It seems that B-Wings, for a variety of reasons, have become the rebellion's go-to ship. It also seems it may also be leading to very imbalanced make-up of players at tournaments (at least locally). At a tournament I played in last month, about half the lists had a pair of them and from what I've heard they were even more ubiquitous at a tourney this month.

So, rather than complain about this, I'd like to pose some questions, especially if you are playing as an Imperial:

What are some strategies that you find when facing off against B's?

Where do they fall in your target priority?

Do you keep them close or try to beat them at range?

If you're regularly expecting to face two of them is there a particular Imperial ship that you build into your lists or around?

Anything else?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

As a Rebel player myself, I feel that most of my opponents try to focus on 1 at a time. I typically toss the HLC on them so I'm getting 4 dice no matter the distance. I feel that the majority of the games I lose, is because my B-wings were dealt with efficiently and in a timely manner.

Yep. Shoot them until they're dead. Focus fire for the win.

That said, I haven't played in any tournaments. Just theory crafting mostly.

Precisely this, if Biggs is not in the fleet just focus on the B-wings and they will go down fast.
If Biggs is in there... it gets tougher

You should always, upon seeing your opponents ship selection, target ships according to priority. So, if he's playing 2x B-Wings and 2x X-Wings (which I flew this previous week), you should target the B-Wings first. After they are destroyed, go after the X-Wings. If the B-Wings have HLC, get them in close - if they don't, target from distance. Your attacks are pretty much unabated so it's no different than going after a Y-Wing - one good round should finish one off.

Ordinance.

Wedge on the opposing side makes them even less effective to grouped attacks. Watched that happen yesterday at a local tournament.

rebel captive works nicely - they dont operate as well with stress. i use this on kath scarlet

B-Wings r a problem - i target them early and often, focusing all your ships on one is a good plan as its got only one agility on def even with 5 shields its hull will b taking hits surprisingly quickly.

I have not played against B-wings yet, started this game only recently. But would Ion weapons not work nicely? Most Bwings probably rely on AS for pretty impressive low-speed maneuverability, with their 1 Evade it should be pretty easy to mess with that. For the empire, ion weapons are rare though I suppose (until the ion torps come around)

rebel captive works nicely - they dont operate as well with stress. i use this on kath scarlet

B-Wings r a problem - i target them early and often, focusing all your ships on one is a good plan as its got only one agility on def even with 5 shields its hull will b taking hits surprisingly quickly.

I thought about Kath, with Mark and gunner for the same reason.

As someone who's recently discovered the joys of a 7 Tie Swarm, the more B-Wings I face, the happier I am.

They're a deadly knife-fighter, and can take some hits, but the problem is that they WILL take those hits.
Focus them down, and they die like rats.

I would also like to point out that Proton Bombs are also incredibly effective against them, particularly if you have multiple in your fleet. Most B-Wing pilots aren't used to the idea of getting 2-Shotted.

Also, Flechette Torpedoes.

"New Shiny Syndrome" will always create an imbalance in what's getting played at tournaments. It doesn't mean that the new shinies are actually better than other options, just that it's caught everyone's attention.

A few of last year's Regionals reported having nothing but Falcon lists because those local players were convinced it was unbeatable. Of course, all but 1 of those players lost in their tournaments... And players who did fly other lists were winning proportionally in all the tournaments, possibly even in higher proportions.

B-Wings are most maneuverable in short tight spaces. Even if they have Advanced Sensors, I've found it's pretty easy to crowd and block them with Academies doing what they do best. As always, Academy traffic jams are even easier to employ amongst the asteroids.

Vader or a Bomber with ordinance rips them up pretty good.

A squint or two with 3 attack dice and high-speed maneuverability is still a favorite of mine in any Imperial squad, you can use them with more unpredictability than the B-Wings have.

In short: Be Imperial And Carry On!

Yeah focus fire and pound on them. 1 on 1 they are hard kill especially with that 2 speed k-turn.

Just focus fire the b wing, as stated you should be able to drop one per round. I have two lists with B's that Im using. If those B wings make it to late game I win every time. If they die early its pretty hard to get the win.

"New Shiny Syndrome" will always create an imbalance in what's getting played at tournaments. It doesn't mean that the new shinies are actually better than other options, just that it's caught everyone's attention.

A few of last year's Regionals reported having nothing but Falcon lists because those local players were convinced it was unbeatable. Of course, all but 1 of those players lost in their tournaments... And players who did fly other lists were winning proportionally in all the tournaments, possibly even in higher proportions.

B-Wings are most maneuverable in short tight spaces. Even if they have Advanced Sensors, I've found it's pretty easy to crowd and block them with Academies doing what they do best. As always, Academy traffic jams are even easier to employ amongst the asteroids.

Vader or a Bomber with ordinance rips them up pretty good.

A squint or two with 3 attack dice and high-speed maneuverability is still a favorite of mine in any Imperial squad, you can use them with more unpredictability than the B-Wings have.

In short: Be Imperial And Carry On!

I appreciate the overall feedback and while I am sure that part of this is "Shiny New" other Wave 3 ships haven't caught on in the same way, for example, the Tie Bomber and the Interceptor, and those ships don't appear at the top tables as often, so I respectfully disagree and think there is a lot more to success of the B-wing than simply being the new shiny. It has got a lot of hit points, primarily from shields, is very maneuverable despite on the outside what looks like a bad dial, has access to advance sensors, and still boasts three attack dice.

As for the squints and predictibility, I think people have run the flight paths and B-wings with advanced sensors have significantly more flight paths than the squint, but I'd need to hunt that thread up.

The bottom line that I see here is that the best strategy against them is making the priority #1, though there are some other good tips to make that happen. I'm especially interested in the proton bomb solution, and with the B-Wing's low speed it seems like that could be an effective, though costly, option as well.

it might not be what you are looking for but I fly a Green+Marksmanship+Cluster missiles specially for dealing with low AGI ships like B/YT.

it might not be what you are looking for but I fly a Green+Marksmanship+Cluster missiles specially for dealing with low AGI ships like B/YT.

Definitely a useful combination!

Honestly, tough as they are they won't last forever with focused fire or ordnance. I also recommend ionization, since they're really easy to get behind unless they're hypermobile.

Shoot them and shoot them often, they cannot dodge to save their lives. But very capable little gun ships they are.

Oh and...

Barrel Roll:

B wing: YES

A wing: NO!!!

WTH?

Their shields are good but their agility is rubbish. The last game I played against some, I hit with an Ion cannon and this made it nice and easy to predict where he was going to be next turn. Single them out one at a time and pummel!!

Oh and...

Barrel Roll:

B wing: YES

A wing: NO!!!

WTH?

Judging by Episode VI, if you barrel roll an A-Wing, you tend to crash into a Star Destroyer bridge.

B-Wings are tanks, and equipped with an HLC, they are amazing and probably should be your priority when targetting.

Figure a B-Wing with HLC is always treating you similar to if you were range 1, so close as close to him as you can... if you bump him he can't shoot ya, but if you don't, you will be range 1 of him at least, so your return fire will be stronger.

Oh and...

Barrel Roll:

B wing: YES

A wing: NO!!!

WTH?

Judging by Episode VI, if you barrel roll an A-Wing, you tend to crash into a Star Destroyer bridge.

A-Wings are fast. They get boost.

B-Wings have internal stabilizers that allow the entire ship to rotate without spinning the pilot. They get Barrel Roll.