I was wondering if people think that ship design has attracted them to a particular faction more than the other.

I think the Rebel ships were designed to be more unique. An A-Wing, X-Wing, Y-Wing and B-Wing all look very different and are quite iconic. I just love the way the A-Wing looks... it's like some kind of sports car in space. I feel the Rebel ships were designed to look super distinctive because they are the 'good guys' and their ships are all really different looking.

On the other hand, the Empire's ships almost all look the same. The Tie Fighter, Tie Interceptor, Tie Advanced, Tie Bomber, and Tie Defender are basically all the same ship... but part of me is really attracted to that. Their colours are all that really mechanical, subdued colour. They're just variations on a design, but I feel like that makes the ships look really good. You feel like you are flying a cohesive fleet rather than a ragtag bunch of individuals. Storm Troopers are designed in the same way. They might as well just be robots because they are all a bunch of carbon copies. At the same time that wave of identical white soldiers is kind of scary.

I feel like I might have an attraction to the Imperials for their cohesive feel, though inside it makes me feel a little bad because I'm supposed to be rooting for the 'good guys'. If it weren't for neat underdog ships like the A-Wing I'm not sure if I would even be interested in what the Rebels bring to the field. What do you all think?

Yes.....I play Empire because I don't like the alphabet...nor do I side with space terrorists.

I've loved the x-wing ever since I was a little kid, I can't wait until the x-wing expansion is out so that I can have wedge and luke and the others flying around like little rebel friends, killing bad guys all over the place. That being said, the mix of rebel ships is fantastic.

Although you do bring up a good point about the alphabet bjorn...

I don't have a preference over ships - they all look cool. I aim to have a balanced force for each side so that I can have a game with someone new to the game that doesn't have their own models yet.

Love the X-Wing with it's sleek shape. The dagger-like solar panels on the TIE Interceptor make it look menacing. The B-Wing's big and solid. They all look cool! That's why we play, right?

I love what I feel like is the greater diversity of designs among Rebel ships and am thus more attracted visually to that faction, but the truth of it is I enjoy both sides immensely in this game. I mean, heck, the harsh angles and uniformity of Imps have their own beauty as well.

I enjoy both sides of the ships design. It also depends what I want to run in a game with a certain squad build. The Rebels have ships with shields while the Imperial are fast and have great movement. I like both sides but if I had to choose it would be the Imperials. What also helps in your decision on what side you are on is based on the characters and well as the stories that drive the Rebellion to do what it does and same goes for the Imperial. Just started reading the third book of star wars x wing "The Krytos Trap". I am certainly more on the Imperials, got a imperial jacket as well as other stuff. I am focused on the 181st Fighter Group that was commanded by Soontir Fel. The red blood strips, each strip representing 10 kills and how the reputation became known as Saber Squadron! Don't mind the situation of first being a Imperial Pilot but then defected like Tycho and Soontir.

Personally I think the differences in design between the Alliance and the Empire is also to stress the fact that the Empire regards it's troops as resources not as individuals and thus also to stress the impression of mass production. Whereas the Alliance has ships designed more specific for a certain purpose.

To answer the original question: I do not prefer a specific faction due to the designs of the ships. I love the X-wing and I love the TIE/in. In this game I fly the Empire because I usually play the eternal "good" guys so thought I'd change sides this time... yeah I know come to the Dark Side we've got Belgian Speciality Beers!

Yes and I love both so I play both...

Well its like this. You have a huge bureaucracy looking to build a fleet of small spaceships of the fighter class but to save cost the basic concept had to be reconfigurable to other duties as needed by the a Empire. So they sent out specs and Sienar Fleet Systems, where the lowest bidder. The Rebels on the other hand started out with Y-wings which had been around for ages and was on its last legs. The X-wing design by Income Corporation was an alternate design to Sienar systems and then two things happen. The first was the Empire tried Nationilizing the company which caused many of its designers to defect and the Alliance stole a bunch of prototypes, liked them so much they rounded up those out of work engineerers and had them start building more of them. The A-wing was an advanced prototype based on the old Eta-2 design. Was built from what ever parts Alliance engineers could fine and were built by a number of different manufacturing companies loyal to the Alliance. The combination of sensitive controls, unmatched sublight thrust, maneuverable weapon systems, advanced sensory and stealth packages, fragility, and heavily exposed cockpit strained even the best pilot. The B-wing was a requested design by the Alliance of the Slayin & Korpal company for a new heavy fighter/bomber to replace the venerable Y-wing. What they ended up with was a heavly armed but slow and unmanverable beast with a complicated flight control system. Beggers can't be to chosen so they made do with there rag tag group of deverse fighter craft to match up against the highly adaptable TIE fighters and its variants.

My personal chocice is a B-wing over everything else but if I want to get competative I fall back on the old trusty TIE fighter.

The Rebels were an alliance of different groups from different parts of the star system, each with their own experiences dealing with the Empire, so that would explain the variety of ship designs. The Empire was a war Machine with one objective, total domination. They had the funds to order large quantities of ships at a time, so they would have many of the kinds of ships. Also by ordering most of your ships from a common builder you would see common designs incorporated into each ship.

BTW I tend to lean towards the Rebellion because of the character development in the movies and books more that the way a ship looks.

I love all the ships, the lines and how they compliment each other is great. The Empire ships exude uniformity and discipline, as the Empire should. The Alliance ships show the multi faceted, rag tag look of the rebels.

If I had to pick a favorite for look and flying, it's the Firespray. I am in the process of repaints on all 4 of mine. Just love it.

I have been and always will be a relentless HWK-290 fan

I like them all but the BWing will always be my favorite.

The nonsense of having a rotating cockpit so as to be facing up all the time in space where there is no up. Kind of sums up the science of the StarWars universe, gotta love it.

btw I got the big model as a kid from my folks, my ex wife bought be the lego model years ago, and now my GF bought me the miniature for my Birthday, so its always been part of my life.

I like Imperial ships better, but the way rebels play feels more comfortable to me. I mostly play Imperials anyway, so I end up being terrible.

basically, I need TIE defenders

I liked the X-Wing from the first (not what most call the 4th) Star Wars Movie. I've never really liked the TIE/Ln. Just didn't do if for me. I like the B-Wing and Y-Wing (especially) since it adds flavor. A-Wing, take it or leave it.

But the TIE Interceptor, definitely my favorite (unless the TIE Defender comes out). Love these, especially now that the 181st is coming out. I'd happily sell my 4 existing TIE interceptors for the new one's coming out.

So I guess yes, I like the Imperial ships better.

"Your generic TIE grunt is just plain suicidal. And the TIE Defender jockey is bloodthirsty. But the TIE Interceptor pilot, he's suicidal and bloodthirsty. When you see a squad of those maniacs flying your way, you'd better hope your hyperdrive is operational."

I've always liked this quote from "Sculpting a Galaxy" by Lorne Peterson:

"Imperial space superiority is a slippery thing. When we were building the Rebel and Imperial fighter ships, I thought the Empire's Twin Ion Engine fighters were unusual, and the Rebel Alliance's X-wings were pretty traditional -- but they always won. The TIE Fighters may have been more high tech . . . but they were flown by idiots!"

Personally, I love each and every one of the ships from Star Wars (even most of the prequel ships) for their own charms. The TIE Fighter's design has this otherworldly appearance that is shared with its sister designs, the X-wing has this awesome "space dragster" look about it, the Y-wing's rough and tumble appearance reminds me of an old hotrod missing some cowlings, the A-wing is like a tiny little wasp, and the B-wing is highly unusual and yet still elegant and graceful.

Whether it is Lord of the Rings, 30k, 40k, infinity, cowboys, I have always loved elite goodies.
So for me Wedge (goodie) in an xwing (elite) etc really takes my style of play and my style of Sci fi to a star wars level

I think I play the Empire more because I like the way TIE swarms play.

I will also say that every time I have played the rebelion since I purchased my YT-1300 I have flow Han Solo. He's the man.

Music. For me, its all about the music. That's what makes me choose a side. Sorry, but the Rebellion just doesn't have anything to match the martial glory of the Imperial March. As my squadron of assorted TIEs moves out from my edge of the playing field, the Imperial March is playing in my mind, and (to the chagrin of my game partner) bursting from my lips whenever another Rebel ship gets pulverized.

Dum... Dum... Dum... duhduhDum... duhduhDum!

Plus, I'm a Vader freak...

Hope to see the Ebonhawk one day (I know it's from another timeline, but you asked), because for me it's n example of the original design style, very well reviewed and elegantly interpreted, resembling well the early ages of tech, from where the rebel fleet came... The faction I play most, because it makes me rest assured.