So how have people been playing them?

The one Cinematic mission I've played the Transport started with no energy and got wiped off the mat on the second round by a tie swarm... Bad start for a new product.... Been reluctant to play it again...

We're you using a 6 x 3 play area?

I've not had the chance to use my Transport yet, but it would seem to me the reason for the long board is to give it time to charge some before engaging.

I'm curious to hear the tactics that worked for both sides.

The only small problem with that is players setup any where on the 6' side of the play area (not on the short "ends"). Thus in most cases your Huge ship is 3' away from the enemy, just like on normal 100pt play areas.

Wow, I totally misread the setup. For some reason I thought they deployed on the 3' edges. To me it also explained why small ships could deploy further out than usual. Now I'm really curious to try this out to see how it feels.

Based on what we have read and did not find in the rules, our group went with 0 energy to start.

I think you start with full shields like any other ship, but 0 energy.

Energy is a resource, shields are not. There is no reason anyone should conclude that the two operate similarly.

I find it really interesting that people ask, what is the cencus or what is other peoples oppinion, when the simple fact is that the huge ship rules in no way indicated that you should start with energy tokens. Unless FFG produces an Errata for the Huge Ship Rules, or updated the PDF, huge ships do not start with energy.

I am still waiting for my huge ships. Ordered a combo deal for both Tantive IV and Transport, and it ships when the Tantive IV is released.

You can find a discussion on it already here in the Rules Query Section.

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/105322-starting-energy-for-huge-ships/

And as others have stated, until otherwise notified by FFG, the answer should be 0 energy.

As above mentioned, we also started our game with 0 energy.

However, for us it came down to the phrasing of how you gain energy, not that you have it.