"We Can Still Outmaneuver Them" - Skipray Blastboat Design Part 4

Intro

Welcome back, pilots! We are talking about upgrades for the homebrew Skipray Blastboat expansion. After all of my brainstorming and playtesting, I created a total of nine upgrades cards. However, I couldn't fit them all onto one post. So today, we will look at the first five: two titles, two systems, and a torpedo. I will cover how each upgrades works, how they benefit the Skipray and other ships, and which pictures I picked for card artwork.

Assault and Patrol Loadouts

I talked about the design behind the Skipray titles in a previous design post. The final designs are pretty much the same as their beta designs, so I won't go into those details here.

The only change I made was to add an extra limitation to the Patrol Loadout. I didn't want the ship to have access to Twin Laser Turret spam, which I know could be unbalanced. I also thought that the Ion Cannon Turret would make the ship overcosted and take away from its role as a heavy hitter. Therefore, I worded the title so that you can only take turret upgrades that cost 4 or less points, which still offers a good selection. 

This expansion does not include a new turret. I tried making a Tru-Lok turret upgrade but nothing really worked out. I might try again in the future.

Picture credit: For the Assault Loadout, I used the artwork for Assault Proton Torpedoes from the Armada 2017 tournament kit. While this artwork does not directly show the Skipray, it shows how the Skipray can take the role of a capital ship hunter. I imagine a whole wing of pirate Skiprays strafing this Imperial Star Destroyer.

Picture credit: For the Patrol Loadout, I used a piece by Jake Lunt Davies. The picture is clearly a sequel-era resistance fighter using the turret on the Millennium Falcon, but I didn't care. I just love how happy this alien is to be blasting away at the First Order from his gunner seat. It is a perfect fit for a turret title upgrade.

Emergency Safety Measures

As promised, I created an upgrade for the Skipray's emergency acceleration compensator. However, since this upgrade can be taken by many other ships, I made the title more generic: Emergency Safety Measures. While the safety measures could be an emergency compensator, they could also be other things like smart breach foam dispensers or quick-activate cockpit shock frames.

This card provides good insurance that a pilot-based critical will not cripple an important pilot in your list. Some ship builds (or even squad builds) center around a certain pilot skill or pilot ability, so this upgrade can give you a safety net against being undermined. Additionally, ESM is a good alternative to Determination, if you want to keep the Elite Pilot Talent free for something else (or if the ship does not have an EPT at all).

While the card is inexpensive, this does not mean it is an auto-pick. I priced ESM after the Determination talent, which is such a cheap upgrade because there is a good chance that it will not activate. Additionally, since systems are such powerful upgrade slots, the opportunity cost is quite high, and a different system upgrade may work better for your specific build.

Try pairing the card with a hull upgrade. This gives you an extra hit point and increases the chances of ESM activating. For the same price as a shield upgrade (which offers more protection from critical hits), the combo of HU and ESM is a gamble that a critical hit will actually net you two extra hit points.

The card is limited to medium and large bases, since it made more sense that larger ships would have the space and the need for extra precautions. Sorry tiny snub-fighters, you miss out on this upgrade. Here is the list of ships that can take Emergency Safety Measures:

• Skipray Blastboat
• Aggressor
• U-wing
• Ghost
• Resistance Bomber
• Lambda Shuttle
• Upsilon Shuttle

If you use the medium base rules, the list expands with these extra ships:

• Scurrg (with title)
• TIE Punisher
• TIE Silencer
• Mist Hunter

Picture credit: I used the Baron Fel alternate art from the X-wing Miniatures 2017 Store Championship prizes. While the artwork shows Soontir Fel in a TIE Interceptor, I thought it could also work as the cockpit of a TIE Punisher. The damage sparks and red warning lights worked just too well as emergency safety measures activating.

High-Mass Compensator

While working on a separate project to give a boost to support ships, I created the High-Mass Compensator. It turns out that this upgrade also benefits the Skipray, so I am going to include it in this expansion. (Hopefully I'll make a separate post about support ships in the future).

As the name suggests, this system slot compensates for a ship's heavy weight, allowing the engines to be more efficient while turning. While having a red turn move is better than no turn, it still really hurts to use it. The High-Mass Compensator allows you to get the most out of your dial without resorting to self-stressing.

I priced the card after the R2 Astromech and the Unhinged Astromech, which both affect maneuver dials. However, the HMC also comes with another cost: giving up crew slots. This part of the card is absolutely necessary for balance, as builds like the Emperor's shuttle would be too powerful with better turn maneuvers. I also imagine that this compensator system would take up a ton of room, meaning that crew stations would need to be ripped out. If a ship doesn't have crew slots, then other parts of the ship need to go to make space.

While the Skipray Blastboat offers a lot of options with two crew slots, there might be times when it is better to just skip the crew. With the HMC, the Skipray can freely use its 3 turns, making it bit more efficient when jousting and dodging enemy ships.

For a ship to take this upgrade, it must meet three requirements:

1. Have red 2- or 3- speed turns.
2. Have a System upgrade slot.
3. Have unused upgrade slots that can be disabled.

Based on these requirements, here's the list of all ship that can take the HMC:

• Lambda Shuttle
• TIE Punisher
• Skipray Blastboat
• Scurrg
• Ghost
• TIE Special Forces
• Upsilon Shuttle

Picture credit: I used the cover art for the Revell model of Shuttle Tydirium. I love the motion blur on the picture, implying that the shuttle is absolutely hauling hull in space. It works so well to depict a compensator in action.

Miniaturized Proton Torpedoes

Inspired by the Heavy Space Troopers that Thrawn used in Heir to the Empire, the Skipray Blastboat comes with the Miniaturized Proton Torpedoes upgrade.

Like Unguided Rockets, MPT offers a permanent secondary weapon in exchange for dual upgrade slots. While this mini ordnance does not hit as hard as a full proton torpedo, it still can change one focus result into a critical hit.

This upgrade benefits torpedo ships with a 2-dice primary weapon, allowing them to upgrade to 3 dice, as long as they have a lock on the target. Having to spend the target lock to attack can be offset with upgrades like Guidance Chips and Fire Control System. Ships in this category are:

• K-wing
• Y-wing
• Alpha Starwing (with ordnance title)
• TIE Bomber
• TIE Punisher
• Jumpmaster 5000 (pre-nerf)

The Skipray already as a 3-dice primary weapon, so it doesn't need MPT to increase its firepower. However, taking the upgrade denies the Range 3 defense dice and increases the chance of a critical hit crippling an enemy, just like with the Mangler Cannon. Ships with three attack dice and two torpedo slots are:

• B-wing
• Jumpmaster 5000 (with title, pre-nerf)
• Skipray Blastboat (with ordnance title)

Picture Credit: I took the Zero-G Assault Stormtrooper picture from Wookieepedia. The chest hatch on the trooper's armor shows the miniaturized warheads loaded and ready to fire!

Conclusion

There we go! I hope you had fun exploring some new upgrades. Next post will cover the rest of the Skipray upgrades, specifically the crew members. See you then!

PGP out.

Magenta 5, Standing By - Skipray Blastboat Design Part 3

Great day, pilots! Welcome to part 3 of the Skipray Blastboat design. Click here for Part 1 and Part 2. Today, we are covering everything that deals with the actual Skipray miniature on the tabletop. We'll analyze the size of the ship, finalize its ship base size, and go over the painting process.

When we looked at the Skipray in Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire, we got the following parameters for the size of the ship:

1. The Skipray is lean.
2. The Skipray is long, twice as long as an X-wing.
3. The Skipray's cockpit isn't very roomy, like an X-wing.
4. Luke classifies the Skipray as a fighter.

Based solely on this info, my mind's eye pictured a ship that about the same size as the U-wing. So, I was genuinely surprised when I saw the "official size" of the Skipray miniature I bought in the 1/270 ratio. The Skipray miniature is actually closer to the size of the Firespray. 

This surprise led me to research the ship's size. According to Wookieepeida, the ship is a lot bigger than it is initially described in Heir to the Empire. The tail fins and engines may be lean, but the chunky body and sensor pylons are far from that. The large cockpit is much roomier than the cramped seat in an X-wing. Finally, the ship's official size is classified as gunship, rather than a fighter. (In fact, the Wookieepedia article even goes so far as to call the Skipray a miniaturized capital ship).

After scrutiny, the only part of Zahn's first description of the Skipray that is still correct is that it is twice as long (if not a bit longer) than an X-wing. I understand that the Skipray probably evolved in size and shape since its debut in Heir to the Empire. I personally feel that the 1/270 Skipray looks oversized, just like the Firespray model. However, despite that, I still really like the look of the Skipray on the tabletop. It is beautiful to see it fly in games!

Since the miniature is so big, it does make sense that its standard base size is large, rather than small. However, I made home rules for medium ships in 1st edition. With my Skipray design in mind, I included the ship as one that can take a medium base. This better fits the Skipray's design and allows the ship fulfil its role as an attack gunship. Here's the link to my rules on Medium Bases.

Ok, with the business out of the way, let's finally get on to miniature itself. I bought my Skipray miniature in the 1/270 ratio from Mel Miniatures on Shapeways. I got the White Natural Versatile Plastic, which looks great and has lots of details. It even had a large base peg built into the bottom of the ship for use with X-wing Miniatures! My only complaint was that the miniature was covered in white powder, which was probably knocked loose from the model during shipping. 

After washing and drying the model, I tried to prime it. However, I used grey enamel paint, which was a mistake. The enamel paint did not dry on the plastic model and was hard to clean off. After learning that lesson, I started over on the painting process.

This time, I primed with a plastic-friendly grey primer. As for color scheme, I decided to follow the painting of other ships in the Scum faction: black cockpit, dark grey panels, maroon ship striping, and a black wash to fill in all the cracks. To finish off the model, I used a clear matte finish. Now, I'll admit that my paint job isn't good enough to sell the model right out of the box, but I am super happy with it. The magenta striping was a perfect fit, and the ship fits at home with other Scum on the tabletop.

There you have it! We finally have a physical ship and it is looking great. Enjoy the shots I got of the miniature on the tabletop! All that is left is to get pilots and upgrades for this expansion. See you in the next design post!

PGP out.