/swg/ - Nice Kitty Edition

In the absence of a fuller context it has been met with cautious optimism.

I am still erect

I expect nothing but misery from newcanon, though I do expect Zahn to do the best he can, more than anyone expected he could do with what he's been handed. So I'll read it and take what's good for my personal EU, which should be a decent chunk.

Yes, though the excitement was slightly tempered by a few things:
>Thrawn's rather odd eye design in Rebels
>Lucasfilm Story Group not immediately handing over the reins to based Zahn

I'd stay cautious about nucanon unless we hear news that someone has fired Chuck Wendig and brought in Stackpole, Stover, and Chris Roberts to rule alongside Zahn.

daily reminder that Rey > Ahsuka

Hey all
What Darth Vader VA so you like the most?
I've seen the films in both Spanish and English and I honestly like the voice in the Spanish version better
What about you guys?

James Earl Jones is Darth Vader.

My bad
I meant voice acting, not voice actor
I think that the voice they gave him in the Spanish version suits him better

...

10/10 because he's a bloody good artist.

Sokka is that you?

Sounds to me like you just have a nostalgiagoggles on user.

I love those last moment hail mary's which actually pay off. Recent game of X-wing I was down to my last two ships - Jan Ors on 1 hull with Decoy and Dorsal Turret, Lando Calrissian on 2 hull - and his Omega Leader had just barrel rolled into Range 1 of the YT-1300.

Left with no options I boosted Lando up to PS8 with Ors Decoy, and then used her ability to boost Lando's attack roll to 5 dice. This didn't particularly phase him, as he had full hull, full shield, and he had a target lock on me so my focus token was useless.

I rolled my attack.

5 natural hit results.

He only managed to roll 1 natural evade.

Out in one shot. He managed to destroy Lando with simultaneous attack but still, it was sweet seeing those dice come up HIT HIT HIT HIT HIT. I was still grinning an hour later. Final score: 100/69

Rate my cutting edge 'maybe by Christmas' X-wing list:

Poe Dameron (PS9) (43)
Black One (1)
BB-8 (2)
Sensor Cluster (2)
Push the Limit (3)
Autothrusters (2)

Esege Tuketu (PS6) (36)
Dorsal Turret (3)
Recon Specialist (3)
Advanced SLAM (2)

Green Squadron Pilot (PS4) (20)
A-Wing Test Pilot (0)
Chardaan Refit (-2)
Adaptability (0)
Autothrusters (2)
Crack Shot (1)

99 Points.

Esege basically follows Poe along and gives him all of the focus tokens he could ever want. Even if Esege has to SLAM to keep up, he can still give Poe those tokens. Poe has the option to turn up to 2 blank evade dice into evades, while still triggering his ability. If someone target locks Esege, Poe can reveal BB-8, Barrel Roll, clear that lock, and keep on with his day.

The A-wing is just there to look nice.

Poe is going to painful af when Wave 9 hits I tell ya what.

Indeed I done my Pathfinder Inquisitor with him, guy is 10/10 and is really a bro too.

Would be cool if they did up a monster manual/bestiary for ffg. At the moment the critters are all through the books and a bit hard to remember who's where

Yeah, it was a really exciting finish. It didn't have to be, but I never drew any of my really important command cards. I never drew either of my Reinforcements cards, and the Inquisitor was dead before I drew Force Lightning. I never even drew Planning to try to draw the important cards, despite having Rule by Fear to draw extra cards at the start.

I know what you meant but I think JEJ nailed it.

Poe's already painful. He's good, and has three very potential builds, based around either lots of actions (BB-8), going slow and regenning shields (R2), or hoarding that focus until the end of the combat phasr (R5-P9). The PS 9 version allows him to not worry about needing VI or Adaptability, opening him up for Predator, or a somewhat meaner PtL. But the Black One title is going to make him the one ship Omega Leader doesn't want to see at the end of the game. He'll be damn good, for sure. But not quite Soontir Fel with Palpatine around.

The list looks solid. But a lot of it hinges upon the K-Wing just hanging around for pot-shots and handing off focus tokens. As an alternative, you could instead opt for a Kyle Katarn in his HWK, with a recc spec and title. This would give you an extra 6pts to work with, for a similar result with Kyle throwing focus tokens ro Poe. That could go into making the A-Wing beefier, say like Jake (from State Farm) with the same loadout, swapping Adaptability for the beefier Veteran Instincts.

-cont.-
It should also probably be noted that Jake synergizes with Kyle as well. Kyle can assign him the focus token that turn, it will activate Jake's ability allowing him to boost/roll, and then Jake will be free to take his PS 9 maneuver and Evade (or Boost if he Rolled).

Does anyone know anything about TFA RPG beginners game beyond that it exists yet?

Can't wait to see my fav ship be animated.

There's a general description of the plot in a GTM article. You can tell from pictures that it just uses existing AoR/EotE careers (not surprising since the Beginner Game is a one-off and won't have its own core). And there's conflicting reports where people are unsure if it'll come with a map of the galaxy because it gets mentioned in some articles, but not in others.

Release date on sites have it in August, which is probably a safe bet given FFG has been trying to enforce those more ever since the TFA stuff got released for Force Friday last year, as opposed to before where they just try and get it out and let stores sell it as soon as they get it.

Probably not going to happen (only GMs would buy it). Maybe if they paired it with a races compilation, so players could get some use out of it.

>only GMs would buy it

Isn't that the case with 90% of all RPG-books?

It's Rebels, don't get your hopes up too high.

I hope Pellaeon makes it in too.

I'm the opposite. The fact that he's announced to be a cartoon villain who will inevitably job at every turn to our "brave nucanon heroes!" is making me sick on the inside.

How is Star Wars animated (clone wars included I guess)? Worth watching, or should it be treated as a non-existent blank space in my head canon?

Clone Wars is pretty good. Rebels is the "Legend of Korra" to it's "Last Airbender". They claim they're the same makers and it's technically a follow up to Clone Wars, but you'll wish it had never been made.

OK, cool. I tried the first few episodes, but it seemed extremely childish and the episodes were all self contained bs.

People do say it gets better though with actual plot, where should I start watching for that?

img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1442/36/1442364889994.png

Star Wars Clone Wars was great.
Star Wars The Clone Wars was just OK

They're both saturday morning cartoon show quality in terms of writing. The Clone Wars has a narrator at the beginning of every episode that sounds like he's tripping on quaaludes.

Awesome, thanks

No worries there, I'm just out for spaceship battles and melodrama. This should do fine.

youtube.com/watch?v=cYI9FDbfk5U

check out the old clone wars animated series

They already said that Thrawn is going to be like Vader in the series. Unbeatable force of nature, best for them to try to avoid.

I'm seeing lots of dead corvettes.

Meh, not really; definitely not with the FFG stuff. Even the SW location splats deliberately have some content that's player oriented.

Clone Wars has a lot of gold episodes, and grows a pair of balls the further it goes. The stories never really stop being super self contained though. Sure you can follow some arcs, but the stakes of those arcs are so unclear and it's all so pointless feeling. It's an excuse to have constant jedi battles and war scenes and fan service.

Rebels is much smaller scale in that sense but much more story driven. We have our crew who we do not know the fate of already, major events tend to have consequences the go into the next episode, and the whole season is its own running arc. The action never gets as crazy but I kinda like that.

They're drastically different shows. Clone Wars I would say keep watching until that first clone solo episode and if you love that, keep watching. Maybe with that recommended episode guide because fuck stuff like the "Jar Jar and Padme" episodes. For Rebels, if the 4th episode isn't interesting then you should probably quit that too. They ramp it up more and more and like clone wars, it does get better, but if you hate that, you'll be like the others who hate it.

Fuck man. If you are a fan of Star Wars then watch both. Seriously. Being a fan of Star Wars means you will get what you want. From the music and atmosphere, to the Galaxy wide world building.

Empire's End is all about wrapping up the Dark Empire series in two issues and getting rid of Palpatine forever.

The last surviving Sheev clone is rapidly deteriorating from instability and Dark Side energy, so he goes to Korriban to bitch at ancient Sith mummies and decides to transfer his soul into baby Anakin Solo.

Meanwhile, Luke and his first class are chasing after Palpatine and it all goes down at Onderon, where Rayf Ysanna dies like a bitch to Sith lightning and Floating Pinball Brand sacrifices himself to contain Palpatine's spirit as he dies, leaving Luke with exactly one student.

To be fair, Kam Solusar is awesome, so if one of them has to survive, he's the one.

And then the Galaxy Gun blows up Byss, the Eclipse II, and itself because fuck it.

Its a giant rush job of a story and focuses solely on wrapping up all the loose ends so the rest of 90s EU didn't need to include ClonePalp's Byss Empire in anything.

Cam Kennedy didn't return for the art, so there's also a definite decrease in art quality.

The Dark Empire trilogy is a sea of "whut" with a few good moments and tech, but its a fucking mess. Just read the synopsis on the Wook or the WEG Dark Empire Sourcebook

Shit tier.

So what's next on the list?

>The lighting flickers
>But not the lightsaber.

Probably the Lando Adventures or the Marvel Comic, but Pokemon GO has been a major distraction.

So, how much ordinance would you say it's generally worth to cram into a single bomber? If you fill out all five slots on a TIE for example, there seems to be a big risk of never getting the opportunity to fire all of it before you are exploded.

Bout to enter a casual 200pt game with a TIE Fighter squadron (9 Ob. Sq pilots, Scourge, Wampa, and Youngster w/Expose), as well as Countess Ryad with the TIE/x7 title. I've never ran this many TIE Fighters in a single list before. I can't tell if it's going to be amazing or a total shitshow.

If you're not accustomed to flying swarms in formation, or if you just don't ever fly in formation, then it will be a colossal, glorious, shit-show.

My view is torps or missiles with bombs at your discretion. You only need torps and/ or missiles for a total of about 4 shots (Extra Munitions). Loading up for 6 shots is being hilariously optimistic about the bomber's life expectancy. If you go with 4 ordnance shots total, don't bother with mines (bombs that require an action). Most of your time will be spent trying to throw your ordnance. If you go with 2 shots, definitely grab bombs/mines of some type.

Grab -only- two uses of bombs, or torps, or missiles if you need cheap ordnance and expect it to die immediately. For example, a Scimitar with Extra Munitions Guidance Chips, and Concussion Missile (22pts).

As for what ordnance to use:
Proton Torp: old reliable. Not bad for the cost.
Ion Torp: expensive, but potentially devastating.
Plasma Torp: good, cheap alternative, and great against shield-heavy rebels.
Adv. Proto Torp: oh shit, son! What are you doing!? (you better have a good reason).
Flechette Torp: only if you're building around stress mechanics.

Concussion Missile: old reliable. Modifying an extra blank is nice.
Proton Rocket: not on anything less than 3 agility, concussion is better for bombers.
Homing Missile: expensive, but good because you don't lose your target lock (focus), and no evade tokens can be used.
Adv Homing Missile: limited, but cheap and causes a crit while keeping your lock (focus).
Ion Pulse: only if you're adamant about having a control mechanic
Assault missile: questionable worth... Best with Ruthlessness, and against swarms.

I'm used to operating with 4-6 TIEs at a time, and I usually keep them paired off. Would it be the same, or should I try to keep them in groups of 3/4?

Pairing off should be fine (still expect a shitshow). 3-4 is ideal, but takes practice to get used to flying. Ties have a good dial for formation flying, however. If you can, set up a table with some random obstacles, and practice maneuvering a block of ties around the board. Or just scatter them the minute shit hits the fan, and turn everything into a mess!

Alrighty. I think I'll be able to keep them in formation, but I have a feeling I'm going to have to scatter or focus fire to keep Youngster up. If he isn't targeted immediately, he will be as soon as the TIEs start firing. Though that's part of the reason I'm taking Ryad as well; 50% heavy hitting acrobat, 50% big red distraction.

Yeah, good call. Youngster will make himself a priority target, but Ryad's already made a name for herself. I like the x7 on her as well, what's your build for her look like?

Not really sure, since I only have 1 point to spare for an Elite Talent thanks to the TIE/x7 title. Might give her Crack Shot or Vet. Instincts.

>no taste

Putting together an event at my local shop for our X-Wing night, was thinking of doing a Hunger Games-esque mode where the players fly stripped down A's and it's basically a pvp where there will be scattered upgrade cards and if you fly over it, you get it to give you an edge, basically just hull and shield upgrades.

There would be traps laid around the board too like bombs "hidden" under debris and rocks.

Was thinking of doing "bosses" every other round too like a pack of Tie's coming onto the board and harassing the players, stuff like that.

Does this sound like a fun thing to do?

Can you shake an extra point free somewhere? If you can get 2 spare points, you can give her Juke.

The upgrade cards would be upside down, right?

Sounds like a good time.

Actually, that sounds like a good idea. I think I'll trade Scourge for Backstabber then.

I've played a couple variants of the hunger games scenarios, and they are a lot of indeed fun. Best way to do the upgrades is a random mixture, with no regard to ship upgrade slots. Some of the hilarious things we saw happen list my lgs when we played, was a Scyk with an Unhinged Astro and a Heavy Laser Cannon (green 3-speed k-turn death-cannon), an A-Wing with an Advanced Cloaking Device, an autoblaster turret Interceptor, and a Kiraxz at 1hull point that picked up a shield upgrade 3 turns in a row, and each turn lost 1 shield imemdiately after getting the upgrade.

There ya go. Scourge is decent, but I feel like Backstabber or Dark Curse are better "not-Howlrunners".

What's the best way to run a stormtrooper campaign?

How can I make it more like TROOPS and space 'nam rather than opression simulator 3BBY
youtube.com/watch?v=LvswNDAAZCU

I did a Clone Troopers campaign, ala Republic Commandos. They were stationed on Feluschia, hunting down vietcong-style insurgents. BBEG ended up being Aayla Secura, who had been their handler for the entire campaign. It was only 8 sessions long, but definitely had a 'We Were Soldiers' feel. Campaign music was always Creedance Clearwater and shit like that. Probably my favorite campaign.

Sounds like it'd be fun, if chaotic. Might be a good idea to use numbered/lettered markers (perhaps Target Lock markers) to match the 'loot' to upgrades, so no one will know exactly what they're getting. Perhaps write up a list of Upgrades-to-Markers and blind draw them per match.

I do like 's idea of disregarding normal restrictions, so you can use whatever upgrade you happen to pick up.

"Contact! Contact! Conta--!"

A shell bursts next to him with a roaring crush of earth that sends clods of dirt and 3 meter long daggers of tree shards ripping through the forest in every direction, and the cry in his comms is silenced, replaced by jagged screams. He crawls out from beneath the carnage and presses forward, racing ahead, knowing that his motion is attracting their fire, and knowing that if he stops for even a moment he is dead. They have his position.

Their goal is to raid the bunkers in Echo sector, gathering intel and disabling any artillery they find there, but the artillery has found them first.

His heart is racing and the air smells like death; like this fight is days old already and he can't imagine how he could possibly have made it this far. He's cut off from his unit, and though he can hear screaming all around him, he can't see his brothers at all - every way he looks is just the enemy, marching inexorably forward, eager to end him and everyone he has ever known.

Confused chatter clogs the comm lines.

"--flank is collapsing!"

"Pull out! Pull out!"

"Two bandits - low altitude Gamma sector!"

"Incoming!"

And then he can hardly hear anything beyond the steady oomph...oomph...oomph of blaster fire.

Fire and smoke has laid waste to the forest ahead of him, and the scorched earth still smolders with an intensity that could ignite the air. He can hear the tseeeeeeer screech of cannon rounds incoming and he falls prone without thinking, curled inward, arms protecting the back of his head and neck - as though they will offer any protection that his armor would not. The ground is shaking, and he is shaking, and his voice has joined with the voices of the screamers. The world is chaos, and he can't move. He can't get up and push forward anymore. He wants it to stop. He wants to go home. He wants his Sergeant. He's terrified, and he's a child, and the world is blowing to pieces around him under the sound of a perpetual, torrential, rain.

My negro

m.youtube.com/watch?v=dRLyJ2g3d0M

I hope he's not just a constant instant win button for the Empire. Even in the original Thrawn books, he eventually ran into setbacks and made mistakes.

Mah, he won't be a win-button, but supposedly he's going to be one of those imsurmountable obstacles that the heroes can't just saturday-morning-plot their way through.

...

...

I always have a hell of a time trying to get the third volley off, the missile ship either gets focused down and killed hard or maneuvered around once the fight is on. Unless you're building the squad around the bomber I think one ordinance + extra munitions is enough, and if you have some points left over a bomb is good to follow up the missile shots.

Tomax Bren with Crack Shot though, he's a strong independent bomber pilot who don't need no torps. Both of my games tonight he more than earned his keep after exhausting his munitions.

Remember to measure the movement for each one, not measure one and move the others to formation. (if you see someone doing that it is outright cheating, far too common among swarm players)

Also, remember that if bases are almost touching and they're pointing in the same direction then two ships cannot do the same turn or bank without overlapping.

Tomax is amazing. But I think the trick with him is to do what you're doing and refrain from loading him up with ALL the ordnance... There's a guy at the LGS outfitting filling up bith his missile slots and a torp slot, taking EM, and Crackshot; and every game he's been blasted off the table with unspent munitions because of how big of a threat he really is when set up like that.

Yeah. I love using my Punisher because I'm a masochist for X-Wing and it takes some effort not to load it up.

I know it will never be, but I wish I could see my LAAT/i on the tabletop.

Depends. In standard, one with extra munitions is generally enough. In epic, go hog wild

Gaarkhan keeps tearing me a new asshole. Help.

>What's the best way to run a stormtrooper campaign?
Generation Kill, the All-Guardsmen Party, MASH, and /k/ military greentexts are good places to start.

Why there has never been a Star Wars Tabletop Wargame for Ground Forces is beyond me.

Do Imperial Assault and Star Wars Miniatures no longer qualify?

Think we'll get a higher res scan of Savage Spirits at some point soon?

The current one we have is pretty hard to read.

Does anyone have a clue as to the composition of the starfighter complement of a Venator in the service of the Empire? Five years before Yavin or so

Also Rebels is pretty clearly made by a group of FFG EotE players who riff sessions and turn them into episodes

Explain. I assume we're talking about Imperial Assault, because I don't think he exists in any other games. Is this campaign or skirmish?

What in particular seems to be the problem?

I assume he's talking about a larger scale. IA and SWM have always been pretty much skirmish scale.

What about WEG's older Miniatures Battles game?

Still skirmish (though skirmish in the same sense that 40k is skirmish). I want to say there was a one off hex & chit for running Hoth, too.

Daily reminder that clone wars was done before and better 11 years ago

youtube.com/watch?v=bbV8SVYe2_I

So, have we gushed about the Rogue One Celebration Trailer yet?

I'm holding my optimism until I hear Kenny Loggins music.

I just particularly liked that line of "Sticking too close to the originals is doing them a disservice."