Or, "Why 100 points does not give much to play with."

So I was coming up with the combination of 2 A-Wings and 2 B-Wings for my squadron, and wanted to use both Tycho and Ibtisam only to discover that took up quite a large pool of points. Here is what I started with.

Ibtisam - 28

Tycho Celchu - 26

Blue Squadron Pilot - 22

Green Squadron Pilot - 19

Am I being greedy by wanting to have two named pilots in my squad, because this only leaves me with 5 points to work with. It's also leaving me incredibly envious of Imperial players due to how easy they seem to be able to deploy more named pilots with ease (Howlrunner makes me more and more angry every day).

Thoughts? Suggestions?

A good option here is to equalize your points so you don't have one ship worth too many points.

With your squad above I would PTL the Green Squad and FCS the Blue B-wing. That puts it at 28-26-24-22 for 100 points.

Your green becomes an good flanker, your Blue gets to TL and focus any target he shot at the previous round, Tycho and Ibtisam get their pilot ability and high PS to work with.

If I were to run AABB, I'd fly this.

25 points

Green Squadron Pilot #1

Push the Limit, Stealth Device

25 points

Green Squadron Pilot #2

Push the Limit, Stealth Device

25 points

Blue Squadron Pilot #1

Advanced Sensors

25 points

Blue Squadron Pilot #2

Advanced Sensors

It is highly maneuverable, has good survivability and decent firepower. A's can easily shed stress and PtL will give you both good defense and attack options. Jousting with the Blue's works well as you can always take your action before moving due to the advanced sensors. This is the best list for the combo I could come up with.

Rebels are always trading Named Pilots for another ship/upgrades.

My suggestion:3 Blues + 2 Prototypes. All without upgrades. 100 points.

But to address your bigger issue: 100 points is great. Sure, it would be great to run a squad with everything you could possibly want, all named pilots. But part of the fun is making the challenging decisions forced on you by point limits.

And then when you want to try something else, mix it up next game.

Thanks! I did intend on putting Stealth Device on my A's to give them that extra annoyance factor and Push The Limit is always pretty much something that goes hand and hand with them. Advanced Sensors seems like an interesting choice, but I only have 1 shuttle at the moment, so I'll probably have to fill in the other 3 points another way. Maybe an Autoblaster? :3

An Autoblaster is 5 pts. Take Fire Control Systems on the second Blue.

If you are running Blues, you can consider putting HLC on them, removing advanced sensors, and have a Green Awing + squad leader to generate actions for them. HLC + Bwing's focus + Awing giving a TL is pretty much a guaranteed string of 4 hits on whomever you do not like, which is quite fierce. And if they try to take out your leader Awing, well ok please do go ahead, he's a support craft anyway

if they go for your Blue Bwing + HLC, well ok you still have your 2nd Blue Bwing + HLC

If you are set on those two named pilots (sounds like it) then swap the Green for a Prototype; that gives you 7 points to play with, which sound slike AS on both B for me (I will not probably not run the B without the AS again, that little piece of upgrade is just awesome). The last point could be saved for Initiative or get Adrenalin Rush either for Tycho or for Ibti (I know, she wants stress, but still) to have that one glorious moment when you need to execute a k-Turn and really need a Focus or TL for a sure kill.

2 Blues with ion cannons and 2 Greens with stealth/PTL I think could be a solid list. Not 100% on that though.

But to address your bigger issue: 100 points is great. Sure, it would be great to run a squad with everything you could possibly want, all named pilots. But part of the fun is making the challenging decisions forced on you by point limits.

And then when you want to try something else, mix it up next game.

I'm much preferring 125pts these days, it allows for a bit more support and synergy if you want it. At 100pts it's just too hard to fit in a support ship and things for them to support. The problem with 100 pts is that because you are trying to make hard choices and because there is not quite enough ships in the air for support to be worthwhile you always end up with empty cheap ships

I think the reason 100 points seems limited nowadays is that when the rules were invented, there were no pure support ships, so you could get the most out of your fleet with every point devoted to either combat prowess or defensive power, preferable a balance of the two. But now with the advent of support ships, suddenly that becomes a rather excessive limitation that makes it hard to field the really good support ships like Kyle Katarn or Captain Kagi without sacrificing serious levels of firepower. Plus, with a support ship, you're looking at having to both attack the enemy fleet as well as protect the weaker support ship so that you don't lose that buff you desperately need to overcome the imposed lack of power in your main attack force.

So 125-150 points I think should be the new standard if you're going to be including support craft in the future. I didn't see many squads in the Worlds videos that used either the Hawk or the Shuttle.

I've played games at higher than 100 points as well, and they are definitely fun. All I am saying is that part of the fun/challenge in standard games is that you have to make the hard choices and select a solid list that is both fun for you to fly and fits your playstyle.

Or, "Why 100 points does not give much to play with."

So I was coming up with the combination of 2 A-Wings and 2 B-Wings for my squadron, and wanted to use both Tycho and Ibtisam only to discover that took up quite a large pool of points. Here is what I started with.

Ibtisam - 28

Tycho Celchu - 26

Blue Squadron Pilot - 22

Green Squadron Pilot - 19

Am I being greedy by wanting to have two named pilots in my squad, because this only leaves me with 5 points to work with. It's also leaving me incredibly envious of Imperial players due to how easy they seem to be able to deploy more named pilots with ease (Howlrunner makes me more and more angry every day).

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Are you saying you don't own the TIE expansion? X-wing is so much cheaper than other miniature games, pretty much every one I know who collects it collects both Imperial and Rebellion.

The Empire's ships are cheaper, especially the TIE. That is just there thing. If you think they are better there is nothing stopping you from playing them.

I would point out if you there are people who think the Empire is better, but there are also plenty of people who think the Rebellion is better.

As for how great Howelrunner is, I would like to point out that she is one lucky shot from an X-wing, B-wing, or YT-1300 away from dead.

With the exception of TIE only pilots, I find that I almost never field more than one high pilot skill (expensive) named pilot in my Imperial squads. I find that more than one expensive named pilot just costs too many points.

Trust me, I've only got to get the Fighter, Advanced x1 and Interceptor and I'll have one of every Imperial ship up to this point. I love Star Wars, so I can't help but buy one of everything: I'm just waiting on a restock at my local shop, which is this week, thankfully. Much as Imperial ships are cool I'm a Rebel Alliance fan at my core. In any case, I shall reserve my gripes about team balance for now.