I think brace would reflect it nicely.

Alright, but it's gonna cost a couple extra points. Here you are:

And while I'm at it, here's another title card:

Before going back to the Clone Wars (and in an effort to avoid doing the bases for a bunch of ships), I thought I'd revisit and improve on a couple of old cards:

I like the concept of these transports but I do have a question, why would you ever take DX-9s over ATR-6s? I personally really don't like speed 2 units (fighter speed, not ship speed), they're very difficult to herd into useful positions, especially against quicker starships, and I don't see a use for the DX-9 version over the ATR-6s. For the upgrade, that cost seems completely worth it to me. Both look good, and I'm not saying the ATRs are OP, but I wonder when if ever the DX-9s would see action.

And not doing bases is a completely valid reason to avoid the CIS. If I had Photoshop or enough experience in it, I'd try to help with that, but I have neither.

I was surprised to see the Gamma is faster than the Delta. (checked it).

However they are both pretty slow and I would give both Speed 2. Espaccally to make the Gamma not toooooo much better than the mostly used and iconic Delta.

I really like you boarding rule, even if I would word it: ...that ships counts as destroyed.

And I just checked, the Delta is accutally better armed than the Gamma:

Gamma:

Armament

• Taim & Bak H6 turbolasers (4) ^[1]
• ArMek SW-3 ion cannons (2) ^[1]
• Krupx MG7 proton torpedo launchers (2) ^[1]
  • 4 torpedoes each, standard load ^[1]

Delta:

• Taim & Bak KT4 laser cannons (8) ^[1]
• ArMek SW-2 ion cannons (4) ^[1]
• Krupx MG7 proton torpedo launcher (2)
  • 5 proton torpedoes each, standard load ^[1]

So perhaps make the Delta better vs. ships and the Gamma just better vs. fighter by giving it Counter? Perhaps even Bomber for the Delta?

For the Beta ETR-3 I recommend a mix of both, but extra expensive.

I like the concept of these transports but I do have a question, why would you ever take DX-9s over ATR-6s? I personally really don't like speed 2 units (fighter speed, not ship speed), they're very difficult to herd into useful positions, especially against quicker starships, and I don't see a use for the DX-9 version over the ATR-6s. For the upgrade, that cost seems completely worth it to me. Both look good, and I'm not saying the ATRs are OP, but I wonder when if ever the DX-9s would see action.

I was surprised to see the Gamma is faster than the Delta. (checked it). However they are both pretty slow and I would give both Speed 2. Espaccally to make the Gamma not toooooo much better than the mostly used and iconic Delta.

I really like your boarding rule, even if I would word it: ...that ships counts as destroyed.

And I just checked, the Delta is accutally better armed than the Gamma:

[snipped]

So perhaps make the Delta better vs. ships and the Gamma just better vs. fighter by giving it Counter? Perhaps even Bomber for the Delta?

So, in view of both your comments - how about swapping the anti-squadron dice of the two units? Two blue dice for the DX-9, one blue die for the ATR-6. Maybe adjust the ATR-6's speed down to two, maybe not. It's going to be insanely difficult to get Board to trigger with slow fighters (how often does Keyan's unique ability trigger?), especially against the targets it can really hurt.

Though I suppose that's OK: capturing a corvette should be a one-in-a-million shot, or a massively well-planned and well-executed operation. Removing a command token from a slower ship is much easier to achieve, but nowhere near as game-changing.

*: I just realised how weird the interaction between Rhymer and the Board ability is. The opportunity to break that up a little might well be what convinces me to lower the ATR's speed down to 2.

You can fix that by not tying it it an attack.

Perhaps the ship "docks" and is removed from play, each turn giving out boarding tokens until the target is overwhelmed? (Maybe tie it to command values, so it's only one turn to take out a corvette but four to do a VSD. With the six turn game limit it provides realistic barriers against just sneaking in and taking out a ship by surprise.)

It was something like that originally. But aside from the much longer text, it had a number of other limitations. Most importantly, making it an attack prevents it from happening while the transport is engaged with other fighters, as it should. It also allows for easily varying the docking "power" of units. I think the current wording is generally satisfactory both in terms of the spectrum of outcomes and of rules tightness; the Rhymer fringe case is kinda weird, but not much weirder than with TIE fighters or TIE advanced. If playtesting shows Board to be OP, it's likely to be so independently of this interaction.

But I'm open to suggestions! What do you have in mind precisely?

EDIT: It occurred to me that you could simply add "if you are within distance 1 of the defending hull zone" to the current wording, which would significantly shorten its range and fix the Rhymer glitch. But it does noticeably lengthen the ability, so I'm not sure it's worth it. It would also pretty much require both units' speeds to be increased to 3 - otherwise it would only ever work after being overlapped by a ship.

Boarding should not be a sure thing that you can calculate on. Instead of adding up boarding tokens each turn until you overcome the command value you should have to roll boarding dice (like attack dice). If you score equal or more hits then the command value you add 1 boarding token. If number of boarding tokens > command the target ship is destroyed. That opens the possibility to have additional upgrade cards (crew, officers) that alter the boarding roll procedure, add dice etc.

Give a "normal" boarding transport something like 2 red dice, one with elite zero g troopers 2 black, etc... you get the idea.

Boarding should not be a sure thing that you can calculate on. Instead of adding up boarding tokens each turn until you overcome the command value you should have to roll boarding dice (like attack dice).

That's why you have to spend an attack die showing a hit icon . That's only 50% chance for a DX-9, 75% for an ATR-6. But glad we're on the same page design-wise

How about

Board: When you attack a ship at distance 1, if the defending hull zone has no shields you may assign it a boarding token instead. Ships with boarding tokens equal to it's command value are destroyed.

Give them the rogue keyword so they can be more effective (and at speed two, they're not going to be able to do mutch. Unless you're hitting corvettes or in swarms)

ok, let's see, worst case scenario: Salvation +X17 Turbolasers takes out shields of a VSD; same turn 3 of those transports board that same VSD and take it out. The total points of that combined force is less than the VSD and it should be able to do that once more during that game, no?! Now let's assume that the same player brings 5 or 6 of those transports, to compensate for losses and to threaten areas of teh board (GSD will have to be very careful now), and at least 2 ships that can take out a single hull zone in one turn (not so hard, really, when you have X17 Batteries, or AFMKII getting 2 arcs to fire there).

I like the boarding idea, it should be in the game, but I'm not sure how to balance it correctly. With current idea each ship is effectively reduced to 2 or 3 hull (it's command value). It should be very hard (close to impossible within the time frame of a Armada game) to succesfully board a VSD or similar sized ship. How about the crew fighting back (at the cost of one of it's next attacks, mark with special crewcombat token), rolling blue dice equal to the command value; each hit destroys one boarding token, excess hits destroy boarding attack dice (if attack dice are down to 0 the boarding is over, the boarding craft is destroyed).

Another very simple suggestion for boarders is this: Forget being able to destroy a ship vs disrupt it. Bombers are for destroying ships.

How about once it has boarding tokens equal to its command rating it will no longer allow the ship to spend command dials. This would represent a severe disruption that these sort of actions would cause, without needing to tackle a the damage limit for every ship size.

My suggestion is roll for boarding, damage roll = remove a command token, critical means add a boarding token. Limit this function to a blue dice. The other suggestion is a double sided card that lists the proper boarding sequence on the back side of the squadron card. Somtimes things are going to be more complex then a paragraph. Especially when inventing a new mechanic.

Nice touch. I like that disruption idea. The crew will try to isolate the boarding parties, while they will try to take control and/or do damage to (combat) important systems like drives or laser batteries by sabotage. Tackling the command dials is a good idea here, and a strong enough effect to make those boarding crafts useful.

Something like this? Anything longer just won't fit, and I don't want to make this a complicated mechanic.

It ignores the command value, so it's just as easy to disrupt an ISD as a Corvette. But a larger ship can stock up more command tokens and therefore shrug off a larger amount of boarding tokens. And they only trigger on a crit, so it's not like a ship will ever have more than one or two, even when swarmed.

Having said that, I still prefer something like this:

It feels more thematic, more dramatic, and gives the player more choices (go for damage, or go for capture?).

I am partial to the revised mechanic because it uses my intent. So this is not an impartial opinion. However to make sure you can eventually remove a boarding token you should allow the expending of the command dial or token to remove it. The reason for this is to allow a ship who has no tokens to remove it. Unless you are going to allow a ship to bank the command it cant resolve as a token.

So this is not an impartial opinion. However to make sure you can eventually remove a boarding token you should allow the expending of the command dial or token to remove it. The reason for this is to allow a ship who has no tokens to remove it. Unless you are going to allow a ship to bank the command it cant resolve as a token.

Anyway, I'll keep both versions online until we've done some playtesting

Just read it again, I glossed over the word resolve and its obvious meaning. Was caught up in my own interpretation of the rule.

I will playtest it though, my group has been rather active with trying the customs as of late. Although I did have to bribe them all with a Dreadnaught...

Just read it again, I glossed over the word resolve and its obvious meaning. Was caught up in my own interpretation of the rule.

I will playtest it though, my group has been rather active with trying the customs as of late. Although I did have to bribe them all with a Dreadnaught...

Please say the corvette.

By request, here's a card for the Pelta-class Frigate:

Very lightly armed, but quite maneuverable and extremely durable. It might have a place as a flagship in a Corvette swarm.

Now, when you say "customs" are you referring to custom ships in general, or an, as yet unseen card for the Customs Corvette?

Please say the corvette.

Should I do that one next? I wouldn't mind a(nother) short break from Clone Wars stuff. Though I also need to make quite a few bases before it gets out of hand.

In general lol. We now have 6 Dreadnaught users in the player pool, as well as several custom fighters. We all agreed to start slow when it came to custom stuff so we could balance it.

Cool. Dreads are nice ships, and a EU fan favorite. Those and the Intradictors are the ships I expected the warmest welcome for. What fighters are getting the best reception from your group?

We all agreed to start slow when it came to custom stuff so we could balance it.

That's very sensible. And I'm looking forward to hearing how it goes.

To be honest, I should probably stop adding new ships for a good while, especially since Wave 2 is coming soon. In the meantime there's still a bunch of custom cards with no base or titles, so I have my work cut out for me.

Two more cards for the Pelta frigate, inspired by the Rebels season 2 premiere:

A Phoenix Home title card is coming soon!

And...

If we throw too much on the table too fast without any consistent play, I think we would quickly de-rail any hope of balance, so the group is good. Next for us to try is the Corellian Gunship.

As for fighters, the Assault Gunboat and E-wing are getting the attention because I distributed them amongst my group, so they didn't have a choice but to accept free fighters. Everyone did/or will recieve a Dreadnaught and 2 E-wing or Assault Gunboat Flights.