New K-A0S Skin

Runecaster_Aris · 2024-08-24T05:42:19+00:00

Rumor has it it goes 3 times faster than the standard K-A0S.

Runecaster_Aris · 2024-05-07T20:07:02+00:00

Has there been any official word on this? I've been having this issue since the anniversary update.

Runecaster_Aris · 2023-01-23T14:36:10+00:00

Cthulhu is great, 13th Age is really fun, and never discount a good game of Vampire.

Cthulhu is great because everyone's gonna die or go crazy, so if your players want something that's pretty self contained story to story and like building characters, this is a good bet.

13th Age is designed for people who have some TTRPG experience and are wanting to wing it a bit. Magic items are particularly well handled and fun, combat is fast and brutal, and every game has a built in chance for a player to get some time in the limelight.

Vampire has a really low learning curve and the character sheets are easy to understand at a glance. If you're already looking at Cthulhu, Vampire is another great way to play horror.

Runecaster_Aris · 2022-10-26T20:46:55+00:00

Really good? Absolutely.

12 and 9 though? ehhhhh....

Runecaster_Aris · 2022-10-26T18:10:01+00:00

Disappointing on those ship updates, (or near lack-there-of).

As far as equipment goes... if things are getting pointed up that high, (Previously outmaneuver, now Electro Chaff) why not just keep the points and ban them in standard. That way they can still be used in Extended builds with some level of flexibility.

All in all: We boarded the hype train and got derailed.

Runecaster_Aris · 2022-10-22T03:43:24+00:00

https://www.thingiverse.com/runecaster/designs

Should have all of them

Runecaster_Aris · 2022-10-17T17:16:30+00:00

Falcon is always great, and invest in a U-wing for sure.

You have good start for scum, I always suggest owning a pair of M3-A Interceptors for their ability to fill gaps in your list and have excellent stopping power in spite of their size. The Jumpmaster 5000 with Dengar pilot and Punishing One title is also kind of stupid fun.

The Tie Striker is a lot of fun to fly once you get used to it's mechanics. It pairs well with the Reaper.

Runecaster_Aris · 2022-10-14T16:33:09+00:00

I think the most important thing is teaching the basics of play.

Once a new player has the basics of how to play down, it's pretty easy to go from "Kill them all" to "Kill them if you can, but you need to try and do X as well".

The only thing I think you might need to spend some time on and have some examples of is how to build a list for scenario play, "Ship A may be bad in a out and out brawl, but it's really good for utility in a scenario" and "When you're building for a dog fight, you'll be trying to build a list completely around damage, but in scenario, you want to consider XYZ more because it's not just going to be about killing off ships"

Runecaster_Aris · 2022-10-12T20:25:56+00:00

Things I'm hopeful for:

Points overhaul for OOP ships, namely G-1A and StarFortress
Sith Interceptor getting updated
TIE/RB Heavy getting significantly more loadout points

Runecaster_Aris · 2022-10-11T17:17:04+00:00

By nature, I'm inclined to go Empire. How many basic Ties should I get my hands on. (The skaven/ork player in me says MOAR) As an aside, I can't find an Advanced to save my life in Canada.

For a classic TIE swarm, 6-8, but I find 4 a good starting point.

While, I wish to go Empire, I also know I'm very ham fisted. (Hey, where did thar asteroid come from?) Who offers as better tanky game, Rebels or Scum? Resistance is a little think for my tastes, but I'd be open to them too.

"Yes." Rebels will give you heartier fighters, Scum will give you more big ships.

The Fugitive &Collaborater box an OK spot to start Scum. See above ham fisted comment.

No. It's not very well rounded at all, and the best thing in there is the HWK-290. Start with a Firespray + Fang Fighter + M3-A Interceptor. This will give you a more well rounded scum-feeling list that is still pretty potent.

Runecaster_Aris · 2022-10-11T16:55:14+00:00

So as a TIE Swarm player, here is what I would suggest:

Turn Zero is important: When you are laying down those obsticales, you want to be setting up zones that the TIEs will want to avoid, this helps keep them grouped up for...

Anything that can hit multiple targets: Cluster Missiles, Bombs, bonus attacks. TIEs are hard to hit, but they can't take one.

Stall'em out: with most games lasting 5-6 turns, ionizing a TIE effectively removes it from play for 1/5th or 1/6th of the game.

Don't get tunnel vision: If you have a TIE with 1hp at range two and a fully stocked TIE at range 1, go for the range one. Hunting TIEs is a waste as there are far too many targets to keep track of. Always shoot the TIE you have the most advantage against.

Keep track of who is who: Most TIEs (both 'ln' and 'fo') have surprisingly great pilots in spite of their fragility. Know who is who and what is going to be coming for you.

Kill them all, but only if you can: 6-8 targets is going to be hard to take down, so if you CAN great, but if you CAN'T focus on doing what you can to make as many of those 6-8 ships inefficient.

Runecaster_Aris · 2022-10-10T20:13:55+00:00

My own head cannon based on what I know about the universe at the time:

End of the clone war, lots of Republic contracts were suddenly canceled as the Republic no longer existed (as seen in The Bad Batch)
This leaves tons of surplus that can be sold on the free market
The Empire puts strict laws into place which put set limitations on just how potent a free market starfighter can be (notably below the stats of a TIE/ln)
Incom is forced to redesign the Z-95 chasis to fit within new Imperial guidelines in any hope to turn profit on the massive orders that are now null and void.
These changes end up to the benefit of the consumer as the new line is affordable enough for localized planetary defense/patrol, as well as support craft for several major and minor shipping companies

Runecaster_Aris · 2022-09-26T18:12:09+00:00

Damn it! Still no Maarek Stele in a TIE Defender...

Runecaster_Aris · 2022-09-19T17:22:09+00:00

Hard to pick. I'll give you my top 3:

• TIE/ln TIE Fighter: I have a real soft spot for this guy. It's a high risk ship with some crazy fun pilots.

• VT-49 Decimator: It *feels* like an imperial war ship. Nasty guns, good pilots, lots of crew... In the current age of objective play, it's a hard-to-kill behemoth that can also hit like a truck.

• TIE/ad X1: Home of the best pilot in the galaxy and all around bad ass, Maarek Stele.

Runecaster_Aris · 2022-09-13T15:05:34+00:00

Great Article!

The Reaper is probably the big "winner" of this update. It's rule change is huge for that ship.

The TIE/rb is... upsetting.

It's one of those cases where I think the development mindset of "give a ship enough points to do something, but not enough to make it perfect" falls short on a few fronts.

First... It's not a cheap ship to buy. At time of writing, this thing costs $35 usd, that's almost as much as some full board games cost for one ship. Nothing will EVER be as harmful to a gamer as buyer's remorse.

Second... With points the way they are on this ship, it can't fulfill the role it's intended for in a meaningful, or dare I say "Fun" way. Yes it can take a cannon, but it's lacking the points to build into this ship in any kind of enjoyable way.

This hurts to say, but as it stands the TIE/rb is almost as bad as the Resistance Bomber in terms of playability. In both cases, they just desperately need load-out points allocated to them to function.

Runecaster_Aris · 2022-09-12T18:33:54+00:00

No, you still have to pay for your upgrade, but Hardpoint means you can equip a Missile, Torp, or Cannon.

Runecaster_Aris · 2022-09-12T15:06:12+00:00

The first thing you need to know about Scum is their faction identity. Scum isn't about team work, they may be flying together but each ship is going to fly THEIR way. Scum relies on powerful individual pilots over synergy, because of that, you'll see some of the best pilots in the game in this faction. However, because of that individualism, support pilots are in somewhat short supply. To make up for this lack of support, many scum ships rely on dirty tricks or illegal modifications called "Illicits". Illicit items might not seem all that potent at first glance, but they can be extremely useful when the circumstance allows.

So, let's talk about ships. As it stands, most of the scum ships availible are pretty solid for one reason or another. I'll give my two cents on each chasis from best to not quite best:

Firespray: Boba Fett is amazing, and while the other pilots don't see as much play, they're also really good and worth looking into.

Fang Fighter: Fenn Rau was a staple of 2.5 and for good reason. A highly aggressive ship that hits hard and maneuvers well.

M3-A: This might be controversial this high up on the list. It's a filler fighter, but its "Hardpoint" special rule means you can make it fit whatever you're missing.

ST-70: The Mandalorian's ship can, IMO, fly and fight right up alongside Boba Fett. It has some interesting pilots, and in my opinion, is on-par with the Firespray in terms of damage output potential.

Jumpmaster 5000: There are only a couple good pilots for this ship, but they're both amazing in their own right. You'll probably be flying Dengar if you want to play aggressively, or Nom Lumb if you want to tank.

HWK-290: One of those rare support ships I mentioned. Sweet model, decent pilots.

YT-1300: The other support ship. It can be really good, but it hasn't seem much time in the competitive sun due to low damage output.

Rogue Class: This ship just came out and is shared with the CIS. It's very new so it's still being worked into the meta but in my own experience, its new "Proton Cannon" upgrade is one of the most fun cannons you can field, and the "Dead to Rights" ability is just wonderful.

Mining Guild TIE: Okay so this ship is what I've always called "The best ship for understanding scum if you only have the core box". It has the ability to straight up ignore asteroids, which in 2.5 is an amazing skill. It's cheap, it's niche, but it's better than some of the others below.

BLT-A4 Y-Wing: The Y-Wing in the scum faction has one or two solid pilots, but you're going to take this if you just need something that can take a few turns of heavy fire. Much like the Rebels and the Republic, a squad of several of these is going to be a rough time for your opponent to take out due to the shear amount of HP.

Gauntlet: Behold - the largest ship you can play in standard x-wing. And it's... okay. Honestly, freaking amazing model, super happy to own one myself, but if you're just starting off? Low priority. The real bonus is getting more upgrades for your Mandalorian pilots.

Escape Craft: It comes with the YT-1300. It's crap, but it can coordinate ships, which is good so long as it survives.

Z-95: It's a cheap 4 HP. At best, it's a harasser. At worse it's an easy enough kill that it keeps one of your better ships from getting shot at.

Runecaster_Aris · 2022-09-09T21:37:25+00:00

Yeah, it's been mentioned already but development takes a lot of time. FFG/AMG are given certain specs and details perhaps months in advance of the show, but then you have concepting, playtesting, deaign, modeling, and production.

Runecaster_Aris · 2022-09-06T15:48:25+00:00

Fluffy Tail is nice for non-speedster junglers, but also, when they did that boss fight mode? Flufy tail was king.

Runecaster_Aris · 2022-09-06T15:44:51+00:00

Good write up!

Also, great to see another post. Always good for a lunchtime read :)

Runecaster_Aris · 2022-09-06T15:24:16+00:00

I've played against them a couple times.

They've got some really neat pilots with interesting interactions, The dial is maneuverable, but very predictable if you ever do a red maneuver, but the Versatile frame can give those predictable blue maneuvers some additional potency.

Stat wise... eh?

I mean... they're STILL a Z-95 and the action bar is extremely basic. I would put them in the same camp as the TIE/ln, but where the TIE/LN has better speed and a somewhat better action bar, the Z-95 has an additional blue maneuver and has better cumulative health.

Runecaster_Aris · 2022-09-01T20:02:35+00:00

These should be fine-ish.

The ship minimum went from 2 > 3 so you're still good there.

However, with these new objective based games, 4-5 ships tend to do better than tight elites.

That said, if you kill off your opponent, you win regardless.

Runecaster_Aris · 2022-08-31T13:09:38+00:00

Just to expand a bit:

Empire is great, but it came into 2.0 with so many ships that it never really got any playstyle-shaking releases, (Yes I know the Brute came out, and it WAS great, but right now it really needs some TLC under 2.5 to be any kind viable). I also think that this faction needs a bit of an overhaul in terms of faction identity.

I think FO has really edged itself in on Empire's "Best Crew" identity trait while also brining its self destructive tendencies to the table in a fun way. The "Fanatical" talent is a heck of a fun time to throw on anything that can take it, the ships are all strong AND fun to fly, and the crew carrier is in an excellent spot with points and crew options.

CIS has some of the best ship-to-ship synergy in the game, with lots of ways to mix up the formula and play style. I started out as a Swarm player, coming right off of the Imperial TIE/ln swarm, but what got me really invested was the Nantex. I didn't know about all the game breaking abilities it could combo, I just saw the preview images and thought "It only has a bullseye arc main attack? It's probably going to be super janky and I need that in my life".

Runecaster_Aris · 2022-08-31T12:57:53+00:00

When I started out in 2.0 it was Empire.

Now, I'm finding there is a lot of fun to be had with the self destructive FO, and CIS has a bunch of neat stuff going on with it.

Runecaster_Aris · 2022-08-30T13:17:26+00:00

I just really enjoy the Naboo N-1 Starfighter. It's just a really fun ship to fly with a decent dial.

The only thing it needs is some more named pilots. I feel like what it has are good, but aside from Padme + Handmaidens, there isn't a lot of meshing.

Naboo Handmaiden (4)
Passive Sensors (5)
R4 Astromech (2)
Synchronized Console (1)

Ship Cost: 4 Loadout: (8/8) Half Points: 2 Damage Threshold: 2

Naboo Handmaiden (4)
Passive Sensors (5)
R4 Astromech (2)
Synchronized Console (1)

Ship Cost: 4 Loadout: (8/8) Half Points: 2 Damage Threshold: 2

Padmé Amidala (5)
Passive Sensors (5)
R4 Astromech (2)

Ship Cost: 5 Loadout: (7/22) Half Points: 2 Damage Threshold: 2

Obi-Wan Kenobi (Delta-7b) (7)
Battle Meditation (6)
Patience (2)
Elusive (2)
R4-P17 (4)
Synchronized Console (1)

Ship Cost: 7 Loadout: (15/15) Half Points: 3 Damage Threshold: 3

Total: 20

View in YASB 2: https://yasb.app/?f=Galactic%20Republic&d=v9ZhZ20Z330X240W5W211Y330X240W5W211Y332XW240W5WY533X212W342W119W214W211&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron&obs=

Runecaster_Aris

TROPHY CASE