I don't think these ever got a specific canon designation, but it was a design change made for orbit to surface infantry deployment. Bigger doors for pressurization of the cabin, spotlights instead of ball turrets, anti-pursuit lasers etc.

Although it doesn't have its flank guns, I think the closest archetype to base it on would be the Hound's Tooth. The ARC-170 already covers off on the double arced platform, so it makes sense in terms of gameplay to make it a little different and maybe give it a 180 arc anyway. They are about as long as the Scimitar apparently so large base makes sense scale wise, but a large based missile platform sounds really lack-lustre. They'll need to do something unique with it for it to stand out at all.

2 Missile slots, a gunner, a crew, reinforce and reload actions, a red stop etc. maybe a 8/3 hull and shield split? I think it should be more tanky than an ARC, especially if its a large base. It shouldn't be expensive either though, so maybe 2 attack dice primary to balance the cost? Then it can give the missiles something to do.

12 hours ago, millertime059 said:

I’m thinking a design along the lines of the BSF. That has a forward primary and a bow tie. Something between that and the TIE/sf. Make it so that the front and bow tie are 2 dice attacks, but if the bow tie is forward make it a 3, or even 4, die attack. Limited dial, but a ferocious puncher if you can get something in front and light up.

Or play with the missile launcher aspect. That thing could deliver a fearsome frontal attack by coordinating missiles and lasers. Either allow a bonus missile attack, or spend a charge to add a die to the attack. Or make it have a ship ability that if you attack with a missile and the turrets are facing forward then add a die to the attack.

obviously don’t do all of that in one ship. But pick some of the options above and it would certainly differentiate it and give it a feel like a deadly gunboat when it can get all weapons lined up on target.

Agreed. Getting to fire a missile as a bonus attack sounds interesting.

Personally I think 180 degrees firing arch would be perfect.. in fact the wookie gunship is very much how I imagined this ship was going to be like.

On 4/3/2019 at 10:36 AM, william1134 said:

Personally I think 180 degrees firing arch would be perfect.. in fact the wookie gunship is very much how I imagined this ship was going to be like.

Except on a medium base.

On 4/2/2019 at 11:52 PM, BVRCH said:

...but a large based missile platform sounds really lack-lustre. They'll need to do something unique with it for it to stand out at all.

What if they let you treat <forward arc> missiles as <180 front arc> missiles?

4 hours ago, JJ48 said:

What if they let you treat <forward arc> missiles as <180 front arc> missiles?

Nah, leave them forward. Keep ordinance to arcs. Otherwise that gets real dumb real fast.

6 hours ago, JJ48 said:

What if they let you treat <forward arc> missiles as <180 front arc> missiles?

There's a few things they could do. I think having that mechanic unique to the LAAT might be ok, a large base would give it substantial range and might hamper future missile designs in order to keep this balanced.

I think it'd be cool if they give them a unique missile, the Mass Driver Missiles they had on screeen. Make it republic only and 2 missile slots. Maybe with an ability like;

"When you declare the target of your attack, you spend your target lock to assign the defender 1 strain token, unless they spend one green token."

Range 2-3, 3 dice, 3 charges. Something like that.

They could also just make it a medium base, that would help the chassis out a lot. The Reaper is supposed to be bigger than a LAAT, so there is precedence for it.

size puts it at a medium base, right? 17m x 17m ? is this right? I think I've seen larger dimensions for size though.. hmm On screen it doesn't seem much bigger than a Arc-170. The Arc definitley has a larger wing span by far.

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Low_Altitude_Assault_Transport/infantry/Legends

Then the Nu-Class shuttle could be large base? slightly longer but wings make it much larger, like the Imperial shuttle. (i believe it's close to the same size as the Imperial shuttle)

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Nu-class_attack_shuttle

Or the T6 shuttle could be the large base one - https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/T-6_shuttle

4 hours ago, Arc170Chris said:

size puts it at a medium base, right? 17m x 17m ? is this right? I think I've seen larger dimensions for size though.. hmm On screen it doesn't seem much bigger than a Arc-170. The Arc definitley has a larger wing span by far.

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Low_Altitude_Assault_Transport/infantry/Legends

Then the Nu-Class shuttle could be large base? slightly longer but wings make it much larger, like the Imperial shuttle. (i believe it's close to the same size as the Imperial shuttle)

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Nu-class_attack_shuttle

Take all star wars ship lengths with a huge grain of sale, but...

Looking in Clone Wars Incredible Vehicles:

LAAT/i is 17.69 m (58 ft)

LAAT/c is 28.82 m (94.5 ft)

ARC-170 is 12.7 m (42 ft)

Nu-class shuttle 24.34 m (79.9 ft)

It was the source book for the show, but the book is no longer cannon.

I’m hoping for a droid gunship. Missiles, torpedoes, and 180 front arc (because the cannons are on the cheeks.

I'd imagine that the LAAT and HMP are both inevitable, as they provide the "heavy gunship" option for their factions, along with sporting quite distinctive looks. Contrast to the K-Wing and TIE Punisher for the Rebels and Empire, and perhaps the Kimogila for the Scum.

Both the LAAT and HMP should fit well on medium base (as long as the clearly erroneous claim of LAAT being nearly 30 meters in length on a newer reference book is ignored). Arguments for small bases could be made even, though i'd imagine they'll get medium bases on the account of their role more so than their size.

The only question is if the LAAT will get the "Space Gunship" variant or LAAT/i. The latter is more well known so i'm inclined to think it will be chose. I sure hope it will be chosen. EDIT Yeah yeah, minor differences but 1) red's better color for the ship, 2) the spotlights look stupid, i'd rather have LAAT without front bubble turrets than get those spotlights.

Technically the HMP droid gunship is atmospheric craft BUT there's nothing really that indicates it cannot go to space. The LAAT/i is a repulsorlift craft (it has no rocket thrusters of any kind clearly) and capable of space travel, so the same should apply to the HMP.

On 4/3/2019 at 10:36 AM, william1134 said:

Personally I think 180 degrees firing arch would be perfect.. in fact the wookie gunship is very much how I imagined this ship was going to be like.

Ha! You're not the only one. I just want some more Republic crew options with the LAAT, Nu-class shuttle, or whatever the next applicable ship might be.

3 minutes ago, Pa Weasley said:

Ha! You're not the only one. I just want some more Republic crew options with the LAAT, Nu-class shuttle, or whatever the next applicable ship might be.

Plausible crew-slot possessing ships for the Republic would be LAAT/i, Nu-class attack shuttle, Theta-class shuttle, Eta-class shuttle, and possibly T-6 shuttle though since that's unarmed, it seems unlikely. The G-9 Rigger, ie the Twilight from The Clone Wars film could be an option as well, though it might be more natural fit for the S&V. There is one further option in "Havoc Marauder", from TCW episode Bad Batch used by the Clone Force 99. But since that is only in story-reel form at the moment (though most likely part of season 7 of TCW this year), and its very unique nature make it unlikely option for now.

Yeah, that's a lot of shuttles. Really wonder which ones we'll be seeing. Think the Theta is a safe bet due to its Lambda-like style, good shuttle for high profile support crew like Palps. The Nu and Eta would add little to it, though i suppose a more offensively oriented support ship without being outright gunship like the LAAT is would make the Nu-class plausible eventually.

For Separatists, there's the Sheathipede-class shuttle and... that's about it. Dooku's solar sailer yacht perhaps? But without the sail, it isn't very distinctive, not to mention lacking armament.

Ok so I put of my ideas into a graphical medium. What do you think?

I would make Mass Driver Missiles a double missile slot, but the template didn't allow for it. I'd also make the LAAT/i card a config, but again the template didn't allow for it. I've put some very loose indicative upgrade slots and points cost on the pilot card, but I haven't put a lot of thought into the cost per se.

14 hours ago, Woorloog said:

Yeah, that's a lot of shuttles. Really wonder which ones we'll be seeing. Think the Theta is a safe bet due to its Lambda-like style, good shuttle for high profile support crew like Palps. The Nu and Eta would add little to it, though i suppose a more offensively oriented support ship without being outright gunship like the LAAT is would make the Nu-class plausible eventually.

They are all quite distinct. Theta is similar to Lambda, Nu is more heavily armed and armored but doesn't have a rear gun, like the Upsilon, Eta is small and agile, more of a Sheate equivalent, but it's also a Jedi ship, possibly with Force-related abilities, and if one needs a larger Jedi shuttle there is the T-6, which - while unarmed in most apperances - has an armed variant as seen in Forces of Destiny, with a uniqe configuration of two turrets/casemates on both sides covering at least partially the sides and with overlapping field of fire in the front:

15 hours ago, Woorloog said:

For Separatists, there's the Sheathipede-class shuttle and... that's about it. Dooku's solar sailer yacht perhaps? But without the sail, it isn't very distinctive, not to mention lacking armament.

There are other unarmed ships in the game, like tugboat and an... escape pod.

Another one for the CIS is Sheathipede's bigger brother, the Maxillipede

OK, somehow i've missed Maxillipede. Would provide the Seps reasonable large base support ship certainly. Two shuttles and the Infiltrator are probably enough for the Separatists, would kind of highlight their droid-using nature perhaps.

And yeah, the Republic shuttles are all different but you can reasonably represent that up to a point. But perhaps the Republic shuttles are just different enough. While the Theta is Lambda-like in that it is a shuttle for higher ranked officers, it could lack the armament and equipment of the Lambda, essentially be a cheap support ship option. The Nu could be the primary combat-support option, while the LAAT would be combat ship with support as secondary role, if that makes sense. And the Eta being a Jedi shuttle is excellent point i hadn't really considered, good platform for Jedi crew. Think the T-6 isn't really needed, it doesn't really add anything (plus it is ugly).

As for unarmed ships, i didn't really think about the Quadjumper because i figured that as a Scum ship it is naturally modified somehow. Forgot about the escape pod though.

By my calculations the LAAT gunship should be a small base ship, here’s why.

Everyone knows that officially quoted lengths are almost always wrong, so I needed something concrete to work off of, like the hight of a clone trooper, which is 1.83 meters, or 6 foot for those of us that use the system that got us to the moon. Now, a clone trooper is just barely under 1/3 the hight of a gunship

So let’s give it a generous 6.5 meters.

And a gunship is just about twice as long as it is tall

So that gives us about 13 meters, only .5 meters longer than an X-wing. This ship at proper scale would look ridiculous on a medium base.