Can somebody explain how this is a fun objective that encourages fighting, and not yet another avoid the fight and gather points objective?

How did this clear play testing?

I feel you.

1 hour ago, Green Knight said:

Can somebody explain how this is a fun objective that encourages fighting, and not yet another avoid the fight and gather points objective?

How did this clear play testing?

Cause it gives points.

I mean, I get your point and I agree partially: this objective gives maybe too much points in an really easy way.

But IMHO an objective don't have to encourage the second player to fight. It actually helps the second to force the first player to fight. As to choose a 5-6 it's not an option cause the second player may win you 3-8 or better.

I'm ok with that and there are other objectives that works similarly. Contested Outpost is basically the same. It doesn't force the second player to fight rather than the second player. The problem is the amount of points and the way to get it. To get 60 points per round just moving along your deployment zone is crazy. Just at the end of round 2 you got a 4-7 to start with. And the fact that you don't have to be next to the purgill to get paid gives you an extra round of points after your tactic gets disrupted somehow by your enemy.

So basically my concern with this is not what it does rather that how easy it does. Maybe just adding that the objective tokes must be placed at some distance from the players edge would be fine.

2 hours ago, Green Knight said:

Can somebody explain how this is a fun objective that encourages fighting

When Romodi Ozzel Cataclysm (with a CF token from Hondo) places its Ignition token on top of the first Purrgil.

Dont forget second player can choose after deployment on which side purrgils are born.

There’s been a bit of concern that with hyperspace migration you can win 10-1 second player without fighting and for little effort.

Also, that you can go and fight so long as you leave 1 flotilla behind. With that one flotilla (that can probably still send Comms Net) you can still match the score most objectives are going to get you at best.

I think that if the first player have fast ships it can be contested without many problems. The second player would have gained some victory points but also it would somehow conditioned the positioning of some of their ships, similar to Contested Outpost like @ovinomanc3r mentioned.

If you don't have fast ships, just pick another objective. There are some objectives that can't be played with some fleets. The most extreme case for me always is Most Wanted, even more if the first player have a large ship, it is unplayable as the second player chooses a flotilla as objective ship which won't make a big difference if being destroyed, but if the large ship is destroyed then the first player has really small chance of winning.

24 minutes ago, RapidReload said:

Dont forget second player can choose after deployment on which side purrgils are born.

At the beginning of the ship phase of the first and third round. Noticeable difference.

So you need Cataclysm Onager and need to use it to kill flotilla 🤔

If they confirm/clarify you can only score every other round (which is how they played it on stream) I don't think it is too bad. At most you are getting 60 points per ship, but those ships have to be clustered in a corner, and after the first deployment* you are making it very clear to your opponent what you are going to be doing.

To maximise points you need several smaller ships, and that leaves you vulnerable to something big coming at you full speed (ISD with Gunnery Teams, a heavy bomber ball you can't run from etc.) and without much room to manoeuvre without going off the table. And if you speed up to escape, your opponent can potentially come around behind you and start gathering tokens from the second purrgil (disclaimer; I've only played it once).

I think it follows the general Objective rule of the more points you can get, the more points you can give away, or the bigger hindrance you have.

*the exception being Corvus. With that the second player gets 2 or 3 'free' deployments before having to commit to one corner or the other.

Hyperspace migration can be a bad objective when faced against an SSD yes you will get a lot of points, but to score them your ships are all bunched up together.

I ran it in a game against @Cael recently and the investment into second player barely managed to tilt the game; he had more stuff and forced a fight that would have trapped and tabled me had I sat there.

Ackbar might be a notable exception because broadsides, but like contested outpost, if your opponent outguns you they can kick you off and farm points. The biggest problem is probably how ubiquitous it's going to become.

I tried Ackbar, but that was with MC80s; it didn't work, as I couldn't keep the MC80s close enough to the purrgil while getting decent arcs; my opponent threatened to come in front and block me, I turned one MC80 in (the wrong one, I think), and both went down fairly quickly.

2 hours ago, Grumbleduke said:

I tried Ackbar, but that was with MC80s; it didn't work, as I couldn't keep the MC80s close enough to the purrgil while getting decent arcs; my opponent threatened to come in front and block me, I turned one MC80 in (the wrong one, I think), and both went down fairly quickly.

Sorry, but thats like playing Sensor Net with two ships and one strategic squad. You want a few deployments so that your opponent doesnt know straight up which side your purrgils will come from.

Put flotillas one side and fighting ships to the other. Spawn purrgils on his weaker side. You only need 2 ships with the purrgils to almost double the max points of contested outpost.

Onager and SSD are the best answer for this. Sadly also the only real answers.

A SSD is happy, when he see so many ships at one point. With Ozzel he could even get in range in turn 1.

It is for sure a great, maybe insane, objective (for the second player). And it could only be a big problem, when the first player does not know about it.
But everyone who know the mission, will not pick it, unless you have a good answer. Basically the same as most other missions. It is just hurting way more, when playing it without an answer.

1 hour ago, Tokra said:

Onager and SSD are the best answer for this. Sadly also the only real answers.

A SSD is happy, when he see so many ships at one point. With Ozzel he could even get in range in turn 1.

It is for sure a great, maybe insane, objective (for the second player). And it could only be a big problem, when the first player does not know about it.
But everyone who know the mission, will not pick it, unless you have a good answer. Basically the same as most other missions. It is just hurting way more, when playing it without an answer.

I was actually wondering about it, the SSD must likely be deployed in the center as it will be usually outdeployed.

If i set flotillas opposite my fighting ships, the ssd will need to fly towards the objective or fighing ships, thus giving me either the obj points for free or giving up the ssd's soft squishy yummy backside.

1 hour ago, RapidReload said:

I was actually wondering about it, the SSD must likely be deployed in the center as it will be usually outdeployed.

If i set flotillas opposite my fighting ships, the ssd will need to fly towards the objective or fighing ships, thus giving me either the obj points for free or giving up the ssd's soft squishy yummy backside.

Yes, the SSD need to deploy in the middle. And it has to move with ozzel to the side of the ships. It will not be in range in turn 1 (when the player 2 is hidding at the edge).

The second player just has to play a bit different against a SSD. But it will not be such a token farm as it is against some other fleets.

I played this in the Prime at Huzzah with my Ackbar list. The one game I got to play it, I scored 300 points off the objective. It's pretty ridiculous how easy it is to score points off of it, and it forces people to charge the Ackbar gun line.

You just get tokens on turns 1 & 2 with it, then start fighting with your real ships, while the flotillas keep farming.

I'm not sure I buy into the split deployment strategy, at least with Ackbar lists. I can only see it if you are facing an SSD, just to get 200 points from your flotillas. Against everything else, I just set up a kill box and have your opponent run into it, or avoid it and allow you more points. Onager will obviously be annoying to fight, but the other ships still have to walk into the kill box. The Onager can't kill everything on its own (I hope!).

I can't see picking this as first player against just about anyone. You start in a deep hole!

On 12/18/2019 at 8:54 AM, Grumbleduke said:

*the exception being Corvus. With that the second player gets 2 or 3 'free' deployments before having to commit to one corner or the other.

I've played it only once as P2 so far. Nobody else has chosen to take it. The fleet was an MC80S, MC75O, 2x GR75, and 4x A-wings. Its only 6 drops, but being able to start with a dedicated flanker in the middle or on the psyche-out side of the board gives P2 some great opportunities well above and beyond the whale-watching score through deployment shenanigans. Even just one more free drop turns it from "amazing" to "insane."