03-15-2017, 06:49 PM
Well that was interesting... Had a solo playtest last night of one of my scenarios planned for the convention, "Knives to a Gunfight". Basically the six player slugfest Leland suggested, with two Resistance players controlling a pair of T-70 X-Wings and one with the Millennium Falcon vs. three First Order players, each with a TIE/sf and a pair of TIE/fo.
The Resistance X-Wings come in expecting to run into a convoy and are loaded with proton torpedoes, which in my setting have a TSR of 10 and can't catch TIEs (Drive of 14) until they've been beaten up a bit. The Falcon has its usual loadout of concussion missiles (TSR=12) and two quad lasers, plus a single drop-down laser for Chewie. What they really find of course is "It's a Trap!" and they're outnumbered almost 2:1 and their heavy weapons can't hit TIEs.
TIE/fo's aren't you granddaddy's TIEs to begin with, having shields and better pilots, but the TIE/sf is a pretty wicked machine (it's the one Poe and Finn steal), with shields, a hyperdrive, and a gunner with mag-pulse launcher, concussion missiles, and heavy lasers (though I may downgrade those to regular lasers). The arc for the gunner is rear and forward (otherwise I can't figure out why all the heavy stuff would only be too the rear, seems like a hard way to strike at capital ships).
Anyway, so the engagement starts off last night and after three turns I'm sure the scenario is broken, the TIEs have ripped into three of the X-Wings with lasers, mag-pulses (at long range) and then concussion missiles, although the Falcon is largely unscathed (it took a couple of missile salvos). I can't see the game lasting more than another turn before the wounded X-Wings are finished off.
But...the X-Wings have chipped away at a few TIEs and within another turn they're able to launch torpedoes at a few of them, which effectively takes those ships out of the game for a few turns (permanently when the torps caught up with some!). And the TIEs are out of their concussion missiles and the close ranges limits their mag-pulse launchers (protoblast launchers). The Falcon also gets used a bit more effectively and can shrug off a lot of hits, though it never does launch it's concussion missiles, thanks to its Slight Defect (bad wiring after all that time in the sands of Jakku).
So the tide slowly turns, more TIEs go down or are rendered combat effective. In the end, three are destroyed, one is sitting in space with no weapons and a drive of zero, three others have no functioning weapons, and the other two bail. All four X-Wings are still on the table, though three are hurting, and the Falcon is still in good shape.
So now I'm ok with this scenario, I think with a bit of a better plan or luck the First Order could have done better. It's the second scenario in the lineup, the first one gives each player one TIE/sf or X-wing, fighting over a Y-Wing. If we get to a third scenario it'll be to shoot up or save Kylo Ren.
The Resistance X-Wings come in expecting to run into a convoy and are loaded with proton torpedoes, which in my setting have a TSR of 10 and can't catch TIEs (Drive of 14) until they've been beaten up a bit. The Falcon has its usual loadout of concussion missiles (TSR=12) and two quad lasers, plus a single drop-down laser for Chewie. What they really find of course is "It's a Trap!" and they're outnumbered almost 2:1 and their heavy weapons can't hit TIEs.
TIE/fo's aren't you granddaddy's TIEs to begin with, having shields and better pilots, but the TIE/sf is a pretty wicked machine (it's the one Poe and Finn steal), with shields, a hyperdrive, and a gunner with mag-pulse launcher, concussion missiles, and heavy lasers (though I may downgrade those to regular lasers). The arc for the gunner is rear and forward (otherwise I can't figure out why all the heavy stuff would only be too the rear, seems like a hard way to strike at capital ships).
Anyway, so the engagement starts off last night and after three turns I'm sure the scenario is broken, the TIEs have ripped into three of the X-Wings with lasers, mag-pulses (at long range) and then concussion missiles, although the Falcon is largely unscathed (it took a couple of missile salvos). I can't see the game lasting more than another turn before the wounded X-Wings are finished off.
But...the X-Wings have chipped away at a few TIEs and within another turn they're able to launch torpedoes at a few of them, which effectively takes those ships out of the game for a few turns (permanently when the torps caught up with some!). And the TIEs are out of their concussion missiles and the close ranges limits their mag-pulse launchers (protoblast launchers). The Falcon also gets used a bit more effectively and can shrug off a lot of hits, though it never does launch it's concussion missiles, thanks to its Slight Defect (bad wiring after all that time in the sands of Jakku).
So the tide slowly turns, more TIEs go down or are rendered combat effective. In the end, three are destroyed, one is sitting in space with no weapons and a drive of zero, three others have no functioning weapons, and the other two bail. All four X-Wings are still on the table, though three are hurting, and the Falcon is still in good shape.
So now I'm ok with this scenario, I think with a bit of a better plan or luck the First Order could have done better. It's the second scenario in the lineup, the first one gives each player one TIE/sf or X-wing, fighting over a Y-Wing. If we get to a third scenario it'll be to shoot up or save Kylo Ren.
