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.

Hi I have just started with X-Wing and was hoping to get a bit of help!

I have two lists I've been tinkering with, one a TIE swarm and one an Aces list. Please can you give me some feedback on the lists and on the basic gameplan I should be trying to execute with them.

Swarm list:
Academy Pilot x 5 = 60
Howlrunner = 18
Omicron Group Pilot = 21

(I figured 6 TIEs is about the limit to practically deploy together and then manoeuvre around the board, and the shuttle could be useful as a heavier ship to keep back and discourage other ships from trying to slip behind the TIEs. Or possibly I should use Zeta Leader + Wired instead?)

Aces list:
Soontir Fel, Royal Guard TIE, Autothrusters, Stealth Device, Push the Limit = 35
Carnor Jax, Royal Guard TIE, Autothrusters, Stealth Device, Push the Limit = 34
The Inquisitor, TIE/v1… and some other upgrades I'm not sure of yet?

Any help would be appreciated!

Welcome to X-Wing! Avoid feeding the Rancor, and you'll be fine!
Learning to fly the swarm is one of the toughest things to do well. You really need to study and practice how they move. Same goes for the Aces as well. Imperial lists are generally unforgiving of mistakes.
This site is the biggest help that I can think of. I still review it from time to time.
community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/110115-earning-your-wings-a-guide-for-understanding-movment/

First, Swarm.
You seem to have the right idea for the list. 5 Academy and Howlrunner is a nice, strong list. I'm not sure what you are doing with the Shuttle in that list. The Shuttle is a very hard ship to maneuver and without any upgrades, you really don't see much of a benefit from it. I would probably drop it in favor of an Ace. Omega Leader, Comms Relay, and Juke is a great, great ship at 26 points. It is your Ace Killer. I would drop one of the Academy Ties from the formation and upgrade the rest to Obsidian to fit everything in. You may also want to look at upgrades for Howlrunner... she is a heck of a target and a shield or hull upgrade goes farther than you think that it will to keep her safe.

Onto the aces... you have the right idea on Fel and Carnor.
Inquisitor typically runs with Title, Push the Limit and Autothrusters.
As tempting at the normal Tie Advanced is, you want to avoid it until you get the title from the Imperial Raider epic ship.
With an Aces style list, you may want to leave 2 or 3 points available to get the choice on initiative for competitive events. That way you can choose to move first or shoot first for other ships that tie your pilot skill.

For the inquisitor take Autothrusters and the title as standard, you can take push the limit but that limits you in terms of movement options, personally I'd recommend juke.

Welcome to X-Wing hope you enjoy the game

Swarms are tricky to fly but fun, my recommendation for a swarn would be something like

“Howlrunner” with Adaptabilty EPT and Stealth Device

Black Squadron Pilot x 4, with Crackshot EPT T

Black Squadron Pilot x1, with Draw Their Fire and Shield Upgrade

I prefer Black Squadron over base AP pilots as although you'll be most likely a ship down against an AP swarm the higher PS should balance that out, also PS4 is handy against Jumpmaster lists, the access to the Crackshot EPT also helps TIEs put dents in ships they'd normally struggle against, usually other 3 agility ships, the final TIE is a bit of an experiment but designed to try and save Howlrunner from an Alpha Strike or bad crit, annoyingly the Crackshot card is only found in the Khiraxz fighter at the moment but there's more than enough sites to pull proxys from outside of tourny play, When playing the swarm I'd recommend trying to burn down the enemy Ace's first, especially any that can regen shields, this is easiest to do at the start when you have lots of fire arcs and chances to 'block', in X-Wing terms blocking means to fly your ships where you think the opposing ships may try to go, this is part of the swarms strength as it means the enemy ships a) don't end up where they want and b) lose their action which are vital to some Aces, also always* always Evade with Howlrunner, her ability for re-rolls is very important to the extent her personal output is mostly doesn't matter,

I'll have a ponder about the Ace's but as I understand it most Ace's lists are current a Shuttle carrying Palpatine (again here proxys are good) and two Aces

* or mostly always if you can barrel roll out of fire arcs thats even safer !

Wow, thank you for the helpful responses!

I guess it's the swarm list that I am most interested in using, so let's focus on that. In my first game I had 7 TIEs (Howlrunner + Shield Upgrade, Youngster + Marksmanship, 5 x Academy) against a Corran Horn E-Wing and a Miranda K-Wing with lots of bombs and missiles. I tried to deploy in two ranks (so three and four wide) and just couldn't get round the asteroids effectively, I eventually took out the K Wing but fell out of formation and the E-Wing just arc dodged around the back and picked everyone off.

So what I was thinking was that I actually want 6 TIEs so I can fly in a 2-wide and 3-deep column which seems a bit easier. I've seen deployment maps about having a 2 x 2 box with TIEs 5 and 6 sideways on and I've been practicing making that work. This leaves 22 points if I have 5 Academies and a naked Howlrunner, 19 points if I give her a stealth device (seems better than a shield upgrade?). Corran Horn seemed really effective dodging behind my formation and picking guys off so I was thinking that a seventh ship trailing behind somewhere might be a good counter. The shuttle just seemed like a solid and hard hitting ship for that kind of role. Maybe one of the better TIEs like Backstabber or Zeta Leader + Wired might work better instead?

The crack shot thing seems good but the cost is kind of holding me back because I don't want any of the ships it comes with and I would need 6 of them (we're not playing with proxies at the moment). Also it wouldn't help with the 'arc dodger at the back' problem, although maybe this was more my error in letting that happen and not recovering quickly enough.

Yeah, buying enough copies of a card like Crackshot can be daunting. Unless you are going to an event, most people are good if you proxy or use a printed list.
I like flying 2 elements of Ties. If you've ever been to an Air Show, you may have seen a group like the USAF Blue Angels (The RAF has the Red Arrows, right?). One group of 4 with Howlrunner as the anvil coming from the front. Then an element of 2 to be the hammer (from the side or behind). If you get good, you can arrange all 6 to be within range of Howlrunner when you engage your target and wipe it off the board. That's the idea at least. I've only pulled it off once or twice against good opponents.

Crackshots popular too so even buying the singles separate is expensive.

Doesn't crackshot come in the Aggressor too? And since you want 2 of those, that's hapf your needs met.

 Mathieu Raymond wrote:
Doesn't crackshot come in the Aggressor too? And since you want 2 of those, that's hapf your needs met.

Nopes, although given the amount of Crackbots lists floating about it's an easy assume to make

 Turnip Jedi wrote:

 Mathieu Raymond wrote:
Doesn't crackshot come in the Aggressor too? And since you want 2 of those, that's hapf your needs met.

Nopes, although given the amount of Crackbots lists floating about it's an easy assume to make

Hound's Tooth Expansion Pack
Kihraxz Fighter Expansion Pack
Imperial Veterans Expansion Pack (when it comes out)

I found a job lot of 4 on ebay at a not-terrible price, should be getting them in a week or two. I can buy one Kihraxz fighter (hate the model, but you get Predator as well I guess) and then maybe Imperial Veterans when it comes out.

In the meantime I think I will either try 8 naked TIEs or 5 Academies, Howlrunner, and a shuttle or Backstabber. Just to practice moving swarms around until my crack shots are all together.

I played a Shuttle with HLC and Electronic Baffle at league yesterday... Being able to pull the hand brake (full stop) two turns in a row messed up my opponent who was counting on bumping. It eventually caused him to fly off the board. I'm impressed.