The problem is, this new Hyperspace "Season" might promote creativity for some, but it doesn't do so for all.
  I tell people to look at what this format did to the CIS, but I don't feel like people have really done that, when the responses I get back are "You just got 3 new ships!" and "That type of thinking staunches creativity". Seriously, look at the CIS. Yes, we just got 3 new ships, but only one of those new ships may possibly bring a new playstyle or two to the faction (Or really revitalize old playstyles that have fallen out of favor).   Only the HMP is really good for creativity, as it seems like it could work in so many different lists, but many of those lists are no longer possible with the removal of other pieces.
  In addition, I can no longer experiment with force powers and my only "option" to get a force point on my ships is Dooku Crew. Meanwhile, boring old Vulture Droid swarms, which have been in the meta as long as the CIS, are just getting better.
  Will the CIS have new lists?  Sure.  Will they be creative lists? No.  The firespray will bring a temporary uptick in "Gang+ Leader" style lists and "Hammer and Anvil" style lists, before it finally goes the way of the Sith Infiltrator.  The Tri-fighter is going to replace the Nantex for mini-swarm purposes.  You'll see (very slightly) fewer Hyena Swarms, but more Vulture Swarms.  All in all, it's the same old junk with a new name.
  Had Darth Maul been left in the format, we might have a seen a "Big ships" list do well in the format.. but he isn't, so we won't.  Had targeting computer been left in, we might have seen a list with Gorgol supporting HMP's.. but alas, No.  It's as if FFG saw where creativity might have had room to develop, and decided to kill it off before it got too frisky.

I would argue that FO Aces defines "Aces", and that's still workable.  I think Imp Aces got removed because "Aces" is not meant to be Empire's bread and butter (as it is for FO).  The reason rebels didn't get hit is because they weren't misbehaving.   I think it has less to do with "does this seem good" and more to do with "Is this the way we want this faction to be played?".
  For example, look at the Seps.  Vulture and Hyena swarms have always been part of the meta, certainly some players see them as "good", but they didn't get hit because they're doing what seps are supposed to be doing.  As soon as that playstyle starts to get overshadowed in the faction, whatever is overshadowing goes away.  Can we really say that 2x Sith Infiltrator lists or Grievous and gang lists were better than droid swarms?  I don't think so.  Can we say that they overshadowed droid swarms in the droid swarm faction?  Yes. So they got a time out.  Now those lists are back (to varying degrees) and the list that was most recently over-shadowing the droid swarms got removed.
  I don't get it either.  Do people understand that not all factions are meant to be playing "Aces" all the time?  Apart from "Aces" lists, there are also meant to be "Swarm" lists, but most lists should have some mixture of Uniques and Generics, probably skewing toward the generic side. So a 4, 5, or 6 ship list is likely to have a unique or 2 and be filled out with generics.  I don't see that as problematic.
  I would also point out that, just because a list might have spent most of it's points on generics, doesn't really mean the list is "Generic-centric" in the way that it's played.  If a CIS list has a 72pt. General Grievous and 6 vultures (for 120 pts.) Grievous is still the key player.

I would argue that FO Aces defines "Aces", and that's still workable.  I think Imp Aces got removed because "Aces" is not meant to be Empire's bread and butter (as it is for FO).  The reason rebels didn't get hit is because they weren't misbehaving.   I think it has less to do with "does this seem good" and more to do with "Is this the way we want this faction to be played?".
  For example, look at the Seps.  Vulture and Hyena swarms have always been part of the meta, certainly some players see them as "good", but they didn't get hit because they're doing what seps are supposed to be doing.  As soon as that playstyle starts to get overshadowed in the faction, whatever is overshadowing goes away.  Can we really say that 2x Sith Infiltrator lists or Grievous and gang lists were better than droid swarms?  I don't think so.  Can we say that they overshadowed droid swarms in the droid swarm faction?  Yes. So they got a time out.  Now those lists are back (to varying degrees) and the list that was most recently over-shadowing the droid swarms got removed.
  I don't get it either.  Do people understand that not all factions are meant to be playing "Aces" all the time?  Apart from "Aces" lists, there are also meant to be "Swarm" lists, but most lists should have some mixture of Uniques and Generics, probably skewing toward the generic side. So a 4, 5, or 6 ship list is likely to have a unique or 2 and be filled out with generics.  I don't see that as problematic.
  I would also point out that, just because a list might have spent most of it's points on generics, doesn't really mean the list is "Generic-centric" in the way that it's played.  If a CIS list has a 72pt. General Grievous and 6 vultures (for 120 pts.) Grievous is still the key player.

I would argue that FO Aces defines "Aces", and that's still workable.  I think Imp Aces got removed because "Aces" is not meant to be Empire's bread and butter (as it is for FO).  The reason rebels didn't get hit is because they weren't misbehaving.   I think it has less to do with "does this seem good" and more to do with "Is this the way we want this faction to be played?".
  For example, look at the Seps.  Vulture and Hyena swarms have always been part of the meta, certainly some players see them as "good", but they didn't get hit because they're doing what seps are supposed to be doing.  As soon as that playstyle starts to get overshadowed in the faction, whatever is overshadowing goes away.  Can we really say that 2x Sith Infiltrator lists or Grievous and gang lists were better than droid swarms?  I don't think so.  Can we say that they overshadowed droid swarms in the droid swarm faction?  Yes. So they got a time out.  Now those lists are back (to varying degrees) and the list that was most recently over-shadowing the droid swarms got removed.
  I don't get it either.  Do people understand that not all factions are meant to be playing "Aces" all the time?  Apart from "Aces" lists, there are also meant to be "Swarm" lists, but most lists should have some mixture of Uniques and Generics, probably skewing toward the generic side. So a 4, 5, or 6 ship list is likely to have a unique or 2 and be filled out with generics.  I don't see that as problematic.
  I would also point out that, just because a list might have spent most of it's points on generics, doesn't really mean the list is "Generic-centric" in the way that it's played.  If a CIS list has a 72pt. General Grievous and 6 vultures (for 120 pts.) Grievous is still the key player.

I would argue that FO Aces defines "Aces", and that's still workable.  I think Imp Aces got removed because "Aces" is not meant to be Empire's bread and butter (as it is for FO).  The reason rebels didn't get hit is because they weren't misbehaving.   I think it has less to do with "does this seem good" and more to do with "Is this the way we want this faction to be played?".
  For example, look at the Seps.  Vulture and Hyena swarms have always been part of the meta, certainly some players see them as "good", but they didn't get hit because they're doing what seps are supposed to be doing.  As soon as that playstyle starts to get overshadowed in the faction, whatever is overshadowing goes away.  Can we really say that 2x Sith Infiltrator lists or Grievous and gang lists were better than droid swarms?  I don't think so.  Can we say that they overshadowed droid swarms in the droid swarm faction?  Yes. So they got a time out.  Now those lists are back (to varying degrees) and the list that was most recently over-shadowing the droid swarms got removed.
  I don't get it either.  Do people understand that not all factions are meant to be playing "Aces" all the time?  Apart from "Aces" lists, there are also meant to be "Swarm" lists, but most lists should have some mixture of Uniques and Generics, probably skewing toward the generic side. So a 4, 5, or 6 ship list is likely to have a unique or 2 and be filled out with generics.  I don't see that as problematic.
  I would also point out that, just because a list might have spent most of it's points on generics, doesn't really mean the list is "Generic-centric" in the way that it's played.  If a CIS list has a 72pt. General Grievous and 6 vultures (for 120 pts.) Grievous is still the key player.

I would argue that FO Aces defines "Aces", and that's still workable.  I think Imp Aces got removed because "Aces" is not meant to be Empire's bread and butter (as it is for FO).  The reason rebels didn't get hit is because they weren't misbehaving.   I think it has less to do with "does this seem good" and more to do with "Is this the way we want this faction to be played?".
  For example, look at the Seps.  Vulture and Hyena swarms have always been part of the meta, certainly some players see them as "good", but they didn't get hit because they're doing what seps are supposed to be doing.  As soon as that playstyle starts to get overshadowed in the faction, whatever is overshadowing goes away.  Can we really say that 2x Sith Infiltrator lists or Grievous and gang lists were better than droid swarms?  I don't think so.  Can we say that they overshadowed droid swarms in the droid swarm faction?  Yes. So they got a time out.  Now those lists are back (to varying degrees) and the list that was most recently over-shadowing the droid swarms got removed.
  I don't get it either.  Do people understand that not all factions are meant to be playing "Aces" all the time?  Apart from "Aces" lists, there are also meant to be "Swarm" lists, but most lists should have some mixture of Uniques and Generics, probably skewing toward the generic side. So a 4, 5, or 6 ship list is likely to have a unique or 2 and be filled out with generics.  I don't see that as problematic.
  I would also point out that, just because a list might have spent most of it's points on generics, doesn't really mean the list is "Generic-centric" in the way that it's played.  If a CIS list has a 72pt. General Grievous and 6 vultures (for 120 pts.) Grievous is still the key player.

I would argue that FO Aces defines "Aces", and that's still workable.  I think Imp Aces got removed because "Aces" is not meant to be Empire's bread and butter (as it is for FO).  The reason rebels didn't get hit is because they weren't misbehaving.   I think it has less to do with "does this seem good" and more to do with "Is this the way we want this faction to be played?".
  For example, look at the Seps.  Vulture and Hyena swarms have always been part of the meta, certainly some players see them as "good", but they didn't get hit because they're doing what seps are supposed to be doing.  As soon as that playstyle starts to get overshadowed in the faction, whatever is overshadowing goes away.  Can we really say that 2x Sith Infiltrator lists or Grievous and gang lists were better than droid swarms?  I don't think so.  Can we say that they overshadowed droid swarms in the droid swarm faction?  Yes. So they got a time out.  Now those lists are back (to varying degrees) and the list that was most recently over-shadowing the droid swarms got removed.
  I don't get it either.  Do people understand that not all factions are meant to be playing "Aces" all the time?  Apart from "Aces" lists, there are also meant to be "Swarm" lists, but most lists should have some mixture of Uniques and Generics, probably skewing toward the generic side. So a 4, 5, or 6 ship list is likely to have a unique or 2 and be filled out with generics.  I don't see that as problematic.
  I would also point out that, just because a list might have spent most of it's points on generics, doesn't really mean the list is "Generic-centric" in the way that it's played.  If a CIS list has a 72pt. General Grievous and 6 vultures (for 120 pts.) Grievous is still the key player.

Sure man, whatever.  You're very special, one of dozens of people who don't screech and moan at the prospect of filthy generics and devil numbers daring to win games. 

Oh, now I get it.  You're prone to excessive bouts of hyperbole supported by an unearned sense of self-importance.
Everything totally makes sense now, thanks! 🙂

I believe "collaborators" and "fugitives" applies to the First Order. I don't really put the emphasis on the First Order being founded by "War Criminals" though..  In point of fact, many of the officers who founded the first order were either not present for most of the fighting (Admiral Thrawn) or refused to commit warcrimes (Admiral Sloan).  As I understand it, the remnants of the empire were hunted, but after some time the republic and the First Order came to an agreement that allowed the First Order to exist outside of the republic.  The "Collaborators" and "Fugitives" part of the first order comes from the fact that they didn't simply sit out beyond the outer-rim and quietly die off.  Instead they infiltrated criminal organizations within the republic and turned those organizations to the needs of the First Order.  So while we tend to view the First Order as being a large and well organized military, the fact is most of their officers would have whet their blades as criminals within the republic and alongside people who didn't necessarily belong to the First Order, but worked with them for fun and profit.

The mechanics of minor clans have changed since 2nd edition though, most minor clans only had 3 techniques.  (and one family) The Mantis were special in that they had 4, Them getting their 5th technique was part of them becoming a great clan.
  Really though, creating minor clans should be fairly straight-forward these days.
All clans in this edition follow the same basic mechanics..  I think if you know the lore.. or the "20 questions" of your clan, then the mechanics will be obvious..  The most important thing is to know why your minor clan exists in the campaign, and why it exists in Rokugan.  For example, I ran a campaign based loosely on "the mouse that roared" in which "Mouse clan" declared war on Scorpion clan, largely because Scorpion clan was selling "knock-off"  Mouse clan brew.  So I know that mouse clan has to be expert in producing brew, they get +1 labor as their skill.  The ring is a little more difficult at first, but ultimately mouse clan is fighting a war for it's own survival, so even though Mouse clan appreciates and exemplifies traits of other rings (they are precise and subtle as air, efficient and charming as water..)  The main motivator for mouse clan is really earthy at this point.. plus Earth goes along with Labor in Production.. so mouse clan's ring is earth.  I can add in some of the traits from other rings by using those rings for the family and school bonuses.  Mostly because they'll be conflicting with the scorpion, water and air become the rings associated with the family.
As you can see, filling out the clan/family/school lore provides the basis for knowing what their mechanics will be.

Aruzhan takes a quick look around as she prepares to head back to Uimi Mura.  "well..  This bandit seems rather intelligent and well equipped.  He was smoking, not exploding.. so we must be missing an element.. and he would have either had to wait for the rain, or called it himself.."

Hmm.. Clan War..  Best miniature wargame experience of my life was the one Clan War game I actually got to play.  Sadly, the FLGS took so long to get the miniatures I needed that I couldn't field my army until about a month before the game actually died (at least when people at the FLGS stopped playing).  I'm told the biggest issue was that the guy playing Shadowlands was largely playing Proxies (again, because we had trouble getting the actual minis), but his pieces would tend to change in the middle of a game (from what I was told..  I never got to see him in action.)
  The best game ever though..  I finally got my Toturi's army list together.. it was something like 2 ashigaru archer units, 2 units ashigaru spearmen, 1 ronin samurai unit with Toturi, 1 Unicorn Cavalry with Dairyu, and a unit of Dragon clan tattoo monks.  My opponent was playing a dragon list, the exact details of which escape me..  But what I can say is that I was completely caught by surprise when one of his monk units got the first move in the match, charged my Unicorn Cavalry (they moved further than my cavalry would have been able to.) wiped out the Cavalry and Dairyu on the first attack, thus causing one each of my units of ashigaru spearmen and ashigaru archers to roll morale checks, which both units failed, so both units started to run away.  Mirumoto Hitomi began to lead her samurai up the other flank, but there was rough terrain in the way, so she got bogged down (in front of my remaining ashigaru archers no less).  On turn 2 my first group of archers ran off the field, but my spearmen rallied and moved back to fight the monks which had killed my Cavalry.. this caused a situation in which My Tattooed monks and another opposing group of Tattooed monks, led by togashi mitsu, were fighting in the middle of the field. Hitomi and her samurai continued to get hung up on rough terrain and pelted by arrows..  My archers weren't doing much actual damage, but they would prevent Hitomi and her samurai from joining the fray. My first unit of spearmen were getting beat up by a unit of monks, but they hung in there for a few rounds.. just long enough for my second unit of spearmen to get into the monk fight in the middle.. eventually my monks get destroyed, but I kill off his middle group of monks with my spearmen (I think Mitsu survived an extra turn or two after his monks died).  As I recall, I was trying to maneuver my samurai (and Toturi) to go deal with Mitsu, but My opponent decided to intercept Toturi and his bodyguards using the Dragon's command unit.. sadly, I can't remember exactly what it was..  what I do remember is that nobody wins a duel against Toturi.   So I killed Togashi Mitsu and.. whoever it was that was actually leading the army..  Maybe it was Mirumoto Daini?  Anyway, with the center of his army absolutely devastated by Toturi, and Hitomi still caught up in rough terrain (actually I think she was failing morale checks caused by the archers or something) My opponent and I called it there.
  I admit I get pretty emotionally involved in my games (what's the point to playing if you're not going to have fun, right?), so I was on the verge of tears when half my army was dead or running before I had even gotten a chance to act.  The fight was mostly gloomy, with me getting slowly ground down..  except for that one archer unit that was keeping Hitomi at bay, which was good for a sardonic chuckle.  Then when Toturi wins the duel against the opposing commander and kills Mitsu shortly thereafter, I was just like "Holy exclamations!!  This is the best game ever!"
 
  Uhmm..  Oh.. so to answer the question..  now is always the time for Clan War to make a comeback.

I agree.. my problem is that I don't know what they Dragonfly do apart from telling people "the pass is closed".  I mean.. they are noted for their own shugenja school too, but they aren't in the "spirits" book.

Hekasu drops the bucket in surprise from Aruzhan. "Calm down, mom, it's just a taste. I scooped the gunk aside. I," in the words the GM used, "know the practicalities of drawing water from a well without getting a mouthful of algae."
Hekasu then reaches for his katana, frowns, then looks to the others. "If any of you have a tanto or similar dagger, there's some residue right there." Then he glances at Aruzhan, "but don't worry, I won't touch it directly. I think that's what ignited here, when it touched the water."

well.. the campaign is kind of "epic".. but in many ways it's unfulfilling. My original intention was to have the These PC's spend a little time in each clan's territory doing some adventuring as a way of getting my players familiar with the setting.  For that reason, there are some things which should probably be their own epic campaign, that my campaign has treated rather lightly.  I mostly used "Reclaiming Daylight Castle" as a way to introduce my players to the Naga, the Scorpion, and the plague. (since the powerful spirits they needed could be found in the Shinomen and their quickest path was through Scorpion lands)
 
  At this point my campaign is kind of stalled with Daylight Castle being on a promising, but incomplete path to reclamation. The issue is that I don't really know how this timeline is dealing with the scorpion clan coup and exile, the abolishment of the Akodo and will the Crab ever ally with the shadowlands..  stuff like that.  Also I'd rather not have to write my own adventures, but the printed adventures only last 2 or 3 sessions.
 
P.S.:  in terms of game time.. my PC's already had experience, connections, and could teleport vast distances.  So the time sync for my campaign really comes down to how long you think cleansing rituals should take, as clearing the Kansen out of a room basically involved walking through the room with the Naga pearl (or the artifact that keeps the shrine from being over-run in "Mask of the Oni" and then performing a cleansing ritual to keep the Kansen from coming back into the room while the transplanted kami do their work.  Cleansing the grounds outside the castle proper would probably be more difficult and may even take a completely different tactic.

"Baka!" Aruzhan charges toward Hekasu with a wild look in her eyes as she tries desperately to swat his hand from his mouth before he can taste the water.  With too much ground to cover, she only manages to meet her target after the deed is done.. so she swats him again and growls..  "It's easier for the Kami to prevent a fool from getting poisoned than it is to cure the fool later!"  Seeing that Hekasu hasn't spontaneously combusted in front of her, the Shugenja sighs as she centers herself.  She mumbles a quiet invocation, using "Kiss Of The Pond Woman" targeting Hekasu.

well.. the campaign is kind of "epic".. but in many ways it's unfulfilling. My original intention was to have the These PC's spend a little time in each clan's territory doing some adventuring as a way of getting my players familiar with the setting.  For that reason, there are some things which should probably be their own epic campaign, that my campaign has treated rather lightly.  I mostly used "Reclaiming Daylight Castle" as a way to introduce my players to the Naga, the Scorpion, and the plague. (since the powerful spirits they needed could be found in the Shinomen and their quickest path was through Scorpion lands)
 
  At this point my campaign is kind of stalled with Daylight Castle being on a promising, but incomplete path to reclamation. The issue is that I don't really know how this timeline is dealing with the scorpion clan coup and exile, the abolishment of the Akodo and will the Crab ever ally with the shadowlands..  stuff like that.  Also I'd rather not have to write my own adventures, but the printed adventures only last 2 or 3 sessions.
 
P.S.:  in terms of game time.. my PC's already had experience, connections, and could teleport vast distances.  So the time sync for my campaign really comes down to how long you think cleansing rituals should take, as clearing the Kansen out of a room basically involved walking through the room with the Naga pearl (or the artifact that keeps the shrine from being over-run in "Mask of the Oni" and then performing a cleansing ritual to keep the Kansen from coming back into the room while the transplanted kami do their work.  Cleansing the grounds outside the castle proper would probably be more difficult and may even take a completely different tactic.

My players cleansed daylight castle.
 
  In my campaign, After the events of "Mask of the Oni" the players went to the Crab and asked about mustering an army to take back Hiruma Palace, but Kisada wouldn't allow it, as it would take too many soldiers off the wall. (and Considering Moto Tsume was about to make a major attack on the wall, it turned out Kisada was probably right.), However, the PC's had been on very good terms with the Ratling tribe from "Mask of the Oni", and in one side quest they had also met a Heroic Ratling chieftan who was running around the shadowlands saving other Ratlings from the growing shadowlands army.. That cheiftan ran a warren that was beginning to suffer greatly from over-crowding..  So they ended up helping the PC's take and Garrison Daylight Castle in order to have a more secure place for some of them to stay.  Also Hida Yakamo had showed up in the middle of the fight with "His personal bodyguard" in defiance of Kisada..  Yakamo assigned some low-ranking Kaiu to help rebuild Daylight Castle, but that still didn't solve the problem of cleansing the palace and the surrounding lands.  In order to achieve that goal, the PC's had to travel around the empire, finding powerful kami and convincing them to go to the shadowlands and chase away the Kansen.  It turned out they would also need to use a Naga Pearl (and fortunately for them, some of the Naga were just beginning to wake up), so the PC's had to exercise some diplomacy as they needed to get the Crab, Ratlings, and Naga to work together.

My players cleansed daylight castle.
 
  In my campaign, After the events of "Mask of the Oni" the players went to the Crab and asked about mustering an army to take back Hiruma Palace, but Kisada wouldn't allow it, as it would take too many soldiers off the wall. (and Considering Moto Tsume was about to make a major attack on the wall, it turned out Kisada was probably right.), However, the PC's had been on very good terms with the Ratling tribe from "Mask of the Oni", and in one side quest they had also met a Heroic Ratling chieftan who was running around the shadowlands saving other Ratlings from the growing shadowlands army.. That cheiftan ran a warren that was beginning to suffer greatly from over-crowding..  So they ended up helping the PC's take and Garrison Daylight Castle in order to have a more secure place for some of them to stay.  Also Hida Yakamo had showed up in the middle of the fight with "His personal bodyguard" in defiance of Kisada..  Yakamo assigned some low-ranking Kaiu to help rebuild Daylight Castle, but that still didn't solve the problem of cleansing the palace and the surrounding lands.  In order to achieve that goal, the PC's had to travel around the empire, finding powerful kami and convincing them to go to the shadowlands and chase away the Kansen.  It turned out they would also need to use a Naga Pearl (and fortunately for them, some of the Naga were just beginning to wake up), so the PC's had to exercise some diplomacy as they needed to get the Crab, Ratlings, and Naga to work together.