I enjoy skirmish but I don't really want to pay for another core box just to get some extra units and more elite cards that some units are badly needing. Also if i buy another box it would mean some poor sad soul wouldn't get a chance to play this wonderful game.

The thought came up to have a Skirmish box in a sense an expansion but without the campaign stuff. One filled with alternative sculpts, command cards and possible more 4 player scenarios. So included could be.

2x Alternatives Female sculpt for imperial officer + Elite and common card.

2x Alternatives sculpt Basic trooper E-Web + Elite and common card.

2x Alternatives sculpt Royal guard + Elite and common card - newer versions

2x alternative trandoshen + Elite and common card.

2x Alternatives sculpt Nexu + Elite and common card

New version cards for Rebel Saboteurs

Additional command cards maybe some new or different artwork for some of the tiles usable in the 4 player skirmish maps. Extra set of dice.

Not only do you solve the problem of elite card demand from people but also provide a product that could get more people to play the skirmish mode.

They could even release another skimish box that covers the first 2 and second 2 expansions.

Some of the problems that would arise;

1)Anyone who had already wanted to double down on that extra Core Set to get more Royal Guards, Officers, etc has probably already done so in the intervening time since the game came out in December 2014. At that point, you're expecting that person, who has already made an above average investment in keeping a competitive Skirmish suite of options, to pay for a box set that provides very little in the way of new material, other than the potential for a couple of Command Cards.

This would be worse than X-Wing's problem of buying the Huge ships for the couple of upgrade cards, as at least technically they're another play option, just one that you are choosing not to take advantage of for your own reasons.

2)What if you really just wanted that extra Nexu, and had zero interest in the other units? Now you're spending quite a bit to get very little for what you need for yourself.

3)This will further clutter up the shelves of your FLGS, where merchandising space can be at a premium. By comparison, imagine how much space you would need to merchandise all the SKU's for X-Wing that are currently out, including stocking several copies of each piece on the shelves/hooks you display them on.

This is one of the reasons that the LCG's have an expansion rotation, so that over the life of the game, you as the retailer won't need to stock more than a few cycles' worth of packs at any point in time.

4)The errata'ed promo cards for the Sabs are in the pipeline for tournament support, with the Officers to presumably follow suit in the winter kit. While not everyone is able to attend these small events, it does provide a decent incentive to get players out to their shops to get these things happening.

5)I don't think that me picking up a second copy of the Core Set will ultimately prevent someone from being able to play the game. There are reprints and other retailers to look to if you were that hard up to get a copy.

As it stands, the big problem with Skirmish taking off, speaking really high level, is twofold;

1)FFG is selling it as a half measure product designed to provide a Star Wars dungeon crawl experience to players that enjoyed Descent and other games in the genre, as well as cater to the Organized Play crowd who seek competitive death matches.

Making two separate product lines probably didn't look too wise on a cost-benefit analysis versus marrying the two, so here we are.

So you're left with buying your Core and expansion boxes, probably 2 copies to flesh out your potential ranks. This isn't even terribly pricey if you consider what buying the components piece by piece would cost, but it's still a hidden cost of the game. The dreaded 4x4 list required 4 cores worth of components to make, so those cards were sold at a premium on the after market.

The distribution of models and cards for the Ugs and Wing Guard in The Bespin Gambit felt a lot nicer, and buying 2 boxes would give you maximum options.

2)Having to carrying around a lot of fiddly components to play the game; models, cards, dice, doors, health/stun/status/objective tokens, and all those tiles to assemble. That's a lot of stuff to set up and play, whereas my X-Wing experience is plunking down a handful of models, a small stack of cards and upturning a little token container.

Locally, we all play on printed maps, which everyone agrees is way better, but those aren't without their own hidden cost. I can get one done to a decent standard for around $20, which I've been doing since the game got going. So with those 3 starting maps, plus the ones that rotated in, I've spent over $100 just on maps, and will continue to do so.

Consider at least a $60 start up cost for printed maps if you're looking to speed up the tournament rounds.

Overall, it just sounds like a lot more to manage than a game of X-Wing, and that's probably why both games are where they are in terms of Organized Play.

Ultimately, cherry picking deployment groups off of eBay isn't a bad idea, and if you get a seller that is just ripping open campaign boxes, you can probably combine a few orders and save a ton on shipping. I realize that it's more money to spend, but in asking for expansion packs, you're prepared to incur some kind of cost anyways, so consider this, appropriately, another half-measure solution.

They could provide alternate figure sculpts in new expansion packs of the ones in the boxes like what they have done with the Stormtroopers. This provides different looking figures, an elite and regular deployment card along with a new map and some new cards for Skirmish and Campaign.

Or if that is not an option for FFG, you can look on Ebay, split a box with a friend or two or borrow the cards needed for the Tourneys. For friendlies amongst mates, then you can just photocopy the card.

But another box just for skirmish is not a good idea.

Ebay is your friend...

Theres a second-hand market for everything you just said.

~D

Some of the problems that would arise;

1)Anyone who had already wanted to double down on that extra Core Set to get more Royal Guards, Officers, etc has probably already done so in the intervening time since the game came out in December 2014. At that point, you're expecting that person, who has already made an above average investment in keeping a competitive Skirmish suite of options, to pay for a box set that provides very little in the way of new material, other than the potential for a couple of Command Cards.

This would be worse than X-Wing's problem of buying the Huge ships for the couple of upgrade cards, as at least technically they're another play option, just one that you are choosing not to take advantage of for your own reasons.

2)What if you really just wanted that extra Nexu, and had zero interest in the other units? Now you're spending quite a bit to get very little for what you need for yourself.

3)This will further clutter up the shelves of your FLGS, where merchandising space can be at a premium. By comparison, imagine how much space you would need to merchandise all the SKU's for X-Wing that are currently out, including stocking several copies of each piece on the shelves/hooks you display them on.

This is one of the reasons that the LCG's have an expansion rotation, so that over the life of the game, you as the retailer won't need to stock more than a few cycles' worth of packs at any point in time.

4)The errata'ed promo cards for the Sabs are in the pipeline for tournament support, with the Officers to presumably follow suit in the winter kit. While not everyone is able to attend these small events, it does provide a decent incentive to get players out to their shops to get these things happening.

5)I don't think that me picking up a second copy of the Core Set will ultimately prevent someone from being able to play the game. There are reprints and other retailers to look to if you were that hard up to get a copy.

As it stands, the big problem with Skirmish taking off, speaking really high level, is twofold;

1)FFG is selling it as a half measure product designed to provide a Star Wars dungeon crawl experience to players that enjoyed Descent and other games in the genre, as well as cater to the Organized Play crowd who seek competitive death matches.

Making two separate product lines probably didn't look too wise on a cost-benefit analysis versus marrying the two, so here we are.

So you're left with buying your Core and expansion boxes, probably 2 copies to flesh out your potential ranks. This isn't even terribly pricey if you consider what buying the components piece by piece would cost, but it's still a hidden cost of the game. The dreaded 4x4 list required 4 cores worth of components to make, so those cards were sold at a premium on the after market.

The distribution of models and cards for the Ugs and Wing Guard in The Bespin Gambit felt a lot nicer, and buying 2 boxes would give you maximum options.

2)Having to carrying around a lot of fiddly components to play the game; models, cards, dice, doors, health/stun/status/objective tokens, and all those tiles to assemble. That's a lot of stuff to set up and play, whereas my X-Wing experience is plunking down a handful of models, a small stack of cards and upturning a little token container.

Locally, we all play on printed maps, which everyone agrees is way better, but those aren't without their own hidden cost. I can get one done to a decent standard for around $20, which I've been doing since the game got going. So with those 3 starting maps, plus the ones that rotated in, I've spent over $100 just on maps, and will continue to do so.

Consider at least a $60 start up cost for printed maps if you're looking to speed up the tournament rounds.

Overall, it just sounds like a lot more to manage than a game of X-Wing, and that's probably why both games are where they are in terms of Organized Play.

Ultimately, cherry picking deployment groups off of eBay isn't a bad idea, and if you get a seller that is just ripping open campaign boxes, you can probably combine a few orders and save a ton on shipping. I realize that it's more money to spend, but in asking for expansion packs, you're prepared to incur some kind of cost anyways, so consider this, appropriately, another half-measure solution.

Just a heads up on point 2, the printer that ibsh has recommended is really quite cheap. I've gotten every single skirmish map, 24 of them, printed for about $60, with taxes and shipping included. It's definitely an additional expense, but you can bring it down significantly cheaper then $20 per map.

Deliberately excluding campaign players shrinks the volumes considerably. Maybe they could do a figure or two to include in a campaign kit, but it would also need to find other uses due to cost of design and molds.

I'm not sure about the game or the company, but it would be good for me.

There was a time when I think it would have been good, but that time has passed now.

knowing FFG's track record from past games, i wouldn't put it past them to release a skirmish type box. Especially considering that they need to do some repricing on the core and wave 1 hero figures to bring them to a competitive level (looking at you IG-88)

i can see this happening

Yeah, we play on printed maps and the guy locally who places the order, gets them in for about $3/map. When he first ordered the sets of 3 that were in the rotation earlier in the year, it was like $10 for each of us.