Shoutout to @Roller of blanks for the suggestion!

So yeah, with all the custom hyperdrive ring models going around for a while, I took a moment to write down some loose ideas (feel free to add/tweak your own and let me know if I missed out on something ) . If you're looking to have an excuse to field that thing in a playable state for a casual or scenario game, go for it! Bonus points for anyone feeling like making actual card depictions of that And yes, for simplicity sake the ring is common for all three users without distinguishing between the models.

HYPERDRIVE DOCKING RING

Faction: Galactic Republic

Cost: 15

Size: Small
Agility: 0
Hull: 3

Dial:

Ship Trait:
- Hyperdrive Ring : You must equip the Hyperdrive Module Configuration upgrade. You can dock 1 Delta-7 Aethersprite, 1 Eta-2 Actis or 1 Nimbus-class V-Wing. Your docked ships can deploy only from your front guides.
Setup: If you have a ship docked, you must start in reserve.
At the start of the round, you may deploy. When you deploy, you are placed within range 1 of any table edge and beyond range 3 of any enemy ship.
Game End: If you are in reserve, you and your docked ship count as destroyed.

Actions:
- none

Upgrade slots:
- Configuration

Configurations:

- Hyperdrive Module (Abandoned) : (Dual card - front, cost 0)

Remove all non-lock tokens from yourself. You cannot be assigned non-lock tokens, perform actions or execute maneuvers.

During the Planning Phase, you are not assigned a dial.

When a ship docks with you, flip this card.

- Hyperdrive Module (Docked): (Dual card - back, cost 0)

+ White Focus
+ White Boost
+ Red SLAM

You have the name, initiative, pilot ability and ship [Force charges] as the friendly ship docked with you.

At the start of the round, if you are within range 1 of any table edge and beyond range 1 of any enemy ship, you may be placed in reserve.

When a ship deploys from you, flip this card,

Interesting. Some points:

-I would make it charge based, as Moralo Eval, so you can use the fleeing to reserve and coming back at most 2 times. Otherwise it gets stupid. Already being able to deploy almost anywhere at the start is pretty powerful - Boba Fett deploys more conditioned, costs 4pts *) Fleeing more than once could already be too much, as Moralo is kept in check by having a big base and an unwieldy dial and zero advanced turn around mameuvers. Which does not apply to the nimble small ships. "Once" could be easily accomplished by not having the turn back over again option on the card.

-Start of the round might need to be specified more, is it beginning of planning phase? This would also make more clear what happens if there are several hyperdrive rings (different ships and players), who places in which order.

-Docked side must make clear that the ship's original dial is not assigned, only the ring's dial?

-We do not know the Nimbus V dial yet, but the Ring's dial could be an improvement.

-Not sure if Jedi ships with force users like Delta7 and the Actis2 should get access to a red stop.

- *) 4pts + less conditioned starting point (Boba can be made useless by opponent's deployment as there is no starting point which fulfills all requirements)

3 hull upgrades at 0agi are 6pts, but see next 2 bullet points

Moralo Eval pays a lot for his ability, 2 times flee (no abnormal starting pos), he is 4 more than Bossk (who has the powerful always gets to apply direct hit on a crit), or 14 more for that ability and 2 Ini.

-your docked ship is attacked. Which gets first destroyed, you or the ring, or can you choose? Can you emergency deploy from your ring (powerful in the right instance)?

-your docked ship is attacked. Which agility value is used for your defense? I assume the docked ship's one? Which probably requires having different costs for the docking ring, if the Nimbus has 2 agi. 3 Hull upgrades at 0agi 6pts, at 2agi 15pts, at an Aethersprite's 3agi 21pts.

2 hours ago, Managarmr said:

-We do not know the Nimbus V dial yet, but the Ring's dial could be an improvement

I think the dial for the ring should be pretty dang poor for turning. The rings are designed to go straight. They have no lateral thrusters, so turning would suck. I suggest 1-5 straights that are blue, 2-3 banks that are white, only red 3 turns, and a white stop. You have to gain a weapons disabled at the start of activation if you are docked, as the rings weren't designed for combat, and that'll help balance the white stop.

What is the rings initiative if nothing is docked? Does it set a dial if nothing it docked? Or would it move like a remote?

Also, all the stuff @Managarmr said.

I agree with comments that freely reserving/returning a Jedi Starfighter is too powerful (I don't see getting out of R1 being too difficult when SLAM is available), but also docking during combat is un-thematic. To that end I would suggest it be exclusively a one use 'setup replacement' similar to GA-97/"It's the resistance!" Where you deploy during the Planning Phase.

On theme I'm generally opposed to the idea of docking to a ring during combat at all. The only time it's shown being done there's two rings and the pilot does a fakeout so the enemy destroys ring A while the Starfighter docks in ring B and makes the jump. If you insist on having a 'jump out' mechanic I propose giving it a 'Charge Up' feature where you need to meet those range requirements and have all charges active (I'm thinking at least three charges, non-recurring, action header to gain a charge, remove all charges when placed in play) in order to jump to reserve. This is meant to be an in-game representation of warming up/making calculations before the jump.

2 hours ago, 5050Saint said:

What is the rings initiative if nothing is docked? Does it set a dial if nothing it docked? Or would it move like a remote?

I'm guessing a printed value of 0, and sets a dial as normal since I didn't see anything to the contrary and it has been presented as a ship rather than a remote.

5 hours ago, Managarmr said:

-your docked ship is attacked. Which gets first destroyed, you or the ring, or can you choose? Can you emergency deploy from your ring (powerful in the right instance)?

Using standard docking rules, the ring takes damage and is destroyed before the docked chip can take damage, and then the docked ship has the opportunity to emergency deploy.

5 hours ago, Managarmr said:

-your docked ship is attacked. Which agility value is used for your defense? I assume the docked ship's one?

Again, just using standard docking rules, the ability of the ring should be used, which is zero in the original post.

When a ship is docked it is out of play for normal purposes and none of its stats or abilities matter unless referenced by a card that is in play.

2 hours ago, 5050Saint said:

I think the dial for the ring should be pretty dang poor for turning. The rings are designed to go straight. They have no lateral thrusters, so turning would suck.

Definitely agree with this. If the Ring's dial has any hard turns at all they should be red 3. I think they shouldn't have 4-5 straight either though because they aren't supposed to be fast in real space terms. Related to that I'm also not feeling the inclusion of SLAM on the action bar. I get that we want it to have some purpose beyond just an alternate starting placement, but really that's all it can offer while staying on theme.

I think pricing it around 15 points (original post number) is about right to just be a during game placement device that also offers a couple hitpoints of protection for a supporting Jedi or just sits there like an idle obstacle.

10 hours ago, 5050Saint said:

I think the dial for the ring should be pretty dang poor for turning. The rings are designed to go straight. They have no lateral thrusters, so turning would suck. I suggest 1-5 straights that are blue, 2-3 banks that are white, only red 3 turns, and a white stop. You have to gain a weapons disabled at the start of activation if you are docked, as the rings weren't designed for combat, and that'll help balance the white stop.

What is the rings initiative if nothing is docked? Does it set a dial if nothing it docked? Or would it move like a remote?

Also, all the stuff @Managarmr said.

I agree that the ring should not provide more maneuverability. I would drop hard turns, any 1 or two movement. Three strait, banks, 4 forward and 5 forward. All blue. Adds Slam and 1 evade die, but no attack possible.

When undocking, 1 and 2 movements only.

To me it should be about moving fast to get somewhere.

With all that in mind here's my first draft idea of what a Hyperspace Ring could look like on paper:

HYPERDRIVE DOCKING RING

Faction: Galactic Republic

Cost: 12 (to start with, but count on adjustments)

Size: Small
Initiative: 0
Attack: not printed
Agility: 1
Hull: 3

Dial:

1e Lambda dial:

Text box:

(Pilot ability) You must equip the Hyperdrive Module Configuration upgrade. You can dock 1 Delta-7 Aethersprite, 1 Eta-2 Actis, or 1 Nimbus-class V-Wing. Your docked ship can deploy only from your front guides and may only execute a blue maneuver when doing so.

Setup: If you have a ship docked, you must start in reserve and may be placed within range 1 of any table edge and beyond range 3 of any enemy ship during the Planning Phase.

If you are in reserve during the End Phase and there are no friendly ships in play, you and any ship you have docked are removed from play. (I feel this is more in line with the way the Rules Reference is written re: Winning the Game

Actions:
- none

Upgrade slots:
- Configuration, modification?(that's a hard maybe)

Configurations:

- Hyperdrive Module (Abandoned) : (Dual card - front, cost 0)

When this side is flipped up, you must remove all non-lock tokens. You cannot be assigned non-lock tokens, perform actions or execute maneuvers.

During the Activation Phase if you reveal a non-blue maneuver you must execute a 0[stop] instead.

If you have a ship docked you must flip this card. (This change closes the loophole on intentionally choosing the wrong side during setup)

- Hyperdrive Module (Docked): (Dual card - back, cost 0)

+ White Focus
+ White Boost

You have the name, initiative, and pilot ability of the friendly ship docked with you and treat that ship's [Force Charges] and [Standard Charges] as your own.

If you do not have a ship docked you must flip this card. (This change closes the loophole on intentionally choosing the wrong side during setup)

Guys... I was joking

31 minutes ago, Roller of blanks said:

Guys... I was joking

That might be, but it's still an interesting thought experiment.

8 minutes ago, clockworkspider said:

That might be, but it's still an interesting thought experiment.

Not an experiment anymore. It's coming with the ETA-2.

2 hours ago, PhantomFO said:

Not an experiment anymore. It's coming with the ETA-2.

I really, REALLY hope the Eta-2 can be removed from that docking ring, cause I don't like the sculpt if it is stuck in it. I mean why? The Delta 7 was the one that originally used those ring , but we don't see that sculpted into the ring.

22 minutes ago, zjbh7 said:

I really, REALLY hope the Eta-2 can be removed from that docking ring, cause I don't like the sculpt if it is stuck in it. I mean why? The Delta 7 was the one that originally used those ring , but we don't see that sculpted into the ring.

It can, they just didn't have a render of it separate from the ring to show.

1 hour ago, zjbh7 said:

I really, REALLY hope the Eta-2 can be removed from that docking ring, cause I don't like the sculpt if it is stuck in it. I mean why? The Delta 7 was the one that originally used those ring , but we don't see that sculpted into the ring.

Even better, you can apparently dock the eta2 or the delta in the ring.

1 minute ago, ForceSensitive said:

Even better, you can apparently dock the eta2 or the delta in the ring.

You can dock the ETA-2, 7B, and V-Wing.

Just now, MegaSilver said:

You can dock the ETA-2, 7B, and V-Wing.

Did they confirm v? I heard about it but seemed like speculation

1 minute ago, ForceSensitive said:

Did they confirm v? I heard about it but seemed like speculation

They said it on both live streams.

2 minutes ago, MegaSilver said:

They said it on both live streams.

That's what I get for looking at pictures lol. Well cool then.

But more importantly, they have it a new object name right? Structure?... Soo... Official Ground combat coming at some point? Lots of 'structures' there

2 minutes ago, ForceSensitive said:

That's what I get for looking at pictures lol. Well cool then.

But more importantly, they have it a new object name right? Structure?... Soo... Official Ground combat coming at some point? Lots of 'structures' there

Or Death Star Turrets + map?

1 minute ago, MegaSilver said:

Or Death Star Turrets + map?

True

Hoth?

Skyhook?

Poe's dreadnought run? (Suppressing a gag reflex over ST)

🤣

6 hours ago, ForceSensitive said:

That's what I get for looking at pictures lol. Well cool then.

But more importantly, they have it a new object name right? Structure?... Soo... Official Ground combat coming at some point? Lots of 'structures' there

They confirmed on the second stream that it is considered a ship that you dock with, not a structure. Structures are still unexplained. The decided to be mysterious on that one.

8 hours ago, ForceSensitive said:

That's what I get for looking at pictures lol. Well cool then.

But more importantly, they have it a new object name right? Structure?... Soo... Official Ground combat coming at some point? Lots of 'structures' there

I think the Intercept Booster they've mentioned for the tri-fighter is more likely to be a structure. It has an "attached" and "detached" side (I don't think we've seen both sides. Feels like the kind of thing that might get left behind.

Then again, maybe we'll get to install turbolasers on asteroids during setup at some point, or deploy a small space station.

10 hours ago, zjbh7 said:

I really, REALLY hope the Eta-2 can be removed from that docking ring, cause I don't like the sculpt if it is stuck in it. I mean why? The Delta 7 was the one that originally used those ring , but we don't see that sculpted into the ring.

Just piling on at this point, but in the preview article , the Actis expansion is described as having two miniatures:

"Within this expansion, you’ll find everything you need to add one Eta-2 Actis ship and one Syliure -class Hyperspace Ring to your X-Wing collection, including two beautifully pre-painted miniatures and two small plastic bases."

Fun bit. I thought I talked about this before with the forum. Turns out I did... Almost two years ago.

I KNOW YOUR WATCHING FFG!! I KNOW YOU POLICE MY THOUGHTS!!

lol 😜