Plasma Torpedoes card reads "spend your target lock and discard this card to perform this attack. If this attack hits, after dealing damage, remove 1 shield token from the defender."

My question is, does this attack go past shields and deal direct hull damage and then remove 1 shield if the attack hits?

Plasma Torpedoes card reads "spend your target lock and discard this card to perform this attack. If this attack hits, after dealing damage, remove 1 shield token from the defender."

My question is, does this attack go past shields and deal direct hull damage and then remove 1 shield if the attack hits?

No. If the attack hits it deals damage normally, then you remove one shield token (if there are any left).

Plasma torpedoes are designed to take shields down on large ships with lots of them. But, you've still got to score an uncancelled hit or crit result in order to strip that extra shield. I see these as being the perfect opening salvo weapon against large, heavily shielded ships.

It looks to me like they just take out another shield beyond what the main attack takes out. If there are no shields left after the main attack then there is nothing for the plasma to do.

Plasma torpedoes are designed to take shields down on large ships with lots of them. But, you've still got to score an uncancelled hit or crit result in order to strip that extra shield. I see these as being the perfect opening salvo weapon against large, heavily shielded ships.

So it can technically take out all the shuttles shields in 1 shot.

If the defending shuttle rolls a blank versus and handful of hits, then yes, it could be goodbye shields from one shot.

I had this very situation at a store tourney, opponent had Vader on the shuttle with a tie adv and Soontir. I had Kavil with Pred, UA, Plasma torpedoes and TLT; Talonbane with Pred and Glitterstim; and N'Dru with Pred, Homing Miss., and Glitterstim.

first round of combat took our Soontir with Homing missiles from N'Dru(He wasn't thinking a Z was much of a danger, but 5 dice Homing Missiles from N'dru's ability...) and Kavil Hit the shuttle for 5 shields with Plasma Torpedoes, Second round of combat got Talonbane to range one and Glitterstimed, 5 diced the shuttle for the kill. the Tie adv. took out N'dru but was an easy mop up.

There was a severe amount of luck involved But the new cards worked rather well.