Huge Ship Brawl is a variant I discovered in the GenCon Events list. Since I had a conflict and couldn't attend it, I tried it at home.

Rules: Same as regular Epic except it's 150 points per side and you're only allowed to use Huge Ships.

I wanted to give this a glowing recommendation as I finished a game in 2 hours. It's worth noting that this included EVERYTHING, unpacking, setup, no one conceded - my Corvette was fully destroyed, and breakdown and packing up. In my experience, 300+ point games take a day, while this was done in a single evening! Even though I got my butt kicked, I had a lot of fun and got to bust out my CR90. Totally worth it!

Unfortunately the promotion of this event (Sunday morning at Gencon in the 19&one area) took backseat to our other events, so I haven't gotten the word out the way I should have for this game variant.

It's essentially a huge ships only battle. Corvettes, raiders, transports, etc.

No small or large base ships involved.

I think these games will play out like a duel of ships of the line, instead of a dogfight. At the very least, it's a cool way to put your huge ships on the table and put them through their paces in a cool and timely fashion.

The Shuttle crew is providing the huge ships at Gencon, so all you need to do to play is show up. There's very limited space so if this sounds like your cup of tea, reserve now!

https://www.gencon.com/events/109164

So basically CR-90 vs Raiders...

38 minutes ago, Foxtr0t said:

So basically CR-90 vs Raiders...

Don't underestimate Gozantis. They may only have one hardpoint, but (a) Suppressor is a hella nasty title to target lock-dependent big ships, and (b) you can probably field 2 Gozanti cruisers to one corvette.

The Heavy Laser Cannon-turret-armed CROC might or might not pull its weight.

The GR-75 is fairly screwed, of course. But you could always take a cheap Corvette and a cheap transport and use the latter as a massive torpedo.

52 minutes ago, Magnus Grendel said:

The GR-75 is fairly screwed, of course. But you could always take a cheap Corvette and a cheap transport and use the latter as a massive torpedo.

BoShek, here you go! ^^

Yeah, don't underestimate the value of a transport being used as a battering ram ?

5 minutes ago, Babaganoosh said:

Yeah, don't underestimate the value of a transport being used as a battering ram ?

1 hour ago, Babaganoosh said:

Yeah, don't underestimate the value of a transport being used as a battering ram ?

It wasn't much of a battering ram in Rogue One...

This sounds fun... I think I'll have to try this.

3 hours ago, Babaganoosh said:

Yeah, don't underestimate the value of a transport being used as a battering ram ?

You mis-spelled Hammerhead.

Saw someone did a Raider vs CR-90 bat rep on YouTube.

Looks interesting but when it all comes down it is slow, huge ships don't move much and they were designed to be played with other fighters on the board.

Try playing a game of Armada with nothing but 200 points of squadrons. You would get the similar results.

How does this not devolve into just two ships rolling dice at each other?

My buddy and I did a Tantive vs. Raider brawl just last night. We used a 3x3 map with 6 asteroids. My Tantive was 138 points (three Turbolasers), and his Raider was 142 (two Turbolasers and one Ion Cannon Battery). I took initiative because I hoped landing crits first would be important. I placed my ship nearly parallel to my own edge, aiming to fly along my own edge and get the broadsides a Tantive prefers. He placed his Raider in the middle of his start area and pointing straight through the middle of the map.

I drifted along with straight 2's and he darted forward with straight 4's. He managed some deft maneuvers and squeezed his epic ship through the asteroids while only landing on one. We then unloaded on each other for a couple turns and landed some crits on each other's front sections, but then we were both too close to get all of our shots off. With less firepower available, we both spent rounds banking and recovering, using WED and Construction Droids to fix up most of the damage.

Finally we created enough separation to start shooting again. He crippled my rear section and I crippled his rear the next turn with my last shots before energy problems with no rear section brought my offensive power way down. I then turned my rear toward him to deny him any kill shots on my front section.

By this point we were many hours (and beers) in, and we called it a draw.

Overall, I think it was an interesting thing to try. We were motivated by a planned full epic match next month and wanted to get comfortable with the epic ship energy rules and upgrades. But it also left us unsatisfied compared to an evening of "normal" X-wing. The maneuver decisions were not exciting, the attacks just felt like chucking dice, and the conclusion of the match was more of a fizzle. Interesting to try, but probably won't do it again.

To be clear, it's not like I'm saying that this game type is ultimately a deeply fulfilling and complex way of enjoying huge ships. Still, It may well be all that, in the end. It's very premature to make a definitive statement either way, really.

I think there is more depth to the game format than some are giving it credit for. Think about the various builds possible for raiders and corvettes, and the tactics involved with each. The role of the 1-card epic ships is also really interesting. They can function as support for 2-card ships, or on their own, particularly the gozanti and c-roc, which can operate as gunships. (Although I would not immediately discount the possible threat posed by a ramming swarm of GR-75s).

Also, at Gencon (and I suggest trying this at home), we plan to run this event as a 2v2, with each player having enough points for one fully loaded 2-card ship or a combination of 1-card and two card ships. I think that is probably the best way to play this format

4 hours ago, PhantomFO said:

How does this not devolve into just two ships rolling dice at each other?

to be honest, up the point limit to allow for each player to take a second huge ship.

8 hours ago, Marinealver said:

to be honest, up the point limit to allow for each player to take a second huge ship.

Agreed. A huge ship furball or big two-sided game is actually really good fun - and at that point, all the different ships do different jobs: shield projector transports are bunkers and battering rams, corvettes artillery pieces - a quite satisfying option is to allow a Gozanti carrier to bring 4 academy pilots if it takes docking clamps, because then fighters are a thing but only if you have launch capacity for them.

(There is something very satisfying in an epic game about watching a pair of carriers advancing with a stream of TIE fighters launching from their docking clamps. I know bombers are a more effective thing to carry but the former just looks right).

Here is my try! (With plenty of money):

C-ROC Cruiser:

• Merchant One, Dengar, 4-Lom, Zuckuss, Heavy Laser Turret, IG-RM Thug Droids

C-ROC Cruiser:

• Automated Protocols, Broken Horn, Bossk, Heavy Laser Turret, IG-RM Thug Droids, Quick-Release Cargo Locks

C-ROC Cruiser:

• Insatiable Worrt, Greedo, Breach Specialist, Heavy Laser Turret, IG-RM Thug Droids, Backup Shield Generator.

EPIC pirates coming for you!

On 7/19/2017 at 8:36 AM, Verlaine said:

It wasn't much of a battering ram in Rogue One...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9aEhmG9r1c46isJC2

If Gozanti's and CROC's were allowed to bring fighters in, would this mode of play be more fun? I could see the game turning into a ticking clock for a Raider or Corvette build (have to blast the Gozanti/Croc before it unloads).

Also what would the CROC be able to bring? Z's, K-Fighters, Sycks, and Protectorates?

41 minutes ago, AngryAlbatross said:

If Gozanti's and CROC's were allowed to bring fighters in, would this mode of play be more fun? I could see the game turning into a ticking clock for a Raider or Corvette build (have to blast the Gozanti/Croc before it unloads).

Also what would the CROC be able to bring? Z's, K-Fighters, Sycks, and Protectorates?

I was thinking that things would get interesting if Gozantis were allowed to bring fighters. Might try that at some point

@Babaganoosh would they be too powerful though? I mean a Gozanti can dump 3 bombers with Jonus right in the face of some poor Corvette/Raider. Granted it would be a light Gozanti, something like this?

Captain Jonus - TIE Shuttle, Twin Ion Engine Mk. II, Systems Officer, Fleet Officer
Gamma Squadron Veteran #1 - Deadeye, Plasma Torpedoes, Extra Munitions
Gamma Squadron Veteran #2 - Deadeye, Plasma Torpedoes, Extra Munitions
Scimitar Squadron Pilot - Proton Torpedoes, Extra Munitions
Gozanti-class Cruiser - Rear Admiral Chiraneau, Dual Laser Turret, Docking Clamps, Vector

I guess a CROC could bring HLC sycks though. Just as scary!