This morning I read that Andy Serkis' voice narrated the SWTFA trailer. Given the specifics of his tone of voice and the content of his monologue in the trailer, and the article [on Nerdist] providing the photo of Serkis below, I had a potentially mind-crushing realization. I'm sure I'm not the first to think this, but it's a brand new idea to me, so just be chill if you or someone else thought of it first. I'm still reeling. Here's Andy Serkis: Aaaand I'm just going to leave this right here: Come on, right?

Crusader feel, good call. I like where this is headed.

It'd be great if we could keep the dialogue focused on the new films and set the prequel-bashing to rest for a bit. I don't know, 15 years of nonstop people telling me that something I enjoyed is stupid... yeah. Dead horse. Any time now, guys.

I loved it except for one thing: The epileptic shakycam shot of the stormtroopers. I have a really difficult time tracking scenes like that*, and the usual explanation is that it's a battle and supposed to convey a sense of chaos. But I think there are better ways to convey chaos, and the shakycam technique is a weak, tired cop-out. I hope maybe that scene is more solid and steady in the actual film. This isn't just a style nitpick, it's physically [well, neurologically] difficult for me to process it visually, and it's so pervasive in movies. I can't be the only one, either. Guys? That single gripe aside, I'm just really glad to see this. Things like the flamesaber and Scissor-Wings and newtroopers... I start out thinking I'm not so sure about this, but they tend to grow on me—and I actually enjoy that process as well. *Related opinion: Smell-O-Vision 3D blows so much. Let's make this look like exactly three layers of cardboard cutouts, but at the total expense of visual fidelity. No. I can't wait for that stupid trend to die. More resolution for 2D, and better dynamic range. Boom, done!

I like how the StarViper looks [minus the bad paint job, which I'll fix immediately] and I'll be getting at least 3 of them. It makes more sense to me visually than stuff like the Chiss Clawcraft or the Vong. Shadows did have a fairly decent Star Wars feel in parts. The ship design was great in my opinion, and the plot integrated well with the movies—at least at that point of the EU. But it lost me where the characters played dress-up as 90's post-apocalypse cyberpunks bounty hunters, and got worse from there. Dash Rendar is impossibly one-dimensional; back then it seemed like every EU rogue was a Han Solo knockoff who was a promising student at the Imperial Academy but whose family member was killed by the Empire so they leave behind both their Imperial service and a previous life of crime to join the Rebellion and then half the time also became a Jedi. It really was like that in the late 90's, and it made it difficult to appreciate those cookie-cutter characters. Even worse was Xizor, who still seems to me nothing more than a goofy green clown that allegedly rivaled the Emperor in power and influence. No; you stop being Star Wars when you have a cartoon character that can out-bad the Emperor. Xizor is one notch above the level of Trioculus in my esteem, and one notch below Jar Jar Binks. Tangents aside, can someone help me understand how a relatively massive craft like the StarViper has 3 agility? I can't even imagine something like that making the same kind of acrobatics as a TIE or A-Wing. This is a legitimate request, I'm open to explanations if there are any.

It's incredible how many ways you can be wrong. TIE Fighters have different engines now. Or, did that detail evade you? They have new engines? Can you show me?

I'd be okay with this. I actually like how it looks.

Hated the Hobbit movies and retroactively hating the LOTR movies while I'm at it. Just my 2¢. I did read that the VII preview might not actually be attached to Hobbit, so you might want to hold off getting tickets until there's an official announcement. If it is, I'll be the one that buys a ticket for the preview and skips the movie. I knew quite a few people that did that for Episode I. Hell, I'd even rather see Meet Joe Black again than Hobbit 3.

Like this? (Ugh.) Let's be honest here if we were still kids those first few seconds would be the coolest possible thing to imagine doing. I'll be extra honest, while I'm at it: Or, you know, still now.

Like this? (Ugh.) Let's be honest here if we were still kids those first few seconds would be the coolest possible thing to imagine doing. Undoubtedly. They didn't lose me until the Star Destroyer started wheeling across the table.

Like this? (Ugh.)

But its Thursday! Scale Day according to the schedule. Every day is Scale Day.

The TIE Advanced in that image is not to scale. I've seen enough behind-the-scenes from ILM to be confident that the A-Wing was designed to be 5m long or less. The movie shots you were referring to (discussed earlier in this thread) don't have a clear consensus, and you're ignoring every other point of fact. By the way, this is a movie shot: Movie canon A-Wing cockpit is no wider than 1m, and not much longer front to back. I'm sorry, but the FFG model is out of scale. That's all good with me; I own 8 of them, and the scale is still probably closer than any previous toy or game piece. But it still isn't scale, and as long as you insist otherwise, you are wrong.

I'd love to see them design their own Imperial huge. I think they have the skill, and I think it's a good opportunity.

Incredible work, man, and I love the SW Commander tie-in. I love how both games are breathing new life back into the SW vehicles and ships I was such a fan of in the 80's and 90's. Your Elite AT-AT is dead on.

Love can find a way. "Love isn’t something we invented. It’s observable, powerful, it has to mean something... Love is the one thing we’re capable of perceiving that transcends dimensions of time and space." Excellent reference I think it'd be great to have a Sentinel. It wouldn't be quite epic scale. Some of the criticisms leveled against it include its similarity to the Lambda, but my opinion is that they are distinct enough to warrant it being included (like YT-1300/YT-2400).

The ball isn't just the cockpit, it's a fuselage too. Everything is in there. If you look at really close up shots of TIEs only the top half of the window can be seen through. Assumes the bubble canopy is tight to the pilot. It could be a four foot cockpit with half of it as controls. That's not inconsistent with what I'm saying [unless you mean four feet wide]. Whoever claims the FFG A-Wing is in scale is effectively saying that bubble canopy is actually eight feet long. Look at that pilot's head. That is not a goddammed eight-foot long bubble canopy. That's also not inconsistent with what I'm saying. On most TIEs that we've seen, the controls creep halfway up the window from both interior and exterior shots. The pilot is situated with his head being roughly in the center of the sphere. You can see that the fuselage is only an inch or two thick by looking at any image of a TIE window (top and front both). The TIE cockpit interior in all the shots from the movies appear to be fairly consistent—There is just no way the central ball portion of a canon TIE represents a 3 meter sphere. Additionally, you're arguing for specs that would put a TIE at 13.5 meters tall. If it's easier for you to think in terms of feet (which it is for me) that's about 44 feet tall. That's average four-story apartment building tall. Two T-Rexes tall. You may not accept Rebels as having any say in the matter, which is fine, but if you're willing to consider it please watch the episode "Fighter Flight". Although the TIE's side panels on that show are obviously shorter, it is otherwise proportioned consistently with the films—but NOT with LFL's claim of nine meters. Not "just big enough". At 2m interior diameter, which I think is indicated on screen, there's plenty of room. At 3m, you're getting into the small bedroom range. I think the TIEs look fine, too. The scale is wrong—as a matter of fact. I'm mostly okay with that. The only thing I have a problem with, being a matter of principle, is people claiming otherwise.

Absolutely. Even when we weren't cool that one time, it was just a misunderstanding. I disagree with almost everything that Hobo says ever, but we've largely avoided coming to blows. But regarding the (hopefully inevitable) Imp huge, I do want to encourage you not to worry about this turning into a capital ship game. Oh trust me, I know it won't turn into a capital ship game. If for no other reason than nobody could possibly afford that. Love can find a way.

Absolutely. Even when we weren't cool that one time, it was just a misunderstanding. I disagree with almost everything that Hobo says ever, but we've largely avoided coming to blows. But regarding the (hopefully inevitable) Imp huge, I do want to encourage you not to worry about this turning into a capital ship game.

Maybe you didn't read my post, but I know exactly what section of the rulebook you're talking about. I agree with you about their devotion—that's not in dispute. The specs they got from LFL are wrong, that's all. To clarify, the LFL/FFG-scale TIE in this game has an equivalent ten-foot diameter cockpit: you could stand up in it, and then stand someone on your shoulders. Back-of-the-napkin math puts the LFL/FFG-scale A-Wing cockpit—just the transparent part—at around eight feet long. Let that sink in. The scale is wrong.

Look in the back of the X-wing rulebook if you want to find out just how certain FFG are that the TIE fighter isn't off. I devoured the rulebook before setting up the ships for the first time. This game was obviously made with a lot of love; quantifiably more than can be found at a corporate licensing division. I have no real issue with FFG's approach, considering. My issue is that the numbers provided to them were wrong. In the instance of the TIE fighters, it looks like the FFG model would be about 9m long, compared to the X-Wing. That's almost certainly based on this figure from the official Star Wars databank: "Length: 8.99m" Aside from a 9m TIE looking comically large, the following dimensions are from the official Star Wars databank concerning the B-Wing: "Length: 16.9m" Note the exact same syntax as the TIE entry. Do you entertain the idea that the B-Wing is 17m long from the tip of its cannons to the back engine nozzles? Of course not. That is obviously a measure of height—the dimensions listed in the databank tend to favor measurement on the longest axis. Now even Wookieepedia agrees with me that the TIE should instead be just over half the length of the X-Wing, which I think is relatively consistent in the films. I definitely agree that a TIE cockpit appears spacious, but with a 9m long craft, which is what the FFG model represents, the cockpit interior would be TEN FEET FROM WALL TO WALL. With a 6m craft it would be closer to a six foot diameter, which is both spacious and has the benefit of being consistent with the films. The TIEs are not scale, man. Neither is the A-Wing. Again, I don't pin that FFG—I think they did the right thing. I love this game and its slightly-out-of-scale minis. It's a better representative than anything I've seen, and it works well the way it is. But I will not concede that the LFL numbers are accurate. They just aren't.

That's a great point, but the same approach could apply to a scenario where a squadron of Rebel starfighters is dispatched to blow up an Imperial huge (or, you know, Death Star), or a squad of Scum ships sets out on a pirate raid versus a high-value Imperial target. There's definitely a place for that in this game, if FFG opts in. And the other side of the argument has merit too, I think. Of course FFG owes us nothing, but there is sort of a precedent, and not just in XWMG or even tabletop games in general. Releasing dedicated huge ships for only one faction is not a balanced approach (despite being fairly balanced from a play standpoint). You may be right, that the swarm is the Imperial epic archetype. You definitely are right that swarming a small cap ship is appealing. But there's a desire for more—and certainly a market for it—and if an archetype does already exist, that still doesn't preclude Imp huge ships. Couldn't agree with that more. I still question the necessity of "Epic" play honestly. There's no necessity, of course. It's just options; just being able, sometimes, to field something so magnificent as the CR-90. I'm sure you understand that—from one starship designer to another. FFG really has a good opportunity here, I think the market is established. And here's me, you, and Hobo all agreeing on one thing for the first time ever; that Imp ships would be nice, but this is a starfighter game. Still, I want to posit that introducing a couple more ships [for a peripheral play mode] isn't going to fundamentally alter the game. X-Wing now. X-Wing forever.

The LFL figure was based on the model which was built out of proportion to the rest of the models. So were the TIEs. If you took the film models and compared the pilots, the A-Wing pilot would be about ten feet tall. Given that and the photos above, I think it's obvious the craft was meant to be much closer to the 5-6m range. The TIEs are not scale either; I think the canon length of 8.99m was actually meant to indicate height. A 9m height would make them only around 6-7m long; half the length of an X-Wing, which makes a lot more sense to me. Any way you look at it, FFG used the [wrong] figures from LFL and probably didn't have much of a choice, so I don't think they can be faulted for it.

The HWK-290 using bombs? Eugh, that's disgusting. Who greenlit THAT? Though I suppose you COULD actually replace the turret with an external bomb bay, or refit the nose area where the second crewman sits into an internal bomb bay, equally with little actual work. It was a sort of last-minute retrofit that made sense in the context. From the game dialogue: "I had our techs outfit some HWK-290 starships with incindiary bombs"—basically a single anti-personnel charge per ship [to kill zombie stormtroopers]; nothing at all like a Y-Wing or TIE/sa. Hey, it worked better than Hitler insisting that the ME-262 get fitted with bombs, and that happened in real life

Davish "Pops" Krail! Oh, wait...