Is there a place to buy only the upgrade cards from the expansion packs? Example, I like some of the cards in the shuttle pack, but I don't see myself ever using the miniature.

Nope. Ebay maybe, but good luck.

The shuttle is fun play around with, i think you mine as well buy it.

A few of the users on this forum (including myself) have speculated that they (FFG) distribute the upgrade cards throughout the expansion sets to 'encourage' players to buy all of the ships, in particular the Advanced sensors upgrade in the shuttle pack and 'Push the limit' in the A-Wing pack appear to be the best upgrades in the game yet are only in ship packs with some of the "less desirable" ships, depending on your personal perspective of course.

Additionally it makes it very hard to play competitively if you only ever want to play one faction as you may be forced to buy ships from the other faction just for the upgrade cards.

I had hoped that they might one day release pilot packs for existing ships that offer new pilots and upgrades without buying unnecessary additional ships, e.g. new interceptor pilots if you already have 5 interceptors, but with the advent of the imperial aces and Rebel Aces this is far less likely to happen now.

at the end of the day FFG are in it to make money and so they should but there appear to be some sales tactics that can be perceived as a mild for of extortion.

Of course the cost of this game pales in comparison to Warhammer etc so we really shouldn't complain too much

Pretty much what Mace Windu said. They aren't sold individually (except through some sites like ebay and expect to pay top dollar for them via this means), and aren't likely to be in the future either. Selling ships along with the cards ensures that stock is turning over even for ships that aren't deemed popular in whatever the current meta happens to be. This is good business both for FFG and their distributors and LFGS as it reduces the likelihood of stale stock.

Upgrades I can't really help out, however I would be will to sell or trade pilot cards, perhaps some of the unique upgrades cards like R2 or crew members.

due to the distribution of cards over the different expansions, people tend to "need" the same cards and as well have a surplus of the same card as most other players, which is usually a bad combination for a 2nd hand market.

When I need just one card available in an expansion, I tend to just proxy them. Not sure if that'll give you trouble at tournaments, but most players don't really care. Sometimes I can trade for them with friends who have more than they need.

If you don't want to spend more on extra ships the solution is quite simple - proxy for friendly games, borrow for tournaments. I doubt anyone would mind.

Alternatively and completely revolutionary, you could build a list from the stuff you have.

Once, you have the range of ships you want to play, you usually have enough pilots/cards to create a wide range of lists and I'm sure a few of these are competitive.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against proxies in a casual setup or testing a few custom builds per se, but for a normal game I just don't see a reason not to use the stuff at hand, in particular in a casual game.

eBay does have what you seek. I myself bought a Rebel Captive for my Kath on there, only to realise a few weeks later that the shuttle is actually seriously cool. Seriously. Cool.

ha for the price of a card on Ebay you can get the ship with ALL its cards....

ha for the price of a card on Ebay you can get the ship with ALL its cards....

Depends. My Rebel Captive was 99p with free postage.

I would still recommend getting the shuttle though, it really is an awesome set. (I ended up giving my extra 'captive to a friend that has just started playing. 99p well spent, imho :L)

due to the distribution of cards over the different expansions, people tend to "need" the same cards and as well have a surplus of the same card as most other players...

Yeah, if I happened to buy 4 Shuttles, there may be some cards I'd be willing to give away or sell. But Advanced Sensors would not be one of them.

However Advanced Sensors is coming with the E-Wing, and there's two PtL in the Imperial Aces, so there is at least some options out there now for picking up some of these cards.

It's interesting that in Rebel Aces it looks like they have 2 of each upgrade, even though there's only 1 ship in the pack that can use it. That's a departure from the way FFG normally does things. It's also a rather player friendly one at that, because with 2 Rebel Aces you have enough cards for 4 A-Wings or 4 B-Wings.

due to the distribution of cards over the different expansions, people tend to "need" the same cards and as well have a surplus of the same card as most other players...

Yeah, if I happened to buy 4 Shuttles, there may be some cards I'd be willing to give away or sell. But Advanced Sensors would not be one of them.

However Advanced Sensors is coming with the E-Wing, and there's two PtL in the Imperial Aces, so there is at least some options out there now for picking up some of these cards.

It's interesting that in Rebel Aces it looks like they have 2 of each upgrade, even though there's only 1 ship in the pack that can use it. That's a departure from the way FFG normally does things. It's also a rather player friendly one at that, because with 2 Rebel Aces you have enough cards for 4 A-Wings or 4 B-Wings.

I think that people are seeing devious planning in FFGs card choices where there is none. I don't think they expected Advanced Sensors to be so popular, or the A-Wing to be so unpopular. Which is why they've tried to fix those oversights with the inclusion of the needed cards in other packs now. And how they have included multiples in Rebel Aces. This isn't GW we're talking about!

If we go back to W1 and think of everything that's been released with it's ships...

Core set:

R2D2 - goes well with Luke

R2F2 - goes well with Biggs (at least hypothetically... not actually)

Determination - goes on either mauler or Luke since they're the only two with EPT (besides black)

Marksmanship - goes well with Luke since you dont' really need to focus

Proton Torpedoes - goes on X wings, only torp available at the time

X wing

R5K6 - would actually be better with the Y wing

R5 - likewise is better on the Y wing due to the added hull... though the R2 is also very good on the Y due to the lack of greens

EH - Great EPT for Luke/Wedge to make them more maneuverable

marksmanship - Good on Wedge to make him even more deadly

proton torpedoes - goes on X wings, only torp available at the time

YT-1300

Chewy - is a crew member of the falcon, makes thematic sense

Luke - is a crew member of the falcon, makes thematic sense

Nien - is a crew member of the falcon, makes thematic sense

Weapons Engineer - Could have just as easily gone on the FS since it's just as good for both

DTF - pairs very well with chewy

Elusiveness - I don't really know who this *should* have gone on since no one really uses it

VI - Han shoots first dag nam it

EU (x2) - makes sense thematically since han did a lot of special work himself

SU (x2) - makes sense thematically since han did a lot of special work himself

Assaults - new missile. Not sure why it went on the YT specifically, but Homing makes sense to be on the A, so maybe just for card balance?

Concussions - considered the go to missile

MF - obvious

TIE/in

Daredevil - Interceptors are all about maneuverability... I'm guessing that's why this came with them, but PTL just dominates too much... They're also only one of two ships that can take DD without having to first take EU.

Elusiveness - I don't really know who this *should* have gone on since no one really uses it... But interceptors live and die by the dice, so maybe it makes sense?

Firespray-31

Proximity mines - only ship capable of dropping bombs

seismic charge - see above

gunner - imperial counterpart to luke

mercenary copilot - goes well with the HLC also included

Expose - I don't really know who this *should* have gone on since no one really uses it... I suppose the FS does have an extra agility over the YT, so maybe it makes sense?

VI - Can't think of any particular reason for it to be here, but it's included on both big ships

SD (x2) - Makes sense thematically since Boba sneaked up on Han in EP5... Also makes sense from a balance point of view with the YT expansion

Assault missiles - new missiles, balancing out the imps supply of missiles

Homing missiles - new missiles , balancing out the imps supply of missiles

B wing

APT - can take torps, introducing new torp

Autoblaster - Can actually get in R1 (unlike the shuttle) to make use. Also couples well with Ten even if it is abit expensive

Ion Cannon - See Shuttle HLC

PT - can take torps, introducing new torp

FCS - Makes sense thematically... it is the space superiority fighter

HWK

IA - New crew card on both ships

Recon Spec - synergizes with Blaster turret

Saboteur - gives the HWK a 360 action and alternative to a turret (hah)

Blaster Turret - new turret

ICT - only other turret

MC - obvious

TIE/sa

Proton bombs - only missing prox mines, which don't seem to get a lot of love anyways

seismic charges - see above

Adrenaline rush - unsure why it came on this one, other than card balance between B and /sa

APT - new PT, surprised it doesn't have regular PT though. APT are best on Rhymer anyways

Assaults - unsure why they chose this missile to load on the /sa... well, more like surprised there isn't at least a second missile.

Lambda

Vader - makes sense thematically, at least moreso that Vader being the crew on anything else

Rebel captive - makes sense thematically since Luke was a rebel captive on a shuttle during EP6

IA - new crew card on both W3 ships

Navigator - *shrug

Weapons Engineer - *shrug

Flight Instructor - *shrug

APL (x2) - only big ship during W3, so only logical place for this release

HLC - Shuttle is better as a sniper since it can stop and it can't turn around easily. Ion goes to B wing just for card balance

AdvS - makes sense thematically. The shuttle would be equipped with better tech than a fighter if for no other reason than it has the space

Sensor Jammer - see above

ST-321 - obvious

So, as you can see, most of the cards that come with the expansions *ARE* useful on the expansions they come on. It just happens that they're useful on other things as well. And short of printing every card for every expansion, or limiting it such that you can only equip it on the ships they came with, this will always be the case. But very few cards are useless on the ship they came on.

The inclusion of 2x Push The LImit in imperial aces I think was a nice step. Stealth device would be nice to see in more places, but you do get two wtih the slave 1, and they are great models so I got one.

Probably the biggest problem is the Advanced Sensors. They only come with the shuttle, and there is only one card in the box.

Putting 2 in the rebel aces would be really nice. They are pretty much standard equipment on almost any list with a B-wing in it.

With the new double elite pilot skills on A-wings then Expose could see more use as well. Push the limit and expose could add some punch to a green squadron A-wing. Expose again only comes with the slave 1 as well, and there is one of them in the pack.

Maybe we will see more aces packs with some of the old cards in as well.

Right now for me the situation is managable, but hopefully they realise that some people only fly one faction and buying ships of a faction you are unlikly to fly just for cards is potentially annoying. Buying 1 of whatever I can deal with, I like the models a lot. More than one, is more to think about.

Advanced Sensor Cards are pretty easy to find. $30, comes with a free shuttle model and a bunch of other stuff.

I think that people are seeing devious planning in FFGs card choices where there is none. I don't think they expected Advanced Sensors to be so popular, or the A-Wing to be so unpopular. Which is why they've tried to fix those oversights with the inclusion of the needed cards in other packs now. And how they have included multiples in Rebel Aces. This isn't GW we're talking about!

If the choice is between deviousness in marketing or a dev/test team oblivious to the awesomeness of Advanced Sensors, I'd rather assume the devious.

Putting 2 in the rebel aces would be really nice. They are pretty much standard equipment on almost any list with a B-wing in it.

The E-Wing is coming with Advanced Sensors.

Putting 2 in the rebel aces would be really nice. They are pretty much standard equipment on almost any list with a B-wing in it.

The E-Wing is coming with Advanced Sensors.

Thanks for pointing that out again. Just re-read the above more carefully and saw I had missed it. That does make things better. Sign me up for some E-wings then.

I can see me giving greens with PTL and expose a good go as well once aces is out, so hopefully expose gets put in something else too. Maybe that will not be as popular as advanced sensors though.

Advanced Sensor Cards are pretty easy to find. $30, comes with a free shuttle model and a bunch of other stuff.

Yeah that is the problem, not interested in paying $30.

I have one (and the shuttle model is cool), but 4 blue b-wings with advanced sensors is a perfectly fine list and I would not get 4 shuttles to be able to field it.

FFG do seem to be better than GW, and from the above MTG (not sure that is huge praise, but hey). As long as they keep putting popular cards in new packs I can live with it. Some more alternative paint job packs with useful cards is fine. Having to buy 4 shuttles is not.

Well between Wave 4 and Rebel Aces, I think we can pretty safely say what is likely to happen from this point on.

They're not going to release a card only pack any time in the near or even semi-distant future. Instead they'll add cards that people want into new packs where it makes sense.