Last year at Origins, I got to participate in a Battle of Yavin trench run scenario (very like the famous DagobahDave scenario). I saw the immediate value of it for introducing new people to the game and promoting X-wing -- it was iconic, obviously Star Wars, and quite fun for everyone involved (the only real down side being that because the play group was large, it could be a long tie between turns and some attentions would wander).

It got me thinking about other big events that could be run to introduce new people where they'd run a ship or two as part of a famous Star Wars battle, that might fit in a 3-hour or so game window. There's lots of Battle of Endor scenarios (I've got my own on Mission Control) -- so what about the Battle of Scarif?

How would you set it up? My own thoughts are below; I'd appreciate suggestions.

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Battle of Scarif

This consists of two linked battles, played side by side on different game spaces. The Rebel goal is to recover the Death Star plans and escape with them; the Imperial goal is to prevent the Rebels from gaining the plans and escaping.

1. Scarif Surface Battle . The Rebel goal is to allow Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor to capture the Death Star plans but destroying the ground emplacements in their way, while the Empire tries to stop them by destroying Rebel air cover.

a. Play on a 3x3 or 3x6 mat. Rebels and Imperials set up on opposite edges.

b. Rebel forces get (5) X-wings and a (1) U-wing; no reinforcements.

c. Imperial Forces get 4 TIE Strikers. When a TIE Striker is destroyed, it is replaced by a PS 1 Striker entering the edge of the mat at the start of the next activation phase.

d. Imperials place 6 ground emplacements at the start of the game (obstacles, mission tokens). Each Emplacement has 4 Hull, 1 agility, and acts as a 2-dice range 2 turret.

e. If all six ground emplacements are destroyed, the Rebels have captured the plans. If the Rebel force is destroyed, the Imperials win.

2. Scarif Orbital Battle . The Rebel goal is to open the shield to allow the plans to be transmitted, then escape with the plans. The Imperial goal is to first prevent the shield from opening, then prevent escape. This battle is played in two phases.

a. This is played on a 3x6 mat

b. At setup, place six tokens in a ring at range 2 from each other; these represent the shield generator stations.

c. Phase I: Open the Shield. This Phase runs until the Rebels open the shield and get the plans, or all their ships are destroyed.

(1) Rebel forces: Lothal Rebel (1), X-wings (5), Y-wings (3). X-wings have Proton Torpedoes; Y-wings have Ion Torpedoes and Seismic Charges.

(2) Imperial forces: TIE Fighters (12). When a TIE is destroyed, it is replaced by a PS 1 TIE starting from the middle of the shield ring at the start of the next activation phase.

(3) Shield Generators. Each generator is 6 Hull, 1 agility, and functions as a 2-dice, range 1 turret.

(4) If the six shield generators are destroyed, the shield is open; if the Rebels have successfully captured the plans in the surface battle, and still have forces on the orbital battle board, proceed to Phase II.

d. Phase II. Escape with the Plans. This phase runs until the Rebels escape with the plans or are destroyed.

(1) Rebel Forces. CR-90 Corvette (limited to 1-speed maneuvers), X-Wings (2). Place in the center of the board.

(2) Imperial Forces. TIE Fighters (2), TIE Bombers with Concussion Missiles (2), Lambda Shuttle w/ Vader crew. Place on the Imperial short edge of the board.

(3) The Rebel goal is to escape with the CR-90 off of the Rebel short edge of the Board; the Imperial goal is to disable the CR-90 before it can escape.

3. Victory. If the Imperials win either battle, the overall Battle of Scarif is an Imperial victory. If the CR-90 escapes, the Rebels win the Battle of Scarif.

I would try this but I don't have enough ships to go about doing so.

8 minutes ago, AwesomeJedi said:

I would try this but I don't have enough ships to go about doing so.

That's why you get a whole group!

I have been pondering the Battle of Scarif as well. I did not read your entry above on purpose so that I could toss out my brainstormed ideas below. Warning: it's gonna be a mess, cuz I haven't really set anything down before now.

Play is a 3x6 area, each side sets up on the short end. The Shield Ring is 12-18" in dia and sets about 3/4 way down from the Rebels.

Rebels get X-Wings and Y-Wings only; Imperials get Strikers and LNs only.

200 points per side to start.

The shield is open until round 4. Any Rebels that get thru the shield are set aside.

The shield can be bombed by dropping any ordnance on the table inside the ring. The shield has 20 points.

The shield ring has 4 point defense towers.

On round 7, 200 points of Imperial reinforcements (TIE/lns) are placed at the Imperial side of the table.

On round 9, Rebel Reinforcements arrive. All ships that flew thru the shield are replaced, +1 ship per 2 ships that made it through.

I am loving these ideas, you have inspired me to do one of these (scarif) among my friends. If only I had all the supplies Joe Boss has though aha!

45 minutes ago, Darth Meanie said:

I have been pondering the Battle of Scarif as well. I did not read your entry above on purpose so that I could toss out my brainstormed ideas below. Warning: it's gonna be a mess, cuz I haven't really set anything down before now.

Play is a 3x6 area, each side sets up on the short end. The Shield Ring is 12-18" in dia and sets about 3/4 way down from the Rebels.

Rebels get X-Wings and Y-Wings only; Imperials get Strikers and LNs only.

200 points per side to start.

The shield is open until round 4. Any Rebels that get thru the shield are set aside.

The shield can be bombed by dropping any ordnance on the table inside the ring. The shield has 20 points.

The shield ring has 4 point defense towers.

On round 7, 200 points of Imperial reinforcements (TIE/lns) are placed at the Imperial side of the table.

On round 9, Rebel Reinforcements arrive. All ships that flew thru the shield are replaced, +1 ship per 2 ships that made it through.

How does your mission end? Is it just until everyone is destroyed?

4 minutes ago, BlueSquadronPilot said:

How does your mission end? Is it just until everyone is destroyed?

Rebels pop the shield = victory, or Imps destroy all Rebels. Essentially, my Battle of Scarif scenario would only involve the orbital battle.

Maybe there should be a CR-90 that needs to get away. . .and Leia is required crew. That would make the Imps need to divide their forces as 2 routes to victory, taking a little pressure off the Rebels at the shield gate.

15 hours ago, Sir Orrin said:

That's why you get a whole group!

I don't know where to find them.

9 minutes ago, AwesomeJedi said:

I don't know where to find them.

I found my local group by looking up gamestores and and checking facebook groups. Most stores have a weekly calendar, and you can see stuff like "Star Wars night", or even Xwing specific events. There is also an app they mention on nova squadron podcast, social meeples I think, that helps you find groups. You could even try the forums.

The whole battle of Scarif is much more amenable to a Star Wars: Armada level scenario. I suggest that you don't try to capture the entire battle within the X-wing system, because you'll end up trying to do too much, at a scale that makes you want to put over a thousand points on the table for either side. The game you'll end up with will take 6+ hours to play. Be ready for that if you go through with this idea!

I'd suggest focusing on a discrete part of the surface or orbital battle. Y-wings making bombing runs on the shield gate or ISD, or maybe X-wings and U-wings flying cover for ground forces in a race against time as Imperial reinforcements stream onto the table.

12 minutes ago, Sir Orrin said:

I found my local group by looking up gamestores and and checking facebook groups. Most stores have a weekly calendar, and you can see stuff like "Star Wars night", or even Xwing specific events. There is also an app they mention on nova squadron podcast, social meeples I think, that helps you find groups. You could even try the forums.

Thanks.

Near Orbit battle... Armada

Low level combat... X Wing

Plus Imp Assault fight to activate the comunications.

Pew pew pew!!!!!

22 minutes ago, Hexdot said:

Near Orbit battle... Armada

Low level combat... X Wing

Plus Imp Assault fight to activate the comunications.

Pew pew pew!!!!!

^^This

I've always wanted to run a big cross game scenario. Maybe by next year we'll have a Scarif X-wing playmat and rogue one expansions for Imperial Assault.

1 hour ago, Hexdot said:

Near Orbit battle... Armada

Low level combat... X Wing

Plus Imp Assault fight to activate the comunications.

Pew pew pew!!!!!

That sounds pretty awesome

I'd do the whole Armada thing but.... I don't own Armada, nor can I invest into it. So the perfectly suitable X-Wing on a smaller scale will still do just fine

I created a scenario for the battle of Scarif. I'd love to know what you think. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bwdkwe9VqhS8QlFScVp6YjR0T1k

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bwdkwe9VqhS8cDVvRmhESmRXZDg

@Merman That is pretty awesome! I do like the ramming mechanic! Thanks for sharing

3 hours ago, Merman said:

I created a scenario for the battle of Scarif. I'd love to know what you think. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bwdkwe9VqhS8QlFScVp6YjR0T1k

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bwdkwe9VqhS8cDVvRmhESmRXZDg

Well done Merman!

Superb work. Thanks a lot

6 hours ago, Hexdot said:

Near Orbit battle... Armada

Low level combat... X Wing

Plus Imp Assault fight to activate the comunications.

Pew pew pew!!!!!

In our local store we are planning something like this for May the 4th. While it is not the Battle of Scariff (due to expansion restrictions, etc.) we are trying to capture the theme and the scenario.

We were discussion something like the Battle of Hoth:

1) Armada sets a blockade.

2) X-wing figthers prevent the Rebel Transports to scape the planet surfice.

3) And well, Imperial Assault troopers kill the Rebels in the base.

Same with Endor.

1) SW:IA goes with the base that is shielding the second Death Star.

2) X-wing figthers are resisting until the can go through and blow the Death Star (you know Wedge and so on).

3) And Armada figth along X-wing (Rebels resist and Imperial prevent them from scapign).

However, we ended up doing a random scenario where even some Bounty Hunters may appear. And also because we want to all happend at once, that each success has an impact in either table (games). Whether the Armada pushes through the blockade to allow the Imperial Assault players to have some reinforcement, or that the Imperial Assault players blow a anti-craft turret killing the X-wing ships that keep bringing the reinforments.

Anyway, maybe (if we succed, I'll post it here)

On 4/17/2017 at 2:34 PM, Merman said:

I created a scenario for the battle of Scarif. I'd love to know what you think. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bwdkwe9VqhS8QlFScVp6YjR0T1k

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bwdkwe9VqhS8cDVvRmhESmRXZDg

Merman,

I downloaded your scenario and, might I say, I was quite impressed. I thought it was quite well written (even came with illustrations for special rules, etc...) and looked to be an exciting and challenging fight. So... Last Saturday my local gaming group gave it a try. What follows is a bit of an AAR, not only for the battle, but also for the rules as written.

We had four players, I very experienced (myself), two somewhat experienced and one less so. After 4 hours of play, we completed 5 turns. This was a lot fewer than I would have expected and, I believe, the result of the relative experience level (or lack thereof) of the players and some confusion regarding the scenario-specific rules. The Rebels attacked the gate from two different directions but failed to move fast enough. After five turns of play, the situation was: one Imperial TIE Striker KO'd for two X-wing casualties and an almost crippled Tantive IV. The Rebels did manage to get one X-wing through the gate before it was closed. Meanwhile, on the planet's surface, the Rogue One commandos had managed to secure the Death Star plans but could not transmit them while the gate was closed. We quit playing at that point as it was late and most of us had to work in the morning. We agreed that the scenario was worth a replay, sometime, after some minor tweaks or clarifications of rules.

Observations and suggestions:

1. The rules for pushing disabled ships was pretty straight forward but came with 3? pages of illustrations (not a criticism). We would have found it helpful to have had more (or better yet, "clearer") description on what constituted a disabled ship and how to do that (ex. Would ANY weapon achieve that or did it have to be an Ion weapon?).

2. The most confusing part of the rules, or so we felt, concerned the Scarif Gate ring, and how to disable/destroy it.

- The rules for disabling the Turbo Lasers and Shield Generators seemed overly complicated and we were uncertain whether the ring could be attacked/destroyed without first destroying the guns/shields.

- When attacking the Shield Generators, do they regenerate shields eachturn, or is it a finite number that is reduced by attacks... just like standard shields on ships?

- The special effects of Ion weapons on the Shield Generators- are they permanent, or do they only last that turn? We couldn't discern the author's intent.

Recommendation: consider the HotAC rules for guns/shields, as these are simple, effective, easy to use.

3. Asteroids - why are there asteroids? There is no reason they should be here based on the movie, unless they represent other "stuff" in orbit of Scarif, like cargo containers awaiting transfer, raw materials, etc... In our opinion, they just cluttered the table and slowed things down, with no "fluff" reason for their existence at all.

Recommendation: ditch the rocks.

Overall, we thought the scenario has promise... just needs some work to make it playable in a reasonable amount of time.

We ran a variant iof the Scarif battles this weekend too. A surface action (6 TIE Strikers, 2 AT-AT, & 4 Turrets versus 6 X-wings & a U-wing) and a simultaneous orbital action (CR90, GP75, Ghost, 6 y-wings, & 4 x-wings versus Decimator, Assault Carrier, Corvette, 20 TIE fighters and the Merman Shield Gate). I had ship debris, cargo containers and tugs as obstacles (spaced at more during the actual battle).

Photo Gallery

The rebels won the surface, but the Imperials defeated the Rebel orbital fleet.

1 hour ago, lostpict said:

We ran a variant iof the Scarif battles this weekend too. A surface action (6 TIE Strikers, 2 AT-AT, & 4 Turrets versus 6 X-wings & a U-wing) and a simultaneous orbital action (CR90, GP75, Ghost, 6 y-wings, & 4 x-wings versus Decimator, Assault Carrier, Corvette, 20 TIE fighters and the Merman Shield Gate). I had ship debris cargo containers and tugs as obstacles (spaced at more during the actual battle).

Photo Gallery .

The rebels won the surface, but the Imperials defeated the Rebel orbital fleet.

Not sure if it is just me, but the link for the photos is not working. Was excited to see this mass of ships!

We ran a variant iof the Scarif battles this weekend too. A surface action (6 TIE Strikers, 2 AT-AT, & 4 Turrets versus 6 X-wings & a U-wing) and a simultaneous orbital action (CR90, GP75, Ghost, 6 y-wings, & 4 x-wings versus Decimator, Assault Carrier, Corvette, 20 TIE fighters and the Shield Gate).

Photo Gallery .

https://www.flickr.com/photos/9975128@N05/sets/72157679873792274

The rebels won the surface, but the Imperials defeated the Rebel orbital fleet.

Here is the direct link https://www.flickr.com/photos/9975128@N05/sets/72157679873792274

This before the mass of ties were on the table.

3 hours ago, lostpict said:

We ran a variant iof the Scarif battles this weekend too. A surface action (6 TIE Strikers, 2 AT-AT, & 4 Turrets versus 6 X-wings & a U-wing) and a simultaneous orbital action (CR90, GP75, Ghost, 6 y-wings, & 4 x-wings versus Decimator, Assault Carrier, Corvette, 20 TIE fighters and the Shield Gate).

Photo Gallery .

https://www.flickr.com/photos/9975128@N05/sets/72157679873792274

The rebels won the surface, but the Imperials defeated the Rebel orbital fleet.

Wow. That's an impressive setup! I'm working on a Battle of Scarif scenario myself. Mine will be orbital only, though, with a custom playmat and a 19" Nebulon-B.