I know i posted this idea in another thread, but I'm interested to hear some opinions and/or more ideas. My idea was to add a new card type, something like a "Battlefield Condition".

Think of all the fun special rules in scenario and mission games. Battlefield Conditions would be additional rules that apply to all ships in play. Some might have a "discard after use". Others could be "at the start/end of xxx phase roll an attack die. On a critical..."

I have no idea on point costs but have had a few thoughts.

Battlefield Conditon: Battle debris

At the end of the planning phase roll an attack die. On a critical result, assign all ships a stress token after movement.

Battlefield Event: Solar flare

At the beginning of the planning phase, discard this card to give every ship two ion tokens.

Battlefield condition: Bloody Mess

The first three ships destroyed generate a debris field.

Other ideas might involve clearing stress, messing with obstacles, skipping a phase for one turn.

Each commander/list can only bring one condition and/or event. It would cost points and be factored into the cost of your build.

What do you think? What are some possible cosmic events (disturbance in the force anyone)? Thoughts on point costs? I may bring some of these to my local group for playtesting and want some feedback.

These seem more like they should be tied to a specific scenario, rather than a generic card. The rules that come with the VT-49 and YT-2400 have scenarios that incorporate debris in them.

These seem more like they should be tied to a specific scenario, rather than a generic card.

I can't say I entirely disagree. That being said, I like the idea of bringing those rules into standard play.

I guess one issue that I see is that such a new card would probably not be allowed in (most) tournament play. Certain effects also favor some ships more than others, especially with some of the upcoming S&V ships.

Certain effects also favor some ships more than others, especially with some of the upcoming S&V ships.

I'm certainly aware of that. That's why you have to pay for them. I don't expect them to be picked up by the developers (though it would be cool). I'm more interested in balancing the cost in casual play.

You could easily make a casual tournament with this card concept. Before every match, a random card is assigned to each table after everyone has set up (asteroid and ships). Flip it before assigning dials. You could have something like:

Hidden mine field

When a ship's template moves over an asteroid, roll 2 damage dice instead of 1. If a ship lands on an asteroid, roll 3 dice!

Approaching ion storm

At the beginning of the match, roll 6 attack dice and total the number of hits and critical hits. At the beginning of each activation phase, assign a tracking token to this card. On the turn where the number of tracking tokens equal the number of hits rolled, assign 2 ion tokens to each ship.

etc, etc.

It could just be for fun

I think it's a cool idea, but it would never make it into tournament play. The game has already been set up to make it vanilla with just asteroids. The hard-core tournament goers would revolt.

With that in mind, I think it's cool to set up casual games. Then again, I love scenarios and more than just tournament play.

You could easily make a casual tournament with this card concept. Before every match, a random card is assigned to each table after everyone has set up (asteroid and ships). Flip it before assigning dials. You could have something like:

Hidden mine field

When a ship's template moves over an asteroid, roll 2 damage dice instead of 1. If a ship lands on an asteroid, roll 3 dice!

Approaching ion storm

At the beginning of the match, roll 6 attack dice and total the number of hits and critical hits. At the beginning of each activation phase, assign a tracking token to this card. On the turn where the number of tracking tokens equal the number of hits rolled, assign 2 ion tokens to each ship.

etc, etc.

It could just be for fun

Just to offer my 2 cents (well, maybe just 1 cent's worth), I think this is generally speaking a great idea. Obviously, it's not going to appeal to the tournament crowd as DarthSidious and heychadwick have pointed out, but I don't think that that should be the style of game that we all aim at playing anyway. It's just the least-common-denominator (LCD) that we can all agree on.

As I used to talk about when I first joined this forum, I'm interested in developing more narrative styles of play that are more than LCD in terms of enjoyment. My friend DagobahDave has ideas along those lines which he also implements with his local crowd in Corvallis, OR, as well as online through the Unofficial X-Wing Galactic Campaign, which he runs.

Regrettably, I've been swallowed up with work these last few months to really push much further, but I think that a battlefield condition system would be interesting. Maybe have that also narratively tied to specific locations within the SWU.

Maybe have that also narratively tied to specific locations within the SWU.

the remains of Alderaan certainly come to mind. Maybe the Maw installation as well... more thought is called for.

I remember how well this went over in Heroclix. Not something for tournament play.

It is certainly a feasible idea for casual games. However, I don't think it should be something that can be bought. No, better to have the effects randomised by drawing cards, and to be equally good/bad for both players.

...and to be equally good/bad for both players.

I don't think that would be possible. Anything that alters the battlefield is going to benefit one player over another unless they're playing the exact same list.

I also don't think that it should have to be equal, as long as the deck as a whole doesn't structurally imbalance things between the factions overall (unless it's to the benefit of the Empire - then I'd be on board).

The inherent inequality is one reason I had thought to make it an item that costs. You can build toward the inclusion of a given condition, but it costs you.

Also, another condition/event I thought of:

Interdiction Field:

At the start of the planning phase, you may discard this card. Ships cannot flee the battle for two turns. If a ship strays off, place back on the field at it's new heading, but on the field at it's closest location. (Bad wording, I know. Essentially, make your maneuver and slide the ship back onto the field)

The inherent inequality is one reason I had thought to make it an item that costs. You can build toward the inclusion of a given condition, but it costs you.

Also, another condition/event I thought of:

Interdiction Field:

At the start of the planning phase, you may discard this card. Ships cannot flee the battle for two turns. If a ship strays off, place back on the field at it's new heading, but on the field at it's closest location. (Bad wording, I know. Essentially, make your maneuver and slide the ship back onto the field)

There's an issue with having a cost for a card like this. It's going to have to be substantially more than the cost of the highest mod, which if I remember correctly is 7. So, we're talking about giving up a ship at least for the possibility of something really good (or bad).

On the other hand, I do like the idea of random terrain.

The inherent inequality is one reason I had thought to make it an item that costs. You can build toward the inclusion of a given condition, but it costs you.

Aha! I didn't read very closely. I thought it was something that might randomly be drawn before putting down the asteroids.

Honestly, I like both schools of thought here. On one hand, a deck(?) of conditions that hinders and helps in mostly small ways. These could be used to give a casual-level tournament or event a unique flavor. I definitely like the idea of tying battlefield conditions to a narrative format.

On the other hand, I like the idea of bringing a rules change/addition to regular gameplay in the form of a battlefield condition or event that I can choose to trigger. I'll use a few examples I can think of:

Example 1: See Interdiction Field, This could be a 3-4(?) point insurance policy against having an ion cannon run you off the board. This can be horribly frustrating (I've been on both ends of this), but would I pay 4 points for a maybe useful? An engine upgrade could have kept me from putting myself in that situation in the first place (by dodging an arc perhaps), and I get to use it for the whole game.

Example 2: Dash loves to see obstacles. A condition that allowed placement of 8 obstacles instead of the standard 6 would be something I would pay for if I was running Dash. It wouldn't break the game, but give Dash a slight advantage.

In either case (deck or paid addition), much care would have to be taken to ensure nothing is ridiculously overpowered or favors one specific build/faction too much.

As much as I love this game (and trust me, I do!), I suppose I dislike the feeling that the battles happen in a vacuum (pun only partially intended). Many of the ships in the game literally couldn't meet in the middle of nowhere to duke it out (most TIE variants and the Z-95 do not have hyperdrives).

Outside forces, often unexpected, will affect a battle and a good commander will spend resources to ensure that the circumstances favor his side. Look at almost any eminently successful commander in history. Most successful ones chose battlefields that stacked the odds in his favor. Some lost anyway.

As much as I love this game (and trust me, I do!), I suppose I dislike the feeling that the battles happen in a vacuum (pun only partially intended). Many of the ships in the game literally couldn't meet in the middle of nowhere to duke it out (most TIE variants and the Z-95 do not have hyperdrives).

Outside forces, often unexpected, will affect a battle and a good commander will spend resources to ensure that the circumstances favor his side. Look at almost any eminently successful commander in history. Most successful ones chose battlefields that stacked the odds in his favor. Some lost anyway.

That's the difference between a campaign game and a pick-up game. For a campaign game, I agree that there should be some mechanic(s) for terrain, picking the battlefield, effects, etc. It probably wouldn't be too much work to come up with a set of homebrew campaign rules.

i really like the idea of these conditions, but I don't feel like they should be something you spend your points on.

"Sorry Tarn, you can't come on this mission, we've decided to create an ion storm instead."

I think it'd work better if it was just a deck of cards that brings up one random event at the start of the game, before placing asteroids.

You could even draw extra cards (and or discard previous ones) after X number of rounds.

[quote name="RogueLieutenant" post="1356520" timestamp="1417710353"

"Sorry Tarn, you can't come on this mission, we've decided to create an ion storm instead."

My thought is more along the lines of:

"Sorry guys, Tarn couldn't get here in time, because we are engaging at this location. There's an ion storm brewing and we're set to take advantage of it."

Still, I see your point. Anyone else think of additional ideas? (Conditions or events)

There's no Alderaan

[The Falcon jumps out of hyperspace into a dense field of rocks and debris.]
Han Solo: What the—?

Remove all asteroid from the battlefield, then deploy them again with the player having the initiative starting first as per normal rules.

(So the steps are deploy asteroids, deploy ships, flip card and read this definition, remove asteriods and place them again, completely screwing up initial tactics.)

There's too many of them!

Imperial players add 2 tie academy pilots while Rebels add 2 Z95.

(This one is a bit risky because not everyone might have the required ships)

Pulsar overload

At the end of every round, roll an attack dice. On a critical result, the pulsar unleashes an energy wave, overloading all communications. Add a stress to every pilot on the field.

That's all I can think of right now.

Ok, here are a few more:

Hacked navigation array

After everything has been set (asteroid and ships), each player can move one enemy ship elsewhere into its deployment zone. The ship must be facing straight towards the enemy's deployment zone.

(Imagine picking Howlrunner and plucking her away from her swarm, lol)

Choosing the battlefield

(This card is activated before placing anything)

Each player secretly bids between 3 to 9 obstacles. Take the average of both bids, rounded up, and place as many obstacles on the battlefield (wave 5 obstacles can be used). If an obstacle cannot be placed legally (within range 1 of each other, etc), you do not place it.