Some of you may remember a while ago i wrote and posted up some campaign rules to add a bit more depth to the game.
We tried them out tonight and so far they seem to be working really well
(you can probably search and find the rules easily enough but i can repost them in this thread if anyone is interested)
Simon and I both chose 200 point rosters according to the campaign rules (in a nutshell, all generics of PS4 or less and only one 'unique character' or 'unique' EPT per list, the character could be over PS4).
Only 100 points of this can be fielded at any one time the rest is for spares, replacements and crew/ship rotation and to give you scenario flexibility.
I fielde 3 academy pilots, a black squdron pilot with 'squad leader', a tie advanced (PS2) and a PS2 bomber with cluster missiles and flechette torpedos.
Simon ran LT blount with homing missiles leading a bandit squadron pilot with prockets, a mangle r cannon PS4 Bwing, and an xwing with proton torpedoes (PS4)
I faired pretty badly and lost the black squadron and an acadmey early on. One of my academys was on 1 hull point left a few turns in so i flew him off the friendly edge (in the campaign it doesnt destroy you, it lets you escape, flying of the enemy or neutral edges means you might get destroyed, captured or lost in space.)
I managed to take out the xwing and strip the shields off the Z95s but it was looking bad for my guys, the bomber was on half hit points so disengaged, my Tie advanced made a run for it but was shot down by a long range mangler cannon shot and my last academy pilot flew of a neutral edge.
Simons guys earned vital experience but not enough to roll on the 'PS/Ability bonus' chart and while he lost an xwing he rolled three 'hits' for resupply and got 30 ressuply points from HQ , easily enough to replace the red squadron pilot.
I was less lucky rolling just 1 hit for a measly 10 ressuply points but luckily i'd saved 10 points of my initial roster which meant i could repair the surviving TIE and partially repair the bomber.
My academy pilot (who had shot down the xwing) got 2 experience points (not enough for a roll on the chart either) but has to sit out the next game while his crew injury 'heals' (each crew/pilot injury you sustain requires a games 'downtime' to recover... you can fly injured but you'd be daft to).
So I've lost two ties but my 200 point roster was full of low PS cheap ships. i've still got two PS3 interceptors and a brand new bomber back in the hanger.
More importanly 'Soontir Fel' having been alerted to the rebel presence is being assigned to the next engagement.
This mission btw had four rocks and an objective to be in possession of the battlefield as an experimental TIE (a debris cloud in the centre) had been lost in this sector.
(we roll for 'game scenery' by throwing eight red dice. A 'hit' is an asteroid, a 'crit' is a debris cloud and if three or more focus come up they represent a 'hulk', a wrecked tranport or corvette (or raider when they are out).... blanks are nothing!
Only one game so far to try out the 'fxing and imprving mechanics' of my campaign system but we feel its already added to our gaming.
There is now a reason to 'bug out' if you've done a decent amount of damage and 'fighting to the death' is now detrimental. But whoever is in control of the field at the end of the game has a greater chance of recovering damaged ships, gets more ressuply and when we get the quadrant map done will 'own' that area.
Oh and i forgot to mention 'salvage', as simon was in possession of the board he could try and salvage wrecks.... for each ship you roll a red dice. A crit or blank means its beyond repair but a hit means that you recover it with one hull point. You can spend your ressuply on repairing it (other faction ships are doubel the cost to repair) or you can strip it for spares (you get a quarter of its points value as 'resupply).
Simon, for a laugh, elected to repair the tie advanced that he salvaged so the rebels now have a captured TIE advanced.. it will cost more to keep it running than a rebel ship but adds a little story to the campaign!