Firstly, very excited for 2.0. Been playing a little over two years, Scum and Rebel exclusively unless my friends let me play their Imps. But yeah, I'm so in.

Now that being said, with the New Trilogy factions apart from the OT ones, and scum somehow operating timelessly in-between, one of the more interesting aspects of 2.0 is how exactly they are going to differentiate factions to achieve their own flavor. And how the ships will each feel more unique. A prior comment I read brought up how there was a bit of a concern of linked action Rebel X-wings diluting the theme of the Empire ships. How a five T-65 list, (we asked for it, we sure as Hoth got it for 1.0) if they are possible in 2.0, would most likely dominate a 8 ship TIE swarm. As we wait for 2.0, some things I am enjoying hypothesizing on, and being perplexed about, I present for topical and friendly discussion;

1) Are the identities of each 2.0 debuting faction truly unique in game design? What can possibly be assumed is a) Rebel Alliance; Squadmate synergies & durability b) Galactic Empire; Maneuverability & ship count (ships to be priced relatively lower than other factions with similar stat lines c) Scum; Mischievous utility (unreliable or self-risking illicits, pilot abilities that interfere with opponents) & deviant chassis i.e. 3 extra mods Vaksai, curved barrel rolling Starvipers) but what might we be missing?

2) With linked actions being a thing for several ships does it blur the lines and value more than in 1.0 in regards to what makes an Ace an Ace? Having an Initiative of 6, which supposedly will come with a premium cost, might not be as beneficial as before given the compression of many lower initiative pilots who have higher utility abilities that a list could wield more of.

3) With Ace multiple re-positioning abilities highly minimized, modifications more restrained, turrets gaining range one bonuses, does it make the approach of said high cost small ship Aces with less than 5 health (say perhaps, Fenn Rau in a Fang) even more perilous? And will we there be a subsequent influx of Fat Hans, Husky Dashs, Chunky Reys and FETT! fielded to withstand and achieve the best benefit from that high Initiative?

4) How will the First Order and Resistance be designed to be their own? This is really fun to consider; First Order maybe delivers more stress mechanics (although unlikely as designers said they want to reduce NPE effects) or possibly formation flying benefits that reduce defense but enhance aggressive play. But what core mechanics could make the FO truly apart from the Galactic Empire? How will the Resistance catch up in diversity of ship count? (The new live action series might be the cure here) Given how good the Rebel Alliance iconic ships will be, what or who besides Rey and Poe Dameron will help vault The Resistance options to not be overpriced and undersold copies of our beloved Rebels? Piling on more hull or shields hopefully is not the solution and the tech slot will only be worth so much. More linked actions might be a part of making them stand apart. But then the spiral begins all over again.

5) The future of 100/6; Will there ever be a day when a format has a higher player base, such as Epic or Objectives? Granted, tournament options are going to be greatly expanded. But could we see Epic becoming something more than the only seen at holidays Big Cousin of dogfights? Even better, could something akin to an Epic game with Objectives be something viable one day that can be played in under 4 hours?

6) Prequel Factions; Do we really want to shoehorn a prepubescent Initiative 5-6 pilot, a fatherly knockoff of an admittedly overrated (in terms of the films) Mandalorian bounty hunter, and a vast swath of subtle racist stereotyped alien crew and/or entire squads of personality devoid automatons into new factions? Yes, the Naboo Starfighter is cool, but it gets confounding for factional design when the ARC-170 is in Phantom Menace. Although we'll soon see lists with Han Solo and Boba Fett in the same squad so there's that. The million dollar question; would prequel factions sell enough volume comparatively to the "cooler" film factions to be worth the design choice by FFG? These sorts of missteps are the kind of things that sink games and sometimes, companies.

7) K-2SO; Really, how did this Not Happen? Twice? How does L337 make it in and he didn't? Is this JUST to sell us another U-Wing in 9 months? Then again, three different models of the Falcon exist. Sigh, I love K-2S0.

8 ) The PS1 TIE Reaper with BoShek sure was a pain in the Sarlacc against me yesterday, just saying. Advanced Ailerons and 1 forward and it is automatic. It's hilariously funny, sort of. It took several waves for something like that to come about from Heaver's design idea. They should honor the past World's Champions designed cards somehow. It kind of preserves the history of the game a bit.

9) What will it be like in a game where it is possible that more ordnance shots than primaries might be taken over the course of a match? The multi charge facet choice is certainly making ordnance interesting, although thankfully not in an OP way. I really dig how they have made cannons and turrets feel different from missiles and torps. It does seem like a primarily primary weapon game might be a 50/50 proposition in some matches.

10) Finally; The Force. Luke / Ezra pilots, Vader and TGI, these duos could be very competitive for their factions. But hopefully they keep Force pilots and upgrades rare and highly costed. Perhaps even raise squad cost exponentially if adding more force using pilots or crew to a list. Just a thought.

Happy Monday to all!

A lot to digest. They have already saw d the FO will be more keen on Aces and ability than pure numbers like the Empire. So that is where the difference will come into play.

As for game formats, I don’t foresee anything really replacing standard as far as a competitive format.

As for prequel era stuff, I’m leaning towards unlikely. Not saying it won’t happen but I also see it as a route that leans towards debates of X faction is missing or that should be a hero/villain faction etc.

As for ordnance I get the impression it’s still a one and done Alpha. Even now ships with lots of ordnance doesn’t survive long to shoot off everything they have. A few notable exceptions of course.

Well I don't know about everyone else but here is my take.

1. Well that was the question with Wave 6 when scum was introduced. For a while both the Rebel and Empire had their factions well established and Scum seemed like it could just take from the other two factions before the power creep meant to bring it to their level propelled it beyond to the most broken faction. As for Resistance and 1st Order well yeah they are pretty much the same as their predecessor factions with a point increase pushing Resistance further to the quality part of the spectrum where 1st order moves away from the quantity part of the spectrum. To be honest we won't know until they come out with their own faction and more ships.
2. I have always said and still to this day think for Arc Dodgers and Turrets, Initiative 6 will be of upmost importance in competitive list building.
3. t depends on what linked actions are there. It seems like A-wing and TIE Interceptors will be the default Arc dodgers and every other agile ship is slightly different but not as maneuverable as they are not as fragile.
4. As I said in 1 we have to wait until we start to see some of the spoilers.
5. I expect there to be some sort of conversion for Epic but not any time soon. As for Objective play I could see the Threat level pre-build used more in that category as they lock the upgrades to the pilot so you won't have to worry too much about potentially broken pilot/upgrade combos. IF there happens to be one pilot that is OP it is restricted to a single build which everyone could work on a counter.
6. Well we went from 2 to 3 factions (sub-factions didn't really have any influence in 1st ed.) 2.0 can easily go from 5 to 7 factions. There could be ways to put them in and they would be easier to differentiate from the other factions. Republic will be stiffer but have more force powers where CIS would make liberal use of droid and calculate actions. Not to say there won't be a force powered Sith Infiltrator with Darth Maul as a pilot. I still say the best way to add them in would be to have a wave devoted to a single faction such as adding Republic in Wave 6 and C.I.S. in Wave 7. Sure that means there will be 5 factions supposedly left out for the waves but the upgrades would be enough to update them. Wave 6 did bring out some upgrades that Imperials used considerably until they got them in their own expansion.
7. I'm still waiting for Mon Mothma, Obi-Wan, Admiral Peit, and Lobot and none of those cards are out yet. However I do agree that K2-SO > L3-3T and yet that abomination is in X-wing. So glad it got scrapped. Sorry, but I reject Solo a $tar War$ $tory as my Star Wars Cannon. #NotMyMillenniumFalcon
8. TIE Reaper is funny as it seems faster than the TIE Interceptor where the TIE Interceptor is more maneuverable. But most world champion designed cards have been suspiciously out of the competitive scene. I don't know if that is because these cards were designed for a meta that is two waves ago but to be honest, not a single champion designed card had any impact on the competitive tournament meta.
9. Well that depends on the secondary weapons. For the most part a ship like the TIE Bomber which was designed to take more secondary weapon shots than primary shot. The problem with U-boats were not the torpedoes but mainly the Jumpmaster as a whole as they start to take things away and it was still too good for the amount of points you put in. Unlike the TIE bomber where if you avoided the secondary weapons, the JM5K easily had primary weapons on you. I don't think that would be a problem with 2.0.
10. Force is interesting. It sort of reminds me of energy but no it is force. However I see force the same as calculation in being weaker than focus and a way to try and bring low firepower ships like 2 firepower up to the par as 3 firepower ships. Having more 2 firepower with simple modifications could be a better balance compared to higher firepower with heavy modifications.

7 hours ago, Cloaker said:

Firstly, very excited for 2.0. Been playing a little over two years, Scum and Rebel exclusively unless my friends let me play their Imps. But yeah, I'm so in.

Now that being said, with the New Trilogy factions apart from the OT ones, and scum somehow operating timelessly in-between, one of the more interesting aspects of 2.0 is how exactly they are going to differentiate factions to achieve their own flavor. And how the ships will each feel more unique. A prior comment I read brought up how there was a bit of a concern of linked action Rebel X-wings diluting the theme of the Empire ships. How a five T-65 list, (we asked for it, we sure as Hoth got it for 1.0) if they are possible in 2.0, would most likely dominate a 8 ship TIE swarm. As we wait for 2.0, some things I am enjoying hypothesizing on, and being perplexed about, I present for topical and friendly discussion;

1) Are the identities of each 2.0 debuting faction truly unique in game design? What can possibly be assumed is a) Rebel Alliance; Squadmate synergies & durability b) Galactic Empire; Maneuverability & ship count (ships to be priced relatively lower than other factions with similar stat lines c) Scum; Mischievous utility (unreliable or self-risking illicits, pilot abilities that interfere with opponents) & deviant chassis i.e. 3 extra mods Vaksai, curved barrel rolling Starvipers) but what might we be missing?

2) With linked actions being a thing for several ships does it blur the lines and value more than in 1.0 in regards to what makes an Ace an Ace? Having an Initiative of 6, which supposedly will come with a premium cost, might not be as beneficial as before given the compression of many lower initiative pilots who have higher utility abilities that a list could wield more of.

3) With Ace multiple re-positioning abilities highly minimized, modifications more restrained, turrets gaining range one bonuses, does it make the approach of said high cost small ship Aces with less than 5 health (say perhaps, Fenn Rau in a Fang) even more perilous? And will we there be a subsequent influx of Fat Hans, Husky Dashs, Chunky Reys and FETT! fielded to withstand and achieve the best benefit from that high Initiative?

4) How will the First Order and Resistance be designed to be their own? This is really fun to consider; First Order maybe delivers more stress mechanics (although unlikely as designers said they want to reduce NPE effects) or possibly formation flying benefits that reduce defense but enhance aggressive play. But what core mechanics could make the FO truly apart from the Galactic Empire? How will the Resistance catch up in diversity of ship count? (The new live action series might be the cure here) Given how good the Rebel Alliance iconic ships will be, what or who besides Rey and Poe Dameron will help vault The Resistance options to not be overpriced and undersold copies of our beloved Rebels? Piling on more hull or shields hopefully is not the solution and the tech slot will only be worth so much. More linked actions might be a part of making them stand apart. But then the spiral begins all over again.

5) The future of 100/6; Will there ever be a day when a format has a higher player base, such as Epic or Objectives? Granted, tournament options are going to be greatly expanded. But could we see Epic becoming something more than the only seen at holidays Big Cousin of dogfights? Even better, could something akin to an Epic game with Objectives be something viable one day that can be played in under 4 hours?

6) Prequel Factions; Do we really want to shoehorn a prepubescent Initiative 5-6 pilot, a fatherly knockoff of an admittedly overrated (in terms of the films) Mandalorian bounty hunter, and a vast swath of subtle racist stereotyped alien crew and/or entire squads of personality devoid automatons into new factions? Yes, the Naboo Starfighter is cool, but it gets confounding for factional design when the ARC-170 is in Phantom Menace. Although we'll soon see lists with Han Solo and Boba Fett in the same squad so there's that. The million dollar question; would prequel factions sell enough volume comparatively to the "cooler" film factions to be worth the design choice by FFG? These sorts of missteps are the kind of things that sink games and sometimes, companies.

7) K-2SO; Really, how did this Not Happen? Twice? How does L337 make it in and he didn't? Is this JUST to sell us another U-Wing in 9 months? Then again, three different models of the Falcon exist. Sigh, I love K-2S0.

8 ) The PS1 TIE Reaper with BoShek sure was a pain in the Sarlacc against me yesterday, just saying. Advanced Ailerons and 1 forward and it is automatic. It's hilariously funny, sort of. It took several waves for something like that to come about from Heaver's design idea. They should honor the past World's Champions designed cards somehow. It kind of preserves the history of the game a bit.

9) What will it be like in a game where it is possible that more ordnance shots than primaries might be taken over the course of a match? The multi charge facet choice is certainly making ordnance interesting, although thankfully not in an OP way. I really dig how they have made cannons and turrets feel different from missiles and torps. It does seem like a primarily primary weapon game might be a 50/50 proposition in some matches.

10) Finally; The Force. Luke / Ezra pilots, Vader and TGI, these duos could be very competitive for their factions. But hopefully they keep Force pilots and upgrades rare and highly costed. Perhaps even raise squad cost exponentially if adding more force using pilots or crew to a list. Just a thought.

Happy Monday to all!

1. I'm hoping there is an as of yet unspoiled "reinforcements" mechanic for the Empire, which will be shown in the TIE fighter articles for Wave 1, basically allowing for 10 TIE fighters, just not at the same time on the board. This would fit really well with the 5 X-wings, if it happens. It could also answer all of the Imperial crafts' problem, like the Interceptor, which is not as good as the X-wing, but because of the 3 dice attack, and the swingy nature of their defense, they quickly get out of hand when massed. A reinforcement mechanic however could allow imperials to maintain a numeric advantage, without giving them access to brutal opening salvos.

Using the reserve mechanics, would work really well with this. You put 2 extra TIE-s in Reserve, and you can summon them when one of your other TIE-s falls off.

2. Higher Initiative, better pilot abilities, talent slot. Will that always be enough? Probably not. But then again, Ace Wing was not universally adored, so maybe that's fine. Generics need to be able to compete as well. I'd love if a generic Interceptor swarm would be a viable list.

3. Turrets will be still way less mobile than before, and their arcs now can be dodged.

4. I guess the FO will receive the same "we give orders to pilots" mechanics as the empire, with more potent benefits, at a cost. Self stressing abilities, and stress triggers come to mind.

5.

6. Heck yeah we do.

7. A **** shame ?

8. "Not all of us deserve to make it to the Valley Beyond"

9. Ehm. They did alright with ordnance and turrets, but cannons suffer. They are really bad. Unlike ordnance, they don't really provide a significant offensive upgrade on most ships. They don't require Locks or reload, sure, but they also deal no damage, except HLC, which is finicky at best. It's okay against large ships. You kinda pay the extra points for a situational item. Compare them with the relevant turrets for similar price. Plus there is a disconnect between the function of cannons in the lore and the game. In the lore slapping extra cannons translates to a direct increase in firepower. The ships don't have extra options, they have extra weapons firing at you. I think cannons could be made worthwhile, if all of them worked as bonus attacks. (Which they still might, but I seriously doubt it).

10. I'm fine with the Force being amazing. It's star wars... the Force is OP. It's all fine and dandy. I'm a bit grumpy about Vader getting shafted on his ride... again. I think he'd rather sit in any other imperial ship, save maybe the TIE fighter. And we will probably not see the rest of the Advanced pilots, only in the hands of crazy people like myself. #MarekSteeleLives

Happy Monday.

1) If you're talking Seperatists, for example, ships that rely on command ships to access their abilities, maybe even spawn, are an obvious one. The Republic could use buffed generics (the clones are supposed to be an army of aces, basically) and more or less eschew aces except for the Jedi, perhaps with a limit of "one per squad". Stuff like that could easily work.

2) No way to know until the app is out.

3) Ditto.

4) Sacrifice mechanics could make sense for the Resistance, given TLJ. You know, like Chopper the Astromech Upgrade. The First Order could be a reverse Empire: better ships, but worse pilots, for more or less the same price.

5) Hope!

6) The big questionmark, isn't it? But some of the ships that were published in later waves are far more obscure than the stuff from the prequels, and they have some pretty cool ships in that era.

7) Because they had no mechanic for him, I guess. I'd expect him in some "Battle of Scarif" themed pack to come out later. There is still a need for Y-Wing pilots.

8 ) Can't really comment on that.

9) Agreed.

10) Agreed.

I want to add that one of the most important things I wish for 2.0 is a greater number of named pilots for ships that don't have them currently, like the E-Wing or the TIE Silencer. One of the most restricting aspects for squad building right now is the dearth of named pilots for some ships.

11 hours ago, Commander Kaine said:

1. I'm hoping there is an as of yet unspoiled "reinforcements" mechanic for the Empire, which will be shown in the TIE fighter articles for Wave 1, basically allowing for 10 TIE fighters, just not at the same time on the board. This would fit really well with the 5 X-wings, if it happens. It could also answer all of the Imperial crafts' problem, like the Interceptor, which is not as good as the X-wing, but because of the 3 dice attack, and the swingy nature of their defense, they quickly get out of hand when massed. A reinforcement mechanic however could allow imperials to maintain a numeric advantage, without giving them access to brutal opening salvos.

Using the reserve mechanics, would work really well with this. You put 2 extra TIE-s in Reserve, and you can summon them when one of your other TIE-s falls off.

This is a GREAT idea. Totally fits the films, just when you think they're not too many, MORE come out after you with speed and numbers!

20 hours ago, Cloaker said:

7) K-2SO; Really, how did this Not Happen? Twice? How does L337 make it in and he didn't? Is this JUST to sell us another U-Wing in 9 months? Then again, three different models of the Falcon exist. Sigh, I love K-2S0.

Good question. he obvious answer is that he'll eventually arrive in the Zeta-class Cargo Shuttle expansion pack. AKA the Imperial Space Turtle.

1 minute ago, FTS Gecko said:

Good question. he obvious answer is that he'll eventually arrive in the Zeta-class Cargo Shuttle expansion pack. AKA the Imperial Space Turtle.

Dear God, you might be right. It's the 2.0 C-3P0 sales tactic!

I would LOVE to see CIS/Republic Factions, just for the fun of increasingly diverse game mechanics. Having FO and Res, they can no longer say "we are only focusing on factions that could have temporally overlapped," because some of the current factions would NOT have overlapped.

I think what constitutes an Ace might be more fluid, but thats fine by me!

Arc dodgers seem like they will be viable, but only as cheaper ships...

As you say, empire spams, rebels cooperate, and scum messes with the norm. I expect FO to be very independent-minded, ships that do very straightforward things very well on their own. Less and tougher, more potent ships than the empire, less powerful than rebels working together, but better than a comparable rebel ship 1v1, and not tricky like scum, but consistent. Resistance might be more formation-flying, hit and run kinda stuff.

Ordnance doesn't seem as OP as it was in 1.0 if you could make them worth the points, so I don't think its gonna change much tbh.