Am I the only one who thinks it robs Imperials (and First Order) of some mystique by having call-signs? For example, I really prefer "Omega Leader" to "Midnight." (This isn't true on the Rebellion/Resistance side. I like call-signs for the plucky heroes. But the Empire/FO is supposed to be faceless jackbooted thugs.)

Mixed bag for me. Something like “Omega Leader” or “Saber-5” can work pretty well for me. Stuff like Omega Ace or Blue Ace over on the other side, not so much, as it’s not a really a designation.

Now that said, I can see the advantage to switching to call signs. If I say “Wampa” or “Backstabber”, I think that is distinctive and potential easier to remember over a designation like Black 3 or DS-61-3. Same with the likes of Quickdraw and Backdraft.

So, like I said, it’s a mixed bag for me. I don’t think it was necessary to give Omega Leader a call sign, but not really torn up that they did it. I will liking keep referring to him as Omega Leader.

I prefer callsigns because the First Order TIE Pilots were difficult to differentiate. Zeta Ace, Zeta Leader, Omega Ace, Omega Leader. They all sound similar to each other. Plus, the call signs add a bit of personality. "Backstabber" (RIP) and Echo are great examples of how their callsigns can integrate with the gameplay.

Now I do think there is an advantage to using callsigns instead of real names on the Imperial/FO side. Like you mentioned it adds a bit of facelessness, since the heroes Luke Skywalker and Poe Dameron are fighting the mysterious "Mauler Mithel" and "Quickdraw."

I felt that way until after I read Lost Stars. They’re people too you monster!

15 minutes ago, Red G said:

I prefer callsigns because the First Order TIE Pilots were difficult to differentiate. Zeta Ace , Zeta Leader , Omega Ace , Omega Leader . They all sound similar to each other.

I agree they need better -- more distinct -- generic names. I just wish they were generic names. Honestly, I think "Omega Leader," "Omega-2," and so on would be fine.

Quote

Plus, the call signs add a bit of personality. " Backstabber " (RIP) and Echo are great examples of how their callsigns can integrate with the gameplay.

That's kinda my point, though. They add "personality." Neither the Empire nor the First Order want personality.

Quote

Now I do think there is an advantage to using callsigns instead of real names on the Imperial/FO side. Like you mentioned it adds a bit of facelessness, since the heroes Luke Skywalker and Poe Dameron are fighting the mysterious " Mauler Mithel " and " Quickdraw ."

I'm not sure what you're saying here, exactly. How does Luke know he's facing Mauler Mithil or Quickdraw? And if he did, doesn't knowing who they are make them less mysterious, not more mysterious?

I just wish the call-signs themselves weren't so dang cheesy . I mean, I can't be the only one that thinks that they're terrrible, right?

"Howlrunner?"

"Deathrain?" (and "Deathfire." And "Deathwind." And "Deathearth.")

"Night Beast?"

"Pure Sabacc?"

"Wampa?"

"Backdraft?"

and now, "Midnight?"

They're so, so bad. And they don't really feel Empire-ish at all to me. They sound like they ought to be flying in a rag-tag pirate group led by Taser-Face Talonbane Cobra, not part of the rigid and well established military organization that rules the galaxy.

I prefer "Lieutenant/Captain/Major/Baron/etc + <name>" or "Omega/Zeta/Gamma/Black/Saber/etc. + Leader/<#>" over cheesy call-signs any day.

(And yes, I realize it's not FFG who came up with most of the call-signs. But still.)

1 hour ago, Herowannabe said:

I just wish the call-signs themselves weren't so dang cheesy . I mean, I can't be the only one that thinks that they're terrrible, right?

That's right. All their Sith leaders have very noble names. To wit:

Darth (I'm actually your) Vader (if only you spoke Hovitos Dutch)

Darth (in)Sideous-ly sneaky

Darth Tyrannus (or us Rex)

Darth (I'm gonna) Maul (you)

Darth (a) Plagueis (on both your houses)

Darth (I'm really gonna be your) Bane.

But, to answer the question, I prefer callsigns to DS-61-3. I could cope with Black 3.

Lastly, from a human psychology point of view, only the most indoctrinated are going to not find some way to express a little personality. They might be DS-6-3 on paper, Black 3 on the comm, but "Backstabber" in the cantina or locker room.

32 minutes ago, Darth Meanie said:

That's  ri  ght. All their Sith leaders have very noble names. To wit:

Darth (I'm actually your) Vader (if only you spoke Hovitos Dutch)

Darth (in)Sideous-ly sneaky

Darth Tyrannus (or us Rex) 

 Darth (I'm gonna) Maul (you)

Darth (a) Plagueis (on both your houses)

 Darth (I'm really gonna be your) Bane.

34 minutes ago, Darth Meanie said:

Lastly  , from a human psychology point of view, only the most indoctrinated are going to not find some way to express a little personality. They might be DS-6-3 on paper, Black 3 on th  e comm, but "Backstabber" in the cantina or locker room.  

FAir enough, though to date I have still never played a game of X-Wing on a Cantina mat. So until I do, I would still prefer names or squadron designations over cheesy callsigns.

The subtitles still let you know which one is which, but now FFG basically did what the community already did in making up a bunch of nicknames for them, so now when people are trying to remember the difference between, say, Zeta Leader and Zeta Ace it should be way easier and it's printed on the card, as opposed to propagated by sections of the community a casual player might never touch.

18 hours ago, Herowannabe said:

"Howlrunner?"

Howlrunner is the name for a type of scary skull dog creature from one of the Han Solo books.

I actually quite like it when callsigns reference in-universe Star Wars animals, like we might have 'Viper' or 'Raptor' in the real world.

18 hours ago, Herowannabe said:

"Deathrain?" (and "Deathfire." And "Deathwind." And "Deathearth.")

Yeah, Deathrain is a little bit edgelord and definitely cheesy. Deathfire I like, though. Has a kind of poetic, fantasy ring to it.

18 hours ago, Herowannabe said:

"Night Beast?"

It's because he's a party animal, apparently

I'm not kidding. He has a reputation for breaking curfew a bunch and staying out late. In that context, I kinda like it. It sounds exactly like the kind of slightly ironic, mocking nickname real pilot would give each other.

18 hours ago, Herowannabe said:

"Pure Sabacc?"

It's a common in-universe term.

It's like a real world pilot going by Bingo (not that they word, as Bingo has a specific aviation meaning) or Yahtzee or something.

18 hours ago, Herowannabe said:

not part of the rigid and well established military organization that rules the galaxy.

You know that pretty much every real world Air Force gives its pilots callsigns, right?

It's for ease of communication. The Empire may be all about stamping out personality and giving their pilots numbers, but there are still going to be occasions where using squadron numerics could be confusing.

What if you wanted to say "Black 3, 3 to your right."? It's the heat of combat, you've got a dozen people nattering in your ear, you're stressed, and the transmission could be garbled or faint, or interrupted.

You don't have time to say DS-13-3 or whatever, and you can't afford to have to repeat yourself. "Backstabber, 3 to your right" is clear and concise.

Personally, I like the idea that Imperial pilots craft these little identities for each other. They may be conditioned, number stamped and expendable but they're still people . They're still going to want their accomplishments recognised, they're still going to want to know who the rest of their squadron is.

The callsigns might not even be something they use publicly, just among themselves.

Lastly, this is fictional space fantasy and I find it way more interesting to have the bad guys distinguish themselves with code names instead of letters.

They're still 'faceless', they still don't use their names. But at least they have some, small fragment of personality.

I like the callsigns. I'd prefer the formal names, like Valen Rudor, with a subtitle of their callsign, but I like what they did with the callsign first with the squadron position subtitle well enough, better than the 1E naming.

Jeff, I think if you run your TIEs (FO or Galactic Empire) and refer to them by their designation "Omega Leader," "Zeta Leader" etc. during games it may be to your advantage:

1. Unless you paint your ships differently, they're virtually identical, so they're easier to confuse with one another.
2. Your opponent may be more familiar with call signs and that pilot's abilities rather than their designation, so you are not misrepresenting one ship for another.
3. Placing the onus on your opponent to keep things/names straight adds one more thing they have to keep track of and using up precious brain power, giving you an edge.

As long as you know who you're talking about and it's printed on the card, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to keep calling Midnight, "Omega Leader".

I personally really like the under-text. It permits both types of players to have what they want.

I'd be much less inclined to play a pilot called "Saber 1" in lieu of Soontir Fel, but I know what a BAMF Soontir is.

On a final note, this will always be howlrunner to me.

Nope. I way prefer the callsigns to the supergeneric names.

No unique pilot should ever be named like that.

I'm happy either way. Both work for me.

What I'm not happy about is that they for some reason called Lockdown 'Midnight'.

Callsigns make sense within a faction, but do you really want the enemy to know your name is Taserface?

17 minutes ago, ViscerothSWG said:

Callsigns make sense within a faction, but do you really want the enemy to know your name is Taserface?

Faisil:
They call him the Sand Spider.

Spencer Trilby:
Why?

Faisil:
Probably because it sounds scary.

After some additional thinking on the subject, I realized the generic nature of the pilots is exactly why I’m not that interested in getting into the CIS when it comes out. They are the ultimate example of the faceless bad guys, every droid fighter is just like the other. But with the little bit of personality the callsigns and some pilot abilities give makes flying Imperials way more interesting for me. A pilot like Wampa doesn’t have an official backstory (at least, I don’t think he does), but the callsign can imply things, from a comment about his size, his disposition, or even something as simple as @Darth Meanie ‘s video goes with, he thought it sounded cool. I find it fun to theorize about the people flying my ship. Even my preference for Omega Leader over the callsign “Midnight” is more based on projected characteristics of a formal and by the book squadron leader than anything else. And with callsigns as an option, having someone still referred to by their Squadron designation can indicate personality as well.

4 hours ago, GuacCousteau said:

... a bunch of good points...

All of that is well and good, but (most of) the call-signs are still cheesy.

13 hours ago, Herowannabe said:

All of that is well and good, but (most of) the call-signs are still cheesy.

Some pilots are probably better at flying than they are at picking callsigns for themselves.

One more disadvantage about givimg pilots unique identities instead of blank-slate designations like Omega Leader - that's more pilots for people to argue about whether they canonically should be referred to as "he" or "she".

Call Sign > Designation > Cheesy Name.

I'll take Midnight or Omega Leader over Acey McAceypants.

Acepants

12 minutes ago, Hawkstrike said:

Acey McAceypants. 

Sounds like someones nickname for Poe.

1 hour ago, Dasharr said:

Some pilots are probably better at flying than they are at picking callsigns for themselves.

I don't know how pilots get their callsigns in the other US military services but, in the US Navy, pilots don't choose their own callsign. It's left up to their squadron members, usually while in training, to give a pilot their callsign. For example, Randy "Duke" Cunningham was given his callsign because of his love for John Wayne films.

Acey McAceyPants is obviously Talonbane Cobra.

Acey McAceFace?