Mission 5: Preystalker - Mission Review (Firespray)

Hello Everyone! It's been a while since I've done one of these, but The Shuttle Tydirium will be reviewing this mission with the Millennial Condor podcast from Quebec Province, Canada! We are pretty excited and I would love to discuss the mission with people to get their ideas and their feedback to see if they have played it at all, too. I especially am interested in trying this mission out with various new upgrades for the Firespray.

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Plot summary

On Tatooine, the cantinas are empty thanks to the latest Holonet (sic) transmission—a high price has been set on the leader of the Rebel forces desperately fleeing the area. Scum and villainy across the planet scramble to claim the bounty. But the best hunters have already found their prey, assailing the Rebel squadron as it turns to face the relentless pursuit.

Mission Setup

Rebel: 150 Squad Points.

When the Rebel player builds his squad, he must choose one of his ships to have a BOUNTY. The squad point cost of this ship is doubled. Regardless of the number of Elite Upgrade icons in its upgrade bar, treat this ship as having two Elite Upgrade icons. Reduce the combined cost of all Upgrade cards equipped to the ship by 10 (to a minimum of 0).

Imperial: 90 Squad Points.

The Rebel player places his ships anywhere in the play area that is not within Range 1-3 of the Rebel or Imperial edges of the play area. Each Rebel ship must directly face the Rebel edge of the play area. Each ship placed by the Rebel player receives one stress token.

Then the Rebel player inserts the bounty token into the tower of the Rebel Ship's base that he chose during squad building.

Then the Imperial player places his ships within Range 1-3 of the Imperial Edge of the play area.

Mission Objectives

The Rebels achieve a victory if they destroy all Imperial ships. The Empire is successful if it destroys the ship with the bounty.

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The first thing that I notice is the points for this mission. The Rebels get 150, but you have to double the points of the Bounty ship. For this mission, having a large based ship that is hard to destroy is probably the best bet in a normal scenario, but the rules for doubling the cost of the large based ship means it might not be the best. I just threw together an Outrider with the most expensive upgrades and came up with this:

Dash Rendar (36)
Expertise (4)
Heavy Laser Cannon (7)
Luke Skywalker (7)
Glitterstim (2)
Smuggling Compartment (0)
Anti-Pursuit Lasers (2)
Outrider (5)

Total: 63

So, a pretty nice ship at 63pts. Yes, yes, you wouldn't take those specific upgrades (like Luke and Expertise, but I'm just taking the most expensive to make a point). So.....if I double the base cost and then -10 pts from upgrades it comes to.....89 pts! That's far more expensive than in a normal game. Then again, it leaves 61 points to buy the rest of your list. That means you will have a total of 124 pts vs. 90 Imperials. Overall, I like this mechanic to kind of balance out the idea of taking the worst possible ship to have to blow up and throw it into the mix.

With that whole concept in mind, what if you took something like a generic Green Squadron Pilot? Go with something cheap and try to make it stay alive. An A-wing just might be squirrely enough to stay alive in the whole thing.

Green Squadron Pilot (19)
Push the Limit (3)
Chardaan Refit (-2)
Expertise (4)
Shield Upgrade (4)
A-Wing Test Pilot (0)

Total: 28

Normal cost of 28 translates to 39 pts. That leaves more points for the rest of your list to defeat the enemy. That's 111 pts to try to fight off the enemy 90 while the Green Squadron runs. Throw in Biggs and Lowhhrick and that's pretty obnoxious. Then again...maybe having those guys in means you have to fly too close to the Bounty and it's not worth it?

What are people's thoughts on going with something expensive and hard to kill or cheap and not quite as hard to kill?

I'll post this and add more thoughts as I worry that I'll delete it all.

So, let's explore Biggs some more. If you are not playing something evasive that is going to run, then Biggs and Lowhhrick are crazy good. Biggs was out when this mission was made, but adding Lowhhrick makes it even crazier. Still, there are more options out there for the Imperials to take things like Harpoon Missiles that can hurt everyone. Or cheap Cruise Missiles that can blast Biggs down plenty fast. Part of the thing is that those will eat into the points of the overall Imperials. If you have Biggs AND something like the Outrider, then you will have a tough time trying to blast him fast AND destroy the Bounty ship. All this while a lot of enemy points tries to blast you and your list. Personally, I think it would be interesting to also try the mission while banning Biggs and/or Lowhhrick...just to see.

Besides the Bounty ship, what would be good to take for the Rebels? That is....besides those listed above.

• Anything with Draw Their Fire could be good. I mean, even a cheap A-wing with it could work and keep up with a fast Bounty. A Z-95 or cheap Y-wing (with EPT droid) could also work.
• Ahsoka in captured Tie could be really good, especially with the title.
• Captain Rex can suppress some fire for pretty affordable prices.
• E'tahn might actually be an option as not many will actually shoot at him. You don't need to give him a lot and the rest of your forces will be doing criticals, especially if someone has Harpoon Missile on your side.
• Kyle Katarn and Recon Spec could maybe be worth it as maybe they won't be shot at often. Or...if they are, then maybe it saves you for that much longer. Possibly a cheap HWK with support crew.
• A U-wing with crew is pretty cheap, can dish out some damage, and take a number of crew. It's not going to get singled out as much and you have more points. Good for using various crew you want to.
• Airen Cracken would also be useful and make your other ships efficient. Cheap enough to use and most likely not going to get targetted down. He can also take a missile.

I think ships like B-wings would be bad as they are decent with the offensive power, but are real tanks. The Imperials only need to fire at the Bounty. It would probably be worth it to take an X-wing with better mobility than the B-wing.

There are a ton of crew options to go through. I better hit POST before I lose it.

Rebel Crew:

• Finn can be good on someone else to push through some damage faster.
• Chewbacca on the Bounty is good.
• Could Flight Instructor actually be worth it here? For the Bounty, that is. Especially if -4 points.
• R2-D2 would be good.
• Hotshot Copilot is good on others that fire first and can strip tokens from Imperials.
• Recon Spec is always good, especially on Bounty
• Navigator might be nice on Bounty that runs
• C-3PO is great on a Bounty with 1 Agility
• Kyle Katarn crew is good to remove stress and get a Focus
• Lando is risky, but might pull you out of things in a pinch!
• Kanan can be used by someone else in the list.
• Operation Specialist would be great for another ship than Bounty.
• Baze mixed with Hotshot Copilot on something like a U-wing isn't a bad idea.
• Dash might be worth it on a Bounty that runs with turret.
• Sabine Wren could be a great crew, depending on your list.
• Jyn Erso could be really good on a Bounty that is facing it's enemy.
• Rey could be great on the Bounty
• Captain Rex....isn't horrible, especially on the Bounty.
• Hera could be good on the Bounty

Some of these are good for other ships than the Bounty, such as U-wings and even a HWK (I mean 16 pts and who would shoot at it?). Others are good on the Bounty. Some are interesting choices that you might take in this mission instead of a standard from 100/6. It might be a good time to try it out (like Baze mixed with Hotshot).

I would avoid taking low hull ships as the bounty. All it takes is one Proton Bomb and your game is over (or Vader force choke, or other crit through shields) and your day can be over.

I agree on cheap though. Maybe a Blue Squadron Pathfinder with an Engine Upgrade to help it get out of dodge? Stick R2-D2 and Reinforced Deflectors on there as well for funsies.

I like the idea for a fluffy Rebel squadron for this mission. If we take the Blue Squadron Pathfinder (23) as the Bounty ship, then that gives us 127 points to play with:

Blue Squadron Pathfinder (Bounty) - Pivot Wing, Elusiveness, Leia Organa (because bounty), R2-D2, Reinforced Deflectors, Engine Upgrade (40/63)
Wedge Antilles - Expertise, R7-T1, Vector Thrusters (38)
Red Squadron Pilot - R2 Astromech, Integrated Astromech (24)
Red Squadron Pilot - R2 Astromech, Integrated Astromech (24)

That's a squad total of 149, and a pretty sweet little escort for her Highness.

I think a good way to approach this scenario from the rebel side, aside from building a wily or resilient bounty, is to really concentrate on firepower for the rest of your list. You're practically guaranteed that other ships in your list will. It be attacked. So make sure you have hard hitters that can stay with or behind your bounty

Time for some Imperial Talk! I think they can really be under the gun here. I mean, they need to kill just one ship, but the enemy has a lot of points. They only get 90 pts, but you need to take a Firespray in the list. The cheapest Firespray with no upgrades is 33 pts, leaving you 57 pts for the rest of your list! That.....could be pretty rough.

Still....let's look at Firespray builds that could be good. Let's go for the pilots:

• Bounty Hunter: Cheap. He leaves a lot of points for other things.
• Krassis: No EPT, but that re-roll on secondary weapons is really good. I'm not sure if the HLC is the best bet, but maybe if you want to go guns blazing and die fast.
• Kath Scarlet: Put a Mangler Cannon on here and her ability might be worth it to put stress on that Bounty. Getting expensive.
• Bobba Fett: The meanest and hardest bounty hunter of them all! Well....Imperial version is probably not the best. Too expensive for what you get. I'd say no.

Let's go for upgrades.

Slave 1 title? I think it's a solid option. It can give you Extra Munitions if you need it. It can give you Long Range Scanners if you think you will have a runner Bounty. Torpedoes aren't a bad option, though they can cost points. You will have to be trim in this list. I think it's an option.

Andrasta title? It allows you to take Bomblet Generator. To be honest, you can drop out a free Bomb every round. I don't think that's a bad option if you want to spend 2 pts on it. It's especially good if you are chasing the Bounty and have people on your tail.

Cannons:

• HLC: Does the job, but for lots of points. I think this might be left in the hangar.
• Autoblaster: Umm....not for 5 pts!
• Mangler: Gives critical hits. Medium expensive. Might work with other abilities (Harpoon or Kath). Use only if needed with other ability.
• Ion Cannon: It isn't a bad idea in the list, but I'm thinking your Firespray might need to be dishing out damage as your heavy hitter. I love ion, but.....it depends. 3 pts for the option to have it.
• Flechette Cannon: If only it would let you pile on stress, then it could be tied with Tactician.
• Arc Caster: Well....if you face a bunch of Rebel ships that are going to joust you and get in your grill, it's not a bad option. You may only need it once, but you can splash some damage to another. Good for Biggs or someone. If you have the points....
• Tractor Beam: It's 1 pt. If you aren't going to use another cannon, it's not a bad option. It could drag your Bounty closer to where you want....and reduces it's Agility so that your Tie Swarm (if you took one) can blast away much more effectively. It's really not a bad option if you can spare 1 pt. You give up your 3 dice attack to do it, but it might make your other ships better.

Bombs....I'll just say that Bomblet Generator is worth the points, but not much else. Maybe you take Slave 1 and have Extra Munitions? Well, then a cheap Seismic Charge, but spending points on Bombs might not be the best. You need people behind you. You will joust the Rebels and if you live, then will have them behind you as you gun for the Bounty.

Missiles:

• Ion Pulse Missle: 3 pts and you get to keep the TL. This will ionize even a big sucker. Great for use on your Bounty. Used at the right moment can win you the game. If you have Slave 1 and Extra Munitions, you get 2.
• Thread Tracers: Maybe good on another ship, but save your Firespray for the actual shots.
• Cruise Missile: Not a bad option as an opener, especially if you have a high PS ship...or at least one higher than an enemy ship. If you know you are going to joust, just go forward and fire away. If you can get it on the Bounty, even better!
• Advanced Homing Missile: 3 pts. Only 3 dice. If you hit, you bypass shields and put a Crit on target. Probably only useful in a situation like this where you really need to take out one enemy ship. It's.....an option. Maybe not the best, but it might actually be useful here!
• Harpoon Missile: Probably better on something other than than Firespray, but might work. It's 4 pts, which is high, but it's going to be the cheapest, most accurate missile.

Next....crew!

1 hour ago, heychadwick said:

With that whole concept in mind, what if you took something like a generic Green Squadron Pilot? Go with something cheap and try to make it stay alive. An A-wing just might be squirrely enough to stay alive in the whole thing.

The last time we played Preystalker, the defenders took Dengar with many toys and ran into the same double-cost problem.

My personal suspicion is that the best balance point for the defender is either (as you suggest) something cheap and hard to kill - A Green Squadron Pilot or, worse, Ahsoka Tano - or else if you actually want to get some use out of your free stuff, one of the mid-tier aces with a good pilot ability but no elite slot.

Red Ace springs to mind; he's a relatively low cost pilot normally found with expensive upgrades (R2-D2 and Comm Relay) and no elite slot, meaning he gets maximum advantage out of the 2 elite upgrades the bounty gets.

With Lowhhrick starting stressed with the enemy behind him, I don't think he's too big a deal (compared to normal, anyway). Biggs, as ever, is an issue.

10 minutes ago, heychadwick said:

Kath Scarlet: Put a Mangler Cannon on here and her ability might be worth it to put stress on that Bounty. Getting expensive.

This is a mission where you know exactly who you're going after. In that situation, Kath is one of the better ships the empire has:

• Kath Scarlet, A Score To Settle, Agent Kallus

40 points, with a perma-focus attacking or defending one target of your choice, including a focus-to-crit meaning dodging her attacks means eating (more) stress.

Take her with ion pulse missiles and guidance chips and laugh. Alternatively, cluster missiles can make a nice dent in an agility 0 target, but I wouldn't expect to see one as the bounty out of sheer cost.

I'd definitely agree with cruise missiles - this is one of the few missions where getting a 5-die cruise missile shot is "easy" (comparatively) and with your points disadvantage, you don't want to be playing an extended game, so ordnance-heavy opening attacks would be good.

I'm thinking Imperials are going to want an alpha here, in an attempt to try and focus down the Bounty as fast as possible. Stalling the bounty with Ion weaponry is a good idea, and you're also going to want a bit of staying power... I'd go with:

Bounty Hunter - Ion Pulse Missile, Guidance Chips
Gamma Squadron Veteran - Deadeye, Proton Torpedoes, Extra Munitions, Guidance Chips
Gamma Squadron Veteran - Deadeye, Proton Torpedoes, Extra Munitions, Guidance Chips

2 points left over for a Tail Gunner or Extra Munitions on the Firespray

Just now, FTS Gecko said:

I'm thinking Imperials are going to want an alpha here, in an attempt to try and focus down the Bounty as fast as possible. Stalling the bounty with Ion weaponry is a good idea, and you're also going to want a bit of staying power... I'd go with:

Bount Hunter - Ion Pulse Missile, Guidance Chips
Gamma Squadron Veteran - Deadeye, Proton Torpedoes, Extra Munitions, Guidance Chips
Gamma Squadron Veteran - Deadeye, Proton Torpedoes, Extra Munitions, Guidance Chips

2 points left over for a Tail Gunner or Extra Munitions on the Firespray

Nice list. I'd take Extra Munitions - you start behind them, and they start stressed, so you shouldn't be overflying them anytime soon (especially if trying to fire a range 2-3 missile turn 1). A second ion missile will do you more good.

Equally, I'm not convinced deadeye is required. You can start inside target lock range, and they're facing the wrong way to try and rush into your blind spot - for the same price, Crack Shot is a much bigger increase in opening punch...

Depending on how they want to deploy, by the way, changing one torp set and EPT for Ion Torpedoes might be nice; splash-ion is useful if the bounty has a moustache/wookie close protection detail.

Crew:

• General Hux: Lots of points, but maybe....just maybe worth it.
• Gunner: If you miss, you fire again. It's good for hunting a Bounty, but it's 5 pts. Tough call when you are short on points.
• Yssane Isard: 4 pts is a lot, but it keeps the Firespray in the fight longer. Tough call, but if you have a lot of Rebels gunning for your Firespray, it might be worth it.
• Hotshot Copilot: Still 4 pts, but it would strip tokens on the Bounty. That's a pretty good option.
• Recon Specialist: this has always been a good option on a Firespray. It allows you to be offensive and defensive....or double defensive if you are being gunned for. With 2 Agility, it's one of the best options to go for.
• Darth Vader: Hurt yourself to bring a critical hit to the enemy! It depends on the type of ship, but could be worth it.
• Rebel Captive: This is also a good option when you have the enemy gunning for you. They probably have a lot of generics, so it might not be as good as if they have aces, but....it's not a bad option. You know you are going to get shot.
• Mara Jade: Really good if you are trying to get past a more numerous screen of enemy fighters and go for the Bounty. Puts the stress on people as they are trying to turn around next turn.
• Kylo Ren: Kylo is a pretty good option....as long as you don't have a runner. Perfect if they took an expensive and fighting Bounty. In fact, this could be exceptionally good.
• Operational Specialist: It's.....OK. Good if you have a bunch of Tie Fighters. Maybe not the best option on this ship, but not a bad option. There are just better...especially to stay alive.
• Tactician: A solid option, especially after the Bounty.
• Moff Jerjerrod: If you are low on points, this is 2 that is basically a Shield Upgrade. You know the Firespray will be ripped apart. This keeps you in the game longer. Would another crew also keep you alive more? Yes, but not for 2 pts.
• Agent Kallus: This is a really really good option. It's like a free Focus for whenever you are dealing with the Bounty. It's a better choice if they go for a large based ship.
• Tail Gunner: It's not bad for 2 pts, but maybe not the best in this scenario. You will want to be firing at the Bounty, not what's behind you. Well, I guess the Bounty could be behind you, but you probably want a more defensive crew to stay alive longer. Still, not a bad option.

Most of these are taken from perspective of the Firespray as you probably won't get another Imperial ship with a crew.

58 minutes ago, FTS Gecko said:

I would avoid taking low hull ships as the bounty. All it takes is one Proton Bomb and your game is over (or Vader force choke, or other crit through shields) and your day can be over.

...but you don't know what your opponent is going to take. I think if you go big, then a Vader or Proton Bomb is a bad choice for them. It's risky either way. I like to think that an A-wing can probably stay out of a lot of firing arcs and have enough defensive capability if he's shot at.

48 minutes ago, Babaganoosh said:

I think a good way to approach this scenario from the rebel side, aside from building a wily or resilient bounty, is to really concentrate on firepower for the rest of your list. You're practically guaranteed that other ships in your list will. It be attacked. So make sure you have hard hitters that can stay with or behind your bounty

Yes. I think the Rebels can really focus on doing damage here. It can be ugly.

25 minutes ago, Magnus Grendel said:

My personal suspicion is that the best balance point for the defender is either (as you suggest) something cheap and hard to kill - A Green Squadron Pilot or, worse, Ahsoka Tano - or else if you actually want to get some use out of your free stuff, one of the mid-tier aces with a good pilot ability but no elite slot.

Red Ace springs to mind; he's a relatively low cost pilot normally found with expensive upgrades (R2-D2 and Comm Relay) and no elite slot, meaning he gets maximum advantage out of the 2 elite upgrades the bounty gets.

...

This is a mission where you know exactly who you're going after. In that situation, Kath is one of the better ships the empire has:

• Kath Scarlet, A Score To Settle, Agent Kallus

Oh, I like that Kath Scarlet! That's pretty fierce.

Yes, a middle Bounty is good, too. I think a T-70 X-wing would be a good one, as it's got a nice mix of everything (firepower, speed, green dice, hits, etc). I still get caught in the idea of Galactic Civil War too often and don't really think of the new ships to add in. It could be interesting to have variants were you went all one or the other.

Imperial EPT options:

• Expertise might be good if you think you need the Focus for defense. A lot of points, but not bad.
• Opportunist on another ship that has an EPT and you have Hotshot Copilot. Still, 4 pts.
• Outmaneuver is good if they start running.
• Predator: Of course it's good as it's against the Bounty, but you won't get the points for generics against the Bounty (most likely).
• Ruthlessness should be really good! You know they have more points and it will be nasty. If you can get a Tie Defender with this and the /d title...it would be brutal!
• Swarm Leader could also be really good if you go with lots of Tie Fighters. You can probably get 4 Academy Pilots in your list. If you have 2 bonus dice on the Firespray. That could be really nice! That could be a 5 dice attack. Of course, you put all your eggs in one basket at that point, but....what a basket!
• Lone Wolf could be good, but might be used against you. It all depends.
• Crackshot is always good.
• Rage could be nice. Would be nice with Gunner, for example. It would hurt the next round, but maybe someone has Inspiring Recruit?
• A Score To Settle probably has to be the best EPT to take! It's 0 pts. It helps you kill the Bounty! Great with Kath Scarlet.

9 minutes ago, heychadwick said:

Swarm Leader could also be really good if you go with lots of Tie Fighters. You can probably get 4 Academy Pilots in your list. If you have 2 bonus dice on the Firespray. That could be really nice! That could be a 5 dice attack. Of course, you put all your eggs in one basket at that point, but....what a basket!

That's a very nasty thought. Pair with a target lock action and Agent Kallus and you've turned the firespray's primary weapon into quite the little railgun.

What are some good ships for the Imperial player to take?

V1's might be nice. They get a missile slot and their title can make them a bit resilient. A Baron with Cruise Missile and Crackshot is 24 pts. Maybe the Inquisitor is a good one to take, as well, but he starts to get expensive.

Tie Fighters are cheap. Four Academies for 48 pts isn't bad. There are a number of named ones that could be really good in this mission. Backstabber would be nice at 15 pts.

X1's get expensive, but with their free System slot and ATC, it might not be a bad option.

Tie Bombers are also good, especially those listed above. You can GC and something like Proton Torp for cheap. Or even Long Range Scanners on a Scimitar for super cheap. Maybe get the Focus for action, which means Concussion Missiles would be better. You won't have GC. You could also go with Unguided Rockets for pretty cheap, too.

You might be able to throw in a Tie Defender, but it would cost a bit. A cheap /x7 would run you about 30 pts, while a /d would run you 40...with an cannon. Expensive, but resilient.

Tie Interceptors MIGHT work. They are glass cannons. So, do they take out enough enemy before they get a bad roll and die? They are fast and maneuverable. It depends on the dice.

Tie Punisher is probably too many base points compared to a Tie Bomber. Yes, it would live longer Maybe throw in Unguided Rockets, but not sure if it's worth it for the points. You could also use Minefield Mapper, which might make it worth it.

Tie Striker could be good. It's maneuverable, hits hard, and relatively cheap. Still, they might die too fast.

First Order Tie Fighters overall are a bit expensive when you are short on points. Still, some of the named ones, such as Omega Leader, could be good in hunting down the Bounty. They are more resilient than regular Tie Fighters, but do cost more.

Tie S/F I think are too expensive, but maybe if you plan on zipping after the Bounty and will have targets in your rear arc? Well, it's a thought.

VT-49 will eat a lot of your points, but it will live! Still, it only dishes out one attack. I don't think this is a good option when the Rebels are stacked against you with more points. This ship is good vs. a few enemy aces, but with them having more, it's not the best option.

Red Ace with R2-D2, Comm Relay, Autothrusters, Determination (cheap damage reduction and strong against Kylo), and PTL (you'll be taking Greens to regen) would come it at 29*2+(4+3+2+3+1-10)=61. A FSR-type list with Red Ace replacing Rex and tossing in a few stray upgrades onto Jess/Lowhh, or RA replacing Jess, with a Green A-Wing to carry DTF.

For Imperials, Wampa might be OK. Starting behind the enemy, a Lambda might also be acceptable. FCS+HLC+Palp on an OGP, Wampa, and a standard Quickdraw with Cruise or Harpoon Missiles. You'll be able to shred anything low hull with Wampa damage, and HLC+Cruise should be able to beat down other things fairly well, too. Not necessarily the strongest against Biggs, tho.

1 minute ago, heychadwick said:

Backstabber would be nice at 15 pts

Backstabber is 16, but yes, he's still very worth it.

Ultimately, you can't fight the rebels. You need to take out the bounty, fast - which means you need firepower you can apply quickly, and the means to stop the bounty running away. I think supporting your squad with TIE swarms or heavy swarms are a good idea. But then I always do....

The imperial player is in a bit of a pickle, I think. There are a lot of high power defensive options available to the Rebels:

Ashoka

miranda

biggs

Draw their fire, selflessness, other token sharing or support abilities

C3P0

some of those, like Ashoka, could be practically auto-wins in a lot of situations. If the rebel brings Ashoka and you don't have any PS9+, or other indirect damage abilities, the game is pretty much over. The same might be said for Miranda in some situations.

so unless you have a gentlemanly agreement about some of those, you need to be very careful. PS9+ is a must. Burst damage is good to break through regen. Munitions are a good Biggs counter because they let you sidestep his ability. Turrets might help you track shots onto the bounty but could get countered hard by Biggs.

frankly it's a bit of a nightmare! I think good options include QuickDraw with missiles, tomax bren, RAC, (both with VI), fettigator with missiles, you get the idea. High PS, missiles. Try to slam the bounty fast fast fast with burst damage. Be ready for Biggs, Ashoka, damage motivators, and regen

19 minutes ago, Babaganoosh said:

...so unless you have a gentlemanly agreement about some of those, you need to be very careful.

If you had to come up with a hard ban list, what would you pick? I think Ashoka with Captured Tie being the Bounty is a pretty low hanging fruit if we were going to create a list. What else do you think would be a good ban?

If not a ban, what would be a good "gentleman's agreement" to avoid to keep the game fun?

I think Ashoka, Biggs, Miranda would be on most ban lists.

A good gentleman's agreement might be to just not go overboard on the bounty protection. It's tough to say what's going too far, though.

The best option here for balanced play is probably for one player to make both lists, and the other player pick which side they play.

But if we're trying to break this sucker, then....

If it were up to me, I'd probably ban Miranda and Ashoka, but I'm a little more lenient on Biggs. He's been there from the beginning and there are ways to either get around him or kill him fast. If I had to leave one of those 3 on the list, he would be the one. Ashoka just makes it impossible to even win if you don't have PS 9, while Miranda is just incredibly hard with SLAM and shield regen. That combo is just a nightmare.

What would be on your "soft list" of "let's try it without these, just to make it more sporting" (or gentleman's agreement sort).

• Biggs is on there.
• Poe with Focus Bot would be really hard, too. Not impossible, but hard. Luke and R2-D2 would also be tough, but not as tough as the others.
• Any K-wing as that whole SLAM is obnoxious, even without regen.
• Outrider with Dash is pretty obnoxious. Oh, not utterly broken, but obnoxious. I'd try it once or twice, but then want to see another ship.
• First Gen Chewbacca could be annoying. Once again, not broken, but after a couple of times with it, I'd be happy to not play against it.

What else?

Another question I have is about Variants. What about different ways to play the mission?

SCUM

This faction wasn't around when this mission was made, but the background clearly makes it seem like this should be Scum going after the Rebels. How would the mission play differently if it were the Scum pilots and Scum ships to pick from? Surely Boba Fett would be a better option, but there are a lot of other options for crew and other ships in the list. How do you see it as being different?

Time Period

What if you limited the options to what was available at specific times? Limited options would be kind of cool for flavor.

• Galactic Civil War: Pick just details in the popular time period. No Episode 7 stuff or crew.
• Early Galactic Civil War: Pick things from around Rebels, Rogue One, and A New Hope. Don't pick some of the later ships or anything Episode 7.
• Force Awakens: Only Resistance and First Order ships! This one seems especially interesting to me as it seriously limits the ships. I think this one will be rather fun.

What are your thoughts? What would be most interesting to you?

4 hours ago, FTS Gecko said:

Blue Squadron Pathfinder (Bounty) - Pivot Wing, Elusiveness, Leia Organa (because bounty), R2-D2, Reinforced Deflectors, Engine Upgrade (40/63)
Wedge Antilles - Expertise, R7-T1, Vector Thrusters (38)
Red Squadron Pilot - R2 Astromech, Integrated Astromech (24)
Red Squadron Pilot - R2 Astromech, Integrated Astromech (24)

That's a squad total of 149, and a pretty sweet little escort for her Highness.

I like this squad, although nobody I frequently play have a U-Wing, nor do I....so we'll need a substitute here I guess.

Our group also frowns upon the use of Biggs unless he is a T-65 and Y-Wing only type list, so it's good he's not listed. And the other epic-bender Lowhhrick is never even seen in foam on game nights, so he's not even a thought.

4 hours ago, heychadwick said:

Time for some Imperial Talk! I think they can really be under the gun here. I mean, they need to kill just one ship, but the enemy has a lot of points. They only get 90 pts, but you need to take a Firespray in the list. The cheapest Firespray with no upgrades is 33 pts, leaving you 57 pts for the rest of your list! That.....could be pretty rough.

I think my first run at the U-Wing (or other ship like that) would be to utilize the cheapest Firespray as they are not the best "hunter" in the Imperial arsenal IMO. Then, I'd want some fast, tough, hard-hitting low pilot skill (to keep from getting blocked and to potentially block) as they get out there fast and get their actions. This At 26 HPs and throwing 9 dice, with one rear arc, two with white K-turns, and getting to know a dial a turn, I cannot see running different hot-rods than these the first go-round anyway:

The Imperial Hunt

• (34) Imperial Firespray - Bounty Hunter (33), Intelligence Agent (1)
• (28) Defender - Delta Squadron (30), X7 Title (-2)
• (28) Defender - Delta Squadron (30), X7 Title (-2)
• 90 Squad Points

I reckon double the points allocations and use Scum instead of empire. That gives you enough points to build four decent competing scum bounty hunters. You then give them to four fiercely competetive Scum players and permit friendly fire and allow only one player to claim the Bounty.

Or, if I were doing the scenario properly? I guess you could make it themed for the Imperials. Maybe a rebel captive on a Lambda doom Shuttle escorted by some Gunboats to simulate an anti insurgency op. They’d all have to be on ships with hyper drives for my brain to justify it.

I still wouldn’t use Empire if I had a choice though - there’s nothing scummy enough on their rosters to fly with any of the Firespray pilots. Pick a centeal character and build a squad - I wouldn’t use a Fett as he is a lone wolf. Maybe Kath with a bunch of piraty Z-95s or y-wings. Cos it’d look cooler that way!

1 hour ago, clanofwolves said:

The Imperial Hunt

• (34) Imperial Firespray - Bounty Hunter (33), Intelligence Agent (1)
• (28) Defender - Delta Squadron (30), X7 Title (-2)
• (28) Defender - Delta Squadron (30), X7 Title (-2)
• 90 Squad Points

...yeah, that'll do it alright.

Or, maybe twisting some scummy-ness up in this mission to hunt those terrorists:

The Scum 'Our Way or the Highway' Hunt

• (36) Scum Firespray - Mandalorian Mercenary (35), Intelligence Agent (1)
• (18) Binayre Pirate - Z95 Headhunter (12), Dead Man's Switch (2), Harpoon Missile (4)
• (18) Binayre Pirate - Z95 Headhunter (12), Dead Man's Switch (2), Harpoon Missile (4)
• (18) Binayre Pirate - Z95 Headhunter (12), Dead Man's Switch (2), Harpoon Missile (4)
• 90 Squad Points