21 minutes ago, Cpt ObVus said:

I think we’re both looking at the same info, and drawing different conclusions.

There are times when the Cracken player will do everything a Cracken player can do to keep his ships at speed 3, and flying through open space. But if I, as a Romodi player, wait a couple of them out, and then park the Suppressor in front of my Cymoon ISD (creating obstruction), and then later in the turn, activate the ISD and use Gunnery Team to blast them both for big damage, Cracken isn’t helping at all. And sometimes there’s just not much the Cracken player will be able to do about that. This is a problem that Cracken fleets never had to deal with before Romodi came along. Ergo, Cracken is worse now. Or at least, (and perhaps this is a better way to put it) the environment in which he exists is now less conducive to his success.

Here’s the thing though... it’s not something any fleet has had to deal with before Romodi

25 minutes ago, MandalorianMoose said:

Here’s the thing though... it’s not something any fleet has had to deal with before Romodi

Totally. But no other Commander in the game simply has his text box blanked if Romodi sails a Gozanti in front of his ISD.

Simply put, cards like EWS, Cracken, and Montferrat will see their stock drop a little (maybe a lot) if Romodi proves to be popular (and I think he will be). I’m not saying they’re now totally unusable, but if you have them in your list, and run up against Romodi, the opponent will often have the option of making plays that nullify the obstruction those cards provide. And sometimes there won’t be much you can do to stop him.

so February came and (almost) went, what an elusive ship the SH apparently is. Pretty sure its somewhere, though.

45 minutes ago, NebulonB said:

so February came and (almost) went, what an elusive ship the SH apparently is. Pretty sure its somewhere, though.

A long time ago it was seen in a galaxy far, far away....must have taken the wrong turn on it's way to UK/Europe...

On 2/27/2020 at 9:48 PM, Cpt ObVus said:

Totally. But no other Commander in the game simply has his text box blanked if Romodi anyone sails a Gozanti in front of their ISD.

Any fleet could set this up, though. The extra die is almost incidental; that's literally Romodi being Romodi and getting the reward for positioning.

Romodi even wants to set up his obstruction as early in the round as possible for defensive purposes, like any other fleet fighting Cracken. What it boils down to is this:

Cracken sucks. Mothma and Rieekan are better and you should generally be trying to shoot with your small ships and move them into obstruction anyway, or out of range/arc.

Any argument about how Cracken is useless because Romodi can cancel him, or great because his fleets need to be built from the ground up to avoid "real" obstruction and can actually obstruct Romodi, is beside the point.

Because he was lackluster before Romodi, is still lackluster, and anyone getting use out of him has probably outflown their opponent, Romodi or not. 🙂

I've been asked about the missing Starhawks dozens of times from various folks - and I have no good information. However, I did ask some contacts at FFG and they've asked me to redirect people to [email protected] - possibly might be some better info there, though it may depend where you are located.

Over a month sinse the 'global' release of the Starhawk and still no sign of it in the UK on the evening of March 1st.

8 hours ago, Crabbok said:

I've been asked about the missing Starhawks dozens of times from various folks - and I have no good information. However, I did ask some contacts at FFG and they've asked me to redirect people to [email protected] - possibly might be some better info there, though it may depend where you are located.

Thanks for the email address. I've used it to complained mainly about their complete lack of acknowledgement of the situation, no PR and no public apology over the delay, especially for long standing customers me who have had it on preorder since December. Kickstarters give better updates than this long standing professional company that has time and time again annoyed its customers. Even if it is a fault with it's distributer, they chose them so it is still their fault.

Delays are sometimes unavoidable, the lack of communication isn't.

1 hour ago, Gallanteer said:

Delays are sometimes unavoidable, the lack of communication isn't.

Y'see, they did just seemingly fire what amounted to their entire marketing department on top of a bunch of others...

So there's, like. No-one left of any authority or responsibility to do so anymore.

5 hours ago, Drasnighta said:

Y'see, they did just seemingly fire what amounted to their entire marketing department on top of a bunch of others...

So there's, like. No-one left of any authority or responsibility to do so anymore.

Okay... but that does nothing to assuage the (totally justified) disappointment of loyal customers... some of whom have already paid for product that isn’t being delivered! If their management is incompetent enough to make a stupid move (like firing the entire marketing team), and ALSO incompetent enough to not hit production and delivery deadlines time after time, then perhaps the wrong people are being sacked. And what’s an angry customer to do? Say nothing? File an email into some box that nobody reads (or if they do, FFG gives no indication of it, and no response)?

I’m lucky. I’ve never had to wait more than a week or so longer than anyone else here for Armada preorders. But if I were yelling into the void for more than a month over a product that I’d already paid for, I’d very rightly expect a response from FFG.

14 minutes ago, Cpt ObVus said:

I’m lucky. I’ve never had to wait more than a week or so longer than anyone else here for Armada preorders. But if I were yelling into the void for more than a month over a product that I’d already paid for, I’d very rightly expect a response from FFG.

*Laughs in SSD preorder*

48 minutes ago, The Jabbawookie said:

*Laughs in SSD preorder*

Oh, to be clear, I’ve definitely waited along with everyone else for pretty much every release. I just haven’t ever seen a release happen where everyone else got the thing, and my area didn’t.

2 hours ago, Cpt ObVus said:

But if I were yelling into the void for more than a month over a product that I’d already paid for, I’d very rightly expect a response from FFG.

And this is the core of the problem, we're now in March and there is still no sign of the Starhawk turning up in the UK, those of us who have had it on pre-order since it was announced are fed up with the total lack of response from FFG, they just don't seem to care anymore, no response here, nothing on social media and contacting them directly is like sending an email into a black hole.

I'm not surprised my FLGS stopped stocking Armada, it's just not worth the effort for them.

22 hours ago, Crabbok said:

I've been asked about the missing Starhawks dozens of times from various folks - and I have no good information. However, I did ask some contacts at FFG and they've asked me to redirect people to [email protected] - possibly might be some better info there, though it may depend where you are located.

Thank you. I shot them a polite e-mail, but I doubt anyone will read it.

31 minutes ago, Petersaber said:

Thank you. I shot them a polite e-mail, but I doubt anyone will read it.

My pre order now expects release at the end of March. Two months after the 'global' release. Still no explanation or apology from FFG. The problem is that they know we want this stuff so can get away with it. Thanks for your continued distain towards your loyal UK customers FFG. At this point, this will be the last of your products that I pre order, and I buy quite a lot, not just Armada or SW stuff.

I feel particularly bad for Europeans going to Worlds who won't be able to use the Starhawk or cards from it (unless they can borrow), or get any practice against it outside Vassal.

I get that sometimes things go wrong with production (when pre-ordering this I sort of assumed it might not appear until March, given FFG-time), and I understand that if they're only down one batch of Starhawks they might want to release it on time for everyone else, but it would be nice to hear something about what's going on.

But then it probably doesn't help that there are several different groups involved, and it may be that no one has overall control or responsibility. FFG might not know anything about this; it depends who at FFG or Asmodee manages non-US distribution. It may be a case of FLGSs trying to chase up with their regional distributors, who have to pester FFG who have to go to Asmodee in France who have to check with the shipping company or manufacturer and so on.

1 hour ago, Grumbleduke said:

I feel particularly bad for Europeans going to Worlds who won't be able to use the Starhawk or cards from it (unless they can borrow), or get any practice against it outside Vassal.

I just don't see how they can run the tournament if a significant portion of the players won't have access to the whole game.

1 hour ago, Hetzen said:

I just don't see how they can run the tournament if a significant portion of the players won't have access to the whole game.

Because they way they do things: You don't need anything other than (multiple) Core Sets to be able to Play.

Full Stop.

Literally everything else is Gravy.

Because the moment you get into "don't have access", you open cans of worms... Mostly involved in "fairness" of "cost" and "how can you run a tournament when not everyone can afford a $200 SSD?"

I see. Thanks for the clarification.

5 hours ago, Gallanteer said:

My pre order now expects release at the end of March. Two months after the 'global' release. Still no explanation or apology from FFG. The problem is that they know we want this stuff so can get away with it. Thanks for your continued distain towards your loyal UK customers FFG. At this point, this will be the last of your products that I pre order, and I buy quite a lot, not just Armada or SW stuff.

yes, thats pretty much it. we buy it anyway, they know that.

to say that due to firings (which is a sad story in itself) nobody is left responsible or authorized, I dont buy it. There is always someone left, either on the same level, or a level above. Or another level above.

but yes, those might prioritize feedback at rock bottom, or dont care. If its a case of inquiring into a chain, thats a pain in the a, everyone involved in such things knows that, but its no excuse over such a long time.

I dont mind waiting one more week or two, I am well conditioned. But a black hole goes against my own job ethos, even if we talk gaming here. Not life threatening, but a big part of the lifes of involved players, still.

Also Dras Id think that you cannot equal access they are responsible for with access that is determined by player factors.

6 hours ago, Hetzen said:

I just don't see how they can run the tournament if a significant portion of the players won't have access to the whole game.

They already run it in such a way as Europeans will never be a significant portion of the tournament.

2 hours ago, NebulonB said:

Also Dras Id think that you cannot equal access they are responsible for with access that is determined by player factors.

If you haven’t seen the ways they’ve already willingly manipulated the player purchasing base, then I can’t help.

It was ramping up before the Asmodee takeover, after all, with the brick and mortar LGS bias and Distributor changes.

They already mess that way.

i just consider this more of the same.

9 hours ago, Ginkapo said:

They already run it in such a way as Europeans will never be a significant portion of the tournament.

I was expressing unhappiness once, here, and was mildly admonished to not only complain, but actually write to FFG. I did and asked if its thinkable to move Worlds to Europe, once in a while. No reply, no acknowledging of receipt, no nothing.

Having said that, I can kind of understand the argument that they want to do Worlds close to their home base. Its a „global“ game, but a US company. It would be fantastic to give more Europeans an easier chance to participate at least once, but I also enjoy following it from afar. Surely far from being the biggest concern.

I only wish Euros would not be in the middle of August. Anyone has heard anything about 2020 venue and date?

On 3/2/2020 at 10:18 PM, Ginkapo said:

They already run it in such a way as Europeans will never be a significant portion of the tournament.

Yeah, it might as well be called "Another North America Championships".

So the Starhawk finally arrives this week in Germany.