I only just realized this and most of you probably already know it, but all the Imperial small ships are TIEs.

Many have speculated, myself included, that Wave 7 will include the Alpha-class Xg-1 Star Wing Assault Gunboat. It is probably one of the most well known EU ships still not represented. But it is not a TIE and it would go very much against precedent.

Since it's already featured in some artwork, maybe Wave 7 will see the TIE/HU Hunter multi-role starfighter.

Which artwork's the Tie Hunter featured in? I'd love to see it in X-Wing, though not quite sure how it'd differ from other Ties. Been a while since I played Rogue Squadron 3.

I am personally hoping for Assault Gunboats. I loved those ships because they added variety to the Imperial fleet. Wave upon wave of TIE Fighters gets old after a while. It's nice to see some real change in ship design philosophy.

Don't get me wrong, the assault gunboat would be a great choice too.

Or they could skip hat everyone's expecting and go straight for the missile boat. That thing was crazy, and even more fun to fly than the Tie Defender in Tie Fighter. And that's coming from someone who is maybe slightly fanboy-ish towards the Defender.

Nevertheless, whatever they bring out in future I'm sure they'll have thought about it for the purposes of X-Wing as a tabletop game, and not just "let's make this exactly like the X-Wing and Tie Fighter space combat games, for purposes of nostalgia."

Which artwork's the Tie Hunter featured in? I'd love to see it in X-Wing, though not quite sure how it'd differ from other Ties. Been a while since I played Rogue Squadron 3.

It is in one of the RPG books.

There is a design space available for the TIE Hunter, 2 attack dice, 4 agility, 2 Hull, Barrell Roll, Boost, Evade, Focus. Make it relatively cheap, somewhere between a TIE/LN and a TIE/IN maybe 14ish points.

As for the Gunboat, I have discussed this before, but it really needs to scaled up to a heavy fighter that is mid range in size between the TIEs and snubs and the Lambda shuttle. That way it evokes the design philosophy of the Shuttle so that it fits with the iImperial aesthetic but doesn't overlap with the function of the TIEs.

Tie Hunter was rogue squadron three I think, sadly a game mared by terrible on foot sections no one asked for but the space sections were still solid, it'd kind of overlap the defender though unless they did something novel like make the ion cannon a fixed hard point you can't upgrade.

Given tie fighter the game is a massive influence on this game the gunboat and missileboat will show up at some point.

It'll be the empire's y-wing a bit more agile but with fewer hit points.

I think the rebels will get the starchaser two firepower with a cannon slot 2231.

How about both?

As a fan of the Thrawn series, I am still hoping for the Scimitar Bomber (though it could use some updating in the aesthetics department) and the Skipray Blastboat. But the Assault Gunboat looks good.

I like the TIE Hunter, but I am not sure how statistically different it can be from the TIE Advanced. Maybe a cannot slot and better maneuverability, but then it competes with the TIE Defender in niche.

I'll be surprised if the game never sees Skiprays. They became pretty popular in the EU fluff.

If they do release the Starwing "Assault Gunboat", I will be calling it the Starwing. Boats don't belong in space.

Gunboats remind me of things like this:

I only just realized this and most of you probably already know it, but all the Imperial small ships are TIEs.

Many have speculated, myself included, that Wave 7 will include the Alpha-class Xg-1 Star Wing Assault Gunboat. It is probably one of the most well known EU ships still not represented. But it is not a TIE and it would go very much against precedent.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH

God bless you fractalsponge

I only just realized this and most of you probably already know it, but all the Imperial small ships are TIEs.

Many have speculated, myself included, that Wave 7 will include the Alpha-class Xg-1 Star Wing Assault Gunboat. It is probably one of the most well known EU ships still not represented. But it is not a TIE and it would go very much against precedent.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH

God bless you fractalsponge

Man's an artist no doubt about it.

Tie Hunter is a ugly Tie Fighter with ion cannons. Does the Empire really need the Scum interceptor?

Boats don't belong in space.

But your OK with Space SHIPS?

I only just realized this and most of you probably already know it, but all the Imperial small ships are TIEs.

Many have speculated, myself included, that Wave 7 will include the Alpha-class Xg-1 Star Wing Assault Gunboat. It is probably one of the most well known EU ships still not represented. But it is not a TIE and it would go very much against precedent.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH

God bless you fractalsponge

Ok that looks pretty cool. I really didn't like the look of this ship from the pics on wookieepedia, but this one here totally sells me on it. As long as FFG does it somewhat like this I'm all for it.

Edit: would this fit in a small blister pack without the wings folding?

skipray would probably end up in S&V if we're going by Empire at War

I remember using the Alpha-class Xg-1 Star Fighter in X-wing vs Tie Fighter (the memories...) and it was the only imperial craft I would touch because the **** thing could soak hits like a boss.

we're just going to have to hope all these potential ships won't be balanced around the amazing computer game ordinance, which definitely was not translated over properly to the tabletop

In tie fighter the gunboat pops up alot, replaying it recently i'd forgotten how often.

Its a solid ship but on hard it gets annihilated by mines that fire missiles you just cant keep those shields up.

I'd buy two without hesitation.

I am sooooo hoping for a Starwing! I am soooooo hoping they do not make the TIE Hunter as, IMO, I think it is a poor design. Other than to make some sort of bastard cross between an X-wing and a Tie Fighter. S-foils are a pointless design feature on a Tie Fighter. What would its maneuver dial be like? Extra armament plus shields plus hyperdrive would make it heavier and thus slower/less maneuverable than a TIE Interceptor or even a basic TIE Fighter (one would think); perhaps similar to the TIE Advanced or even... the X-wing, which it obviously is meant to emulate. The armament (as described in Wookieepedia) is identical to the BTL-A4 Y-wing, so that would be interesting...

Still... I really don't like the design.

Edit: would this fit in a small blister pack without the wings folding?

Good question! It's listed length is shorter than an X-Wng, but thewings make it a very three dimensional ship.

The gunboat looks like a good candidate for the Starviper blister pack treatment with those wings.

The StarViper pack only has a slightly taller bubble, this would probably need to be taller and wider. It could easily fit into an Aces box with another small ship.

The StarViper pack only has a slightly taller bubble, this would probably need to be taller and wider. It could easily fit into an Aces box with another small ship.

And now you've peaked my Missile Boat-fanboy love and made me want that other ship to be said Missile Boat. I'd buy two. At first.

Twin Ion Engines.

However not all Imperial Fighters are from siniar fleets. Just most of them, sort of like how all soviet fighters were not migs just most of them.

The StarViper pack only has a slightly taller bubble, this would probably need to be taller and wider. It could easily fit into an Aces box with another small ship.

...or a Huge Ship box.

letthespeculationsbegin!