6 minutes ago, CommanderDave said:

Incorrect. A business is an investment. If an investment does not yield a sufficient return to justify the risk involved, then it is a failure. Not only must it compensate for the risk of loss, but it needs to keep pace with inflation as well. If you’re generating $1 after expenses on your investment, that is not sustainable and, in light of opportunity cost, a substantial loss.

Sustainability. That's exactly right. A $1 profit margin is a nightmare. What if, let's say, a pandemic hit and sales dropped/cost of shipping goes up/availability of raw material or production goes down? That razor thin margin is now a substantial loss and something has to give. And it is usually a "controllable cost", such as labor/wages.

If you aren't running something north of a 5-8% profit margin, you are asking for "bad weather" to put you under. Most privately owned restaurants that closed permanently recently fell in this category.

This is in no way a commentary on HOW the layoffs were executed in this example.

5 minutes ago, redleader002 said:

I completely forgot about fleet commands. I still think scaling price for adding scout to more squads is necessary for balance, but now that you’ve reminded me that they exist having a pregame fleet command card would be a nice shake up to the slot that I wouldn’t actually be opposed to.

I just think that giving Rebels a one and done command that gives their squads (which normally operate with fully-functional hyperdrives in canon and legends) the Scout keyword, without having to make a ton of card reworks on squadrons, is a great way to differentiate factions. It forces Rebel players to think about their squad pushing ability as well as how many squads they put over that amount. Personally, I dislike putting squads super far afield because that's a great way to get them killed, but with the changes to engagement, Intel, and the addition of Scout, we're looking at fertile ground to really make each fleet unique; so why not go bold or go home? 😎

8 minutes ago, FoxOmega44 said:

Sustainability. That's exactly right. A $1 profit margin is a nightmare. What if, let's say, a pandemic hit and sales dropped/cost of shipping goes up/availability of raw material or production goes down? That razor thin margin is now a substantial loss and something has to give. And it is usually a "controllable cost", such as labor/wages.

If you aren't running something north of a 5-8% profit margin, you are asking for "bad weather" to put you under. Most privately owned restaurants that closed permanently recently fell in this category.

This is in no way a commentary on HOW the layoffs were executed in this example.

You're deliberately misrepresenting that I wrote " at least $1 profit" to try to discredit my argument.

If a business always ended up making at least $1 profit at the end of each fiscal year, regardless of unpredictable market fluctuations or unforeseeable crises, i.e. a pandemic, then they would still be sustainable.

The reality of modern business is that just because a business makes high profits every year, doesn't mean they keep millions of dollars in a war chest for rainy days. The reality is that the lion's share of those profits are paid out as dividends to shareholders every year, leaving little in reserve to see the business through economic downturns. But when a recession inevitably happens and the business' profits dry up, do the shareholders ever use the money they made from years past to re-invest and prop-up the business? NO! They either cut and run at the first sign of trouble, leaving the business to die; or they lay off most of the employees to protect next year's profits.

Those are the business practices that are truly unsustainable . It's the modern Robber Baron economy.

6 hours ago, CommanderDave said:

FFG is not a charity. If a part of a company is not profitable, it needs to change. Better they operate efficiently and lay off workers than they drive the business right into bankruptcy and everyone gets screwed.

Better to let some people go so the executives still get there bonuses. If you ever end up on the receiving end, I doubt you will speak so lightly about a company and its profitability.

5 hours ago, Cruzer said:

Corporatism is a cancer. Say what you will about X or Y economic philosophies, but big companies who act more like money-making machines that will casually eject employees like an infected limb are an element of some version of ****-on-Earth.

Just look up what executives make in salary and bonus. That should make anyone want to go in a corner and vomit.

6 minutes ago, Captain Corvid said:

You're deliberately misrepresenting that I wrote " at least $1 profit" to try to discredit my argument.

If a business always ended up making at least $1 profit at the end of each fiscal year, regardless of unpredictable market fluctuations or unforeseeable crises, i.e. a pandemic, then they would still be sustainable.

The reality of modern business is that just because a business makes high profits every year, doesn't mean they keep millions of dollars in a war chest for rainy days. The reality is that the lion's share of those profits are paid out as dividends to shareholders every year, leaving little in reserve to see the business through economic downturns. But when a recession inevitably happens and the business' profits dry up, do the shareholders ever use the money they made from years past to re-invest and prop-up the business? NO! They either cut and run at the first sign of trouble, leaving the business to die; or they lay off most of the employees to protect next year's profits.

Those are the business practices that are truly unsustainable . It's the modern Robber Baron economy.

Dividends are optional and the company decides what to pay, even if they pay. The real culprit is the execs at the top. They take their cut first...then let the scraps go to the shareholders and/or profit sharing.

Lol. You make it should like dividends is a sure thing if you own stock. I just received a dividen the other day from one of my investments...$7.20. Wow, what ever will I do with all that money?

I worked for a company 8 years ago where they invested in a brand new printing press for a large account worth $12 million/year in sales. Overall company sales were just over $1 billion.

That customer went to the competition and got a bid that undercut our best price. They asked the CEO to match price. He told them to pound sand after investing so much to make them a better quality product. (Of course not shared with the customer, the new equipment was also more efficient that reduced the cost of production). They went to the competition.

The CEO turned to his vps and told them to make up the difference. Many people lost their jobs...even the little old lady that was paid minimum wage to audit expense reports. At the end of the year the CEO still got his $3.2 million bonus.

Just one of many examples I can share.

Reading everyone's posts...I can tell those that understand the greed of corporate America and others that have no clue.

2 minutes ago, HawkZ71 said:

I worked for a company 8 years ago where they invested in a brand new printing press for a large account worth $12 million/year in sales. Overall company sales were just over $1 billion.

That customer went to the competition and got a bid that undercut our best price. They asked the CEO to match price. He told them to pound sand after investing so much to make them a better quality product. (Of course not shared with the customer, the new equipment was also more efficient that reduced the cost of production). They went to the competition.

The CEO turned to his vps and told them to make up the difference. Many people lost their jobs...even the little old lady that was paid minimum wage to audit expense reports. At the end of the year the CEO still got his $3.2 million bonus.

Just one of many examples I can share.

Reading everyone's posts...I can tell those that understand the greed of corporate America and others that have no clue.

Worst part is, we've enacted this amoral self-sustaining machine into corporations' structure where if a CEO isn't doing everything to hit X profit margins, the board of directors/shareholders will go ahead and fire him. Big companies like that no longer work for the betterment of more people but to the excess betterment of a select few (often very amoral) people who don't necessarily know how to make a business sustainable in the long-term, but sure know how to "cut the fat" to make a company look good in the short-term. It's a massive can o worms (that honestly is not quite on topic for this post or this forum) but even die-hard capitalists should be sickened by this stuff. No longer is this a system that rewards people who make sustainably profitable businesses; it's one that rewards cutting costs, racing to the bottom, buying out and demolishing competition, and doing anything and everything so that these amoral machines that are corporations are continually fed as much capital as beyond what is humanly possible or sustainable.

To bring it back to relevance, if anyone's worried about the layoffs or FFG losing the license to their parent company's other kid, yes it was a corporate move by people who aren't passionate about games, but about using games to acquire more of the almighty dollar.

I made a preorder for clone wars at:

https://www.boardingschoolgames.com

They have the lowest online prices I’ve seen. I’m still buying from my hobby store as well but once I saw the starters at $60 each I could justify getting a second starter set. The squadron packs are $15 though I don’t feel I need more of those. It’s a legit store. I had a friend that just received some armada ships from them. I believe my friend got a Starhawk for like $50 or $60 which is pretty good too.

4 minutes ago, ninclouse2000 said:

I made a preorder for clone wars at:

https://www.boardingschoolgames.com/47328362645/orders/96547c256fc93618c3e83d60c13809c5

They have the lowest online prices I’ve seen. I’m still buying from my hobby store as well but once I saw the starters at $60 each I could justify getting a second starter set. The squadron packs are $15 though I don’t feel I need more of those. It’s a legit store. I had a friend that just received some armada ships from them. I believe my friend got a Starhawk for like $50 or $60 which is pretty good too.

Holy moly batman! Those are some great prices, thanks for the info. 👍

... Getting back on topic, I think Anakin's Y-Wing squadron will be an auto-include for all of my Republic builds, and I'll probably pair him with Ahsoka.

Another great combo should be Plo Koon, Luminara Unduli, and a bunch of V-19s (and Y-Wings).

Enemy squadrons will be forced to attack the V-19s, which will gain Counter 1 (with a Swarm reroll) and be obstructed. That means that an un-activated Vulture Droid can only inflict 1 damage per attack (75% chance with a black die) and there's a 50% chance it will suffer 1 damage in return, so odds are that those 3 hull Vulture Droids are going to die before the V-19s do.

I'm surprised that Kit Fisto costs so much, but I suppose that Intel and his ability are worth it. (But it makes me wonder if Jan Ors and Dengar will be increased in points down the road.) If Intel is important to you, Kit Fisto is the only option for the Republic. Perhaps Republic Fighter Squadrons II will add a cheaper generic Intel squadron, someday.

I'm struggling to justify the 15 point ARC-170 when the 10 point Republic Y-Wing can also inflict 2 damage with a crit, is speed 3, only 1 less hull, and can gain Counter 1 from Plo Koon. I know that Plo Koon costs 24 points, but if you also have some V-19s, his ability benefits all the generic squadrons; whereas Plo Koon cannot benefit the ARC-170 at all. And un-escorted ARC-170s will be sitting ducks -- that can soak up a lot of damage.

I don't think Oddball is worth 23 points because his movement requirement means that he probably can't use his reroll ability until the later rounds, if the Republic can destroy the enemy's squadrons. Then he should inflict plenty of damage to ships. If Odd Ball had Grit, he'd definitely be worth 23 points.

Kickback seems worthwhile at 16 points just for his 2 Braces; his mediocre ability is hardly relevant. If I'm spending points on a V-19, why wouldn't I spend an extra 4 points for an Escort that should be able to survive twice as long? The only reason I wouldn't include Kickback is if I already had 4 Aces.

Overall, Republic Fighter Squadrons I is very impressive and I applaud FFG's decision to include 4 Delta-7 Aces instead of the traditional 1 Ace per squadron type. I think it's definitely worth buying 2 packs to be able to use 3 or 4 Delta-7 Aces.

8 minutes ago, Captain Corvid said:

Kickback seems worthwhile at 16 points just for his 2 Braces; his mediocre ability is hardly relevant.

Seems like a really really good ability.

He's going to be able to engage or disengage even without a command, and Escort plus that durability you mentioned will make it annoying as heck to deal with.

Not to mention he can shut down Grit.

25 minutes ago, Captain Corvid said:

Kickback seems worthwhile at 16 points just for his 2 Braces; his mediocre ability is hardly relevant.

He also stacks with Ahsoka to be able to both move and attack twice in one round. It can help him jump around the squadball, making sure he’s tying up the right squads

1 hour ago, Captain Corvid said:

I'm struggling to justify the 15 point ARC-170 when the 10 point Republic Y-Wing can also inflict 2 damage with a crit, is speed 3, only 1 less hull, and can gain Counter 1 from Plo Koon. I know that Plo Koon costs 24 points, but if you also have some V-19s, his ability benefits all the generic squadrons; whereas Plo Koon cannot benefit the ARC-170 at all. And un-escorted ARC-170s will be sitting ducks -- that can soak up a lot of damage.

Looking at the stats of the Arc 170 I assume it’s meant to be a defensive squadron that sticks close to a support ship to defend it from fighters and first-last raider type ships. They’re meant to act as guards, which is why they have 7 hp and counter; don’t get me wrong they’re still expensive, but imo everyone has been incorrectly assuming their role to be strike bombers like B wings when they’re meant to be a 15 point bomber deterrant. Whether or not it’ll be effective... we’ll have to wait and see.

2 hours ago, bkcammack said:

He also stacks with Ahsoka to be able to both move and attack twice in one round. It can help him jump around the squadball, making sure he’s tying up the right squads

Good point. I didn't consider Kickback's synergy with Ahsoka. They could be a very potent pair. However, they can be shut down if Ahsoka is engaged by two or more enemy squadrons.

Grit is useful, but it's no old-school Intel. And I don't think new Intel's Grit stacks.

40 minutes ago, Captain Corvid said:

Good point. I didn't consider Kickback's synergy with Ahsoka. They could be a very potent pair. However, they can be shut down if Ahsoka is engaged by two or more enemy squadrons.

Grit is useful, but it's no old-school Intel. And I don't think new Intel's Grit stacks.

It would be interesting to find out if it works like Counter in that regard. We haven't been told yet, but if it has a value (1) rather than being an on/off function (like heavy) I think it may do.

7 hours ago, HawkZ71 said:

Dividends are optional and the company decides what to pay, even if they pay. The real culprit is the execs at the top. They take their cut first...then let the scraps go to the shareholders and/or profit sharing.

Lol. You make it should like dividends is a sure thing if you own stock. I just received a dividen the other day from one of my investments...$7.20. Wow, what ever will I do with all that money?

It is the case that there is a serious disconnect between the top tier and everyone else. (By the way this applies as much to the public sector where gigantic salaries are paid to execs who add very little or no value) The problem is how to solve that at a country level when that top tier can move anywhere in the world and move their money anywhere in the world.

I don't have a good answer. I like the idea of a fixed salary and benefits ratio (say 20:1 median worker wage in the company -> executive pay, with the same applying to a bonus/share dividend system) but I don't know how well it would work.

For christs sake we have a bunch of other threads (and even an off topic section) to discuss capitalism etc! Take it elsewhere!

Can somebody tell me why the **** they put Anakin in a Y-Wing-Style Bomber???

There is so much material in the Clone Wars given by Ep 1-3 and the TV-Series to choose from, and they took Anakin as "Y-Wing Hero"... holy...

Why not having Vader as a "Lambda-Shuttle Hero" back in Wave 2?

Why not having Han Solo as unique Rebel Support officer, for repairing the ship with hydrotools?

Anakin as a Bomber Hero................ unbelievable

Very very great work from FFG on Clone Wars in Armada here, but thats a big minus guys...

1 hour ago, Jimbo2142 said:

Can somebody tell me why the **** they put Anakin in a Y-Wing-Style Bomber???

There is so much material in the Clone Wars given by Ep 1-3 and the TV-Series to choose from, and they took Anakin als "Y-Wing Hero"... holy...

Why not having Vader as a "Lambda-Shuttle Hero" back in Wave 2?

Why not having Han Solo als unique Rebel Support officer, for repairing the ship with hydrotools?

Anakin as a Bomber Hero................ unbelievable

Very very great work from FFG on Clone Wars in Armada here, but thats a big minus guys...

It does make for an op bomber ace though!

My feeling is that this series of releases is themed around the 'early' clone wars, hence the ethersprites and anakin in the y wing (malevolence set of episodes).

I thought we would see kit fisto in an arc 170 too, because thats the lego kit i got him in!

1 hour ago, Jimbo2142 said:

Can somebody tell me why the **** they put Anakin in a Y-Wing-Style Bomber???

There is so much material in the Clone Wars given by Ep 1-3 and the TV-Series to choose from, and they took Anakin als "Y-Wing Hero"... holy...

Why not having Vader as a "Lambda-Shuttle Hero" back in Wave 2?

Why not having Han Solo als unique Rebel Support officer, for repairing the ship with hydrotools?

Anakin as a Bomber Hero................ unbelievable

Very very great work from FFG on Clone Wars in Armada here, but thats a big minus guys...

Several characters turn up in different places in Armada. There are four Vader cards, including a squadron Vader and Commander Vader.

I assume this is just the first example we have of Anakin appearing. Later on he might appear as a commander, officer or in another squadron type.

True. We need him, as one of the most poweful main-characters, in a Commander-Role.

Maybe later on he's gonne be the Commaner in some Wave.

But, to be honest its a poor beginning for the "chosen one", his value as a Squadron not mentioned.

16 minutes ago, Jimbo2142 said:

True. We need him, as one of the most poweful main-characters, in a Commander-Role.

Maybe later on he's gonne be the Commaner in some Wave.

But, to be honest its a poor beginning for the "chosen one", his value as a Squadron not mentioned.

I just checked and Vader Squadron turned up in the first Imperial Squads pack, and Vader Commander in the ISD1 pack. Perhaps Commander Anakin will turn up in the first wave of large ship upgrades as Vader did.

18 minutes ago, flatpackhamster said:

I just checked and Vader Squadron turned up in the first Imperial Squads pack, and Vader Commander in the ISD1 pack. Perhaps Commander Anakin will turn up in the first wave of large ship upgrades as Vader did.

oh yeah you're right so we had the same with Vader back then. But Vader as TIE-Advanced Hero was pure logic looking at Ep 4 .. so as Anakin in a Y-Wing is pure logic, when u see him flying towards Griveous ship in Ep 3

I'm pretty happy with getting anakin as a bomber actually. We got Luke in a similar capacity, being able to take the fight directly to enemy ships instead of just messing around with enemy squads. Plus I'm certain we will get him in the twilight, eta-2, delta-7, etc. in future expansions and campaign boxes at some point.