I sent this email to Alex and Frank last night:

Apologies if I am the 100th person to ask this question.

Does an opponent score half points for doing 50%+ damage to a large base ship in a game where all of one player's ships are destroyed, or is this new change in the v3.2 Tournament Rules only applicable in games that do not complete after time is called?

I ask because the updated Tournament Rules sections under "Destroyed Ships" and "Margin of Victory" as it relates to calculating MoV has not changed, and I was unsure of the intent and execution of the new rule.

Thanks,

-- Bob

Alex replied this morning:

Hi Bob,

The new rule is applicable to all games, whether they go to time or not.

Cheers,

Alex Davy

This is a much more significant nerf. Even Brobots will be affected now.

I'm hoping for a real new version that includes this, because as it stands, my local players are getting really frustrated (me included) about the distribution of factoids that don't hit people at the same time, if they even hit.

I must agree, as it stands now the FAQ clearly says that MoV is calculated used as tie breaker the old way, which may of course lead to the winning player getting less MoV than the losing player.

Wow, RIP Bro Bots.

I must agree, as it stands now the FAQ clearly says that MoV is calculated used as tie breaker the old way, which may of course lead to the winning player getting less MoV than the losing player.

The section on MoV hasn't explained how to calculate each player's "score," which is different from MoV (MoV involves both players score). Scoring is only explained along with "games that go to time." That's probably why the change to large ships was placed there.

Obviously it's a bit confusing because of placement, but that's where they've always had scoring.

Here's the opening to the second bullet under "End of Match":

At the end of the current round, the match time limit has been reached. (If time is called mid-round, players must finish the round.) Each player calculates their score by .....

Here's the first part of MoV, which refers to score but doesn't explain it:

At the end of each match, the player who has destroyed more squad points adds the amount by which his score exceeds his opponent’s score to 100 and records it on his or her score sheet.

Was it really not obvious that it applied to all games ? Oh well, at least now that is cleared up nice and quickly.

I saw some confusion expressed on this point so I went back and read the new tournament rules. RAW seem perfectly clear that 1/2 health = 1/2 pt scoring applies every time you calculate MOV.

Curious what Dr. Juggler has to say on this. To me, this rule and the new damage deck are extremely encouraging for the long term health of the game.

I'm still going to fly Brobots. I didn't really want to win anyway...

It makes sense.

I do think some are overestimating the effects this will have on the game. I think, with the mandatory 75 minute games should allow most games to finish to completion.

Wow, RIP Bro Bots.

This is certainly not going to kill Bro Bots competitively.

Brobots and Fat Han are still strong lists. Brobots especially tend to win (or lose) a lot of their games outright 100-0 anyway.

Wow, RIP Bro Bots.

This is certainly not going to kill Bro Bots competitively.

I think it kinda does...

http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/crowd-of-japanese-soldiers-cheering-news-photo/3424794

Yay! Now you can stop complaining about them all the time!

Wow, RIP Bro Bots.

Easy, tiger.

Ohhhh, very interesting!!

I'm actually not opposed to this. It WAS unfair that big ships had an MoV advantage. It was WAY easier to make the cut at 1-2 losses with a big ship. Before this new ruling, I was on the fence, but FFG solidifying it makes me feel that it is okay.

It doesn't fix ALL issues, but it does close the small ship vs big ship MoV gap.

winning is still winning. I think we're going to see a *lot* fewer 100-0 scores in the future, so the hit to MoV might not be bad at all.

personally, I'm excited to put 6-7 ship lists on the table again

winning is still winning. I think we're going to see a *lot* fewer 100-0 scores in the future, so the hit to MoV might not be bad at all.

personally, I'm excited to put 6-7 ship lists on the table again

Yeah, I'm not opposed to less 100-0 pt games. And I think people are really overexagerating the importance of MOV. Only in really large tournaments, with not that many games till the cut, is MOV that major.

I do think some are overestimating the effects this will have on the game. I think, with the mandatory 75 minute games should allow most games to finish to completion.

I think everyone has spent so much time coming up with excuses for the 2-ship dominance that any ding to their justifications become catastrophic.

The change is welcome (and needed), but pretty irrelevant if you win your games in the first place. Nobody's going to change to a losing list out of fear of a poorer MoV.

Well, some people probably will, but not the good ones.

winning is still winning. I think we're going to see a *lot* fewer 100-0 scores in the future, so the hit to MoV might not be bad at all.

personally, I'm excited to put 6-7 ship lists on the table again

Yeah, I'm not opposed to less 100-0 pt games. And I think people are really overexagerating the importance of MOV. Only in really large tournaments, with not that many games till the cut, is MOV that major.

Agreed! It normally affects only like 1-4 players per tournament. Especially now that pairings per W/L record are random, not based on similar MoV.

I do think some are overestimating the effects this will have on the game. I think, with the mandatory 75 minute games should allow most games to finish to completion.

I think everyone has spent so much time coming up with excuses for the 2-ship dominance that any ding to their justifications become catastrophic.

The change is welcome (and needed), but pretty irrelevant if you win your games in the first place. Nobody's going to change to a losing list out of fear of a poorer MoV.

Well, some people probably will, but not the good ones.

What I hope will happen, though, is that savvy players who were picking small lists with Latge ships because they protected MOV effectively may feel free to pick different lists.

Brobots and Fat Han are still strong lists. Brobots especially tend to win (or lose) a lot of their games outright 100-0 anyway.

Many of those will now be 100-25 or 100-50. It's a good thing.

75 minute rounds and this adjustment to MOV will go a long way towards neutralizing some artificial advantages large ships enjoyed. They aren't going away, as they can still be very effective. It just means that you have a greater chance of securing SOME points off of them and that can help neutralize some of your losses if you use ships that are less tanky. We may actually see TIE swarms make a return without fear of MOV or running out of time and that is a great thing (especially now that we have tools to combat swarms than we did during their Wave 1/2 heyday).

FFG deserves the cap tip for working hard to fix the competitive play issues.