I found out about this game relatively recently by complete accident, and didn't even intend to actually play it at first. After looking into it a bit, however, I decided to try it out. I bought the starter and took it with me to my friends and I's boardgame night.

We were missing a couple of regulars so we decided to try it out, but we still grabbed an A-Wing so we'd have at least one ship for each player. Each person took one ship and we divided into teams based on the faction of our ships.

Needles to say, we had a blast.

There was one problem, however. I had a feeling it would be a problem going in, but based on the whim of the situation and not wanting to invest a lot before knowing if we liked it, we didn't really have much choice.

Having an equal number of Rebel ships as TIE fighters meant there was almost no room for customization. If I remember correctly, literally the only option we had that still kept the point values close was that one of the TIE pilots could squeeze in ONE upgrade.

The next purchase I intend to make is one HWK-290 and one Lambda-class Shuttle (I'm not buying this to be competitive, I'm buying ships I like). This will make sure that there will be at least one ship for every player on our normal days. However, that will keep the ratio of Rebel to Imperial ships the same.

I don't want to look at spoilers, but I'd appreciate some advice ahead of time. Will those ships allow freedom in point values to actually give the Rebel players some options this time?

If not, what would be a good ship (Imperial I'm assuming) that will introduce enough options to give both factions the freedom to play around with their point values? Someone will have to be playing two ships, but that's okay.

Personally I'm a big fan of a second starter set, as that gets you enough dice and having 4 TIEs allows you to be a bit more swarm-y with the TIEs and a bit more elite with the Rebels. Which I feel is quite important for the feel of both sides. I feel as a general note the Imperials should have a few more planes in the sky than the Rebs to give the Rebs some upgrade options.

An X1 would also allow you to mess around a bit with scenes from the films, Vader + 2 wing men against X-Wings for example.

The YT-1300 allows you to play a very different style of game, so it's worth it for that. As it mixes things up a bit.

I would suggest getting a second core box.

The extra dice and movement templates go a long way to making play faster.

That also nets you 2 x-wings and 4 TIE fighters.

After that It is completely up to you what you want.

I would suggest at least 1 of everything (including the xwing and tie fighter for the pilots/weapon cards.)

Are you playing for fun ? or are you playing for competition ?

Competition may need a few more specific purchases.

Edit:

I generally have 2 of everything (save the big ships like the falcon and slave 1.) I just play for fun.

Hwk 290 is a support ship so u will need to make up the rest of ur rebel force with a mix of x-wings or b-wings, assuming u have no falcons or y-wings.

im sure u could make a decent rebel squad with two of these and throw in 1-2 x-wings but it totally depends what u like playing and how much u wanna spend. do u own any expansion ships (wedge is a must for rebels and he comes in the x-wing expansion pack).

if ur asking if a single Hwk290 will give u plenty more options for rebel squads, not really. Its not going to stand up very long unless its linked to a cohesive strategy... at close range they seem a little fragile at first glance. will have to get one and test it for myself tho to assess how good it it. The name Hwk pilot that gives focus tokens is pretty cool. not that sold on the other pilots yet but they r very cheap suggesting a rebel swarm might be a viable option with wave3.

I have a Stater X-Wing, two Starter TIE Fighters, an A-Wing, and I will be getting an HWK-290 and a Lambda-class Shuttle.

I am playing for fun.

The second starter set sounds like a good thing to prioritize. This isn't the first time I've seen someone recommend it for the dice if nothing else. There are definitely some other things I'd like to get,

availability and money willing, but what I list at the top are my main priorities for having at least one ship for every player and for getting my favorite ships (I originally intended on only buying an HWK-290 just as a collector's item before looking into the game).

Thanks for the advice everyone!

Equal number of ships and equal points worth of ships usually doesn't match up well for the Empire. The cheapest TIE fighter is just 12 points while the cheapest X-Wing is 25 point; although they have some advantages more flying a more expensive model of a ship really doesn't alter the actual ship performance any. Admittedly, the A-Wing and HWK are two of the cheapest rebel ships before you start adding upgrades but the HWK really needs some upgrades to become really useful.

Perhaps you are set on the Lambda but the Firespray would most likely be a far more useful ship. If you are looking at adding upgrade to rebel fighters and want to meet those with the same number of Imperial ships you should be looking at TIE Interceptors, Advances, and maybe Bombers plus the Firespray; there isn't really much that can be done with the basic TIEs.

In our first game, the Rebels played their absolutely cheapest options while the Empire chose their most expensive options. Honestly, it worked out in the long run. The game ended with a single ship standing with a single wound left. I'd say that turned out pretty balanced.

I'd like to have balance and choice though. ;P

I know my expected picks aren't the best for that at the moment, but I really, really want them, and that's why I'm coming here to see what I might add to that to get balance and choice.

I really appreciate the responses so far. I have an idea of what I might do to reach my goal, but I'm going to have to see what money I have and what's available next time I go to the store.

I do feel a lot of the fun is having a swarm of cheap TIEs vs expensive X-Wings. But if you do feel the need to have similar numbers of ships on both sides, and Interceptor might be good.

In our first game, the Rebels played their absolutely cheapest options while the Empire chose their most expensive options. Honestly, it worked out in the long run. The game ended with a single ship standing with a single wound left. I'd say that turned out pretty balanced.

I'd like to have balance and choice though. ;P

I know my expected picks aren't the best for that at the moment, but I really, really want them, and that's why I'm coming here to see what I might add to that to get balance and choice.

I really appreciate the responses so far. I have an idea of what I might do to reach my goal, but I'm going to have to see what money I have and what's available next time I go to the store.

Jk, good on u for playing for fun! i get hung up on making the most optimal squads all the time and as a result i can miss out on some variations. sounds like ur playgroup might be into playing a random ship (picked out of a hat?) or just mixing it up with different squad points other than 100pts? how about 2players versus 2players with 50pts each person? could be fun eh?

The big ships (slave1 and falcon) are not everyones cup of tea, i own 2 of each but i still prefer flying the smaller fighters and find them more rewarding to play, theres something not quite right about a huge tank-of-a-ship with massive firepower and lots of shields... i dont find the falcon very challenging to play compared to the smaller ships... especially tie-fighters which take lots of skill (as well as luck!) to fly well.

I've seen some really funky suggestions for Lamda, 2 Interceptor, 2 TIE/Ln lists.. I've also seen some cool lists with HWK-290s supporting a mix of B-Wing and X-Wings.. So if you want to base your lists around the Lamda and the HWK. A couple of packs of TIE Interceptors and a B-Wing might work well with what you have.

Sleeves