Sorry if this has been asked, but I looked back a bit and didn't see it.
Can Shield upgrade be used on TIE Fighters and TIE Interceptors which do not usually have shields (i.e., their current shield value is 0)?
On the one hand it seems odd to allow a ship without shields to get shields, but on the other hand there is nothing explicitly prohibiting it.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
There is nothing on the card or in the rules that prohibits it, and a mechanism is mentioned in the for just such a restriction, so I would say there is no reason a TIE fighter could not use a shield modification. It seems to be completely in the spirit of the rules to allow such an upgrade.
Any ship may take any upgrade so yes you can apply a shield or a stealth card or engine upgrade but only 1 per ship. some unique upgrades can also be applied eg the yt 1300 can take an engine upgrade and the millenium falcon upgrade. hope this helps
It took a half dozen searches to finally find this topic/question, and I am glad to see the consensus, even though I think the correct answer from the rules is strange. I do know why the question needed to be asked.
In terms of upgrades, for the TIE that would be an incorrect term, it wouldn't be just an upgrade of the shields, you would be strapping on a whole new system to the ship, that's why it seems odd because the term upgrade in this case is incorrect.
I know someone will say that adding on a whole new system is itself an upgrade, not like an upgrade of the shields but an upgrade adding shields , But that kind of reinterpretation of the wording of the card opens it up to the reinterpretation that you should be able to add as many shield upgrades as you want to one ship as long as you pay the point cost. If it wasn't for the rules telling you that you couldn't.
I think I just talked myself into a house rule that says upgrades are an exception to the one modification per ship rule. Let's see how bad an idea that really is...
Outer Rim Smuggler + 18 Shield Upgrades = 99 points, with 22 shields total.
Lovely.
I'd like to see the results of that play testing.
Just imagining applying that to the Engine Upgrade is enough to make me laugh out loud.
Edited by gabe69velasquez
Just imagining applying that to the Engine Upgrade is enough to make me laugh out loud.
Except stacking the Engine Upgrades wouldn't gain you anything. Gaining extra boost action icons wouldn't allow you to take extra boost actions.
Plus, to clarify mrgoodtrips reply, the "Millenium Falcon" and "Slave-1" cards are Titles, not upgrades. You can still only take 1 upgrade per ship.
It took a half dozen searches to finally find this topic/question, and I am glad to see the consensus, even though I think the correct answer from the rules is strange. I do know why the question needed to be asked.
In terms of upgrades, for the TIE that would be an incorrect term, it wouldn't be just an upgrade of the shields, you would be strapping on a whole new system to the ship, that's why it seems odd because the term upgrade in this case is incorrect.
I know someone will say that adding on a whole new system is itself an upgrade, not like an upgrade of the shields but an upgrade adding shields , But that kind of reinterpretation of the wording of the card opens it up to the reinterpretation that you should be able to add as many shield upgrades as you want to one ship as long as you pay the point cost. If it wasn't for the rules telling you that you couldn't.
I think I just talked myself into a house rule that says upgrades are an exception to the one modification per ship rule. Let's see how bad an idea that really is...
Outer Rim Smuggler + 18 Shield Upgrades = 99 points, with 22 shields total.
Lovely.
I'd like to see the results of that play testing.
Just imagining applying that to the Engine Upgrade is enough to make me laugh out loud.
Again, I think you might be overthinking this more than a little bit, and the rules are quite clear. But I'd fly against that Smuggler, just for laughs – if it weren't blatantly illegal. Tell you what: I'll fly against it with two Interceptors each with 10 Stealth Devices and a few points to spare.
It took a half dozen searches to finally find this topic/question, and I am glad to see the consensus, even though I think the correct answer from the rules is strange. I do know why the question needed to be asked.
In terms of upgrades, for the TIE that would be an incorrect term, it wouldn't be just an upgrade of the shields, you would be strapping on a whole new system to the ship, that's why it seems odd because the term upgrade in this case is incorrect.
I know someone will say that adding on a whole new system is itself an upgrade, not like an upgrade of the shields but an upgrade adding shields , But that kind of reinterpretation of the wording of the card opens it up to the reinterpretation that you should be able to add as many shield upgrades as you want to one ship as long as you pay the point cost. If it wasn't for the rules telling you that you couldn't.
I think I just talked myself into a house rule that says upgrades are an exception to the one modification per ship rule. Let's see how bad an idea that really is...
Outer Rim Smuggler + 18 Shield Upgrades = 99 points, with 22 shields total.
Lovely.
I'd like to see the results of that play testing.
Just imagining applying that to the Engine Upgrade is enough to make me laugh out loud.
Again, I think you might be overthinking this more than a little bit, and the rules are quite clear. But I'd fly against that Smuggler, just for laughs – if it weren't blatantly illegal. Tell you what: I'll fly against it with two Interceptors each with 10 Stealth Devices and a few points to spare.
That is asking to have 13 blanks show up. It seriously would be the most hilarious moment in a game ever.
Outer Rim Smuggler + 18 Shield Upgrades = 99 points, with 22 shields total.
Lovely.
I'd like to see the results of that play testing.
Just imagining applying that to the Engine Upgrade is enough to make me laugh out loud.
So 28 hit points? Similar to a Han + Chewie list? I would take that list on any day, especially with my 4 X-Wing list. Tally-ho!
Again, I think you might be overthinking this more than a little bit, and the rules are quite clear. But I'd fly against that Smuggler, just for laughs – if it weren't blatantly illegal. Tell you what: I'll fly against it with two Interceptors each with 10 Stealth Devices and a few points to spare.
That is asking to have 13 blanks show up. It seriously would be the most hilarious moment in a game ever.
And not that unprecedented for my luck with green dice, if you've followed my Imperial posts.
Definitely overthinking it a bit. It is basically either an upgrade OF your shields, if you already have them or an upgrade of your ship to GIVE it shields, if it does not. The word upgrade can really be interpreted either way, if you're being nitpicky.
But yes to answer the original question, perfectly legal. It's actually pretty well established in Star Wars lore that TIEs have, on occasion, been upgraded to have shields. The Empire just never put it into mass production because it wasn't cost effective to do so. Any pilots good enough to survive a tour or two got promoted to a better ship that was harder to hit or came with shields. I believe a few specialized units have showed up in various stories, though, packing small shield generators.
I did an Imperial Civil War type scenario with friends once where one side's TIEs all had a shield upgrade, the other all had an engine upgrade, just to see what would happen. Generally, much like the lore reason the Empire didn't put shields on a TIE - it wasn't cost effective - is the same reason YOU won't. For fewer points you could slap a stealth device on there and make them harder to hit, or save those points on, what three TIEs, and you can buy a whole OTHER TIE (Academy Pilot).
So it doesn't happen all that often - sometimes on an Advanced - but is absolutely an option.
If I was a tie fighter pilot i might be tempted to find a small portable sheild generator not being used. But as far as a game way to expensive
The Empire just never put it into mass production because it wasn't cost effective to do so.
They where saving up for them death stars you know... Shields are out of the question..