Hi all!!! I don't have any fancy pictures, so I will do my best with "X's and O's" to get what I am talking about. I am thinking this coming weekend, I will be playing a LOT of minefield objective and just want to know the best way to set up the board.

I am assuming there are 2 "dominate" or "optimal" set ups for Minefields. ONE would be just trying to "close off" half/a third the board against a mobile/flanking force and TWO would a "Double Traffic Cone" set up in the opponent's deployment zone.

O = Obstacle

m= Mine

Set Up ONE:

O

m

O

m m

O O

m m

O Your Fleet Here

m

O

I think in set up ONE, you are try to cut off a good portion of the board and are trying to keep the "back" of you fleet up against the Obstacles and Minefield, correct? Or no?

Set Up TWO:

O O

O m m O m m O m m O

I call it the "Two Traffic Cones" and I would set it up in 2/3rds of the opponents deployment zone, that would be to two Obstacles that make up the "tops" of the Traffic Cones. Thus hoping to force an opponent down the middle of the cones or around the sides and for my fleet to be set up to engage which ever "lane" they come down.

Are these the "best" two set ups?

Am I missing something else I should be doing with the Minefields and Obstacles?

What have you found annoying about someone else setting up the Minefields Objective?

Thanks all!!

Those are the two primary setups I've seen (and used) so far. Found Traffic Cones were fairly ineffectual against ships at speed 3+, or against VSDs at speed 1 with repair commands on turns 1 and 2. Had better results with area denial.

A funnel setup is also an option, especially if you're using VSDs:

    Enemy Deployment Zone
-----------------------------
  O                       O
    m                   m
   m   m             m   m
  O     O           O     O

-----------------------------
    Your Deployment Zone

EDIT: Formatting is a ****

More often than not, because I run slow rolling Imperials, I do something similar to what DiabloAzul has pictured above. Denying large portions of the board in a funnel setup to ensure I know where the enemy is going.

I've also had good luck using obstacles and mines to divide the table diagonally, forcing the enemy to either fly in a predictable trajectory toward me, or risk double-critting whatever ship wanders into the minefield.

Area denial is the key phrase, though. Simply dividing the table in half with mines and favoring one side of it can make it difficult for flankers to get around you.

A trick I like to pull is dividing the table with mines then deploying one ship smack dab in the middle facing the mines so it could go either way, delay deployment by dropping squadrons (You do bring squadrons, right?) and force them to commit to one side or the other before dropping my ships toward the opposite. The enemy then either has to just grit and take the mines in the face or take the long way around to try and hit my rear.

A VSD stacking engineering commands can generally stand to take a mine or two, but the fact is that on a bad roll, you can take a pair of crits through your shields, and crits in this game are MEAN. Nobody wants a misaligned projector and a capacitor failure on the same turn.

Interestingly enough, I find people who know the damage deck well give mines a wider berth than people who don't.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Question on the Minefield card, it seems worded that the mines, have to be placed distance 1 from an objective OR another mine. Is that correct?

I mean, I just can't have a mine or two just floating in the middle of no where right?

I have been struggling greatly with Squads vs. No Squads and have been trying to find 16 points SOMEWHERE for two stands of TIEs, to do just that: drop them and see what gets placed next by my opponent. But it is looking like no Squads . . . is that to big of a risk?

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Question on the Minefield card, it seems worded that the mines, have to be placed distance 1 from an objective OR another mine. Is that correct?

I mean, I just can't have a mine or two just floating in the middle of no where right?

The mines have to be placed at no more than distance 1 of the nearest obstacle, and no less than distance 1 of the nearest mine. So no, they can't float in the middle of nowhere Your initial diagrams were spot on.

As for the TIEs... they're highly recommended if you're flying just VSDs. If you're flying Gladiators, then Minefields might not be your best choice of blue objective anyway.