Seems to me after reading the rules that the player using the least number of points gets to select who is first player. The first player then has to pick one of the mission cards to form the games objective. As such if you want to play you mission you have this silient bidding competition with your opponent.

So the question is, just how many points would you give up to ensure you have a good chance to play your missions as often as possible?

You read correctly. It's an interesting little sub game.

Personally i feel that building balanced fleets for maximum points is the way to go, but there are extremely valid arguments in favour of the "initiative bid" approach.

Lots of builds will naturally sit at 296-300, at least with just 2 Cores. So 295 will almost assure that you get The Choice from what I've seen so far.

I was under the impression that the second player actually picks 1 objective of each type and then the first player picks one of the second players objective choices.

I was under the impression that the second player actually picks 1 objective of each type and then the first player picks one of the second players objective choices.

Correct. And what he said above doesn't contradict this.

Adlerson

I'd expect bids as high as 7 points. After that, you start giving up whole TIE Squadrons and some really interesting upgrades.

I foresee the Empire caring more about the Init than the Rebels at this point, since their ships are a bit slower and harder to adapt. Time will tell though.

Having read the replies (Thanks all) and thought about it I think this could produce an interesting meta that may surprise people. (Or may not.)

If Imperials "bid" 7 then as a rebel I would probably be happier to bid 9, for the exact reason Hida77 gives, mission selection may well be more important for Imperials, so why shouldn't I take it away?

Probably for store leagues and such where the players know each other, but if I bid 9 some one will go 10, and we'll all slowly hit the point where we do not feel comfortable going lower. At which time someone will just reset to 400 and start the process again.

At a tournament where players don't know or play in each others game, and therefore don't have an established meta, then I think the process will be quite the way Hida77 describes, players will try and second guess each other as to what they can "give up" and what they the gain on having their missions played as to what they gain and then give up for not playing their missions. Mind you group concensus will probably be lead by a few high ranked players and what they do, if they care about this mechanic more people will consider using less that their full points allotment, if they don't then full points or nearest will be more prevalent.

I haven't played much at this time, so one follow up question. Are all missions equal or can you build a list that will be more capable at some missions and not others?

I was under the impression that the second player actually picks 1 objective of each type and then the first player picks one of the second players objective choices.

Yes, so by using fewer point I chose to be first or second player, I chose to be second player and hand my opponent my 3 mission selections. Sorry for not being clear and miscommunicating my point.

This is a part of the game that will become more important as people play the game. Objective play is still being explored by most, so the value of the choice may not be on players minds. Once more ship types hit the table, and actual fleet based strategies start to appear, the choice will become far more valued.

Yeah for me the whole Initiative or Objectives thing is a really good part of the game as well.

You have to tailor your missions to your fleet, and also to your opponent. Going fighter heavy with Rebels? Most Wanted can allow each of your bombers a second attack dice on the target ship, so you can quickly hit that bullseye and the domino's will fall like a house of cards.

Checkmate.

Superior Positions also works since you can collect a gigantic glut of tokens by having fighters get around the opponent and attack his rear.

Corvette Swarms obviously want to go for Objectives that make use of their speed and numbers, so Intel Sweep and Opening Salvo obviously spring to mind (Dangerous terrain is a valid alternate as well, since it encourages your opponent to faceplant into asteroids.)

On the Imperial side of things Advanced Gunnery works with a lot of different lists, and when you consider that you've probably lost the initiative to get that you're going to need to capitalise any chance you get. Minefields are a good way to funnel your opponent into your killing fields, Hyperspace Assault works as well depending on what you decide to put into reserve, and they definitely have the advantage in Fire Lanes and Contested Outpost objectives.

Then there's initiative, do you cede it for your missions, or keep it for the obvious benefits? A Rebel player might not have too much to worry about giving the Initiative to a double VSD list due to their slow speed and poor handling compared to him, but he should probably think twice if he knows that Demolisher is on the scene.

Fighter heavy lists will also get the most out of being able to activate two of their squadrons first.

The Empire needs the Initiative partially for the obvious reasons, but also to keep it from the Rebels, who with the initiative can have Corvettes that are nigh-on unkillable with their ability to boom and zoom.

I also think Rieekan is going to affect this equation as well, since when you don't need to actually worry about losing your ships until the Status phase then the initiative isn't as important (That this makes Tycho an amazing tackler is simply a happy side effect.) So you could see Rieekan builds going for complete 300pts with no initiative bid.

I plan to maximize my squadron play. That in mind I would like to hold the initiative more then the objective, simply so I can decide where the squadron fight goes.

Are they shipping new Objectives in the expansion packs, or is this is?

I would guess that we may see an extra 3 cards, one from each mission set with every other expansion. You could kill off the game with a bad mission or two.