both sides are quite balanced, but the game right now is slightly in favour of the Rebels. The Rebels change their dice results by directly modifying the dice itself, but the Imperials seem to tackle this problem by adding more dice. Hence, Rebel strategies tend to look more stable. Also, Rebels rely more on actual hp, whereas Imperials rely more on the evade dice, which can make things somewhat random / unstable at times. Moreover, Rebel strategies tend to be more focused on firepower, while Imperial strategies are focused around agility, flying around and dodging arcs, overwhelming with numbers. Since the attack dice is stronger than the defense dice, we can see where this is going. Also probably the main reason why you see people complaining about the TIEadvanced and not the Xwing

Imperial ships also tend to be a lot more maneuverable than Rebel ships, but that difference is negated by the Rebel's access to turret weapons and ions. Imperials do have access to mines and ions, but their ions tend to be stuck to large ships (and hence a lot more tricky to use), and mines seem to be more of a hard counter against other Imperials and do not do anything really particularly amazing against the Rebels (as compared to Rebel turret vs Imperials)

I would agree with this.

The game is slightly in favor of Rebels because of the above, and the fact that Rebel ships are just harder to take down. When you add up total HP (with shields counting as HP) across a squadron at 100 points, it's pretty clear where the advantage lies as well.

or the HP advantage the rebels have.

If you look at the points per HP for both sides, it's 3.16 points per HP for Rebels and 3.27 points per HP for Imperials.

So there really isn't a huge advantage in terms of HP for the Rebels.

This depends hugely on lists and one of the reasons why we see 2x Xwing, 2x BWing, or 4x XWing lists. The HP you're talking about is probably from the standard, cookie cutter and frankly, boring as hell 7+1 Howl list with mass Ties. Why do I call that list cookie cutter and boring? Because it nullifies the HP advantage the Rebels have and play the numbers game with raw dice probability and re-roll capability. This makes it a very safe list to field.

Try that with any other Imperial list and the HP disparity is quite apparent.

Right.

In terms of power, the sides are very balanced. Tie Swarm is the, or nearly the, most powerful build in the game. Unfortunately, the Imperials have few other options. I do think, however, that Aces will help change this. The RGI upgrade makes Squnits into faster X-Wings and even the Falcon should be scared of that.

More expensive X-Wings that rely primarily on Evade rolls and good dice. The Imperial Aces Exp won't change much in the meta at all. In fact, most Imperial players will drool over Interceptors for a short while until they discover that Tie Swarm will preform better in 99% of the scenarios and matchups due to the sheer number of dice and extra bodies. I'm speaking from a competitive standpoint of course.

Personally, I will keep flying my Interceptors because I like the ships, enjoy the way they fly, and that's what I started the game with. Fly casual

could it be the B-Wing has tipped the balance towards rebels?

could it be the B-Wing has tipped the balance towards rebels?

It's almost like... an arms race! (The horror...)

I think if you go ship to ship, head to head, and one on one, the rebels have the advantage for the most part. I can't imagine too many of the rebel ships being torn apart by their imperial counterpart. But I believe that is where the actual point system comes in. The fact that you get to possibly have many more imperials than the rebel opponent can have (usually) puts quite a damper on the rebel parade. Correct me if I'm wrong on this one, but I think the Imperials have the advantage in regards to full squads, but the rebels have the advantage with individual ships.

From my limited experience in the game, I've found that both sides are fairly even, however Imperial lists have significantly less options when it comes to multiple builds. By contrast, the Rebels have a vast array of options (largely helped by the customisability of their ships) which means they can be adapted and tweaked to a higher degree. To highlight this example, a rebel squad might change out the torpedos that they are using, or change the droid type to better handle situations, making it possible to tweak the list to your needs and playstyle. By comparison an eight strong tie swarm can drop on to take howlrunner and that's about as far as customising it goes. So in general terms, a Rebel list can be adapted to the player, whereas an Imperial list, the player has to adapt to the list, which is generally harder.

HP disparity is further when you include the possibility of criticals, just saying.

I like your stuff bomber, so here's my response.

High level? Imperial. They are too cheap and customizable. You can get exactly the squad you want.

I think imperial is also easier to screw up, bump yourself and lose your whole squad's actions.

In my limited experience I think The Rebels are definitely more forgiving to play with and Imperial is a lot more dependent on skill/luck to win!

Imperials with a slight edge at the release of Imperial aces.

From my limited experience in the game, I've found that both sides are fairly even, however Imperial lists have significantly less options when it comes to multiple builds. By contrast, the Rebels have a vast array of options (largely helped by the customisability of their ships) which means they can be adapted and tweaked to a higher degree. To highlight this example, a rebel squad might change out the torpedos that they are using, or change the droid type to better handle situations, making it possible to tweak the list to your needs and playstyle. By comparison an eight strong tie swarm can drop on to take howlrunner and that's about as far as customising it goes. So in general terms, a Rebel list can be adapted to the player, whereas an Imperial list, the player has to adapt to the list, which is generally harder.

Do you think this is more due to the larger variety available for the rebels in the Star Wars universe? Or mayne FFG does this on purpose to keep the theme of imps the same; mass, expendable. Where as rebels obviously have more material to work with in the Star Wars universe, more aces, and a better general understanding of who each pilot is and what they can do.

I think if you go ship to ship, head to head, and one on one, the rebels have the advantage for the most part. I can't imagine too many of the rebel ships being torn apart by their imperial counterpart. But I believe that is where the actual point system comes in. The fact that you get to possibly have many more imperials than the rebel opponent can have (usually) puts quite a damper on the rebel parade. Correct me if I'm wrong on this one, but I think the Imperials have the advantage in regards to full squads, but the rebels have the advantage with individual ships.

What about head-to-head in points? Say, a naked Dagger Squad B Wing vs 2 Academy Tie Fighters. Etc etc.

I think if you go ship to ship, head to head, and one on one, the rebels have the advantage for the most part.

But you can't look at it like that, because that's not how the game works most of the time.

But if you were to go that way. Rookie X-Wing vs Tempest Squad Tie Advanced.

Same HP with the Evade advantage for the TA and Attack advantage for the X. Both come out to 21 points. But the Advanced has way more options then the X-Wing does, being able to barrel roll and evade.

But for the most part yes, the game is set up to make the Imperials try and play the Quanity is a form of Quality, because that is very much keeping with the spirit of the Star Wars universe.

even when imperials are not adding more ships, they are adding more dices, eg. stealth devices, expose / opportunist (considering that both these EPTs were released with Imperial ships)

The meta is also shifting to 4-5 rebel builds and 6-7 (or 2big2small ship) imperial builds so that numbers advantage Is going away while every wave the rebels HP continue to rise and are doing so through shields over hull. Add in more options for xwings and astromechs, the rebels core ships and special modification, vs. imperial aces trying to salvage a very cool but unreliable ship with upgrades that work for both sides and the rebel roll is on.

Whichever team wins.

Did my damage deck comparison and here is something to consider:

Of all the crits in the damage deck-

11/33 do more damage (imperials lack sheilds or have less on large ships, have less hp)

4/33 cause stress (nullifies PTL, imperials superior action)

2/33 nullify PS/ability (imperials have access to more named and higher PS)

2/33 decrease firepower (Imperials tend to have less to begin with)

2/33 decrease agility. Could argue it effects both but without hp I think it hurts Imperials a bit more.

4/33 decrease actions.

21/33 crits in the damage deck negatively impact the imperials more. I'm willing to split the stress and agility and even go down to 18 impacting the imperial player more. Since the imperials will also suffer criteria at at least half again as often, the damage deck just seems stacked.

The only cards in the deck that I think could impact rebels MoRE than imperials are munitions failure on a turret, damaged engine, and stunned pilot. With imperials exploring missiles and some still using bombs and HLCs this feels closer to equal than being unfavorable for rebels.

Sure, some hurt individual ships and builds worse but after really looking at this it feels like the rebels get unlucky when their specific crit comes up while the good majority of them (1/3) outright kill ties or set up interceptors and shuttles to be absolutely dead the next round (both require actions, ints for defense, shuttles to stall or boost).

Sorry, but that seems like a rather bias list there.

Saying that a decrease in firepower, PS and Agility hurt the Imperial side more is quite simply nonsense. A Y-wing losing it's only defense die is just as painful as a Interceptor losing one of it's 3 dice. Same goes for damage and PS.

Stress hurts both sides equally, a A-Wing or X-Wing with stress is just as unable to use PtL as a interceptor is.

More damage when the crit actually happens hurts both factions the same. The only advantage here is that Rebels are less prone to Crit's overall.

The meta is also shifting to 4-5 rebel builds and 6-7 (or 2big2small ship) imperial builds so that numbers advantage Is going away while every wave the rebels HP continue to rise and are doing so through shields over hull. Add in more options for xwings and astromechs, the rebels core ships and special modification, vs. imperial aces trying to salvage a very cool but unreliable ship with upgrades that work for both sides and the rebel roll is on.

This flies against all but two of the last major tournaments...

Even in those Imperials had a very strong presence.

"Is the Dark Side stronger?"

"No, Quicker, Easier, More seductive!"

The meta is also shifting to 4-5 rebel builds and 6-7 (or 2big2small ship) imperial builds so that numbers advantage Is going away while every wave the rebels HP continue to rise and are doing so through shields over hull. Add in more options for xwings and astromechs, the rebels core ships and special modification, vs. imperial aces trying to salvage a very cool but unreliable ship with upgrades that work for both sides and the rebel roll is on.

This flies against all but two of the last major tournaments...

Even in those Imperials had a very strong presence.

As to HP: you can look up HP and specifically sheild values over the last 2 waves. Rebels flat out get the same or more.

I think it is done to keep the flavour of the two sides. If they both have access to the same tricks, then the game becomes stale. So Rebels are more versatile due to their upgrades, whilst Imperials are more rigid in their doctrine and this is reflected in their playstyle.

Sorry, but that seems like a rather bias list there.Saying that a decrease in firepower, PS and Agility hurt the Imperial side more is quite simply nonsense. A Y-wing losing it's only defense die is just as painful as a Interceptor losing one of it's 3 dice. Same goes for damage and PS.Stress hurts both sides equally, a A-Wing or X-Wing with stress is just as unable to use PtL as a interceptor is.More damage when the crit actually happens hurts both factions the same. The only advantage here is that Rebels are less prone to Crit's overall.

Who hurts by a loss of one dice more? A 2 value ship or a 3? Who flies more 3 red die ships rebels or imperials?

Who is hurt by losing actions more Bwing, Xwing, or interceptor? An interceptor without actions and in a rebel firing arc is dead. A shuttle with a stress can't stall and probably can't boost. A regular tie is easily one shot and is no offensive threat without howlrunner (and howlrunner is in the same boat as an interceptor) if it has no action. Everyone says barrel roll and boost out of arcs is better than more HP and/or green dice... They aren't if you can't use them. I commonly see Xwing/bwing conga lines bumping each other; interceptors and tie swarms are dead if they do.

How many times can any rebel ship be killed by a hit an a crit if at full health? None. Even the lowly awing gets to apply both to shields. Every small competitive imperial ship can die from any combination of a hit and crit getting through. A Ywing at full health with 0 agility dice cannot be killed by any imperial ship with 3 dice unless multiple double damage crits show up. Except for te advanced, every small imperial ship can be one shot by any 3 attack ship, and any 2 attack ship with a crit.

Red dice are better than green. Modifying better die is always better than adding an extra worse die. Shields are better than Hull. The damage deck as it currently stands, only enhances these disparities.

Sorry, but that seems like a rather bias list there.Saying that a decrease in firepower, PS and Agility hurt the Imperial side more is quite simply nonsense. A Y-wing losing it's only defense die is just as painful as a Interceptor losing one of it's 3 dice. Same goes for damage and PS.Stress hurts both sides equally, a A-Wing or X-Wing with stress is just as unable to use PtL as a interceptor is.More damage when the crit actually happens hurts both factions the same. The only advantage here is that Rebels are less prone to Crit's overall.

Who hurts by a loss of one dice more? A 2 value ship or a 3? Who flies more 3 red die ships rebels or imperials?

Who is hurt by losing actions more Bwing, Xwing, or interceptor? An interceptor without actions and in a rebel firing arc is dead. A shuttle with a stress can't stall and probably can't boost. A regular tie is easily one shot and is no offensive threat without howlrunner (and howlrunner is in the same boat as an interceptor) if it has no action. Everyone says barrel roll and boost out of arcs is better than more HP and/or green dice... They aren't if you can't use them. I commonly see Xwing/bwing conga lines bumping each other; interceptors and tie swarms are dead if they do.

How many times can any rebel ship be killed by a hit an a crit if at full health? None. Even the lowly awing gets to apply both to shields. Every small competitive imperial ship can die from any combination of a hit and crit getting through. A Ywing at full health with 0 agility dice cannot be killed by any imperial ship with 3 dice unless multiple double damage crits show up. Except for te advanced, every small imperial ship can be one shot by any 3 attack ship, and any 2 attack ship with a crit.

Red dice are better than green. Modifying better die is always better than adding an extra worse die. Shields are better than Hull. The damage deck as it currently stands, only enhances these disparities.

I really can't agree, the last two tournaments I've attended the Imperials won both.

Both sides have tactics that work for them, but play differently. But I wouldn't say one is necessarily better than the other. Red dice might be better than green dice, but is 3 red dice, better than 2 red dice twice (especailly against lot agility ships). It's very likely that 3 dice will entirely miss an Imperial ship, but the Imperial ships firing back will generally be chipping away a bit at a time against the low agility Rebels.