So I just realized, Elusiveness and Opportunist are not restricted to once a turn.Porkins can shed stress as he receives it. Sure he might kill himself anyway with elusiveness but it can help him avoid a probable kill shot. And opportunist, well that is theoretically an infinite die attack.

Did you guys notice the "here's how to fly the A-wing" post on their page too? I wonder if the designers feel some kind of way about the way those ships are often slighted.

To me it feels a bit like the developers of Magic; the developers are playing in a future meta with the cards we haven't seen yet, and expanding the game based on that meta (at MTG they call it the future future league).

Sometimes the public meta doesn't develop in the same way as the developers' meta and it's possible that in their league interceptors were much more prevalent, hence the response by adding a lot of stress to the game.

Mere speculation on my side of course.

I still maintain that stress favors interceptors since they have the second most greens in the game. I would say this is more a response to the b-wing if anything.

Being able to at-will stress a ship is actually pretty awesome. It stops them from K-turning next turn (which will be HUGE on a joust). It shuts down Advanced Sensors and PtL. It's pretty **** devastating in combination with an Ion Cannon Turret - one hit, no choice of maneuver and no action, guaranteed. At the absolute bare minimum it forces the ship into a green maneuver (or action denial) next turn.

If you just shrug at the idea of handing out stress at will, and what it can accomplish, you really haven't thought it through.

Agreed.

With stress simply being a bigger part of the game, players will face much more interesting choices. For example, do you choose a green maneuver to regain an action and thus fly more predictably (and limited) or do maintain the stress and choose a maneuver that allows for better positioning?

While I understand why people think that this hurts ships like the interceptor with PTL, I think we'll actually see their dials become far more valuable both because of the variety of options they have in the first place and the amount of green on those dials. Ships with limited dials and more red are going to find a lot fewer options and their dials more of a hindrance.

wonder how many folks are going to "Copy" the Droid cards in the transport pack!! lol

Ask yourselves how much something like this would have cost if it was made by gamesworkshop....and....you'd be happy with its current price

The amount of time to paint a model up, to the standard provided out of the box means hte price asked is well deserved.

I would spend a good 10-15 hours grueling on a model that size easy.

$80 + an X-wing and...STUFFS. A bargain.

While I understand why people think that this hurts ships like the interceptor with PTL, I think we'll actually see their dials become far more valuable both because of the variety of options they have in the first place and the amount of green on those dials. Ships with limited dials and more red are going to find a lot fewer options and their dials more of a hindrance.

I already considered that too, but keep in mind that half of the new Xwing pilots have anti-stress abilities, while half of the New imperial Aces have to take stress in order to use their abilities!

Rebels have 2 anti-stress pilots and soon, big vessels that are able to clear ALL the stress from a single ship at range 3.

The only anti-stress mechanic available for the empire ATM is Yorr. And it's easily overloaded...

Did you guys notice the "here's how to fly the A-wing" post on their page too? I wonder if the designers feel some kind of way about the way those ships are often slighted.

To me it feels a bit like the developers of Magic; the developers are playing in a future meta with the cards we haven't seen yet, and expanding the game based on that meta (at MTG they call it the future future league).

Sometimes the public meta doesn't develop in the same way as the developers' meta and it's possible that in their league interceptors were much more prevalent, hence the response by adding a lot of stress to the game.

Mere speculation on my side of course.

It has the scent of truth. It feels right.

I'm really diggin' into the possibilities R2-D6 will bring. That is incredible. It'll make Biggs even better, make for a big comeback of the Y-Wings (which kept disappearing during the last months in my Area). Man, a card like this as a Modification would even bring those middle class imperial generic pilots (Alpha, Saber, Black) into play...

I already considered that too, but keep in mind that half of the new Xwing pilots have anti-stress abilities, while half of the New imperial Aces have to take stress in order to use their abilities!

I think this development makes it more likely that Rexlar in wave 4 will add stress as well.

Did you guys notice the "here's how to fly the A-wing" post on their page too? I wonder if the designers feel some kind of way about the way those ships are often slighted.

To me it feels a bit like the developers of Magic; the developers are playing in a future meta with the cards we haven't seen yet, and expanding the game based on that meta (at MTG they call it the future future league).

Sometimes the public meta doesn't develop in the same way as the developers' meta and it's possible that in their league interceptors were much more prevalent, hence the response by adding a lot of stress to the game.

Mere speculation on my side of course.

I think it's true to some extent that the developers are playing a different meta. I mean, they have to be since that's all they have and are well ahead of us in terms of ship design and rules, but I think your view of it is narrow, and if they are desining things that way, especially for one of the biggest IPs out there, it's incredibly short sighted to react to any single wave-meta swing.

I'm more inclined to think they have a long term plan for the game's development, and that making stress more of a factor was always part of that plan, very likely from before the core set ever hit the shelves. That would also explain why some cards/pilots seem undercosted/overcosted when they first come out (PTL and Advanced Sensors among them, and I think Tychos current cost makes far more sense under that umbrella). That's far better, long term game design than other companies have and that's more likely what I think is going on.

I'm not saying they're perfect by any means, but I don't think they are nearly as short-sighted or reactionary as other game companies or as some here seem to think.

I already considered that too, but keep in mind that half of the new Xwing pilots have anti-stress abilities, while half of the New imperial Aces have to take stress in order to use their abilities!

Rebels have 2 anti-stress pilots and soon, big vessels that are able to clear ALL the stress from a single ship at range 3.

The only anti-stress mechanic available for the empire ATM is Yorr. And it's easily overloaded...

Good points, but we'll see how this develops and I'm not willing to include the big ships in any discussion on balance yet since that will be a different set of rules that we really know nothing about.

So I just realized, Elusiveness and Opportunist are not restricted to once a turn.Porkins can shed stress as he receives it. Sure he might kill himself anyway with elusiveness but it can help him avoid a probable kill shot. And opportunist, well that is theoretically an infinite die attack.

Except Elusiveness and Opportunist can only be used once per trigger.

Pure speculation, but there is talk on forums about this new "Wingman" Card in Wave 4...

People think, based on the partial text, that you can take a stress from a nearby ally. So, in theory, a list with Porkins and Hobbie can soak not only their own stress, but others' also. So, even when his buddy is stressed out, Porkins can still hold it. Thoughts?

wonder how many folks are going to "Copy" the Droid cards in the transport pack!! lol

They're unique, so you can only have 1 each per list. So no reason to make a copy if you own the transport pack. And considering what you get with it, the $40 for it online is a pretty good deal really.

Wow. Seems to be a massive over reaction by a large portion of the community posting in this thread.

I do not see a lot of these new toys for the Rebels to be meta-warping at all. Meta-changing? Sure, but it seems mostly to be more along the lines of meta-expanding more than anything else.

I see absolutely nothing here that says you can load up a bunch of new toys and be able to run a competitive 3 X-Wing list. Falcon builds aside good Rebel lists still need at least 4 ships and if you add in a kitted up Wes, Hobbie or Jek you have to drop something else from your list. Is anything new going to be strong enough to consider dropping Wedge? For certain builds yes but many others no way.

You also still need to keep some of these guys alive long enough to make an impact which means Biggs still needs to be kept in a huge number of Rebel lists.

The 100 point format does not appear to be changing for tournament play any time soon so your lists are still very much confined to a couple new wrinkles.

TIE swarms are still going to be strong. XXBB lists still will be strong. I haven't seen anything that is currently strong that will suddenly fall completely out of competitive play. I mainly see a widening variety of options and as long as we maintain a certain level of Rock, Paper, Scissors, etc. I don't see a major problem.

And I've seen it posted previously in this thread but it certainly is worth repeating: it's not just Imps that are impacted by the new stress dealing that will be going on. B-Wings with Advanced Sensors are also affected. But remember, just because one of your ships is affected by one of the new stress tricks doesn't mean you can't shoot back and it also doesn't mean all of your ships are affected. Now I'm not trying to say that these are gimmicks but it seems clear they are very limited in their ability to have a large affect on a given game. It adds another layer of strategy and can impact each sides decisions but it's still only a wrinkle, not a meta-warp.

Keep calm and carry on.

wonder how many folks are going to "Copy" the Droid cards in the transport pack!! lol

I would hope quite a few. I personally will be purchasing the transport when it's released because 1.) I enjoy competitive play and will want to ensure I have what I need and 2.) I am a bit of a completionist and won't be satisfied if I am missing that many X-Wing pilots and upgrades.

There appears to be tremendous value in what is included in the Transport, much more than I originally expected.

That being said I understand completely that this might not fit in someone's budget therefore I hope most people have relaxed enough gaming groups that printing off cards to simply enjoy and have fun that it isn't a big deal.

I like the new pilots, yes the interceptor will be harder to fly than before, but I’ll not cry about imperial until see what the Phantom and Defender can do, specially the last one which could be equipped with torps, so could carry flechetes as well.

2 questions for those more experience players

Do you think that the advanced will see more play now? Flechettes plus shield upgrade perhaps?

Lately the rebels started to build fleets around no-named pilots, with this new one, do you think we will start to see only named pilots on fleets again?

2 questions for those more experience players

Do you think that the advanced will see more play now? Flechettes plus shield upgrade perhaps?

Lately the rebels started to build fleets around no-named pilots, with this new one, do you think we will start to see only named pilots on fleets again?

(2) Rebels have been more successful with 4-ship lists than 3-ship lists since the game's inception, and I don't think anything about the new X-wing pilots will change that. Fundamentally it's still risky to run with ~15 hit points and just 2 Agility across the board, and I doubt that will change either.

do you think we will start to see only named pilots on fleets again?

I came up with a 4 Named X-Wing list and posted in the Transport Squad list thread. The problem is, there's really no room for upgrades, but it's a list I'll try at least once just for the sake of it.

Hobbie

Garven

Tarn

Porkins

I am still really trying to come up with a nice 3 ship rebel build and have one XXB that I think is decent but every time I've run it against my buddy's swarm I still hurt for lacking that extra ship. The latest list I've tried makes the three ships I have as maneuverable as possible but having four ships is always a plus. One of my favorite four ships builds is XXBB with Wedge, Biggs, and two Blues or just quad X with Wedge, Biggs, and two Rooks/Reds (if you forgo upgrades)

In terms of the new transport pilots I think I'd like to try Wedge, Janson, and Hobbie. Gives me 16 pts for upgrades.

I just can't get on board the Porkins-mobile right now. It's solely because he died so hilariously in the films. I think his pilot ability should have been something like, "whenever opponent is about to declare a target feel free to throw fried chicken and/or potato salad in their general direction, then remove this ship from play"

B-Wings with Advanced Sensors are also affected. But remember, just because one of your ships is affected by one of the new stress tricks doesn't mean you can't shoot back and it also doesn't mean all of your ships are affected.

Two things here.

First, if you take Advanced Sensors away from the B-wing, it's still a pretty impressive ship - it hits hard, it's pretty durable, and while you may not be able to make it dance like you could with Advanced Sensors it still has a pretty good dial. The problem with the Interceptors is that they're too fragile. They rely on two things: staying out of firing arcs, and loading up on tokens. Both these things are heavily enhanced by PtL. PtL Interceptors are only barely holding their own in the meta now, and that's largely thanks to Fel. If a B-wing ends up unable to use Advanced Sensors, it's fine. Fel with no actions is 30+ points of dead in a few shots.

To your second point, yes, it only affects one ship a turn. But Interceptors are already expensive for what they do. If you've got Fel at 30-33 points, or Turr at 28-31, having them stuck completely without actions just because an X-wing could shoot at them is absolutely huge.

Here's the question I'm very curious about for all the "It's fine" crowd: You rarely see Interceptors in competitive play, primarily because turret ships like the Falcon are such an effective counter. With the meta introduction of another very, VERY effective counter to Interceptors which will be broadly useful otherwise, do you really expect it not to impact their use??

I think Wes w/Veteran Instincts, Wedge w/Opportunist, and Luke w/Opportunist would be fun. Even leaves me a few extra points for upgrades. May be a little geared toward taking out large ships though.

And really, the Y-wing and the HWK are not why the Interceptors don't see play. It is 100% the Falcon. As for how the Interceptors will be fine after this drops? Interceptors will have to learn not to use Push the Limit every turn. Of course, you may not want to be putting all your resources into Interceptors anyway. Interceptors can do okay without double actions every turn.

It is 100% the Falcon.

I don't disagree, but look at the top 16 for the last few big tournaments, and how many Falcons do you see?

Now maybe it's that the Interceptors all get weeded out early because there's more Falcons in the bottom half of the rankings or something.

The Falcon or a Y-Wing with a Ion Turret is deadly to an Interceptor, but I wonder how much of the lack of them in Tourney's is because people don't bring them, because they don't think they can win with them. That and the swarm is simply a safer bet as a all comers list.

The Falcon doesn't actually have to show up to prevent someone from bringing Interceptors. All that needs to happen, is the feeling that Falcons will be played. Going into Worlds, I think people still felt that double Falcons would be popular. With Wave 3 still being pretty new, it was a safe bet.