Also with the Assault Missiles and the sky falling…

i know the card comes with the Falcon. I assume that Slave I could have one. I can't tell for sure, but it doesn't look like the A-Wing gets the card.

How many people are going to buy multiple Falcons or Slave I's (if I'm correct in thinking it does not come with the A-Wing) to get enough cards for these to be game-breaking? (Our group only plays with cards we actually have). 

It will definitely make enemy units try to approach from outside the front arc of the ship!

Jim

Emrico said:

But that actually makes the missile worse.  If the Assault missile is really tons better, then someone will show up to a tournament with a bunch of them.  The fact that most of us can't do it but some one will is actually a problem for me.

Hrathen said:

Well, like all things, the market will establish a price for these Assault Missiles cards. What do you think? $2? $5? How high can they go? Not higher than $30, because you could just buy another Falcon for that. People will also find strategies to counter them. Maybe there is a card in one of the other wave 2 ship packs that we haven't seen.

If it is too powerful it will probably get banned or limited for tournament play.

- Pete

ScottieATF said:

The problem is formation flying is a HUGE part of what makes a number of Imperial builds work. Limiting potential viable strategies is a huge detriment to the meta. Ideally you want to see the largest variety of different squadrons to be tournament viable. I'm exceptionally worried that FFG listened to the complaints about the TIE swarm, which I don't think were founded in any kind of fact and made Assault Missiles to silver bullet it.

And let's be clear, it doesn't make formation flying 'less advantageous' it makes it tactical suicide. Remember that those extra hits caused by the splash are NOT avoidable. So for 4 points my opponent can take proton torpedoes, say they roll a minimum damaging roll. That's going to be one hit, one point of hull damage to one starfighter. Or with the deployment I use now that same roll would deal 6 damage (more damage that can be done by anything in the game presently without critical hits) with assault missiles, guaranteed, with no way to avoid that damage… for one point more. I would have to be an idiot to deploy that way against any opponent using missiles…  So that gives me two choices, choice one, I can spread out my firepower, not take assault missiles and be at a disadvantage since there's no incentive for my opponent to NOT deploy in a more advantageous way with overlapping firing arcs. My second option is to take assault missiles as well and force my opponent to play with the same deployment limitations I'm being forced into.

That's not really a theory. It's just the logical progression of strategy.

Now, this wouldn't be a problem in another sort of game like an LCG or CCG or something of the like, once you've signed up for a tournament you're locked into your deck. Unfortunately in X-Wing your deployment takes place AFTER you've seen your opponent's force composition, so the deployment won't change based on the fact that Assault Missiles are present in the game, as deck composition would in a card game. The threat of such a thing changes the risk/reward potential of different strategies and therefore adds diversity. In X-Wing, deployment will only be forced to change if you actually have Assault Missiles in your list.

[QUOTE efidm=747583]

But that actually makes the missile worse. If the Assault missile is really tons better, then someone will show up to a tournament with a bunch of them. The fact that most of us can't do it but some one will is actually a problem for me.
[/QUOTE]

Also that. It's a huge problem that a potentially game-changing card costs essentially $20-30 depending on where you purchase it. So say I want to run 4 A-Wing with Assault Missiles list. I'm looking at $120 for that list. That's pretty absurd when your present squadrons cost 40-80 dollars… This essentially means whether you intend to use the falcon or not, you'll be stuck buying one for an auto-include card as long as you have missile-capable units in your squad.

Now, that the nay-saying is out of the way, I feel like Assault Missiles might've been only intended for use in larger ships. In Star Wars, Assault Missiles are only able to be mounted on larger ships, and they're too slow and sluggish to be used against starfighters properly. If you can only mount them on one ship per squad, and you have to spend something to the order of half your points on that model to use them, that's probably fine, but I'd need to see it played.

 Mr. Panda, with respect, you might be overreacting to an overreaction.

First, as others have pointed out, we don't know what the other upgrade cards are in Wave 2, and how that might change the balance. Second, the effect does not seem as devastating as you fear. For one thing, it also limits the attacker's formations, since you can't send Wedge in for his up-close TIE killing at the same time as using these missiles. The attack damages friendly ships in range as well. It also costs 5 points, is a one-shot chance, and may be a huge whiff. We surely have all seen proton torps turn out to be a big bust. (I have yet to get a hit with one, and only seeing reports of their effective use online makes me think there is not some sort of dice curse attached to the Proton Torp card.)

 Also, who's to stop Vader from using these. Rebels are bound to be flying in formation with the Falcon as well to take advantage of certain effects, and 4 attack vs. 1 agility has a great chance of scoring a hit, with the subsequent splash damage.

magadizer said:

They'll be good on Tie Advanceds for sure, but the Rebs are more resilient.  One third of a TIE swarm's Hull is much more damaging than half the Shields or less.

Actually, I was thinking about a 3 TIE Advanced Squad, all with AM's. Although I think AM's probably should get its own crabbing thread. Who's up for starting the Assault Missile thread?

Doc Savage said:

Why not just copy and sleeve it?  Far cheaper solution ;)  It is an official card - so there should not be a need to invest $30 for each card you want.