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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Lit [Fantasy Flight Games] Because it just keeps getting better

Discussion in 'Literature' started by The Loyal Imperial, Sep 7, 2012.

  1. AdmiralNick22

    AdmiralNick22 Retired Fleet Admiral star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 28, 2003
    Hmm, there is a poster over on the FFG message board that claims to know what's coming out in the wave. I gather he might be an artist working freelance for FFG, regardless the posters there seem to take him seriously.

    A good sign that another wave is inbound! :D

    --Adm. Nick
     
  2. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2001
    Ha, I was just over there debating the best mechanics for toturing your PCs for information.

    good times... :eek:
     
  3. Darth_Henning

    Darth_Henning Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 1, 2007
    I for one will be a little surprised if they feel the need to totally change the Bothan's appearance. Sure the name wa created onscreen, and then their appearance developed off-screen, but after 30 years doesn't t make more sense to just go with the appearance that has become ubiquitous for them rather than creating something completely contradictory for...really no reason?
     
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  4. Gamiel

    Gamiel Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2012
    But which one of their ubiquitous appearances should they have used?
     
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  5. Noash_Retrac

    Noash_Retrac Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 14, 2006
    I tend to like the furry mammallian species though I also consider the Bothans to be shapeshifters like Clawdites and the Shi'ido, though can only really take on humanoid forms because of similar bone structures.
     
  6. AdmiralNick22

    AdmiralNick22 Retired Fleet Admiral star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 28, 2003
    I've noticed there is a lot of chatter over on the FFG forums about introducing a "super" scale ship to Armada, namely the SSD Executor. It's interesting how spilt people are about this idea. It's of course hypothetical at this point, but I can see both sides make a compelling argument.

    Personally, I think it would be a mistake. The scale would be too off, plus it's size and firepower would make it difficult to use on a 3x3 or 3x6 game area. You'd also have to increase the points allowed for fleet building. Lastly, they probably have to introduce a comparable ship to give the Rebel player a chance, which seems unlikely.

    Thoughts?

    --Adm. Nick
     
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  7. JediBatman

    JediBatman Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 3, 2015
    They were always cat people weren't they? Sure details changed with the artist, but the basics stayed the same. Bothans aren't unique in this regard, noghri and cathar changed too. Hell Ponda Baba went from furry arm to fish arm between scenes!

    I'm inclined to agree with Darth_Henning that it makes little sense to change Bothans when fans already have a set idea of what a Bothan is and its been that way for so long. But then again, things like Boba Fetts backstory and Dathomir were changed significantly, so there is a precedent for this sort of thing
     
  8. JediBatman

    JediBatman Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 3, 2015
    I still haven't played it so my opinion is probably uniformed, it here it is anyways :)

    I agree with the problems of scale and gameplay you mentioned. But then again they made a corellian corvette, imp raider, and imp assault carrier for x-wing didn't they? So I'd say introducing the ssd to armada is unlikely, but not impossible.

    How would they balance it for the rebels? Well they could make the viscount class star defender, that's the Mon cal equivalent of an ssd. Otherwise they could use stickers to indicate its an ssd the NR has captured
     
  9. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Nov 28, 2000
    From what little I know of the actual rules, it seems the SSD adds little value. It would basically replace an entire player's fleet and represent the game equivalent of a boss fight.

    Fun once maybe. But not as flexible or strategic.

    On the other hand, I'd love an SSD made with FFG's usual attention to detail......

    But yeah. I don't see it happening or bring desirable.


    Missa ab iPhona mea est.
     
  10. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2001
    It feels like it would be the AT-AT from the WOTC minis game, to be honest Nick.

    Or, like putting an ISD in X-Wing.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Yeah so those are Victory class, meaning an SSD would be the width of the map.

    But, remember, the Corellian Corvette was never going to work in X-Wing so they'd never release it...
     
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  11. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Nov 28, 2000
    It's almost making me laugh to say this but that XvT screenshot there is not to scale... that's an 8km SSD there. ;)


    Missa ab iPhona mea est.
     
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  12. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2001
    Well that's what WEG listed so it's correct.
     
  13. AdmiralWesJanson

    AdmiralWesJanson Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    May 23, 2005
    I think it would be epic if FFG DID release the Executor, as a playmat instead of a ship.
    Like this image adjusted to fit a 3x3 mat.
    [​IMG]
     
  14. AdmiralNick22

    AdmiralNick22 Retired Fleet Admiral star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 28, 2003
    Or do a wicked cool top down view of it, so when you're looking down on your game mat all the ships look like they are fighting above it. :D

    --Adm. Nick
     
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  15. JediBatman

    JediBatman Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 3, 2015
    I did some googling and saw someone had used a Lego Star Destroyer in a game of X-wing. This made me wonder if you could do the same for the SSD, but for Armada.

    Turns out the Lego SSD is 50 inches long, so it definitely wouldn't fit on the 3 foot by 3 foot mat. Also, it's about 6 times longer than the 8-inch Star Destroyer. If everything was to scale, the SSD would have to be 12 times longer than the ISD.

    Also if any image deserves to be a "top down SSD themed X-wing map", it's this one.

    [​IMG]
     
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  16. Noash_Retrac

    Noash_Retrac Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 14, 2006
    I know this will probably spark debates again but I preferred it when the Executor and her sister ships were only 8,000 meters long. Felt much more realistic to me.
     
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  17. Nobody145

    Nobody145 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Feb 9, 2007
    I don't actually play the game, so most of my opinions are just random speculation. It'd be funny if they built an SSD model that was the size of those giant X-wing miniature capital ships (Corvette, Raider and a few others I think?). Would completely throw off the balance of the current Armada game though but would look awesome.

    It'd be fun if the Rebels had something to take on an Executor, though capturing an Executor-class during the Galactic Civil War is straining things a bit. The old Rebellion game had a Bulwark as the Rebel SSD-equivalent, I think? And not like E-wings were around during the GCW back in old canon either but they made models of those too.

    One of the FFG books mentioned the Rebellion had a Maelstrom-class battlecruiser (I think?) but that maintaining it was difficult. Even introducing some of the battlecruisers would seriously change up the game. Though maybe something like a Praetor could sub in for two or three Imperial-class, but for the larger dreadnoughts, no. Not unless the Rebellion somehow got their hands on old Confederacy ship hulls, like the Subjugator-class, those could maybe stand up to the dreadnoughts. Too bad its the wrong era for the Nebula-class, the later New Republic Star Destroyer designs were going for small but powerful ships.
     
  18. AdmiralNick22

    AdmiralNick22 Retired Fleet Admiral star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 28, 2003
    As one of the grizzled, aged veterans of the SSD Wars on these very boards, I promise to perm ban any poster than ignites it again. [face_devil]


    #Modlyabuseofpowers



    --Adm. Nick
     
  19. Noash_Retrac

    Noash_Retrac Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 14, 2006

    Then I will no longer mention it either :)
     
  20. AdmiralNick22

    AdmiralNick22 Retired Fleet Admiral star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 28, 2003
    Whenever I bring up the SSD Wars, I feel like Sio Bibble. :p

    --Adm. Nick
     
  21. JediBatman

    JediBatman Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 3, 2015
    Our weekly update on Star Wars Rebellion: Rise of the Empire continues, this time with a discussion on the new units and tactic cards.
    https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2017/7/21/sw-a-galaxy-at-war/


    [​IMG]

    In combat the new units roll the green dice I mentioned last time, the ones that are blank except for two critical hits. So they're less likely to hit, but when they do they can damage smaller and larger units with equal success. Also the Interdictor (confirmed as coming from the Project Deck) and Shield Bunker have special effects:

    [​IMG]

    The Tactic Cards system has also been completely overhauled. First, a leader's tactic values no longer determine how many tactic cards he draws for space/ground combats, but how many dice he can reroll each combat round. And instead of the [​IMG] symbol meaning you get to draw a new tactic card, every one you roll means you can remove one damage. I know I previously dismissed complaints about added "randomness", but I'm not sure I like this idea. Say the Rebels are trying to kill a Star Destroyer to gain that Objective point, which can be tough. Under the old system if the Imp player got lucky with a lot of [​IMG]'s he could draw a lot of tactic cards, but they might not be the ones he needed, and chances are they wouldn't ALL be "block damage" cards. Now under the new system if the Imp player gets some lucky rolls he can just spam [​IMG]'s to undo the damage the Rebels do every round. Sure lucky and unlucky rolls happen (I once had a game were the Rebel player tried 4 or 5 different trench runs in one battle that were all unsuccessful), but I forsee much more cursing of the Random Number God in this new system.

    So how do these new tactic cards work? The ones from the base game are discarded, the Rebels and Imps each get their own Space and Ground tactics decks. Also some cards have a special effect it can use if a certain unit is involved. I really like this, giving each unit a special ability. Upset that in the base game you can't have your airspeeder do the tow cable trick? Now you can! Also some tactic cards let you capture/rescue a leader or even eliminate an enemy leader under the right circumstances.

    "When you use them, the whole flow of combat changes. No longer do you draw a number of tactic cards associated with your leader's tactic values at the start of combat. Instead, at the beginning of each round of space combat and each round of ground combat, you look through your tactics deck and choose any one card to place facedown before you. Your opponent simultaneously places his or her own facedown card, and then the cards are revealed and their effects remain in play throughout the combat round.
    These cards are then discarded and unavailable to you until after you’ve played the other seven cards in your deck, meaning that each of your choices in one battle will have repercussions in other, future battles."

    I'm a bit confused with the last sentence (not being able to spam the same tactic card in the same battle makes sense, but if it's saying you can't use it in future battles until ALL tactic cards have been used, that makes less sense. "All right gang, the Empire has walkers on Sullust, so we'd better use the tow cables!" "Nah, we did that last week on Felucia. It wouldn't be fair to use the same plan twice before we've used ALL our plans!"). But other than that I like this idea, sounds like it will lead to the sort of cat-and-mouse, "I could play this card, but what if he plays THAT card?" strategizing that Rebellion is all about.
     
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  22. TheRedBlade

    TheRedBlade Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 17, 2007
    My lovely wife tried ordering me a custom X-Wing mat using the Lusanyka vs Reaper painting, but the dimensions never lined up. The picture is basically rectangular, and it needs to be square to print correctly.

    I never thought of using this image, and I am now kicking myself.
     
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  23. Tzizvvt78

    Tzizvvt78 Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jun 12, 2009
    Back in 1980, there were no established rules for "realistic" ships in SW, so I don't know what this means. :p

    Sigh, looking at that model, I wish the shield generator had those cool insect-legs from the ROTJ concept art/storyboards.
     
  24. AdmiralNick22

    AdmiralNick22 Retired Fleet Admiral star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 28, 2003
    Rise of the Empire only contains 36 units. Not sure if they are split even 18/18, but I definitely hope I get at least 3-4 Neb-B's and half a dozen U-wings.

    --Adm. Nick
     
  25. Qel

    Qel Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jan 8, 2007
    Well my big box labelled 'Rebellion' arrived, this will take some learning I can see :D