Yup, that too. This is the wave (well, including Old Man Han in the interim) of messing with deployment, it seems. I wonder what else is in store...

Yup, that too. This is the wave (well, including Old Man Han in the interim) of messing with deployment, it seems. I wonder what else is in store...

Another installment in the Paul Heaver "Turn Zero" article series!?

Large ships with 5 forward and boost can easily force engagement in the first round. Not to mention that Comm Relay is a thing.

Heroes of the resistance Han most definitely can get shots off on turn 1. For that matter, you can easily get a Phantom into shooting range turn 1 by "long-bombing" it out the back end of a K-turning Ghost.

Large ships with 5 forward and boost can easily force engagement in the first round. Not to mention that Comm Relay is a thing.

Heroes of the resistance Han most definitely can get shots off on turn 1. For that matter, you can easily get a Phantom into shooting range turn 1 by "long-bombing" it out the back end of a K-turning Ghost.

Except the deployed Phantom can't fire the round it deploys so even though you can get it into range in round 1 it still can't attack.

Hmm....

Exchange my Outmaneuver + Pattern Analyzer (total: 5pts) for Juke + Comm Relay (still 5pts) on my SFs....

Upside: Effectively either autoburns a focus or reduces agility by 1 for BOTH arcs.

Upside: Have an evade for when i die by 1 damage, i didnt die yet.

Downside: Lose the action on red moves (which is REALLY big on SFs)

Downside: Cant mod die or things that strip an evade token would render Juke useless but not Outmaneuver.

Thats a toughie. I mean, if i wasnt running a UPS the option would be clear since the juke + comm relay requires ANOTHER ship to give me the evade to begin with, and aside from a UPS or a junk/fo i would never waste a tech for that.

Large ships with 5 forward and boost can easily force engagement in the first round. Not to mention that Comm Relay is a thing.

Heroes of the resistance Han most definitely can get shots off on turn 1. For that matter, you can easily get a Phantom into shooting range turn 1 by "long-bombing" it out the back end of a K-turning Ghost.

Except the deployed Phantom can't fire the round it deploys so even though you can get it into range in round 1 it still can't attack.

The hell are you getting that from?

Large ships with 5 forward and boost can easily force engagement in the first round. Not to mention that Comm Relay is a thing.

Heroes of the resistance Han most definitely can get shots off on turn 1. For that matter, you can easily get a Phantom into shooting range turn 1 by "long-bombing" it out the back end of a K-turning Ghost.

Except the deployed Phantom can't fire the round it deploys so even though you can get it into range in round 1 it still can't attack.

The hell are you getting that from?

OK, sorry, I mixed the Phantom up with the Nasta Pup

After some thought, it IS extremely smart to put this on a large ship over a small ship, because you get juuuuuust that little more extra deployment range.

After some thought, it IS extremely smart to put this on a large ship over a small ship, because you get juuuuuust that little more extra deployment range.

... you mean to the sides? Or by putting the large ship on an angle, so he peeps over the deployment line?

Came up with this that I want to try:

Starkiller Base Pilot: 36 pts

-General Hux

-Hyperwave Comm Scanner

Omega Specialist: 32 pts

-Juke

-FCS

-Spec Ops Training

-Comm Relay

Omega Specialist: 32 pts

-Juke

-FCS

-Spec Ops Training

-Comm Relay

With the potential of taking two shots a turn with the SFs, I could get two uses of Fanatical Devotion in a turn as long as I focus for my action after getting the assigned focus from Hux. When it doesn't benefit the Omega to get the condition, give it to the Starkiller Base Pilot.

Large ships with 5 forward and boost can easily force engagement in the first round. Not to mention that Comm Relay is a thing.

Heroes of the resistance Han most definitely can get shots off on turn 1. For that matter, you can easily get a Phantom into shooting range turn 1 by "long-bombing" it out the back end of a K-turning Ghost.

Except the deployed Phantom can't fire the round it deploys so even though you can get it into range in round 1 it still can't attack.

The hell are you getting that from?

OK, sorry, I mixed the Phantom up with the Nasta Pup

You were half right. If the Ghost is destroyed the Phantom deploys by the same rules as Nashtah Pup, but if the Phantom undocks voluntarily it can attack.

Indeed. The "Long Bomb" was using Adrenaline Rush and/or Leia Organa to get an action after the phantom also K-turns, and sabine crew - essentially slingshotting the phantom the ghost's k-turn plus it's own k-turn and then flinging a cluster mine or connor net out the back of that.

It freaks the hell out of opponents when they find themselves running into mines in their first activation.

One other use of HCS that came up in discussions over the weekend:

• Commander Kenkirk - Lone Wolf, Ysanne Isard, Agent Kallus, Gunner, Engine Upgrade
• Lieutenant Dormitz - Fire Control System, Recon Specialist, Hyperwave Comm Scanner, Sensor Cluster

Dormitz deploys at PS6 and lets you deploy Kenkirk up to range 2 into the board. That plus a straight 4 plus a boost is enough to get you easily within accurate gun range of the other side of the board, in clear "lone wolf" space, with an evade or focus token to boot. More importantly, you are deploying after Manaroo or Omicron Group Pilots carrying Palpatine, allowing you to range shots on them turn 1, and have the speed and PS to keep up with them if they try to run away. Meanwhile Dormitz wombles up the board, lining up his lovely 4-dice forward gun on anyone trying to drop in behind Kenkirk.

Behold the glory of HCS .

1. Place Blue Squadron Novice.

2. Place Dash Rendar.

3. Hyperwave Comm Scanner gives Dash a free Focus.

4. Place Jake Farrel.

5. HCS gives Jake a free Focus.

6. Jake performs a free Boost.

7. Jake uses Experimental Interface and Squad Leader to give Dash a free action.

8. Dash uses "Leebo" to Boost.

9. Dash uses Push the Limit to Barrel Roll.

10. ???

11. Profit.

I know someone mentioned giving Backdraft an evade token to hold-on to juke, which seemed to me like a super good idea. But then i realised that Backdraft + Juke + ComRelay + FCS + Title is already 34 points.
At the point wouldn't Ryad + X/7 + Juke be better? You lose the reroll on attack but now you can actually spend the evade each turn to survive that much more.
Thought? Which one seems better?

SFs and Defenders are the exact opposite ship.

Defenders are a jouster, SFs are a trickster. The point of a defender is to joust you and immediately get a followup shot with their white 4k, they have the bulk to just endure almost any attack the initial joust. The point of an SF is to fly erratically and get sneaky arcs on your opponent that he couldnt have predicted, getting a shot on him while he cant shoot you.

I run Backdraft all the time - Outmaneuver + Title + FCS + PA + MK2 engines. He lasts the entire game 90% of the time and causes a ton of damage because the way i fly him he rarely even gets shot at let alone in a favorable condition for them (lots of obstructions or range3 if they get a shot on me)

With backdraft, definitely. The fact that both arcs are just as lethal makes a big difference, and essentially makes him more dangerous, as well as more manouvrable, than a firespray. Outmaneuver sounds like a very good idea.

Behold the glory of HCS .

1. Place Blue Squadron Novice.

2. Place Dash Rendar.

3. Hyperwave Comm Scanner gives Dash a free Focus.

4. Place Jake Farrel.

5. HCS gives Jake a free Focus.

6. Jake performs a free Boost.

7. Jake uses Experimental Interface and Squad Leader to give Dash a free action.

8. Dash uses "Leebo" to Boost.

9. Dash uses Push the Limit to Barrel Roll.

10. ???

11. Profit.

I thought the basic rules was once per trigger. Is each placement a new trigger for the same pilot and upgrade?

Behold the glory of HCS .

1. Place Blue Squadron Novice.

2. Place Dash Rendar.

3. Hyperwave Comm Scanner gives Dash a free Focus.

4. Place Jake Farrel.

5. HCS gives Jake a free Focus.

6. Jake performs a free Boost.

7. Jake uses Experimental Interface and Squad Leader to give Dash a free action.

8. Dash uses "Leebo" to Boost.

9. Dash uses Push the Limit to Barrel Roll.

10. ???

11. Profit.

I thought the basic rules was once per trigger. Is each placement a new trigger for the same pilot and upgrade?

Yes.

Comm Scanner will trigger once per scanner per ship placed after the ship with the scanner. So an entire fleet of scanner ships will end up with the last getting [# of ships-1] focus or evade tokens.

It's also worth noting that Jake could have gotten an extra action out of the bargain with PTL. You then do a 5 straight, clear the stress, and get right to killin stuff.

I can't see any way to get them into the fight in time for it to do any good before you have to discard them all, but the idea of a swarm of epsilon squadron pilots being lead by a nutter with five evade tokens is a pleasing one.

THe aforementioned 3 Oopsies with 0, 1, and 2 evade tokens each also sounds like fun.

Indeed. Although in their case, there is some logic to it - a comm relay on a shuttle (or other tech can pick up and 'hold' an evade, essentially giving you a shield upgrade at a slight discount across multiple ships (4 points per shield versus 1 point for the scanner and 3 points per ship).

The problem is finding a balance between getting enough ships for it to matter - because a TIE/fo could have just taken the Comm Relay and evaded as its first turn action.

Special Forces TIE fighters might work. You can fit in three, and a TIE/fo "scout" to provide their initial evade and then play blocker:

• Epsilon Squadron Pilot - Hyperwave Comm Scanner
• Zeta Specialist - Special Forces Training, Fire Control System, Comms Relay
• Zeta Specialist - Special Forces Training, Fire Control System, Comms Relay
• Zeta Specialist - Special Forces Training, Fire Control System, Comms Relay

i really dont see the focus/evade token part to be relevant unless its slapping an evade on a ship with comm that cant evade normally for Juke.

Turn 1 attacks are uber rare, and usually going 1/2fwd ignores any attempt at getting it.

Mostly I think it's about the bonus initiative - but as noted upthread, it's really not uncommon for a turn 1 engagement to happen, and the next wave will make it a lot more so thanks to Old Man Han and Dormitz, and that's assuming that the Quad, Striker and U Wing don't have anything to mess with deployment...

Even not taking this into account, a large base with 4 forward and boost will engage many ships, and a large base with 5 forward and boost (mostly only the Shadow Caster now) can get arc on even a small base ship that starts at the back and does a 1 straight forwards.

Turn 1 engagements are not as uncommon as you're implying.

i really dont see the focus/evade token part to be relevant unless its slapping an evade on a ship with comm that cant evade normally for Juke.

Turn 1 attacks are uber rare, and usually going 1/2fwd ignores any attempt at getting it.

Even for comm relay ships its mostly useless as your first action can usualy be an evade without any ramifications.

The added token literally does nothing in cases that don't have huge token hoarding (rey crew, moldy crow? thats all i can think of...) if i have rey crew i will probably run hwcs if i have the points and slots for the 1 banked focus... unless deployment is uber critical, like for some reason i need to deploy all my low ps ships after everyone else then this card really does jack all.

I might just be too stupid to see what all the excitement is about, to me it's a relatively dead card and i generally find uses for everything.

The game is often won and lost in turn 0. It gives you huge control over turn 0.

Not to mention all the niche and weird effects that come about by passing out tokens at weird times.