As I do, I have put together a ship comparison table of for my First Order and Resistance 2e fleets, just to see how they stack up and reassure myself that I have not overlooked anything.

The first thing that struck me is how small the table is compared to my 1e Bare Bones one. Two factions and small ones at that only supplies 16 ship types, including a fudged CR-90 (Rebel with generic crew, because well, you saw it, there was one in the final movie’s battle).

All of the types are covered, from the light fighter to huge combat ship, through support, wild card and specialist ships, but there is no denying, ship choices are retty limited.

Looking deeper though a few things have become evident.

The ships are really versatile and well rounded.

• The T-70 for example, can play the role of the X, E, B Wings and Z 95, thanks to it’s better dial, Tech upgrade and multi role Hard Point (Cannon or Torpedo or Missile).

• The “B-17” like MG-100 has depth and interest value, thanks to much better upgrade options than in 1e and is the only bomber in either faction.

• The RZ-2 is better than the original A Wing and is the perfect foil to the T-70.

• The Tie/sf is a better Ordnance carrying multi-role ship than the sluggish bomber, almost like an evil ARC-170.

• Even the Tie/fo has a Tech slot and single shield, making it much more robust and interesting than the ordinary Tie.

• There are no really weak or worse still, boring ships in either faction.

Deep pilot support for the supplied ships.

The Resistance for example have 39 combat pilots over just 4 ships (X, A wing, MG and Fireball). In 1e BB, the Rebels have 42 over 8 ships.

This means that the deeper level of play in 2e comes from more moving parts, more unique pilots, a wider upgrade selection (EPT, Mod, Tech, Title) and different play styles (Epic/Huge) that can be tackled with fewer ship options. Learn to play the basic ships, and then look at the huge variety within them. A bit like Chess really, easy core ideas, near infinite play options.

The factions are very different.

There are almost no like for like pairs between the factions. The Tie/sf and XT-70 are roughly equal, but no other two ships line up closely. This is good, because it means every ship is a new experience. In 1e, especially bare Bones, as I have shown in some recent articles, does manage to have the Rebel, Imperial or Scum equivalent of many ships, meaning there is a feeling of equivalence, rather than difference between factions.

Finally, everything in 2e play is covered.

Between the two factions there is a complete, if sometimes thin coverage of every facet of the 2e game.

All of the manoeuvres are represented, from reverse to pivot to S-Loops, K Turns and Talon Rolls. There are tight turning, fast straight line and painfully slow and predictable ships, all generally better (offering more) move choices than the earlier factions or 1e game.

All Actions are covered and all Upgrade types are represented (some specific ones are faction restrticted) .

Calculate Action only has 2 pilot options (but Crew aplenty), Force users 4, Illicit only 3 ships (5 slots, but some can be shared), 3 Titles and Turrets a mere 1, but these are all proportionately represented in the new meta.

I also have plenty of ships for full Epic play, with or without Huge ships.

Adding the Scum faction does deepen many of the weaker areas of this form of the game, but I am keen to stick to time line with these again.