/swg/ -Evasive Maneuvers Edition

Really fucking good. I'm on the 5th one now, Nemesis Games, and shit really hit the fan. The second book has one of my favorite characters in it, named Bobbie Draper. She has a Samus Aran shtick going for her, in that she's a 6' tall somoan martian marine in powered armor.

>She has a Samus Aran shtick going for her, in that she's a 6' tall somoan martian marine in powered armor.
Well I know what I'm reading next.

How is Heroes of the Aturi Cluster? Does one person act as the "Dungeon Master" and play the imps versus the player's xwings?

HotAC is really good. Nobody plays the DM, everyone playing it is in charge of a ship (or two), and they're all part of the same squadron. The Imperials are controlled by an AI that uses a d6 to determine it's maneuvers, and a flowchart to determine it's actions and priority of attack. There are some wonky results in there specifically to keep players on their toes, or represent chaoitc maneuvers a rookie might perform (like a hard turn instead of a K-Turn.)

Is there a story with roleplaying like anyother rpg?

Just a warning about the second book... Prax, a biologist and father, has the most boring chapters, and the guy's actions are understandably irrational. Bobbie's and Avasarala's chapters are the best.

iirc, it's a series of missions that kind of act like a story. Roleplaying as your pilot is highly encouraged, and makes it more fun.

It's a series of missions based around being a rebel squadron in the Atari Cluster. Depending on how well you do, you go on different missions. For example, on mission B, if you win you'll advance to mission C, but if you fail you go down to A. If you fail A, it's game over and the imps win.

Our group also has a house role where if there are multiple objectives to destroy (like the sensor mission) If we destroy at least half thenit is a partial victory but the empire will be more prepared for the next stage, ie mines, etc

Heir to the Empire.

I already read that one. I narrowed it down to those three because I haven't read them yet (although I am now also considering 's suggestion).

hey! had an idea for my own version of post-endor Star Wars universe for a FFG RPG campaign and wanted your opinion:

After the death of palpatine and Vader and the rise of the NR, the remaning imperial commanders still refused to relinquish power and as a result of not having that peaceful transition the galaxy has become unstable with several factions now rising up to fill the vacuum:

>The New Republic:
founded from the Rebel Alliance, the NR seeks to reunify the galaxy into a peaceful republic once again, though right now they are in a bit of an awkward position as their fleets and armies were originally geared toward hit-and-run guerrilla tactics and now they have to use those same forces to take and hold territories, at least they are now in no shortage of eager recruits.

>Sith Lords
the inquisitors of the Empire have declared themselves "Sith Lords" and have forced the Moffs who tried to hold on to power to pledge loyalty to them. abandoning the teachings of Darth Bane, their holdings more closely resemble the Sith Empire of old, even if in miniature with each making themselves the emperor of their own little domain.

>Mandalore
United under the banner of a new Mandalore, 'Mandalore the Great' the Mandalorians have began an aggressive campaign to carve large chunks of territory out of the Sith Lords' holdings. it's clear that they have no love of the Sith, but what remains unclear is whether they will prove to be an ally or enemy of the NR

>Hutt Space
A massive clusterfuck as a hutt civil war broke out followed closely by an armed slave revolt. the whole region has fallen into anarchy and bathed in blood.

>Naboo
Believe it or not but Naboo's new king has begun expanding the world's holdings through conquest and seeks nothing less than a new galactic empire with Naboo at it's center.

1/2

2/2

>the Silver Fleet
rumors are spreading from the outer rim of a chrome-plated droid army as if straight out of the clone wars, appearing in the outer rim attacking pirates and Sith raiders alike. No one knows who is leading them but they seem to be directing them to act more like peace-keepers and protectors than the conquering army they are more known for.

thoughts?

A New Dawn is pretty forgettable, but it isn't really bad. I wouldn't bother to read it again, but the villain's history is kind of creative.

The Glove of Darth Vader

Go with the suggestion to read Leviathan Wakes. It's good, and fits into the same sort of stylistic niche as Cowboy Bebop and Firefly, but with slightly harder physics. And the Rocinante is a hell of a ship.

I already did when I was 8 and too young to know any better.

I like the villain's history as some hybrid of Donald Trump and Sundowner but "1984 Surveillance State" does NOT work with Star Wars.

One of the key points to Star Wars is how shitty their surveillance systems are.

I'd rather not

I BID YOU DARK GREETINGS

I found The Expanse series had pretty solid physics, barring the protomolecule, and the spess-magic Epstein Drive.

...

...

...

YOU'LL NEVER BE FREE HAHAHAHA

To be fair, everyone loves a good Jediocracy.

starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Cult_of_the_Power_Droids

Holy shit, Jehova's Witness Gonks

Depends what you're interested in.

>A New Dawn
If you like Kanan and Rebels, you'll most likely like A New Dawn. Shows how Hera and Kanan met. Shows what Kanan was doing for a while before he joined Hera. Also has Grand Admiral Rae Sloane in it, but she was a Captain at the time. Also, Count Vidian is the main villain, so you get to see his outcome.

>Tarkin
I read this when it first came out, so it's a bit of a blur for me. It's basically Tarkin when he was just Moff. Shows Tarkins upbringing, shows the reason his ship is named the Carrion Spike. Shows Vader and Tarking working together. Shows Tarkin and the Emperors relationship at a slightly closer level. Shows an almost equality in "rank" or "favor" between Vader and Tarkin during this mission. The only problem I had with this book was it's not very action packed. A New Dawn and Twilight Company were definitely a lot better in the action department.

>Twilight Company
I always enjoyed the militaristic part of Star Wars, so I had high hopes for this novel. To me, it wasn't anything amazing, but it wasn't bad either. It's basically about Twilight Company. You read about some of their battles (some of them serving on Hoth and even in orbit above Hoth as the Star Destroyers arrive during Empire Strikes Back). Also has Governor Everi Chalis in it, who was trained by Count Vidian (who again, was the main Villain in A New Dawn). Also shows Vader and the 501st kicking ass on Hoth and a grunts perspective of watching Luke Skywalker and the other snowspeeders take down the AT-AT. Just to note, the Hoth battle was only a few chapters long, most of the book takes place elsewhere.

As someone who is listening to the Tarkin Audiobook.

It is clearly The Hunt for Space Red October, slapped with Tarkin Biography to it, and its surprisingly good, but that is James Luceno for you.

Chrisjen's request for Martian assistance against the rogue UN fleet was one of several times across the first two books I had to stop reading because I was laughing too hard.

I'm so glad The Expanse is gaining traction. Never thought I'd suddenly have a reason to respect SyFy .

SWRP Chaos is that you?

Cut out the Silver Fleet. There's enough material there to work with

Really, it makes players have to work if almost every system they jump into could be a war zone of some kind. Factions beyond naming and number all fighting in the vaccuum of the Empire, since it has consolidated power at vital industrial points, or been carved up by power-mad parodies of Sith.

Meanwhile Luke and the Jedi have gone underground, trying to rebuild. Maybe on somewhere forgotten... like Ossus.

Suddenly, the galaxy is a new, scary place.

The New Republic is actually really similar to how it is in the EU.

The Sith Lords is a neat idea, but I honestly like the post-Endor Successor States Period. It's probably my favorite period in Star Wars, when the New Republic is actually a new thing that's still struggling to get its shit together. I am personally going to steal the Sith Lords idea and turn it into one or two of the Successor States in games I run. Like, one or two of the Imperial Remnants will not be run my Moffs, but by Inquisitors claiming the title of Sith Lord.

Mandalore's not a bad idea, but I feel like it also kind of conflicts with how small the Mandalorian state is at the time of the Empire. You'd need to backtrack Galactic history a little bit to give them a higher presence, but it could work.

Hutt Space is actually a neat idea, but not for a long time. I feel like it would be a short lived war considering you're basically doing Spartacus in space, but if the Romans at the time were *also* facing another of their popular civil wars.

I think the Silver Fleet is probably the worst part here, but it's not bad as an event. Keep it as a singular adventure, not as a faction with a lingering presence in the Galaxy. It's not an inherently bad idea, it just feels awkward to keep as a long-running constant.

I got a tourney in a week, I need a pick between these two lists. Which one should I fly?
100 points

Pilots
------

Wedge Antilles [R2 Astromech, Push the Limit, Integrated Astromech] (33)

Poe Dameron (PS8 Version) [BB-8, Veteran Instincts, Autothrusters] (36)

Jan Ors [Twin Laser Turret] (31)
100 points

Pilots
------

Dash Rendar (51)
YT-2400 Freighter (36), Heavy Laser Cannon (7), Recon Specialist (3), Outrider (5)

Lando Calrissian (49)
YT-1300 (44), Jan Ors (2), Recon Specialist (3)

The first.
Don't be a turretfag.

Does anybody have Forged in Battle for Age of Rebellion? I'm not about to ask for a PDF, but I've been itching to see the skill trees for the new specializations.

I'm waiting for mine to be delivered. Can't wait to see 'em, as well.

What's wrong with turrets?

>Cut out the Silver Fleet. There's enough material there to work with
>I think the Silver Fleet is probably the worst part here,

You know what...
...
your probably right, they certainly felt the cheesiest idea of them all when I was working it all out.

If I really want to incorporate the old CIS droids into the setting it would be far easier to just have one or more of the Sith Lords use them to supplement their Storm trooper regiments.

Far more reasonable to expect players to accept.

Did you ever play Battlefront 2? Do you remember how the CIS was brought back in the Imperial chapters of the 501st campaign for that really cool fight above and on Mustafar?

I think the Silver Fleet works well if you keep it like that. Make it a short-term thing that makes the players feel a bit nostalgic about the faction, and give it a bit of a new feel. It would be fun. But, yes, making them a long-term faction might not work out. Good on you for taking the criticism like a proper writer.

Also, the Sith Lords using droids to supplement their organic regiments isn't a bad idea. But I'd suggest more updated battle droids. Keep in mind this is like almost twenty years after the Clone Wars. And a lot of the CIS-era battledroids weren't that great to begin with in regards to performance. Using dated SBDs wouldn't be that bad, but no one in their right mind would use a dated B1 without giving it either a software overhaul and human-shaped armor to make it more survivable or by ordering an assload because they're desperate.

sup Veeky Forums, I have a question.

In order to stop myself from going Overboard, I have restricted my X-wing collection to "what I can fit in my case" and I will only be playing empire (i have 2 T-70's, and nothing else) from any other faction. I have at least 1 of every empire ship, but strangely I only have 1 tie fighter at the moment, the one from the expansion.

I have enough space in my case for 2 more TIE fighters. Should I grab the set from the Original Core set, or from the Gozanti? I have 1 of every non-epic empire ship, but 3 Defenders, 3 interceptors, and 6 TIE/FO if it matters.

The Gozanti's unique pilots are better, but trade PS for their abilities. I think you should take a loot at them through the X-Wing wikia and decide which group suits you best. Also consider if you really want to pay for the Gozanti itself, eBay might get you a better deal.

miniaturemarket.com/ffgswx35.html

your NR is really close to legends, funny enough,
as for the rest, I really like your ideas about hutt space. as for the Imperial Remnant/Sith Lords deal, I think that the whole "ex-Inquisitors declare themselves new sith lords and get to it" is a good idea, but not on a large scale. one to three 'sith' empires out of maybe a dozen straight ex-empire warlords would give you interesting variety without being overdone. If you don't have straight generalissimo-types running around, wannabe sith whackjobs really loose their impact.
as a side note, I would really strongly suggest having at least one of the warlord factions be genuinely decent folk who honestly just want, as the canadian motto goes, "peace, order and good government" instead of being power-mad; pellaeon-style folk, maybe even lead by Gentleman Gil himself. it's good to mix things up, give players somebody imperial who they'd actually want to help. it's even more interesting if there are factions in the NR who want to steamroll the sympathetic imps because they're 'soft targets', and the players want to go against that, doubly so if the anti-sympathetic-imp folks had done good things that the players like earlier, so as to put them in a situation where rather than just whipping up on some bad guys, they've got to somehow get two groups of good guys who hate each other to cooperate. it's a tough one, but damn it's fun with good players

I want a more canon equivalent ammo count for the Conc rifle (Limited ammo 10 in vacuum runs of standard blaster packs in atmosphere but has a somewhat high chance to run out), would that drastically upset balance?

You can easily pick up the Gozanti TIE fighters on their own as a pair from eBay, as suggested.

I vote Gozanti TIE fighters for two reasons:
1. They have a slightly different paint job.
2. Wampa.

Wampa is going to get a whole lot deadlier once Kylo Ren's condition comes out.

They don't take """""skill""""" to fly, probably.

Different guy here, is there anything other than the tie pilots that one would want from the gozanti? Or is the rest just huge ship stuff?

There's sets of just the pilot cards on ebay, is one missing out on much without the upgrade cards?

The upgrades which you can use as a non-epic player are Expose, Marksmanship, Expert Handling, Cluster Missiles, Homing Missiles, Ion Torpedoes and Agent Kallus. Everything except Agent Kallus is available from another source, and Kallus is really niche so you'll probably never use him.

Agent Kallus is an excellent crew, for 2 points. The EPT's are some of the better ones but can be had from other packs.

I can't say I agree with you there broheme, Kallus is one of the crew options that's harder to validate -not- having since he's useful against everything that isn't 4+ identical ships. Even against the crack swarm he makes it that much easier to oust Howlrunner or Wampa or one of her other pals.

So my LGS posted this on Facebook today. Time for an Ocean's 11 style caper...

I feel like I have everything there except kallus. Guess I'll see if I can snag him seperately.

>Imp Heavy Repeater ENC 3
>Conc Rifle ENC 6

Man, what kind of crazy Encumberance value does Katarn pack?

>25 and 5 for just the pilot cards
>15 for two ties
>10 for kallus
>not to mention shipping

Wow might as well just buy the whole fucking thing.

>Man, what kind of crazy Encumberance value does Katarn pack?
welcome to the wild world of FFG, where the encumbrance is made up and the balance doesn't matter

Encumbrance is the heart of FFG's balance system though.

Also I hope there's a pure version of the older Dark Forces repeater rifles too, since they were small but heavy and absurdly accurate for full auto weapons.

Does anyone have the book who can show us the actual detailed stat blocks for the imperial heavy repeater and conc rifle? (Also the z6 minigun and man portable quad)

>Encumbrance is the heart of FFG's balance system though.
it's true, which is what tells us everything we need to know about FFG's notions of 'balance' in RPG stuff

Honestly, it's not hard to get like 20+ E if you have a decent Brawn.

He is literally doomguy

>RIP AND TEAR! YOU ARE HUGE, THAT MEANS YOU HAVE HUGE GUTS! RIP AND TEAR!

not my upload, but here is some Forged in Battle trees and stuff.
drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B1XOIcCjHHkea2pVUUM4dFh6eUU

THANK YOU. Have more Russian cosplay babe.

drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/0B1XOIcCjHHkea2pVUUM4dFh6eUU?usp=sharing

Hmm, Heavy is missing. How strange.

Question.

How does the Venator class SD carry close to 600 fighters while the almost twice as large (and more modern) Secutor class only carries 144?

Thank you, good user.

Shift in Imperial doctrine to use less starfighters and focus more on capital-class power projection.

More interior space dedicated to fighters, I guess. It also explains why the Venator is under gunned even compared to the similar sized Victory.

>Hmm, Heavy is missing. How strange.
Pretty sure it's just the same tree from Dangerous Covenants.

Identical to the hired gun heavy.
I still firmly believe that the "192 V wings, 192 Eta2s" sections was supposed to be an OR rather than an AND.

What exactly is wrong with it?

>Re: Heavy
Got it. Thank you for the assistance.

by stuffing them into purpose-built launch racks that only work for a single model of fighter (well, two per Venator, but one per set-up) and not bothering to think about recovery.
Turns out, if you don't have to bother with landing in a combat timeframe, you can stuff a lot of fucking fighters into the same space. if you were to stuff a Secutror full of fighters in the same scheme, you could probably fit over eight hundred in, but you wouldn't, because that would be stupid because you aren't launching fucktons of 'expendable' clones against a biblical plague of droid fighters being shat out of even more carrier-focused gunboats
plus, a Secutor is working to be a battleship that also carries many fighters, not a 100% dedicated carrier, so that the designers will still chose guns over fighter bays, though it carries more than the average ISD.

also, for a last thing, in the Imperial era, the need for more than even one wing of fighters coming from a single ship is seriously questionable. I mean, realistically, there's just about no situation where the Imperial Navy is facing a situation that a gross of TIEs can't handle where they can't bring more than one ship. I mean, you can always bring a passel of escort carriers or frankly just more Strike Cruisers or NEB-Bs if you want more fighters, so why bother compromising a proper battlewagon's firepower to carry fighters? the important thing to remember is that imperial doctrine makes sense when you've got an entire navy, rather than whatever joe warlord of the week can scrounge up to face up against the very best fighter pilots alive and sneaky rebel skills
also, the Saxton Cross Sections book, infamous for it's hardcore powerwanking without regard for any other precedent or canon is what gave out that number, so it should really be ignored. 216 fighters, or three wings would be more reasonable for a Ventator, IMO, taking canon depictions and such into account

The Secutor may need that space for other stuff: larger and more advanced hardware, redundant hardware, more plumbing, more coolant, engineering corridors, fuel storage, armor, backup CICs, some or all of the gubbins needed to commence/assist a ground invasion, cargo bays, etc. Plus, there's all the shitloads of food and water you need to carry since Imperial ships likely have larger, longer patrol routes than the Republic Navy.

Also, Star Wars writers aren't always on the same page with regards to reasonable facts and figures.

The Venator's carrying capacity is closer to 400 iirc, and it's mainly because pretty much the entire front of the ship is just one gigantic hangar as well as having the ventral, port and starboard secondary hangars. The thing is literally just a giant collection of hangars with with some guns mounted to it, it's actually (arguably) less well armed than most frigates.

Who?

Are there any slugthrowers in FFG star wars that don't suck ass? They all seem to have crappy stats or huge drawbacks, sometimes they even have both. I feel like they exist more for flavor instead of being viable options for PCs.

>Who?
MIKE JONES

Both are very fun games for very different reasons.
X-Wing
>Shorter and easier to setup with half the playing field that Armada needs
>Easier to explain and get playing
>Has been out and thus has way more ships at the moment
>Cheaper

Armada
>Way more depth, even with only 3 waves
>Feels better dice-wise, generally not having a shot completely miss and do nothing with a lot more upgrades centered around mitigating luck.
>Upgrades are spread out across less ships
>Objectives add a lot of fun that are built into the game rather than just a side thing no one ever tries
>Burns through slow turns with no action far faster.
>6 turn limit makes sure you never end up with an awkward "We can't finish eachother off" moment.

>MIKE JONES
Explain this meme that I have most likely missed in recent months.

Unless you count verpine shatter weapons or bowcasters as slugthrowers they are all crap. Maybe they will eventually add that one slug pistol that could shoot down TIE fighters(if given every single mod and special ammo) in the old WEG game.

The thing with the Venator is by the time of the Galactic Civil War it was considered little more than an oversized frigate when it came to proper engagements.

God what I would do to play an Ace Combat X-Wing game. A boy can dream...

I keep dreaming of all these great videogames that could be made, but then I remember EA holds the license to produce all star wars videogames. I'm glad Fantasy Flight's deal is going much better than EA's deal.

What's frustrating about Battlefront is how much better it could have been if EA weren't lazy cheap bastards. Imagine if we had a Star Wars shooter that looked that good and was actually fun?

Are there any other Star Wars games coming out down the pipe?

it's actually not really a meme.
mike jones is a mid-low-tier american rapper who likes to repeat
"WHO?"
"MIKE JAWNES"
as part of the chorus of his songs, presumably in the hope of name recognition in radio brodcasts

I meant more of what the fuck SWRP Chaos is. Some kind of suggested game that was posted on here?

>The thing with the Venator is by the time of the Galactic Civil War it was considered little more than an oversized frigate when it came to proper engagements.
nah, not really. Empire At War calls it a frigate, but then, it's vidya and barely canon even in legends, and anything repeating that is basing it on vidya gameplay elements, which are pretty much THE least canon sort of 'canon' material in legends.
honestly, I'd call it a proper heavy cruiser with a carrier deck tacked on, in a class with Dreadnaughts and Victories and such. almost a battleship, but not quite.
it's a perfectly good capital ship when thought of as a carrier that has enough guns to protect itself from marauding frigates and light cruisers, rather than a cruiser-carrier that people somehow expect to be a battleship

fuck, I haven't even a single clue. some kinda forum roleplay thing? fuck if I know

Didn't you bring up first senpai?

youtube.com/watch?v=oKza_DRY82U
The game was beautiful. I understand the original Battlefront 3 was too grand of scale to realistically do like this, but you'd think they'd at least give it as much depth as battlefield. Instead we got an arcade shooter that was trying to pretend it was something it wasn't with absolutely nothing to mix up gameplay.

They're working on some games that they won't give us details for yet but I'm so disappointed at battlefront I don't even care. It's likely going to be a really bad mass effect wannabe, a really bland Call of Duty wannabe, and some really cheap lightsaber dueling game. Even if they do Rogue Squadron, they'll just dumb it down to it's most barebones parts with no fan service outside of "stuff that was in the original 3 movies and Force Awakens".