Just watched Rogue One again, and so of course got all juiced up for Epic X-Wing battles.

It again made me lament that there is really no mechanic in the game to represent the bonus for a squadron of pilots who fly together all the time (and thus should have some sort of esprit de corps). Ya know, one of the base mechanics in M:TG is "all elves gain +1/+1."

It just seems like there should be a Condition for assembling a squadron. First, a foremost, all the ships would have to be of the same squadron (same ship type, same pilot card). Maybe unique pilots would retroactively have to be assign a squadron (e.g., Luke is Red Squadron).

But what would the benefit be, and what cost? My thought would be that all members gain the Coordinate Action (hey, they help each other out). Maybe 5-10 points for the Condition card? And the condition card would just be played at set up, and last for the entire game.

Obviously, you could also go the route of each Squadron has its own special ability, but I'm interested in what people think about what would be a great, one-size fits all, Squadron Ability.

Yes, we totally need Squadron mechanics.

I would fix things, with cards such as:

Jump-Strike Group: Rebel only. All of your equipped [astromech] upgrades costing 2 or more points are reduced to 1 point each.

Royal Escorts: Imperial only. TIE Interceptor pilots with a Pilot Skill value of "5" or greater gain 1 [elite pilot talent] icon if they do not already have one.

How about something in the vein of:

Once per round (per squadron) a ship in XSquadron that is within 1 of another ship in XSquadron may reroll one die.

And make the cost scale up depending on how many different squadrons you have.

# of squadrons - Cost per ship added to a squadron

1 - 1

2- 2

3- 3

*Shrug* don't know.

I do love the idea of the rules pandering to my habbit of flying named wings in epic.

Well I see where the OP is coming from. As of now we only have 1 formation mechanic and that is IG-2000. However making a pilot ability sharing mechanic could come with some broken combinations, (Like Vader taking Countess Ryad's ability).

Now there are synergies but not exactly in the terms of squadron form, you have dengaroo which is as close to a squadron you can get. Thing is for squadron mechanics you want more of 3 to 4 ships but you don't necessarily want squadron synergies where swarm builds become unbeatable. (There is a reason why IG-88 is priced at 36 and not 33). As for me I like more of thematic for squadron mechanic (like unique titles for X-wing such a Red 5 or Red 2). However those are not synergy mechanics. I am sure you could in Epic add in some sort of formation synergy or even a house rule. I would like to see squadron synergies in Epic but as far as squadron mechanics, unique titles to go with matching pilots would work with the option to change pilots. Who knows maybe Wedge should be flying in Red 5.

24 minutes ago, Arterial Spray said:

How about something in the vein of:

Once per round (per squadron) a ship in XSquadron that is within 1 of another ship in XSquadron may reroll one die.

And make the cost scale up depending on how many different squadrons you have.

# of squadrons - Cost per ship added to a squadron

1 - 1

2- 2

3- 3

*Shrug* don't know.

I do love the idea of the rules pandering to my habbit of flying named wings in epic.

How 'bout making the cost scale down depending on the number of copies of the same ship in the squadron!

9 minutes ago, Darth Meanie said:

How 'bout making the cost scale down depending on the number of copies of the same ship in the squadron!

Well the whole idea is to make sure that the sum of the components don't become game breaking. As I said before, there is a reason why IG-88 wasn't 33 points. (Can you imagine a A C D combo?). Again if someone were to make all the different squadron lists I am sure in Epic you could make a formation rule which allows things like rerolling dice or combining attacks or sharing damage. Hey that would be something, a TIE Bomber Squadron that can share 1 face down damage suffered.

15 minutes ago, Marinealver said:

Well the whole idea is to make sure that the sum of the components don't become game breaking.

Well, you could go down the other route:

Each Squadron gets its own unique, but slightly trivial, ability.

Red Squadron (title): T-65 Only. This card must be equipped to 3 or more ships. Each ship gains the Barrel Roll ability. 1 point.

Gold Squadron (title): Y-Wing Only. This card must be equipped to 3 or more ships. Treat all 2-speed maneuvers as Green maneuvers. 1 point.

By requiring it to be equipped multiple times, you force Squadron building, but for a benefit to all its members.

1 minute ago, Darth Meanie said:

Well, you could go down the other route:

Each Squadron gets its own unique, but slightly trivial, ability.

Red Squadron (title): T-65 Only. This card must be equipped to 3 or more ships. Each ship gains the Barrel Roll ability. 1 point.

Gold Squadron (title): Y-Wing Only. This card must be equipped to 3 or more ships. Treat all 2-speed maneuvers as Green maneuvers. 1 point.

By requiring it to be equipped multiple times, you force Squadron building, but for a benefit to all its members.

As I said before i would rather have unique titles like Red 5 or Gold Leader. You could for Epic make a huge ship only <crew> upgrade card like Blue Commander, all ships equipped with a Blue Title add 1 extra Ion token when ever they hit with an attack that gives ion tokens. Again the whole squadron synergy works better in Epic where you can have more than 2 or 3 named pilots. With X-wing standard you really can have about 3 named pilots. Might be able to squeeze in more but you will be lacking in pilot skill and attributes like hull and firepower.

You could do something like you equip one card and assign up to 12 or so ships a token. Ships with a token get the squad ability. Then, the ship with the card would be group leader.

10 minutes ago, Marinealver said:

You could for Epic make a huge ship only <crew> upgrade card like Blue Commander, all ships equipped with a Blue Title add 1 extra Ion token when ever they hit with an attack that gives ion tokens. Again the whole squadron synergy works better in Epic where you can have more than 2 or 3 named pilots. With X-wing standard you really can have about 3 named pilots. Might be able to squeeze in more but you will be lacking in pilot skill and attributes like hull and firepower.

Commanders? Man, great minds think alike!! Besides Squadrons, the other thing I think would be cool is Command Crew, just as you said. Except, I would have each of them be a Unique individual (Admiral Akbar, Commander Sato, etc.) that would have a battle field effect rather than a personal ability. For example, maybe Akbar allows Target Locks at range 4 for all ships in the battle. If that creates an issue, better kill Akbar!

And of course Squadron synergy is best in Epic, since technically you are never really flying anything close to a Squadron in 100 points.

Oh. I meant that one of the ships flying in the squadron would be a group leader, but I guess that would work too.

If squadron cards cost points, how would that work in tournament scoring? Should I have to destroy the entire squad in order to collect the points they paid for their squadron cards?

Guys you do realize we have plenty of "Range 1" abilities that reward you for flying as a squadron? Jess, Howl, Serissu are the first that comes into mind.

Quote

Jump-Strike Group: Rebel only. All of your equipped [astromech] upgrades costing 2 or more points are reduced to 1 point each.

As for this example, I would change that to this (don't mind my wording, just for the concept):

"Rebel Squadron (3 pts): Choose one ship type with a minimum of 2 ships in your squad. For each ship of this type (up to a maximum of 3) you may equip one astromech for free."

The effect is, that it benefits lists with the same ship type but not a single Corran Horn or lists with just the R2 Astromech. And it does not break epic games ;-) For the maximum of free astromechs I think 4 would be ok also.

2 hours ago, Vitalis said:

Guys you do realize we have plenty of "Range 1" abilities that reward you for flying as a squadron? Jess, Howl, Serissu are the first that comes into mind.

There are, but this could give a nice boost to generics, who need a little love, in my opinion.

5 hours ago, Vitalis said:

Guys you do realize we have plenty of "Range 1" abilities that reward you for flying as a squadron? Jess, Howl, Serissu are the first that comes into mind.

No, they reward you for flying close to another friendly. Squadron effects could be something that happens anywhere on the board because your combat unit has a theme, or that change list building to create a theme.

What squadron are Jess, Howl, and Serissu in? Do you know without having to look it up??

Would add that extra layer to Epic it kinda feels like its missing. Right now theres little reason to not just scatter and try to divert the attention of the big guns.

Awhile ago i was trying to devise several Epic only upgrades, this would fit that idea perfectly. I should see if i can find my documents.

5 hours ago, DagobahDave said:

If squadron cards cost points, how would that work in tournament scoring? Should I have to destroy the entire squad in order to collect the points they paid for their squadron cards?

Yes. You destroy the entire Squadron and get the points.

At first I was really against the idea of formations a-la 40k but some of the ideas here are really good. Maybe a generic squadron title that would work across factions and specific famous squadrons like Red Gold Green Blue for rebs and Black squadron for imps.

Something to give actual squadrons a boost. A minimum number (3) and non-unique requirements. Maybe leader titles for unique pilots.

But it's a mechanic that should be explored.

I've thought about named squadron titles that are limited to specific types of ships (Red squadron- t-65 only, blue squadron T-65 and U-wings, Rogue squadron t-70s and E-wings, etc) and add table wide bonuses. There could also be general squadron rules that reward formation flying, "If any squadmate is within range 2 and flying the same direction as a squadron leader all ships add one red dice for primary weapon attacks"

I think the real trick is that this kind of 'X-wing tactical' doesn't fit the 100 point, six rocks death match play. It might be less frustrating at a 200 point range. Squadron and strafing run bonuses could generate kills faster. Really this kind of game would emulate what is happening in Armada as the fighter squadron interact. Perhaps getting a bomber squad off the other side of the table at 50% or better would generate double MOV points.

I have used Jedi & Veteran powers for years now. Basically you get a pool of energy to use to change dice rolls and to do special skills stuff that I have made up over the years.

I was doing the Palp-thing years ago... kinda.

1 hour ago, Joe Boss Red Seven said:

I have used Jedi & Veteran powers for years now. Basically you get a pool of energy to use to change dice rolls and to do special skills stuff that I have made up over the years.

I was doing the Palp-thing years ago... kinda.

This is also a cool idea.

It's kind of like the Command Crew idea, but the commander is elsewhere (on a capital ship or in a situation room), overseeing and influencing the flow of the engagement.

The Jedi idea would be an AWESOME way to start introducing the Prequel ships, and make the game feel slightly different.

11 minutes ago, Darth Meanie said:

This is also a cool idea.

It's kind of like the Command Crew idea, but the commander is elsewhere (on a capital ship or in a situation room), overseeing and influencing the flow of the engagement.

The Jedi idea would be an AWESOME way to start introducing the Prequel ships, and make the game feel slightly different.

Right on Brah! I love that FFG makes great content but they do not have the final word on what belongs in STAR WARS; at least not on my game table.

Actually some sort of squadron mechanic (upgrade for a squadron at a points cost) would be a great way to make Generics great again.