I was just curious if anyone had experimented with Asteroids and scatter dice yet. I plan to soon, once I get a more regular playtest partner. But it seems like it could be an awesome mechanic for creating some crazy and frenetic games. Any thoughts?

I've been thinking of this as well.  Probably going to design a scenario with a moving asteroid field for our league when it starts next month.  I'm thinking I'll use GW scatter and artillery dice and a large amount of asteroids.  A "hit" on the scatter die will mean the asteroid remains stationary. a 2-10 on the distance die will get divided for a 1-5 and move that template on the path of the scatter die.  A "misfire" on the distance die will remove the asteroid.  Going to need to playtest it but that's what League Players are for. 

Jim

Scatter dice seem odd.  Asteroids aren't going to be starting and stopping.  They won't be changing directions or speed.  It would also be unlikely to be in a field of asteroids all traveling at different speeds and in different directions.

Sure, sure, it's just a game, but that just seems so weird to have asteroids doing things so unrealistic.

What would seem to make more sense is place the 5 asteroids in a 'band' right in the middle of the table.  Have the asteroids move towards one side at a continual speed.  After all pilots move, the asteroids move a set speed in there set direction.  If they go off the table, they reappear on the other side thus creating the effect of a asteroid field or a planetary ring.

Not only would you have to avoid the asteroid during your movement but also plan to stay out of their movement path.

 Star Frogger, nice. But i'm not sure why you think this would be so odd. Watch Empire Strikes back again, those asteroids are not moving uniformly at all. That's what makes asteroid fields so dangerous, they're unpredictable. In every piece of fiction I've read asteroid fields work this way. Otherwise they wouldn't be half as difficult to navigate.

although, of course (and i know real physics/ reality has no bearing on star wars) if an X-wing were to travel in a straight line through a real asteroid field, the chances of hitting an asteroid are estimated at around 1/1000000000000 (or a probability of 0.000000000001) :)

Also, asteroids do not travel in the same direction or at the same speed, as there are so many collisions within an asteroid belt over the aeons it exists that this creates a non uniform structure. As in all things, this chaos increases over time exponentially.

However, faster asteroids would generally be further away from the object they are orbiting (due to the nature of the mechanics of orbiting bodies).

Anyway… thats enough geeking for now!

Sounds like an ace idea… in fact im pretty sure I made a thread giving exactly this idea and method many moons ago…

wait… thats no moon!

:)

 If you wanted to eliminate the use of a scatter die to keep everything "in box" (i.e. no outside dice, measuring tools, etc.), you could just roll an attack die and move the asteroid in the direction of the point at the "top" of the die. 

Additionally, you could say a hit moves it 1 on the rangefinder stick, a crit moves it 2, etc. 

R2D2 said:

Never tell me the odds!

 I had this idea a while back, but the scatter die was only used at the start of the game, direction being kept throughout. 

Our game group has been playing X-wing consistently over the last several weeks.  Everyone loves it!  However, the first question every new player asks, is do the asteroids move?  I think the scatter dice concept is awesome.  But, when would the movement take place and in what initiative order?  Personally, I think asteroids should always have initiative.

Jonas
 

 I would move them first (pilot 0), but after everyone picks their move, obviously.

Had a great session with my friend the other night. We did an asteroid field varient were we placed  asteroids around. Then at end phase all asteroids moved in the same direction "2" we would roll the attack dice and for every focus that popped up we would place one asteroid. My friend would move it back and forth on the table edge. While I would close my eyes and say "STOP" the Asteroid would come in right there. We damaged one ship and lost at least 2 due to friggin Asteroids !   lol fun

having them move at a constant spend and direct until colliding with something would make sense… if you have multiple cores you could place out only large asteroids at first,  allowing pilots to shoot them (no defend dice, requiring 1 hit to change direction, 1 critical to break up into 2 smaller asteroids going in opposite directions… i would also make large asteroids a constant 1 or 2 spend and smaller at 2 or 3 (would need a few play test rounds for this)… when one reaches the edge of play it would be out for that round, reappearing on the other side next turn…. this would create an asteroid field much like the old "Asteroids" video game from the 80's (oh childhood, how you always will be relevant in my mind!)

I havent used scatter dice, although I did play with a d6.  Each number on the d6 coursponded to a movement template.  We rolled again to see who got controll of what astroid.It was really fun.

I havent used scatter dice, although I did play with a d6.  Each number on the d6 coursponded to a movement template.  We rolled again to see who got controll of what astroid.It was really fun.

How are the asteroids changing direction and slowing down? That doesn't make any sense. Also, it'll be way too much effort and will slow the game down.

KarmikazeKidd said:

Each individual asteroid moves in a straight line when observed on the scale of a human or fighter ship. They can't change direction in space. Physics 101