So I've been playing X-Wing more with my family recently. Pretty fun and easy to teach. I just played a match that sadly stopped before there was an actual victor. I'm pretty sure it wasn't going to be me though.

I have more experience playing this game than my family so there's a bit of an advantage there. Trust me though, I still need practice with maneuvering. Anyway, on to the match up.

I played an Imperial Squad consisting of

97 points

Darth Vader + Concussion Missiles + Push The Limit + Engine Upgrade (40)

Howlrunner + Swarm Tactics (20)

Mauler Mithel + Engine Upgrade (21)

Dark Curse (16)

VS

99 points

Luke Skywalker + Shield Upgrade (32)

Wedge Antilles + Shield Upgrade + R2-D2 + Squad Leader (39)

Dutch Vander + Ion Cannon Turret (28)

The Rebel Squad I made last night and planned to use it often. The idea is around giving every Squad member a target lock each round to maximize damage potential while the shield upgrades and R2-D2 added defense. So in theory, Dutch would acquire a target lock, giving Wedge a Target Lock as well. Luke would Focus for his action and Wedge would stick within range 1-2 of Luke to use Squad leader and allow Luke to Target lock as well.

The team I ran against it I came up with just today. I only have 1 Adv. and 3 TIES right now for the Imperial side so 100 point games tend to be a bit rough on the Imps.

The game went fairly okay at first. The first ship that went down was the Y-Wing as it flew close enough for Vader to Target Lock and use his Concussion Missile and 2 turns later he blew it up. From there on it was a series of horrible maneuvers on my part that landed my TIES in plain view of my opponent. I think Dark Curse was destroyed in 1 attack and Vader was taken out not too long afterwards. By the time the game was about to end, I had 1 ship left and Wedge was still at full Hull+Shields. Luke had taken a couple shields off in the battle and from what I could tell he was going to leave the battlefield on the next turn... There was no way to get out of that really.

In conclusion, I like that Rebel team I made. I often fly Rebels so I'm at a disadvantage flying with Imperials. Does anyone have good suggestions for a better Imperial team using those four Imperial ships?

I can't see many better options for an Imperial squad with just those 4 ships. An argument can be made for "Backstabber" instead of "Dark Curse" because he can throw more damage. In fact, it may be worth a shot putting an Engine Upgrade on "Backstabber" instead of Vader and see how it goes. But if your two TIEs are off doing there own thing, you have to ask yourself if "Howlrunner" is the other fighter you want on the squad. But since she's one of the most expensive, I'd leave her in there.

Question about your Rebel squad: Did you use Squad Leader very much? The premise sounds nice, but I wonder if it was executed very often. Perhaps Expert handling on Wedge to stay out of firing arcs?

Actually yeah Squad Leader was used quite often by my opponent although it didn't seem to help Luke out all that much having a Focus Token. I could probably switch Squad Leader to Expert Handling.

As far as the Imperial Squad goes, i was actually thinking of changing it to this:

96 Points

Darth Vader + Concussion Missile + Push The Limit + Engine Upgrade (40)

Howlrunner + Expert Handling + Shield Upgrade (24)

2x Black Squadron Pilots + Expert Handling (16 each)

Have Vader off on his own doing his thing and Howlrunner + the Black Squadron Pilots stick together.

Thoughts?

Guess I could slap EH on Vader as well so he could benefit from not being blown to bits. In that case the Points would come out to 95 total.

Actually yeah Squad Leader was used quite often by my opponent although it didn't seem to help Luke out all that much having a Focus Token. I could probably switch Squad Leader to Expert Handling.

As far as the Imperial Squad goes, i was actually thinking of changing it to this:

96 Points

Darth Vader + Concussion Missile + Push The Limit + Engine Upgrade (40)

Howlrunner + Expert Handling + Shield Upgrade (24)

2x Black Squadron Pilots + Expert Handling (16 each)

Have Vader off on his own doing his thing and Howlrunner + the Black Squadron Pilots stick together.

Thoughts?

Pick up a couple Interceptors, and let Colonel Fel show the Dark Lord how to own the Rebels.

Well, I figured out what I can do better with my four Imperial ships. That will have to suffice for now until I have some extra cash.

Thanks for the help @Parakitor and @Moore1980

Though honestly, all you need is 1 Interceptor to reach 100 points for the Imps.

So, if and when you do pick up an Interceptor. You could run something like this:

Vader (29)

Concussion missile (4)

Engine Upgrade (4)

Turr Phennir (25)

Veteran Instincts(1)

Stealth Device (3)

Howlrunner (18)

Swarm Tactics (2)

Black Squadron Pilot (14)

Total:100 Points

The Idea is to keep Turr and Vader together, since they have with Vader's engine upgrade boost actions, and the Tie/LN's together With Howlrunner handing off Swarm. so all your ships will be shooting before most rebs.

Nice! I'm prolly picking up a massive amount of merch so I expect to hopefully be able to grab 3 or so Interceptors as well as a second Core and a Firespray.

Yeah, Interceptors are where it's at. I have 3.. and I almost always Run a 3 Tie/In list. They can be a bit pricey, but if you take advantage of their insane ability to move around, and a lot of times avoid fire arcs with boost, and or barrel roll. Well, let's just say that Tie/Ln's took a huge back seat for me.

Yeah I can imagine... They have the defense of a TIE/LN with the firepower of a T-65 X-Wing Starfighter and the Maneuverability powers that would require upgrades on other ships. It's one pretty ship too.

Has anyone ever tried running a 5 TIE/IN Swarm? 5 Ships is 90 points, enough for you to add on a 2 shield upgrades or slap on 2-3 Stealth Devices and still win Initiative.

Well, running 5 Tie/In's you could give 3 of them stealth device taking you to 99 points.

Giving you a better shot at initiative.

That's... kind of what I said but yeah.

lol, sorry. I didn't see the last bit of your post.

No problemo, You helped convince me to pickup some Interceptors on my next purchase for the game.

Definately get at least one more interceptor. Vader+ missles, Turr+ PTL or VI + stealth, Mauler + VI, Dark Curse + Stealth + any other cheap ship is a force. If you can get your hands on 2 interceptors.. DO IT! Such a good combo: check out my battle reports for my Vader + interceptors build(s).