Do the rules for flying ships, and fighting other ships get terribly complex? Or are they more workable, but still satisfactory?

Writing out so many thoughts about RPGs has made me realize that, in D20 games and the like I'm downright scared of allowing spontaneous combat sequences, knowing how they tend to suck all the oxygen out of a session and leave no time for anything else…

Greedo is Good said:

They are supposed to be the same as combat on personal level, its the same basic rules - and its also abstracted, not as "wargame" heavy The two former iterations were.

KjetilKverndokken said:

By two former iterations, I assume you include Star Wars WEG. If so, what was "wargame" heavy about that?

My main concern about adopting the personal combat system for starship combat is that, though good in theory, it doesn't tend to work well in practise. PCs are often unable to contribute easily due to the logistics of starship combat. Pilots, gunners and engineers have clear roles, tech and actions they can take. I hope that some thought is given to making a range of tasks available that allow all PCs to participate meaningfully.

Skywalker said:

I believe KjetilKverndokken is referring to Saga Edition and the OCR/RCR D20 system as the previous two iterations.

And, meh, if you build your encounters right, parties of PCs will generally find their niche. There's lots of jobs to do on a freighter in a Star Wars setting, but if your players are bored of the Aid Another action and have no roleplaying imagination, find a way for some of them to be in fighters! Or maybe they have to go outside like R2 in Episode 1 and physically lock something down on the exterior of the ship.

From skimming the book (there's so much awesome to take in!!!), it seems like they've put a good amount of thought into the various Starship issues, and I'm pretty pleased over all. Can't wait to see how it holds up in actual play.

One concern I do have though, is multiple weapons on large capital ships (or even heavy starfighters). For example, the Nebulon-B Escort Frigate has x6 Port and x6 Starboard Turbolaser turrets, as well as x3 Laser Cannon turrets on each of the Port/Starboard/Forward/Aft arcs. So if two Frigates are firing broadsides at each other, we're talking about 9 weapons each, and unless I've missed something, it looks like you have to roll individually for each weapon.

Not unheard of in these games, but seems unnecessarily slow. It would be nice if there was a rule for grouping broadsides to speed capital ship combat up. Maybe in the next book for the Rebellion. Still need to see how it works in actual play though, once I've done a detailed read-through.

Hi:

Perhaps, this question will be answered in book/Episode II, which, I have a feeling, will be more space combat-oriented (mass battles)…

It's like asking for space combat rules in the Dark Heresy book, when there'll be a Rogue Trader one.

L

Um..the rules for space combat are pretty wargamey. Hell, they even called the rule section on it "X-wing: Miniature Game"

Hmm… Okay…?

So you've read the book… & it's wargamey spacey combat?

L

LETE said:

…It was a joke. FFG is also coming out with a miniatures game called X-Wing, that is Star Wars ship combat.