So I'm a huge fan of Epic games and if there's anything I enjoy more than that, it is bigger Epic games. One thing though has weighed on my mind since the announcement of Scum and Villainy which has had me giddy with excitement: The Skyhook Battle from Shadows of the Empire.

Obviously a few problems exist with regard to balancing such a game without relying solely on the points to do that. Among the balance feedback I'm requesting from you, Internet people, I will specify these parameters.

•Assume the point cap to be 250 per side.

•The Skyhook will be present and participating.

•The Imperial Forces will have a Capital Ship (even if it is just a proxy CR-90 with some Decimator crew).

•Rebel Forces must include Dash and Lando.

The balance I am looking to find, however, pertains to:

•What should the Hull/Shield/Points be for a Skyhook?

-Specifically, could a proxy of a similarly kitted out CR-90 that is stationary stand in as the "Skyhook"? This Proxy would have a Dorsal/Ventral thing going for it I think + fewer/no blind spots.

•Should someone have to fly inside the Skyhook to destroy it (like the N-64 game)?

-Should this be the Victory Condition that determines the winner?

-If this is the case, should Xizor's forces start with more points than the Empire or Rebellion?

•Since the Raider is not yet with us, should the Imperial forces field a stand in (CR-90) or should they take a CR-90s worth of Decimators?

•Should there be specific limitations on ship types that can be fielded?

-Should it be limited to what would normally be flown by Rogue Squadron (X-wings)?

-Should the Imperials be limited to what is typically organic to a Star Destroyer (/Ln, /In, /Sa, Lambda.)?

-Should Vader be Pilot or Crew (for the same reason Dash/Lando will be there, thematics)?

I normally don't ask the forums about balance but, this is the one Scenario that I want to see happen other than the Battle of Endor within my group of gamers. The last thing I helped make rules for turned out ok, but I couldn't complete them because I didn't yield for help and tried to do that all •Lone Wolf. This time I am looking for some solid debate on how to best make this work so it can become easy enough for someone to set up as Dagobah Dave's Trench Run ( huge, huge fan BTW).

If there are other concerns that I have overlooked please take the time and ask your questions too. In order to make a more perfect game, we must first figure out what breaks it and how it can be avoided.

FFA 3v3 Skyhook Battle Generalized (thematic) rules. First edit 23 Feb 2015. Ver1

Playing Surface-?

Points- Scum and Villainy 300/ Rebellion 200/ Imperials 250 (tentative).

Required Ships by Fleet

-Scum:

•Prince Xizor

•Skyhook (points/ armaments TBD) Stand-in proxy?

-Rebellion:

•Dash Rendar (pilot)

•Lando Calrissian (pilot)

•Wedge Antilles

•Luke Skywalker (pilot)

•Restricts any further YT-series from play

-Imperial

•Darth Vader (pilot)

•Flagship of some sort (CR-90 proxy until Raider release)

•Restricts use of Firespray and Phantoms.

Set up using normal rules for Epic Play except for the following:

Skyhook is placed in center of board.

-Scum placed within Range One of Skyhook.

-All Rebel and Imperial ships will be deployed outside of Range Five of the Skyhook.

-(possible Imperial ship launching of fighters here)

I'd say it's definitely possible to balance a 3v3 epic game like this one. I never played SotE, so what I know about this battle is pretty limited, though.

Generally, the balance is going to depend a lot on whether this is supposed to be more of a FFA, or 2v1 type battle. It seemed to me like both the Rebels and Imperials were intent on destroying Xizor's operations; were they tacitly cooperating in this battle? If so, that makes balance pretty straightforward.

If the scenario should be more of a FFA, with each side working to foil every other faction, you'll need to build a sense of mutual paranoia into the bones of the scenario, to discourage ganging up. Ideally, each side should not be able to afford to trust any other side in this case. That means mission-critical objectives that would quickly be threatened if any faction backstabbed another while they were cooperating.

I avoid dictating what ships players can bring usually, but this is a historical mission, so I think you could safely require that Dash be present, and maybe Wedge and a few X-wings. But I would definitely leave room for players to fill out their lists; don't completely dictate what they can bring.

I would represent the skyhook with cargo container tokens; maybe the large ones from the corvette kit if you have enough. I'm not terribly keen on a trench-run-like attack to take it out, but that could definitely be done.

It sounds to me like you got several missions here based on what you are saying.

Eg. Start of the battle (over all), Mid battle (everyone on everyone), Internal battle (wasn't there someone who made up a death star II where you had to make turns or blow up? same idea here inside the skyhook), Escape or finale (rebels making a break for it imperials making a rather large show against S&V S&V trying to blow them all outta the sky.)

It actually sounds like a rather fun series, you could build squad points and have them carry over from epic story to epic story.

Ask questions like Okay what happens if Rebs win missions A, B, C, D? , what if imps win missions A, B, C, D? What if S&V win missions A, B, C, D? Where would the "missions" Change in said favor? Would they get a few more points toss out a few more ships.

Would the imps just toss more ships in anyway?

So on.

I like the idea may do my own take on the subject.