Unfortunately I don't have a copy of the Beta, but I am running an EotE campaign right now and plan to reboot when the AoR book comes out.

With that in mind, I have been reading some reviews and keeping up to date on the Beta updates, but I have a question about the starting assets (y-wings, shuttle, base).

How restrictive are they?

At first glance, it seems they really pigeonhole you into a certain type of campaign. The choice of a freighter in EotE, gives you the same general options with an open approach to a campaign.

From my perspective, it looks like:

Y-wings : You're running a fighter/space combat/squad game.

Shuttle : Insertion, covert missions, with little ability to just fly around.

Base : Limited geographically somewhat and possible elimination of space combat.

These all seem like really cool ideas, and you could branch out/change resources, but I am surprised there isn't a more "open" option. But perhaps it doesn't work in this setting.

Anyway, I am hoping to hear everyone's experiences/opinions on the various start-ups, as I have no experience of my own.

Yeah, the setting is explicitly "war time"... in particular, for the Rebellion, an insurgency with "conventional" military and intelligence arms.

Note however that unless you've only got two humanoid PCs (and/or an astromech droid PC) both of the starship options in AoR exceed EotE's restriction of up to 120,000 credits in starting ship(s). In the event of a GM allowing multiple starting craft in EotE, the limit would allow for three CloakShapes (114,000 credits), a Firespray and a Cloakshape (118,000 credits), a Y-wing and a CloakShape (118,000 credits), or any two of TIE/LNs (100,000 credits), Z-95s and/or JM-5000 JumpMasters (110,000 credits), but in AoR it's a Lambda -class T-4a shuttle (140,000 credits, Restricted, Rarity 6 in EotE) or as many BTL-S3 Y-wing two-seaters (80,000 credits each) as needed to carry all of the PCs.

Moreover, the stationary base is supposed to be a safehouse, and the players get more starting credits for going with this option.

I gave them all three.

The base is mostly background, and a place to stash the ships. The snub-fighters lets them do dogfighting when the story calls for it, the shuttle is for covert ops.

I didn't see a need to restrict their mission choices, to be honest. All this stuff just serves the story when I need it to.

I don't really see the ships as being like giving magic items to a starting D&D party. They are there to facilitate the story, so it feels more like giving horses to a D&D party that I need to travel somewhere.

And the extra credits actually allows soldiers to start with blaster rifles instead of looting them off the first stormtroopers they kill.

The options in the book are the default options that are listed to ensure that your players starting kit will sync with any officially released adventures. There's some expected starting balance in it, but if your campaign factors in any additional starting resources you want to give them, it'll be just fine.

Y-wings are good starting options because, while fighters, a group of four players can be crammed into only a pair of them, so it's a little more forgiving on the whole learning how space combat works front. Space combat in this system is actually pretty good, but the rules are rather different then what a lot of players expect, so there's a learning curve and an Ah-ha! moment when it all comes together. So I personally suggest you stick with the Y-wing until you have moment, then you can start eyeballing other craft. If your players all totally get space combat already... hey go ahead and skip to the X-wings if that's what turns you on...

The shuttle is the covert option, but it's not all that different from a lot of other options. If your players want to go with the YT-1300, or Firespray, or even Wayfarer instead, the world won't end in the least.

The base I suspect is there to try and tie the players to a location and build some story threads while providing a nice pile of resources. You could have a little fun with this though if you have a flexible definition of what "fixed geographic location" means. Having the "base" be a section of an MC80 star cruiser for example is technically fixed (cabin 123 will never stop being next to 124 without the help of a star destroyer). It can provide the same level of resources as an outpost on some planet, the same number of story thread options, and you as the GM won't have to feel tied to a specific planet. I wouldn't let the players be in command of that cruiser though, or one of them might decide that the orbital strike is the great solution to all problems...

Keep in mind though that the shuttle -- at least if the final AoR book's specs match those in EotE -- is hardier and more maneuverable than a YT-1300, with somewhat more Encumbrance and Passenger capacities, and somewhat more upgunned (no turrets, but two fore weapons and one aft weapon). Compared to a Wayfarer the shuttle has slightly less than a quarter of the Encumbrance Capacity but over three times as much Passenger Capacity, less sturdy (and no Port or Starboard defense zones) but still more maneuverable and with a smaller Silhouette for attack difficulty purposes, so it's not necessarily just " the covert option ".