So I guess this is more of a question for X-Wing veterans and people in the know but: Are you likely to be able to get all the upgrade cards available to your faction just through buying that factions ships? (IE will "Redundant Shields" be available in both the ISD and Home One packs) or are you going to have to cross buy? (Redundant shields is in Home One and Turbolasers of Fiery Doom is in the ISD pack.)

Unless Engine Techs comes with the CR90 or Neb-B expansion, Rebels are going to want to pick up some Gladiators, cause that card is going to be nuts on a Corvette.

Unless Engine Techs comes with the CR90 or Neb-B expansion, Rebels are going to want to pick up some Gladiators, cause that card is going to be nuts on a Corvette.

that card is going to be nuts on any ship and will solve the mobility issues of the VSD's alone

I also would like to know people's thoughts on this.

Unless Engine Techs comes with the CR90 or Neb-B expansion, Rebels are going to want to pick up some Gladiators, cause that card is going to be nuts on a Corvette.

that card is going to be nuts on any ship and will solve the mobility issues of the VSD's alone

Can't go on the VSD, just like Nav Team.

In Wave 2 - it'll probably suck to be Rebel Alliance. ISD gets 18 upgrade cards and the Mon Cal ship gets 14. So - that's how FFG rolls. So, you either will want to buy the ISD for the cards, or you can just have better options with a ISD.

Unless Engine Techs comes with the CR90 or Neb-B expansion, Rebels are going to want to pick up some Gladiators, cause that card is going to be nuts on a Corvette.

that card is going to be nuts on any ship and will solve the mobility issues of the VSD's alone

Can't go on the VSD, just like Nav Team.

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

I don't mind buying packs of ships I don't want in order to get cards I need too much. Spending $20US on a Starviper in order to get two Autothrusters for my TIE Ints on a faction I probably won't play doesn't bum me out too much. But, I'm really hoping we don't see a lot of $40US ships for one or two must have cards in a game that's already asking for $100US just on the core set. Because honestly, that will rile me up real quick.

Well it looks like redundant shields actually comes in the MC30 pack as well. So rebel players wont have too much trouble getting it. Not sure if this is how things will go for other cards. IE might not come in the equivalent ships pack but in another pack for the same faction.

I don't mind buying packs of ships I don't want in order to get cards I need too much. Spending $20US on a Starviper in order to get two Autothrusters for my TIE Ints on a faction I probably won't play doesn't bum me out too much. But, I'm really hoping we don't see a lot of $40US ships for one or two must have cards in a game that's already asking for $100US just on the core set. Because honestly, that will rile me up real quick.

I'd have to agree.

This game already seems destined to be less tournament-friendly than X-Wing. If people aren't attending sanctioned events (with the associated mandatory card requirements) it seems like they might be more likely to employ proxy/printed versions of upgrades.

There also seems to be less general player-to-player trade potential than in X-Wing. Lots of players might spring for that 2nd Firespray or 3rd Y-Wing, and get some extra cards to trade with other single-faction players, but how many Armadiers are going to want dual MC80s, let alone trips?

Hopefully FFG is intelligent about spreading the upgrade love.

FFG hasn't let me down so far, why would they start now?

but how many Armadiers are going to want dual MC80s, let alone trips?

* sheepishly raises his hand *

So I guess this is more of a question for X-Wing veterans and people in the know but: Are you likely to be able to get all the upgrade cards available to your faction just through buying that factions ships? (IE will "Redundant Shields" be available in both the ISD and Home One packs) or are you going to have to cross buy? (Redundant shields is in Home One and Turbolasers of Fiery Doom is in the ISD pack.)

You can try and squint really hard at the preview articles to see if the cards are in the flop for both of them. Your concern represents a damned-if-you-do problem that a distribution model for a game like this presents for FFG;

If you're a faction loyalist, you don't want to feel like you have to buy ships from the off-faction just so you can get that one or two cards you want for your fleet. Assuming you're playing in tournaments, this could be a problem, but casual play should be proxy-friendly. In this case, repeating a lot of the cards over expansions on both sides is a boon to you.

If you're collecting all the ships for variety's sake, giving you more options to play with at events, then you definitely don't want to have a bunch of redundant cards from ships on both sides, so the value of the packs will decrease.

It seems like they've struck a happy medium by making things like Autothrusters in X-Wing come in pairs with the Viper, to minimize your off-faction expenses while still giving you that little taste of another play option. They'll never please everyone, as we all have our own approach to how we buy-in and play a game like this. Let's just be thankful that it's not a collectible model and we can budget our costs down to the precise dollar, even if it's a few more than we might otherwise like.

In X-Wing, it seems like it's a matter of patience. The card seems to eventually show up in an expansion pack of the faction you prefer. You just have to wait a while.

but how many Armadiers are going to want dual MC80s, let alone trips?

* sheepishly raises his hand *

I'll second that vote, but more boldly.

I think I will have 3 of everything

But you guys are looking too far off. The CR90 is coming with Leading Shot, and a pass at the Gladiator and VSD shows a lack there of. Leading Shot on either, especially the VSD will be amazing.

I think I will have 3 of everything

I will definitely be joining you there.

There are people who are already selling the single cards out of the core set. I don't think this will be as much of an issue as others.

From what we've seen so far, it looks like it's a little better than X-Wing in terms of sets from both sides having the same cards. You won't need to buy sets just for cards nearly as much as X-Wing (so far at least).

A lot of the set-specific cards seem to be faction-specific too anyway.

In X-Wing, it seems like it's a matter of patience. The card seems to eventually show up in an expansion pack of the faction you prefer. You just have to wait a while.

Except for the best card of all: Engine Upgrade!

I'm going to try to avoid buying a lot of rebel things, if I can. I feel a little gypped Toydarianed with Scum & Villainy in X-Wing, having bought the expensive Starviper for just the Autothrusters, while most of the rest of it is really S&V specific. We'll have to see which cards are really unavoidable purchases.

That said, with the appearance of Autothrusters, turrets have almost disappeared from my local scene, making Autothrusters almost unnecessary. I kinda wish I had saved my money (for an Armada pre-order).

In X-Wing, it seems like it's a matter of patience. The card seems to eventually show up in an expansion pack of the faction you prefer. You just have to wait a while.

Except for the best card of all: Engine Upgrade!

Predator as well; if you're a Rebels-only purchaser, you'll never field this one.

Of course the Ion Cannon comes in like 4 different ship packs, so you'll have more than you'll ever want just through average collecting.