So I just ordered my copy and I haven't played 4th yet. That said I would like to see a "Bomber" unit added to the game. They would work like Fighters, needing to be transported. Here is how I see them working: Cost: 3 for 2 Attack power: 9+ Special rules: When engaged in a battle if your opponent's fleet contains fewer fighters than other ship types add +2 to all attack rolls made by bombers. This way they would function as a counter to all big ship fleets. From what I have heard massed small ships can be easily overcome in 4th, so this is an idea to help balance that. They also would present a catch 22 for players looking to sacrifice their fighter screens to protect their bigger ships. Lose your screen and bombers become quite potent. Keep it and you will be forced to suffer damage on your big ships faster. Their cost is designed to make them inexpensive but still worth an investment. Oh and a tech upgrades for them could be: Fighter screen: If your fleet contains more fighters and bombers than your opponent's add +1 to all attack rolls made by bombers. Heavy Bombers: Bombers gain Sustained Damage. Streamlined Design: Reduce the cost from 3 for 2 to 2 for 2. Of these three possible upgrades I feel that Heavy Bombers would have the biggest impact on the game and help keep the unit relevant late game. The other plus side for them would be that since they aren't fighters they can't be ignored by late game techs. What do you guys think?

In my current campaign the kill team recovered an ancient but fully functional Volkite Charger. The only problem was that i had not developed rules for it yet! Well that isn't a problem anymore. Here are the rules I came up with by combining the ideas of a few other folks with my own. Let me know what you guys think. Oh and for Horus Heresy campaigns Volkite weaponry is Respected and not Famed. Volkite Weaponry.pdf

Sorry for reviving a dead post, but based off of the great ideas here I made a pdf version. I altered the rules a bit to be in line with the additional lore on Volkites that has come out in the last few years. These rules should also be a bit tidier. Volkite Weaponry.pdf

May I ask why some of them have the unique dot and the rest does not? How did you determine what ability gets the unique dot? Good effort! Ok I've fixed that issue, they all now have the unique card dot. I've also added PDF's which should already be set up for printing purposes. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/70vhzsshg92eapg/AAB0JXnSXi38MmgmbPACuGJba?dl=0

May I ask why some of them have the unique dot and the rest does not? How did you determine what ability gets the unique dot? Good effort! Ah, that's because I used my laptop for a bunch of these and I totally forgot to click it. I'll need to fix that.

Looks cool

I've made a set of EPT Upgrade cards for all the Imperial Pilot abilities for HotAC use. They're pretty straightforward, the one thing you may notice is there are two versions of Tetran Cowall and Krassis Trelix. One version of Tetran's card (Cartwheel) has the standard PS value and cost based on the actual pilot card, the other has the cost reduced to bring it in line with Countess Ryad's much better and lower priced ability. Krassis's ability is essentially predator for secondary weapons, but it costs 7 points. I changed it on the alt version to actually be useful making it force your opponent to reroll a defense die instead. I tried to post pictures, I always get an error about file extensions on this forum unfortunately. Here's the link (Use this for printer quality files): https://www.dropbox.com/sh/70vhzsshg92eapg/AAB0JXnSXi38MmgmbPACuGJba?dl=0 https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/uMj5MB4mWoy2MXbOE52pBUUQiX339uofp4Ufy1xLYPYhDeo20hn9QcNHDO4mZ_VMdVFOe3Hv_CEwBlF8Iit_ld8eddvvICNkTqVPIVObIOjTZp5v_wIwdU-g-RkeBmqpV6FHiWFMu63uA7T0dv39-B_1WQLGO-OzS7gVxJq0uH2OMlTYbbwEtXCwb4Q9U3GYV2iG8ZlXB3UQU7woOE-9N9H7kuy_yxSXUciASj8iGGHGK6RvvN-5aJ8J7UJimzp_SaYIQ9UraYYd1Eub-OhvDO1BWAuMKk2Z8uaLFyEM4DKsaicSBgptMUAACh9iPF0aOezMINpUgESK_Db4GOrG5882VYnJfRMkWh2apQ8bSphhqRNBya9HKxN7zQKinnZYZ-Wp3lDH7itWZ1iKyxN23O2-E-g4-2JYIvGi5jol1WIY27lJemPte_8Nl0b-xI_R2bqPrBscBwxd3716rZyhtMruEdnrrroB-V0LiHcpccx5fGXo4wJ6WD-gdrtn4Nyd89gyShWHMcA15GpzddnY8CNb8bsCxbtRrrBjPkPgfVQvFkygac0VMLYswWJlbZbWg4XJLrGuwCvA3EizQlPUms1CY5eP2fI=w483-h741-no https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/X5OEmc7ijA_F4RkhvTesHJzkb47IfGuUpWS9MFlfUvh18ciirIwOEV9yJB3ny0QO4sv_UYwA2yx0oZ2Nab5Ai6yWkgX2uC_TRBqwYBj_ozsyXYnA1F5RWzkuVTGpVJ7-7DAGWyKKCNt4i9HR5TIQyMyzl33kr7USXIZFmWAiJ84jbebTC8ZC_OpZUL8tX5MnLAVIiLthYTQshVas9Jn-cJqgEkKsXmz85PJRgQ3gWeEhTabmgeACDamwWT-PYEljppafheF3WgROPRwRR9qBjzk5I49vew_-PU_u0rcgg00s8TS7uB5GBJqYBRhMyA8BdZk4ZS3_4bY21QiKpJoelFqAO0L_QKO4hT115zM9cbo6c5ttEvwWr12Lmm6CHYBL0a9Vb-SAR1ndrm6zTenzA85f9cpEtwJXBBvpDBca07u8qOamLGJAR1g4Gu2wVuO6cE85ZZWQ4hMI9XnWTbRXBIMJ0iroq_ELaW9b4LGXszfudjA063jxM0XqUL7ymT4mtobtuiObUbjz3ojewWPt7f0eEi2tPbOuYB5HQfSzoHKE9-NVDg4RQ4Q76cWuWZdp5wklGs-5UWWyDA9Ar42JEefhnI1YOfc=w483-h741-no https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/VciM_1xkvCdjaiiHFfAvUmyh4qIZUh-UO3rLk_FUbM7cURFEVjvKIJFVg0y8u9kVIRga1RteSCCMBUgrfxFU8-YsKbaTS6IBQEji9h6dngoXL07g1iEN49KblsB4hD8cDFUDomv-lg4sSgnrn5Aa2IdcCPgy4lp-fqgkoW9FcE8qNTXV6--QfAeAvYz0a_zmZ8nfz6Ikh5Z9gH1zH96_fQ_IEMxn6-IjNX1L0OgtAvQXIODyMVDOJy1zdEW75MFOBrmYonxaaiPQEvZumHA5zLmK59cbu9ZACr0-l09EvIQkDjabC6S3hHASVDzdYefn6id8ZGbMWjrr4V5oljb_vUCLg82asp27Fz-RDGMutZO9IGiZF4g6U5cm_MDYt3Cg_uZJ2z6w3LP8kXYQfKDsPTrwnA_mzOZliBVTWYTUCaNf4t2c3qiebO927tJIiMbio8j8zEFZXJT_s8zdzYsRXoBIMz5zIpwHAeTK3JWItGGYWMrlxObv9KXLofHmxSsBs2k9nhM_Hn1S3HrvJJe2EJnf0xLIGJfxSWE3zyWCYx5Xl66jyuNEINqQ52S6C_VB7JAgOmWOd5XBizjf1tPTBxywoc9EvfM=w483-h741-no

Both. Read the thrawn trilogy, also hand of thrawn, it has a fair number of examples of ISDs in action. The process I suggested, which is also how things work in reality and how they have worked for over 100 years, was copied into the Star Wars lore. Capital ships like an ISD don't target individual fighters as much as they target a area and saturate it with turbolaser and missile fire. This creates an interdiction zone that prevents enemy attack craft from approaching the ISD in a direct attack run. Against lone ships it's not very effective, but against concentrations of ships it's very effective. The goal is to force attack formations to break up as lone attack craft cannot usually do sufficient damage to the ISD to bring it down. Once enemy attack craft penetrate this interdiction zone around the ISD (Range 2 or so) that is when they are engaged by point defense turrets. There are so many explosions in the interdiction zone that point defense batteries don't engage at long range, it's completely ineffective go to do so. Again this is in fact from the lore. And Imperial Doctrine of having capital vessels which depend on fighter screens actually makes total sense as point defense turrets are notoriously ineffective against attack craft, mon calls have the same issue.

Using the Turbolaser rules as per HotAC is perfectly reasonable for an ISD acting as terrain; each turbolaser crew is choosing its targets and gunning for whatever Rebel ship is closest to it. Remember, this isn't some computer-coordinated firing system; each gun has its own commander because the chain of command isn't perfect and takes time to filter down - time that the ISD might not have if there's a group of Y-Wings arrowing for the bridge. Each gun moving to take its best shot (and using the core rules) is a lot more reasonable than thinking that a ISD Captain will be able to coordinate a single targeting solution on a single small ship when there are dozens flitting around its hull. So as a capital warship the short answer is no, the weapons crews don't just shoot wherever and however they feel like, their fire is coordinated through a chain of support personnel. Then the batteries fire in a coordinated manner at the direct of the fire control center. Common misperception, but not how it works. The commander sets target priorities, which are refined by the fire control center. The actual weapon crews usually can't even see their target.

So I have to challenge you on that fired. The HotAC rules as they exist now are designed to portray a specific set of circumstances, in this case a static installation of independent "pods". The ISD you've designed is pretty much as far from that concept as you can get. With your model it's possible to have 9 independently operating largely redundant turrets. Each needs to change its arc and fire on its own, this is the clunkiest rules concept in the main HotAC rule set. At least in my experience the static turrets are a joke that can be ignored by the players most of the time. I just don't see how there would be any added value to including 9 separate turrets each of which fires independently at the SAME target most likely due to target priority. That's a ton of dice to represent a single attack by a single ship on a single enemy ship. This gets to Warhammer 40,000 levels of needless complexity. By combining the attacks into one die roll vs each rebel ship things go by WAY faster. Choosing a target for the ISD Is just for order and maneuver purposes, it does not mean only that ship gets attacked. Every rebel ship gets shot at, but attacks in the target firing arc are more reliable to hit. I do think just rolling 2 dice may be better than 3 though. As far as maneuvering goes you can't possibly believe that it's simpler to moved every single model AND piece of terrain rather than just pivoting the ISD in place. (You'd have to move the terrain as well otherwise ships could end up being tossed onto asteroids just because the ISD "moved".) If ships are on top of the ISD so what? They move with it, the entire excercise would take 30 seconds instead of a few minutes. Again I understand what you're trying to represent with this rule but it's needlessly complicated as is. My question as to why you've designed there fighters the way you have is: "what do you want the fighters to accomplish?" As it stands I have to agree that including any more than 4 tie fighters will slow the game down too much as the star destroyer will take up the lion share of your time to resolve. Even if it's supposed to be damaged having 4 tie fighters seems pretty pathetic though, it makes this a "Take the Fuel Depot" mission where you are only fighting the base itself. I'm not trying to be too negative here, but I'm afraid that given your current design for the scenario that the players will have the same exact experience playing this scenario that you get playing a standard match against 4 TLT Y-wings castled in a corner. So yeah, don't lock yourself into a hole trying to force the core HotAC rules to represent something they aren't designed to. You can use the terrain to represent different rules, players will already have to learn some new ones anyways based on your scenario having an ISD in it. You don't have to use my suggestions, but at least consider condensing some of these excessive options into something more streamlined.

I agree that many of the actions would be hard to make work in a game of x-wing, and most don't really add much to the player experience really. Here's my take working along with the revisions I'm suggesting for shield generators and weapons batteries as well. Link the Star Destroyer's maneuvers to assigning it a target like any other AI ship: I'd recommend basing the maneuvers on the firing arcs of the ISD and for them to only account for its rotation, not its forwards movement. An ISD as a ship has a massive array of long ranged weaponry, so realistically you would not be able to be out of range of its weapons anywhere you went on the same table. So instead of trying to approach things by moving it as a normal ship we instead approach the table as the battle space in the vicinity of the ISD itself that is moving AROUND the ISD. You already have this concept, I'd simply recommend altering it such that the ISD rotates 15 degrees when it moves. This is a lot simpler to do quickly and its more thematic I think. The move should also be slow enough to give the rebel players time to react. Here's how it could work in practice: Step 1: Select Target Mission Objective Rebel Epic Ship with greatest starting Hull Value Greatest concentration of rebel ships. Step 2: Select Manever Pivot 15 degrees towards the target so that the prow faces it.Step 3: Select Bridge Order Roll 1 D6 on this chart if the Bridge is still Operational 1-3: Intensify Fire: When attacking enemy ships in the same firing arc as this ship's target convert all Focus results to Hit results. 4: Brace For Impact: When Defending this round convert 1 Crit result to a Hit Result. 5. Come to New Heading: Pivot 15 degrees towards the target. 6. Coordinate Squadrons: During their perform action step all friendly ships may perform an additional action. Step 4: Launch Squadrons Roll 1 attack dice for each Squadron Token assigned to this ship and consult the table below. 1 Crit Result: Launch a squadron of Tie Fighters equal to this ship's Squadron Value, then remove all Squadron Tokens. 2 Crit Results: Launch a squadron of Tie Interceptors equal to this ship's Squadron Value, then remove all Squadron Tokens. 3+ Crit Results: Launch a squadron of Tie Bombers equal to this ship's Squadron Value, then remove all Squadron Tokens. Any Other Result: Assign 1 Squadron Token to this ship, then remove all Squadron Tokens. This AI card should make the ISD operate in a way that is a lot easier to manage, and every one of the Bridge Orders is decent without any of them being good enough to with the game on its own. Yes Coordinate Squadrons is powerful, but it should come up quite rarely overall. The new mechanic for launching squadrons is great for building tension in the match. The longer no squadrons are launched the riskier things become. Alternatively the Coordinate Squadrons Bridge Order could add a Squadron Token. As for the "Squadron Value" that would be set by the mission's difficulty. So the more players you have and the higher their level the larger the squadrons will be when they are launched. I'd recommend having the value range from 1-4. As for the Sensor Tower I'd recommend the following rule for it: Sensor Tower- When Attacking in the same firing arc as this ship's target you may reroll one attack dice. That turns the Sensor Tower into predator for the ISD, which should be enough of an ability I imagine.

So I'd recommend changing several things about how the ISD works both to speed up play and to force the rebels to play differently. While it is a ship an ISD in an x-wing game is really a piece of terrain, and it's so complex that it will easily slow the game down a lot. X-wing thrives in being fast paced, so sluggish play should be avoided. I recommend simplifying the way things work in s number of ways to account for this. Here are some examples: - Shield generators as damage reduction: • Shield Generator: When defending all installations cancel 1 hit result for each shield generator still operational. This fixes weapons that should not threaten capital ships (i.e.: TLTs) from being awesome against them and reduces the number of dice needed quite dramatically. - Create firing arcs for the ship and simplify its attacks: • Weapons Battery: Firepower 3, range unlimited. At the end of the combat phase attack every ship in this firing arc. Small ships add 2 evade dice to they're defense rolls, large ships add 1 evade die to their defense roll. If this attack hits, the defender suffers the results of any Turbolaser, Ion Cannon, and Ordnance Batteries in this firing arc, then cancel all dice results. • Turbolaser Battery- When a defending ship is hit by a Weapons Battatery attack it suffers 1 damage for each Operational Turbolaser in this firing arc. • Ion Cannon Battery- When a defending ship is hit by a Weapons Battery attack assign it 2 Ion Tokens for each Operational Ion Cannon Battery in this firing arc. • Ordnance Battery- When a defending ship is hit by a Weapons Battery attack deal it 1 face up damage card for each Operational Ordnance Battery in this firing arc. This speeds up play and reduces book keeping (no individual turret arcs, fewer shots to roll for) and makes each player's experience consistent. It's a team effort to take down an ISD, so the threat should be even against everyone.

The Finger Four Tutorial is finally FINISHED!!! Its been seriously edited from the rough draft, I reworked a bunch of the transitions to work better with ships that aren't running Wingman/PTL so stress isn't so much of an issue. I also threw some out and replaced them with new ones as the rough draft was based on my old playbook from 6 months ago. Overall the article clocks in at 27 pages and has a 6,368 word count. I did my best to make it the most comprehensive and detailed guide to flying this formation as possible while also making it easy to read and use. It will be posted on the Back to Dials website within the next few days!