After a few months of sporadic Bare Bones* play and considerably more analysis, I feel it is time to look at the fleets and how they are stacking up, both in comparison to each other and to their “Full Noise” elder system sibling.

The Rebels first with (in brackets) their relative strength and flying experience.

B Wing (Strong, interesting)

Likely the toughest small base ship in this form of the game, the B Wing is mostly untouched from it’s FN version. The loss of EPT’s hurts most equally, but it can still access the Systems, Ordnance and it’s strong Pilots, which keeps many of the best builds largely intact. The System slot in particular becomes the Ordnance safety net with Accuracy or Thrust Corrector or Fire Control System. They are quite expensive, but make sense for the points and function well straight out of the gate (possible the strongest no extras ship in BB).

A Wing (Weak, fast and fun)

On the surface, A Wings without multi EPT slots may seem even more pointless than before, but remember, everyone is in the same boat. Gemmer, Tycho and Jake have strong pilot abilities, which without EPT’s or mods are now the dominant forms of action and dice control. The A Wing is the fastest ship in BB (Green 5 and Boost) and cheap enough for this form. Without Vectored Thrusters, only Jake can Barrel Roll, making him unique, which is fine.

X Wing (Varied options, average)

The poor old X Wing has lost the multiple ways it could re-position (FFA, Vectored Thrusters, Engine Upgrade, Expert Handling, S-Foils etc), so has to rely on squad tactics (wingman synergy) and unique Droid abilities. Again, most ships are in the same boat, so with a wealth of Pilots, and Droid options, they are still capable if a little dry to fly. In the realm of Star Wars Cannon, the X Wing was never a spry butterfly, rather a solid ride for good characters, so is it really far from the truth? If the A Wing is the light scout, the X Wing is the solid line fighter.

Y Wing (Strong, dull)

The Y Wing has no EPT slots to miss, but does feel some pain from missing Mods. Like the X Wing, it is a repositioning wasteland and needs it’s droids to either help with flying (R2) or shooting (various). Where it now shines again though is as a turreted gunboat in a less dynamic environment. Turret Primaries are nerfed in BB (R1-2, no mods), so Twin Laser or Ion Turrets on a Y Wing brings an old foil to the front of the line. Boring yes, but effective.The second build as missile carrier (or optionally bomber) fills a vital scenario or squad role, which is encouraged in BB.

E Wing (Average, fun)

The expensive and fragile E Wing most missed some of the defensive boosts Mods and EPT’s can offer, making the choice of Droid important. You can either go full bore offence or try for a balancing build like R2-D2, R5-P9, R5-D8 or R2-F2, but R7-T1 offers the Boost option. The Systems slot is generally Advanced Sensors, but Thrust or Accuracy Corrector could help offensively. Compared to the X Wing, they have more move options and the Systems slot. Compared to their full version, they feel more fragile and limited in options, but again, so do many others. BB squads are also often 120 points, so a 4 E Wing squad is possible.

Z95 (Weak-cheap, average)

Like the X Wing, the Z95 is in some pain without any repositioning options. The two pilots offer some small relief, but without Mods or EPT’s the humble Z95 becomes a well priced filler ship with the Rebels.

ARC-170 (Strong, average)

The ARC is already a tough and versatile ship. No Title reduces it’s Primary weapon strength, but not it’s dual arc usefulness and without the B Wing Title, it is the only Droid + Crew Rebel ship giving it several manoeuvre benefits over the similar Y Wing. This ship is still strong in this reduced meta, with some excellent pilots.

HWK 290 (Mixed, dull)

Like Pilot abilities, Crew float to the top as powerful dice and action modifiers. The HWK is not crippled without it’s title as it’s role as long range sniper and support is if anything, reinforced. The Rebels play team sports and the HWK is a great, economical scrum feed with highly thematic and synergic Crew (Jan Ors, Kyle Katarn), who can no longer bank Focus tokens. If anything Bare Bones puts the reins on over capitalising this real estate.

YT1300 (Strong, dull)

No “Fat Han”, but a reasonable “Dieting Han”. Losing the Falcon Title, Engine Upgrade, EPT’s and modified Turret Primaries*** leaves us with a tough ship, that can be made tougher, or supportive, but not a table dominating power house. C3-PO, R2-D2, Chewbacca, all make it tankier, while Leebo Crew can add a Boost (Engine Upgrade). Gunner and Luke make it toothier, but limited compared to FN builds, especially without the free defence mod of the Title. This is one of those cases in BB where incredible just becomes balanced goodness with a role to play.

YT2400 (Strong, interesting)

Much the same as above, with it’s native Pilot and Crew abilities at it’s core. Because of their cost, both of these ships tend to become squad defining, but their role changes to support/tank, rather than an unlikely uber fighter. The question is, does this reduce the game or enhance the story?

VCX-100/Sabine’s Tie/Attack Shuttle (Very Strong, very interesting)

The “Rebels” timeline was at first excluded from BB to keep the original movie only feel pure, but facing the facts that this is not realistic, it has been included again and with much happiness for all!! The Ghost, it’s crew and sister ships are a force to reckoned with out of the gates, so much so that BB probably makes them more powerful in their current company. No EPT’s, Mods or Titles do have an effect (especially to Sabine), but realistically, the power of this group comes from within. The Sheathepide is excluded in favour of the Shuttle, as the Shuttle is more relevant to the ethos of BB, early rules simple.

*

The game’s name-sake ship is the big loser here, going back to it’s originally boxed form minus included mods. More Pilots and Droids help, but it is now a fairly boring, medium tough ship. In BB though, it is not alone. Some ships (B, E Wing) are not effected greatly, some can even be built to optimum level with what is available, others become settled in a more defined role (A Wing, Y Wing, YT’s) and others (HWK, Z95) reduce the very real temptation of over spending on them, becoming fillers or reserves.

Bare Bones champions squad tactics, which it is felt plays more to the story than the game. Looking at the Battle of Yavin, individual ship antics played second fiddle to individual pilot characteristics in a squadron dynamic. All of the above perceived weaknesses (in comparison the full X Wing) lean towards that idea, so less is actually more. We feel it is in the interests of the spirit of the game, not just the game.

*

*Bare bones is 1st edition X Wing played with some upgrade classes (EPT, Title, Mod) completely stripped out with selected other mods along the same vein also removed, in an effort to reduce the multi layered synergy and action stacking that defined the later game**. Sometimes, later X Wing felt like a pill taken for the side effects of another pill etc. A lot of these things have been directly addressed in 2e, further validating the removal of these “band-aid” measures.

Native Pilot abilities and core ship stats are now much more relevant. Where a Pilot ability was one of up to four layers of dice modification or Action economy, it is likely now half or even all of it. This takes away the very real possibility of an impossible to kill target ship or an equally impossible to avoid damage dealer.

Modifications in particular can tend to make all ships seem equal, spoiling the Rock-Paper-Scissors balance at the very core of the game’s design. Titles were also, for the most part, a way of artificially balancing or enhancing ships in the later meta. If a ship does not have Boost or Roll natively, then unless a unique element such as a Pilot or Droid do, it has no way of getting them.

System, Illicit, Crew and Droid slots make each faction unique, Crew and native Pilot abilities are empowered and Ordnance are seen as all or nothing alpha killers.

The resulting game is clean, straight forward and still engaging, especially for new players who now only need to learn to fly better, not tackle expanded squad building as well.

**If the later game as a whole is analysed, as many have, almost without exception a half dozen or so Elite Pilot Talents, Modifications and Titles are considered mandatory on many/most ships and consistently make up most top 10 or 20 upgrade lists. This damages the game in several ways.

• If they are mandatory, then the slots they take up are effectively spoken for and predictable.

• If you are ignorant to this, but your opponent is not, then you are stuffed before you start.

• Many pilots are simply ignored as not viable, while others almost always get a go.

• It takes a lot of practice to perfect the multi layered synergies that are on offer, which becomes a further hinderance for new players.

• Many builds make effectively generic ships, nullifying their weaknesses, but in turn their character.

***Turret Primaries are limited to range 1-2 that do get the R1 mod. This makes them a good reactive, point defence weapon, but not stable enough for long ranged attacks. Dual or wide arc weapons do not suffer this restriction.