Hello All, first time posting after following these forums for my first several months playing.

Anyways, I don't see many discussions/builds on here concerning the HWK as many other ships, and having only used mine once the first day I got it, decided I wanted to try a squad with it, for fun ifnothing else. To my surprise the squad iI came up with did exceedingly well in its first two games.

Kyle Katarn (21)

- Moldy Crow (3)

- Ion Turret (5)

- 1 pt upgrade

Biggs Darklighter (25)

- R2-F2 (3)

Rookie Pilot x2 (42)

I had trouble deciding what 1pt upgrade to use for my last point and ended up with VI in one game and Determination the other, and neither really came into play. Thoughts on what works best for this last point, or should it be left off?

I have 2 regular opponents and we don't really have enough ships for a rebel vs rebel game, so this squad was designed without considering an opposing rebel squad.

Game one was against Krassis with hlc, turr with VI, and some other ties.

Game two was turr, soontir with stealth and ptl, howl and two academies.

I didn't lose a ship in either game (though Biggs was down to one hull each time, and the second game was called after soontir, howl, and an academy all bit the dust)

I flew in fairly tight formation to start and kept Biggs at range 3 pretty successfully, giving him focuses from Kyle stored up from moving slow.The fire from 3 Xwing takes down ships pretty effectively, and Kyles turret helps prevent Turrs/interceptors barrol rolling shenanigans from being super effective.

So thoughts on the squad?

Cheers

Thoughts on what works best for this last point, or should it be left off?

Have you considered Nien Nunb? Makes it a lot easier to shed stress which is more useful for Jan, but still helps make Kyle a bit more nimble. Another option would be to use that point to give Biggs R2-D2 to help him regen shields.

So thoughts on the squad?

If you win with it, then it works

But it looks like a solid list all in all, it's not easy to fit 5 reb ships in a list, but yours seems to work.

An alternative you could consider would be trying to fit Jan in there. It's a big more tricky, there's not much room in there for Jan + Nien and a Astro for Biggs. But I played a Luke, Kyle and Jan list and she can really do a lot to make a X-Wing hit hard, she also makes Wedge extra deadly at range 1 with 5 attack dice and -1 agility.

For that last point, Consider Nien Nunb, so that 3 and 4 forward maneuvers on the HWK are now green. You've got a turret, so facing doesn't matter and it gives you more ability to clear stress.

If you -really- want to spend the extra point, you could always use Veteran Instincts. Skill 8 over initiative might be worth it.

I did consider Nien, but I guess I haven't flown the squad enough to see how frequently a green 3 or 4 straight maneuver would be useful. Both games I flew slowly, rarely using anything above 2 speed. And like I said, using VI or determination didnt come into play, but not having initiative didnt really either. So i guess i will just have to try nien to see where it can be used.

I'm pretty sure I prefer r2-f2 to r2-d2, though. With the focus from Kyle, that extra die really seemed to increase Bigg's longevity.

I guess I'd also have to see about Jan, but 1 die for a stress seems like not much of an improvement over Kyle's focus passing for the additional cost.

Nien Nunb is a great pick-up, as you strip the red off of the 4 forward.
Alternatively, you could use the extra for an Adrenaline Rush, if you think you'll be turning/banking in the red more often than you'll be dashing 4 forward.

I guess I'd also have to see about Jan, but 1 die for a stress seems like not much of an improvement over Kyle's focus passing for the additional cost.

Jan's power is two things.

She makes X-Wings even more deadly at range 1. Puts them on par with APT's for damage. Second is she can do that from as far away as range 3. So she can actually be safe from being shot at while giving everyone else a big post in damage.

I'm not saying she's better then Kyle, just another fun thing you can do with the HWK.

That list should have pretty good firepower, the longer you can delay the engagement the better, obviously. I would consider dropping the droid from Biggs since it costs him an action, that gives you 4 points that you could use.

Chewie on Kyle or R2-D2 would be really good.

My preference would probably be to drop Kyle and Moldy Crow down to Roark, and pick up 2 Blues with Advanced Sensors, with 1 point to spare. (or advanced sensors on one blue and get Chewie as a copilot)

Good times all around though. It would be interesting to see how it holds up against PS4 rebel ships or 7 TIE swarms.

I haven't flown advanced sensors B-wings yet, so that is definitely something I need to try. I am usually restrained to one or two games a week though, so my ability to test out squads is limited.

I wonder what the surviveability of the the squad with chewie on kyle vs R2-f2 on biggs is. I am a little leery of putting too many upgrades on kyle (even if they are defensive) and leaving biggs without anything

I haven't flown advanced sensors B-wings yet, so that is definitely something I need to try. I am usually restrained to one or two games a week though, so my ability to test out squads is limited.

Is that because of other people or just because you don't have much time to play?

If it's because of other people you could try the X-Wing AI. It doesn't play all that well, but does give you a chance to test a build and see how well it can work. I use it with Vassal to test out builds. It becomes a question of much I can win by, rather then if.

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/875898/web-based-applet-for-x-wing-ai

Adv. Sensors are one of the best upgrades in the game.

Among other things, adding Engine Upgrade to them allows you to boost before doing a koiogran, giving you the only angled one in the game. You also NEVER lose an action to a collision or a red maneuver, which is insane.

Adding PTL to the Engine Upgrade and the Adv. Sensors gives you 92 flightpaths for any given non-red maneuver (as opposed to most ships 1 flightpath for a maneuver), and includes such shenanigans as clearing your own stress from PTL with a green maneuver in the turn you acquired it, and purposefully stressing yourself out when your chosen red maneuver has been discovered as your worst flying option.

I am a big fan of Kyle Katarn in most builds. Kyle + Garven is powerful, great for letting rookies TL + focus. If I were to run Jan Ors, I would include Garven as well, something like this:

Jan Ors

+ Nien Numb (more green, less red)

+ Ion Turret

+ Adrenaline Rush (gotta avoid being stressed at all costs)

Garven (Have to make that extra dice mean something with TL + Focus on rookies)

Rookie Pilot

Rookie Pilot

I haven't play-tested it too much but here's a good 4 ship Rebel build with an HWK.

Biggs (25)

+ R2-F2 (3)

+ Stealth Device (3)

=31 total

Kyle (21)

+ Blaster Turret (4)

+ Recon Spl (3)

=28

Blue Squadron Pilot B-Wing (22)

+ FCS (2)

=24

Prototype Pilot - A-wing (17)

=17

total 100

the A-wing starts on a far side and shoots up and turns to be behind the enemy,(1 or 2 turns). their 3 AG mean they stay alive and are annoying pests.

while the other 3 do concentrated fire in formation. Kyle produces a Focus for Biggs who has 4 def dice. the B-Wing has plenty of shields to last just fine after Biggs goes down (if he goes down at all) & Kyle can give out some damage with that blaster turret.

it has good defense & offense, and it's 4 ships

Yeah, between my job and other stuff I can usually just play only one or two nights a week, and then only one game at a time, but I like some of the squads you guys have thrown out there, and I will definitely be trying some variations on this 4 ship build.

I've been wanting to try this 4 ship Hwk squad ...

Rebel Operative (24pts)

- Moldy Crow

- Blaster Turret

- Nien Nunb

Garven Dreis (26pts)

Biggs Darkligter (28pts)

-R2-F2

Blue Squadron Pilot (22pts)

My thinking is use Garven to give a few focus to operative (slow roll start) so it has a small stockpile then Biggs when engaged.

Four 3 attack ships with Biggs at 3 Agility + Focus. Seems like it has potential?

Kyle (+ Ion Turret + Recon Specialist), Garven, "Dutch", and a Blue B-Wing is 100 on the nose.

Personally, I want to see a Blaster Operative Swarm. It's 20 points before adding a co-pilot...

I flew

Kyle with rec specialist, ion turret,

Biggs

B wing with advanced sensors

Rookie pilot.

It held up real well in a local tornament, 4/13 tornament. 2 wins, 1 modified win and a loss vs the reigning champ. I feel I could have done better if I practiced with it a bit more and ate during the tornament as I now realise they are also an endurance test.

I would say one thing Kyle wasn't a massive help as advanced sensors was far more helpful. Next time I will likely try

Roark with ion cannon and nien numb

Biggs

2x blue with advanced sensors

I think that list will also hold up very well against the tie phantom if you pilot well and stay close to the edges (the phantom can't attack from beyond the edge).

Kyle + Ion + Moldy crow, or Kyle + Ion + Recon seems strange combinations for me, working but not optimal. If you got few spare points why not go full strenght? Kyle + recon + moldy + blaster turret

Kyle + Ion + Moldy crow, or Kyle + Ion + Recon seems strange combinations for me, working but not optimal. If you got few spare points why not go full strenght? Kyle + recon + moldy + blaster turret

IMO the HWK is easy to overload if you are not careful which will result in an expensive average spaceship which can be blown up relatively easily. The ion turret is a better weapon as spending a focus for each shot with the blaster turret is a hassle so you always need to add extras such as the moldy crow title and rec specialist, plus ionising is always useful. In the end by having just ion and recon you have one focus for yourself and one for a friend. Your not spending extra to get a silly amount of tokens :-) IMO anyhow.