campaign pack obviously

That is referring to the unique squad list ID number that you can get from Voidstate's Squadron Builder (http://xwing-builder.co.uk), also known as your voidstate ID (example: 443100). Once you have built and saved a squad list, you can share it as a web link, or print it, and in doing so you will find a short number code associated with that squad (look at the bottom of the squad printout or within its unique URL). If you enter that code in Cryodex along with a player's information, their squad list will automatically get added to your tournament report if you upload it to X-Wing Lists Juggler (http://lists.starwarsclubhouse.com/). If you don't care about uploading your tournament results to Lists Juggler, you don't need to bother with the squad IDs. If you do want to export full lists to List Juggler, I suggest that you practice with this feature at least once (create a "Test" tournament in Lists Juggler to complete your test) so you can see how the entire process works. On tournament day, the easiest way to check squad lists and prepare a full tournament report for upload is to get all of your players to provide you with a printout from Voidstate's Squad Builder, and then you can just copy the voidstate ID number from the bottom of each printout as you enter each player into Cryodex.

Bump! We're always looking for new players to join us Thursday nights starting at 6pm at Matt's Cavalcade of Comics.

Re Firespray: I think what's lacking is maneuverability, and just about any sort of additional movement option would help as long as it was cheap and didn't take up a valuable slot. Red 3-speed Tallon rolls would be fun.

In the past couple of years, it's become easier to find printing services for custom mousepads larger than 3x3 feet. However most printers don't seem to offer a standard size between 3 and 4 feet wide, so a 4x4 foot play area might be a good one to think about because that's a standard size offered by both Inked Gaming (for US customers) and DeepCut Studio (Europe). And in that case, I'd probably try to set the trench diagonally.

It's pretty carefully measured out so that Imperial ships can get behind Rebels in the trench and (with their superior speed) get some shots on them before they reach the end of the trench, but aren't likely to stop the trench run by themselves. The scenario is pretty anti-climactic if the Rebels don't even get to take a shot on the exhaust port, but the trench run itself isn't all that interesting because it's pretty much just flying in a straight line. So I wanted the Rebels' success to hinge more on the "surface" battle, with the Rebels in that aspect of the fight doing whatever they can (destroying power nodes) to improve the trench runners' chances of making their shots.

Please provide a link to FFG's statement on that.

You're replying to a post I wrote in 2014. We hadn't even seen a trailer for Episode 7 yet. But like I wrote back then, Empire Strikes Back shows that starfighters can operate in atmosphere. I don't think anything has changed with FFG and X-Wing in this regard. FFG still hasn't given us a ship that's designed to operate in atmosphere only -- unless you count the TIE Striker, but the card art shows it operating in space so FFG seems to think it's not an airspeeder.

Starfighter battles were fun when you had to be pointed at your target, and the Planning phase was where you made your most significant choices. Turrets and high Pilot Skill arc dodgers made it weird, shifting the most significant decisions into the Activation phase, and to squad-building.

Oh, I agree it's really unlikely that we'll see card packs containing Twin Laser Turrets and Autothrusters. I'm thinking more like card-only packs containing new pilots and upgrades for older ships, along with some new general-purpose EPTs and other upgrades or punchboard goodies that would be desirable by just about any serious player. I see card packs as a way to fill in the long gaps between the production cycles on plastic so that fans of the original trilogy or ships that were declared dead on arrival might have competitive options using their favorite models sooner, and as a way for FFG to respond more quickly to changes in the meta. This all assumes that it's significantly quicker to produce card-only packs, but that might not be the case.

Sure, that might explain why it hasn't happened yet, but I think we can only guess. X-Wing's profitability isn't something we can talk about with any certainty or specifics. It's entirely possible that X-Wing is not very profitable on a unit-by-unit basis, and Christian T. Petersen's article on manufacturing the Millennium Falcon might be enlightening for those who think I just wrote something crazy.

I've been aware of that statement from Alex Davy for a long time. It's the one and only statement I've ever heard from an FFG employee on the topic of card-only expansions, but it does not rule out the possibility of card-only expansions, and certainly does not say that there are licensing issues preventing them. Maybe someone can provide me with a link to something else that explains the source of the rumor that FFG will never make card packs. Bonus points if they state that it's because their license prevents it. If I'm wrong, it should be easy to prove it with a bit of of Googling. So far, no one has been able to back it up with a statement by anyone at FFG. I'm pretty sure the rumor comes from that very statement by Alex, which is why I keep challenging people to look at it for what it is. In 2015, Alex thought it unlikely that we'd see card-only expansions. Fine. Leave it at that. "Not likely" is a good enough answer without insisting it means "never, because license". The licensing explanation appears to be baseless.

Really? Please provide links.

It's a rumor. We don't know why FFG hasn't released card packs. We can only guess.

Ooh, and a subforum for "Storage Solutions" and one for "New Player, C&C This Deck Pls" and then the main board will be nice and empty.

A couple of years ago, I ran a "Senator's Shuttle" tournament using rules very much like this, and it worked okay. One thing I would add is a way to try to make sure that everyone has to play as the attacker and defender at least once each. I think we also equipped the shuttle with Anti-Pursuit Lasers and a 2-attack primary turret, and placed the shuttle in the defender's starting zone after all other ships were placed (instead of in the center). Power creep has probably reached the point where the shuttle needs an extra shield or two. Playtest this scenario a few times with top tier lists.

Without actually banning anything, I think there are lots of changes necessary to make X-Wing as good as I think it can be. It could be done in one FAQ update, but there would be a lot of red text. Some things need nerfing. Some need buffing. Some just need a price change. I think they'll get around to most of it eventually, somehow.

If they introduce new dice for this game, I think it would be cool if they were used to represent the Force. Make it a 12-sided die with maybe 3 blank sides, 5 focus sides, and 4 Force symbol sides. Give us new versions of Vader and Luke pilot cards, and new Dark Side and Light Side upgrade slots for them. An example of a Light Side upgrade might be something like Trust the Force that reads "When defending, you may spend a focus token to roll a Force die. On a [Force symbol] result, cancel all of the attacker's dice results." You get the idea.

Jabba is probably better than both of them, really. He has potential to become more useful as new illicits are released, which is better than being overpowered from the start. But if he sees limited use, that's okay. Many of the iconic characters from the original trilogy are scarce.

Ha! If only he had been a broken must-have upgrade that forces every competitive player to buy a $50+ expansion, like Leia and Han crew!

Never Say Never is the new Fly Casual. There's no reason we can't have two versions of a Jabba crew upgrade.

Prisoner exchange gone wrong.

TLTs are a tough case because they require little skill to use, but aren't too great a challenge for seasoned players to deal with. I find them to be okay the way they are, but I've played with and against them many times. I don't know if you should have to be a seasoned player in order to play X-Wing without TLTs wrecking your day, though. For the sake of entry-level players, a slight mechanical nerf seems appropriate.

For lots of players, the prizes are the main draw of big official events. If they get to a point where they know there's no chance of winning prizes, it's fine if they go do something else. For a small three-round casual tournament, I consider it bad form to drop with a 0-2 record, and doing that sort of thing repeatedly will get a player disinvited from future events of that kind. But they'd still be welcome to Store Championships and other events where a more competitive attitude is expected.

Agreed. Imperials have been touted as requiring more finesse and skill, and now that seems to be true again.