Since BBBAA comes in at 100 points for the cheapest pilots, there is really no variation other than the way you would fly it. My initial thought is to have BBB in the middle and each A on one side... but obviously it's going to depend on your opponent.

Going up against a TIE swarm I would probably want one A slightly ahead of 2 Bs in the middle, with an extra A and B swooping in from the side. The idea here is for the A to be the first ship they can target - hopefully he'll avoid some hits.

What are your thoughts on going up against a swarm or other builds with BBBAA?

Against a Swarm, you want your B-WIng to be in the end-game, rather than your A-Wings.
Also, Formation fliers haaaaaate blockers.
Thus, the A-Wings that are normally flankers are now blockers, with your B-WIngs trying their hardest to get behind the swarm.

A dense Asteroid Field is your friend against a Swarm. Just make sure that they can't concentrate fire on a B-Wing at Range 2-1!

SWARM

Send the As into the swarm to break it up/make it difficult for the TIEs to maneuver.

REBEL FOUR BUILD

Flank with the As while you take it slow with the Bs.

They need to converge on the enemy at the same time.

As mainly an Imp player, i can tell you that if you flew your A's into my TIE Swarm to disrupt my movement...even if it cost you the A, that would grant you an advantage. TIE's (when i fly them) want to be formed up (especially with Howlrunner) and if you break that up, you disrupt a lot of the TIE's basic strategy.

Once the formation dissolves, your B's can sneak in and start picking off TIEs without your B needing to worry about the swarm's focused fire. Or rush in your other A to keep the formation broken, with the B's in the back doing what they do...

Just my perspective on the matter.

One thing I'll say - a good swarm will have init in this case. So that changes the strat a bit since you're A wings can't block right away. So if they are to block, it's because they're in the way, causing them to change their tactics. Which means your A wing is going to be at R1 and being shot at. I must say, I don't see that ending well for the A. And then it won't be able to block, because it won't exist. So =/

One thing I'll say - a good swarm will have init in this case. So that changes the strat a bit since you're A wings can't block right away. So if they are to block, it's because they're in the way, causing them to change their tactics. Which means your A wing is going to be at R1 and being shot at. I must say, I don't see that ending well for the A. And then it won't be able to block, because it won't exist. So =/

This is correct. If the swarm goes first, the Imp player should assume that the A is going to try to move right through the swarm to try to divert the swarm's movement. The swarm player has to decide if they want to bump and lose all those actions, or break formation and try to regroup. In either situation, you have achieved your goal of disrupting the swarm by altering movement, or 1 big action denial...

In either event, the competent B pilot should be now sitting at range 2 or 3 just waiting lay down the beats. Sure, you may lose the A in the process, but i think it's a justified cost in breaking up the swarm.

5 TIE focus fire, and bye bye B. 2 TIE focus fire, and it's bye bye TIE

Make sure you don't fly your As as blockers against squads that have Advanced Sensors.

i flew this in the first round of the Farmageddon Round Robin placing 4th. I tend to start in a block, with 2As up front and 3Bs on the back line. I'll start sideways vs higher PS opponents to react to their placement easier.

The block makes it easier to concentrate fire and get the A wings shot at/block.

Been playing this squad lately and agree with some of the other posts here in that what makes this squad good is its flexibility. The a's can block when you are in a situation where you want to disrupt formation flying and or deny actions. But then when you need the guns you add their firepower to the b's either with a joist or a well-timed combined fire flank maneuver.

I was not an immediate believer of this squad after seeing it just on paper, but after putting it on the table, it's the real deal.

I'm looking forward to flying AABBB - the only problem really, is that I ALWAYS fly B-Wings. I'm starting to think I have an addiction.

I've experimented with having a pair of a-wings in my squad (to the point of refusing to fly them singly).

I like doing a right/left hook with the two of them together, rather than flanking from each side. From what I've seen, it makes your opponent think more about that threat. So against a smaller formation, I'd throw both of them on one side and flank that way.

I don't have 3 B-wings, So I looked at throwing an AABXX list on the table, with 2 r2-units for my rookies. Haven't tried it, but think i may tonight at a friends place. Certainly doesn't have the sustainablity of the AABBB list, but it can keep up with a TIE swarm better, and deal out the same number of hits. I'll let ya'll know how it goes.