Now, this idea obviously won't fly for you "all official, all day, erry day" types, so you chaps can just click the back button and save yourselves some time.

For a while I've been thinking about upgrading my bases. Maybe magnetising them all. And part of the issue with 2.0 is that there may not be enough generic baseplates to go around.

So what I'm thinking is... how much of the information printed on that cardboard is actually necessary?

The answer is none. You can measure fire arcs by measuring corner to corner (inside corner to inside corner, if that makes sense). You can lay down a range ruler to get the bullseye arc and frankly I'm happy to guestimate where the centre of the base is when it comes to barrel rolling.

But, having a printed arc does make it easier to establish firing arcs. Having the printed bullseye 'arc' makes it easier to get the range ruler in the right place for measuring those. And the centre line does add precision for barrel rolling.

And having the pilot skill printed on the card makes it easier to work out which ship is which, rather than using numbers and cross-referencing cards during play.

So my thoughts have been turning to painting the bases. Making a template out of an unwanted card baseplate and using it for painting the firing and bullseye arcs, using decals or inserts like these:

http://www.recreatorstudios.com/collections/1105782-x-wing-compatible/products/16440258-pilot-veterancy-inserts-small-base

to aid in working out which pilot is which.

Thoughts?

It may change with 2E, but firing arcs on ships are currently a little less than 90 degrees...

Yeah, 80 degrees I think. If you measure from corner to corner, not from the outside of the base but from the inside of the ledge (I call it the "inside" corner) then you get the firing arc.

Certainly for casual epic games, this sort of thing is the only sensible way to go.

Plus writing on/using stickers to make new dials where necessary.

One day, some year, FFG will get round to doing epic in 2.0 and then we can have official tournaments for this too. Meanwhile, the epic forum has some suggestions for mixing huge ships in with 2.0.

The base cardboard is definitely needed for firing arcs, more so with 2.0. A very slight change in angle when measuring arc can change things significantly, and I couldn't imagine trying to measure from corner to corner. It's helpful to have the PS on there but it isn't entirely necessary.

I think it would be reasonable to suggest having generic cardboard bases, and then PS/ID token inserts. Or take the Star Trek attack wing route with their captain ID tokens for the pilot. T his would completely remove the need for more than one cardboard insert per ship you own.

Painting a few bases for casual should be perfectly fine though.

That's another idea I hadn't considered: just making generic baseplates with nothing but the firing arcs/centre lines on them. I'll obviously have more than enough 1.0 baseplates to experiment with once 2.0 hits so that might wind up being the cheapest option. Just mask off the firing arc, spray black, then add in the bullseye arc with a template. Cheers, hadn't thought of that!

I think different ships have bullseye arcs that vary is width.