[HotAC] Battlestar Gozanti

By Stefan, in X-Wing

As mentioned in the other threads about the topic, I started working on a campaign idea involing a flying base camp (a Gozanti) that players can upgrade and send to combat sometimes. Right now, I haven't written any concrete rules but only a rough draft of how this is supposed to look like later for your much appreciated consideration. More detailled info will follow.

Maximum of 4 players. Any rebel ship can be taken only once. Gozanti needed.

Gozanti starts at pilot level 0 and can be upgraded as per standard rules.

Upgrades for the Gozanti need to be purchased by all players simultaneously.

Conversely, kills by the Gozanti are counted for a player who damaged the same ship during his turn (new category Gozanti assist)

Mission 1: Covert Ops (no Gozanti, 3x3)

The players need to break in a prison in ordert to free a pilot. For this, they need to disable the base defenses before getting shot down and captured, so the escape later will be easier.

Mission 2: Escape (Gozanti, 3x3)

The players and their new commander capture a derelict Gozanti and flee (their ships are down, after all). In standard TIE, they try to defend the defenseless, damaged Gozanti until it can jump.

Mission 3: Meeting (Gozanti, 3x3)

The players rendezvous with a rebel carrier (new ships!), but an Imperial patrol shows up and they need to flee again.

Mission 4: Resources (no Gozanti, 3x3)

The players need to find resources in order to repair their still ailing Gozanti. Luckily, they intercept a message from an Imperial Carrier that they need to ionize and then scuttle.

Mission 5: More resources (no Gozanti, 3x3)

Now that the ship isn’t falling apart anymore, the players need to get some water. Their ships (plus a large support ship) need to dock at asteroids and keep an Imperial patrol at bay.

Mission 6: Arms race (no Gozanti, 3x3)

The players need to attack a small Imperial base in order to capture armaments for the Gozanti. This means ignoring the towers fortifying the base and landing a raiding party in order to capture it.

Mission 7: Attack on the mining station (Gozanti, 6x3)

The players need to attack a heavily defended base. It is protected by heavy anti-squadron defenses that are, however, not very good vs. armor. The players need to strike a balance between relative safety of their craft from AA fire with the Gozanti’s ability to destroy its capabilites and the adding threat by Imperial bombers.

I don't know about every one else but this sound exciting to play.

im ready and waiting

Edited by shotbyscott

Wow reading through this makes me really want to start up a HotAC campaign.

Sadly most of the X-wing people in my area are all about the 100point death match, Gah I get so board of that

Looks sweet! Do you get to name your Gozanti? Cause that would be very fun

Wow reading through this makes me really want to start up a HotAC campaign.

Sadly most of the X-wing people in my area are all about the 100point death match, Gah I get so board of that

I find the best success is with running a 'special' multi-player Epic game where people can turn up and play 100 or 150 points per player, with three or four players per team. It'll take most of the afternoon so make it for a weekend.

Once people have had a taste of Epic or Cinematic play, they're usually hungry for more!

Wow reading through this makes me really want to start up a HotAC campaign.

Sadly most of the X-wing people in my area are all about the 100point death match, Gah I get so board of that

It was the same here until i start running one now all people want to play it HotAC

Ok, so I'm getting Gozanti for sure ;)

Of course you can give the Gozanti any name you like ^^

I made an admittedly crude version of a player-controlled Gozanti card:

tumblr_o749ztyojH1umltzmo1_500.png

Sounds awesome, but a little drawn out. 7 missions, and more than half of them don't even use the Gozanti? :|

Personally I'd rather see something more along these lines:

Mission 1: Ambush!

Disable an imperial Gozanti and destroy its escorts (similar to the capture officer mission in HotAC).

Mission 2: Escape!!

The imperials have tracked the rebels back to one of their hidden bases! The Gozanti starts docked to a rebel station. The players must defend the station for X turns while their slicers hack into the Gozanti's computers, load all the station personnel aboard, and then use it to escape to hyperspace.

Mission 3: Retaliation!!!

The Rebels have repaired the Gozanti, and now use it to infiltrate deep into imperial territory to launch a surprise strike at a key installation.

Mission 4: So many Exclamation Points!!!!!!!!!!!

Big climactic battle that again features the Gozanti- perhaps striking at an Imperial Raider or a well defended imperial station.

Those first missions are only the beginning ;) I imagine many of those missions to be small in scope. But if you have the carrier with you all the time, you're so powerful that you need to be attacked by TIE Bombers all the time, and it would get boring quickly. I will write additional missions if it works, this is only to show where I want to go. Call it the pilot for a series.

The fully written Gozanti rules for your consideration:

Battlestar Gozanti

This campaign is a supplement to the popular “Heroes of the Aturi Cluster”-coop campaign. If not stated otherwise, its rules apply. This campaign cannot be played without the HotAC material and rules.

The gist of this campaign is that it outfits the players with a mothership, a captured Gozanti carrier, that they can outfit and strengthen over the course of the missions and take into battle on several occasions.

The campaign can be played with a maximum of four players. Any rebel ship can be taken only once. The Gozanti Assault Carrier expansion is needed or needs to be proxied.

Gozanti rules

The Gozanti starts at pilot level 0, which can be upgraded for the value of its next level ( Example: To upgrade the Gozanti from pilot level 1 to 2, every player needs to pay 2XP). Upgrades can be purchased only by all players simultaneously, so that every player pays the cost for the desired upgrade to the Gozanti. Additionally, to the standard upgrade cards that are available to huge ships, the players need to purchase the regular actions the Gozanti can take (like Reinforce or Jam) for 2XP each player.

Conversely, kills by the Gozanti are counted for a player who damaged the same ship during his turn. This means that players with a lower pilot skill than the Gozanti can never score assists for it.

The Gozanti can jump out of a system (and be removed from the board) as per usual hyperjump rules. However, acquiring a jump-token costs one energy. At the beginning of the campaign, decide whether to play in normal or hardcore mode. In normal mode, the Gozanti loses its most expensive upgrade. In hardcore, if the Gozanti is ever destroyed, the players lose the campaign.

Between missions, the Gozanti replenishes its shields, hull points and energy as well as discarded upgrade cards unless explicitly stated otherwise by the mission.

Players may start a mission including the Gozanti docked, as per Gozanti rules, and may re-dock during each mission as per docking rules of HotAC.

And the first mission;

Mission 1: Covert Ops (no Gozanti, 3x3)

The players need to break in a prison in order to free a pilot. For this, they need to disable the base defenses before getting shot down and captured, so the escape later will be easier.

NEUTRAL TERRITORY – NO TURN LIMIT

tumblr_o74f7o1x8D1umltzmo1_540.png

Mission Objectives:

Primary

Get shot down. The players win when all their ships are destroyed. They may voluntarily eject and thus self-destruct as an Action.

Bonus

Every time a turret is destroyed, the active player gains 1XP .

Bonus

Every time a minefield is destroyed, the active player gains 1XP .

Rebel Victory:

“The plan worked, and we’re in. Now comes the difficult part: getting out again.”

Proceed to mission 2.

Imperial Victory:

(there’s no way to lose this mission)


Squad Arrival Vec. AI 1P 2P 3P 4P

Alpha Setup - Attack

+TIE

+TIE

+TIE

+TIE

Beta 2 1 Attack

+TIE

+TIE

+TIE

+TIE

Gamma 6 D8 Attack

+Interceptor

+TIE

+Interceptor

+TIE

Rebel Setup:

The Rebels set up their ships in the rectangle created at range 2 or less of the bottom and right edge of the game area.

Imperial Setup:

The Alpha Squadron is placed docking to the Docking Station.

Obstacles and Emplacements:

There are no special rules for turrets and mines. Destroying them grants additional XP.

Mission End:

Do not remove any obstacles, emplacements or other stuff from the board. Only remove ships. The next mission will be played on the same board. The more emplacements and minefields the player destroy, the less they have to fear in the next mission.

Edited by Stefan

Second mission (same setup, obviously)

Mission 2: Escape (Gozanti, 3x3)

The players and their new commander capture a derelict Gozanti and flee (their ships are down, after all). In standard TIE, they try to defend the defenseless, damaged Gozanti until it can jump.

HOSTILE TERRITORY – 10 TURNS

Mission Objectives:

Primary

The Gozanti and all players need to leave the mission area. Jumping is only possible in the green zone.

Bonus

If Alpha Squad is destroyed, every player gains 1XP .

Bonus

For every destroyed shuttle, the players gain 2XP .

Rebel Victory:

“We made it, guys. Now we need to patch up this hump of scrap metal before any more Imperials are showing up.”

Proceed to Mission 3.

Imperial Victory:

“We made it out, but the damage to the ship is extensive. It will take us quite some time to repair all of that.

Half the XP earned this mission. Then proceed to Mission 3.


Squad Arrival Vec. AI 1P 2P 3P 4P

Alpha Setup 5 Attack

+TIE

-

+TIE

-

Beta Setup 6 Attack

+TIE

-

+TIE

-

Gamma Setup 7 Strike

+Shuttle

-

+Shuttle

-

Elite 3 4-7 Attack

+Interceptor (E)

-

-

+Interceptor (E)

Delta 8 Special Strike

+Advanced

Upgrade to Bomber

+Advanced

Upgrade to Bomber

General setup

The board is not set up fresh for this mission. Instead, it is taken over from mission 1. Emplacements and mines destroyed in mission 1 remain destroyed in this mission.

The Jump zone

The jump zone is at range 2 from the left and at range 4 from the lower edge.

Gozanti setup

The Gozanti is set up with its aft bordering the dock. If this would make her overlap a minefield, immediately resolve the damage and then remove the minefield. The Gozanti has only 6 hull and 0 shields, plus 1 additional shield per player above 1. It has zero energy. It has no upgrades or weapons and cannot perform any actions.

Gozanti energy

The Gozanti’s engine is damaged. At the beginning of every round, the Gozanti loses one energy.

Player ships

The players all fly standard TIE fighters with their usual pilot level. They start the game docked to the Gozanti.

Mines

The mines are hostile only to the rebel players.

Delta Squadron

They arrive in the sector nearest to the players.

Edited by Stefan

can you pot it all into a pdf when its finished?

Of course!

cool

Of course you can give the Gozanti any name you like ^^

I made an admittedly crude version of a player-controlled Gozanti card:

tumblr_o749ztyojH1umltzmo1_500.png

Try investing the colors of the upgrade icons.

will download it when i get home

I tested the first three missions yesterday in a two-player game. They need some changes ^^

So if you want to try, I recommend:

Mission 1:

Delay Beta-Squad to round 3. As for strategy, clear the three mines directly south to the dock and all turbolasers in the south, or you're gonna have problems. Like dying quite fast.

Mission 2:

Shove Beta-Squad from 1P and 3P to 2P and 4P.

Gamma doesn't gain a new Shuttle at 3P; instead, each player above 1 grants it a shield.

Change the AI of Alpha, Beta and Gamma to Special:

Alpha and Beta are tasked with recovering the Gozanti. They use Strike AI against it, but they’re firing Ion weapons. If their attack hits, the Gozanti gains one Ionize token and only moves one straight this turn (gain energy from the maneuver, though). Gamma squadron is tasked with retaking the Gozanti and will not shoot at all, instead using Strike AI to close to the Gozanti as fast as possible (always use the highest possible number of the chosen bearing). It will try everything it can to stay out of the front path of the Gozanti. Once in range 1, the Shuttle will only use the 1-maneuver of every possible bearing. If the Shuttle’s 1-maneuver template ever overlaps the Gozanti, the Shuttle docks and the Gozanti is boarded and captured, in which case the players lose the scenario.

Mission 3:

No changes yet. We lost it pretty badly because we made the mistake of flying to the same side of the two huge ships at the same time. It's impossible to fly through them with anything but the 5-maneuver, which means that enemy TIE bumping into Gozanti's side will take pot-shots at the Carrier. Not sure how and if to avoid that.

So, playtesting is over, a ton of new stuff is added. Check it out!

boardgamegeek.com/filepage/132284

will add it to our HOTAC campaign

Our group is just finishing up the base HotAC campaign, so this looks very exciting. Could you describe in a bit more detail how the AI swerves from the 4-straight Gozanti flight path? Do you leave a maneuver template on the mat at all times? I'm a little unclear on the practical implementation of the rule.

I just noticed this. It looks pretty cool. How much play testing has gone into it? Has anyone tried it yet?