What would you say are the top squads right now?

• Pick your top 5 squads.
• Stay with your preferred faction or choose 5 rebel and 5 imperial squads
• Rank your chosen squads in order of from 1st to 5th
• you dont need to back up your choices with tournament results, just have an opinion.

Without going into specifics here are some squad archetypes for consideration (these are not all of the current squads that are competitive, only a sample)... in no particular order...

BBXX

XXXX

XXX - with Biggs

XXX - without Biggs

XXY

XBY

XXBYY

XXBAA

Han + XX

Chewie + BB

Falcon + YY

2x Falcon

HWK + XB

HWK + BB

HWK + XX

Tie Swarm - with howlrunner

Tie Swarm - without howlrunner

Tie Swarm - other variation eg. uses Black Squadron Pilots with Veteran Instincts

Shuttle w Vader Crew + 5-6 tie-fighters

Slave1 + 3 tie-fighters

2x Slave1

3x BH

2x BH + Shuttle

Bombers

2x Shuttle + Slave1

Shuttle + Intercepters

Shuttle + Bombers

4 Intercepters

Other???

Hmmmm....

All i know is that ive never EVER seen anyone fly 2 X-wings, 2 B-wings and 2 A-wings before at 120 points min.

My favorite right now is an A,B,X,Y list that I have yet to lose with in my local area. Generally I go for X,X,X with Biggs for tournaments though.

Hmmmm....

All i know is that ive never EVER seen anyone fly 2 X-wings, 2 B-wings and 2 A-wings before at 120 points min.

haha, my bad. i meant to drop off one of those B's.

AABXX

will edit accordingly - see what happens when u dont play A-Wings very often!

I really think a squad that uses the Lambda Shuttle will soon emerge as one of the top 5 imperial squads.

100pts

Bounty Hunter + Gunner (38)

Bounty Hunter + Gunner (38)

Omicron Group Pilot + Vader Crew (24)

is one example of a squad that uses the shuttle that is actually pretty good.

Worlds Squad

Kelvan (21st, 4-1 before cut to Top16)
2x Academy Pilot
Omicron Pilot + Darth Vader
Obsidian Squadron
Backstabber
Howlrunner + Push the Limit

I don't play a lot of them but here are the better lists i've played and played against: Rebel {Scum}

5. Luke, Biggs, Xx

4. ABXY

3. Roark + XXX or 3B (Blue Garnet- roark+ dagger, Blue, Rookie)

2. 2x2 (XXBB, red dagger/bloody dagger, blue thunder)

1. None. They're rebel {scum}

Well flown 3 (or 4) super x builds will probably always do well. They poach some pretty popular tier 2 builds and have solid match ups against most. ABXY is pretty much the most versatile list. It can win against anything but doesn't really shine vs any one list. I've seen and played a lot of Roark lately; I think he's key to the upcoming PS war- really like the PS12,5,4,2 spread. Well flown 2x2 is hard to beat.

Imperials:

Honorable mention- Vader's Escort

5. Soontir Fel + stealth + PTL, NightBeast, backstabber, Bounty Hunter + seismic (Baron's Focus)

4. Bomber alpha strike

3. Omni + Vader, BH + recon + seismic x2 (Vader's Bounty)

2. 6 named tie swarm

1. 7/8 tie swarm

Yep. 2 shuttle lists in my top (I did 6 because of only doing 4 rebels). Other than that it is almost all ties. I think he shuttle will make a splash in one of these 2 lists. It is just powerful damage. I think a bomber list will eventually emerge but I haven't seen a dominate list yet- I have seen a lot of game overs after alpha strike + 1 round. The 2BH Vader shuttle list was at worlds and gaining steam around here...

But tie swarms are still king; with the success of the other mid PS lists and the move to 4 small ships (excluding falcon, BH, and Shuttle builds) and an increase in PS I expect tie lists to shrink a bit too. Sure, 7 and 8 lists have been heavily represented at the top of the big tourneys... The game is evolving. Tie swarms will always do well when flown by experienced and practiced players just like Han shoots first does pretty well independent of player skill (obviously can do better with a better pilot). It is already becoming less dominant as overall player familiarity and skill increases. You used to play it to play the odds (and because it's awesome) as one bad roll or piloting error on one ship meant less when you have 6-7 more ships; now that same error or roll means a lot more when your opponent tends to have an extra ship to respond with.

You really going to leave off a straight BBBB squad of Blues?

My top 3 rebel squads...

XXXX 100pts

Luke Skywalker + R2D2 + Draw Their Fire (33)

Biggs Darklighter (25)

Rookie Pilot (21)

Rookie Pilot (21)

Hard to look past Paul Heaver's winning squad from worlds...

XXBB 100pts

Rookie Pilot (21)

Biggs Darklighter (25)

Dagger Squadron Pilot + Advanced Sensors (27)

Dagger Squadron Pilot + Advanced Sensors (27)

Ivan Pastor ran a pretty stock standard Han Shoots 1st list at worlds that is still one of the best rebel lists imo.

Falcon XX 100pts

Han Solo + Gunner + Marksmanship + Chewbacca

Rookie Pilot

Rookie Pilot

You really going to leave off a straight BBBB squad of Blues?

none would be crazy enough to own let alone play 4 B-Wings! ok so maybe there could be one but they would be the lowest of rebel scum and live in the far reaches of the Outer Rim.

You really going to leave off a straight BBBB squad of Blues?

none would be crazy enough to own let alone play 4 B-Wings! ok so maybe there could be one but they would be the lowest of rebel scum and live in the far reaches Outer Rim.

I...

I did really well with a BBBB squad. All with Advanced Sensors. I'm ... not a nice person.

You really going to leave off a straight BBBB squad of Blues?

none would be crazy enough to own let alone play 4 B-Wings! ok so maybe there could be one but they would be the lowest of rebel scum and live in the far reaches Outer Rim.

I...

I did really well with a BBBB squad. All with Advanced Sensors. I'm ... not a nice person.

I wholeheartedly endorse this. And may be playing it in a tournament on Vassal right now. *koff*

You really going to leave off a straight BBBB squad of Blues?

none would be crazy enough to own let alone play 4 B-Wings! ok so maybe there could be one but they would be the lowest of rebel scum and live in the far reaches Outer Rim.

I...

I did really well with a BBBB squad. All with Advanced Sensors. I'm ... not a nice person.

Wait a minute! to play BBBB all with advanced sensors you need to own.... [dramatic pause]... 4 shuttles! Yes i concur, you are not a nice person

For pure brute strength, I still think a 7-TIE swarm is the strongest list in the game still. There's a bunch of variations, but anything that starts with Howlrunner + Stealth is best, in my opinion. Now, it'll have issues in larger events (the level of concentration needed for hours with no breaks, the difficulty of getting full wins in the mirror or semi-mirror), but in a vacuum, it's the strongest.

I want to give HSF or Bluebacca a mention in here, too. They're not strong builds in the sense that one'll win a highly competitive event (the best it did at Worlds was top 8, and at GenCon, I don't recall, but I don't remember it doing really well). However, they have a easier learning curve, and you can dominate a local playgroup with a HSF build. A meta with B-Wings and TIE Swarms in them hurts these builds too badly, IMO.

I really like the 3B2A list, and want to try it one of these days. It's a lot of attack dice and health, and has a lot of fun tricks embedded within it.

Beyond that, "Biggs + 3 other ships, seemingly chosen at random" always works. I like my Worlds build, obviously, but you can go with the Luke + 2 Rookies we're talking about in another thread, or squeeze in an Ion HWK for anti-B-Wing fun, or whatever. Use mostly X's and B's, and throw in 0-1 of another ship type.

Paul

Worlds Squad

Kelvan (21st, 4-1 before cut to Top16)

2x Academy PilotOmicron Pilot + Darth Vader

Obsidian Squadron

Backstabber

Howlrunner + Push the Limit

Ah yeah!

Totally agree on the shuttle. It may be the best imperial ship in the game.

Top 5

Shuttle swarms

Swarms

Falcon 2 b

Xxbb

2a 3b

Paul. BBBAA looks like fun. to b honest i only like A-Wings in a list with LOTS of firepower - this list fits the bill.

XXBAA would be another one id play. you also have 2 pts to play with to maybe go R2 Atromechs on the Rookie PIlots or upgrade your Blue to a Dagger Squadron Pilot

I was surprised to see the XXBYY build make the top8 at worlds but after playing it i could see how durable it was.

I guess we could loosely call these types of builds Rebel Swarms - their biggest drawback is their low pilot skill but their durability and strength of numbers makes up for this imo.

Its not surprising that Biggs seems to appear on lots of tournament rebel squads. As you have discussed in another thread Paul his ability to spread damage is amazing - the trick is to keep him alive long enough to make a difference with defensive tricks like DTF, shields upgrades or R2F2/stealth device

I am seeing a shift into higher Pilots Skill squads - even the tie-swarm is morphing into new variations that use BSP + VI to elevate cheap pilots above 4PS which seems to be a popular PS range right now.

My best list

Jonus

2x Scimitar Pilot + Proton Torpedo + Cluster Missile

I usually also add Fel + PtL

But I just got another TIE Bomber so next time I will try with three scimitar pilots.

Rebel swarms are the counter to high ps rebel lists. The high ps list must kill two ships in the first engagement or it will have a losing proposition. Normally the high ps list will kill one ship and get return fire from 4 ships. This leaves a healthy 4 vs 3 or an injured 4 at the end of the round.

Worlds Squad

Kelvan (21st, 4-1 before cut to Top16)

2x Academy PilotOmicron Pilot + Darth Vader

Obsidian Squadron

Backstabber

Howlrunner + Push the Limit

Ah yeah!

Totally agree on the shuttle. It may be the best imperial ship in the game.

Top 5

Shuttle swarms

Swarms

Falcon 2 b

Xxbb

2a 3b

Kelvan, gr8 to see u representing at worlds with a shuttle squad. Congrats on your success. did u see many other shuttle bases squads at worlds? what variants? It is such a fun ship to fly - u may have gotten some odd looks from some at worlds - who wrongly dismissed its power eh?

Shuttle squads are starting to get some recognition but are still flying under the radar in many playgroups id say.

Im looking to build squads that use 2 shuttles together - still a work in progress but fun to develop shuttle squads as they have loads of potential options.

Worlds Squad

Kelvan (21st, 4-1 before cut to Top16)

2x Academy PilotOmicron Pilot + Darth Vader

Obsidian Squadron

Backstabber

Howlrunner + Push the Limit

Ah yeah!

Totally agree on the shuttle. It may be the best imperial ship in the game.

Top 5

Shuttle swarms

Swarms

Falcon 2 b

Xxbb

2a 3b

Kelvan, gr8 to see u representing at worlds with a shuttle squad. Congrats on your success. did u see many other shuttle bases squads at worlds? what variants? It is such a fun ship to fly - u may have gotten some odd looks from some at worlds - who wrongly dismissed its power eh?

Shuttle squads are starting to get some recognition but are still flying under the radar in many playgroups id say.

Im looking to build squads that use 2 shuttles together - still a work in progress but fun to develop shuttle squads as they have loads of potential options.

The two shuttles I could remember off the top of my head were Greg D(inventor of the original shuttleswarm: Lord Vader's Escort) running the same list, he came up with the list with me the night before, and MrFroggies who ran the two BH plus suicide vader list to good success. There were maybe a few odd looks but most people saw all that i was doing at 98 points and were frightened of some Darth Vader force crushes.

You nailed it on the shuttle. It has so many options. With a title, modifications, 2 crew, sensors, and a cannon slot, you can make the shuttle do basically whatever you want. It's also 12 points cheaper than a bounty hunter which just so happens to mean you can include an extra tie in your list just by going with the shuttle.

Also the 0 move is baller.

my favorate build at the moment is this

kyle katarn-blaster turret-recon specialist-moldy crow

roark garnet-blaster turret-chewbacca

rookie x

rookie x

have had much fun fielding this fleet

1 win-1 draw so far out of two games.

You really going to leave off a straight BBBB squad of Blues?

4x but really 4B would be my 5th rebel list. It should probably be #4 and Luke, Biggs, xx at #5.

I actually just realized Marten the Nordic Champ ran shuttles at worlds, he ran the original Lord Vader's Escort which is 3 AP 3 obsidians and OGP w/ Darth Vader

So to actually lay out my top 5 squads I've seen

2 Prototypes

3 Blue Squadrons

This is simply the best rebel swarm currently. Its really tough and has a lot of firepower. A wings as tanks/blockers end up being quite effective.

2x Academy

1 OGP w/ Darth Vader crew

1 Obsidian

Backstabber

Howlrunner w/ PTL

I like my shuttle swarm more than theorist's (5 AP and OGP w/ Engine, HLC, Adv Sensors, Rebel Captive) Just because I like howlrunner, backstabber, and purposefully trying to kill off my shuttle. But the shuttle plus 5 tie list is strong as hell.

2 Blues w/ Adv Sensors

Chewbacca w/ MF Title, Expert Handling, Gunner

Lists including "Epic Chewie" will always be strong.(Any list with MF title, expert handling, and gunner or Luke are considered epic chewie) The ability to take 6,7 damage on chewie and then start dodging arcs or evading without giving up much offense due to gunner makes it one of the best ships in the game. Expert Handling shines on a falcon, not only because of the distance covered, but also due to the 360 degree arc. sensor b wings just are a hyper mobile and extremely tough compliment to "Epic Chewie" This list is probably the best hit point manager in the game if you can avoid arcs with your hurt ships to keep them shooting.

Rookie

2 Daggers w/ adv sensors

Biggs

You don't win the world championships just on luck. Biggs is not only the best xwing, but he's probably one of the three best ships in the game. This list does a great job of splitting damage and firing before strong PS 2 Rebel lists and PS 3 Bounty Hunters. I'm a little bitter about this list.... I lost to it in the third Vassal tournament finals....

x4 Academy

Obsidian

Backstabber

Howlrunner w/PTL

Swarms are not going anywhere, although nowadays they have to be 98 points if they run academies. I'd like to step on a soap box really quick regarding two subjects: protecting Howlrunner in a swarm, and Backstabber.

First, I believe PTL is the best way to protect howlrunner, Either through focus/evade or barrel roll evade. It's there only when you need it and it's a certainty with the evade as opposed to a better odds chance from stealth. It's also effective offensively, something we tend to neglect on howl, she does fire at PS 8 and getting a kill with her protects the rest of your list.

Second, Backstabber>Dark Curse in 95% of lists. Dark Curse has one of the most defensive abilities in the game, but on a ship with two attack dice. Who cares? Why would I ever shoot him first? If Dark Curse were in this list I'd just be more likely to shoot Howlrunner, which is bad for this list. Backstabber is offensive. It's really easy to get his bonus and he's the hardest hitter in the list when he does. If I’m flying against this list with Backstabber I will shoot him at times over howlrunner, which helps keep howlrunner alive longer. Backstabber hits harder and draws more fire from more important targets. Fly him over Dark Curse in your lists! You'll have more attack dice and you'll keep Howlrunner alive longer!

Kelvan - thanks for sharing ur experience. id heard of BlueBacca which i think is the same as Epic Chewie (a new term to me) - that list looks fun, barrel roll with 360 firing arc is insane - i pitty the players who will get steamrolled by this tactic.

I am sad that u rate the BBBAA list so highly - not because i dont agree with you that it is strong - i can see that it is BUT iv recently given away my 2nd A-Wing to a friend who is just starting out (along with some other ships from my collection) leaving me with a single A-Wing - they just werent seeing any play in the squads i was flying... might be worth buying a new one

I totally agree that Backstabber trumps Dark Curse in most ways - he hits hard, even without howrunner support. I was already a likely convert with PTL on howlrunner, adding stealth device as well if u can spare the pts might be an option too but the swarm lists u have there is already rather tight.

Wow did i underrate Biggs for the longest time, he IS amazing. I think some players tend to throw him into the front line too early which limits his effectiveness.

Im looking forward to the rebel transport large ship that is adding new X-Wing pilots - i think rebel players need a few new options as B-Wings seem to be popping up everywhere! (for good reason). With a few new pilots we might see more XXX, XXXX and of course XXBB lists out there. I actually wish there were more pilots for the HWK-290, even a mid-range no-name pilot. I expect to see 1-2 HWKs more and more in rebel lists as its potential is still rather unrealized imo.

Hello, new to the forums!

Played the AABXX today during a local event. Played twice and finished 1-1. Probably should have been 2-0 but the force became weak in the rolls. :-/

I enjoyed the straight forward play with the low PS and no abilities. The fire power was awesome with the XXB trifecta of justice. the AA gave a great ability to dodge and just harass some of the front line fighters as well as allowing the meat and potatoes of the build to hit some of the bigger ticket items.

Overall it was really fun to play with 5 rebel ships, but may look to switch some elite pilots and slightly lower ship count. There was a feeling of vulnerability that was around and slightly worrying with the five.