Just curious.

Given the lack or aerial and aquatic environments in space, mostly the difference is in the icon upgrade on your ship.

In terms of X-wing flavor, the Imps tend to get more missiles while the Rebs get more torps.

Yeah, unfortunately FFG didn't do a great job differentiating between the two.

Generally in space games/movies, torpedoes are meant for larger, slower targets.

As I understand it, missiles burn fuel to travel through the air, and torpedoes travel through the water through propellers and such, though I'm not sure on that last part.

When it comes to space, you could justify it as propellant-based travel for missiles vs something else, maybe ion or some sort of sci-fi means of pushing against quantum particles for torpedoes.

Then you can get all snobby about torpedoes and call missiles uncivilised.

In X-Wing Miniatures, none.

In the X-Wing PC games quadrilogy, they are VERY different.

Missiles have great maneuverability and moderate damage. They are used against starfighters.

Torpedoes have low maneuverability and high damage. You can't hit an agile ship, unless firing point-blank. They are used against "large" and slow ships.

Honestly, the whole missile/torpedo feature was badly implemented for this game, IMHO.

Honestly, the whole missile/torpedo feature was badly implemented for this game, IMHO.

Far to cumbersome, to be sure, for a weapon that should be fire-and-forget. I'd also like to see a homing missile that really homes, i.e., your target DOES NOT have to be in your forward firing arc.

Thank y'all for the answers.

Generally missiles were better (concussion/homing vs. vars torpedoes); post chimps it's a lot less clear.

Missiles have a little rocket icon while Torpedos have a cone.

Oh, and so far all Torps require you to spend a TL while some missiles either require a focus of don't spend the TL.

Also Torps tend to be on rebel and scum small base fighters while TIEs tend to carry missiles. There are of course exceptions.

Missiles also have more of a variety, but that may change. And Torpedos must take up more room because Exrra Munitions turns one Torp slot into a whole bunch of extra ordnance, and Y-wing torp slots can be changed to load bombs.

Lore-wise, missiles are smaller, easier to use, but with weaker payloads, while torpedoes are larger, harder to use, and more powerful. Role-wise, missiles are generally intended for smaller, more agile targets, while torpedoes are for use against fixed emplacements and large, slow targets.

I've always assumed missiles are all-purpose rockets and torpedoes are specifically and exclusively for space combat.

Be fair, it was developed in wave 1.

Concussion missiles do a number on plenty of bigger ships in the lore anyway.

It's a distinction that FFG clearly made originally because Lore, but functionally, there's no difference in the game. Torpedoes are just different missiles.

Similarly to the thread about hindsight on turrets, wonder if it would have been better to have Torpedo's restricted to use against large/Epic base ships [or with a penalty against small base], and missiles with a penalty against large/Epic, to differentiate their use and effects...

[Yes, I know in 'real world' some missiles hit as hard as Torps, but for game effect maybe don't have to...]

...but, as someone pointed out, Proton Torps were introduced with the core set as it was thematic, long before large/Epic, so too late now

Cheers

If we're applying hindsight, then what SHOULD have happened was that the damage ordnance does should have been independent of their roll to hit.

Then, Missiles should have had more dice to hit, but deal less damage(faster, harder to avoid, but less powerful) and Torpedoes have fewer dice to hit but deal more damage(more powerful, but slower and easier to avoid).

upgrade slots. Pretty much it. However some upgrades such as extra munitions can make the torpedo slot a big difference. IT gives ships with dual torpedoes or torpedo and bomb slot the ability to carry more bombs/torpedoes/missiles. So some of the slightly larger ships get torpedo slots instead of missile slots.

Torps are (by and large) more expensive and more powerful. Basically. But they're not terribly well differentiated.

Torps are basically propelled bombs. Missiles are more like a boom-bullet.

In cave man dazes say... a Torp would be a thrown heavy ass rock while a missile would be a sling stone or an arrow.

Yeah, kinda dat...

Given the lack or aerial and aquatic environments in space, mostly the difference is in the icon upgrade on your ship.

In terms of X-wing flavor, the Imps tend to get more missiles while the Rebs get more torps.

It uses the aquatic metaphor. Torpedos are meant to be used against capital ships. While missiles are more of a multi-purpose thing with fighter to fighter combat mostly in mind.

The biggest problem with most missiles and torps is that their damage potential has been linked to their red dice. For the most part, the dice should be cancelled and a static amount of damage dealt.

For instance proton torps could be attack 2 or 3. And if the attack hits, then the target suffers five damage and all dice results are cancelled. And missiles by contrast could roll 6 attack dice, and if the attack hits then the target is dealt two damage and all dice results are cancelled.

The other problem when looking at them from a lore point of view is that when someone shot at you with a missile or torpedo in X Wing or TIE Fighter, you HAD TO EVADE. If you kept flying straight and true, you were eating ordnance to the face and that was never a good thing. Part of the fun was that you could fire a missile at something like a TIE Interceptor and even though there is a better than average chance of the squint dodging the missile altogether, you knew it was out of the fight for 30 seconds or so while it spun all over the place.

Given that incoming ordnance demanded so much of your immediate attention, I think it would be fair that being targeted by ordnance should incur a stress token.

In game, torpedoes tend to have more "guaranteed" hits. Protons give you a crit for an eyeball, plasmas give you a shield damage, and advanced give you focus which can guarantee hits. Missiles do tend to have more... annoying mechanics. Assault missiles can hit more then one target, prockets only need a focus, cluster missiles attack twice, and homing missiles remove evade from the equation.

As I understand it, missiles burn fuel to travel through the air, and torpedoes travel through the water through propellers and such, though I'm not sure on that last part.

When it comes to space, you could justify it as propellant-based travel for missiles vs something else, maybe ion or some sort of sci-fi means of pushing against quantum particles for torpedoes.

Then you can get all snobby about torpedoes and call missiles uncivilised.

I believe Star Wars torpedoes are preprogrammed but unguided (based on canon material alone), we never see them fired at agile targets and against even slowly moving targets they are fired from a very short range.

Originally in X-Wing? Design space. Having two different ordnance weapons means you don't have to give every ship with one access to the other.

I believe Star Wars torpedoes are preprogrammed but unguided (based on canon material alone), we never see them fired at agile targets and against even slowly moving targets they are fired from a very short range.

TCW is "canon material" and has Tracking Torpedoes which are guided, and capable of following and hitting even a dodging stealth ship:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Tracking_torpedo