I was wanting to know if the HWK 290 is worth buying? I have been eyeing it and wondering how well does it play in game? is it good to use with A wings and B Wings? I say A wings and B wings because I like running those ships the most when I do play a rebel list.

I bought 3

Its a good support craft mainly, or a cheap ion turret

^{I bought 1 so i had it for games against my freinds, i play imperial and have only played against it once, my verdict is still out on this one}

It's probably worth having one to mess around with.

While you could field six of them it is rare to see even two used when it is included so one is the normal number if it is used at all.

They can be very good if you know what you are doing with then. I have a couple of lists I play regularly that contain a HWK

I don't think there's a ship in the game that isn't worth having at least one of. The HWK's uses are limited, and sometimes outclassed by Y-Wings, but they're there.

SableGryphon came up with a triple HWK list in another thread that I'm actually DYING to try.

Let's see if I can remember it:

I remember the main parts were

Roark with a blaster turret

Kyle Katarn with a blaster turret, Moldy Crow title, and recon specialist

Jan Ors with swarm tactics and Nien Numb

That leaves some points open for stuff to hopefully keep them alive longer and probably an ion cannon on Roark

The idea was that Roark makes Jan PS 12 at the beginning of combat, Jan uses swarm tactics to make Kyle PS 12 at the beginning of combat, then Kyle uses swarm tactics to make Roark PS12 for combat. Kyle passes focus to Roark if he needs it, and Jan gives an additional attack die to whomever has the best shot.

There is a good synergy if you use Kyle Katarn/Recon Specialist to pass focus tokens, and then Garvin to re-pass them. I think that strategy would work especially well with any build in which you'd rather get a target lock than a focus... this way you can easily get both on multiple ships each turn.

The HWK is a massive force multiplier that is never, ever to be underestimated. My father made that mistake. Badly.

Jan Ors is great. I like the basic model as well.

I run the basic model with Blaster Turret and Recon Spec for 23 pts. Not as survivable as a Y-Wing but can push out solid damage and it is 360 arc.

I have 3 of the little buggers and have recently been flying 2 in conjunction with an Ion Y-Wing and an Outer Rim Smuggler to moderate success.

snip-

I have 3 of the little buggers and have recently been flying 2 in conjunction with an Ion Y-Wing and an Outer Rim Smuggler to moderate success.

anyone got any advice for using them in conjunction with A wings?

Jan Ors has nice synergy with Tycho as she can give him +1 attack die without needing to be right next to him.

The basic model can lend fire support and Kyle can make for a very nice TL and Focus for firing missiles.

SableGryphon came up with a triple HWK list in another thread that I'm actually DYING to try.

Let's see if I can remember it:

I remember the main parts were

Roark with a blaster turret

Kyle Katarn with a blaster turret, Moldy Crow title, and recon specialist

Jan Ors with swarm tactics and Nien Numb

That leaves some points open for stuff to hopefully keep them alive longer and probably an ion cannon on Roark

The idea was that Roark makes Jan PS 12 at the beginning of combat, Jan uses swarm tactics to make Kyle PS 12 at the beginning of combat, then Kyle uses swarm tactics to make Roark PS12 for combat. Kyle passes focus to Roark if he needs it, and Jan gives an additional attack die to whomever has the best shot.

That list:

Roark Garnet (19)

Blaster Turret (4)

Chewbacca (4)

Kyle Katarn (21)

Swarm Tactics (2)

Blaster Turret (4)

Recon Specialist (3)

Shield Upgrade (4)

Moldy Crow (3)

Jan Ors (25)

Swarm Tactics (2)

Blaster Turret (4)

Nien Nunb (1)

Shield Upgrade (4)

Total: 100

That is a remarkably solid list. It's only real weakness is if your opponent can hold at R3.

I ran the following list on the weekend that got me three wins out of three games:

X-Wing Red Squadron Pilot

X-Wing Red Squadron Pilot

X-Wing Red Squadron Pilot

HWK-290 Kyle Katarn

Moldy Crow

Recon Specialist

Blaster Turret

You stay in tight formation and move forward 1 in each turn for the first 2-3 turns to build up focus tokens on the crow. Once you engage, keep the X-Wings together and pass an addition focus token to the X-Wing most likely to be targeted (who should also be focusing). The other X-Wing should target lock and focus fire. The HWK-290 then basically goes around doing hard 2 turns, keeping stuff in range to buff and target with it's blaster turret. Since the HWK fires first amongst your ships, it should be aiming to either finish off a weakened target, or try to strip the shields of a target for the X-Wings to engage.

I'm starting to believe that the HWK is underrated. I played against a Kyle/Garvin/Dutch/Rookie list last night and it was brutal.

Kyle, Garvin, and Dutch pass out focus and locks. Rookie Pilot got boosted to PS6. My PS4 list got whooped! I think my opponent only missed a shot or two due to having plenty of focus and rerolls.

http://xwing-builder.co.uk/view/35191/pcgamerpirate

I have roark on my best rebel squad with blaster turret and recon specialist. As long as he is alive, he's pretty much guaranteed to give someone ps12 every turn since it goes to range 3.

I've also used rebel operative a few times as a cheap ion turret instead of a ywing as others have mentioned.

I want to see someone play 5 rebel operatives with blaster turrets. You'll never get to modify your shots, but you've got 360* arcs with 3 dice across 5 ships, which ought to be tasty.

I want to see someone play 5 rebel operatives with blaster turrets. You'll never get to modify your shots, but you've got 360* arcs with 3 dice across 5 ships, which ought to be tasty.

sounds like Fun... wonder how it would match up vs 5 Avenger Squadron Pilots..

although I think 4 operatives with Ion + Weapons Engineer would be a more interesting fight... simply for the sheer number of TLs and the increase in Ion chances it gives. But it could simply be I'm still yet to hear of a BatRep where a ship was Ionized off the board or into an Asteroid as it's "Death" and doing so is currently a goal of mine...

I want to see someone play 5 rebel operatives with blaster turrets. You'll never get to modify your shots, but you've got 360* arcs with 3 dice across 5 ships, which ought to be tasty.

sounds like Fun... wonder how it would match up vs 5 Avenger Squadron Pilots..

although I think 4 operatives with Ion + Weapons Engineer would be a more interesting fight... simply for the sheer number of TLs and the increase in Ion chances it gives. But it could simply be I'm still yet to hear of a BatRep where a ship was Ionized off the board or into an Asteroid as it's "Death" and doing so is currently a goal of mine...

My 4 HWK build is

Kyle Katarn

+ Moldy Crow

+ Recon Specialist

+ Blaster Turret

[31]

3x Rebel Operative

+ Recon Specialist

+ Blaster Turret

[23 each]

anyone got any advice for using them in conjunction with A wings?

Pumping out an extra attack dice for the cost of a stress is pretty great with A-wings.

That is a remarkably solid list. It's only real weakness is if your opponent can hold at R3.

unless your opponent also has 360 fire that is hard to do.

Definitely worth 1. Probably could use 2-3 if you're looking for big point games.