Two quick questions:

1. I've gotten a second starter set, and for a moment I was thinking of putting the damage cards from both together to make a larger damage deck, but would doing that throw off the balance or the game and not be legal in official games? The ratio of cards in the deck remains the same, but it doubles the chance of getting each card.

2. In a miniatures game with only two factions at the moment, would you have to bring two squadrons, one of each faction, to a tournament? The way the game is set up right now, faction vs the same faction hasn't been addressed, and I can see a situation where 75% of the players would show up at a tournament with the same faction.

1. I'm pretty sure that (for official tournaments at least) you are required to bring the single damage deck that comes with one core set, but I don't have the rules in front of me right this moment to double check that.

2. The tournament rules do state that you bring only one squad. Imperial vs Imperial and Rebel vs Rebel matches can and do happen. At GenCon, both of the semifinal matches were same-faction match-ups.

A link to the tournament rules pdf can be found on the support page here. That should help answer your questions.

Unfortunately there is nothing in the rule book that says anything about the damage deck other that you should bring your own. The only problem I see is that this leaves it open for some people to stack their damage decks. For instance, you could put extra Pilot trait damage cards in your deck if you are planning on using Determination on your ships. As a tournament organizer, I seriously recommend that all damage decks be checked before the tournament starts. I am not expecting to see people cheat in tournaments, but I would be a fool not to look out for it.

Roy

Thanks for the replies.

With the cards, I was more worried about runs of nothing but direct hits with the number doubled. However, 33 cards does seem plenty enough since even with 10 ships on the field with max damage, you wouldn't use them all.

AlKusanagi said:

1) Keep them in two separate piles and have each player draw from their own damage deck. Since this is how it flies according to the tournament rules, you're not exactly doing anything outside the scope of what was intended for the game. Shuffling them together would be a bad idea.

2)As people stated above, one faction; mirror matches are allowed in the tournament rules.

With that in mind, remember, those are guidelines for organized play. If you and your group will most certainly never be playing at a tournament, and want to go your own way, please do, as you'll only get more enjoyment out of it by playing it in a way you're all having fun with. Run mixed squads of Imperials and Rebels if you want to, it's your game now, so do what you want.

Have a "what if" match with Luke and Vader taking on the Emperor's finest TIE vanguard, as father and son race to destroy "The Emperor's Shuttle" (represented by the Senate Shuttle token, obviously) so they can rule the galaxy together.

Be as creative as you want to. Don't let anyone tell you that you're doing it wrong, because if you're all having fun, then you're totally doing it right. The rules only matter if you're going to an organized game, or playing with someone who isn't aware of your group's house rules, so do respect that side of it though.

drkjedi35 said:

I agree. This could be an issue. One might also keep their two damage decks together and make an honest mistake when separating them in preparation for a game or tournament.

I would advise players with two starters to not even open the second damage deck. Leave it in the shrink wrap and save it for later when the first one gets all groaty.

Daveydavedave said:

I sleeved my damage deck in FFG yellows, and used two small rubber bands to keep the deck secured inside the Core Set box. When I picked up my second Core Set, I did the same thing. I now have two legit damage decks, sleeved and separated, so when we play, both players have their own to use on their own ships, and never shall they meet.

I can only imagine how bogged down a tourney would get if you had to audit all the damage decks each game.

AlKusanagi said:

Not sure i understand your point here…

if the ratio stays the same, then you dont have double the chance of getting each card..

or rather, you do have double the chance, but also have double the chance of not getting the card!

Say there were 10 critical cards out of 30 damage card in total (per deck)

10/30 is the same chance as 20/60 ….

have i misunderstood?

R2D2 said:

I think he was trying to say that it allows for double the instances of a specific damage card being played. So by combining the decks, more of those hypothetical crucial cards could be in play in any particular much. As you said, that could just as easily NOT be in play as well, but perhaps his hope is that in the event of a statistical anomaly, he could have a really interesting game if all the nasty critical hits came off in sequence.