A buddy and I got in a 500 v 500 game last night and had a great time. He played a Refit C-ROC with two wings (3 Scyks and 4 Mining Guild TIEs), Moralo and Torkil. I had an ordnance Raider, Jendon, and 2 wings (3 Interceptors and 2 Inquisitors in v1's). We played on a 3x3 mat and by turn 2 were fully engaged and trading shots. I don't want to go into a blow by blow but by the end of Round 4 the CROC was off the table after dealing 5 crits to two of the members of the TIE Intercpetor wing by running them over and blowing the third away! The Raider focused on the CROC and took very little damage in return since his wings didn't focus fire on the Imperial Huge ship. We quit at the end of round 5 due to the late hour but walked away very excited to play with more huge ships and wings - and to try out the scenarios next time.

A few overarching thoughts on huge ships after a game.

-It is clear that the designers attempted to bring huge ships more in line with regular ships. They succeeded. Huge ships work 100% better than 1.0. They are intuitive and friendly to the players. Players really shouldn't be intimidated by them if you've never played them before. If you played 1.0 and found it too clunky, 2.0 fixes sooo many of the problems (like sections). More than anything, it was ridiculously fun.

-The action efficiency and firepower felt right. They cost a lot but can do a lot. If you don't focus them down they will shrug off any plinking damage and murder you. If you get crits on them they are going to suffer.

-The new huge ship maneuver tool is awesome. It really improves the maneuvers of the ships and makes 3x3 a totally viable space. The zero bank is my new favorite.

-2.0's improvements are apparent in this format. Turret indicators, charges, and the base hash marks really shine here and make the game easier to play.

-WINGS ARE AWESOME. The wing mechanic is a godsend in this format. we spent 3 turns only setting like 4 dials each even with tons of ships on the table. It makes things go so much faster! It's also a ton of fun to see where ships end up. The wing tool really changes the dynamic of the game and I am in love with it.

-The pegs and bases are a huge improvement. They are much more secure than 1.0. But...The cardboard for the Raider and CR90 bases seems a bit short and has issues when putting the pegs in. However, I found that it occured most when I pressed one of the pegs all the way down into the base without the turret indicator. Once I installed indicators and the pegs weren't so tight I was able to get it in and put a ship on top. It still wasn't perfect, and was annoying to figure out, but the pegs, ship, and base held together for a game and the indicators swiveled fine. Not perfect but playable. The bases and pegs continue to be the worst part of the game.

Try it out!

great review.

Looks like it was pretty cramped on a 3x3 table. Will you be using a larger area or a smaller points cap next time?

My excitement level is bypassing the max

I played Passing Engagement on a 3x3, 300 points per side. That felt about right. I brought the debris from the 1.0 GR-75 expansion, and my opponent brought gas clouds, so obstacles really cramped the field for us. I can't imagine putting more ships unless we used smaller obstacles. Then again, the deployment zones take up a lot of space in that scenario, so the obstacles get pretty cramped.

I actually think that 500 points on a 6x3 won't be quite as crowded as I expected. What do you think?

1 hour ago, ClassicalMoser said:

Looks like it was pretty cramped on a 3x3 table. Will you be using a larger area or a smaller points cap next time?

My excitement level is bypassing the max

18 minutes ago, Parakitor said:

I actually think that 500 points on a 6x3 won't be quite as crowded as I expected. What do you think?

I didn't feel like 3x3 was particularly cramped, even with 500 pts. When it felt small, it was only because of the width of the wings, not for the huge ships. 300 would probably be better on the 3x3 as many of the scenarios recommend but we still had a ton of fun.

500pts on 6x3 will feel a bit empty sometimes, i wager. I am looking forward to 600+ point games...

The new maneuver tool is superior to 1.0 and makes the huge ships much more responsive, so flying them on a small board isn't a worry (just be careful of the fishtailing!).

Yeah, I'd agree that 3x3 is perfectly viable. The card table me an a friend use to play is 34 inches by 34 inches, not quite 3x3. My kitchen table would fit a full field, but I still need to get a battle mat. But even on that the battle field didn't feel cramped. That said, obstructions like asteroids really don't scare Huge ships. They just fly through them, shrugging off the incidental damage usually Neither me nor my friend have enough of any one ship to run a Wing yet though.

Thanks for the review.

42 minutes ago, Faerie1979 said:

Neither me nor my friend have enough of any one ship to run a Wing yet though.

Worth thinking about. I think I have:

1. 6 X-Wings
2. 3 A-Wings
3. 4 B-Wings
4. 8 Z-95s
5. 10 TIE/lns
6. 6 TIE/sas
7. 6 TIE/ins
8. 7 TIE/fos
9. 3 TIE/sfs
10. 3 Kihraxz Fighters

So I could theoretically field 17 wings at once with my own ships.

Not that I would ever do that 😛

Due to the amount of walking back and forth over the course of a multi-hour game yesterday (collecting tokens, grabbing rulers, checking abilities) my legs hurt a lot. But I plan to do a 200 point match between my CR-90 and my Galactic Empire list (made for if friends/family want to play). You know, just to see how Vader and a couple Tie/LN Fighters do. For the Empire I could run a single 3 man Wing with Vader as the leader. But for the Rebel Alliance my collection consists of one T-65 X-Wing, one A/SF-01 B Wing, one Modified YT-1300, and one CR-90. My friend has two of every currently released ship for the Empire (as of October) except the Tie/LN Fighter. That ship he has 3.

EDIT:

A word to the wise... during initial setup do not position your Huge ship sideways on your deployment edge. Why not? Because you will end up flying off the table the first time you try to bank.

20 hours ago, ClassicalMoser said:

Worth thinking about. I think I have:

1. 6 X-Wings
2. 3 A-Wings
3. 4 B-Wings
4. 8 Z-95s
5. 10 TIE/lns
6. 6 TIE/sas
7. 6 TIE/ins
8. 7 TIE/fos
9. 3 TIE/sfs
10. 3 Kihraxz Fighters

So I could theoretically field 17 wings at once with my own ships.

Not that I would ever do that 😛

The old classic

I can certainly field some wings.

In the family we have

ca 10 TIE l/n

3 TIE Bombers

3 TIE Adv x1

3 MGT

ca 6 X-wings

5 Y-wings

3 A-wings

5 Z95

6 Kihraxzes

6 Scyks

5 Vultures

...

23 hours ago, Tervlon said:

A buddy and I got in a 500 v 500 game last night and had a great time. He played a Refit C-ROC with two wings (3 Scyks and 4 Mining Guild TIEs), Moralo and Torkil. I had an ordnance Raider, Jendon, and 2 wings (3 Interceptors and 2 Inquisitors in v1's). .

(...)

-The pegs and bases are a huge improvement. They are much more secure than 1.0. But...The cardboard for the Raider and CR90 bases seems a bit short and has issues when putting the pegs in. However, I found that it occured most when I pressed one of the pegs all the way down into the base without the turret indicator. Once I installed indicators and the pegs weren't so tight I was able to get it in and put a ship on top. It still wasn't perfect, and was annoying to figure out, but the pegs, ship, and base held together for a game and the indicators swiveled fine. Not perfect but playable. The bases and pegs continue to be the worst part of the game.

Try it out!

Thx for the battle recap!

Nice paint scheme. Did this Moralo placement work for the Scum player?

FFG's quality control is lacking quite a bit lately (just saying Belbullab). The base problem is really odd and completley unneccessary.

The tip with the turret indicator is useful, though.

On ‎11‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 6:32 PM, ClassicalMoser said:

Looks like it was pretty cramped on a 3x3 table.

I'm beginning to think that the success of Huge ships is going to hinge on 3x3 playability.

Not that I'm going to limit myself to such paltry real estate, of course.

24 minutes ago, Darth Meanie said:

I'm beginning to think that the success of Huge ships is going to hinge on 3x3 playability.

Not that I'm going to limit myself to such paltry real estate, of course.

Oh I have no doubt they’ll work just fine on 3x3.

It’s just a whole lot of bases for the space.

24 minutes ago, Darth Meanie said:

Not that I'm going to limit myself to such paltry real estate, of course.

So say we all!

Ok ok - crossed the streams there. I know, I know...

On 11/9/2019 at 4:24 PM, Managarmr said:

Nice paint scheme. Did this Moralo placement work for the Scum player?

Moralo came in and did some good damage, but without the C-ROC on the table or his wings focusing down the Raider, Moralo was going to get hit hard on the next round of play by the Raider's ordnance (but we ended the game due to the late hour).

23 hours ago, Biff said:

23 hours ago, Darth Meanie said:

I'm beginning to think that the success of Huge ships is going to hinge on 3x3 playability.

Not that I'm going to limit myself to such paltry real estate, of course.

So say we all!

Ok ok - crossed the streams there. I know, I know..

3x6 will yield some great games and be a primary way to play. I am really happy the ships can still maneuver around a 3x3 tho, it really adds to the flexibility of the ships. This is especially important for kitchen table/small store gamers that can't fit a 3x6 on their table. It will allow people to get them on the table more. Anything that gets huge ships on the table is a major win in my mind.

Aye, and in a 3x3 battlefield it's really easy to underestimate just how much range Targeting Battery and Turbolaser Battery have. You can look at the range tool, and still not have it mentally process that it's a good portion of the table.

I had only Targeting Battery on my CR90 yesterday. Wasn’t that impressive by itself. I think next time it’s Targeting and Turbolaser or just point defense.

I thought that Point Defense Battery was rather underwhelming. Anything getting in close enough that you need it, they probably have decent Agility thus will mostly ignore any given shot from PDB. I suppose it's decent at stripping off green tokens before you unload a broadside with your primary weapon, but it feels like you should be trying to take enemy ships out before they get that close. And for as much damage as I noticed PDB does on average, it doesn't seem worth blowing up to 4 energy on.

Okay, yes it costs just as much to fire Targeting Battery and Turbolaser Battery in sequence. But that combo can be fired off at a range which gives you a turn or two to recover.

Targeting Battery combined with Ordnance Tubes was amazing, it really helped preserve the lock and to give more mods. It was also nice if the Torpedo shot took out the original target with the lock, Targeting Battery acquires a new target lock, then you fire missiles at the new target.

What really bums me out is that Ordnance Tubes don't actually give any ordnance slots... the CR90 should be able to get a torp and missile, too.

Eh, being able to make 3 attacks at range 4, or 2 at range 5 seems a fair trade-off. But I do agree, it's a shame that only one (maybe two) ship(s) can actually make use of Ordnance Tubes.

On 11/9/2019 at 2:34 AM, ClassicalMoser said:

Worth thinking about. I think I have:

1. 6 X-Wings
2. 3 A-Wings
3. 4 B-Wings
4. 8 Z-95s
5. 10 TIE/lns
6. 6 TIE/sas
7. 6 TIE/ins
8. 7 TIE/fos
9. 3 TIE/sfs
10. 3 Kihraxz Fighters

So I could theoretically field 17 wings at once with my own ships.

Not that I would ever do that 😛

At last count, I had something like 450-500 ships, including 12x TIE/ln, 8x TIE/sa, and 6x TIE/in, so I'm thinking a thematic 500 point battle probably isn't super far away.

5 minutes ago, NakedDex said:

At last count, I had something like 450-500 ships

That's... pretty ridiculous.

You could literally field every pilot in every ship at once, and still have to put out a bunch of generics.

That comes out to something like 7 of every ship that's ever been made... Are you sure?

In all fairness, my eventual goal for my collection is to be able to field every named Rebel Alliance pilot and all of every named rebel squadron. All in one massive fleet.

I might need another Epic Battles expansion or two to accomplish that eventual goal. But just think of the epic battle one could do.

1 hour ago, Tervlon said:

What really bums me out is that Ordnance Tubes don't actually give any ordnance slots... the CR90 should be able to get a torp and missile, too.

The extra range on the CR90 primaries are pretty good.

It got multiple rounds of firing that the Raider did not in my local game.

On 11/8/2019 at 9:34 PM, ClassicalMoser said:

Worth thinking about. I think I have:

1. 6 X-Wings
2. 3 A-Wings
3. 4 B-Wings
4. 8 Z-95s
5. 10 TIE/lns
6. 6 TIE/sas
7. 6 TIE/ins
8. 7 TIE/fos
9. 3 TIE/sfs
10. 3 Kihraxz Fighters

So I could theoretically field 17 wings at once with my own ships.

Not that I would ever do that 😛

Hmm, I have

1. 12 Tie/ln
2. 8 T-65
3. 4 Z-95
4. 4 Scyk
5. 4 Khiraxz
6. 3 B-Wing
7. 3 Y-Wing
8. 3 A-Wing RZ1
9. 3 Tie Interceptors
10. 3 Tie Bombers
11. 3 Tie/fo
12. 3 T-70

But I really REALLY just want to fly the 8 X's vs the 12 /ln's and use all named pilots and see what happens.

1 minute ago, pickirk01 said:

But I really REALLY just want to fly the 8 X's vs the 12 /ln's and use all named pilots and see what happens.

Chaos.

Chaos happens.

That, and flaming wreckage which noisily explodes in a fireball with falling debris despite being in deep space.