Battle of Yavin Rebels Overview Pt. 2

SWZ96 Battle of Yavin Rebel Pilots Pt. 2

Our last transmission focused on some of the pilots of Red Squadron found in the upcoming Star Wars™: X-Wing Battle of Yavin expansion. Today, we’ve returned with even more support for the Rebel cause.

Han Solo, in the Millennium Falcon, has “Solo” instead of “Hope”: if he has no other friendly ships near him, he can reroll a die while attacking or defending. Ideally, you want to fly him at range 2 of other friendly ships, so he can also use his pilot ability to perform free coordinate actions. In-combat coordinates are very valuable, especially with all the Proton Torpedoes in this faction. Typically, Han is going to have his turret pointed sideways and take flanking shots on enemy ships while evading for the free focus.

Garven Dreis, in his T-65 X-wing, is a ship that would like to get Han’s coordinate action. He will often be focusing to use his own ability, but his Advanced Proton Torpedoes need a Target Lock to fire. He also works well with Hera Syndulla in an A-wing or B-wing for token sharing shenanigans. Garven is a ship that needs to be in a squad with other pieces like Hera to take advantage of his ability.

If you want a piece similar to Garven, but don’t want a synergy ship, then Jek Porkins can hold a spot in your list. He also has Advanced Proton Torpedoes and an R5 droid, but his ability lets him ignore stress at a cost. Jek tends to draw a lot of attention and burn out quickly, so his unique upgrade of Unstable Sublight Engines will often come into play. Play aggressive with Jek, and make sure his inevitable sacrifice gives you an advantage with the other pieces in your list.

The Battle of Yaving brings Rebel players three brand-new Y-wing pilots that haven’t been seen in Star Wars: X-Wing before: Dex Tiree, “Pops” Krail, and Hol Okand. All three have Advanced Proton Torpedoes, an astromech, and a turret. However, they each have very different roles to play in lists.

Dex discourages attacks on him when near a friend. Opponents will often try to clear out his wingmen and ignore him. This will enable him to get in close to make use of his secondary attacks for longer than a typical Y-wing can.

“Pops” is here to focus on control and ionizing opponents. He wants to set up a trap where he can ionize a ship, and then target them on the next turn with his Advanced Proton Torpedos. Be careful not to lose “Pops” too quickly: he has no defensive bonuses and wise opponents will focus him down.

Hol is a very aggressive Y-wing. He can get a bonus target lock after performing another action, so can fully modify his dice, and he can fire multiple torpedoes per game using his pilot ability. Y-wings aren’t very nimble, however, so Hol benefits from other ships setting up his short-range attack runs.

The Battle of Yavin pack brings a lot of new options for Rebel players. Most of these ships don’t need special lists to shine, and you can try them in your current Rebel lists by just replacing one or two pilots with one of these Standard Loadouts. All wings, report in! The fate of the galaxy is at stake.