PS5 OP combos:StressX with Eatn Vrill and Hobbie Kilvan Anything else come to mind?

I've been thinking about this one and I don't think it's as cool as it seems at first glance. You're only getting one action, and it has to be a target lock, which nets you 3 hits from your 4 dice but since a lot of the enemies are toting sensor jammers, there's a good chance that will go back to 2 hits. Until you hit PS7 when you can get Keyan's ability as well.I prefer PtL on Hobbie at the moment since he can focus and TL for like, 2.8 hits out of three dice, but isn't affected by sensor jammers, and since he has two actions he gets more utility from something like R7-T1, R5-P9, R2-D2, engine upgrade, Expert Handling, etc. And you can still take Keyan at PS7 for extra shenanigans.

5 dice attacks kill ships. Removing an action (or more) is great (even if it isnt an assist) and if the enemy does a red its even better. The hard part is dealing with the stress on yourself, but it is still good. Not sure how it compairs with newer upgrades and combos but it was fun to fly.

Crack Squadron ("Warlock" "JuiceBox" "Guru" and "Nomad") flew the capture the officer mission.

First turn we tried to alpha strike the shuttle. We quickly learned that all those evades plus sensor jammer made short work of our first salvo of plasma and proton torpedos. We quickly changed tactics and wiped out the escorts. The elite TIE advanced was dealt with in short order as well. Things were looking up for "Warlock" and the Crack Squadron.

A Couple of turns later, the shuttle was disabled from a well placed proton torpedo from Nomad.

Then things went south. We had 3 turns to take out three remaining TIEs before the next set of reinforcements arrived. An ill-timed bump left Warlock exposed and without actions. And two TIEs focussed down on him blowing his T-65 out from under his furry Wookie hide. Warlock was badly injured and lost his EPT (PTL) and half of his 8 xp!

Despite clever deployment of seismic bombs from Juicebox and Guru, and two rounds of shooting, the next wave of TIEs came on. Then it was a race to try to eliminate them (each having damage) before the deadly interceptors came. Crack Squadron had one chance to finish them all off and just couldn't do it.

The interceptors came on and then it was time to get the hell out of there.

The Y's made for the board edge, followed by Nomad in his T-65.

The Alderaani saw the disabled shuttle sitting there and decided the Imp bastard on board was not going to make it to safety. A quick blast from his quad las cannons finished off the Shuttle.

As the interceptors quickly closed the distance, the Y's fled leaving Nomad to face a single TIE that had him in arc. With escape so close, Nomad was distracted and before he knew it, his T-65 was breaking up and he had to punch out.

Miraculously, he had a safe eject (2 blanks!)

A few hours after the battle, a rebel operative managed to jump into the system and pick up the two pilots and make it back to the tiny Rebel flotilla hiding out in a massive nebula within Aturi Cluster.

Warlock was unceremoniously dumped into a bacta tank. Nomad found JuiceBox and Guru on the flight deck of thei Rebel's modified GR-75 cargo ship. "You sons of ******* left us behind." He said flatly before throwing a haymaker at JuiceBox. The Y-wing pilot took a heavy blow to his jaw and reeled back. Before Nomad could throw another punch, Guru and a half dozen flight crew wrestled Nomad down.

Morale in Crack Squadron was low.

It's funny as I write this, I realize I totally forgot IA upgrades on my X-wings. Maybe if Warlock hadn't been taken out when he had, things would've gone differently.

5 dice attacks kill ships. Removing an action (or more) is great (even if it isnt an assist) and if the enemy does a red its even better. The hard part is dealing with the stress on yourself, but it is still good. Not sure how it compairs with newer upgrades and combos but it was fun to fly.

I'm hearing you, but four dice attacks with focus also kill ships and gives you greater maneuvering options.

Stay on Target with Targeting Astro and Hobbie is also really good. You'll get two actions, (one will always be a target lock) but get to effectively choose your dial when you reveal it. It's really hard to choose. I've just upgraded to lvl 3 and have six XP to spend. I'm torn between Stay on Target, Push the Limit and Predator. They all seem like really good choices.

Had a new player start last night and a few of us starter new pilots. One thing that struck me was how powerful Torpedoes were with Guidance Chip. I forgot that you get to turn one blank into a crit, instead of a hit. There were a number of times that it was just powerful enough to splash 4 damage on to a Tie Fighter. We don't have Predator yet, but getting 2 re-rolls is also a good thing. Extra Munitions is not bad, as well. If you need to take out a Tie Fighter quick, then this is a good way to do it.

At the end, I did purchase Ion Torpedoes, as the ionization ability looks really good in HotAC. You can get a whole squad out of the action for a turn, which can help if you have multiple squads to deal with. The lack of ability to change the dice native to the torpedo is taken up by Guidance Chip and Predator, making it pretty nasty.

I can even see just taking Flechette Torpedoes for a cheap upgrade as not bad. It stops them from getting range bonus and Guidance Chip changes anything to a crit. It's great that Guidance Chip is free!

Out of curiosity, do you guys give Wave 8+ upgrades to the Imperial ships, as well?

I've ruled "no Wave 8+" in our HotAC campaigns, because it seems like a lot of work to re-balance the enemies for and against the cards that Wave 8 introduces (IntegratedA, GC, T-70s, and so on). Some of it is also anachronistic to the time-period of HotAC, but that's a very minor issue for me.

How would you guys handle the XP for destroying the shuttle? None awarded? I had Nomad donit more for flavor and fluff than a reason to get Xp. I figured that he had an abiding hatred for the Empire and wasn't going to let the officer get away if he could help it. From a mission/ campaign standpoint it made sense to kill off the officer (see what I did there?) so the Empire would have to send a replacement and hence another opportunity for the Rebels to capture an officer.

How would you guys handle the XP for destroying the shuttle? None awarded? I had Nomad donit more for flavor and fluff than a reason to get Xp. I figured that he had an abiding hatred for the Empire and wasn't going to let the officer get away if he could help it. From a mission/ campaign standpoint it made sense to kill off the officer (see what I did there?) so the Empire would have to send a replacement and hence another opportunity for the Rebels to capture an officer.

Standard XP. there is nothing about the shuttle that makes it act any differently when you are dealing with hitting it for XP (aside from the bonus for disable) destroying it only forces the mission to be a failure, but XP would still be the same as always.

Out of curiosity, do you guys give Wave 8+ upgrades to the Imperial ships, as well?

What do you mean by "Wave 8+ Upgrade" in terms of the Imperial fighters? What would they get? All of the pilot cards are already set, and I don't think there are any game-breaking 8+ combos that the elite pilots would be missing out on.

I've already said that my group won't use T-70s because they don't balance correctly. When you switch to a B-Wing or an A-Wing, there is a tradeoff. Losing droids, gaining cannons or maneuverability, for example. The T-70 is just a flat out upgrade, and it is ridiculously undercosted at 5 Points giving +1 shield, Boost, 2 free upgrade slots (that you had been using for Shield Upgrade and Engine Upgrade), as well as a better dial. And I agree that it just doesn't belong in the Aturi Cluster time period.

Integrated Astromech doesn't really strike me as a problem though. It was a T-65 fix and it isn't anachronistic. The concept of the card doesn't make much sense (what does being integrated do to an astromech that allows it to soak damage, lol?), but the effect of the card is fine.

Our group said that Integrated Astromech was free and didnt take up a slot...which was fine with all of us, even those of us that are flying Ywings or chaging ships are happy with it, since it does give the Xwing a little something extra.

The Rebel pilot abilities in Wave 8 are great, you should really look into them and guidance chips.

Guidance chips and Ion Torpedoes work great together when you want to drop one tie and mess up its buddies!

The T-70 just does not fit at all! Nor does the Kwig or Ewing...totally dfferent time period for all 3. And are quite a bit better than their counterparts.

The Wave 8 upgrades for Imperials wold be the Tie Advanced Prototype and he Tie Fo....the FO wouldnt fit time period wise, but the TAP could, and I'd love to fight against those, ythey could almost be subbed in for Advanceds or Interceptors...though the AI wold be off for movement.

Crack Squadron ("Warlock" "JuiceBox" "Guru" and "Nomad") flew the capture the officer mission.

First turn we tried to alpha strike the shuttle. We quickly learned that all those evades plus sensor jammer made short work of our first salvo of plasma and proton torpedos. We quickly changed tactics and wiped out the escorts. The elite TIE advanced was dealt with in short order as well. Things were looking up for "Warlock" and the Crack Squadron.

A Couple of turns later, the shuttle was disabled from a well placed proton torpedo from Nomad.

Then things went south. We had 3 turns to take out three remaining TIEs before the next set of reinforcements arrived. An ill-timed bump left Warlock exposed and without actions. And two TIEs focussed down on him blowing his T-65 out from under his furry Wookie hide. Warlock was badly injured and lost his EPT (PTL) and half of his 8 xp!

Despite clever deployment of seismic bombs from Juicebox and Guru, and two rounds of shooting, the next wave of TIEs came on. Then it was a race to try to eliminate them (each having damage) before the deadly interceptors came. Crack Squadron had one chance to finish them all off and just couldn't do it.

The interceptors came on and then it was time to get the hell out of there.

The Y's made for the board edge, followed by Nomad in his T-65.

The Alderaani saw the disabled shuttle sitting there and decided the Imp bastard on board was not going to make it to safety. A quick blast from his quad las cannons finished off the Shuttle.

As the interceptors quickly closed the distance, the Y's fled leaving Nomad to face a single TIE that had him in arc. With escape so close, Nomad was distracted and before he knew it, his T-65 was breaking up and he had to punch out.

Miraculously, he had a safe eject (2 blanks!)

A few hours after the battle, a rebel operative managed to jump into the system and pick up the two pilots and make it back to the tiny Rebel flotilla hiding out in a massive nebula within Aturi Cluster.

Warlock was unceremoniously dumped into a bacta tank. Nomad found JuiceBox and Guru on the flight deck of thei Rebel's modified GR-75 cargo ship. "You sons of ******* left us behind." He said flatly before throwing a haymaker at JuiceBox. The Y-wing pilot took a heavy blow to his jaw and reeled back. Before Nomad could throw another punch, Guru and a half dozen flight crew wrestled Nomad down.

Morale in Crack Squadron was low.

The game is strange in that way. At one point you're about to order up a celebratory dinner, the next you're up to your exhaust ports in LGTs (Little Grey Ties) wondering how it went south so fast.

What do you mean by "Wave 8+ Upgrade" in terms of the Imperial fighters? What would they get?

[...]

Integrated Astromech doesn't really strike me as a problem though. It was a T-65 fix and it isn't anachronistic.

Guidance Chips for Bombers? When IV comes out, titles for Defenders? LRS for Bombers? TAPs?

Integrated Astromech is a fine card, but HotAC wasn't balanced for it. Just as you said about the T-70 (all true), an X-Wing with IA is "just plain better." Especially if it doesn't take up the Mod slot. (I could see the Mod slot maybe being a good enough Opportunity Cost.)

The Astromechs from Wave 8 are flatly better than most existing choices, as well, in the HotAC context.

My basic worry is that HotAC was balanced (very well, IMO) through Wave 7. Adding in Wave 8 -- especially just in favor of the players -- seems problematic.

Yes an Xwing with IA is better than one without it, but compared to the Ywing that is tougher, and has a turret, and the extra 3 exp to begin with, it might be needed. Especially since the Ywing with a turret is an easy EXP generator.

As for Astromechs, you have the cruddy one that mimics Dash Rendar for a tur, not good, and I've never seen it in the campaign nor a real game yet.

You have BB-8 which is nce on any Rebel ship but certainly not game breaking, until you get to the PTL antics with boost on it...further down the road. wichby then other people are doing crazy things with pilot abilities instead...plus it only triggers on greens. Whereas Sabine always triggers before movement, and Jake always triggers on a focus.

Lastly you have the Targetting Astro- which makes Hobbie's ability really good in the campaign, which is nice...bu still not breaking compared to some other stuff.

Give any missile armed opponents the Guidance Chips or LongRange Scopes for free in every mission...whether its bombers, TAPs or Advanceds.

Then if you come upon Defenders with titles in the missions with Defenders, things will balance out to imperial favor.

One time, we managed to pop 6 Interceptors in a 5 player game during the mission where you have to sweep the sensor beacons off the asteroids. Then we drew an Elite TIE Interceptor. We ran our collections out of Interceptors and had to proxy a Defender. Even dug out my new, but as-of-then-unpainted TIE Avenger to be the Elite (since it had Stealth Device, it was okay that it was clear, right?).

Somehow managed to win that battle because one of the X-Wings had been chased away from the group and was able to take out three beacons. Lost 3 out of 5 ships, and the only 2 that survived had to jump to hyperspace to escape. Including a daring last-turn jump as the Elite Interceptor stripped him down to 1 Hull.

Not shown: 1 more Interceptor just out of frame on the bottom right, and the one just out of frame at the top-middle. The 6th was the only one destroyed.

As far as IA goes, HotAC might not have been "balanced" for it, but all it really does is give the X-Wing one more theoretical hull point (at the cost of its astromech). I wouldn't consider it game-breaking like the shield/boost/dial upgrade of the T-70). The Y-Wings, as mentioned, are already the XP hogs with their turrets (especially since TLT gives them 2 chances at the damage XP) and bombs. So giving a little upward nudge to the X-Wing on a 0-Point trade-off upgrade doesn't feel unfair. The A-Wing gets Test Pilot for free, for example, and that's a free EPT slot.

YMMV, but I wouldn't lump it in with the "Wave 8+" stuff in terms of it breaking immersion or offering an unfair advantage.

I don't think the IA in a single mod slot would be that bad. Sure its really nice at the start of the game when you are strapped for points, but you also have other options that all fit in there: Chips, shield (with R2D2 especially), ENGINE, Autothrusters?. I think the opportunity cost is fine. If your group feels its a bit much, maybe put a 1 or 2 pt cost on it just to help offset it.

One time, we managed to pop 6 Interceptors in a 5 player game during the mission where you have to sweep the sensor beacons off the asteroids. Then we drew an Elite TIE Interceptor. We ran our collections out of Interceptors and had to proxy a Defender. Even dug out my new, but as-of-then-unpainted TIE Avenger to be the Elite (since it had Stealth Device, it was okay that it was clear, right?).

Somehow managed to win that battle because one of the X-Wings had been chased away from the group and was able to take out three beacons. Lost 3 out of 5 ships, and the only 2 that survived had to jump to hyperspace to escape. Including a daring last-turn jump as the Elite Interceptor stripped him down to 1 Hull.

Not shown: 1 more Interceptor just out of frame on the bottom right, and the one just out of frame at the top-middle. The 6th was the only one destroyed.

As far as IA goes, HotAC might not have been "balanced" for it, but all it really does is give the X-Wing one more theoretical hull point (at the cost of its astromech). I wouldn't consider it game-breaking like the shield/boost/dial upgrade of the T-70). The Y-Wings, as mentioned, are already the XP hogs with their turrets (especially since TLT gives them 2 chances at the damage XP) and bombs. So giving a little upward nudge to the X-Wing on a 0-Point trade-off upgrade doesn't feel unfair. The A-Wing gets Test Pilot for free, for example, and that's a free EPT slot.

YMMV, but I wouldn't lump it in with the "Wave 8+" stuff in terms of it breaking immersion or offering an unfair advantage.

I can't help but look at that pic of the X-Wing and think of the old TV commercials: "wanna get away?"

So I just popped in to mention two quick builds that I think are fun.

First is the Y-Wing build I've been flying (i'm about 6 missions in so far): AB turret + R7-T1 (boost bot) is fantastic in this campaign. You're almost always up against TIE fighters and Interceptors, and AB really shines against their low-hull/high-agility. Plus with the boost-bot, you're almost always in somebody's arc so it's usually pretty easy to boost into range one of your target. And bombs for more fun. This ship quite frequently nets the most XP in my squad.

Also, I just realized the awesomeness of a HWK (or even a B-Wing) with Recon Spec and Jake's ability. Take a focus action for 2 focus tokens, a Boost, AND a Barrel Roll. Somebody has probably noticed it and mentioned it before, but I just barely realized that you could do that.

EDIT:

Oh, I just came across this post from the creator in the FAQ comments:

Josh Derksen

FEBRUARY 12, 2016 AT 10:33 AM

We’ve been playing things like Weapons Engineer and Recon Specialist as only triggering abilities once, which feels more consistent with how everything else works.

This has implications for your combo (only remove 1 stress with Hobbie) and also Jake (you don’t Barrel Roll AND Boost when assigned 2 focus with Recon Spec), but there is no real precedent here.

If your group feels that combo isn’t overly broken (doesn’t seem like it to me, compared to other cheese I have seen), then by all means, play it how you like.

What do you mean by "Wave 8+ Upgrade" in terms of the Imperial fighters? What would they get?

[...]

Integrated Astromech doesn't really strike me as a problem though. It was a T-65 fix and it isn't anachronistic.

Guidance Chips for Bombers? When IV comes out, titles for Defenders? LRS for Bombers? TAPs?

Integrated Astromech is a fine card, but HotAC wasn't balanced for it. Just as you said about the T-70 (all true), an X-Wing with IA is "just plain better." Especially if it doesn't take up the Mod slot. (I could see the Mod slot maybe being a good enough Opportunity Cost.)

The Astromechs from Wave 8 are flatly better than most existing choices, as well, in the HotAC context.

My basic worry is that HotAC was balanced (very well, IMO) through Wave 7. Adding in Wave 8 -- especially just in favor of the players -- seems problematic.

I don't think Integrated Astromech is really OP for the campaign. We have given it to our guys and people still get blown up. You lose the Astromech, so it's still bad.

Guidance Chip and titles for Defenders is a good thought, though. I'd really worry with them on the table! I'd probably wait for the guys to say something about it before I added them in. Maybe if we wanted a challenge. If we were doing too well.

I don't think LRS is really worth it on the AI. They get a free TL anyways and then get the Focus or BR. It would just complicate trying to figure out if they could TL when close. Or who to TL if they can't grab someone super close. I think it's perfect as is with the free TL.

It would be interesting to see them expand and put the V1 as an AI ship. Maybe a second campaign? That was more around Rebels time period? Could be cool. These guys should be on FFG's payroll!

Any idea when the Imperial campaign will be out?

I'm very intrigued by the idea of a Rebels Campaign using HotAC as a jumping off point. Need to finish a campaign first to get the feel for how balance will work but I might take a crack at writing up some missions using the Ghost, Phantom, and Phoenix Squadron.

I'm very intrigued by the idea of a Rebels Campaign using HotAC as a jumping off point. Need to finish a campaign first to get the feel for how balance will work but I might take a crack at writing up some missions using the Ghost, Phantom, and Phoenix Squadron.

You could try what some poele have suggested: that all large ships count as 2 Rebel players, so the ghost would count as 2 for the AI numbers and numbers of Imperial fighters, and the the Phantom would add another player for those purposes. Then any number of Awings to fill in the rest of your actual gaming group.

So if you ran 2 Awing, the Ghost and Phantom, then you'd have 4 of you playing it, but would count as 5 players for number of Ties, etc per mission.

Herowannabe - yes it looks like Jake doesnt work twice with recon specialist, but if someone else playing in your group uses Garven Dreis' ability to pass his focus token on to you,you could then do the other of the 2 options (that you didnt do during your activation phase.

As for Bwing crew though, I've found that Nien Nunb is really good for crew. Or Sabine Wren crew mixed with extra munitions...since you can have 2 bombs, and the 4 torpedoes.

Oh and Sabine Wren's pilot ability from the Phantom is awesome i the campaign, especially mixed with Jake Farrell..you boost or barrel before you move (then can drop bombs if you took any), then you move, then you focus, and do the other one that you didnt do prior...then if you have Garven Dries after you spend you focus inthe combat phase, you can pass it to a friendly.

As for Bwing crew though, I've found that Nien Nunb is really good for crew. Or Sabine Wren crew mixed with extra munitions...since you can have 2 bombs, and the 4 torpedoes.

Oh, wow! That's brutal. I like it!

Starting everyone with A-Wings at PS2 sounds pretty brutal, lol. You lack any shield regeneration, and don't have the Elite Talents/Skills combos to offset, and your damage output is going to be so low that Interceptors will be even more ridiculous than they already are at low level. I mean, there's a reason you really only see A-Wings in the regular games as either cheap, expendable blockers, or high PS 3-trick ponies.

Nobody wants to be the cheap, expendable blocker, haha. The A-Wing survives in HotAC by not getting shot at in the first place, leaving the tanking to sturdier ships (often with with regen).

I feel like the biggest challenge will be balance. Ever play Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, where an Elf or Dwarf character just eventually became nearly invincible while everyone else is just getting mulched by any enemy tough enough to hurt them? This is the situation you create. You're starting out with one person piloting a very powerful large-base ship, maybe a second one playing as the Phantom, and then everyone else is in a low-firepower, low-shield/hull fighter. The place where this becomes a balance issue is finding a mix of enemy ships that will be challenging enough for the Ghost, but not so challenging that they are killing the A-Wings off faster than they die in the cartoon.

Otherwise, the smart A-Wings will just dump the TIE Fighters on the Ghost and run away, lol.

"Starting everyone with A-Wings at PS2 sounds pretty brutal, lol. You lack any shield regeneration, and don't have the Elite Talents/Skills combos to offset, and your damage output is going to be so low that Interceptors will be even more ridiculous than they already are at low level. I

I feel like the biggest challenge will be balance. Ever play Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, where an Elf or Dwarf character just eventually became nearly invincible while everyone else is just getting mulched by any enemy tough..."

"Otherwise, the smart A-Wings will just dump the TIE Fighters on the Ghost and run away, lol".

Which edition of Warhammer Roleplay are you referring to?

And yes if the Awings are smart, they will pawn off the TIES to attack the Ghost or Phantom, or at the very least use the one starting Elite talent to take something useful for defense...though there are limited options there.

Hopefully the pilots will get a lot of exp on the first game or two, and be able to rank up or buy something really helpful in game 2.

I got 22points the first mission we did, when my group restarted the campaign last month.

Our HotAC group has grown to 7-8 players.

So far we've not had more than 5 able to make it on any given night, but it looks like this week nearly everyone will be there.

How do we handle so many rebel players? Split the mission over two tables? Run two missions? What do we do if one group wins and one group loses?

I'd suggest whomever (over six) has the most XP should GM the game.

Thoughts on "Secure Holonet Receiver."

(1) As worded, a TLT's second attack is mandatory. Given the potentially disastrous result of destroying a relay, TLT is a little less useful than it otherwise would be.

(2) An Ion Torpedo can take out the three Sensor Arrays in one shot, with no chance of destroying one. I plan on doing that tonight. (The argument against this working is that the emplacements are not "ships." Which I could see. The problem with that is that a lot of EPTs and pilot abilities then do not work on emplacements. I don't think that's intended.)

(3) 3-attack guns are dangerous when attacking the relays. I think you have to TL, and re-roll a die if you get three hits.