Where can I find the restricted list? I have been searching the FAQ and can't find it.

It's in the Epic Tournament rules...http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/x-wing/support/X-Wing-Epic-Tournament-Rules.pdf

Ah I see they did patch/errata Biggs to small and large ships only. Navigator is restricted, doesn't say much more than that, so who knows why. There must be some reasoning.

Worry not my friend - coming soon from FFG:

I don't mind having more then one doc for the rules... I remember the days of needing a DMG, PHB, MM 1, 2 and FF, UA, and so on just to play AD&D 2nd Ed.

That said I'd actually be willing to pay something to have an updated rule set with all the FAQ, clearly defined terms, ect... I love X-Wing, but FFG could of made a much tighter rule set then they did.

Ah I see they did patch/errata Biggs to small and large ships only. Navigator is restricted, doesn't say much more than that, so who knows why. There must be some reasoning.

Navigator is restricted to make it harder to plow though a tie swarm

Gunner/Luke was included in the restricted list at first, I think that was a bit of them erring on the side of caution, because even when they first did that I couldn't ever see a way that Gunner/Luke would be an issue on a CR-90. There's more then enough restrictions in place to keep it in check.

I don't mind having more then one doc for the rules... I remember the days of needing a DMG, PHB, MM 1, 2 and FF, UA, and so on just to play AD&D 2nd Ed.

That said I'd actually be willing to pay something to have an updated rule set with all the FAQ, clearly defined terms, ect... I love X-Wing, but FFG could of made a much tighter rule set then they did.

To be honest, I was only half joking. I wouldn't be surprised to see a revised rule book of some sorts at some point - not invalidating, the existing one, just so we have all the released rules, missions, campaigns & scenarios in one place.

I'd be happy to buy it.

makes you wonder how much these rules were playtested before release.

I mean, can anyone really say FFG playtests anything at all? After all, the playtesters (if they exist!) are under NDA and can't talk about it. Maybe the two guys from the GenCon interview just drink a lot of whiskey, blindfold themselves, and throw darts at a big chart to determine point costs.

...but seriously, it's hard to tell from the consumer end what the playtesting process looks like, but I'm certain it's equally hard from the playtesting end what a product is going to do when it's released into the wild. We all have a pretty good handle on what the 100-point dogfight looks like, how ships behave there, and what the tradeoffs are. But even months after the CR-90's release there's no real metagame and no standard for what the opposition might look like.

So the issues you've noted could be part of your local "metagame", they could have been caught by the designers and/or playtesters but kept in because they wanted to be conservative with the first Epic release, or they could have gone undetected--or, far more likely, some combination of those things. But since you can't know anything about the playtest process without interrogating a playtester, and since the playtesters are enjoined from talking about the playtest process, it seems like they're probably owed at least the benefit of the doubt.

I think we'll see more balance when the other side has a huge ship or 2.

Having a Tantive on each side balances the game out nicely.

I think a small rethink on Ion effects is needed though.

120 - 150 points of fighters outclasses the CR right now.

When the Empire huge ship comes out, that imbalance will be removed.

I think we may see wording stating that Epic games MUST include at least 3 Epic points.

The game we ran last night (and screwed up different rules on) had a CR-90 on each side, with no named cards on either to make it fair. Then about 150 points in Rebel or Imperial ships.

Where we made a big mistake was shooting. We had the CR-90s move last and then shoot before everyone else rather than on their PS number.

I think S&V sort of necessitates the release of a stand alone rules and templates pack.

As it is getting the core set means you're stuck with one or two ships you dont need max.

If you're an S&V players you've got to buy a core set with three models you cant use.

I think we'll see more balance when the other side has a huge ship or 2.

Absolutely - a lot of the CR90's weapons appear and upgrades appear intended for use against other Huge Ships or low agility ships. Epic play really hasn't hit anything like it's full potential yet, and that's entirely down to imbalance on the Huge ships. One or two eye and imagination catching Imperial and Scum ships and we'll see it catch on big time.

I'm really looking forward to firing the CR90's Turbolasers at Decimators though...

Ah I see they did patch/errata Biggs to small and large ships only. Navigator is restricted, doesn't say much more than that, so who knows why. There must be some reasoning.

Navigator is restricted to make it harder to plow though a tie swarm :)Gunner/Luke was included in the restricted list at first, I think that was a bit of them erring on the side of caution, because even when they first did that I couldn't ever see a way that Gunner/Luke would be an issue on a CR-90. There's more then enough restrictions in place to keep it in check.

Navigator is also probably a fluff thing. The CR90 is supposed to be a lumbering whale of ship. It shouldn't be able to switch from Speed 1 to Speed 4 at the drop of a hat. Look at Armada: it takes a designated action for the CR90 in that game to move from Speed 2 to Speed 3.

To save me getting the box and rules out remind be how ION effects huge ships.

Is it like large ships in which you need to get two hits on in one turn?

I think we'll see more balance when the other side has a huge ship or 2.

Absolutely - a lot of the CR90's weapons appear and upgrades appear intended for use against other Huge Ships or low agility ships. Epic play really hasn't hit anything like it's full potential yet, and that's entirely down to imbalance on the Huge ships. One or two eye and imagination catching Imperial and Scum ships and we'll see it catch on big time.

I'm really looking forward to firing the CR90's Turbolasers at Decimators though...

Yup i though this, a range 5 gun is not that amazing if your enemy is rolling a bucketful of evade dice... makes narrative sense though.. turbolasers struggle to hit snubfighters... or at least thats the impression i get from the movies.

To save me getting the box and rules out remind be how ION effects huge ships.

Each ion token reduces the amount of Energy you generate with your maneuver, then you discard all Ion tokens.

So a few Ion hits can really hurt, because you'll generate little to no energy that turn.

To save me getting the box and rules out remind be how ION effects huge ships.

Is it like large ships in which you need to get two hits on in one turn?

Ion hits cut down the amount of energy they can generate. I think it's one Ion hit = one less energy.

I think the biggest issue with the CR-90 is that it can only do well as part of a total force, and it is difficult to protect it because you have half the ships of the other guy. you generally only have about 150-170 points of fighters vs. the imperial players 300 points. Trust me, not having an epic ship does not put you at a disadvantage. There are not enough points left to screen the enemy ships and keep them off the corevette. If the points total were larger, or the base corevette cheaper, that would help. If an epic ship takes up half your points, it makes sense the other guy could easily have 2 fighters to your one. It's awfully difficult to cover the CR-90 against numbers like that, and it is not that hard to cripple it. It needs to be tougher, or cheaper, or the point total needs to be higher. The transport, on the other hand is awesome. I think they got it right.

I think S&V sort of necessitates the release of a stand alone rules and templates pack.

As it is getting the core set means you're stuck with one or two ships you dont need max.

If you're an S&V players you've got to buy a core set with three models you cant use.

Well the MW pack is a conversion pack for those who already have a collection. You don't have to get it, you can build a squadron from Agressors, Skyks, and star vipers.

Also if you restrict yourself to 1 faction then the core set will always have a ship you will never use. If you are strictly an imperial player then the X-wing is just an extra model you don't need, or two extra models you don't need if you chose to play Rebels only. The way these "starter" packs are setup is to get people to NOT stick to only one faction and disregard the others. You can argue all the other packs are set up the same way as many upgrades from Rebel packs work well with Imperial pilots and visa versa.