The CR90 Corvette sat patiently in the darkness. Having only seen combat twice in existence, one could imagine that its array of turbo lasers and quad cannons nearly forgotten their purpose.

A coating of substance covered the topside of the ship. One would find on further investigation that it was dust.

Yes, dust, from lack of use as my model space ship had been barely used it in the year or so I've had it.

But grasping the new Imperial Raider in my excited hands, I had newfound reason to organise a big space battle of Fantasy Flight's dogfight game, X-Wing.

I found two volunteer commanders, each who would take control of either Imperials or Rebel Alliance.

Dead1 took command of the Rebels aboard the CR90, Dodonna's Pride. Luke Skywalker was also aboard, along with his Astromech buddy, R2-D2. The ship would be supported by two squads with three wings each, Red Squadron X-Wing and Bandit Squadron Z-95 Headhunters.

Meanwhile, the Imperials would be commanded by Alpha Theta. The sleek Raider Instigator was carrying precious members, including the Sith Lord Darth Vader and tactical genius Grand Moff Tarkin.

The ship was also supported by two elements, a three piece squad of TIE Fighters piloted by Academy Pilots, and the more experienced Avenger Squadron TIE Interceptors.

CONTINUE READING THE REST OF THE AAR ON MY BLOG SITE

will read, but heads up, the logos are swapped

edit- just finished reading. Very nice article! I love your ideas about simplifying the format, as well as providing the lists yourself first hand. Very thematic, "star wars core" lists.

I must say, I haven't enjoyed the tedium of epic. Moving around and it takes forever. Literally like 4 hours for a 200 game.

8 hours for a 300 game, inc set up and tear down. UGH

And a break in the middle. Cuz most of us cant play 8 hours without something interrupting.

Excellent blog post, love the visuals. A little photoshop goes a long way.

(Or pixlr, for us poor folks.)

Man, that poor Raider captain! What an unlucky first round. In my experience, trying to recharge shields is usually a barf bad [tablet typo] idea of the enemy is still shooting at you, and this perhaps sealed the fate of the Instigator. The other problem is that the Instigator excels at an anti-fighter role to gain some measure of action economy and boost offensive power. In this scenario, the TIE interceptors would do well to speed around towards the aft of the CR90 to cripple that section while the Instigator systematically picks off Red Squadron, followed by the Z-95's.

Not that you asked what I'd do... but I just get so excited about tactics of epic play! I'm sure your captains learned a ton from their first engagement, and the rematch is bound to be quite different.

I like the whole idea of squadron movement in Epic. I think that could be errata to make squadron more streamlined. Anyways here is the excerpt from the blog.

​edited to fix some spelling errors

Did you start the huge ships with fully-charged weapons? Or at least a full measure of energy? If so, great! If not, it might have sped things up a bit since the captains wouldn't have to worry so much about charging their capacitors.

Hey folks, love the feedback.

Have also corrected the logos on the lists!

@Blail Berg - yes, I know what you mean. After our last four player 400 point game, I imposed a limit of 2 Ion Weapons per side. We found that by loading up in these, it considerably slows down the game as the damage output just isn't there.

But with the house rules, the game started at 8:30pm (after I set up everything plus usual chatting with other club members) and we were finished playing this 250 point game just before midnight, bearing in mind:

- The Imperial commander is usually a very slow player, so as a GM I threatened him with timers and the like!

- The players were inexperienced and had never used Huge Ships, so considering all that it was a smooth ride.

Having an impartial GM who reminds players of the rules and determines out of the ordinary things is great. Understand that this kind of play isn't fit for tournament but if you want people to get into the game, these kind of friendly games are perfect.

@SFC Snuffy - I had them at zero energy but I was in two minds before starting. The next rematch I will get them into full energy and see how that pans out.

Thanks again!

You're actually supposed to start them at full energy.

When I got my Raider I had to ask around for a while as to whether the huge ships start at full energy or not.

Just in case.

...

- The Imperial commander is usually a very slow player, so as a GM I threatened him with timers and the like!

- The players were inexperienced and had never used Huge Ships, so considering all that it was a smooth ride.

...

@SFC Snuffy - I had them at zero energy but I was in two minds before starting. The next rematch I will get them into full energy and see how that pans out.

...

Well because of the cost of Epic even without huge ships you don't see that many games of Epic. You still need 300 points of standard ships and many games of epic jI have seen just had 2 to 3 players combining all of their models to form a 300 point starfighter squadron. Lot of people still play with only 1 100 point tournament squadron. So yeah there is lots of inexperience among players and my experience at a table top club has shown inexperience players lengthen the game. I have all the ships and even with that I have only played about six games of epic in the 2 years I have played X-wing. That's 1 Epic game every 4 months.

Now to help out time saving rules will help out quite a lot. The whole energy at full charge is such a time saving rule because it gives the huge ships the option to go full speed instead of having to slow roll and build up energy. Also the squadron movement rule I think will help a lot. Come to think of it I want to elaborate on squadron movement to where it can act as a single unit or break off in other units to include every aspect of the game from deployment, to pilot skill to actions to stress to combat and end phase. Might make a thread on it tomorrow actually its already tomorrow okay after I wake up. Until then

Fly Epic!

I am all for house rules and epic is no different. For huge ship vs huge ship combat the range limit of 5 is feeble and very unrealistic. They should be able to engage with turbolasers anywhere on the map. I plan on adding some new huge ship types to my games (DP-20 gunship, a larger Imperial frigate and even a Nebulon!) So these guys need to be shooting at each other straight away while swarms of snubfighters tangle in between the dueling turbolasers.

I trust Lord Vader executed the captain that lost him his personal Raider class corvette?

Now to help out time saving rules will help out quite a lot. The whole energy at full charge is such a time saving rule because it gives the huge ships the option to go full speed instead of having to slow roll and build up energy. Also the squadron movement rule I think will help a lot. Come to think of it I want to elaborate on squadron movement to where it can act as a single unit or break off in other units to include every aspect of the game from deployment, to pilot skill to actions to stress to combat and end phase. Might make a thread on it tomorrow actually its already tomorrow okay after I wake up. Until then

Concerning squadron movement, how about a squadron being as many small based ships as you can fit inside a large base. You'd need to fix a frame the same size as a large base, then maneuvering would just be using that base, repositioning your ships after completing a maneuver, as long as they stay inside the frame you're okay (a little jostling for position is to be expected). After completing a maneuver, you may deploy (break off) one ship from the frame using the currently known deployment rules. That ship skips its action phase. For a stress on each ship, you may break up the entire squadron into individual units.

Something like that?

I must say, I haven't enjoyed the tedium of epic. Moving around and it takes forever. Literally like 4 hours for a 200 game.

8 hours for a 300 game, inc set up and tear down. UGH

And a break in the middle. Cuz most of us cant play 8 hours without something interrupting.

The hyperbole is strong with this one (either that or the disorganisation).

My last two 300 point per side Epic games have both clocked in around 2 1/2 hours. Including set up.

I think your house rule on screening is brilliant! Great idea and thanks for sharing.

Now to help out time saving rules will help out quite a lot. The whole energy at full charge is such a time saving rule because it gives the huge ships the option to go full speed instead of having to slow roll and build up energy. Also the squadron movement rule I think will help a lot. Come to think of it I want to elaborate on squadron movement to where it can act as a single unit or break off in other units to include every aspect of the game from deployment, to pilot skill to actions to stress to combat and end phase. Might make a thread on it tomorrow actually its already tomorrow okay after I wake up. Until then

Concerning squadron movement, how about a squadron being as many small based ships as you can fit inside a large base. You'd need to fix a frame the same size as a large base, then maneuvering would just be using that base, repositioning your ships after completing a maneuver, as long as they stay inside the frame you're okay (a little jostling for position is to be expected). After completing a maneuver, you may deploy (break off) one ship from the frame using the currently known deployment rules. That ship skips its action phase. For a stress on each ship, you may break up the entire squadron into individual units.

Something like that?

I like that idea. It is similar to the Heroes of Atauri Cluster AI. It would simplify things. I'd just treat the break in formation the same as in those rules. It is broken when there is a collision or damage.

Now to help out time saving rules will help out quite a lot. The whole energy at full charge is such a time saving rule because it gives the huge ships the option to go full speed instead of having to slow roll and build up energy. Also the squadron movement rule I think will help a lot. Come to think of it I want to elaborate on squadron movement to where it can act as a single unit or break off in other units to include every aspect of the game from deployment, to pilot skill to actions to stress to combat and end phase. Might make a thread on it tomorrow actually its already tomorrow okay after I wake up. Until then

Concerning squadron movement, how about a squadron being as many small based ships as you can fit inside a large base. You'd need to fix a frame the same size as a large base, then maneuvering would just be using that base, repositioning your ships after completing a maneuver, as long as they stay inside the frame you're okay (a little jostling for position is to be expected). After completing a maneuver, you may deploy (break off) one ship from the frame using the currently known deployment rules. That ship skips its action phase. For a stress on each ship, you may break up the entire squadron into individual units.

Something like that?

Something like that. Basically having squadrons that are base contact with the leader making the movement and everyone doing the same thing. However you would have to go into further detail like pilot skill step, actions, are pilot abilities shared or not, assigning tokens, overlapping, combat phase and what not. Sure you can [ut 4 in the same area as a single large base but to be honest 4 small ships cover a larger area than a single large base thanks to the nubs and edges. So to treat it as just a ship with a large base would not work.

I must say, I haven't enjoyed the tedium of epic. Moving around and it takes forever. Literally like 4 hours for a 200 game.

8 hours for a 300 game, inc set up and tear down. UGH

And a break in the middle. Cuz most of us cant play 8 hours without something interrupting.

How on earth do you make a 300 point game last more than eight hours?!

I must say, I haven't enjoyed the tedium of epic. Moving around and it takes forever. Literally like 4 hours for a 200 game.

8 hours for a 300 game, inc set up and tear down. UGH

And a break in the middle. Cuz most of us cant play 8 hours without something interrupting.

How on earth do you make a 300 point game last more than eight hours?!

Every ship can only use ion weapons?

Something like that. Basically having squadrons that are base contact with the leader making the movement and everyone doing the same thing. However you would have to go into further detail like pilot skill step, actions, are pilot abilities shared or not, assigning tokens, overlapping, combat phase and what not. Sure you can [ut 4 in the same area as a single large base but to be honest 4 small ships cover a larger area than a single large base thanks to the nubs and edges. So to treat it as just a ship with a large base would not work.

I would maximize at three ships to a flight.

While attached to a 'squadron' treat this ship's pilot skill level as that of the lowest attached member of the squadron.

Overlapping, treat it as usual, if the rightmost ship runs into a different ship the other two would fly on, possibly forcing a disconnect from the squadron.

Something like that. Basically having squadrons that are base contact with the leader making the movement and everyone doing the same thing. However you would have to go into further detail like pilot skill step, actions, are pilot abilities shared or not, assigning tokens, overlapping, combat phase and what not. Sure you can [ut 4 in the same area as a single large base but to be honest 4 small ships cover a larger area than a single large base thanks to the nubs and edges. So to treat it as just a ship with a large base would not work.

I would maximize at three ships to a flight.

While attached to a 'squadron' treat this ship's pilot skill level as that of the lowest attached member of the squadron.

Overlapping, treat it as usual, if the rightmost ship runs into a different ship the other two would fly on, possibly forcing a disconnect from the squadron.

I was thinking of the other way around. The highest pilot skill ship moves but is placed in the front most center part of the formation and all maneuvers are based around the leader and the same with actions. It makes sense that every flight member will follow the lead.

Overlapping would probably be similar but there will also need to be some clarifications on the difference between the formation leader bumping from another ship bumping. Also there is things to consider for boost and barrel roll.

Honestly, coming up with extra rules to make movement easier is just going to have the opposite effect. It's more to remember and makes it harder to keep track of things.

The largest game I've played was 400 points. On a lazy Sunday afternoon, that took about five hours, including set up and pack up times. Last weekend I played a 300 point game and that was all done (again, a lazy Sunday afternoon game) in four hours, including set up and pac up. If we'd kept our noses to the grindstone and played with a sense of urgency these games could have been done much quicker.

If people are spamming lots of ships, then that's less upgrades to remember. If they're not, then chances are that even at the higher points levels there won't be THAT many more ships on the table. Especially not when you consider Epic ships. 300 points doesn't look like much when there's 150 points spent on a Raider.

I like the pictures with the added graphics. Pretty cool.

I think the idea of moving ships as a unit is not bad, but I wonder if it's needed. If you tell players to just fly them together, then it makes it about the same, but less chance of bumping. I know if you have ships that all take the same bank, they will bump. If you just tell them to fly them together, but they don't have to take the exact same move then it might have the same effect without the awkwardness.

Why are squads bumping each other in the first place? Box and pinwheel formations prevent that pretty effectively. Four ships at the corners of a box the size of a Range 1 square don't bump no matter what moves you pick, at least in open space away from other ships.

Yes, might be some further pain, but it's just house rules anyway. As I play casually with my brothers, I want the focus to be on action, not micro management of how to move a squad so it keeps in formation.,

After some further thought, here's a further summary including people's suggestions plus some other ideas I've had:

• Have a squadron acting at the lowest skill pilot whilst moving.
  
• Team mates still fire individually based on their original Pilot skill
  
• A squad can be a leader plus between 2 and 4 other ship of the same type
  
• Team mates must be deployed touching and parallel to the Squadron Leader's base (see below for formation examples)
  
• The highest pilot skill is the Squad leader (in case of a tie, declare upon deployment). If Squadron Leader is destroyed, pick the next highest pilot skill who becomes the new Squad Leader. On the next manoeuvre step, the remaining teammates will snap into formation with the new Squad Leader.
  
• Squads stay in the initial formation, but before declaring a manoeuvre may declare to change formation. Roll number of green dice equal to total number of ships in squad. If you roll more blank than symbols, they fail to change formation. Move the squad leader and then the remaining Team Mates snap into the formation (chance on a green die to roll a blank is 3/8. Alternatively could change to a red die which has 2/8 blanks)
  
• If the Squad Leader overlaps another ship, he loses his action. All other team mates will also lose their action.
  
• If a team mate overlaps, he loses his action as normal. In the subsequent turn, he will snap back into formation after the Squad Leader has moved again.
  
• A squadron can perform Red Manoeuvres even if team mates have already been Stressed. However each ship that declares such a move whilst already having a stress token will 1) gain another Stress Token and 2)After moving, will roll a Damage Die per Stress token and suffer that damage. Eg. a stressed team mate does a Red K-Turn and will now have two stress tokens - he rolls 2 red dice and suffers any Damage or Critical Damage accordingly.
  
• For a Barrel Roll or Boost Actions, all units in a squad must declare the same action. A Squadron with any team mate having a stress token cannot perform Barrel Rolls or boost actions. A Squadron can only perform Boost or Barrel Rolls if ALL team mates have this ability. When performing such actions, the squad leader still loves first and the remaining team mates snap to formation.
  
• "I've got your six, Red Leader!": If a Squadron Leader is Targeted and suffers damage, the damage can be instead transferred to another team mate ship.

Examples of Formations:
T=team mate
L = Squad leader
(in examples, all ships are facing NORTH)

3 ships

1. [T][L][T]

2.
[T]
[L]
[T]

3.
[L][T]
[T]


4 ships

[T]
[T][L][T]

or

[T][L][T]
[T]

5 Ships

(Only 1 formation available)

[T]
[T][L][T]
[T]