With the First Order Conversion preview out, it's clear the Upsilon got even more than it's 1.0 version. The kit provides conversions for 3 of them, but I, like some others, worry that it still won't be quite competitive due to pricing and its dial. I think that there will be a use for it, but it's hard to say when we don't know the majority of pilots we will be getting for other First Order ships once they arrive.

So with that in mind, I want to speculate on the other crew carrier option the First Order has available to them: The Xi-Class Light Shuttle (from TLJ). What would it take to make this a viable crew carrier and support ship for the FO, especially compared to it's super-sized big brother?

A quick trip to Wookiepedia tells me that the shuttle comes in at 11.84 meters long, 22.87 meters wide, and 18.31 meters high, and armed with 2 light laser cannons. At those dimensions, I could see this maybe being a small base, or a medium if they really wanted to emphasize it isn't maneuverable, with a 2 die attack. But what upgrades, actions, and other stats do you guys think would make this work?

On an unrelated note, if we don't get a Captain Moden Canady crew card in the conversion, it better come in this.

A lot of people still think their drop ship could make an appearance. It seems a little silly to me and less likely than the LAAT for the GR but still possible.

The Xi-class would be a nice get as well. I could see it playing more like the small shuttles that the Rebels have instead of like the Lambda and Upsilon but perhaps less agile and maneuverable.

I imagine it being similar to the Sheathipede in terms of stats, just with tech slots added. Maybe system but that may be too much for the ship.

6 hours ago, CaptainIxidor said:

A lot of people still think their drop ship could make an appearance. It seems a little silly to me and less likely than the LAAT for the GR but still possible.

The Xi-class would be a nice get as well. I could see it playing more like the small shuttles that the Rebels have instead of like the Lambda and Upsilon but perhaps less agile and maneuverable.

One way to make them both work would be for the Xi-class to be a small-base ship that takes one crew, while the drop ship is a medium-base ship with two crew (basically, make the Xi roughly equivalent to either the Sheathipede or the HWK-290 while the drop ship is roughly equivalent to the U-Wing).

That would also naturally lead to the Resistance getting both a Transport and a Transport pod that were medium and small base shuttles, with equivalent numbers of crew upgrade slots.

26 minutes ago, Freeptop said:

One way to make them both work would be for the Xi-class to be a small-base ship that takes one crew, while the drop ship is a medium-base ship with two crew (basically, make the Xi roughly equivalent to either the Sheathipede or the HWK-290 while the drop ship is roughly equivalent to the U-Wing).

That would also naturally lead to the Resistance getting both a Transport and a Transport pod that were medium and small base shuttles, with equivalent numbers of crew upgrade slots.

There's also the neat transport we've seen from the theme park. Some of us think it could be a thing. Maybe later on, though.

The Xi-Class is allegedly smaller than the sheathipede in length, so I could see it as a small. The wingspan is a different story, though. It's definitely wider than a lot of small ships when considering that. It's actually wider than an ARC-170 as well but since it can fold down into a triangle it might work.

The AAL-1971/9.1 Troop Transport is bigger though, so I could see them doing a small and medium Xi and transport. I still think the transport sounds a bit silly as a ship in game. The closest comparison I have is the LAAT which I definitely want in the game but is also armed to the teeth, where the AAL only has a single anti-personnel blaster in lore. I guess they could make it an unheard of variant or something.

1 hour ago, CaptainIxidor said:

There's also the neat transport we've seen from the theme park. Some of us think it could be a thing. Maybe later on, though.

The Xi-Class is allegedly smaller than the sheathipede in length, so I could see it as a small. The wingspan is a different story, though. It's definitely wider than a lot of small ships when considering that. It's actually wider than an ARC-170 as well but since it can fold down into a triangle it might work.

The AAL-1971/9.1 Troop Transport is bigger though, so I could see them doing a small and medium Xi and transport. I still think the transport sounds a bit silly as a ship in game. The closest comparison I have is the LAAT which I definitely want in the game but is also armed to the teeth, where the AAL only has a single anti-personnel blaster in lore. I guess they could make it an unheard of variant or something.

Eh, Lambdas are really kind of silly in a dogfight as well. At least we know the AAL-etc, etc is space-capable

(I know the LAAT technically is as well, but the open sides and the bubble turrets that swing out from the sides always make me feel weird thinking about them as space-capable... even though I _know_ that Star Wars has force field tech that makes it work!)

22 minutes ago, Freeptop said:

Eh, Lambdas are really kind of silly in a dogfight as well. At least we know the AAL-etc, etc is space-capable

(I know the LAAT technically is as well, but the open sides and the bubble turrets that swing out from the sides always make me feel weird thinking about them as space-capable... even though I _know_ that Star Wars has force field tech that makes it work!)

I've always viewed the whole "Lambda in a dogfight" thing as justified because it needed to be able to defend itself in case it gets intercepted in transit by hostile forces. Since it's designed to transport VIPs, the ability to fend off Rebels, pirates and other ne'er-do-wells is required.

13 hours ago, Freeptop said:

Eh, Lambdas are really kind of silly in a dogfight as well. At least we know the AAL-etc, etc is space-capable

(I know the LAAT technically is as well, but the open sides and the bubble turrets that swing out from the sides always make me feel weird thinking about them as space-capable... even though I _know_ that Star Wars has force field tech that makes it work!)

The Lambda at least has weapons designed for attacking other vehicles and not just for clearing infantry out of a landing zone. I'd say that's true for the LAAT as well. Still, I'd rather see this dropship than not see it.