Editing so everything is in the first post

There is a new version of the rulebook and it does make changes.

As expected these changes are fairly minor and mostly just clean up weird issues without actually changing how things work at all.

There are 3 different books. A Mission book with 3 new missions, A "Learn to Play" book with a simple overview of the game, enough to start playing, and a "Rules Reference" that contains the complete game rules and is essentially an alphabetical glossary of specific rules topics meant to be used when there is a question about how something works.

Here are the major changes

The activation phase is now different. the "Execute Maneuver" step involves the substeps - move ship, Check Pilot Stress and clean up. This means that anything that "Executes a Maneuver" (Night Beast, SLAM) now includes the check pilot stress element. Night Beast can clear stress before his ability triggers, SLAMing a red maneuver causes stress, etc...

You can now target lock a ship you already have a lock on, the old lock is discarded. A minor change to a couple abilities.

The rules for attacking now say

Declare target: the attacker may measure range to any number of enemy ships and check which enemy ships are inside his firing dark. And the attacker chooses one of his weapons to attack with that he chooses one and we ship to be the target and pays any costs required for the attack.

You choose weapon then you choose target. This fixes the problem with secondary weapons that the old combat order had. There is some argument about how this effects Biggs, but it will certainly be clarified or errata'ed to work the same as ever in the FAQ that will no be posted any day now.

Dice results official have the names everyone uses (Hit, Critical, Blank etc...)

Ion Rules are the same, which means the Conner Net debate was not for nothing

Rules for Debris Clouds are fully integrated, putting an end to the argument that a debris cloud also causes you to skip your action phase (you don't, you just get the stress)

If you hit multiple obstacles in one move you suffer the effects of all of them.

Upgrade types have official names now.

EPTs are officially "Elite" upgrades

The new type is called "Tech"

The rules for Titles clarifies that the TIE Advanced X1 can be equipped to Vader, but cannot be equipped to the Inquisitor. It also makes it clear what ships the TIE Mark 2 Engine can go on.

There is also nothing in the new rulebook that clarifies the issue about dropping a bomb before SLAMing.

There are 3 new missions, F1, F2 and F3

F1 is "Ambush" - The x-wing leads the TIEs into a minefield

F2 is "Raid" 36 point game. 1 resistance ship vs 2 FO ships. the resistance must defend some satellite for 8 rounds

F3 is "Rescue" 36 point game, resistance must escort the "squadmate token" off the board. Very similar to the sentorial shuttle mission form the old core

I think that is all of the substantive changes and additions that aren't on cards. The new ships and pilot abilities and the new damage deck are being discussed elsewhere.

When attacking, you choose weapon before target, fixing the problem with turrets

When attacking, you choose weapon before target, fixing the problem with turrets

Huh?

The target lock thing is something that was at least alluded to.

When attacking, you choose weapon before target, fixing the problem with turrets

the rules for bombs seem to counter the ruling that a prox mine dropped on a ship detonates immediately. It says if a bomb that detonates on overlap is dropped on a ship, it does not immediately detonate unless the card for it says so. Don't know why they would have said that if the current FAQ is still accurate

So I have a ship at R2, who is in turn at R1 of their Biggs.

I can select my Ion Cannon Turret to fire at them, and Biggs' ability doesn't trigger as I couldn't have shot him with my ICT, even if he was in arc at R3?

Huh.

So I have a ship at R2, who is in turn at R1 of their Biggs.

I can select my Ion Cannon Turret to fire at them, and Biggs' ability doesn't trigger as I couldn't have shot him with my ICT, even if he was in arc at R3?

Declare target: the attacker may measure range to any number of enemy ships and check which enemy ships are inside his firing dark. And the attacker chooses one of his weapons to attack with that he chooses one and we ship to be the target and pays any costs required for the attack.

Bigg's ability may involve a bit of errata so that it continues to function as intended. Or I am missing something.

When attacking, you choose weapon before target, fixing the problem with turrets

the rules for bombs seem to counter the ruling that a prox mine dropped on a ship detonates immediately. It says if a bomb that detonates on overlap is dropped on a ship, it does not immediately detonate unless the card for it says so. Don't know why they would have said that if the current FAQ is still accurate

So I have a ship at R2, who is in turn at R1 of their Biggs.

I can select my Ion Cannon Turret to fire at them, and Biggs' ability doesn't trigger as I couldn't have shot him with my ICT, even if he was in arc at R3?

Huh.

Maybe. Or this scenario...

You say, "My Y-wing will attack with its Ion cannon." Then you measure and the target is in your primary arc but is at range 3. Its out of range of the Ion cannon and you cannot change your mind and use your primary. No shot this turn.

When attacking, you choose weapon before target, fixing the problem with turrets

the rules for bombs seem to counter the ruling that a prox mine dropped on a ship detonates immediately. It says if a bomb that detonates on overlap is dropped on a ship, it does not immediately detonate unless the card for it says so. Don't know why they would have said that if the current FAQ is still accurate

the prox mine section has a "The card should read" bit. Most likely, they will edit the faq to fit the current implementation and open design space to slower, more brutal mines.

You measure first, then choose weapon....correct?

As for Biggs, he must be declared as target if in range and arc....THEN you choose a weapon that can attack him. Still works.

When attacking, you choose weapon before target, fixing the problem with turrets

the rules for bombs seem to counter the ruling that a prox mine dropped on a ship detonates immediately. It says if a bomb that detonates on overlap is dropped on a ship, it does not immediately detonate unless the card for it says so. Don't know why they would have said that if the current FAQ is still accurate

So I have a ship at R2, who is in turn at R1 of their Biggs.

I can select my Ion Cannon Turret to fire at them, and Biggs' ability doesn't trigger as I couldn't have shot him with my ICT, even if he was in arc at R3?

Huh.

Maybe. Or this scenario...

You say, "My Y-wing will attack with its Ion cannon." Then you measure and the target is in your primary arc but is at range 3. Its out of range of the Ion cannon and you cannot change your mind and use your primary. No shot this turn.

On one hand, that clears up the "oops out of range moment" that was becoming a little to common while playing...

But on the other, that almost completely debunk's the theory for having secondary weapons. Why even bother taking them at all, if your opponent is just going to arc dodge to just beyond range 2? Unless your running TLT, Ion cannon, or Prockets, secondary weapon's now seem pretty useless...

Of course, new set, new rules, instructions unclear. Need further playtesting! (As in I need to actually play with these new rules before I decide whether they are dumb enough to complain about).

dice results officially have names (they are all what is in common use)

I don't see any changes to the ion rules

Debris Clouds are added and fully integrated

If you manage to overlap more than one obstacle with a single move, you suffer the effects of all of them now.

I was going to pick up the new set as my intro to the game, but are the changes making the game more complex? The original rules to the game seemed really fun and easy which is what intrigued me in the first place. I hope they didn't bloat the new starter with a bunch of fiddly stuff.

Maybe. Or this scenario...

You say, "My Y-wing will attack with its Ion cannon." Then you measure and the target is in your primary arc but is at range 3. Its out of range of the Ion cannon and you cannot change your mind and use your primary. No shot this turn.

The book is quite clear that you can change your attack if the target/weapon combination is not valid.

So I have a ship at R2, who is in turn at R1 of their Biggs.

I can select my Ion Cannon Turret to fire at them, and Biggs' ability doesn't trigger as I couldn't have shot him with my ICT, even if he was in arc at R3?

Declare target: the attacker may measure range to any number of enemy ships and check which enemy ships are inside his firing dark. And the attacker chooses one of his weapons to attack with that he chooses one and we ship to be the target and pays any costs required for the attack.

Bigg's ability may involve a bit of errata so that it continues to function as intended. Or I am missing something.

I was going to pick up the new set as my intro to the game, but are the changes making the game more complex? The original rules to the game seemed really fun and easy which is what intrigued me in the first place. I hope they didn't bloat the new starter with a bunch of fiddly stuff.

From the looks of it, the core set is still very similar to the old one. Nothing new really, except two maneuvers on the ships dial

on the topic of bombs, friend with the new book quoted "The bomb does not immediately detonate unless the bomb's Upgrade card specifies that it detonates when a ship overlaps it."

all mines currently specifies that they detonate when a ship overlaps them

bombs (Seimics, ions, protons) don't

yes it's confusing that bombs are a subset of bombs, but bear with me

conclusion: nothing has changed for bombs

I was going to pick up the new set as my intro to the game, but are the changes making the game more complex? The original rules to the game seemed really fun and easy which is what intrigued me in the first place. I hope they didn't bloat the new starter with a bunch of fiddly stuff.

The rules are functionally almost identical, and the "Learn to Play" book is probably simpler than the old book. I am going through the "Rules Reference Manual" wich is more intended as a resource to look things up in if you encounter a question about the rules

TLDR: The rules are still simple and easy, just the language of the reference manual is more precise and cleans up some confusing issues.

I am mainly trying to highlight the few differences for those of us that are really knowlegable about the rules already. None of wha tI am saying should even be noticable to a new player

Maybe. Or this scenario...

You say, "My Y-wing will attack with its Ion cannon." Then you measure and the target is in your primary arc but is at range 3. Its out of range of the Ion cannon and you cannot change your mind and use your primary. No shot this turn.

The book is quite clear that you can change your attack if the target/weapon combination is not valid.

Interesting.

on the topic of bombs, friend with the new book quoted "The bomb does not immediately detonate unless the bomb's Upgrade card specifies that it detonates when a ship overlaps it."

all mines currently specifies that they detonate when a ship overlaps them

bombs (Seimics, ions, protons) don't

yes it's confusing that bombs are a subset of bombs, but bear with me

conclusion: nothing has changed for bombs

Your correct. In my haste I mis-interpreted

Nothing changes for prox mines and conner nets

THIS is the info that interests me. Plz. tell us whats the new stuff? Any "bettter" wording?

You measure first, then choose weapon....correct?

As for Biggs, he must be declared as target if in range and arc....THEN you choose a weapon that can attack him. Still works.

Yeah. Biggs will work as he always has. In fact, nothing ought to change as a result of the changes to the attack steps--they make what we have already functional, rather than changing it.

The changes to the Activation phase, on the other hand, will change a couple of things. Night Beast now works as intended. A SLAM with a Damaged Engine clearly causes stress.

You measure first, then choose weapon....correct?As for Biggs, he must be declared as target if in range and arc....THEN you choose a weapon that can attack him. Still works.

Yeah. Biggs will work as he always has. In fact, nothing ought to change as a result of the changes to the attack steps--they make what we have already functional, rather than changing it.The changes to the Activation phase, on the other hand, will change a couple of things. Night Beast now works as intended. A SLAM with a Damaged Engine clearly causes stress.

On Night Beast working as intended do you mean that the new rule book will alter the way we have been playing him?

Boost and barrel roll now explicitly can't cause you to leave the play area.

Initiative now works like it does in the tournament rules.

The Attack (Target Lock) and Attack (Focus) headers are now clearly defined to mean what we know they mean.

Small ships are now officially a size category.

"Ship-type only" is now defined as a trait upgrade cards can have: "This upgrade can only be equipped to a ship of the specified type. If the ship's type includes the entirety of the restricted type, it can equip that upgrade."

On Night Beast working as intended do you mean that the new rule book will alter the way we have been playing him?

Yes. Because executing a maneuver now explicitly involves checking stress, Night Beast can start his turn with a stress token, execute a green maneuver to clear the stress, and get his free focus action.

Upgrade types now have official titles. Only noteworthy things are

EPTs are official "Elite" upgrades

the new symbol is "Tech"