Junkyard
Mission Control is a fantastic free tool provided by FFG for writing and publishing X-Wing scenarios. In my continuing quest to keep Mission Control on the public radar, I’m showcasing select scenarios from the vast collection now available on Mission Control.
“Junkyard” differs from the two previous scenarios in that it is not constructed to be maximally thematic. It was instead designed from the ground-up to be usable in tournaments.
Designing missions for tournament play is tricky. Balance is the most important component, but missions also need to be relatively easy to learn and playable with standard 100 point lists. That rules out almost everything on Mission Control!
One element that many fine scenarios lack is what I call “intrinsic balance”. That’s a balance that is hard-wired into the scenario, the same way it is for a standard skirmish game. The main way this natural balance is achieved is through mirroring, as in skirmish games (both sides have the same deployment, squad building, victory conditions, etc.) Of course this balance is always going to be disrupted by squad-building, but that’s fine because that’s a player choice; informed by that player’s skill and creativity.
Junkyard is thus a mirrored scenario; two groups of ships engaging each other in a ship graveyard full of old hulks of ships drifting aimlessly through space.
Mission Description and Overview:
“Operating in a contested sector of space, two patrols of opposing forces have encountered one another at the site of a clone wars-era battle. Hulks of ships drift endlessly, having been picked over at length by pirates and other opportunists. The engagement takes place close to the hulk of a particularly large and dangerous wreck.”
“Junkyard” is essentially a standard skirmish taking place in a very different environment than we’re used to. There’s no asteroids this time; only debris fields and a derelict freighter spinning slowly among the wreckage. The derelict freighter is the key component to this scenario, and can have a really big “impact” on the course of the game, because each turn it executes a 1-bank and a reverse 1-straight maneuver; and it follows the normal huge ship rules for collisions.
That’s right: it can crush your ships if you’re not careful.
Setup and Deployment:
The only difference from a standard skirmish is the terrain. The Freighter goes down first, in the center of the map, and parallel with the deployment zone edges. Players then alternate placing the four debris fields, which have to be more than range 1 from the table edges, and more than range 2 from each other.
Ship placement proceeds as normal, but after all the ships are down, you roll an attack die to see which direction the freighter is drifting in; left or right.
Special Rules:
The special rules in this scenario only concern the derelict freighter.
At the end of each activation phase, the freighter executes two moves: a 1-bank (in the direction determined by the attack die earlier), and a reverse 1-straight.
It looks like this:
It’s not a huge move overall, but remember that during both the bank and the reverse straight, your ships can be bulldozed by this wreck. That can really ruin your day.
Here’s the full range of motion you can expect from a derelict freighter over the course of a full game. It’s a nice, big spiral:
The freighter otherwise acts like a huge-ship obstacle. So, when you bump into it you stop at the edge of its base, you can fly over it without losing your action, and it obstructs shots. Just remember it can smush your ships like bugs.
Playthrough:
I recently sat down and played with myself, er, through this mission with myself. To keep things easy, I went with two basic lists: 4 Blues with sensors, and 4 PtL Royal Guards.
Here’s what it looked like after deployment. The RGIs are set to move around the freighter, using it to cover their approach and limit the Blues’ options in maneuvering against them, while the Blues are spoiling for a joust. The freighter starter rolling to the left, towards the RGIs.
The Blues went for the right-side RGIs, but they dodged out of range while the other pair boosted around the freighter’s other side for a shot. Lucky for the Blues, the shots weren’t too bad, but the position is starting to look pretty bad.
The Blues hard-turned into the left-side RGIs, and after a nasty exchange, both sides were down one ship. But the Blues were left with bad options after that, clearing stress with 1-banks.
Soon, the Blues were in hot water, and had to take some risky maneuvers to stay competitive. This picture below is before the freighter made its move. 
And this is the freighter after its move (including the reverse 1-straight!). A little close for comfort.
Emboldened by their good maneuvering, the Blues tried something similar next turn, cutting it close.
A little too close. One got smashed by the transport, and the other was gunned down before it could return fire.
Thoughts on this Scenario:
It’s easy to forget how dangerous the transport is after a few turns. But don’t under-estimate it, or you could end up very unhappy. The environmental danger that it adds to the game can make things very interesting. There can be a really interesting dynamic in the game – will your opponent make a tactically favorable maneuver that strays a little close to the freighter, or will they play it safe?
This scenario also makes control lists, particularly those featuring Ion weapons substantially more dangerous. Being Ioned is bad enough, being ioned into the path of a huge ship is much, much worse.
The only downside to the scenario is that you need a GR-75 to play. Plenty of people have one, but many don’t. You may not be able to guarantee that every table has one for a tournament. Of course, that problem doesn’t exist on Vassal.
Edited by Babaganoosh