If my tracking of map rotation is correct we should see a new map for tournament play around the end of October. Any predictions of what pack it will come from?

I'd love to see Chopper and Hera's. It has long open hallways for ranged figures, but takes a lot of movement to get into position. There is not great line of sight from DZ to DZ and a lot of great "hiding" spots so it plays well for brawlers and force users. Seems like a smart move given the force user/melee wave. I could also see Chewie excelling making the new expansion even more desirable for fridge players.

Just my two cents.

I hope it replaces Nal Hutta

Good riddance to Anchorhead Bar, You Will (Not) Be Missed

I'd guess either the chopper base (Hera/C10-P) or the Tarkin Initiative (BT-1/0-0-0) will be next. I hope they stick with the quarterly rotation, which would mean the end of the Nal Hutta swamps about a month before worlds.

I actually really like anchorhead. I absolutely despise nal hutta. Then again, i'm a filthy melee lover, so take that into account. I'm looking forward to the riot troopers. **** I even think the regulars look pretty good!

1 hour ago, MadFuhrer said:

I actually really like anchorhead. I absolutely despise nal hutta. Then again, i'm a filthy melee lover, so take that into account. I'm looking forward to the riot troopers. **** I even think the regulars look pretty good!

Riot Troopers!!!!!

I'd bet, it will be a map from the newest wave ...

Yeah, with Nal Hutta I'd want a map that favors melee in the rotation. Close quarters with lots of corners :-)

-ryanjamal

5 hours ago, ryanjamal said:

Yeah, with Nal Hutta I'd want a map that favors melee in the rotation. Close quarters with lots of corners :-)

-ryanjamal

Agreed. Bring a melee map. What makes this game great is the diversity of the scenarios not necessarily favouring one army.

16 hours ago, TheUnsullied said:

I hope it replaces Nal Hutta

Yeah, I find Nal Hutta and it's scenarios not as original as many others. I'll be happy when it's gone next year. I'm just pissed they wasted Boba Fett's likeness on a map that sucks.

Jeez, what's with all the hate? I've found Nal Hutta to be really interesting and skill testing map. The choice of what lanes to cover, as well as the availability of numerous hidey holes add a lot of tactical depth.

I've had success with melee, short range, and long range lists in this map, so I find it difficult to lend credence to the calls that it is singlehandedly killing melee lists (see the fact that the melee/short ranged focused Ugnaughts as well as Jedi Luke do just fine on this map that's supposedly impossible to play melee on). It's all about playing your opponent to capitalize on their choices and come from an angle they weren't expecting.

I think it'll be Emperor Palpatines map. Will have lots of walls for Force Lightning to bounce off

11 minutes ago, ThatJakeGuy said:

Jeez, what's with all the hate? I've found Nal Hutta to be really interesting and skill testing map. The choice of what lanes to cover, as well as the availability of numerous hidey holes add a lot of tactical depth.

I've had success with melee, short range, and long range lists in this map, so I find it difficult to lend credence to the calls that it is singlehandedly killing melee lists (see the fact that the melee/short ranged focused Ugnaughts as well as Jedi Luke do just fine on this map that's supposedly impossible to play melee on). It's all about playing your opponent to capitalize on their choices and come from an angle they weren't expecting.

It's not that melee can't do well; it's just that the map is highly skewed in ranged units favor because of all the sight lines. I also tend to dislike it because the bottom deployment seems to grant too great an advantage. But I haven't played it enough yet with different lists, so maybe that is just my inexperience talking...

-ryanjamal

23 minutes ago, ThatJakeGuy said:

Jeez, what's with all the hate? I've found Nal Hutta to be really interesting and skill testing map. The choice of what lanes to cover, as well as the availability of numerous hidey holes add a lot of tactical depth.

I've had success with melee, short range, and long range lists in this map, so I find it difficult to lend credence to the calls that it is singlehandedly killing melee lists (see the fact that the melee/short ranged focused Ugnaughts as well as Jedi Luke do just fine on this map that's supposedly impossible to play melee on). It's all about playing your opponent to capitalize on their choices and come from an angle they weren't expecting.

8 minutes ago, ryanjamal said:

It's not that melee can't do well; it's just that the map is highly skewed in ranged units favor because of all the sight lines. I also tend to dislike it because the bottom deployment seems to grant too great an advantage. But I haven't played it enough yet with different lists, so maybe that is just my inexperience talking...

-ryanjamal

I played a half melee list on it and did pretty well so far in all my games. I won the store championship and had to play the raining freight mission against an 2 E Ug and 2 Reg Ug swarm and was able to make it a landslide by the end of the round two.

3 Nexu

Onar - might as well be melee

Greedo

E Quay

E Jawa

Jabba

Black Market and Beast Tamer

I'm also really looking forward to the speedy melee of Ahsoka in HotE and maybe pairing her with Nexu and Jarrod or Davith (more likely than Jarrod). It should be fun and interesting to see how they do

13 minutes ago, ryanjamal said:

It's not that melee can't do well; it's just that the map is highly skewed in ranged units favor because of all the sight lines. I also tend to dislike it because the bottom deployment seems to grant too great an advantage. But I haven't played it enough yet with different lists, so maybe that is just my inexperience talking...

-ryanjamal

The inequity of the deployment zones are why its not my favorite map. If you get the blue deployment zone, there are maybe 2 spots where you can actually hide out of line of sight.

19 minutes ago, Fightwookies said:

The inequity of the deployment zones are why its not my favorite map. If you get the blue deployment zone, there are maybe 2 spots where you can actually hide out of line of sight.

Same here. Some late activation focussed Rangers could have some juicy shots. They could potentially hit at range 17!

I actually don't like those maps, where you can hide your figures so well. Beyond all that talk about melee figures being good on such maps, I most often see eWeequays and IG hiding there, coming out, shooting, hiding again. These maps favor passive play. That is so boring.

12 minutes ago, DerBaer said:

I actually don't like those maps, where you can hide your figures so well. Beyond all that talk about melee figures being good on such maps, I most often see eWeequays and IG hiding there, coming out, shooting, hiding again. These maps favor passive play. That is so boring.

That's why I like maps that have good cover near the middle of the field. Take Jabba's for example. There are some great nooks and crannies that work well for Luke or ePigs but rarely do I see eRangers or eQuays advancing that far.

16 minutes ago, DerBaer said:

I actually don't like those maps, where you can hide your figures so well. Beyond all that talk about melee figures being good on such maps, I most often see eWeequays and IG hiding there, coming out, shooting, hiding again. These maps favor passive play. That is so boring.

Nal Hutta's problem is that one side can hide figures more effectively than the other. If both sides were wide open, that would be fine with me. On the red side, you can at least hide during the first round while the Blue side just can't. If you're playing against (focused) eRangers who can hit hard from 12+spaces away, you'll be down activations in round one and there's little you can do about it.

The designers said, that all maps are intentionally unfair. Having the Initiative on turn 2 is so good, that having the initiative on turn 1 has to have some extra bonus in choosing the better deployment zone. I actually like that.

25 minutes ago, Fightwookies said:

Nal Hutta's problem is that one side can hide figures more effectively than the other. If both sides were wide open, that would be fine with me. On the red side, you can at least hide during the first round while the Blue side just can't. If you're playing against (focused) eRangers who can hit hard from 12+spaces away, you'll be down activations in round one and there's little you can do about it.

What he said. Let the wookie win!

2 minutes ago, DerBaer said:

The designers said, that all maps are intentionally unfair. Having the Initiative on turn 2 is so good, that having the initiative on turn 1 has to have some extra bonus in choosing the better deployment zone. I actually like that.

I suppose this is another way this game is great IMHO. As annoying as I find it, it creates a worthy challenge.

5 hours ago, DerBaer said:

The designers said, that all maps are intentionally unfair. Having the Initiative on turn 2 is so good, that having the initiative on turn 1 has to have some extra bonus in choosing the better deployment zone. I actually like that.

Agreed but there is a fine balance here because if one side is significantly better then Devious Schemes becomes really good (because it gets you the better deployment zone and Round 2 Initiative).

It's a tricky balance but I think some maps (like Anchorhead) go a bit too far in helping one side such that Devious Schemes becomes too powerful.

Previous maps where 1 side was significantly better: Nelvanian War Zone and Mos Eisley Cantina (though Mercs were not as powerful when those were in rotation).

Similarly Nal Hutta Swamps and Coruscant Landfill can be highly advantageous on one side to but mostly to certain lists (that are Rebel not Merc-based) so the Devious Schemes is useful defensively (and depending on the meta). I think this situation strikes a good balance.

5 minutes ago, nickv2002 said:

Agreed but there is a fine balance here because if one side is significantly better then Devious Schemes becomes really good (because it gets you the better deployment zone and Round 2 Initiative).

It's a tricky balance but I think some maps (like Anchorhead and maybe Nal Hutta Swamps) go a bit too far in helping one side such that Schemes becomes too powerful.

(Previous maps where 1 side was significantly better Nelvanian War Zone & Mos Eisley Cantina though Mercs were not as powerful when those were in rotation.)

It surprises me how little I see Devious Scheme used. For me it's an auto-include in my merc lists. It gives you a MASSIVE advantage in the game. Plus helps you with preparing for a major tournament as you only have a few deployment plans to think about.