7 hours ago, namdoolb said:

Having the imperials achieve victory by destroying the u-wings is an issue, as others have stated it's pretty easy to burn two of them down. But it is a neccesary factor to create tension in the scenario. Obviously it needs to stay as a wincon, but we need some way of buffing the durability of those u-wings which doesn't break the scenario.

What I would do is allow the x-wings a "covering fire" action. To be taken when appropriate instead of their regular action. This action would say "when an enemy ship inside your firing arc at range 1-3 attacks an objective ship it rolls one fewer attack dice". This effect would not be cumulative (it could be really abusive if all the x-wings were doing it at once).

I like the concept for the ground battle, but it concerns me that the rebels could potentially lose that battle with the players at the table not really having much agency to affect the outcome. A system where the stormtroopers don't kill rebel troops but which still allows for a battle of variable length might be better. You could always use the AT-AT's as a method of threatening to destroy the ground forces... the ships could interact with that by destroying the AT-AT's then.

Another thing that would create some extra tension would be to allow for imperial reinforcements, which should create a sense of urgency for the rebels & offset the points disparity a bit.

I would suggest that during the planning phase if a tie striker (Not the reaper) is absent from the table then the rebel player must nominate a table edge; a marker is placed at that table edge, and the striker is deployed during the end phase of that turn.

Looks like a fun scenario (and some really good terrain)

A really cruel alternative that occurred to me (if you wanted to ramp up the difficulty) would be to make it into a kind of shell game. Put a suitable marker (like a playing card) on each landing pad... two duds and one hit. If the rebel player raids a landing pad and they flip over a dud... bad luck, it looks like your death star plans are at another facility.

Like I said; that one is a bit cruel

Now that cruel suggestion is kinda cool IMO..

15 hours ago, namdoolb said:

A really cruel alternative that occurred to me (if you wanted to ramp up the difficulty) would be to make it into a kind of shell game. Put a suitable marker (like a playing card) on each landing pad... two duds and one hit. If the rebel player raids a landing pad and they flip over a dud... bad luck, it looks like your death star plans are at another facility.

8 hours ago, LTuser said:

Now that cruel suggestion is kinda cool IMO..

I know it's not represented on the playmat in any way, but I just kinda assumed that, in the movie, all landing pads led to the Citadel Tower (where the DS plans are). Or at least the Rebels only want to land on pads that lead there. I had originally thought of having the Citadel Tower in the game but then I thought it would unnecessarily take up too much space. I just wanted to focus on the objective of the drop ship and the dog fighting surrounding that.

The "Thank you Mario! But our Princess is in another castle!" concept doesn't quite fit the scenario that I have in my mind.

I did, however, have a similar idea originally. The Imperial player could secretly divide and deploy a various number of Stromtroopers at each landing pad so that one pad may have only a few while another may have quite several. The number of troopers would be revealed when the U-Wing attempts to land. After seeing the impossible odds, it would have to move to another, less guarded, one.

Looking at it now, I guess this is pretty much like what you suggested, just a different interpretation.

1 hour ago, dwaynedauzat said:

I know it's not represented on the playmat in any way, but I just kinda assumed that, in the movie, all landing pads led to the Citadel Tower (where the DS plans are). Or at least the Rebels only want to land on pads that lead there. I had originally thought of having the Citadel Tower in the game but then I thought it would unnecessarily take up too much space. I just wanted to focus on the objective of the drop ship and the dog fighting surrounding that.

The "Thank you Mario! But our Princess is in another castle!" concept doesn't quite fit the scenario that I have in my mind.

I did, however, have a similar idea originally. The Imperial player could secretly divide and deploy a various number of Stromtroopers at each landing pad so that one pad may have only a few while another may have quite several. The number of troopers would be revealed when the U-Wing attempts to land. After seeing the impossible odds, it would have to move to another, less guarded, one.

Looking at it now, I guess this is pretty much like what you suggested, just a different interpretation.

So, in terms of the scenario, I agree with your first assessment; all pads lead to the Citadel, and a victory on any one of them = access to the plans.

As far as the Imperial player being able to move troopers or assign them in different strengths, I would think it will weaken the scenario. If the Rebel player guesses right: easy victory. If the Rebel player guesses wrong: the wasted turns probably equate to a Rebel loss. Now, a win condition is based on nothing but a good guess or blind luck--not good.

Lastly, to quote Jyn Orso, "They have no idea we're coming." The base is not on high alert, and no pad would have a higher priority for protection over any other. Once the garrison is alerted, Bodhi does his best to send troopers to all the wrong locations. So, I think there is very good storyline justification that the Rebels have equal chances on all pads. Moreover, this scenario should not be about the troopers!! The pad landings simply represent the non-Kill-Them-All objective of the scenario, with a little random element thrown in so it's not a certainty.

1 hour ago, Darth Meanie said:

So, in terms of the scenario, I agree with your first assessment; all pads lead to the Citadel, and a victory on any one of them = access to the plans.

As far as the Imperial player being able to move troopers or assign them in different strengths, I would think it will weaken the scenario. If the Rebel player guesses right: easy victory. If the Rebel player guesses wrong: the wasted turns probably equate to a Rebel loss. Now, a win condition is based on nothing but a good guess or blind luck--not good.

Lastly, to quote Jyn Orso, "They have no idea we're coming." The base is not on high alert, and no pad would have a higher priority for protection over any other. Once the garrison is alerted, Bodhi does his best to send troopers to all the wrong locations. So, I think there is very good storyline justification that the Rebels have equal chances on all pads. Moreover, this scenario should not be about the troopers!! The pad landings simply represent the non-Kill-Them-All objective of the scenario, with a little random element thrown in so it's not a certainty.

True. I had just realized how it was similar to your "shell game" idea. Cruel indeed.

However, if "all pads are created equal," why would the U-Wing not just land at the closest one, or the one closest to the center of the play area, providing the shortest escape route? I had imagined the Imperial player deploying slightly more Stormtroopers at the pad closest to the Rebel edge. This would encourage the U-Wing to travel to a pad closer to the Imperial edge. Any pad could be infiltrated successfully. It's just that the further ones might be a little easier. Perhaps if all pads do have equal numbers of Stormtroopers, this could be offset by support from nearby AT-ATs. Options, options, options... and variables.

12 minutes ago, dwaynedauzat said:

However, if "all pads are created equal," why would the U-Wing not just land at the closest one, or the one closest to the center of the play area, providing the shortest escape route? I had imagined the Imperial player deploying slightly more Stormtroopers at the pad closest to the Rebel edge. This would encourage the U-Wing to travel to a pad closer to the Imperial edge. Any pad could be infiltrated successfully. It's just that the further ones might be a little easier. Perhaps if all pads do have equal numbers of Stormtroopers, this could be offset by support from nearby AT-ATs. Options, options, options... and variables.

OK, fair enough.

A little variance in troopers gives the Imperial player some agency, as well. Just not "I put all my troopers here!" Or, "I leave this pad unguarded so then I know where you'll go!"

Is the Rebel player allowed to land 2 U-Wings at the same pad and gang up on the troopers there? Or is there only one "parking space" per pad?

8 minutes ago, Darth Meanie said:

OK, fair enough.

A little variance in troopers gives the Imperial player some agency, as well. Just not "I put all my troopers here!" Or, "I leave this pad unguarded so then I know where you'll go!"

Is the Rebel player allowed to land 2 U-Wings at the same pad and gang up on the troopers there? Or is there only one "parking space" per pad?

I hadn't thought of landing both U-Wings at the same pad. That certainly would have sped up things. However, in my revision, I'm thinking of just using one U-Wing that gets supported by the Rebel squad. Perhaps, allow one more U-Wing reinforcement after the first one gets destroyed.

5 hours ago, dwaynedauzat said:

I know it's not represented on the playmat in any way, but I just kinda assumed that, in the movie, all landing pads led to the Citadel Tower (where the DS plans are). Or at least the Rebels only want to land on pads that lead there. I had originally thought of having the Citadel Tower in the game but then I thought it would unnecessarily take up too much space. I just wanted to focus on the objective of the drop ship and the dog fighting surrounding that.

The "Thank you Mario! But our Princess is in another castle!" concept doesn't quite fit the scenario that I have in my mind.

I did, however, have a similar idea originally. The Imperial player could secretly divide and deploy a various number of Stromtroopers at each landing pad so that one pad may have only a few while another may have quite several. The number of troopers would be revealed when the U-Wing attempts to land. After seeing the impossible odds, it would have to move to another, less guarded, one.

Looking at it now, I guess this is pretty much like what you suggested, just a different interpretation.

While true, all pads should lead to the same spot, THe location of the pads would make a difference in travel time from them to the central spire, thus More chance for resistance.

4 hours ago, Darth Meanie said:

Now, a win condition is based on nothing but a good guess or blind luck.

That's no different than most games.. I've had some of my missions where Better ships (b and X-wings) got blown up, cause of poor a** die rolls, while their Y-wing comrades running the same tactics, Succeeded, all cause of having better luck with the dice...

2 hours ago, dwaynedauzat said:

True. I had just realized how it was similar to your "shell game" idea. Cruel indeed.

However, if "all pads are created equal," why would the U-Wing not just land at the closest one, or the one closest to the center of the play area, providing the shortest escape route? I had imagined the Imperial player deploying slightly more Stormtroopers at the pad closest to the Rebel edge. This would encourage the U-Wing to travel to a pad closer to the Imperial edge. Any pad could be infiltrated successfully. It's just that the further ones might be a little easier. Perhaps if all pads do have equal numbers of Stormtroopers, this could be offset by support from nearby AT-ATs. Options, options, options... and variables.

As i mention above, have some wording saying something like "Landing at Pad X, may be easier due to less imps On the pad, but its further distance to the main tower, requires more rounds of needing success to reach the goal. Where as landing on pad Y or Z, makes it closer, thus quicker, however its more guarded..."

Then have it where once they land on a pad, they roll 2 attack (or 3) dice. needing 2 hits to advance to the next 'link'.. And put 1-2 pads out that are real close (so say only have 2 or 3 links), but have more troops (each troop gives 1 evade die on that roll), where as pad 3 is further out, needing more links (say 4-5), but is less guarded, so the first 2 or even 3 links have no resistance...

On 4/21/2019 at 10:12 AM, dwaynedauzat said:

Those AT-ACTs look pretty good for the price. I wonder what scale they are in. Let us know when you get yours.

So they aren't quite up to scale. Based on the scale comparisons you posted, they're actually not so far from the AT-AT (which costs much more on the secondary market). Still, I think they'll be fine for me to use, especially when you consider seeing things on the ground from a bird's eye view. (Side note: They come with clear plastic stands that actually have no connector peg for the walker or anything, so they might be useful as X-wing tokens of some sort.)

20 minutes ago, dadocollin said:

So they aren't quite up to scale. Based on the scale comparisons you posted, they're actually not so far from the AT-AT (which costs much more on the secondary market). Still, I think they'll be fine for me to use, especially when you consider seeing things on the ground from a bird's eye view. (Side note: They come with clear plastic stands that actually have no connector peg for the walker or anything, so they might be useful as X-wing tokens of some sort.)

Wow. These are awesome. As you said, the scale is probably fine since you'll be looking at them from an altitude. I would probably splash a little black wash on them to dirty them up a bit. Are the legs articulated?

25 minutes ago, dwaynedauzat said:

Wow. These are awesome. As you said, the scale is probably fine since you'll be looking at them from an altitude. I would probably splash a little black wash on them to dirty them up a bit. Are the legs articulated?

The legs move slightly at the top joint, but I think that’s just the way it’s put together. They don’t bend at the knee. The head moves a little from side to side. The body and head are metal and the legs and guns plastic, so they do have a good weight to them.

36 minutes ago, dadocollin said:

The legs move slightly at the top joint, but I think that’s just the way it’s put together. They don’t bend at the knee. The head moves a little from side to side. The body and head are metal and the legs and guns plastic, so they do have a good weight to them.

So what are your plans to do with these? You mentioned perhaps making a similar Scarif scenario. Do you have any specific ideas yet?