Hi everyone,

Just joined and I was hoping to get some advice for an upcoming tourney. I've been running A-Wing since they came out and I really like them, and with the advent of the B-Wing, I finally have some real heavy duty firepower that will stick around. I was thinking about running this list.

Green Squad

-Push the Limit

Green Squad

-Push the Limit

Blue Squad

-Advanced Sensors

Blue Squad

-Heavy Laser

-Fire Control System

Would I be better served with another Advanced Sesor B-wing over the HLC? Or should I switch out the HLC for two Ion Cannons?

I've alos run into a conundrum withthe A-Wings recently. I usually Focus and Evade as actions to keep them around and generally harrass everyone. But lately I think I should go Target Lock and Focus to beef up their firepower until they take a hit or two. Does anyone have any experience doing this?

Thanks for any feedback and I hope to post some pics of painted minis soon. Probably can't compare to some of the really nice stuff I've seen on here but I gotta start somewhere.

I'd find out if you can finangle 2 advanced sensors with 2 engine upgrades, to turn the B-Wing into a hypermobile beast!

Would I be better served with another Advanced Sesor B-wing over the HLC? Or should I switch out the HLC for two Ion Cannons?

Your list looks good. But the idea of 2 Green w/PtL and 2 Blue w/Ion and AdvSen could be a ton of fun... and makes me think I just found another list to try I'm starting to think I need to stop reading these posts because I seem to find so many good ideas for lists that i'll never play them all

But back to that list. The Blues with Ion's and AdvSen you get the B's doing a good job of setting up ships for the A's to hammer on. Seems like it could be quite effective, just not sure how it would stand up against the Howlrunner swam.

As far as what to do with the A's. It all depends I think. I tend to use focus + boost myself more often then anything. But as far as evade vs TL, it all depends on what's going on. Clearly focus + TL is the best option when you have a good shot, like R1. Focus + Evade is pretty defensive so it really all depends on the situation you have at the time.

I think as far as A-Wings go it's entirely situational. I would say, split the difference as little as possible, or you won't be doing either (attacking or defending) very well. But look at the board, see where you land, anticipate whether you're going to take a lot of incoming fire or not, and go from there.

If you expect to take massed fire, stack focus and evade. If you've got maybe one TIE, at range 3, with a shot at you, stack TL + Focus and try to boost your firepower a bit because you know your odds of getting hit are slim. That's the great thing about all the tools you have; you can tailor them to fit whatever situation you find yourself in turn to turn.

Having run and won with an A-A-B-B squad before, I can't say I really like replacing the Fire Control System with anything else. Giving them both Ion Cannons would make moving in the A-Wings for the kill just great, in addition to making it easier for the slow moving B's to finish them off if you think the two A's are better suited to attacking something else at that point. That said, I usually think Ion Cannons are slightly better paired with Advanced Sensors unless you're running a four B-Wing squad.

So either one of two options I recommend to you:

Green Squadron Pilot with Push the Limit and Stealth Device x2

Blue Squadron Pilot with Ion Cannon x2

In which case you could also drop the Stealth Devices for Advanced Sensors. Or...

Green Squadron Pilot with PTL and Concussion Missiles x2

Blue Squadron Pilot with Fire Control System x2

Thanks for the feedback so far.

I'd find out if you can finangle 2 advanced sensors with 2 engine upgrades, to turn the B-Wing into a hypermobile beast!

I was just wondering how that fare for you? Do you have any advice for use on low PS pilots? I love it on Ten or Ibi with PTL but I'm not sure about the Blue Squadron pilots.

I could always run my back up list.

Jan Ors

-Squad Leader

-Ion turret

-Nien Numb

Biggs

-R2 F2

-Stealth Device

Wedge

-R2 Astro

-Push the Limit

-Stealth

A bit more fragile and black ops type list, but its has really good focused firepower. Is it worth it to lose a ship for tourneys or is more always better?

Is it worth it to lose a ship for tourneys or is more always better?

The standard answer especially for tourney's is more is always better.

I don't know if I'd say "more is always better," but I will agree with Stalin's sentiment that 'quantity has a quality all its own.'

It's not a wrong blanket statement, it's just a little misleading because there are so many other factors. It depends how each list is built, what pilot skills are, etc. A well built squad of 3x Daggers (ps4) can dismantle a squad of 4x Blues, potentially, by taking advantage of their pilot skill to arc dodge shots and try to get a ps kill early. They'll probably also be much more heavily equipped, having one fewer ship, meaning they're all bringing HLCs or something to the table - that can be a serious force-multiplier if used well.

That said, it's generally best to err on the side of as many ships as possible. Just don't sacrifice the core of what makes a particular build good, and gut it, just to squeeze in a cheap ship someplace.

There are a lot of 4 ship rebel builds. For competitive play, you almost always want to go 4 ships over 3 ships. In general, if you can fly well then adding Biggs is huge because it forces them to take poor shots in the first round or two. B-wings with Advanced Sensors are the best damage dealers in the game for close up knife fights, because they almost always get their focus action. If you aren't comfortable with Biggs, then I would suggest swapping out an A-wing for another B-wing:

100 points:

Dagger + Advanced Sensors x2

Green + PtL

Blue + FCS

I like HLC in theory, but in practice I feel like it doesn't get used enough in 100 point games to justify its cost.

Thanks for the feedback so far.

I'd find out if you can finangle 2 advanced sensors with 2 engine upgrades, to turn the B-Wing into a hypermobile beast!

I was just wondering how that fare for you? Do you have any advice for use on low PS pilots? I love it on Ten or Ibi with PTL but I'm not sure about the Blue Squadron pilots.

My go-to list these days is four Blue Squadron pilots with Advanced Sensors. It's awesome. The nice thing with Advanced Sensors is that it makes your moves even less predictable and hard to compensate for, because barrel rolling (or boosting, if you have Engine) before or after your movement, especially with the ability to roll left or right, half a length forward OR back, can land you in wildly different spots.

Lower pilot skill is always going to carry some disadvantage with it, although you see it turned to advantage as well (moving first and trying to block, for instance). The nice thing with a Blue with AdvS, although it requires a little savvy, is that you can often figure out where the other guy is going to land. Maybe his left is blocked with an asteroid, or you know he needs to go at least 3 forward to avoid colliding with one of his own ships. Whatever.

You can often then look at the board, see what his most likely options are, and then use your movement tricks to try and land in a spot where you can maximize your offense while minimizing his. Doesn't always work, but in close that combination is extremely unpredictable.

There was one game where my opponent had a higher PS ship and I knew he was coming in for the kill on one of my Blues, and the only way for him to get a shot was to pull off a K-turn and try to take it out. Knowing that's what he had to do, and knowing where that would land him and where his fire arc would be, I was able to move the wounded Blue into a spot I knew he couldn't target, and then pre-focus or target lock, pull a 2K and park another Blue right behind the spot I knew he was going to land in.

His higher PS did nothing for him there because he had to make the predictable move, and I was able to deny him the shot he wanted AND take a range 1 unanswered shot myself.

There are a lot of 4 ship rebel builds. For competitive play, you almost always want to go 4 ships over 3 ships. In general, if you can fly well then adding Biggs is huge because it forces them to take poor shots in the first round or two. B-wings with Advanced Sensors are the best damage dealers in the game for close up knife fights, because they almost always get their focus action. If you aren't comfortable with Biggs, then I would suggest swapping out an A-wing for another B-wing:

100 points:

Dagger + Advanced Sensors x2

Green + PtL

Blue + FCS

I like HLC in theory, but in practice I feel like it doesn't get used enough in 100 point games to justify its cost.

I've been finding that to be an issue with the HLC as well. At range 3, and even at 2, its great but I generally get one or two shots off with it and that may not be worth 7 points.

And thanks for all of the advice so far. Its been really helpful. After lurking on the boards for a while I know people don't really favor A-Wings (2nd favorite ship), and I don't really like X-Wings, but with the B-wing (my favorite ship) I've been having a tough time figuring out if I should just go all B-wings.

I've been having a tough time figuring out if I should just go all B-wings.

Nothing wrong with that. But I think the 2 A, 2 B list could work and be quite fun to play. I just don't know competitive it would be, it could be a powerhouse, it seems to have good synergy, between A's with PtL and B's with AdvSen, you have a ton of options. Ion's seem like they'd complement things nicely by giving you control on top of your options...

Hit a ship with a Ion and you know where it goes next, which means maybe taking it completely out of the game for a round, and letting you focus on a different target.

Yeah, based on the advice, I was thinking about changing the list to this if I can find another Advanced Sensors card.

Green Squad

-Push the Limit

Green Squad

-Push the Limit

Blue Squad

-Advanced Sensors

-Ion Cannon

Blue Squad

-Advanced Sensors

-Ion Cannon

Set up the Greens on both flanks, and Blues in the center. Move forward slow with the Blues and quick with the Greens to set up a favorable initial matchup.

2 B-Wings is a good place to start, period. They're easy to play but hard to master, so they're fun for all ages (so to speak).

They also fit in just about anyplace; there are good 4B squads, 2B2A squads, 2B2X squads, YT +2B squads, you name it.

You sometimes don't get more than a handful of HLC shots in per game, but they're sometimes there if you're willing to pass over a closer target to get them. The great thing about the HLC isn't that you get to fire it twelve times, it's that you're rolling four dice at ALL ranges, which gives your opponent nowhere good to go.

If he hangs around at range 3 you hit him for 4 dice and deny him a bonus for defense. You can still hammer him with it at range 2. And at range 1 he's off the hook, right? Nope, not only is he in the B-wing's knife-fighting range, but you're rolling four dice main gun now, which means now he's getting hit with 4 dice and you're more likely to crit him.

You're basically denying him options because there's no place safe. If you force him to flee range 3. all he's doing is putting himself right in your wheelhouse where the B-Wing sings.

Well, if you like AW and BW (and quantity), I would try out: 2 Prototype AW and 3 Blues BW for an even 100pts. 5 ship Rebel list are often difficult to dismantle, and you also get the whole blocking tactics with the AW's.

On the topic of B-Wings, I know I should plan on running into a few of them. I think the A-Wings can handle them OK, even with HLC since they are pretty dodgy, and plink away at him pretty steadily since he only has 1 evade.

Am I completely remiss in this line of thinking?

2 B-Wings is a good place to start, period. They're easy to play but hard to master, so they're fun for all ages (so to speak).

They also fit in just about anyplace; there are good 4B squads, 2B2A squads, 2B2X squads, YT +2B squads, you name it.

You sometimes don't get more than a handful of HLC shots in per game, but they're sometimes there if you're willing to pass over a closer target to get them. The great thing about the HLC isn't that you get to fire it twelve times, it's that you're rolling four dice at ALL ranges, which gives your opponent nowhere good to go.

If he hangs around at range 3 you hit him for 4 dice and deny him a bonus for defense. You can still hammer him with it at range 2. And at range 1 he's off the hook, right? Nope, not only is he in the B-wing's knife-fighting range, but you're rolling four dice main gun now, which means now he's getting hit with 4 dice and you're more likely to crit him.

You're basically denying him options because there's no place safe. If you force him to flee range 3. all he's doing is putting himself right in your wheelhouse where the B-Wing sings.

Well, if you like AW and BW (and quantity), I would try out: 2 Prototype AW and 3 Blues BW for an even 100pts. 5 ship Rebel list are often difficult to dismantle, and you also get the whole blocking tactics with the AW's.

Thanks for the input. I'll have to think on this a little more.

Am I completely remiss in this line of thinking?

I wouldn't say completely I'm sure a well flown A-Wing list can do well against B's. But it would be tough.

B's have a ton of HP's and are great close in. So at range 2 you'll maybe score a hit per round, but you'll still need 8 attacks to kill a B. They on the other hand need half that many hits to kill an A-Wing.

The trick would be to limit how many shots they get at your A's, but with AdvSensors that can be tricky to do.

Am I completely remiss in this line of thinking?

I wouldn't say completely I'm sure a well flown A-Wing list can do well against B's. But it would be tough.

B's have a ton of HP's and are great close in. So at range 2 you'll maybe score a hit per round, but you'll still need 8 attacks to kill a B. They on the other hand need half that many hits to kill an A-Wing.

The trick would be to limit how many shots they get at your A's, but with AdvSensors that can be tricky to do.

Wouldn't "Push the Limit" scew the numbers one way or another?

With Focus and TL you can easily get 2-3 hits depending on range, or avoid all hits with Focus and Evade. I've found that PTL A-wing last longer than X-Wings when they go defensive (and you can still use the Focus for offense if you have that still around). I haven't gotten enough play testing in with the TL+Focus combo to see how much it improves firepower and to when to do it and, granted, dealing with an Advanced Sensors B-Wing at range 1 probably deserves a discussion all on its own.

Wouldn't "Push the Limit" scew the numbers one way or another?

It would... again, I think a A-Wing list can do well against a B-Wing list... But the B-Wing has twice the HP of a A-Wing and that's going to give it an advantage.

Sure the A has a lot more defense but with less HP's you have to rely on the dice more, which allows for greater swings of luck. So that means to do well, you have to try and say out of the B's arc's, while keeping it in yours.

That means the B-Wing has an advantage, because it can swap hits and most likely come out ahead.

But this also means that the AABB type list has a bit of the best of both worlds going for it.

On the topic of B-Wings, I know I should plan on running into a few of them. I think the A-Wings can handle them OK, even with HLC since they are pretty dodgy, and plink away at him pretty steadily since he only has 1 evade.

Am I completely remiss in this line of thinking?

I'm in a weird "Agree with Vanor" place today, but I think he nailed it when he said 'not COMPLETELY' remiss.

It's an interesting matchup because you've got speed and agility versus close in maneuverability and brawn.

I've had games where A-Wings kept strafing my Bs, plunking away for a hit here and there. I've had games where one of them got caught at range 1, or had one unlucky roll against an HLC, and was one-shotted out of existence.

One good piece of advice I can give is that the A-Wings will fare a lot better against the B-Wings if there's something out there more tempting for the B-Wings to shoot at. If one or more B-Wings decides to focus on killing an A-Wing, the A-Wing is in trouble, simply because it's got way, way less margin for error than the B-Wing does. On the other hand, if there's a nice juicy YT or something hanging around, or a couple of X-Wings harassing you (or B-Wings, for that matter) that hit harder and are easier targets, the B-Wings will often ignore the A-Wings and go after easier prey.

One on one I'd give a strong edge to the B-Wing in that match-up, but in the right squad I agree it could give a B-Wing fits.

I'm in a weird "Agree with Vanor" place today

But that's a very good place to be.

I'm in a weird "Agree with Vanor" place today

But that's a very good place to be.

It's dark, and cold. ...So cold...

BTW I'm continuing to pick on your brains because a lot of what you are saying makes sense.

Is there a good counter to a B-Wing at range 1?

At range 1? Just concentrating fire on them. Mauler Mithel would be able to get a nasty attack on them, but this is of course putting him in a troublesome position as well. Advanced torpedoes aren't a bad choice either, because they'll blast through shields if you happen to have a focus token to go with it, or a fortunate roll. It's really a matter of attacking them from the sides, because barrel roll can only move back and forth so much.