Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hello Everyone,

I apologize in advance if I ask questions that have already been asked previously. I have watched a few videos (tutorial one was great) and read a few new player posts on websites. I know to start I need to get a core box, and apparently there isn't much difference between the two except the damage decks, so I would assume I should get the newer one? If I am wanting to have a decent 100 pt imperial and a 100 pt scum for friends to use, what should I look for? I definitely want to have Vader which I believe comes in a Tie advanced fighter? And the slave 1 for scum for boba fett. Where should I go from there? Are most lists 3 ships or two?

For the cards, do people buy the other ships to get them, or do they buy cards separately off some other site?

Thank you for the assistance!

The difference in the core set is the damage deck, which ships/upgrades it comes with, and which asteroids. You will want the new damage deck, the old one has some brutally punishing crits that were removed from the new deck.

Most lists are 3-4 ships, with a large-base ship like the Firespray effectively counting as two ships in point cost and stats.

Cards are almost always bought with ships. A few people sell cards separately, but for anything but the most common ones (which you probably already have) the price plus shipping usually ends up pretty close to the price of just buying the ship it comes with. So normally you might as well buy all of the ships and have more options to play with. If you aren't playing in tournaments just proxy the cards you need.

Ship choice depends on personal preference. Boba Fett and the Firespray in general are pretty weak, Vader is ok but absolutely needs the TIE advanced fix which is found in the $$$$$ epic ship. But if you're only playing non-competitive games with a friend you can probably get away with choosing pretty much any ship/pilot.

Take this with a grain of salt but this is how I started and since I main scum.. Buy the Force Awakens set, newest and shiniest pieces. And for scum getting Most Wanted is the first thing after that, then the old set for cards and extra rulers and dice so your friend can play.

Then after that for newly starting out, HWKs are great for both rebels and scum, Y-wings are very user friendly and play for both factions, Zs aren't super powerful but they are cheap ships and one rebel Z and you got a small swarm going.

Imperials I'll let others deal you in there as I rarely play them, but I like the phantom and interceptors but the defender which I don't own is a beast, especially the one out of the vet pack. Plus it's red.

As far as the Firespray, it's not a bad ship if it's going to be your first big ship as it plays for both Imperials and Scum, but Peregrine's right it's not a world beater, Kath is the best Scum Firespray pilot though in my opinion. You'll need a card called Tail Gunner to make her sing but she's worth it. Imperial Firespray isn't as good as the scum one but still just starting out it's not a bad investment.

At some point get a Starviper for the autothrusters card and a Protectorate Starfighter as with autothrusters it's arguably one of the best ships in the game.

You have remember that this isn't like other hobby-collectable games like 40K or Warmahordes. The upgrades that come with the ships can be used across factions (unless they specify so, mostly crews) and proxying cards is fine, proxying ships is a bit harder. Sure, you could print your own manoeuvre dials and ship tokens... but it gets elaborate at this point.

For imperials, even if you get the TFA core set, you will want to buy the Tie F/O blister, as it is a self-contained world of hurt. Omega Leader with Juke and Comms Relay are all in there, and all jive well together. He can be a cornerstone of many lists, and if he survives to the endgame, he can be very potent.

Then I think you can't go bad with the Tie Adv. Prototype, the Inquisitor is a serious fighter (as KH said above, he benefits from Autothrusters) but if you want to stay fluffy you might want a Tie S/F, Quickdraw is good as well.

For Scum, I looooove the Jumpmaster 5000 (Punishing One Expansion Pack), as all pilots in there are good, the ship is a great platform (just be aware Manaroo now only works at Range 1). The Shadow Caster is also an amazing ship, and the brand new Scurrg Bomber is super fun. Just go for one Most Wanted box with that and you have a solid base.

You might want to invest in either a K-Wing (Rebel) or Tie Agressor too, just to get your hands on at least one TLT card, eventually. This really makes Scum Y-Wings shine.

Thanks for all the replies so far. I've heard tlt is good, why is that?

Because it delivers low, but rather consistent damage.

You attack twice per opportunity, with 3 dice, and red dice have more good results than green dice.

You can deal a maximum of one damage per attack, however.

PUFNSTUF wrote:
Thanks for all the replies so far. I've heard tlt is good, why is that?

Because, in many cases, it's hard to do more than one damage per attack anyway. You roll your 3-dice primary weapon shot, they roll defense dice, spend tokens, etc, and you hit them for one damage, maybe two if you're lucky. So the damage cap on TLT is very often not a factor, you do the same 1 point of damage that you were going to do without the cap. Except now you're attacking twice per turn, often more than doubling your damage output because your target has to spend all of their defensive tokens to avoid the first shot and roll unmodified dice against the second. And you're doing in a 360* arc, from long range.

... while negating the extra green dice because it's a secondary weapon.

 Mathieu Raymond wrote:
... while negating the extra green dice because it's a secondary weapon.

Not all, only the one for firing at range 3

So over the past two days I have acquired some of the suggested stuff.

I picked up:

The newest starter
the punishing one
most wanted
scurgg h-6 bomber
special forces tie
inquisitors tie
tie aggressor


So far I am thinking of going with the quickdraw and inquisitor for imperial, don't know what else to do with those (ie what other tie)

And for scum Nym and dengar.

No clue how to outfit any of these, or what other ships I need to get for must have cards, so help in that area would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Do you want to play competitively? If the answer is no, then just go online, copy the cards you want to use on to a printabe sheet and go for it.

Also half the fun I find is mucking about with different combinations and seeing how they do. Others prefer to review the hardcore efficient research that the competition scene ends up doing and seeing how to tweak the popular tournament lists.

When starting I wouldn't go out of your way to pick up cards, most of the Squadron builders provide full text of upgrades (and most of them tell you where the card is from), obviously if you want to play in tornys you'll need the cards but you can always see if other players will loan out cards if budget is a consideration

Mind if I jump in as another newbie?

I'm looking to pick up some rebel and imperial forces - not tournament competitive, but I at least want to have a chance.

I already got the old starter some years ago but never got around to playing more than a few games.

I'm looking to pick up:
New starter,
Imperial Veterans,
Heroes of the Resistance.

That should give me 3 X-Wings and the Falcon against 4 Ties, a Defender and a Bomber.

Is that going to be enough to keep me entertained for a while, or should I get another ship, or more, for each side? Maybe a Y-Wing and something for the Imperials?

As a Rebel, you are eventually going to want a K-Wing, when they are available again.

YT-2400 as well. HWK-290 once you feel like you want to push yourself a bit.