Of all the times I've played this, I've never had a game be decided because the rebel players retreated. Heck, I can count the number of times the rebels have retreated from a battle on one hand. Usually they just maneuver the fleet away or deploy enough forces by the time the imperial fleet arrives.

Lets face it, in this game with movement so slow and you can see a fleet coming a mile away, how would you ever get trapped by an Interdictor cruiser? Hopefully they only cost circles and not squares.

I'm not really sure.

I agree with your observation, that retreats don't seem to happen much. Perhaps the new mechanics will alter things somewhat so that retreats become more of a thing.

Personally, I've found hit and run tactics to be very useful for the Rebels. It forces the Imperial player to either defend his fleet but lock it down, or chose to take the hits and hope it's not too much damage. Assuming the Interdictors prevent retreating, they can be useful for protecting smaller fleets.

19 hours ago, patrickmahan said:

Do you think Interdictors will actually be useful?

We know next to nothing about mechanics in expansion, but even though all (or most) units will get special ability on tactic cards, unit's stats (dice and health) will still be a major contributing factor to how much the unit is useful in combat.

I think Interdictor's stats will be similar to Star Destroyer's (maybe something like: 1 red die, 2 green dice, 4 red health), so even if if its ability is not extra useful, his dice will be. Therefore I really doubt it will be a "circle unit". We don't even know for sure if gaining Interdictor will involve production icons.

And we don't actually know what its ability will be, maybe it's not a simple "no retreat", but "no retreat + deal 1 additional damage per combat round" or something like that.

Star Destroyers are a lot stronger than Interdictors. Most of the Interdictor is just the gravity wells while Star Destroyers have turbo laser and ion cannon batteries and can carry fighter squadrons.

Well with the new card, rogue one, which allows you to remove a target marker of free a leader if you retreat I think that interdictors might find use. Also if the nebulons need cards to build then it would make it that you want to keep them safe.

I am going to be surprised if any unit has more than 1 green die since we are only getting 3 of them.

Don't forget there could be major changes to ALL the units stat lines since they are just documented on that piece of cardboard you keep in front of you. I am not saying there will be, I am just saying there could be.

Based on the number of units being provided, I suspect that they will be built off of symbols on the board. 4 Nebulon Bs is a lot (and just as many as the corvettes).

I have had several games by now where the rebel fleet would attack an imperial fleet, destroy a single Star Destroyer and retreat afterward. Interdictors might be useful in some scenarios i think.

22 hours ago, Jobu said:

Based on the number of units being provided, I suspect that they will be built off of symbols on the board. 4 Nebulon B s is a lot (and just as many as the corvettes).

where did you get this number from?

Edit: sorry for double post. I got confused with how the citation system works ...

50 minutes ago, Raahk said:

where did you get this number from?

Component photo from FFG World Championships actually shows 3 x Nebulon-B and 3 x Interdictor.

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1776542/

55 minutes ago, Raahk said:

I have had several games by now where the rebel fleet would attack an imperial fleet, destroy a single Star Destroyer and retreat afterward. Interdictors might be useful in some scenarios i think.

Yeah, that's what I often do as the Rebels. Hit an Imperial fleet and try to destroy all troop carriers, leaving a bunch of stranded TIEs and Troopers, then retreating to lick my wounds. Slows the Empire down a whole lot, especially if you can get them stuck on a non-inhabited planet in a corridor en route to the Rebel Base.

3 hours ago, Bron Ander Haltern said:

Component photo from FFG World Championships actually shows 3 x Nebulon-B and 3 x Interdictor.

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1776542/

Yep, I misremembered that. My point still stands though. 1 or 2 would make sense for mission cards, 3 is to many.

3 minutes ago, Jobu said:

Yep, I misremembered that. My point still stands though. 1 or 2 would make sense for mission cards, 3 is to many.

Well, depends on how many fleets the Empire is running. With only 1, the Interdictors become pretty situational, relying entirely on the luck of it's specific fleet being in the right position.

With 3 (and again, that's max total) you have the option of running multiple fleets with Interdictors. Which, again, can help against Rebel strategic attacks against your fleet.

I was more referring to if they are generated off of mission cards or icons than how many you put on the board. I think its most likely they will be generated off of icons on the board.

I retreat all the time on both sides. Rebels for the guerilla tactics and even the Imperials. If you are not retreating then I suggest you start trying it out more in your strategy. Don't underestimate the need for troops to survive to live another day, or retreat that Star Destroyer before the rebels blow it up and play their objective card.

On 2017-5-21 at 5:27 AM, patrickmahan said:

Star Destroyers are a lot stronger than Interdictors. Most of the Interdictor is just the gravity wells while Star Destroyers have turbo laser and ion cannon batteries and can carry fighter squadrons.

Fair enough, I don't really know much about lore. I still see it as something closer to Star Destroyer in terms of health and firepower (lack of on-board fighter squadrons will likely be reflected simply by lower transport capacity) than to Assault Carrier.

On 2017-5-21 at 3:37 PM, Jobu said:

I am going to be surprised if any unit has more than 1 green die since we are only getting 3 of them.

Maybe that's the idea? 3 dice cap would make sure players won't spam too much of a single type of unit in one unit group. Who knows.

Besides, we already have 5 red dice limit - while at the same time we have units with 3 red dice.

On 2017-5-21 at 3:37 PM, Jobu said:

Don't forget there could be major changes to ALL the units stat lines since they are just documented on that piece of cardboard you keep in front of you. I am not saying there will be, I am just saying there could be.

I could see some small modifications to limited number of units, sure - especially to "make room" for some of the new, similar units. However, green dice should provide plenty of new design space and unique combinations, and I doubt there will be any major changes to what we have in the base game.

On 2017-5-21 at 3:37 PM, Jobu said:

Based on the number of units being provided, I suspect that they will be built off of symbols on the board. 4 Nebulon Bs is a lot (and just as many as the corvettes).

I agree it's most likely that resource icons will be involved somewhat. However, I wouldn't rule out cards being used in some way - not like projects cards for SSD (first acquire a card, then use it), but a new starting mission, maybe...?

On 5/19/2017 at 11:13 PM, patrickmahan said:

Of all the times I've played this, I've never had a game be decided because the rebel players retreated. Heck, I can count the number of times the rebels have retreated from a battle on one hand. Usually they just maneuver the fleet away or deploy enough forces by the time the imperial fleet arrives.

Lets face it, in this game with movement so slow and you can see a fleet coming a mile away, how would you ever get trapped by an Interdictor cruiser? Hopefully they only cost circles and not squares.

Uhhhhh. What?

I don't think I've ever seen a game where the rebels haven't retreated at least 3 times from battle. Hit and run is the name of the game. Add an interdictor to your fleet and it's the ultimate defensive tool.

As for intordictors they are basically halfway between a Gizanti (assault Carrier) and a ISD. So I'm thinking 3 red health would be perfect. That's also about where the Nebulon B frigate fits in the lore.

I see it more as a defensive unit than offensive.

Rarely do I see the Imps attacking a rebel fleet in a situation where the rebels will have a chance to retreat...usually they have overwhelming force, or whatever escapes doesn't much matter anyways.

But the rebels tend to make a lot of hit and run attacks, especially to slow Imperial advances by making the Imps defend with leaders. Get them to commit a leader, then retreat. This locks down that fleet for that turn. If they don't commit the leader, then they can take some heavy losses and the Rebels might stick around to finish off a weakened fleet, which could complete objectives. By sticking a interdictor into some of fleets, it creates a safety net where the rebels can't hit and run as easy.

It should be weaker than an ISD, 2 health may be a better move though. 3 health leaves them as a major target for hit and runs. 2 health forces hit and runs to take out two ships making them useful. It will likely be the same production as the ISD though. So it's a balancing act. Stronger offensive ship or weaker defensive ship to stop those pesky hit and run assaults.

get it at a rebel base and GO for Rebs. At least I hope.

On 5/19/2017 at 9:13 PM, patrickmahan said:

Of all the times I've played this, I've never had a game be decided because the rebel players retreated. Heck, I can count the number of times the rebels have retreated from a battle on one hand. Usually they just maneuver the fleet away or deploy enough forces by the time the imperial fleet arrives.

Lets face it, in this game with movement so slow and you can see a fleet coming a mile away, how would you ever get trapped by an Interdictor cruiser? Hopefully they only cost circles and not squares.

Looks like the interdictors are build via cards (likely project cards). Also, WTF game are you people playing? I retreat all the time. Hell, I retreat as the Empire. You don't want to unnecessarily lose capital ships and give Rebels free objectives. As the Rebels, you want to be as annoying as possible so you should go in (usually with a smaller force than the imperial player), take out some critical units (like assault carrier, star destroyer, or death star under construction or not), then run the **** away. It also allows you to bait imperial leaders into combat then leaving to another planet, making it so they can't capture your leaders or finish off your units. You live to fight another day. You bait the Empire into potentially chasing you aimlessly onto useless parts of the map.

Retreating is currently the most interesting part of combat in the current non-expanded version of the game.

Interdictors via cards makes them less useful as far as I'm concerned.

Rebels have lots of reasons to attack and retreat (complete objectives, lock up leaders, take out strategic units, etc). Interdictors would be a great trade for a Star Destroyer. Weaker? Absolutely. But by mid to late game you can be maxed or near maxed on SDs. Beyond that, it's easy to throw together Imp fleets that max out the dice rolling, so having a new unit that adds new dice is pretty powerful. On top of that, the cinematic combat reroll mechanic could really make them useful. I wouldn't sub out all of my SDs, but 1 or 2 as the game progressed depending on a few factors? Sure. This makes it good for both sides. Weaker units make it easier for the Rebels to make attacks, while it also gives incentives to the Imp player.

Making it a card though, ugh. Multiple actions to get one of these on the field? Eh. I never build a 2nd DS, and I rarely have the opportunity and need align at the same time to spend the actions to build a SSD. We haven't seen the entire process, so maybe it will be more worthwhile than I'm thinking, but I'm already losing interest in this new unit that I previously was having a fun time thinking of potential uses.

Could it be that you retreat more once you've learnt the game further? I only have 5 games under my belt (3 of which solo :-\ ) but I feel like it's not natural at the start, until you get a good feel for your actual chances in combat. I mean - it's not obvious when (to me at least) to retreat or not at the start. But it is darn useful for the Rebels...

3 hours ago, Yan31 said:

Could it be that you retreat more once you've learnt the game further? I only have 5 games under my belt (3 of which solo :-\ ) but I feel like it's not natural at the start, until you get a good feel for your actual chances in combat. I mean - it's not obvious when (to me at least) to retreat or not at the start. But it is darn useful for the Rebels...

That's true, you definitely retreat more the better and more experienced you are at the game. The first like half dozen games I've played I never retreated. Now I retreat almost every game, as either Empire or Rebels. Usually multiple times.

Nebulons don't need cards to be build:

The problem was, that no direct link was posted in the news post, but if you clicked on the "next Pic" button you would eventually get it. So now we know that Nebulons are built from the same place as corvettes. And if might say, two of those green die are not too shabby as I feared.