If FFG were going to include the AG, they would need to include the most deadly aspect about it: The spinning star of death that defied all Newtonian physics by reversing direction at you and killing your starfighter if you killed it while close on its tail.

I'm seeing 40 in wiki, but it can and has been wrong. Do you have a better ref source? 16 is still a huge amount however.

Looks like a mistake in the Wiki - should be 16 total, 8 per pod (when you look at the alrternative payloads this makes more sense. for some reason the wiki is saying it has five pods as well.

Stats also available at: http://www.galacticempiredatabank.com/AssaultGunboat.html

...and because I've got X-Wing Alliance installed, why not:

...there we have it, 16 missiles is it's standard payload. I guess the Wookiee has managed to give it the Missile Boat's concussion missile loadout.

From the looks of that pic, it's 6 missile per side pod and 4 in the small pod above & behind the cockpit.

I'm seeing 40 in wiki, but it can and has been wrong. Do you have a better ref source? 16 is still a huge amount however.

Looks like a mistake in the Wiki - should be 16 total, 8 per pod (when you look at the alrternative payloads this makes more sense. for some reason the wiki is saying it has five pods as well.

Stats also available at: http://www.galacticempiredatabank.com/AssaultGunboat.html

Five pods...? Nay.

Old X-Wing said two warhead launchers, and every other source said the same.

Even three pods sounds strange.

Not to mention that I've never seen warheads pop out from above the cockpit. Just those sweet ion blasts.

Yup, the Ion Cannons are situated above the cockpit. That render is with XWAU installed. The Gunboat's Proton Torpedo capacity was 6 per pod, which fits the image and is probably what the render was based on.

Up to this point, every single Imperial small ship has been a TIE.

Up to this point, every single Imperial small ship has been a TIE.

I'm seeing 40 in wiki, but it can and has been wrong. Do you have a better ref source? 16 is still a huge amount however.

Well, Star Wars: TIE Fighter, where you could first fly it, it could carry 16 missiles, 12, torpedoes, 8 heavy rockets or 4 space bombs.

The 40 number apparently comes from the Rebellion Era Campaign Guide. An RPG sourcebook. So make of that what you will.

Yeah, that really is kind of the point. Star Wars has a huge, rich, diverse universe, so why artificially limit the Imperials to the TIE series, when most of the EU sources (which FFG have happily tapped for both the Rebels and Scum & Villainy) have the Empire using other, non-TIE Series ships as well?

Theme is understandable, and nice. Variety is pretty good fun as well though. It's long past time that the Alabaster Space Buffalo's long-lost relatives joined the X-Wing party!

...and because I've got X-Wing Alliance installed, why not:

...there we have it, 16 missiles is it's standard payload. I guess the Wookiee has managed to give it the Missile Boat's concussion missile loadout.

And remember.

The HWK-290 is 29m according to Wook.

Don't ever trust Wook.

From the looks of that pic, it's 6 missile per side pod and 4 in the small pod above & behind the cockpit.

That's what the picture of the GUNBOAT shows in the original Stele Chronicles book as well, although the warheads above the cockpit and below the ion cannons always looked, to me, to only have 3, which would make for 15 warheads which just didn't work. But then the same book had cgi models that seemed way off on all of the ships, and the Avenger having an egg shaped cockpit. I suppose cramming 8 missiles in those side mounted pods would require six laid out like pips on a die and then two more placed in the 'gaps'. And ignoring any weirdness about the extra 'missiles' above the cockpit on some pictures.

Still don't have solid evidence of where the lasers are on he Bomber except maybe on the hub between the double hulls, because of the two suspicious holes that look like recessed gun barrels.

Old star wars references were notoriously bad as well. Many had a lot of errors creating confusion to what was "canon".

Old star wars references were notoriously bad as well. Many had a lot of errors creating confusion to what was "canon".

You could always say it was "bad intel," lol.

It doesn't really matter much. It's just a number, anyway. The first appearance of the Gunboat was in "Star Wars: X-Wing" and there, being a game, the developers probably adapted the lore to fit the gameplay, just like FFG does here all the time.

Rather than having 2 launchers with 6 and a third launcher with 3, that would confuse the player, they opted for rounding it all up to having two launchers with 8 each and move onto the next thing.

Once ordnance became customizable in "Star Wars: TIE Fighter", these numbers became even more loose canon.

By the way, the TIE Defender also had an egg shaped cockpit ball in TIE Fighter. However I am kind of glad that FFG decided to make it completely spherical in this game. If the TIE Advanced "Avenger" ever comes to this game, I hope the cockpit is made spherical too, for consistence with the other TIEs, but it could keep those "air intakes" the TIE/ad had on the sides to make it more distinct from the other ties, and in particular from the TIE/x1.

And I find quite ridiculous to consider the TIE Defender non-Star Wars. "Star Wars: TIE Fighter" was released in in 1994, and likely designed in 1993. That is just 10 years after the release of Return of the Jedi. That makes it closer to the original movies and designs than the Special Editions and any of the Prequels. And it was the second Star Wars thing ever made (just after Star Wars: X-Wing) by LucasFilm Games once they recovered the rights to make Star Wars videogames. In my opinion, that makes the Gunboat, the Avenger, the Defender and the Missile Boat more Star Wars than anything that came afterwards.

Regarding the TIE Avenger appearance, the last canon depiction was in "Essential Guide to Warfare". It used Fractalsponges model. So there is hope for a sweet looking model if we get one.

All hail FractalSponge, saviour of the EU!

Seriously that guy is amazing.

The TIE Defender is already canon - it's in Star Wars: Commander - a Disney canon story game.

By the way, the TIE Defender also had an egg shaped cockpit ball in TIE Fighter. However I am kind of glad that FFG decided to make it completely spherical in this game. If the TIE Advanced "Avenger" ever comes to this game, I hope the cockpit is made spherical too, for consistence with the other TIEs, but it could keep those "air intakes" the TIE/ad had on the sides to make it more distinct from the other ties, and in particular from the TIE/x1.

I definitely hope that when the TIE Avenger comes to this game it looks more like FractalSponge's model than the one in TIE Fighter.

I suspect the TIE Advanced is this game's version of the "Avenger" - FFG decided to just use the sculpt of Vader's custom TIE for both the Advanced and the Advanced x1 as it was more recognizable to the casual Star Wars fan. Notice how only Vader's TIE has TIE Advanced x1 in its ship type, while the rest are TIE Advanced?

Guys, we've been over this before. The model in TIE Fighter isn't all that different from FractalSponge's.

"But Lackwit, you're wrong! Each game depicts it as having a wide cockpit!"

Well the X-Wing Alliance Upgrade Project guys believed that too, but like many, they do not do their research.

As you can see, the CGI model is QUITE different from the In-Game model, not picture at the time. FractalSponge really just made it smoother and more consistent with contemporary TIE Designs, guys.

Not that that's a bad thing at all- it seriously isn't, because the wide cockpit is f***ing stupid.

Just saying that whatever model we get of the TIE/ad will be hard to tell apart.

If FFG were going to include the AG, they would need to include the most deadly aspect about it: The spinning star of death that defied all Newtonian physics by reversing direction at you and killing your starfighter if you killed it while close on its tail.

OMG I remember that, best thing about the 98 CD release is that they fixed that bug, I actually kind of hope it becomes a pilot ability for a laugh though.

Anyway, with Imperial veterans it occurs to me: Maybe FFG realized it wouldn't be sound until it's 2 closest competitors were fixed first. Maybe after Veterans.

Ahh the gunboat ... I remember X-wing so well, especially now they are on Steam .. was a nasty lil thing, I always thought they were going for a Shuttle on Steroids kinda thing with this ship. Would fit in nicely as another Large base for the Imps ...hmm and of course not Sienar so could one even have got stolen or bought by a Crimelord or two?? Scum version anyone?

Small base ship. (it's actually shorter than an X-Wing).