It seems like a given the Lancer-class Frigate will show up in this game eventually. It is the perfect anti-squadron ship, so it will have a very high dice roll. To balance this, it will have really bad anti-ship armament, because most of its weapons were fast-firing turbolasers meant to shoot at X-wings and the like. Therefore, you will have to cover it well. Suggestions? Comments?

And I think the scale is small enough that it won't look like a flying you-know-what.

I don't think they'll want to introduce too many anti-squadron dice to capital ships (if I remember right, the nebs and glads used to have 3) in order to preserve the interactions between squadrons and caps

also it'd still look like a ******* *****

With the introduction of the Raider next wave, I doubt we'll see it, though I'd much prefer it to the Raider. The Lancer was notoriously slow, and I think it would have been interesting to play. There will be a revolt if they don't include the Corellian Gunship at some point though.

Oh well. I guess that's why we have 3D printers.

Yeah, i think the Lancer will be a job for the lovely people on Shapeways. I plan on getting at least 1

I am sure Gosric or Mel will give it a go eventually.

The lancer is also a pretty ugly and generic ship that's slightly phallic. The only reason why people want it so much is extreme EU nostalgia. Let's be honest here, you could plop that ship in as a Battletech spaceship and it would work.

To me, it crosses an aesthetic line that some of the other EU stuff only skirts, like the Assault Frigate, HWK-90, and E-Wing. If it's going to come back, I'd prefer they redesign it to add more Movie flair. Otherwise, I'm okay with the Lancer being replaced completely by the Raider.

But give me the Imperial Customs Boat. It's also skirting the line, but it's still closer to the Imperial aesthetic from the movies.

Lancer looks so goddamn awful I hope they redesign it! I mean.. it's a giant, grey flying dil- symbol of fertility.

On a more serious note... I'd rather see Vigil-class corvette.



Fits better with the pizza slice aesthetics of imperial ships and looks fairly awesome!

Vigil looks too much like the Raider to the average player. I'd be very shocked if we see it appear purely for that reason, which is a damned shame!

However, everything is less important than my beloved Dreadnoughts. I will be getting several of those beauties even if i have to get them made for me

Dreadnoughts are also...er... 'shaped'.

Dreadnoughts, Carracks, and Lancers all share the misfortune of being... oblong bricks... of them I can only see the Dreadnought actually being worth distinguishing. Lancers can be taken up by, say, the Nebulon-B2 and the Carracks were effectively replaced with the Raiders.

Even then we'll probably see a Venator a lot sooner than a Dreadnought.

I really hope not. Venators aren't appropriate at all fir common use in this period, whereas Dreadnaughts were extremely heavily used.

Dreadnought aside, I can't see a Venator being at all well suited to this setting based on the period it is supposed to be set in. It's slightly older than even the Victory-I, and unlike the Victory was almost entirely phased out by the Imperials. And the Rebels, while they would have LOVED to have them, certainly didnt have many (if any) according to any source.

I'm fairly confident the Empire will get the Lancer and the Alliance the Correllian Gunship, if you have one, you'll get both. Also, I see the Strike Cruiser in the future for the Empire.

It seems like a given the Lancer-class Frigate will show up in this game eventually. It is the perfect anti-squadron ship, so it will have a very high dice roll. To balance this, it will have really bad anti-ship armament, because most of its weapons were fast-firing turbolasers meant to shoot at X-wings and the like. Therefore, you will have to cover it well. Suggestions? Comments?

Actually, the only armament it had were quad laser cannons specifically designed for starfighters, I don't believe it had any defense against capital ships.

Oooh, Strike Cruiser. Yes please!

And you are quite right, the Lancer had effectively no defense at all against capitals. Not a single turbolaser or ion cannon. If they dont do it (which is quite possible) i would love to stat it with 3 Anti-fighter and no battery armament at all.....now THAT would be a tricky ship to use when combined with it's weak shields and slow speed!

I'm fairly confident the Empire will get the Lancer and the Alliance the Correllian Gunship, if you have one, you'll get both. Also, I see the Strike Cruiser in the future for the Empire.

A strike cruiser is a must. That said I've seen two common renders of it. One has more rounded edges and the other has harder edges(which would be preferred). As it was also a highly modular design you could have 3 different varients, a high firepower model, a high squadron model, and a support model. Give it higher tha average shields and weak hull.

As far as shapes go the dreadnaught, carrack, lancer, heck the dang mon cal cruisers like home one are all more or less long ovals. It's based on realistic construction... Submarine & planes are largely long ovals, because it's aerodynamic. Now that's not really necessary in space. In the end ya'll can look at anything the way you want.

I hope we don't get a Lancer. It is way too bland for such a beautiful game.

On the other hand, I really want a dreadnought. We already have a variant coming in wave 1, so I hope they include the base ship (make it a command 4 ship though).

It seems like a given the Lancer-class Frigate will show up in this game eventually. It is the perfect anti-squadron ship, so it will have a very high dice roll. To balance this, it will have really bad anti-ship armament, because most of its weapons were fast-firing turbolasers meant to shoot at X-wings and the like. Therefore, you will have to cover it well. Suggestions? Comments?

Actually, the only armament it had were quad laser cannons specifically designed for starfighters, I don't believe it had any defense against capital ships.

It had no anti-capship weapons at all. One on one a CR-90 would destroy a Lancer with ease. A problem made worse because A: They were too slow to outrun most capital ships and B: Their purpose meant that in major engagements they would be deployed in such a way to make them very vulnerable to attack by enemy capital ships.

I really hope not. Venators aren't appropriate at all fir common use in this period, whereas Dreadnaughts were extremely heavily used.

Dreadnought aside, I can't see a Venator being at all well suited to this setting based on the period it is supposed to be set in. It's slightly older than even the Victory-I, and unlike the Victory was almost entirely phased out by the Imperials. And the Rebels, while they would have LOVED to have them, certainly didnt have many (if any) according to any source.

The real reason we haven't seen more Venators in the Imperial era is when they were introduced IRL not that they were all retired IMO. This is a setting where some capital ship models remain in service for hundreds or thousands of year do you really think the Venators would have been retired in less then three decades?

Nope. The reason i think they were primarily retired is because the main sources literally say that they were primarily retired from combat roles. Their role was overtaken by bigger, newer and more powerful ships such as the Imperial-class.

They were still used for training purposes and for backwater garrisons though.

it's quite possible we'll see them, i would just personally prefer not. it'll feel like shoehorning them in purely for due to their popularity, and not because they should be there. Wouldn't be a bad business decision though, obviously.

The Lancer's role would be to exclusively provide an anti-fighter screen to the larger star destroyers, much liker the smaller escort destroyers that provided anti-aircraft screens for the carriers in WW2, and as such would be deployed in a tight formation with the star destroyers. It would be almost totally useless against even corvette level capital ships, with that in mind I could see it having 3, even 4 anti-fighter dice. Like the Strike Cruiser, I think the Lancer and the Gunship are an inevitable release.

I'm predicting the Strike Cruiser for wave 2 along with the Dreadnaught for the Alliance (though the Dreadnaught is slightly larger, the Strike Cruiser is much more modern), and the Lancer no later than wave 3.

Do you not think the Dreadnought is more likely for the Empire, with the Assault Frigate Mk 1 for the Alliance? Thats the way round i envisage it....the Dreadnought always seemed more "Imperial" to me, though they ofc were used by both sides.

The Strike Cruiser i kind of see as a counterpart to something like an MC40a.

Thats just my views though...FFG likes to throw curveballs!

Valid point, but the same goes for the Nebulon Frigate, it was a ship designed and built in Imperial shipyards to escort Imperial cargo fleets. The Empire should be able to field them as well, but I doubt we'll see that. Same goes with the Dreadnaught, I think we'll see the Alliance get that & the Empire get the Strike Cruiser. FFG hasn't been big on sharing ships between the two main factions in X-wing, and I'd be surprised to see that change in Armada.

Though, as you said, FFG has been known to throw some wicked curve balls.

Granted with the Neb-B, but that was always seen as a Rebel ship to casual folk due to the movies, so i don't think there was ever much doubt where that would go!

I am greatly looking forward to seeing what comes out in the future. I must admit i am a little disappointed by some of the early choices (AF Mk II chief among them when the Mk I looks vastly superior and actually exists in more places than just 1 videogame), but there are so many options.

The Lancer's role would be to exclusively provide an anti-fighter screen to the larger star destroyers, much liker the smaller escort destroyers that provided anti-aircraft screens for the carriers in WW2, and as such would be deployed in a tight formation with the star destroyers. It would be almost totally useless against even corvette level capital ships, with that in mind I could see it having 3, even 4 anti-fighter dice. Like the Strike Cruiser, I think the Lancer and the Gunship are an inevitable release.

I'm predicting the Strike Cruiser for wave 2 along with the Dreadnaught for the Alliance (though the Dreadnaught is slightly larger, the Strike Cruiser is much more modern), and the Lancer no later than wave 3.

Wave 2 was spoiled a little while back. ISD and MC80.

The Lancer's role would be to exclusively provide an anti-fighter screen to the larger star destroyers, much liker the smaller escort destroyers that provided anti-aircraft screens for the carriers in WW2, and as such would be deployed in a tight formation with the star destroyers. It would be almost totally useless against even corvette level capital ships, with that in mind I could see it having 3, even 4 anti-fighter dice. Like the Strike Cruiser, I think the Lancer and the Gunship are an inevitable release.

I'm predicting the Strike Cruiser for wave 2 along with the Dreadnaught for the Alliance (though the Dreadnaught is slightly larger, the Strike Cruiser is much more modern), and the Lancer no later than wave 3.

Wave 2 was spoiled a little while back. ISD and MC80.

And MC30c Frigate and Raider.

It looks like FFG picks their ships primarily based on game-play consideration or modifies the ships dramatically for the same reason (like the Defender not turning like it does in the video game). Since the Imperial fleet is themed as big killy slow ships with fighters to run anti-fighter missions, adding a lancer doesn't fit the theme.

The Venator, OTOH, is primarily a carrier (it can hold 4 times the fighters that an ISD can), so it seems like it would fit the in the game better.

The Lancer's role would be to exclusively provide an anti-fighter screen to the larger star destroyers, much liker the smaller escort destroyers that provided anti-aircraft screens for the carriers in WW2, and as such would be deployed in a tight formation with the star destroyers. It would be almost totally useless against even corvette level capital ships, with that in mind I could see it having 3, even 4 anti-fighter dice. Like the Strike Cruiser, I think the Lancer and the Gunship are an inevitable release.

I'm predicting the Strike Cruiser for wave 2 along with the Dreadnaught for the Alliance (though the Dreadnaught is slightly larger, the Strike Cruiser is much more modern), and the Lancer no later than wave 3.

Wave 2 was spoiled a little while back. ISD and MC80.

Yeah, I dropped the ball on that. I was considering Wave 1 as part of the core release, not a wave.

Granted with the Neb-B, but that was always seen as a Rebel ship to casual folk due to the movies, so i don't think there was ever much doubt where that would go!

I am greatly looking forward to seeing what comes out in the future. I must admit i am a little disappointed by some of the early choices (AF Mk II chief among them when the Mk I looks vastly superior and actually exists in more places than just 1 videogame), but there are so many options.

Yeah, I would have liked to have seen the Mark 1 Assault Frigate before the Mark 2, because the Mark 1 legitimately looked like a stripped down Dreadnaught.