First, let me say thanks for all the topics and discussions I've read here.

I'm a new player and have decided to dive in. In fact, I'd credit X-Wing with drawing me back into Star Wars for the first time since before the debacle of Episodes 1-3.

I'm a collector and game for fun -- not all that great at list building -- so I'm hoping you could help me flesh out my list a bit, along with any advice on tactics you'd use.

For my first 100 point list, I was looking at the following four ships with a couple of basic upgrades:

2x A-Wing Green Squadron w/ Push the Limit

1x X-Wing Rookie Pilot

1x X-Wing Biggs Darklighter

My plan is dependent on the opponent and asteroid setup, either keeping the squad together if necessary, or splitting the X-Wings and A-Wings into two separate groups. EIther way, Biggs would go in the back, drawing longer range fire and hopefully forcing the opponent to split it.

That comes out to 90 points, and I'm not sure where to go with the rest or if I should tweak some of the pilot levels (up or down) to help with flying, etc...

A droid to help Biggs's survivability?

Missiles for the A-Wing?

Upgrade Rookie to Red?

Would love to hear thoughts on how you'd tweak this list and how you see it working as well.

Thanks in advance!

I think one problem with the squad is that you're dropping the extra points for Biggs, without anything really worth having him to bodyguard. He makes sense when he's drawing hits off of Wedge or somebody, but you've basically got him there protecting a less valuable ship than himself, when you could save the points and take another Rookie or a couple of Reds, even.

He's not going to be guarding the A-Wings if you're using them right, because he won't be able to keep up with them - and if you're holding them back by Biggs and not flying them like A-Wings, it sort of defeats the purpose of having them.

You've got a lot of viable options, and I think it all comes down to personal preference. You could upgrade the Rookie Pilot to Wedge and still have two points left over (Swarm Tactics), or upgrade it to Garven for a little action economy and throw in an Astromech (R2-D2, R5-D8) or defensive upgrade (hull, shield) on Biggs. I'd choose one of those options over missiles for the A-Wings, since it seems unecessary to invest in Biggs without pairing him with a high value target worth protecting.

My personal preference:

29 Wedge Antilles

2 Swarm Tactics

25 Biggs Darklighter

19 Green Squadron Pilot x 2

3 Push the Limit x 2

This way Wedge gets to share his high PS (without costing an action), which means that Biggs will get to shoot even if he gets focused down early.

I think that one is getting closer. The problem I have with it is that you're spending 2 points and Wedge's elite pilot slot on an ability that is going to go out the window as soon as Biggs goes down. Wedge isn't likely to be hanging at range 1 to any A-Wings, so I personally tend to prefer something geared to keep him alive and flying longer after Biggs is gone, rather than something that will let Biggs get off one or two shots at ps9.

How about Expert Handling for those two points then? Allows him to break target locks and get into position easier.

If you could trade in 6 points somehow, I'd consider giving yourself an Alpha-Strike (4x Torpedoes/Missiles)

Well, you're not going to get much for 2 points, and though A-Wings aren't my cup of tea I didn't want to drastically alter TC's list. Determination is usually my go-to 1 point EPT, and I don't think you have room for much else here as far as defense is concerned. Weighing the options between that and a few extra shots from Biggs before he disappears in a massive gout of flame, I'd still go with Swarm Tactics.

How about Expert Handling for those two points then? Allows him to break target locks and get into position easier.

EH isn't a bad option. It's more dramatic on big ships that can equip it, and its value is lessened a bit against Imperial squads that have little or no ability to target lock, but it is a terrific tool when used well. With Wedge, if you can free up 3 points and find PTL predictable, EH + a generic R2 to help shed the stress can be a fantastic pairing.

Also I think EH's stock is only going to rise with the release of the Imperial Aces pack. You'll start seeing more Imperial ships sinking the 2 points into the ability to target lock, so having a 2 point counter that lets you barrel roll and sheds a target lock doing so is going to be a valuable tool. And of course against Rebel squads it's already extra useful.

You've got a lot of viable options, and I think it all comes down to personal preference. You could upgrade the Rookie Pilot to Wedge and still have two points left over (Swarm Tactics), or upgrade it to Garven for a little action economy and throw in an Astromech (R2-D2, R5-D8) or defensive upgrade (hull, shield) on Biggs. I'd choose one of those options over missiles for the A-Wings, since it seems unecessary to invest in Biggs without pairing him with a high value target worth protecting.

My personal preference:

29 Wedge Antilles

2 Swarm Tactics

25 Biggs Darklighter

19 Green Squadron Pilot x 2

3 Push the Limit x 2

This way Wedge gets to share his high PS (without costing an action), which means that Biggs will get to shoot even if he gets focused down early.

what he said. PTL on GSPilots is crazy good. Try it.

For my money missiles r too inconsistent - you also feel pressured to fire them off early b4 u get shot down. PTL gives u many more options in the long game its the way id go

Brown Bomber speaks wisdom.

My thoughts are something like this:

2x Green Squadron Pilot (A-W) + PTL

1x Red Squadron Pilot (X-W)

1x Luke Skywalker (X-W) + R2-D2 + Draw Their Fire

Here Luke would be acting a little like Biggs except he's only pulling off the crits and hopefully regenerates them with R2. He isn't all that fun to shoot at so your opponent has three hard to hit targets.

Last one is pretty solid. Otherwise just downgrade Biggs and load missiles on the awings for alpha strikes and when you come up against Bwings/falcons/shuttles

Wow, thanks for all the responses everyone. It definitely has helped open my eyes up to a few things (especially upgrading to Wedge) but I hadn't considered some of the other options, and I'll probably play around with all of it.

I do appreciate everyone trying to stay true to the list concept of ships involved as it is what I'd like to try, but I'm definitely open to larger changes while keeping the ship structure the same. I'm most looking forward to trying the A-Wings and would be more willing to swap out on, or both, of the X-Wings if people think there would be more synergy with another ship or more A-Wings.

One note is that I get that Biggs is often used as a tank or distraction and draws fire, but my hope would be to try and use him to keep both him and the other X-wing (whichever) alive by trying to force an opponent to split fire, keeping Biggs slightly further away (and hopefully getting more defense dice), at least on the initial run. The overall goal being that two targets (those that can fire on Biggs and those that can't) means both live longer. Is that tough to do?

As a contrast, in the National Championship (

Thanks again and would love to hear more thoughts, especially if using Biggs in that manner is viable.

Wow, thanks for all the responses everyone. It definitely has helped open my eyes up to a few things (especially upgrading to Wedge) but I hadn't considered some of the other options, and I'll probably play around with all of it.

I do appreciate everyone trying to stay true to the list concept of ships involved as it is what I'd like to try, but I'm definitely open to larger changes while keeping the ship structure the same. I'm most looking forward to trying the A-Wings and would be more willing to swap out on, or both, of the X-Wings if people think there would be more synergy with another ship or more A-Wings.

One note is that I get that Biggs is often used as a tank or distraction and draws fire, but my hope would be to try and use him to keep both him and the other X-wing (whichever) alive by trying to force an opponent to split fire, keeping Biggs slightly further away (and hopefully getting more defense dice), at least on the initial run. The overall goal being that two targets (those that can fire on Biggs and those that can't) means both live longer. Is that tough to do?

As a contrast, in the National Championship (

), Biggs's position in the group didn't make much sense to me. I know a lot of things went wrong there and it was a tough go from the start, and Biggs was always in a position where he would be blown to pieces first. There's probably more that I'm missing about that placement, but it seems like there are more effective ways to use him. Had Biggs been in the back (and the approach different) maybe with Luke out front, the Ties would have had to split fire, those that could shooting at Biggs while the others shooting at Luke and both Xwings survive to fight another day.

Thanks again and would love to hear more thoughts, especially if using Biggs in that manner is viable.

playing Biggs well takes practice. u r right to keep him back at long range when u can. dont make the mistake of thinking he has to be the 1st ship shot at every game. imo he is one of the hardest ships to play well because you really need to be a little sneaky with him and use cover and range to maximise his 'shoot me' ability. The sooner he gets taken out the lower ur chances of winning the game.

The Worlds champion used Biggs quite well in the final, placing him behind his 2 B-wings and forcing his opponent to shoot him at range 3 and through an asteroid - unfortunately the dice gods cursed him and he rolled something like 0/16 evades.

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who responded.

I think a fun pair of wings will be Wedge+ Biggs and then 2x Green Squadron with PTL. That will be my starting list and I'll work with that. I'll try some things with the extra points but I think that this sounds like a lot of fun and offers some interesting tactical options.

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who responded.

I think a fun pair of wings will be Wedge+ Biggs and then 2x Green Squadron with PTL. That will be my starting list and I'll work with that. I'll try some things with the extra points but I think that this sounds like a lot of fun and offers some interesting tactical options.

Good luck, and enjoy the game. Post your results in the Battle Results forum, if you're so inclined.