From a narrative point of view, some of the Objective Cards make more sense than others.

Minefields - got it.

Fleet ambush - superb.

But what is Fire Lanes supposed to simulate, and how does it do that?

Hyperspace assault seems like an interesting deployment tactic in a game, but how does it relate to a narrative situation? Is it part of breaking through a defensive line around a strategic location that's located somewhere off-screen (or outside off the play area on the first player's side)?

I ask because I'm designing a ladder-style campaign for my Armada community. I've got certain strategic objectives in mind, and I want them represented by objectives in the game. I'd like to adopt the existing ones, but maybe have some custom ones as well.

So, how do you interpret the objectives we have, what sorts of objectives would you suggest would make for interesting battles with a narrative edge to them?

Advanced Gunnery - a fairly straightforward assault. You can flavour the objective ships as heavily armed warships, sporting experimental weaponry, or crewed by excellent and dedicated gunners.

Opening Salvo - Another straightforward assault. Showing more restraint; imagine the commander on the bridge going "Hold your fire, hold...not yet...NOW!"

Precision Strike - As above. The crews here are focused on pinpoint accuracy and exploiting weaknesses in otherwise heavily defended warships.

Most Wanted - The second player is tracking a particular ship: it houses a rebel operative or a key Imperial officer, it's an experimental ship, it's being captained by someone with a personal vendetta, it's stolen vital secrets, etc. In their haste to track it down and destroy it, they are risking a vessel of importance to their own cause (another important operative, experimental ship, personal vendetta)

Hyperspace Assault - The second player is performing a precision micro-jump: Thrawn was fond of using Interdictor cruisers to facilitate these. Reinforcements to support an assault, a ground force sneaking past enemy lines to land on a planet or board a ship or just a surprise flanking tactic.

Contested Outpost - Rebel operatives have infiltrated an Imperial station and are stealing information (the 100th copy of the Death Star plans?), ex-filtrating a spy, facilitating a defection or abducting Imperial personnel or material. If the Rebel player can control the station, they can pull of their heist without a hitch; if the Imperial player gains control, they deploy squads of stormtroopers to support a firefight that breaks out. Final victory tally determines if the rebels succeed or not.

Fire Lanes - The hardest one to visualize. Either an abstract representation of a larger battle, where controlling large areas of the battlefield are tactically relevant, or perhaps these are hyperspace vectors for reinforcements that need to be clear of enemy fire, or they are sites of friendly shuttlecraft that performed a mission and are fleeing to hyperspace: one side is firing on them to destroy them, the other is trying to control the fire lanes around them to cover their escape.

Fleet Ambush - An ambush!

Minefield - Mines!

Intel Sweep - Also pretty straightforward. Rescuing escape pods with spies aboard, or receiving transmissions, or collecting debris with intel aboard.

Superior Positions - Another straightforward assault, with a focus on outmanoeuvring and positioning, exploiting ship's weaknesses and blind spots.

Dangerous Territory - Both sides may just be trying to survive a dense asteroid field, but one side is familiar with it. Or they may be something of value they are attempting to recover; see Intel Sweep above. Either way, the second player knows the terrain and has mapped this out before.

Hi GAThraawn,

Thanks for these. I particularly like your thoughts on Fire Lanes, as it was the one that I also found the most difficult to figure out. My comments below want to build on your thoughts and probe you further.

What I find a little odd for a number of them is that they're (mostly) symmetric, and they don't sound like objectives - as in: something to be accomplished for a higher strategic goal. I'm thinking mostly about Advanced Gunnery, Opening Salvo, Precision Strike, and Superior Positions. Also, why would both sides have the same mechanics? Did they both just happen to have that experimental weaponry or dedicated gunners, or see an advantage of holding fire for an opening salvo?

Intel Sweep is also symmetrical, whereas intelligence gathering is a fundamentally asymmetrical affair. I can see how one party would want to uncover something, whereas the other would want to cover it up or destroy the material. But what are these to-be-uncovered things doing hanging around on a couple of rocks in space? When I think of an intel sweep, I almost think about that second (or so) mission in the old X-Wing video game, where you fly the A-Wing through the Imperial fleet. This is clearly not the same sort of thing, though.

Hyperspace Assault is not symmetrical, but if it's about troops getting past the opponent's forces, then there's no reason for the troop carrier to stick around. What you're saying about the tactical advantage is quite true, but again that's about tactical advantage. It doesn't sound like an objective that serves a strategic purpose, the way your troop carrier idea does.

Contested Outpost makes obvious sense for it to be symmetrical, so no problem there.

Fleet Ambush is asymmetrical, and as you said, it's also really straight-forward.

Most Wanted can be rationalized that one ship has the hunted person, whereas the other has the primary hunter, with the other ships assisting.

A related way to think about Dangerous Territory is to think about one player needing to get through, and the other to prevent it from happening. But then there should be some reward for getting through to the other side. Hmmm.. Idea below.

=====

Dangerous Territory I'm thinking about making a mine-laying mission, and maybe couple it with the mine mechanics of Minefields.

Blockade Runner - A mission that has one player try to get its ship(s) past the other player's fleet. It would set up on the 3' sides of the play area, rather than on the 4' parts of the 6' edge. I can't imagine that FFG didn't think about this. Maybe they figured it's just too easy to get a corvette past an Imperial fleet.

With hyperspace assault you could think of it as either the second player has just been attacked and there objective is to hold out until reinforcement can arrive, at which point they are then attempting to destroy the enemy,

Or you could think of is a joint assault, meaning 2 fleets from 2 different sectors decide to attack a point of interests but one gets there a few minutes before the other, hence the different arrival times

Regarding Intel sweep, I think the best way to think about is that a ship crashed carrying important cargo or passangers and then both sides come to retrive the info.

Think of it as the 1st player is trying to rescue the survivors before they get captured and the second player is trying to capture them or vice versa

Or you could think of is a joint assault, meaning 2 fleets from 2 different sectors decide to attack a point of interests but one gets there a few minutes before the other, hence the different arrival times

Okay, I see what you're saying here: sometimes strategy serves to give a tactical edge, rather than vice-versa.

Hyperspace Assault- IT'S A TRAP!

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Hi GAThraawn,

Thanks for these. I particularly like your thoughts on Fire Lanes, as it was the one that I also found the most difficult to figure out. My comments below want to build on your thoughts and probe you further.

What I find a little odd for a number of them is that they're (mostly) symmetric, and they don't sound like objectives - as in: something to be accomplished for a higher strategic goal. I'm thinking mostly about Advanced Gunnery, Opening Salvo, Precision Strike, and Superior Positions. Also, why would both sides have the same mechanics? Did they both just happen to have that experimental weaponry or dedicated gunners, or see an advantage of holding fire for an opening salvo?

Intel Sweep is also symmetrical, whereas intelligence gathering is a fundamentally asymmetrical affair. I can see how one party would want to uncover something, whereas the other would want to cover it up or destroy the material. But what are these to-be-uncovered things doing hanging around on a couple of rocks in space? When I think of an intel sweep, I almost think about that second (or so) mission in the old X-Wing video game, where you fly the A-Wing through the Imperial fleet. This is clearly not the same sort of thing, though.

Hyperspace Assault is not symmetrical, but if it's about troops getting past the opponent's forces, then there's no reason for the troop carrier to stick around. What you're saying about the tactical advantage is quite true, but again that's about tactical advantage. It doesn't sound like an objective that serves a strategic purpose, the way your troop carrier idea does.

Contested Outpost makes obvious sense for it to be symmetrical, so no problem there.

Fleet Ambush is asymmetrical, and as you said, it's also really straight-forward.

Most Wanted can be rationalized that one ship has the hunted person, whereas the other has the primary hunter, with the other ships assisting.

A related way to think about Dangerous Territory is to think about one player needing to get through, and the other to prevent it from happening. But then there should be some reward for getting through to the other side. Hmmm.. Idea below.

=====

Dangerous Territory I'm thinking about making a mine-laying mission, and maybe couple it with the mine mechanics of Minefields.

Blockade Runner - A mission that has one player try to get its ship(s) past the other player's fleet. It would set up on the 3' sides of the play area, rather than on the 4' parts of the 6' edge. I can't imagine that FFG didn't think about this. Maybe they figured it's just too easy to get a corvette past an Imperial fleet.

(snert)

Ex-filtrate... What a magnificent word!

Here's an idea for another objective, similar to one that we already have.

The idea is that the fleet attacking a system sends in a scout or vanguard before the bulk of the fleet attacks.

================

Vanguard Attack

(opposite of Hyperspace Assault)

Setup: Before deploying fleets, the second player separates 1 of his small or medium ships and up to 3 of their squadrons. This is the second player's vanguard. The remainder of the second player's ships and squadrons are set aside.

The vanguard is deployed beyond distance 5 of any edge of the setup area, after the first player has deployed at least two ships or one ship and four squadrons. The first player then deploys the rest of their fleet. The second player then places 3 objective tokens in the play area beyond distance 3 of the first player's edge.

Special Rule: At the start of any round after the first round, the second player can deploy the ships and squadrons that were set aside at distance 1 of any objective token. Then remove all objective tokens. The ships can be deployed overlapping squadrons; the first player places those squadrons as though the ship had overlapped them while executing a maneuver.

If the second player does not deploy, (s)he may move each objective token to within distance 1 of its current position.

================

So, I have no idea if this is balanced at all. What do you all think?

So it's Hyerspace assault, but instead of being limited to one small/medium ship and 3 fighters, it's unlimited? This basically just takes the advantages of that objective and runs roughshod over its limitations. I don't think it's balanced at all, and I think the only real way to balance it is to turn it into Hyperspace Assault.

So it's Hyerspace assault, but instead of being limited to one small/medium ship and 3 fighters, it's unlimited? This basically just takes the advantages of that objective and runs roughshod over its limitations. I don't think it's balanced at all, and I think the only real way to balance it is to turn it into Hyperspace Assault.

No, it's not unlimited. You have to start the game with 1 ship and up to 3 squadrons on the field. The rest comes later.

Hyperspace Assault- IT'S A TRAP!

Sorry, couldn't resist.

I was hoping I would see this somewhere in this thread lol