We played our first game today. Overall tons of fun but are we missing something with movement planning and then movement? What is the point of moving in reverse iniative order if everything is pre-planned? It seems those with higher initiative should be able to react to the movements of those with lower initiative or something?
The one thing missing from the game seems to be a tailing mechanic. But otherwise it is lots of fun and plays quickly once you get the hang of it.
Thanks
It's just a game lol, it adds a lot of strategy, this game is basically star wars chess imo, but at the same time in the combat phase, higher ships go first and have a chance to kill lower ships without them having a chance to respond
The moving part of moving in reverse skill order actually penalizes higher-skill pilots via the collision mechanic. As has been pointed out in discussions of the Imperial Swarm build (lots of low-skill TIEs), lower-skill pilots get an advantage in that (1) they know exactly where everyone will be when they execute their movement, so in principle should be able to avoid collisions, and (2) they can block higher-skill enemy pilots, maneuvering to where they think they will go in hopes of making them collide. The point of all this is that if you collide with another ship, you cannot take any actions.
The advantage to moving last is in the actions: you can choose actions after others, which is a big deal. This includes barrel rolls, which provide a limited form of movement reacting to enemy movements, and the interaction of Expert Handling and Target Lock (e.g., If Vader has Expert Handling, only Wedge can guarantee that Vader can't shake off his Target Lock). Likewise seeing where everyone else will be during the Combat Phase lets you make the most informed choices about Evade, Focus, etc. (e.g., don't bother Evading if you move last and no enemy has you in their sights).
Memnon of Rhodes said:
The moving part of moving in reverse skill order actually penalizes higher-skill pilots via the collision mechanic. As has been pointed out in discussions of the Imperial Swarm build (lots of low-skill TIEs), lower-skill pilots get an advantage in that (1) they know exactly where everyone will be when they execute their movement, so in principle should be able to avoid collisions, and (2) they can block higher-skill enemy pilots, maneuvering to where they think they will go in hopes of making them collide. The point of all this is that if you collide with another ship, you cannot take any actions.
Yeah, I may have to question the wisdom of the current collision rule after a few more plays. It seems bad right now and anti-theme.(I lean towards the Imperials when I play)
Remember, when a ship completes its move overlapping another ship 2 things happen
1. it loses its action
2. it may not shoot the overlapped ship
This still allows the ship that moved into overlap to shoot any other target in his firing arc.
I think the rule is fine as written. Yes, its a great tactic for tie swarms to try and cause overlaps, but there are pros and cons to doing it depending on the situation. A tie without an action is pretty likely to get one shotted. A swarm needs to shoot every turn to do the amount of damage needed to get that first kill on the alliance squadron. The moment the swarm drops below a 2:1 ratio, things start to get sketchy fast.
Generally taking more x-wings is the best counter to the tie swarm. 3 super pilots is not going to work well against 8 academy tie fighters. 4+ fighters of any kind will fare much better.