The Rebel Aces Expansion Pack for X-Wing (TM) Is Now Available
Courtesy of the BoLS Game Wire
“Proceed with the countdown. All groups assume attack coordinates.”
–Admiral Ackbar
The Rebel Aces Expansion Pack for X-Wing™ is now available at retailers everywhere!
Featuring one A-wing miniature and one B-wing miniature – both of which boast bold, alternative paint schemes – the Rebel Aces Expansion Pack adds tremendous speed and versatility to your Rebel fleet!
In our previews, we’ve looked closely at how the expansion’s unique A-wing and B-wing pilots work in conjunction with its host of new upgrades to allow these high-tech starfighters to fulfill a wider range of roles within your X-Wing squadrons. We’ve also seen how the expansion’s new mission, Jump to Subspace, serves both to highlight these starfighters’ strengths and train you as a Rebel squadron leader.
Now, the time has come for you to pick up the expansion’s new pilots, upgrades, and mission and bring them to battle!
Divide and Conquer
Rebel Aces makes it easier for your A-wings and B-wings to perform a wider variety of functions within your X-Wing fleets.
- In our preview, “A More Versatile A-wing,” we looked at how the expansion’s talented A-wing pilots can dart and weave across the battlefield to get into position for point blank shots against their foes. We also looked at how the new Chardaan Refit and Proton Rockets upgrades allow you to better define the ways in which your A-wings will function in battle, as dedicated dogfighters or as hard-hitting missile platforms.
A 360-degree view of the Rebel Aces A-wing miniature
- Then, in the preview, “B-Wing Expanded,” we explored how the expansion’s new B-wing aces and the B-Wing/E2 modification make it easier for your B-wings to break out of the formations in which they have traditionally flown. The abilities that Keyan Farlander andNera Dantels bring to battle, along with the talents of the crew that can join them, mean that your B-wings suddenly become some of the game’s most fearsome flankers.
A 360-degree view of the Rebel Aces B-wing miniature
Of course, the mere fact that Rebel Aces adds so many pilots and upgrades means that it bolsters the game with even more possible combinations of ships and upgrades, and as more of these possible combinations become viable at all levels of the game, your Rebel squadrons become less predictable.
For example, such unique and highly skilled pilots as Keyan Farlander and Jake Farrell are able to make extremely efficient use of many of the game’s existing elite pilot talents and other upgrades. Here, one of the likeliest options is Opportunist. A squadron built around Opportunist can utilize Jake Farrell’s A-wing as a much harder-hitting starfighter and affords Keyan Farlander consistent opportunities to take full advantage of his unique pilot ability.
Wes Janson (29)
Veteran Instincts (1)
R5-P9 (3)
Engine Upgrade (4)
Keyan Farlander (29)
Opportunist (4)
B-Wing/E2 (1)
C-3PO (3)
Jake Farrell (24)
Opportunist (4)
Chardaan Refit (-2)
Total Squad Points: 100
In this sample squad, Wes Janson is equipped with Veteran Instincts, Engine Upgrade, and R5-P9 because he’s the enabler. When he attacks, he can strip his target of an evade, focus, or blue target lock token. Accordingly, he can help Keyan Farlander and Jake Farrell trigger their Opportunist upgrades by removing evade or focus tokens from their targets. The Engine Upgrade modification helps ensure that Wes Jason gets his shot each round. With his Engine Upgrade, he can either adjust his firing arc to catch a foe, or he can boost out of an enemy’s firing arc, ensuring that he’ll live to fire another round. Likewise, R5-P9 can keep Wes Janson in the battle by helping him recover his shields, and that means more rounds that you’ll be able to trigger Opportunist for one or two more attack dice.
Keyan Farlander may very well be the Rebellion’s most opportunistic ace. Not only does Keyan Farlander gain an extra attack die when he triggers his Opportunist upgrade, he gains a stress token that he can spend to transform all his 
results to 
results. Also, because Opportunist doesn’t require an action, it leave Keyan Farlander free to use his actions to acquire target locks or perform barrel rolls, and this makes his maneuvers harder to anticipate than those of the average B-wing pilot. Combined with the added resilience that C-3PO provides, this unpredictability can help Keyan Farlander emerge victorious from even the most heated of battles.
Still, for all that Opportunist offers Keyan Farlander in this squad, it may be even more important an upgrade for Jake Farrell. When he’s able to trigger his Opportunist, Jake Farrell fires off primary attacks worth three dice instead of two. Suddenly, Jake Farrell’s A-wing hits as hard asLuke Skywalker’s X-wing, and the Chardaan Refit upgrade ensures that the two ships are similarly costed, even though Jake Farrell still gains the advantages of his A-wing’s tremendous speed and maneuverability. Thus, while Keyan Farlander is threatening your foe on one flank, Jake Farrell can race around the other flank, performing focus actions to increase the efficiency of his attacks and using his free boost or barrel roll actions to ensure he’s firing from the best possible positions.
Of course, it’s worth noting that the lowest pilot skill in this squad is “7,” meaning that you’ll likely be able to eliminate a good number of enemy ships before they even get you in their sights. However, given the increased importance of pilot skill in the evolving X-Wingmetagame, it’s worth considering a few possible substitutions to the squad that would have you dodging even more firing arcs and taking down enemy ships just a couple beats earlier. By trading away R5-P9, you gain three squad points, enough to equip Jake Farrell with the A-Wing Test Pilot Title upgrade and Veteran Instincts and leave two free to help you win initiative. In this way, you field a squad with pilot skills of “10,” “9,” and “7,” most likely winning ties on pilot skill, and you can outmaneuver even the trickiest TIE Phantom pilots.
Graduate to the Next Level
As a rookie pilot, you learned how to fly and fight in formation with your wingmates. However, as you improved in your piloting, you learned how to recognize weaknesses in your enemies’ tactics, and you began to learn how to exploit those weaknesses.
Now, as an ace, you might best serve your wingmates by breaking out of formation and punishing your foes for each and every mistake they may make. You might best aid the Rebellion by racing across the battlefield at top speed and pouncing upon unwary TIEs. You’ve learned how to push your ship to the limit, and where others may not know how to react when their ships straining against them, you do. In fact, you know that the ways pilots guide their fighters through the most stressful of its maneuvers are what ultimately separate the aces from the casualties of war.
It’s time to test the limits of your A-wings and B-wings. It’s time to put them through their paces, to race them across the battlefield, and to blast through screens of Imperial TIEs. The Rebel Aces Expansion Pack is now available at your local retailer!
About the Author: Rob Baer
