hey

been playing for years and i love the game
however i'm interested in making it more strategic, at the moment it seems that i make a list, work out how i'm going to play it and then that all goes out of the window
when i see what my opponent is fielding, it turns into a case of, i know what they've got and probably how they're going to run it, so now i'm just countering their list
before we even get started my planned strategy is gone and its just reactive to whatever my opponent does
turns 1-3 sometimes turn into 1 forward no actions (by both players) until people get into range, quite frankly its boring and those rounds are at times worthless

so here's a thought

make a list (check it twice )
You do not reveal pilot or upgrade cards on deployment they are face down
You still deploy ships in pilot skill order as usual (yes the opponent can see the ship token and read who it is, i get that)
You flip and reveal pilot cards after the first manoeuvre or action
You flip and reveal upgrade cards when used

(in a tournament the TO see's the list before hand and agree's it's ok)

Knowing what your opponent has before starting the game means it dictates strategy too early
Remove this and fore knowledge is gone until you start actually playing
so the first and second rounds are more tactical based on your own ships. Not just what the opponent has
Strategy begins in turn 1 and expands when in range 3 when shooting can begin

I thought that although it is a game, in general people fighting wouldn’t know what the other has before starting
(Han Solo didn’t know that Vader had 2 actions when he attacked him in the trench after all)

I also play Destiny and yeah you can see who the character cards are, but the other cards/dice are not shown until played
it makes it more challenging, dynamic and interesting

I'm happy to get criticism or other views on this idea
I'm not trying to change the game, it's just a way to make a casual game more interesting without the usual (this card will fix everything post)

thoughts ?

FBJ

I think your idea has merit for casual play, but it falls apart in a tournament environment.

- In a small tournament everyone knows what lists are in the field by the end of the first round.

- In a large events there aren’t enough officials to keep people from altering secret lists between rounds.

-In tornaments with a cut, the players that make the cut will certainly know each other’s lists by the time the single elimination rounds start.

Sounds like a version of the "fog of war" approach. I've played casual games this way and it's a lot of fun.

hey thanks
yeah it's ideally for casual play
i think the concept in a tournament would fall apart
cheers

FBJ

3 hours ago, jmswood said:

- In a large events there aren’t enough officials to keep people from altering secret lists between rounds.

While I agree with your other points, the simple solution to this one is to show the printed list after playing, if any of the cards used (which will still be on the table) weren't on the list then it's an auto-loss and ejection from the tournament. A person could still bring multiple printed lists but it also becomes more suspicious if they're going through multiple sheets of paper before presenting the right one.

Not to nit pick, but for such a verbose post, can we not give titles that actually speak to the threads content? This is really getting out of hand.

I like the ideas you present (and use most of them in my own circle of casual players). To make it even "foggier" I would suggest only placing blank ship bases and playing with those until the ships are within firing range (or until an ability would effect them). It would mean long pauses between the action early on as you insert ship tokens and models into the bases, but would bring another level of immersion and drama into the proceedings.