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Has anyone had any luck with A-Wings? I never see them mentioned in battle reports.

I was thinking of running 4 of the following...

Pilot: Prototype
A-Wing (17)
Upgrades:
Cluster Missiles (4)Shield Upgrade (4)

Better movement then a X-wing same "hit points" one attack less.

I like A-Wings. I prefer Tycho and I'm tryin Arvin (I think that's his name) and he's fun too.

A Wings are nice, like more resilient Ties.

Oddly enough, I was just thinking today about how a spam list of A-wings would look. I might prefer a slightly higher pilot skill and fewer of the Shield Upgrades. But...that sounds about right. Try it out and let us know how it works

I'm not really a fan. To get the most out of them you need missiles, and trying to target lock with a low-PS ship can be a pain. So you end up flying around with a ship that costs as much as an x-wing but only as two attack dice.

I kinda agree with Peregrine- and although I used to run them for the alpha strike, the HLC B-wing has, in my mind, totally replaced them in that role (better Pilot skill, more than one-shot, Good primary weapons, may use target lock for re-rolls, more than one shot, etc.).

I'm too much a fan of the dogfighting not to be in love with the A-wing. Best build i've found for them so far is some sort of missle, if your running a squadron attack missle for the area effect, or cluster missle for the damage. I use it for kill shots, like if howlrunner is about.

I've been deathly curious about an all Awing force. Hard alpha strike, but then i'd be worried about its punching potential. Particularily against high agility ships.

But the funny thing is with their maneuverability and the b-wings low agility... they're kind of a perfect foil to take them on

A-Wing's aren't super popular, they suffer from much the same issue that Tie Interceptors do.

vrell wrote:
I was thinking of running 4 of the following...

I'd go with Stealth Device over a extra shield. With 3 defense dice already you'll last longer with SD then the shield.

Here's my A-Wing list which has worked semi-well.

Green Squad

Green Squadron Pilot (26) A-Wing (19), Concussion Missiles (4), Push the Limit (3)
Green Squadron Pilot (26) A-Wing (19), Concussion Missiles (4), Push the Limit (3)
Green Squadron Pilot (26) A-Wing (19), Concussion Missiles (4), Push the Limit (3)
Green Squadron Pilot (22) A-Wing (19), Push the Limit (3)

A-Wings excel with PtL, because you can do things like TL + Focus, or Boost + Focus or even Focus + Evade. With a PS of 3, Green Squad will match or beat the most commonly used imperial ships. So you'll almost always move last. Also the A-Wing dial lets you shed stress fairly easily, so using PtL isn't quite as painful as it might be for other ships.

With this list you have a nice alpha, with 3 TL+F conc missiles, that should be enough to kill 2 of most anything out there, short of a big ship. But even the big ships have to worry about 3 concs. Against a agl 1-2 ship you can expect 2-3 damage per missile.

Vanors list looks pretty sweet to me

A-wings strength is in speed, manuevers. Add in missles and you should be able to match most things.

redeyed wrote:
Vanors list looks pretty sweet to me

Thanks

A-wings strength is in speed, manuevers.

True, it's important to remember that the A-Wing is designed to be an interceptor, and as such trying to fly it like a heavy attack ship, like the X, Y or B means you're doing it wrong.

ya now i'm really really curious to try this myself

So i had a game with the following

Prototype - A-Wing - Concussion Missiles
Prototype - A-wing - Cluster Missiles
Blue Squadron - B-Wing - Autoblaster
Blue Squadron - B-Wing - Autoblaster
Dutch - Y-Wing - Ion Cannon and R5 Astro

Total 125. ( we play 125 points as it allows better options )

I played against
2 x Bombers
2 x Tie Advanced
2 x Tie Fighter

He had a load of named characters and bombs and other nasty stuff.

Six turns and it all came down to the last few shots. I lost but it was a good game.

Verdict - A-Wings are fun, very very versatile, but not for tournaments. the two attacks really let it down. They should have made them the same cost as the Tie fighters.

vrell wrote:
They should have made them the same cost as the Tie fighters.

They have 2 shields, which are quite a better then 2 more hull points, because they prevent crits.
They can do a TL action. They can also carry missiles.

If they were the same cost as a Tie Fighter they'd be massively broke.

Damn you with your logic

Good points. But i still feel they over costed.

vrell wrote:
But i still feel they over costed.

Feel free I think most people feel both the A-Wings and Tie Interceptors are lacking in some way. I don't think cost is it though.

Someone reverse engineered the way that FFG comes up with points for the ships. He showed that the cost of the Tie Fighter is actually inflated compared to other ships.

I think Tie Interceptors would be perfect with one more hull point. Currently they just a bit to soft. One more hull point would give them a significantly longer life span on the table.

vrell wrote:
I think Tie Interceptors would be perfect with one more hull point. Currently they just a bit to soft. One more hull point would give them a significantly longer life span on the table.

I'll forgive you because you're new, but you are horrible at trolling.

Yeah...the Intercepter is amazing. Probably the best ship in the first two waves. If yours is dying too quickly, you're doing something wrong.

While I haven't see one on tabletop, the interceptor looks crazy good with 3 firepower dice and 3 evade dice.

Of course, it probably has an insane maneuver dial as well.

...oh yes. Definately. TIE/I is indeed one of the best ships around, as long as you play competently. (Don't and they die in a blink)

 kestril wrote:
While I haven't see one on tabletop, the interceptor looks crazy good with 3 firepower dice and 3 evade dice.

Of course, it probably has an insane maneuver dial as well.

It does...the Squint's dial is the same as the A's except for 1 thing. The Squint's 5 straight is a white maneuver while the A's 5 straight is a green.

 timetowaste85 wrote:
Yeah...the Intercepter is amazing. Probably the best ship in the first two waves. If yours is dying too quickly, you're doing something wrong.

I'd argue that it's tied with the X-wing, simply because with the Squint if you make one mistake, you're dead. While it is terrifying when on form, a single bad defence roll, or a mistake with your maneuver, can spell death for it. An X-wing, however, can probably absorb the first mistake on its shields. An experienced player is probably better with the Interceptor, a beginner with the X.

I wouldn't call myself an expert (or should that be X-pert? ), but I fly best with interceptors.

 timetowaste85 wrote:
Yeah...the Intercepter is amazing. Probably the best ship in the first two waves.

You are one of the few who feels that way. On all the other boards I visit for X-Wing the Interceptor is generally considered a poor ship, and in need of something to make it worth taking.

I'd say it's at least a good ways down the list of ships from wave 1 and 2.

You have the X-Wing, Tie Fighter, YT-1300, Firespray 31, all of which are considered superior to the Interceptor, by pretty much everyone I've encountered so far. I like the interceptor myself, but it is far from the best ship of wave 1&2.

Soontir Fel is the best pilot in the game. Throwing PTL and a stealth device on him, and he's near unkillable. Adding Turr Phennar to his ranks with Veteran Instincts and a stealth device and you have two ships that hit hard and are near impossible to hit back, unless you have an ion cannon or similar 360-shot weapons. Throw in a couple crappy ties to clog your opponents flight paths, and you can run the game. Do I realize they are both special characters? Yes. Do I also realize Fel is the best pilot in the game and Turr is in the top 5 (or should be, if he's not)? Again, yes. And thirdly, do I realize that a novice will probably get obliterated by using them, because they won't use them properly? Of course. They're great ships, but you have to use their movement as their most important feature. Take the shot when you get it. Don't force the shot, or you're dead. Play the movement game, and the win is yours. Everyone I've played with has agreed to the power of the interceptor. I've flown circles around people with them, leaving them helpless to getting picked apart. They are a true finesse ship. If you use them like X-Wings, you're gonna have a bad time.

 timetowaste85 wrote:
Throwing PTL and a stealth device on him, and he's near unkillable.

Han with Marksmanship and gunner will shoot him down without too much trouble. One hit and the SD is gone, then he's an easy target for a YT. Wedge likewise would be able to take him out without too much more effort.

Again I like the Interceptor, but it is not considered a great ship by the majority of X-Wing players out there. So Fel may be a great pilot but he's still in a less then great ship.

Vanor wrote:

 timetowaste85 wrote:
Throwing PTL and a stealth device on him, and he's near unkillable.

Han with Marksmanship and gunner will shoot him down without too much trouble. One hit and the SD is gone, then he's an easy target for a YT. Wedge likewise would be able to take him out without too much more effort.

Again I like the Interceptor, but it is not considered a great ship by the majority of X-Wing players out there. So Fel may be a great pilot but he's still in a less then great ship.

You have to take points into account. I'm sure a 54 point ship could take out 30 points of interceptor.

I while I think wedge is good, I do think that Fel would give him trouble.

And people 'round here think the interceptor is good for what it does. It's got X-wing firepower with A-wing maneuverability.

I think you have people saying that the Interceptor is weak because, unlike the TIE fighter, you cannot pile enough models on the board to break the game, and you cannot run on autopilot. Like I said, used right it's amazing. Used wrong, it's a decal on the side of an X-wing.

I have found that this "Rookie, bad, veteran, good" style extends in-game as well. If TIE Interceptors can beat the mode pilot skill on the opponents side of the board, it is very easy to boost and roll out of fire arcs, and simply gang-up on a single pilot at a time in a head-to-head clash. If my opponents pilots are more skilled, then I have to guess more as to where to boost/roll, and will lose fighters before they shoot if I go head-to-head.

Going head-to-head using an interceptor means you deserve to lose. It's a ship where movement is the most crucial part of the game. Crazy_Carnifex, sounds like you and I are in the same camp on this. Lol. Great ship, it only sucks when used incorrectly. Having it go head to head is like using Eldar Fire Dragons in close combat only.