3 hours ago, C3gorach said:

Is it only me that thinks having more A-Wings, B-Wings, Interceptors and Defenders (or any other ship already re-released in 2nd ed.) is just shortsighted. Why not make Squadron Packs with ships that haven't been reprinted yet? I may be biased because I started in 2nd ed. but it's a win-win situation in my opinion with old players getting new pilots, upgrades and paint schemes while new players get new Ships as well.

You won’t catch me arguing here, but it seems that it’s more likely they want to keep all the factions in comparable number of ships in 2.0 (outside of extended with conversion kit).

If we went with ships without an existing reprint, I’m not sure what we’d do for the Phoenix squad. The attack shuttle is uninteresting. The Sabine’s tie really was scraping the first time given it appears in two episodes and was always unique (though admittedly, having this one in the pack makes more sense than the attack shuttle).

The imperial academy one could have a bomber or some bombers and I’d be ok with that.

Scum? No clue what they have in mind

10 hours ago, ScummyRebel said:

If we went with ships without an existing reprint, I’m not sure what we’d do for the Phoenix squad.

I mean, the answer would have been to.... not go with Phoenix Squadron as a theme for the pack.

You could do a 'Secret Weapons of the New Republic' pack with the E-Wing and K-Wing, or an 'Allies and Mercenaries' pack with some combination of the HWK, Auzituck and YT-2400. You could do a 'Retrofitted Relics' pack with two Z-95s and an ARC-170.

If re-releasing a few ships that have already been done alongside one that hasn't been fully done yet, then you could do a Battle of Scarif pack with a Blue Squadron X-Wing and a U-Wing with all the pilots that haven't been released outside the Conversion kit yet. You could even include the Y-Wing again. There's a ton of good pilots from Scarif that should be in the game. General Merrick, Barion Raner, Jaldine Gerams, Laren Joma, Wona Gaben. Pops was confirmed to have been there as part of Gold Squadron, so it's an excuse to finally get him in the game.

But no. FFG ( apparently , let's remember this isn't confirmed yet) went with the most boring possible option and we get ****ing Phoenix Squadron.

The only plus side I'd grudgingly admit to a Phoenix Squadron pack is that the A-Wing repaint would probably be Hera's colour scheme, which is pretty badass.

so when do we get the Rogue squadron pack& Wrath squadron packs?

more importantly, when do we get the Lust and Gluttony squadron packs?

1 hour ago, Wayne Argabright said:

so when do we get the Rogue squadron pack& Wrath squadron packs?

Never, thanks to Disney

I want Rogues, Wraith, and the S&V interceptors Hawk-bat Squadron! Lt Kettch reporting for duty, yub yub.

Wishful thinking here, but...

Phoenix Squadron Pack: two A-Wings with a B-Wing; both ships require additional pilots; A-Wing has two named ones, B-Wing has three, one of which requires you to buy the Hotshots and Aces Pack as well; I would really like to see some of the Rebels pilots in A-Wings; I really think an I3 Ezra with his current ability would be an amazing A-Wing pilot; Hera in a B-Wing would be just an amazing I5 semi-Ace

Skystrike Academy Pack: two Tie/LN with a Tie/INn; while I don't think the Tie/LN needs more pilots, we truly only have the Inferno Squadron and the Black Squadron among those available; on the other hand, I really think the IN could use with another I4 or even an I5; that being said, the Academy was known to produce the best of the best, so perhaps we will see a two Tie/IN and a Tie/D in the end; as fo the nature of the pilots, I do not think, they would add Ria Talla (Sabine) as an imperial pilot; maybe the cadets like Wedge, Rake, Gimm and the instructors, but I would assume they would be on the I3-4 range

Fugitives and Collabolators Pack: no idea truth be told; given that the two other packs in this leak are Rebels series related, I would assume its a Scums and Villainy pack with the Cad Bane bunch as the main focus; maybe even some more love for Maul or Asajj, throwing them into a small ship as pilots

3 hours ago, GuacCousteau said:

I mean, the answer would have been to.... not go with Phoenix Squadron as a theme for the pack.

Exactly. Call it the Spectre Cell Pack. That would cover the Attack Shuttle and Sabine's TIE. Pheonix leans more towards A-Wings.

1 hour ago, Schanez said:

Fugitives and Collabolators Pack: no idea truth be told; given that the two other packs in this leak are Rebels series related, I would assume its a Scums and Villainy pack with the Cad Bane bunch as the main focus; maybe even some more love for Maul or Asajj, throwing them into a small ship as pilots

Red striped Fang Fighter with Gar Saxon? (tough I would really prefer to see him in a Gauntlet)

1 hour ago, Odanan said:

Red striped Fang Fighter with Gar Saxon? (tough I would really prefer to see him in a Gauntlet)

Give me a Separatists/Scum pack that has a Firespray and a Rogue-Class Starfighter with pilots for both factions and I'd be happy. Put Jango in both factions, I don't care.

The only A-Wing paint job I'm interested in:

Both Alphabet Squadron and Star Wars: Squadrons continue to paint General Syndulla as the foremost leader of the Rebellion's starfighter efforts. She's absolutely the most important missing piece in this entire game, bar none.

As for Fugitives and Collaborators... I'm sorry to say it but the devs said the first Squadron Pack would be Resistance, and implied it would have a Poe paintjob (probably from Ep IX which is really sad since that ugly orange X-Wing is no match to the gorgeous Black One). It would also be a very reasonable place to reintroduce the Resistance Falcon. Probably means that's all we'll see in that pack, sad as it makes me.

Is "Continental" possibly a nickname for that Resistance carrier craft from Ep IX? Not like the Resistance needs another lumbering crew/support ship but I can't think what else it would be. With the FO getting the Xi it kind of seems like Resistance is due for something. Would much rather see the new B or Y but I'm kind of tired of rebel ripoffs in Resistance anyway.

All the Squadron packs will probably include some made-up pilots, and I'm just hoping they might include cardboard for non-included ships (Y-Wing Ezra, Mart YT2400, some X-Wings...). Don't count on it though.

On 6/23/2020 at 7:10 AM, theBitterFig said:

Crispus Attucks

Oof. Deep cut. Not to get political but I'm totally on board with you here.

3 hours ago, Schanez said:

Fugitives and Collabolators Pack: no idea truth be told; given that the two other packs in this leak are Rebels series related, I would assume its a Scums and Villainy pack with the Cad Bane bunch as the main focus; maybe even some more love for Maul or Asajj, throwing them into a small ship as pilots

Collabolator, that sounds like First Order, their Raider actually is called FO Collabolators! Then Fugitives sounds like Resistance, so maybe an alternative starter pack with Sequel ships instead of Tie l/n & T65?

If it was Scum, I want to see a collabolator and respectable businessman , named Hondo

And please not even more Mando Fangs. This is Scum and Villainy, with pirates, syndicates and smugglers.

17 hours ago, ScummyRebel said:

The Sabine’s tie really was scraping the first time given it appears in two episodes and was always unique.

The Fireball is a one of unique as well.

21 hours ago, 5050Saint said:

Honestly, though, Hera would definitely get flown in a B-Wing or an A-wing without being game-breakingly powerful.

Just going to say for the umpteenth time, the chances that she doesn't get a new ability (if not a new initiative) are basically zero.

She will have a different ability in a starfighter than she did in a freighter. She will have a Phoenix Leader or General of the New Republic subtitle. As the preeminent starfighter ace of the Rebel fleet (confirmed in Alphabet Squadron and the new Squadrons game) I'm more and more convinced she has to be I6. Probably going to have an analogue of Tycho's old ability, updated/limited for 2nd edition.

But she would absolutely be broken with her old ability in an A-Wing or a B-Wing. That ability was never fun anyway and never brought anything new to the pilot in terms of efficiency or positioning ability other than "fix-my-mistake." It's a boring ability and a relatively lazy design. Not exciting on a freighter and would be positively brain-dead in a decent fighter.

27 minutes ago, ClassicalMoser said:

As for Fugitives and Collaborators... I'm sorry to say it but the devs said the first Squadron Pack would be resistance, and implied it would have a Poe paintjob

Thanks for bringing this back up. It’s been a while since I’ve heard that, and I totally forgot about it.

27 minutes ago, ClassicalMoser said:

It would also be a very reasonable place to reintroduce the Resistance Falcon

I would hate for these two to be all we get in the box. Seems like a failure of imagination to just give us Heroes of the Resistance mk.II. A lot would be riding on the T-70 pilots to sell this to me (though if they threw a couple of Black Ace cards & bases in there, I’d buy it, no matter how much I might grumble.)

But I can’t really argue with your logic. The Resistance Falcon seems like a tough sell as a standalone SKU, whereas Lando’s Falcon has the Escape Craft going for it, and the Rebel Falcon is iconic. New content makes it an easier sell. I might still hope for a third ship in the mix to sweeten it a bit, though.

21 hours ago, 5050Saint said:

Considering we don't see either of those pilots on the board, I wouldn't mind it. Sabine had a heyday at launch but has since fallen out of vogue. Sabine would be fun in an A-Wing, being all sort of maneuverable, but not oppressively so at I3 with only a two die primary. Honestly, though, Hera would definitely get flown in a B-Wing or an A-wing without being game-breakingly powerful. Perhaps if you gave her Advanced Sensors in the B-Wing she might get tiresome, but with that upgrade at 10 points and the B-Wing's slow dial, you could price her accordingly. I'd love to see other pilots, but I'm definitely down for those two Spectre pilots to drop into one of those chassis.

Sabine-TIE is already decent. She's currently +5 points over a Black Squadron TIE, so +5 over the Green A would bring her to 37, and I think that would probably be acceptable.

Hera B-Wing would be incredibly good, but manageable at Gina/Braylen prices.

Hera A-Wing is a complete ****ing non-starter. Given that an A-Wing will often enough be stressed from boosting, Hera changing between her blue moves is equivalent to setting her dial at Init 5 in the activation phase. There's no way that's not absolute BS that should not exist in X-Wing. For it not to be immediately obvious that this would be game-breakingly powerful is... *whistles*

Why is the B-Wing fine but the A-Wing not? Because Hera shifting on a B-Wing's limited blues isn't too bad, and when shifting the incredibly powerful red moves, well, they're red. Potent, but manageable when well priced. A-Wing with a wide-open blue dial, from 2-hards to 5 straight? Yeah, no.

Hera's great. She should be in an A-Wing. Just with some other pilot ability. Not this one.

6 hours ago, Wayne Argabright said:

so when do we get the Rogue squadron pack& Wrath squadron packs?

Asking the real questions.

4 hours ago, 5050Saint said:

Exactly. Call it the Spectre Cell Pack. That would cover the Attack Shuttle and Sabine's TIE. Pheonix leans more towards A-Wings.

We have a Spectre Cell Pack. It's called the Ghost Expansion.

It has all the members of the Spectre Team as both pilots and as crew/gunners.

1 hour ago, ClassicalMoser said:

Both Alphabet Squadron and Star Wars: Squadrons continue to paint General Syndulla as the foremost leader of the Rebellion's starfighter efforts.

48 minutes ago, ClassicalMoser said:

As the preeminent starfighter ace of the Rebel fleet (confirmed in Alphabet Squadron and the new Squadrons game) I'm more and more convinced she has to be I6. Probably going to have an analogue of Tycho's old ability, updated/limited for 2nd edition.

And yet the leader of the Starfighter Corps was General Merrick until his death at Scarif; it was General Dodonna who gave the briefing for the starfighter attack on the first Death Star, and Garven Dreis and Dutch Vander who lead them; General Lando and Wedge Antilles who lead the starfighters during the biggest starfighter operation the Rebels had embarked on at that point, while Hera was busy on the ground . Where was Hera for all this? If she's such a good pilot, why wasn't she chosen to make the run inside the Second Death Star? Granted, Squadrons might change this, but as it is she's also nowhere to be seen during the Battle of Jakku, which was the Alliance's biggest military operation of the whole war.

Also, to be honest, I find the idea that she appears in a hologram in one quick scene in the trailer for Squadrons 'confirmation' that she's the best pilot evarr a bit of a stretch. Let's wait and see if she actually does anything in the game. Let's also not forget a certain Wedge Antilles shows up in that trailer, gets just as much screen time and is actually in a cockpit.

1 hour ago, ClassicalMoser said:

She's absolutely the most important missing piece in this entire game, bar none

I mean, she's in the game. Three times. In her ship.

Her A-Wing paint scheme is rad, though. I said as much previously and I'll give you that one.

That screenshot did remind me how fat and ugly the Rebels A-Wings are, though.

8 minutes ago, theBitterFig said:

so +5 over the Green A would bring her to 37, and I think that would probably be acceptable.

I dunno, I think Sabine in an A-Wing is pretty broken honestly.

Vectored Thrusters can trigger off her pre-movement action. She could barrel roll then boost into a blue to clear the stress and take a focus or evade. That's so much more powerful than one reposition before, one after she gets in the Attack Shuttle. Especially as she can also get a focus out of it.

10 minutes ago, theBitterFig said:

Hera A-Wing is a complete ****ing non-starter. Given that an A-Wing will often enough be stressed from boosting, Hera changing between her blue moves is equivalent to setting her dial at Init 5 in the activation phase. There's no way that's not absolute BS that should not exist in X-Wing. For it not to be immediately obvious that this would be game-breakingly powerful is... *whistles*

Yeah, this is absolutely on the money.

Current Hera in an A-Wing is so absurdly broken it's not funny. Even the red movement swapping is relevant - being able to pick which side you go to for a sloop at I5 is insanely good. Sure, A-Wings don't use them often, but when they do... But yeah, being able to decide between a hard 2 left, a bank 2 right and a 5 forward at I5 plus all the repositioning after is just game breaking.

I actually think B-Wing Hera would be pretty broken too.

The ability to decide between a 1 hard or 1 tallon roll at I5 is pretty awesome. Basically extends your arc coverage another 90 degrees, not to mention that she can choose to completely swap sides. Or even swap to the 2 kturn. The difference between a 4 forward and 1 hard or tallon roll is pretty big too. IMO it would make Hera very, very hard to block.

If Hera comes in either of those two ships, I'm pretty sure it's with a different ability.

2 minutes ago, GuacCousteau said:

General Dodonna who gave the briefing for the starfighter attack on the first Death Star, and Garven Dreis and Dutch Vander who lead them

She was away on a mission, as was Mon Mothma and most other Rebel leaders, and all the A-Wings; Yavin was a very rushed last-minute affair.

4 minutes ago, GuacCousteau said:

General Lando and Wedge Antilles who lead the starfighters during the biggest starfighter operation the Rebels had embarked on at that point, while Hera was busy on the ground

I heard she fought at Endor. Pretty sure that meant from a cockpit, though Rex was on the ground. She could have been in one of the A-Wings but was more likely in the Ghost.

5 minutes ago, GuacCousteau said:

Granted, Squadrons might change this, but as it is she's also nowhere to be seen during the Battle of Jakku, which was the Alliance's biggest military operation of the whole war.

It's not like we have that much information on that battle though. Some stuff from Lost Stars and Aftermath and not that much more. Besides, from what little we see in Squadrons she seems to have played a key role in the StarHawk project, which was absolutely crucial to the victory at Jakku.

7 minutes ago, GuacCousteau said:

Let's also not forget a certain Wedge Antilles shows up in that trailer, gets just as much screen time and is actually in a cockpit.

The gameplay tutorial shows her giving a briefing on the Nadiri dockyards mission; I'm guessing she performs a similar role throughout and this would fit in from the previews we've seen of the next Alphabet Squadron book. She's a big deal.

And yeah, the Ghost is her ship, but her coolest moves are pulled in real Starfighters. Rebels need an I6 and Hera is the leading candidate. Fenn, Han, and Wedge don't really scratch that "ace" itch the same way.

29 minutes ago, theBitterFig said:

Hera A-Wing is a complete ****ing non-starter. Given that an A-Wing will often enough be stressed from boosting, Hera changing between her blue moves is equivalent to setting her dial at Init 5 in the activation phase. There's no way that's not absolute BS that should not exist in X-Wing. For it not to be immediately obvious that this would be game-breakingly powerful is... *whistles*

Why is the B-Wing fine but the A-Wing not? Because Hera shifting on a B-Wing's limited blues isn't too bad, and when shifting the incredibly powerful red moves, well, they're red. Potent, but manageable when well priced. A-Wing with a wide-open blue dial, from 2-hards to 5 straight? Yeah, no.

1 hour ago, ClassicalMoser said:

But she would absolutely be broken with her old ability in an A-Wing or a B-Wing.

Fair points, but I will disagree. I liken her to a less powerful Advanced Sensors Guri as Hera would have one less attack die and one less health. If she had three attack dice, I would understand cries of OP. But back when Hera could take Nien to compliment her ability (before Cova ruined it) the attack shuttle had 8 blue and 5 red to choose from, yet no one made use of her mobility then. Not only was she not considered strong, she was flat out not considered at all.

The A-Wing would have 2 less maneuvers to choose from, but, I will admit, the difference in changing a 2 hard to a 4 forward or 2 hard in the opposite direction is great. The two die attack is again what I think would keep her in check. That and I6's.

I'd love to have a group of us "make the game better" forum goers have a TTS group or something where we could test ideas like this out. Testing possible point thresholds, slot changes etc. It might be too much to hope for to have people play a version of X-Wing that doesn't exist, and may never exist.

43 minutes ago, GuacCousteau said:

We have a Spectre Cell Pack. It's called the Ghost Expansion.

It has all the members of the Spectre Team as both pilots and as crew/gunners.

But does it have the Attack Shuttle or the Captured TIE? Having a Spectre Cell expansion would just be a simple way to get those released. Unless you are hard set on them being separate expansions, why drop a turd on this idea?

You can try Hera on Awing with Fly causal, no problem.

She is A-level awesome

47 minutes ago, GuacCousteau said:

I dunno, I think Sabine in an A-Wing is pretty broken honestly.

Vectored Thrusters can trigger off her pre-movement action. She could barrel roll then boost into a blue to clear the stress and take a focus or evade. That's so much more powerful than one reposition before, one after she gets in the Attack Shuttle. Especially as she can also get a focus out of it.

Current Hera in an A-Wing is so absurdly broken it's not funny.

I actually think B-Wing Hera would be pretty broken too.

Well, somewhere between broken and very good. 37 points for a Sabine A-Wing would be more expensive than Jake Farrell for a hyper-mobile Init 3, with 2 red dice. Those two numbers seem like... might be within reason. Might not, but might. Same with the B-Wing. I mean, is that better than Braylen? I'm not sure. Mobility on a ship that's vulnerable to ship damage often isn't game-breaking.

Anyhow, it's mostly just a matter of degree, could be broken, might just be very good.

The ship Hera would *actually* be quite fair with: the T-65. Choosing between which T-Roll/K-Turn, or between the X-Wing's blues, doesn't seem too bad. Certainly, safer than a B-Wing, let alone an A.

1 minute ago, 5050Saint said:

The A-Wing would have 2 less maneuvers to choose from, but, I will admit, the difference in changing a 2 hard to a 4 forward or 2 hard in the opposite direction is great. The two die attack is again what I think would keep her in check. That and I6's.

I don't think it's so much the number of maneuvers, but the difference between them. VCX or Attack shuttle can swap between a K-Turn or two kinds of Hard Turns, all red, but can't go slow or mild. It's all or nothing with a red. Alternately, on blues it's just straight/bank, and not super fast straights. Again, that's a somewhat limited spread.

An A-Wing, however, has the full T. Turn, Bank, and every straight the A-Wing can do. That's effectively picking your dial immediately before moving at Init 5, and she can do it every round since it's the blues. Sabine would be hypermobile, but being Init 3, that's generally going to be less important.

2 minutes ago, theBitterFig said:

The ship Hera would *actually* be quite fair with: the T-65. Choosing between which T-Roll/K-Turn, or between the X-Wing's blues, doesn't seem too bad. Certainly, safer than a B-Wing, let alone an A.

R4 Astromech escapes the Cova Clause, and so would give Hera 2-hard blues. If it's bad on an A-Wing, it's definitely bad on an R4 X-Wing.

For some reason I feel like Hera has to have something built in to work well with Chopper Astromech. Only applies to the X-Wing and Y-Wing really, which are her less-likely platforms, but it seems a crying shame she can't even use him right now. Admittedly getting her in all 4 would definitely be overkill. My priorities:

1. A-Wing, hands-down

2. B-Wing

3. X-Wing (very close third)

4. Y-Wing (could take or leave it)

I feel like the ability should be something like:

"After you fully execute a maneuver or complete an action, you may spend 1 charge to perform an action while stressed.

After you fully execute a [white or blue, which would be more interesting?] maneuver, you may gain a strain to recover a charge."

2 charges, non-recurring

So she could chopper her shields away for some extra charges if necessary or strain herself some shields, but more likely she'll have to manage her stress and strain pretty carefully or end up burnt-out. Elusive could be fun for extra shields to burn for more stress-mitigation or re-rolls to save her while strained. It seems fun to me and invites a lot of tough decisions. I'd like to see a Rebel that plays like Vonreg. Let's figure out how to break this.

2 minutes ago, ClassicalMoser said:

For some reason I feel like Hera has to have something built in to work well with Chopper Astromech.

(snip)

I feel like the ability should be something like:

"After you fully execute a maneuver or complete an action, you may spend 1 charge to perform an action while stressed.

After you fully execute a blue maneuver, you may gain a strain to recover a charge."

2 charges, non-recurring

So she could chopper her shields away for some extra charges if necessary, but more likely she'll have to manage her stress and strain pretty carefully or end up burnt-out. It seems fun to me and invites a lot of tough decisions. Let's figure out how to break this.

Thoughts:

- It would be cool to have her ability sync up with Chop. Thumbs way up on this.

- Giving her elusive would be almost auto-include.

- This ability would definitely jive with the B-Wing theme of playing with stress, since red maneuvers will do that for her.

- The "or complete an action" raises my hackles thinking that this could be abused. On an A-Wing that would give Hera triple action economy. Perform action step to Lock -> Hera ability to Focus -> Vectored Thrusters to Boost. Next turn, four forward out of the fight and grab a strain.

Overall, however, I like where this is headed.

41 minutes ago, 5050Saint said:

R4 Astromech escapes the Cova Clause, and so would give Hera 2-hard blues. If it's bad on an A-Wing, it's definitely bad on an R4 X-Wing.

Honestly, I think it doesn't work. Given how they've ruled maneuver difficulty changes (that the change *only* applies while executing and at no other time), I'm under the impression that R4 wouldn't work. Certainly, if Nien Nunb doesn't work on the VCX, I can't imagine R4 working on an X-Wing, because they've got the exact same phrasing--"Decrease the difficulty of your [such and such] maneuvers."

But if it did work, yeah, it'd be excessive. A bit less of a problem than an A-Wing, but that's splitting hairs.

1 minute ago, 5050Saint said:

The "or complete an action" raises my hackles thinking that this could be abused. On an A-Wing that would give Hera triple action economy. Perform action step to Lock -> Hera ability to Focus -> Vectored Thrusters to Boost. Next turn, four forward out of the fight and grab a strain.

Yeah that's probably the bit I'm least sure about.

Then again, only 2 uses before you have to self-strain, which is actually quite difficult on all but the A-Wing, and you get very poor economy from 2x elusive > 1x Shield > 1x charge, and that only works on the Y-Wing and X-Wing anyway (if she even gets those). B-Wing has the toughest time with strain unless the B-6 title makes it way more maneuverable/agile.

If you make the "strain to recharge" proc on only whites she's constantly stuck between stress/strain-shedding and stress-action regen for strain. Maneuver color choice becomes a tough call. I think that probably balances triple-action economy on the (otherwise somewhat lackluster) A-Wing. After all, double-repo and focus is already easily doable for a lot of named pilots (Soontir, Kylo, Jake, Poe/BB8, etc.). Seems not way too powerful.