It seems to me that fighters are basically suicide runners. I think interceptors should be able to harass enemy fighters and then bug out to go where they are needed. Bombers should be able to attempt to flee. I was thinking of house ruling a way to disengage, as follows:

• A squadron that will disengage cannot attack this turn at all (if it has already counter attacked, it may not disengage, even if an effect would allow that squadron to move and attack.
• The squadron must end its movement at least range 2 away from the nearest enemy ship or squadron. If this is not possible because the squadron is too slow, then it must move as far as possible. If this is not possible because the squadron is surrounded, then it may not disengage.
• When a squadron disengages, any squadrons it was engaged with may make an attack against the squadron. This counts as the activation of that squadron. If it has already activated this turn, then the attack cannot be completed.

What do you all think? Any better ideas? Does this seem like to much?

The point of engaging is to tie up fighters to screen your cap ships. Your house rule removes a whole tactical aspect to the game. The different roles of fighters are abstracted by these rules and the squadron abilities.

The point of engaging is to tie up fighters to screen your cap ships. Your house rule removes a whole tactical aspect to the game. The different roles of fighters are abstracted by these rules and the squadron abilities.

I don't think it negates the tactical options, it does make squadrons more flexible. If a squadron does disengage from another, it can still be pursued, and attacked each time it does. This means that if you are going to lose the fight, you might be able to survive to fight another day. If you fall back to get support from a frigate or cruiser, then your opponent may want to follow and risk getting hit by that ship.

I don't think this would work for 6 round tournament play, but for campaigns and friendly games, it might make fighters a more attractive option.

Some of the fighters in the wave 1 packs have the ability to disengage I believe, thus I don't believe every fighter should be able to. And I entirely agree with Ghost Dancer.

Why not just stick to the rules and play to engage enemy fighters with your own so that you can slip the bombers past?! There is a whole tactical element that you miss by adding this in. Your rule would also reduce the meaningfulness of Escort, and hideously unbalance squadron selection over the kitchen table... Someone is gonna decide on a 100pts worth of TIE bombers eventually!

Plus, if you play with such different house rules you may lack good play experience if you ever do enter a tourney in the LGS!