I'm having a little too much fun using the virtual card creator online and decided that I would try one for the imperials this time.

The TIE Escort

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I'm not sure that the cost/benefit ratio is correct with that maneuver dial. It's fragile, but at that cost, it's no wonder. As always, comments/ideas are welcomed and encouraged!

Thanks in advance!

Give it an S-loop instead of a 4 K-turn

UHH WHAT.

12 and 13 pt ships have two dice for a reason. I can see you tried to make it okay by removing a hull... but I think its still not quite right.

Has decent if slower maneuver options.

I'd cost it to 14 at least i think. at 13...

you can have 7 and 9 points. (3 hull upgrades): 21 attack dice, 28 at range 1? Hmm. I dunno about that one.

you can also have 6 and howlrunner, with 4 points. that is CRAZY attack power.

Agreed. Yes, it has one less hit point, but three dice plus a full suite of speed 1 manouvres (which is almost unique - usually you have turns or straights at speed one) seems too good for 13 points.

Also - it's capable of hard '1' turns, and straight '5' manouvres, and neither is red, but not a hard '3' - which is normally considered one of the easy manouvres?

I like the looks of it...

Surely if it is for escorting it would be cheap low damage power and have some kind of upgrade card in the box that would let it take a hit aimed at a friendly ship at range 1 rather than the intended target but you don't get an evasion roll(you are purposefully putting yourself between the target and the gunner).

basically a way of buying extra life's for imperial epics

Surely if it is for escorting it would be cheap low damage power and have some kind of upgrade card in the box that would let it take a hit aimed at a friendly ship at range 1 rather than the intended target but you don't get an evasion roll(you are purposefully putting yourself between the target and the gunner).

basically a way of buying extra life's for imperial epics

I like the idea of this mechanic. Well done.

I should point out that the generator that I use automatically decides the point value for the card based on an internal algorithm. That being said, I realize that the 5 white on the maneuver dial didn't fit a ship that's supposed to swarm around defending a larger ship. Also, even with a pilot skill of 1, these ships will always go before capital ships, right? Anyway, here's a revamped version. Again, your comments and opinions are coveted.

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Lol. A patrol leader with 6 of these things swarming around would never die.

>Adamkop's art

I used to like his work but then I realized all his ships look exactly the same.

Lol an Attack 3 Swarm that can do 1 straight.

I wonder if the 2 hull points is an issue big enough... because the firepower would be real with a Howlrunner.

Dreadstar, I did drop the attack down to 2 in an attempt to balance it out. I'm trying to keep it cheap so that it can accompany our imperial transport-y type ship in a 100 pt build. Jo Jo, I honestly think that the meta of breaking the cluster groups up is upon us. Seismics aren't getting the job done, currently, but I believe that between debris fields and area-of-effect ordnance possibilities, we'll see the tight formations break up at some point around the board. Does that make sense?

So your revamp is essentially ten points for a TIE Fighter with a slower but arguably better dial? This spits in the face of game balance. This would be worth 13 or so.

I actually like your version with three attack and two hull better, but it is also underpriced, so the range of 14-15 would be more reasonable for the PS1. It also looks like the ship would be quite fast, on the levels of an Interceptor, so I'm having trouble seeing and justifying the 1 speed banks and forward movements?

I've used that generator before i think. Its annoying. I think you can set the point value to manual though. just gotta find the button in french.

exactly.

also, do you want to make it feel like a real x-wing miniatures piece? or super house rule? As it stands, generics do not have abilities. They also aren't that incredibly cheap. 12 points is the stated interview minimum.

Also, go note the Z fighter. Which is the "slower" more durdly Xwing. Its greens are a little faster, so that means it has less control in a way. The Z also has the 3k turn, which is tighter, but in general more medium vs the Xwing which has more range. 3k 4k are about the same value, but both are decently easy to block. Imo, 3k is easier to block, so 4k is better. I think this thing should hav e3k, and maybe even NOT have 4 straight.

No ability.

But 12 points.

You could also give it 2 slight greens for tons of green moves and that would be a fun different ship.

then you can make 2 uniques, one with the ability as stated.

The real evidence pointing to this not being a good ship, is no one would ever play TIEs again. Not only would no one ever use TIEs again, they would never use TIE Interceptors again.

Basically 8 points cheaper version of a TIE Interceptor with one less hull point. Oh yeah, I can just give it a hull upgrade for 3 points and it is still Way cheaper than a Interceptor.

It doesn't have all the green, but it has every 1 maneuver. This is one of the best dials in the game.

I like the idea of the 2nd version better. I like the idea that is. I still thing it is a bit OP. I would seriously reduce the attack value to 1. It is still three hull upgrades on a ship, plus great blockers.

Cool picture though.

If you wanted 3 dice, 2 hull, you could easily do that too, but raise the cost.

red dice are approximated around 7 points after the 1st one.

So, the same ship described by me above could be 3 attack dice for maybe 15 or 16 points.

One of the best ways to be a humble, balanced designer is to make something a little weak but unique. Let others try it and look at it and fall in love with it, and let them suggest things to bring it back up to parity. Versus trying to make something strong. Overpowered is more of a sin than underpowered.

I went back and tried to sort through the French and all I could find was the breakdown matrix that determined point values rather than actually switching to manual. That being said, I agree that the point value is low, but again, I really haven't figured out how to change that in the program. And while I'm relatively new to the game, I did try to create something that served a specific purpose in the game, therefore reducing its overall playability in the meta. I realize that giving it all of the 1's may be overly maneuverable, but it only makes sense for pilots who are used to circling a large capital ship, strafing down the port flank and pulling a hard turn on the aft end to blast the Black Sun pirate out of the sky. I can totally agree with reducing it's overall speed with easier 2's. I also really like the idea of maintaining generics without abilities, but rather allowing the leader to use the ability. By the way, did I state the ability well and is the ability balanced?

Thanks all!

Its going to depend on the point cost. For now, why don't you state your intended point cost right under it in text. We know that thing doesn't do it well.

If I assume:

PS1

attack THREE

green 3

hull 2

dial is "middling" (think Z, not the 1 green slights, but 2 green slights) or "slow but maneuverable" (ex. no 4 straight, but otherwise nearly the same as current).

Then, imo, my estimate of the cost is 15 points.

Add a around point (3/4 might be a good number) for each PS. So lets assume your unique is PS 5, thus 15 + 3 or 4 = 18 or 19.

Then your ability is fine, funny, and relevantly strategic.

Its worded fine imo.

It only works this well on a 2 hull ship.

I find it much less interesting on a 3 hull ship, as we have Black Sq DTF for 15 points already.

If you made it a 2 attack ship, but slower, you could give it a shield or back a hull and it would be largely just a slower tie fighter. slightly more tanky. still a different ship. 12 points.

I use that card creator a lot and have a few customs for friendly play. If you use google Chrome that browser has a translate feature . Haven't had any issues getting my stuff to come out in English .

The wording is clear, but it makes it better than most elite and unique pilot talents that already pre-exist that are similar in role and purpose. Comparing this card to things like Xizor's ability, Bodyguard, Draw Their Fire and Biggs makes all those abilities seem way weaker in comparison. We want to avoid power creep here, even if this is a casual card. I do like that it only works for damage cards and not just shields though! What you might want to do is maybe either make this ability unique in some way, or have it as an action. Were this an action it does a few more things: you don't get a defensive token for the ship or get to use it for a Focus attack or barrel roll. This way the spirit and role of the craft stays the same to how you designed it while also being fair and balanced. You could call it a Cover or Escort or Sacrifice action that functions the same as your card text.

What you really need to keep in mind for cost and function are the TIE units already present in the game for points cost purposes. Now, I hope you don't feel bad: I like the idea and purpose of the ship! Just be careful. :3

I'm pretty against giving a Tie that can do 5 straight a 1 straight - and probably also the 1 bank. It seems too non-Tie-ish (though Defenders and Advanced both have the 1 bank).

Just for fun, think about this take the Defender dial. Now make all the straights red. All the banks white, and all the turns green. No K-turns.

Weird, slow, and hard to control.

But cheap!

SHIP POWERED BY CENTRIFUGAL FORCES. HARD TURNS ARE GREEN, SLIGHTS ARE WHITE, STRAIGHTS ARE RED, KTURNS ARE IMPOSSIBLE, SEGNOR LOOPS WHITE, RED STATIONARY.