If there were more mission based games we would see more ships played overall. More generic pilots, more variety of aces depending on the need. Slow and tanky or quick in and out; maybe something in between or a bit of both is needed.

Situational ships would then not be outliers but the go-to ship depending on the mission.

Just my two cents.

(Folks who also play Battletech may notice that I'm more or less cribbing these from the scenarios chapter of Total Warfare.)

HIDE AND SEEK

The Defending player builds his force normally, up to a point total both sides agree on, using no Huge ships. The Attacker builds his force normally, up to twice the Defender's point value. Not that kind of Defender.

Set up the play area normally. There should be at least twice as many obstacles as the Defender has ships. The Defender hides his ships by recording each one's name and facing(using some agreed upon method) on a slip of paper, and placing that paper underneath the obstacle so that it is completely hidden. Some measure of trust(or a neutral GM) is needed here, as the Attacker needs to turn away from the table or even leave the room while this happens. After this, the Attacker deploys normally, and play begins.

Hidden units do not move or shoot. They are revealed when one of three conditions are met:

1: If, at the end of an Attacker ship's activation, it is within Range 1 of one or more obstacles, any units hidden there will be revealed.

2: If, at the end of an Attacker ship's activation, it is overlapping an obstacle, any ships hidden there are revealed. Regardless of how the Attacker ended up on the obstacle, resolve the inevitable overlap situation as if it had gotten there using normal movement.

3: In the end phase of any turn, the Defender may choose to reveal any or all ships, and they operate normally the next turn.

Ships are not damaged or otherwise affected by obstacles they are hidden under, nor are they damaged when they move off of that obstacle. Once they are active and moving, normal rules apply.

When a ship is revealed, place it in the center of the obstacle template, pointing in the direction written down earlier.

If it is revealed due to an attacker's presence (Condition 1 above)and said attacker is within the defender's firing arc, the defender may immediately perform a point blank attack, with the target's agility reduced to zero for the duration of that attack only. Units that are revealed during the Activation Phase may not move that turn, but may fire normally during the Combat Phase unless they performed a point blank attack. In either case, the usual restriction against firing while atop an asteroid does not apply until the ship begins moving.

Once all units are revealed, this becomes a normal stand-up fight.

HOLD THE LINE

The Attacker and Defender build their forces normally, with the Attacker getting twice as many points as the Defender. All of the Defender's ships that do not posess an EPT upgrade slot gain one for free, for the purposes of this scenario only. Still not that kind of Defender.

Set up and deploy ships normally, with the Defender getting a deployment zone twice as deep as normal.

There are no special gameplay rules.

If the defenders destroy 50% or more of the Attacker's force in terms of point value, the Defender Wins. If they fail to do so, the Attacker wins.

BREAKTHROUGH

The Attacker and Defender build their forces and set up the playing area normally. The Defender may deploy up to half of their force hidden, using the rules from the HIDE AND SEEK scenario. Would you shut up about Defenders already?

There are no special gameplay rules.

The Attacker scores victory points by moving their units off of the defender's delpoyment edge. When a unit leaves play in this way, the attacker gains victory points equal to that ship's full point value. If the attacker scores victory points equal to 51% or more of their starting fleet value, they win. If they fail to do so, the Defender wins.

Attackers that abuse K-Wing SLAMs in this scenario are assumed to be jerks.

CHASE

CHASE scenarios follow the same rules and victory conditions as BREAKTHROUGH scenarios, with the following exceptions:

The Defender builds a force with twice as many points as the Attacker. Ah, Defend this!

The Defender does not deploy until Turn 2. The Attacker gets one free turn of unopposed movement, and the Defender deploys using the Attacker's deployment zone at the very beginning of Turn 2.

Attackers who abuse K-Wing SLAMs are still jerks.

Any player who comes up with a viable snack food appropriately named the K-Wing SLAM gains a moral victory.