I've been toying with various ideas for rebel lists to pitch against 6 tie swarms (but able to fly against most lists), and came up with a fun build i'd like to submit for brutal constructive criticism.

Shadow squadron:

Rookie pilot w. Stealth device and R2-D2 (28)

Rookie pilot w. Stealth device and R2-F2 (27)

GSP w. PTL. (22)

GSP w. PTL. (22)

Total 99

I didn't catch the wave 1, so I might be missing out on something better. I've run the list as a HSF w. The two a-wings and a han w. Gunner, MF, Nien and Expert handling. But wanted a pure fighter list, and thought that stealthed x-wings might prove as durable (if not more so) than Han, and packing more of a punch. If they reprint wave1 i'll definately buy two more x-wings. But so far I only have two from the starters and 2 a-wings. (I also have a B and a Y, 2 YT's and a HWK, in case that helps with improvement ideas.)

What is your verdict, and suggestions for improvement?

- a noob first poster

I think that you will find that the Stealth Devices on your Rookies won't accomplish what you hope they will accomplish, and this is also likely true for R2-F2 as well. Usually R2-F2 is only good when you have someone else buffing him (e.g., Biggs uses R2-F2 as his action and then Lando gives Biggs a free focus action). Otherwise, a Focus action is arguably just as good as R2-F2 defensively, but unlike R2-F2 the Focus can also be used on offense.

I do like GSP's with PtL and I run them in many of my lists.

I think you might be better off losing the Stealth Devices and R2-F2 and instead putting those points towards missiles for the A-Wings (I would recommend Homing Missiles, because PtL will allow you to Focus+Target Lock and virtually assure full damage). You could keep R2-D2 on one of the Rookies or you could redistribute those 4 points however else you see fit.

EDIT: Of course, losing those stealth devices means that you would have to drop the name Shadow Squadron, which has a nice ring to it!

ur pilot skills r rather low so u will be moving and firing after most enemy ships (this is not ideal, imo a mix of high and low Pilot skills is imp to give u more options in the heat of battle).
i think id rather have shield upgrade over stealth device on any x-wing, especially with 2rd2 on the same ship (its a gr8 combo - max of 3 shields and lots of opportunities to recharge them throughout a game).

i would recommend dropping at least one of ur a-wings and upgrading the other one to a better pilot.

here are some possible squads...

Team ABXX 100 pts
Tycho + Push the Limit (29)
Blue Squadron Pilot + Heavy Laser Cannon (29)
Rookie pilot (21)
Rookie pilot (21)

Team ABX 99pts

Tycho + Push the Limit (29)
Ibtisam + Heavy Laser Cannon + Push the Limit (38)
Luke Skywalker +R2D2 + Shield Upgrade (32)

Team BXX 100pts
Blue Squadron Pilot + Heavy Laser Cannon + Sensor Jammer + Shield Upgrade (37)
Luke Skywalker +R2D2 + Shield Upgrade + Swarm Tactics (38)
Rookie Pilot + Shield Upgrade (25)

its tempting to play missiles on ur a-wing but imo something like shield upgrade (cost4) or sensor jammer (cost4) would be far more valuable over the course of a game and is ALWAYS going to help you, whereas a one shot missile might hot or miss or ur a-wing might get shot down b4 it gets to even use it.

do u have Biggs?

could try this...

Team AXX 99pts

Blue Squadron Pilot + Heavy Laser Cannon + Sensor Jammer + Shield Upgrade (37)
Luke Skywalker +R2D2 + Shield Upgrade + Draw Their Fire (37)
Biggs Darklighter (25)

So far I like your input. and yeah, I have Biggs. But what is the point of the sensor jammer? Most often the opponent will focus, making the sensor jammer useless. Or am I misunderstanding it?

How about:

Biggs

Luke w. R2, Dtf and shield

Ibtisam w. Ptl and HLC

Or instead of Ibtisam; Tycho w. Homing missile, Ptl and Stealth?

I like your squad, but I mirror what others say, drop the stealth devices (unless you put them on the a-wings) and the droids for now. Try adding shield upgrades instead and that would leave you 4-5 points for a missile on one of the A-wings. I think this might improve your list by quite a bit.

Point total would be 99 still:

Green Squadron Pilot — A-Wing 19

Push the Limit 3

Green Squadron Pilot — A-Wing 19

Push the Limit 3

Assault Missiles 5

Rookie Pilot — X-Wing 21

Shield Upgrade 4

Rookie Pilot — X-Wing 21

Shield Upgrade 4

This runs a bit more like a 4 X shielded rookie squad but with flankers. I would suggest running the A-wings down the side of the board, approach slowly with the X-wings through the asteroids area then engage. I've run a list very similar to this with good results, only lost an x-wing due to poor flight management at the beginning of the game.

Also if you don't want initiative as a given and want a bit higher pilots to for sure fire before swarms, this list might be attractive as well.

Point total 100:

Green Squadron Pilot — A-Wing 19

Push the Limit 3

Assault Missiles 5

Green Squadron Pilot — A-Wing 19

Push the Limit 3

Assault Missiles 5

Red Squadron Pilot — X-Wing 23

Red Squadron Pilot — X-Wing 23

its tempting to play missiles on ur a-wing but imo something like shield upgrade (cost4) or sensor jammer (cost4) would be far more valuable over the course of a game and is ALWAYS going to help you, whereas a one shot missile might hot or miss or ur a-wing might get shot down b4 it gets to even use it.

Green Squadron Pilots with PtL do not miss with Homing Missiles. You just have to make sure you get into range for the Target Lock (which can sometimes be tricky at PS3 but with a little luck/skill can usually be accomplished). Missiles also make your opponent fear the A-Wings a bit, which can give you more leverage when it comes to maneuvering your other ships (in OP's case, X-Wings). I know if someone fielded 2 A-Wings and didn't put missiles on either of them, I would basically ignore the A's and it would be open season on the X-Wings.

How about:

Biggs

Luke w. R2, Dtf and shield

Ibtisam w. Ptl and HLC

Or instead of Ibtisam; Tycho w. Homing missile, Ptl and Stealth?

Biggs

Luke w. R2, Dtf and shield

Ibtisam w. Ptl and HLC

looks good.

So far I like your input. and yeah, I have Biggs. But what is the point of the sensor jammer? Most often the opponent will focus, making the sensor jammer useless. Or am I misunderstanding it?

sensor jammer is useful. they may not have focus when they attack u if its been used in defense already. yes its not gr8 if they focus fire against you but they wont be doing that every time. having said that a shield upgrade is another option for the same points.

So far I like your input. and yeah, I have Biggs. But what is the point of the sensor jammer? Most often the opponent will focus, making the sensor jammer useless. Or am I misunderstanding it?

I agree with you that Sensor Jammer sounds weak on paper. Why would I spend 4 points on Sensor Jammer when I could spend 2 points on Fire-Control System?

Actually using Sensor Jammer makes you realize that it is in fact very powerful. If your opponent didn't choose a focus action (or already spent his focus token on defense), then of course you effectively turned one hit into a blank. If that happens just once, then you can think of those 4 points you invested into Sensor Jammer as a type of Shield Upgrade that requires a System Upgrade slot.

Now even if your opponent plays a Focus action and has the token available for his attack, changing one of his hit results into an eyeball result forces him to make a decision. Will he spend the focus token to change that result back to a hit, or will he save the token for defense? This decision is often made more difficult if you yourself are running ships with low Pilot Skill; you will fire later in the round, so your opponent has to weigh the value of a hit now vs. possible evades later.

Finally, you have the action manipulation factor. If I close into range against one of your B-Wings that has a Sensor Jammer, do I boost/barrel roll to improve my positioning or do I play a focus action so that I don't automatically give away one of my hit results? Putting your opponent into these no-win situations is always great.

Thanks so much for that run down of Sensor jammer. I never would have seen it that way. Of course, something that potentialy denies a hit more than once, will be better than a single shield.

I can definately see how the biggs, luke, ibtisam trio will be fun to play. But I'm always worried about fielding just 3 ships against a 6 tie swarm of death with the named all stars, and all the insane synergy of that list.

Also, is there more to the HLC that I've missed? Isn't it basically a lot of points for an extra hit die but no crits? Seems like a lot of points to pay for a so so trade off?

I love the b-wing, and always hated that it didn't get more screen time in the films. But so far it has gotten about the same amount of table time as screen time, since I have no clue how to play it. For payload delivery, I think the GSP + PTL Homing missile setup does the job much better. And I with low maneuvrability, it gets hard to drop those bombs properly. So basically it has to pay points to get one more attack die than an X-wing, but looses crits and lacks the maeuvrability. Seems like a poor bet to me.

And it's pretty much the same thing with the Y. Which is why I went for the AAXX setup. But then again, I can definately see the point with high pilot skills, and I'd probably lean more towards Luke, Biggs, Tycho, than Luke, Biggs and Ibtisam. But then we're full circle with my worry about having only 3 ships.

Man, the Heavy Laser Cannon is awesome! You can ignore the range modifiers because it's a secondary weapon, and you'll be able to strike the enemy while he's at long range rather than having to wait till you get to range 1 or 2. Plus, on the B-wing you'll always be rolling four dice no matter what, and if you target lock and then focus, you can basically never miss with it. No crits might seem bad, but it's still damage done to their ship, and at range 1 you'll still get crits.

The B-wing is still pretty maneuverable. It's not speedy, but it has the firepower and armor to survive long enough to get in at least one torpedo or HLC shot. You can basically one-shot TIE Fighters if you roll well with the B-wing thanks to the HLC, and if you go with Advanced Sensors you can acquire a Target Lock or Focus right before executing a Koiogran turn, giving you the extra insurance you need to kill TIE Fighters. You still need to know how to properly fly it to make full use of it, but nobody can ignore the power of the B-wing, and if you couple a pilot like Ibtisam with Wedge, you're basically forcing opponents to choose which ship to focus on, which can work in your favor.

Ah. Got it. How is the B-wing best flown? I've got the X- and A- down, but dislike the full speed head on and fire tactics. Gets you dead. And I've yet to get the B- into a good firing position other than head on. I'm definately goong to start giving the B- some more table time, now that I have a better idea of how it works.

My current list that I have had lots of good fights with and one lose is this list:

Points = 99

This gives you more punch and maneuverability with the B-wings. I personally am not a fan of the sensor jammer or the FCS. Engine upgrade plus Adv sensors really throws people for a loop, allowing you to do crooked k-turns and doing almost 180 turns really helps with that. I was able to take out Ten Nub (before the poor guy had a chance to fire) in one turn with this load out, out fly a tie swarm, and kill a elite list of rebels.

Try using a B-wing with that set up and see how you like it. I and most of my gaming buddies really like how it changes the B-wings maneuvers to near better then a PtL interceptor.

Yeah, I've just been reading a B-wing hyber mobility thread, and like the idea (one of my imp lists uses fettigator). However, I don't have Wedge (reprint plz FFG). But I'm toying with the idea of putting the HLC on the eng-sens B. Or is that not worth its points? The thread I was reading was playing with eng, sens and daredevil. Is the B- viable enougj without either daredevil or HLC?

Wedge is just too good to pass up, so I'm gonna have to proxy him until the reprint. But I've come up with this list so far:

Ibtisam w. PTL & HLC

Wedge

Biggs w. R2-D2 & Stealth

Have Biggs cruise at the perimiter with 5 defense, drawing the attention away from the other two heavy hitters... just might work.

Ah. Got it. How is the B-wing best flown? I've got the X- and A- down, but dislike the full speed head on and fire tactics. Gets you dead. And I've yet to get the B- into a good firing position other than head on. I'm definately goong to start giving the B- some more table time, now that I have a better idea of how it works.

In the lore, B-Wings are long-range killers, but also hugely-powerful at short range.

Their abilities, maneuver dials, and upgrade slots give both viability.

If you pick up a Fire Control System, you can do a 1 forward, then barrel-roll back (I call it Crab-Walking), to keep your opponent in range of your Heavy Laser Cannon. Picking up the free target lock every turn means you'll be dealing a LOT of damage at a distance.

If you pick up Advanced Sensors and an Engine Upgrade, you are, quite simply, the most maneuverable ship in the game. You never lose an action to a red maneuver, and you can even Boost or Barrel Roll before doing it. Yes, that gives you an ANGLED Koiogran! No better defense than being out of their firing arc, after all.

Using a Radar Jammer is a very efficient way to reduce damage on your ship. If they didn't focus to attack you, you've essentially used a guaranteed and unstressful Elusiveness. If they have used a focus, well, you've still forced them to use their Focus into your 8 total hp, which has its own benefits.

This has left me with two variations of the above list, I'm dying to try out.

Ibitsam w. Adv. Sensors, Engine upgrade & PTL

Wedge

Biggs w. R2-D2 & Stealth

With Ibitsam as an upclose brawler. The PTL is to stress him in situations where a boost+roll or some other combo of actions might be more viable to stress him and put him in a favourable firing position.

or

Ibitsam w. HLC & FCS

Wedge w. R2

Biggs w. R2-D2 & Stealth

For that crab-walking ranged pummeling