So quite a few threads discuss how there is more to games than standard Asteroids so I thought we could brainstorm other ideas.

Here are a few I thought might be interesting

Gaseous Clouds: Obstruct shots giving the extra green dice if a shot is traced through the cloud. But has none of the other negatives of asteroids.

Ionized Gas Cloud: Follows the rules for a Gaseous Cloud, however when you enter it roll a single Attack dice, on a Hit or Critical the ship takes 1 damage and an Ionization Token.

Mine Field: Follows the rules for an Asteroid however if you roll a critical on the Attack Dice place a Damage card face up on the ship.

Moving Asteroid: The Asteroid performs a 1 Straight maneuver in the End Phase of each turn (direction determined at the start of the game) if his overlaps a ships base after this move roll an attack dice on a Hit or Critical the ship takes 1 damage. If the Asteroid leaves the play area, place a new Asteroid on a random board edge and randomise the direction it is heading in.

Gravity Well: Place an Object on the board (could be a Planet under the plane of play, a large magnetic rock, or a singularity, but makes sure it has a clearly marked center). If the center of the object is in your ships side arc, maneuvers to the objects side go down one difficulty (Red->White->Green), maneuvers away from the object go up one difficulty (Green->White->Red).

Relay Satellite: Treat collisions with satellite as if it was an asteroid. While within range 1 of satalite ships count as having Target Lock on their Action Bar, ships that already have Target Lock may lock onto any enemy ship in the play area

Solar Activity: Roll an Attack dice after you have finished the Planning Stage. If it's a Hit all defense rolls gain one green dice. If you roll a Critical you may only fire weapons at range 1.

I like these ideas. Maybe if you get too close to the gravity well you could get a stress? I also like the idea of "destroyable asteroids".

All great.

Thinking about it some more the gravity well does take into account of "stress" due to the increased chance of a red maneuver if you try to move away.

What about an "Ionised Gas Cloud"?

Something that interferes with computer systems but less severe than an ion cannon hit. If a ship had a TL against it then if it enters the "IGC" there is a chance of shaking the TL (roll one green die per TL, on an evade remove that TL). This could apply to a ship with a TL as well so they could lose it the same way. Maybe any weapon upgrade icon (bomb, missile, torpedo) or system icon (sensors, droid) that is used while in this area may fail to work (ie: not launch or be fired) on a red die roll of a hit or crit. Once you leave the IGC they will work normally.

These are some pretty awesome ideas. Will have to test them out when I get a chances. Moving destructible asteroids sounds good to. Why there isn't more discussion about these great concepts is beyond me.

I purchased a half-dozen mine minis from shapeways and made bases using the proximity mine token. They turned out well. Hit an asteroid, roll one for damage? Pshhh. Gammorean, please. That's child's play. Fight in a minefield. Roll 3 for damage. Come at me bro.

You could run them like Asteroids, but if you roll a critical you play a damage card face up straight onto the ship. That would make them very risky as it bypasses shields.

BTW, I have multiple sprues of mines so it's definitely something I'm thinking of doing.

One idea I had was make up a deck of cards something along the lines of

7x Space Debris - Place 2 Small Asteroids

4x Huge Rocks - Place 1 Large Asteroid and 1 Small Asteroid

3x Asteroid Field - Place 4 Small Asteroids

3x Mine Fields - Place 2 Mine Fields

1x Gravity Well - The 1st obstacle you place is a Gravity Well, it must be placed at a point on the center line of the board.

3x Gaseous Clouds - Place 4 Gaseous Clouds on the board.

3x Comet - Place 2 Moving Asteroids on the board. Randomise their starting direction.

At the start of the game you deal out 3 cards and that is your Obstacles for the game.. There are more Space Debris cards so the most common outcome is 6 Asteroids.. but you often get 1 or more different types on the board.

Thinking about it some more the gravity well does take into account of "stress" due to the increased chance of a red maneuver if you try to move away.

What about an "Ionised Gas Cloud"?

Something that interferes with computer systems but less severe than an ion cannon hit. If a ship had a TL against it then if it enters the "IGC" there is a chance of shaking the TL (roll one green die per TL, on an evade remove that TL). This could apply to a ship with a TL as well so they could lose it the same way. Maybe any weapon upgrade icon (bomb, missile, torpedo) or system icon (sensors, droid) that is used while in this area may fail to work (ie: not launch or be fired) on a red die roll of a hit or crit. Once you leave the IGC they will work normally.

You could go with something similar to Gaseous Cloud, so does not stop shooting, or you taking an action. But you still roll the red dice. If you get a Hit or a Critical you take the effects of being hit by an Ion Cannon, so 1 damage and gain a Ion token.

It would fit nicely into how the Asteroids work at the moment.

Added it to my initial list as Ionized Gas Clouds are a cool idea.

One idea I had was make up a deck of cards something along the lines of...

At the start of the game you deal out 3 cards and that is your Obstacles for the game.

A deck of cards seems like a good way to randomize it. 3 cards of those might be a bit much though. Play area may become cramped and convoluted. Although there is no real way of knowing until play testing.

Maybe a simplified set of cards and each side pulls 1 for a total of 2.

One idea I had was make up a deck of cards something along the lines of...

At the start of the game you deal out 3 cards and that is your Obstacles for the game.

A deck of cards seems like a good way to randomize it. 3 cards of those might be a bit much though. Play area may become cramped and convoluted. Although there is no real way of knowing until play testing.

Maybe a simplified set of cards and each side pulls 1 for a total of 2.

If you aim to have half the deck 2 objects, quarter 1 object and quarter 3 objects. The chance of 3 objects or 9 objects is only 1 in 64. Which is going to be fairly rare.

I really like the "space junk" (fancy name for celestial phenomenon) card idea. I will try these out for sure in my next game. I like that they use the existing rules to keep things easy to remember. I think the mines could actually just use the proximity mine token and rules, as these are the only persistant mines we have so far. How big are the large asteroids and would these do more damage, maybe roll 2 red dice for their damage?

Could you please explain the "Solar Activity" effect and how this is meant to reduce your weapons range? Just curious what is being represented here.

I really like the "space junk" (fancy name for celestial phenomenon) card idea. I will try these out for sure in my next game. I like that they use the existing rules to keep things easy to remember. I think the mines could actually just use the proximity mine token and rules, as these are the only persistant mines we have so far. How big are the large asteroids and would these do more damage, maybe roll 2 red dice for their damage?

Could you please explain the "Solar Activity" effect and how this is meant to reduce your weapons range? Just curious what is being represented here.

When you get solar flares it causes huge magnetic and electronic interference, which could easily interfere with targetting computers. Making it much harder to leading fire moving targets for example.

OK the first of many, the plan is to do make a full set showing different phenomenon we discuss. I'm also planning to make up a card set.

So here are some templates for the moving Asteroids.

I'm loving these concepts. I'll be mocking up some cards this weekend to try this.

Btw: is that template jpeg ready to print? Or does it need to sized for printing? (I'm on a mobile right now not a pc)

It's at 300dpi, and should be the right size to print.

OK checked it and it wasn't, so fixed it.

Here are the Gaseous Clouds

Ionized Gas Clouds

I'm trying to make sure each type has a distinct colour palette to make them easy to tell apart across the board.

Dear sir, I thank you. Templates are look good.

have you also considered solar effects?

one example, roll a dice, if hit/crit, there is a solar flare, reducing all attack dice by one for that turn. These could be board wide.

have you also considered solar effects?

one example, roll a dice, if hit/crit, there is a solar flare, reducing all attack dice by one for that turn. These could be board wide.

Yep, look in my original post.. last item.

Mine Fields.

Took a Few Liberties with this one, but I think it feels Gravity Well-ish

Nice work Rattie.

So, I was thinking about satellites.

Something along the lines of

Relay Satellite: Treat collisions with satellite as if it was an asteroid. While within range 1 of satalite ships count as having Target Lock on their Action Bar, ships that already have Target Lock may lock onto any enemy ship in the play area

The reasons I went with this is Imps generally don't have TL on their bar, and most Rebels do. So if it just granted TL it would just really help Imps, this way it helps both sides, but in slightly different ways.