Rogue Squadron- Wave 1 Builds

Welcome to Rogue Squadron, pilot! In this series we will be looking at different squadrons you can fly in Fantasy Flight Games X-Wing miniatures game. We give you the squad, what expansion pack all of the upgrades come from and then give you the low down on how best to fly it. Strap in and get ready to fly…

All Wings Report In

Rebel Squadron

X-Wing “Garven Dreis” (X-wing Expansion) (34 pts)

After spending a focus token, you may place that token on any other friendly ship at Range 1-2 (instead of discarding it).

Torpedo- Proton Torpedo (Core/X-Wing/Y-Wing/B-Wing Expansion)- Attack (4 Dice, Range 2-3)Spend your target lock and discard this card to perform this attack. You may change 1 of your Focus results to a Critical result.
Astromech- R2-D2 (Core)- After executing a green maneuver, you may recover 1 shield (up to your shield value).

X-Wing “Biggs Darklighter” (X-Wing Expansion) (32 pts)

Other friendly ships at Range 1 cannot be targeted by attacks if the attacker could target you instead.

Torpedo- Proton Torpedo (Core/X-Wing/Y-Wing/B-Wing Expansion)- Attack (4 Dice, Range 2-3)Spend your target lock and discard this card to perform this attack. You may change 1 of your Focus results to a Critical result.
Astromech- R2-F2 (Core)- Action: Increase your agility value by 1 until the end of this game round.

Y-Wing “Dutch Vander” (Y-Wing Expansion) (34 pts)

After acquiring a target lock, choose another friendly ship at Range 1-2. The chosen ship may immediately acquire a target lock.

Turret- Ion Cannon Turret (Y-Wing/HWK-290 Expansions)- Attack (3 Dice, Range 1-2): Attack 1 ship (even a ship outside your firing arc). If this attack hits the target ship, the ship suffers 1 damage and receives 1 ion token. Then cancel all dice results.
Torpedo- Proton Torpedo (Core/X-Wing/Y-Wing/B-Wing Expansion)- Attack (4 Dice, Range 2-3)Spend your target lock and discard this card to perform this attack. You may change 1 of your Focus results to a Critical result.
Astromech- R5-K6 (X-Wing Expansion)- After spending your target lock, roll 1 defense die. On an Evade result, immediately acquire a target lock on that same ship. You cannot spend this target lock during this attack.

Imperial Squadron

TIE Advanced “Darth Vader” (TIE Advanced Expansion) (38 pts)

During your “Perform Action” step, you may perform 2 actions

Elite Pilot Talent- Marksmanship (Core/X-Wing Expansion)- Action: When attacking this round, you may change 1 of your Focus results to a Critical result and all of your other Focus results to Hit results.
Missile- Cluster Missile (A-Wing/TIE Advanced Expansion)- Attack (3 Dice, Range 1-2): Spend your target lock and discard this card to perform this attack twice.

TIE Fighter “Howlrunner” (TIE Fighter Expansion) (19 pts)

When another friendly ship at Range 1 is attacking with its primary weapon, it may reroll 1 attack die.

Elite Pilot Talent- Determination (Core/TIE Fighter Expansion)- When you are dealt a faceup Damage card with the Pilot trait, discard it immediately without resolving its effect.

TIE Fighter “Mauler Mithel” (TIE Advanced Expansion) (20 pts)

When attacking at Range 1, roll 1 additional attack die.

Elite Pilot Talent- Marksmanship (Core/X-Wing Expansion)- Action: When attacking this round, you may change 1 of your Focus results to a Critical result and all of your other Focus results to Hit results.

TIE Fighter “Backstabber” (TIE Fighter Expansion) (16 pts)

When attacking from outside the defender’s firing arc, roll 1 additional attack die.

None

Lock S-Foils in Attack Position

Since this is Mini’s Week I wanted to come up with an extra special list for Rogue Squadron. I thought about a lot of complicated but cool combinations. But then I started thinking about the buying guides we’ve been running. That is all about how to get into X-wing. So I decided instead of super awesome complicated list, why not something super simple and cheap to get into?

For these two lists I limited myself to the following: the Core set and one of each ship from Wave 1. While this proved quite limiting, especially for the Imperials, it opened up some fun options I’d normally dismiss. For the Rebels, this let to some once loved but long forgotten pilots in the form of Garven Dreis and Dutch Vander. These two pilots make a great synergy with each other and for their squad as they pass out free Focus tokens and Target Locks. With Biggs acting as a meat shield, they can pass him actions until he’s dead and then support each other. They also have a decent alpha strike with the proton torpedoes and some rear protection from the ion turret.

As I said, the Imperials were more difficult. The biggest challenge was getting enough points. TIE Fighters are cheap and since I set a limit of just one of each ship from Wave 1 plus Core set, that left three TIE’s and an Advanced. The list ended up with 9 free points and no way to fill them. Wave 1 has a decided lack of Modifications, which would have been useful. This list and Hull Upgrades on the three TIE’s isn’t to bad. Or a few Engine Upgrades thrown around. But alas, those are later waves.

Even still, this isn’t bad. Backstabber and Mauler Mithel can do some serious damage at range one and are reasonably high pilot skill to have a chance at getting there. Vader with Marksmanship on a Cluster Missile will hurt. And Howlrunner always helps. It is a very squishy list though.

Against each other, I think this would be a pretty even match up. The TIE’s have a reasonable chance of tearing up Biggs before he ever gets to shoot, leaving Garvin and Dutch alone. Though if the Rebels can get their proton torpedoes off before losing a ship they have good chance at kill 1-3 TIE’s in a single attack.

Now, against other people flying everything…I still think they aren’t terrible. Three Rebel ship lists aren’t uncommon even now. And while they are missing out on some upgrades, they are making good use of the upgrades they have access too. If flown well and kept at a distance for the first engagement, they can do some damage. Once Biggs is dead, both Garvin and Dutch’s abilities work at range 1-2 so they have some flexibility in their maneuvers.

The Imperials have a shot at maneuvering behind an enemy. For a TIE squad they are pretty high PS which is something people aren’t used to encountering anymore. They come up against anything PS5 and lower, they have the chance to barrel roll out of arc and into range one, giving them two TIE fighters rolling four attack dice; and that ain’t nothing to sneeze at.