What tactics do you guys use. Cause I lost to the 8 tie swarm with

Wedge/Marksmanship/R5D8/Shield

Luke/R2D2/Swarm Tactics

Gold Squadron/Turret

Now I believe I was the superior opponent but wedge got stuck and destroyed by 5 attacks from the ties all pointing in different directions. The ties were not in any formation but happened to get all these attacks. I know the empire is all about keeping formation but what about a rebel squad with 3 ships vs. 8. What about Han and two rookies too.

thats a tough matchup for ur 3 ships so dont lose heart.

im experimenting with a similar squad and had two close wins today versus rebels (wedge+dutch+tycho) and imperials (kath fully loaded with gunner/HLC etc + howlrunner + avenger squad). there was an 8 ship swarm there but i didnt get to play against it.

imo ditch the R5D8 on wedge for something else...

R2D2 plus shield upgrade is a nice combo to consider

playing a squad like this is putting ur eggs in one basket to some extent but if you can get in early damage, taking out a ship or two early it can swing back ur way, its just a matter of surviving the early damage yourself.

when playing rebels i try and use the asteroids to break up formations of 4 or more ships. keeping you focus action for defense at times is key... this is why R5D8 on wedge is somewhat of a liability as he need to use his action to activate it.

im currently testing Push The Limit + R2 astromech on Wedge... the plan is to give him focus and target lock each turn (or for key attacking turns at least)

If u get caught at close range versus 4 + ships u will take a beating so avoid this situation at all costs. sometimes hanging back a little is wise but try and disrupt their formation flying if you can as well, easier said than done with only 3 ships i know

You can play well and still lose. I've seen brand new players take down seasoned ones in tournaments. Dice cam be fickle. I find xwing dice allow for more unpredictable variables than usual.

You can play well and still lose. I've seen brand new players take down seasoned ones in tournaments. Dice cam be fickle. I find xwing dice allow for more unpredictable variables than usual.

so true. its something u cant plan or practice for. if the dice hate u, it doesnt matter what tactics u r using

to be honest its the one thing that frustrates me about the game, there is such a large element of luck... the luck element is actually increased with two sets of dice: attack AND defense... im not suggesting they change the rules at this point but id like to see a 'once per game' effect that both players can use that can reroll dice or something that can get u out of a hole for that one time you need a reroll. it would be balanced as both players could use it. more likely a House Rule i know.

some reading this will just say just practice and become a better player but this is not going to alter the impact luck has on the outcome of games.

i won two close games on the weekend due to luck... time was called in both and in one game i managed to get in one final kill (he rolled 3 blanks and a focus on defense, dont think he had focus action either) then in a mirror match (rebels) we both destroyed each others Wedge's as time was called his wedge had 4pts more upgrades than mine. arguably the 2nd win was less luck than the first but i still felt lucky to escape with a narrow victory.

I agree with Brown, Wedge+R2+PTL=WIN.

However fighting that TIE swarm is a pain. Weather it is 7 or 8 TIEs I keep the same tactics. First I go after the lower pilot skills in the Alpha Strike. If I drop an Academy Pilot in that strike that is one less attack coming back at me. You have to average a TIE a round if you can. A YT-100 helps greatly with this because of the turret. Focus your fire on TIEs with no actions they have less chance of surviving an attack from a YT or an X-wing. If you have an Assault Missile shooting A-wing you can speed this up by making sure that missile hits and splashes a lot of TIEs. A-wings are also good because they can take an evade token. because TIEs have a two attack chances are you can evade the entire attack. You need turns to take out a swarm and A-wings can give you that. Just remember they don't put out the damage like an x-wing will. I'm going to keep adding to this as I look back over my game notes.

I think that tactically i have to keep wedge from going through the middle of the swarm. Luke can take more hits but hes fragile too with 6 ties firing at the same time. I think wedge for me is better being safe and skirting the action and hitting the outside ties. especially if they are taking stress to get a shot on him. Luke and the y wing in my setup can go right through the middle and more than likely take minimal damage while possibly taking one tie out and probably ion'ing one. The ioned one is prime target for luke, not wedge because luke has r2 to regain shields and everyone like to aim for wedge so keep wedge at a distance and kill the other ties to avoid getting beat up in the middle where the ion'ed ship is. How does that sound?

I'm not a big fan of flying through a swarm. I'd set up away from it and then try to flank it.

Some good advice from wookie and pcasso. splitting your force at the start is a good way to force them to split theirs as well or at least choose who to go at. i think u need to be reactive to how they set up as well tho. i played against a rebel squad that used Tycho with Boost/PLT as a flanker to get in behind by ships (we were both rebels but the principle is the same).

Make them choose a flank by splitting up ur sqd, at least in the beginning and then see how it plays... u might even b able to use their numbers to your advantage if u can get them criss-crossing when ur ships link up again this might cause them to overlap on each other at times or at least find an asteroid placed in an awkward spot

I think that tactically i have to keep wedge from going through the middle of the swarm. Luke can take more hits but hes fragile too with 6 ties firing at the same time. I think wedge for me is better being safe and skirting the action and hitting the outside ties. especially if they are taking stress to get a shot on him. Luke and the y wing in my setup can go right through the middle and more than likely take minimal damage while possibly taking one tie out and probably ion'ing one. The ioned one is prime target for luke, not wedge because luke has r2 to regain shields and everyone like to aim for wedge so keep wedge at a distance and kill the other ties to avoid getting beat up in the middle where the ion'ed ship is. How does that sound?

I'm not sold on your Luke thinking here. If your plan is to fly him into the swarm, you really can't afford to be taking green maneuvers all the time to trigger R2's ability. I bet your net loss in that battle is a lot more than the 1 shield point you gain. Luke is tough to hit, but not THAT tough. If the Y-Wing had Draw Their Fire, maybe it's a different story – but it's not gonna last too long, either. I've taken down a Y-wing with just 2 TIEs in two turns.

You're right. I didn't mean through the center but more of a through right half of the formation for example. I did it today again and I did way better than last time with wedge against two ties and a narrow victory. I'm still working on it and I'm even thinking about trading luke out. His ability isn't that good.

Something I've had success with.

You must do some really crazy **** to keep those guys alive.

Shield Upgrade is way too over-costed. On Wedge you're better off using those 4 points on a Torp instead. If you've got PtL he can TL and Focus after his movement, then he's rolling 4 dice + Focus vs 2 dice for the target TIE. Luck not withstanding, he'll kill a TIE every time. Or else Luke will be there to mop it up for you.

Also, always insist on using Asteroids in your game, then if you're facing a swarm move as slowly as possible to start and don't go straight at them. Go around the edge of the board and make the swarm move around/through as many asteroids as possible. It may break up their formation and the fewer TIEs that can use Howlrunner's ability, the better.

Also, it seems like you face this swarm build a lot. Any reason why you haven't just taken the Falcon or an A-Wing with Assault Missiles? The swarms disappeared pretty quickly in our league once the Rebel players started packing those. Then after a week or two the Rebel players could start mixing things up again here and there, so the Imps didn't know what to expect.

Honestly, when I fly that list against a TIE swarm of 6-8 I get two or three ties in my ALPHA strike. I've had wedge and Tyco one shot a tie each and then the Assault Missile levels the playing field. The games I lost I missed with the assault missile.

You must do some really crazy **** to keep those guys alive.

Keep in mind that an A-wing with Stealth has 4 defense dice against a TIE's 2 attack! At least until the first time it gets hit, but you see how that could take a while...

Well I haven't told you about my Han shoots first build with amazing victories against tie swarms. I don't play the same one every time cause I want to use all my ships. What other combos with a-wings should I consider.

Besides tycho green and wedge above.

Shield Upgrade is way too over-costed. On Wedge you're better off using those 4 points on a Torp instead. If you've got PtL he can TL and Focus after his movement, then he's rolling 4 dice + Focus vs 2 dice for the target TIE. Luck not withstanding, he'll kill a TIE every time. Or else Luke will be there to mop it up for you.

Also, always insist on using Asteroids in your game, then if you're facing a swarm move as slowly as possible to start and don't go straight at them. Go around the edge of the board and make the swarm move around/through as many asteroids as possible. It may break up their formation and the fewer TIEs that can use Howlrunner's ability, the better.

Also, it seems like you face this swarm build a lot. Any reason why you haven't just taken the Falcon or an A-Wing with Assault Missiles? The swarms disappeared pretty quickly in our league once the Rebel players started packing those. Then after a week or two the Rebel players could start mixing things up again here and there, so the Imps didn't know what to expect.

boost on wedge with PTL might actually be pretty good. just lotsa pts to have in one ship.