This is the blog we keep for our new HotAC campaign featuring Fury Squadron.
It really takes HotAC to a new level, documenting the game like this.
Hope this inspires some people to try out a HotAC campaign.
Introducing Fury Squadron (HotAC)
I've put up the second Fury Squadron mission - Capture the Officer.
http://heroesoftheaturicluster.blogspot.com.au/2018/05/mission-02-capture-officer.html
I love the reports - keep 'em coming!
A small note though, some of the images on the links appear to be broken. It doesn't detract from the story, but I'm sure you don't want all the work done on those images to go to waste.
7 hours ago, Astech said:I love the reports - keep 'em coming!
A small note though, some of the images on the links appear to be broken. It doesn't detract from the story, but I'm sure you don't want all the work done on those images to go to waste.
Thank you Astech - was wondering if anyone was actually reading them.
I had a quick look through the blog and can't find any missing images - could you give me an example please?
2 hours ago, Furt said:I had a quick look through the blog and can't find any missing images - could you give me an example please?
I tried to find them again but couldn't. It might have been a network change on my end interrupting the loading of the page. Regardless, it's all fine now.
Do your players have any long-term strategy in terms of ship builds, or are they just winging it?
When we started they had no real plans, but that has since changed.
Tycho (Fury 2) in the Y-wing is going with an anger management theme and will be concentrating on using Stress as a resource. He has picked up Rage and has his eyes on Keyan Farlander down the track. His pilot is a lose canon who is known to indulge in illicit substances so we have made a card so he can potential use Glitterstim.
Bola (Fury 1) currently in an X-wing is aiming to swap to an A-wing at PS4. He wants to be nimble as possible and avoid most attacks. He is looking at Biggs Darklighter, Ezra Bridger and Hera Syndulla, along with another fanmade card "Sluis Van Refit" that allows the A-wing a second missile slot. He is fine not being a TIE killer and happy to draw Eyeballs away from us and hopefully fulfill mission objectives. We play the sharing XP variant so it works fine.
Myself (Fury 3) and Chubs (Fury 4) are just playing it by ear for now.
Sounds really promising so far. I love the concept of Black Market contacts, but given that it occupies a precious ept slot, maybe a slight buff could be nice:
Black Market Contacts
(3 points, ept)
You upgrade bar gains the [illicit] icon. When you would discard an illicit upgrade, instead roll one attack die; on a [hit], the card is discarded permanently and must be re-purchased.
It costs 4 points minimum instead, but gives you the opportunity to have a lot of risky fun with illicits.
Keep in mind that Extra Munitions is a mod for the campaign, so that A-wing can have up to 2 prockets and 2 harpoons on board, making it potentially the biggest hitter of the group.
A very potent combo someone might like is an R2 astromech, Sabine and Hera pilot abilities. It's really a fantastic level of arc-dodging in the late-game missions.
Good stuff, we love us some Hotac. My eldest hit upon the truly disgusting ability combo of Miranda and Quickdraw. I wanted to disallow it but didn't have the heart. Needless to say, it was stupidly OP and even he decided it would be more sporting to drop it... I mean, the rest of us want things left to shoot at too.
On 6/9/2018 at 4:54 PM, Cuz05 said:My eldest hit upon the truly disgusting ability combo of Miranda and Quickdraw. I wanted to disallow it but didn't have the heart. Needless to say, it was stupidly OP and even he decided it would be more sporting to drop it... I mean, the rest of us want things left to shoot at too.
It's not normally possible since they represent different factions - rebel pilots in 'normal' HotAC don't have access to Imperial pilot abilities whilst Defenders of the Empire Imperial pilots don't get rebel abilities.
If they did, then equally combining a Shara Bey equivalent with the Imperial's 'if you have a lock on the target' abilities like Advanced Targeting Computer or Omega Leader would be just as filthy.
51 minutes ago, Magnus Grendel said:It's not normally possible since they represent different factions - rebel pilots in 'normal' HotAC don't have access to Imperial pilot abilities whilst Defenders of the Empire Imperial pilots don't get rebel abilities.
If they did, then equally combining a Shara Bey equivalent with the Imperial's 'if you have a lock on the target' abilities like Advanced Targeting Computer or Omega Leader would be just as filthy.
Indeed. We stray quite far from regular Hotac and things get out of hand very fast in our household
We're on the verge of finishing a 'survival' mode now. I took Norra, because ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ . The boys have reasonably OP custom ships. Vs 6 TIE/fo's with respawning squads of 3 with intermittent 'bosses'. We're now on the final wave, no. 15. It had become a bit of a drag, lol.
Thankfully, the final bosses, 2 Phantoms, are giving us a bit of a kicking so it's suddenly turned into a nailbiter and an actual survival rather than an endless procession.
Regen Norra though, whoo. With 2 solid wingmen, she's impervious to Hotac TIEs.
My primary mission is to nerf us or buff the oppo but my youngest has a tendancy to sulk if he even loses a shield.... My eldest just runs away if he's in any danger...
Edited by Cuz051 hour ago, Magnus Grendel said:If they did, then equally combining a Shara Bey equivalent with the Imperial's 'if you have a lock on the target' abilities like Advanced Targeting Computer or Omega Leader would be just as filthy.
There are a lot of shockingly brutal combinations. There are a bunch of them that I've theorised about in the spoiler at the end of this post.
30 minutes ago, Cuz05 said:We're on the verge of finishing a 'survival' mode now. I took Norra, because ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ . The boys have reasonably OP custom ships. Vs 6 TIE/fo's with respawning squads of 3 with intermittent 'bosses'. We're now on the final wave, no. 15. It had become a bit of a drag, lol.
Thankfully, the final bosses, 2 Phantoms, are giving us a bit of a kicking so it's suddenly turned into a nailbiter and an actual survival rather than an endless procession.
My primary mission is to nerf us or buff the oppo but my youngest has a tendancy to sulk if he even loses a shield.... My eldest just runs away if he's in any danger...
How have you structured your survival mode? It sounds like each wave is its own game, in which case I can definitely understand burnout near the end.
Phantoms were always shockingly deadly, although certain Defender aces terrified me more near the end. If you want to bump up the difficulty without becoming 'unfair', you could try increasing the pilot skill of academy TIEs to one above the average skill of the group - they become a lot more dangerous when you have to think about where they might go.
Etahn A'Baht somewhere in the squad makes every shot deadlier.
2 Ships with Garven Dreis (if you allow duplicate abilities) get infinite focus tokens if they stick together. Double it up by giving them both Kanan Jarrus.
Omega Ace, PTL, Fenn Rau and Talonbane Cobra make for a blistering range 1 salvo.
Dash, Test Pilot "Blackout" and Trick Shot is great on turreted ships.
Eaden Vrill, R3-A2 Astromech, and Soontir Fell give you a bonus attack die and a focus to boot.
Blount and Ruthlessness is particularly nasty on A-wings.
Zertik Strom, Carnor Jax and Fenn Rau make you immune to TIEs at range 1.
Juno Eclipse, Sabine Wren and Hera Syndulla on a ship with an R2 astromech can do whatever it wants each turn.
The Inquisitor, Fenn Rau and Talonbane Cobra make for 6-die attacks at range 3 that ignore the range bonus. Add in fearlessness for 7 die shenanigans.
Wampa and Etahn make for triple auto-damage on a BTL Y-wing with a TLT.
Mauler Mithel, Snap Shot and Fenn Rau leverage the predictable swarms to give you 4-die free attacks.
Howlrunner and Serissu is fantastic at racking up assist points, which help the whole squad out.
Whisper and Jake Farrel is a neat combination. Add intensity and you've got 4 actions after performing a manoeuvre.
Pure Sabacc on a regen ship is plain nasty.
Omega Leader, Tarn Mison, Sensor Jammer is a vicious distraction for TIEs. Pretty much removes them from the game.
Lieutenant Dormitz and TFA Han is probably the most broken thing in the game, allowing instant wins of an awful lot of scenarios.
A Squadron of attani mindlinked Jake Farrels can do some stupid things.
Dengar, Captain Jostero and Quickdraw is vicious. Add ruthlessness and you've got a 4-attack per turn kind of ship.
Viktor Hel in anything that doesn't have 2 agility is cruel to the TIEs.
Kad Solus, Tycho Celchu, PTL and Rage on a ship that can equip Hera crew gets 4 stress per turn, but gets rerolls and 3 focus tokens out of it.
Sarco Plank in an A-wing is hilarious.
Fenn Rau, Talonbane, Mauler Mithel and Swarm Leader can deliver 9-die attacks at range 1.
2 hours ago, Astech said:How have you structured your survival mode? It sounds like each wave is its own game, in which case I can definitely understand burnout near the end.
Phantoms were always shockingly deadly, although certain Defender aces terrified me more near the end. If you want to bump up the difficulty without becoming 'unfair', you could try increasing the pilot skill of academy TIEs to one above the average skill of the group - they become a lot more dangerous when you have to think about where they might go.
Pretty simple. Start with 2 squads of 3, once 3 die, they respawn next turn at a random point on their board edge. Counts as moving for them. Boss ships spawn in on key waves along any edge. It's kind of easy mode. A 3rd squad or escalating numbers and spawns on any edge would make it more thrilling. TIE/fo's with a token stack or infinite sloops can be quite surprising at times though.
Pilot Skill, agreed, its a game changer in Hotac. Haven't been able to swing it with the boys yet, kind of terrifies them. They really just want a whole bunch of pushovers that they can routinely demolish so I have to be quite subtle in undermining that
T hey won't volunteer for a challenge but when I sneak a difficult one in and they pass, they love it all the more. Particularly if the only ship that dies is mine...
Croak... 'My sons....Avenge me...!'
The third Fury Squadron mission is up - Rescue the Rebel Operatives.
http://heroesoftheaturicluster.blogspot.com/2018/06/mission-3-rescue-rebel-operatives.html
4 hours ago, Furt said:The third Fury Squadron mission is up - Rescue the Rebel Operative s.
Fantastic as usual. I've only just noticed the octant-divided bases on Imperial ships. Did you may those yourselves or get them online?
12 hours ago, Cuz05 said:Pretty simple. Start with 2 squads of 3, once 3 die, they respawn next turn at a random point on their board edge. Counts as moving for them. Boss ships spawn in on key waves along any edge. It's kind of easy mode. A 3rd squad or escalating numbers and spawns on any edge would make it more thrilling. TIE/fo's with a token stack or infinite sloops can be quite surprising at times though.
Pilot Skill, agreed, its a game changer in Hotac. Haven't been able to swing it with the boys yet, kind of terrifies them. They really just want a whole bunch of pushovers that they can routinely demolish so I have to be quite subtle in undermining that
T hey won't volunteer for a challenge but when I sneak a difficult one in and they pass, they love it all the more. Particularly if the only ship that dies is mine...
Croak... 'My sons....Avenge me...!'
That's a nice way to manage it. Perhaps on every second wave spawn a generic Interceptor, just for the third 'squadron'?
I was always surprised when the high-PS aces solo'd a squad. It's not like 100/6 games where you can really focus down a ship for 4 turns. I'd imagine Predator would be pretty popular with them, given the auto-trigger on most of the generics, so eve raising their pilot skill to 3 could make a subtle difference.
7 hours ago, Astech said:Fantastic as usual. I've only just noticed the octant-divided bases on Imperial ships. Did you may those yourselves or get them online?
Thank you.
They are actually made by one of our players (Adam - Bola Hujaan in Fury Squadron), whom I'm very happy to say runs his own laser cutting service http://therookandraven.com.au/shop/
He can do any type of custom engraving and posts world wide. He also makes these fantastic hotac stations from mdf, along with the ion cloud and mine counters. He's a very talented guy.
9 hours ago, Astech said:Fantastic as usual. I've only just noticed the octant-divided bases on Imperial ships. Did you may those yourselves or get them online?
Strange Eons X Wing plug in has an option for adding Hotac markings to base plates. Then they just need printing out and applying.
Good point on Predator btw, we've not actually used that ept in any of our own ships builds so far.
I love reading these sorts of 'after action reports' on people's running of HOAC..
I notice in your HR's you have it as xp pooling. I saw someone else 'highly recommend' (almost to the point of making it sound like a commandment) elsewhere, that when i start up running HOAC< i do the same... Is that common??
Also, LOVE those pictures!
Also, when you calculate XP for 'damage'.. If a player causes 1 point of damage PERIOD they get 1xp. OR if they deal 1 damage to a target in say 5 separate turns, they get 1xp per??
I asked this over on boardgamegeek, and someone there seems to think the latter. BUT with how little your XP awards seemed to be, i wonder are you doing the former?
2 hours ago, LTuser said:I love reading these sorts of 'after action reports' on people's running of HOAC..
I notice in your HR's you have it as xp pooling. I saw someone else 'highly recommend' (almost to the point of making it sound like a commandment) elsewhere, that when i start up running HOAC< i do the same... Is that common??
Also, LOVE those pictures!
Thanks for the compliments.
The XP pooling makes it fairer across the board, far less competitive and more squadron orientated. It makes support ships like the HWK-290 and ships that can draw TIEs like the A-wing a more viable option as they do not have to make kills to earn similar XP to the X and Y-wings.
1 hour ago, LTuser said:Also, when you calculate XP for 'damage'.. If a player causes 1 point of damage PERIOD they get 1xp. OR if they deal 1 damage to a target in say 5 separate turns, they get 1xp per??
I asked this over on boardgamegeek, and someone there seems to think the latter. BUT with how little your XP awards seemed to be, i wonder are you doing the former?
You earn 1 XP each turn that you damage an enemy. Some games may seem short on XP because we did't perform as well.
I've often wondered if that doesn't make for quicker pilot advancement as players can generally earn 7+xp a mission...
On 9/2/2018 at 5:53 AM, LTuser said:I've often wondered if that doesn't make for quicker pilot advancement as players can generally earn 7+xp a mission...
My son likes to insist on some kind of XP on damage. I've found piling it up too fast a bit lame, as you end up really strong, really quick and miss out on some of the more interesting lower level interplay. That's the way he likes it though, he just wants to charge around, blow tons of stuff up and never take damage, ofc.
7 hours ago, Cuz05 said:My son likes to insist on some kind of XP on damage. I've found piling it up too fast a bit lame, as you end up really strong, really quick and miss out on some of the more interesting lower level interplay. That's the way he likes it though, he just wants to charge around, blow tons of stuff up and never take damage, ofc.
Perhaps one way to lessen the impact, is Charge XP to repair your ship between missions.. Say 1xp to repair 1 hull. 2 xp to repair 2 hull down to 1 damage, then 1 more to repair it at 1 hull to 0.
6 for going from 3 hull damage down to 0.. And so on.
One thing i also am looking to do is try to come up with a Mixed rule for Xp.. Some being 'group pooled', some being invidivual.
I am thinking of having it where the XP from a ELITE KILL, is solo, that's all you baby. Damage xp, other kill xp, mission xp are all pooled.