I played through it once with a friend, so the 2-player-missions are playtested (with the exception of the final three missions of season 2 which we haven't gotten around doing yet).

On 9/19/2016 at 9:44 AM, Stefan said:

I played through it once with a friend, so the 2-player-missions are playtested (with the exception of the final three missions of season 2 which we haven't gotten around doing yet).

Hey Stefan. We've been playing your Battlestar Pallas campaign these past few weeks. Great job, it's a lot of fun.

I have a question about mission 7 (babysitters). Gamma squad and Epsilon squad are listed as Protect AI. What exactly are they supposed to be doing?

We decided to make the Gamma squad Tie fighters stick with the Beta squad Tie Advanced fighters when moving and to perform protect actions on them whenever possible and to make the Epsilon squad Tie interceptors stick with the Delta squad Tie bombers when moving and perform protect actions on them whenever possible. For thier attacks, we've just been letting them attack any convenient target (i.e. Carrier, Player ships, Emplacements).

Thanks for hours of fun!

On 12/05/2016 at 4:33 PM, Stefan said:

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

Just a thought if you plan on missions with other Epic ships and if your going to use Docking Clamps with docked ships a lower PS makes Docking Clamps very powerful whereas a high PS makes them less useful.

This is a very cool idea and the Gozanti plays very well on 3x3 boards. I often play 200 point matches with it against Rebels with the Transport.

2 hours ago, Bullox said:

Hey Stefan. We've been playing your Battlestar Pallas campaign these past few weeks. Great job, it's a lot of fun.

I have a question about mission 7 (babysitters). Gamma squad and Epsilon squad are listed as Protect AI. What exactly are they supposed to be doing?

We decided to make the Gamma squad Tie fighters stick with the Beta squad Tie Advanced fighters when moving and to perform protect actions on them whenever possible and to make the Epsilon squad Tie interceptors stick with the Delta squad Tie bombers when moving and perform protect actions on them whenever possible. For thier attacks, we've just been letting them attack any convenient target (i.e. Carrier, Player ships, Emplacements).

Thanks for hours of fun!

Thanks! I meant Escort AI. Then the AI performs Protect Actions. See page 19 original HotAC rules. I'll change the wording in the doc, thanks. Any other feedback?

4 minutes ago, Sasajak said:

Just a thought if you plan on missions with other Epic ships and if your going to use Docking Clamps with docked ships a lower PS makes Docking Clamps very powerful whereas a high PS makes them less useful.

This is a very cool idea and the Gozanti plays very well on 3x3 boards. I often play 200 point matches with it against Rebels with the Transport.

In HotAC, the docking clamps are extremely helpful against Aces because you want them to move before you do.

12 minutes ago, Stefan said:

In HotAC, the docking clamps are extremely helpful against Aces because you want them to move before you do.

Sure you will always deploy after small ships as Epic ship movement is always after all small ship movement. It was Epic ships I was thinking about - higher PS and you'll move the Gozanti before other Epic ships and then deploy. Always a slim danger the Epic ship will steamroll over your ships. Again not a problem if you're not planning on enemy Epic ships. Just thought it was worth pointing out although you've probably considered it in your mission designs.

As of yet, there are no enemy Epic ships because there's no workable AI for the Raider yet. When that problem is solved, I'd use Epic Ships as adversaries.

7 hours ago, Stefan said:

Thanks! I meant Escort AI. Then the AI performs Protect Actions. See page 19 original HotAC rules. I'll change the wording in the doc, thanks. Any other feedback?

Thanks. I'll look that up. Do you have a link to your pdf? I can't remember where we downloaded it from. I posted in the Battle Reports subforum "...Hilariously Awesome Flying" and someone is asking about your campaign.

2 hours ago, Stefan said:

As of yet, there are no enemy Epic ships because there's no workable AI for the Raider yet. When that problem is solved, I'd use Epic Ships as adversaries.

This was posted in the collaboration thread:

Are there more files with mission details and such that you can link to? I didn't see any links in the other threads. I should mention this on my podcast and point them to you here for any feedback and questions.

Oh, and this is from the Rebel side, yes? I just want to make sure.

1 hour ago, Bullox said:

Thanks. I'll look that up. Do you have a link to your pdf? I can't remember where we downloaded it from. I posted in the Battle Reports subforum "...Hilariously Awesome Flying" and someone is asking about your campaign.

This was posted in the collaboration thread:

We just finished our Escape from the Aturi Cluster added missions last night. We could really have used this. Heh. Why couldn't you have been reading my mind a little bit earlier, @Bullox ?

We almost made it, by the way. One more turn. Bah.

@Stefan, I love what i'm seeing here for your Battlestar campaigns. We will absolutely have to try one of them after we get in our first run through Mercenaries of the Aturi Cluster.

2 hours ago, Kleeg005 said:

We just finished our Escape from the Aturi Cluster added missions last night. We could really have used this. Heh. Why couldn't you have been reading my mind a little bit earlier, @Bullox ?

Isn't that the way things always go? Is there a pdf for Mercenaries of the Aturi Cluster? I think I've seen a thread discussion but a consolidated pdf would be cool.

3 hours ago, heychadwick said:

Are there more files with mission details and such that you can link to? I didn't see any links in the other threads. I should mention this on my podcast and point them to you here for any feedback and questions.

Oh, and this is from the Rebel side, yes? I just want to make sure.

There is a pdf with all of the missions detailed. It includes some training missions, 3 "Seasons" of linked missions and special missions to unlock ships. You play as rebels with a stolen Gozanti as your home base fighting Imperial forces in the Aturi Cluster. I can't remember where I downloaded the pdf from - I think it was boardgamegeek. Hopefully Stefan can post a link here, I think I read somewhere he has a newer revision available.

Edit. This is a link to boardgamegeek:

https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/132284/battlestar-gozanti-aturi-cluster-coop-campaign

On 5/13/2016 at 5:04 AM, Cesamasec said:

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

Boaty McBoat Face. Obviously.

3 hours ago, Bullox said:

Isn't that the way things always go? Is there a pdf for Mercenaries of the Aturi Cluster? I think I've seen a thread discussion but a consolidated pdf would be cool.

I've seen discussion, too, but my digging hasn't turned up anything solid. I've just sort of adapted some bits and pieces as made the most sense, and we're going to run the standard HotAC with Scum stuff. Maybe add some pirate side missions. We might adapt some of the Pallas or Gozanti material, though, as that sounds excellent. And would give us an excuse to have an Alliance Liaison Officer in the mix.

On 5/13/2016 at 8:04 AM, Cesamasec said:

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

HOTAC implies that you must name all your ships, and small based fighters such as X-wings and A-wings must have pilots with over the top 1980s callsigns... oh yeah and if you win a game, you play the top gun theme while barrel rolling past your home ships bridge.... (house rules anyway)

1 hour ago, FlyingAnchors said:

HOTAC implies that you must name all your ships, and small based fighters such as X-wings and A-wings must have pilots with over the top 1980s callsigns... oh yeah and if you win a game, you play the top gun theme while barrel rolling past your home ships bridge.... (house rules anyway)

I'm flying an ARC-170 in this campaign. Pilot's name is Paden Kline, callsign Paden and his faithful companion Stella Star (currently filling the role as Tailgunner). Not 1980's flashy but there is a movie reference there.

I'm currently right before releasing a major overhaul, so if anyone wants the current version, let me know. I'll update it soon on BGG.

The Gozanti has a name, "Pallas"; the campaign has since been renamed accordingly. But of course, no one stops you from ignoring that and give it you own name.

The Raider AI posted I know, but the consensus in the HotAC dev group was that it isn't good and that a usable one needs to be produced before you can properly use this.

22 minutes ago, Stefan said:

I'm currently right before releasing a major overhaul, so if anyone wants the current version, let me know. I'll update it soon on BGG.

Cool. Can you drop a link here when you release your new version?

Thanks again for all the work you've put into this.

In the meantime, look at the current version (unpolished) here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/kujqfxrb43ms1s2/Battlestar Pallas.docx?dl=0

1 hour ago, Stefan said:

In the meantime, look at the current version (unpolished) here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/kujqfxrb43ms1s2/Battlestar Pallas.docx?dl=0

Thank you kind sir, you are a gentleman and a scholar.

On 5/11/2017 at 1:24 AM, Stefan said:

Thanks! I meant Escort AI. Then the AI performs Protect Actions. See page 19 original HotAC rules. I'll change the wording in the doc, thanks. Any other feedback?

Hey Stefan. I wonder if I can get your thoughts on what the Escort ships would do. I looked up the Escort AI in the HotAC rules and it specifies that they will perform the protect action on their assigned charges when within range 1, but what I'm not sure of is what is the target for their maneuvers and what is their target for attacks? What did you do when you play tested mission 7?

I always let them act as if they had Strike AI on their charge when they left Range 1.

On 5/13/2017 at 3:31 PM, Stefan said:

I always let them act as if they had Strike AI on their charge when they left Range 1.

Hey Stefan. We finished up mission 7 (babysitters). I’m going to note three observations if that’s ok.

First is the size of the play field. I’m thinking 3’x 4’ might be better than 3’ x 6’. The mission took about 5 hours of game time. It took us 6 turns just to get the carrier to the station. The bombers and their escorts had 4 rounds to attack the station before we could get there. They had pulverized the shields and fuel tanks before we ever reached the station. The only thing that saved the station was the number of cargo modules/emplacements with their relatively high Hull values. On a smaller play field we could have reached the station faster to fight off the strike team. In that case, though, it might be fair to reduce the number of cargo emplacements by 2 or something.

The second is about the Strike and Escort AI ships. I already asked about these some but I think you might need to add a little more instruction on these. A sentence or two in the mission instructions section for each team. It’s clear in the instructions that the Bombers will target the emplacements and that the Tie/Advanced target the carrier. The instructions indicate that the Escort AI ships will use their actions to perform the protect action but it doesn’t really say what they are protecting. We made the assumption that the Tie/Interceptors were escorting the Bombers and that the Tie fighters were escorting the Tie/Advanced and that they would use their actions to perform protect actions on these ships. But we weren’t sure about what to use as the AI target for their maneuvers and what they would attack. We just had them move towards and attack the most convenient enemy target. (You did say here in this forum that the escort ships will “target” their respective protect’ees for movement when they leave range one but that only comes into play part of the time).

The third thing is the carrier. We weren’t sure how to treat the carrier after it docked. We ended up taking it out of play and not letting it be attacked while it was docked and unloading the cargo tokens. This didn’t really feel right but we were afraid it would just be a sitting duck and melt to concentrated fire just sitting there not moving or taking actions. Maybe include some guidance on what exactly happens to the carrier when it’s docked – i.e. who attacks it or ignores it etc.

Ultimately, we had a blast and are looking forward to the next mission. We obviously filled in the details we needed as we went. Hopefully you just see this as helpful feedback and not criticism.

P.S. The “hilariously awesome flying” post I made in the Battle Reports subforum happened during the first few turns of this mission.

Thanks a lot for the feedback!

The idea is that players need to split, with the fast ships racing to the station to engage the Bombers. I playtested it lately with an A-Wing and a HWK290, letting the A-Wing race forward and try to block the TIE Bombers from shooting the emplacements. That's why I wanted the distance. And, of course, so that the ordnance becomes dangerous: if the playing field is only 3x4, the attacking AI will not have as many runs as it needs. This may be an AI problem first and foremost (if you're partial to the discussion in the Facebook group, the Bomber AI of HotAC is in dire need of an overhaul).

You interpreted the Escort and Strike AI right. I filled in the blanks in the text.

The Carrier is sitting there as a physical model, but bear in mind that the AI still has strike AI on Gozanti and emplacements. The Carrier is helpful to the players since it is blocking the way for the AI attack runs. I'm going to make this clearer in the text.

2 hours ago, Stefan said:

Thanks a lot for the feedback!

The idea is that players need to split, with the fast ships racing to the station to engage the Bombers. I playtested it lately with an A-Wing and a HWK290, letting the A-Wing race forward and try to block the TIE Bombers from shooting the emplacements. That's why I wanted the distance. And, of course, so that the ordnance becomes dangerous: if the playing field is only 3x4, the attacking AI will not have as many runs as it needs. This may be an AI problem first and foremost (if you're partial to the discussion in the Facebook group, the Bomber AI of HotAC is in dire need of an overhaul).

You interpreted the Escort and Strike AI right. I filled in the blanks in the text.

The Carrier is sitting there as a physical model, but bear in mind that the AI still has strike AI on Gozanti and emplacements. The Carrier is helpful to the players since it is blocking the way for the AI attack runs. I'm going to make this clearer in the text.

Well, I must admit your design strategy worked. We had 4 players. The A-Wing and YT-1300 zoomed over to the station to fight the Bomber squad and the ARC170 and U-Wing stayed back to fight the Tie/Advanced squad.

I'm glad we played most everything correctly. We've decided to go for the YT-1300 combat refit unlock mission next. Wish us luck

I do! What are your experiences with the YT1300 so far? I find the unrefitted version very weak, and the large base not much of an issue. How did you fare? And same goes for U-Wing.

7 hours ago, Stefan said:

I do! What are your experiences with the YT1300 so far? I find the unrefitted version very weak, and the large base not much of an issue. How did you fare? And same goes for U-Wing.

Same here. The YT-1300 player is a little disappointed and is definitely looking forward to the combat refit. The U-Wing player is still learning how to fly it. He is going to stick with it for the time being and see how things go. The large base is pretty much what you would expect. The YT-1300 with Engine Upgrade is fast. Bumbing is, for better or for worse, a little easier. The A-Wing is also what you would expect. Your custom upgrades help a bit but he is still struggling with being able to deal out damage.

The big surprise is that my ARC-170 is definitely the mvp so far. The ARC170's rear firing arc has been a huge boon. Add in the Alliance Overhaul and Tailgunner plus rechargeable Crackshot and my rear firing arc is a holy terror. I have already become an ace vs Tie/Lines and Tie/Interceptors.