Heya there guys,

Just thought to share some thoughts on my first play of Skirmish.

We played the "Get to the ship!" Mission with the recommended forces (Vader, Luke, Fennis, Etc.).

Not a turn by turn playthrough but some thoughts on the game mode itself:

Setup is quite a time spend for uour first play, we will probably improve as we get to know the single map tiles. But for a first play we had a puzzle challenge . Apart from this it is good to know that the setup works for 2 missions, meaning you will have two scenarios to play before having to swap up the entire map.

Gameplay went generally smooth except for some keyword searches. Almost immediately it becomes clear that, as with X-Wing, synergy goes a long way with list building. The lack of upgrade cards for individual units is easily mitigated by the command card system. However at current we had rather basic decks which have rather general effects. They did come in handy though and losing one to strain or other abilities did feel like a weighty decision.

All in all I really enjoyed the system, which I thought would feel more tagged on. It does however promise an X-Wing level competative play experience for those who seek such thrills.

As a last side note: Vader is for all intents and purposes the dark lord he should be! Gone is the emo image of the prequels! Vader (opposing me alas) gave me a great headache to deal with (ultimately not even going dowm after throwing all characters at him).

Glad you enjoyed it! The game is really fun and provides a lot of opportunity for strategy/depth, especially once you start building your lists.

As to the map/setup issue, I am planning on contacting FFG to see if we can get an image file of the maps (without the tiles). For the purposes of tournaments/speed of play it would be much better to have them printed out. I am hoping they will see a need for this, since both as a TO and player I expect it will work much better overall.

Glad you enjoyed it! The game is really fun and provides a lot of opportunity for strategy/depth, especially once you start building your lists.

As to the map/setup issue, I am planning on contacting FFG to see if we can get an image file of the maps (without the tiles). For the purposes of tournaments/speed of play it would be much better to have them printed out. I am hoping they will see a need for this, since both as a TO and player I expect it will work much better overall.

I was actually wondering how tournament play works. Will the TO have to supply the map tiles? Will players have to bring them?

Glad you enjoyed it! The game is really fun and provides a lot of opportunity for strategy/depth, especially once you start building your lists.

As to the map/setup issue, I am planning on contacting FFG to see if we can get an image file of the maps (without the tiles). For the purposes of tournaments/speed of play it would be much better to have them printed out. I am hoping they will see a need for this, since both as a TO and player I expect it will work much better overall.

I was actually wondering how tournament play works. Will the TO have to supply the map tiles? Will players have to bring them?

We have no idea at this point. FFG has not given out the Tournament rules yet.

Curious! Yet my impressions stand .

The Skirmish mode did not dissapoint!

I am still thinking adding upgrades cards to the mix for certain units would be cool, yet I believe the Command cards and surge abilities actually simulate different equipment of the units very well while keeping play smooth.

Yeah, I would be interested to see upgrade cards too. WoW minis actually had a similar mechanic:

--Each character had a couple of special abilities on its player card (ie, Deployment Card).

--You also had "Action Bar Cards," which are mostly similar to our Command Cards.

--Later on, they added Equipment Cards, which gave a permanent stat boost or ability which was always in effect/available.

I think upgrade cards could add an interesting dimension to things, if they were balanced properly. Ie, an upgrade that gives +1 speed (usable only by Brawlers) or +1 block (usable by figures with black dice in their defense pool), or +2 Accuracy (usable on characters with a Blue dice), a Regeneration upgrade (Recover 1 at the start of your activation) for Creatures, etc. It would add more options in squadbuilding...not only would there be decisions between Regular and Elite/Unique, but also questions of whether or not to use upgrade cards on any of those groups/figures.

On secod thought this might not be the way to go, here are some thoughts in hind-sight.

- Upgrade cards would be weapons and the likes, which are actually already build into deployment cards by way of surge abilities.

- The command deck has big potential, think about swapping your 0-cost cards with more costly and impactful command cards when they become available. Thats a sort of one-off upgrade right there.

- Skirmish upgrades may help define your army as a whole, for instance adding a free move to your first turn as a sort of scout move or giving you a chance to re-deploy a unit before or after your opponent. Army wide special abilities that modify the play style (difference being that its an army wide little boon instead of a Command card which effects certain units in certain situations).

Basicly the more I thought about it the more I believe that the system in place will do what I thought "upgrades" to certain models would do.

They just need to fall in place with some expansions.

I remember te X-Wing upgrades from the core box, they had some good uses but our group saw them as just some points fillers mostly (except for some must includes back then).

Glad you enjoyed it! The game is really fun and provides a lot of opportunity for strategy/depth, especially once you start building your lists.

As to the map/setup issue, I am planning on contacting FFG to see if we can get an image file of the maps (without the tiles). For the purposes of tournaments/speed of play it would be much better to have them printed out. I am hoping they will see a need for this, since both as a TO and player I expect it will work much better overall.

I was actually wondering how tournament play works. Will the TO have to supply the map tiles? Will players have to bring them?

How would a TO be able to supply map tiles for a whole tournament. That would require multiple core sets for really any size tournament. I think it's safe to say that if the map tiles are being utilized players will be expected to bring thier sets.

Or the OP kit will have x number of double sided paper maps with a specific /three/four missions to be played on the day. If the kit catered for a finite number of players like ten or twelve then that would be doable for them probably... In the end I guess we have to wait to find out.

Glad you enjoyed it! The game is really fun and provides a lot of opportunity for strategy/depth, especially once you start building your lists.

As to the map/setup issue, I am planning on contacting FFG to see if we can get an image file of the maps (without the tiles). For the purposes of tournaments/speed of play it would be much better to have them printed out. I am hoping they will see a need for this, since both as a TO and player I expect it will work much better overall.

I was actually wondering how tournament play works. Will the TO have to supply the map tiles? Will players have to bring them?

How would a TO be able to supply map tiles for a whole tournament. That would require multiple core sets for really any size tournament. I think it's safe to say that if the map tiles are being utilized players will be expected to bring thier sets.

Or the OP kit will have x number of double sided paper maps with a specific /three/four missions to be played on the day. If the kit catered for a finite number of players like ten or twelve then that would be doable for them probably... In the end I guess we have to wait to find out.

WOTC did this back in the day. They had like 20 maps that were prizes in the kit and adding 2 command cards to them I dont think is crazy. That being said this isnt the way FFG does things.

Heroclix does similar. Which is exactly why I said, if the map tiles are utilized.

Puzzle challenge lol.... I had the same experience.... loved the game but will probably use my old star wars minis maps and 3d malifaux clips maps because I didn't enjoy making puzzles b4 and in between each game. We jokingly call the game star wars: puzzle wars now