I've been demoing X-Wing to my gaming group recently and I've been thinking of pre-printing off some 100 point squad lists to make it easier for new players to get started. I'd like to keep a folder of some of the most common or popular lists in my X-Wing bag so I can just pull out the folder and the new players can quickly select a squad that appeals to them and get started.

I'm still fairly new to the game myself, so I don't feel too confident posting any lists of my own here just yet, but I'd love to hear from the community. Let's get more people into this game!

Feel free to post your Top Ten Rebel or Top Ten Empire lists here or even both if you're feeling ambitious! Beginners and veterans alike are welcome!

Top ten Imperial

1 Black Knight Squadron (TIE Interceptor heavy mod sometimes the works) In real life this squadron has existed since Star Wars TIE Fighter dos. It was made up by the greatest pilots to play the game. Lore was written by them for them, I have added to it my self. They have the highest dropout rate during pilot evaluation and the highests KD ratio. If you saw the traing inuniverse and real life you would understand why. The Purple Lances on their Interceptors and flight equipment show they are part of the "TI-154th Black Knights."

2 181st (Interceptor/Fighter/Avenger/Defender no mods?)

3 Avenger Squadron (Interceptor/avenger heavy mod)

4 Alpha Squadron ( The Works mod)

5 128th (Interceptor no mods)

6 Gamma (The works mods)

7 Sun Spot (Interceptor missile mods)

8 Imperial Navy Commando special opperations force ( The works unknown mods)

9 Storm Commando fighter wings (TIE Hunter no mods?)

10 Shadow Squadron ( TIE Bomber Advanced armed with quad Ion cannons and boarding missiles filled with a mixed bioroid force of Terror Troopers, Terror drones, Terror Bioroids, and Terror Walkers.)

This thread could gwt complicated, but the obvious tie swarm, han shoots first and Luke, biggs, wedge combo's are good. I know i havent listed details, bit busy.

You could of coarse use the thread of the top 8 at worlds and uae their lists as a start.

Black Knight Leader, really? Did you read what the guy asked?

Anyway SentinelNZ, that's a great idea!! As swampthing said - have the usual suspects that we see popping up in tournament lists. But also may be a good idea to offer for both factions two kinds of lists - swarmy, low PS squads OR buffed named pilots with cool interactions. The otherwise quite powerful swarms will be nerfed by the fact that new players will have hard time controlling them properly so both types of lists will have good chances against each other.

Also maybe try making thematic lists that would help new players get into the flavour of the game - like Darth Vader + 4 named ties from the black squadron (as seen in the battle of Yavin) or Luke, Biggs and Wedge or a bunch of Rogues.

Again thanks for the idea - I'll be doing this myself now and will let you guys know when I got some lists done. Will post the sheets here too.

Black Knight Leader, really? Did you read what the guy asked?

Anyway SentinelNZ, that's a great idea!! As swampthing said - have the usual suspects that we see popping up in tournament lists. But also may be a good idea to offer for both factions two kinds of lists - swarmy, low PS squads OR buffed named pilots with cool interactions. The otherwise quite powerful swarms will be nerfed by the fact that new players will have hard time controlling them properly so both types of lists will have good chances against each other.

Also maybe try making thematic lists that would help new players get into the flavour of the game - like Darth Vader + 4 named ties from the black squadron (as seen in the battle of Yavin) or Luke, Biggs and Wedge or a bunch of Rogues.

Again thanks for the idea - I'll be doing this myself now and will let you guys know when I got some lists done. Will post the sheets here too.

Awesome! Thanks Iffo!

Yeah, maybe top ten was a little too ambitious, perhaps top five of each would be a better place to start and those who want or can stretch to ten aside can do so.

I've been looking for ways to use less popular ships, such as the Lambda, the TIE Advanced and the like. I think using ships like these could provide an element of unpredictability to the lists since most people are well versed in how to play HSF or TIE Swarms but might struggle when faced with something out of the box.

I'm going to do a little research of my own and see what I can come up with to contribute to the discussion.

I'm currently one of the Lambda experts on the forums, so I can offer advice there, but I have to warn you, they are not a good choice for beginners because they take a certain level of skill for movement and positioning.

The most common use of the shuttle is to slap Darth Vader on board, meander the shuttle into range while the rest of your ships rush forward, then use Vader to cause crits on everything the shuttle can attack until it is destroyed, either by the enemy or by itself. It's a moderately successful tactic against unsheilded targets.

I've got a full on 3 shuttle list that's been very successful, involving Engine Upgrade, FCS, and Gunner, which is a brutal combination.

The third option is to use a shuttle as a support craft, especially for an Alpha Strike List. Captain Kagi + Engine Upgrade is expensive, but if you stick him next to a wing of TIE Bombers, the enemy will be forced to target lock the shuttle while your ships can get their attacks off.

Speaking of Alpha Strike Lists, Colonel Jendon + ST-321 + Engine Upgrade is quite expensive, but it lets you target lock anywhere on the board with Jendon, then hand that target lock off to one of the other ships at range 1. Start the game moving very slowly, forcing the enemy to come to you, while giving your entire fleet Target Lock, then you can rush forward into range already with target lock.

Black Knight Leader, really? Did you read what the guy asked?

Anyway SentinelNZ, that's a great idea!! As swampthing said - have the usual suspects that we see popping up in tournament lists. But also may be a good idea to offer for both factions two kinds of lists - swarmy, low PS squads OR buffed named pilots with cool interactions. The otherwise quite powerful swarms will be nerfed by the fact that new players will have hard time controlling them properly so both types of lists will have good chances against each other.

Also maybe try making thematic lists that would help new players get into the flavour of the game - like Darth Vader + 4 named ties from the black squadron (as seen in the battle of Yavin) or Luke, Biggs and Wedge or a bunch of Rogues.

Again thanks for the idea - I'll be doing this myself now and will let you guys know when I got some lists done. Will post the sheets here too.

Yes I red what he said. But because the words and letters are so small I thought that they wrote that they are re-painting their minis. So I assumed they were wanting to see what everyones favorite squadrons where and they where going to pick from those their fav looking and paint their minis based on those squadrons.

I've been demoing X-Wing to my gaming group recently and I've been thinking of pre-printing off some 100 point squad lists to make it easier for new players to get started. I'd like to keep a folder of some of the most common or popular lists in my X-Wing bag so I can just pull out the folder and the new players can quickly select a squad that appeals to them and get started.

I'm still fairly new to the game myself, so I don't feel too confident posting any lists of my own here just yet, but I'd love to hear from the community. Let's get more people into this game!

Feel free to post your Top Ten Rebel or Top Ten Empire lists here or even both if you're feeling ambitious! Beginners and veterans alike are welcome!

Get a group of Y-Wings and a Moldy Crow. Arm all the Y-Wings with blaster turrets, I think its a waste of time adding ion cannons on them since they only do one point of damage.

My current favorite and highly effective Rebel list.

My favorite squadrons so far:

Wedge+R2 Astromech+Push The Limit

Luke + R2-D2 + Draw Their Fire

Biggs + R2-F2 + Stealth Device

It's awesome because you have Wedge who is great offensively with this setup, Luke who is extremely defensive and still has good firepower, and Biggs who serves to protect his wingmen and is very good at it (five dice at R1-2, six at R3). Not sure if it's a good beginner squadron because it demands a certain ability to keep your ships in formation.

Blue Squadron Pilot + Heavy Laser Cannon
Blue Squadron Pilot + Heavy Laser Cannon

Green Squadron Pilot + Push The Limit

Green Squadron Pilot

The A-wings are a little unbalanced with one which has PTL and one without, but the B-wings are the main strike force anyway, and if they're lucky they can get rid of the heavies before they are destroyed, leaving the other ships to the A-wings.

I think you will find that Biggs has 4 def dice at range 1-2 and 5 at range 3

2 natural dice, 1 for R2-F2, one for Stealth Device and at R3 one more?

First off it would help us to know what ships you have available, and in what quantity.

Second, I think some of these guys are forgetting that this is for beginners , so keep it simple.

Rebel list:

Dutch Vander, +R5-K6, + Ion Turret

Garvin Dreis,

Gold Sqd. pilot + Ion Turret

Rookie Pilot.

(move /shoot Garvin 1rst; Trades off focus, and Target Locks; Uses Ion Turrets)

another one:

Luke Skywalker + R2-D2,

2 X Rookie Pilots + R2-or-R5unit

Gold Sqd. Pilot, + Ion Turret, + R2-or-R5unit

Also, you could play a "Furball", in which every player takes 1 ship, and upgrades(up to 30 points), and flys around with everybody else, just to get a feel for the ship, then let them try out a few different ships throughout the Furball, even switching between Rebel and Empire.

Some Imperial List:

Darth Vader, +Concussion missle, +Squad Leader

Mauler Mithel, + Swarm Tactics

Backstabber

2x Black Sqd. Pilot

or

TIE ALL STARS

all named TIE pilots= 97 points

or

5x Avenger Squadron (TIE Interceptor)

or

The Three Amigoes:

Soontir Fel, + push the Limits, + Stealth

Turr Phennir, + veteran Instincts, + Stealth

Darth Vader, Engine Upgrade, + Cluster Missles

Just keep it simple, you don't have to have it tweaked out and supper efficient, just playable, and fun, "Fly Casual"

If you've got a YT, any variation of Han Shoots First is an oldie but a goody. In fact as a general archetype, just about any "One large ship plus a couple of wingmen" works well. I've seen it with the Firespray and a couple of Interceptors, or a mini-swarm of about 4 TIEs, as well.

But a classic Han or Chewie plus two Rookies, Blues, Golds, whatever as escorts is a simple, tried and true squad. Not flashy but it still gets the job done.

Black Knight Leader, really? Did you read what the guy asked?

Anyway SentinelNZ, that's a great idea!! As swampthing said - have the usual suspects that we see popping up in tournament lists. But also may be a good idea to offer for both factions two kinds of lists - swarmy, low PS squads OR buffed named pilots with cool interactions. The otherwise quite powerful swarms will be nerfed by the fact that new players will have hard time controlling them properly so both types of lists will have good chances against each other.

Also maybe try making thematic lists that would help new players get into the flavour of the game - like Darth Vader + 4 named ties from the black squadron (as seen in the battle of Yavin) or Luke, Biggs and Wedge or a bunch of Rogues.

Again thanks for the idea - I'll be doing this myself now and will let you guys know when I got some lists done. Will post the sheets here too.

Yes I red what he said. But because the words and letters are so small I thought that they wrote that they are re-painting their minis. So I assumed they were wanting to see what everyones favorite squadrons where and they where going to pick from those their fav looking and paint their minis based on those squadrons.

So you didn't read what he said, just what you thought he said.

OP:

Wedge

- Swarm Tactics

- R5

Biggs

-R5

Rookie

Gold Squadron Pilot

- Ion Cannon

It has turrets, it has Wedge, it has Biggs.

Yeah I don't mean to pile on, but that was one of the most hilariously off the wall misinterpretations I think I've ever seen.

Get a group of Y-Wings and a Moldy Crow. Arm all the Y-Wings with blaster turrets, I think its a waste of time adding ion cannons on them since they only do one point of damage.

Blaster turrets suck. Taking action economy into consideration, Ion cannons and blaster turrets do the same damage yet Ion cannons turrets control movement where blaster turrets do not.

First off it would help us to know what ships you have available, and in what quantity.

Second, I think some of these guys are forgetting that this is for beginners , so keep it simple.

Rebel list:

Dutch Vander, +R5-K6, + Ion Turret

Garvin Dreis,

Gold Sqd. pilot + Ion Turret

Rookie Pilot.

(move /shoot Garvin 1rst; Trades off focus, and Target Locks; Uses Ion Turrets)

another one:

Luke Skywalker + R2-D2,

2 X Rookie Pilots + R2-or-R5unit

Gold Sqd. Pilot, + Ion Turret, + R2-or-R5unit

Also, you could play a "Furball", in which every player takes 1 ship, and upgrades(up to 30 points), and flys around with everybody else, just to get a feel for the ship, then let them try out a few different ships throughout the Furball, even switching between Rebel and Empire.

Some Imperial List:

Darth Vader, +Concussion missle, +Squad Leader

Mauler Mithel, + Swarm Tactics

Backstabber

2x Black Sqd. Pilot

or

TIE ALL STARS

all named TIE pilots= 97 points

or

5x Avenger Squadron (TIE Interceptor)

or

The Three Amigoes:

Soontir Fel, + push the Limits, + Stealth

Turr Phennir, + veteran Instincts, + Stealth

Darth Vader, Engine Upgrade, + Cluster Missles

Just keep it simple, you don't have to have it tweaked out and supper efficient, just playable, and fun, "Fly Casual"

Right you are. Here is a list of my ships. I also plan to add two sets of Imperial Aces when they're released.

2 Core Sets

4 X-Wing Expansions

6 Y-Wings

6 TIE Fighter Expansions

4 TIE Advanced x1s

4 x YT 1300s

6 x A-Wings

4 Firespray-31s

8 TIE Interceptors

6 B-Wings

4 HWK 290s

6 TIE Bombers

4 Lambda Shuttles

I figure I should be able to make almost any list and even be able to have a good mix of mirror matches.

Thanks of your suggestions here. I think its a good idea to keep things simple for the new players, so this list will be really helpful. The game practically teaches itself though, so after a game or two I think they'd be confident enough to try some more complex builds.

This is all looking good so far. Let's keep them coming! :-) And thanks to all those who are contributing, X-Wing is definitely one of the most civilised gaming communities I've encountered. Almost everyone is helpful and welcoming and there is a real spirit of enjoyment with this game. Its encouraging to see.

I'm currently one of the Lambda experts on the forums, so I can offer advice there, but I have to warn you, they are not a good choice for beginners because they take a certain level of skill for movement and positioning.

The most common use of the shuttle is to slap Darth Vader on board, meander the shuttle into range while the rest of your ships rush forward, then use Vader to cause crits on everything the shuttle can attack until it is destroyed, either by the enemy or by itself. It's a moderately successful tactic against unsheilded targets.

I've got a full on 3 shuttle list that's been very successful, involving Engine Upgrade, FCS, and Gunner, which is a brutal combination.

The third option is to use a shuttle as a support craft, especially for an Alpha Strike List. Captain Kagi + Engine Upgrade is expensive, but if you stick him next to a wing of TIE Bombers, the enemy will be forced to target lock the shuttle while your ships can get their attacks off.

Speaking of Alpha Strike Lists, Colonel Jendon + ST-321 + Engine Upgrade is quite expensive, but it lets you target lock anywhere on the board with Jendon, then hand that target lock off to one of the other ships at range 1. Start the game moving very slowly, forcing the enemy to come to you, while giving your entire fleet Target Lock, then you can rush forward into range already with target lock.

These are really exciting options to me. I really think the Lambda is going to come into its own in the near future, but at the moment people are hesitant to use it, especially in tournaments, because they'd rather stick to the tried and true methods. Its great to see people trying something different.

Lambda can be very effective, but Engine Upgrade is basically a must, if you want to have any chance of staying in the fight once it gets to the point where everyone is turning and flipping Ks.

Black Knight Leader, really? Did you read what the guy asked?

Anyway SentinelNZ, that's a great idea!! As swampthing said - have the usual suspects that we see popping up in tournament lists. But also may be a good idea to offer for both factions two kinds of lists - swarmy, low PS squads OR buffed named pilots with cool interactions. The otherwise quite powerful swarms will be nerfed by the fact that new players will have hard time controlling them properly so both types of lists will have good chances against each other.

Also maybe try making thematic lists that would help new players get into the flavour of the game - like Darth Vader + 4 named ties from the black squadron (as seen in the battle of Yavin) or Luke, Biggs and Wedge or a bunch of Rogues.

Again thanks for the idea - I'll be doing this myself now and will let you guys know when I got some lists done. Will post the sheets here too.

Yes I red what he said. But because the words and letters are so small I thought that they wrote that they are re-painting their minis. So I assumed they were wanting to see what everyones favorite squadrons where and they where going to pick from those their fav looking and paint their minis based on those squadrons.

So you didn't read what he said, just what you thought he said.

OP:

Wedge

- Swarm Tactics

- R5

Biggs

-R5

Rookie

Gold Squadron Pilot

- Ion Cannon

It has turrets, it has Wedge, it has Biggs.

Get a group of Y-Wings and a Moldy Crow. Arm all the Y-Wings with blaster turrets, I think its a waste of time adding ion cannons on them since they only do one point of damage.

Blaster turrets suck. Taking action economy into consideration, Ion cannons and blaster turrets do the same damage yet Ion cannons turrets control movement where blaster turrets do not.

I did read it, its just the letters were so small it looked they said re-paint. Ions and blaster turret do not do the same damage. The blaster turret does 3 points of damage Ion do one point. The blaster can one round kill most imperial craft under the right conditions which would control the movement of the enemy ship that you just blew up

I think you will find that Biggs has 4 def dice at range 1-2 and 5 at range 3

2 natural dice, 1 for R2-F2, one for Stealth Device and at R3 one more?

D'oh! It was late and I had been playing as Empire so I was thinking DEF 3.

I did read it, its just the letters were so small it looked they said re-paint. Ions and blaster turret do not do the same damage. The blaster turret does 3 points of damage Ion do one point. The blaster can one round kill most imperial craft under the right conditions which would control the movement of the enemy ship that you just blew up

Blaster Turret does have three dice, true, but what it fails to have is a way to capitalize on focuses. Focus is a big deal in this game, because it turns all Focus results into hits/evades, and you basically strip a big chunk of the potential hits away unless you can somehow have two Focus (only possible with the Moldy Crow upgrade). Ion cannons on the other hand is much more reliable, doesn't require Focus to operate (leaving it an option for getting that hit), and can control enemy positions, ESPECIALLY if you score more than one hit with it. Ion tokens stack, so if you get two or three hits on the same ship (which will kill most Imperials anyway), you can keep them from maneuvering for quite a while, allowing your other fighters to mop them up handily. 3 damage dice may sound like the better option, but in the long run it's far better to get control of the enemy ships so you can kill them more easily.

The only time I would favor a Blaster Turret over the Ion Cannon is with the Moldy Crow upgrade. It is next to useless if you do not have 2 focus per turn and totally useless with none. It's even hampered by being R1-2. Ships that pass off focus aren't really helpful either as taking that ship down effectively cripples 2 ships.

(caveat, I have used it with Moldy Crow and then it is a serious weapon.)

on tokens stack, so if you get two or three hits on the same ship (which will kill most Imperials anyway), you can keep them from maneuvering for quite a while, allowing your other fighters to mop them up handily.

Ion Tokens stacking is not really true, as far as controlling movement over multiple turns by stacking ion tokens in multiple shots in a single turn. ALL ion tokens are removed once the ship does the forced maneuver. So if you hit a ship with 3 Ion Cannon shots in one turn (assuming it isn't outright destroyed by 3 damage), then ALL three Ion Tokens are removed in the next turn when the ship performs the 1 Forward White Ion move. You don't remove them one at a time, forcing it to perform the Ion Manever 3 turns in a row. See the Ion Token Reference Card for the relevant rule.

Jim

Blaster Turret does have three dice, true, but what it fails to have is a way to capitalize on focuses. Focus is a big deal in this game, because it turns all Focus results into hits/evades, and you basically strip a big chunk of the potential hits away unless you can somehow have two Focus (only possible with the Moldy Crow upgrade). Ion cannons on the other hand is much more reliable, doesn't require Focus to operate (leaving it an option for getting that hit), and can control enemy positions, ESPECIALLY if you score more than one hit with it. Ion tokens stack, so if you get two or three hits on the same ship (which will kill most Imperials anyway), you can keep them from maneuvering for quite a while, allowing your other fighters to mop them up handily. 3 damage dice may sound like the better option, but in the long run it's far better to get control of the enemy ships so you can kill them more easily.

Mostly true except you remove all ion tokens when you are under their effect. You can hit a ship 3 times with 3 different ion cannons and receive 3 ion tokens. They are removed the next turn so they don't carry over.