So , in preparation for talking about this mission in a future Shuttle Tydirium Podcast, I am wanting to get into the meta for this mission. I want to get into strategy.

Mission 2: Asteroid Run

Rebels on patrol find a hidden base, but get damaged. They need to repair their hyper drive system before they can flee back to Rebel Base. They hide in asteroid. Imperials need to hunt down target ship before it jumps.

100 pts each side

Rebels pick one ship to be their disabled ship (with the data). Put a tracking token on it. Beginning of each round, you put a tracking token on the card. When it's got 5 (on the 5th turn), it can flee off the either board edge (next to player, not any board edge).

1. Imperials place their ships on either board edge (in front of players, not sides).
2. Rebels place their ships in middle of board and further than R3 of board edges (and nominate who is disabled).
3. Imperial places asteroids anywhere that isn't R1 of enemy ships or other asteroids.

So....the Imperials can place an asteroid right in front of an enemy ship....outside of R1. They won't crash into it, but it can annoy the other player!

DISABLED SHIP: Can only do speed 1 or 2 moves until it is fixed!

IMPERIAL REINFORCEMENTS : At the end of a turn when Imperials lose a ship, they can get an Academy Pilot to appear on player board edge to move next turn.

So....just looking at this and thinking of Babaganoosh's comments about Suicide Run Syndrome, we can easily have that issue here. The Imperials just need to kill that disabled ship! They can throw away lives in the attempt and even get reinforcements. So....that might be a problem, but hey, let's roll with it.

REBEL STRATEGIES

What ship do you take as your damaged ship? The first thought is something that will love long enough. A large ship sounds good....except remember that it can only move 1's and 2's until Turn 5. It becomes a lot easier for the Imperials to target one ship that can't get away than it is for a more nimble ship. Is it worth it to try to go with a big ship and try to survive? Then again...maybe going with a Boost can help you get out of there? If your opponent takes a Tie Swarm or perhaps a bunch of ordnance ships, it might not be easy to stay alive.

If you did go with a big ship, what might you take?

The Ghost is 16 hits to blast through, but no agility. If your opponent goes with a Tie Swarm, then you might be in trouble. You can go with the attack Shuttle. Wait....if you do, does that mean that you have to blow up both the Ghost and then the Shuttle? Oh, if so, then that might be broken right there. I'm not sure.....I'd love to hear your thoughts.

• Lothal Rebel is the cheapest. Is he the best? The most expensive is only 5 more pts, but maybe you can use those 5 pts for something else.
• Chopper could be really useful if you want to try to bump to survive. Not only can they not shoot you, but you can stress them out.
• Kennan could be a really good option, especially if you use Recon Specialist with him. It's even thematic as you are on a scouting mission! It might be a bit much if you doubled up on Recon Specialist, though. It's valid, but I think I'd skip it.
• Hera is the highest PS, but she is limited to only 1's and 2's for the first 5 turns. Is that worth it?

YT-2400 has fewer hits, but has 2 Agility, which can really save it against Tie Swarms. Also, you can go with Outrider and HLC to blast your opponents. That's not a bad option there.

• Wild Space Fringer is cheap at 30 pts. Go with him?
• Eadren Vrill gets extra attack dice when someone is stressed. You might be able to work in some stress mechanic and get some bonus dice on the attack. This would maybe save you from buying the Outrider title.
• Leebo can really help keep the ship alive and looks to be worth the upgrade points.
• Dash Rendar is 6 more points than basic. He can go over asteroids. With him only going 1-2, I don't think he will be able to clear those asteroids. So....is he worth it? Maybe without the title to keep him cheap and to use asteroids as cover?
• Outrider title? That's 5 pts before the cannon. 7 more for HLC. Is 12 pts worth it? It would surely punch through enemy defenses and knock out enemy fighters, but if the enemy is just a swarm anyways, is it worth it? I guess it depends.

YT-1300 might be an option. You can go for the Falcon title for the Evade. Might not be the best if your opponent tries to swarm. Might be the least best option, depending on the pilots.

• Outer Rim Smuggler only has 2 attack dice, but he's only 27 pts! That's not bad if you want to beef up the rest of your squad. Go cheap on this guy and try to shield him.
• Chewbacca climbs the price to 45 pts, but his ability is quite handy!
• Lando can give out actions when he does a green move. That might be enough to help the rest of your squad blast away the enemy.
• Han Solo can ensure that your enemy die, especially with Gunner. He is pretty darn expensive that way, though. Is he worth the points? Maybe an Outrider would be more worth it?
• Falcon Title is just a point, so might be worth it if you have the points. It will work for one attack, but it just might save your life.

There are a lot of options you could go with a big ship and even System options for the Ghost. Reinforced Deflectors could be really good for the Ghost...unless they go with a Tie Swarm. Then, you might not ever get hit by 3 shots. Sensor Jammer might work, but they would probably just spend their Focus anyways. Maybe if you work it with Chopper to try to create stress?

For crew, there are so many ways you can go.

• Hera lets you do red maneuvers when stressed, which counts for the 1 hard turn on Ghost.
• Dash Rendar might be good since you are in an asteroid field!
• Leebo could work, especially when you are limited with your moves. Getting that Boost on a big ship just might be worth being predictable next turn.
• Sabine might be fun to throw out some Bombs to keep them off your back. Maybe a Conner Net or Proximity Mine?
• C-3PO is good for one attack a turn. Maybe it's worth it, though?
• Ezra would be good if you want to go PTL and Engine Upgrade.
• Kannan would also be good to remove stress for the big ship.
• Kyle Katarn would give out that handy Focus.
• Lando is risky, but could really save your bacon one round. You need both Focus and Evades.
• Recon Specialist would be great on any of these ships. I'd almost consider it a must.
• Chewbacca is expensive, but he does so much to keep your precious disabled ship alive.
• R2-D2 is crazy good in this mission!
• Gunner is an option if you want to shoot your way out. Expensive, but maybe the way to go?
• Luke as gunner goes with the same. If you are going to gun your way out, why not use him?

Just thinking about set up, it might not be too bad to go with a big ship. Yes, enemy Alpha Strikers can blast it, but maybe they wont' be able to get close enough. If they put all their ships on one side of the board, you can just go the other way. It would take crucial turns for them to catch up to you, especially with big base extra moving. If they split their forces up, you might not get hit as hard by alpha strikers or you might be able to take out enough of the enemy to even up the odds. So...maybe not such a bad idea?

As for what else in your list, you can go with your own Alpha Strikers, too. Z-95's with Concussion Missiles or even Assault Missiles would sure help cut down on those guys getting close! Guidance Chips are free. You might want to bump up the PS to a little higher than generic.

There are a number of helpful pilots that can dish out actions. Cracken can give others an action. Garven Dreis can push out his Focus. Dutch can give TL's out. There are a lot of different synergies you can do here. Jan Ors can boost attacks. Kyle can dish out the Focus to your defender. Roark can ensure you get those alpha strikes off.

TLT Y-wings might also be a good option. They might strip the tokens off incoming attackers and maybe even help finish off wounded ones before they fire. Grey Squadron with TLT is 26 pts. Not cheap, but not too much.

OK...let me post this before I lose it.

What other ships would be good disabled ships? To start off with, I think of Poe Dameron is a good option. Give him R5-P9 and a Focus each turn and he'll be able to regen his shields and get max defense. BB-8 is also a good option as he might be able to dodge arcs, avoid blocks, or get around asteroids better. Auto Thrusters are an option, as well. Beefy hull and shield for a small based ship combined with those defensive abilities and he's great. Once he clears his disabled token, he can Boost to get the heck out of dodge.

Luke Skywalker isn't as good as Poe, but maybe you want to be thematic. He's got the free Focus like ability and doesn't need an action to do it. Maybe him with Engine Upgrade would be good? He can get the Boost and doesn't need the Focus token. Give him R2-D2 and he will be getting a Shield Regen for all green moves. Lone Wolf might be good to give him even more of a bonus, but you can't keep your friends close.

What about a K-wing? They have a lot of health and can use the SLAM action to move further than the other ships. Yes, it's still only 1's and 2's, but it might be worth it to get away. Miranda can use her ability for shield regen and R2-D2 crew to get really abusive?

You know....the more I think about this mission and the various options, I think you can get really obnoxious with the list. Let's say you take this list for example:

i feel like a Lothal Rebel with SJ can be pretty brutal for little AP's to chew through.

but Kanan with SJ and Rec spec, would be King imo.

https://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Rebel%20Alliance&d=v4!s!156:44,-1,-1,-1,38,75:-1:-1:;88:175,43,-1,-1,-1:-1:-1:;31:18,72:7:-1:U.170&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron

something like this, yeah its expensive, but you can get a focus and evade every turn (or give evades to buddies) SJ plus kanan plus Ors evade seems good.

https://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Rebel%20Alliance&d=v4!s!139:135,-1,-1,-1,97,-1,-1:-1:-1:;88:175,43,-1,-1,-1:-1:-1:;29:18,72:7:15:U.175&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron

can also be real good at surviving/ running away/ murdering enemies.

If you want to create the most broken Imperial list to try to smash through the most broken Rebel list, you will probably have a hard time. Here's my thoughts on different builds:

Slow mo(oo)ving enemies?

Why not....

x4 Lambda

2x with Tractor Ebaffle and Tactician,

and

2X with Ion Cannons and Ebaffle

or 1x of the former and in its place a Doomshuttle.

You know, I probably want to think about how to build thematic lists that aren't broken on either side. Otherwise, I think this mission might be too broken for the latest toys.

What are your thoughts on not allowing the Attack Shuttle to carry on the info?

I must advocate for an E wing ace with Sensor Jammer and Lone Wolf with a regen droid and potentially a shield upgrade, scatter the teammates and then watch as they cannot do damage to your ship. Ethan is cheaper, and your Y wing TLT wingmates can circle far away to keep lone wolf active and blast away at TIE's that don't have focus tokens all day long.

I've I'm thinking of playing Imperials about someone who isn't going to max out on the Biggs, Ghost bit, I think I might go with this list:

You know, I probably want to think about how to build thematic lists that aren't broken on either side. Otherwise, I think this mission might be too broken for the latest toys.

What are your thoughts on not allowing the Attack Shuttle to carry on the info?

By FFG's own rulings, it not on the board when its docked, i would imagine that having it docked and trying to give it info would be a bit broken. However if lets say the scum got this mission i would imagine it being plausible that the Nastahas pup (by its own description being jettisoned from the mother ship keeping pilot stats and such) WOULD count. but based on the fact that its its own ship, and that it is fieldable without the VCX unless you want it undocked, no no info on it.

I see that on the Pup. I don't think that's as broken, though. If you look at Ezra as a Shuttle pilot that can pop out, I don't see anyone being able to defeat a Biggs, Ghost, and Ezra list in this mission no matter what you take as Imperials.

You know, I could always do my Imperial Gunslingers list:

I see that on the Pup. I don't think that's as broken, though. If you look at Ezra as a Shuttle pilot that can pop out, I don't see anyone being able to defeat a Biggs, Ghost, and Ezra list in this mission no matter what you take as Imperials.

certainly not in 5 turns

only way i can see it being fair is if the clock (5 turns) doesnt start until onc the shuttle is deployed..

so you kill the initial fleet, when you think its safe deploy the phantom, clock starts then.

You know, I probably want to think about how to build thematic lists that aren't broken on either side. Otherwise, I think this mission might be too broken for the latest toys.

What are your thoughts on not allowing the Attack Shuttle to carry on the info?

Whether you can give the attack shuttle the tracking token or not probably hinges on the wording in the scenario setup, but it seems pretty silly to me, given that the ship carrying the information ostensibly has a damaged hyperdrive and can't escape... but if the attack shuttle's hyperdrive is broken, and it is docked, why wouldn't the VCX just jump?

The guys who wrote this mission had no idea there would ever be docked ships, and never imagined this possibility, leaving us in quite a pickle here. Thematically, I don't think a docked attack shuttle should be able to count as the target ship.

In terms of mission strategy, there are a lot of options to look at to maximize damage and protect the target (Biggs is an auto-include), but I feel like this scenario may largely boil down to a list-building exercise.

I also think you're very right about SRS being a problem here. I played this a couple times last night and I'm probably going to have some strong opinions on this scenario.

Right....so you give the DISABLED to the one ship and play by Rules As Written (RAW) and forget about Rules As Intended in this case, because otherwise the scenario would be broken.

I've had another thought. What if it was the Imperials that found the Crime Boss base and had to escape? The ship was damaged some (reduced movement), but even if it doesn't have jump drives, it might have to wait for the Gozanti to come and pick it up. So...it waits for the 5 turns and then still has to escape. It...could work. Scum and Villainy has to blast the ship before it gets off the board. Right away, there are a few things that might be broken. If you take someone like Stealth Soontir Fel, the enemy might have a hard time killing him, but maybe not if they go with lots of shots instead of standard tournament list. Enemy coming from both sides can get in and get lots of shots on him. He can only go 1's and 2's, so he's not going crazy. It might work. Same might be said for Phantoms, but....ugh...they would make the scenario hard. Also, lots of Imperial ships are pretty fast, so once they got fixed, it would be a lot easier to get off the board. I dunno....it might be interesting because most Imperial Aces don't like to get shot at by lots of people and then they love arc dodging. You can't arc dodge while you are disabled and lots of enemy coming from two directions firing at just that one ship could be really interesting. It might be less broken than the worst Rebels.

I think this is one of those missions I'd like to theme, so x-wings or a-wings for the whole squadron as they are decent patrol craft. If I were going X-wings I'd want Biggs to cover the damaged ship.

well what if the crime boss took up a crew slot (and reduced cost due to less resources available)

that would lead to limited ships being able to carry him. A phantom can take it yes, but without crew.

decimator can, but no agility

i think the best choice would be the firespray.

also gets rid of the 'what if its on soontir fel' issue.

maybe even a Tie Shuttle with super support.

Tomax Bren with (crime boss) Cool hand Fleet officer and mk1.

Does green FO give focus and proc Coolhand for evade but still just behind 2 agility and 6 health.

I think this is one of those missions I'd like to theme, so x-wings or a-wings for the whole squadron as they are decent patrol craft. If I were going X-wings I'd want Biggs to cover the damaged ship.

That is one option. I don't think it's necessarily bad to go with Big Ships. I'd have to try it out, but it might be OK. If Big Ships didn't work, I'd probably just say that any small based ship is fine then. I'm OK if they want to go with some of those ships. Well...maybe say a K-wing can't SLAM as it's disabled, right?

well what if the crime boss took up a crew slot (and reduced cost due to less resources available)

that would lead to limited ships being able to carry him. A phantom can take it yes, but without crew.

decimator can, but no agility

.

Wait....what? Crime Boss crew? I was thinking Imperials found a Crime Boss' Base and the Imperials need to go get help. You are saying it should be that they capture a Crime Boss and need to escape with it? Well, that could work.

If I did Rebels, I'd probably do this list. Part of it is that I haven't used Poe yet at all:

I think this is one of those missions I'd like to theme, so x-wings or a-wings for the whole squadron as they are decent patrol craft. If I were going X-wings I'd want Biggs to cover the damaged ship.

Careful with the power balance as you theme a scenario like this - one of the playthroughs I did was with generic TIEs vs generic X-wings and it was pretty disastrous for my rebel X-wings. Not having Biggs and facing off against 6 Black SQDN TIEs with crackshot made for a very quick game.

OK....I didn't play this mission last week and I do want to try the Imperial Gunslingers, but I do want to try a list with Major Rhymer and Adv. Homing Missiles. I've never tried it and this one seems like it might actually be worth it, so....why not? Oh, and I want to try a generic Tie Interceptor with Auto-Includes and no PTL. Just to see. I fleshed out with some fun Tie Fighter Pilots.

OK....I didn't play this mission last week and I do want to try the Imperial Gunslingers, but I do want to try a list with Major Rhymer and Adv. Homing Missiles. I've never tried it and this one seems like it might actually be worth it, so....why not? Oh, and I want to try a generic Tie Interceptor with Auto-Includes and no PTL. Just to see. I fleshed out with some fun Tie Fighter Pilots.

Major Rhymer (26)

Crack Shot (1)

Extra Munitions (2)

Flechette Torpedoes (2)

Advanced Homing Missiles (3)

Guidance Chips (0)

Avenger Squadron Pilot (20)

Autothrusters (2)

"Night Beast" (15)

"Winged Gundark" (15)

"Chaser" (14)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

I'd re-think the Flechette torps; the target is limited to 1-2 speed maneuvers anyway, so it won't be too restrictive to limit themselves to greens. Ion torps could be powerful, as could Ion pulse missiles, to line up a kill shot. Alternatively you could go with a shield-penetration style list where you load up on imperial shield-piercing tech: Adv. homing missiles, proton bombs, and wampa.

OK....I was thinking you might be able to shut down some sort of combo with it, but I agree that everyone is going to be doing greens and hovering around the main target anyways. OK...so I could easily drop a point off one of those named Tie Fighter pilots and go with another Adv. Homing Missile. I kind of like that to get through shields and hit whomever it is. Hopefully, even if it's a big ship, the crits might just cripple it.

I guess I could also go with a Plasma Torpedo for the anti shield stuff that you know will be there.

OK...looks like Winged Gundark is going to get demoted down to Black Squaddie. Actually....no....I want to see if I can get his ability in there! I'll drop Chaser.