19 minutes ago, thespaceinvader said:

Gotta say my favourite suggestion for TIEs is to have an upgrade that allows any non-academy-pilot TIE Fighter to be replaced with an academy pilot on that player's board edge the round after it dies. Endless Ranks.

Well, that wouldn't be endless ranks, as you would be replacing a ship with the mod/title/EPT with a ship without it. Points scoring would be insane for anyone going against it, because anyone winning against it would have a huge MOV.

1 minute ago, Yakostovian said:

Well, that wouldn't be endless ranks, as you would be replacing a ship with the mod/title/EPT with a ship without it. Points scoring would be insane for anyone going against it, because anyone winning against it would have a huge MOV.

I've thought about this quite a lot: the spawned ships don't give MoV and don't count as being in play for victory conditions (i.e. you'd have to have at least one ship from the original squad in play to win, and it would have to be worth more than whatever your opponent had left at time).

It wouldn't be endless, but that's what I'd call the upgrade, because it's thematically fun.

Honestly, as long as the replacement ships are minimum PS without upgrades this could work for most TIEs. Getting a PS2 bomber free when Tomax dies isn't exactly going to break the game. I'd probably put it in as a TIE only title, cannot have more than 1 shield.

2 minutes ago, thespaceinvader said:

I've thought about this quite a lot: the spawned ships don't give MoV and don't count as being in play for victory conditions (i.e. you'd have to have at least one ship from the original squad in play to win, and it would have to be worth more than whatever your opponent had left at time).

It wouldn't be endless, but that's what I'd call the upgrade, because it's thematically fun.

Honestly, as long as the replacement ships are minimum PS without upgrades this could work for most TIEs. Getting a PS2 bomber free when Tomax dies isn't exactly going to break the game. I'd probably put it in as a TIE only title, cannot have more than 1 shield.

But a bare bomber? Is that really going to do anything other than block?

The replacement ship would have to be easily definable; one card's worth of text only.

That's the point. It's not supposed to do much, it's supposed to do a little bit, and cause issues for the opponent.

Here's how I'd phrase it.

The round after you are destroyed, during the planning phase, spawn one Academy Pilot anywhere adjacent to your squad's board edge. That ship is worth 0 squad points.

The rules would have to define the Spawn keyword, and you'd probably have to issue a distinct version for each ship type to avoid fiddly wording, but you could easily fit it into an upgrade card's worth of text.

The biggest issue is that it does nothing at all against the sorts of defense stackers that can just outright ignore 2-die attacks.

But that needs a different solution.

What about some Attack Wing stuff:

Title: ???
When attacking or defending against a ship that has more remaining hull than you, roll one additional attack dice.

Title:
Devotion to Duty:
When attacking, you may discard this card to roll one additional attack dice per damage card assigned to your ship.

Modification:
Elite Training
After performing a barrel roll action, you may receive one stress token to rotate your ship 180 degrees.

Title:
Long Live the Empire!!
When attacking, you may discard this card to roll an additional three attack dice. Any critical results rolled are dealt directly to your own ship.

20 hours ago, Enigami said:

A 0 cost mod slot that you can discard to prevent 1 damage from non-arc attacks would help pretty much every swarm in the game and slightly nerf TLTs/Harpoons/Bombs, effectively giving them all +1 HP without actually making them more difficult to kill for arc dodging aces and the like. Generic Interceptors could equip 2 of those to effectively give themselves 5 HP vs. indirect attacks without spending a single pt. And most upgraded ships tend to have other important modifications they need, so such an upgrade should only ever buff generics and not make top lists even better.

Really like this idea, make it TIE only and call it something like:

Chaff Countermeasures

TIE only

When your ship takes damage from a non-primary weapon attack you may discard this card to reduce the damage recieved by 1.

cost 0

Some good points were raised about the player fatigue as well, and I think that's a natural balancer for TIEs though I do think the powercreep is starting to leave them behind, at least the pure 8 ship swarm. But there's something epic about playing against a massive swarm if he opposing player is going to bring it. So a couple super crazy yet simple ideas I would like to see is:

A straight -1 or -2 Cost title, then you could bring in an additional ship or two, bigger swarm, still balanced by being even harder to fly but more firepower without actually buffing anything.

OR:

Title

Flight Leader -unique

If you equip an elite upgrade card, it's squad point cost is reduced by 3 (to a minimum of 0). When your ship would receive a damage card you can instead assign that card to another friendly ship at range 1, then flip that card face up.

You cannot equip this card unless your squad contains at least 5 of the same ship types

Cost 0

Advantages here, it is multi-faction.

Helps keep Swarm/flight leader alive.

Doesnt help out the currently stronger 4x Agressors/Y-wings TLTs or 4x Wookies only cheaper arc-based ships.

Allows essentially free Swarm Leader upgrade so classic 8 TIE swarms can now fit in a boosted howlrunner to lead the pack.

To get the damage spreading effect you have to fly close together which is already countered by the sea of harpoons and bombs.

1 hour ago, thespaceinvader said:

Gotta say my favourite suggestion for TIEs is to have an upgrade that allows any non-academy-pilot TIE Fighter to be replaced with an academy pilot on that player's board edge the round after it dies. Endless Ranks.

I agree - though I'd prefer it to be non-uniues; an 8-ship swarm is as many as you'd want for time and sanity; respawning lets you have more in a more gamefriendly fashion.

I'd probably let them spawn anywhere within range 1 of any board edge as long as they're more than range 3 from an enemy - that way, as well as having some reinforcements, you're not waiting 3 turns to get them into the fight, but can instead actually use them to create strategic advantage - getting one ahead of dash rendar instead of chasing him for a change, for example.

One upgrade that would be nice is a reverse "Lightweight Frame" for TIE's, as in you roll one extra attack die if the defender has more agility than you have attack dice.

3 minutes ago, f0rbiddenc00kie said:

One upgrade that would be nice is a reverse "Lightweight Frame" for TIE's, as in you roll one extra attack die if the defender has more agility than you have attack dice.

Tracking Repeater Laser Cannons

mod, 2 pts

TIE Fighter and TIE Advanced only

when attacking with primary weapons, of the defender is rolling more defense dice than the number of attack dice that you are rolling, add one attack die.

12 minutes ago, GrimmyV said:

Tracking Repeater Laser Cannons

mod, 2 pts

TIE Fighter and TIE Advanced only

when attacking with primary weapons, of the defender is rolling more defense dice than the number of attack dice that you are rolling, add one attack die.

Mostly wouldn't make much difference. Many if not most current defence/regen tanks are 1 or 2 agi.

18 minutes ago, GrimmyV said:

Tracking Repeater Laser Cannons

mod, 2 pts

TIE Fighter and TIE Advanced only

when attacking with primary weapons, of the defender is rolling more defense dice than the number of attack dice that you are rolling, add one attack die.

With the timing of actions, maybe it should be reroll a die.

I still think TIEs should be able to saturate an area with weapons fire: that is the Imperial starfighter strategy.

Something along the lines of an ability similar to Swarm Tactics native to TIE Fighters and TIE Interceptors isn't a bad place to start, but it should feel unique to them.

Or howsabout an EPT?

Herding Shot

Imperial Only

When you miss an enemy ship with a primary weapon attack, declare aloud 1 maneuver and direction. On the next turn, that ship may not execute the chosen maneuver.

On 2/21/2018 at 12:15 AM, Kehl_Aecea said:

I originally thought giving unshielded TIEs the bullseye arc and after play testing that... way too good on something that can actually move.

I guess you wouldn’t want it on a TIE/sf then

the game is balanced around tie fighters, stop this obsession with power creep.

nerf the ships like the invulnerable wookie ship and the ghostfenn combo and stop trying to create a self perpetuating cycle of constant power creep.

Once you buff the TIE Fighters so they can easily dismantle wookies even through a reinforce, they will walk all over ships that are "fair" to take against TIE Swarms, like Triple T-65 or Biggs walks the dogs.

The problem is not that TIE Swarms are bad. They're not. The problem is the exact thing that you are all arguing for, which is the constant release of more and more powerful ships

10 hours ago, jimmius said:

the game is balanced around tie fighters, stop this obsession with power creep.

nerf the ships like the invulnerable wookie ship and the ghostfenn combo and stop trying to create a self perpetuating cycle of constant power creep.

Once you buff the TIE Fighters so they can easily dismantle wookies even through a reinforce, they will walk all over ships that are "fair" to take against TIE Swarms, like Triple T-65 or Biggs walks the dogs.

The problem is not that TIE Swarms are bad. They're not. The problem is the exact thing that you are all arguing for, which is the constant release of more and more powerful ships

There comes a point at which you have to accept that the constant powercreep is not going to stop, and powercreep everything to match it. It's happening with X Wings, it should also happen with TIE Fighters.

1 hour ago, thespaceinvader said:

There comes a point at which you have to accept that the constant powercreep is not going to stop, and powercreep everything to match it. It's happening with X Wings, it should also happen with TIE Fighters.

its happening with X-Wings because since WAVE 1 they were terrible. They STILL are worse jousters point for point than a TIE Fighter, and they have a worse dial and (currently) no barrel roll.

That's why X-Wings are getting buffed, not because they are suddenly not doing well, but because of years of tournament data going back to the beginning of the game.

What about a title that brings it back to wave 1?

Title:
TIE/In
When attacking, the defender cannot roll more defense dice than you have attack dice and can only spend focus or evade tokens assigned to their ship to modify.

What about something like Crossfire Formation:

Formation Flying

TIE Fighter only. Title. 2 points

When attacking, if there is at least one other friendly Imperial ship at Range 1-2 of the defender, you may add 1 focus result to your roll.

Possibilities with this suggestion:

8 Academies, but only 2 get title

7 Academies, all with title with 2 pts leftover

Howl and 6 Academies, 5 get title

Youngster with Marksmanship and 6 Academies, 5 with title

I think it helps without being too OP because it adds some punch if you still have a focus token (barrel rolls, k-turns, overlapping ships or obstacles, spending it on defense are some cases where you wouldn't.) I think it changes traditional swarms enough to them viable again. Plus you might see Chaser and Night Beast get played again.

Thrawn (crew) 3 pts

all of your TIE Fighters, Bombers and Interceptors without shields gain 1 shield token.

yeah lets give every tie fighter the equivalent of an extra attack die, or an extra shield. lmao they've just finished patching the X-Wing to be on par with it's main thematic opponent, lets not instantly refuck the power levels of the single most balanced, well designed ship in the game.

44 minutes ago, jimmius said:

yeah lets give every tie fighter the equivalent of an extra attack die, or an extra shield. lmao they've just finished patching the X-Wing to be on par with it's main thematic opponent, lets not instantly refuck the power levels of the single most balanced, well designed ship in the game.

Yeah we wouldn’t want the iconic ships on the table when we can have wooden Wookiee’s, toilet seats, N64 Cylons, Krap-wings and what ever else is FFGs favourite of the month.

41 minutes ago, GrimmyV said:

Yeah we wouldn’t want the iconic ships on the table when we can have wooden Wookiee’s, toilet seats, N64 Cylons, Krap-wings and what ever else is FFGs favourite of the month.

so nerf them, instead of literally destroying any pretence at balance the game has left.

3 minutes ago, jimmius said:

so nerf them, instead of literally destroying any pretence at balance the game has left.

The Nerf bat works so well, doesn’t it. It only too like half a dozen hits to finally get Toilet Seats whittled down to the occasional Dengar.

Why fear boosting any of the ships from wave 1-3? Well, except the Falcon, that’s on ship that can still hold its own from time to time.

Just now, GrimmyV said:

The Nerf bat works so well, doesn’t it. It only too like half a dozen hits to finally get Toilet Seats whittled down to the occasional Dengar.

Why fear boosting any of the ships from wave 1-3? Well, except the Falcon, that’s on ship that can still hold its own from time to time.

lmao. yes, it clearly does work, and thats why triple jumps isn't THE list. You can argue it took too long to nerf the jumpmaster, and I'd agree. That doesn't change the fact that nerfing the jumpmaster was infinitely better than buffing every single ship in the game to be at the jumpmaster's level.

The TIE Fighter is the single most balanced ship in the game. There's a reason MJ's Mathwing uses the TIE Fighter as a baseline. Giving every TIE Fighter a shield is laughably, hilariously broken, and so are the other half baked ideas people have come up with.

Leave the TIE Fighter, smash the Ghost, Rebel Fenn and the Wookie Gunship to pieces with the nerf bat, and if that doesn't fix the game, start swinging for what's left, instead of trying to **** every other ship in the game by buffing the TIE Fighter to absurd power levels.

On 2/22/2018 at 9:50 AM, impspy said:

I'm curious how broken this was and in what way? I've always thought giving bullseye to 2 dice TIES (LN, Advanced, Advanced Prototype, Bomber, Punisher, Aggressor, etc) would be a good way to buff them without getting too convoluted. If you can't kill them/get out of their way they'll burn you down.

With the TIE's dial, it was super easy to keep opponents in the bullseye arc. Being unable to modify defense at all, with several TIEs zipping around made quick work of most small base fighters I threw in the test scenario. Turrets helped thin the herd, but that's always the case (I'm sure TLTs would have made quick work, but I never use them out of principle).

2 minutes ago, Kehl_Aecea said:

With the TIE's dial, it was super easy to keep opponents in the bullseye arc. Being unable to modify defense at all, with several TIEs zipping around made quick work of most small base fighters I threw in the test scenario. Turrets helped thin the herd, but that's always the case (I'm sure TLTs would have made quick work, but I never use them out of principle).

Good point, I can see how that would quickly become oppressive. I guess I can only hope in 2.0 the TIE Advanced gets it lol (would actually make it worth the cost imho).