That's not unlike "squadron type" Which I was considering. (Uparmoured LNs, everyone grinds, loses 2 PS to move to interceptor or bomber, or 4 PS to move to mixed).

I disagree with the biggs mechanic. Your making one pilot more special than the other, with both lore and mechanical inplications.

Two ships should be two ships. If one gets blown up, roll for pilot ejection on that shipd upgrades only. If it dies, it buys pilot skill on the replacement for half price until it matches your survivor.

That's a good point, but my reasoning comes from a role-play standpoint, which may or not be appropriate in this case. Instead of thinking of a TIE pilot and a wingman as two ships, I meant that they'd be something more akin to one pilot and one astromech. The primary emotional investment (again, as a role-player) is in your character. Wingmen in this case would be like supporting cast, and disposable ones at that- just there to give a normal TIE fighter a slight damage and health boost without resorting to upgrades, because it's more fun to buy those later. Why I'd suggested that they would all have Biggs' ability right out of the box is so that they would work as an outer layer of protection over a player's named pilot- kind of like the Integrated Astromech upgrade.

So here's what I would suggest: A wingman would be a raw academy pilot that soaks damage before you have to. Upgrades like Howlrunner's ability and Swarm Tactics could be used accordingly. OR: A wingman just operates under the same pilot skill as the player. And one other possible idea: player pilots would get a "Form Up" action on their action bar. If something happens that messes up their formation or the player wishes to change the orientation, their pilot and wingman can spend their actions getting back into formation, within reason.

That's the thing, you're trying to increase the survivability of a cog in the Great Imperial Machine, on the grounds that you're a SPECIAL cog. You're hung up on roleplaying a hero like you did in HotAC, when that just doesnt fit the imperial style- you should be roleplaying someone who has been indoctrinated to do his duty, even at the cost of his life.

Two equal Tie Fighters for the training mission, 5 XP to upgrade both to FOs, Bombers or Inquisitors, or 5 XP to trade them both in for a single Intercepter, single Tie Advance, or a single Lambada Shuttle.

True. You're very right: the idea of faceless goons in a grand Imperial machine is important. Now we're getting down to the raw high concepts. Okay, then I commit. I want to play a former nameless cog who's now become SOMEBODY. After all, isn't the point of playing a co-operative campaign like this that your pilot IS special? That's what set D&D apart from the old wargames it was based on: that the players would focus on one unit, and that the gambling of that character's continued survival in successive campaigns was part of the fun and excitement. So how would we best balance the style and theme of Imperial play with the fun of building a unique pilot? How do we make these things work within the rules of this game? What would we do with our second pilot when we upgrade?

Cripes, I can see why Mr. Derksen decided early on not to plumb these depths.

That's because your wing men honor and respect you... they know giving up their own lives so that you can survive will only contribute to the greater good. After all without you they are nothing. (literally) As squad leader you should get a majority of mission points... you distribute the other points as you see fit. Of course giving your wingmen a generous portion of points and promotions to higher player levels will only benefit your squad in making it possible to conquer tougher and greater tasks which the Empire expects you to accomplish.

True. You're very right: the idea of faceless goons in a grand Imperial machine is important. Now we're getting down to the raw high concepts. Okay, then I commit. I want to play a former nameless cog who's now become SOMEBODY. After all, isn't the point of playing a co-operative campaign like this that your pilot IS special? That's what set D&D apart from the old wargames it was based on: that the players would focus on one unit, and that the gambling of that character's continued survival in successive campaigns was part of the fun and excitement. So how would we best balance the style and theme of Imperial play with the fun of building a unique pilot? How do we make these things work within the rules of this game? What would we do with our second pilot when we upgrade?

Cripes, I can see why Mr. Derksen decided early on not to plumb these depths.

If the Rebels Cartoon stormtrooper academy is any indication of Tie Pilot training, the two pilots are liable to be given one last VS, winner gets promoted to Intercepter/Advance/Shuttle, loser demoted and transfered away.

Mechanically, there's nothing wrong with playing a tie bomber or tie FO pair all the way to PS9- that's the approach for the players who want to stay Imperial Cogs. To be someone special, you earn the right to fly solo, and you fly a better ship than the swarmcraft the cogs fly.

Okay, so the "loss" of investment in a second pilot is just the cost of going elite. I can dig it.

But anyway. Went off on details again and didn't make myself clear. High concepts. That was a good place to be.

So what would everyone really WANT in an Imperial co-operative campaign? Because it sounds like things could go in either a more roleplay or wargame-flavoured directions. What makes Heroes of the Aturi Cluster work so well is the simple concept: A rag-tag band of people facing overwhelming odds and triumphing by the virtue of their individual talents and teamwork. Everything else was in service to that idea. If what people want is to be individually commanding small swarms of Imperial ships as part of a larger force with their friends, it would probably be safer to save ourselves all the trouble and just avoid the whole HotAC-style platform in favour of a slightly modified form of 'Epic' gameplay rules, tweak enemy AI to work better in that context, and write a really good set of branching storied missions. That sounds really fun, too. But it's better to keep the base idea simple or we're just going to kill ourselves.

Okay, so the "loss" of investment in a second pilot is just the cost of going elite. I can dig it.

But anyway. Went off on details again and didn't make myself clear. High concepts. That was a good place to be.

So what would everyone really WANT in an Imperial co-operative campaign? Because it sounds like things could go in either a more roleplay or wargame-flavoured directions. What makes Heroes of the Aturi Cluster work so well is the simple concept: A rag-tag band of people facing overwhelming odds and triumphing by the virtue of their individual talents and teamwork. Everything else was in service to that idea. If what people want is to be individually commanding small swarms of Imperial ships as part of a larger force with their friends, it would probably be safer to save ourselves all the trouble and just avoid the whole HotAC-style platform in favour of a slightly modified form of 'Epic' gameplay rules, tweak enemy AI to work better in that context, and write a really good set of branching storied missions. That sounds really fun, too. But it's better to keep the base idea simple or we're just going to kill ourselves.

I totally agree. HotAC works because it's very easy to grasp and jump into.

Imperial Side needs to be simple...not over complicated with a lot of extra stuff. I feel that you could set things up to play the Imperial Side of the HotAC campaign. May have to beef up the rebels or tone down the Imperial Advantage to make it work. Or like how Tie Fighter the Vid Game's campaign started; Campaign revolving around a small Imperial outpost that is securing the sector, countering the guerrilla tactics of the rebellion, and gleaning intel against the rebels and striking at them whenever and where ever they are.

Some missions each player would be allowed a Slick (or no upgrades, mods, etc) wingman (or maybe two) depending on current Ship Pilot Skill and Load out (i.e. Your current ship is a Slick: Tie Fighter, Bomber, Interceptor) and in other missions each player just has their one fighter to run the mission with.

Just Dropping Ideas...

I'd just accept a high attrition rate.

Great idea to step back and create some goals!

The main reason my playgroup of 3-4 likes the HotAC campaign is the fact we are playing co-op instead of against each other. Having a goal and needing to strategically work towards it brings more enjoyment than the standard PvP mode. The main reason probably being that since I have more X-Wing playing experience, 80% of the time whatever side I am on wins. In co-op mode it is easy for me to help guide them, and no one is punished if I fly better. Also, the planning and discussing of future ship upgrades gives us something to look forward to.

So I guess my group is not as big on the role-playing aspect.

One thing to consider is what is the actual chance of rolling 2 Crits with 2 Dice, how does that change with 3 Dice. If I'm calculating right (with help from http://www.xwingdice.com )rolling 2 dice gives a 1/64 chance of 2 Crits, while 3 dice gives just over 1/24 chance.

I'm thinking Death penalty (2 Crits) for the primary pilot would likely look like: Loose 2 Levels + Loose all EPTs. That would closely simulate each team member coming from a squad of similar ships. It would still be a harsh penalty, but not as soul crushing to see your level 8 pilot reduced to an academy because you crashed the lead X-Wing in a Rookie squad.

How I'd d it:

"Wingpairs: If you select a Tie Fighter, Tie FO, or Tie Adv.Prototype, you gain an equal PS wingman in the same ship with the same upgrades, including pilot skills. You control both ships, and gain experience from both, though you are still limited to 1 XP per turn from damage. If one ship is shot down, do not roll for pilot ejection- your character was in the other ship. Instead, you lose half the XP you earned up to that point. If your second ship is shot down, roll for pilot ejection normally."

"Hyperspace- Most ties do not have hyperdrive. Unless you are flying a Tie Advance or an Imperial Shuttle, or certian advanced craft, you may not choose to hyperspace in the maneuver phase. Instead, if a scenerio calls for a Gozanti Transport, any Tie may perform an Emergency Dock, performing a green maneuver and ending your movement in base contact with the transport. The tie is removed and considered docked with the Gozanti, may deploy on later movement phases, and is only considered killed if the gozanti is destroyed."

For the record, PS6 Advanced craft (Imperial):

Double Bomber, Double Intercepter, Triple Tie fighter (2 wingmen), Phantom, Defender x7, Defender Tie/D, Punisher, Decimater.

Just an update on my current thinking and what I am working on:

Starting Ship & Level: Basic Tie, level 1

Wingmen: Only available if you are flying a standard Tie fighter, or a First Order version. You get one basic Academy by default, you can purchase additional basic Academy's at Level 4 & 8 instead of Modifications for 12 points each. If you upgrade to the First Order version, you can upgrade your current Academy's to a basic Epsilon for 3 points, new basic Epsilons cost 15. Wingmen share ship Modifications/Tech Upgrades (to account for how Tie pilots don't always fly the same ship) but cannot have EPT's. Replacing downed Academy = 6 points, Epsilon = 8

Wingman Range bonus / penalty: I no longer like this idea, during testing it gave way too many focus' around and was a bit complicated to keep track of.

Upgrading Ship Capacities: Same basic principal as detailed in HotAC. Modifications at level 1, 4, 6 & 8. EPT's at 3, 5, 7, & 9. Interceptors get an additional Modification slots at level 5 to account for Royal Guard title.

Tech Upgrade Slot: I really want to be able to put this on other ships. I'm currently thinking the ability to use a Modification to purchase a Tech slot for 5 points or so.

Changing Ship Types: At level 2 you can spend 5 points to change to an Interceptor, Advanced, or Bomber. At level 5 you can spend 10 points to change to a Tie/FO, Phantom, Defender, or Punisher.

I'm currently building some Imperial combinations to test, as well as some Rebel Ai builds.

Mission Ideas:

• Training Mission: Learn how to fly
  • Setup: Space Station with Docking Bay and 2 Turrets. 12 Astroids surrounding. 3 Beacons in Astroid field
  • Turns: 10
  • Each person gets 1 Basic Tie Fighter
  • Object: Fly through the Astroids to hit as many Beacons as possible. 1 point per successful attack, beacons have 1 agility, but are not destroyed.
  • At Turn 5, 1-2 Rookie X-Wings with basic R2 units drop in from Hyperspace to Recon the base. If all Rebels are destroyed all Imperial pilots get a free upgrade to Level 3.
• Catch the Smuggler
  • Setup: 6 Astroids
  • Turns 10
  • A ORS has been detected leaving the area and is suspected of transporting contraband to the local Rebels. Destroy or Disable the freighter (disabled at 1-2 Hull) Extra shields depending on players.
  • Rebel ships come to assist at Turn 2, 5 and 8
  • ORS jumps to Hyperspace at the end of Turn 10
• Protect the Station
  • Setup: Space Station with Docking Bay and 2 Turrets. 6 Astroids surrounding
  • Rebels are attacking the local station, it must be protected.
  • Fighters come in Turn 1, 3, & 8. Bombers come in Turn 4 and target the station.

(Edit: After thinking about it, having the Wingmen share modifications would be too overpowering)

^Yea, even the summarised version is way too complicated. Put into rules text with explanations, and you're adding pages to the rulebook.

I still think the idea of this campaign should preclude wingmen. Really, you are playing the empire. The TIE pilot that lives to upgrade to a better craft was rare. The standard TIE was disposable. This campaign should also focus more on TEAMWORK than on individual glory. You want a pilot to live long? Trust your wingman, and by that I mean another player.

A couple of other things, if you watch any media with TIEs, it is very rare that one flies by itself. They are usually a group of 3-4. Tbis is why I suggested a squad experience mechanic earlier, because pilots WILL die.

Finally, who is to say that TIEs don't have ejection systems? While the only canon occurance is the TIE/sf from The Force Awakens, this game could include it.

If the TIEs get an elite talent everytime they make ACE status (5 kills) they will be quite formidable.

I would also change the AI for the enemies a bit in this game. In the Heroes of the Aturi Cluster, the TIEs get free actions all the time. Eliminate this somehow, and TIEs may be balanced. But the focus of the game should be cooperation, and tactics and numbers versus a single (or few foes). Perhaps the AI will always fire on the closest ship? This means you may have to fall back if you are really wounded, and let an ally take a shot.

How I'd d it:

"Wingpairs: If you select a Tie Fighter, Tie FO, or Tie Adv.Prototype, you gain an equal PS wingman in the same ship with the same upgrades, including pilot skills. You control both ships, and gain experience from both, though you are still limited to 1 XP per turn from damage. If one ship is shot down, do not roll for pilot ejection- your character was in the other ship. Instead, you lose half the XP you earned up to that point. If your second ship is shot down, roll for pilot ejection normally."

"Hyperspace- Most ties do not have hyperdrive. Unless you are flying a Tie Advance or an Imperial Shuttle, or certian advanced craft, you may not choose to hyperspace in the maneuver phase. Instead, if a scenerio calls for a Gozanti Transport, any Tie may perform an Emergency Dock, performing a green maneuver and ending your movement in base contact with the transport. The tie is removed and considered docked with the Gozanti, may deploy on later movement phases, and is only considered killed if the gozanti is destroyed."

Hyperdrives are a great point. I think if the scenario is that of a small imperial outpost, many of the missions would be in "friendly territory" therefore you could still flee off the imperial edge but maybe at a penalty to your experience because the empire would probably have you fight to the death. Love the idea of docking with a Gozanti but then can that contribute to the fight? Maybe one player gets the Goz and everyone else gets a couple ties or a single more advanced ship.

Additionally, while I love the coop aspect of the rebels I wonder if an Imperial campaign would actually have some level of competition between squadrons. So maybe extra exp. to which ever squad or pair of ties or whatever gets more kills?

Has anyone playtested a viable rebel AI yet?

AI cards are easy- I just want cards that arnt Imperial Blue before I do the whole list.

I see the Gozanti working like the Rebel Transport, the YT1300 and the NPC HWK did in HotAC- it does mission specific stuff, and if it dies the mission is a failure, but it maneuvers by player consensus. If a scenerio calls for it being armed, it CAN win the game for the players with all players shot down.

I'm trying to avoid too many complicated rule changes- changing how XP is given is pretty major.

How I'd d it:

"Wingpairs: If you select a Tie Fighter, Tie FO, or Tie Adv.Prototype, you gain an equal PS wingman in the same ship with the same upgrades, including pilot skills. You control both ships, and gain experience from both, though you are still limited to 1 XP per turn from damage. If one ship is shot down, do not roll for pilot ejection- your character was in the other ship. Instead, you lose half the XP you earned up to that point. If your second ship is shot down, roll for pilot ejection normally."

"Hyperspace- Most ties do not have hyperdrive. Unless you are flying a Tie Advance or an Imperial Shuttle, or certian advanced craft, you may not choose to hyperspace in the maneuver phase. Instead, if a scenerio calls for a Gozanti Transport, any Tie may perform an Emergency Dock, performing a green maneuver and ending your movement in base contact with the transport. The tie is removed and considered docked with the Gozanti, may deploy on later movement phases, and is only considered killed if the gozanti is destroyed."

Hyperdrives are a great point. I think if the scenario is that of a small imperial outpost, many of the missions would be in "friendly territory" therefore you could still flee off the imperial edge but maybe at a penalty to your experience because the empire would probably have you fight to the death. Love the idea of docking with a Gozanti but then can that contribute to the fight? Maybe one player gets the Goz and everyone else gets a couple ties or a single more advanced ship.

Additionally, while I love the coop aspect of the rebels I wonder if an Imperial campaign would actually have some level of competition between squadrons. So maybe extra exp. to which ever squad or pair of ties or whatever gets more kills?

Has anyone playtested a viable rebel AI yet?

I have a beta Ai, the most current iteration is on page 2 of this topic. (Direct Link: https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/195550-villains-of-the-aturi-cluster/?p=2026680)

As far as Hyperspace ability, according to the Wiki the only models that either do not have Hyperdrive Standard, or has not been modified to have Hyperdrive are the standard Tie's, the Tie/Fo's and the Tie Punisher. To escape, those ships would need to escape to a "friendly" edge where there is a carrier or destroyer waiting just off-screen for them.

I definitely agree that basic Tie's would have a hard time flying alone, but at the same time if we specified 1 Tie per person it would not be as fun as everyone has to move in formation. It would also limit the amount of people wanting to fly Tie Fighters, why limit myself to a Tie when I could fly an Interceptor of Phantom. When 1 person controls a mini-swarm they have incentive to keep it together. Giving players an option to play as a small swarm would keep that ship viable in the campaign.

So far the only Free Action I have on the Ai beta is Target Lock (except for a possible Focus for an A-Wing) As in Armoredgear's testing if they wait until after Movement and use an Action to TL they will either rarely get to shoot their ordinance, or the Action selection phase would be pretty convoluted to determine TL vs Focus.

How I'd d it:

"Wingpairs: If you select a Tie Fighter, Tie FO, or Tie Adv.Prototype, you gain an equal PS wingman in the same ship with the same upgrades, including pilot skills. You control both ships, and gain experience from both, though you are still limited to 1 XP per turn from damage. If one ship is shot down, do not roll for pilot ejection- your character was in the other ship. Instead, you lose half the XP you earned up to that point. If your second ship is shot down, roll for pilot ejection normally."

"Hyperspace- Most ties do not have hyperdrive. Unless you are flying a Tie Advance or an Imperial Shuttle, or certian advanced craft, you may not choose to hyperspace in the maneuver phase. Instead, if a scenerio calls for a Gozanti Transport, any Tie may perform an Emergency Dock, performing a green maneuver and ending your movement in base contact with the transport. The tie is removed and considered docked with the Gozanti, may deploy on later movement phases, and is only considered killed if the gozanti is destroyed."

Hyperdrives are a great point. I think if the scenario is that of a small imperial outpost, many of the missions would be in "friendly territory" therefore you could still flee off the imperial edge but maybe at a penalty to your experience because the empire would probably have you fight to the death. Love the idea of docking with a Gozanti but then can that contribute to the fight? Maybe one player gets the Goz and everyone else gets a couple ties or a single more advanced ship.

Additionally, while I love the coop aspect of the rebels I wonder if an Imperial campaign would actually have some level of competition between squadrons. So maybe extra exp. to which ever squad or pair of ties or whatever gets more kills?

Has anyone playtested a viable rebel AI yet?

I have a beta Ai, the most current iteration is on page 2 of this topic. (Direct Link: https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/195550-villains-of-the-aturi-cluster/?p=2026680)

As far as Hyperspace ability, according to the Wiki the only models that either do not have Hyperdrive Standard, or has not been modified to have Hyperdrive are the standard Tie's, the Tie/Fo's and the Tie Punisher. To escape, those ships would need to escape to a "friendly" edge where there is a carrier or destroyer waiting just off-screen for them.

I definitely agree that basic Tie's would have a hard time flying alone, but at the same time if we specified 1 Tie per person it would not be as fun as everyone has to move in formation. It would also limit the amount of people wanting to fly Tie Fighters, why limit myself to a Tie when I could fly an Interceptor of Phantom. When 1 person controls a mini-swarm they have incentive to keep it together. Giving players an option to play as a small swarm would keep that ship viable in the campaign.

So far the only Free Action I have on the Ai beta is Target Lock (except for a possible Focus for an A-Wing) As in Armoredgear's testing if they wait until after Movement and use an Action to TL they will either rarely get to shoot their ordinance, or the Action selection phase would be pretty convoluted to determine TL vs Focus.

I just playtested your AI tonight for the X-Wing, Z-95, HWK-290, and Y-Wing, all at PS2. Tried two games with each ship, and it was just one of that ship vs two TIE/lns at PS1. For the HWK-290, we actually did four games. Two with Dorsal Turret, two with Ion Cannon Turret. With the AI having a higher pilot skill than the player ships, the AI ships were far more challenging than the TIE fighters in the HotAC campaign, but this advantage was offset by the larger number of Imperial ships on the board. We also dropped the idea of free target locks, and instead changed the action phase for the Rebel ships. They target lock when they aren't expecting to get shot at, and focus when they are expecting to get shot at. With this change, the Rebel ships still target locked every now and then, after doing unexpected maneuvers that got them out of arcs, but they focused more often. Of course, for ships that have target lock-based ordinance, I'd have them target lock whenever an enemy ship is in arc, rather than basing it around when they believe enemies will have return fire.

The two games with the X-Wing were gross. Dice peaking like crazy for the X-Wing meant that over two games, the X-Wing lost a single shield, while it was able to one-shot one of the TIEs in both games. If the dice had been a little more even, I'm sure the X-Wing would've still been a major challenge, but beatable.

The two games with the Z-95 went about as expected. Two TIE fighters jousting a Z-95 is no contest, really, and they were able to take it out both times without losing a single TIE.

The two games against the Ion HWK-290 were close. The first one, a TIE fighter managed to get in range 1 and strip shields, then later land a Direct Hit. However, the HWK-290 had lucked out and been able to focus its fire on a single TIE for most of the match, keeping it ionized until it went down. After that, the single TIE was able to narrowly take down the HWK-290, in a very close match. The second game, the player flying the TIE fighters was able to keep the HWK-290's attention divided between the two TIE fighters by maneuvering them in such a way that the closest TIE to the HWK-290 alternated each round. That match went far better, and the TIE fighters were able to take it down without much trouble.

The two Dorsal Turret HWK-290 games were far closer, with the TIEs being terrified to get in range 1 and let it get 3 dice attacks off at them, while at the same time, were desperate for range 1 so they could get 3 dice attacks back. They were tricky matches, with the HWK-290 managing to down a TIE each time, but in the end it was still fairly balanced.

The Y-Wing, I flew turretless, as giving it a turret when it has that much health would just spell death for two unmodified TIE fighters. The Y-Wing was still quite challenging, able to take out one of the TIE fighters, but it was outflown in the end.

On a whole, I'd say you did a pretty good job with the AI. However, we did notice a typo where you have the Z-95 using a 4K. Z-95s can only do a 3K, though. I'd love to do more testing with this AI set-up later, but those were the only ships I had time for tonight. As for changing the free target lock set-up, I'd say if the Rebels are lower pilot skilled, it'd be fair for them to get the free lock. But with the way we tested it tonight, with Rebels getting higher PS but less ships, it works far better for them to target lock during the action phase, otherwise they simply become too powerful.

Thank you for finding that typo. I've fixed the it in the previous postings of the Ai.

I've also uploaded my Master document to DropBox. You can find it along with other items I'm working with for this project there.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0d1yznq4uj84sk1/AABvk6E1QZfNfXE8rNvXo-D7a?dl=0

Very soon in the campaign your ships will be at a higher level than most Rebel ships. Maybe we can specify they only get the Free Target Lock if they have a Torpedo or Missile to fire if they are still too powerful.

Thank you for finding that typo. I've fixed the it in the previous postings of the Ai.

I've also uploaded my Master document to DropBox. You can find it along with other items I'm working with for this project there.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0d1yznq4uj84sk1/AABvk6E1QZfNfXE8rNvXo-D7a?dl=0

Very soon in the campaign your ships will be at a higher level than most Rebel ships. Maybe we can specify they only get the Free Target Lock if they have a Torpedo or Missile to fire if they are still too powerful.

Another small change we included was the option for a 4K in the Y-Wing's forward red band maneuvers. This was mostly because we were running a turret-less Y-Wing. We've been building Pilot Cards for the Rebel ships, and decided that only the Elite Y-Wings would get turrets. So for a Y-Wing without a turret, that option for a 4K is pretty vital. I think it might be worth it to make a slightly different maneuver card for the ships that have an option to take a turret. One card with the turret, one without. Though, I suppose that might wind up being a bit too much work.

As for Pilot Skill of the AI, in the campaign I'm going to be running soon, we've got it set up similar to the Heroes of the Aturi Cluster campaign, where the AI's PS goes up as your players do. So the ships that start at a higher pilot skill than the players will likely stay at a higher pilot skill than most of your players throughout the campaign, to keep it challenging. The campaign I'll be running includes both Rebel and Scum ships. For the Rebels, I thought it'd make sense for them to have a PS higher than the players, but show up in smaller numbers, while the pirates will have a lower PS, but get more free actions.

The only time in HotAC that Ai PS goes up based on Player PS is when dealing with Elites. Most missions only have 1 Elite (if they have any at all). Most Rebel generics are between 1-4.

For the Y-Wings, I think the turrets make for a more interesting engagement. They definitely take a while to take down, but once you get behind them the key becomes to try to stay beyond Range 3 if they have Ion Turrets, or within Range 1 if they have TLT. Just beware of their Bomb

The only time in HotAC that Ai PS goes up based on Player PS is when dealing with Elites. Most missions only have 1 Elite (if they have any at all). Most Rebel generics are between 1-4.

For the Y-Wings, I think the turrets make for a more interesting engagement. They definitely take a while to take down, but once you get behind them the key becomes to try to stay beyond Range 3 if they have Ion Turrets, or within Range 1 if they have TLT. Just beware of their Bomb

The way we'll be running the villain campaign, most of the enemies are going to be elites rather than generics. More often than not, there'll be more than one elite per mission. The way we see it, the Empire is all about generic, disposable pilots, while Scum and Rebels both focus on individual heroics and aces. So it only makes sense that in a campaign where the Empire is the enemy, you face a ton of generics, but when you're fighting Scum and Rebels, you face far fewer numbers, but more varied and skilled pilots. By having most of the enemies level up along with the players (There will be a few generics, though, of course), you can throw in a ton of variety for Rebels, and especially for Scum, which is a faction entirely based around every ship having a ton of different tricks up its sleeve. Except for the Scyk. That one is just sad.

How I'd d it:

"Wingpairs: If you select a Tie Fighter, Tie FO, or Tie Adv.Prototype, you gain an equal PS wingman in the same ship with the same upgrades, including pilot skills. You control both ships, and gain experience from both, though you are still limited to 1 XP per turn from damage. If one ship is shot down, do not roll for pilot ejection- your character was in the other ship. Instead, you lose half the XP you earned up to that point. If your second ship is shot down, roll for pilot ejection normally."

"Hyperspace- Most ties do not have hyperdrive. Unless you are flying a Tie Advance or an Imperial Shuttle, or certian advanced craft, you may not choose to hyperspace in the maneuver phase. Instead, if a scenerio calls for a Gozanti Transport, any Tie may perform an Emergency Dock, performing a green maneuver and ending your movement in base contact with the transport. The tie is removed and considered docked with the Gozanti, may deploy on later movement phases, and is only considered killed if the gozanti is destroyed."

Mission 0: Final Exam

All players are flying PS1 Tie/LN Wingpairs and 6 points to spend. Rebels always lose init.

Vs single Xwings and single turreted Ywings, none of which have torpedos or astromechs.

No escape edge

At PS4 you may upgrade to FO Wingpair, Tie Adv. Prototype wingpair, Tie Advanced, Tie Bomber, Tie Intercepter, or Imperial Shuttle.

Arc 1: Convoy Escort

Mission 1: Customs Inspection

A bunch of YTs, Hounds teeth, Rebel Transports and HWK squadrons are moving toward your base. Scan them, a randon one (or group for HWKS) is carrying contraband. Rebel Awings and Xwings hyper in in reaction, as the illegal ship attempts to flee.

Station available for Emergency Dock

Mission 2: Pirate attack

Convoy of NPC ships that dont move, including a Gozanti

Ywings, HWKS, and Headhunters attack with ion turrets. Protect the convoy.

Gozanti available for Emergency Dock

Mission 3: Rebel Ambush

Convoy moves 1/2 foreward each round, must cross asteroid field.

Each asteroid may have rebels hidden- Scan asteroids before transports are on top of them. Undetected rebels spawn on turn X. Ywings and Bwings with torpedos and strike AI

Gozanti available for Emergency dock

Arc 2: New Base

Mission 1: survey Asteroid field

HWKs and Zs, kill them all.

Gozanti for Emergency Dock

Mission 2: Protect the Base

Xwings and Bwings with Torpedos, Strike AI on base

Small starbase available for Emergency dock

Mission 3: Supply Lines

Hanger+Turrets for emergency dock

Scan incoming freighters for Rebels

Rebel reinforcements arrive, strike AI on base

Arc 3: Planetary Assault

Mission 1: Make an Example

Blow up a ground supply depot

Z95s and HWKS defend it

Escape edge available.

Mission 2: Escort the Walkers

Brand new ATAT template with hull and guns

Rebels send Xwings and Awings

Escape edge available

Mission 3: Attack the Rebel base

Rebel base spawns Awings, Xwings

YTs and Rebel Trnsports flee toward board edge

Protect the ATAT, destroy base, bonus points to destroy fleeing ships.

Arc 4: Planetary Blocade

Arc 5: Senior Visitor

Arc 6: Hunt the Rebels.

Only about half done, but what are people's thoughts?

New Base mission 3 (displacing current one to Planetary Blocade)

Fireships

1-2 Rebel transports are approaching the base, filled with explosives.

Kill them before they reach the base

Xwings and Ywings escorting

Emergency dock with base.