Talk:Upsilon-class Shuttle Expansion Pack/@comment-32692519-20180626221010/@comment-454133-20180627060254

The Lambda is very cheap, and tends to be the vehicle of choice for Emperor Palpatine. However, it has perhaps the worst dial in the game; once they get behind you there's very little you can do. There are some somewhat neat support abilities on some of the pilots, but I almost never see them used. People either field the cheapest Lambda to carry Palpatine, or field a TIE Shuttle instead.

BTW: The new TIE Reaper is almost as cheap in points and has far better mobility and abilities. Whether you're fielding Palpatine, other crew, or just looking for an interesting ship, it's probably going to do a better job. The Lambda hasn't aged well, and Palp is about all that keeps it viable compared to other ships.

The Upsilon is quite a bit more expensive to field than the Lambda, but its 4 attack power makes it a lot scarier and its dial is a bit better. Major Stridan is great for crew abilites (e.g. Systems Officer, Fleet Officer , Inspiring Recruit , etc), and Kylo is good at making enemies a little more heistant about targeting your support craft (and the title helps hamper ships that want to k-turn behind you). Truth be told, just like the Lambda, it's rare to see an Upsilon on the table these days. Rarer than the Lambda, since it's not a cheap way to carry Palp. It does have good upgrade slots and tends to fair better because people are afraid to get in front of it, but it soaks so many of your points, it's tricky to use well.

Both come with good upgrades in their boxes, and they're both great-looking ships (though I prefer the classic look of the Lambda, IMO).

If you're willing to proxy cards you don't have (and I recommend proxying -- it's a far cheaper way to field effective armies than buying every expansion for the cards), IMO go with the Lambda as a Palpatine carrier. If Palp doesn't excite you, go with the Upsilon; IMO it's a more fun ship. Also the Decimator has a lot of crew slots already, so the added firepower of the Upsilon is a bonus. And Stridan's wide officer reach gives you great options. If you really need a much, much cheaper crew carrier than the Decimator though, the Lambda, TIE Reaper, or a TIE Shuttle would do the trick.

However, it's worth noting that with 2.0 coming out soon, we don't know which ship will be better since a lot of info isn't announced yet. If you're planning on converting to second edition, maybe wait and see? It comes out in September -- the wiki for it is here, in case you're interested.