I'm also curious by the prospect of "eight new ship cards" and "eight veteran pilots." Based on that description, it sounds like this pack may not include any generic pilots? Or maybe just a PS5 version of the Wraith Squadron, and some sort of PS5-PS6 generic for the Bomber?

I'd *love* to see a Royal Guard equivelant for the Defender. IE., PS5-6, generic, with an EPT slot.

So, am I the only one here who is more excited about the potential bomber fix than the defender fix. the bomber has needed love for a long time. I'm hoping they will finally make this a viable ordnance carrier.....

The frustrating thing about the TIE Bomber is that they *almost* got us a fix for it. But 'extra munitions' ended up being a two-point upgrade, instead of one-point. At one-point, *bam*, bombers in the game are fixed. At two...not so much.

Guys, anyone has the link to the news?

Or is it just "HEY LOOK WHAT I FOUND"?

I posted it here after someone posted it on the NOVA Squadron Facebook page. Unfortunately, its in the "hey look what I found" stage, but it seems to be legit as it has been confirmed by retailers in this thread that they have seen it as well. This is the style of the art they post in wholesale catalogs when showing new product to retailers. So no official announcement from Fantasy Flight quite yet, but we have little reason to think it isn't real.

Please don't toy with my heart. Please make the Defender great. I don't mind paying a lot of points for the most advanced starfighter in the galaxy, I just want it to perform like the most advanced starfighter in the galaxy.

..should I be disturbed that this thread is the effing hightight of the day for me?

or should I enjoy diving ever-deeper into madness?

..can't stop grinning. will hurt tomorrow. well.. anyway..

Wild speculation? Sure, let's do this:

0 pts - Defender Title - Add an Ion token if you hit with a primary weapon or cannon

36 pts - Named Defender pilot - PS 7 - After executing a green maneuver, you may perform a free boost action - EPT

33 pts - Generic Defender pilot - PS 4 - EPT

-4 pts - Bomber Title - You may receive a stress token to perform an additional attack with a secondary weapon. You must equip at least 6 points in secondary weapons.

28 pts - Named Bomber pilot - PS 8 - After acquiring a Target Lock, you may perform a free focus action - EPT

22 pts - Named Bomber pilot - PS 5 - Friendly ships are not affected by your secondary weapons.

0 pts - Torpedo x2 - TIE BOMBER ONLY - Add the sensor or tech icon to this ship

3 pts - Torpedo - Attack [Target Lock] Discard this card to perform this attack. 2 dice. Add one die when attacking a Large or Huge ship. After rolling this attack, convert all [hits] to [crits]

2 pts - Missile x2 - TIE BOMBER ONLY - Attack [Target Lock] Discard this card or the target lock to perform this attack. 2 dice. Add one die when attacking a Small ship.

2 pts - Missile - Attack [Focus] Discard this card to perform this attack. 3 dice. If this attack hits, the defender may not perform a boost or barrel roll action on their next turn.

2 pts - Tech - Friendly ships within range 1-2 may target lock enemy ships within range 1-3 of you.

2 pts - Tech - A focus token may be used to convert a single blank to an Evade.

4 pts - Bomb - Action - You may detonate this bomb at PS 12 during any combat phase. Ships within range 1 suffer one damage.

That's enough wild speculation for now.

Please don't toy with my heart. Please make the Defender great. I don't mind paying a lot of points for the most advanced starfighter in the galaxy, I just want it to perform like the most advanced starfighter in the galaxy.

Yeah, I really don't get the "the TIE Defenders problem is it is over-costed" arguments

No. It's not.

It's really not.

It's priced *exactly* where it should be, given how it sits in lore. What it DOES have as a problem is that the performance of the ship in the game is not worth the price you pay for it. But the problem isn't the price - a TIE Defender should cost three times as much as a TIE Fighter or twice as much as an Interceptor - it's just the capability of the ship in the game that is the issue.

Well, Biophysical just attained unlimited power.

I'm excited. Though, it's going to throw my collection off a bit. 6 Defender and 7 Bombers is going to annoy me a bit.

With Easter being so early in 2016 - March 27th, and the second biggest gift-giving event of the year,

???? People give gifts for Easter? Never heard of such a thing.

I think it also goes without saying that at least one of these Defender pilots needs to be PS9.

A PS9 Countess Ryad (she was apparently a contemporary of Soontir) would be great. I could also see a case for a PS7 Maarek Stele being thrown in there. That leaves room for a PS4 named pilot and a PS5 generic with an EPT, a la Royal Guard Pilot. The PS6 and PS8 slots remain filled by Vessery and Rexlar.

No idea what they could do for the bombers, though. Those are going to be a more interesting case, as there's so much design space overlap between the Bomber and the Punisher. How will they buff one while keeping the other relevant? Will the bomber's upgrades also carry over to the Punisher? How will this all fit as part of the master plan of making ordnance worthwhile?

Looks fake.

... says the real troll.

no. It's just kinda funny those are the two ships imperial players complain about the most it seems. Imo.

Do you think there could be a reason for that?

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/12/14/rule-the-skies/

Here ya go.

Well, Biophysical just attained unlimited power.

I'm excited. Though, it's going to throw my collection off a bit. 6 Defender and 7 Bombers is going to annoy me a bit.

buy a defender on top. or a romantic gift to keep the wife happy: "it's our Xth anniversary, I haven't forgotten (this year). here, have a bomber, hun.."

there: fixed.

ARTICLE IS UP!!!!

I really doubt it has a TIE/sa upgrade in it. Mainly because the TIE Shuttle looks significantly different from the TIE Bomber:

EDIT: Aaaaaaaaand, I'm proven wrong:

I'm still flipping the wings of one of my TIE Bomber minis, though.

Yeah this is hella sweet, can't wait to see what's in this

Trying to think what they could do, the defender already cam equip big hitting power with hlc, so maybe pilots that work with the new tractor beam, that could be cool, or something to give them better action efficiency, and everything they add needs to be cheap! Because points is what keeps the defender out of my squads.

As for the bomber...more munitions seems like a obvious add in, what else they could add to the ship...who knows, lol. It would be cool if they gained a cannon slot, being that a new cannon for the defender seems possible in this pack

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/12/14/rule-the-skies/

Here ya go.

I'm.... I'm crying....

It's so.... beautiful. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/12/14/rule-the-skies/

Here ya go.

Huh. So PS6 generic Defender with an EPT, eh?

MAAREK STELE IN A TIE DEFENDER?!

And...is that Deathrain in a TIE Bomber?

Yes! Maarek Steele in a Defender! Finally!!

TIE BOMBER W/ UNLIMITED CRACK SHOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111

Boom.

This is the giddiest I have ever been about X Wing.

WOWOWOWOWOOWWOW!

Wow, those upgrades read like something this forum would come up with.

IN A GOOD WAY!

Article brings a lot of interesting additions:

- A free Bomber title that punts all ordnance slots for two crew slots.

- A PS8 Bomber pilot that can shoot all of the Cracks.

- A modification for ships with both missile and torpedo upgrades that lets them target lock at R3 and beyond, but loses the ability to TL within R1-2.

- A Defender title that punts all secondary weapons for -2 points and high-speed evades.

- A Defender title that allows you to fire-link your cannons and beams, but only if the Cannon is 3 points or less.

- Explanation of the Tractor Beam rules: -1 agility for each Tractor token until the end of the end phase, plus some more print.

I'm really hoping for a Bomber that allows re-rolls/dice modification on bombs.

Tie shuttle title seems to remove the torpedo/missile slots and adds two crew slots, but you can't have a crew that costs more than 4 points.