"Meet New People & Make New Enemies" - Skipray Blastboat Design Part 6

Intro

We are finally here, pilots! Today's post is the last design article covering the homebrew Skipray Blastboat expansion for X-wing 1st Edition. We'll cover which pilots come with the Skipray and look at some builds. Let's get to it!

Luke Skywalker

Forced to work with Mara Jade and Talon Karrde, Luke Skywalker makes his debut as a Scum pilot in X-wing Miniatures. While Luke has his same pilot skill of 8, his pilot ability changes. Rebel Luke has a defensive ability, but Scum Luke sports the offensive Deadeye EPT ability. Since the Skipray Blastboat doesn't have talent slots, this mean that Luke is the only pilot that can shoot Deadeye torpedoes. Not having to worry about target locks also means that he can take Guidance Chips over Long-Range Scanners for a solid boost to attack.

We can't just limit Luke to torpedoes, though. His pilot ability also synergizes well with the Synced Turret. This combo gives him the freedom to select whichever target he wants during the Combat phase, rather than forcing him to choose an enemy ship to lock in the Activation phase.

Full Guns Luke - 37 points 

• Assault Loadout - 0
• Proton Torpedoes - 4
• Extra Munitions - 2
• High-Mass Compensator - 1
• Guidance Chips - 0

Broadside Luke - 37 points

• Patrol Loadout - 0
• Synced Turret - 4
• Reinforced Deflectors - 3

Picture Credit: The first Luke card uses a picture from Imgur. The alt art card uses an alternative cover art for Dark Forces Rising.

Mara Jade

During her days with the Empire, Mara was a skilled and deadly assassin. In the Thrawn trilogy, an estranged Mara threw her lot in with smugglers to survive. With no more missions from the Emperor, Mara's last goal is to doggedly pursue and kill the man that killed her master: Luke Skywalker.

As a Scum Skipray pilot, her ability to lock onto a single target is very power, especially one-vs-one. Additionally, she doesn't have to spend her lock when using her ability. This means that when she is fighting her locked opponent, she gets the partial effects of a Fire-Control System, as well as the defensive reroll of Lone Wolf.

Of course Long-Range Scanners is a great upgrade for her, but any upgrade that interacts with target locks is also powerful. Consider taking cards like Weapons Engineer, K-4 Security Droid, or Fire Control System.

Two-for-One Special Mara - 35 points

• Assault Loadout - 0
• Seismic Torpedoes - 2
• Emergency Safety Measures - 1
• Weapons Engineer - 3
• Long-range Scanners - 0

Hot Pursuit Mara - 35 points

• Patrol Loadout - 0
• Synced Turret - 4
• Smuggling Crew - 2
• Obstacle Detector - 0

Picture credit: For the first Mara ship card, I used artwork posted by "gadwag" on the FFG forums. The alt art card uses the cover for one of the Heir to the Empire comic books. (Yes, that is a crashed Skipray in the background!)

Kenix Kil

While this next pilot is not a Car'Das smuggler, he was just too good not to include in this expansion pack. Kenix Kil joined the bounty hunters of the galaxy as undercover work, but it turned out he was really good at the job. Kenix brings his personal, and heavily disguised, Skipray Blastboat to X-wing Miniatures. Perhaps his pilot skill, pilot ability, and not-terribly-clever pseudonym are enough hints to reveal to you his true identity.

Unlike other Skipray pilots, Kenix focuses on primary weapons over secondary ones. Since his Scum pilot ability gives a focus result instead of a hit, careful consideration is needed when building his loadout. Cards like Fire-Control System, Dengar, and Recon Specialist can give you the dice modification needed to give you more hit results. As he is only pilot skill 6, it can be a good idea to take an Intelligence Agent with your squad to deal with enemy aces.

No Range Is Safe Kenix - 37 points

• Assault Loadout - 0
• Advanced Proton Torpedoes - 6
• Recon Specialist - 3
• Long-Range Scanners - 0

Knife-Fight Kenix - 34 points

• Patrol Loadout - 0
• Autoblaster Turret - 2
• Fire Control System - 2
• Mara Jade - 2

Picture credit: The first Kenix ship card uses art by Odanan on DeviantArt. The alt art card uses a scene from the Star Wars Bounty Hunters Kenix Kill comics.

Booster Terrik

Our final named pilot for this expansion cannot believe that his old friend Talon Karrde roped him into another risky operation. Booster Terrik does not want to be on a mission for the Car'Das smugglers, let alone a dogfight, and his pilot ability reflects this. In true Scum fashion, Booster is fine leaving behind another pirate to make sure that he can make it out. 

While Booster giving out stress tokens to allies is not ideal, it can be turned good with the right squad builds. Just like how Booster subtly steered a young Wedge Antilles towards vengeance in the comics, Booster can help give stress-ability allies a nudge in X-wing Miniatures. Cards like Wired, Inspiring Recruit, and 4-LOM (pilot) can pair well with Booster's stress, providing a give-and-take synergy between them.

Thorn Booster - 33 points

• Assault Loadout - 0
• Scrambler Missiles - 2
• Extra Munitions - 2
• Emergency Safety Measures - 1
• Boba Fett - 1
• Long Range Scanners - 0

Friendly Booster - 33 points

• Gonk Droid - 2
• Operations Specialist - 3
• Inspiring Recruit - 1

Picture credit: The first ship picture is from Jetfreak-7 on DeviantArt. The alt art is from the Booster Terrik Wookieepedia page.

Tarsarri Patrolman

The mid-range generic of the pack, the Tarsarri Patrolman fought and gained good experience in the battle of Tarsarri Point. She is only one point higher than the other generic, since she does not have an EPT, making her PS 4 a decent investment. Just be careful not to overload this ship with too many upgrades.

Support Patrolman - 30 points

• Assault Loadout
• Ion Pulse Missile - 3
• Intelligence Agent - 1
• Inspiring Recruit - 1

All-Around Patrolman - 33 points

• Patrol Loadout - 0
• Flechette Torpedoes - 2
• Dorsal Turret - 3
• Luke Skywalker (Scum) - 3

Picture credit: Heir to the Empire comic book.

Car'Das Smuggler

This basic member of the Car'Das smuggler group is the low-end generic. He sports a low pilot skill, but has the cheapest Skipray Blastboat squad point cost. 

Pepper Smuggler - 30 points

• Assault Loadout - 0
• Miniaturized Proton Torpedoes - 4
• Fire Control System - 2
• Guidance Chips - 0

Steady Smuggler - 31 points

• Patrol Loadout - 0
• Synched Turret - 4
• Talon Karrde - 3

Picture credit: Heir to the Empire comic book.

Conclusion

We now have all parts of this expansion complete! With all mechanics, upgrades, and pilots finished, I can package the entire expansion together. My next post will have an easy-to-print PDF file so you can quickly implement this expansion. So hang tight, and remember to fly casual!

-PGP out.

The Car'Das Boys Are Coming - Skipray Blastboat Design Part 5

Intro

Welcome pilots! Today, we are discussing the second half of the upgrades that come with the Skipray Blastboat expansion. These four upgrades are all crew cards, showcasing the Car'Das smugglers in Timothy Zahn's trilogy. Let's get to it!

Talon Karrde

As the Car'Das leader, Talon relies on always being cautious and well-informed. As such, it makes sense that his fighting style is about biding his time to know the most opportune move to make next. While researching how to make such a mechanic, I came across the Passive Sensors upgrade from X-wing 2.0. It was a perfect fit.

With Talon flying as crew, a ship's pilot can wait out the Activation phase in order to make the best decision during the Combat phase. Since taking Talon's action has the crew in a wait-and-see situation, it makes sense that the ship cannot be coordinated by other scum ships. Additionally, I extended this to also include not being able to be jammed while the action is active.

However, Talon does have one weakness: stress. In the books, Talon's ability to observe and act accordingly was always being beaten by Thrawn's unpredictable and pre-emptive moves. If your ship receives a stress token before its turn in the Combat phase, then the bided action is lost and the crew is out of luck.

Just like with Passive Sensors, this is going to make the pilot skill you choose for Talon's ship an important decision. If you go with a high-PS ace, you aren't getting much benefit from biding. However, if you put Talon on a generic ship, that increases the chances of a stress token ruining the action. Perhaps a mid-range generic is the best bet for your squad?

Picture Credit: Artwork from the Talon Karrde Wookieepedia page.

Mara Jade

I designed this Mara to be like her Imperial version, but not as powerful. After the death of the Emperor, Mara chose to distance herself from the Force. While Imperial Mara can stress multiple enemy ships at Range 1, Scum Mara can only jam one enemy ship.

Still, the jam is a powerful weapon to have, especially when it does not take your action to use. Additionally, Mara is able to provide this jam ability to any Scum ship that has a crew slot. This makes her especially nasty when paired with pilots like Palob Godalhi, Asajj Ventress, or 4-LOM.

Consider putting her on an aggressive ship that will hound enemy large ships. A high PS Skipray with Mara Jade and a Fire Control System can trade really well against ships greater in size and cost. Alternatively, you can take her as a deterrent to close-range combat. Any enemy ace is going to think twice about closing to Range 1 against a Skipray with Mara Jade and an Autoblaster Turret.

Picture Credit: Artwork by Kohse on Deviant Art. The picture depicts Mara in her smuggler's outfit, and showcases her small forearm blaster.

Luke Skywalker (Rebel & Scum)

I designed a new Luke Skywalker crew card to represent him in the Thrawn Trilogy. Captured on the planet on Myrkr and surrounded by a forest of ysalamiri, Luke only has his Jedi discipline to fall back onto to survive. This design of Luke allows a ship to be focused, even while stressed. The only caveat is that you must use that focus token on defense dice.

This makes the card a lot like the Outlaw Tech crew. However, this Luke has the benefit of continuing to focus, even if you are unable to get rid of the stress. That way, your ship can continue to pick white maneuvers and still modify defensive dice while trying to escape any enemy ship that is doggedly pursing.

Similar to the Maul crew card, this Luke can join a different faction if your squad meets the appropriate parameter. In this case, your Scum squad must contain Mara Jade before you can equip this Luke crew card. As for synergies, this card works well with stress abilities, such as: Saw Gerrera, Rage, Attani Mindlink, and debris clouds.

Picture Credit: Star Wars Heir to the Empire alternate cover art.

Smuggling Crew

It wouldn't work to create a crew card for every Car'Das member, like Aves and Fynn. So instead, I made a generic crew card to pay tribute to all of these other smugglers.

As this card encompasses a whole crew, it makes sense to have it take up double crew slots. This means it is the Scum counterpart to the Rebel and Imperial double crew cards. While Wookiee Commandos provide attack die modification, and Death Troopers forces careful declarations of attacks, Smuggling Crew deals with getting a cheap and easy access to the boost action.

This crew allows your ship to fly hard and quick, and get some action economy. However, that cheaper costs comes with a downside: the enemy can negate the ability by locking onto your ship. This makes abilities Long-Range Scanners and Fire-Control System banes to this card. However, you can prepare for these counters by taking upgrade cards like the Mara Jade crew or the Countermeasures modification.

By normal 1st edition mechanics, only one ship can take this card, the Hound's Tooth (creating a whole new kind of Party Bus, lol). However, since we are dealing with 1st edition home rules, we get a list of three ships:

• Skipray Blastboat
• Hound's Tooth
• Razor Crest

Picture Credit: Artwork by JakeMurray on Deviant Art. I love that the picture captures the chill nature of the smugglers, as they relax after after a hard smuggling run. However, once the ship gets pinged by authorities, these crew members are going to be on-station, giving it their all!

(Also, here is the explanation for the Party Bus meme, if you haven't see it before).

Conclusion

These four cards and our previous ones make up all the upgrades four this expansion! I hope they inspire some new ideas on how to fly some of your favorite ships. With this part of the design done, all that we have left is the Skipray pilots. I am excited to see this project come together and can't wait to get the final expansion to you!

PGP out.

"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.

The Ralph McQuarrie Y-wing - A Custom Ship Tribute

                One of the biggest things that makes Star Wars a memorable film is that it has such a stunning and visually-capturing universe. Whether it's the sleek snap of an S-foil, the surge of the Death Star vaporizing a planet, or the fearsome blankness of a Madalorian helmet, there is something that everyone has connected to when experiencing Star Wars. This vast galaxy of wonder was possible thanks to the concept artists, computer graphic engineers, sculptors, and many others who worked together on this amazing movie. Out of all of these people, I greatly connect with Ralph McQuarrie and his concept art.

               George Lucas told Ralph his vision and the talented artist took it and created it visually with only a few corrections needed. To give tribute to him, as well as to go back to the "roots" of Star Wars, JJ Abrams and the crew producing Episode 7 returned to Ralph's work for inspiration. It is fun to see that the T-70 X-wing actually draws on Ralph's preliminary X-wing designs.

                The BTL-B Bomber created for the Clone Wars cartoon series was also a product that drew inspiration from Ralph McQuarrie's original Y-wing. Honestly the bubble turret says it all, you just need to add some armor plates. I have hope that just like the T-70 X-wing, a "McQuirre Style" Y-wing could appear in Episode 7! In light of this, and to pay my own tribute, I present to you my custom Y-wing for X-wing Miniatures casual play:

                To me the McQuarrie Y-wing feels lighter and yet more fragile than the final versions we see in the Original Trilogy. To reflect this I dropped the Y's hull to 3 and increased its agility to 2. This won't make the ship overpowered because comparatively this means it will last only a little longer in a joust than an X-wing (and with Integrated Astromech the X-wing will last just as long).

                Ralph's artwork shows his Y-wings to have a gunner rather than an astromech. Accordingly, I removed the astromech from the upgrade bar. However, I ran into a problem when I wanted to add a crew slot to the ship. I crunched the numbers and possible combos and found that the crew slot on a Y-wing is really powerful. Therefore, in order to keep the cost low I opted to not include the crew slot and instead make a BTL-S3 Title with a crew. (Still playing around with that one so I won't include it here).

                In my mind this type of Y-wing would be a lot harder to fly, especially when you have to work to give your gunner a good firing angle. To reflect this I drew upon the idea behind ships like the A-wing, Tie Fighter, and Illicit Headhunter. All of these ships are much harder for pilots to handle and it made sense to me that they are always 1 pilot skill lower than other star fighters. So I made my McQuarrie Y-wings have 1 less PS than normal and as an interesting side note it also helped keep the ship's cost low.

                Next was to create the four pilots I would include in my "expansion". I named the lowest generic pilot to be from Shadow Squadron. I felt this was a good carryover of the connection this ship has to the Clone Wars. For the PS 3 I wanted a squad that had that same feel as Shadow Squad but was also unique. After much thought I decided on an appropriate Black Knight Squadron. And also in line with the T-70, I gave the higher PS generic access to the Elite Pilot Talent slot. As for the two named ace pilots, I didn't want to create names that would have no meaning or put Extended Universe pilots in a ship that technically never existed for them. So instead I felt it fitting to give a shout-out to Ralph McQuarrie himself as well as his co-worker Colin Cantwell. I gave Colin a pilot ability similar to the scum Kavil. However, instead of receiving an extra attack die for firing out of arc, Colin gets a free focus. That can help his gunner have the necessary dice modification for better attacks. It also means he can use a Blaster Turret effectively with both a target lock and a focus. Or he can save it for defense because, unlike 1 defense die, 2 agility can use a focus token effectively. And for my final ace I wanted to give Ralph McQuarrie a really good ability. The pilot that bears his name is so good that he can fly and use of his primary guns while his gunner fires as well. Just like with the upcoming Ghost freighter, I wanted a combo that allowed a ship to operate at full capacity.

               

                The final thing I did was price everything. I did my squad point number crunching with the help of the Pilot Generator made by Jason Fuller. (Which at this time I believe is now taken down.) Dropping the Astromech slot, 1 PS, and 2 Hull was more than my increase of 1 Agility and as such the final price was 17 points for the lowest generic. I kept my next generic at just 2 points above because the EPT helps turn 18.5 points into 19. And finally I scaled Colin by an extra point and Ralph by an extra two in addition to their increase in Pilot Skill.

                Have you created any fun, custom cards for your own causal play? And would you fly the McQuarrie Y-wing? Let me know in the comments below. I wanted a custom ship that captured the essence of Ralph McQuarrie's original concept art and I think it came out pretty good. Now I have to work on a good modification for a crew slot as well as come up with what kind of dial I want to have. I hope you enjoyed this fun, creative project. Please give me credit if you repost these, just as I give credit to the artists in my afterwards. Thanks for reading and have a great week!

Afterwards:

The two art pieces are from Ralph McQuarrie's concept art. The artwork used on the Shadow Squadron Pilot and Black Knight Jockey also come from Ralph McQuarrie. The pictures used on the Colin and Ralph pilots were taken from the CGI work of Michael Hanson from japetusproductions.com.

Decoy Flares and Medical Droids - A Delve Into X-wing Miniatures Custom Card Making

                Good day, PGP fans! Today I am in quite a good mood and it is because two great things happened this weekend. The first was being able to hear the words of modern Prophets at the LDS General Conference. The second was that I discovered a wonderful program named Strange Eons.

                When it comes to a diverse game like X-wing Miniatures there are many different aspects that appeal to people. Previously I said that my favorite part of the game was being able to create squadrons and then see how they fared out on the playing field. But I think that there might be a new challenger in my favorites now that I have had a taste of creating my own custom X-wing cards. It was refreshing to take a momentary step back from number and strategy crunching and to just play in the sandbox of possible ifs. So for this week's article I eagerly present to you a look into the more creative part of my mind and into custom card making.

                For those of you who don't know, Strange Eons is free software that was created by and offered to enthusiasts of card games. You download the program and then it asks you which "plug-ins" you wish to attach. These plug-ins are the files for specific games and I was delighted to see that X-wing Miniatures is one of them. Once you've downloaded the plug-in then you can start creating X-wing cards to your heart's content!

                I got the program, jumped right in, and started playing with ideas I've had. So here is a look at what I have been working on. And of course, I have included all of my thoughts, ideas, and musings as to why I made the choices I did.

Decoy Flares & Counter Missiles

                FFG has worked hard to make Ordnance a viable part of the game and in return we, the gamers, have been working hard to learn the valuable skill of Ordnance use. However, I had an idea of another route we could possibly take to make sure that ordnance upgrade slots are used: Defensive Ordnance Loadouts. I have recently started re-reading the Honor Harrington series and I love the dynamic action sequences in the books. So drawing some inspiration there, here are my two defensive ordnances: Decoy Flares and Counter Missiles.

                Imagine for a second that you are a pilot about to shoot at a Star Viper. You have the ship locked in but before you can pull the trigger the Viper shoots off a pair of Decoy Flares. Your computer is now totally screwed up and confused trying to track 3 targets but you yourself can clearly see which is the real ship. So you have to forget your targeting computer and just focus to make your manual shot come through. Or think of another example, you have fired your Cluster Missiles at a vulnerable Tie Bomber. However, the Bomber fires a volley of counter missiles intent on intercepting your ordnance. Since you've already fired there is no way for you to just focus your shot past. You have to rely on the guidance systems of your missiles and hope that they can overcome the guidance systems of the counter missiles.

                Let's take a look at my reasoning for these upgrades. I chose small ship only because large base ships already have the Countermeasures upgrade. And it makes sense to me, lore-wise, because large ships are too big to have flares fool targeting computers. Instead they just toss tons of flares and pray for the best. I chose to make these upgrades ordnance slots instead of modifications because then a ship can take both. Moreover, ordnance platforms now don't have to either run naked or overcosted with upgrades. They can take a mix of offensive and defensive ordnance and have better survivability. I feel that they aren't overpowered because they are one-shot items. I made Decoy Flares 1 point since they are quick and won't last very long against sustained attack. The low cost also means that X-wings, E-wings, or even Heavy Sycks can make use of their usually-empty torpedo slot. And I decided on 3 points for Counter Missiles because it is an investment on your part to attempt to waste your enemy's squad points. Let me know your thoughts about these.

Medical Droid

                I am a fan of having strong ships that can last longer than the opponent rather than powerful ships that just blow things up. For that reason I have always enjoyed the Determination upgrade. It is exhilarating to be in the middle of a battle and be able to absorb a critical damage! However, I have felt that the card was too limited: only Elite pilots can take it. I wanted to capture the essence of Determination but have it more accessible.

                So I made the Medial Droid. Yes, I made it more expensive than determination but it makes sense. The Medical Droid can be taken by ANY pilot with a crew slot, not just Elite pilots. Furthermore, Elite pilots with crews are now free to use their EPT for something else. And even though 2 points still seems cheap, remember that it only activates on Pilot Criticals and takes up a crew slot. So it is a risk/reward type of play, it might help you or it actually might do nothing. I was going to limit it to Large ships but felt I didn't need to because it really is just common sense. You want a Medical Droid on your Decimator or Hounds Tooth, not on your B-wing or Phantom. And finally it was more fitting to lore, in my opinion, for the Medical Droid to take effect during the End Phase. But with that it means that a Pilot Critical on your last hull can kill you before the droid can take effect. I also made it Limited so that, just like with the Tactician, you can't stack the ability.

The Dogfighter Y-wing

                This custom upgrade is actually one of Major Juggler's House Rules. However, I felt it was more exciting as a Title rather than a turret refit. Honestly, it doesn't matter since this upgrade wouldn't conflict with the BTL-A4 Title because there is no more turret to work with! It adds a fun and new dynamic twist to the Y-wing: a jousting ship that trades high attack power for high hit points and low cost. This means you could field a swarm of 6 Dogfighter Golds and still have 4 points left over for Astromechs or Decoy Flares.

The Poor Grey Pilot

                I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself! While the rest of my ideas on this article are actual attempts at making viable upgrades, this card is just simple fun. The Poor Grey Pilot is a named pilot with PS 4, an EPT, and a unique ability. Yes, his pilot ability is actually overpowered. But that's what your opponent gets for flying overused, meta pilots! Ha! lol. It was just too perfect for me not to use. For those who are curious, the 2014 Worlds Top 16 included: Airen, Backstabber, Biggs, Chewy, Corran, Dark Curse, Han, Howlrunner, Jan, Soontir, Wedge, and Whisper.

                 I really hope you enjoyed this little excursion of creativity. Even though these custom cards won't be usable in tournaments, I will still have tons of fun using them in causal play. Feel free to use these upgrade cards for your own personal use. But if you post them online at all please give me credit, just as I give credit to the artists in my afterwards. And again, feel free to leave comments and discuss. Thanks for reading!

Afterwards:
Picture Credits: The Decoy Flares picture was taken from the Tie Fighter Short Film (the film uses red missiles but they look a lot like flares!) The Medical Droid picture was taken from "The Hunt for Warlord Sarkasey" Star Wars Role Playing Game forum thread. The Dogfighter Y-wing picture belongs to FFG. The Poor Grey Pilot Y-wing picture belongs to me.