.

i'm finding that the A-wing plays a better support role in the rebel fleet. I really wish 100 points wasn't the standard for tournaments and that 150 pts was.. then you would see 2-3 A-wings all with missles and 3 X-wings for firepower and make these skirmishes much better in terms of creativity and more dinamics in fleet building (i really do find 100 points a bit limited and dull)

that said i've been pondering all night what kind of a list to run and i think i've settled on this list

100 points

Arvel Crynyd w/ Homing Missels
Garven Dreis
Red Squadron Pilot
Red Squadron Pilot

the idea of this list is to have higher than average pilot skill and essentially get all of my shots off before my opponent can shoot with all of his fighters. i'll most
target the major threats first; followed by lower skilled pilots in the first wave of attacks and hopefully kill off 1-2 ships before they can shoot to give me the upper hand.
I will also be moving second in most cases as well, allowing me to get the target locks first

executor said:

how about…

Wedge w/ Swarm tactics/R2D2 (35)
Prototype Pilot w/ Concussion Missiles (21)
Gold Squadron Pilot w/ ion cannon (23)
Rookie Pilot (21)

Keep both A-Wing and X-Wing rookies in close to wedge early on to make sure the A-Wing gets its missiles off, then let it break off harry the enemy engaging at med-long range only, Y-Wing plugs away at select targets disrupting enemy formations and chipping in with damage on their already damaged ships.

The_Brown_Bomber said:

not really my playstyle and i don't like Y-wings.. not enough firepower and their movement sucks.. now give me a Y-wing that acts like biggs and i'll use it

i also don't want to run a huge threat such as Wedge that will instantly make my opponent focus him down with everything he has.. i'd rather the damage be spread out amongst all my ships

executor said:

i totally get you. Play style is often what will shape my builds as well. I took a looong time to warm up to the Y-Wings, even flying a few tragic sorties with them before i had success. It seems like a big tradeoff off firepower (and it is) but in return u r gaining two things: 1) versatility - you now have the ability to hit ANY ship within a 360 firing arc of you 2) disruption - freezing an enemy ship, even for one turn will often force it to break formation disrupting its flight pattern and messing with their tactics, doing this for two consecitive turns can put the targetted ship out of the battle for 3 turns or worse. I agree the Y-Wings lack of firepower sucks but it hits consistently, chipping away throughout the course of the game and supports your main offensive ships by picking out select targets. Its lack on speed/manouvering is really a non issue because it has 360 degree targeting.

I flew 4 X-Wings at my local Kessel Run event because i hated the Y-Wings so much and couldnt see why anyone would ever want to fly one over an X-Wing (even a rookie pilot). I would say the Y-Wings are probably better vs imperials than rebels. There superior speed and turning is a non-factor vs the Y-Wing, it will usually have a target in its sights and there are also times when it will get to use its primary weapon at medium and close range as well adding to its versatility.

With the addition of the Boost action (tie interceptors are nasty) and enine upgrades will be commonly used on reg tie-fighters/advanced ties, you could argue that having a Y-Wing in your squad is more important than in the past (They cant boost out of ur ion cannon range, if u see it coming and position your ship for maximum effect).

Don't give up on the Y-Wing. its very good. Underrated actually.