I wasn't planning on buying the transport, but that just changed. I feel as though I've fallen victim to marketing.

Now everybody want to have a transport

Wes Janson shoots at Tarn Mison.

Prior to the attack Tarn acquires a TL on Wes. After the attack Wes removes that TL from Tarn. Is that correct?

[looks again at the Team Covenant store championship results]

Here's the thing, the more ships that are not the Falcon get better, the better Interceptors get. Yes, these releases are a pretty big nail in the Push the Limit coffin. But, Interceptors and A-wings have the best maneuvers to clear this stress. And in this environment, shedding stress is going to be key. Red Manuevers and stress giving Elite Talents are going to be very risky. Especially if you are facing some Ions. But again, the more people aren't using the Falcon, the better the Interceptor gets. You just have to focus on getting out of lines of fire more than attempting to evade attacks.

And with all this stress being handed out, Fel still enjoys his ability. And really, we just enter a new stage of the metagame. The Age of Tycho.

As someone who plays both factions, I have to say that it seems like the Rebels are getting all the fun toys lately. Between the tantive/transport, Imperial Aces, and Wave 4, I have seen a lot more interesting new options for both pilots and customization on the rebel side.

Hopefully the TIE phantom is really interesting, as Imperial Aces only has a couple really intriguing cards and all the Rebels' new stress tech and other token manipulation isn't going to do interceptors any favors, and of all the wave 4 ships the TIE Defender currently seems to have the least interesting gameplay possibilities (not that it will stop me from buying 3 or more of them)

As some have pointed out before I think Hobbie with R2-D6 and PTL or R5-K6 will make him rather deadly, although to do this makes him 27 or 29 points with I would think just as much of a target on his head. Though knowing these cards now along with the transport it seems like its escorts will probably stress the incoming fighters out so that the transport just acts like a big bat knocking out what survives as it lumbers by.

As for the Imperials I think this stress centered ideas may be trying to set up the Defender possibly, and of course there is still the fairly good chance that we will see some huge Imperial ships at Gencon. And perhaps their ships might focus more on heavy hitting hardpoints and tractor beams to make havoc with the Rebel's lower evasion rates.

Imagine how deadly a tractor beam could be if it reduced a ships evasion rate by 1 at the cost a target lock or certain range. It would be quite hard to prevent a bunch of ships like the Firespray, Interceptor, or really any Imperial ship from blasting them down even further.

As someone who plays both factions, I have to say that it seems like the Rebels are getting all the fun toys lately. Between the tantive/transport, Imperial Aces, and Wave 4, I have seen a lot more interesting new options for both pilots and customization on the rebel side.

Hopefully the TIE phantom is really interesting, as Imperial Aces only has a couple really intriguing cards and all the Rebels' new stress tech and other token manipulation isn't going to do interceptors any favors, and of all the wave 4 ships the TIE Defender currently seems to have the least interesting gameplay possibilities (not that it will stop me from buying 3 or more of them)

Okay, quick recap:

• Which faction has exclusive access to bombs?
• Which faction has the only Large ship with more than 1 Agility?
• Which faction has exclusive access to unavoidable critical damage through Vader? [EDIT: okay, Ten Numb can do this too, but the doom shuttle is a lot more cost-effective.]
• Which faction has exclusive (upcoming) access to the cloak action?
• Which faction has the cheapest platform for Flechette Torpedoes?
• Which faction has exclusive access to stack multiple upgrades on a single ship?
• Which faction has exclusive access to generic PS6 pilots with EPT?
• Which faction has Howlrunner?

The Rebels are getting all the new shiny stuff right this minute because they're getting the initial Huge/Epic/Cinematic/Whatever releases. But the Empire still has plenty of shiny stuff to go around...

Here's an interesting thought for the Imperial side. Tie bombers with 2 Flechette Torpedoes and a Ion Pulse. Could do something like this...

3x Scimitar Squad 2 Flechette Torpedoes, 1 Ion Pulse.

Captain Jonus, 2 Flechette Torpedoes, 1 Ion Pulse and ST.

Could seriously lock down a 3-4 ship list with stress and Ion's.

Here's an interesting thought for the Imperial side.Tie bombers with 2 Flechette Torpedoes and a Ion Pulse.Could do something like this...3x Scimitar Squad 2 Flechette Torpedoes, 1 Ion Pulse.Captain Jonus, 2 Flechette Torpedoes, 1 Ion Pulse and ST.Could seriously lock down a 2-4 ship list with stress and Ion's.

Only for a short time though, hopefully you could cripple the other side enough to get those bombers dogfighting.. effectively...

The rebels aren't really getting anything that spectacular. The pilots and astromechs are nice, and they are getting some decent crew, but the huge ships aren't going to effect standard play. And the empire is getting six new pilots, many of whom are just as impressive looking as the new rebels. The interceptor is a beast, the only reson it doesn't perfomr well in high level play is because the people love turrets right now. But I think an influx of ways to give stress is in their favor since they can shed it without being nearly as predictable as other ships.

I do like that we are going to be seeing the lowest Pilot skill unique pilot yet with the Transport. And with a very nice ability to boot.

Only for a short time though

True, but that's still 3 attacks with 3 dice each at range 3. Jonus letting you reroll 2 dice per attack. Against a B-Wing that can't use AdvSen due to strees/ion I'm gonna say you can take 2 ships before the B-Wing has a chance to really do what it does best.

I see bomber builds having a variety of ordinance being more effective then giving a bunch the same.

_{Gamma with Ion Missil and APT - You don't spend the lock for the Missile then roll in and drop the hammer with the APT}

_{Gamma with Flechette Torp and Clusters. Stress them out at long range and then they become more predictable so you can then get a good shot with the Clusters. Fun stuff.}

I see bomber builds having a variety of ordinance being more effective then giving a bunch the same.

Perhaps, but either way 2 and 3 point ord is going to be a pretty big boost to the Bombers.

I'm worried about Wes shutting down secondary weapons. He doesn't have to hit, just attack, to strip a bombers target lock and prevent it from being able to fire its ordnance.

I also don't have a rule book handy, but can you declare a target that is out of range? You would roll no dice, but would r3-a2 trigger?

I see bomber builds having a variety of ordinance being more effective then giving a bunch the same.

Perhaps, but either way 2 and 3 point ord is going to be a pretty big boost to the Bombers.

It's a boost to everything, I think, but the Bomber is one of the few ships whose principal use is to deliver ordnance--they're acceptable dogfighters, particularly supported by Howlrunner, but by no means spectacular. And since one of the major drawbacks to their deployment has been that ordnance is too expensive to justify its use… yeah, I think there's a change a-comin'.

ETA:

No, you can't declare a target that's out of range.

No you can't.

I'm worried about Wes shutting down secondary weapons. He doesn't have to hit, just attack, to strip a bombers target lock and prevent it from being able to fire its ordnance.

I also don't have a rule book handy, but can you declare a target that is out of range? You would roll no dice, but would r3-a2 trigger?

I believe no; it has to be in arc and within range to be a legal target.

I'm worried about Wes shutting down secondary weapons. He doesn't have to hit, just attack, to strip a bombers target lock and prevent it from being able to fire its ordnance.

I also don't have a rule book handy, but can you declare a target that is out of range? You would roll no dice, but would r3-a2 trigger?

No you can't declare a target that's out of range. Think of your firing arc as an area, if your opponent has a ship inside that area then the effect triggers.

Wow that got fast

I see bomber builds having a variety of ordinance being more effective then giving a bunch the same.

Perhaps, but either way 2 and 3 point ord is going to be a pretty big boost to the Bombers.

Yea, I agree. Honestly I expect to see a lot of Flechette torps, even on X/Ys just because of the really nice cost, kinda like how the Seismic makes an appearance regularly with bombers just because its nice filler for 2 points.

He doesn't have to hit, just attack, to strip a bombers target lock and prevent it from being able to fire its ordnance.

That's one of the things mentioned in the write up actually. But Wes is unique so he can only do this once per turn. But picking the right moment to do it, could be a big deal.

That's one thing I like about these new pilots and droids, as well as some of the ones in the Imp Aces, they seem to add more depth to the game by having abilities that may not always be handy but at the right moment could have a huge impact.

I also don't have a rule book handy, but can you declare a target that is out of range?

Bombers will also be immune to the stress effect from Flechette Torps which will be a nice boon to them.

I'm concerned that all this stress is going to slow the game down with everyone limiting themselves to green moves to try and clear the stress, multiple stress preventing actions, it seems like the game will suddenly be a lot less maneuverable and have less attack enhancements (can't focus to TL if stressed). So you'll gave to spend more time lining up shots that won't cause as much damage.

Could be wrong, but that is what it looks like to me now.

Is it just me, or was everyone previously complaining about A-wings and Interceptors not being viable... now, with all the stress-inducing things coming out, they just became extremely viable, since they are the most able to shed stress in the game.

I don't see this change as bad, nor good, just a change. A shift in the meta, further away from Falcon+2ships / 7+ TIEs and into ordnance, A-wings/Ints, and more varied squads as a whole.

I'm concerned that all this stress is going to slow the game down with everyone limiting themselves to green moves to try and clear the stress, multiple stress preventing actions, it seems like the game will suddenly be a lot less maneuverable and have less attack enhancements (can't focus to TL if stressed). So you'll gave to spend more time lining up shots that won't cause as much damage.

Could be wrong, but that is what it looks like to me now.

It could go the other way. A ship with stress is more predictable. Especially with four or less green maneuvers. Not performing an action means no token for defense. So Ships die faster and the game is shorter.

Bombers will also be immune to the stress effect from Flechette Torps which will be a nice boon to them.

I don't see why this is, can someone please explain?