As most of have seen, there are countless 'fix' threads. This isn't much different, mind you, but something I thought would be interesting. What if the humble Ion token was altered? As it stands, getting an ion token sends you drifting forward 1. But you are still able to fire and do actions.

What if the ion token could be assigned to particular cards? For example, being hit and assigned an ion token could be put on your ship card for the standard effect -OR- it could be assigned to an upgrade card, whether that is system, tech, cannon turret or astromech. Assigning an ion token to these cards prevents then from being used in a current round.

If ion tokens were removed at the end of the following round they were obtained, this idea could work. Abilities/upgrades that mitigate ion tokens still have utility. Disabling secondary weapons instead of the movement may be preferable to some, and all that needs to incorporate this change is a new ion token rule card.

Firing an ion weapon to disable a Twin Laser Turret may be preferable to the forward one default.

Epic huge ships, and affecting movement on large ships still would work the same way as currently, removing energy and requiring two ions to affect movement.

Question is who assigns the ion token to what? Likely the inflictor, but if this were to be incorporated, a pilot ability that lets the target choose would be conceivable.

This is all just a thought experiment, but what pros and cons can others foresee if the ion rules were changed?

You can't reasonably track what is ioned. Interesting idea though.

5 minutes ago, GeneticDrift said:

You can't reasonably track what is ioned. Interesting idea though.

Yes, you can. When you inflict an ion, say towards a y-wings twin laser turret, you put an ion token on the upgrade card signifying it is disabled. It is no more hard to track than shield tokens or extra munitions tokens.

A similar idea was brought up a year or so ago but the presenter had more dire consequences for being ioned.

While I like the concept I wonder if it would be OP. I'm pretty sure that most of us have ioned at least one ship off the board, like a Decimator for instance. Add to the one straight no actions, no attack etc., might make the ion weapon the go to gun.

That being said, what if the effects were an alternative to the one straight? The application should be random but the target could suffer loss of weapons, movement, actions or what ever else we could conceive. List it out for six or eight effects such that if an upgrade is to be cancelled for a turn but isn't installed the effect falls back to the one straight. For instance, a ship gets ioned, the die is rolled and the results call for a System Upgrade to get ionized. There's no SU on the target ship so it gets the one straight penalty.

Options could include weapons, crew, movement, tech, systems, target locks, actions and modifications. That's eight right there. Obviously this list won't affect every ship the same but the least effect will still be the one straight. The lowly Tie will be the most immune from ion damage because it can't equip most of the upgrades.

Thoughts?

Just realised I misread the OP. I originally thought the other ion effects were in addition to the straight one, hence my post. Sorry Blasted!

21 minutes ago, GeneticDrift said:

You can't reasonably track what is ioned. Interesting idea though.

Two tokens. One on the table and one on the card. There are more than enough tokens to go around.

I would LOVE to be able to use ion tokens to zap someone's upgrades. Would all upgrade cards be 'ion' vulnerable or should we exclude things like EPTs and Crew? I would prefer all upgrades be up for it. I would say ion tokens placed in this manner would go away only after the next Attack Phase, but that would potentially negate attacks on secondary weapons two rounds in a row, so maybe sticking with the 'going away on a manuever' thing.

Very interesting idea, and maybe something like a Mag Pulse weapon could spread a whole bunch of ion tokens all over someone's upgrades.

Star Trek Attack Wing has a "Disabled" token that you can put on certain cards when you use them. I believe it takes an action to get rid of them unless you have some other kind of ability that can remove them.

I have thought for a while that this mechanic could do some pretty cool things in X-Wing. They'd make a cool way to have reloadable munitions... imagine a missile or torp that is disabled when you fire it, but could be enabled for the price of an action (or automatically, but not until a following turn). I could see some offensive versions of this mechanic that allow you to disable specific cards on enemy ships. This could certainly be done with ion tokens rather than something new. The idea then would be that the device that is affected by the ion token has been rendered inoperative and needs to be "rebooted" somehow.

14 minutes ago, mkevans80 said:

Star Trek Attack Wing has a "Disabled" token that you can put on certain cards when you use them. I believe it takes an action to get rid of them unless you have some other kind of ability that can remove them.

I have thought for a while that this mechanic could do some pretty cool things in X-Wing. They'd make a cool way to have reloadable munitions... imagine a missile or torp that is disabled when you fire it, but could be enabled for the price of an action (or automatically, but not until a following turn). I could see some offensive versions of this mechanic that allow you to disable specific cards on enemy ships. This could certainly be done with ion tokens rather than something new. The idea then would be that the device that is affected by the ion token has been rendered inoperative and needs to be "rebooted" somehow.

Did you miss the Arc Caster cannon secondary when it was spoiled? Double-sided cards are a more elegant vehicle for this mechanic than ion tokens.

No, I did not miss the Arc Caster.

If you have a card that temporarily disables cards that are not double-sided, that's not going to work. Flipped cards are considered discarded unless they are double-sided. A "Disabled" token also has more flexibility. You could put two on a card, for example. Double-sided cards have their place, but so does a "Disabled" token, whether it be its own thing or an ion token as a stand-in.

I really like this idea. You either:

Ion an opponent, give the ship a token. They move 1 white forward next turn.

Ion an opponent, place the token on one of their upgrades. That upgrade is disabled for a round.

It is sort of like Boba Fett crew but Ion instead of a Crit. But mixed with Rex pilot in that to keep it disabled you have to keep shooting.

How do you see it working for large ships? Still need 2 ion to disable an upgrade? (I think for large ships I'd opt for the 1 fwd anyway.)

I like GrimmyV's idea of only affecting "Electronic" upgrades. Systems, Tech, Secondary weapons and maybe Astromechs and Mods?

The idea i propose, for clarity, is an either/or situation. You disable an upgrade or movement.

I figure turrets, cannons, tech, system, astromechs, ordnance and illicit can all be disabled. Modifications are slightly trickier, while if makes sense that an engine upgrade is disabled, the modifications such as hull and shield upgrade do not.

I would keep elite talents and pilot talents as unblockable.

As to large ships, I think two to disable movement should stay, but one to disable an upgrade is fine. This makes a single ion token dangerous, somewhat, to larger ships.

Also, an ion pulse missile against a small based ship can disable movement AND an upgrade.

The idea is to use what is already in the game, ion weapons and their tokens, an only have to change the rule card. This makes it accessible to everyone - the new rule card is in an expansion, but the new rules are availiable to all for free via the FAQ.

Oh, yeah. This would make EMP Device sooo broken. I ion everyone. Your ARC cannot use his title and shoot out its back side. Your Biggs cannot use Inegrated Astromech so I can kill him this turn. And my Y-Wings cannot use their BTL titles so for this turn they can shoot out of arc. Good times

11 minutes ago, cybu said:

Oh, yeah. This would make EMP Device sooo broken. I ion everyone. Your ARC cannot use his title and shoot out its back side. Your Biggs cannot use Inegrated Astromech so I can kill him this turn. And my Y-Wings cannot use their BTL titles so for this turn they can shoot out of arc. Good times

But in a turn of irony (ionry?) you could disable the emp device with an ion token.

truly, as the EMP device is unique, only at range one, it is dangerous, but not fully game breaking. Be wary, perhaps taking out a ship with it equipped quickly, which draw fire from other ships.

I actually really like this idea. Most ion tech is overcosted, so this makes it worthwhile to bring along; plus, it doesn't require any errata.

Honestly, I'd just make a modification or something that allows you to swap an ion token dealt by an attack for a weapons disabled token. Keeps ion Bombs and EMP in line while buffing cannons and turrets.

Interesting idea. I would like a mod that made ion cannons/turrets better. High capacity Ion Turbines: ion turrets/cannons would no longer be damage capped and give 2 ion tokens. Ion weapons are from the early waves and could do with a buff.

I think the trick to this would be an ION dice. You could either assign the token to the ship for the normal effect or roll the ION die. It would have a few faces (1xPrimary Weapon, 2xCannon/Turret, 1xMissile/Torpedo, 1xTech/System/Droid)

3x Delta Squadron + TIE/D + Ion Cannon

ughh....