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I really mean, of the "small" ships (I know the HWK-290 is not technically a fighter).

What does "best" mean? Best for/at/with what? "Best" is left open to you -- it could mean best skirmisher, best all-around, best alpha strike, whatever. Basically, the question is -- which of these ships do you think is the strongest in whatever circumstances make it the strongest. Please post your reasoning. And of course feel free to post about why you think other small Rebel ships are weaker or which one you think is the worst.

I prefer the B-wing. It's tough & extremely maneuverable up close. It's not real fast but it's an hellacious knife fighter & a blue squadron B-wing is only 1pt more than a rookie X-Wing. Plus add in the natural ability for a cannon, 2 torpedoes, and a system plus the title to give it the ability to the crew it is extremely versatile & can be setup for most any role.

Z-95. The way it stands currently it appears it will have the longest and largest impact on what Rebel builds have to consider going forward. It has changed so much about how you can approach list building as a Rebel player. Between it's low cost for both the PS2 and PS3 version, plus the unique pilot abilities of both Cracken and Blount being fantastic, I have to give it to the Z-95.

Post Rebel Aces I may want to, and reserve the right to change my vote to the A-Wing, but playtesting with the new toys is needed.

Whoever voted for E-Wing ... I'd love to hear your reasoning!

I would vote the B-wing, simply because it is so tough and flexible.

X-wing is another good one, but I would give the B the edge simply due to a wider range of loadouts.

 Manchu wrote:
Whoever voted for E-Wing ... I'd love to hear your reasoning!

Was not me, but the E-Wing is starting to grow on me. It has an amazing action bar, 3 attack, and 3 defense. On top of that it has a great dial that works well with the Advanced Sensors + Push the Limit combo, and including a 1 point R2 on gives it more green than an A-Wing or Interceptor.

 derek wrote:

 Manchu wrote:
Whoever voted for E-Wing ... I'd love to hear your reasoning!

Was not me, but the E-Wing is starting to grow on me. It has an amazing action bar, 3 attack, and 3 defense. On top of that it has a great dial that works well with the Advanced Sensors + Push the Limit combo, and including a 1 point R2 on gives it more green than an A-Wing or Interceptor.

I can see that, but I wonder if a Ship which will cost over a 3rd of your points for a generic really qualifies for "Best" (Sadly haven't gotten a chance to run them yet). Why not take a B-wing, which can do the same Barrel roll/Sensor/Boost combo, but for 5 points less, without taking a hit offensively? While I can see it as an excellent Ace ship, I do wonder if it would really be the "Best" ship.

I would have to vote for the B-Wing. As it is, with Keyan Farlander who eats stress for breakfast and Nera Dantels with her turreted torpedoes, this is a perfect ship. Add in a co-pilot and you just made Farlander a god among pilots.

X-Wings are still the coolest ship ever invented, but in this game, the B-Wing rules.

Though the B wing is probably the toughest, I prefer the A wing. Mostly, that's just because it can boost, and boosting is fun. I may have an addiction problem. what I like about the A is that it's a little cheaper than X or B wings, meaning I can get more in my squadron. It's more fragile than a B, by some margin, but its speed and manoeuvrability mean that with some smart flying that's less of an issue.

Definitely not the best on paper, but my favourite, and the one with which I've had the most success.

I think a lot f fun can be had with playing around with the Ewing more.

For example engine upgrade, advanced sensors, push the limit and an R2 unit. I don't imagine it will be massively effective but it will be fun as heck to fly.

Haven't really played with 4th wave fighters yet so I stay with Bwing w/AS

Havent played with the E-Wing yet, neither the HWK (but dont need too)

Played 2 games with the B-Wing on Wed, love them, going to get another one when Reb Aces are re-released.

I like Zs because they add a tremendous amount of flexibility to Rebel squadrons.

 Crazy_Carnifex wrote:

 derek wrote:

 Manchu wrote:
Whoever voted for E-Wing ... I'd love to hear your reasoning!

Was not me, but the E-Wing is starting to grow on me. It has an amazing action bar, 3 attack, and 3 defense. On top of that it has a great dial that works well with the Advanced Sensors + Push the Limit combo, and including a 1 point R2 on gives it more green than an A-Wing or Interceptor.

I can see that, but I wonder if a Ship which will cost over a 3rd of your points for a generic really qualifies for "Best" (Sadly haven't gotten a chance to run them yet). Why not take a B-wing, which can do the same Barrel roll/Sensor/Boost combo, but for 5 points less, without taking a hit offensively? While I can see it as an excellent Ace ship, I do wonder if it would really be the "Best" ship.

I won't deny the B-Wing has equal offense offensive capability at less points. There's a lot of time where you're going to lose B-Wings pretty quick to focus fire even with that larger overall Health pool, the 1 agility only denies a single hit per attack, and the B doesn't have an evade action. 3 green dice + an evade I think is superior to the three extra health the B gets. B-Wing does get some more upgrades out of Aces, including the crew option to kind of equalize with the Astromech tha E can take, though in many cases I'd probably rather have a droid. All that said, they're both great ships, and I obviously already picked the Z-95 for my "best", so I'm not arguing the E as best, more that I can see where someone would pick it over the B. Before recent experience both flying and flying against an E I would have given it to the B by a long shot, but what I've seen from the E has earned my respect.

I have only run Bs twice and both times they succumbed to focused fire before accomplishing anything.

 Manchu wrote:
I have only run Bs twice and both times they succumbed to focused fire before accomplishing anything.

What else were you using? Did they soak up damage going to something else?

I went for E's too. I've been having some great fun with two knave squadron and Chewie. They have a fantastic dial, are agile, and fairly resilient. Expensive? Absolutely, but as wingmen for the falcon, they have done admirably so far...

I've been trying to come up with an answer but I can't! I honestly believe they are each the best at something :/

KnuckleWolf wrote:
I've been trying to come up with an answer but I can't! I honestly believe they are each the best at something :/

I find your sense of fence sitting disturbing.

No real surprises here: Bs & Xs for the win!

 Manchu wrote:
Whoever voted for E-Wing ... I'd love to hear your reasoning!

I love the E-Wing, yes it is costly but you get a great dial and with the right droid it can take a pounding and come back for more. It also has a great offence, and when coupled with the right mods it can out interceptor a Tie Interceptor. I generally only take one or two, haven't bought a third to try out an elite 3 ship list yet.

I suppose it suits my style of play.

B-Wing: it can barrel roll. It's a pretty big deal, and I've said it 1000 times on here, I've won games simply by barrel rolling. It's freaking incredible. Only weakness is 360 shooting.

E - wing.

It's a great all rounder. B - wing takes too much damage too fast and is real slow.

Also, the e-wing can barrel roll, benefit from droids, systems and more. A squad of 3 of them is deadly, hard to catch and don't take hits as easily as the rest of the fleet, barring a-wings.

if someone is focusing all their firepower on the B other fighters can bring them down.
I generally run 2Bs with rookie and Biggs