Hey all, I played a few games with the B-wing over the weekend and have so far found that having the barrel roll action makes up for its pretty lackluster maneuver dial. The 2-speed K-turn is also pretty awesome in a lot of ways, since it can keep you at range 1-2 if someone flies past doing a K-turn, which can be a huge advantage.

I flew the following:

2 Rookie Pilots

2 Blue Squadron Pilot w/ Heavy Laser Cannon

For the most part I would corner deploy facing forward with the X-Wings tapered out a bit to the center and Bs just behind, especially against TIEs so I could limit their available approaches. Which corner I deployed in was largely based on asteroid placement.

Played against a 7TIE swarm, a TIE/In Elites list and a Biggs/B-wing/Jan List and won all 3 games. I found that the hardest match was actually the swarm, since even though I did manage to kill 2 Academy Pilots early on, it was hard to avoid all damage, but the Bs held up well and thinned the swarm down enough to gain the upper hand.

In both the TIE matchups being able to barrel roll was pivotal. I didnt have much trouble keeping Baron/Turr in my arcs because of it and was eventually able to strip their Stealth and finish them off.

Against the swarm I was able to keep the Bs mostly in the corner I had started in, meaning when the TIEs came in, they had a hard time getting behind my Bs for fear of going off the board and that was a deciding factor. Being able to basically go 1/2 speed by doing 1 straight and then barrel roll "back" is really huge with the HLCs, its pretty easy to keep enemy fighters at range 2-3. In both games I managed to sync firing the HLCs with the opening round of shooting from my Xs

I didnt get to fly against any big ships yet, but I am hopeful the HLCs will play a major role in those battles. I am so far very impressed with the B-Wing. While its dial can be a little cumbersome I have found that it is surprisingly capable of avoiding even far faster fighters from getting free shots against it.

In my limited experience with B's, they work best farther out at range 3, moving in slow and plugging away with HLC's or in close at range 1 using the K-Turn and barrel roll to stay in tight with other fighters.

Range two is where their dial hurts them most, but that fits the canon nicely as B's were designed as in close killers or far out gun boats.

In both the TIE matchups being able to barrel roll was pivotal. I didnt have much trouble keeping Baron/Turr in my arcs because of it and was eventually able to strip their Stealth and finish them off.

Would you say your opponents were good at maneuvering? It seems to me that it shouldn't be very difficult for highly maneuverable, high PS pilots to avoid the firing arcs of ships that have already maneuvered – if steering clear is their priority, of course.

Based on the one game I played with exactly those pilots against a B-wing, it proved VERY easy to focus two interceptors on a B-wing, outmaneuver it at will, and wipe it out in 3 shots. My dice were good but even if they hadn't been, maybe one more total attack? The B-Wing only ever got to shoot twice... but then again I made it a priority target. Who did your opponents go after? To me, it doesn't make sense to do anything BUT kill those Blues as fast as possible, and it seems to me that that can happen very, very fast.

In both the TIE matchups being able to barrel roll was pivotal. I didnt have much trouble keeping Baron/Turr in my arcs because of it and was eventually able to strip their Stealth and finish them off.

Would you say your opponents were good at maneuvering? It seems to me that it shouldn't be very difficult for highly maneuverable, high PS pilots to avoid the firing arcs of ships that have already maneuvered – if steering clear is their priority, of course.

Based on the one game I played with exactly those pilots against a B-wing, it proved VERY easy to focus two interceptors on a B-wing, outmaneuver it at will, and wipe it out in 3 shots. My dice were good but even if they hadn't been, maybe one more total attack? The B-Wing only ever got to shoot twice... but then again I made it a priority target. Who did your opponents go after? To me, it doesn't make sense to do anything BUT kill those Blues as fast as possible, and it seems to me that that can happen very, very fast.

They went after the blues mainly, but corner-deploy reducing the possible approaches combined with how slow they are and the X-Wings covering makes it really hard to avoid all the arcs since they can sit back and even barrel roll backwards a bit if need be. Sure, its pretty easy to avoid one or maybe even both Blues with a couple TIE/In, but I can pretty much guarantee that that will leave you with 1-2 Xs covering

I wouldn't really say the people I was playing with were major tournament winners or whatever, but they weren't new to the game either. That may be a factor, but I was surprised with how well the list has panned out so far. I had originally considered the possibility of going with a 3X 1B list with one of the named Xs (and may still go that route), but the 2 HLCs is a bit more fun IMO =)

I originally asked the opponent who fielded Baron/Turr to play a TIE/In list he had because I expected that to be a tough matchup for it because of their speed, but was impressed with how well it could cover itself, even without the X-Wing backups. I will probably try to get a game against a 4+ TIE/In List, since that may make it harder, since I had the numbers advantage against the more elite ones.

B-Wings would benefit from Expert Handling as 1. they move slowly so are more likely to be Target Locked and 2. they have the Barrel Roll Action so Expert Handling would not give them a Stress Token. Just thought about that.

The problem with that is that the only B-Wings that can take Expert Handling are Ibtisam and Ten Numb, both of whom clearly have much more beneficial skills they can take.

Hida77, keep us updated on how it goes. I mostly liked flying the 3 X-Wing/1 B-Wing squadron, but even then the B-Wing was a big target and came closest to death. If the enemy had really been gunning for it (as I would have) then it would have died for certain. 2x2 is interesting and I'll give it a go, but it just seems like high-agility ships will eat it for dinner (as it should be, probably).

The problem with that is that the only B-Wings that can take Expert Handling are Ibtisam and Ten Numb, both of whom clearly have much more beneficial skills they can take.

Hida77, keep us updated on how it goes. I mostly liked flying the 3 X-Wing/1 B-Wing squadron, but even then the B-Wing was a big target and came closest to death. If the enemy had really been gunning for it (as I would have) then it would have died for certain. 2x2 is interesting and I'll give it a go, but it just seems like high-agility ships will eat it for dinner (as it should be, probably).

I will. I think if you work them in X/B pairs and/or just focus fire each enemy ship its not nearly as bad. The squad does have to work together, but I found that with some maneuvering you can easily put hits on even faster ships, and whatever got left out can put its attacks on something else. The fact that even at worst you have 7+ dice going out to a given enemy ship and having a lot of hitpoints (26 total) makes even the bad turns pretty manageable. I wholly expect that this will punish squads with 1-2 large bases since the HLCs get to do a great deal of work there. I would say that the worst matchup would likely be something like the 5 Avenger TIE/In list, since theres no clear target and they put out a lot of damage.

Honestly, the more I think about it, I think that maybe going after the Xs first might be better, since they are a bit easier to kill and that would severely limit the amount of protection the Bs have, thus allowing you to more easily out maneuver them even if you only had a few ships left.

In my admittedly limited experience so far, I found that the X-Wings weren't easier to kill. 8 hit points sounds like a lot, but with only 1 agility and no evade action, you can quite plausibly take 4 points on a single attack, especially from any kind of missile!

IMO, its all about how the dice rolls.

Sometimes, yeah, but if you go into the game thinking that, you might as well play Yahtzee instead.

IMO, its all about how the dice rolls.

Maneuvering is a huge part of this game. Most of the time you can take a Focus Token/Target Lock if you are worried about dice. With maneuvers there is no help if you're bad at it, you just have to practice.

came up with a b-wing list, have yet to play it

2 dagger squadron pilots with FCS, Ion Cannon and APT

Biggs with R2-F2

IMO, its all about how the dice rolls.

Maneuvering is a huge part of this game. Most of the time you can take a Focus Token/Target Lock if you are worried about dice. With maneuvers there is no help if you're bad at it, you just have to practice.

Really my response is towards how some players can have good success in certain scenarios and vice versa. Though I like the initial posters idea of keeping his b-wings backs to the perimeter of the game area. So yeah, I don't have problems with maneuvering...sometimes I'm lucky with good Dice rolls and sometimes I'm not.

I like the look of this list, I've ordered 2 b wings and am yet to play rebel, when I get them I'll want to use them both, so it would either be 2 b wings and a pimped ship, or 2 basic. I've played a few games with a hlc on a firespray, and enjoyed the fire power it provided.

I quite like the idea of moving forwards 1 and barrel rolling backwards, especially with a hlc, I'll have to try a single one with a fire control system, to help sustained fire

In regards to moving, well, its a game that requires forward planning and guess work. A bit like chess. And chess, like dice games, require skill as well as luck, which is why I love it already.

Err, what? Chess requires luck?

In my particular case, playing strip chess with the girl down the hall requires a lot of luck sadly

You're confusing the words "luck" and "alcohol" again. I do it too.

Hlc isn't as good as I'd like it to be. Since you lose your criticals it lowers damage output. Also with 1 agi they are priority targets. Roughly a one turn kill with focus fire.

Hlc isn't as good as I'd like it to be. Since you lose your criticals it lowers damage output. Also with 1 agi they are priority targets. Roughly a one turn kill with focus fire.

Every ship in the game outside of large based stuff is a 1 turn kill with focus fire... And we all know how much X-Wings suck. =/ . "losing Crits" is a pretty pathetic excuse to not like the HLC. Four dice with no defensive bonus for range 3 that I can repeat all day. Throw on top that Shields exist and I'm not sure how that lowers damage output at all but alright, whatever you say...

TheKestrel's feedback was the most valid - low skill pilots and concerns over maneuverability. I'll be getting some games tomorrow/Saturday. Will report back how it went. Will hopefully be able to fly against an Avenger spam list, which should be the worst on-paper matchup since they shoot first, have good attack, and are highly maneuverable.

Hlc isn't as good as I'd like it to be. Since you lose your criticals it lowers damage output. Also with 1 agi they are priority targets. Roughly a one turn kill with focus fire.

Not sure that I follow you.

How does it lower your damage output when it increase the chances of getting another hit/eye? (which can be modifed into a crit in several ways)

A build we've found locally for B-Wings.

2x Dagger Squad, both with HLC and Fire Control

1x Jan Ors, Squad Leader, Ion Turret, Nien Nunb

Total, 99pts.

Its at 99pts so hooray priority for taking on other 4pilot skill ships like Black Squad Tie's.

Jan Ors lets one of the B-Wings attack for 5 dice at range 3 with TL/F.

This leads to a VERY potent alpha strike, at range1 Jan Orz brings the ion turret into play and sets up easy and effect k-turns on the B-Wings for serious impact.

You could cut Nien Nunb (but its helpful for keeping Jan Orz unstressed) in favor of something else. But most other option get in the way of keeping squad leader going to keep passing out actions and would likely mean losing priority. You could also make the ultra-meta call of dropping Nien Nunb entirely and not replacing him to roll with 98pts to mock those other 99pt builds who think they get free priority (I half believe in a months time we will be running 95pt builds locally, who really needs that torpedo anyhow?).

Basically its just the start at long range, keep moving forward one, blast anything that gets in range. Once its close range make sure to run Jan out of arc and shoot backwards with the turret while the B-Wings hope for good K-Turn opportunities. Often enough I've seen games end before it even gets to this point where a Falcon just gets shredded at range 3 by great rolls only for it to die turn two while its escort ships are left fighting barely scratched B-Wings/Jan Orz.

The build is hardly set in stone and people have been tinking around with different setups and using blue squads and dropping fire control systems to try different setups. But the general combo seems really good, that heavily stacked HLC alpha strike is just brutal.

Ive also found that APT with Fire Control is pretty devastating, granted they are only at RB 1, but most of the time I have gotten 4-5 hits when firing them

I refer to it as chess in space because of how the manouvers are. You have to plan ahead and plot where your opponent will be, creating chances and using set pieces. Of course its with added luck, but that just makes it more fun

I tried out the original list here. 2 b wings with HLC's and 2 x wings. Was up against trellix with hlc, phennir with stealth, alpha squadron and a black squadron. I made a few mistakes with movement, mainly due to being used to tie movement dials (my first game with rebels). 5 shields was very nice, as well as 4 ships moving at the same time. I managed to wipe out all 4 enemies only losing a b wing, but the second b wing was rather damaged.

I do quite like this list. and barrel rolling is good dun, as well is the 2 k turn, though a longer one also would be welcome

Just played 2 games playing this:

1x Ibtisam+HLC+Adrenaline Rush

2x Blue squad.+HLC+Adv Sensors

Ibtisam was ok. If I flew this again I'd switch adrenaline rush with VI. The Adv. sensor B-wings was a lot of fun. Being able to barrel roll then move got me into a lot of great positions.

Just an update, I didnt end up getting to play any real games this weekend with my list. Plans fell through a bit and ended up demo-ing stuff (X-Wing included) instead. I should be playing this Friday, barring another stretch of bad luck, so I'll keep you all up-to-date.