Ok? So now there's a second mat announced that's not even in rotation?

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2018/6/28/tarkin-initiative-labs-skirmish-map/

This is all really confusing. FFG help us understand whats going on.

Well at least it shows it ain't dead! Wooooo! Not that Legion has blown it's load, there's more time for IA.

Bigger with rules ? (click to zoom). Note that it's all Core-set tiles so could enter rotation any time.

I resume my official role as the FFG OP Twitter troll ?

-ryanjamal

I get the feeling this one is in next month, then lothal will go in for October time. That way box will be out and hopefully mat at similar time maybe? Not getting hopes up but a decent idea

One of my favorite maps. Glad it’s getting a turn.

33 minutes ago, Fightwookies said:

One of my favorite maps. Glad it’s getting a turn.

It's actually one of my least favourite. Can't argue about taste

I'm looking forward to playing this! I like how, if you want to get to the red console first, you're gonna have to open your door that protects your terminal. I like how Scenario A scores points based on a figure moving INTO a space with the console... and then the console to score next is completely random (which makes running objectives more interesting).

I've played this one on Scenario A a few times, oddly still haven't done Scenario B. It was a heck of a lot of fun and surprising how fast we got to 40 points. My favorite game was on it was a tusken/bantha swarm vs a stormtrooper swarm. Those 3 figure activation cards, paid themselves off very quickly on this map.

Not a huge fan of the random whack-a-mole mechanic in Side A, but good to mix it up I guess. I’m just glad Nal Hutta is rotating out soon, hopefully before our Store Champs happen in mid July and August.

how odd, i just got Mos Eisly and it will be out by October

With Nal Hutta going, I hoped that this is the end of Junk Droid compatible scenario objectives. And then there is this new map. Scenario A screams: "Play an Ugnaught swarm, it will be godlike on that mission."

1 minute ago, DerBaer said:

With Nal Hutta going, I hoped that this is the end of Junk Droid compatible scenario objectives. And then there is this new map.

Have Junk Droids been a problem in your local Meta? They weren't popular at Worlds AFAIK.

1 hour ago, nickv2002 said:

Have Junk Droids been a problem in your local Meta? They weren't popular at Worlds AFAIK.

Only because people chose not to play them, not because they weren’t viable, IMO. Vader is a challenge and Uscru hurt them a bit, but given the right matchups they’d still be competitive.

I’d be happy to see them slink off to the dust bins of history, true to their name ?

-ryanjamal

20 hours ago, Darth evil said:

how odd, i just got Mos Eisly and it will be out by October

Map rotation happens every 3 months. So any given map will see 9 months of tournament play. Mos Eisley rotated in to play on January 1st, so October sounds about right for it to rotate out. I actually think Mos Eisley is a great map just because it's so balanced, I'll miss it when it rotates in October.

This Tarkin map reminds me a lot of Jabba's Palace. The most notable positioning trick I've found so far is that a shooter placed 2 squares diagonally from the Blue console can draw line of sight through almost the entire hallway into the red deployment zone without being attacked. The red deployment zone has a Greedo hidey spot next to the tree that overlooks the green objective, but it's not difficult for a figure standing on the green Console to move up and fire into that hole.

2 hours ago, Tvboy said:

Map rotation happens every 3 months. So any given map will see 9 months of tournament play. Mos Eisley rotated in to play on January 1st, so October sounds about right for it to rotate out. I actually think Mos Eisley is a great map just because it's so balanced, I'll miss it when it rotates in October.

That’s mostly true, except for when they just straight skipped last October. Nothing new between Nal Hutta last July and Jawa’s Mos Eisley in January. Because of that skip, Jabba’s Palace and Nal Hutta had 12 month runs.

Mos Eisley is great, but I can’t wait to dump Nal Hutta

4 hours ago, Fightwookies said:

Mos Eisley is great, but I can’t wait to dump Nal Hutta

Amen to that.

Tested the missions today

Mission A has a random element that is really annoying - the "free points" from going next to the current scoring color console which then moves to another color could have you score multiple times in one activation - I played Hired Guns and those lil dudes got me something like 12 or 14 pts just from running between consoles and then the parting shots

Mission B is horrible, adding one dice to your attack pool is ... completely stupid.
Jets throwing 4 dice at you every attack is simply crazy blue blue green red, blue blue green green, etc. And if you open your door immediately against certain opponents, you're basically screwed - my opponent had Captain Terro, 2x eJets and Palp with Motivation (plus other stuff), Terro can easily flamethrower your zone as soon as you open your door and if you don't open your door, you're letting the eJets gather the free extra dice. Pretty crazy.

That's why i was surprised this map was selected. Hera's map is perhaps more balanced rulewise but also has some funky rules.

What's surprising in FFG choosing to produce a Tarkin Initiative Labs playmat?

13 hours ago, Kalandros said:

Tested Mission B is horrible, adding one dice to your attack pool is ... completely stupid.

Jets throwing 4 dice at you every attack is simply crazy blue blue green red, blue blue green green, etc. And if you open your door immediately against certain opponents, you're basically screwed - my opponent had Captain Terro, 2x eJets and Palp with Motivation (plus other stuff), Terro can easily flamethrower your zone as soon as you open your door and if you don't open your door, you're letting the eJets gather the free extra dice. Pretty crazy.

There’s an opportunity cost with picking up the dice. It costs an action that you’re not spending on an attack, and you’re likely leaving a figure somewhat exposed. That figure may get to do a big attack later, but usually at the expense of utility now.

10 hours ago, Fightwookies said:

There’s an opportunity cost with picking up the dice. It costs an action that you’re not spending on an attack, and you’re likely leaving a figure somewhat exposed. That figure may get to do a big attack later, but usually at the expense of utility now.

They don't need to attack on turn 1, jets pretty much never do, if they take one turn to gain an extra dice until killed... then its more than worth it, plus consider the combo options of Palpatine + Motivation, Call the Vanguard, Covering Fire, Fuel Upgrade, Shared Experience - all hidden behind terrain or figurines (especially if he gets the grass side with that very advantageous square that he himself can Mobile through in and out...

I've experienced it, its not fun.

On 7/1/2018 at 9:07 PM, Kalandros said:

They don't need to attack on turn 1, jets pretty much never do, if they take one turn to gain an extra dice until killed...

I'll be quite happy when you go pickup a weapon and leave yourself out in the open. I'll follow that up with wiping that figure off the board.