Battle of Yavin Rebels Overview Pt. 1

SWZ96 Battle of Yavin

It is a dark hour for the Rebellion. The Empire has mobilized the planet-killing Death Star to assault Yavin IV and its hidden Rebel base. Plans for the battle station have revealed a small weakness in its defenses, and now the last hope for the galaxy rests on the shoulders of a handful of starfighter pilots. Luckily, we’ve prepared some new recruits for Rebel Alliance players who hope to restore peace in the galaxy.

The Battle of Yavin expansion introduces new Standardized Loadout (SL) ship cards to Star Wars™: X- Wing. These ships cannot be customized, but they have unique abilities or loadouts that you can’t find anywhere else. While they are great for the scenario included in the product, they can also be mixed into your current squads. This article will examine the Rebel Standard Loadouts from this expansion and how they can be used.

All the small base Rebel ships included in this pack have “Hope” added as a new chassis ability. This enables you to take a boost or focus action after another friendly ship is destroyed near you. With the Rebel T-65 X-wings and BTL-A4 Y-wings, try to take Target Locks when you can, and Hope might let you fully modify your dice or boost into range for an Advanced Proton Torpedo. It’s always fun when your opponent fears destroying one of your ships because you may get more benefit from it than they do!

Luke Skywalker has an iconic loadout of Instinctive Aim, Proton Torpedoes, and R2-D2. This enables him to set up zones where any opponent moving in will be the target of a Proton Torpedo. With his regenerating force and R2-D2, he requires a concentrated effort to destroy, which many opponents won’t be able to commit to and succeed. Attack Speed lets him threaten these attacks at very long ranges: he can 4 straight, Attack Speed, and get an action to threaten something that started almost two range rulers away from him. He also can use Attack Speed to reach and interact with far away objectives, and still have force modifications to his own defense. Note that Attack Speed isn’t an action, so you can still use Hope’s boost on the same turn.

Wedge Antilles is like Luke: he has shield regeneration, Attack Speed, and a Proton Torpedo. Unlike Luke, who is setting traps and performing objective actions, depending on force for defense, Wedge is more fragile and must stay on the flanks. He focuses on destroying enemy ships and letting wingmen handle objectives. Wedge prefers to have wingmen that draw attention from him and power his ability. His ability doesn’t work with his torpedoes, but if you get the chance to fire your torpedoes, you still want to.

Biggs Darklighter is the final “Trench Run” X-wing. Again, he has shield regeneration, Attack Speed, and a Proton Torpedo. However, he is more defensive than the other two. Pair him with a higher initiative pilot: his ability lets him shoot earlier, and Selfless lets him keep that wingman alive. A high initiative, fragile ship like Fenn Rau in his Fang Fighter would be an excellent option for him to guard.

These X-wings are primed and ready for their attack run, but they aren’t the only new ships in this expansion. We’ll be back soon with a look at some more Rebel reinforcements that are on the way!