Back to the topic of why we should have a third faction (or more), not everyone likes to be rebels or Imperials. I've RPGed a lot in the Star Wars universe and a lot of players like to be on the fringe - unaffiliated pirates, smugglers, bounty hunters, etc. I think it would add a lot to player satisfaction to have more faction freedom.

Scum & Villany is a given.

Hounds Tooth with Bossk and all sorts of cards for the other bounty hunters. There is an entire book series surrounding the hunters and what happened during the films and after....and the Hutts...and Black Sun.

A crafty desginer has LOTS of room to make fun combos with that lore.

FYI, This was brought up at Star Wars weekend during a discussion panel. The Question was "Will we see more factions like a Republic and Separatist?" The answer was No. They also elaborated that they will go into the EU, which they already have done, and that the game will only ever be Rebel vs Empire. Some of the FFG guys were talking about 30 some ships in the entire game.

That's really cool to hear an answer from them - was it taken down so we can check it out somewhere?

I have played a bunch of 3 player free-for-alls. They go exactly like any game of warfare and domination (ie, Risk) – everyone is out for themselves until there is a clear front-runner, then the others tend to gang up on the front-runner until he is no longer the front-runner, and so on. The natural balance of this CAN be frustrating, but in general I have found it to still be pretty fun... in the 5 or 6 games I have played like this, no single player has ever been eliminated or totally out of the fight for more than a few turns at the end. It always still ends up very close.

Ever played Risk with the Mission cards? Totally changes the dynamic of the game. No one gets eliminated completely because that could win the game for someone else.

Make up a number of possible objectives and give each player one at random. No one else knows what anyone else's mission is, so people won't be getting wiped out.

Just a thought.

FYI, This was brought up at Star Wars weekend during a discussion panel. The Question was "Will we see more factions like a Republic and Separatist?" The answer was No. They also elaborated that they will go into the EU, which they already have done, and that the game will only ever be Rebel vs Empire. Some of the FFG guys were talking about 30 some ships in the entire game.

That's very sad because with Wave 3, we're already at 10 ships so the entire production line is already a third of the way done after only one year!

30 ships is a LOT of ships. That doesn't make me sad at all. I'd say even 20 is going to be an awful lot to keep track of, and very intimidating to any new player!

It's interesting that there are 20 more ships to go, given that they have nearly covered all of the small fighter craft already seen in the films. They're now starting to add EU ships (the HWK-290), and if they end up with 30 ships in total, we are very likely to see craft that would allow for some very customized forces. I suspect that a de-facto pirate/Black Sun faction could easily be created by using the EU ships that still have to be released. The Z-95 and Y-Wing themselves are very much a part of Edge of the Empire, and could easily be called a pirate group... especially if you play it against an Alliance force.

I'm certainly curious to see what they might come out with... might we see an actual "ugly" as part of this.

I STILL think things are sort of misinterpreted to an extent. Or, maybe not - and I just don't like it! I'd like ships that are Neutral, and could be fielded by either side.

Well since redeemer has revived this post

*sheepish grin*

Yeah, again, sorry about that. But there's only so much I can do so early in the morning.

It's too bad that they aren't thinking of coming out with a pirate faction. But as people have mentioned, there are overlapping ships between the various factions. Could easily represent them with just new pilot cards. Heck, could even be a fan project if FFG doesn't want to bother.

I guess one reason why I don't think it will be a new faction is that why release one new faction when you could do two. I see federation and republic in a new core set as wave five.

Agreed. Its more likely, they will release 4 ships per Wave in the current manner... AND at the same time introduce a NEW core set (same compatible gameplay mechanics) in the Republic/Federation Era as its own line... IF players choose to mix the different eras... its up to them.

@Syleh Forge,

It was a panel, I don't think it is any where. You had to be there to hear it kind of a thing.

FYI, This was brought up at Star Wars weekend during a discussion panel. The Question was "Will we see more factions like a Republic and Separatist?" The answer was No. They also elaborated that they will go into the EU, which they already have done, and that the game will only ever be Rebel vs Empire. Some of the FFG guys were talking about 30 some ships in the entire game.

That's very sad because with Wave 3, we're already at 10 ships so the entire production line is already a third of the way done after only one year!

Forgive me if my Math is wrong but isn't 4 ships per wave x 3 waves make for 12 ships instead of 10?

I see the point you're trying to make but you were off 20% and instead of being 33% of the way there (room for six more waves) we're 40% of the way there (four waves plus a couple more).

I'm sorry to say but I agree that 30 ships actually seems a bit excessive unless you do some repeats or variations. I for one would hate to see X-Wings and TIE Fighters become impossible to find because they are long out of print. There are also only so many ways to work the stats so things don't become repetitive although the dial and cost can add some variation to ships with the same combat stats.

The Star Wars universe obviously has more than just the Rebel and Imperial factions in it. So development of these other factions would seem only normal. But I doubt we would see thius as a possibility until FFG has more fleshed out the current factions.

CURVE BALL!!!!!

how about between wave releases for fan boys who want to play massive baatles on 6x8 table????

release a small capital ship for each faction between waves.

a rebel blockade runner,

imperial system patrol craft,

i could go on and on......

they would not be tournament legal, just for fun games.

well????.......

Sort of like another game but at a different scale? Like a 'fleet scale' X-Wing game?

no, same scale, think apocalypse for warhammer 40k

i guess you would purchase fighters as squadrons and use the highest initiative of the ships in that squadron.

they will all move and shoot at the same time, andwould need to use the same manuever

i guess the best way to do this is determine squad size and have a base witn 6 inch long stems so that the fighters would be near mid ship of the capitol ships,.........................................

im just dreaming i know, it will never happen ill shut up now

I am very new to the game but not so new to mini's.

In my opinion the primary vehicle for keeping a game fresh is balance. Plenty of games out there with multiple factions with just a few 'viable' builds. The more "viable" options available the more fun. After you have enough games under your belt the fun shifts from what you see to the mechanics involved in the game. Nurturing game balance over theme is preferable to me.

New factions typically help to revitalize interest because you are normally able to adopt a new art direction for the faction. The space-ships in star wars will not be dramatic enough in visual differentiation to capture that.

factions are also typically differentiated by "what they are good at". The more "personalities" a single faction has is more attractive in my opinion as it establishes a little mystery as to what your opponent is going to do.

my opinion...and hello!

I doubt we'll get a third faction any time soon. Perhaps once Disney starts pumping out more movies and they can see what of the EU is still considered 'canon', then they might bring out a new faction based on what happens in the new movies.

I doubt we'll get a third faction any time soon. Perhaps once Disney starts pumping out more movies and they can see what of the EU is still considered 'canon', then they might bring out a new faction based on what happens in the new movies.

I agree with you by and large, but if Episode VII is truly coming out summer 2015, they'll (FFG) still need to be making more ships, and they'll almost all be EU by 2015

from what i have seen of FFG, they seem to like to create several branches of the same tree.

what i mean by that is, look at thier warhammer rpg's......

each one by itself is a complete game, but they are all compatible.

what i imagine is that xwing will be the rebellion era game with the 2 factions, maybe with merc ships that are not hier own faction, but could be used for either.

then they will probably release something like, "Republic Gunship" for the clone wars era and introduce 2 factions there.

then by the time the new movies begin to roll out there will be a third title for that trilogy.

this is all speculation, but seems to fit the mold of things i have seen them do.

I think people will be happy with that sort of progression.

Oh, and we need a space slug promo item.

I read it, but then couldn't find it to quote it, but the idea of ground wars with Walkers and AT-ATs is awesome. The only problem is, what vehicles besides snow speeders for the rebels would you have? Unless you pulled out a bunch of vehicles from the Clone Wars movie.

I can think of:

Imperials

-AT-ST

-AT-AT

-Scout Bike

Rebels

-Snow Speeder

Granted, I am not as familiar with things outside the movies.

As for Wave 4 ships, the only one I would really like to see would be the Rogue Shadow. But as of right now, isn't the only non-movie ship the HWK-290? I'm also unsure what the next "Big" ship would be for the rebels. And I can't really see capital ships being produced due to the sheer size of them.

The local game store has a table that they use for Warhammer games with some terrain and ruins. I'm toying with the idea of trying a game of X-Wing on it, simulating a low-altitude dogfight.

FFG has already stated point blank that three are only Imperial and Rebel ships for this game......I honestly do nott see them making capital ships either; but this does nott rule out third parties from making their own version to use with x-wings....This does nott stop us from going beyond the game and creating a pirate faction......and bounty hunter faction as well...The possibilities for these are endless.....Never give up,Never Surrender