Ah I see, that's what I was missing. Still, that's a pretty fragile deployment, a well placed rock or two could really mess it up. Even if you just stop one upsilon from being able to come in hard, having a 1 vs your list trade isn't the worst. I'll have to convince someone to play it against me and see what it's like.

I'm aware they can deploy quite far forward, but their fastest move is still only a 3-forward. I haven't mapped it out on vassal yet, but can the upsilons still reach you turn 1 if you deploy as far back as possible, parallel to your back edge, and just do a straight move Turn 1? If not, there's your Turn 1 stall. EDIT: Nope looks like the upsilons cannot reach you if you do an extreme stall. If I'm doing my maths right, you should still be OK in your deployment zone.

Not that I've actually played against this squad, but it's essentially a variant of the old 4x Shuttles/U-Wings, so I'd be looking at using the same tactics: 1) Keep your ships fairly split up so they can't just joust your whole squad. These kind of squads hate the old bait and switch. 2) Use the rocks to your advantage. Big arc'd ships are really bad at fighting in even loose asteroid fields. 3) Stall combat until turn 2 (when the upsilons lose their token stack). Once you drop an upsilon, it becomes a lot easier, and if you drop a second it's essentially a win barring a timeout.

Yes. He's called Finn.

It's also an option. I prefer selfless because it techs against other torpedoes, but i can see an arguement for intimidation.

I've found the U-wing to be really good support for the other two Rebel powerhouses: 61 Wedge w/ ProtonT, Config. 83 Luke w/ Supernatural, ProtonT, Config. This leaves you with 56pts for a U-wing to act as blocker/support for Wedge by Coordinating him a focus for a double-modded Proton Torp, and using Selfless to soak hits off him. In my experience there's 3 strong choices, which are somewhat meta dependent: 50 Heff w/ Selfless, TacOfficer, Config. - The cheapest U-wing pilot with an EPT. You still have 6pts left over for some more upgrades, or a 6pt bid. Personally I like adding Trickshot to Wedge and R5 Astromech to Luke, but regardless you have options. 52 Cassian w/ Selfless, TacOfficer, Config. - A great choice if you're seeing a lot of Stress control. Again you have 4pts left that can be kept as a bid, or sprinkled as upgrades. 55 Magva w/ Selfless, TacOfficer, Config. - My favourite U-wing pilot currently. Not only does Magva help against other ordnance lists, but she has the added bonus of being hyperspace legal! Keeping the 1pt as a bid seems silly, so I'd stick Trickshot on Wedge (the 5-dice Proton Torp happens more often than you'd think).

I think the problem is the ships that like them (A-wings, Z95s, TAPs, etc) aren't all that useful atm. I've tried them on Arvel a few times, and they were actually pretty good. Getting a guaranteed damage at R3 and keeping the lock for a followup shot is pretty good on a 2 dice primary ship.

As others have said, Predator is your best bet. It keeps him cheap, and he should get a couple triggers out of it a game if flown well. Lone Wolf is also good on Soontir, but it's best when Soontir only has 2 other squad mates. Ruthless is the final Talent I've tried, but this one was specific to my Sloane list. I'm not sure if it works in any other list, as Predator/LW are probably better in general.

It's great at mulching medium and big ships, and at 4 points it's a steal.

I guess we'll have to just agree to disagree. Regardless, just sticking with the 1.0 static initiative determined by bids seems a bit lazy. Surely there's a more elegant way to handle tied initiatives.

Not necessarily. Being able to plan for and adapt to a changing situation is a skill in and of itself.

Rather than an alternating initiative I'd much prefer you just have a roll-off each round for it. It's easier to remember than a strict alternating one, and it removes the need to plan several turns ahead, whilst encouraging players to be somewhat flexible in their plans.

At 54 with predator, i think Soontir is great value. Throw him on a flank dial in a non-commital move and dare your opponent to try and trap him. If they ignore him he gets behind and does his thing, and if they turn to fight him, just bug out and enjoy having the other 146pts of your list in flank position.

I'm hoping he's just bad in 2.0. I think the red barrel roll, massive cost, and change to mobile arc will hurt him enough so he rarely sees play.

No.