I like trying to go with an Astromech other than R2-D2. He's taken too often. I will say that he's excellent on an ARC-170 due to all the green, though. You could also probably go with R5-D8 and start to remove all the hull damage on the ARC-170. It does have a lot of hull.

It will also be good with Extra Munitions, as well. I always think of it as a torpedo boat.

Vectored Thrusters will see a lot of play in HotAC.

I just thought of something. What if you had to do a new mission tree to get the ability to use the ARC-170? They are supposed to be rare, right? What if there was a mission tree that revolved around an old Clone Wars base? The benefits to winning it meant you got to use the ARC-170. How cool would that be?

There is a page of the small Scum ships (Mist Hunter, Scyk, Khi, and Starviper) all available for HOTAC, created by someone else. We used them in our recent campaign as ships that you could take if you spent 7exp to upgrade instead of the normal 5 for a ship. and they came out pretty balanced. Especially the Starviper and Mist Hunter.

you may be able to have some luck looking for the sheet somewhere online here or on the forums or elsewhere.

Edit: we also made it so that we had to complete a special mission we came up with to get acces to them, and salvaged asromechs for our Rebel craft. The mission was a prisoner exchange where we had a player controlle Lambda that started in base to base with a Decimator (for a prisoner exchange- that was Rebels under cover) and then another Lambda shows up (an imperial one) for the real exchange and the decimator then and its ties, as well as the ties with the Imp Lambda tries to pursue our Lambda, as our Rebel fighters come off the asteroids (lke in other missions).

AI scum ships would be fun, too. A rebel supply run comes under attack by pirates, for example.

Hmm. The ARC-170. It SHOULD be balanced, but let's check just to make sure.

The closest starter analog is probably the Y-Wing, so lets go off of that. So you gain +1 Hull and +1 attack out the front. You lose the turret slot and the second attack from BTL-A4, but gain an aux arc. You lose one torpedo, but gain a crew. You also get a better dial.

I mean, that seems fair to me. Lots of trade-offs, with only a couple of straight upgrades. Your damage output, with the lack of BTL-A4, and any major secondary weapons, is pretty noticeably lower. You are also arc-bound again at all times. However, you do have the rear arc, the crew slot, and the better dial.

So, yeah. Unlike the E-Wing, T-70, etc, you aren't gaining advantages with no disadvantages or trade-offs. Unlike the Y-Wing or B-Wing, the ARC-170 relies significantly less on secondary weapons like turrets and torpedoes, and as such, fights at closer range. It might be a legitimate upgrade for X-Wing pilots too, to be honest.

Oh, and the new Rebel TIE Fighter should be good to go as well. I mean, it's just a TIE Fighter.

Actually you could make the same comparison with the X-Wing. Comparing the ARC-170 to the X-Wing you lose 1 Agility... and you gain 3 Hull, 1 Shield, a Crewmember slot, an additional firing arc. The dial is comparable to the X-Wing I think, the 3 turns and 4 straight red instead of white, but for that your 2 banks are green instead of white, so you're less likely to need R2 Astromech. Overall that seems like an upgrade to the X-WIng to me, I think 3 hull, 1 shield, a crewmember and an additional firing arc is a more than fair trade for the slightly worse dial and 1 less agility. Especially since the clumsier dial is partly compensated by the additional firing arc.

Actually you could make the same comparison with the X-Wing. Comparing the ARC-170 to the X-Wing you lose 1 Agility... and you gain 3 Hull, 1 Shield, a Crewmember slot, an additional firing arc. The dial is comparable to the X-Wing I think, the 3 turns and 4 straight red instead of white, but for that your 2 banks are green instead of white, so you're less likely to need R2 Astromech. Overall that seems like an upgrade to the X-WIng to me, I think 3 hull, 1 shield, a crewmember and an additional firing arc is a more than fair trade for the slightly worse dial and 1 less agility. Especially since the clumsier dial is partly compensated by the additional firing arc.

It closest to a Ywing, not an Xwing. It is almost a Ywing in every way. 1 extra hit point and losing 360turret. with a few small changes to the dial.

Trying to compare the ARC-170 to a Xwing is like comparing a TIE fighter to an A-wing.

Actually you could make the same comparison with the X-Wing. Comparing the ARC-170 to the X-Wing you lose 1 Agility... and you gain 3 Hull, 1 Shield, a Crewmember slot, an additional firing arc. The dial is comparable to the X-Wing I think, the 3 turns and 4 straight red instead of white, but for that your 2 banks are green instead of white, so you're less likely to need R2 Astromech. Overall that seems like an upgrade to the X-WIng to me, I think 3 hull, 1 shield, a crewmember and an additional firing arc is a more than fair trade for the slightly worse dial and 1 less agility. Especially since the clumsier dial is partly compensated by the additional firing arc.

It closest to a Ywing, not an Xwing. It is almost a Ywing in every way. 1 extra hit point and losing 360turret. with a few small changes to the dial.

Trying to compare the ARC-170 to a Xwing is like comparing a TIE fighter to an A-wing.

Well I don't agree. I fail to see how it is closer to the y-wing than to the x-wing. It has no turret and no dedicated ordnance carrying like the y-wing does. That's a significant change in my opinion. Where as from loadout view the ARC is an X-Wing with an additional crewmember, the rest is exactly the same. Fluffwise even more because you can distinctly see the similarities between the X-Wing S-Foils and the ARC s-Foils. It looks like the predecessor. The amount of dial changes between the ARC and X-Wing and ARC and Y-Wing are the same but it feels way more like an x-wing that has lost some of its high grade engine power (final speeds are red and not white). For close maneuvers it's very maneuverable (6 greens in range 1-2), whereas the Y-Wing flies like a brick in space (2 greens), and losing 4 green maneuvers is not ' a few small changes to the dial ' in my opinion.

For me, the ARC-170 compares to an X-Wing, not a Y-Wing, because it is as maneuverable in slow speeds, it is no dedicated ordance carrier, it has no turret and is limited to the firing arc just like an X-Wing, it has the same attack power as an X-Wing it is simply an X-Wing with a crew slot (the gunner that will let it fire behind itself), just lacking in final speed engine power.

Yet it maneuvers like a Ywing... and has about the same amount of staying power as a Ywing, and has same agility as a Ywing. and trades a torp and a turret for a better forward attack and a good aux arc.

People even compared the dial to the Ywing when it was yet to be revealed and even have since then compared it to the Ywing more than the xwing in the ARC threads.

Also a slower version of an Xwing, doesnt mae it like the Xwing, especially when it can take a beating two times as much as an xwing..due to hull and shields.

Maybe we could, you know, both be right...where it has the best of both worlds.

Let's settle for half-X half-Y then

I plan on starting in a Y and was thinking of going Hawk, but now I really want to go ARC-170. It is my favorite prequel ship and I like it over the Hawk. I might have to house rule a garage, 10-20 points and you can keep 2 ships in your roster, or maybe the 5pts to switch won't be so bad by the time we start and the ARC hits the stores.

I plan on starting in a Y and was thinking of going Hawk, but now I really want to go ARC-170. It is my favorite prequel ship and I like it over the Hawk. I might have to house rule a garage, 10-20 points and you can keep 2 ships in your roster, or maybe the 5pts to switch won't be so bad by the time we start and the ARC hits the stores.

If you want to switch to the ARC-170 I suggest starting in an X-Wing, so you don't lose the turret, but on the other hand is a turret only up to 6 xp wasted so might as well fly what you want. Great idea with the "garage", really like it, will think about implementing it in our playing group as well, buying a 2nd ship for something like 25 points sounds great. Just thinking if I'd have to keep 2 separate loadouts (modification sets) for the 2 fighters then but my elite pilot skills will be the same (since my pilot learned those). Great idea, really like it and have something to spend all points on. At the moment in my playgroup there's nothing left but to buy Pilot skills (and more EPT) but we don't want one of us to skip ahead, so we keep to the same pilot skill level.

Let's settle for half-X half-Y then

Yeah, I think it's a great mix of an X-wing and Y-wing. The moves are kind of between the two. It has one Torpedo, but has a rear firing arc...which is kind of like a limited turret. It's not very fast, but it's got 3 attack dice. I think it's a bit of both, really.

I do agree that starting in an X-wing might be the way to go when aiming for the ARC-170.

I think a hangar is against the fluff of the Rebels. They are scrapping stuff together and hard to get any ships, which is kind of why they are upgrading the ARC-170. They wouldn't let spares just sit in a garage. Then again, do what you like to have fun. I'm just talking pure fluff.

I'm kind of wanting to try out an Attack Shuttle, instead of a HWK. I kind of want to do all of it!

Starting in a Y-wing is my preferred choice. Especially since you get 8 exp to buy either a turret and a cheap droid, or a torp, and a better droid, or soe other interesting combo. also the Y-wings etra health can be a real boon in the beginning.

If you plan on going to an ARC just plan accordingly and dont get TLT just get a cheaper turret, it'll help with getting exp so you can get in your ARC-170 faster.

I am also tempted to include "Mercenaries of the Aturi Cluster" for starting pilots. These would be Scum pilots that follow the same pilot rules for HotAC with the following exceptions:

• Starting ship is Scum Y-Wing (+8 XP) or Kihraxz with "Chopshop Modification" [adds Salvaged Astromech slot] (+5 XP) or possibly Z-95 "Heavy" (+5 XP).
• At PS 4, the pilot may upgrade to G-1A Starfighter, HWK-290, (Protectorate Starfighter?), or StarViper w/ Virago title for 5 XP.
• Cannot purchase Rebel pilot skill, but can purchase S&V pilot abilities (maybe not IG-88s?).
• At any time after PS 4, the pilot may "join the Rebel Alliance" for 5 XP. This includes a Rebel ship + a free exchange of spent Salvaged Astromech and Illicit upgrade XP for equal value upgrades that are usable by the new ship. (Maybe keep Scum Pilot abilities.)

I don't see any glaring balance issues. If it works, this gives a lot of additional options for players.

I like this addition. It seems like it would work well.

I don't have the Rebel Transport - do I need it or is there a way to proxy?

I don't have it, either. We should get someone to tell us the size of the bases from end to end and side to side. Then, we need to find someone with graphic skills to create a graphic for us.

Hey, been really enjoying your podcast lately! I've listened to the first two on in the HotAC series - good stuff.

I don't have the Rebel Transport - do I need it or is there a way to proxy?

I don't have it, either. We should get someone to tell us the size of the bases from end to end and side to side. Then, we need to find someone with graphic skills to create a graphic for us.

Hey, been really enjoying your podcast lately! I've listened to the first two on in the HotAC series - good stuff.

Me too. Great podcast! I listen to it every Sunday when I mow the yard. Also, I like your intro music the best. I have listened to the Mynock Squadron, Gold Squadron and the Scum and Villiany podcasts and yours is by far the best. Where did you find the music in the background? Good stuff!

Starting in a Y-wing is my preferred choice. Especially since you get 8 exp to buy either a turret and a cheap droid, or a torp, and a better droid, or soe other interesting combo. also the Y-wings etra health can be a real boon in the beginning.

If you plan on going to an ARC just plan accordingly and dont get TLT just get a cheaper turret, it'll help with getting exp so you can get in your ARC-170 faster.

It's really going to be based on player skill level and familiarity with the system. I've played both ships (I usually take whatever the group has less of).

I think the Y-Wing is the ideal "starter ship" for newer players. But, in one current campaign we're playing (my 4th across 3 groups), I quickly racked up huge kill counts and XP totals flying an X-Wing (slightly more kills than the 2nd and 3rd place players combined).

The Y-Wing racks up points because its turret allows it to sponge up the 1XP "damage" bonus. But a TLT can do a maximum of 2 damage in a turn. An X-Wing can rack up 4 at close range. At PS3 with Predator rolling 4 reds against 2 greens at Range 1 (3.75 hits with Focus vs 1.85 Evades with Focus or 2.125 with Evade Token). If you drop in on a TIE Fighter/Interceptor with no tokens, you're statistically *averaging* 2.6 hits which delivers a high probability of a kill.

The Y-Wing has a little bit more "forgiveness" built into it, in terms of its toughness and the ease of use for turrets. But in terms of sheer lethality, you can rack up much larger XP totals in an X-Wing with good piloting.

I would like to see something like the z-95 with a free shield upgrade and 8xp as a starting ship with xwing and ywing.

Objectively this will make the z95 a dedicated missile carrier with the sole purpose of being upgraded at some point or you can bank your points and try to ps up to an awing/hwk/bwing right after the intro mission.

I think the x/y/z95 represent the oldest rookie ships.

Then at ps4 you can upgrade to awing/bwing/hwk.

Then at ps6 you can upgrade to a t-70 xwing for 5 pts but it will have 2 less modification slots than the t-65 xwing at ps6 and the intergrated Astro can take up an additional mod slot if you take it whereas its a free upgrade on the t65.

That seems to be pretty balanced and offer a lot more variety.

I just started this campaign at my club last week. I hope version 8 and/or some follow up missions utilizing the gonzati, tie/fo, and imperial veterans makes a debut In the next two months. Xwing was slowly dying off in our shop but this seems to have people playing again.

Me too. Great podcast! I listen to it every Sunday when I mow the yard. Also, I like your intro music the best. I have listened to the Mynock Squadron, Gold Squadron and the Scum and Villiany podcasts and yours is by far the best. Where did you find the music in the background? Good stuff!

Awesome! Thanks, guys. The intro music? Well, I know Jake looked around places to find something that was approved for podcasts. He found something else he liked that was approved for videos, blogs, movies, and about everything you can think of.....except podcasts. So, we had to find something else. I'll ask him and see if he knows. Besides the background music, he just added in a bunch of sound stuff. It's funny b/c someone out there rated all the intro music to podcasts and ours was the worst. Heh....he didn't like jazz.

Have not play tested but considered raising up the PS for more powerful ships and reducing their upgrade tree.

For example, an E-Wing is only available at PS6, 10 XP to change ships.

http://imgur.com/F3d7W5v

BTW, is there a copyright on the stat cards? Didn't know if I missed it. If so please let me know and I will remove immediately.

Have not play tested but considered raising up the PS for more powerful ships and reducing their upgrade tree.

For example, an E-Wing is only available at PS6, 10 XP to change ships.

The problem is that the creator has stated that all attempts to play with an E-wing pretty much shows how utterly superior they are. Once you start stacking on all the upgrades, those ships start getting a bit absurd. Play testing has shown that they are just a bit too powerful in this format. The only way to balance it out would be to beef up the Imperial ships in either numbers or some other fashion. Make them all elites?

Have not play tested but considered raising up the PS for more powerful ships and reducing their upgrade tree.

For example, an E-Wing is only available at PS6, 10 XP to change ships.

The problem is that the creator has stated that all attempts to play with an E-wing pretty much shows how utterly superior they are. Once you start stacking on all the upgrades, those ships start getting a bit absurd. Play testing has shown that they are just a bit too powerful in this format. The only way to balance it out would be to beef up the Imperial ships in either numbers or some other fashion. Make them all elites?

i was one of your thousand of passengers on that flight but my Flight Attendant button wasn't working.so I couldn't bring up some concerns to your crew or ask a question. Has anyone tried the E-Wing while taking away nearly all the upgrades?

So what gives the E-Wing such power, the Agility of 3, System, and the Evade token. The rest is ok. Another way I look at that ship is as a B-Wing with agility and evade. With ALL of the modifications and EPTs that ship would be SuperBeast.

However, if you consider what happens when it is not all modified and EPT up, it becomes less powerful. Therefore the idea was to reduce the amount of upgrades and increase the option to a higher PS so the Imperials will be tougher. I am now considering reducing the modifications so the first one is when you can get the ship at PS6 and then the last one at PS8. The EPT would then only be available at PS7 and then PS9. This should reduce the effectiveness. I could have to modify the statcard I provided in the link to that configuration.

Another options is to consider that any group playing with an E-Wing gets an Imperial boost by considering +1 PS after calculating the groups average PS. This should also increase the mission difficulty.

/

I like your idea, Making elites. Maybe for every E-Wing, the Imperials gets an Elite Defender at +1PS of the highest E-Wing.

I think it is worth considering. Have not put time or though into the other ships.

For Example, we have a person playing a captured Defender. He dies a lot. The 3 Agility sound all great but usually doesn't turn out well for him against a swarm and usually the first target. True, he does not have an evade token and we keep adding new players to the group (it is actually too big of a group now so we have a dedicated Imperial player - GamesMaster)

we keep adding new players to the group (it is actually too big of a group now so we have a dedicated Imperial player - GamesMaster)

How many players are you playing with?

We have about 10-12 of us in our group, many of us cant always make it, but usually we have players plu a Gamemaster that rolled and moved the Imperials for us to speed things up.

And only have had 10 play in one mission - the attack the Imperial Outpost one.The amount of fighters coming out of that base was cray, but really fun!!!!

And every game we've played we scaled up accordingly and it has worked well. Especially felt like a real big starfigher battle each time with a squadron or so fighters against us.

The only thing we did learn that does NOT using 2 3x3mats put next to each other...that worked horribly, some players were way out in the middle of nowhere when others were in the heat of action.

We realized very quickly just to use a 4x4 map..which doesnt really mess with any of the missions at all.. I do warn that in the rescue the HWK (Rebel Operative mission), you may wish to start 2 range bands in rather than 1, since the extra distance can make a difference.

Yeah, I can imagine the Rescue Rebel Operatives mission would be a huge jump in difficulty level scaled over 6 players. That one is already a make or break mission that can come down to good dice vs bad dice, and there's almost nothing the players can do in the first two turns to significantly protect the HWK. Interestingly enough, I don't think we've ever lost it, but it's come close a couple times. An extra 2 or 3 TIE Fighters could easily make it impossible for the HWK to survive the first 2-3 turns.

Yeah, I can imagine the Rescue Rebel Operatives mission would be a huge jump in difficulty level scaled over 6 players. That one is already a make or break mission that can come down to good dice vs bad dice, and there's almost nothing the players can do in the first two turns to significantly protect the HWK. Interestingly enough, I don't think we've ever lost it, but it's come close a couple times. An extra 2 or 3 TIE Fighters could easily make it impossible for the HWK to survive the first 2-3 turns.

We've played it wit more than the regullar player amount twice, and its been very tough, but we've won it both times by the skin of our teeth.

More Ties usually dont hurt it that much if we can get there in time to help it out. But getting there on a bigger map is more difficult, so only the deployment needs to be adjusted on that one. Also its always fun when the game is a real challenge.

Rebel Starting ships:

Awing

HWK 270

Xwing

Ywing

Rebel Upgrade craft:

Bwing

ARC 170

Attack Shuttle

Sabine's Masterpiece

Mercenary Starting craft

Hvy Scyk

Kihlraxz

HWK 270

Ywing

Mercenary upgrade craft

Virago Starviper

G1A

Fang Fighter

Quadjumper