Hey everyone. Recently my local group has been considering a tournament at the shop not far from me, which is awesome. I was all set and ready to go with a 100 point list when I came to a sudden realization that, well... the Rebellion has it pretty tough in this game. What probably gets my goat is the overall cheapness and huge amount of flexibility the Imperials seem to have with deploying large numbers of ships or throwing in an effectively built Shuttle or Firespray into the mix without a lot of consequence.

SO

As a Rebel player I've been struggling to think of a good list that's effective in nearly all situations. What frustrates me is that Imperials have no problem filling their lists with a handful of named pilots but doing so on our side of the field seems detrimental, too expensive, or forces 3 ship lists which are counter-productive. Now I will admit that in terms of overall performance of course the Rebel fleet is better, but is it really worth the point cost? I'm having a lot of mixed feelings about this right now, so I guess I'm just in need of some friendly advice from successful Rebel players or those who know good lists.

Here's the one I have at the moment.

B-Wing: Blue Squadron Pilot, Ion Cannon, Fire Control System x2

Y-Wing: Gold Squadron Pilot, Ion Turret x2

The idea is to use the ion guns to force enemy pilots into positions to best exploit them. The B's then move to range 1 to do maximum amounts of damage while expending their target locks to heavily damage and kill targets while the Y-Wings circle around and generally act annoying since they're free to move wherever they like and fire. The only thing I'm concerned about is concentrated fire onto the B's which would rain on their parade really fast and castrate the power the Y-Wings have. Thoughts?

Honestly, I don't think you're going to get much out of those 2 Ion Cannons. Part of the Ion Cannon is knowing when to use that and when to attack with your main weapons, but with ICT support, I would suspect the only time that you would use the Ion Cannon would be on the opening R3 salvo - which often can be avoided by charging forward, and you'll end up in R2 on the second turn.

the Rebellion has it pretty tough in this game.

This is a pretty faulty premise to start with. The Rebellion does just as well as the Empire does. There's been a number of people who have reported seasons of games at LGS, and the various tourney's, in every case the win/loss seems to be pretty close to 50/50 for Reb/Imp. The number of Reb vs Imp lists in tourney's seems to be pretty even too.

The current world champion won with a Rebel list against a tie swarm.

B's with Ion Cannons and FCS aren't going to do as well as you'd like. I'd drop both and go with AdvSensonors, to make the B-Wing really nimble. Then you can use the Ion's on the Y to help control where the other guy goes and give your B's chances for R1 shots outside the arc of what they're shooting.

I agree with Khyros, too many Ion cannon/turrets not to mention the amount of agility die you are throwing is very low for the whole squad (even if you do have a whopping 32 Hull/Shield combined).

The list I have been running is a slightly modified version of the worlds winning list (not original I know but certianly works well)

Dagger Squadron Pilot + FCS x 2

Red Squadron Pilot

Biggs

100 pts

Basically you can get right into the fight at range one and with the PS4 or more of your pilots you should be getting 16 attack die in before any o the swarm can fire back (though be sure to take out Howlrunners first obviously) if your lucky Biggs might live past the first round, pull a bunch of K-turns then put another 12 -16 shots into the swarm before they get to return fire, not to mention all the rerolls from the free t arget locks from FCS.

at this point if you haven't taken out at least 3 Ties you have rolled exceptionally badly, and if you have taken out 3-4 by this stage the return fire should be relativity minimal.

has been working for me in testing but everyone has different prefered tactics so its upto you.

The two factions have distinct squad building play styles when you look at it. Imperial is all cheap fast attack craft and mostly stand alone units. The rebels have slightly more expensive costing ships, but better squad cohesion.

Your squad is a good squad to use. Very tanky and has lots of ions to limit where the agile imperials can go. Can work for big ships, interceptors. Good against 3 rebel lists and maybe the odd 4 ship list. You'll be challenged by 4 ship rebel lists (like 4 blues with ions) and swarms.

There are actually 3 factors to consider when determining what makes a good squad for you.

1. The Squad: you've picked a squad that can deal damage, take damage, and stay effective when one or two ships are lost from it. It either has lots of hull or multiple ships and has good upgrades selected for each ship.

2. Playstyle: How you like to maneuver will determine how successful your squad it. Charge in with a squad of A-wings to point blank range and you'll know what I mean. Identify your own play style and develop a squad that works for it. Play what you know. Also, maneuver the ship in the way it was meant to maneuver. Example, A-wings are flankers so run around to your enemies rear and shoot. 5 straights with boost are there to be used.

3. Luck: No matter how good a squad is it has to deal with both good and bad luck. Good rolls mean you hit more often and land damage more often. Bad luck and you're not even rolling any hits or blanking on an evade roll and you'll feel it. Making a squad that mitigates the luck (by getting free actions or allowing dice rerolls/choices) or manoeuvrable enough to force your opponent to take the defensive rolls while you are out of arc. Both are means of "mitigating" the dice.

Finding a balance between all three will give you what you are looking for.

I appreciate all the input, thanks. It seems everybody has a different opinion on how to run things it seems, but I appreciate the constructive criticism! I'm going to be honest, but I really like the squad I have so far, though I might drop the ions on the B-Wings after all in favour of upgrading pilot skill. I had them there so I could guarantee ionizing on large ships in case I happened to face any. I'll still re-evaluate though. :3

yep in agreement with some here to drop ions on the B's.

with the 6 points wither upgrade the B-Wings to Daggers or add advanced sensors AND upgrade them.

I only have one shuttle though, so I'd only be able to Advance Sensors one of them. And to be honest, I like Fire Control System. I'll either do both as Daggers and give each Y-Wing an R2 unit, or push one of them up to a Grey Squadron Pilot instead.

Just going to say the byby list is one I too am excited to try. However 4 ion cannons is too much. You won't be able to kill your prey. When I run byby it is the golden daggers, 2 gold y's with ion turret and an R2 and two daggers with fire control. Y's line up the shot, B's exploit it with range 1 kaboom.

Alternately you can downgrade one b to blue and lose the fire control and add Ibitsy and auto blaster. I think that is too many eggs in one basket but what a basket.

Don't count the X-wing out. IMO it is the best all around ship in the game. The Y-wing can be the Rebel swarm ship. And the A-wing is the rebels most underrated ship.

My favorite rebel list right now is Blue Garnet Dagger

Roark + blaster + recon= 26

Dagger + AdvS= 27

Blue+ AdvS = 25

Rookie = 21

99pts

You can add an R2 to the rookie if you don't want init, but with advanced sensors its not much of an issue. You can go with a third blue but I like the rookie as either an "easy target" or as someone who can chase if needed. Very flexible list with 12/4/4/2 firing and advanced sensor Bwings.

Don't count the X-wing out. IMO it is the best all around ship in the game.

Certainly with the named X-wing pilots. Despite multiple waves of releases, Wedge, Biggs and Luke remain (as I've had unfortunate thrashings to remind me) a lethal combination.

I only have one shuttle though, so I'd only be able to Advance Sensors one of them.

Most people only have 1 shuttle, they just use a proxie for the cards they don't have.

Hey everyone. Recently my local group has been considering a tournament at the shop not far from me, which is awesome. I was all set and ready to go with a 100 point list when I came to a sudden realization that, well... the Rebellion has it pretty tough in this game.

I would disagree. Rebel squads have won every major tournament except one (U.S. Nationals 2013 at GenCon, which was won by a Howlrunner-Backstabber-Dark Curse swarm). If anything, the Empire might need a small buff.

I find playing the rebellion is much easier than the Imperials. I have won, or nearly won, the last 6 tournaments with a rebellion squad. I only play Imperials when I want a challenge or when I get sick of Rebels. Then it is a Tie Swarm. There is a tournament this weekend and I am going to go completely away from my normal trend of putting as many attack and hull/shields on the table and going with a large ship and 2 elite interceptors. It will give me so much less to work with that I am afraid it will require a bit of a learning curve.

I only have one shuttle though, so I'd only be able to Advance Sensors one of them. And to be honest, I like Fire Control System. I'll either do both as Daggers and give each Y-Wing an R2 unit, or push one of them up to a Grey Squadron Pilot instead.

I've found fire control system to be really solid as well. It works less well against swarms because you have to require targets, but often, the first shot doesn't take something out. Fcs with ion cannons can be pretty awesome too. Maybe use x wings instead of the y wings. Then you get more firepower. And the b wings can still ion something into position, then target lock and focus against the target on the next action.

Just going to say the byby list is one I too am excited to try. However 4 ion cannons is too much. You won't be able to kill your prey.

B-Wings with ion cannons can still use the main guns. A range 3 ion shot with FCS means that you're denying your opponent the additional agility die. If you hit, you've got TL and an ioned ship to close in on and try to get out of arc, if you miss, you've still got TL. I don't know if it's the soundest use of 3 points, but it's not too shabby. At long range, you're probably not going to be doing more than one damage anyway, so the restrictions on ion damage aren't that bad.

I've been thinking of flying a similar list at the next game night, but replacing one B with an ORS.

Good luck whatever you play, and have fun.

@aArendsvark

You are right of course, the main guns don't go anywhere. I don't think that 6 points for shots that only might happen and only on the opening pass is a good idea though. In my mind the points would be better spent on other upgrades, or pilot skill.

In my opinion, a timed tournament format favors basic 4 ship rebel squads over a basic tie swarm. It can be difficult to get enough points for a full win in 60 minutes when your ties still slowly die off. I dont think I've ever tabled an oppenent with a swarm, nor has a swarm I played been tabled in 60-70 minutes. Let's not talk about Swarm vs Swarm ever completing...however, 4 rebels vs 4 rebels almost always ends with a full match victory/loss, making getting tourney points for a rebel list much easier.

In a match with unlimited time, however, I would put my faith in a swarm. It will likely come down to 2/3 ties vs 1 non-named rebel ship, and id favor 2 ships in an equal skill matchup. Unless you look at the recent World Champ match, of course, where 1 Dagger + Advanced Sensors took on 2 Academy ties.

In a 60 minute timed match, 2 Blue's with Ion Cannon and FCS, 1 Blue with FCS and 1 Rookie X-Wing is formidable.