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Hi, I am fairly new to X-wing.

I currently own both of the core sets, and I would like to build a list for both the rebels and the imperials that is balanced. For the Imperials, I would like Vader in it. What would be the cheapest way to do this. I think a tie swarm would be good, with Vader leading and maybe a tie interceptor as well harassing the enemy. For the rebels, I don't really mind what goes in as long as it matches up fairly evenly with the imperial list. That way I can play with my friends but own all the stuff. Large ships like the falcon and slave 1 look fun but expensive.

I also own an x-wing expansion pack, and an E-wing and Tie punisher.

Basically, the cheapest way to make these two lists for a beginner would be great! thank you in advanced.

Are you willing to proxy cards or print lists from list builders in order to forego them completely?

I ask this because Vader in his Tie Adv. really needs upgrades that only come with the Raider... and epic ship with an epic price tag. Or a GW price tag, I should say.

Lol. I'm totally fine with proxy cards, and I'm sure my friends wouldn't mind. For now I'm only playing casually, so tournamemts would only be a problem in the future.

Thank you

Then if you want Vader go for it. A single Interceptor will net you Soontir Fel, god among mortals, and that is a good starting point for Imps.

For rebels, the y-wing is a good workhorse, especially with the Twin Laser Turret upgrade, a smattering of B-wings and A-wings to taste, they all have their drawbacks and fortes, so play around. For the Millenium Falcon, you might want to get the Heroes of the Resistance pack, since it come with good T70 pilots.

What sort of ships can counter the falcon effectively for a balanced game? The 360 degree firing arc poses a real threat to ships like interceptors who try to stay outside of firing arcs. I think for imperials I'll go with Vader, an interceptor and a tie swarm for now. For rebels I'm not sure, though th falcon would be cool as long as it's balanced.

Thank you


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Though the rebel aces expansion looks pretty solid.

Batsam wrote:
What sort of ships can counter the falcon effectively for a balanced game?

Soontir Fel with stealth device and autothrusters, ideally with Palpatine. You're effectively immune to out of arc shots.

What the bird of doom just said.

Cool. Thanks. So a falcon with an xwing escort wouldn't just decimate a tie swarm wirh vader and an interceptor?

Hell no. The Falcon can only shoot once per round, barring gunner/Han shenanigans, so a Tie swarm could plink it to death.

Of course, you can rarely count on your opponent staying put, but eh...

I've found the falcon a bit awkward for intro games. On one hand its an iconic ship that everyone expects to see, on the other hand the 360 turret makes manoeuvring somewhat irrelevant for both sides, which I think puts a bit of a downer on the game.

If you do decided to run the Falcon then I'd suggest running Vader with something like Outmanoeuvre, in order to force a little more strategy back into the game. There are also quite a few Tie Fighter pilots that emphasise manoeuvring, such as Mauler Mithel and Backstabber. Soontir Fel is awesome, but be aware: if you have Fel, Vader, and Han in a game then you're going to have quite a lot of PS9, which isn't very thematic. Also Fel and Vader with their best upgrades are very powerful ships, especially together. If you're looking for a balanced and thematic game to play with friends, Palp Aaces might not be the best starting point.

Rather than trying to build two perfectly balanced lists, I'd suggest playing lots of smaller games 55-75points each, and try out lots of different combos. It's easier to learn what things do that way, and if it's not perfectly balanced then it doesn't matter, because you haven't invested too much time#: you can just play a second game and try something different.

Rey's ability emphasizes staying in arc as well, so although it is a turret, you are encouraged to keep her pointing towards the fight.

But small ships for the first few weeks is fine. Large bases play differently.

I'd also suggest avoiding turrets for introducing new players. It can lead to sloppy maneuvering habits

Heck, I think everyone should learn to manoeuvre a TIE swarm first. Everything else comes easily after learning to keep 8 ships from bumping.

Or the Sinister Six and all of their different PS...

Can I hijack this/hitch my wagon to yours?

My brother got me the Force Awakens starter for christmas, I spontaneously bought him an ARC-170 today (had to let off some Uni steam by buying hobby crap), sadly they were out of Ties for myself. He already owns a Falcon from xmas '15, so I'm seriously outgunned with my two Tie/fos, if he wants .

I can get Imperial Aces for 17.50€ from another store closing, the question is: one box or two? They have two left.I like the ship's design and I'll repaint (and we can proxy cards), so I wouldn't end up with unusable ships, but four might be a tad much. Still, nice price from what I see by looking at all my usual sites and ebay, two cool ships for the price of one, basically. I'll also get the Tie Phantom (don't love the look, but the idea of the ship) there for 10.50. Sadly no normal Ties outside of an old-school starter for 24€, which I'm not sure about. I want more, but that price doesn't seem that much of a steal that I'd have to get it *now*.

I mostly want to go pew-pew and the number one ship outside the aforementioned I want -for looks, mostly- is the Tie Punisher, with the Advanced and Bomber coming behind it. Sadly, I actively dislike the look of the Defender, which is a good ship isn't it? Maybe if I replace the pod with rocket looking cockpit...hmh. And a VT-49 Decimator, one day, but I want to stick to small bases and more "standard" gameplay mechanics first, so I'm in no great hurry to run/buy the bomber planes (except the Punisher, I want that yesterday) or anything besides the stuff from the closing sale, since that is time limited.

Imperial Aces has Push the Limit in it. So I'd say go for it. You'll use that card a lot.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Sorry, I fired off that reply before I wanted to. The Bomber, Punisher and Advanced (except for Vader) are a tad below the power curve at the moment. You can make it work, sure, especially in casual games, it'll be a bit more work.

And if your brother or regular opponent ratchets up the pressure, you'll have to set them aside.

Ah, as I said, cards are not an issue, we can just print the stuff. As is power level, we played our first "real" game on Tuesday (75 pts sine I didn't have more than two Ties and a Phantom, using actions but no upgrades and usually forgetting about pilot abilities) and I was busy flying like a drunk bat after the first attack run, turns out I can fly a small formation to its destination, but turning it around in limited space close to a table edge, oooh boy. Turns out you have to chose the OTHER direction on the dial to go where you want once the ships turned 180 degrees I think my brother regrets just throwing the asteroids on the table like that (we didn't catch the rules about correct placement, anyway, know I found them and I know why they exist).

However, I, uhh, stumbled over a collection for a low starting price on ebay, and, uh, after a week of nobody touching my tentative starting bid (100€) things, uh, escalated from there in the last few minutes, as expected.

So as of 45 minutes ago I'm 200€ lighter, but (probably, you never know with ebay) the new owner of

2 Lambda shuttles
2 Firespray-31 (custom painted, not that pretty, but I wanted one of those to repaint and model it like a flying conch, anyway; now this "Nautilis" will have a sister ship in standard pose...and I noticed the rear thrusters and the metal strip below it can be made to look like eye sockets and nose of humanoid skull, even better )
4x Tie Fighter from core sets
3x Tie Fighter from expansions
2x Imperial Aces
1x Tie Interceptor (so five total...hmh)
2x tie Phantom (with the one my brother gifted me in return for the ARC I got him, I could run three in a list...I better watch out for those asteroids )
1x Tie Advanced (well, who will fly that, I wonder)
2x Tie Defender (still don't like 'em...maybe with the wings flipped to enclose the cockpit?)
2x Tie Bomber
1x VT-49 Decimator

All cards, Black Squadron Pilot Promo, MOAR DICE and rocks, and plastic templates.

Oooops. That collection grew faster than expected

I might try and sell off some things like one of the shuttles and a couple of Ties, maybe one or both Defenders, maybe one of the Firesprays (but probably not with the paintjob and if I strip it and paint it to my standards it'd be to expensive to buy or a "loss" for me) maybe a Phantom or two, same with the Interceptors. If I make ~50€ back I can get a combo of Punisher, Striker and maaaybe the Inquisitor for a more than versatile collection with almost any combination of build for ~200€. My treat for fiinishing the last round of "regular" excams of med school with As and Bs, I'd say. I hope that line works on the GF/relatives who might think me mad

Not sure what to do about the Tie swarm, right now I (should) have 7 vanilla ones and two TIE/fo. As I said I might manage to sell some standard ones, but should I keep the rest as is, or mod some into TIE/sf or more TIE/fo?

As a huge Sabaton Fan I want to create my own fighter wings of black-hearted bastards from this collection, the Night Witches/Night Bomber Regiment (based on a real Russian female regiment) and of course the GHOST DIVISION. So instead of awesome Sabre Squadron I might have Interceptor aces with black stripes, once they earned them. I'm thinking the Ghosts are Phantoms and ??? (which ships ARE a good fit for clandestine missions?) go in, assassinate some unwanted targets and go home without any traces that lead back to the Empire or zoom past hostile fortifications and strike deep into their heartlands, showing nothing is out of reach for the Dark Side. Night Witches are of course bombers and their escorts, but also not sure what should go in there (besides the Punisher I'll get one day, which will be christened Clarion Call). Regular TIEs, an Interceptor, the Defenders? Where would Strikers go thematically? And should I name some of the witch ships after my Exes?!

1)You never have enough TIEs. I'd advise spending some time trying to master the swarm, as it is harder than it sounds, and will ease the rest of the game for you.

2)That is a really solid core. I'd play around with that for a while.

 Mathieu Raymond wrote:
1)You never have enough TIEs. I'd advise spending some time trying to master the swarm, as it is harder than it sounds, and will ease the rest of the game for you.

This. Once you're able to master the swarm, manoeuvring becomes so much easier for other ships