PSA - GenCon, Force Friday 2, Wave 12 & The Last Jedi

[FTS Gecko 24,123]

Because we haven't had a PSA in a while.

So yeah, I see people asking about when Wave 12 / The Last Jedi etc is going to be announced in every other thread every single day, so we might as well point out that there's a very clear pattern for FFG's wave and film releases over the last couple of years.

Wave 8 was announced at GenCon in July 2015.  The Wave 8 announcement went up on the 31st July following FFG's In Flight report, and featured The Ghost, the Inquisitor's TIE, the Punishing One and the Mist Hunter.  Following the GenCon announcement, there was the surprise release of The Force Awakens Core Set on Force Friday (4th September 2015), then the announcement of the T-70 and TIE/fo Expansion Packs the following week, which were "added" to Wave 8, but released seperately (they arrived in December to coincide with the release of The Force Awakens).

Wave 10 was announced at GenCon in August 2016 (GenCon ran from 4th to 7th August, and the Wave 10 announcement went up on 5th August) featuring Sabine's TIE, the Upsilon Shuttle and the Quadjumper.  Then, on Force Friday (2nd September 2016) - we got the TIE Striker and U-Wing announcement, and again the ships were "added" to Wave 10, but arrived in December alongside the release of Rogue One.

This year, GenCon 50 runs from Thursday 17th to Sunday 20th August.  FFG are again an official partner of the event, the North American Championships are being held there and there are a LOT of other X-Wing events organised for the weekend.

What does this mean for us?  It means we're all but guaranteed a Wave 12 announcement at GenCon, and it will probabably follow the established pattern of both Wave 8 in 2015 and Wave 10 last year, in that we'll have Rebel, Imperial and Scum ships announced first at GenCon, then ships from The Last Jedi announced and added on Force Friday II in September.

It also means that the first ships announced for Wave 12 ships most likely won't be ships from The Last Jedi.  There's a fair few candidates still out there; Krennic's Shuttle, the Zeta-Class Cargo Shuttle, the TIE Reaper and the Partisan X-Wing could all potentially show up from Rogue One.  There's also potential for a Scarif Veterans pack in the future, with X-Wing, Y-Wing and/or U-Wing repaints plus the pilots and crew (K-2SO!!!).  And of course there's the possibility that Wave 12 dips back into the extended universe for inspiration.

Between now and GenCon, we can probably expect a Guns For Hire Vaksai preview article and maybe, just maybe, an updated FAQ (eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!).

You have your schedule pilots.  Look lively.

Edited August 4, 2017 by FTS Gecko

[ViscerothSWG 3,940]

Yub yub, commander.

Edited August 3, 2017 by ViscerothSWG

[MortalPlague 514]

Nice to see a rational speculation on an impending announcement with facts and dates to support it.

[Stronghammer 195]

Expected pre release at GenCon for G4H?

[FTS Gecko 24,123]

6 minutes ago, Stronghammer said:

Expected pre release at GenCon for G4H?

Currently showing "At the printer" on the upcoming page, so it would be a surprise.  It's happened before (with Wave 5, wasn't it?) and we have had one of the previews already, so who knows?

At the very least they'll have the models on display I guess.

[ramy 231]

At this point, they better not put out a FAQ so close to the North American Championships.

Edited August 4, 2017 by ramy

[timg_83 127]

I wouldn't be surprised to see the FAQ drop before Gencon, but with an effective from date of the week after.

[Odanan 5,439]

It's the time of the Gunboat!!!

[ViscerothSWG 3,940]

43 minutes ago, timg_83 said:

I wouldn't be surprised to see the FAQ drop before Gencon, but with an effective from date of the week after.

I think they should put the effective date so it's in effect for round 1b at gencon, but not round 1a. That way they can really test it's effectiveness. Seems like something Organized Play would do, too.

[timg_83 127]

That would be hilarious!

[TasteTheRainbow 8,726]

Fitbit says you got me pumped. I think it's right.

[drail14me 1,255]

23 hours ago, FTS Gecko said:

Partisan X-Wing could all potentially show up from Rogue One.  There's also potential for a Scarif Veterans pack in the future, with X-Wing, Y-Wing and/or U-Wing repaints plus the pilots and crew (K-2SO!!!). 

I hope this is ALL correct!!!!

[Reiver 2,238]

On 8/5/2017 at 1:29 AM, drail14me said:

I hope this is ALL correct!!!!

It'll be a Partisan X-wing or a Scarif Veterans including an X-wing & Y-wing.

You miiiight get a standalone Partisan X-wing and a Y-wing + U-wing Veterans pack, but this would be three rebel fixes in one go and the first veterans pack to include a large-based ship. Not impossible, but less likely, all told.

[Boom Owl 13,232]

Still confused, are we supposed to panic now or panic later? 

Edited August 7, 2017 by Boom Owl

[Polaritie 209]

20 minutes ago, Boom Owl said:

Still confused, are we supposed to panic now or panic later? 

Yes.

[xanderf 6,778]

On 8/4/2017 at 5:58 AM, Odanan said:

It's the time of the Gunboat!!!

Sadly, I've finally given up on it.

Consider that no adaptation from any source has been quite everything that we wanted, and then look at the TIE Aggressor.  I mean...the double missile slots alone...

90% sure FFG was, at some point, developing/playtesting an 'assault gunboat' - but Disney nixed any Imperial fighter that didn't look like a TIE, the Aggressor was 'close enough', and what FFG was playtesting for release as the gunboat became the TIE Aggressor expansion pack.

[Magnus Grendel 11,673]

9 hours ago, Reiver said:

It'll be a Partisan X-wing or a Scarif Veterans including an X-wing & Y-wing.

You miiiight get a standalone Partisan X-wing and a Y-wing + U-wing Veterans pack, but this would be three rebel fixes in one go and the first veterans pack to include a large-based ship. Not impossible, but less likely, all told.

Hence why I'd like to see it as a Correllian Conflict esque box - you're not going to get an "aces box" with one large ship + 2 small ships, but a box with narrative play stuff gives you the means to throw in a lot of stuff that affects a lot of ships that could do with a tweak, makes it 'expensive' enough for FFG to justify it as a product (where a card pack wouldn't be) and add a few things that people might want in addition:

• Missions - split up the battle into four or so seperate missions (partisans evacuating jedha, get blue squadron through the shield gate, dogfight over scarif base, attack the closed shield gate, bombing run on the destroyer, fending off the ridiculous swarm of TIEs launched by the shield gate)
• Obstacles - debris clouds (still only so many ways to get these!), some new terrain types (say, cargo shuttles caught in the dogfight zone, trees and towers for an atmospheric scenario, dust clouds, orbital installations)
• Additional Rebel Y-wing Pilots (Probably Davish Krail and Tiree)
• Additional Rebel X-wing Pilots (General Merrick, Blue Squadron Ace)
• Partisan X-wing Pilots (Ideally rebel but could be scum if you felt you absolutely must give them something in the box)
• Additional U-wing pilots (K2-SO) or upgrades (door gunner?) and Crew cards (K2-SO)
• Some sort of upgrade or title for generic TIE fighters (a reason to use Academy Pilots and Obsidians rather than black squadron)
• Additional Striker Pilots (they don't need them per se, but being able to field a squad of four unique strikers would be nice!)

Edited August 7, 2017 by Magnus Grendel

[ficklegreendice 34,362]

You think they'll really continue the r1 stuff?

Kinda struck me as a one off forgetable experience that couldn't even stand on its own without ergregious callbacks to a new hope

Course, gameplay wise, an X and U buff would be a very smart and necessary move 

[Magnus Grendel 11,673]

1 hour ago, ficklegreendice said:

Kinda struck me as a one off forgetable experience that couldn't even stand on its own without ergregious callbacks to a new hope

It definitely can't stand on its own - I agree on that much - it's not intended to be a 'star wars film'. Hence the use of the phrase 'a star wars story', the lack of an opening crawl, the lack of a 'shot panning across a star destroyer' opening and the writer's assumption that you've seen the original trilogy (without which  knowledge it is definitely not a great film). As an immediate bolt-on to A New Hope, by comparison, I thought it was absolutely fantastic; the cinematography was (aside from a couple of CG bits that were still 'good enough') bang on for the feel of the original trilogy, and it went a long way to helping create a feel of "yeah....the rebels are in serious trouble" that helps the first film.

Is it great by itself? No. By watching it then immediately watching A New Hope, does it make the original film better to watch? To me, yes.  For everything from covering major plot-holes like "why the **** didn't the empire notice the glaring flaw in its own design" to minor curiosities like "why is Vader so unmitigatedly angry even by his own standards that he feels the need to strangle captain Antilles with his actual hand".

 

But also, yeah. It was a thought that quite a lot of ships which could do with a leg up (X, Rebel Y, U, generic TIE/ln) all feature highly in scarif, plus there hasn't yet been a linked campaign not built around an epic ship. 

 

[FTS Gecko 24,123]

1 hour ago, ficklegreendice said:

You think they'll really continue the r1 stuff?

Depends on the Mouse, I guess.  Like I said, Krennic's Shuttle, the Zeta-Class Cargo Shuttle and TIE Reaper are all canon Imperial ships.

1 hour ago, ficklegreendice said:

Course, gameplay wise, an X and U buff would be a very smart and necessary move 

And Y.  There's plenty of pilots who appeared in Rogue One (including some who also appeared in A New Hope) that could be added to the game.  Add the Blue Squadron Pilots, missing A New Hope pilots and K-2SO and you've essentially got yourelf a Rebel Veterans box.

[xanderf 6,778]

2 hours ago, FTS Gecko said:

Depends on the Mouse, I guess.  Like I said, Krennic's Shuttle, the Zeta-Class Cargo Shuttle and TIE Reaper are all canon Imperial ships.

And Y.  There's plenty of pilots who appeared in Rogue One (including some who also appeared in A New Hope) that could be added to the game.  Add the Blue Squadron Pilots, missing A New Hope pilots and K-2SO and you've essentially got yourelf a Rebel Veterans box.

The Y, particularly, is curious to me.

I mean, this is one of THE most iconic Star Wars ships.  Nearly tied with the X-Wing and TIE Fighters - it was one of the only two Rebel fighters seen back when this all began in 1977, and has been in every single OT movie (although only passing in the background for ESB), and had major plot points in 'Rogue One' and the 'Rebels' TV series.

And yet the Rebels have only two named pilots for it.

That's...bizarre.

[Jetfire 743]

13 hours ago, xanderf said:

Sadly, I've finally given up on it.

90% sure FFG was, at some point, developing/playtesting an 'assault gunboat' - but Disney nixed any Imperial fighter that didn't look like a TIE, the Aggressor was 'close enough', and what FFG was playtesting for release as the gunboat became the TIE Aggressor expansion pack.

I can't say much other than that's not an accurate description of reality.  It's a good guess but way off.

I do know FFG is planning to have a lot for Gencon 50 across all their products so get hype.

[Cap116 183]

I find it odd folks have so quickly forgotten about the HotR box, it was: 1) an ace pack with a large basr ship, and 2) released almost a year after The Force Awakens.  The Scarif U/X box (maybe with Y and Tie pilots) could still be a real thing.

[ficklegreendice 34,362]

10 minutes ago, Cap116 said:

I find it odd folks have so quickly forgotten about the HotR box, it was: 1) an ace pack with a large basr ship, and 2) released almost a year after The Force Awakens.  The Scarif U/X box (maybe with Y and Tie pilots) could still be a real thing.

Not a direct parallel as Finn, Rey and Poe are all recurring characters in the new flagship trilogy rather than guys from a one off movie 

Also, the most iconic star wars ship ever 

Edited August 7, 2017 by ficklegreendice

[xanderf 6,778]

8 minutes ago, Cap116 said:

I find it odd folks have so quickly forgotten about the HotR box, it was: 1) an ace pack with a large basr ship, and 2) released almost a year after The Force Awakens.  The Scarif U/X box (maybe with Y and Tie pilots) could still be a real thing.

Not 100% sure we need another U-Wing model, though.  Would not object to an X-Wing in Blue Squadron colors - we don't have that, yet.  But the U-Wing we did get is the same color as the only one that appeared on-screen, and "canonically" (*cough* - and, yeah, it's stupid) the reason U-Wings haven't been seen before or since is that the Rebels only had a few of them.  It is odd that K-2SO isn't a pilot for the U-Wing, but that could be handled by just a tile and card instead of a whole new model.

A Blue Squadron X-Wing and a TIE Reaper in the expansion (with an alternate title usable on it and the Striker to 'fix' the issue with the TIE Striker we got being nothing like the TIE Striker from the movie) would sure be nice, though.  And I wouldn't complain about new Y-Wing or TIE pilots (tiles and cards), either, although the standard TIE Fighter doesn't really need new pilots so much as upgrades that can make the generics, and 2-attack-ships, generally, usable in the current meta.