Well, last year Gen Con 2014 predictions were all about an Imperial huge ship. In particular, the Vigil-class. That was pretty much on everyone’s mind. And we were all wrong.

Gen Con 2014 came and went with no new the Imperial huge. It wasn’t even announced until Christmas. That’s 4 months after Gen Con!

Ahh, but Gen Con 2014 did make a major, major announcement. It was the very controversial 3rd Faction. That in itself was huge.

Anyone here make the call last year with the Wave 6 Scum and Villainy? Most Wanted, StarViper, M3-A and IG-2000? Anyone get it right?

So here we are in 2015, only a couple weeks out. What will they announce at 2015 Gen Con?

Again, we’re talking predictions here, not wish lists.

Some things that have been thrown about:

• Wave 8
• X-Wing 2.0
• Ground combat
• Episode 7 tie-in
• Ace packs
• Mission packs
• Imperial Gozanti Cruiser
• Scum Huge

My money's on ice cream - and, some kind of plastic ship that comes with cool upgrade cards.

I'll do a safe prediction and a crazy one:

Safe Prediction: They will announce Wave 8. Wave 8 will, like Wave 7, consist of 4 ships: 1 Rebel, 1 Empire, and 2 Scum. I expect at least one of the 2 Scum ships to be of one of the bounty hunters from ESB, perhaps the Punishing One.

Crazy Prediction: We'll see either some late Clone Wars ships being released (e.g. ARC-170) or the arrival of a 4th faction.

I predict the first Scum Aces pack, with more support for the Y-Wing (both Rebel and Scum factions) and Starviper.

Some things that have been thrown about:

• Wave 8
• X-Wing 2.0
• Ground combat
• Episode 7 tie-in
• Ace packs
• Mission packs
• Imperial Gozanti Cruiser
• Scum Huge

Analyzing the possibilities listed:

Wave 8 is likely because announcements are usually made at least half a year in advance, and so if Wave 8 is announced in August, we can expect it to come out around February/March 2016, which sounds about right.

I don't see X-Wing 2.0 on the horizon. There are still plenty of ships to be made - late Clone Wars stuff, Stuff from Episodes 7-9, Stuff from Star Wars Rebels, some more EU ships, etc.

Ground combat is pretty much covered by Imperial Assault for now, so I think that's doubtful too. I know, IA is a different kind of game, but it still occupies the "Ground combat" space.

Episode 7 tie-in could happen. It might be released as Wave 8 or perhaps as a new starter set (not unlikely). I doubt they'll announce much about this though because of spoilers.

Ace packs are likely. I expect there to be a release around Nov 2015 to capitalize on the holiday rush (last year, they released the Outrider and Decimator). Given that Wave 7 will be released Q3 (I say around Sept 2015) and Wave 8 might not be released until next year, we need an Ace pack to tie us over. Wouldn't be too surprised though if we got a new starter featuring The Force Awakens ships instead of an Ace pack. A new starter would be good, as older starters are sold out in some places.

I don't see them releasing standalone mission packs.

Imperial Gozanti is unlikely for now, as the Imperial Raider hasn't even been released yet. There seems to be a general lack of momentum on Epic. That said, Imperial Gozanti might be released later, just not within the next 6 months.

Scum Huge is possible, just to enable Scum Epic play. Don't expect to see it anytime soon though. (See Imperial Raider).

Lots of good possibilities here. I think Wave 8 is highly likely, probably including the Ghost from Rebels, which may have a similar deploy function as the Hound's Tooth. A scenario book would be so much fun, but with the release of Mission Control I think they are trying to put scenarios in the hands of the players. Still, it's not out of the question.

ok

I think we will see a Scum huge, Action transport, Wild Carrde title

also either a scum aces pack for one of the YT ships or a wave 8 announcement with 1 ship per faction, I am hoping to see more large base ships for scum, since fighters were not a huge part of scum and villainy in the star wars universe. most were smugglers and hunters that used tramp freighters or small system patrol craft. I wouldn't be surprised if they pulled the ships from the Armada wave 2 line for wave 8.

but in all reality, with the movie coming in less than 6 months and the amount of time it takes to release a wave, I hope we see episode VII ships in the next wave.

Scum Huge and Aces seem most likely. Big toy push is 9/3 so it would be weird if we saw Ep 7 stuff, right?

I don't know why this 2.0 stuff is so commonly brought up. If it ain't broke why would they fix it?

I'm expecting the Raider & Wave 7 to be available to Gen Con attendees, just like the Outrider and Decimator were last year.

I'm hoping for a Wave 8 announcement, expecting at least an Aces announcement.

We may get announcements on standalone Force Awakens games or tie-ins.

Edit: oh, and of course:

What will Fantasy Flight announce at GenCon 2015?

Star Wars stuff.

New books for the RPGs, possibly with some material from the new movie.

Next wave of ships for Armada (wave 2 or 3, depending on what they put out for sale at the show).

Expansions, ally/enemy packs, etc., for Imperial Assault. I don't know- have they made a Lando thing yet?

Next expansions for SWLCG.

A standalone board game in the Ep7 setting. It could be a "find the traitor" game like Battlestar Galactica, a tactics game like XW or IA, a grand strategic wargame in the vein of Twilight Imperium or Forbidden Stars (ooo, what if Forbidden Stars is a prototype of the Force Awakens board game?), something mission-based like SW Queen's Gambit, or something completely different!

And with 4 minutes left in their session, they'll announce something for XW. I predict something Ep7 like a First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter expansion and a (whatever the good guy team is called) New Blue X-Wing expansion. Other guesses at a new starter box seem pretty good too (lock in new players, get all of us old players to buy another $40 starter box [all the same basic content as the original version but with Ep7 ships and pilots], all as fast as China can paint the minis). What else? I don't think we'll see content from the Rebels cartoon yet, but a Scum equivalent to the Punisher/K-Wing (Hurrg Scurrg thing? Mist Hunter?Jumpmaster 5000?) seems like a good guess too.

What would x-wing 2.0 be? And how could players with extensive collections adapt? I sure hope new rules can be ported to old players easily, I am not looking forward to spending another fortune on new cards/core sets

I don't know why this 2.0 stuff is so commonly brought up. If it ain't broke why would they fix it?

What would x-wing 2.0 be? And how could players with extensive collections adapt? I sure hope new rules can be ported to old players easily, I am not looking forward to spending another fortune on new cards/core sets

A Game of Thrones the card game ran from 2003 to 2014. X-wing just barely came out in 2012, so I think there is plenty of life left in this game. It's not a card game, and maybe miniatures games can't last as long without new editions, but I'd say it's safe to stop talking about X-wing 2nd Edition.

After all, Epic play hasn't really even taken flight yet! There is so much more to explore!

I don't know why this 2.0 stuff is so commonly brought up. If it ain't broke why would they fix it?

What would x-wing 2.0 be? And how could players with extensive collections adapt? I sure hope new rules can be ported to old players easily, I am not looking forward to spending another fortune on new cards/core sets

A Game of Thrones the card game ran from 2003 to 2014. X-wing just barely came out in 2012, so I think there is plenty of life left in this game. It's not a card game, and maybe miniatures games can't last as long without new editions, but I'd say it's safe to stop talking about X-wing 2nd Edition.

After all, Epic play hasn't really even taken flight yet! There is so much more to explore!

AGOT switched to the LCG format in 2007, so the current AGOT game when from 2007-2015. But, this game is no where near the criteria needed for a second edition. Still selling really well. And the rules are hardly causing an issue.

I bet for an Aces Tri Pack . One scum, one imperial and one rebel (M3-A, Tie Defender, X-Wing)

And perhaps something about de Scum huge ship. But i would bet for the Aces pack.

There is soooo much FFG can and will do with this game over the coming years. I can't, for the life of me, understand where all the X-Wing 2.0 stuff comes from. The game is amazing, very well balanced, and has huge potiential with EU, Episode 7 coming, not to mention, Ep. 8 and 9 as well as the Anthology films. The game does not need a 2.0 anywhere in it's near future.

I'm guessing it'll be tied to Force Awakens.

rogue squadron pack to buff out the X-wing!! since the tie gets its buff with the Raider! or next gen X-wings to coincide with the movie..

My guess (and secret hope)?

X-wing Resistance

This is a fully stand alone playable expansion for X-wing - another core set as it were, that is focused on the fighters of The Force Awakens. In it are all the templates, dice, and ships to play the game. The difference is that the rules are updated, as well as a few changes. As well as the red and green dice, we have new ones (orange and blue maybe). These are dice that show a slight improvement over the red and green. For instance, the blue die might have two evade results on one side. The orange has the same with [boom] results. As a counter side, there may be less focus results, less crits etc. Now this IS an expansion as well, so there will be new cards such as upgrades that give the new dice, say a weapon or engine refit that replaces one red or green die with a orange or blue.

This is to show that the newer fighters are more advanced technologically, but the older ships can have modifications to bring them into the new era. Okay importantly, it doesn't make the ships all around better, just different enough to warrant taking them as an option. As it is a stand alone it will get you another damage deck, maneuver templates, and upgrade cards for the new ships.

As an upgrade it is fully compatible with "advanced" rules.

Honestly, I am expecting FFG's focus this gencon to be about the Episode VII TIE/in's.

So a First Order vs Resistance imperial assault box, card game stuff. Expect only physical reveals and absolutely NO spoilers for the movie other than names released already. Though there will be first order troopers, heavy troopers, and flame troopers.

There will probably be one or two original trilogy releases hidden away in the reveals as well.

What would x-wing 2.0 be? And how could players with extensive collections adapt? I sure hope new rules can be ported to old players easily, I am not looking forward to spending another fortune on new cards/core sets

if I wanted to do that, I would still be playing 40k

Well, I don't think green dice suck, or that the rules are so unbalanced as to warrant a revamp... But we do live in a capitalist world.

I hope sometime soon we can get some more pilots for Rebel Y-wings.

Call me crazy, but I don't think we need an x wing aces pack, at least not yet. Maybe after the movies come out we can get some more pilot tie ins, but not yet. We already have like 14 named x wing pilots, and 2 y wing and e wing pilots. Maybe just a x wing title card that enables the droid to perform its own actions (potentially even when stressed). Throw a couple droids in the mix, boom. X wing fixed. Can be added into an e wing/y wing pack. Tie defender and bomber could use some love, as could pretty much all of scum.

I think gen con will have an aces announcement. Three packs. One for each faction. .....

Maybe an ordinance pack that comes with enough Connor nets and cluster mines to actually use extra munitions without needing to buy 4 $20 ship's.

Well, I don't think green dice suck, or that the rules are so unbalanced as to warrant a revamp... But we do live in a capitalist world.

No, we live in a capitalist part of the world ;-P

Maybe an ordinance pack that comes with enough Connor nets and cluster mines to actually use extra munitions without needing to buy 4 $20 ship's.

Apart from that:

To steal the format:

Safe prediction: Wave 8, with one well known bounty hunter.

Craxy

Prediction: Fourth faction of Vigilantees and Neutrals

Episode 7 tie-in could happen. It might be released as Wave 8 or perhaps as a new starter set (not unlikely). I doubt they'll announce much about this though because of spoilers.

What spoilers? There are two new TIE fighters and a new X-Wing in episode VII ... all three have either been shown in a trailer or even had a toy revealed.

I know the general toy push is still in September, but surely this gives FFG enough room to announce at least these three ships without giving anything more than product/model shots away?

Other (unrevealed) ships would be right out of course...

Well, I don't think green dice suck, or that the rules are so unbalanced as to warrant a revamp... But we do live in a capitalist world.

No, we live in a capitalist part of the world ;-P

Well ... it's a pretty big part of the world - basically every part of the world that's not North Korea* ... so I'd argue that mtrein was pretty much on the money with that statement...

*Capitalism and Democracy are NOT the same